Coincidence can be a funny thing. Just last week, I emailed the folks at Unsanity software, requesting an interview. In case you don’t know, Unsanity makes about a dozen popular utilities for Mac OS X. By far, my favorite is WindowShade X. It has long been (together with LaunchBar) one of the first two third-party…
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The Back Page - iPhone: All That, a Bag of Chips, and a Rootbeer Float, Too!
The iPhone has arrived, and it’s everything it was cracked up (by Apple) to be. Contacts, music, calendars, photos, movies, YouTube browsing, Web-surfing, and it makes calls, too! Writing a review for this device could legitimately be anything from two words (“It’s great.”) to a 3,000 word opus on all of the nitpicky pros and…
Chuck La Tournous's (Last Minute) Macworld Predictions
When we last met on the subject of reading Appleis tea leaves, I was prognosticating about the brave new world of 2004. Back then, I was calling for iPod minis, where I was a little off on the name and really wrong about the price (although a lot of my reasoning eventually saw its way…
Analyst Offers Macworld Expo Predictions
Mr. Munster broke out his certainty ranking system to rate the likelihood of products and features. A 10 is highly likely, and a 1 indicates extremely unlikely. Apple Cell Phone Appleis cell phone entering production in the next 2 to 6 months gets a 9. A candy-bar form factor version of the phone within the…
Protecting Your Mac From its Best Friend: Electricity
Most people get over the first hurdle of electrical protection fairly easily by using a battery backup, or uninterrupted power supply, that offers some level of line conditioning and surge suppression. Iim partial to the Smart-UPS systems from APC. In addition to protecting your Mac from electrical incidents that come through wall outlets, you also…
Apple Waiting on 802.11n to Deliver iTV?
Apple CEO Steve Jobs broke tradition on Tuesday when he discussed an upcoming product, code-named iTV, months before its release, leading some to speculate why it isn’t ready now. After all, it was on display after the event at Yerba Buena Gardens, although no information was given out beyond the basic specs Mr. Jobs covered…
Hidden Dimensions -- Getting a Piece of the iPhone Action
"For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three." – Alice Kahn Asking the Right Questions Every thing I say in this article about Apple is a guess; I have no inside information. As for the rest, all I know is what I’ve read on…
Just a Thought - Visualizing Apple Virtualization
You know, waaaaay back when computers ran MVS and UNIX, and computer makers had names like IBM, Honeywell, Univac, and Burroughs, virtual systems and thin clients were the normal way of doing business. Of course, we didn’t call them virtual systems and thin clients, mainframes had terminals (dumb terminals usually) and Unix systems ran X-Servers and…
Hidden Dimensions -- Apple's focus vs. Vista Vision
And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important. — Steve Jobs to…
Computing with Bifocals - Mac Help Scenarios I & II
Since Christmas last month, I have had the occasion to spend time in our local (Austin, Texas) Apple retail store. First of all I got some Apple gift cards and a Nano as Christmas gifts. Naturally, the second meant that I had to spend the first. Right? Right. So off I went, along with, apparently,…
TMO To Go Podcast - Mac Geek Gab #27: Holiday Wish List
Show notes for TMO To Go: Mac Geek Gab For November 28th, 2005 Direct Links: MP3 Version and an AAC Enhanced version courtesy of one of our fantabulous listeners, Michael, also known as ComputerNap! John and Dave talk through their wishlists for the holidays… things they wish they had, things they wish existed, and more!…
Just a Thought - Apple's Seed
Maybe there should be a Palm death knell. If there was one I’d likely be a high contributor, but I wouldn’t like it very much. You see, I really like Palm and the devices they produce; well, some of them anyway. I also believe that the traditional PDA is passed its prime. I’m not the…
Ihnatko - How to Stuff a Wild iPod
As I sit down and write this (about 12:30 EST on Wednesday afternoon, the video iPod is a Maybe. Sure. Okay: definitely there’s a possibility that there’ll be an iPod that can play video, which will be released sometime, today possibly, or maybe sometime next year. Not to worry; by the time I upload…
The Back Page - Don't Do Business with Mac-Pro in Campbell, CA
Don’t do business with Mac-Pro, an Apple VAR in Campbell, CA. Why? Because they were rude to me, did a terrible job of working on my PowerBook, and the owner wouldn’t take care of the situation to my satisfaction. That’s right, I am using my column to complain about customer service. The story starts with…
DEVON Apps, MacJournal 3.1, CopyCat 2.5, Eight Others Add Tiger Support, More
With Apple set to release Mac OS X v10.4 “Tiger” on April 29, developers are busy updating their software with support for the new operating system. Eleven companies have made such announcements: DEVONtechnologies has released DEVONthink Personal Edition 1.9.3, DEVONagent 1.7 and DEVONnote 1.7; Mariner Software has shipped MacJournal 3.1; SubRosaSoft has made the drive…
Bruce Springsteen on U2 iPod & "The Boss" iPod
B ruce Springsteen would like to see a red, white and blue iPod The Boss Special Edition, modeled after the black and red iPod U2 Special Edition. Apple may want to take note of that, because in edition to the millions of fans Mr. Springsteen commands around the world that might want to buy such…
Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Good Software, Cheap
Great software doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Great-but-expensive programs-like Final Cut, Photoshop, Logic, Dreamweaver, InDesign, FileMaker Pro, and many others-are (excuse the pun) a dime a dozen. Cheap but crappy programs are ubiquitous and worth a penny a pound or less. My favorite programs are the hardest to find: Inexpensive, well-designed…
Just a Thought - Apple Enterprise, Please!
My job title says I’m a systems analyst, but in reality, I’m just a point man; when something goes wrong I’m the man everyone points at to blame or to make it right. It’s not as bad as it sounds; I get to play with a variety of systems, plan networks, and develop infrastructures, and…
Computing with Bifocals - Hints & Tips For Mac Apps
In today’s column I am going to share some of my favorite hints and tips for using some of the basic OS X applications — Mail, Safari, Address Book, and iPhoto. Then, for good measure, I’m throwing in one for Microsoft Word for Mac. Sending Mail to a Group of People at The Same Time…
Computing with Bifocals - Hints & Tips For Mac Apps
In today’s column I am going to share some of my favorite hints and tips for using some of the basic OS X applications — Mail, Safari, Address Book, and iPhoto. Then, for good measure, I’m throwing in one for Microsoft Word for Mac. Sending Mail to a Group of People at The Same Time…
Apple Previews Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
Apple today previewed the forthcoming release to its Mac OS X operating system, Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. The update, slated to ship in the first half of 2005, incorporates 150 new features, including new ways to find files and other information, integrated RSS feeds in Safari,…
TMO Reports - Merrill Lynch: Apple "Has Its Groove Back"; Must Update iMac Form Soon
A new analyst report from brokerage firm Merrill Lynch has recommended buying Apple Computer stock saying the company “has its groove back for now,” but expects competition in the portable music player market to get fierce and test Apple’s 31 percent market share. In a new analysis report for clients obtained by The Mac Observer,…
Hardware RAID Storage: Pricey, Reliable, & Worth It
R AID: Redundant Array of Independent Disks. RAID is the technology that allows computer users to use multiple hard drives as one large and/or fast drive. The main two versions allow for speed (called striping), or for redundancy (called mirroring). A quick Google search offers this fairly accurate and concise explanation from Infortrend, a RAID…
Just A Thought - AppleWorks Lament: In A Vacuum, No One Can Hear You Type...
AppleWorks sucks! Let me qualify that statement before you storm my home — pitchforks, clubs, and torches in hand — and demand my head on a platter: AppleWorks is a competent suite of office tools that has essentially remained unchanged for several years now. It has not been made to take full advantage of OS…