Targuman » Computer

Snow Leopard – It’s the little things

Chris Brady — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:22:12 +0000

This afternoon I installed Mac OS X 10.6, otherwise known as Snow Leopard. So far it is going very well. A few minor conflicts (Logitech’s Control Center, Nambu [twitter client]) but Exchange on Mail/iCal/Address Book is very nice. But it is the little things that are nice, such as my MacBook Pro being able to update the time zone automatically. (Cell phones have been able to do it for ages, why not notebooks?)

Mac OS 10.5.3 and Spaces

Chris Brady — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:23:32 +0000

When Leopard came out I was very excited about Spaces, but realized fairly soon that it was more trouble than it was worth. I turned it off. The recent Mac OS update brings some improvements and John Gruber of Daring Fireball has reported a key advance in Spaces. I haven’t had time to turn it on and try it out, but if you are interested, check out his post. An excerpt describes a key change:

Some of these are simply bug fixes. Clearly, for example, switching between spaces shouldn’t have changed the window ordering within a space. But some of these describe new behavior which only kicks in if you turn off a new-to-10.5.3 checkbox in the Spaces panel in System Preferences: “When switching to an application, switch to a space with open windows for the application”.

By default, it’s checked, which means app switching under Spaces remains much the same as it was on 10.5.0–10.5.2. For example, let’s say you have two spaces, with one or more Safari windows in space 1, and no Safari windows in space 2. If you’re in space 2 and activate Safari — whether by clicking the Dock icon, Command-Tabbing, or opening a link in some other app’s window in space 2, then Spaces will jump you to space 1, where there are already open Safari windows.

If you turn this new checkbox off, however, activating an app, even one that has no windows in the current space, will not jump you to another space. Once you’re in a space, you stay there until you explicitly switch spaces, not just switch apps. This makes all the difference in the world for the way I, and others, want to use Spaces.

Update to Nisus Writer Pro

Chris Brady — Mon, 26 May 2008 17:10:13 +0000

I have mentioned before that I have used Nisus Writer for years (my doctoral thesis and book were written in it). Although I still use Word for collaborative projects, to make sure comments can be read, etc. I love NWP, use it, and support it whenever I can. (It has support for right to left languages that only Mellel can compete with, yet is far more robust than Mellel.) TUAW has noted the update that was released last week.

Big changes in Nisus Writer Pro 1.1

Posted May 25th 2008 12:00PM by Steven Sande
Filed under: Software, Productivity

In the latest skirmish in the endless battle for word processor supremacy, Nisus Writer Pro has been updated to version 1.1. The new features include enhanced commenting, a Mail Merge capability that uses the Mac OS X Address Book or csv files for a record source, a vastly improved Table of Contents generator, indexing, bookmarks for navigation or cross-references, an enhanced Nisus Macro Language (take that, Microsoft!), and the ability to embed Perl scripts. There are even more features, so visit the Nisus site for details.

Nisus does a great job of listening to their customers, and it appears that Nisus Writer Pro 1.1 has included many of the features requested by users of the initial release. The download version of Nisus Writer Pro 1.1 is $79 to new users, $49 for owners of Nisus Writer Express and free to owners of Nisus Writer Pro 1.0. A 15-day free trial download is available for this Universal Binary app (Mac OS X 10.4 or better required).

Turn your MacBook into an Earthquake Sensor

Chris Brady — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:30:02 +0000

From The Wired Campus

If Monday’s earthquake in China has sparked an interest in seismology, and you happen to own a Mac laptop, you can transform your computer into your own personal seismic station. A free program from SeisMac takes advantage of the acceleration sensor inside you computer to register when it gets the shakes. The program was developed with support from the National Science Foundation and from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology, a consortium of nearly 100 universities.

Update for Mac Office 2008

Chris Brady — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:37:53 +0000

Mac Office 2008 SP1

It’s finally here! The MacBU has just released Service Pack 1 for Mac Office 2008. You can download the update directly from the Mactopia website (it’s large — about 180 MB), or launch your favorite Office app and select Help/Check for Updates. There are well over 1000 fixes and improvements in this release, including the return of custom error bars and axis tick manipulation in Excel charts. The full release notes are available online as well, so go check them out to see if we fixed your personal pet peeve.

Thanks Erik

My immediate favorite fix? Scrolling in the “Style” list (and others) of the pallet.

“Private Computing”

Chris Brady — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:01:51 +0000

I got the giggles looking at this.

Pic of the Day Dept. — Private Computing

(Via Dvorak Uncensored.)

Warning: Dangerous Site (and why, for the time being, the Mac OS is more secure)

Chris Brady — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 21:36:05 +0000

For quite some time now I have had “robots” mining my posts and putting them on their “blogs” resulting in pingback in my posts. Most of these are just intended to generate traffic back to their sites. Lately there have been some from a site of various names, but if the pinback is followed, looks like this:

It looks like a page full of YouTube links but if you click on one (I like to live on the edge) you actually go to a bogus site: http://youutubee.com/. You see the clever spelling? When you get there it tries to automatically download and install a program:

Now here is the bit about the Mac OS, the file is obviously a Windows .exe file and thus couldn’t be installed. Furthermore, FireFox (and Safari) both have warnings before downloading and installing (I know this is true on Windows as well). I cannot be sure, but it appears that it initially tries to do this in the background, since the page seemed to be trying to run a script before defaulting to the download attempt.

The truth is that there is little inherently more secure about the Mac OS, it is just not popular enough for hackers to have spent their time and energy targeting it. That is one reason why I am happy to have Apple profitable (therefore still in business) but not more than a single digit of the total market share.

The moral of the story boys and girls? Be very careful when clicking on pingback and always use protection.

TUAW: 802.11n Airport Express is now on sale

Chris Brady — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:55:37 +0000

I have one of the old versions and I use it at home to extend my network (and connect iTunes to my stereo) and then take it on the road with me. It is perfect for hotels with a wired network connection (who often then charge for a wireless connection, if available). It also allows you to have your own encrypted network, so it is safer to use than the open hotel wifi. At conferences I occasionally room with a colleague or they are in nearby rooms so I can then share the network with them as well. Now it is up to N speeds and still only $99! That is a bah-gain.

802.11n Airport Express is now on sale

Filed under: Airport

Some people may not believe that a leak on the Swiss Apple Store is an indication of actual product coming down the mountain. “The Swiss don’t make mistakes like that,” they say. Well, fair enough, but we now have the real deal: the Airport Express with 802.11n is on sale in the US Apple Store.

Our retail channel sources told us that the AE would be available by 3/23 or sooner, so looks like “sooner” wins. $99, supports up to 10 connected machines, AirTunes and printer sharing: works for me.

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

FlockdUp!

Chris Brady — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:04:09 +0000

SXSW: 7 Fake Startups Compete for ‘Worst Website Ever’ | The Underwire from Wired.com

AUSTIN, Texas — As dedicated readers of the most popular business blogs are well aware, the web is positively awash in terrible ideas for startups. So many, in fact, that Waxy.org’s Andy Baio was inspired to create a contest to see who could dream up the most awful, short-sighted and unfundable business plan.

One of the competitors was the ever effervescent Merlin Mann. He sparkles like a freshly poured glass of Sprite on a moonlight night during a meteor shower under the glow of the aurora borealis. And his “company” is FlockdUp. Let’s take a look.

“Friend me! No, friend you!”

Bluecord.org Hacked! & Back!

Chris Brady — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:11:28 +0000

UPDATE: See Kevin’s comment below.

Kevin texted me yesterday to say that his blog and entire site have been hacked and are down. If you go to it now a text file downloads automatically. I did the foolish thing of opening (just for you gentle readers) and it seems to be the basic php script for WordPress but to be on the safe side I would encourage others to wait for word from Kevin that all is well.

I hope Kevin won’t mind this warning and I will be the first to tell everyone to go back and enjoy his blog! So let us know Kevin, asap, that you are up and running.

(And I hope he has the backups because I still have questions about the Scripturizer plugin. I cannot get it to work here. Anyone else have any luck?)