Monday, February 12, 2007

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (12 сообщений)

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The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
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  • MediaFork: Stick a fork in HandBrake

    Not much has happened on the HandBrake front for quite some time, so some developers decided to fork the open source development and create their own nonofficial version. MediaFork is the open-source community-contributed HandBrake fork they developed. Like its parent, it's a DVD ripping application that allows you to create iPod compatible MPEG-4 video from any commercial DVD. The 0.8.0 Beta 1 software is available as a 10.3.9-or-later Universal Binary. I just downloaded my copy and can't wait to give it a spin.

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  • Blast from the Past: Apple II Users Guide and Owners Manual

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    Like many other companies, Apple offers archival versions of its product manuals for products that have long since been discontinued. As a regular user of OS 9 on my PowerMac 7200, this comes in more useful than you might imagine. So I was delighted to find that the archival support goes back even further than I'd previously thought, when a random search turned up this page offering the Apple II Users' Guide and Product Manual. I am not an Apple II owner, but I know that there are any number of units still out there and still working in hobbyists' basements.

    Printed out in 2002 and converted to PDF, the 84-page manual starts off with the classic story about Steve Wozniak, "the creation of an engineer who hated so much to leave his computer behind at the end of the workday that he made himself a home computer." The manual brags about how memory capacity has grown over time from 4K on the Apple I to 256K on the Apple IIgs, and how you could stretch that 256K to 8 megabytes and beyond. (In the early '90's, 8 MB of RAM would easily set you back $800 or more.)

    I particularly enjoyed the problem-solving checklist--testing for loose connections, that your monitor is plugged in and the disk drive connected to the computer--which gives you a real sense for the technology of the day.

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  • TUAW Tip: open two separate iTunes windows

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    This isn't the most advanced tip in the book, but I found the trick darn handy last night while performing some badly needed library cleanup. In iTunes, you can open a second window for almost any item in your sources list on the left - the iTunes Store, a playlist or - interestingly - even a folder of playlists. While your library items such as Music, Movies and TV Shows are unfortunately exempt from this convenience, you can simply double-click any of these items to open them in their own window, minus a source list of their own. This is great for having easy access to playing music in one window while you work in another, perhaps cleaning up files, like I was, shopping at the store, or building a new playlist.
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  • You want Piano Hero on your Mac?

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    It's a sad fact that despite an ever-growing list of compatible goodies for the Mac, there are still some holdouts. I know there is often some hack for interfacing that wonky 90's-era plotter (thank you UNIX underpinnings), but there are a lot of apps out there we'd love to see native on the Mac, Parallels/Boot Camp/VMWare be danged. 3ds max and AutoCAD come to mind... And in the niche arena we've got Piano Hero. You can maybe guess what it does, but it's essentially Guitar Hero for a keyboard, without all the fancy graphics and immersing gameplay.

    Now if you want a Mac version you'll have to help the developer buy a Mac to port the thing over. So far he's none too close to the over $700 he needs, but once he's got his mitts on a real-live Mac mini he promises a port within two months. After using everything from the Miracle Piano to the new Fisher-Price "I Can Play" piano, maybe this is worth a shot...

    Thanks, Timm.
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  • CPCC wants to tax your iPod

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    Bad news for our buddies up north: Canada's Private Copyright Collective (CPCC) is hoping to tax consumers who purchase portable MP3 players, planning to compensate musicians for money lost due to copyright infringement and music copying. The Canadian federal court turned down the previous lobbying attempt made by the CPCC last year, because their law did not recognize portable players' hard drives and memory storage among its list of recording media. However, this hasn't stopped the CPCC from trying again, with a new proposal that suggests taxes on MP3 players in the amounts of $5CAD for players with up to 1GB of storage, $25CAD for players up to 10GB, $50CAD for players holding 10GB-30GB, and $75CAD for any player holding more than 30GB. Steep. In addition to MP3 players, the CPCC hopes to include memory cards (SD, MMC, Memory Sticks, etc.) to the list of taxable items. (Insert eye rolling here.)

    (via MacNN)
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  • Amarok on the Way

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    When we posted a while back that OS X native ports of KDE applications were headed to the Mac, one of the biggest outcries was for Amarok, the KDE music player. Word now comes on the Amarok Blog that Amarok is being actively developed for the Mac. Although it's far from running properly (the back-end database support isn't working yet), it has been built and run on OS X as you can see above. While there's still a long way to go (and nothing yet to download), I suspect this news will make a few people around here very happy, even if the rest of us figure to stick with iTunes.

    [Via Digg]
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    Комментарии к сообщению:
    http://www.tuaw.com/2007/02/12/amarok-on-the-way/#comments



  • Found Pic: I'm Linux

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    They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think that's selling this one short. True, so true...

    [Via Digg]
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    http://www.tuaw.com/2007/02/12/found-pic-im-linux/#comments



  • Monday man page: open

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    Just a quick hint for today's man page: the open command does just what you might think. It opens files, directories, applications or URLs; no muss, no fuss. For files, you can specify an application to open them with the -a flag (or just trust LaunchServices to pick the right app). If you want to, the -e flag will force them to open in TextEdit.

    open ~/Desktop/MyWordDoc.doc [will open in MS Word]
    open -e ~/Desktop/MyWordDoc.doc [will open in TextEdit]
    open ~/Desktop/*.doc [opens every Word document on the desktop, in Word]
    open http://tuaw.com [well, give it a go!]

    I use open in installation scripts or other situations where I want a GUI application to come up at the end of a process. For example,

    open /System/Library/CoreServices/Software\ Update.app/

    launches Software Update and begins checking for available patches. Sure, you can force an update with 'softwareupdate -i -a' anytime, but maybe I want to give the person sitting at the console an opportunity to select the updates needed, or cancel out of the possibly-lengthy update cycle until it's more convenient. You could also use the URL functionality to take people to a 'readme' website... the possibilities are manifold.
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    Комментарии к сообщению:
    http://www.tuaw.com/2007/02/12/monday-man-page-open/#comments



  • Disco hits 1.0

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    Everybody's favorite funk-inspired disc burning application, Disco has hit version 1.0 and features a wealth of new enhancements and additions. With improved disc naming, a beefed-up Discography function, and minor interface enhancements, Disco 1.0 has seen a wealth of improvements to warrant the $15 price tag. Oh, and the infamous Smoke interface now works on almost any Quartz Extreme-capable Mac. The demo version limits users to seven complete disc burns, and the software requires OS X 10.4.3. Folks who participated in the beta testing should be eligible for a free upgrade to 1.0.

    Dare I say 'groovy'?
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    Комментарии к сообщению:
    http://www.tuaw.com/2007/02/12/disco-hits-1-0/#comments



  • Australian Apple Store revealed

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    Last week, Apple revealed plans for Australia's first Apple Store. Today, an artist's rendering and floor plan have been revealed.

    According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the store will be located at 367 George Street in Sydney, and use 445-square-meters of space over three floors. It looks like the front will feature a glass facade and suspended Apple logo, as we've seen in New York, as well as a glass staircase connecting the three floors.

    Sounds good, Sydney! If any TUAW "spy photographers" get a snap of the construction, let us know.

    Thanks, Daniel!
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  • Microsoft recommends GarageBand for advanced audio editing

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    It's rare that a rival in the marketplace tosses anything but a canned compliment your way, so it's always refreshing to highlight such a kind gesture. In what is likely a mixup at Redmond or simply the work of a covert Apple guy behind enemy lines, a Microsoft product page about having more fun at home recommends GarageBand for advanced audio editing (scroll to the bottom). Of course, the entry also cites iLife '05, but they even work in a plug for the ever-useful Jam Packs as well.

    Now, who wants to place bets as to how soon Apple will recommend Microsoft Expression for 'advanced' web design?

    Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
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  • Apple announces Lionsgate Movies now in the iTunes Store

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    Apple today announced the availability of movies from the Lionsgate studio in the iTunes Store. Blockbusters like Terminator 2, LA Story and Basic Instinct are available today, with more than 150 titles on their way by the end of the month.

    Unfortunately, this looks like another Paramount score - unless those movies still en route are new releases, it feels a lot more like Lionsgate is still wearing the bright orange floaties while dabbling their toes on the kiddie side of the pool, instead of waking up and actually embracing the future.
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