Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (11 сообщений)

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  • Belkin in desk iPod dock

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    This is a pretty nifty idea from Belkin, an in-desk iPod dock. Many desks these days come pre-drilled with holes, intended for cable management (e.g. the signal and power cables to your monitor). So Belkin apparently had the bright idea of a line of accessories that would actually fit into these holes. In addition to the iPod dock they also have a both a flat and an inclined 4-port USB hub, all "coming soon" for $39.99 each. And if you don't already have a hole in your desk, you can just drill a 3" one to work with these products. One apparent downside with the iPod dock, however, is that "iPod and universal wells [are] not included "

    [Via theappleblog]
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  • logKext keylogger

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    One my family members seems to lose her work distressingly often, particularly long blog posts she composes in browser windows which then crash. In trying to think up a solution to this problem I hit on the idea of using a keylogger that would record all of her keystrokes, and thus allow me to recover the text. I found just such a program-a freeware kernel extension called logKext. The kernel extension loads at startup and you can access the keylog through a terminal based client, which will write the keylog to your desktop as a text file. What I discovered, however, is that this is not a terribly useful way to recover text, precisely because folks rarely type straight through, rather we often hit backspace or delete to make corrections. So when you look at the keylog you'll find a huge number of <del>s, etc. Nonetheless, in a pinch it will bring back text, and if you were truly serious about it, you could probably run the keylog text through a text factory or similar text processing methodology to automatically remove the <del>'s, etc. As a far more practical solution, I convinced her to stop composing in a browser, but in a text editor with auto-save, and then to cut and paste into the browser after she's finished (though now I'm thinking of getting her going in MarsEdit).

    Of course a keylogger can be used for much more nefarious activities (and it is not really detectable in normal operation unless you know it's there), but I pass over those in silence. The logKext keylogger is a free download from FSB Software.
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  • Joost/Apple TV Follow-up

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    Yesterday, I posted that the TutorialNinjas site had gotten Joost up and running on their Apple TV. So last night I downloaded the latest Joost beta and gave it a spin. At first, the program seemed to go into a never ending "downloading your channel listings" cycle so I eventually just killed the process and opened the application again--and then it worked.

    You do need to run it via VNC so you can type in your account name and so you can switch channels when needed, but while its going you can switch off VNC and let it run on the TV and watch it there. Unlike VLC, it does not respond to the Apple remote.

    My kids are now sitting in front of the TV this morning and watching old cartoons on Joost. It works great, although you can't fast forward through the advertisements and my 802.11g network is a little underpowered for Joosting.

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    http://www.tuaw.com/2007/03/29/joost-apple-tv-follow-up/#comments



  • Switching Mom to Mac

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    Robert Movin over at TidBITS has a nice little article that I expect many of us can identify with. After years of being tech support for his mother (and other family members), he got fed up trying to remotely support her aging PC and decided to take the plunge and get her a Mac. He describes the how he set it up for her, including using VNC to allow him to remotely control it (I'm not sure why he installed OSXvnc when OS X has a built in VNC server, however). He also discusses some security issues like using VNC over SSH, and how to deal with her dynamic IP address.

    So what are your experiences with setting up Macs for less tech savvy family members? Have you found any particularly good tools or techniques?
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    http://www.tuaw.com/2007/03/29/switching-mom-to-mac/#comments



  • Apple TV: What you can't do

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    With hacks of all kinds appearing at lightning speed to make the Apple TV do everything from play XviD movies to store more than a mere 40GB, I thought it might be time to step back and look at some of the things it can't do. Granted, many things are possible when a device like this lands in the hands of those who don't take no for an answer, but most of these issues I've found are rooted in features that Apple neglected to create (or in some cases, mimic from their other software and devices). So until someone hacks and slashes their way through the Apple TV's closed source software, let's examine some of the tricks it can't do:

    Continue reading Apple TV: What you can't do

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  • Organizing your Desktop with file wells

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    Uncluttering your life and Getting Things Done is a perennial favorite among us TUAW folks, and MurphyMac has posted a new video showing a novel way to take charge of your Mac desktop. Creating a custom desktop helps organize your workspace around your workflow. You build a background in your favorite image editor to match the size of your desk, adding organizing "wells" to store different file classes (like incoming, action items, items-to-file, and so forth). By setting this as your desktop, you instantly add a new level of order to your workspace and can take advantage of the structures you design into the background. It's not rocket science, but it's a great idea for adding structure while preserving the visibility you lose with a folder system.

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  • Newton Connection 1.0 available

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    Despite having been named Apple's biggest flop by Newlaunches.com earlier this week, the Newton enjoys an active life among a large group of hardcore users. Today, Newton Connection 1.0 has been released, which allows Mac OS X native synchronization and backups. From the website:

    "Newton Connection allows you to backup your Newton data to your Mac desktop, import and export Dates, Names, Notes and NewtonWorks, install packages and use your Mac desktop keyboard to enter text on your Newton device. In fact, most of the functions provided by the Newton Connection Utilities, but without the need for the Classic environment."

    This is a PPC release and requires Mac OS 10.4 or better. Newton Connection is free.
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  • Four things you might not have expected to find on Apple TV

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    Apple TV is proving to be a hacker's delight, a kind of subMini with a complete (if variant) OS X operating system, wireless networking, and many other useful features. It also has a lot of legacy associated with it. Here are a few things you can find on Apple TV that you might not have expected:

    • Internet Explorer favorites. Dating back to 2003, you can find a list of Apple-related sites in /Users/frontrow/Library/Preferences/Explorer
    • Perl. Apple TV ships with a full 5.8.6 Perl installation for your scripting pleasure.
    • Screen capture. You'll find the utility screencapture in /usr/sbin. It works perfectly, allowing you to snap pictures from your Apple TV and store them in the frontrow account. e.g. /usr/sbin/screencapture -tjpeg ~/applelogo.jpg
    • Sounds. All your standard sounds (Basso, Frog, Pop, Sosumi, etc) are located in /System/Library/Sounds. If you so hack your system, you can play them in VLC or QuickTime Player and they sound exactly the way you expect. However you have to bring over a copy of System Preferences if you want to assign them to your non-existent Apple TV alerts.
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  • Apple removes Final Cut Pro crossgrade option

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    Recently, Apple removed the Universal crossgrade option for the Final Cut Pro Studio suite of applications from its website. Previously, the crossgrade allowed customers to update their copies of software such as Final Cut Pro to Intel-native versions. And most interestingly, this unannounced move has come just before the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) conference in Las Vegas, which is set to begin on April 14. It has been rumored that Apple will make an announcement regarding a new version of Final Cut Pro at NAB, and this bit of news potentially supports that claim. Anyway, worth keeping in mind, and hopefully everyone took advantage of the crossgrade in time!

    [via MacNN]
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  • iTunes Complete My Album feature: No, thanks

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    Earlier today, Apple introduced a new "feature" to the US iTunes Store* called "Complete My Album." If you've got incomplete albums in your collection that you purchased from iTunes, you can buy the neglected tracks at a reduced price. This offer is good for up to six months from the time you initially download an album.

    Nice try, Apple, but I neglected the songs I did because I don't want them. Just because they're cheaper or available for a limited time only doesn't make them more appealing. I'm going to guess that the record companies are behind this "feature" and not Apple, as the latter have always promoted single-track purchases, and the former have not.

    *If you're seeing this outside the US, let us know.

    [Via Infinite Loop]

    UPDATE: Thanks for all your comments, everyone!

    I won't be using the service, but if you will, great! I interpreted it as Apple prompting me to purchase music that I don't want.

    I see how it can be convenient for many users, and a money saver to boot. Tow-MAY-toh, tow-MAH-tow. If "Complete My Album" lets you supplement your collection at a discount, than you can't argue with that.
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  • Last post EVER about creating new files from Finder

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    OK, OK! We clearly have a wide range of opinions on this whole "How can I get my Mac to right-click-create new files, like Windows does?" thing. Some folks like the QuickSilver approach, some think QuickSilver is an anti-Mac-way abomination. Some like NuFile, and some like FinderPop (Update: and some, like Wired's writer, and me too now that I've tried it, like DocumentPalette.)

    Some think the whole idea is plain goofy and there's nothing wrong with going into an application to create a file; others think the previous people are missing the point, because sometimes you need an starter file right here right now, and this is faster than opening the parent program and navigating to the folder you want, or using a stationery file or template.

    As usual, if you want something stripped to the essentials that works really gracefully and cleanly, call John Gruber. In response to yesterday's NuFile post, John knocked off a quick AppleScript which, in combination with the Big Cat Scripts plugin and the text editor of your choice, creates a nice little text file wherever you right-click.

    We're through talking about this now; does that work for everyone? Good. Enjoy your Wednesday!
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