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Talkcast reminder: Mother's Day edition, 10pm ET
Filed under: TUAW Business, Podcasts

Last week's show featured our own Mike & Kelly, and a surprise visit from guest Ged Maheux of the Iconfactory, talking about the release of Twitterrific 2 for the iPhone -- plus questions and calls from the audience. You can download the show from Talkshoe or subscribe in iTunes.

We're back live tonight, and in honor of Mother's Day in the US we'll be talking about Macs and Moms: doing tech support for your parents, encouraging switcher Moms (and Dads), providing advice for would-be Mother's Day iPhone purchasers, and more. Your calls and contributions, as always, are extremely welcome.

To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, or you can try out the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VOIP lines (take advantange of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *-8. Talk with you then!
Recording support for the talkcast is provided by Call Recorder from ecamm networks.
TUAW Talkcast reminder: Mother's Day edition, 10pm ET originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 10 May 2009 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Installing Windows 7 RC1 on your Mac... for free
Filed under: Enterprise, OS, Software, How-tos, Freeware, Open Source

Sometimes you have to use Windows. Supporting clients in multiple-OS environments makes this a necessity for some Mac users, while others want to run applications that are available in Windows only. You can get a preview of the latest flavor of Windows, Windows 7, by running Release Candidate 1 of the new OS either in a virtual environment such as VMWare Fusion, Parallels, or VirtualBox, or in Apple's own Boot Camp. Christina did a thorough rundown of the options for running Win 7 on Mac back in January.

Of course, you may not own Fusion or Parallels, and perhaps you don't want to have to boot into Windows separately. In that case, you can download a copy of Sun's VirtualBox application (it's free) and then download a copy of Windows 7 RC1 from the Microsoft website (it's free, too!). Follow these detailed instructions or watch the video, and you'll have a free way to test Windows 7 until at least June 1, 2010. Windows 7 will shut down after every two hours of use after March 1, 2010, which is Microsoft's subtle way of telling you to buy the OS or update to a later build.

If you're a VMWare Fusion user, the VMWare team has instructions and a video available here. Want to try out Win7 RC1 with Boot Camp? There are instructions here. For Parallels 4 users, I was unable to find a good set of instructions, so if any TUAW readers can provide me with a link, I'll update this post.

How is Windows 7 RC1 as an operating system? It's faster than Windows Vista on my 3 year old iMac, and some features look surprisingly Mac-like. I'll leave it to you as an exercise to see how much you like or dislike it.
TUAW Installing Windows 7 RC1 on your Mac... for free originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 10 May 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Prism single-site browser goes 1.0 beta
Filed under: Cool tools, Internet Tools, Open Source, Beta Beat
The concept of a single-site browser or site-specific browser (SSB, either way) is simple: give me a window with one website in it, preferably a desktop application replacement like Gmail, RTM, Basecamp or Zoho, and let that window behave like a regular application with its own Dock icon, notifications, etc. If you're spending a lot of your time on a particular site, this can simplify your life quite a bit; if you're mixing up GTD with ADD (as so many of us seem to be), an SSB can help limit your distraction horizon while you're trying to maintain focus and flow.

The inspiration for many SSB offerings was the Firefox offshoot Webrunner, and the descendant of that project has now earned a 1.0 beta designation and its own website: Prism, from Mozilla Labs, gives you a power tool for creating your own SSBs at will, either via a Firefox extension or by launching the Prism config app and typing in the target URL.

Aside from having a dockable icon for each website you convert, you can also set your SSBs to launch at login, or assign mailto: links to open your web email client (similarly achievable for Gmail with the Gmail Notifier tool). If you have to keep separate sets of credentials for work & personal accounts for web services, no need to log in and out repeatedly -- just set up a Prism SSB for one of the accounts, and the passwords & cookies will stay as they need to be. In my brief testing this morning, several sites worked just as expected; the only sticking point is that the Choosy extension gets confused about whether or not Firefox is running when an SSB is open.

Safari 4 developer seeds had offered a "Save as Web Application" feature for creating SSBs, which has been stripped from the File menu in the current public beta but still looks to be part of the final release; meanwhile, you can still make WebKit-centric SSBs with the excellent and free Fluid.

What site or webapp would you put in a single-site browser?

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

[H/T to Lifehacker]
TUAW Prism single-site browser goes 1.0 beta originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 10 May 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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We [heart] Icons really does [heart] icons
Filed under: Odds and ends
One of the most common ways to customize your tried-and-true desktop is by changing the wallpaper. While easy and effective, the wallpaper switcheroo is not the only trick up the sleeves of the customizers among us. For some, the most rewarding customization results from replacing icons.

There are many reasons to do this, including replacing system and application icons to create an overall aesthetic, easing the identification of a particular external hard drive by using its product image as an icon, or even replacing poorly-designed icons entirely (we're looking at you, Adobe).

We Love Icons aims to make it easy for icon lovers to discover new icons from around the web that are free for personal use. In their own words, designers Dan Wiersema and Nando Albuquerque started We Love Icons because, well... they love icons! The site itself is very well designed and easy to navigate; there is even an easy-to-spot option for filtering icons based on type: Mac-compatible, PNG file format, or Windows-compatible.

Further adding to the greatness of this site, the How-To page is a great resource for those new to the icon-customization game. There are links to external content on the history of icons, tutorials on changing icons, and even design-related icon articles. The How-To area also features an Apps section which lists several useful programs for replacing and creating icons. Each application list item includes a one-sentence summary, the application's platform (web, Mac, or Windows), and also the application's price.

Overall, I am impressed with the content of the site and the quality of its presentation. We Love Icons has secured a bookmark in my "Icons" folder right next to the link to InterfaceLIFT's icon section. Dear readers, I present this question to you: in my never-ending search for the best icons, do you have any favorites that you have either designed or found? Hit up the comments and share the love.
TUAW We [heart] Icons really does [heart] icons originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 09 May 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Twitterrific 2.0: It's real, and it's SPECTACULAR.
Filed under: iPhone, iPod touch, App Review
I'll be honest, I adore Twitter. I don't mean "Oh it's so cute and Oprah's on it," I mean in a way that is likely unhealthy. It was just another technology I had an account for but only sort of used until I found out that the Iconfactory created an application for my desktop called Twitterrific that allowed me to have a little corner of my desktop devoted to microblogging. So then I used it a little more.

Then I got my iPhone 3G and the Iconfactory made a version of Twitterrific for that, too. Today, here I sit more than sixteen thousand updates later. Twitterrific was among the first desktop and mobile Twitter apps and terribly exciting. Then some other folks came on the scene, having re-imagined what an iPhone Twitter app could look like. We got Twitterfon and Tweetie, and I found myself very disappointed to have bumped Twitterrific from my home screen.

All of that has changed. Twitterrific 2.0 is out and once again I have an Iconfactory app on my home screen. There are loads of changes, but the standout feature is the option to turn some of these off and on as you desire.

Multiple account support was the revolutionary feature of other clients, and it has now been added to Twitterrific. Adding more is a piece of cake, and the nice thing about it is that your account(s) live on a "Sources" page with the public timeline, saved searches and a list of the current trending topics. I really like this view and it makes things very convenient, especially if you want to check the trending topics on the go.

You'll notice you get three views of your timeline: A "mini" view with just a name and a tweet, the "standard" Twitterrific view of an avatar and bold name with a tweet, and an additional "mega" view, with a larger picture and the text a bit bigger as well (including the client). So far I am loving the mini view, since I can scan easily.

In case a black background with lighter text isn't your thing, you also have the option of three different color schemes, Raven (the classic black), Snowy (lighter, with some 3D elements for selected tweets), and Basic (a black and white option). Right now Snowy is the one that's working for me. I really like the way selected tweets stand out.

Now you can also pick your reply method which is one of the most impressive features. If you have a tweet selected when the entry window comes up, you get your pick of whether or not to tweet, tweet a public @ reply, or DM the author of that tweet based on which tab you choose at the bottom of the window. You can also hide the keyboard to peek back at the timeline in case you want another look at the tweet. This is a really elegant method for entry since a lot of times I want to reply via DM to someone who sent me something publicly, or inadvertently have a tweet selected but I don't want to reply to it. Every time I use this interface I am happier with it in a new way.

To keep from using a lot of screen for the buttons for different views (one each for your timeline, replies, and DMs) there's a little funnel you tap that pops up a bar with those view options in it. As a fan of the mini view this helps me pack even more information on the screen and I like how it's implemented. Next to this icon is a little snowflake/asterisk icon you can tap to get buttons for a link to a selected tweet, retweet, reply to the author, the author's info page, see the conversation thread, email it, or favorite it. You also get a button to mark a tweet. Marking a tweet is like a favorite, but currently those marks are only saved on your phone (it has been mentioned that this will sync with the desktop version eventually).

Other features I really like: the left-handed option made it forward from the previous version, configurable options for tapping an avatar (1, 2, or 3 taps can be set to different actions like show the author or the conversation, add it as a favorite), and there is a notes field on authors so if you are out and about and add someone you can take note of where you met them or how you know them or whatever else you can sometimes want to keep track of.

I love the new version, and I like to think it came about because others came along and innovated which made the Iconfactory step up THEIR game, so now there are a variety of easy to use and nice looking Twitter clients for the iPhone. Now, on to the desktop!
TUAW Twitterrific 2.0: It's real, and it's SPECTACULAR. originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 08 May 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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From the "what took them so long" department -- AT&T myWireless Mobile
Filed under: Software, Freeware, iPhone
The iPhone has been on the market for almost a year and a half, but it took until last week for AT&T to come up with a way for iPhone owners in the U.S. to be able to manage their accounts from their devices.

The new myWireless Mobile app (click opens iTunes) is free and provides much of the functionality of the AT&T Wireless website through a cleanly designed iPhone interface. After loading the 1.7 MB app onto your iPhone, you'll need to enter your wireless number and the password that you've previously set up on the AT&T myWireless website. The app doesn't provide for account creation on the device at this time.

Once your account information is validated, you're taken to a Home page that provides several services that you can sign up for, a place to view and pay your bill, a button pointing you to a summary of voice, text, and data plan usage, and a final page where you can sign up for or cancel services.

myWireless Mobile is a helpful little app for any AT&T Wireless customer with an iPhone. Check out the gallery below for screenshots.

Gallery: AT&T myWireless Mobile
TUAW From the "what took them so long" department -- AT&T myWireless Mobile originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 06 May 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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