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- OS X Turns 10 Today: Last Birthday for the Aging Cat?
Apple is celebrating a big milestone today, as its Mac OS X operating system turns 10. That’s 10 years since the first beta of the successor to Mac OS 9 was introduced. On the Mac side of things, OS X played a key role in the reinvention and reinvigoration of Apple, a company that had seen a lengthy stint of turmoil and trouble up to that point.
The first iteration of OS X, 10.0, was ironically named “Cheetah,” despite obviously being the slowest in the series now. After Cheetah came Puma, Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, Leopard and now, Snow Leopard. Each big cat nickname represented a major point update to the operating system (e.g., 10.1, 10.2, etc.). A screenshot below shows you what OS X 10.0 looked like, so you can see how far it’s come visually if you aren’t familiar.
I hope I don’t get any longstanding fanboys jumping down my throat by admitting this, but I came in around the Panther/Tiger point in OS X history. As a child, I’d used earlier iterations of Mac OS, but I wasn’t ever a Mac owner until I got a used eMac running Panther, which I upgraded soon after to Tiger. Even though I’ve only experienced a truncated version of OS X’s update history, it’s safe to say I’ve seen things change a great deal for the better.Snow Leopard was released over a year ago, in August 2009. Leopard was released nearly two years prior, in late October 2007. Snow Leopard has the distinction of being an upgrade that didn’t really bring a ton of new features to the table, but rather optimized and enhanced Leopard, a distinction which resulted in much lower upgrade pricing for existing users.
OS X 10.6 is the cherry atop the lovely sundae that is Apple’s latest operating system. It’s a fond farewell to a cat that’s grown rather long in the tooth, and I don’t think we’ll see a 10.7 in the series. Why? Apple has another OS it’s pushing, and it’s clearly serious about it. I’m talking about iOS of course, which recently got a name change that makes it much more platform agnostic than the original iPhone OS. Sure, that’s because it’s on the iPad now, but if you think Apple doesn’t have plans beyond that device, you’re kidding yourself.
We probably won’t see a major update to the OS Macs are running before next year at the earliest, but when it does come it probably won’t look too much like it does today. It’ll have to stand astride two worlds, the world of Macs we know and love now, and the world of the touch-based devices of tomorrow.
Переслать - How-To: Create the Ultimate Camera-to-Internet Workflow
Taking photos with smartphones and uploading them to the Internet instantly is nothing to brag about these days. Even point-and-shoot cameras have optional Wi-Fi solutions available to upload images as soon as they’re taken. But what if your needs are a little more complex? What if you need to use the lens choices only available with a full-blown Digital SLR configuration, but still want to get some form of the image online as fast as possible? Whether you are in the field with a mobile MiFi-like hotspot, or at a location with Wi-Fi access available, the following solution will allow you to take stunning images in full resolution, and still streamline the upload process with correctly sized images for immediate sharing with family and friends.
For my setup, I use an older Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT paired with an EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens and a monopod. I also use a MacBook Pro to handle image processing and file uploading (though you don’t necessarily need that much power). The software I use is a simple mix of the stock Canon EOS Utility (PDF), Apple's built-in Automator, and the Dropbox Client for Mac.
Through Canon’s EOS Utility, the naming convention used for saving the images in the transferred to the folder on the Mac is configurable.
This technique saves considerable time, considering the alternative would be syncing the images at pre-determined intervals and manually moving files around on my file system. Even though I share a Dropbox photo folder, I typically don’t specify that location as the “Destination Folder” that Canon’s EOS Utility uses to save files to. Instead, I save files from the camera to another folder that I set up in Automator as an Action Folder. This intermediary Action Folder resizes the images and copies them to the Dropbox folder for instant upload to a shared folder in my Dropbox account. When Canon's EOS Utility offloads the images from the camera to this folder, the workflow I created (detailed below) will execute.
To create this Folder Action, from the Applications folder in the Finder, launch Automator and select the "Folder Action" template. Folder actions are workflows that are associated with a folder. Any items dropped into that folder will cause the workflow to run. Once the folder action has been created, set the “Folder Action receives files and folders added to” as the location that the Canon EOS Utility is offloading the images to. This will start the process.
Next, add the following Actions to the Folder Action:
- From the Library, select a “Copy Finder Items” action located within Files & Folders.
- Set the “To” to some temporary location that images will be resized within. Do not use the Dropbox folder location in this step, as the full size images will be copied and then resized.
- From the Library, select a “Scale Images” action located within Photos.
- Set the “To Size (pixels)” to 1024.
- From the Library, select the ”Add Text to Finder Item names” action located within Photos.
- Set “Add Text” to _1024x682 “after name.” This will add a suffix to the end of the file name indicating that the file has been resized.
- From the Library, select another “Copy Finder Items” action located within Files & Folders.
- Set the “To” to the local Dropbox location that images will be uploaded from.
Each time you press the silver shutter release on the Digital SLR, the resulting image file will automatically be transferred to the Mac, resized, renamed and uploaded to the Internet!
Переслать - Put Windows on Your iPhone or iPad With Parallels Mobile
Parallels Desktop 6 recently launched, and we were all over that with a review. Today, Parallels Mobile is live for the iPad/ iPhone/ iPod touch. Parallels Mobile lets you access any virtual machine running on your Mac with Parallels Desktop 6 over Wi-Fi or 3G. The app is free for the taking, but you need the desktop program for it to be of any use. The Parallels Mobile connection takes place using the Parallels server, with login required using the credentials used to register Parallels Desktop 6.Accessing remote desktop sessions from the iPad has been possible since day one with apps such as LogMeIn Ignition. I’ve been using Parallels Mobile for a solid day, and the draw is that no other app is required. You already have Parallels Desktop 6, and working with the free Mobile version, the two work together to make the connection happen. Parallels Mobile does a good job using the iPad touchscreen to full effect, even while accessing Windows 7 as reviewed.
Getting Started
It’s easy to get going with Parallels Mobile by downloading the app from the App Store. Note that it’s available for both the iPhone and the iPad, but only the iPad version is being reviewed. Once the app is installed, go to your virtual machine running on the Mac (Windows 7 Ultimate used in the review), and go to Preferences. There’s a Mobile tab where login credentials are entered. Fire up the app on the iPad, enter the credentials, then tap to connect to the desktop. The connection takes place over the web, so the iPad and desktop can be anywhere. I’ve tested using the Mac running Windows 7 at home and the iPad connecting to it across town. The speed of the connection has a great impact on the speed of operating the desktop system, but it’s been quite usable, even with poor 3G connections.Parallels Mobile connects to the desktop system in just a few seconds. It can be run in either portrait or landscape orientation (auto-rotation supported), but landscape gives a bigger picture of the desktop. The resolution is outstanding on the iPad, as the app automatically makes the remote desktop fit the width of the iPad screen. The image quality is configurable on the iPad with a slider, but the default setting works very well, providing the best image with good performance.
Windows 7 on the iPad
Interacting with the remote Windows 7 desktop is as simple as tapping on the screen. The system is very responsive and accurate, even while tapping small items. Two-finger scrolling works in any window with a scrollbar, both horizontal and vertical. You can use two-finger pinch/ zoom anywhere in Windows, and it works smoothly. This turns Windows 7 into a fully touch-optimized OS, and a joy to use. Tapping the keyboard icon at the top of the iPad interface pops up an onscreen keyboard that is optimized for use with Windows, including Fn keys.
Anything you can do on a Windows system, you can do in Parallels Desktop, and now that carries to the iPad. Using the program to operate Windows works well, and is even quite fun. I’ve used LogMeIn to control Windows systems in the past (no Mac involved), and the Parallels solution is better. It is as fast (or faster), easier to control, and turns using Windows into a very Mac-like experience.
Related research on GigaOM Pro (sub. req'd): Are You Empowering Your Mobile Work Force?
Переслать - Tips and Tricks: Finder
Welcome to another installment of Tips and Tricks. These articles aim to teach you some handy things you might not know about your Apple stuff. Let’s continue the series by looking at Finder.Dropping Files Onto Applications
If you have a bunch of files you want to open simultaneously with the same application, this trick will save a bit of time. Any files you drag and drop onto the icon of an application in a Finder window will be opened with that program, provided it supports the file type you’re dragging. You can drag and drop more than file at the same time, to help save time. Applications which support the files you’re dragging will be highlighted as you hover over them, and applications which don’t will stay the same. This trick also works the same way with applications in the Dock.
Changing Folder Icons
As some point, you might want to change the icon of a folder. For example, if you have a folder called ‘Movies’ on an external drive, you might want to replace the default folder icon with the same one as Movies in your Home folder. To do this is really easy. First, find the folder with the icon you want to use (in this case it’s Movies). Right- or Control-click it and choose Get Info, or hit Command-I (⌘I). This brings up the Get Info window for the item you had selected.
The part we’re interested in is the small icon in the top left, next to the folder’s name (not the smallest one in the title bar, the larger one below the ‘traffic light’ controls). Click on that to select it and it’ll be highlighted. Now simply press Command-C (⌘C) to copy the icon.
Now go back to the regular Finder window and locate the folder you want to change the icon of. Once again, open up the Get Info window and select the icon at the top. Now press Command-V (⌘V) to paste the icon from the other folder. The icon should change instantly to show the new one you've pasted. You can also remove any icon you've pasted onto a folder simply by selecting it in the Get Info window and hitting Delete. This sets the icon back to the default plain folder icon.
This trick also works for changing the icons of applications and other files, but it’s not recommended that you do it for those things. If you want to do that, I’d suggest looking into an application such as CandyBar for a safer way to do it.
Finding an Item’s Location
Spotlight, the Finder’s search tool, also has a few tricks up its sleeve. To get started with Spotlight, access the menubar item by pressing Command-Space, or access Spotlight via a Finder window by pressing Option-Command-Space.
If you know what you’re looking for, it’s easier to use the menubar item, but for a more advanced search, use the Spotlight window.One of my favorite tricks in Spotlight is showing exactly where a file or folder is on my system. To do this, invoke the menu item, then search for a file or folder. Usually what you’re looking for will come up as the Top Hit, but sometimes it won’t. You can use the arrow keys to navigate up and down the list until you have what you want highlighted.
Now, instead of hitting Return to open the item you have highlighted, which would simply open it, press Command-Return. This will open a new Finder window showing you where the item you chose lives on your system. This is great if you have forgotten where you saved something, for example.
Definitions and Calculations
Another useful tip for Spotlight is the way it can give you dictionary definitions and perform calculations. To get a definition, type the word into the menu item. Most of the time the definition will be the topmost item in the list. There’s very little chance that the whole definition will fit in the Spotlight list, but to see the whole thing, highlight the definition and press Return. Dictionary.app will open and show you the definition for the word. You can also hover your mouse over the list item and the definition will be displayed in the yellow tooltip which appears.
It’s the same with performing calculations; type in what you want Spotlight to do and it will show you the answer at the top of the list. It supports powers as well, so things like 3^2 and sqrt(100) will work, too.
I hope you've learned something new, and don’t forget to contribute your tips in the comments!
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