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- Spirited Away lives again & Shoo Apps
Filed under: Software, Productivity, Freeware, Universal Binary
Spirited Away was one of my favorite PPC only applications that got lost in my insistence to be Intel-only (and a favorite of productivity geek Merlin Mann as we mentioned last year). It lives in your menubar and automatically hides background applications after a pre-determined interval. It's an important tool for cutting down on distractions. Unfortunately, Spirited Away seemed to be abandonware; it hadn't been updated in ages and was stuck in resource hogging Rosetta-land. So I was excited to discover recently a new Universal app that does something similar, but with a bit more fine-grained control called Shoo Apps. Unlike Spirited Away, Shoo Apps lets you specify different hiding intervals on an application specific basis (though Spirited Away does allow you to exclude certain apps from hiding altogether). So distraction-free nirvana, right? Well, not so fast: Shoo Apps is $15. So being disappointed I thought I'd look at Spirited Away again and discovered that it had in fact received an update back in February; now it's a Universal Binary and it remains free!
Of course, Spirited Away does not have the per application granularity of Shoo Apps, but I generally just want my apps to hide or not hide (e.g. iTunes), so that doesn't seem like a compelling feature to me. Just for completeness sake I should note that Desktopple Pro (which David raved over recently) also has a similar auto-hide feature called "Window Cleaning" (in addition to its main desktop icon hiding feature) for $17.
Shoo Apps is $15 and a demo is available. Spirited Away is a free download. With Spirited Away and Sticky Windows I actually am in distraction-free nirvana.
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http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/spirited-away-lives-again-and-shoo-apps/#comments - Twitterrific 2.1 beta brings support for Growl, multiple accounts, AppleScript and more
Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, Internet Tools, Blogs
The Iconfactory has announced Twitterrific 2.1 beta, a meaty upgrade to their sexy Twitter client that brings quite a few new features and fixes. At the top of the list is support for Growl (don't forget to adjust your Growl settings in System Preferences, not Twitterrific), as well support for multiple Twitter accounts (bust the top of the window in my screenshot), which means Twitterrific no longer shares Safari's keychain item for Twitter; it's using its own Keychain entries now. Also in the What's New text file included with the download (which I highly recommend perusing if you snag a copy) is AppleScript support, NetNewsWire integration (for tweeting headlines you're reading), drag and drop support for creating links to tweets in other applications, a slew of manually edit-able power user preferences (explained in the Read Me) and much more.
This is a great update, especially for the power Twitter users in the crowd. I've been running and tinkering with it while drafting this post and haven't run into any problems, and logging into multiple accounts works like a charm. The original Twitterrific 2.0 version is still of course available for download from The Iconfactory, but the 2.1 beta, as far as I know, can only be grabbed from the Twitterrific account's announcement here.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsКомментарии к сообщению:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/twitterrific-2-1-beta-brings-support-for-growl-multiple-account/#comments - Mac 101: DMG files are Disk Images
Filed under: Mac 101
If you've ever downloaded a DMG file from a website, you've dealt with a disk image. Disk images are a kind of virtual disk--like a CD or DVD or even a hard drive. They store files in a way that acts like one of these data storage devices.
To open a disk image, you just double click on it. The image mounts as a new volume on your desk top. This usually looks like a white hard drive. You can then double click this virtual drive itself to open its contents in a new Finder window. Copy items from the disk image by dragging them to your desktop or to your folders.
When you're done using the disk image, you can eject it. Either drag it to your trash can or Control-click (right-click) the volume and choose Eject from the contextual pop-up menu. When you reboot your computer, the disk image automatically unmounts. So if you wonder "where did that folder with my Application disappear to?" it may be that the disk image unmounted.
That brings me to the most important thing about disk images. You're not meant to run applications from them. When you download software that uses disk images, the idea is that you'll mount the image, copy the application to your hard drive (typically to the /Applications folder) and then dismount and discard the disk image. This is why so many disk images include an alias to your Applications folder. They're trying to make it easy for you to install the software. Just drag the new program onto the Applications folder--either the real one on your hard drive or the virtual one on the disk image. This copies the software into the right place and you're good to go. Eject the disk image and launch the copy in your /Applications folder.
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http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/mac-101-dmg-files-are-disk-images/#comments - Rumors: Contract-less iPhone for $899 and $999
I found this latest contract-free iPod pricing rumor over at TechnoJunkie. The poster there writes that he (or she) popped into a Cingular store the other day and chatted up some employees about the iPhone. The employees offered that non-Contract iPhones would sell for $899 (4 GB) and $999 (8 GB) compared to the expected $499 and $599 prices with 2 year contracts.
I find this hard to believe. Would a couple of bored Cingular store employees have the inside info about pricing and conditions so long before the actual product would go on sale? Probably just guessing and wasting time before the store got ready to close.
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http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/rumors-contract-less-iphone-for-899-and-999/#comments - Apple confirms LED displays in Macs during 2007
There have been rumors of LED backlights coming to Macs for awhile now, but as usual Apple remains mum on future products. However, we did get a rare glimpse into the future of the Mac via Steve's open letter called 'A Greener Apple.' He discusses the use of arsenic and mercury in LCDs and mentions that Apple plans to ship the first Macs with LED backlights in 2007 (which use no mercury).
There you have it, straight from the Steve's mouth. The only question remains which Macs will get the LED love first.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsКомментарии к сообщению:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/apple-confirms-led-displays-in-macs-during-2007/#comments - Steve on a Greener Apple
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Steve Jobs, Apple
Some environmentalists have been a bit down on Apple. Today, Steve responds to those criticisms, writing "[u]pon investigating Apple's current practices and progress towards these goals, I was surprised to learn that in many cases Apple is ahead of, or will soon be ahead of, most of its competitors in these areas. Whatever other improvements we need to make, it is certainly clear that we have failed to communicate the things that we are doing well."
He writes that Apple has been removing toxic chemicals from products and promoting product recycling. Did you know that a typical CRT contains 3 pounds of lead? I didn't. Apple no longer sells them, having eliminated the use of CRT's in 2006.
Apple's eWaste program continues to grow. In 2006, Apple recycled just under 10% by weight of the products sold seven years earlier. This seems to be in line with Dell and HP's figures, each at about 10%.
Apple's 10% iPod trade-in discount will now expand to Apple stores worldwide. And Apple is exploring the overall carbon "footprint" of their products although some scientists controversially question the need for this particular approach.
Thanks everyone who alerted us to this new Hotnews item.
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http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/steve-on-a-greener-apple/#comments - Apple TV at Costco
Ars Technica reports that Apple TV has begun to show up at Target and Costco stores. Apple TVs have been sighted at the Lincoln Park, Chicago Costco retailing for $289.99, saving you a cool ten bucks off the normal price. Jacqui Cheng writes that the normal Costco return policies seem to apply to Apple TV.
Speaking of Costco, we last covered discounted iTunes gift cards during the Christmas season. Now that Mother's Day is nearly here, don't forget about this great Costco iTunes gift card deal. Pick up a $50 gift card for just $44.99 plust $0.50 shipipng and handling. That's a nice 10% savings. You can use the savings to pick up a rose or a chocolate or two. Mom will thank you as she rocks down to Nirvana or Barry Manilow or whatever.
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http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/apple-tv-at-costco/#comments - Ask TUAW: Printing Finder window contents, CornerClick, a Finder hotkey, editing AVIs and more
Filed under: Video, Features, Productivity, Tips and tricks, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW
This week's Ask TUAW takes us into questions about printing Finder window contents, assigning programs to the corner of your screen, bringing up the Finder with a HotKey, integrating Apple productivity programs, recording TV on your Mac and editing AVIs . Remember new Mac users and Switchers who are enjoying our Mac 101 series should feel very welcome to post questions for Ask TUAW; we're happy to take questions from all levels. As always, please submit your questions by commenting to this post or using our tip form.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/ask-tuaw-printing-finder-window-contents-cornerclick-a-finder/#comments - Mathematica 6 ships
Filed under: Software, Education
You may recall that back at WWDC'05 when Jobs announced the switch to Intel, one of the companies he invited on stage to discuss creating Universal Binaries was Wolfram Research, whose flagship product Mathematica is probably the leading desktop mathematics application. Mathematica has now reached version 6 and the new features are manifold, representing (according to Wolfram) the "most important advance in the 20-year history of Mathematica." Not having much understanding of these things beyond attempting to use it back in college to do my calculus homework for me, it does seem that there's a lot new, including Dynamic Interactivity and "over 1000 new computational functions & interface enhancements."
One downside of the new release for Mac users, however, is that version 6 remains a 32 bit application in OS X despite the availability of 64 bit versions for Windows, Linux, and various Unix flavors. Mathematica 6 is available now at a variety of different price points (education, etc.), with the standard professional version coming in at a cool $2495 for Mac.
Thanks, Stern!
Update: It was pointed out in the comments below that, although it is not enabled by default, it is possible to get 64 bit support on Intel in OS X by following these instructions. Thanks, Geoff!Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsКомментарии к сообщению:
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/02/mathematica-6-ships/#comments
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