Tuesday, January 1, 2008

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (10 сообщений)

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  • Gear Live answers iPhone 1.1.3 questions

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    After last nights iPhone video post, Gear Live has answered the first batch of viewer questions regarding the iPhone firmware 1.1.3. In addition to posting the Q&A, they have included a picture of the "About" screen of the iPhone, which clearly shows "1.1.3" in the software version. When this story first broke, there were many skeptics (including myself). Either this a big hoax played on the internet public, or it's real.

    Last night, I spoke with Andru Edwards of Gear Live to get a little more information. Andru reassured me again that the firmware is, in fact, real; however, he could not share any other information than what is already posted at Gear Live.

    Thanks Andru!
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  • TUAW wishes you a shiny, bright New Year

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    From all of us at The Unofficial Apple Weblog, we wish you a warm, bright, wonderful 2008.
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  • iPhone Doom updated, close to playable

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    Here's the latest build of iPhone Doom, sent to us by Stephen T a.k.a. psychochromatic, who recently took over the application from stepwhite. Last night on the Talkcast we were chatting about the biggest stories of 2007, and I totally should have mentioned iPhone NES and iPhone Doom-- these were two huge projects we heard about in the early days of iPhone hacking that really set the pace for putting third-party applications on there.

    Psycho says that this build is not quite playable yet, but he's got it faster than ever and working in widescreen mode. The control scheme is definitely interesting, too, although not quite as intuitive as you might hope. At any rate, steps are being made. I continue to be impressed with the potential of the iPhone in terms of gaming-- here's hoping, yet again, that the official SDK will let us do this stuff as well.
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  • Ask TUAW: Protecting files, Remoteless Front Row, Boot problems, and more

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    In this final Ask TUAW of the year we'll tackle questions on password protecting files, starting Front Row without a remote, booting problems with a Time Machine drive, configuring the OS X firewall, updating an offline Mac and more.

    As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. And now to the questions!

    Continue reading Ask TUAW: Protecting files, Remoteless Front Row, Boot problems, and more

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  • Beta Beat: Simple sync with Changes

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    Changes BetaThis one is ostensibly for developers, but if you ever rock a revision control system or get excited about a little late-night diff-and-merge for whatever reason, your life may have just gotten easier. Changes is an app designed to simplify project synchronization and differencing for groups or individuals working locally or remotely. It provides a GUI and an impressive list of features for an initial release, including MacFuse support, Subversion and other SCM integration, a TextMate bundle and a command line utility.

    Yes, it bears a resemblance to FileMerge, but Changes offers features and options well beyond Apple's aging utility. Because it uses existing systems (chdiff) and provides a plugin SDK, it's both easy to implement and extensible. The command line utility and F-Script support provide additional options for incorporating Changes into your existing workflow. I appreciated the familiar interface and was impressed by how simple it was to integrate Changes into my existing TextMate/Subversion workflow with a few keystrokes.

    Changes, which is a Leopard-only release, is currently in beta and is available for immediate download. As of today, the download requires registering for a beta key but the developer has let us know that an upcoming build will switch to a simple time-locked beta. If you dig the software you can get a pre-release discount on a full license, receiving $10 off the $39.95 release price, but the offer is only good until the end of the beta period. And, less importantly, I made it through the whole post without a Bowie reference. Phew.


    Update: The new build mentioned above has been released and no longer requires registering for a beta key. An email address is still required for download, but it's less hassle now.
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  • Five ways you can make life easier for new Mac users

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    As we close out 2007, there are thousands of new Mac users just beginning to explore the wonderful world found on those shiny computers that were tucked under the tree/menorah/nonsectarian gift deployment venue. If there's one thing we'd recommend that experienced Mac hands could do to make the adjustment easier... well, there isn't just one thing, there's five. Got other suggestions for onboarding the switcher nouveau? Drop them in the comments.

    1. Don't buy Apple RAM. This should be stenciled on every Mac box, printed on UPS driver caps, and possibly placed on street stickers outside the Apple Stores (I kid! Don't sue me). I recently priced a 512 MB upgrade for a vintage G4 iBook, and while I would have liked the convenience of the Apple Store for quick pickup, I could not possibly justify the 300+% markup over crucial.com's or OWC's price for the exact same part ($150 vs. $38). I doubt that an educated-customer avoidance of Apple memory, either BTO or upgrades, will make much difference to pricing policies, but this situation is so insanely out of whack that something has got to give.

    Update:     Several readers have pointed out that you should hold onto your factory RAM in case you need to troubleshoot problems down the road, a good suggestion -- Apple support or Genius Bar techs will often ask you to return your machine to as-shipped condition. If you want to cross-check that you're getting the same manufacturer as Apple uses, you can always compare RAM prices and part specs in a jiffy at dealram.com. Reader JC did a quick survey of manufacturer markups on RAM and suggests that Apple's pricing may not be so far out of line when compared to other high-end computer vendors like Sony; still, I stand by my statement that buying Apple RAM is too expensive.

    2. Make a shareware gift basket.     You've got the massive downloads folder and the experience with your favorite Mac programs; why not leverage that? Burn a CD full of your top shareware apps, or register a couple of them in your buddy's name. Nothing says "I care" like software.

    3. Give the gift of bookmarks. Your experience as a Mac veteran has populated your browser bookmarks with a zillion helpful sites; export them and send them on over! If you need a starter list: macfixit, macintouch, macworld, dealmac, macosxhints, versiontracker, iusethis, and of course our humble little blog.

    4. Provide a personal support gift certificate.     An email that says "call me anytime" might give too much license for midnight pleas for help -- maybe a stylized one-sheet saying "This certificate good for three hours of handholding, gentle instruction, wireless troubleshooting & general Mac advice" will set the ground rules.

    5. Deliver the Kool-Aid. One of the hardest transitions for recovering Windows users to make when adjusting to the Macintosh Way is the attitude: expecting things to "just work" instead of having to tweak registry settings and swap out DLLs, being willing to cooperate with your computer instead of fighting it all the way. Sit with your buddy and watch them work for a bit; if you notice points of friction, try to lubricate. Remind them they can still right-click, allow them to plug in a printer and not go searching for drivers. See the light in their eyes return.
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  • Permanent Eraser 2.3.3

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    Should Auld Acquaintance be deleted... then too bad! Especially if you are using Edenwaith's free Permanent Eraser product. Unlike Disk Utility (and Mac OS X's secure empty trash), this disk eraser will over-write data 35 times (versus secure empty trash's 7 times). What many users don't know is that when you delete a file from your computer, it's not really deleted; the operating system just marks that space as "free." However, this software will over-write the area of the hard drive where the data remains until it is scrambled and unable to be read.

    This software received a new update yesterday that improves a bug that limited you to deleting 250 files. This application also has full Mac OS X Leopard support; including new icons for Leopard. In addition to deleting files in the trash can, you can also drag files to the icon to securely delete them.

    This application can be downloaded for free from the Edenwaith website or from Mac Update.



    [via Mac Update]
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    Комментарии к сообщению:
    http://www.tuaw.com/2007/12/31/permanent-eraser-2-3-3/#comments



  • A few laser etched Macs to ring out 2007

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    I have no problem admitting that I'm a sucker for a cool laser etched piece of tech. Our friends over at DVICE have gathered up a few great examples of what a laser can do to spiffy up your Apple product of choice (interestingly 8 out of 9 laptops in the post are Macs with the exception of an HP with My Little Pony etched on it).

    Check it out, and if you're interested in getting something like this on your MacBook head on over to Engrave Your Tech.

    No comment on the Barry Manilow etching pictured above.

    [via Funfurde]
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  • Gish goes universal

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    Gish isn't a Mac-only experience, but as a platform game, it's a pretty good one. I played it way back when it was released on Windows, but Inside Mac Games reports that Chronic Logic has released a universal binary of Gish, so now you can play it on Intel or PowerPC Macs alike.

    Like I said, I found the game pretty fun. You play a ball of tar (no kidding) that rolls through underground locations in search of his lady friend (isn't that always how it goes), and the fluidity of your main character brings a lot of weird physics manipulation into play-- you can squeeze through small places, and even stick to surfaces like walls and ceilings. It's definitely a fun twist on platforming (and Gish can even invade old platformers with "warp zones," little psuedo stages that let you visit other games with Gish's abilities), and if you're in the mood for a great indie game, make sure to check out the demo. The full game is $20 over at the Chronic Logic website.
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  • Motley Fool declares Apple stock of 2008

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    Will 2008 be the year of Apple? I thought 2007 was the year of Apple (and before that 2006 wasn't too shabby as I recall), but it would seem that those foolish stock dudes over at The Motley Fool think that Apple stock will be the stock to have in 2008. They point out Apple's aggressive, and successful, retail growth, the iPod and iPhone, and rumors of movie rentals in iTunes as reasons to be bullish about Apple. Not to mention that people actually like Leopard (no offense, Vista, you are trying pretty hard and we appreciate it!).

    I, personally, do not own a single share of Apple but I wonder how many TUAW readers out there are shareholders. Sound off in the comments.
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