Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) (10 сообщений)

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  • Don't throw the MacBook Air out with the paper

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    Apple doesn't just loan review units to anyone who asks. No, you have to be pretty high up on the tech journalism foodchain in order to be entrusted with review gear from Apple (you will note that TUAW does not receive any review units from our favorite fruit company). Steven Levy is decidedly amongst those who have no problems getting their hands on Apple's latest, with lots of help from the company itself (he was one of the 4 journalists who get an iPhone ahead of everyone else). Therefore, it is not surprising that Levy would have a MacBook Air on loan from Apple, but it is surprising what happened to said loaner MacBook Air.

    All was well with the MacBook Air, until Levy experienced a panic that anyone borrowing something from a huge multinational corporation never wants to feel: he couldn't find the darned thing. He feverishly traced his whereabouts and quickly ruled out thievery (he still had the powercord, so that didn't seem likely). Finally, he hit upon a theory: the MacBook Air was accidentally tossed out with the Sunday paper (if you read the Sunday New York Times you know that it often weighs in at much more than the MacBook Air's 3 pounds). One wonders if he was using one of the many Manilla envelope cases for his MacBook Air.

    Luckily for Steven, Newsweek will be footing the $1800 bill for the MacBook Air, but chances are should the same thing happen to you, you won't be so fortunate. Make sure to keep an eye on that tiny laptop from Apple, there is no telling where it might end up!
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  • Apple Store team busy installing extra noise, additional funk

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    As has been widely emailed by our crack readers, the Apple Store is down as of midnight. We'd chalk this up to actual maintenance, but since it is officially Tuesday on the US East Coast, we'll give it the new-product benefit of the doubt. Some items, including Airport Express units and the Mac Mini, have been reported in limited availability mode for a while, so it's possible that we'll see some revisions come daylight. We also have been told that the iPod touch January Update is mysteriously unavailable for purchase at the moment (thanks Will!) so perhaps that's in play as well. Of course, it could just be, you know, maintenance.

    The question must be considered: are the Apple Store outages really technically necessary to update the store content, or are they a form of grass-roots marketing that primes the buying audience for something new? After all, Amazon, Dell and Newegg add products constantly and never seem to stall into these extended cones of silence. Is the Tuesday lacuna just a passive-aggressive way to get our attention, like a child throwing a sulk?

    Recently, former Apple staffer Chuq von Rospach suggested via a Twitter response to Shawn King that the architecture of the Apple Store really, truly does require extended downtime to make changes to the product lineup. If that's the case, then this is an astonishingly powerful argument for the existence of the RDF -- only a marketing force capable of warping the fabric of space could turn an engineering flaw into self-generating hype with every minor tweak of the product line.

    Update 7 am ET:     Looks like it was only maintenance after all.

    Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
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  • Mac 101: faster widget management

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    If you make any kind of extensive use of the OS X Dashboard, you probably close as many widgets as you open. Usually, that means hitting the plus sign at the lower left of the screen to reveal the widget bar, clicking the "X" on the widget you want to remove, and then closing the widget bar. Seems like there should be a faster way, right? Tipster Nass has a solution for you.

    Next time you want to close a widget, just hold down the option key (⌥) while your mouse is over it. You'll see the "X" button on the current widget and can close all the widgets you want without ever having to open the widget bar. Sure, it's only a couple of seconds saved, but if you shuffle widgets as often as I do, that could add up to entire minutes being added back on to your life.

    This being Mac 101, I'll also mention that ⌘-= will pop up the widget bar instantly without having to reach for the mouse, and ⌘-[left arrow] and ⌘-[right arrow] will scroll the bar. But you already knew that, having diligently read every page of the OS X help file, right?

    Thanks, Nass!
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  • Stallone, Alba on your iPod courtesy of Lionsgate

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    Following Fox's lead, Lionsgate is signing up to add a 'Digital Copy for iTunes' to their DVD releases. Owners of DVD's with the extra content will be able to pop them into their Mac (or PC), enter a code into iTunes and have an iPod/iPhone/Apple TV-compatible copy added to iTunes. The copy is only valid for a single iTunes library and the process does require an iTunes account.

    Lionsgate is kicking off the program with "The Eye," and - I feel a palpable swell of collective anticipation - "Rambo." That's right, you get a supernatural thriller... and a Stallone sequel. Your iPod has never been so happy, right?

    [via applegazette]

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  • Delicious Library 2: First Look

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    One of the most anticipated applications in recent memory, Delicious Library 2 is finally nearing release. Earlier this week, the guys over at AppleInsider showed off an in-depth sneak peek of the application and its new features and revamped interface.

    I have had the opportunity to play with the beta as well, and I must say, I'm impressed. For the last six weeks or so, I have been working on a little something I like to call Project DVD -- wherein I try the various DVD cataloging programs (though most can catalog more than just DVDs) and find the best one to tackle my truly mammoth collection -- and it's great to have DL2 in the mix.

    Just from my own experiences, what has impressed me most about the beta -- aside from the various UI changes/eye candy -- is just how much easier it is to add items.

    Because I have so many DVDs, it's often faster for me to enter in titles by hand rather than relying on the iSight scanner. No matter how accurate the scanner may or may not be, holding a title up to my laptop is usually going to take longer than just typing in the name (granted, using a USB scanner like Motorola CS104 is a great solution, but at $100 OEM, you really have to weigh the expense to convenience). My biggest problem with Delicious Library (and in fact, almost all of the programs I have tested for Project DVD) has been that adding multiple titles at one time (say, multiple seasons of a TV show) has been either really difficult or impossible.

    No more. With Delicious Library 2, adding multiple titles is a snap. Thus, I can search for "Scrubs" and add all six seasons in one fell swoop, rather than having to enter in the name six times into the search engine, or having to scan each title. Since about 1/2 my collection is TV shows, this is is a huge productivity bonus.

    Read for the rest of my thoughts, and be sure to visit the gallery below for all the screenshots.

    Gallery: Delicious Library 2 First-Look




    Continue reading Delicious Library 2: First Look

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  • DST reminders for Mac users

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    If you're extra-drowsy this morning in the USA, you're not alone. The switch to Daylight Saving Time over the weekend, moved earlier last year, leaves us scratching our heads in sleepiness for a few days... although, according to a recently-published study, the DST-associated rise in automobile accidents may be mythical (still, please drive carefully!).

    The good news for anyone on Mac OS X version 10.3.9 or higher is that the 2007 DST changes are reflected automatically in software and should not require any special handling. There are a couple of things to keep in mind, though... first, if you use Entourage 2004 or 2008 and it's been running through the weekend, you'll need to quit it and relaunch before it recognizes the time change.

    Second, remember that while your machine is patched and fully DST-aware, your colleagues or collaborators (particularly those overseas) may not have the US daylight rules completely sorted out. To avoid scheduling mixups, if you are planning events between 3/11/08 and 4/1/08, you may want to include the exact time and timezone of your meeting in email subjects or event names.

    Thanks, Rich.
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  • Mac 101: iTunes volume and a two-finger scroll

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    Here's a handy tip for MacBook Pro users* who listen to music with iTunes. While it's fun to listen to music while you work, the iTunes window takes up a lot of screen real estate. The quick answer is to minimize the window.

    Here's the tip. With the cursor over the window, you can perform a two-finger scroll to adjust iTunes' volume. Scrolling to the right increases the volume; scrolling left turns it down.

    Thanks, Anthony!

    *We haven't tested this on a MacBook Air. If you try it out, let us know what happens.
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  • The Mac virus that isn't

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    We at TUAW have a pretty healthy collective sense of humor. Bearing that in mind, we'd like to take a moment and address the recent attention to the "Newton Virus," a playful piece of software with an unfortunate moniker. The "virus" was created - and named - by Troika, a multi-disciplinary art and design practice in the UK. We have no bones to pick with Troika, we just take issue with calling the program by a name with malicious implications. It is, in fact, a piece of interactive artwork designed with a non-destructive disruption of reality in mind.

    The first definition of a virus is a program that can replicate and infect a computer without permission or knowledge. The second, more flexible definition is a program falling into the category of malware. The Newton Virus is a mild - albeit visually interesting - disruption, and given that it was designed for manual installation and incapable of replication, not really a virus at all. Ergo, the ensuing headlines seen around the 'net are based on a sensationalistic misnomer.

    That being said, the piece is a fascinating little experiment (leveraging the Sudden Motion Sensor in Mac portables) that fits nicely with Troikart's typical fare, and it's earned a spot in the Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition at the MoMA. So, next time someone tells you they heard about a virus for Macs, tell them not to sweat it: it's probably just modern art.

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  • New AT&T unlimited talk plan for iPhones

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    Over the last couple of weeks several of the big cell carriers having been rolling out "unlimited" talk packages, including AT&T. Well it appears that they've gotten around to adding the iPhone to the mix as the Apple iPhone rates page now features an unlimited plan. For $119.99 a month you get unlimited talk time (but the same 200 SMS text messages as the other plans). Since all iPhone plans have unlimited data really the only thing you get is the unlimited talk time. Nonetheless, if you're a big talker (and don't live in Alaska) you might want to check out this upgrade.

    [via Engadget]
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  • Mac Automation: automating Microsoft Word 2008

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    When Microsoft released Office 2008 for Mac, they did something that I must applaud -- they joined the ranks of Mac developers creating Automator-able applications. When you do a search in Automator for "Microsoft," it will reveal all of the Automator actions that ship with Microsoft Office 2008. There is lots of great stuff included, so we'll be covering some of it in this four part Mac Automation series. I will take you through how to automate each of the Microsoft Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Entourage.

    First off, let's take a look at what you can automate in Word 2008. Doing a search for "Word" in Automator will display the available actions for Microsoft Word. As you can see, there are plenty of actions that you can automate. For this how-to, we'll focus on a workflow that does the following:
    • Creates a new document
    • Sets document properties
    • Gathers text from the clipboard
    • Places a watermark in the document
    • Saves the document
    • Prints the document
    Continue reading to learn how to create this workflow.

    Continue reading Mac Automation: automating Microsoft Word 2008

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