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- Rumor: Mac OS X 10.5.3 will be released soon
Filed under: Apple Corporate, OS, Rumors
Macsimum News is reporting that the long-awaited Mac OS X 10.5.3 is just about ready to go. Build 9D25 was released to developers at the end of last month with twenty-two fixes in place and no known issues. The most recent build, 9D34, went out with one fix and no new issues. That sounds good to us!
You can read the full release notes at Macsimum news, but items that caught our attention include
- Back To My Mac improvements (I'll settle for it working at all)
- Graphics driver performance fix
- Issue with Safari bookmarks and .Mac Mail account resolved
- Joining AirPort network after wake issue resolved
Переслать - A low cost guide to making music with your Mac, part one
Filed under: Audio, Hardware, How-tos, Tips and tricks
It's well known that Macs have always been favored by musicians. And why not? Macs are the only computers that come from the factory with a starter-level digital audio workstation, or DAW as the hip kids call 'em.
Point of fact, these days it's entirely possible to make perfectly respectable, professional quality music with your Mac and some relatively inexpensive outboard gear. Gone are the days when you could only use your desktop or laptop for sequencing MIDI tracks and writing lyrics for songs that you'd have to take to a professional recording studio to realize. You may not be able to make a Dark Side Of The Moon or an OK Computer in your bedroom but if you're a singer-songwriter, hip-hop artist or if you're in a band making music with simple arrangements, you can skip the studio process almost entirely.
Of course, when it comes to music, most of the quality has to do with talent and skill, not technology: despite tools like Antares AutoTune, no amount of digital wizardry can make you a better songwriter. And you'll still need to understand the fundamentals of audio production, which can be as exciting as watching paint dry.
But if you're wiling to educate yourself a bit, there's no reason you and your Mac can't make beautiful music together.
In this four part feature, we'll look at what it takes to turn your Mac into a music studio.Continue reading A low cost guide to making music with your Mac, part one
Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Backing up iTunes
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Internet Tools, iTunes
Just like every machine with moving parts, the hard drive that holds your iTunes library will eventually stop working. Read that line again - I didn't say might stop working, but will stop. It's going to happen, so be prepared.
Mark Nichols at zanshin recently wrote about his own experience of swapping and burning CDs and DVDs to back up iTunes purchases (something we blogged about awhile ago). That got me thinking about strategies for iTunes backups.
Time Machine and SuperDuper make it easy to execute local backups at regular intervals, but that's only half the battle. A good off-site backup of your mission-critical files (and I don't know about you, but for me, music is definitely considered mission-critical) is essential. You can go with services like Mozy or CrashPlan.
Personally, I've been very happy with Bandwagon. For only $12US per month, they provide the means to backup to either Amazon S3 or your own FTP server.
So, what's your solution? Please share in the comments, and save Mark another day of swapping discs in and out of his optical drive.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Word Clock screen saver has the time for you
Filed under: Software
If you're in the market for a new screen saver, and enjoy things like tha's DropClock, check out Simon Heys' (less processor-intensive) Word Clock. It's a wonderful typographic screen saver that shows the time in a clever way, and is enjoying a meme echo among designers right now.
It's extremely flexible: you can customize the colors, position and typography of the clock. Plus, it's available in 18 languages. There's a Flickr pool showing it in action.
If you're worried about burn-in, you might want to take a pass, but if you love (a) clocks, (b) typography, and (c) screen savers as much as I do, this might be your lucky day.
Word Clock is universal binary, and freeware.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - The Apple /// Resource
Filed under: Hardware, Apple History
Are you a vintage Apple hardware nerd? I am. If so, you've probably got a basement full of beige boxes in various states of repair. I call mine "The Mac Museum." My wife calls it "Bring one more ancient computer into this house and you'll be living in the tool shed." Ah, marriage.
While my collection is limited to Macs, several of you have got some Apples lying around. Apple /// buffs will want to check out The Apple /// Resource. There you'll find just about everything you'll want for the ///, including software, manuals, even emulators (including Apple /// rom).
It's like Christmas morning for geeks like us! Dig around, see what you find and have some fun with your vintage Apple.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Details emerge on future Apple Stores
Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail, Rumors
Details are beginning to emerge on future Apple Stores. First of all, ClarionLedger is reporting that Mississippi's first Apple Store is in the works. They've begun advertising for retail positions in at the Renaissance at Colony Park, with rumors saying that the store could open in the next couple of weeks.
Likewise, the first Apple Store in the southern hemisphere moved one step closer to opening day in Sydney, Australia. Similar to a tactic they used in Boston, the facade hiding the store from the public has been covered with a sign that reads, "Drop in soon. Apple Store, Sydney."
TUAW readers in Mississippi and Sydney: Keep your eyes peeled for us and let us know if you see anything interesting!
[Via MacDailyNews]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - More Audio Driver Drama: Blame Apple, Says Peter Kirn
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Audio, Hardware, Bad Apple
A few days ago I posted about the problems that the 10.5.2 update was causing with audio recording hardware and software from various manufacturers. Today, in a follow-up post to his original roundup of the issues at hand, Peter Kirn weighs in on Apple's accountability.
Kirn's position is that Apple is responsible because all the evidence suggests that the problems lie with the 10.5.2 update, not any one vendor's drivers. "Problems haven't affected everyone," says Kirn, "but they have been widespread enough that we have a right to be disappointed. As a user, I think I have the right to be disappointed. As a writer, it's my obligation to point it out. And I hope they do better in the future."
Of course, as Peter points out, rumor is that 10.5.3 is right around the corner, so hopefully these problems will disappear and Trent Reznor can get back to making music instead of standing in for angry Mac-using music geeks in my music-related posts.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Totus Copy, for your dying hard drive
Filed under: Software
Performing regular backups of important data has been greatly simplified with the advent of Time Machine. For most people, in most cases, that's enough to ensure a good night's sleep. But for those situations where a hard drive in its death throes means a last minute panic to save whatever data can be salvaged, Totus Copy can make a bad day a little better.
The documentation for this new software from Dragon Forged clearly states that running it can further damage your failing drive, but that's not such a bad price to pay if it can save your data. It requires a hard disk that can still mount, and features several means of rescuing your flailing files, including transferring single files (less likely to fail than batches), minimal scanning to reduce failures and error correction with no time limit on transfers. It can also target specific directories or even file types.
Thankfully, I'm unable to test the application right now. But if you're in a situation where this might (now, or eventually) be a lifesaver, Dragon Forged is offering TUAW readers 25% off the $20 pricetag until June 1st. Just enter coupon code "BHBB0008F" when you purchase. More information, documentation and a trial download are all available on the product page.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - 256GB Samsung SSD Heading for MacBook Air?
Filed under: Hardware, One More Thing, MacBook Air
Yesterday was Memorial Day in the US, a Bank Holiday in the UK, and apparently big honkin' solid-state drive (SSD) day in South Korea.
Samsung, which provides the 64GB SSD drive that is available in a pricey configure-to-order version of the MacBook Air, announced a 256GB 2.5-inch SSD drive. While the 64GB model in the MacBook Air has been criticized for having leisurely performance, the new MLC (Multi-Level Cell) flash SATA II drive boasts 200MBps read and 160MBps sequential write speeds. Those are double the speeds of the 64GB drive.
The new model features power consumption that is slightly less than that of the 64GB drive (.9 watt in active mode, compared to 1.0 watt), as well as sophisticated data encryption.
There's no word on whether or not the new drive will show up in future MacBook Air models. The monster SSD will be widely available in September, with a 1.8-inch version expected in the 4th quarter of 2008. Does a faster, bigger, and hopefully cheaper SSD-based MacBook Air sound like something we can expect to hear Steve mention as "one more thing" at Macworld Expo 2009?Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Mac 101: Float a Sticky note above all windows
Here is a great tip from creativebits. Stickies and the Mac have gone hand in hand for years. They're a great way to quickly jot down a bit of information, just like their paper counterparts.
Ivan explains how to keep a Sticky Note front and center. With your target note selected, simply press Command-Option-F and it will float above all other windows.
Stickies have matured over the years, and gained additional functionality like appear translucent and display Quicktime movies.
What's your favorite "Sticky Trick?"Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Adobe releases Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Soundbooth betas
Filed under: Software
Adobe Labs today released public betas for the next generation of Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Soundbooth apps, part of their Creative Suite product.
Once downloaded and launched, the betas will only be active for 48 hours -- unless you have a CS3 license. Creative Suite 3 customers will be able to extend the trial period (presumably until the final versions are released, though the deactivation date is not mentioned in the press release).
The Dreamweaver beta includes a much-anticipated (at least by me) change to the WebKit rendering engine for previewing and live editing.
Fireworks has been re-vamped to look and feel more like other Creative Suite apps, and now allows users to export design comps as interactive PDF documents.
The Soundbooth beta now includes multiple track support, and the new ability to match volume levels across multiple files. Plus, users can preview MP3 compression settings before saving them.
Soundbooth (719MB) requires Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later, running on an Intel processor. Fireworks (634MB) and Dreamweaver (262MB) have the same OS requirement, but can run on a G5 processor or better.
Thanks, Kent!
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Leopard running on an Atom Processor
Using PC_efi technology (a means to run OS X on a PC without kernel modification), an anonymous source for netkas.org has managed to run and benchmark Leopard on an Atom chip, which is rumored (and denied) to be headed for Mac.
The Atom Processor would certainly make a good candidate for a mini-tablet. It's small enough to fit any form factor, and low power enough to run for long periods in small devices. According to netkas, you can even run one of these on solar power. Here are the results of an Xbench test, courtesy of netkas:
More details are available at netkas.org.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Apple files patent for solar charging
Filed under: Apple
Our sister blog, Engadget, noted yesterday that Apple has filed a patent for transparent photovoltaic cells that can cover portable devices. This means your iPod, iPhone or MacBook might be coated in a layer of clear, power-charging solar cells.
Motorola already has a similar patent, though it only applies to covering the display area with solar cells.
While it's not clear how much power these cells will be able to generate, it will certainly be nice to have devices in the future that can charge themselves just by sitting out in the sun.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Putting the Earth on your iPhoneWhile there's still no Google Earth app for the iPhone (*cough cough*), Google Earth developer Frank Taylor recently got a chance at the Where 2.0 conference to check out a 3D Earth app from Colorado company Earthscape. He posted a YouTube video of the app, and man, it looks pretty fly. I'm particularly digging on the ability to use the iPhone's tilt sensors to navigate around in 3D space.
No word on a timetable for availability for the iPhone; the software is in private beta for Windows right now, with Mac and Linux versions coming soon.
[via TechCrunch]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Stumbi: StumbleUpon for Safari
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Tips and tricks, Developer
Being a Firefox user (I know, I know, and it crashes on me all the time, but still I run back to it ashamedly), I had no idea that there was a gap in the functionality of StumbleUpon (a handy little link-finding and sharing browser plugin) for Safari users -- it only works with IE and Firefox. But Eli K tipped us off that he's trying to bridge that gap with Stumbi, a StumbleUpon plugin for Safari.
It's the very definition of no-frills: it just creates a menu option for StumbleUpon that will let you access the most basic of functions from the Safari browser. And unfortunately, it's not exactly completely easy to get working -- you've got to make sure to install SIMBL (which, helpfully, comes with the binary download), and then the binary also requires a reasonable $2 purchase after 100 stumbles (or, for the more technically inclined, you can download the source and do it all by yourself for free).
But if you just can't live without StumbleUpon, and can't bring yourself to use Firefox to do it, this might be just what you're looking for.
Thanks, Eli!Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Mac Automation: E-mail songs from iTunes
Filed under: Features, How-tos
What do you do if you need to email a song from iTunes to your work computer, or to another machine you own? If you have one machine where you do all your CD imports, you might want to send a track to the office; maybe you've got your GarageBand compositions in iTunes and you want to send one to a friend. We can simply this process by using Automator for Leopard. In this how-to, I am going to show you how to quickly and easily e-mail songs from your iTunes library.
Continue reading to learn how to e-mail songs using Automator.Continue reading Mac Automation: E-mail songs from iTunes
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - TeliaSonera bringing iPhone to Nordic and Baltic markets
Filed under: iPhone
To our friends living in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia: welcome to the growing pack of iPhone-serviced countries! Telecom provider TeliaSonera just signed an agreement to bring the iPhone to these countries just in time for the (rumored) announcement of the 3G iPhone.
Apple is definitely spreading the love (and the exclusive carrier contracts) far and wide. I'm not even sure anymore which countries don't have service, presently or forthcoming, but I did get terrible grades in geography. Fortunately, our commenters will be sure to make up for my cartographic shortcomings.
Thanks, Olk, Mattias, Jari, Johan, Borger, Undero and everyone else who sent this in!
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Interview with MacHeads director Kobi Shely
Filed under: Cult of Mac, Odds and ends
Back in January, we told you about MacHeads: The Movie, an upcoming documentary about Macfreaksfans from brothers Kobi and Ron Shely. It looks to do for Mac people what Trekkies did for obsessive Star Trek nerds.
Apparently the brothers Shely have finished the movie, and Gizmodo's got a nice interview with Kobi Shely about the moviemaking process and the choice of subject. The filmmakers are planning to make the movie available through "community distribution"...and of course, they want to get it on iTunes.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать
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