Fresh Apple: The Apple Blog (5 сообщений)

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The Apple Blog
The Apple Blog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
http://theappleblog.com
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Google Gears (Beta) [Finally] Comes To Safari
Spotlight importers aren’t the only symbols of Mac-generosity coming from the fine folks over at Google. The Google Gears project has released a beta of their browser code which enables developers to make web apps that behave more like local desktop apps and allow some – or complete – functionality even when you are not connected to the Internet (Google Reader being a very good example). When you come across a “Gears-enabled” application, your browser will prompt you to see if you trust this particular application enough to let it have access to your local filesystem:

It appears to store data in ~/Library/Application Support/Google/Google Gears for Safari, so this would be a good folder to check from time-to-time (remember lsof is your friend) and the database files that are stored use SQLite, so you can peruse them from the command-line or via various GUI’s (one mentioned just recently).

Being a beta release, there are issues and you can add your own newfound bugs to the list as you come across them.

You’ll need Safari 3.1.1 at a minimum (and OS X 10.4.11/10.5.3). I’ve confirmed that it works with Safari 3.1.2. No word on Safari for Windows compatibility (let us know!) and don’t count on Mobile Safari support anytime soon.

If you give the beta a go, let us know your experiences and if you are a developer with a Gears-enabled application, drop the URL in the comments for all the TAB-world to see!

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Suggestions for OS X improvments
It occurred to me tonight that OS X isn’t getting any new features in version 10.6 of this amazing operating system. It really sunk in. You know, geeks hear these announcements at WWDC or in the blogosphere and its only when there is enough time to reflect before it sinks in. That’s what happened to me anyway, and if you’re thinking the same thing then the next question applies. Does no new features bother anyone? I think I said a while back that 10.5 ‘could be the bastard child in a a long line of fine operating systems’ and thankfully 10.5 has been pretty good to the world. Granted it had a rough start, but Apple has delivered more significant updates than its peers in the same business. 10.5 is certainly far from perfect though, and it’s still good that the strategy moving forward is one about quality and design.

It finally sunk in for me what no new features meant. Being greedy and always wanting more, I pause in moments to remember a favorite quote.

“Perfection (in design) is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but rather when there is nothing more to take away.” — Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Yet I still can’t stop thinking of ways to make 10.6 better. Sure we all suspect major changes in the way we interact with computers using a multitouch platform. All of the multitouch goodness on an Internet device, on my desk or in my pocket, and one that uses standards-based browsers has me very excited to be alive and geeky.
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Software Updates & New Release Highlights For Week Ending 2008-08-23
Yet again, an Apple update steals the show with the release of iPhone OS 2.0.2. Strangely enough, you may have been a recipient of the following text message (ostensibly from Apple) even if you upgraded:

For a release that just “fixed bugs,” I find it difficut to believe that the motivation behind the SMS (if it was from Apple) is not more related to a security issue than Apple’s desire to ensure iPhone users are well-informed.

Apple also released a MacBook Air update (full disclosure: this one I did not install as I do not own an Air) which fixes issues with video playback and processor core idling. Apple makes note that third-party software that modifies processor operating characteristics such as frequency and voltage is not supported and should be removed before installing this update.

However, Apple is not the only one gettin’ busy with the late-summer updates:
- Adium 1.3 - So, while this technically was released on Monday, August 25th, I could not let this slip away for a whole week. The Adium team did a phenomenal job in the betas and 1.3 sports Facebook chat support, enhanced MSN support (including personal messages), a much improved “contacts” interface with excellent Address Book support and significantly enhanced searching. A definite must-install.
- NewsLife - 1.2.1 - I gave NewsLife (yet another RSS reader) a try this week, since I’m a sucker for shiny, new toys. It did not import the OPML groups from NetNewsWire, but does support grouping of feeds. Mouse tracking in the article list window kept working even with the Preferences dialog having focus (bug? feature?). It’s a clean, simple app that is charging ~$15.00USD for something you can get for free in many other ways, but it may have a visual & functional style that appeals to you. Requires OS X 10.4 or 10.5, PPC/Intel
- NetNewsWire - 3.1.7b4 - Speaking of RSS readers, NNW fixed an issue with a startup crash and some proxy compatibility problems and tweaked some UI color indicators for clippings and unread items counts. One of the more interesting updates, though, is the inclusion of an AppleScript command to evaluate the JavaScript for the current page. Most users will probably not find that useful, but it was a feature asked for and provided by NNW users. Gotta love the community! NNW is free and requires OS X 10.4 or 10.5; PPC/Intel
- AppleScript, Interface Builder & Xcode Project Spotlight Importers - Whether you like or loathe Apple’s built-in filesystem search interface, you have to give a nod to the Google Toolbox folks for helping out budding Mac developers by creating some handy importers. The AppleScript Importer imports source and description from AppleScript .scpt and .scptd files, the Interface Builder Importer imports custom class names, bindings, outlets, actions and localizable strings from .xib and .nib files and the Xcode Project Importer imports file names and project comments from .xcodeproj files. (I’d appreciate comments from Apple developers who have real projects and sources they can toss at these as my tests worked, but I hardly have an extensive personal library). Free, but check the web page for compatibility.
- Transmission - 1.33 - This most excellent torrent client for the Mac (and other platforms) fixes a security issue as well as some other bugs. You probably missed this if you are an infrequent user, but as school season is upon us, you may want to ensure you keep this app as up-to-date as possible. Not that I’m suggesting you kids are sharing files as opposed to attending classes. It’s all for Linux distributions. Gotta get those Linux distributions… Transmission is free (open source, actually), OS X 10.4/10.5 & Universal.
Let me & other TAB readers know what you’ve been checkin’ out by posting a note in the comments!

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Intego Removes Penultimate Hurdle to Corporate iPhone Adoption (Plus: TAB Contest!)
Despite Apple’s enterprise nod with the iPhone OS 2.0 feature set there are two fairly glaring omissions that make it difficult to use the iPhone in a corporate setting: the lack of encryption of the file system as a whole (or even just the message store) and the lack of available on-board virus scanners for the device (despite promises from prominent vendors). Without the former, it is nigh impossible to store client or customer data on the device, unless you are comfortable with the risk of financial penalties and reputation loss in the event you lose your iPhone. The latter is not as gnarly, but would require a policy exception at most mid-to-large companies and may prevent the device from being on the preferred list.

Intego has come up with a creative solution to one of those two remaining problems with VirusBarrier X5 10.5.3, their award winning virus scanner for OS X 10.4 & 10.5. Virus barrier has all of the traditional, crunchy goodness of system virus scanners, including real-time/on-demand scanning, heuristic/behavioral analysis, quarantine & trusted zones, event-based & scriptable scanning and the ability to detect & eliminate Windows viruses (very handy for BootCamp users). VirusBarrier can also integrate with your e-mail workflow and scan mail before you send and/or as you receive messages. The product developers realized just how vulnerable users of the iPhone are and came up with a creative way for their product to protect these new mobile devices as well.
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OmniFocus for Mac and iPhone – a Perfect Task Management Solution
If you’re like me, you have more to do than you could realistically get done in a month. How do you keep up with it all? There are dozens of productivity applications for your Mac, and a few for your iPhone. But there’s one application that’s available on both your Mac and your iPhone… OmniFocus.

I’m sure most of you have read, or at least heard of Getting Things Done by David Allen. He started a real productivity movement, and has millions of dedicated followers. He has excellent and practical advice for organizing your life and work, and there are a lot of tools available that you can use to take advantage of his recommendations… some specifically designed around his methodology. OmniFocus is one of them. At its core, OmniFocus IS “GTD” task management. Don’t worry if you don’t know what GTD is, fortunately you don’t have to know anything about it to become more productive using OmniFocus. For more information about Getting Things Done task management, check out David Allen’s website.
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