nutMac

Ok, you KNOW I am a total QuickSilver freak and that there is no way around a computer that is faster for me then QuickSilver. And you also I’ve gone on about making web search triggers for QuickSilver and on and on… Trouble has been that you have to have a Mac and you have to have the patience to put up with Quicksilver’s idiosyncrasies long enough to recognize it’s pure God-like power over your operating system… ok, a bit over zealous but you get the point.

So imagine QuickSilver as a web app, to do all the things that online like you would offline with QuickSilver. Well I just got wind that Julius Eckert and friends have done just that; put QuickSilver functionality on the web.

It’s called chosr and it functions like QuickSilver, uses the same commands as QuickSilver and turns your online life into a productivity whirlwind just like QuickSilver would… if it could… which it can… sort of… anyway, go check out chosr!

My homeboys, Realmac Software in Brighton got some big props from ars technica today for an upcoming 4.0 release to their popular web design application, RapidWeaver. If you are itching to have a sneak peek at all that’s new with RapidWeaver 4.0 then go give the article a read.

A few points that have me excited are the hinting of a more robust api that could possible allow plugin developers greater access to the OS and other apps. This is, of course, just me reading between the lines. Greater plugin freedom ovens up a whole lot of possibilities for RapidWeaver.

Something else that has me excited is the news ticker which should make it a lot easier to keep users updated with theme patches and updates.

Path Finder (my all time favorite OS file system) has had a long awaited point release, bringing the version to 4.8.4. This update brings some needed bug fixes for both Tiger and Leopard versions that are apparently rooted deep within the Mac OS itself (due to be fixed in OS X 10.5.3 I suspect). For a complete list of updates and bug fixes see the Path Finder Changelog.

Hurray!

I hope this solves all the issues I had with 10.5.1. By this list, it looks promising.

Originally posted on http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=307109

What’s included?

This update delivers several improvements for both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs (as well as improvements provided in the Mac OS X 10.5.1 [update][31].)

Active Directory

• Addresses issues which could hinder or prevent binding Mac OS X 10.5.x clients to Active Directory domains.

AirPort

• Improves connection reliability and stability
• Includes 802.1X improvements.
• Resolves certain kernel panics.

Back to my Mac

• Adds support for more third-party routers, as detailed in [this article][32].

Dashboard

• Improves performance of certain Apple Dashboard widgets (such as Dictionary).
• Addresses an issue in which Dashboard widgets may no longer be accessible after switching to or from an account that has Parental Controls enabled.

Dock

• Updates Stacks with a List view option, a Folder view option, and an updated background for Grid view.

Desktop

• Addresses legibility issues with the menu bar with an option to turn off transparency in Desktop & Screen Saver preferences.
• Adjusts menus to be slightly-less translucent overall.

iCal

• Improves iCal so that it accurately reflects responses to recurring meetings.
• Addresses an issue in which a meeting may remain on the calendar after being cancelled.
• Addresses stability issues related to .Mac syncing of iCal calendars.
• Resolves an intermittent issue in which editing an event with attendees would cause the event to shrink and not register that the event was updated.

iChat

• Addresses an issue with simultaneously-logged in accounts in which iChat sounds generated from one account might be heard in another account.
• Fixes an issue in which iChat idle time is affected by Time Machine backups.
• Improves connectivity when running iChat behind a router that doesn’t preserve ports.
• Enables logged chats from previous versions of iChat to open faster and more reliably.
• Addresses an issue with text chats in which users may be unable to receive messages from the sender.
• Addresses an issue that may prevent rejoining an AIM chat room without reopening iChat.
• Addresses video chat compatibility issues with AIM 6 and third-party routers.
• Fixes an issue with case-sensitivity of AIM handles.

iSync

• Adds support for Samsung D600E and D900i phones.

Finder

• Addresses an issue in which Finder could unexpectedly quit when displaying folder contents in Column view.
• Addresses an issue in which Finder could unexpectedly quit when accessing Users and Groups in a Get Info pane.
• Resolves an issue that prevented setting permissions on a folder alias.
• Resolves an issue in which the Eject command could write to a disc in the optical drive.
• Fixes an issue in which the scroll bar might disappear when deleting a file within a folder that includes files that are out of view.
• Fixes an issue in the Sharing & Permissions section of Get Info windows, in which the gear icon appears to be gray/disabled after authentication.
• Addresses an issue in which the Show Icon Preview preference might not be not saved when turning it off.
• Fixes an issue that could occur when trying to print an image from the Finder.

Mail

• Addresses an issue with Message menu’s Mark > As Read choice.
• Fixes an issue in which duplicate On My Mac folders may appear in the sidebar after upgrading to Leopard.
• Improves the accuracy of the Data Detectors feature.
• Resolves an issue with scrolling through a Note that is displayed using the split view in the message window.
• Fixes an issue with deleting messages located in the Drafts folder.
• Fixes an issue in which dragging the icon in the Safari URL field into a Mail message creates an attachment instead of a link.
• Addresses an issue found when opening a item in the Notes folder that is not a Note.
• Fixes an issue that may prevent RSS feeds from being delivered in Mail.
• Resolves an issue in which a selected message could “flash” from blue to gray when in Organize by Thread mode.
• Fixes an issue with scrolling between multiple To Dos in an email message.
• Fixes an issue in which the body of email messages with certain MIME structures may not be displayed.
• Improves performance with America Online (AOL) account-based messages in Mail.
• Addresses issues with some ISPs during automatic set-up in Mail.
• Addresses an issue in which Mail might not send mail on some networks to some SMTP servers.
• Mail now automatically disables the (unsupported) third-party plugin GrowlMail version 1.1.2 or earlier to avoid issues.
• Adds an option to view large icons in the Mailbox list.

Networking

• Addresses a hanging issue that may occur when connecting to an AFP network volume.

Parental Controls

• Improves stability when opening the Parental Controls System Preferences pane.
• Fixes an issue that may prevent changes to the email address for permission requests.
• Addresses an issue with printer administration for a guest account enabled with Parental Controls.
• Addresses an issue with setting printer administration privileges from another Mac on the local network.
• Fixes an issue that could prevent certain applications from being allowed.
• Addresses accuracy issues with the web content filter.

Preview

• Improves stability when scrolling through a PDF document.
• Fixes an issue that prevents tabbing within a PDF document after clicking on the PDF.
• Improves the Mail Document feature so that email attachments are more reliably created from Print Preview.

Printing

• Addresses an issue in which remote printers may be deleted when the computer is put to sleep.
• Improves printing performance when using some Microsoft Office applications.
• Resolves an issue with some printing options, such as landscape orientation, number of copies, two-sided printing, and so forth that may not have functioned with some printers shared by Microsoft Windows.
• Adds support for certain printers connected to the USB port of an AirPort Extreme or AirPort Express base station.
• Resolves a stalling issue that could occur when installing certain Canon printing software from a disc.

RAW Image

• Adds RAW image support for several cameras, as detailed in [this article][33].

Safari

• Addresses issues with Safari reliably resolving certain domains.

Login and Setup Assistant

• Addresses an issue in which Setup Assistant could unexpectedly appear each time Mac OS X 10.5 starts up.
• Improves stability and performance during log in.

System

• Improves the accuracy of the grammar checker.
• The computer will now shut down if an automatic disk repair does not succeed during startup.

Time Machine

• Adds a menu bar option for accessing Time Machine features (the menu extra can be enabled in Time Machine preferences).
• Improves backup reliability when computer name contains slash or non-ASCII characters.
• Fixes an issue in which the backup disk displayed in the Finder may be out of sync with the disk chosen for Time Machine.
• Addresses issues in which some external drives are not recognized by Time Machine.
• The status menu now appears by default.

Other

• Improves general stability when running third-party applications.
• Addresses an issue in which the incorrect search results may be displayed for certain Automator Find/Filter actions.
• Addresses an issue with the Latvian and Russian keyboard layouts.
• Addresses an issue in which the backlight could turn off before Energy Saver’s backlight setting.

I’m not one for feeding the hype machines and usually find them a bit bloated, pompous and often fall flat on their faces once the actual product that has been the subject of said hype machine is a total dud, or at least doesn’t live up to the hype. But I caught wind of one such quiet little hype seed on Twitter one day when I was checking out to see who my Twitter friends were following. I found one called Twitterish that a few of my friends were keeping tabs on. I followed a few leads and found a Twitterish website and flickr page.

So why am I latching on to this hype machine? The one thing I hate about Twitter is the clients available for it. I am sorry to have to say this but Twitterific is a piece of crap. I mean sure, the Twitter service itself is partly to blame for the apps crapness, but the app itself lacks (or buries) so many features available in the service that it makes it frustrating to use. It’s no secret that I am a Jaiku fan and a fan of the Juhu client. I think that Twitter should work the same. I have tried countless Twitter clients and all of them worked with varying success. One of my favorites for a while was Spaz.air, but with continual changes in the Mac OS and Spaz, and AIR itself, I felt I was in a constant state of “catch-up”.

So now I catch wind of this supposed Twitterish Twitter client and I am thinking that it’s about time someone came along with something new and stable and feature rich. I have no idea if Twitterish is any of these, but I figure Twitter has matured enough and proven itself to be a platform that people are going to stick with for some time that the market must be ripe for the picking. It must be time for someone to come out with a serious client that is stable, functional and accountable for itself. Here’s to hoping for a substantial Twitter client with meat on the bones.

Technorati Tags: Twitter, Twitterish, Twitterific, Spaz.air, Jaiku, Juhu

Adobe was a bit quicker to get Premier Pro Leopard OS X 10.5 compatibility sorted out than the time it took for them to switch to intel in the first place (understandably). This is great news for me since I have a client just itching to switch their office over to Leopard but I wouldn’t let them. I might still hold them off for a week or so just so I can test the waters but this update is a very good first step.

OOOOHHHHH BOOOOY! I just got my hands on the most exciting piece of software (for a web designer that is). It’s a beta seed and I am under an NDA so I can’t say what it is or what it does, but I can say this; I have a number of other apps I have tested for this same purpose over the years and I have always returned to the same trusty one. This time, however, I am switching to this new app after 4 years of loyalty to the other… want to know what it is? You’ll have to wait.

Camino issues a maintenance releases to 1.5.1

Camino 1.5.2 contains the following improvements over version 1.5.1:

• Upgraded to version 1.8.1.8 of the Mozilla Gecko rendering engine, which includes several critical security and stability fixes.
• Large download lists and corrupt site icons will no longer cause Camino to stop loading pages or opening windows.
• When viewing the source of a frame, Camino now uses cached data instead of requesting the frame again.
• When JavaScript code wants to focus a minimized window, Camino now properly restores the window from the Dock.
• Pages which perform actions when the tab or window is closed now function properly.
• Camino no longer adds site icons for local files to the site icon cache.
• Upgraded the “Block flash animations” code to use Flashblock 1.5.4.1.
• Upgraded the bundled Java Embedding Plugin to version 0.9.6.3.
• Improved ad-blocking.

Technorati Tags: Camino, Mozilla, Firefox, web browser

Was there any doubt? Of course to the Leo Laportes of the world who couldn’t ever imagine that Apple could possibly know what they are doing, news like this might come as a shock, since he would have it known that Apple is the biggest bunch of retards for not allowing this sooner…

Steve says:

Let me just say it: We want native third party applications on the iPhone…

Of course you do. You wouldn’t have put an operating system of such stature on any old cell phone…

we’re trying to do two diametrically opposed things at once—provide an advanced and open platform to developers while at the same time protect iPhone users from viruses, malware, privacy attacks, etc.

And the fact that 1.0 firmware was hacked, slashed and otherwise rendered completely helpless to persevering programers who would have there way with it is certainly cause for alarm, in my books.

We think a few months of patience now will be rewarded by many years of great third party applications running on safe and reliable iPhones.

Who would of thought that was so much to ask… LEO!

P.S.: The SDK will also allow developers to create applications for iPod touch.

Signed, sealed, delivered! I hope Leo Laporte has enough humble pie to go around because he need to take quite a helping for himself.

To the Merlin Manns, John Grubers and Macalopes out there, thank you for being the voice of reason in all of this.

[tags]iPhone, 3rd party apps, Steve Jobs, Leo Laporte, SDK, developers[tags]

Apple has just announced an official release date for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

Packed with more than 300 new features, Mac OS X Leopard goes on sale Friday, October 26, at 6:00 p.m. at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, Apple announced today. And, beginning today, customers can place pre-orders on Apple’s online store. “Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we’ve ever released,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And everyone gets the ‘Ultimate’ version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just $129.”

I just spent a few minutes reading through the full set of over 300 new features, and I must say that this is the first time I have been excited for a new OS X release. My favs are the new features in Automator, Safari (most of which I have now in the beta), and the advancements in graphics and media which I suspect software developers are going to take up rather quickly.

Technorati Tags: Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard