polytrope blog

I discovered this weblog earlier this afternoon whilst revamping my company website.

I must say it still amazes my how one can completely loose track of time surfing from one weblog to another. Checking its contents, its layout, its links .. jumping to another, etc. and suddenly it's 3 hours later, and you have drifted from your initial quest, to another subject, to another site, to another problem ..

Anyway, there's a nice post by William Porter on the vision PC users have of Apple and Macs: Dead Again.

Why can’t we just be regarded as funny and creative, better cooks and better decorators, and let it go at that?

I couldn't agree more. Another on ergonomics: Cogito ergo nomics

When something is unnatural and unhealthy, you should view with skepticism the advice of people who would tell you how to do it right

I'm adding polytrope blog to my regular reading list. I stumbled on it in a post by Kirk Samuelson on Dev Notes :: Web.

iDVD 3.0.1 without a SuperDrive

I quite accidentally fell on this piece of valuable news this weekend while building a iDVD project: you can run iDVD on a G4 without a SuperDrive installed.

iDVD 3.0.1 KB article says just that

Starting with version 3.0.1, iDVD can be used on any Macintosh computer with a PowerPC G4 or G5 processor to create DVD content. However, the option to burn the finished DVD is only available on computers with a built-in SuperDrive. iDVD 3 may be included with your computer, even if it does not have a SuperDrive.

Cool, no ?

iTunesitis ?

BuyMusic.com now blocks Macs completely. If you try to visit the site with any Mac web browser, including IE, you get the following message:

In order to take full advantage of BuyMusic.com's offerings you must be on a Windows Operating System using Internet Explorer version 5.0 or higher.

You actually get to see the home page, but a javascript bumps you off based on your user agent string.

<script language="Javascript">
<!--
	var mac = navigator.appVersion.indexOf("Mac")>-1
	var opera = navigator.userAgent.indexOf("Opera")>-1
	//IE5+ required, netscape, macs, and opera are not supported
	if (navigator.appName == "Netscape" || mac || opera) {
      musicLink = false
	  window.location.href="/ierequired.htm";
	} else {
      //find out if its ie, then version 5+
      var tmpIEVerInfo = navigator.userAgent.indexOf("MSIE ") + 5;
      if(tmpIEVerInfo != -1)
      {
	    if(parseInt(navigator.userAgent.substring(tmpIEVerInfo, tmpIEVerInfo+1)) < 5)
        window.location.href="/ierequired.htm";
      }
      else
     {
	   window.location.href="/ierequired.htm";
     }
     musicLink = true
    }
	//-->
</script>

Use cmd-. to stop the page loading, and you can view the page's source code..

iTrip Station Finder

Got an iTrip ? Well, gibe iTrip Station Finder a try.

iTrip Station Finder helps you find a spot on the dial where you won't receive any interference from other stations. The application keeps a city-based list of frequencies that are not only clear, but that have clear adjacent channels, as well, minimizing the chance you'll hear crossover from other stations.

iTrip Station Finder is a free download - but works only in the US.

Keyspan USB Cell Phone Charge Cable

This might come in handy depending where you're stranded: a USB Cell Phone Charge Cable charges your phone from your PC or Mac's USB port. Includes 6V booster. Use this cable with our wall adapter or cigarette lighter adapter for additional charging options.

RendezVous between networks

MacOSXHints has a interesting tip to route RendezVous between networks.

Update Notice

Macinblog's domain name settings are currently being updated. Sorry for any inconviences that might occur.

Update 23:37: okay, everything seems okay. All the links are valid, and the images show up where they should. The update involved a path change, in the URL and in the filesystem.

http://macinblog.com/mac/
to
http://macinblog.com/

That trailing /mac/ was an installation error that occured when I setup MT and mapped the Macinblog domain on it. My worry was to have to update all the local links and img tags, so I kept postponing the update.

The links were easily updated through MT's admin script, but all the embedded images paths were incorrect. The trick I used was to create a symlink of the current directory in itself. That way, http://www.macinblog.com/mac/img/points correcty to http://www.macinblog.com/img/ without having to correct a single line of code. Nifty.

Disable your touch-sensitive switch

My 17" Apple Studio Monitor has started to play up recently. The Display switch suddenly lights up, and the System Preference Panel pops up out of nowhere to the front of screen. Most annoying. I suspected an USB problem, but it seems it is linked to a harware problem that occured in the first generation of 17" (and Cubes) that where produced. The switch and cell need to be changed all together.
:(

Roaming around MacOSXHints I found the tip I was looking for. Back in Mac OS 9, you could disable the switch through the Control Panel. I thought that feature had disappeared in Mac OS X. Wrong. It is only hidden.

Hold the shift and command keys while opening the Display panel, or pressing on the front button, and a hidden tab will appear with a checkbox to disable the switches.

wOz

Can't wait to see this one: Wheels of Zeus

The wOz Platform’Ñ¢ system includes an innovative wireless network, a system reference design, and an online service that serve as the foundation for a range of location, status, control, and communications solutions for consumers and businesses. The heart of the wOz Platform is the wOzNet’Ñ¢ network, a unique local wireless network that provides long range and long battery life at a low cost.

More on MacCentral.

Google's News Search

Google has introduced a new Usenet search engine called Advanced News Search. You can search headlines by < strong >date, location, exact phrases or publication. People can use it retrieve articles from more than 4,500 news outlets publishing on the Web (dating from June 2003).

I guess it is trying to compete with news services such as News Now.

OIDS.X

Guess what? OIDS for Mac OS X is available!

I spent a lot of time rescuing those OIDS from the Fiendish Biocretes and designing new planetoids back in .. 1992, on my Mac IIsi ;)

Enable sendmail in one click

Enable your built-in sendmail, and make sure it won't serve as an open relay to spammers.

The latest version of Sendmail Enabler provides users with a much-requested feature : the ability to tighten the security of the mail server to deny spammers an Open Relay.

There is a new "Options" button, which allows you to set "Restricted SMTP Relay". With this set, the server will only relay mail for users on the local network, which is what many people have asked for.

The other fonctions include a DNS activator (needed if you run a mailserver from behind an Airport Base Station, and a PHP activator.

Pods Unite

Buy a New Beetle. Get a new iPod.

Beta test for Panic

Interested in beta testing for Panic Software ? (Transmit, Audion, CandyBar, and the recent Pixadex). Sign in now. Applications close on Monday.
And for those who might be interested ..

Note: Due to the high number of testers for our apps, we are unable to provide free copies of our software to beta testers . We will thank you plenty , though!

Netscape R.I.P.

Found a post on MozillaZine that announces that AOL has officially killed Netscape.

It has been learned through public and private sources that AOL has cut or will cut the remaining team working on Mozilla in a mass firing and are dismantling what was left of Netscape (they've even pulled the logos off the buildings). Some will remain working on Mozilla during the transition, and will move to other jobs within AOL.

Blow up

Extensis presents another interesting Photoshop plug-in: SmartScale.

Powered by PixelLive, Celartem Technology's advanced scaling solution, SmartScale creates high quality scaled images by preserving the color and brightness data contained in the original image. SmartScale allows you to:

• Scale images up to 1600% with no discernable loss in printed quality
• Preserve color and brightness data for crisp, accurate results
• Integrate scaling into your workflow with Extensis' signature, user-friendly interface

Learn more on Extensis' website.
Price USD 199 (USD 169 for existing Extensis customers), demo available.

Click to copy

Here it is: the latest version of Default Folder (1.8b3) implements the last Classic feature that wasn't available to Mac OS X users, namely that of click to copy a filename in Save dialog!

Perfect way to start the weekend ;)

Reduce your grain and noise

With Kodak's Digital GEM Adobe Photoshop plug-in.

Whether your digital images are from a film scanner, flatbed, digital camera, or CD, the Digital GEM plug-in gives you an easy and effective way to reduce noise and grain, resulting in a more visually pleasing image. 

It looks good. Will post an update after I tried it (Note: the installer doesn't select the correct Application folder). If you are seduced by his little gem, it will cost you USD 80.00

Picked up from MacNN.

Obviously, the results depend on the quality of the original (hmm). Nevertheless, my first test was quite successful:

Organise your icons with Pixadex

After CandyBar, Panic and Iconfactory have produced another cool application named Pixadex:

Pixadex is to icons, what Apple's iPhoto is to images. Brought to you by Panic and The Iconfactory, the team who created CandyBar, Pixadex lets you import, organize and search huge numbers of icons quickly & easily. Pixadex lets you store all of your icons in a single place, organized into collections that you create. This is the program icon lovers everywhere have been waiting for.

Pixadex is importing my icon collection (over 1500 icons) while I write these lines. It's fast and really looks and feels like iPhoto, and (Oops) unexpectedly quits too (hmm).

Let try again .. well it quit when it reaches 900 or so icons. Lets try little by little, that should do the trick. A bit fastidious.

Misc thoughts:

• The QuickDrop window is really cool: just drop an app or a folder on it and it acquires the selected icon :)
• Don't forget to check the "include subfolders" when importing folders of icons (it doesn't stick)
• I would have liked the Inspector window to show up as a drawer
• It's not always clear what pane is active. The collection or the icons. Cmd-A often selects all the collections instead of all the icons
• I like the icon's contextual menu "Copy icon and mask"
• Nice integration with CandyBar
• Wouldn't mind a trick to get rid of all the generic folder icons..

Use your USB cam with iChatAV

iChatAV beta doesn't offer support for USB cams (yet - although in some conditions, they seem to function). iChatUSBCam fills in this gap by activating any cam that uses IOXpert's USB webcam driver.

iChatUSBCam is an Application Enhancer module that requires Unsanity's Application Enhancer to be installed beforehand.

I'll be giving this app a try later this week and will update this post accordingly - but don't expect anything in depth as I received my iSight on Friday ;).

Send SMS messages from iChatAV

This MacOSXHint explains how to send SMS messages to mobile phones from the latest version of iChat AV:

To utilize this cool feature in iChat, simply type Shift-Command-N for a "New Chat with Person," and enter the phone number in the above [+16175551212] format. When you send the message, you'll receive confirmation from AOL that it was sent.

Update: only works in the USA :(

Cassady & Green go to sleep

Another longtime Macintosh software publisher closes down (July 3rd). Among others, Cassady & Green published the indispensable Conflit Catcher, Spellchecker and SoundJam Pro which was to become iTunes.

Other favourites included Crystal Quest and Glider Pro. The advent of Mac OS X put C&G in a difficult position. Other companies have suffered from the same syndrome.

On the other hand, we are witnessing a [re]birth of software developers and publishers for Mac OS X such as OmniGroup with OmniGraffle, or Panic with Transmit.

Hallucinogens, not stimulants

You are going to love this comment found in a slashdot thread on the delayed launch of the Apple Music Store inEurope:

« Actually, it's the drugs; the licensing thing is just a cover. No, really. Apple got wind of the fact that most Euros are covered in cocaine [telegraph.co.uk]. Macs are supposed to be associated with hallucinogens, not stimulants. »