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I like my iPhone, but I don’t like my wireless service provider, because AT&T’s network leaves a bit to be desired in these parts (to be fair, so does the original iPhone’s antenna.) Anyway, I sent an e-mail message while sitting in my car at work, then drove home, only to find that the message was still sending over AT&T’s network.
So, I exclaimed, sarcastically, “YayT&T.”
I don’t need to be famous for this, but wanted to at least put it onto my blog, because right now there are no hits for this term on Google.
Technorati Tags: iPhone, AT&T Wireless
Applescript is a wonderful thing. You can use it to tell pretty much any program on the Mac to do anything.
Some people say it has a natural language that makes it more approachable by non-programmers. That’s fine if you are editing someone else’s Applescript, but it can still be a challenge if you are starting from scratch, because you still have to learn the syntax. There may even be two or three ways of saying something; I don’t know this.
All I know is that it took me all of two minutes with the Applescript dictionary for Safari and a few google searches to come up with a script that I can use to perform actions in a facebook game, roughly every two minutes.
tell application "Safari"
repeat
set URL of tab 1 of window 1 to "http://example.com/"
delay (110 + (random number from -5 to 5))
end repeat
end tell
And with that, while other people are wasting their time logging in to do this action of little consequence, I can go on with the rest of my life.
Technorati Tags: Facebook, Applescript, Safari, development
Attention users of Microsoft Windows XP and Vista:
If you are interested in the bleeding edge of web browsers, check out Safari for Windows. It is only a beta release right now, but Apple says it is faster than Internet Explorer. (Update: So does a fellow named John Tracy.) (My own experience on the Mac side is that it is the fastest browser. But as always, your mileage may vary.)
The system requirements are Windows XP or Vista, at least 256MB of RAM, and a 500Mhz Pentium-class processor or better.
You may need to keep a copy of Internet Explorer around just in case (for the occasional site that uses bad scripting that breaks in all other browsers). But you may also find that Safari is faster and better much of the time.
Technorati Tags: Windows, Safari, web browser, internet explorer, microsoft
Today I found Psstpassiton, a site that is a bit like the old chldren’s game telephone applied to short filmmaking.
This idea uses the Internet both for collaboration as well as for distribution. I don’t know what settings they are using for their codecs, but all of the video I’ve seen there is crystal clear - a welcome change from the yukky codec they use at Youtube. Just watch one of those movies (which probably requires QuickTime 7) and you’ll understand what I mean.
I have not watched everything there, but the films are short enough that you can watch one or two as a diversion. If you’re not into weird artsy stuff, you probably won’t like it. But at least watch it so you can see how good web video produced by independents can be. (Since most content producers these days are independent.)
Technorati Tags: video, art, QuickTime
I just looked at the terms of the Apple Store’s employee purchase program (for employees of certain corporations). It says I can sponsor the discounted purchase of 6 computer/monitor combinations and 10 iPods per calendar year for friends and family.
So, if you are looking at getting some computer gear, please talk to me and see if I can save you some bones. I talked to one friend of mine today and calculated he’d save $90 on a MacBook Pro and iPod; another friend would save at least $200 on a Mac Pro.
Since I don’t want to be accused of cheating, we have to be friends or family for you to take advantage of the discount.
In under 12 hours, the keynote presentation at Macworld Expo will begin. Everyone likes to talk about rumors or speculate about new products before one of these keynotes. I am no exception.
I’ve been out of the Mac biz for several years now, so I am not privy to the kind of information that could be leaked. But I’ll speculate anyway:
- Few people expect it, nor do they lust for it, but Apple will announce their entry into the HDTV business. It seems like a logical progression, since Dell is doing it. But Dell is a name known for inexpensive, reliable computers that run Microsoft Windows. Apple is a personal technology company, so it only makes sense that they would use their weight to go after a market which should see a lot of growth soon. Most households do not have HDTVs, and most people do not have televisions capable of receiving digital signals. So when people decide to upgrade, they will have another choice. I expect that most of their HDTV sales will be to people with iPod or Macintosh computers, because these people are already warm to the idea of buying entertainment technology from Apple.
- This TV will also be smart enough to tell you whether you’re actually looking at an HD signal. Many people who buy HDTVs don’t know enough about how to get HD signals into them, so they end up not realizing the benefits of their television. So the TV will be helpful and say “Hey, this is a standard def signal!” in some way.
- Apple will announce something that makes its new Macintosh computers even more compatible with Windows software. No idea whether that means they’re making WINE part of the OS, kind of like they did with KDE, or whether they’re going to ship dual-boot computers (unlikely because it might limit their ability to sue Microsoft, though they already share a lot of patents.)
- (duh) New Macintosh computers will be announced, as well as new iPods, and updates to various software. Mac OS X 10.5 will be demonstrated.
- Maybe Apple will do a 30th Anniversary Mac. (If anyone wants to buy my Twentieth Anniversary Mac, drop me a line. It still works.)
- Apple will not announce that it is going for IT sales, but IBM will announce that they are investing a bunch of money in Apple and making Lotus Notes Server a Mac OS X Server-only product. Then IBM’s sales force will try to sell Lotus Notes and Mac OS X Server.
- Apple will announce that Mac OS X 10.5 will ship a week before Windows Vista. Oh, and they’ll announce that a Macintosh is not required in order to run it. You can run it on any Intel or AMD machine. Its system requirements will be slightly lower than Vista’s. But it will not allow other vendors to sell Mac OS pre-installed on computers. Yet.
- Apple will test Photoshop CS3 on one of its own computers using Mac OS X versus Photoshop CS3 on one of its own computers running Windows Vista in order to prove that a Mac is still the best choice for running Photoshop… since the advantages of PowerPC optimization will be lost, they need to prove themselves in this arena if they intend to sell Macs to designers, who can just switch to Windows.
- If Apple introduces a phone, it will be like a Windows Mobile device except it’s also an iPod and media player.
Well, that’s about all I can think of. We’ll see how good I am at guessing. Remember, I don’t have any inside knowledge, and I intentionally tried to stay away from the topics that are getting the most buzz. I just think that the announcements are going to be bigger as Apple continues to move away from the Mac as its moneymaker. Which is not bad for the Mac, beacuse more people are buying them now than ever before.