Apple has added what must surely be the last chapter to the book of Mac OS X 10.4, a.k.a. Tiger. Version 10.4.11 was posted yesterday. That's not to say that there won't still be a few footnotes added, after all Apple also just posted a pair of security updates to Mac OS X 10.3.9, a.k.a. Panther, which was superseded by Tiger more than two years ago.
Looking forward, the rumor mill is abuzz with talk about a soon-to-be-released ultra-portable Mac sub-notebook which is expected not to have an internal optical drive, and which will have solid-state mass storage, possibly in lieu of an internal hard drive. Probably to be marketed as a MacBook Pro, with a metal case, this new model will be noticeably thinner than and only about half as heavy as the current 15-inch MacBook Pro, but will share its LED screen backlighting, which makes a more vivid display possible and uses less power. This model is expected to be very popular.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
sorting it out
It's not about me. Well, actually, a bit of it is about me, but mostly not. Mostly I'm a bystander, an onlooker; I am not the pivot about which the world turns, not even for myself. At best I am a servant of forces far more powerful than myself, and may choose to which of those forces to add my own meager efforts, and which to deny. I am nearly inconsequential, just not quite entirely so.
For such a humble personage, one homepage is quite enough, and it might as well be the one I've had for years. That and other pages on the same site are where I honed my HTML and CSS manual coding skills, a well as JavaScript, although I'm very rusty at that.
Cultibotics is easily an important enough issue for me to be willing to devote my .Mac website to it, even if all that's there thus far is a link to the Cultibotics blog. The Cultibotics.org website will develop as I become more comfortable with iWeb.
The Harmonic Ratio blog is home to a project that has been taunting me for years with niggling results that do poor service to the deep potential of music not hampered by a centuries old compromise. That project is also my main hope for breaking through as a serious programmer, although I have other programming projects that may reach 1.0 status before any of my musical efforts do.
This blog, Lacy Ice + Heat (snowmelt, get it?), is where I get to indulge my Mac fixation, as well as anything else that camps out in the forefront of my mind for awhile, which will undoubtedly include those other programming projects, when the time is ripe.
It may not be perfect, but it at least seems like a rational parceling out of purposes.
For such a humble personage, one homepage is quite enough, and it might as well be the one I've had for years. That and other pages on the same site are where I honed my HTML and CSS manual coding skills, a well as JavaScript, although I'm very rusty at that.
Cultibotics is easily an important enough issue for me to be willing to devote my .Mac website to it, even if all that's there thus far is a link to the Cultibotics blog. The Cultibotics.org website will develop as I become more comfortable with iWeb.
The Harmonic Ratio blog is home to a project that has been taunting me for years with niggling results that do poor service to the deep potential of music not hampered by a centuries old compromise. That project is also my main hope for breaking through as a serious programmer, although I have other programming projects that may reach 1.0 status before any of my musical efforts do.
This blog, Lacy Ice + Heat (snowmelt, get it?), is where I get to indulge my Mac fixation, as well as anything else that camps out in the forefront of my mind for awhile, which will undoubtedly include those other programming projects, when the time is ripe.
It may not be perfect, but it at least seems like a rational parceling out of purposes.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Leopard: first impressions
Well, it's been a bit over ten days since Leopard was released, and almost as long since I started using it. So far, most of my attention has gone to the new Spaces feature, which is a great addition but has a few behavioral quirks in the version included with 10.5.0. They're nothing I can't get used to, given a little time, and I do have Spaces enabled, but I'm hopeful there'll be a few adjustments in how it works in 10.5.1 or 10.5.2.
Others may differ, but I like the new Dock, with its reflections and bright dots to indicate running applications. I've given up on trying to include everything in the Dock that I'd like to have there, and have installed aliases to a handful of apps on one side of the Desktop. I wish that it had occurred to me to do this before, both because it allows me to put more apps where they're easy to get to and because their icons make nice decorations on the Desktop. It also allows me to group them in two dimensions instead of just one, as on the Dock, and I know right where they're going to be if I need one of them. The Dock is still more convenient, but aliases on the Desktop rate a close second.
I also like the newly adjustable grid that controls icon placement on the Desktop and in Windows, the more detailed icons, the unified window appearance, and the inclusion of predefined searches in Finder's sidebar.
As much as any new feature, though, I like the sparkling performance. Tiger was quick, but, with very few exceptions, Leopard is quicker. It also feels quite stable for a point-zero release. Aside from the rules driving the behavior of Spaces, I haven't found any bugs at all so far, and only one feature gone missing, the ability to launch a URL from Terminal using Command-Doubleclick.
My main reason for wanting Leopard was the new version of Xcode, with support for refactoring, and of Objective-C 2.0, with declared properties, iteration over collections, and garbage collection, and that's where my attention is now turning. The rest I'll get around to sooner or later.
Others may differ, but I like the new Dock, with its reflections and bright dots to indicate running applications. I've given up on trying to include everything in the Dock that I'd like to have there, and have installed aliases to a handful of apps on one side of the Desktop. I wish that it had occurred to me to do this before, both because it allows me to put more apps where they're easy to get to and because their icons make nice decorations on the Desktop. It also allows me to group them in two dimensions instead of just one, as on the Dock, and I know right where they're going to be if I need one of them. The Dock is still more convenient, but aliases on the Desktop rate a close second.
I also like the newly adjustable grid that controls icon placement on the Desktop and in Windows, the more detailed icons, the unified window appearance, and the inclusion of predefined searches in Finder's sidebar.
As much as any new feature, though, I like the sparkling performance. Tiger was quick, but, with very few exceptions, Leopard is quicker. It also feels quite stable for a point-zero release. Aside from the rules driving the behavior of Spaces, I haven't found any bugs at all so far, and only one feature gone missing, the ability to launch a URL from Terminal using Command-Doubleclick.
My main reason for wanting Leopard was the new version of Xcode, with support for refactoring, and of Objective-C 2.0, with declared properties, iteration over collections, and garbage collection, and that's where my attention is now turning. The rest I'll get around to sooner or later.
Friday, October 26, 2007
the more things change
The more things change, the more they stay the same, or so they say, and sometimes that's a good thing.
The last thing you want to encounter when doing a software upgrade is having to learn to use it all over again.
Happily, that's not the case with Mac OS X 10.5, a.k.a. Leopard. While the look is a little different, and there's some new features to be explored, chances are just about everything you already knew how to do with OS X still works as expected. It fits like a new glove carefully modeled on an old one that had already shaped itself to your hand.
The last thing you want to encounter when doing a software upgrade is having to learn to use it all over again.
Happily, that's not the case with Mac OS X 10.5, a.k.a. Leopard. While the look is a little different, and there's some new features to be explored, chances are just about everything you already knew how to do with OS X still works as expected. It fits like a new glove carefully modeled on an old one that had already shaped itself to your hand.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
taking your OS X game to the next level
The version of Mac OS X 10.5 that will come preinstalled on all new consumer Macs starting this coming Friday is, strictly speaking, the 'client' version of the OS. There's also a server version, which will also be released on the 26th.
The foundation of the two is the same. What differentiates the server version is that it comes with a suite of administration tools and server programs.
Like the client version, it's designed to be easy to use, easy enough that it's a reasonable choice for groups and company's too small to have an IT department, even easy enough for home use for those who need the sophistication of a server.
That's not to say that it's been dumbed down, Mac OS X is Unix, after all, and you have only to open the Terminal program to be reminded of that fact. Any standard tools that may not have been encapsulated in graphical interfaces will still be there, just a command-line entry away, and any other POSIX compliant software available as source code should compile without modification.
Personally, I'll be getting the client version, since I only have one computer, at present, and no real need for the server programs. I wish I could justify the server version, because I'd love to play around with Wiki Server, iCal Server, and iChat Server! Taken together, these server programs and the client programs that work with them comprise some pretty fancy groupware, capable of significantly improving productivity in situations where they're a good fit.
So maybe you're not yet ready for Mac OS X Server either. Just remember that it exists and keep an eye peeled for circumstances in which it might be the right solution. You may find that such circumstances are commonplace, practically everywhere you look!
The foundation of the two is the same. What differentiates the server version is that it comes with a suite of administration tools and server programs.
Like the client version, it's designed to be easy to use, easy enough that it's a reasonable choice for groups and company's too small to have an IT department, even easy enough for home use for those who need the sophistication of a server.
That's not to say that it's been dumbed down, Mac OS X is Unix, after all, and you have only to open the Terminal program to be reminded of that fact. Any standard tools that may not have been encapsulated in graphical interfaces will still be there, just a command-line entry away, and any other POSIX compliant software available as source code should compile without modification.
Personally, I'll be getting the client version, since I only have one computer, at present, and no real need for the server programs. I wish I could justify the server version, because I'd love to play around with Wiki Server, iCal Server, and iChat Server! Taken together, these server programs and the client programs that work with them comprise some pretty fancy groupware, capable of significantly improving productivity in situations where they're a good fit.
So maybe you're not yet ready for Mac OS X Server either. Just remember that it exists and keep an eye peeled for circumstances in which it might be the right solution. You may find that such circumstances are commonplace, practically everywhere you look!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
on the bright side
The wait for Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) is almost over, only six days left to go.
For a peek at what Leopard will be like, check out the guided tour on Apple's website.
For a peek at what Leopard will be like, check out the guided tour on Apple's website.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
when on death row...
Want to know whether Michael Richard's lawyers were running Windows or Mac OS X? Good luck!
That issue seems not to have made the cut as compared with whether the death penalty ought to be abolished, whether lethal injection is unconstitutional, whether Judge Keller ought to have accepted a late filing, or whether Richard deserved what he got - understandably, I suppose.
Personally, I suspect a coverup. I mean, if his lawyers had been using Macs, you *know* it would have rated inclusion as part of the story.
But we're talking about Texas here. What are the chances his lawyers weren't running Windows? I'd say just a hair above zero.
The bottom line: when on death row, make sure your lawyers aren't running Windows.
That issue seems not to have made the cut as compared with whether the death penalty ought to be abolished, whether lethal injection is unconstitutional, whether Judge Keller ought to have accepted a late filing, or whether Richard deserved what he got - understandably, I suppose.
Personally, I suspect a coverup. I mean, if his lawyers had been using Macs, you *know* it would have rated inclusion as part of the story.
But we're talking about Texas here. What are the chances his lawyers weren't running Windows? I'd say just a hair above zero.
The bottom line: when on death row, make sure your lawyers aren't running Windows.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Murray Bookchin's parting of the ways with anarchism
Never heard of Murray Bookchin? No surprise, but you may count yourself the poorer for it. While American society bumbled its way along, Murray's gaze always penetrated deeper, and the transformations he went through were far more thoroughly considered.
The essay linked here primarily traces one such transition, one that even his admirers frequently overlook.
The essay linked here primarily traces one such transition, one that even his admirers frequently overlook.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
consolidation and repurposing
I can feel it coming, there's a change in the wind.
With three blogs, two websites (one venerable and the other just recently put to use), and one registered domain, I'm feeling the need to bring a little more order to this online presence business.
I have the beginnings of a plan, but want to let it steep for awhile before making any changes that would be difficult to reverse, or saying more.
Don't worry, nothing beyond my own degree of distraction depends upon this.
With three blogs, two websites (one venerable and the other just recently put to use), and one registered domain, I'm feeling the need to bring a little more order to this online presence business.
I have the beginnings of a plan, but want to let it steep for awhile before making any changes that would be difficult to reverse, or saying more.
Don't worry, nothing beyond my own degree of distraction depends upon this.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
ebb and flow
This is why I would be very hard pressed to write a regular column; I don't always have something to say.
It might be easier if I didn't get so caught up with the next big thing coming (usually) from Apple. Right now it's mainly Leopard (and Xcode 3), although Mac OS X 10.4.11 is looking ready to drop any day now. The tension is palpable; Leopard's release will be huge! And I can hardly wait to start reading the details about Objective C 2.0 and to try out the new development environment.
Acquired tastes, I realize, but there it is.
Meanwhile the rest of the world muddles along much the same as if I were giving it my rapt attention. That's a very liberating thought, I've discovered, and I no longer beat myself up over my various obsessions and what I'm not getting done while pursuing them.
It might be easier if I didn't get so caught up with the next big thing coming (usually) from Apple. Right now it's mainly Leopard (and Xcode 3), although Mac OS X 10.4.11 is looking ready to drop any day now. The tension is palpable; Leopard's release will be huge! And I can hardly wait to start reading the details about Objective C 2.0 and to try out the new development environment.
Acquired tastes, I realize, but there it is.
Meanwhile the rest of the world muddles along much the same as if I were giving it my rapt attention. That's a very liberating thought, I've discovered, and I no longer beat myself up over my various obsessions and what I'm not getting done while pursuing them.
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