Yearly Archives: 2012

Top 10 downloads to enhance Mac OS X

Lifehacker:

Mac OS X has a ton of great features, but there’s always room for improvement. Many developers have felt the same and created a bunch of great apps to enhance OS X’s capabilities. Here are our top 10 apps that can power up your Mac to the next level.

A brief history of (what you think is) Presidents’ Day

TIME:

To set the record straight, today isn’t actually Presidents’ Day. It is still known as Washington’s Birthday, according to the federal government and section 6103(a) of title 5 of the U.S. Code.

The new Microsoft, Apple OS war

Tim Bajarin:

From Microsoft and their partners point of view, they are really hoping that history literally repeats itself. Just as Windows was used to bypass Apple in the past, they are “praying” that Windows 8, with its ability to deliver a similar OS and touch UI experience across multiple devices can revive their fortunes and make them relevant again.

I don’t believe it’ll happen this time. Apple is different than the company that fought with Microsoft in 1984 for desktop operating system supremacy. In a way you could say that Microsoft has been trying to build a tablet OS for years and failed. Apple reinvented the way people think about tablets and mobile operating systems and in the process they have won the mindshare and market share of consumers. It seems clear from Windows 8 that Microsoft doesn’t even understand the war they are fighting.

Sandboxing

Longtime Mac developer Daniel Jalkut writes a great article on Gatekeeper and Sandboxing.

A case for Siri on the Mac

Lex Friedman:

But whatever the reason, I hope Apple changes its thinking quickly. I’m a fan of Siri on my iPhone, and I can imagine plenty of ways Siri could deliver awesomeness on the Mac.

Lex makes his case for why Siri should come to Mountain Lion and some ways it could work. I don’t know if I’d use Siri that much on my Mac. It seems quicker for me to just use the built-in data detectors to add an appointment or open an app using Spotlight.

Auto-pairing MarsEdit and TextEdit using TextExpander

Brett Terpstra:

It’s designed to add auto-pairing for bracket and quote characters to MarsEdit, and it’s based on a bit of information that I hadn’t been aware of before.

Smart people doing smart things.

Clusterfuck

Shadoe Huard talking about Windows 8 Developer Preview: I could waste a few thousand words describing every bewildering detail of this clusterfuck but I can talk about one thing that will sum it all up for you: The Windows logo.

20 beautiful private and personal libraries

Flavorwire:

We’ve taken a look at gorgeous bookstores and amazing college libraries, so we thought it was time to bring you a little inspiration for the home library — though we admit, not too many of these designs would fit in our own NYC apartments. Click through to check out our collection of beautiful private and personal libraries from all over the world

It’s hard to believe some of these beautiful libraries are found in someone’s home. Then again, some of these homes are probably as big as your high school.

What’s the difference between Single Malt and Blended Scotch?

Serious Eats:

Consumers and even some bartenders have a misconception that single-malt Scotch is not a blended whisky, but this is a myth. Single-malt scotch is a blend, but it’s a very specific type of blend. In fact, nearly all whiskies on the market today are blends—bourbons, ryes, Tennessees, scotches, etc.—although in this article I’ll focus on Scotch.

This article and its follow up, “The Serious Eats Guide to Single Malt Scotch”, are well written and really interesting examinations and explanations of what Scotch is. It’s an acquired taste but once you acquire it, you’ll enjoy it!

Zynga devs love their own Tiny Tower clone

Eli Hodapp for TouchArcade: Unsurprisingly, so far the game has been met with overwhelmingly negative iTunes reviews as users who are wise to this whole fiasco post their feelings on the game. Not everyone hates the game though. Zynga Senior … Continued

Nightline goes inside Apple China factories

ABC News:

Apple has given “Nightline” anchor Bill Weir exclusive access to their suppliers’ factories in China, amid reports of safety problems, hazardous conditions and underage workers. Weir is the first journalist go inside the factories to see these life changing gadgets get made. He traveled to Shenzhen China to see firsthand what life is like for factory workers, most of whom have never used an iPod, iPhone or Apple computer.Weir’s report airs on a special edition of “Nightline” Tuesday, February 21 at 11:35 p.m. ET on the ABC television network.

The Piracy Threshold

Matt Gemmell: Let me make this perfectly clear: piracy is your own fault. You’ve got the whole situation almost exactly backwards. There’s so many great quotes that I could have used from Matt’s story, but this sums it up nicely … Continued

The world’s most bizarre beers

Cool Material:

We’ll try any beer we can get our greedy hands on. If a friend says he just picked up a sixer of something crazy, we’d expect some craft brew that’s hopped out of its mind or an imported stout that tastes like biting into chocolate cake, and we’d gladly partake.

We’re all big fans of beer here but most of these brews would make us think twice about reaching for the bottle opener.

White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” performed on things found in a laboratory

BoingBoing:

The Blast Lab at Imperial College, London, is a place where scientists study how explosions affect the human skeleton, and try to find ways to mitigate some of those effects. As you can imagine, this involves blowing stuff up fairly regularly and The Blast Lab is a pretty loud place.But the team of students behind PLoS’ Inside Knowledge blog noticed something cool about that. The sounds in The Blast Lab weren’t just loud noises, they were loud notes. Edit them together, and you could reproduce a whole song, using nothing but sounds recorded in a working scientific laboratory.

OMG iOS is being OS X-ified

I’m going to use the same faulty logic that some people have used to claim that OS X Mountain Lion is being iOS-ified to show how iOS is being Mac-ified. Calendars: On the Mac first as iCal, clearly Apple added … Continued

Apple posts guide to “Start Developing iOS Apps”

The Next Web:

If there is one aspect of Apple’s iDevice ecosystem that deserves a ton of credit for both growing and cementing its user base, it has to be the way developers flock to it. Apple wants developers on that line, Apple needs developers on that line.That’s why it’s not surprising, but still pleasant, to see Apple making an effort to onboard new developers with a beautiful and simple new introductory document called “Start Developing iOS Apps Today“.

Mac Rumors says it confirmed the iPad 3 display

Eric Slivka at Mac Rumors:

MacRumors has now been able to obtain one of these iPad 3 displays and examine it under a microscope in an effort to determine whether it is indeed an ultra-high resolution Retina display. Physically, the purported iPad 3 display is the same size as the current iPad 1 and iPad 2 display at 9.7″ in diagonal, and looks quite similar to the naked eye.

Moving in together

For many, the announcement of OS X Lion was viewed with a great deal of negativity. Perceived as subverting the complexity of OS X, Lion was painted by many as an unwelcome agent of change – an entity seeking to castrate the strength of the Mac. Boasting nascent implementations of iOS features, many were quick to point accusatory fingers at the budding mobile operating system. OS X was courting a younger, sleeker companion, and its personality was starting to change – starting to dress a little better and clean up its act. Many felt betrayed. […]

‘Item is currently being modified’

Tyler Tschida:

If you’re not up to speed on this issue, let me explain. About two weeks ago something terrible happened in the App Store, and we’re still not sure what. Apps that received any type of price change, whether it was a small discount or a short term free period, started randomly displaying this absolutely maddening message: “This item is currently being modified. Please try again later.”

I’ve never seen this error.

Proview to Apple: You owe us $2 billion

AllThingsD:

Proview, the foundering Chinese company battling with Apple over the iPad trademark, originally wanted millions of dollars for the rights to the mark in China. Now it wants billions.As for allegations that Proview is breaching its iPad trademark deal to squeeze Apple for more money, Proview CEO Yang Rongshan says that’s not the case at all. “We own the iPad trademark in China,” Yang said. “If you were in my position … you would try to protect your rights.”Apple, however, argues that it’s not Proview’s rights that need to be protected.

Apple launches 25 billion app download promotion

Apple launched a new promotion on Friday as it nears 25 billion app downloads on its App Store. As of today, nearly 25 billion apps have been downloaded worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we … Continued

iPad improves Kindergartners literacy scores

Apple has been involved in the education market for decades, but the release of the iPad could be the most significant contribution the company has ever made. A new research study shows that Kindergartner students using iPads scored better on literacy tests than students that didn’t use the device.

I spoke with Mike Muir, Auburn School Department’s Multiple Pathways Leader, about the program and specifically about the focus on the iPad initiative. […]