April 28th, 2008
After seeing all the interest in this case on all over the internet, I got in touch with Artwizz (who are based here in Germany) and asked them if it would be possible to review this case for Mac-Forums.com. But for the readers of this blog, I am also posting my review here…
So without further ado, here are my impressions of the Artwizz Seejack Crystal:
Posted in Reviews, iPhone | 1 Comment »
April 21st, 2008
If anyone happens to read this who still think using .sitx archives to distribute things over the internet is a good idea, please don’t.
OS X no longer ships with Stuffit Expander and downloading the free version requires you to give Smithmicro your email address to receive their download link.
Luckily most knowledgeable Mac developers don’t use Stuffit any more, but occasionally you’ll come across the odd printer driver or Icon set that presumably someone who mainly uses Windows has thoughtfully archived in a “Mac friendly” format. The hapless user will then install Stuffit, which of course promptly hijacks all your file associations.
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Posted in Mac, Opinions | Comments »
April 14th, 2008
Yeah I know - reviewing the “free teaser” version of a Mac shareware application isn’t really the point of having a “lite” version. But everyone needs a little organisation in their lives, right? VoodooPad Lite is a great & free way to start your off in the right direction…
What’s it for?
Everything! If you’re anything like me, you’ll have a hundred little bits of information, clipboard contents, urls, email addresses and short-term todos to keep track of on any given day.
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Posted in Mac, Reviews | 1 Comment »
April 14th, 2008
I found an interesting post on the German mac news website Macnews:
A company by the name of “Pystar” are offering a $400 x86 configuration they’re calling the “OpenMac“. The draw? The OpenMac can be configured with a better graphics card, processor and larger harddrives than the similarly priced Mac mini: For $550 you can get a machine that’s faster than a Mac mini AND has a graphics card with 512MB of dedicated video RAM. (Of course, it has none of the mini’s good looks - but then again, looks aren’t everything).
Pystar claim the OpenMac is capable of running a stock Leopard installation without any modifications. But once you dig a bit deeper, it turns out that’s not quite the case:
“The OpenMac runs the Vanilla kernel with minimal kext patching “
Their FAQ page also includes this tidbit:
“Can I run updates on my OpenMac?
The answer is yes and no. No because there are some updates that are decidedly non-safe. Yes because most updates are not non-safe. It’s best to check on InsanelyMac for this information but when in doubt don’t update it. You may have to reinstall your OS X if it is a non-safe update.”
So they’re basically selling Hackint0sh’s. I expect Apple’s legal dept. is already looking at ways to take this down.
It’s a shame that Apple doesn’t offer a configuration like this though: A Mac mini with a slightly better graphics card would be a great second mac for notebook owners who already have an external monitor who want to play the occasional game without shelling out for an iMac or Mac Pro.
Posted in Mac, The web | 3 Comments »
April 13th, 2008
OS X is a great OS for “newcomers” and “power users” alike. Almost inevitably it’s OS X’s user-friendliness that (deservedly) gets most the attention - printers just work, BSOD-style crashes are (almost) unheard of and drivers are such a non-issue, they’re practically invisible (they either just work, or they don’t).
But instead of focusing on the good, today we’ll be taking a look at the bad and (shock!) ugly areas of OS X that confuse far too many switchers…
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Posted in Mac, UI Design | 20 Comments »
April 11th, 2008
Everyone knows Last.fm right? Y’know those crazy british guys that let you track the songs you’ve played in iTunes and find similar music for you… Well, unfortunately the music player on their website (last.fm radio) is flash based, so it (currently) won’t work on your iPhone.
Never fear! Thanks to “Sam” and his awesome iPhone app, MobileScrobbler, you can now enjoy some Last.fm love on your iPhone. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Reviews, iPhone | 3 Comments »
April 8th, 2008
Despite being built with an unofficial set of tools, the sheer quality of some of the apps available through Nullriver’s installer is amazing (also probably a testament to the iPhone API’s Apple has created).
These apps look and feel just as good as some of the included iPhone applications. If you want to see how the iPhone SDK is going to change the way we think of mobile phones as a computing platform, check out these 3:
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Posted in iPhone | 1 Comment »
April 7th, 2008
I tend to use a printer in “short bursts”: Typically I’ll print a lot of text-only pages at the beginning of each college term or when I’m printing essay drafts. The rest of the time I’ll only print the occasional letter or card. But inevitably whenever I do need to print something, the ink in my Epson inkjet printer would be empty or have dried up.
I recently discovered Samsung’s affordable color laser printer, the CLP-300 and as my Epson had started to chew up anything I’d try to print, I snapped it up. Here’s some of my experiences with it now after using it for a few weeks:
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Posted in Reviews | 3 Comments »
April 5th, 2008
Misu (author’s homepage) is a new $19 tool that allows you to copy one iPod’s music library to another’s. Basically you connect both iPods to your Mac and Misu will add any songs from the source iPod that are missing on the target iPod.
It uses a very clean and simple UI: When you plug in your iPods, Misu detects the exact models you’ve connected (it even got the colour of my 4rd gen iPod nano right) and drops them on top of the window. Then hit the “Transfer Music” button and Misu starts copying away.
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April 3rd, 2008
On two iPhone competitors with “touch” interfaces:
Both touchscreen handsets bear an uncanny resemblance to the iPhone - only without its soul. While it’s hard to complain when more than one person looks like a supermodel, the resemblance here is barely skin deep. I scored some face time with the new handsets, and, like previous iPhone-influenced devices, the charade ends quickly: Dig past the touchscreen, and the seamless, intuitive, well-thought-out design of the iPhone just isn’t there. For example, the Instinct’s browser pales in comparison to Apple’s Safari, with so-so zooming and landscape-only orientation topping the list of gripes. And, unlike the iPhone, which makes touchscreen typing more palpable with fingerprint-size letter-zoom functionality, the Instinct forces you to press tiny characters.
Posted in JetLinks | Comments »
