Whomwah.com

UPDATE: version 2.1.2 available for download. Ok, so my current favorite Dashboard widget so far (apart from the one we’ve been building at work, more about that soon) has to be the iCal events one. I have a memory like a sieve and anything that I can quickly look at and check to see where I should be, and what I should be doing there is great for me. Ben Kazez, the guy who wrote it has recently updated the widget to version 2.02. It now shows upcoming entries from all calendars in the time frame of your choice. Nice work.

It seems that Apple are going to add podcasting support to itunes in it’s next version. Apple CEO Steve Jobs told the assembled crowd at “D3: All Things Digital,” that support would be added in its next version of iTunes (4.9), which is due within 60 days.

Source: Macworld

Well, I lasted a day before I had to go out and get Apple’s latest offering. After reading endless articles I had to see it for myself, and I must say, first impressions are good. You can’t necessarily see the quoted 200 new features but the most talked up ones I’m finding useful. I actually think the nicest thing, and something I didn’t expect was that my Powerbook is now running faster, I actually expected the opposite.

Spotlight is really very nice. I used quicksilver before and didn’t really use it to it’s full capabilities. All I really use it for was to search for files (duh, really) and to open apps without having to hunt them down. Spotlight allows me to do this.

Dashboard I love. I have been playing with this a lot and hope to have a few widgets up and running soon. I guess I like this so much because the way widgets are constructed is using the kind of web based structures I have to deal with on a day to day basis. Not to say that they can’t go a lot further than that, but for me it means I can see something working straight away.

I am yet to try Automator but I’m sure there are many things it will be able to do that will make life easier. I was thinking things like creating thumbnails, resizing images in batches, automated backups of specific stuff (maybe zipping up important data and emailing it to my Gmail account for safe storage), the list is endless.

In fact the only thing I wasn’t into is the new icons in Mail. Too small and fidelity. I’m sure someone will come up with an alternative soon.

So in short Tiger is proving great. I no doubt will write more about it as I find it out from playing around and hearing things from friends. In the mean time I can only advise Apple users to go get it now.

The saw the sad news that Jef Raskin died the other day. Jef created the Macintosh computer as employee number 31 at Apple in the early 1980s, revolutionizing computer interface design.

photo: Marcin Wichary

Jef invented “click and drag” and many other methods now taken for granted by computer users. He named the Macintosh project after his favorite variety of apple, the McIntosh, modifying the spelling for copyright purposes.

A great pioneer..

The Mac mini, Apple’s latest offering has really blow the socks of the competition. It looks great, is small, and for the price packs some great features. No, it’s not the fastest computer out there but for the prive I guess they can only offer so much for the money.

I think this might be the machine thats makes me convert back to apple for home use. Terrific.

I have just bought myself an Ipod mini much to the bewilderment of my friends. Mainly due to the fact I only bought a 20gig Ipod a few months ago. To answer then and to get it out of my system, here’s my reasons: apart from the fact I had just been paid for some freelance and had some spare cash.

I was finding on the 20gig I could never decide what to play. Strange I know but when you have so much music at you fingertips and only a small journey to work, you spent half the journey deciding what to play. It’s not as simple as just playing everything on shuffle. Sometimes I want to hear songs by someone, but not have to choose between 400 people.

So in comes the Ipod mini, only 4gig. It means I can stick a few of the old favs on there and then I have created a playlist of (currently un- rated songs) that I can slowly rate (my big Ipod couldn’t do that) and it means that whenever I dock the thing it gives me a bank of new stuff to listen to as well as the old favs.

See it was a simple decision after all. Oh and plus it looks and feels lovely. In fact thinking about it that could be the only reason.

Take it up a notch without losing your cool. The top-of-the-line Power Mac G5 with dual 2.5GHz processors squeezes outrageous performance into tight quarters. To cool down those steaming circuits, Apple designed a sophisticated liquid cooling system that takes off the heat without bumping up the noise. Mac OS X dynamically adjusts the flow of the fluid and the speed of the fans based on temperature.

They say:

AirPort Express with AirTunes redefines the way you listen to your music at home. It gives you the freedom to play your iTunes music through your stereo or powered speakers in virtually in any room of your house ? wirelessly. It lets you enjoy the tremendous flexibility of iTunes without being bound to your Mac or PC, opening up a whole new world of musical enjoyment.

how nice

The Linux on iPod Project has just crossed a milestone. Currently their firmware works on all ipod models other then the new mini. Sound plays and for many people it has more features then the original iPod firmware! Check out the link to the development site.

Taking apart the iPod mini

Apple has crammed a lot of stuff into the anodized aluminum enclosure of the new iPod mini, and taking it apart would be no easy task. his guy is an industrial designer with lots of experience pulling back the curtain and meeting the wizard in PDAs, Mp3 players, stereos, watches and all sorts of other gear. He’s usually pretty good at it, having not broken something in years (lots of bug hunts for tiny parts on the floor though). Except his brand-new iPod mini, where he screwed up big time… twice!