MHC-in-the-box

Well I'm off early tomorrow!

2005-09-04T17:53:00.000-04:00

So I'm posting for everyone a big TaTa and will be back in two weeks time. I probably won't have time to post anything else before I leave so I'll see you all when I get back. Don't forget to visit my new blog, I got a script to work that rotates the header images and I'm really proud of myself! *biggrin*

So see you in two weeks and I hope you don't mind mosquito bites 'cause I'll be covered with 'em... :^D

I love donating blood! ;^)

Something big is on the horizon...

2005-09-03T08:03:00.000-04:00

Well I'm leaving for a two week vacation on Monday morning. So in two days... We're leaving as early as we can drag our butts out of bed, on Monday morning, in fact. I'm pretty revved up about the whole thing.

And icing on the cake! With toasted almonds to boot! Hmm-mmm!

My friend Stretch has made me an offer that I found too hard to refuse. We will be sharing the same webhost and I will be slowly transferring my stuff over there. I will be using WordPress just like Stretch and the template is awesome! I am putting it to my hand right now, tweaking it but no way will it be finished before I leave!

Here is the link, MHC-in-the-box. Same name, same dame, same manic posting, different addie!

So... We still have stuff to shop for, some running around and then some housework so we can leave the apartment in good shape. We will have a catsitter come by to feed our little darlings.

And well lots to do, lots to think about before we're off. Might not have time to post my frantic number of daily posts before leaving either.

Ah! Before I forget! I will be contacting those of you who had the post comment permissions and I will create for you an account at my new blog so you can comment just like you used to here.

Logitech MX 1000 Mouse problem (old story)

2005-09-02T10:09:00.000-04:00

I wanted a two button mouse with a scroll wheel for my iMac so about two and a half years ago I bought a Logitech MX 300. After about a year and a half the scrolling wheel died. So ok, I tell myself, I'll get that amazing looking Logitech Laser MX 1000. It was an expensive purchase but I figured it was well worth the cost. It has been nothing but trouble from day one!

The cursor kept jumping around intermittently all over the screen, I simply could not even predict when the cursor would jump so picking things on my screen was quite an adventure and many a times this has caused me to screw up big time! I tried various troubleshooting procedures, even ditching Logitech's driver (yes, at the time Logitech made Mac drivers! w00t!!!) and installing Alessandro Levi Montalcini's USB Overdrive instead. The utility slowed down the mouse (Duh! I had bought that mouse because it was supposed to be fast...) but did not prevent the Skipping Cursor Blues.

So I went to the Logitech users forum and Whoah! Babyyyyyyy!!! I sure wasn't alone experiencing the jumping cursor! Mac and Windoze users alike! Some said it was the antenna, some said it was the driver, some said "To hell with this!... and exchanged the mouse for another brand entirely. And to make things worse, Logitech probably was swamped with returns at some point but they made it more difficult to return your unit: you had to have the original box in which the mouse shipped in otherwise no exchange...

Thankfully I called the Mac store I bought the mouse from and they didn't have any problems with exchanging the mouse: they would simply take the box of the new mouse and put my defective unit in its place to return it to Logitech. So I bring in the whole kit and kaboodle, antenna, mouse, adaptor (think it was PS2 to USB or whatever the hell it was... And the Logitech software CD which was a hybrid, Windoze and Mac). I go to exchange the whole thing and "Wait a minute Mister Postman", this new CD doesn't have a Mac logo on it! In fact it says Windoze-only! So I ask the salesman if I can keep the old CD so I can have a driver to install if ever I need to and it's fine with him.

So I go home and start using this mouse and while the cursor still jumps to the sides this time (by not much I admit, the skipping could be like one or two pixels on either side, depending) it is still annoying when you use Photoshop, for example, but I choose to live with it. Why? Because the ergonomics of that damn mouse are out of this world, that's why! I've never held such a comfortable mouse in my hand in my life! Of course, when you think I paid close to $110CAN (taxes included) ergonomics sure don't come cheap, do they?

So about this Logitech Windoze-only CD... After coming home, I go to check the Logitech website because I'm wondering at this point if the store has ordered a Windoze-only replacement for me and lo and behold, Logitech has issued an announcement that they had decided to stop all development of Mac drivers for their mouse models!!! Now I wouldn't find that too bad if a Mac user had a rebate since we can't get any drivers from Logitech now for their damn rodents but we pay the same price as a Windoze user who has software up the wazoo from Logitech...

Now yesterday the replacement has stopped working. It hasn't even been a year that I bought it, it's been about eight or nine months since I had it replaced and now it's on the blink again. This time it seems like it's the antenna that's dead. The mouse is fully charged, it identifies I am moving it around but the antenna, for some stoopid reason, is not sending the signal. I reinstalled the driver and it doesn't see there is a device plugged in. I pulled the cable out and inserted the MX 300 instead and the Logitech mouse driver picks it up instantaneously so the problem isn't the USB port either. Can't see it being the cable from the keyboard to the antenna, it hasn't moved, it's away from all things that could get hot, so really...

So now I should go back to the store and exchange it again. Hah! You know what? I'm fed up! ergonomics or not, I'm bloody fed up. Needless to say I will never ever buy a Logitech product again in my remaining life, not even their lame computer speakers. I do not want to encourage a company that thinks Mac users are second class citizens.

So now I have set my eyes on this one, the Razer Pro V1.6.

It's pretty sexy, hunh? Plus I simply love the fact that they don't mind developing Mac drivers and aren't ashamed of showing the Mac logo on their webpage. The website promises an online store in Canada but doesn't say when this will happen so I have emailed them to find out if they have an idea when they plan on launching it.

Here are the Razer Pro V1.6's Technical Details.

I was for a time interested in Apple's Mighty Mouse but reviews are so mixed, I really don't know what to think. Besides, the ergonomic design, the shell that makes the mouse's shape, hasn't changed much from what I can see from the Apple Pro Mouse. I'm looking for something a bit more comfortable...

Improving Mac OS X's Finder: Take two

2005-09-02T08:48:00.000-04:00

It seems to me that The Great "Improve The Finder" Debate has been going on for a while. Granted, some have been using the Mac much longer than I have (I started using one in late 1996, with system 7.5.3) but ever since my early days of using a Mac I've heard this debate, off and on. The introduction of Mac OS X had quieted down the musings for a while but now they're picking up momentum again and in certain cases, rightfully so. Like for instance I posted earlier on this opinion by afterglow from creativebits and improvements suggested made plenty of sense, Rethinking the Finder.

drunkenbatman adds his thoughts to the whole debate. It seems that the Tiger Finder gets weirder and weirder and the cause of this is Mac OS X's LaunchServices. Take a look at what he means... Oh, Stupid Finder. Since I'm still with Panther I can't exactly verify to which extent that can get as bad, but I have noticed since the later Panther updates that at least one of the problems he mentions is happening in my system as well...

Tiger System settings

2005-09-01T22:35:00.000-04:00

A whole bunch of them got together at Macworld to write this article, Tiger Secrets: System settings - 20 top-secret tweaks that can bend OS X 10.4 to your will. Like for instance did you know you could ask Tiger's Spelling to be bilingual? Man, lemme tell ya, it sure will come in handy for me, I'm constantly changing the Spelling Dictionary in Panther, I sometimes write emails in French, sometimes in English.

Check it out, there must be something in there you weren't aware of... ;^)

Mac OS X's Color Picker

2005-09-01T22:28:00.000-04:00

Macworld's Rob Griffith posted an interesting How To, Secrets of the Color Picker.

If you’ve used a Mac for any length of time at all, you’re probably familiar with the Color Picker. The Color Picker is a small floating window through which you can choose colors for text, objects, lines, and other objects (depending on which application you’re in when using it, of course). You can call up the color picker from any Cocoa application (TextEdit, Mail, Keynote, Pages, etc.) by hitting Shift-Command-C. Other programs, such as Word and Excel, don’t use Apple’s color picker at all, so the following tips won’t apply to those programs. Finally, some programs such as Photoshop offer the option to use either the Adobe color picker or Apple’s color picker. Obviously, you’ll have to be using Apple’s color picker in those programs in order to use these tips.

The first thing to realize about Apple’s color picker is that it’s a relatively complex interface element. You’re probably most familiar with the picker’s default look, which is the color wheel interface. But using the small toolbar at the top of the window, you can choose from four additional styles: Color Sliders, Color Palettes, Image Palettes, and (the most fun) Crayons.

The first tip is one that you may be familiar with—you can save often-used colors in the small white boxes at the bottom of the window. Simply choose the color you’d like to save, then drag and drop it from the color bar area into a white box at the bottom of the screen. But what if you want to save more than 16 colors? That’s also easy, if not quite so obvious: just drag the small dot at the bottom of the window downward, and you’ll reveal up to 10 rows of 16 boxes. You can see examples of both saving colors and the extra boxes in this short video clip...

State of Massachusetts goes Open format

2005-09-01T19:23:00.000-04:00

Groklaw's Pamela Jones has this amazing news. At least it is amazing to me because the State of Massachusetts has just taken a bold, gutsy step and has decided the State is going Open Format. Out Micro$oft Office, out Lotus Notes, out Word Perfect. Since this will be a humongous task to get all departments working in the new OpenOffice environment, the deadline for all to conform will be January 1, 2007. MA Chooses OASIS OpenDoc XML as Office Standard - Requesting Comments:

This is a bit of a miracle.

The State of Massachusetts is backing OpenDocument v. 1.0 as the standard for office applications, text documents, spreadsheets, charts and graphical documents like drawings and presentations, and all agencies are expected to migrate by January 1, 2007.

Here is the new version [PDF] of their Enterprise Technical Reference Model. As they themselves acknowledge, "Given the majority of Executive Department agencies currently use office applications such as MS Office, Lotus Notes and WordPerfect that produce documents in proprietary formats, the magnitude of the migration effort to this new open standard is considerable."

Considerable, yes, but if your goal is interoperability, both necessary and worth the effort, as anyone who has ever tried to interoperate in WordPerfect with someone working in MS Office can testify. They also say when formatting doesn't matter, documents created in proprietary formats can be saved as plain text -- think email, for example -- and for documents that will primarily be accessed by a web browser through the Internet or an intranet, HTML is preferred. By HTML, they mean standard HTML, as in HTML v. 4.01. PDF is also acceptable for documents that will not be further modified, and the standard there is PDF Reference v. 1.5 that supports XML functionality.

If you wish to review where this story began, back in January, Massachusetts announced its Open Format policy (announcement transcript here), and in March many at Groklaw responded to the request for input from the public on the Commonwealth's Enterprise Technical Reference Model. We had issues. A lot of other groups had issues too. Massachusetts listened. They met with industry and other groups' representatives. You can see a list of those asked to give input at one meeting. Then they went back to the drawing board and came up with this new version. They are asking for comments once again. ...

I can well imagine the top brass at M$ trying to pressure the government into not even thinking about this move. Just remember when Steve Blamer cut short his vacation and went to meet the officials of the city of Munich, if I'm not mistaken who wanted to go completely open source for the OS running the entire government website and governmental computing infrastructure: they wanted to ditch Windoze and go Linux. Balmer, I'm sure must have been carrying a special deal in his alligator carrying case... I can't remember if Balmer went there for nothing or not though. Gee I hate these partial memory mappings... Anyway.

Which makes me think that this, in the long run, should be what big companies, trying to go too much the way of proprietary format and the like, should get. You want to grab the bedsheets all to yourself? And pull 'em all on your side? You don't want to play nice with the rest? You think making your software stand on an island and shut out competitors is a great idea? Sorry, administration bureaucracy is too big and departmental software needs to talk to each other...

Creative gets creative with their MP3 player Zen Neeon

2005-09-01T18:53:00.000-04:00

So Creative is gettin' cocky because they were awarded a patent that could possibly place Apple and the iPod in a delicate situation. Instead of strutting around, maybe they should check out what they do and what they ship, maybe? Creative MP3 Players Shipped with Windows Virus:

Multimedia company Creative acknowledged that 3,700 of the company's Zen Neeon MP3 players that shipped from a company factory in late July contain a Windows worm.

The 5GB Neeon digital audio players contain a copy of W32.Wullik.B, according to a statement posted on Creative Technology Ltd.'s Japanese language Web site.

The worm file doesn't pose a serious threat of spreading, but could potentially infect Windows systems that are connected to the Neeon, according to anti-virus company F-Secure Corp. ...

Looks like the only money they'll be making, since they make such lame products, is collect royalties from Apple, I guess.

Driving too fast post

2005-09-01T13:51:00.000-04:00

My friend Stretch isn't too happy when he has a slowpoke in front of him on the road. But here are examples of the complete opposite, driving too fast.

Click to enlarge. From How you know if you're driving too fast...

From Driving Too Fast

And two little stories in the same short article, Driving too fast?

More on the iPod patent going to Creative

2005-09-01T09:22:00.000-04:00

Well I do have apoplectic fits about this but it seems that Creative is starting to go "Hmmmm" and scratching their collective chin at the possibilities... According to a Macworld article, After patent, Creative examines all options they just might demand from Apple a licensing fee or some kind of money on each iPod unit sold.

Craig McHugh, president of Creative Labs, says that his company is "evaluating all alternatives" now that it has received a patent for music player interfaces. The patent, issued by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, covers the hierarchical display of music information on digital music players that Creative claims can be found not only on its devices but also on Apple's iPod and iPod mini.

The interface that Creative has patented covers the display of music on a digital music player using hierarchical menus that sort content using metadata tags. In a series of slides shown to conference call attendees, McHugh demonstrated how it works on Creative’s Zen Micro player — the screen shows a music library comprising playlists, albums, artists, genres and tracks — navigating the Artists menu, for example, yields a list of artists whose music is on the player. Go to the next level and you’ll find the artist’s albums on the player; the next shows individual tracks. ...

The hierarchical interface has been used by nine generations of Creative music players, said McHugh. That includes the Nomad and black and white Zen line, the Zen MicroPhoto, Creative’s alternative to Apple’s color screen-equipped iPod, and the Zen Vision, which features a larger form factor, color screen and the ability to play back video in addition to music and photos. ...

The US Patent & Trademark Office awarded Creative its patent in the early August, but this is the first time the company has publicly acknowledged it. McHugh said that the recent press coverage regarding Apple and Microsoft’s patent dispute spurred Creative to take action.

Last month the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office rejected a patent application filed by Apple for some elements of the iPod interface, citing a patent submission made by Microsoft developer five months before.

McHugh explained that Microsoft developer John Platt’s patent covered a different aspect of the interface than the hierarchical display of music. Creative patent application, filed in January of 2001, predates both Apple and Platt’s filings, he added.

Why wasn’t Creative mentioned in the US Patent & Trademark Office’s rejection? As Creative understands it, “the patent office only has to cite one piece of prior art for rejection,” McHugh said. “Not all of them.” ...

Uh oh here we go... Apple Is Accused of Violating Software Patent.

So what will Apple do? This is a very tough spot they're in now... :^(

Apple unveils Developer Transition Resource Center website section

2005-08-31T23:31:00.000-04:00

Via TUAW, I notice that Apple has launched for you developer types a new resource centre aimed at easing the transition toward the Intel chip. Here is Apple's new developer section, Developer Transition Resource Center.

Apple has announced that it is transitioning the Macintosh to an Intel-based architecture, and the resources here provide everything you need to make sure your applications are ready. Join the many Mac developers who have already migrated their code and are ready for the future of the Mac platform. ...

Categories included:

Universal Binaries
Porting from CodeWarrior
Xcode 2
Optimization

Each category has numerous sub-categories and should well take care of any aspect of the developer's difficulties. Besides, Apple sure doesn't want to lose you guys, do they? ;^)

The World's Shortest Personality Test

2005-08-31T23:21:00.000-04:00

Here is The World's Shortest Personality Test. You simply choose the image you like best. The image I picked says this:

You are dignified, spiritual, and wise.
Always unsatisfied, you constantly try to better yourself.
You are also a seeker of knowledge and often buried in books.

You tend to be philosophical, looking for the big picture in life.
You dream of inner peace for yourself, your friends, and the world.
A good friend, you always give of yourself first.

Whoah! Even I'm surprised! LOL

N.Y.T. article: Americans scientifically ignorant

2005-08-31T22:09:00.000-04:00

Here's a New York Times article that says that Americans are scientifically ignorant, Scientific Savvy? In U.S., Not Much.

Wow! Just you wait till Intelligent Design is taught in schools...

liveplasma

2005-08-31T22:00:00.000-04:00

Via Futurosity I came across a cool website called liveplasma. It's kinda like a search engine that recreates spheres of influence/related artists and connections in music, cinema, directors, actors. It's beta and it takes a while to load. I had a hard time getting a second query going, had to get out of the site, get rid of the cookie and go back but it's still a spiffy site.

The Mac Support Store

2005-08-31T17:41:00.000-04:00

Need to replace a part in one of your Macs and trying to save money by doing the repair yourself instead of sending it to the repair shop? MacTech Magazine has an article on Brooklyn-based The Mac Support Store, Worlds Largest Selection of Genuine Apple Parts Goes Online:

The Mac Support Store, a Business Outsourcing Provider and online Reseller of Apple products, has added more than 5,000 Genuine Apple parts into its online store. Customers can order any part Apple manufactured between 1991 and 2005.

This is another important milestone in our online strategy to become the single online source for Apple goods and services, said Jeff Graber, CEO of The Mac Support Store. Apple has been selling packaged certification and customer installable parts for years but the choices for buying parts online haven’t been reliable. Our parts come direct from Apple, so we’re able to keep the costs low and the quality high. ...

Check out The Mac Support Store right here.

Photography Tip: more on the Canon 100-400MM lens and astrophotography

2005-08-31T15:02:00.000-04:00

I just can't let it go, can I? *Wink* All morning I've been going around the internet to see reviews of tripods, ballheads and various quick release devices. One thing lead to another and I came across some reviews on the lens that one day I hope to be able to afford, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM and that I talk about here ¹. I know my friend Adrian wants the same lens as I do so this will surely grab his attention as well (and I also have a special treat for him at the end of this article).

From what I've read and I've seen a few samples of what the lens can do, I can say I can hardly wait! Some reviewers say it's a great lens but it is a bit soft at full open aperture/fully extended zoom settings and there is a bit of vignetting. But other reviewers, and they are the majority here, are amazed at the crispness, colour and contrast this lens gives to a photograph. I wouldn't know if the ones that saw a few Cons to the Pros in using this lens have bought one of the first or earlier versions of this lens or if they had a rather sub-standard specimen in their hands.

So let's have some links here so we can all read these reviews!

Arthur Morris / Birds as Art - Bird Photography FAQ 7 Which is a better lens, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS zoom lens, or the 400mm f/5.6L lens?
fredmiranda.com Reviews Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM
Matthew K. Whitley's review Canon EF 100-400L IS
Arthur Morris / Birds as Art Bird Photography FAQ 7 What do you think of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS zoom lens?
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens Review
And last but not least, Arthur Morris / Birds as Art Bulletins and Notes Archive's Confessions & Important Miscellany:

...Confession #1: Though I still consider it the best lens in the world for photographing birds in flight (see FAQs on web site for details), I no longer carry my beloved "toy lens"--the Canon 400mm f/5.6 L--on my shoulder as my auxiliary intermediate telephoto. It has been replaced by the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L Image Stabilizer zoom lens. I have been using the 1-4 more and more every day and--contrary to some reports from other users--have been making razor sharp images at all focal lengths with wide open to moderately stopped down apertures. In addition, I have it used it wide open, handheld with the 1.4X tele-converter with excellent results (with static subjects) at 560mm. For bird photography, the versatility of this lens is unmatched; I find myself making images that I would never even have thought of before--especially of groups of birds in their surroundings. And though it is heavier than the 400 f/5.6L, it is also a superb flight lens. At Bosque Del Apache NWR late this fall, I used the 1-4 on a tripod before sunrise for "bird-scapes" and then again almost exclusively for the spectacular blast-offs. I only wish that the zoom were a bit smoother. I am even considering selling one of my 400 f/5.6s; I never ever thought that I'd say that when the 1-4 first came out.....

Now for Adrian's treat. Adrian is pretty handy with his hands and can rustle up some homemade devices. I remember when he used his iSight webcam to take his first astrophotography pictures, so this shouldn't be too hard to do, if he can find all the pieces to this project.

Building an Eyepiece Holder for Canon EF Lenses Using a Rear Lens Cap:

For Finding and Centering Astronomical Objects for Astrophotography with Parfocal Eyepiece
Finding and centering astronomical objects in the view finder of consumer grade Digital Rebel or 20D cameras or older film cameras (e.g., EOS 650) can be challenging. A sturdy (flexure free) eyepiece holder that can hold a parfocal eyepiece is a useful aid to astrophotography and can be constructed from a Canon EF lens rear cap and threaded 1.25 inch eyepiece holder.

The example I photograph below uses a Televue 25mm Plossl eyepiece shown in position that is parfocal with the sensor/film plane of EOS cameras (A 19mm panoptic worked fine too). The eyepiece holder will not work with guiding eyepieces (e.g., 12.5mm Orion) or ST-4 as the working distance is too large. ...

Good luck Adrian! Hope you find this useful! :^)

I so, so, so hope to get this baby. And this is a test for a footnote too! *Wink* ⥣ back to text

Intelligent Design: Show Me the Science

2005-08-30T23:33:00.000-04:00

You remember His Noodliness, don't you? Well, via Kottke.org, here's an article that directly challenges the Intelligent Design concept and Idealogy, the New York Times' Show Me the Science:

...Is "intelligent design" a legitimate school of scientific thought? Is there something to it, or have these people been taken in by one of the most ingenious hoaxes in the history of science? Wouldn't such a hoax be impossible? No. Here's how it has been done.

First, imagine how easy it would be for a determined band of naysayers to shake the world's confidence in quantum physics - how weird it is! - or Einsteinian relativity. In spite of a century of instruction and popularization by physicists, few people ever really get their heads around the concepts involved. Most people eventually cobble together a justification for accepting the assurances of the experts: "Well, they pretty much agree with one another, and they claim that it is their understanding of these strange topics that allows them to harness atomic energy, and to make transistors and lasers, which certainly do work..."

Fortunately for physicists, there is no powerful motivation for such a band of mischief-makers to form. They don't have to spend much time persuading people that quantum physics and Einsteinian relativity really have been established beyond all reasonable doubt.

With evolution, however, it is different. The fundamental scientific idea of evolution by natural selection is not just mind-boggling; natural selection, by executing God's traditional task of designing and creating all creatures great and small, also seems to deny one of the best reasons we have for believing in God. So there is plenty of motivation for resisting the assurances of the biologists. Nobody is immune to wishful thinking. It takes scientific discipline to protect ourselves from our own credulity, but we've also found ingenious ways to fool ourselves and others. Some of the methods used to exploit these urges are easy to analyze; others take a little more unpacking. ...

This is a very good read. Hopefully for us, this Intelligent Design Idealogy doesn't make it this side of the border...

More on Google...

2005-08-30T22:57:00.000-04:00

Well Google is starting to get bad press. So I feel I'm not alone in starting to think Google is going creepy on us. A week ago, there was this article in the New York Times, Relax, Bill Gates; It's Google's Turn as the Villain in which the author, Gary Rivlin, explains how Google rose from being media darlings to becoming a little bit too big, too soon for anyone's comfort.

...It was not that long ago that Google reigned here as the upstart computer company that could do no wrong. Now some working in the technology field are starting to draw comparisons between Google and Microsoft, the company in Redmond, Wash., that Silicon Valley loves most to hate.

Bill Gates certainly sees similarities between Google and his own company. This spring, in an interview with Fortune, Mr. Gates, Microsoft's chairman, said that Google was "more like us than anyone else we have ever competed with."

Google's success has already spurred Microsoft to develop its own Internet search engine (a project code-named Underdog), but Google has legions of engineers banging away on a range of projects of its own that, if successful, could dislodge Microsoft from the pre-eminent spot it has enjoyed since the early 1980's.

Of course, Silicon Valley has had past pretenders to the throne. Netscape, which went public 10 years ago this month, and its Web browser, Navigator, were supposed to fell Microsoft - but it is Netscape that is no longer in business. And while Google is riding high, those closely following the company caution that it is hardly invincible; an inflated stock price, a desire to compete in too many sectors simultaneously or simple hubris might cause it to stumble, they say. Even Microsoft, after all, has had legal troubles. ...

Just as Microsoft has been seen over the years as an aggressive, deep-pocketed competitor for talent, Internet start-ups in Silicon Valley complain that virtually every time they try to recruit a well-regarded computer programmer, that person is already contemplating an offer from Google. ...

Google is also making it more difficult for some start-ups to raise funds. In the second half of the 1990's, entrepreneurs frequently complained that the specter of Microsoft hung over their every conversation with venture capitalists. Today, they say the same about Google. ...

*Phew* Now ain't that heavy? And, via Kootke.org, here's more of the same, Google's Unnecessary Arrogance, Dan Gillmore writes:

...John Battelle is probably correct that this story marks a southward turn in Google coverage. The remarkable thing, from my perspective, is the degree to which Google's public-relations wounds are self-inflicted.

Google is a great company, but a layer of hubris threatens to encrust the excellence. It was exemplified most recently by the childish banning of contact with CNET journalists after the news site did a story highlighting what can be done to invade privacy using the company's own tools.

The attitude problem has been evident for a while now. While I support the company's refusal to offer "guidance" to Wall Street -- a game used by public corporations to game the stock market -- the utter opacity of the operation is disconcerting. It's one thing to stick to principle, but another to rub people's faces in it, such as when Google held an open house and had the CFO -- the chief food officer, not the chief financial officer -- give a presentatinon. Cute, but that stunt will be remembered by people whom Google will someday need. ...

And there is this post by Daring Fireball's John Gruber, Google Is an Advertising Company:

...“Follow the money” is as good a way as any to define a company: the point of business is to profit. This is why Apple is not, and has never been, a software company: their profits come from hardware sales — computers, and, now, iPods. Microsoft is a software company: their profits — billions of dollars every quarter — come almost solely from software.

Judged by their profits, Google is an advertising company. They don’t profit from search, they don’t profit from software. They profit by selling ads. This isn’t to belittle them — I think Google is a terrific company, and they are profiting handsomely from ad revenue ($369 million last quarter). They’re market leaders because their ads are better for everyone — they’re far less obnoxious than traditional web advertising (so they’re better for users), and yet they’re also more effective and cheaper (so they’re better for advertisers). And their software is, in many ways, ingenious.

If Google has a platform, it’s an advertising platform, not a developer platform. I’m not even saying Google should have a developer platform — I’m just saying they don’t. Any software that uses Google as a back-end for web search could be modified to use Yahoo or MSN by changing a few lines of code. Google Desktop might be popular, but it’s nowhere near as cool as Yahoo Widgets (a.k.a. Konfabulator) in terms of acting as a developer platform.

Plus, if Google is such a threat to Microsoft, why is it that all of their non-web software only runs on Windows? (Cf. Scott Rosenberg’s post from last week: “Google’s Windows-Only World”.)

Business-wise, Google’s software is just an excuse to show ads. Google’s search results and apps like Gmail serve the same purpose as the editorial content in magazines and newspaper. Google may or may not become a direct threat to Microsoft in the future, but in the here and now, the entrenched monopolies that ought to feel threatened by Google are newspapers. Newspapers, especially local small- and medium-market newspapers live off the revenue from classified ads. But because most towns have only one major newspaper, classified ad prices are artificially high. Google is primed to burst into this market, with targeted local ads that are cheaper for advertisers and easier for users to find what they’re looking for or interested in. ...

So these days, it sure isn't cool to be Google... HeHeHe

Largest Mail.app mailbox size

2005-08-30T21:14:00.000-04:00

Via Kottke.org, I came across the biggest, baddest Mail.app mailbox and it holds... 43,000+ emails...

Whooh!...

Apple Mail plug-ins and tools website

2005-08-30T19:07:00.000-04:00

Looking for Mac OS X' s Mail plug-ins? Wishing for more functionality in Mail? Via TUAW, I found a site that is just that, Apple Mail plug-ins and tools. From Import/Export added functionality to new Rules or AppleScripts for Mail 2.0 or later, that's the place to find what you are looking for.

So check it out! :^)

Oh Stonyyyyyy... Saft update!

2005-08-30T18:50:00.000-04:00

Via TUAW, I learned that the latest Safari update broke Saft again (this was to be expected, I guess). And of course, Hao Li is right on the ball once more with his update. Saft v8.1.3 for Safari 2.0.1 and Saft v7.7.3 for Panther and Safari 1.3.1.

LiveQuartz

2005-08-30T12:55:00.000-04:00

I have posted very briefly on BeLight's Image Tricks, Stone Design's iMaginator and Core Image Fun House and Quartz Composer but it seems there's something else to consider as an image editor and it's a freebie. Via Futurosity, I got to learn of Romain Piveteau's (RhapSoft) LiveQuartz 1.0.2.

Click here to see LiveQuartz at work. Looks like plenty of fun!

LiveQuartz is a simple image editor. It is based on layers and CoreImage filters.
You have the layers at the left and the filters at the right of the window.
To edit an image, just drag it into the window and it will be added as a new layer.
LiveQuartz is localized in English, Chinese, German and French. ...

System requirements: Mac OS X Tiger 10.4. So download it now, you lucky Tiger users, you!

Stone Design's iMaginator updated to version 2.0

2005-08-30T12:29:00.000-04:00

This is kinda old news, dating back to July 11th but it's good to be reminded it's out there. From the good folks at Stone Design Corp., makers of Stone Studio and Create, comes iMaginator which was updated to version 2.0. iMaginator has over 108 filters and effects for you to work with and you can "combine text, paint, images, filters and effects to turn photos into art and QuickTime movies." System requirements ask for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Once you buy your licence (only $49), upgrades are free for life as is the case with all Stone Studio software.

Click here to view the full list of features.

From the press release:

Stone Design, the original Mac OS X software house with over 19 years of experience, today announced immediate availability of iMaginator 2.0, a free upgrade of its powerful image processing application. iMaginator provides an intuitive and easy to use interface for Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)’s Core Image technology, giving both home users and graphics professionals instant access to over 108 effects, transitions, and filters. With iMaginator, users can layer images, paint and text, and apply, modify, and re-order multiple effects to achieve subtle enhancements or astounding artistic results from any photo or image. Crop, scale, rotate, flip, skew, change exposure and brighten images in real time, and then save processed images as industry-standard TIFF or JPEG files, and even create QuickTime movies showing the effects changing over time. ...

iMaginator 2.0 is twice as fast as the original release by using OpenGL and CoreImage directly. Paint can be applied on any number of layers with any size square or round brush. It can erase the image or be blended in 20 different ways to achieve stunning results. Many new effects chains have been added to the Library, including the winners of the iMaginator Contest. The crop rectangle can be set exactly, and moved by holding down the option key. Additionally, several important bug fixes make the product extremely stable.

Developers working with Tiger for INTEL can also run iMaginator as it ships with a universal binary that runs on Power PC as well as INTEL hardware. ...

iPod patents also go to Creative

2005-08-30T10:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I'll be hornswaggled!...

Not only did Apple see its patent application for the iPod interface get awarded to Micro$oft instead, the decision causing all sorts of debates, but now Playlist reports that Creative claims music player patent covers iPod, too!

Creative Technology Ltd. on Tuesday announced that it has been awarded U.S. Patent 6,928,433, which it’s calling the “Zen Patent” for short. The Zen Patent describes how files on a digital music player are organized, and covers not only its own Zen and Nomad jukeboxes, but also Apple’s iPod and iPod mini, according to a statement release by the company.

The Zen Patent is summarized as “automatic hierarchical categorization of music by metadata.” Creative said the patent covers the ability for a digital music player to display music using artist, album and track menus — the way that not only Creative’s music players work, but also Apple’s.

Creative chairman and CEO Sim Wong Hoo, explained that Creative’s Nomad Jukebox was on store shelves in September 2000, 13 months before Apple’s ever saw the light of day, he said.

“Before this invention, there was no intuitive and efficient way to deal with the large number of tracks that could be stored on a high-capacity player,” Sim said.

Creative’s patent news is the latest salvo in Sim Wong Hoo’s self-described marketing “war” against the iPod, which he first described in November, 2004. ...

OMG. His Steveness is gonna have a fit... :-o

Photography Tip: The Harness

2005-08-30T09:49:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was fantasizing on a lens, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. It's a real monster of a lens:

The image hardly does it justice. It extends at least half of that actual length, as it is now at 100MM focal length and the casing is ultra-rugged and made out of metal so it weighs in around 3 pounds or 1.380 kilograms. Since I do a lot of trekking this could be a heavy weight and become quite uncomfortable for my neck. Not to mention that I have to somehow find a way to secure the camera and the lens so it doesn't move too much while I walk as the weight of the lens would surely break or weaken the threading that holds the lens on the camera body. And it has to have a quick release system so I can quickly get the camera ready to take a shot as I stumble upon nature's wonderful surprises! So I have looked far and wide for a harness. And lo and behold, people, I have found a gem, I think!

It's from Kinesis Photo Gear and it's the [H717] X Harness. It is padded so it will be most comfortable for hours of trekking, it has straps to secure the camera and prevent it from moving and bouncing around and the straps have quick releases. To have the most complete and versatile harness system, my needs would be the [H717] X Harness and [H435] Kinesis Camera Adapters and that's it, folks!

They do deliver outside of the US. That was, of course, important to me.

I posted this in case anyone is looking for a system like this. It wasn't too easy to find, there's a lot of flimsy and uncomfortable gear out there that is so much more readily available than this quality product and I had to invest a lot of research time to find it. Hope this helps another nature photographer out there.