They should totally redo this ad with a Mac Mini:

http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/MiscAds/AdamAd.JPG

This is cool...

Drifting Light just released a cool little shareware app called Jolt. This app resides in your menu bar's status icons (not in the Dock). One click on the little icon keeps your system awake until you click the icon again. The full version actually allows you to set time limits, after which time your system is allowed to sleep again.

This will be especially useful for me when I'm working on music; the controls on my mixing board don't keep the system awake, so I'm constantly having to reach over and wake my screen up or, before live sets, I have to go to the Energy Saver control panel and disable everything. This also seems useful for anybody who watches (ahem) internet video.

Good thing I'm in it for the long haul.

The last pre-Macworld rumor I saw: Custom Sleeve to Ship This Friday.

Looks like that sleeve will be a manila envelope.

And, yes, I will be buying one. I sold my 12" PowerBook on eBay late last year.

If you can get past "John's" over-arching enthusiasm, this is a pretty good tour of Leopard:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/guidedtour/

This is a great OS... I haven't always been huge on upgrading to the newest OS but, in this case... go get it! After the 26th, of course.

Spaces and Time Machine alone are worth the price.

Leopard is finally about to ship. Here's the latest marketing foo about the product I worked on:

http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/features/wikis.html

Ever want to know what it's like to work at Apple?

Here's a couple of my bugs, which happen to be side-by-side in the list:

A totally WYSIWYG wiki. Imagine if editing Wikipedia was as simple as working with a local word processing document. Beta version shipped very recently, and the final version ships in October.

http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/leopard/wikis.html

In case any of you wonder where I've been recently...

They loved it at WWDC.

Paul Thurrott hits the nail right on the head when it comes to the general feeling of product development at Apple:

Microsoft's approach to this stuff is so typical, it's hard to remember that these are the guys who were supposed to be so different from the rest of the company. It's OK to have a vision, I guess. But Microsoft thinks in terms of platforms, not great products. Apple does it the reverse way: Ship something drool-worthy and watch people snatch it up. Do it again. And again. Suddenly, there's a platform sitting there. Microsoft spends so much time plotting platforms that by the time the vision is complete, the world has already moved on. The old way of doing things doesn't work any more. Isn't that why they copied Apple with the Zune in the first place?

(original article)

(Of course, I speak on behalf of myself and not Apple here.)

Thank GOD. Seriously. So many Leopard human resources were being shuttled off to the "mystery project" (which turned out to be the iPhone) that the OS has been a complete nightmare. It's starting to be -- uh -- not so bad now, but it still isn't shippable. This should be considered common sense since, obviously, it's not out on shelves. It's not like Apple is sitting on a perfect copy of Leopard and wringing its hands in delight. That's Nintendo's job.

I've been working my ass off under the assumption a WWDC ship date, and it's nice to be able to unclench just a little bit. Tiger is a great OS, and in some respects it's a tough act to follow. True, the server side has improved by leaps and bounds, on paper anyway. The Calendar and Wiki servers alone make it lust-worthy. But the fact of the matter is, it's not done yet. And it won't be in June or July. Shipping in October gives me the opportunity to ship software I'm actually proud of.

As long as we don't have to add more features.

Weird... a couple of people have wondered now why I haven't posted about the iPhone (linked to it in case you've been hiding under a rock). I figured everybody had heard just about enough iPhone commentary. I'll get one in June when it ships and tell you all about it. In the meantime, I obviously have to tread lightly around publicly saying anything that people don't already know, so I'll probably choose to just leave it alone. One thing I will do, however, is quell any fears about Mac computers. Macs are selling better and better every year, and they're a profit center. They're not going anywhere. Leopard is slated to ship "this spring."

I got sick of the Zipcar thing... I drive too much and therefore don't save much money. So I bought a low-mileage used Acura TSX. The first time I drove this car I was shocked... I had an Integra GS-R and always considered it to be a bit tinny. But now... 200 HP + 30 MPG + voice-activated GPS + great price + Acura quality FTW. So, I'm a car owner again. i still plan on commuting to work via Caltrain most of the time.

As for Bush's Iraq war escalation, I'll just quote scene from Futurama where brain spawn turned everyone stupid and a fiery train pileup was mounting:

Hi! Today some bad things happened. One bad thing was a train got crashed in New Jersey. Wanna see? People won't be late for work though, because the governor lady said, 'I'm sending in more trains!'

-Linda (news anchor), Futurama - "The Day The World Stood Stupid"

More to come, I hope, later. Short version: still working hard on Leopard, Tom is still terrific, and I haven't been seeing some of my friends enough lately. You know who you are (your initials are jetboyca and kuteluvr).

I'm sure this will be "fixed" soon by them, and was probably something handed to them by a hapless contractor...

http://daringfireball.net/2006/12/microsoft_workgroup_manager_icon

I'm switching from Boot Camp to Parallels and was installing Windows XP... and got this message:



Somehow I doubt that...

I've already used my personal employee discount for 2006, but I think I know where my 2007 discount will be spent.

Only thing is... I like the small form-factor of a 12" notebook. I'll miss that. But I'm willing to give it up in order to trade my G4 in for a Pro 2 Duo.

I had noticed that there was a bit of paging lag in the Mini when encoding and watching video simultaneously, or launching Front Row. 512 MB really isn't enough...

( for those of you who are geeky... )

The human body is an incredible thing. Give it a little of something and it strives for a lot. This could be the fundamental cause of addiction, I suppose, but it all boils down to our uncanny ability to spiral in one direction, be it upward or downward.

When I work out regularly and strenuously, I sleep well and have more energy throughout the day. Were we machines, we'd wear out our batteries more quickly. The same can be said for reading; when I start picking up books I become more literate; my email replies strive for more than a snappy response, my blog posts are more concise, and my conversational skills and vocabulary betray more intelligence.

TV, like controlled substances, seems best in moderation. This is a realization I made before, when I got rid of my television entirely. My recent decision to ditch satellite TV and TiVo in favor of a Mac Mini, DVR software, and basic cable provided me with a less dizzying array of shows. Several times over the past couple of days I would turn on the TV, find nothing interesting, shut it off, and go do something else. This is in contrast to just weeks ago, where I'd have a backlog of shows which -- in my mind anyway -- would cease to exist if left unwatched.

So, as it appears, I may have done more than just clean up my living room. In any case, pictures will follow shortly.

This weekend I bought a Miglia TVMicro from the Apple Store. It uses the terrific EyeTV software from Elgato Systems to record and manage videos.

( behind a cut for those who don't care )

This is how geeks spend their time.



I purchased a Mac Mini for the living room. There are multiple steps in this plan... and it will take a few weeks to complete. I want to consolidate my multiple gadgets and remotes into one device. Ultimately I want to interact exclusively with the Mac using FrontRow and Apple's awesome 6-button remote. I want to clean up all of these extra components and have a clean, simple setup. I'm still working on the best way to do this, but having the Mac in the living room is a good first step.

(It's odd that LiveJournal has a mood of "working" -- and funny that I label entries as such -- when at this very moment I'm blogging, not working. Maybe it means I'm in a "working mood.")

( On surviving presentations... )

Apple's Teams is generating some interest on the Internets, circulating through a couple of the blogs in my subscription list:

Daring Fireball: "Brand-new written-by-Apple wiki/weblog software, with the best WYSIWYG web-based editor I’ve ever seen. This is a big part of Apple’s new Teams app."

Bokardo: "A wiki server? Yes, a wiki server. [...] This is huge news. This will allow teams to collaborate using wikis, blogs, calendars…all those new social tools we wonder how we could live without.

43folders: Via Andy, here’s a thought-provoking post that draws from a mosaic of current and forthcoming features (including Wiki Server, iCal Calendar Sharing and the nifty-sounding Teams) to suggest that Apple’s moving toward some interesting directions in social software and enhanced functionality for teams.

Will be exciting when more people can get their hands on the actual product, rather than conjecture based on Apple's marketing gibberish.