I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable New Year's Eve. We'll be going to a friend's house for festivities (and I hope to get a chance to play Rock Band while there)! Here are a couple of neat links with which to wrap up the year.

Stand for Change: Full video of Barack's speech in Des Moines

Honestly, this is one of the best speeches given by a political figure in years. Regardless of your political party affiliation, this is inspiring stuff.



You can find an entire transcript right here.



AFP: 2007 stem cell breakthrough is like turning lead into gold

Stem cell research is getting more and more interesting, especially as scientists are finding ways to procure said cells without damaging embryos in the process. It's amazing this research is progressing so quickly despite political obstacles.

From the article:

"This is truly the Holy Grail: To be able to take a few cells from a patient -- say a cheek swab or few skin cells -- and turn them into stem cells in the laboratory," said Robert Lanza, a stem cell pioneer at Advanced Cell Technology.

George Orwell: The Freedom of the Press

This preface to Animal Farm was omitted at the time of the book's publication, and it's an interesting read for anyone who is a fan of Orwell's works. Additionally, like many of his writings, this preface is eerily prophetic in many aspects.

Tags: politics, science, media

TED Blog: Why aren't we all Good Samaritans? Daniel Goleman on TED.com





NYT: Apple Rumor Site to Shut Down in Settlement

What exactly did Apple gain in pursuing this to begin with? It sure isn't good PR...



Ars Technica: Exclusive: Retail chain scalping Wii allotment on eBay

Ars breaks a story on a chain of gaming stores that are not selling Wiis in their storefronts. Rather, they are putting them straight onto eBay at a nearly 100% markup. While not outright illegal, this is certainly no way to gain consumer trust.

Currently, the accused retailer has an official response on its website's front page. Check it out.



Ars Technica: RIAA writes its own "news" for local TV stations

My love for the RIAA never wanes, so I have to pass this piece along about a somewhat factually-sketchy informercial the organization wants aired in news broadcasts.

I think this quote sums it up well:

For an industry already the target of so much consumer suspicion, feeding misleading claims and self-serving footage to ostensibly objective "news" outlets just doesn't seem like a great idea.

Tags: riaa, blogging, apple inc, video games, ted, media

I just noticed that QuickTime no longer has window borders. Is this new to the most recent point release, or have I been missing something? Anyway, I've been wondering how long it was going to take for QT to lose those bulky borders.


hello, borderless goodness

Tags: software

BBC News: Arctic summers ice-free 'by 2013'

Discussing the possibility for an open Arctic ocean in summer months, [Dr Mark Serreze] told the meeting: "A few years ago, even I was thinking 2050, 2070, out beyond the year 2100, because that's what our models were telling us. But as we've seen, the models aren't fast enough right now; we are losing ice at a much more rapid rate.

While the ocean-supported glaciers will not affect ocean levels, land-bound glaciers and ice sheets (like those on Greenland) will. This on the same day I read about failing penguin populations in the Antarctic...



Jim Hill: A special "Where's WALL-E" edition of Why For?

On a much more trivial note, in this blog post, Jim Hill tries to create a definitive list of the in-references and self references found throughout Pixar's films. Needless to say, this makes for a long read.

via Daring Fireball



Ars Technica: RIAA: Those CD rips of yours are still "unauthorized"

< soapbox > In other words, the RIAA would rather you not make mix-CDs for use in your car or put music you already own on your iPods. Why? Because you are no more than potential revenue to them rather than a human being. < soapbox / >

Tags: riaa, environment, silly

NYT: The Dr. Seuss Jumble: Naming Web Sites

David Pogue wonders if the web has run out of creativity in site naming – specifically citing numerous startups with completely nonsense names. From the article:

But here's a little wakeup call: People will learn to love your site's wacky name only if they fall in love with the site itself. Google and Yahoo became household nutty names only because everyone loved their services. They did not succeed because they had silly names.

As long as no more sites put random dots in the middle of their names, I'll be happy. (I'm looking at you ma.gnolia.com and del.icio.us!)



Ripten: Rose-Tinted Nostalgia: The Top Five Franchises That Nintendo Forgot

Not only has Nintendo forgotten about these franchises, I had too. However, seeing The Adventures of Lolo and StarTropics on the list brought back some fond memories, and I don't think Super Mario RPG was forgotten. It just had to go in a different direction once Square was no longer involved, and we ended up with Paper Mario as the spiritual successor to Super Mario RPG.



Ars Technica: Apple, AT&T dial up patent infringement lawsuit with Visual Voicemail

Yes, this case has merit, but I still don't like it. It's not like Apple was exactly secretive about Visual Voicemail in the months leading up to iPhone's release. Why didn't this company sue back in January of this year?

Tags: silly, technology, video games

I'm on my second time through Okami. There aren't too many games I end up playing twice, but this is one of them. Since I've only ever done a list like this once before, I think I'll have another shot at it.


image from Wikipedia

The Game is Beautiful

Beyond a doubt, Okami is a visually stunning game. Using a cel-shaded style reminiscent of sumi-e wash paintings, the game shines aesthetically. From the game menus, to characters and villains, to environments, and even the end credits, the game retains a consistent visual flair that is impressive in its polish and its simplicity. Occasionally, in other cel-shaded games like Zelda: The Wind Waker, some elements look out of place, but Okami suffers none of these problems. It is a fantastic looking production from start to finish.

Attention to Detail

Recently, as I accidently swiped an incorrect brush stroke, I noticed some birds were blown around by a sharp wind I had created. I began playing around in other areas and noticed that animals in the environment reacted differently to the gales. Throughout the game, it's apparent that the developers obsessed over the small stuff that, while hardly consciously noticeable, brings the game's world to life that much more. So few games demonstrate genuine care and craftsmanship that the polish Okami exudes is especially apparent.

It's Both Challenging and Relaxing

Make no mistake, there are some tough-as-nails battles in Okami. In order to master the combat system, you have to memorize weaknesses various enemies have in order to dispatch them before they can do too much damage. I fear anything shaped like a wheel nowadays. Fortunately, the game is generous with items called Vengeance Slips that render your character temporarily invincible. I've used them a lot. They are the first thing I stock up on at item shops. They may be 10,000 yen a pop, but I don't care. They are worth it – especially when engaging in some of the optional battles.

In direct contrast, Okami is also one of the most soothing games I've ever played. Not up to battles? Feed some animals. Restore damaged flowerbeds or ponds. Go fishing, or just roam the expansive environments looking for treasures and secrets. It's easy to completely lose track of time playing this game without accomplishing a single game objective.

It Out-Zeldas Zelda

If you've ever played The Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, or The Wind Waker, Okami will feel very similar to you. A healthy dose of exploration and backtracking? Check. Epic story? Check. Obsessive hunting for every last treasure? Check. Puzzle-oriented dungeons? Check. Boss keys? Check. It's all there. This is the PS2's answer to Zelda (as is the amazing Beyond Good and Evil), but, as unbelievable as it may seem, Okami takes the Zelda formula and refines it into an even better experience.

Praise Motivates

In so many adventure games, no matter how powerful the main character is, you are often relegated to numerous fetch quests and menial tasks when encountering towns and villages. Okami is no different, but, once you complete a task, characters and other animals praise you for your work. Praise can then be used to strengthen Amaterasu in various ways. It's surprisingly reinforcing.

This trend continues when you remove cursed zones from areas. Along with the praise heaped upon you by the environment, restoring a Guardian Sapling results in an amazing cinematic of the restoration in progress. It's very reminiscent of the final vignette of Fantasia 2000, and I never get tired of seeing the flowers and other foliage spring up all over the once-barren landscapes.

Okami is a fantastic game from beginning to end. Yes, it has some minute flaws. For example, the camera is killer in tight corners, and some of the dialogue becomes long-winded and repetitive at times. However, the whole experience of Okami far outweighs any minor quibbles. If you have a PS2, it's definitely worth your time to give this game a chance.

Tags: video games

Drama, Drama, Drama in Video Game Land

Many gaming sites and other blogs are reporting over a possible controversy regarding the firing of GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann after he gave a poor review to a game that had very prominant advertisements all over the site. Here are a couple of places for some good takes on what's been going on:

Valleywag: Jeff Gerstmann - Valleywag seems to be where the story originates from, and this link takes you to all of their posts regarding Mr. Gerstmann.

Game Stooge: RIP, Journalistic Integrity - This editorial offers some balanced insight into some of the larger issues at work here. From the article:

The other problem is that writers are reporting rumors as fact, and visibly biased. It is “clear” that Gerstmann was fired due to a low review score given to a game with major advertising on the site. Why? According to most of these websites, correlation is causality. No other facts are needed, such as the fact that Gerstmann was fired two weeks later when the last of the major game releases had been released and reviewed – an obvious time to release an editor.

SitePoint Blogs: In All Fairness … Internet Explorer Still Stinks

Why is this still the dominant browser again? Kevin Yank explores the many ways Internet Explorer 7 has not improved since Internet Explorer 6. As a side note, if you view this site in any version of IE, check out Firefox. Suddenly, my site and many others will look better!



TUAW: NBC officially removed from the iTunes Store

The Universal group must have some huge chip on their shoulder to shaft their viewers with such a restrictive service in place of iTunes. It's like their CEO is on some personal vendetta against Steve Jobs.

Tags: video games, browsers, drm

The Issue

A while ago, Ars Technica ran an interesting piece about the dangers of your online identity to potential employment opportunities, and they recently followed up with another article about the issues facing teachers who blog or participate in social networking. Due to the high scrutiny teachers are held under – especially in regards to student/teacher interactions – online activities could lead to a perception of misconduct or the potential therefore. This may sound like stretching, but such feelings have led the Ohio Education Association to discourage any teachers from participating in online communities.

From the Ars article:

...The Ohio Education Association (OEA) has sent out a memo to teachers in the state, discouraging them from maintaining public profiles at all.

"While this advice might seem extreme, the dangers of participating in these two sites outweigh the benefits," the memo read, according to the Columbus Dispatch. "Because of the high standards placed on school employees and the risk of job and career loss, the OEA recommends avoiding even the appearance of impropriety."

The article continues, citing that online content can be used against Ohio teachers:

The flier also pointed out that anything found online could be used at evidence in disciplinary hearings. Teachers who post too much information online could risk disciplinary action or even lose their licenses, said the director of the Office of Professional Conduct in the Ohio Department of Education, James Miller.

Finally, the article discusses the risks of a student setting up a fake profile for a teacher online that could lead to a damaged reputation.

My Take

Addressing the problems of fakes initially, I seriously doubt that teachers avoiding online social activities such as blogging will prevent a student from setting up a fake profile for you somewhere. This is a risk regardless of your internet habits. However, if you do regularly blog or participate in social networking sites, you will probably be more likely to discover a malicious profile than if you completely abstain from such activities. In this case, I think the Ohio Education Association is naïvely incorrect. Let's face it, who will be more likely to defend themselves from a fraudulent online profile: a teacher who is savvy in social networking or one who only uses the the internet to look up recipes and cute pictures?

As far as blogging goes, here are some general guidelines I follow:

• I seldom post about work. When I do, it's usually something pretty mundane, and I never, ever will use this blog to verbally attack any of my coworkers or direct administrators. I will occasionally post about larger issues in my field of work for which I carry a strong opinion, but those posts will never target things going on at my specific employment location.
  
  
• I try to keep things pretty clean around here. There may be content you disagree with. I may even upset you at times. However, there is nothing on this site that you could define as impropriety. I will even tag a link post if it contains any potentially offensive language or content.
  
  
• This site and my other online activities focus on my life outside education. I have diverse interests that I don't have the freedom to share and explore in an education setting. This is the venue in which I express these.
  
  
• I don't talk to my students online. Some of my kids have found this site. Really, it's pretty boring for them, but I do have a standing policy that I will never email or IM with my students. Sorry kids, you get me at school. We might run into each other at the mall, but that's it.

I do believe potential employers and administrators have a responsibility in this as well. Quite simply, check the context in which something was written, and this includes the date. I know that I've been active in online communities since I was a teenager, and some of that stuff will surface if you search for me on Google. This is very likely true for other bloggers as well. Before you decide to hold something over someone's head, check to see if it's even relevant anymore. Chances are that you don't like being judged by things you did or said when you were seventeen. Don't do that to others.

My online identity is an integral part of who I am. If you are an administrator or a potential employer looking at this, great. Seriously. Feel free to ask me about this site. I'll talk your ear off about what I do here. In fact, you will find out more about me by spending an afternoon on this site than you will by asking me questions. Yes, I do believe that one must be careful if he or she chooses to engage in online networking, but outright prohibition may be a bit extreme. Just behave responsibly online, and you won't have much to worry about.

Tags: blogging, education

BW Online: Commentary: Sorry, Steve: Here's Why Apple Stores Won't Work

Here's an article from 2001 about why the Apple stores would all be closed within two years. It's been making rounds through the Mac blogs, but I thought I'd post it here too!



TED: Announcing 2008 TED Prize winners

The TED Prize was introduced in 2005, and it is unlike any other award. Although the winners receive a prize of $100,000 each, the real prize is that they are granted a WISH. "A wish to change the world." There are no formal restrictions on the wish. We ask our winners to think big and to be creative. The goal is that it creates an incredible sense of excitement and common purpose. It inspires the TED community, and all those who hear about the wish, to offer their help in making the wish come true.

TED is a neat organization. I don't always agree with some of the positions they promote, but I like their hearts and the inspiration they foster.



TechCrunch: Q&A With Senator Barack Obama On Key Technology Issues

Obama is one of the only politicians out there who actually seems to get technology and be able to discuss it intelligently.



CNET: Top Ten Terrible Tech Products: Windows Vista

Really? Vista is one of the ten worst technology products? By what standards? Methinks someone is desperate for attention, and I just gave it to them...

Tags: politics, ted, technology, microsoft, apple inc

Safari is the default browser on my MacBook. I've tried several others, but I just keep coming back to. It has some intangible quality that just makes it enjoyable to use, so I thought I'd try out Safari on my XP machine at work. Since I use Safari at home, nothing about its core functionality came as a surprise to me. I'm used to how it renders fonts. I'm aware of its limitations. I know exactly what it does well and where it could still use growth. When Safari was released on Windows, those individuals who downloaded it did not know what to expect, and the initial reactions reflected that. Rather than focus on those details, I just want to write about what the user experience is like on XP in general.

Using Safari on XP is, in short, a strange experience. Apple does nothing to make Safari feel like a Windows application. In fact, they seem to go out of their way to make it look and feel as much like a Mac application as possible.



This is what Safari looks like on Windows XP – almost exactly how it would appear on Mac OS X. It's almost as if Apple is using their flagship browser as a not-so-subtle advertisement for their operating system. From the toolbar icons, to sheet dialogues, to the scrollbars, Safari stands out with its uniquely Mac experience. This could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective.




Even the menus, toolbar buttons, and in-page drop downs look like the come directly out of OS X. Almost every interface element is customized to look exactly like the browser's Mac counterpart. Again, if you've ever used Safari on a Mac, then you will know exactly what to expect on Windows. Very seldom did any Windows-like elements appear while I used Safari on XP. One of those times was in printing. A standard Windows print dialog appeared, which was rather visually jarring. The other Mac to Windows difference I noticed is in the browser window's controls, which more closely resemble what you would expect on Windows in shape and position, though they were not the default XP controls.


mac controls and windows controls

In the end, what does this experience mean to Windows users? If you are looking for an application that provides a peek into the general Mac experience, Safari might provide an interesting insight. However, users merely looking for a browser to replace Internet Explorer might be put off by the sheer unfamiliarity of the interface. Quite frankly, Safari does not fit in on Windows, and this inconsistency seems intentional. It's as if Apple is sticking an ad for OS X in front of WIndows users every time Safari is launched, and that will likely prove off-putting to many individuals. In this case, I think Apple should have tailored Safari's interface to fit better into Windows, allowing users a more seamless experience, rather than making it so obvious this is a piece of Macintosh software.

As an experienced Mac user, I personally love using Safari on Windows. It's a far better experience than using Internet Explorer, and I can't get Firefox to function properly on our machines at work. However, experienced Windows users may be quickly turned off by the nonstandard interface, never giving the application a second glance because it is so glaringly out-of-place. The Windows browser market is a pretty crowded place, with IE dominating the casual users and Firefox entrenched with more tech-savvy users. Apple is going to have a hard time gaining a following in this market, and I think they are sabotaging their own efforts by not creating an experience that fits in with Windows more seamlessly.

Tags: software, safari, browsers

I blogged about this a while ago, but I wanted to pull up a couple more comparison shots. Now that I'm testing Safari on my work computer (at least until the IT guys shut it out), the difference in browsing my site on IE versus another browser is more evident than ever. Check these side-by-sides out. Internet Explorer 7 is on the left and Safari 3 for Windows is on the right.


Here's my sidebar. I've since removed this picture of myself, but notice that IE7 renders the image at a much lower quality than Safari. I find this an odd behavior because it seemed to be unique to this single image. Also, the sidebar header is gargantuan in IE7 when compared to Safari.


This is my biggest pet peeve. Again, why does IE render the font so much larger than Safari? Firefox gets this right. Opera gets this right. Explorer is the lone browser out in this.

I can see why so many web developers become frustrated with Internet Explorer. If it demonstrates inconsistencies with other browsers in rendering something as simple as text, I can't image what hurdles one might have to jump through to ensure compatibility with truly complex websites.

(By the way, I'll be posting some impressions on using Safari on Windows pretty soon.)

Tags: browsers

TedBlog: Why can't we grow new energy? Juan Enriquez on TED.com



Interesting talk about rethinking our views of fossil fuels and what defines renewable energy.



Surfin' Safari: Ten New Things in WebKit 3

Maciej Stachowiak outlines many of the improvements in the most recent versions of WebKit. You can take advantage of these features by upgrading to Leopard, updating Tiger to version 10.4.11, or by downloading the latest versions of WebKit or Safari for Windows.



Ars Technica: Ice is the new Tanooki: a review of Super Mario Galaxy

In case you needed more convincing that I'm completely enthused about Super Mario Galaxy, here's a link to the overwhelmingly positive Ars review by Ben Kuchera.

From the review:

This is a game for people who love games. Nintendo has fired a shot at everyone who claims the Wii is just a gimmick and will soon wear out its welcome. This is a game that's a must-play for anyone who enjoys platforming titles or who just likes a good challenge that won't run out any time soon...The level of polish and care put into Mario Galaxy is evident in every moment of play, and I have a feeling everyone else will be taking notes for the next few years.

Tags: ted, environment, safari, video games

Rands In Repose: The Nerd Handbook

This is a great write-up helping you understand the nerd in your life. Some of his points can also translate to interacting with your high-functioning autistic children and peers. I really think I need to add this blog to my sidebar links.

via DaringFireball



YouTube: Cartoon Firefox

Completely charming animated ad for Firefox.





NYT Sunday Book Review: A Galaxy in Your Face

Artistic pop-up books are one of my autistic obsessions that emerges every time I'm in a bookstore. (I am a Robert Sabuda fanboy.) This piece of work by Matthew Reinhart brings the Star Wars universe to the magnitude of pop-up art.

(Books like this are also great examples of how children's literature truly transcends generational gaps. Everyone should spend time browsing the kid's section of their favorite bookstore!)

also via DaringFireball

Tags: literature, browsers, silly

MacUser: iTunes + iPod a monopoly? If so, then dibs on the shoe.

Dan Moren discredits recent claims that Apple holds a true monolopy with iTunes and iPods – specifically answering a rant from ZDNet. The article is pretty humerous, but it gets the point across. I thought this quote was especially insightful:

This argument would be a heck of a lot more compelling if it weren’t for the thousands of hardware devices that require their own proprietary software. Just the other day I was looking at writing up a nifty USB pedometer for my Gadgetbox column. Unfortunately, there’s no Mac software, and it comes bundled with its own proprietary Windows software. Where are the cries of monopoly? Are you bummed that you can’t install the PS3’s new firmware on your Wii?

For the record, I use iTunes. My library has 1176 songs in it. Of those, a whopping 39 are iTunes store purchases. Yeah, I feel really locked in here.



Naked Light

This image editing application looks amazing. It makes me want Leopard even more. A download should be available Friday.



Gamespy: Super Mario Galaxy Review

If you enjoy playing the best, then you absolutely need to play Super Mario Galaxy. It's our favorite Wii game this year, and a strong contender for the best game of the year.

Just for fun:

Tags: itunes/ipods, software, video games

Flock 1.0 was released for general consumption late last week, and it offers another browser alternative for Mac, WIndows, and Linux users. It bills itself as a social web browser, and it integrates functionality with several social networking and media sites to bring a richer experience to your web browsing. If you never use online services like Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or Flickr, Flock may not be for you. However, if you are a fan of Web 2.0, you might want to give this browser a try.

Cool Features

Flock stands out from many browsers with some very sleek and useful features, though some could use some refinements in their implementation.

The Media Bar is unique and presented well. It's function is to allow access to media streams from various video and photography related sites like YouTube and Flickr. The Media Bar can either appear along the top or the bottom of the browser window.


interesting images from Flickr


top rated YouTube videos

The Media Bar allows you to interact with the videos and photos in various ways. You can save media or send videos and images to online friends trough simple drag-and-drop. You can copy code to embed objects web pages, and, if you are using a blogging engine that Flock recognizes, you can add these images or videos to your blog with a single click. It's a handy addition for individuals who browse a lot of online media.

The People Sidebar is another unique interface feature to Flock. It allows you to integrate services like Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr directly into the browser. For example, Flock can track recent Tweets made from Twitter as well as recent comments made about your Flickr images. I couldn't test the Facebook or YouTube integration since I do not have an account on either, but I did have problems with the Twitter interface sometimes not showing the most recent Tweets (when compared to my Twitter page or results in Twitterific). Still, for individuals hooked on social websites, these features may be great time savers.


twitter in the sidebar and the web clipboard

Another interesting sidebar feature is a Web Clipboard. This clipboard allows you to save links, text, and images from websites for later use. I immediately found this useful in gathering information to possibly use in link posts. The tool is self-explanatory, and it worked flawlessly.

Complimenting the Flickr and YouTube integration, Flock allows for direct uploads to these services. The Flickr uploader was pretty good, but it lacked the ability to add a photo to a specific album. However, it does support writing descriptions, tagging, and privacy settings.


uploading to Flickr

RSS integration is a standard browser feature these days (though I still prefer using a dedicated aggregator), and Flock provides a nice interface for subscribing to feeds. When a site has an RSS feed available, an orange icon lights up in the address bar. Pressing this button will open the feed up in Flock.



Once you are viewing the RSS feed, you have the option to subscribe to this feed with a single click. Flock offers single column or double column views, and articles are marked as read once you scroll past them. You can also choose to view article titles, truncated posts, or full posts (for those RSS feeds that supply full articles). It's well implemented, but I wish there was a way to customize how often it refreshes subscribed feeds.



Flock can additionally be used to edit blogs if you use a service like Blogger, Typepad, or WordPress. (I am unfortunately unable to test this feature thuroughly.) Other nice touches include instant search results, and you can add any site to the search bar that has an integrated search engine. Finally, links that would usually open in a new window automatically open in a new tab, avoiding the hassle of multiple browser windows. In all, Flock contains many unique features that cater to primarily individuals who enjoy social networking, and these features are implemented pretty well. There's some room for improvement, but the package is enjoyable to use as a whole.

The Interface

One of the challenges with creating an application containing so many features is in creating an interface that remains simple and accessible. Here, Flock runs into a couple of small problems. For one, the interface can become very cluttered very quickly if you have the Media Bar and sidebar open simultaneously – a natural side effect of so much accessible information and media.


Also, the default theme is pretty busy. Fortunately, Flock will support themes later this year, so hopefully something a little more subdued will become available soon.



Otherwise, there are some other small elements and widgets that look a little out of place (especially in the bookmarks bar and the preferences window), but this is standard for Firefox-based browsers on OS X at the moment. We'll see if any of the work on the upcoming Firefox 3 addresses those issues.

Technical Issues

I ran into few real issues while testing Flock. The RSS reader does not seem to automatically update your feeds without a relaunch of the browser, nor could I find a way to schedule feed updates. (Someone correct me if I missed something.) Likewise, the Twitter sidebar seldom had the most recent Tweets from individuals I'm following, and I would have to visit Twitter to see their most recent comments anyway – negating the usefulness of the sidebar. Finally, I ran into some slowdowns if I had more than a couple tabs open, and the application crashed a couple of times while I was using it. However, none of these issues negate the usefulness of Flock. They merely diminish that usefulness.

Update: About refreshing feeds (from the Flock FAQ):

Every hour Flock will check feeds for updates. You can refresh individual feeds by using the Reload button while viewing a feed.

Final Thoughts

Saying all this, I do like Flock. Does it need work? Sure it does, but it functions well as a 1.0 product, and it has something going for it most other browsers lack. Flock has personality. It's fun to use. Take Internet Explorer, Camino, Firefox, and a myriad of other browsers. They all have unique features and issues, but they all essentially feel the same to use. Flock stands out from the pack because it dares to be a little different, and, as a Mac user, I can appreciate that. I seriously doubt Flock will be replacing my usual browsing routine of WebKit + Vienna + Twitterific anytime soon, but it's caught my interest. I'll be keeping my eye on this browser as it continues to grow and receive updates, and I recommend you check it out as well.

Tags: software, flock, browsers

Ars Technica: Can bloggers be journalists? Federal court says yes

Nate Anderson covers an interesting story about a man named Philip Smith who was taken to court for defamation after blogging about a bad experience he had with an eBay listing company. The court sided with Smith, saying he was acting as a journalist in his writing.

From the article:

"The fact that Smith reports negatively about his experience with BidZirk does not dictate that the article's function or intent was not news reporting or news commentary," wrote the judge. Furthermore, he noted explicitly that "some bloggers are without question journalists."

I wrote about this same topic some time ago in a case of Apple versus some bloggers, and I'm happy to see this precedent continue. I still say that many blogs provide a clearer an more unbiased picture of the world than many members of the mainstream media.



Daring Fireball: Apple Needs a Nikon

Speaking of bloggers who qualify as journalists, John Gruber writes about the benefits of having a true competitor and how Apple has no real competitor in terms of design – especially in the realm of portable music players. I keep hoping the Zune will put some heat on Apple, but I'm not holding my breath.



Storie di Apple: Discs, filesystems and Macs - Interview with Drew Thaler

This is a very insightful interview with Drew Thaler who worked at Apple during the OS 9 to OS X transition. He now works for Sony of PS3 game filesystems. Topics include CD/DVD burning development on Macs, iTunes, ZFS, font rendering, and working with Steve Jobs. It's a good time to be had by all.



1UP.com Review: Super Mario Galaxy

I'm excitied about too many games right now to be this broke. From the article:

In short, Galaxy is one of the most impressive, engrossing games in recent memory -- and quite the contrast to the rest of this year's triple-A gaming crop, which tends toward the dark, the M-rated, and the first-person perspective...Galaxy proves that Mario matters just as much today as he did 25 years ago, and that makes him one of a kind in this medium. But don't play Galaxy simply because Mario is the timeless godfather of gaming. No, play Galaxy because it's fantastic.

Tags: blogging, apple inc, video games

Ars Technica: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: the Ars Technica review

Ars always has the best OS X reviews. Grab a snack and a cold drink. Relax, and dive into John Siracusa's epic discourse.



Macworld: Cash isn't king: Apple limits iPhone purchases

Well, this is a totally evil move on Apple's part. Will they let someone pay with a check then?

Tags: leopard, iphone

I like Paul Thurrott. Really. However, his recent post regarding some users having installation issues with Leopard is just unfortunate. In it, he begins by taking Apple to task for an unwise icon choice for representing PCs in Leopard.

"Apple is so lame and so childish that the icons it uses in Leopard for networked Windows PCs are CRT displays with a Windows blue screen of death. Normally, I'd see this for what it is--typical juvenile stupidity from Cupertino..."

He goes on to point out that some users are experiencing installation issues that also results in a similar blue screen.

"You see, Leopard has its own blue screen of death. And it's happening to an alarming number of people who buy the new OS and install it on their Macs...Have fun with those blue screens, Apple. My advice: Describe this as feature number 301. Heck, you might be able to wrangle 3 or 4 new features out of it."

The problem I have here is that he is acting every bit as childish and immature as he claims Apple is being with this icon (which I'm sure few users will ever even see). He also foregoes any fact-checking as to the root causes. He just reinforces bad stereotypes of Mac-bashers, a stereotype he usually doesn't fit. This tirade is below him.

Fortunately, John Gruber comes along to straighten the facts out regarding the mystery of the blue screen:

"But, as far as I can tell, there is no mystery involved. There is one and only one known cause for this problem: old versions of Unsanity’s Application Enhancer, a.k.a. APE."

There are some exceptions to this statement (which Mr. Gruber admits to in his write-up). However, by and large, this problem is created by Application Enhancer, which is used for unsupported system modifications. The problem turns out to be that several Logitech mouse users may have an old version of APE on their systems without knowing it.

"Logitech Control Center currently installs APE 2.0.3, but previous versions of their installer used older versions of APE, which versions render Leopard unbootable. This is particularly pernicious given that most people installing Logitech’s software have never even heard of APE or Unsanity, let alone realize that Logitech is installing it on their system."

Most Unsanity customers would disable APEs without prompting. We know we are messing with the untold depths of the system and need to undo it all before performing a major upgrade. However, the story is different for someone merely buying a mouse. The issue here is not how Apple let this flaw exist in their software. The issue is why in the world a respected company like Logitech relies on an unsupported system hack to make their hardware work with Mac OS X.

Just for fun, here's the controversial icon:


I include this for a couple of reasons.

1. So you can see what all the fuss is about if you don't happen to be a Mac user with Leopard installed and sharing Windows PCs.
2. Just to demonstrate how huge Leopard icons are. Yes, this is the actual icon.

Irony or potential humor aside, this small problem has gotten too much attention. Maybe if Windows included something silly like this, I'd be on the other side of the fence, but I'd like to think not. Anyway, the Leopard BSOD can be prevented by having the latest version of APE on your system or by disabling it altogether before installing, and I bet that icon will change within the first couple of point releases.

After all, this is nothing. Does anyone remember the Panther File Vault bug that would eat your Home folder? Now that was worth writing home about.

Tags: macintosh, software, apple inc

Apple: Mac OS X Leopard
First, I promise not to link to every Leopard-related post on the Internet. I'm just adding some I thought were particularly interesting or fun. Second, it's pronounced, "Oh-Es Ten" not "Ahs Ecks" or Oh-Ex Ecks." It's a Roman numeral, people! (Okay, done ranting.)

• Macworld Review: Mac OS X Leopard

Leopard is, at once, a major alteration to the Mac interface, a sweeping update to numerous included productivity programs, a serious attempt to improve Mac OS security, and a vast collection of tweaks and fixes scattered throughout every nook and cranny of the operating system.

• Engadget: All about Leopard: gallery, apps, impressions

Bottom line, PC users: don't be afraid to give the Mac a second glance, there's plenty in Leopard sure to please. Mac users: run, don't walk, to get your copy when it goes on sale today.

• TUAW: 24 Hours of Leopard
This is a great collection of short posts that detail many of the enhancements and new features in Leopard. It's kind of like a Cliff Notes version of a Leopard guide book.

• Engadget: Leopard on an 8 year old G4 Power Mac -- can it be done?
Thinking of upgrading an older Mac to Leopard? the staff at Engadget see how the new OS fares on an eight-year-old Mac. I'm more surprised by how much worked rather than by what did not work!



Opposable Thumbs: Happy birthday, PlayStation 2!

Wow. The PS2 is seven years old. OT takes a look back at what made the PS2 great and how it changed the face of gaming.

Tags: leopard, video games, os x

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as my grandfather is going through some very rough days. My skin crawls every time the phone rings right now.

The month I bought my first Mac was in one of Apple's last 1,000,000 unit quarters for a while. After the stagnation of the G4 and the relatively cautious adoption of OS X, Apple began to see its Mac sales drop into six figures again. As of Q1 2001, Mac sales dropped to around 660,000 units. Sure, they would later begin hovering around 800-900,000, but that was a strong psychological barrier. Even the spike caused by the introduction of the iMac G4 (still one of my favorite Mac designs) did not last. As the G4 chip barely broke 1 GHz, x86 processors soared up to and beyond 3 GHz, and Apple's machines were offering less and less value and performance for their prices. Even the release of the PowerMac G5 (which offered tons more performance than the G4) initially did little to spur demand.

FInally, Q1 2005 saw the first quarter in nearly five years where Apple broke the 1,000,000 mark with Macs – driven largely by sales of the iMac G5 introduced the previous fall. From here, things began to look up, and Apple announced its new partnership with Intel that same summer. Mac sales continued to grow through 2006 as Apple's computers became more desirable. Finally producing performance that lived up to the hype, Macs began to attract more users. Now, Apple has seen its first 2,000,000 Mac quarter.

While it's easy to point out that Dell or HP sell over two million units in a matter of weeks, remember that two years ago, Apple was struggling to keep above 1,000,000 units a quarter, and, prior to that, the Macs future was really beginning to look grim. (Let's not even drudge up 1997!) Furthermore, John Gruber notes that this success comes right before a new OS release – typically a time when people put off major hardware purchases. It will be fun (in a geeky kind of way) to see if Apple can maintain this momentum into next year. Who knows? Perhaps I'll be blogging about Apple selling 3,000,000 Macs during a quarter sometime soon.

Tags: macintosh, apple inc

Ars Technica: Dell staunches the market share bleeding while Apple sees big growth

As predicted last quarter, however, Apple broke its tie for third place with Gateway by shipping 1.33 million units and growing by a whopping 37.2 percent (double that of any other US vendor) from third quarter 2006 to claim 8.1 percent of the US market for the quarter.

I remember the Mac's U.S. marketshare dropping to around 3% shortly after the introduction on OS X. Who knew a recovery like this would be possible?



Lifehacker: First Look at Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac

I am looking forward to the native speeds that Office 2008 will bring, but I'm not sure where they are going with the interface. It looks like some strange mutant child of iWork and Office 2004, with no single driving vision. As for Entourage, it just looks like a visual mess at the moment...



Destructoid: This is the end, my only friend: Nintendo drops NES support

The Nintendo Entertainment System, released for the U.S. back in 1985, will reach the end of its supported cycle on October 31. I have to admit that it never occurred to me that the NES might still be a supported product.



Ars Technica: Sony confirms $400, 40GB PS3 for the US, price drop for 80GB model

So is anyone going to sue Sony for a million bucks because they lowered the price? Seriously though, does anyone else feel like Sony just can't figure themselves out right now?

Tags: apple inc, microsoft, video games

Some of the visual asthetics of Leopard bother me in the screenshots. It's the way I am. I'm a UI junkie, and, while I like visual flair, I grow annoyed if the eye candy begins to detract from the experience as a whole. Once I get to use Leopard, I might change my mind, but right now I'm not sold on the new menu bar, the new Dock, or the way stacks fan out. Well, strike that last one. I gained some appreciation for that interface nuance earlier today.


image from apple.com

I always disliked how the stack curved slightly to the right, until I was working this morning and I noticed how my mouse hand drifts to the right when I try to go straight up. In fact (and I tested this against an enlarged screenshot, so you know its scientific), my hand drifted along basically the same arc the stack has!

In other words, this interface element that looks like useless eye candy actually has purpose. It's easier to intuitively navigate than a straight column. Once again, Apple shows its attention to detail even with an interface element that most users won't give a second glance.

Tags: macintosh, software, technology, os x, leopard

Indecision 2008: Stephen Colbert for President?

It's like Man of the Year without the lousy techno-thriller subplot. If this goes anywhere, I wonder if he'll shed his Colbert Report persona in any interviews or (gasp) debates. On the other hand, he communicates well through his satire. Hey, if Arnold can be governor...

By the way, if you like Colbert, you'll love his ice cream.



Freeverse: Periscope 1.5

Freeverse updates their $40 webcam utility with some refined features and a completely redesigned UI (thank you). The demo period lasts for 50 hours and does not limit functionality.

via TUAW



Macworld: Apple says iPhone complies with eco standards

Apple tells Greepeace to go stick their heads in some hazardous materials themselves.

“Like all Apple products worldwide, iPhone complies with RoHS [Restriction of Hazardous Substances], the world’s toughest restrictions on toxic substances in electronics,” an Apple spokesperson, told Macworld. “As we have said, Apple will voluntarily eliminate the use of PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008.”

Macworld: Jobs: iPhone SDK coming in February

I don't think I quite believe Jobs' spin on why the SDK is coming so long after the phone, but at least it is coming. Oh, and it will also work with the iPod touch.

Tags: politics, silly, software, environment, apple inc, iphone

I've worked with more children with special needs than I can count anymore. I've experienced things through my children that may be unimaginable to some, even some in education.

I work near project housing. Many of my children come from homes smaller than my living room. Some live in trailers with dirt floors. Some are homeless. Some travel from school to school as parents try to stay one step ahead of collection agencies while other children bear the greatest responsibility for raising their siblings because mom or dad may have to work two or three jobs just to keep food on the table. Some find their only meals at school.

I knew a child who would disrobe and defecate under desks when he felt scared. I've had young children who masturbate as the result of sexual abuse. One of my children would be regularly spotted at a neighborhood park past sundown because that was where she went when her parents argued. It stopped bothering me that she slept in my class. She felt safe there. I know a child who knows how to wrap joints because he's seen it done at home. I've known a six-year old angry enough to destroy classrooms. I just held him. Nothing he can do will ever reciprocate harm for harm from me. I had a child who watched his father gunned down by police during a drug raid. He was never the same after that. Neither was I.

I've worked with children who are bullies, who are bullied, who are autistic, who are bipolar, who are schizophrenic, who are brain damaged, who are epileptic, who have Tourette's, who are gifted and talented, who don't speak English, who have dreams, who have hopes, who want to survive, who want to die.

They all have stories. They all view reality differently, and I want to know what they see. Their perception of reality is their reality, and their behaviors and actions are all informed by that unique reality they live in. Their sense of justice and morality are formed in that reality. Their sense of community and socialization is formed within that reality. Their sense of self-worth and human dignity is formed within that reality.

I cannot dismiss that reality because, when I do, I dismiss the individual.

If I tell one of my literal autistic children, "Get out of town!" in response to something amazing he did, I cannot blame it on him when he runs away. His response is not invalidated because my perception of meaning differs from his. I cannot tell a child who is being bullied day in and day out that, "It's okay," because that statement condones the actions of the aggressors in his or her eyes. I cannot write off issues I do not want to deal with because I perceive reality differently than my children.

Before I can help a child develop past the issues that may hinder healthy development, I have to be willing to stare at the world through his or her eyes. If I blind myself to the sights they offer me, I can in no way help them. If I deny the realities they experience on a daily basis, I fail them. If I cannot love them for who they are, then who will?

Tags: education, asd

Ars Technica: Nobel Peace Prize goes to Al Gore, IPCC for work on climate change

From the article:

It was a bit of a surprise to see a topic with largely scientific and technological underpinnings receive the Peace Prize. But following the reasoning of the Nobel Committee suggests it may not be the last. As humanity's technological advances increase its ability to alter the world around it, the potential for scientific findings to have implications for the future peace will only increase as well.

This is really interesting stuff. I guess some were expecting this result, but it still came as a surprise for me... not that I really had any other people in mind.



Macworld: Apple faces potential environmental lawsuit

I understand the position that some are taking that Greenpeace specifically targets Apple for notoriety, but I still think Apple needs to step up on this whole environmental thing. Especially since a certain Nobel Peace Prize winner is on their board of directors.

On a related note, TUAW asks: How green is Apple?

Tags: environment

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

I don't think I've giggled so much since I found Engrish.com!



Daring Fireball: The ‘Un’ in ‘Unsupported’

I think I finally understand a certain misguided mindset that I’ve been baffled by for a decade. This mindset is exemplified by the sort of person who thinks that Apple “screwed them over” with the release of the iPhone 1.1.1 update.

The mindset manifests in many forms, but what it boils down to is this: a sense of entitlement that users should be able to do unsupported things and yet still be supported. That it makes no sense to expect support after taking unsupported actions is why I’ve found it baffling.

I also think more people are going to be affected by this mindset as these unsupported hacks become more accessible to the general public. What was once accomplished by only the most hardcore is now freely downloadable with easy-to-use interfaces that typical users can understand. Personally, I don't understand why you would want to take the risk with such an expensive purchase, but to each his/her own.



Mac Mojo: Welcome to Word Publishing Layout View

On the one hand, I'm glad to see this evolution of Word, but, on the other, I've already been doing this in Pages for a couple of years. Also, I find some of the design decisions baffling. Custom background surfaces? Who knows, maybe it will grow on me if I pick this up. I'm living sans Office at the moment, and it's not impossible, just inconvenient at times.

Tags: silly, technology, microsoft, iphone

As I've overhauled much of the "behind-the-scenes" stuff here on the site, I've been feeling some stabs of nostalgia about how far the site has come – so much so that I've thrown together some mock-ups of the site as it existed in various stages of its short existence thus far. After this post, I think you'll come to the same conclusion I have. I redesign this place way too much!



The first version of the site landed in April of 2005 and used a CSS template called BlueBall Simple that came with RapidWeaver 3.2 (I think) as a free theme. The site was non-creatively named "Mental Wanderings" (a name used by approximately twelve gajillion other blogs I later discovered), and it had a few other pages for photographs, sermon notes, and an obligatory "About Me" section. An element I forgot to include in the mock-up is the home page that existed at the time. Visiting the index URL would direct a visitor to a static portal that would direct him or her to the various sections of the site. The layout was very spartan and did not last for long.



Sometime during the life span of version 2, the home page disappeared, and my blog became the site's index. The design was another RapidWeaver default theme. Nothing much else changed other than I finally added some links to the sidebar along with an entire separate static page of sites I or my wife found interesting. During this time, I was still operating under the delusion that she would also take up bogging, so there was a hidden page dedicated to her. Needless to say, this never came to fruition. I think one of the worst decisions of this design was that I used completely different visual styles for every sub-page of the site.



I'm very fond of this version of the site. As the other's, the CSS style is built into RapidWeaver, but I did a lot of tweaking to the design, specifically with colors and fonts. Unfortunately, an extremely wide layout and a bug that appeared in IE resulting in paragraphs not being displayed correctly led to a short life. I would quickly revert back to the version 2 design for another few months. However, during this time, I began putting some of my presentations online, and I began blogging about presentation tips – a category which grew into its own section a few weeks later.



Version 4 of the site represents its existence at the most convoluted. The site was beginning to bog RapidWeaver down as its file size spiraled beyond 100 MB, and the various parts of the site were becoming difficult to keep up with. I removed the static links page and replaced it with a Daring Fireball-esque Links Blog that I would update frequently as various sites, blog entries, and stories would catch my interest. Though I liked this design the least, it was very reliable in multiple browsers, and it lasted the longest of the previous designs.



Here is the site as it exists today. The design is a new RapidWeaver theme with 3.6, slightly tweaked and modified. The links blog has converged with my main blog as a category. Everything extraneous has been removed, specifically the page of my presentations (which I plan to integrate into the presentation blog as I have time to redo them with voiceovers) and the "About Me" page. I've added some Flickr and Twitter goodness to the front page, and this design came with a new naming scheme for the site. The three remaining pages became Simply Robert, Simply Presentation, and Simply Gospel. Finally, this revision also encouraged me to offload all images from the RW3 file onto my [dot] Mac public folder, reducing the file size to about 8 MB (with a few images still to go).

The site is still very young, not even three years old yet, but I feel I've gained a lot from working on it. Besides the technical aspects of learning to embed HTML objects, editing images for use on the web, and modifying CSS stylesheets, the site has been a source of therapy and comfort to some extent. Hopefully, along the way, I've managed to touch someone else throughout its existence as well.

This makes me a little angry. The below quote is taken from the front page of the Autism Society of America:

A 2007 Centers for Disease Control report found that 1 in 150 children in America today have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). ASA estimates that 1.5 million Americans and their families are now affected. Autism is a national health crisis, costing the U.S. at least $35 billion annually.

Translation: "We don't just view autistic children as individuals in need of love and guidance. We see them as burdens to their families and to the national economy!"

Nothing like monetizing and dehumanizing the individuals you claim to help within the first paragraph of your site's introduction. You call yourselves the "voice of autism," but I wonder how many children would introduce themselves as a statistic.

Tags: asd, education

Guardian Unlimited: Burma shuts down last communication links

...And like so many other tragedies, the international community is turning a blind eye to the suffering people. However, if Burma's population or industry actually controlled something the world economy hinges on, this would not be tolerated.



iTunes: George Harrison

We've got solo careers from Paul, John, Ringo, and now George. I wonder when the "other shoe" will drop.

via TUAW

Tags: politics, itunes/ipods

I received a brochure for a company that makes custom t-shirts for school organizations at work today, and this was the first design I opened to.

I forgot who makes this. Link forthcoming.

This makes my day. I think "gnomealicious" has become my new favorite adjective.

Tags: silly

rentzsch.com: apple's antiCAPSLOCK

So Apple’s modern keyboards have a bias against activating Caps Lock at all, and another bias to turn it off as soon as possible. That fits in perfectly with how I (mis)use Caps Lock, but I can’t help thinking it’s ALSO a subtle nudge to those to abuse Caps Lock to TONE IT DOWN A LITTLE.

That's all kinds of cool. (Personally, I've disabled the caps lock key on my laptop.)



dive into mark: If wishes were iPhones, then beggars would call

Mark Pilgrim wonders why people buy things they know they will have to essentially break to get to do what they want. I have to agree. Buy what's best for you, and use it as intended. That always nets the best results.



Opposable Thumbs: Bungie to become an independent company, leaving Microsoft

If by leaving, you mean "become a second-party developer with the option to develop for additional platforms," then yes, Bungie is leaving Microsoft. I'm not keeping my hopes up, but Macworld seems to think Bungie could return to the Mac gaming scene after this move. (As some of you might now, Bungie once developed the Mac-only Marathon series, followed by Mac-friendly Myth, and Halo was first previewed at a Macworld conference.)

Tags: technology, video games, iphone

Depending on whether you are viewing this site in Firefox (Mac, Linux, Windows), Safari (Mac), or Internet Explorer (Windows), the sidebar behaves differently. I can barely see a difference between Safari and Firefox, but Internet Explorer sticks out like a sore thumb!


Internet Explorer 7


Safari


Firefox

Between Firefox and Safari, the only real difference is in the weight of the font. Safari is just a tad heavier, but IE renders the font much larger – so much so that on Simply Presentation the text goes off the edge! Why does IE render the font so drastically different, and, more importantly, does anyone know what I can do to fix this?

Tags: browsers

Gateway One


image from Gateway

Surprisingly, it doesn't look half-bad, and it features some decent specs with prices between $1300 and $1800. Unfortunately, the processor speeds are pretty shameful compared to competing products (and yes, I feel a tinge of irony typing that sentence).



Ars Technica: A day on the Surface: a hands-on look at Microsoft's new computing platform

This looks pretty cool, and the videos are amazing. Anyone familiar with Jeff Han's research will instantly recognize what's going on here, but Microsoft's implementation is very smooth and accessible. I just wish they would be a little more aggressive at making this available to consumers. The industry needs progress like this.



Daring Fireball: The New Zunes

Why is Microsoft being so hush-hush about their new media players – unveiling the new Zunes at midnight? Are they ashamed of them or something?



Macworld: Is Apple On the Wrong Path?

Christopher Breen makes some good points about some of Apple's recent decisions and how they hurt Apple's image as a customer-friendly corporation. However, for the record, I've tried the new keyboard, and I like it.



Ars Technica: Picking a new fight: Halo 3 multiplayer review

Ars reviews the multiplayer portion of Halo 3.

It's clear that the real value of the Halo 3 purchase is in online play, and Bungie.net is the glue that holds all of this together ... Dump in a few more players, take the time to design your own game types, and you have the next few months of your life planned out.

Tags: technology, microsoft, video games, zune, apple inc

Daring Fireball: The Amazon MP3 Store and Amazon MP3 Downloader

There’s very high “it just works” factor here. Music is easy to find, easy to buy, and easy to download once you have the Amazon MP3 Downloader installed. When you download music with Amazon MP3 Downloader, it simply shows up in iTunes, as you’d expect, with no manual importing or additional action required on the user’s part. Sync your iPods, and the new music shows up there, too.

This could be huge.



Look Me In the Eye

This is the blog of John Elder Robinson, author of Look Me In the Eye (due out today) about growing up with and continuing to live with Asperger's Syndrome. I'm going to be hitting our nearby B&N after school to check this book out!



Inhabitat: PREFAB FRIDAY: Zero-Energy MkLotus debuts!

Here's an incredible new eco-prefab home showcased on the lawn of San Francisco's city hall. Check out the Flickr photoset for some other great pictures.




EcoSpeak: An interview with ex-IPCC co-chairman Sir John Houghton

Mr. Houghton puts global warming in some historical perspective and still comes to the conclusion that our current level of carbon emissions are cause for concern. He also discredits our politicians' recent obsession with ethanol:

Ethanol from corn is not a good deal. Why it is being pushed by President Bush, I don’t know. It’s been disastrous for the price of corn and it’s not helping the CO2 budget significantly at all.

Rogue Amoeba: Radioshift

John Gruber has the best analogy: "Like TiVo for radio."



Finishing the fight: Ars reviews Halo 3

Ars Technica reviews Halo 3's single player campaign. I won't give away the whole review, but here's a snippet:

Suffice it to say that there are a couple of twists and turns that some may not have been expecting, and some familiar faces will come and go, to the surprise and shock of long-time fans. When the game is done, though, one thing is certain: fans will have the closure they were looking for.

Tags: software, environment, video games, literature, itunes/ipods, asd

A Collection of Apple Lock-In Posts
• Wil Shipley believes Apple's strategy of lock-ins will soon collapse upon itself.

• John Gruber agrees and goes so far as to say...

The best thing that could happen to Apple this year would be for Microsoft’s Zune 2.0 to be a kick-ass product, both technologically and in terms of being designed to make customers happy, not entertainment conglomerates. Apple needs competition.

• Paul Thurott says, "I told you so."



Engadget: NBC to offer free "NBC Direct" download service, iTunes competitor
from Engadget:

The company is going to start testing a new NBC Direct service in October with full, free downloadable episodes which can be stored up to seven days on Windows PCs. The shows will be on offer for a week as soon as they've aired, and will include imbedded, un-skippable ads.

Wow. That sounds like the company is putting customers first. Wait, what was that? Oh, battling the 0.01% of consumers who pirate programming is your number one priority! Now it all makes sense...

I like John Gruber's take:

So his number-one priority is piracy. Not making high-quality shows. Not forging a sponsorship or advertising model that is less annoying and distracting to viewers, such that they (the viewers) would be less likely to want to fast-forward the advertising messages. No, piracy, that’s his top priority.

Infinite Loop: OpenOffice Aqua still a year away
Sigh. Mac OS X has been out for how long? Seven-ish years now? How long did it take to figure out this whole OS X thing was more than a fad?



Google Video: Conspiracy Theory Rock
Awesome parody of School House Rock.



Apparently, this video has only been broadcast once, and it was back on March 14, 1998.



Flickr: 24 fps

This photoset features the last frame from several classic movies. Neat stuff. (See how many of the films you can name from the pictures! I could name ... like two.)

via DF

Tags: software, silly, apple inc, iphone, itunes/ipods, politics

This piece was a little harder to write than my previous reflection, and it was even harder deciding whether or not to post it. Unlike the story that reflects common issues I had in elementary school, this story is very accurate. Some very minor details have been fictionalized for the sake of narrative, and names have been changed, but this one is a very vivid memory. This narrative takes place nine years later than the first, and I was a sophomore in high school.

***

My mouthpiece is missing. The case for my mellophone is in its locker -- bay number 64, past all the woodwind lockers and next to the low brass. My instrument is in its case, but there is no mouthpiece in the case. I take fourteen steps to my French horn locker. It’s empty. Today is a gold day, no band or orchestra on gold days. They are both on blue days.

Marching band rehearsal begins in eighteen minutes. I cannot play without a mouthpiece. I cannot participate in practice without a mouthpiece. Conclusion: my French horn is at home. My mouthpiece is in my French horn case. My mouthpiece is at home.

Mom is at work. Dad is at work. Even if they could get off neither could make it to the house and to school in eighteen minutes -- now seventeen. I can feel myself starting to shake. My breathing becomes shallow and rapid. I know what’s coming, and I can’t stop it. Cold sweat beads up on my neck and shoulders, and the world becomes eerily silent around me.

Mom would take 12 minutes to get home (assuming she misses the light at 106th street, which is timed poorly) and up to 19 minutes getting back to the school -- more if the light at 98th street’s sensor is acting up again. That equals 31 minutes total drive time, not counting the time spent looking for the mouthpiece in the house. Dad would take almost 40 minutes to make it home -- completely out of the question.

Sixteen minutes. If I’m going to be on time for practice, I have to leave in one minute, and even that will cut it close. My friends have already left. I need to ask if anyone has an extra mouthpiece, but my voice has gone missing again. I hate that.

My hands are shaking so hard that I catch my finger in the latch when I close the instrument locker. I slip to the floor and begin rocking. How can I go to practice without my mouthpiece? I hate forgetting things! I hate how my memory seems to rely on location to work. I remember the mouthpiece in the instruments storage room. Why can’t I remember it when I’m someplace else?

My arms have scratches on them. I don’t remember those being there earlier. Scratches always appear on my arms when I’m upset. I look at my watch. Practice begins in two minutes. I’m too late.

I see the angry eyes in my mind of other band members and the directors as I imagine showing up late. I imagine the insults that will be hurled when they realize I’m not prepared to play. I’m immobilized by imagined cruelty, and my tumbling mind silently cries on the cold tile floor of the storage room.

I take 67 steps to the stairwell that leads to the practice rooms. I need to isolate. Now. 24 steps lead to the second level. Room 4 is small and has a piano in it. That’s the best room. The piano barely fits inside, but the strings vibrate very noticeably if you are playing in tune. I like that.

My trembling hand fumble with the door handle, closing it behind me as I collapse to the blue carpeted floor. I place my sweating face against the cold texture of the wall and try to slow my breathing. My mind is empty of thought yet full of fears, full of self-loathing. How can I be so stupid? How?

My head begins hurting, and I realize I’ve been hitting it against the wall. Pulling back, I clamber up onto the piano bench and begin playing chords. Harmonic intervals of two octaves, one octave, a fifth, a fourth, and a third produce the most calming vibrations. I hold the sustaining pedal down with my right foot and create the various major chords following this structure while I set my face against the piano’s smooth face board. I do this for a long time until I stop trembling, and my breathing returns to normal.

When I find my voice, I use a phone downstairs to call the band director I trust -- the one I’ve known since middle school. I leave a message for him saying I think I’ve had a breakdown, and I hang up. I don’t know what else to call it. I look at the clock. Practice will be done in 18 minutes. That’s where Dad will go to pick me up.

I stare fixedly at the ground as I take 3,154 very timid steps to the practice field, trying to be as small as possible the whole way, wishing I could somehow fold into myself and disappear…

***

The next day at school is terrible. Mr. Pike, the band director I don’t really like, tells me he never wants this to happen again, so it never happens again before marching band practice. On the upside, I’ll never forget my mouthpiece again because I’m not taking my French horn home anymore. If I leave it at school, I can’t forget it.

A saxophone player says that he’s sorry, but I don’t know why he’s apologizing. He didn’t leave my mouthpiece at home. Other students (and some adults) call me selfish, self-centered, irresponsible for not coming to practice anyway. The band director I trusted asks me how I think he felt getting that message at home, and how did I get his home number anyway? (It was in his own Rolodex on his desk next to his computer in his unlocked office.)

I know I’m not self-centered. I know I’m not irresponsible. I know I’m not selfish, but I have no answers. I don’t know what I am.

***

Asperger Syndrome was defined in the DSM-IV for the first time this very same year, but it would do me no good at the time. However, this incident was a turning point in that I finally became acutely aware of just how different I was from other people around me, and I began to develop the public character that I still rely on to this day. Great growth came from this one terrible event, and I finally began developing friendships and social circles through which I would later meet my wife.

Still, it would be another eight years before I really had myself figured out.

Tags: education, memoirs, asd

One of the things that really bugs me about the interface of Internet Explorer 7 is the menu arrow at the end of the address bar. If you are on a standard website, the arrow is in one place, but if you visit a secure website, the arrow moves to make room for another interface element.





See that lock icon. Yeah, it makes the address bar menu jump about 30 pixels to the left. Like I pointed out back in this post, I don't like moving targets. Really, who does? Would it not have made more sense to stick that icon inside the address bar perhaps? What about directly under the Refresh button to the left of the Home icon?

I'm not a professional designer, but it surprises me that both Microsoft and Apple let this mistake get past. People rely on motor memory instinctively, and moving interface elements impede that simple element of human adaptation. If you want to make your application more learnable and usable, all clickable elements of the main interface should consistently appear in the same place – not suddenly move due to a specific circumstance. The only one who should be able to move interface elements around is the user.

Tags: software, microsoft, browsers

Opposable Thumbs: Guitar Hero III Coming to PCs and Macs, via Aspyr Media

You will be able to control the game with a mouse and keyboard, just a keyboard, or with a Gibson-modeled USB guitar.

Wow. Can you imagine playing Welcome to the Jungle on a computer keyboard? Neither can I.



Opposable Thumbs: Financial Times: Nintendo Wii is now the best-selling console in the world

No surprises here.

Tags: video games

You know life is busy when a full day passes before I blog about new Apple products! The balance of the universe has been upset, but these product announcements seem spiffy enough to keep it in balance anyway.

iPod, iPod, iPod, and iPod

image courtesy Apple, Inc.

The iPod line saw some major updates, but the shuffle only received some color changes. On the other hand, Apple seems obsessed with radically altering the iPod nano (née iPod mini) every few months, and this release is no different. The nano now features video playback, games, video out, Cover Flow – basically everything its big brother features. Only these features are packed in an anodized aluminum enclosure that's just about 2" wide and less that 3" tall, about a quarter-inch thick, and weighs less than two ounces. Storage capacities have remained the same.


image courtesy Apple, Inc.

The iPod that started it all is now known as the iPod classic. It has all the features we know and love about iPod. However, Apple has ditched the plastic enclosure for aluminum, and the iPod classic is available in 80 GB or 160 GB(!) capacities. Something tells me the iPod classic name may be short-lived as it will someday be completely replaced by the big news of the event.


image courtesy Apple, Inc.

It's the iPod we Apple fanatics were hoping for the second we saw the iPhone. The iPod touch takes all the features of the iPod and wraps it in an iPhone finish. This thing is sleek, but one concession is storage. It comes in 8 GB and 16 GB configurations, and the fact that the iPod classic has ten-times the storage for a lower price is rather disconcerting. Really, though, it's a touch-screen iPod. That almost seems worth it in itself. Add in Safari, YouTube, and the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store, and they may have a winner on their hands. Expect this thing to be hard to find during the holidays.

Other News

• The iPhone saw a $200 price drop, and the 4 GB model will soon be extinct. To calm the angry mobs (read: early adopters), Apple is offering a $100 gift certificate to everyone who bought an iPhone before the reductions (and who are not eligible for the rebate).
• iTunes now features album ratings and ringtones.
• The iPod Hi-Fi is no more. That's a shame. I wanted one of these for presenting. I was just waiting for a price drop. Kinda ironic, no?

Overall, there is some good stuff here. The iPod touch is particularly exciting, and it again raises the bar for digital music players. The nano and classic are even better values than before, and the iPhone will probably see an uptick in sales based on the price reduction. More than any company, Apple knows how to create covet-worthy products, and they just continue to outdo themselves. I wonder what's in store for Apple Expo later this month.

Tags: technology, itunes/ipods

Vanity Fair: Going After Gore

Vanity Fair Columnist Evgenia Peretz pens a fascinating piece about the role of the media in Al Gore's 2000 presidential defeat. This is an important lesson as we enter another season of political reporting – the reporters are not infallible, and an informed voter should double-check the facts before passing judgment.

From the article:

As Jonathan Alter points out, "Overall, the press was harder on Gore than it was on Bush.… The consequences of [that] in such a close election were terrifying."

The article also clarifies former U.S. Representative Dick Armey's (R) misstatement that Gore claimed to have invented the Internet. He only claimed to have strongly supported making it available to the civilian public.

Vinton Cerf, often called the father of the Internet, has claimed that the Internet would not be where it was without Gore's leadership on the issue. Even former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich has said that "Gore is the person who, in the Congress, most systematically worked to make sure that we got to an Internet."

Tags: politics, media

Sibelius 5 is the most recent version of the composition and music layout tools by Sibelius Software. It is also the first version to ship as a Universal Binary for Macintosh computers – making a very anticipated release. The previous PPC versions run terribly on Intel Macs, so I was excited to download a demo for the most recent version.

Installation was as simple as can be hoped with any OS X application. Simply drag the application to your Applications folder, and you're done. The rest of the application feels much more Mac-like than version 4 did, but some strangeness still exists. The most obvious example is the application toolbar, which just looks out-of-place.


Other visual bugs exist throughout various dialog boxes, but this strange piece of UI design stares at you all the time Sibelius is open. Regardless, the rest of Sibleius' interface is very simple an unobtrusive.


clean and simple – Sibelius does a good job at avoiding distraction

The New Features

Sibelius 5 features features some enhancements and new functionality over previous versions. Panorama view removes all page breaks from your score and views everything in one infinitely continuous horizontal system, creating a simpler way of viewing the music you are working on.


an instrumental part in Panorama view

Sibelius 5 also makes it easy to extract parts. This was really a new feature with version 4, called Dynamic Parts, but, since I'm still using Sibelius 3 at home, this feature continues to impress. You simply write your score, choose a part from a menu, and the part immediately appears. This is a huge timesaver.

Another innovation to Sibelius 5 is the Ideas Hub. Using this feature is pretty similar to using loops in programs like GarageBand, and it's a fantastic addition to this application. SImply put, if you think of something off the top of your head, you can notate it out, open the Ideas window and save the clip of music until you are ready to use it – a simple process of copy and paste. Even better, you can listen to the music clips in the Ideas window, and double-clicking one of the snippets allows you to edit the notation.


viewing and editing an Idea

When I wrote about SIbelius 4 (which I never bought because the Intel Macs came along), I was pretty critical of Sibelius' fairly lame selection of quality samples when compared to Finale. While I still feel Finale has the better sample collection, Sibelius 5 has drastically improved in this area, including over 150 high quality instrument sounds. (Of course, many more can be purchased separately.) Also, Sibelius has gained support for VST and Audio Units – giving users greater flexibility in choosing virtual instruments from other manufacturers.

Other improvements include an improved equalizer, special measure numbering, easier cues, and instrument doubling in parts. Sibelius 5 also includes a font that writes the name of the note inside the notehead – a great addition for those of us working with younger musicians.

Conclusion

Overall, Sibelius 5 is a very nice improvement over previous versions. Unfortunately, some interface bugs are annoying, and I'm beginning to question the priority of Macintosh development at Sibelius Software in recent years. Back in the early days of OS X, Sibelius showed up the competition time and again in adopting new Macintosh technologies quickly and effectively. Recently, however, the Mac versions of Sibelius feel more of an afterthought. I hope I'm wrong, but $600 is an awful lot to spend on software that sometimes just feels buggy. Fortunately, bugs can be fixed.

Compared to its competition, SIbelius feels much more intuitive than Finale, and it is far more capable than Encore or other similar products. Both Finale and Sibelius have distinctive strengths and weaknesses as composing solutions, but Sibelius has the edge in my book. For the most part, it gets out of the way and lets me concentrate on my creativity, which is exactly what this kind of software should do.

Tags: software, sibelius, opinion

iWork '08 was released on August 7 with some improvements to the existing presentation and page layout applications and a brand-new spreadsheet application called Numbers. Over a series of three posts, I'm going to take a look at the new features introduced in this version of iWork.

• Keynote
• Pages
• Numbers

I will be the first to admit that I have a hard time wrapping my head around spreadsheets and spreadsheet applications. I find that Pages (or Word) does all I need for the tables and charts I usually need. Consequently, I rarely touch applications like Excel, so some trepidation went into writing this overview. However, the more I used Numbers, the less daunting the application seemed.

Usually, when you open a spreadsheet application, you see something like this:

a blank spreadsheet in NeoOffice Calc

This interface is daunting in its sheer lack of guidance. Of course, you could always follow a Wizard of some sort, but those can be equally as frustrating. It was with some surprise that opening Numbers (and choosing one of the offered templates) resulted in this:

Numbers' grade book template

Templates are present in Excel as well, but the simple flexibility of the templates in Pages makes them much more attractive to use.

Numbers takes an approach to spreadsheets very similar to creating a basic document. Sheets are arranged along the side as page thumbnails would be in Pages or slides in Keynote. Tables themselves are treated like objects and are each self-contained spreadsheets within your larger document. If you are comfortable with how the other iWork applications handle document objects, Numbers will feel pretty familiar. On the other hand, users who are very comfortable in Excel might need some adjustment.

selecting tables and basic formulas from the toolbar

Fortunately, this document-like approach makes it much easier to create spreadsheets that will print out predictably – something I've always had problems accomplishing the few times I've used Calc or Excel. For even further refinement, Numbers features a print view that is fully interactive and allows you to have complete control over how the spreadsheet document looks.

Working with data seems intuitive in Numbers as well. For example, if a cell is set up to calculate a formula, an editor appears atop to the cell when you select it (as opposed to being at the top of the screen or inside the cell where it might not fit).

editing an equation in cell E3

I also noticed that selecting a graph tied to the data in a specific table highlights the table, clearly indicating how the data is correlated. It's a small touch but a nice one.

the colors in the table match up with the graph

As far as Excel compatibility goes, I haven't been able to test the exporting quality, but NeoOffice Calc has had little success opening Numbers-exported Excel documents. Importing a very large Excel worksheet I have from school resulted in very few errors, and Numbers informs you of any issues when you import.

import errors

Numbers furthermore lacks support for Excel macros as well as AppleScript (a strange omission). I found little else to complain about, but I've read that performance suffers if you create large tables.

In all, Numbers adds a needed component to the iWork suite, and it does so with an approach that is both fresh and accessible. Serious power users and businesses might find the application limiting, but Numbers should capably fill the needs of most home users. I could write for quite a while about how simple conditional formatting and equation editing is, about how much easier Numbers is on the eyes when compared to other spreadsheet apps, or a plethora of other topics. However, I'll just wrap up by saying that I could actually see myself voluntarily opening and using Numbers – something I cannot say about any other spreadsheet application I've used before.

For further reading on Numbers:

• Mac Thought Crime: Numbers rocks: how I forgot about the review and ended up doing my budget
• Macworld Review: Numbers '08

Tags: software, iwork, opinion

iLounge: An Open Letter to NBC re: Leaving Apple’s iTunes Store

This whole thing with Apple and NBC seems silly to me, but this guy makes some valid points.

Let me explain something to you, because you don’t seem to understand it already. Your TV shows are available every day, every week, and every month of the year for free. They fly through the air (and travel through cables) at no a la carte charge to customers...

What you should have learned from the iTunes experiment is simple: Apple is helping you make money, and build fan bases...

If you’re concerned about piracy of what you’re selling through iTunes, my suggestion would be to take a quick look at the fact that you’re distributing your content in completely unprotected or compromised ways every single day...

Right now, NBC shows are still on iTunes. Apple says they're pulling them this month. NBC says December.

Tags: itunes/ipods

Really, I'm working on those Sibelius 5 and Numbers write-ups. Maybe a three-day weekend will allow me to catch up. Heaven forbid I'm still behind when I install Leopard!

Engadget: It's on: Apple event slated for September 5th



Bring on the Cover Flow iPods. Oh, and the tag-line is interesting in context with this excerpt from an old Apple Corp. press release about the Beatles breaking up (found here):

"The world is still spinning and so are we and so are you. When the spinning stops--that'll be the time to worry. Not before. The Beatles are alive and well and the beat goes on. The beat goes on."

In related news, Ringo Starr's entire back catalogue is now on iTunes.



Presentation Zen: PowerPoint tips that are clear and to the point.

Garr Reynolds reviews a new book about PowerPoint called Clear and To the Point: 8 Psychological Principles for Compelling PowerPoint Presentations. He highly recommends the book and illustrates some of the discussed concepts. Even when reviewing another's work, Mr. Reynolds remains highly interesting and informative!

Tags: technology, powerpoint, itunes/ipods

I was walking down the hall the other day, and I saw someone from whom I needed some information. I approached her, and she proceeded to walk right past me to greet someone else – completely ignoring me from my perspective. Completely frustrated, as I gave up and left, I muttered, "What am I? Invisible?"


original image by Jacek Freyer

One challenge I face (as do many other autistic individuals) is the question of how I get your attention. In many cases, your autistic friends, family, or students may not understand how to enter a conversation in a socially appropriate way. In my case, I catch myself just standing nearby waiting to be noticed – unfortunately making myself unintentionally unobtrusive. People don't ignore me. They just don't notice me.

Conversation skills are pretty challenging to teach to children in general, but the amount of unspoken interaction provides an even steeper challenge for autistic children and adults. At younger ages, consistent prompting and modeling as well as social role playing helps surmount those barriers. However, it can be difficult for an adult to relearn habits developed in those formative years.

It's important that teachers, mentors, and peers recognize the challenges faced by autistic individuals with conversation engagement. We can only help when we are consciously aware of those circumstances where are children are trying to get our or someone else's attention – especially if they are the silent, "wait-to-be-noticed" type. Otherwise, we may allow them to become invisible to us, and, if they are invisible to us, they may grow up being invisible to others.

Tags: asd, education

My schedule has been nuts. It feels like all I've had time to do with the site is link to things!

Treehugger: Why We Love Downloads

My last few software purchases have been digitally distributed. It's probably been over a year since I've purchased any boxed software.



The Macalope: The Ents will be happy

I love this blog.



Infinite Loop: Apple wins silver for eco-friendliness at EPEAT

Not bad ... but not great either.

Tags: environment

Sci-Fi Lists: Top 100 Sci-Fi Lists

I've read most of the top 20, and I'm pleasantly surprised by number one.



Ars Technica: AACS DRM tentacles reach far into operating systems

So, when thinking about this issue, we have to ask ourselves: is a company like Microsoft or Apple likely to tell Hollywood to jump off a cliff? No, because both companies know that users will want to play HD DVD or Blu-ray discs on their computers. Microsoft didn't tell AACS LA to stuff it, and Apple won't tell them to, either.

Marcello's Homepage – Comics – Calvin & Hobbes

Every Calvin and Hobbes comic strip ever published. I can now sleep better at night just knowing these are here.



PagesUser: A Huge Saving of Space

So that's where all those megabytes went... I had a hunch.



Red Sweater Blog: We're In This Together

It’s pretty awe-inspiring to sit in the same room while the makers of competing products such as BBEdit and TextMate, or Transmit and Fetch discuss product design issues, laugh at each other’s jokes, and yes, withhold some of their more strategic plans! But almost everybody in the room, competitor or not, is respecting each other’s work, and having a great time.

This is something I really like about being a Mac user. The third-party developers (especially the indies) are generally nice people, and the cut-throat feeling pervasive in the Windows software market is all but absent.



Infinite Loop: The secrets to Apple's success in marketing to teenagers

In addition to the reasons listed in the article, I think another factor in Apple's success with young people is that Apple doesn't talk down to them or try to create a blatantly corny atmosphere of "hipness."

Tags: silly, keynote, literature, software, drm, apple inc

Internet Nexus: Electronic Arts delays OS X games

Paul Thurrott is absolutely right in this case. The Mac is not a gaming machine. It's great at many things (otherwise I wouldn't be on my second Mac laptop and desktop), but gaming is a lost cause here.

So what's a Mac user to do? Well, you can forget about this EA silliness, for starters, and grab yourself a real video game machine, like an Xbox 360 or a PS3.

Yup, we got a PS2 back in 2002, and we haven't missed gaming on the Mac since. (Well, except for Cro-Mag Rally perhaps.)



Engadget: Samsung files patent app for fertility measuring phone

Okay this has to be at least the third strangest thing I've seen today. (And quite possibly the most bizarre use for a cellular phone I've ever heard of.)



Ars Technica: Row brewing over attorneys' fees in RIAA loss

Why does this not surprise me?

Tags: video games, silly, riaa

iWork '08 was released on August 7 with some improvements to the existing presentation and page layout applications and a brand-new spreadsheet application called Numbers. Over a series of three posts, I'm going to take a look at the new features introduced in this version of iWork.

• Keynote
• Pages
• Numbers

Pages was packaged with Keynote in 2005 in the first iteration of iWork. Pages received decidedly mixed reviews, but Apple has continued to improve its page layout application over time, resulting in the most recent version.

Initially, Pages was not a word processor (like how most people use Microsoft Word). Rather it focused on page layout more akin to Microsoft Publisher or Adobe FrameMaker. Indeed, you could use Pages for simple word processing, and I have done so on many occasions. Unfortunately, Pages has offered such a fundamentally different approach to creating documents than Word that a perceived learning curve is in place. This harmed Pages popularity quickly.

Now, in version 3, Pages is truly reaching maturity as a product. However, compared with other documenting applications, its interface is very clean and uncluttered. Compare the screenshots below of Pages running on Mac OS X and Word 2003 on Windows XP.

x

A lack of clutter is not indicative of a lack of functionality, however, and Pages is packing a lot of enhancements and a few new features under its hood. The first thing I noticed was a detail that might skirt by most users – its install size. One would expect Pages 3 to be larger than Pages 2, but quite the opposite is true.

x

As you can see, Pages has lost considerable weight from one version to the next – dropping nearly 600 MB. (Also, Keynote has lost about 1 GB off its size. I wonder how they trimmed the applications' weights to such an extent.)

When the Template Chooser is brought up, there are many new templates to choose from, and they are now divided between "Word Processing" and "Page Layout."


Word Processing offers much more basic templates than Page Layout

Regardless of the mode you use, Pages behaves basically the same once you begin creating your document. Like, Keynote, Pages has had a toolbar facelift and has received Instant Alpha and Photo Frame capabilities. Pages has also gained a contextual Formatting Bar, and this little widget quickly makes the application much more usable as a word processor. Prior to this release, to change fonts, you had to open a separate pane, and all basic formatting options were most easily accessible through a pane called an Inspector. (On the upside, I personally grew very comfortable with keyboard shortcuts. On the other hand, this turned off several potential users.)

Now, similarly to Office 2007, a small bar is present beneath the main toolbar icons that customizes itself to the part of the document you are currently working with.


working with text


editing chart properties


editing a picture

This Formatting Bar is extremely useful and all but eliminates the need to resort to the Inspector for anything but the most tedious of settings. This is a welcome addition, and the only criticism I have is that the bar is very small. There seems to be no way to make the bar larger, and this could prove a problem for users with less than ideal eyesight.

Pages has also gained some more refined equation editing for charts that seems to come directly from Numbers, the new spreadsheet application bundled in iWork '08. In the Inspector, you can set conditions and basic equations with a simple click, and the formula editor automatically appears overs selected cells that are set to respond to formulas. I'm not sure if all of these features are new to Pages 3, but this is the first time I've noticed them – making certain tables much easier and more intuitive to generate than before.

setting conditional formatting


the new equation editor

Finally, Pages 3 features better compatibility with Word documents than its predecessors – even compatibility with Office 2007 Office Open XML files. This also applies to change tracking, which would not translate from Pages to Word or vice versa prior to this release. Now Mac users can use NeoOffice or iWork to interact with Office XML files. Ironically, a version of Microsoft Office for the Mac featuring this capability is not due out until early next year.

With Pages, Apple has made some relatively small changes that drastically effect its usability. In some regards, it feels like a new program altogether. I've been fond of Pages since its release and have used it pretty regularly. These enhancements will only serve to increase my use of and enjoyment with this application.

For more reading on Pages:

• Apple's Pages site
• Macworld: First Look at Pages '08

Tags: software, iwork, opinion

TUAW: John Lennon On iTunes

And we all download/And we all download...



Infinite Loop: RIP AppleWorks

I'm really surprised Apple killed this product today – more or less because I didn't know the product was still alive as of yesterday.

Tags: software, itunes/ipods

I don't drink, but if I did, I would have to make a shot game out of Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson's Prelude to Dune novels (House Atreides, House Harkonnen, and House Corrino). The rules would be simple. you would take a shot whenever:

• the adjective "surreptitious" or the adverb "surreptitiously" is used.
• the adjective "sinewy" is used.
• Prince Rhombur says, "Vermillion Hells."
• Kailea brushes her, um, bosom against someone's arm.
• "doe-like" is used to describe a female's eyes.
• "creamy" is used to describe a female's skin.
• "generous" is used to describe a female's mouth.
• a grown man begins crying uncontrollably.
• you feel like the next chapter should begin with the words, "And now for something completely different."
• a character fits into a shameless stereotype.

Okay, you can pick any two or three of the above conditions, and that should put you under the table within a few chapters. Really, I think Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson have created some fascinating additions to the Dune universe, but those initial three novels...

(If you're like me, Jell-O cubes or a favorite candy make a nice substitution for alcohol. Read with a friend. It makes the game more enjoyable! Yes, I'm a geek!)

Tags: silly, literature

EW: Steven King: The Last Word on Harry Potter

Some of the most intelligent and cognizant thought on the Harry Potter series I've read. (I will say there are some spoilers in here for anyone who hasn't read the book and cares.) Here are a couple of key quotes:

"But reading was never dead with the kids. Au contraire, right now it's probably healthier than the adult version, which has to cope with what seems like at least 400 boring and pretentious ''literary novels'' each year."

"...If the field is left to a bunch of intellectual Muggles who believe the traditional novel is dead, they'll kill the damn thing."

Tags: literature

I wrote the following memoir as an assignment for a literacy conference session. It has received some minor edits (listed at the end) from the original but remains largely unaltered. This was scribbled in my notebook over a period of about twenty minutes in the middle of the night while my roommate snored loudly. This is actually fictional, but it is typical of my early school experiences.

There are twenty-two desks in the classroom, eighty-four ceiling tiles plus or minus a few (based on perspective, light arrangement, and wall irregularities), twenty-five cubbies with coat hangars, and one sink with a step stool in front of it.

Nineteen students (counting the author) occupy twenty-two desks. It takes three hundred eighteen steps to get to the cafeteria, eighty-six steps to accelerated math, twenty-eight to the sink, and fourteen to the right cubby – except a direct fourteen-step route makes for a bad day because “14” (like the letter “N”) is uncomfortable.

Teacher Miss Hiles is five feet, four inches (which equals 64 inches in all or 162.5 centimeters). She has been reading for four minutes or 240 seconds. Thirteen words have already begun with the letter “N.” If one more happens too soon – before the brain loses count – this won’t be a good chapter.

“Robert, are you listening?” Teacher says. That is not part of the story. It makes no sense. Ramona was just trying to convince her father to stop smoking after being caught throwing away his cigarettes. Ramona books are by Beverly Cleary who is a better author than Judy Blume because Fudge is annoying. There are three Ramona books at home, and “Robert” in not a character. Did Teacher mean “Ramona?”

“Robert, what did I just read?” What. When. Where. Why. They all sound the same. They are okay in writing, but they aren’t good out loud. They are okay in a book because the book gives the answer. “Romana, why did you throw my cigarettes away?” And Ramona gives a reason. “Why,” in this context, looks for motivation, but why can also mean different things. “Why, look at that rainbow!” Teacher says to listen for something called “inflection.” She once said sentences using different inflections, but they all sounded the same.

“Robert.” There is no Robert in this chapter! Romaona’s dad is Mr. Quimby. Here sister is Beatrice, but she calls Beatrice “Beezus,” and Beezuz is friends with Henry Huggins. Ramona was first introduced in the Henry Huggins books, and she got her own books later. This is called a “spin-off.” This fits Ramona because she likes to spin. She also likes to make curls go “BOING,” and she likes to make noise with Howie. Maybe Howie will get a spin-off.

“Robert, have you listened to a word I’ve said?” Teacher says louder to … to me. She takes some glasses out of a pair of hands. My hands. She puts the glasses on my face. “Robert, you’re daydreaming again. Can you tell me what we’ve been reading?”

Of course I can. I can tell her all about Ramona and her father, but my voice has gone missing. So I just look at my desk. I don’t expect to find my voice on the desk, but looking at the desk avoids all of the frightening faces looking in my direction.

Teacher shakes her head and says she will have to talk to my parents about my daydreaming again. It will be the fourth conference this school year. This is September. September has thirty-one days. Today is the twentieth. A Friday. Birthday was on August twentieth – number six. Six-years-old means kindergarten for some born in August, but I went to kindergarten at five. Something called an I.Q. (or “intelligence quotient”) is 135. I know that “intelligence” means how smart someone is, but “quotient” is a mystery.

I tried to find out by reading every “K” word in the dictionary (American: of or associated with the western hemisphere; Heritage: background or history) – all 2,180. It took five days to read them all. Anyway, it is likely that a quotient has to do with daydreaming. Dad says it has to do with division. “Division,” “daydream,” and “dad” all start with “D,” and you can use the letters in “daydream” to make “dad” as well as “yard” and “dare” and “made” and “ram” and “mare” and …

“Robert!”

I stare harder at the desk. Still no voice.

“Robert, if you are not going to listen, just go sit in the corner.”

I sit in the corner and try to be small. I’m very good at small. You’d be surprised at some of the places I can fit into. When I’m small, my voice comes back, so I count to feel better. Numbers (except for 14) are nice. “1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, …”



The next day we are supposed to write about a favorite book. My paper is about Ramona. I use a pen because pencils give me the bad kind of goose-bumps. So does chalk and velvet.

I write more than anyone in class. My voice was on my desk all along. It was hiding inside my pen.

Alteration from the original:

• The classroom originally had more ceiling tiles, but I felt a smaller number was more accurate. A part of me wants to go back and count.
• I double-checked my Ramona facts. Nothing to fix.
• I changed my teacher's name to keep her anonymous.
• In the original manuscript, I counted by fives. Though I liked fives, chances are I would have counted by odds if upset. They required more concentration and would have better served to take my mind off things. Primes serve that purpose well nowadays.

Tags: education, memoirs, literature, asd

TUAW Exclusive: Pixelmator in-depth screencast

This app is just looking cooler and cooler. My wallet curses these awesome Mac software developers and their great products!



Ars Technica: Report: Gamers largely clueless about next-gen console media capabilities

Considering how insanely expensive these new consoles are coupled with the fact that 2/3 really need a HD-capable TV to show off their capabilities, this is truly surprising.



FatBits: Stuck on the enterprise

John Siracusa on Apple's focus on consumers:

Still holding that thought about the Intel stickers? Listen again to Steve's final words on the subject. "We put ourselves in the customer's shoes and say, what do we want?"

This is why Apple does not compete in the enterprise market in the traditional sense. This is why no other company created the iPhone. This is why most desktop PCs are pieces of crap. When you don't focus on the user, the user gets shafted.

Tags: macintosh, video games, software, apple inc

iWork '08 was released on August 7 with some improvements to the existing presentation and page layout applications and a brand-new spreadsheet application called Numbers. Over a series of three posts, I'm going to take a look at the new features introduced in this version of iWork.

• Keynote
• Pages
• Numbers

Keynote is the original member of what would eventually become iWork. It was released in 2003 and has seen three major updates since them, each bringing new functionality as well as general improvements.

One thing I noticed immediately in Keynote '08 was that the toolbar icons seem to have received some attention. I think this may be the first facelift the toolbar has received since the initial release. The toolbar is now unified, and the new icons are more illustrative than photographic.

Keynote '06 toolbar

Keynote '08 toolbar

The toolbar icons do not seem to be resolution independent, nor does the application icon support a 512x512 resolution, both expected due to the impending release of Leopard. However, digging through Keynote's packaged resources, I did find some icons for iChat Theater, which is a Leopard feature. Perhaps new icons will come in a software update. (I also noticed some other organizational differences in the package that I'll have to keep in mind when digging for resources.)

As far as visual enhancements to presentations go, Keynote '08 comes with a few new themes, transitions, and build effects, along with a new way of animating text and objects called Smart Builds.

You can see all the new themes above. My wife is very fond of Harmony, and I like Vellum and Industrial the most. I'm not too fond of Craft or Stock Book personally, but many of you will have different opinions. No Keynote themes seem to have been removed from the previous version in this upgrade, which is a first.

There are a few new 3D slide transitions: color planes, confetti, and swap, and there is one new 2D transition called Blur. New build animations include comet, confetti, drift, flame (which is terrible), and sparkle. Text builds contain all of these plus blast, bouncy, confetti, convergence, and squish. Some builds and transitions are amusing, needing to be avoided in professional presentations at all costs, while others like blur and drift can be quite dramatic.

Smart Builds create a sophisticated animation between objects – rotating or flipping between images. Really, seeing is better than explaining, so here's a video:

Click here for video

Another new visual flair comes by way of path animations, called Action Builds in Keynote. Basically you can determine a path for text or an image to follow, but the neat thing is that the object can change states while progressing along its path. For example, an image can change size or opacity during its transition. You can set items to move along a straight or a curved path. Again, showing is better than explaining:

Click here for video

Keynote has gained some interface refinements in a smart formatting bar (which I will talk more about in the Pages overview) and live image resizing within a mask – making the task of resizing masked objects far less tedious than the preceding version of Keynote. Also, you can now record your voice in sync with your slides and animations. Couple this with the fact that Keynote integrates with iTunes and Garageband, and you have a nice way of sharing your presentations with audio. The recording options are limited, but patience will yield decent results.

Another advertised new feature is Instant Alpha, which brings another image editing capability to Keynote (like shape masking and Image Adjust in the previous version). Instant Alpha is designed to quickly and easily remove backgrounds from photographs.

x

It's important that the background is pretty solid and distinctly contrasts from the main image. Otherwise, the results can get messy. It's a feature that works well enough to be a timesaver, but it can't altogether replace a more professional graphics app if you use alpha transparencies a lot. (Hint: using shadows can hide rough edges in the Instant Alpha transparency.)

FInally, it's possible to add special frames around images in Keynote slides outside the usual shadows and lines. In the object inspector, there is a Picture Frame option under "Stroke," and you will be able to choose from twelve different frames available to that theme. It's not a huge feature, but both my wife and I would have loved this option with some projects we did last year and earlier this year.



That covers most of Keynote's new features. Most of it is good stuff, and I've only run into a couple bugs so far. The only problem with all of these great improvements is avoiding going overboard when creating a presentation. If you have a Mac, you really should own iWork, and I think that will become more evident as we look at more of this application suite.

For more reading on Keynote's new features:

• Apple's Keynote Page
• Keynote User: Quick Keynote '08 New Feature List
• Macworld: First Look: Keynote '08

And don't forget to check out my iWork tagged Flickr photos!

Tags: software, opinion, iwork, keynote

Presentation Zen: Steve Jobs and the art of the swordsman

This is a good post by Garr Reynolds about the Art of Steve when it comes to presentations. Good stuff.



Ars Technica: Adobe, Microsoft accused of infringing on browser-related patents

Here we go again. All I want to know is why this company was awarded this patent years after this specific interface paradigm was already in use.



Apple – QuickTIme – Apple Special Event – August 2007

If you want to watch Steve Jobs' presentation from yesterday, it's right here. A fast connection is recommended.



Apple – iWork – Trial

If you have a Mac, you should download the trial version of iWork '08. It's only a 469 MB download!



Wired: Aug. 7, 1991: Ladies and Gentlemen, the World Wide Web

The "tubes" went public, and the world began to change.



Engadget: Apple calls multitouch Mac a "research project"

Sounds like Apple is still considering adding multitouch support to Macs. Chances are, this will show up in notebooks before desktops. I was not suprised that yesterdays announcements did not include a multitouch Mac.

Tags: powerpoint, microsoft, software, macintosh, apple inc, browsers, adobe

Apple's press event today contained virtually no true surprises, but that doesn't mean there isn't some good stuff here for any tech enthusiast to get excited about.

New iMac

The new iMac is very similar in form to its predecessor but just a tad sleeker. They took a good design and made it better. Just for reference, here's a picture of the previous model and the new side by side.



I'm not too sure what else to write about this upgrade. The specs are nice, and the prices are even better than before – especially on the higher end models. I've already written a bit about the new keyboard. I like the looks, but I'd definitely want to get my hands on one before purchasing. (But it would look nice attached to my old but reliable PowerMac G5...)

The only weird bit is the wireless version of the keyboard. It has no number pad. It's layout is basically that of a laptop keyboard – which is what I primarily use. However, some consumers and business folks might not like that.

the wireless keyboard

iLife '08

This came as a surprise to me because I really wasn't expecting iLife to be upgraded until Leopard came out this October. Among other improvements, iPhoto has gained the ability to automatically show or hide given photos in your library. It has a new organization option called "Events," and it has gained the ability to publish to a [dot] Mac web gallery with some sleek effects.

iDVD has received some new themes and better encoding while iMovie looks like a whole new application (with a new icon even). It can now manage videos (a la iPhoto) as well as create. iMovie integrates with [dot] Mac and YouTube, and it features a retooled interface for making movie creation even easier. I guess Apple felt like they needed to do something new with this app since Windows Movie Maker was so capably aping it!

iMovie

iWeb has seen some basic improvements in theme handling, and it now supports personal domains. It features Google Maps and Adsense integration as well as Web Widgets – showcasing content from other sites like Twitter, Flickr, etc. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the blogging component has received much attention based on the website. Finally, GarageBand comes with new arranging and automation capabilities as well as a new visual equalizer. Magic GarageBand is a new mode that allows you to quickly experiment with and create new music.

In all, the upgrades are pretty small, but the enhancements to iMovie seem worth the price alone.

iWork '08

This was another upgrade that I thought would not be coming until after Leopard (and one I'll be posting some more on after I finish downloading the 469 MB demo). It turns out, according to John Gruber, iWork installs the Leopard ImageKit for Tiger users. I wonder if any other apps can take advantage of ImageKit once it's there.

Keynote features new path animations (huzzah), new text effects, transitions, and themes, and it has a new feature called Instant Alpha that is supposed to remove the background from an image. I'm assuming the background needs to be solid, but I'll find out when I start playing around. Pages seems to have borrowed a trick from Microsoft with contextual toolbars. It also features separate modes for word processing and page layout, and its tracking feature is now compatible with Word.


the new contextual toolbar

The big news in iWork is a new spreadsheet application called Numbers that claims Excel compatibility. It features the same simple interface as Keynote and Pages, and it offers flexible ways to analyze variable in your data to see instantaneous results. I'm going to be doing a lot of spreadsheet work this coming school year, so this application really intrigues me.


Numbers

Other Updates

A few other products got quiet upgrades today. The Mac mini was boosted to Core 2 Duo processors and 1 GB of default memory. Airport Extreme received gigabit ethernet. [dot] Mac storage was bumped to 10 GB (from 1 GB) with 100 GB of monthly data transfer as well as new web gallery support and server-side spam filtering, which should make some iPhone users happier. Finally, the MacPro gets a new PCI RAID option for those of you with an extra $999 laying around.

All in all, it's been a busy day in Apple product news. My favorite bits are the iWork upgrade and the new iMac, but I'm also happy about the bumped [dot] Mac storage. I'll be back on in a couple of days with some iWork '08 impressions!

all images in this post are courtesy Apple, Inc.

Tags: macintosh, opinion, software

The site's going to go down tomorrow for a couple of hours. I hope [dot] Mac will be getting a nice upgrade in the meantime!

World of Apple: Gallery of screenshots from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard build 9A499

Mac OS X 10.5 is looking really nice, but I just am having a hard time with the whole 3D Dock and translucent menu bar thing...

Tags: leopard, os x

In 1999, Apple released a humble product called Mac OS X (pronounced "ten") Server 1.0. In look and feel, the operating system was very similar to Mac OS 8 (and 9), but, beneath the interface, the system contained some drastic changes that would eventually revolutionize the entire Macintosh software line. It eschewed the classic Mac OS nanokernal for the NEXTSTEP hybrid kernel, and it contained a hybrid of classic Macintosh features and NEXTSTEP features – even requiring an emulation layer to run classic Mac OS applications. This Mac OS was unlike anything that had come before it. In fact, it was really Mac OS in name only.

A Little Background

In 1986, two years after the introduction of the Macintosh and and the Mac OS, Steve Jobs found himself ousted from the company he helped create. Ever the entrepeneuer, he quickly launched into two new ventures – one was an unwanted animation studio that would become Pixar, and the other was a new computer company called NeXT.

NeXT computers were technnically advanced for their time. They were released in 1990 with 25MHz processors, 8 MB RAM, an ethernet port, 256 MB storage, and a 1120x832 display. In contrast, typical machines of the time would have had 16MHz processors, 640 kb RAM, no networking, 10-40 MB storage, and 640x350 displays. NeXT Computer is considered a pioneer in brigning networking to desktop computers. The first email programs and web browsers were developed for NeXT. Unfortunately, the NeXT hardware was doomed to failure (mainly due to prohibitively high costs), but the operating system would live on.

NEXTSTEP was released in the days of Windows 3.1 and Mac OS 7, and it stood out from its competition both visually and in capabilities.



Mac OS 7, Windows 3.1, and NEXTSTEP. These screenshots are all courtesy of Wikipedia.

NEXTSTEP was based on the Mach kernel and BSD. It featured object-oriented programming based on the Objective-C language. It was meant to be viewed on higher-resolution displays, and it included many software tools for networking and collaboration. Additionally, NEXTSTEP was the first general operating system to handle color standards, advanced sound processing, modern typography, and internationalization. It's interface featured real-time scrolling and window dragging as well as window notifications and transparency. Again, this was all in the early 90's, well before the world would be captivated by Windows 95.

NEXTSTEP faded into obscurity after the mass adoption of Windows 95, but it would find a strange rebirth in 1996 when it was acquired by Apple, and Steve Jobs returned to the company that had rejected him ten years prior.

Reinventing the Mac OS

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple through the NEXT acquisition, Apple had already put massive efforts into overhauling the Mac OS through the Copland and Taligent projects (though some Copland features were eventually incorporated into OS X). Both of these systems were laid to rest in the late nineties in favor of Rhapsody, an operating system based primarily on the OPENSTEP (neé NEXTSTEP) operating system. Rhapsody eventually became Mac OS X Server 1.0 which would lead to the public beta of Mac OS X.


OPENSTEP and Rhapsody (both courtesy GUIdebook) side by side

Though called Mac OS, system 10 shared little in common with the previous Mac operating systems outside some superficial interface elements. Like NEXTSTEP, Mac OS X is based on the Mach kernel and BSD Unix. They are both object-oriented environments based on the Objective-C programming language. Both feature a dock, system services, managed memory, and preemptive multitasking. In fact, if you crack open the UI of most Mac OS X applications, you will find files with the extension ".nib" contained within. NIB is short for NeXT Interface Builder.

Like Mac OS X Server 1.0 and the Rhapsody developer builds, Mac OS X is incapable of natively running applications written for previous versions of the Mac OS. These applications were relegated to a "blue box" called Classic, and they could not take advantage of Mac OS X's more advanced features. The Classic layer, effectively the final vestiges of the original Mac OS, lost support with the recent Intel-transition of Macintosh computers, placing the final nails in the coffin of the system that served Apple since 1984.


System 1.1 (from GUIdebook) next to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (from Apple)

As John Siracusa wrote last year (on the fifth anniversary of Mac OS X), "The Mac is dead. Long live the Mac." OS X is Mac OS in name only. Truth be told, Mac OS X is the never-released NEXTSTEP 5, for the system shares much more in common with that legacy than with the Mac OS legacy. Apple took a daring move with Mac OS X in that they completely pulled the rug out from under their current OS foundation and replaced it with something entirely new – a feat that other OS vendors have been reluctant to attempt.

As Mac OS X becomes a more mature product, it resembles NEXTSTEP more and more while retaining the style and simplicity Mac users have come to expect. NEXTSTEP and the classic Mac OS were products doomed to failure – the former for being too far ahead of the times and the latter for being to far behind – but Apple has created a powerful and stable operating environment from the ashes of both, similar to each but ultimately original and innovative.

Tags: software, macintosh, leopard, os x

#open.ended: OLPC project tests WebKit on the XO laptop

And WebKit continues to gain momentum as a viable alternative web rendering engine.



Insanely Great News: Paperclip: Designed by Apple in California

This has to be the most hilarious thing I've seen today. The "instruction manual" is priceless.



Opposable Thumbs: A look at the possible racism in Resident Evil 5

Personally, I prefer Silent Hill over Resident Evil any day, but this still an interesting issue to watch.

From the article:

The game is being designed by Japanese artists, not white Americans. The game uses a well-established character from the Resident Evil series who is white, Chris Redfield. Capcom wanted to move the setting to Africa, where most people are black. I don't think Capcom ever sat down and thought about the political reasons for having a white soldier against black zombies, it was simply an organic continuation of a story and a character that began years ago.

Tags: silly, software, video games

Nobel Intent: The mathematics of language acquisition

Fascinating stuff, and it reinforces the difficulties adults have acquiring new languages. Remember that next you get frustrated that someone is having difficulty with English when they have moved here from another country.



TUAW: Microsoft Office 2008 for the Mac delayed until January 2008

This does not make Robert happy, but what can you do?



Realmac Software: What's New in RapidWeaver 3.6.2

All I care about here is the smart publishing bug fix, but some nice new features have been added as well.

Tags: science, microsoft, rapidweaver, education

Ars Technica: 15-year-old parallel processing patent threatens Sony, PS3

Seriously, what is the deal with these obscure companies that come out of the woodwork waving patents that they have never done anything with? Is patent-squatting some kind of new national pastime?



Infinite Loop: Apple schedules Mac event for Tuesday, August 7

Hmm, Apple is making it clear that this is not an iPod or iPhone related event. I know I'm interested.



Eureka Alert: Test scores slow under No Child Left Behind reforms, gauged by states/federal assessment

From the article:

The share of fourth-graders proficient in reading, based on federal NAEP results, climbed by one-half a percentage point each year, on average, between the mid-1990s and 2002. But over the four years after the legislation was passed, the share of students deemed proficient declined by about one percent.

The annual rise in the percentage of fourth-graders proficient in mathematics improved slightly in the same 12 states, moving up from 1.6 percent per year before ‘No Child’ was signed to a yearly growth rate of 2.5 percent following enactment of the law. This is the one out of six federal gauges where a post-NCLB gain was observed by the research team, tracking NAEP results.

Wow. NCLB is correlated with improvement in 1/6 of measured standards. Of course, NCLB really has little to do with what's best for children as much as it is about what's best for the perception that politician's care.



Infinite Loop: Eminem publisher sues Apple over iTunes downloads

The way I read the article, it sounds like this is really a dispute between Eminem's publisher and Universal Music. Anyway, Eminem's stuff has been on the iTunes store for how long now? Way to take initiative guys...

Tags: macintosh, education, video games, itunes/ipods

A couple of interesting images related to forthcomeing Apple products have been floating around this week. (Well, they're interesting to me at any rate, so you get to hear about them.)

The first image that struck me was in Engadget's report on a new keyboard for the upcoming iMac revision. This falls firmly under the "rumor and speculation" category, but it seems inline with Apple's current design philosophy. One item of debate, though, has centered around the apparent removal of the apple logo from the cmd keys on either side of the keyboard. See the comparison shots below:

x
photos courtesy of Apple and Gizmodo respectively

Whether or not the second image is real, I'm surprised this cosmetic change hasn't already been implemented. Apple documentation seldom (if ever) refers to an "Apple" key while "cmd-" is commonly documented. Furthermore, Andy Hertzfeld writes about Jobs' intense dislike for the keyboard Apple logo on folklore.org.

From the article:

"There are too many Apples on the screen! It's ridiculous! We're taking the Apple logo in vain! We've got to stop doing that!"

After we told him that we had to display the command key symbol with each item that had one, he told us that we better find a different symbol to use instead of the Apple logo, and, because it affected both the manuals and the keyboard hardware, we only had a few days to come up with something else.

Therefore, if future Apple keyboards eschew the use of Apple logos on the cmd keys, it should really come as no surprise.

The second thing to pique my interest came way of Think Secret's posting of some recent Leopard screenshots. In the shots was a picture of the Finder's new Path Bar:


photo courtesy of Think Secret

I don't find this interesting because of a similar Windows Vista feature. Rather, it's significant because this is another NEXTSTEP feature to reappear in OS X. (Really, one of these days I'm going to write a very long-winded post about why I view Mac OS X more as NEXTSTEP version 5.x more than Mac OS 10.x.)

In order, the shots below represent OPENSTEP 4.2 released in the late nineties, two developer previews of Mac OS X, and the public beta version of Mac OS X released in 2000. Note that a path bar is visible in all screens except the Mac OS X Public Beta, where it suddenly disappears.

xx

these shots are all courtesy of GUIdebook

The new Finder Path Bar is definitely more minimal than those previous incarnations, but I think it is yet another indication of the influence Mac OS X's NEXT roots has on its continued development. Also, as Mac OS X continues to evolve, I think we're going to see a lot more small but welcome enhancements like these slip in under the radar. Now, if only they would fix the weirdness that is the Leopard dock...

It often strikes me as fascinating that so many advances at Apple owe so much to their roots, even as far back as the development of the original Macintosh more than twenty years ago.

Tags: technology, macintosh, leopard, os x

Ars Technica: Autism May All Be In the Genes

I tend to be skeptical of all-or-nothing correlations in behavioral science. An individual may be more prone to autistic tendencies due to genetic makeup, but environment will still influence the development of a social disorder to some extent.

However, I do have to admit a biased viewpoint...



The WebKit Open Source Project: WebKit Project Goals

WebKit development is surprisingly transparent when compared to Apple as a whole. Check this out for an idea of where they are taking WebKit, the most prolific web content engine for Mac OS X.



Apple Reports Third Quarter Results

Overall, another very good quarter for Apple. Hopefully, they will get their products to comply with the new Energy Star standards by the end of the current quarter.

Tags: education, software, browsers, apple inc, asd, science

2008 Presidential Election Candidates on the Issues

This site provides a simple chart covers the basic stance of all the current candidates on 25 issues you may care about.



ThoughtDifferent.com

This site has a really neat archive of images that showcase Apple's main page from 1997 to present. I think it is interesting how quickly Apple found a design that works, and the site still follows the basic principles of that design, even ten years later.

Tags: politics, apple inc

I remember being told by an ex-girlfriend way back in the days of high school, "Leave me alone, and don't talk to me anymore." Several years have passed now, but I've run into her on very rare occasions. Each time, I've had difficulty engaging her in conversation – not due to any ill feeling or bitterness but rather because of that long-standing order of "don't talk to me anymore." Even half a lifetime later, that imperative statement lingers in my psyche, and while I have a rational understanding that her statement is no longer binding, the part of my brain that latches on to it overrides said rationality.

How does this apply to our working with autistic children? Well, how many times have we caught ourselves saying something like...

• ...I don't want to tell you again to follow directions?
• ...I don't want to hear about dinosaurs anymore?
• ...Never sharpen your pencil without my permission?

All of these statements have weight in very specific timeframes and contexts. Unfortunately, our autistic child may be unable to make the distinction, and you may find yourself dealing with a meltdown during a later project about dinosaurs or the next time you give any directions. The child may end up doing no work when you have a sub because he or she cannot ask you to sharpen a pencil if it breaks.

An autistic individual can potentially be extremely literal and will apply statements made by teachers, caregivers, and parents in every context. When teaching children with autism, we need to be conscious of how we say what we do and how that child might apply our casual comments.

Tags: asd, education

Specere: Menuet and Art Collector are now Charityware

From the site:

We're going to give you Menuet and Art Collector, and all we ask for in return is that you'll donate what you can to a charity. If you can't donate money to one of the charities offered through our site, please go ahead and help out some local charities with old clothes or perhaps some of your time as a volunteer.

Ars Technica: RIAA spends thousands to obtain $300 judgment

Don't these guys have anything better to do with their time and resources?



Indexed: Do Your Thing

This makes me happy.

Tags: software, riaa

Presentation Zen (the Book)

Congratulations on the book deal, Garr! I'll be buying a copy as soon as they're available!



Multi-touch support for MPX – MPX: The Multi-Pointer X Server

Multitouch support for Unix X Windows server. If you have a *nix machine, a development version of this is already available.



Joystiq: Special Coverage of E3 2007

Instead of trying to tell you about all the things I'm stoked about from this year's E3, I'll just point you to this site's excellent coverage. You can get excited on your own.

Tags: video games, technology

I saw this a while ago but forgot to post about it. It seems Microsoft is subtly trying to steal thunder from Ubuntu nowadays. Compare below and ask, "Could this be mere coincidence?" I think not.


Here is the Ubuntu logo.


Here is the Microsoft Alumni Network logo.

Aping a Linux distribution logo? I mean really. Props to whoever pointed this out to me...

Tags: technology, microsoft, opinion, linux

A couple of weeks ago, I laid out my opinion of the type of commentary we get from individuals like Ann Coulter. Later, I ran across a YouTube video of Coulter ranting defending herself on MSNBC's Morning Joe. A couple quotes right at the beginning struck me as interesting:

"...and I'm a little sick of being browbeaten..."

I find this terribly ironic since so much of the criticism laid out against her focuses on her demeaning and browbeating others. Coulter claims to be a Christian, so this should be a simple lesson: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." If she doesn't want people to level personal attacks against her, she should first clean up her own act.

"...I have written five New York Times bestsellers. People like the way I write..."

In other words, she is taking the very conservative approach of validation through market success. The market has decided she is a good author, so that must mean everything she says or writes is justified and above criticism. If we follow this logic, here are some other authors and books that have been market approved:

• God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
• The Assault on Reason by Al Gore
• Outrage by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
• It Takes a Village by Hillary Rodham Clinton
• The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
• The Truth (With Jokes) by Al Franken
• America (The Book) by Jon Stewart
• Dude, Where's My Country by Michael Moore
• My Life by Bill Clinton

I could go on and on here. The point is that she would have no problem criticizing these New York Times bestsellers, so why should she think that status somehow exempts her from the same? Furthermore, games like the Grand Theft Auto series, God of War, Gears of War, and Manhunt have been market successes, but I doubt Coulter would endorse any of them. (I'm not very informed about movies and TV shows, so I'll let you come up with your own examples.)

Some media personalities have defended Coulter saying she brings up real issues that need discussing, and I can see where they are coming from. However, as long as those issues are bing wrapped in senselessly insensitive remarks, insults, and derogatory comments, I don't want to listen. Regardless of your values, political agenda, or religious background, petty attacks demean and hinder the political dialogue in this country – and they encourage more knee-jerk responses than they do honest examination and discussion.

I'm going to stop talking about this now. I promise.

Tags: opinion, politics, media

iPhone in depth: the Ars review
As usual, Ars Techica turns out a review to end all reviews. This 15 page, 19,000+ word epic covers every detail of Apple's new phone. If you are planning on being an early iPhone-adopter, this is a must-read.



Ars Technica: Sony announces price cut, new 80GB PlayStation 3 model for North America

Things might be getting interesting again on the PS3 front. After this 17% price reduction, sales have surged on Amazon.com by over 2500%, and it is currently in the #1 spot in Amazon's video game sales. On top of this, Sony will begin shipping an 80 GB model at the $599 price-point with a bundled copy of Motorstorm.

Tags: technology, video games, iphone

You know you've been playing too much Chibi Robo when...

• You scout out the locations of all electrical outlets when entering a room.

• You play army games with hard-boiled eggs.

• You wish you had a flip-top head.

• You expect your dog to give you money when you feed and water it.

• You wonder which eggplants in the grocery store are royalty.

• You think Happy Points are legal tender.

• You try to equip a helicopter attachment when you jump.

• You find yourself randomly squirting people with various liquids just to see their reactions.

• You wonder what your toys are really doing when you're asleep.

• You end every conversation with, "Spread the happiness."

Tags: video games, silly

Happy Anniversary to us! It's number six!



Crystal and I both comment that it feels like we have been together forever, but in a good way. We have been in each other's lives since high school and started dating when we were sixteen and seventeen. Personally, I'm glad to be spending my life with her!

Tags: family, home, events

Ars: Technica: Gaming has no significant effects on schoolwork, sociability: study

From the article:

Instead of turning kids into loners, gaming largely fell in line with general trends of social interactions. Although there was some variability between the sexes, children who gamed with their friends generally spent more time with friends in every other activity.

and:

If people are concerned about the lack of reading done by adolescents, the fact that non-gamers spend only eight minutes a day reading should be a far larger concern than the fact that gaming causes that figure to drop by a little more than two minutes.

Yet the mainstream media put this study in a far more negative light.



YouTube: iPhone: The Music Video

This is hilarious, and no tech writer but David Pogue could pull this off! (By the way, is that New York representative John Hall at 2:16 in this video? If not, the guy bears an uncanny resemblance!)





RealMac Forge

Realmac Forge is an open-source portal for Realmac Software products. Realmac Forge was set up so users and developers can collaborate and produce new and exciting plugins for RapidWeaver.

Tags: video games, education, silly, software, iphone

Autoblog Green: Subaru sells 100,000 PZEVs and sends nothing to the dump for three years

Subaru of Indiana has gone three years without sending any waste to a landfill through reusing waste, recycling it, or using it to supply power to Indianapolis' power grid. That's incredible! Now if their cars only got better gas mileage. On a related note, it seems Toyota has some plants that are 95% waste free. Again, the U.S. automakers are being shown up.



Engadget: How Far We've Come
iPhone meets its great-grandpappy.



Instructables: Interactive Multitouch Display

As enamored as I am with multitouch technology, I just don't see myself finishing this particular project...

Tags: environment, technology, iphone

Kwik-E-Mart - a photoset on Flickr

Brilliant marketing. Absolutely brilliant.



Perian: The Swiss-Army Knife for QuickTime

Perian is a free open source plug-in that greatly expands QuickTIme's file compatibility. This is a must-have for every Mac use.



Playlist: iTunes loses lock on Universal music

I can't tell if this is really a big deal or not. Basically, Universal is giving Apple the same treatment they give other music retailers now. The quote from an Apple rep in this article makes absolutely no sense. I think someone forgot to proofread:

“We are still negotiating with Universal, the music is still on iTunes, and their not resigning is just not true,” said Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr.

Internet Nexus: Apple apparently sold a lot of iPhones

Three sources, three widely different sales projections. Apparently Apple sold somethere between 200,000 and 700,000 iPhones this weekend ... give or take a few.

Tags: silly, software, itunes/ipods, iphone

Apple – iPhone
The iPhone site got a makeover today. Gone is the black spartan appearance. Now it looks a lot like the iPod + iTunes page.





Ars Technica: Notebook mania leads to revised PC market projections

As notebooks prove themselves more and more capable of replacing desktops for most people – with the exception of serious power users – I expect this trend will continue.



Copyblogger: Do You Make These Mistakes When You Write?

Coppyblogger reminds us of some common grammar mistakes many are guilty of (including myself).



Presentation Zen: One secret to a healthy life (and a great presentation)

The problem with most presentation is that they are too long, not too short. Performers, for example, know that the trick is to leave the stage while the audience still loves you and don’t want you to go, not after they have had enough and are "full" of you.

Tags: technology, blogging, powerpoint, iphone

Okay, I am a firm supporter of freedom-of-speech. I write a blog. I rely on my First Amendment rights from time-to-time. However, I do believe anyone who shares their opinion with the public – especially in a widely-consumed medium such as, say, TV – has a great responsibility to discuss differences civilly, in good character, and respectfully. After all, what you say in these venues has far-reaching impacts – much more than one might have sitting in his or her living room.

In this light, I find it completely understandable that radio host Don Imus was dismissed after his most recent foray into racist comments. He did have a long history of doing so, and enough was enough. However, I'm also a big fan of consistency. I know, it's an idealistic flaw, but I can't fathom why some other media pundits get away with what they say time and time again. Take Ann Coulter for example. (Disclosure: Please note that these YouTube videos are posted by political bloggers, so some bias is noticeable.)

Why Coulter? Two recent examples:



What was that again?

"If I’m going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I’ll just wish he had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."

This isn't the first time she's wished death on others in public either. In 2002, she said:

"We need to execute people like John Walker in order to physically intimidate liberals, by making them realize that they can be killed, too. Otherwise, they will turn out to be outright traitors."

Uh-huh. Also, let's not forget this gem:

"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times Building."

Okay, that's just sick. Does this mean she doesn't really mind that so many people died in Oklahoma City so much as the fact that no one in the NYT building has been brutally and inhumanely murdered? The mind reels. Absolutely reels.

Example number two:



Regardless of how you feel about Obama's speech (and there is a lot in it that could be debated healthily and respectfully), pay attention to one of the first things out of Coulter's mouth:

"I do think someone named B. Hussein Obama should avoid using hijack and religion in the same sentence."

Oh no she didn't! Last I checked, Obama goes by "Barack Obama" 100% of the time. She purposefully manipulates his name to create a terrorist correlation among her viewers! This is interesting coming from someone who claims she believes in "the dignity of all humans."

This respecter of human dignity has also publicly called both Al Gore and John Edwards "faggots." She has called other members of the media "retarded" and worthy of execution.

As a bonus quote that disrespects no one but the world we live on, here is Coulter's take on the environment:

"God says, 'Earth is yours. Take it. Rape it. It's yours.'"

DId she just use "rape" so flippantly in that sentence? I think she did.

I'm sorry about the rant-like nature of this post, but the hate speech and character smearing needs to stop on all sides – especially from those who claim to be spiritual people. In full disclosure, I would fall closer to what is described as the Religious Right than anywhere else, but I'm sick and tired of how people who might be lumped into that same category behave. Ideally, we have freedom to say and publish what we want to – what may even be necessary – without the fear of political retribution. However, that is a right that must be used responsibly in the example we set for others and the tone we foster among our fellow citizens.

Imus is off the air for his remarks. How is Ann Coulter any better?

Tags: opinion, politics, media

Intrepid Liberal Journal: Workers Have the Right To Remain Silent: A Podcast Interview With the ACLU's Bruce Barry

Basically, employers can currently ignore the First Amendment rights of their employees – and this should be especially important to bloggers. If you write or say something that upsets them, contradicts decisions, upsets their political views, or merely generally irritates them, they may fire you. The podcast discusses the issue very thoroughly.

It's ironic that I should stumble upon this story on the tenth anniversary of this Supreme Court decision (and I don't mean ironic in the rain-on-your-wedding-day way).



PC Magazine Review: Dell XPS M1330

This is, without a doubt, the sexiest Windows-based laptop ever created. If it weren't for the blue LEDs and the obligatory marketing stickers, it might just be as drool-worthy as a MacBook Pro.

However, we need to work on the name. XPS M1330? That's like running into a strikingly beautiful and achingly intelligent woman but learning her name is Hanktrude. It just mars the experience. Anyway, cool features, light, small, $2,200. Check it out if you use THOSE computers.



Here are a bunch of prerelease reviews of the iPhone. Nothing staggering here at all. THe general gist is that the iPhone works exactly as advertized (including the improved battery life). The touch screen works well but takes getting used to. EDGE is slow. If you want to read the full reviews, click away!

• The Mossberg Solution: The iPhone is a Breakthrough Handheld Computer
• NYT: The iPhone Matches Most of Its Hype
• Newsweek: At Last, the iPhone
• USAToday: Apple's iPhone Isn't Perfect, But It's Worthy of the Hype

So will the iPhone do to the mobile phone industry what the iPod did for digital music. Who knows? It could be incredible. It could be the next iPod HiFi. Still, if I try one out in a store and don't instantly dislike it, that will say a lot about it as a cell phone!

via DF and TUAW



Oliver Toast: Introducing MiniMail

This small app creates a small notification window for Apple's Mail application – much like the notifier featured in modern versions of Outlook.


screenshot by Oliver Toast

It's a neat idea, and it costs $9. Personally, I'm happy with Mail.appetizer which offers the same basic functionality for free. (However, MiniMail definitely offers more features.) Here's what Mail.appetizer looks like:





Ars Technica: Microsoft's anti-virtualization stance: forget DRM, think Apple

Ken Fisher thinks Microsoft's stance that limitation of Home editions of Windows virtualization based on DRM concerns is a snowjob. The real motivation may be to make it more expensive for Mac users to create virtual Windows machines.

Microsoft using arbitrary methods to stifle the competition? I can't imagine...



Ars Technica: Exonerated defendant sues RIAA for malicious prosecution

The title says it all.

Tags: technology, software, microsoft, riaa

My fellow Americans and potential Americans, feast your taste-buds on the greatness of Ben & Jerry's truthy new flavor: Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream!

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With a face like that, how can you not love his ice cream?

The ice cream container (whom I feel to be fair and unbiased in my heart) claims Americone Dream is "sweeter than the Bill of Rights, colder than Valley Forge, and with twice as much caramel as the Louisiana Purchase." But I say it tastes like a spoonful of freedom swirled with the succulent nectar of liberty. I advise you to stay the course to your favorite ice cream vendor (that sells Ben & Jerry's) and liberate a pint from the oppressive clutches of the grocer's freezer.

If the goal is tastiness, this ice cream can claim, "Mission Accomplished."

(Wow, between this link and my Links tonight, I am absolutely on fire!)

Tags: silly, media

Ambrosia Software: SnapzProX

Me (embarassedly): "Oh, so you are a universal app now. Well, that sure took a while. Um ... you know, after you didn't speak to me for months I thought you had ... you know ... called it quits. So, yeah, I've been seeing this younger and lighter screenshot utility. Um, no hard feelings?"



I totally did not see this coming. No, really! No sarcasm here. Honestly, I expected Manhunt 2 to recieve some controversy, get mediocre reviews, and sell decently – but for it to get banned from its target consoles? Paint me green and call me Gumby! And I thought Hot Coffee was a train wreck!

• Opposable Thumbs: The Manhunt Saga: ESRB assigns AO rating
• 1UP: The Murder of Manhunt 2: One Day Later
• 1Up: Nintendo, Sony Policies Prohibit AO Manhunt 2

By the way, Manhunt 2 is one of only 23 games to receive the esteemed AO rating. Manhunt 2 now joins the honorable ranks of such titles as WET-The Sexy Empire, All Nude Nikki, and Cyber Photographer. That's classy!



Rands In Repose: Keynote Kung-Fu

Learn subtle ways of Keynote, young grasshopper, and stun many throngs.


Um ... HADOKEN!!!

Tags: software, video games, keynote

YouTube: The Loudness War

This is the video related to my post about the value of silence in presentations.

via Presentation Zen



CNET Blogs: The Macalope: An Apple Blog

This should be interesting. The be-horned one writes more about his sellout new job on his main blog.

Wired: Homestar Runner Rejects TV to Stay True to Web

The Brothers Chaps have rejected deals from both Cartoon Network and Comedy Central in favor of keeping Homestar Runner a webtoon. That's investiga-awesome for fans of the site!



1UP.com: Microsoft Suing Immersion

Immersion sues Microsoft over rumble features and wins. Immersion sues Sony over rumble features and wins. Now Microsoft is suing Immersion because Immersion sued Sony and won. What now? I'm lost.

Tags: silly, video games, microsoft

YouTube: Paul McCartney - Dance Tonight - Apple iPod + iTunes TV Ad



via TUAW



Guardian Unlimited: Call to ban all school exams for under-16s

Well, this is interesting...



Newsweek: On A Roll, Or, How Microsoft Secured Yet Another Exclusive--Beautiful Katamari--From Namco Bandai

Okay, this just made the whole "which expensive console should I buy" question a whole lot more complicated ... unless, of course, Newsweek is wrong.

via Opposable Thumbs



Ars Technica: AMA chimes in on gaming/violence connection, gaming addiction

From the article:

Overall, the committee seems to have produced a fine report that both accurately affects the current state of knowledge and puts the impetus for acting on it where it belongs: on parents, acting in consultation with family physicians.

Parental responsibility? Imagine that.

Tags: education, video games, itunes/ipods, microsoft

Ars Technica: First look: Safari 3 beta on Windows vs. Firefox 2 and IE7

It's sad to hear that the release of Safari on Windows is not better executed. Yes, this is beta software, but it is also software Apple is sticking in front of the world to use and abuse. Though not the absolute best, Safari is still a fine browser for Mac OS X. I hope Apple reacts quickly to the criticism their browser is receiving on Windows.

Tags: software, browsers

RapidWeaver 3.6 was released a couple of weeks ago by Realmac Software. Since this site is maintained using RapidWeaver, I am very interested in this application's progress. Over a few separate posts, we're going to explore new features and improvements in the software, areas that are problematic, and we'll finish up with some final thoughts and advice.

Posts in this series:
Improved Blogging • Other Improvements • Picking Nits • Alternatives and Wrap-Up

Now that we've looked at RapidWeaver's improvements and drawbacks, this post will be dedicated to looking at two of RapidWeaver's alternatives on the Macintosh as well as some useful add-ons for RW.

iWeb – Apple; Preinstalled; $80 (part of iLife)
If you've bought a Mac in the last year or so, you have iWeb already. iWeb is part of Apple's excellent iLife suite of lifestyle applications. (iMovie, iDVD, Garageband, and iPhoto are also part of the iLife package.) iLife is geared toward making blogs, online newsletters, and photo galleries a simple process. It succeeds in this admirably as long as you are okay with its limitations.

Like Apple's iWork applications, iWeb is heavily template based. You choose what kind of website you want to create, and iWeb offers a set of templates you can choose from. As expected, the templates are well designed and visually pleasant.


choosing an iWeb template

Once you pick a template, editing the site is much like editing a document. You plug in images and text where appropriate, and the process is very fast and fluid. Performance is snappy, and it's possible to generate a nice looking site with little effort and no specialized web knowledge.


editing a site in iWeb

The iWeb experience is great, but the limitations become apparent quickly. First and foremost, straying from the template layout can become a pain – especially in blogging where every new entry reverts back to the default settings. Blogs do not support tags or categories, and there is no easy way to install custom templates or permanently modify those included. Finally, iWeb defaults to PNG images, which are great, but some browsers (read: Internet Explorer) do not always handle them correctly. This means your iWeb page may not look the same in different browsers.

iWeb is a nice application, and I actually prefer working in iWeb over RapidWeaver, but RapidWeaver is far superior in terms of flexibility, features, and browser compatibility.

Sandvox – Karelia Software; $50 (standard), $80 (pro)
Sandvox was introduced scant weeks before the introduction of Apple's iWeb as an alternative to RapidWeaver. Like these other applications, it's purpose is to give non-web designers a simple way to create great looking sites. Sandvox comes in two editions with the Pro version allowing for more direct code interaction and modification. Sandvox has a very unique interface and some interesting options in creating web sites.

Like iWeb and RapidWeaver, Sandvox is template based.


the template gallery

Similar to iWeb, you get to directly edit the site visually. Whenever anything is changed in a sub-page, the homepage is automatically updated to reflect that content. Also, one feature I really like in Sandvox is something called Pagelets where you can add Digg links, Flickr photostreams, RSS feeds, page counters, and other useful content to your sidebar with one click. Sandvox also boasts some nice eye candy in browsing and changing site themes.


editing a site in Sandvox

I feel like Sandvox's blogging tool is awkward, and, like iWeb, there seems to be no support for categories and tags. The templates' properties (like page-width and colors) are not easily modified, and, in stark contrast to RapidWeaver, the developer's website does not facilitate easy discovery of third-party themes, pagelets, and plug-ins. Additionally, sites created in Sandvox have a default homepage that you can't manually bypass or remove.

Out of these three apps, I like Sandvox the least, but your personal preferences may differ. Sandvox is a nice step up from iWeb, but it still falls short of RapidWeaver's standard in my opinion.

Buying Advice: RapidWeaver – Realmac Software; $50
My money went to RapidWeaver before iWeb and Sandvox were even available, but my purchasing advice hasn't changed. RapidWeaver does have a higher learning curve than these alternatives, and it does have some issues, but it is the best way to quickly and inexpensively produce a nice-looking site. It supports every feature a modern website is expected to have, and an active development community creates even more possibilities for the application.

If you already have iWeb on your computer and it meets your needs, go with it. It's a great program and produces nice web pages. However, if you want to move past iWeb's limitations, get RapidWeaver. You won't regret it.

Useful RapidWeaver Resources

Themes. The first place you might want to start expanding RapidWeaver is in your theme collection. There are a number of first and third-party themes available for free and for purchase. Some theme developers include: elixer graphics, Blue Ball Design, Multithemes, and seyDesign. Additionally, Realmac offers some additional business themes and blog themes of their own, and they showcase themes by other developers. Finally, a site called Charcoal on the Wall is a good place to go to browse and preview additional themes.

Plug-ins. Plug-ins extend RapidWeaver's functionality. For example, RapidFLV makes embedding Flash videos a simpler task. RapidBlog integrates RapidWeaver with Blogger, and YourHead Software offers a number of plug-ins designed to give your website some additional style and polish. Again, be sure to visit Relamac's page of plug-ins for even more great add-ons.

There is even more – downloadable theme styles, code snippets and even some utilities are available to enhance the RapidWeaver experience. In addition to the add-ons section of RapidWeaver's site, the RealMac forums are a great place to discover more about this application and complimentary products.

That wraps up this look at RapidWeaver 3.6. I hope you found it informative and useful – if not at least interesting. RapidWeaver is a great application for simplifying the process of making a web site. It's reasonably priced for the features it offers. It has a great development community built up around it, and I'll definitely be purchasing an upgrade license in the near future. If you have a Mac, and you are interested in setting up a website, you can't go wrong with RapidWeaver.

Tags: opinion, software, rapidweaver

Introducing Sibelius 5



I'm happy to see this Universal Binary of Sibelius finally come out. I'll post some impressions of the demo once I get done with the RapidWeaver posts.

PS – It's lame that Scorch is still PPC-only. C'mon, how hard is it to update a browser plug-in?



Opposable Thumbs: Microsoft seeks answer to question, "Would global warming make for a good game?"

I picture controlling Al Gore racing his hybrid through angry mobs of staunch republicans in a Grand Theft Auto-inspired gore-fest. (No pun intended!) After escaping, you would have to coordinate your fellow environmentalists in covert stealth missions (Sam Fisher-style) that infiltrate heavily-armed Big Oil corporate offices where you ultimately will battle Mother Brain. (After all, there is no possible way these oil execs are really human.)

Side missions may include freezing ice cubes big enough to cool the oceans, setting up polar bear habitats, and discovering alternatives to using oil in producing plastics. Man I need to learn game design. I think I have a winner. Now if I can only talk Al into some voiceovers...



Apple – Safari 3 Public Beta

This is a smart move by Apple. More users will drive better support by web developers. This benefits Mac users and iPhone users. Not to mention (as DF points out) that this will lead to a bunch more integrated search revenue from Yahoo! and Google.

Windows users, get downloading! Mac users, hold your horses. It doesn't offer much the current version lacks, and updating may hose other WebKit-based apps and widgets. (Trust me on this one.)



Daring Fireball: WWDC 2007 News

He calls it "WWDC 2006 2.0." While I am stoked about Leopard, I have to admit that I felt pretty "meh" about the other announcements.



Apple.com



I like. When you visit, try the search field in the upper-right corner. I was pleasantly surprised.

Tags: software, video games, environment, microsoft, browsers, wwdc, apple inc

Steve Jobs outlined some more info about Leopard during his Keynote speech at this years WWDC, and Apple's website has even more. Here are some of the overall impressions I've gained.

Eye Candy Is Important

One of the big changes (improvements may be debatable) in Leopard is in the visuals. Everything seems geared toward visual impressiveness. This user interface (UI) is intended to make people look at Vista and think it looks clunky.

x



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all images from apple.com

I've read many power-users bemoaning the fact that visual flair is becoming too emphasized in modern operating systems, and it doesn't look like that trend is reversing anytime soon. Personally, I like visual enhancements so long as they do not come at a cost to usability. The only complaint here is in the menu bar. The menus look out-of-place when invoked.


it's translucent now

iTunes = Mac Experience

Apple wants iTunes users to feel right at home in the Leopard UI – iTunes being the only Apple interface many potential users have daily contact with. As a result, the majority of the system resembles iTunes. Nowhere is this more evident than in the revamped Finder.


image from apple.com

From the window design to the sidebar to Cover Flow, the Finder basically recreates the iTunes experience in file management. The message: "If you enjoy using iTunes, you will enjoy using a Mac."

Organize Your Way

Stacks, the Dock, smart folders, Cover Flow, Quick View, Spaces – all of this gives the user greater flexibility in how he or she uses a Mac.


a stack of documents (from apple.com)


Quick View in Time Machine (from apple.com)

It's all about giving you greater flexibility and more options in how and where you access your files, media, and applications. Content is king, and Apple is giving us many ways to experience, organize, and access that content.

One Size Fits All

Steve Jobs made a joke during his talk that Leopard will come in three editions – Basic at $129, Premium at $129, and Ultimate at $129. He thinks most people will buy the Ultimate Edition. The simple fact is that you don't have to worry about which version of the OS to upgrade to because there is only one. Ease-of-use is a hallmark of the Macintosh experience, and that simplicity begins with the purchasing process.

Personally, I can't wait to get my hands on Leopard in October.

Tags: software, opinion, macintosh, leopard, wwdc, os x

The Nation: Senate Begins Real Push on Habeas Corpus

This directly challenges principals set forth in the controversial Military Commissions Act of 2006, which basically allowed for the Geneva Conventions and habeas corpus to be ignored in the case of suspected terrorists and war criminals.

I just hope Senate has the guts to get this processed untarnished.



Infinite Loop: Mac vs. PC Prices

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Mac prices are competitive when compared to similarly equipped machines – especially MacBooks, MacBook Pros, and iMacs. The perceived price gap comes from the fact that Apple chooses not to compete in the bargain-basement department, allowing them to remain insanely profitable.

Also, like people who prefer buying organic foods at Wild Oats rather than Meijer, there's something to be said about paying for the experience as well.

Tags: politics, macintosh

RapidWeaver 3.6 was released a couple of weeks ago by Realmac Software. Since this site is maintained using RapidWeaver, I am very interested in this application's progress. Over a few separate posts, we're going to explore new features and improvements in the software, areas that are problematic, and we'll finish up with some final thoughts and advice.

Posts in this series:
Improved Blogging • Other Improvements • Picking Nits • Alternatives and Wrap-Up

As much as I respect and enjoy RapidWeaver as a product, there are some areas in which the software could still use improvement in the new version. Fortunately, RapidWeaver recently saw a 3.6.1 update that resolved a couple of the issues I was going to write about, so that was a welcome surprise.

Inconsistent Performance

iWeb is not one of my favorite Apple products, but one thing it has going for it is performance. It can open and save my website (100+ MB) in mere seconds, sometimes perceptually instantaneously. RapidWeaver is another story. In fact, this is my biggest complaint about RapidWeaver, and, if this one problem was fixed, I'd be satisfied. The simple truth is that loading and saving large documents in RapidWeaver is a pain, and the new version shows no significant improvements in this area.

To test performance, I ran these tests 3-6 times, depending on application crashes and tester errors. I then averaged the numbers. The only open applications were Pages, RapidWeaver, and Activity Monitor. The test computer has a 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 1 GB of memory. The document is 122 MB.

Here are the averages of opening my site in RapidWeaver 3.5 and RapidWeaver 3.6:

RW 3.6 only shows real improvement in CPU usage here. RapidWeaver 3.5 suffered two application crashes in this test, and version 3.6 suffered zero. Anecdotally, I've had version 3.5 take up to two minutes to load my site document on several occasions.

Here are the numbers for saving:

Note that version 3.6 is actually more resource-hungry that 3.5 in saving the same document. Neither version crashed while saving. Annoyingly, my computer becomes basically unusable during the saving process, and, again, I've encountered numerous occasions where RapidWeaver 3.5 has taken much longer to save a file than these numbers show.

FInally, take a look at RapidWeaver's overall memory usage. This is memory usage while completely idle:

While using RapidWeaver, it gradually consumes more and more resources. Unfortunately, after quitting, those resources sometimes stay tied up, leaving the computer in a state where performance is going to be generally poor – forcing a restart to reclaim that memory.

This is my biggest complaint about RapidWeaver, and again, I would be happy if performance was the only big issue the Realmac team tackled for version 3.7. I don't know how many other RapidWeaver users share this opinion, but fantastic new features can be tarnished when the most basic tasks – loading and saving – are an aversive experience.

Other Issues

I really only a few additional complaints about RapidWeaver 3.6. The inability to create tables within the application is a pain. (The tables in this post are screenshots of Pages.) Not all included themes take advantage of the Theme Styles I praised in the previous post. All new themes have flexible color settings while many of the older themes do not. It would also be nice if user's could link to hosted images rather than embedding them into the blog file. Finally, there is still no easy way to set a site's default font. If I want my blog to be in a different font, I would either have to edit the css file or change the font one entry at a time.

That's really it as far as criticism goes. RapidWeaver is a very nice application with just a few small issues. For me, performance is the biggest issue, and, if that could be resolved, RapidWeaver 3.6 would be a near-perfect application for my purposes.

In the next post about RapidWeaver, I'll share some info about competing products, useful add-ons, and buying advice for version 3.6.

Update: You can in fact link to images in the blog editor. You just have to use "img src=" bracketed by < >. (I was making a mistake!)

Tags: software, opinion, rapidweaver

Washington Post: Scientists Use Skin to Create Stem Cells

Like the earlier development to extract stem cells from human placentas, this is another great step forward in removing the controversy from stem cell research.

Tags: science

Ars Technica: Product loyalty: consumers mistake familiarity with superiority

Basically, this article states the obvious point that we value familiarity in products we use. However, I think our tendency toward "Cognitive Lock-in" makes leading technology companies wary of truly innovating.

From the article:

Overall, the results suggest that all the years of arguments over the relative merits of things like the Mac and Windows user interfaces were a waste of time: we're generally convinced that whatever we're familiar with is the best.

Apple – MacBook Pro



Faster processors, faster buses, more default memory, faster burners – what's not to like? Oh, and the 15" uses an LED display resulting in some better battery life.



OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X

As excited as I am about this project, I think I'll wait to download until the list of known issues stops saying things like, "You cannot print" and "OpenOffice.org will crash after quitting."

Another thing: does anyone else find it strange that they refer to the application as OpenOffice.org rather than just OpenOffice? Seems odd to me...

Tags: macintosh, software

RapidWeaver 3.6 was released a couple of weeks ago by Realmac Software. Since this site is maintained using RapidWeaver, I am very interested in this application's progress. Over a few separate posts, we're going to explore new features and improvements in the software, areas that are problematic, and we'll finish up with some final thoughts and advice.

Posts in this series:
Improved Blogging • Other Improvements • Picking Nits • Alternatives and Wrap-Up

Though the blogging tool is certainly the most important to me, RapidWeaver has seen some further improvements in its most recent point release. In this post, we'll take a look at some of those other enhancements.

Photo Albums

The interface for creating photo albums has hardly changed at all, except for the removal of picture previews and the ability to add some text at the top of the album page. Those seem like strange omissions, and it makes me wonder if I am perhaps merely missing something in the interface.

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3.5 on the left; 3.6 on the right

The real change comes with the way the photo album module handles Flash slideshows. The previous version looked nice already, but the new slideshow offers better navigation, background audio, a variety of transitions, and the "Ken Burns" effect.

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3.5 on the left; 3.6 on the right

FInally, the photo album offers integration with Flickr photostreams. All you have to do is have a Flickr RSS feed, and RapidWeaver will showcase your hosted pictures.

Theme Styles

This feature has been pretty heavily emphasized, and I have to admit that it's a welcome addition to the software. In previous versions of RapidWeaver, a theme might have a predetermined set of color schemes, but, for real control, you had to resort to opening the theme package and editing the css stylesheet.

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3.5 on the left; 3.6 on the right

This new feature gives you nearly unlimited control over the way colors are used on your site. However, for control freaks, some css editing might still be necessary. This features is not currently implemented consistently across all themes, and we'll take a look at that in my next post.

The Kitchen Sink

RapidWeaver 3.6 also boasts a number of other small improvements that make the software even better. A Snippets pane allows you to store commonly-accessed HTML code for easy retrieval. The application has improved making lists. The various inspectors have been consolidated and simplified – making for better usability. The software also performs better overall (with a couple of caveats). In all, RapidWeaver 3.6 is an impressive update filled with great new features and welcome improvements.

In the next installment, we'll take a look at some of the issues I've run into using this software. Stay tuned!

Tags: software, opinion, rapidweaver

Whoa. I completely let these events get past me. The first link is an interview between Walt Mossberg and Steve Jobs and the second is a combined discussion by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher with Steve Jobs and Bill Gates on stage together. Good stuff!

• D5: Apple CEO Steve Jobs [Video]
• D5: Transcript – Bill Gates and Steve Jobs at D5

Apple - iPhone - TV Ads

The name says it all ... coming June 29. Me? I just want an iPod that looks like one of these. The sooner iPhone gets out of the gate, the sooner a widescreen iPod takes a bite out of my wallet.



Polar Clock

This clock is completely mesmerizing.



Bean: An OS X Word Processor



This is a lightweight, free, open-souce word processor for OS X. It has broad document compatibility, but its features are somewhat limited (as is to be expected with free software). I've only used it once so far, but it seems to be stable and snappy. Really, my only complaint is that the toolbar icons could look a little bit nicer. Head over to the site, and download it for your Mac!

Tags: software, technology, iphone

RapidWeaver 3.6 was released a couple of weeks ago by Realmac Software. Since this site is maintained using RapidWeaver, I am very interested in this application's progress. Over a few separate posts, we're going to explore new features and improvements in the software, areas that are problematic, and we'll finish up with some final thoughts and advice.

Posts in this series:
Improved Blogging • Other Improvements • Picking Nits • Alternatives and Wrap-Up

I spend most of my time in the blog editor of RapidWeaver, so I'm going to concentrate on that component for the entirety of this post. You can see in the screenshots below that the interface for editing blogs has not changed much since the last version. Some interface elements have been added, but little else has changed. However, those small changes add up to some welcome new capabilities.

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3.5 on the left • 3.6 on the right

Instead of using drop-down menus for categories, RW 3.6 uses a text field that will auto-complete as you type. Tapping Return/Enter will add the category. This text field also facilitates adding multiple categories to a post – a welcome enhancement to RapidWeaver's blogging tool.


title and category in 3.5


title and categories in 3.6

Tagging works much the same way in RW 3.6. This generates a tag cloud in your sidebar with frequently-used tags appearing in larger text than more infrequently used tags. This is another feature I'm excited to see appear.

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a couple of RapidWeaver tag clouds

The only other real difference I noted in blog editing is the fact that you can now choose whether or not an entry is published from the main list. In the previous RapidWeaver version, you had to select a post first, then choose to publish it or not.



Overall, the enhancements to the blog editing tool in RapidWeaver are welcome changes. The typing of categories and tags really goes much more quickly than menus. (Fortunately, tapping Esc will bring up a list of categories and tags.)

The enhancements look minor, but they bring a lot of nice functionality to blogging with RW. I've already begun converting the blog portions of this site over to RapidWeaver 3.6, but it's going to take a while due to some snags I've run into with the migration process. (That will be a topic for a later post.) Next time we'll take a look at some of the other new features – including a nicely improved photo gallery.

Tags: software, opinion, rapidweaver

Edutopia: Fast Forward: A School District Redefines Learning

Not only is this a nice article promoting project approach learning, but the elementary school I work at is featured in the article!


some of the wonderful children I work with


two of my favorite people



Pixelmator



This is an open-source based commercial photo editor with a very unique-looking interface. It also integrates with a lot of Mac OS X technologies, and it features GPU acceleration. It's due out in July and will cost $59. I'll definitely be downloading this when it becomes available.

Also, TUAW has posted a video of the application in action.

Tags: education, work, software

Engadget: Microsoft Surface - surface and gesture based computing lands

I am perhaps more infatuated with multi-touch devices than I am with Al Gore! This looks really cool, but I wonder how long it will take to practically implement this into home technology.



Ars Technica: Why writing in games matters: Part III—creating character with Susan O'Connor

In this installment, Ars interviews game writer Susan O'Connor about the challenges facing game writers and about some games she feels contain examples of good writing.

Tags: microsoft, video games

Another year has past, and another memories DVD is finished for our outgoing fifth graders. This year's video project followed very much the same workflow as past years', and the entire process was very smooth.

The Good

The new MacBook Pro performed like a champ except for when I was overtaxing memory. I think it's already time to add a couple of gigs, but I only experienced one application (iDVD) hang throughout the entire process. Also, after burning 110 copies of the video, only one coaster was produced that I know of. Again, the results were good overall.

Keynote Pro's Barcelona theme and Keynote's own shape drawing capabilities came in handy. The drawing tools in Keynote enabled me to create "tabs" that helped make photographs in the video look mounted as if in a scrapbook. Barcelona helped create a very unique feel for the slides about a class trip, and I'll definitely be inclined to purchase additional themes from Keynote Pro in the future.

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Finally, Lemkesoft's GraphicConverter gave me a good alternative to PhotoShop Elements (which is not yet a Universal Binary for Intel Macs). I was impressed with this software overall, but I may still get a new copy of PS Elements whenever a Universal Binary is released.

The Less Than Good

I wanted to use a song our children recorded as the background music to the video, but the sound quality of the recording was so poor, it really wasn't an option. The only other complaint I have is that a second Keynote theme I purchased, called Rounded Corners by PagesUser, wasn't as useful as I had hoped. (Also, the purchasing experience was pretty poor.)

I also have to continually remind myself that the transitions Push Up, Push Down, Grid Left, and Grid Right do not export to video correctly and should be avoided when building the slideshow in Keynote.

Final Note

This year's project was done with the same versions of iWork and iLife as last year, so everything went about the same. The better hardware smoothed out the process, but this year was really a refinement of last year's techniques. Hopefully, new versions of iWork and iLife will come along about the same time as Leopard, and I'll have some new features to play with for next time.

If you want to see a more detailed description of how I put these slideshow videos together, read this post on my Simply Presentation page: From Keynote to iDVD.

Tags: technology, software

SatireWire: Americans Annoyed By All This International [Bleep] on the Internet

(Warning: language.) The disclaimer at the bottom is perhaps funnier than the story itself.

Tags: silly

Okay, I've about polished off my PS2 and GameCube libraries in the shadow of next-gen iterations. The PS2 hasn't been that difficult in that it has been insanely successful, so its games are still provided retail space. The 'Cube, however, is a different matter, and its titles are quickly vanishing into thin air.

A couple titles in particular have been especially elusive:

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Chibi-Robo I can understand. It probably only sold marginally well at best, and it doesn't have any brand recognition going with it. Mario Tennis, on the other hand? I mean, really – I can find, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Golf, Mario Kart, Mario Strikers, Mario Baseball, but no Mario Tennis! What gives? It's even going for an arm-and-a-leg secondhand on Amazon Marketplace!

I have to give an honorable mention to Zelda: The Minish Cap here, as well. This is another one of those fantastic Nintendo titles that just up and disappeared after a few months at retail.



I know I can fire up the credit card and buy these pre-owned, but I have a bias against that. Part of it is my autistic trait to want everything flawlessly new. (I will return a CD, game, or almost anything if the packaging is so much as scratched.) However, I also have a problem with the fact that the publisher gets no kickback from used copies and is therefore unrewarded for the great title they produced.

Oh well, the obsessive-compulsive completion nut in me might just override the obsessive-compulsive media moralist. Amazon Marketplace may be my last refuge of 'Cube hope!

Tags: video games, software

Realmac Software

The new version of their web page creator comes with a new look for their site. It seems very Delicious Monster-inspired. I'll post some thoughts on RapidWeaver 3.6 in a few days after putting it through some paces.





Guardian Unlimited: A drive for global domination has put us in greater danger

Here's another edited excerpt from Gore's most recent book, The Assault on Reason. I need to stop doing this. I'm bordering dangerously close to becoming a political blog!



Raw Story: Cheney criticizes the Geneva Conventions in Military Academy commencement address

I'm not a Cheny fan. (After all, my man-crush is on Al Gore). However, I don't agree that Cheny is necessarily criticizing the Geneva Conventions in this speech as much as he is trying to (clumsily) illustrate a moral distinction between American combatants and some of the opposition they face.

However, this quote from his speech is something I could take issue with:

"They view the world as a battlefield and they yearn to hit us again. And now they have chosen to make Iraq the central front in their war against civilization."

I'm sorry, who chose to make Iraq the "central front" again?



Ars Technica: Ex-military leaders call climate change a national security issue

I never thought of global warming in terms of terrorism, but there you go.



Opposable Thumbs: First look: 1.80 firmware update for PlayStation 3 truly impresses

Every PS3 patch makes the machine that much more compelling. It has no longer become a question of if we get a PS3 as much as when.

Tags: politics, environment, video games, rapidweaver

Some students and parents are protesting in Fort Worth on behalf of seniors who failed the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills Exam (aka TAKS). Even though the students will not receive diplomas, the protesters want the failed seniors to still have the chance to participate in the commencement ceremony. I think the sign below says it all.

Tags: education, silly

It's the last week of the school year, and things are insane. Here are some quick bits to keep you entertained until I can formulate a more substantial post.

•••

I just finished supporting one of our fourth grade teacher's movie-making project with her class. The children wrote, directed, and starred in their own production. A good time was had by all – except for us adults who had to piece everything together in the end!

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editing the film in iMovie & iDVD

On a related note, I'm also trying to finish up this year's fifth grade memories DVD. Even though I'm ahead of schedule compared to previous years, it still feels like this project will never be done! Throw a talent show into the mix, and things just get nutty!

•••

In totally unrelated news, I noticed that the most recent version of NeoOffice displays the correct "close" widget on unsaved documents! You might remember that I noted this as a flaw in my overview of NeoOffice earlier this year.




•••

Finally, this made me utter a hushed "woot!" of awe:



To paraphrase the cinematic trailer – it's about time, indeed.

Tags: work, video games, technology, neooffice

Ars Technica: IBM's POWER6 flies the coop at 4.7GHz

Of course, some armchair analyst's are already saying that this is proof that Apple made a mistake when they abandoned the PPC architecture. However, it is important to note that the Mac Pro (formerly PowerMac) would not have seen a major upgrade since August of 2005, and it would likely still be running processors that topped out under 3GHz. In terms of laptops, MacBook Pros (formerly PowerBooks) would be in even sadder condition, still hobbled by the 6-year-old G4 with its 100 MHz system bus.

If Apple had not transitioned when it did, it is likely their computer division would be in a world of hurt right now if it existed at all.



Macworld: Suit against Apple claims false advertising on displays

Intriguing. I'll probably keep an eye on this case as it affects my computer. I can't say I can really tell the difference, but I do believe Apple should be more honest and forthright with their customers.

Tags: technology, apple inc

Here are two good Time articles. One is about Al Gore's possible return to the political arena, and the other is an excerpt from his new book.

• Book Excerpt: The Assault on Reason
• The Last Temptation of Al Gore

The Bills (Gates and Clinton) unite to bring free online tools to communities wishing to decrease their carbon footprints, and a company named Business Objects is looking to provide cities with open source solutions in the efforts to curb detrimental climate changes.

• Ars Technica: Attacking climate change with open data
• Nobel Intent: Microsoft and the Clinton Foundation team up to tackle climate change

Ars Technica: Why writing in games matters: Part II—challenges of interactive storytelling

This entry focuses specifically on the challenges of fitting a plot (linear by nature) into modern games (nonlinear by design). Good stuff.



AVING USA: 120-inch wide touchscreen display 'T-VIEW'



Wow! Any word on pricing?

Tags: politics, environment, literature, technology

Presentation Zen: Two Questions: Why does it matter? What's your contribution?

From the post:

When assessing presenters, then, you may want to measure them against these four question (among others): Who are you? What do you do? Why does it matter to us? What did you contribute? If these answers are clear and the contribution was beyond expectation, then chances are the hour was not a wasted one.

Whenever I approach presentations, I feel like if I can effectively and quickly answer those second two questions, the need for the audience to worry about who I am