Wired's How To Wiki: Get the Most Out of Flickr: "Photo-sharing site Flickr is more than just a website where you can put your vacation snaps. It hosts a vibrant community of photo lovers, camera geeks, Photoshop wizards and creative, outgoing people. Whether you're a Flickr old-timer or just getting your toes wet, here are some tips to help you get the most out of your photo-sharing experience.
"Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
PC Mag: Apple’s MacBook offers the best software bundle in the industry: "Whether you're shopping for college or to replace an old computer..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
The Tube 1.5.2 - Watch, timeshift live TV. (Commercial): "
The Tube is the state-of-the-art TV solution for Mac OS X. It allows you to watch, pause and rewind (manual and automatic Timeshift) live television. The Tube could easily replace your VCR and TV Guide. now that scheduled recordings and EPG (Electronic Program Guide) have been implemented. The Tube is built from the ground up in Cocoa and takes full advantage of the Mac OS X technologies."MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
QuartzCube 1.1 - Configurable, wide-angle, rotating video cube. (Free): "
QuartzCube is a configurable, wide-angle, rotating video cube. The easy-to-use interface allows you to immediately apply different videos or still images to the faces of the cube. You can also alter the tension of the roll axis to adjust the rotation of the video cube."MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Live Interior 3D 1.3 - Powerful yet very intuitive interior designing application. (Shareware): "
Live Interior 3D is a powerful yet very intuitive interior designing application. Whether you are remodeling, improving or building a new home, Live Interior will assist in visualizing your redesigned apartment way before you actually start the work.
The program comes with 50+ editable interiors and plans. Pick one and modify it as you wish or start from scratch by drawing a 2D plan, adding and arranging objects to your taste.
The program allows you to flawlessly switch between 2D and 3D modes to preview interiors. Objects can be added and edited in both views.
Create remarkable 360° panorama views of your interior, using Export to QuickTime VR.
Working with 2D Plans:
3D Environment:
Editing 3D Objects:
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
PulpMotion 1.4 - Create animations using your own pictures, videos, music. (Shareware): "
PulpMotion... Quick is easy and easy is fun!
Create fun animations with all your (i)Life: music, photos AND your videos... no one's left over not even the iSight!
From stately to funky, from captivating to comical, choose your style to impress your audience. It's nice to share...and it's easy too:
PulpMotion is the software your photos and videos have been waiting for! Forget the long hours spent editing and the tedious adjustments. It's all done for you:
Simply drag and drop your preferred photos, movies and music, apply a visual theme from the PulpMotion theme menu... and you're done! 3 minutes. Wow!
Special features:
PulpMotion, turns slideshows into real promenades... and let the viewer decide what he wants to see:
'Where standard slideshow apps simply fade out the soundtrack , PulpMotion lets you stop in front of a video and watch it in full while listening to its soundtrack, then continue when you are ready'.
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Overflow 2.5 - Application launcher that is an alternative to the Dock. (Shareware): "
Overflow is an application designed to quickly launch applications, open documents, or access folders while reducing the number of items needed in your Dock. Anything you want can be added to the Overflow interface, making it accessible through a few simple mouse clicks or keystrokes. The interface is resizable, and fully customizable. Create separate categories for your applications, work files, games, or anything else you want to be able to access quickly. After using Overflow, we think you'll find it just as indispensable as we do."MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
The Levelator 1.3 - Adjusts audio levels within podcast or other audio file. (Free): "The Levelator... Do you believe in magic? You will after using The Levelator to enhance your podcast. And you'll be amazed that it's free (for non-commercial use)."
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Computerworld: The 8 secrets that make Apple the No. 1 consumer electronics company: "Apple isn't the biggest consumer electronics company, nor the most profitable..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
NASA lifts Google Moon: "The space agency says it has added new lunar imagery to Google's Moon Web site."
CNET News.com - http://news.com.com/
Revelations from Pandora's music box: "Tim Westergren, founder and chief strategy officer of Pandora, is looking to change royalty rates, the musician class system and how companies interact with their customers."
CNET News.com - http://news.com.com/
News: Google adds presentations app to hosted suite: "Google will deliver on Tuesday a PowerPoint-like presentations application for the Google Docs and Google Apps suites.
"Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
Cosmos Globalbase Browser is the GUI Earth browser for seamlessly browsing in the sea of the distributed geographical information spread over the internet (GLOBALBASE server network). Including contents are different kind from Google Earth or the other systems. For example, old aerial photographs, old maps, archeological plans, Dragon Quest 3 world map, and so on. GLOBALBASE is the autonomous distributed GIS. We provide also the server software named LANDSCAPE which makes public the maps and geographical information using GLOBALBASE protocol. Let us make the Earth together using this advanced architecture. See also (http://www.globalbase.org/)."MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Intel shows industry’s first 32nm chip and next-gen Nehalem microprocessor architecture: "Intel Corporation President and CEO Paul Otellini today outlined new products, chip designs and..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
iPhone to Debut in UK on November 9: "Apple and O2 today announced that iPhone would debut in the UK on November 9 with O2, the leading wireless carrier in the UK, as its exclusive carrier. ‘Our strategy at O2 is to bring our customers the best products and experiences,’ said Matthew Key, CEO, O2 UK. ‘The iPhone is a breakthrough that is changing the way people use their mobiles forever, and we’re thrilled to have it exclusively for O2 customers in the UK.’"
Apple Hot News - http://www.apple.com/hotnews/
Recent marijuana grow one of largest in county: "GLENDALE The marijuana grow site police found Thursday turned out to be one of the largest ever found in Douglas County."
News Review - News - http://www.newsreview.info
Apple releases iTunes 7.4.2: "Apple today released iTunes 7.4.2 which addresses an issue with creating ringtones..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Google SketchUp 6.0.1145 - Create 3D design concepts, use with Google Earth. (Free): "
Google SketchUp is an easy-to-learn 3D modeling program that enables you to explore the world in 3D. With just a few simple tools, you can create 3D models of houses, sheds, decks, home additions, woodworking projects - even space ships. And once you've built your models, you can place them in Google Earth, post them to the 3D Warehouse, or print hard copies."MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
News: Yahoo takes on Facebook, MySpace with Mash: "Yahoo is playing catch-up in the social networking market to Facebook and MySpace, but the company isn't giving up yet. Yahoo quietly began inviting people to its new site called Mash.
"Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
News: MarsEdit update fixes several bugs: "Red Sweater Software has released an update to its blog writing application, MarsEdit. The new version, 2.0.1, focuses on fixing several bugs.
"Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
JollysFastVNC 0.90a - VNC client. (Free): "JollysFastVNC is a VNC client which aims to become the best VNC client on the Mac. "
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
10.4: Create new iCal events from anywhere: "
Open Automator, and click on the iCal icon in the Library column (under Applications). Drag the New iCal Events action into the workflow window. Save the workflow as an application, and you're done. Now you can:
"Mac OS X Hints - http://www.macosxhints.com
Images: A look inside 'Gaia Online': "Gaia Online, a teen-oriented virtual world with 2.5 million monthly participants who engage in more than 100,000 daily transactions, gets a high-profile chief economist."
CNET News.com - http://news.com.com/
Pot plants discovered, cut down in south county: "GLENDALE - Just days ago, they might have been sitting at their camp stove, cooking up some dried noodles and chili peppers, glad they'd made it through the summer."
News Review - News - http://www.newsreview.info
FacebookSync 2.2 - Sync Address Book data with Facebook website. (Free): "
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Google Earth 4.2.198.2451 - View & control dynamic satellite imagery of the world. (Free): "
Google Earth gives you a wealth of imagery and geographic information. Explore destinations like Maui and Paris, or browse content from Wikipedia, National Geographic, and more.
Google Earth combines the power of Google Search with satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D buildings to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
iPhoto Buddy 1.2.8 - Use multiple photo libraries with iPhoto. (Free): "
iPhoto Buddy is a small Universal Mac OS X application that allows you to use more than one photo Library with Apple's iPhoto as well as with its companion programs, iMovie and iDVD. The advantages of splitting your One Huge Photo Library into multiple, smaller ones include improved iPhoto performance, increased flexibility in organizing your digital photo collection, and a consistency with most other Mac applications that allow their respective data to be store in as many files (documents) as you like.
iPhoto Buddy uses a simple, streamlined interface that was inspired by iPhoto itself. Anyone that has used iPhoto will immediately feel right at home using iPhoto Buddy. It truly is a companion application--a real buddy!
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Number of local homeless students rises: "The number of Douglas County students identified as homeless climbed 67 percent during the 2006-07 school year."
News Review - News - http://www.newsreview.info
Mac 911: Bugs & Fixes: Console log's infinite loop: "If the same message appears repeatedly in your Console log, it probably means an application is looking for a peripheral that's not connected to your Mac. Ted Landau explains how to diagnose and squash this bug."
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
Mercy Medical's Behavioral Unit to close October 23rd for lack of state funds: "Unit losing $2 million dollars a year with no hope in sight"
KPIC - News - Local & Regional - http://www.kpic.com/news/local
Mac OS X Hints: Create Keynote slides from a series of images: "Here's a quick way to convert any number of images into new slides in Keynote.
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
PC Mag reviews Apple iPod touch: ‘5 out of 5 stars, simply the best portable media player ever made’: "iPods have been evolving quickly in their short existence on this Earth..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
BusinessWeek: The rewards of unlocking Apple’s iPhone barely outweigh the drawbacks: "There's more than one way to break your phone free of Apple and AT&T's constraints, but..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Apple to hold ‘Mum is no longer the word’ September 18th press conference in London: "Apple has invited members of the UK media to a special press conference..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Video Leak Reveals Google to Go Head-to-Head With Facebook: "A leaked video contains details on Google's plans to integrate a number of its offerings (think Picasa, GTalk, Calendar, Reader and more) into what the movie refers to as 'activity streams.'
"Wired News - http://www.wired.com/rss/index.xml
FSuite CD 0709 - FreeSoftware Mac User Group collection CD. (Free): "FSuite CD... FreeSMUG - FreeSoftware Mac User Group, releases a collection CD with the most useful free and open source software applications packaged for Mac OS X. All 10.4 and PPC/Intel compatible.
"
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
The Roseburg Valley Mall is going to see some good chages in the near future.: "New owners have taken over the Roseburg Valley Mall. A group of investors from Alaska have begun making some new plans for the mall."
KPIC - News - Local & Regional - http://www.kpic.com/news/local
Arts & Letters Daily (12 Sep 2007): "
Every president since Kennedy has faced unexpected, game-changing crises, sudden shifts in history. How ready is the U.S. for the next one?... more
Sure, he's witty. But Steven Pinker is far more than a borscht-belt John Locke. He is the cognitive philosopher of our time... more
Suppose a family cooks and eats its dog, after the pet is killed by a car. What's wrong with that? Our moral intuitions are a morass of reason and emotion... more
Arts & Letters Daily - ideas, criticism, debate - http://aldaily.com/
Apple unveils Logic Studio; Major upgrade to Logic Pro, intros MainStage: "Apple today unveiled Logic Studio, a comprehensive suite of professional tools..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Analyst: Apple iPhone sales triple after $200 price cut: "Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster, whose 50-hour survey of Apple stores produced the most definitive estimate of iPhone sales..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Apple preps Mac OS X 10.4.11 ahead of Leopard launch: "Apple this week provided its vast developer community with new pre-release builds..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
14 free and cheap apps to beef up your Apple Mac: "The Mac comes with an array of basic software already built in..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
SafariBlock 1.3 - Adds ad-blocking capability to Safari. (Free): "
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
IBM prints with molecules: "Researchers have devised a way to print patterns with molecules, precisely arranging particles on a template that can be used like a rubber stamp."
CNET News.com - http://news.com.com/
The real lessons of 9/11: "The attacks exposed grave weaknesses in our nation's defenses, our national institutions and ultimately our national character.
Salon - http://www.salon.com/?source=rss&aim=salon
Red Sweater Software has released MarsEdit 2.0, the first major release since acquiring the weblog publishing software from NewsGator Technologies in February 2007. Originally developed by Brent Simmons of Ranchero Software, MarsEdit had languished somewhat after NewsGator purchased Ranchero for the NetNewsWire application. Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater has been hard at work ever since, refining the user interface, making it significantly easier to add files and images to posts, creating seamless integration with Flickr for posting photos from your Flickr account to your blog, adding markup macros to simplify entering HTML tags, building in printing support, and more. MarsEdit 2.0
supports blogs that are served by Blogger/Blogspot, Blosxom, Conversant, Drupal, LiveJournal, Manila, Movable Type, Radio Userland, TypePad, Vox, and WordPress, although some of those don't fully support the APIs MarsEdit needs, thus limiting the interaction. Other blog servers may provide the necessary MetaWeblog or Blogger-compatible APIs too.
I've primarily used Ecto for posting to weblogs over the last year or so, and although a new version of that program is also in the works, it looks as though MarsEdit 2.0 has caught up with Ecto's capabilities while providing a simpler, more elegant interface (I find Ecto somewhat boggling much of the time).
What I find interesting about both MarsEdit and Ecto is that they're essentially word processors, but they focus much more of their attention on the online publishing aspect of writing than on the writing itself. They're generally capable editors, but since most people aren't writing long blog posts, there's no need for them to sport the kind of features a full-fledged word processor has.
That said, I see two significant directions for these programs to evolve. First is in support for different markup languages. Right now, both can preview various languages, such as Markdown and Textile, but neither allows you to write in Markdown, for instance, but convert to and post HTML to the destination blog. As a result, if your blog server software doesn't support Markdown, you can't write in it without performing a conversion manually. Implementing this in MarsEdit shouldn't be difficult; it could transform the text to and from (for editing existing posts) HTML on the fly, enabling the user to write entirely in Markdown (which is what we use to compose TidBITS
articles).
Second, as I outlined in 'Wanted: Better Document Collaboration System' (2006-04-03), it is possible to use a weblog editor like MarsEdit along with a shared weblog to enable small group document collaboration. Unfortunately, as we discovered, it's extremely clumsy and error-prone, since there's no way to know who is editing what, and overwriting of posts is all too common. One solution might be for a future version of MarsEdit to act as a client for version control systems like Subversion, which provide locking and versioning to prevent destructive conflicts. Another approach might be for Red Sweater to figure out a way that copies of MarsEdit could communicate status to one another,
thus enabling each authorized copy to know what others are editing.
MarsEdit 2.0 requires Mac OS X 10.4 or later. It costs $29.95 and is available as a 30-day trial (4.1 MB download). Upgrades from previous versions cost $9.95; the new version is free if you purchased MarsEdit 1 after 01-Jul-07.
'
WebCrossing Neighbors Creates Private Social NetworksTidBITS - http://www.tidbits.com/
Physics 101 SE 7.0 - Physics homework and studying assistant. (Demo): "
Physics 101 SE... As demonstrated by Apple's own Phil Schiller, this is the perfect solution for physics students and teachers everywhere. Physics 101 SE is the premier physics calculation tool allowing you to focus on physics and not mathematical tedium. With its ability to instantly solve for almost any variable in over 150 of the most commonly used formulas organized within twenty-four sections, and the ability to solve for variables within most of those formulas you will quickly get through problems.
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Cyberduck 2.8 - FTP and SFTP browser. (Free): "Cyberduck is a robust FTP/FTP-TLS/SFTP browser for the Mac whose lack of visual clutter and cleverly intuitive features make it easy to use. Support for external editors and system technologies such as Spotlight, Bonjour, Keychain and AppleScript are built-in.
"
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
 | ' | Iron Man - Trailer 1 Paramount Pictures and Marvel Studios’ big screen adaptation of Marvel’s legendary Super Hero Iron Man will launch into theaters on May 2, 2008. Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. stars as Tony Stark/Iron Man in the story of a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Instead, using his intelligence and ingenuity, Tony builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. When he uncovers a nefarious plot with global implications, he dons his powerful armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man. The film also stars Oscar winner Gwyneth Paltrow and Oscar nominees Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges and will be directed by Jon Favreau. Directed by: Jon Favreau Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow |
Latest Movie Trailers - http://www.apple.com/trailers/
JollysFastVNC 0.88a - VNC client. (Free): "
JollysFastVNC is a VNC client which aims to become the best VNC client on the Mac. When I started ScreenRecycler I thought that there are enough VNC clients out there to support it. When the program started to get useful I realized that the VNC clients available on the Mac were pretty slow and people were complaining about the speed of ScreenRecycler. I was using VNCThing at the time which proved to be acceptable on PPC Macs but does not run on Intel Macs. Without a proper viewer people can't access ScreenRecycler in a way I imagined. So I started programming JollysFastVNC to enable people using ScreenRecycler. As I got a few mails about the VNC capabilities of JollysFastVNC I decided to enhance the program to be a fully functional VNC client. It's still in the early stages of development, even though somewhat usable and fast."MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Train engine, child's toy for five decades, needs some help: "Calvin Davis likes to climb on the train engine at Stewart Park, walking behind the railings that encircle the No. 1229 like a historical jungle gym."
News Review - News - http://www.newsreview.info
Why I'm Buying an iPod touch: "In fact, after several months of complaining about how civilization was ending if anyone thought that Twitter was a cool idea, and after spending a few weeks actually using Twitter (see my previous blog post), I now believe that younger people use instant messaging not because their wacky fashion sense has messed with their intelligence, but because it is an excellent way to quickly communicate key information. The best thing about Twitter is the 140-character limit, which puts a strong check on pomposity and wordiness.
"
TidBITS - http://www.tidbits.com/
Indy Gets Title: Crystal Skull: "
The upcoming fourth Indian Jones movie will be called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, co-star Shia LaBeouf announced during the MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 9."
Sci Fi Wire - http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/
TV's triumphant overclass: "Television continues to grow positively filthy with the filthy rich. And where is the middle class? Demeaning itself for money on reality and game shows, of course
Salon - http://www.salon.com/?source=rss&aim=salon
Starnes exploring commissioner election: "Lookingglass resident Patrick Starnes established a political action committee Friday to allow him to collect donations for a possible run for Douglas County commissioner."
News Review - News - http://www.newsreview.info
Lookingglass man wants to challenge Kittelman: "Patrick Starnes indicates he will run against Marilyn Kittelman for county commissioner in May primary"
KPIC - News - Local & Regional - http://www.kpic.com/news/local
Numbers Auto-Fill and Print View: "Update: Thanks to Michael Kaltenecker and Beverly Martin for tipping me off to even easier auto-filling in Numbers that doesn't require a formula. It turns out that Numbers is extremely clever, and all you have to do is give it enough data work with and it will automatically figure out the necessary steps. So, for instance, if you enter 1 in A1 and 2 in A2, select both cells, and then hover over the lower right corner of A2 until the cursor changes to a black plus sign, you can then drag the selection down and cause Numbers to fill in 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. Enter 1 and 3, and drag down, and you'll get only odd numbers. Enter Monday and drag down, and you'll get the days of the week. Enter 01-Sep-07 and drag down, and you'll get all the dates that follow. You can even enter 01-Sep-07 and 08-Sep-07, and drag down to get a cell for each seven days.
"
TidBITS - http://www.tidbits.com/
Henin routs Kuznetsova to win US Open (AP): "Let those big-spending spectators or TV types gripe about Justine Henin's lopsided Grand Slam final victories. She'll take 'em. Every last one. Capping a dominant run, the top-seeded Henin overwhelmed No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-1, 6-3 Saturday night to win her second U.S. Open title and seventh major championship overall."
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
Federer to face Djokovic for Open title (AP): "
Roger Federer watched his opponent's last shot of their U.S. Open semifinal drop out, then calmly walked to the net for a handshake. He didn't drop to his knees, didn't thrust an index finger to the sky, didn't take off his shirt -- the sort of celebratory gestures Novak Djokovic came up with earlier Saturday upon reaching his first Grand Slam final.
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
News: Apple attempts to block free ringtones with iTunes update: "Apple has released an update to iTunes that blocks users from creating free custom ringtones and then syncing them to an iPhone. Despite Apple's best efforts to thwart users, a workaround has already been found and posted to the Internet.
"Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
Pencils Down 4.0.1 - Create tests & assignments w/answer sheets. (Shareware): "
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Cenon 3.83 - Desktop publishing app w/vector graphics. (Free): "
Cenon is a graphical tool of a special kind. Build upon a modular graphical core, Cenon offers a wide variety of possibilities and applications - not only Desktop Publishing.Key Features:
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Henin beats Venus to reach US Open final (AP): "
She finished off the Sister Slam. Now, Justine Henin will try to finalize another Grand Slam. In a tournament that's become a mix of excellence and endurance, Henin outlasted a wobbly Venus Williams, leaving the U.S. Open without any American players. Venus hoped to even the family score Friday, three days after sister Serena lost to Henin.
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
Editors' Notes: Why Apple isn't the new Microsoft: "While Apple's clout may be growing, Dan Frakes thinks that calling the company the new Microsoft doesn't make much sense.
"Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
MoodBlast 2.13 - Simultaneously post your mood to several chat services and more. (Free): "
MoodBlast is s menubar item with a system-wide user-configurable hotkey that allows simultaneous posting of a 'mood' to iChat, Skype, Adium, Twitter, Jaiku, and Yappd (Facebook support discontinued for legal reasons), or any combination of these services.MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Growl 1.1 - Notification system for OS X apps. (Free): "
Growl is a notification system that allows any application to send it a notification, and then it displays it. You can (for example) be notified that you have new email, or that a download completed, etc.
Support for Applescript, Perl, Python, TCL, Cocoa, Carbon, Ruby and more being added.
MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
OK, geek boys and girls, pop quiz: How do you use Safari’s built-in RSS reader as a feed aggregator? Go ahead, take a minute to figure it out. Take 5. Whatever you need. I’ve got time.
In January 2003 I predicted that major browsers would have RSS capabilities built in within a year. Turns out I was off by about 18 months. So here we are in late 2007. Despite Apple’s innovations in bringing RSS to the browser, the Safari RSS experience still isn’t fully baked. In fact, it’s totally anemic.
Of the people you know who use Safari rather than Firefox, how many also use its built-in feed reader rather than a standalone aggregator? None? Me neither. It’s not because Safari’s RSS reader isn’t pretty. It’s a nice way to digest the site you’re currently looking at quickly. But as we all know, that’s missing the point. RSS only becomes a time saver when you can harvest dozens or hundreds of sites at a time, skimming for interesting headlines, drilling down where the meat looks tasty.
The power of RSS is not just in a cleaner way to parse a page, but in aggregation (though it is nice to ditch the clutter of a single page at times).
OK, so how do you do RSS aggregation in Safari? Should be easily figure-out-able. First off, clicking the blue RSS badge in a URL field does not subscribe you to a feed - it just lets you view it (how many people want to view a single site’s feed?). Once you’re viewing a feed, you need to bookmark that. Hold up right there. Clicking an RSS badge should throw a dialog: ‘Subscribe to this feed?’ That change alone would result in far more uptake for Safari’s RSS reader.
When you do save an RSS bookmark, it gets filed along with your other bookmarks, not grouped with other RSS entries (philosophical question: Is an RSS bookmark the same as, or categorically different from a regular bookmark?).
So now that you’ve bookmarked a feed or two, how do you view them together, so that they become more useful than a bunch of bookmarks to simplified white pages? Safari’s bookmarks manager will intelligently locate all your intermingled bookmark feeds and show them in a list, but without showing story summaries or offering any kind of grouping functionality (the new folder icon is grayed out in this view). This is a promising start - maybe you can see aggregated bookmarks with story summaries as fly-outs from the Bookmarks menu? Nope - this ‘All RSS Feeds’ collection is only available in the bookmark manager itself - you can’t make it appear in the Bookmarks menu. And why do you have to Manage Bookmarks when you want to read your feeds? Why is there no ‘Feeds’ item on the View or Window or Bookmarks menus?
The only way to truly aggregate RSS feeds in Safari (that I can see) is to bookmark them together in a single folder, which must live in your Bookmarks Bar folder. Once that’s in place, click on that folder in the Bookmarks Bar and select ‘View All RSS Articles’ from the bottom of the menu.
Wow.
Why is this so difficult? Safari isn’t Final Cut Pro. You shouldn’t need to turn to the documentation to figure out how to view a simple aggregation of feeds. What’s that? The documentation doesn’t even mention that it’s possible? Silly me.
I gave Apple the benefit of the doubt when RSS capabilities first appeared, but continued using NetNewsWire, thinking I’d return later when the feature matured. But now it’s been a couple of years, and I finally got around to installing the Safari 3 beta. Love the new in-page search, love the resizable text fields, love the speed. But the RSS reader? Unchanged, as far as I can tell. What’s going on here?
An RSS reader will be built into Leopard’s Mail.app, which could change the game a bit. Let’s hope it runs with the ball, though that leads to philosophical question #2: Are RSS feeds better suited to live in the browser, or your mail reader?
Apple - Whatever you do with RSS in Leopard, please turn up the voltage on the de-confusifizer. RSS is important technology, and consumers aren’t going to get excited about it until you simultaneously show them its power and make it simple. Isn’t that what you do best?
"MacDevCenter - http://www.macdevcenter.com/
iTunes 7.4.1 Update Released: "Now available via Software Update:
With iTunes 7.4, sync your favorite music and more with the new iPod nano (third generation), iPod classic, and iPod touch, plus create custom ringtones exclusively for iPhone with many of your favor..."
MacRumors - http://www.macrumors.com
Conjure 1.1 - Unlimited virtual desktop. (Shareware): "
Conjure... A more powerful desktop, for a less civilized time. Conjure is a new take on the traditional computer 'desktop'. Conjure lets you work with files, urls, and images, in a completely unstructured, visual, and organic way. It is an unlimited desktop, where you can write directly on the surface, grab still images from your camera, and interact with your files, draw across them, and generally concentrate on what you're working on. In this version, you can keep a different backdrop image or color for each page. Create a page for each project you're working on, and store links to everything for that project on them. When you want to work on something else, that page is two clicks away. MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Henin defeats Venus to reach Open final (AP): "
Venus Williams left the U.S. Open the same way Serena Williams did, undone by all those big shots off the racket of little Justine Henin. In a riveting match filled with superb all-court play, Henin became only the second woman to beat both Williams sisters at the same Grand Slam tournament, reaching the final at Flushing Meadows with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over Venus on Friday.
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
News: Web, AJAX slammed for deficiencies: "The Web and AJAX have many deficiencies including security holes, according to a Yahoo architect who spoke at The Rich Web Experience conference.
Macworld - http://www.macworld.com/
Computerworld: Apple is the new Microsoft: "'Don't look now, but the role of the industry's biggest bully is increasingly..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Fly a flight simulator in Google Earth: "I just read in a German online magazine that Google Earth contains a 'hidden' yet complete flight simulator! Currently, two jets are available (F16 and SR22), and also the list of airports is not that long. Just open Google Earth (you'll need the newest version, 4.2), and then type Command-Option-A. A dialog will appear, asking you to pick your airplane, airport, and a few other things. (Once you've used this keyboard combo once, you can invoke the flight sim in the future via the Tools » Enter Flight Simulator menu item. This entry will be missing, however, until you invoke the simulator once via the keyboard.)
Flying is rather tricky, as the Google team seems to have invested lots of efforts into the UI (joysticks are supported, for instance) so that the flight instruments are rather 'mimosa-like'. A test flight using a normal keyboard and mouse ended shortl...
Mac OS X Hints - http://www.macosxhints.com
Apple wants to slash iTunes TV show prices in half to 99-cents per episode; networks wary: "Apple is mulling a plan to cut the price of TV show downloads in half..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Genius marketer Steve Jobs plays media like a Stradivarius, generates massive free publicity: "Steve Jobs is a genius..."
MacDailyNews - http://www.macdailynews.com/
Djokovic reaches 3rd straight Slam semi (AP): "
Might as well have been Open mike night for Novak Djokovic. Popular on YouTube for his imitations of other pros, and egged on by the crowd, Djokovic showed he had a talent for more than tennis after he won Thursday. Dancing a little jig, he did a dead-on rendition of Maria Sharapova. Tugging at his shorts, he nailed Rafael Nadal.
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
TinkerTool 3.7d - Customize many aspects of OS X. (Free): "
TinkerTool is an application that gives you access to additional preference settings Apple has built into Mac OS X. This allows to activate hidden features in the operating system and in some of the applications delivered with the system.
The tool makes sure that preference changes can only affect the current user. You don't need administrative privileges to use the tool. With this design, it is no problem to use TinkerTool in professional networks where users have restricted permissions. The program will never change any component of the operating system, so the integrity of your system is not put at risk, and there will be no negative effect on system updates.
All preference settings changed by TinkerTool can be reset to Apple's defaults, or to the state that existed before using the tool. No dangerous background processes are used for TinkerTool's operation. You may send bug reports here.
"MacUpdate - Universal Binary - http://www.macupdate.com/macintel.php
Djokovic tops Moya to make US Open semis (AP): "
Novak Djokovic was as hilarious after the match as he was good during it, treating fans to his spot-on impersonations of Maria Sharapova and Rafael Nadal. First, he did Sharapova, hopping behind the baseline the way she does, bouncing the ball the way she does, pretending to tuck strands of hair behind his ears, and capping it off by doing a perfect rendering of the two-time major champion's...
Yahoo! Sports - Tennis News - http://sports.yahoo.com/ten
