You know all about surfing the web. You’re a power-surfer! You keep in touch with your favorite websites every day. You open links in new background tabs to maximize your time and screen real estate. But do you know about RSS? This post is a quick glimpse at how you can keep up with your favorite websites far more efficiently, all within Mac OS X’s built in browser, Safari 2.0.
What is RSS?
Depending on who you talk to, RSS can stand for “Rich Site Summary” or “Really Simple Syndication,” and I think both help to describe what RSS does—respectively from two different perspectives: readers and publishers. Continue Reading »
I’m a proud owner of both an Intel iMac and MacBook, while my girlfriend is still quite fond of her iBook G4 12″, and plans on keeping it for awhile. I previously owned a 14″ iBook, and when the Intel iMac arrived, one of the first questions I had was “Can I boot both PPC and Intel machines from a multiple-partition drive?”
I was wondering if I could still use the external drive which had multiple partitions and served as my backup drive. I use SuperDuper!, and would make regular backups to the drive from the 3 PPC machines we had. Continue Reading »
The ability to work with 99 tracks of video and audio is a tremendous feature of Final Cut Pro. Editors are able to build projects vertically as well as linearly for richer, deeper content. When working with multiple clips (on a single track or on multiple tracks) it’s sometimes necessary to apply the same filter, or motion effect to a group of clips, for example to burn timecode across a whole sequence or to rotate several clips as a group. While it’s possible to apply the filter or effect to each clip in the group and adjust the individual settings, that’s a rather tedious task made simpler using FCP’s Nest Items feature. Nesting lets you treat several clips as if they were a single clip. Continue Reading »
As a longtime Windows user who has owned, built and used hardware with pretty much every version of Windows OS (starting from 2.1 I think), one of the most impressive features of the Mac for me is the Migration Assistant. The first night I had it, I started up the new Mac Pro, connected my MacBook over Firewire and when the assistant was done; I sat down at the Mac Pro with every application, preference and desktop tweak from my MacBook fully installed and was ready to get to work. (OK, I did have to reauthorize two applications, but all my settings were migrated for those as well).
I have never moved from one PC to another without at least a week of pure hassle—hunting for key codes, reinstalling applications (even if restored from backup), reinstalling preferences, figuring out how to get Outlook to find and use old mail files, ad infinitum. In fact, my Windows laptop at work suffered a hard drive crash right around the same time I was installing my new Mac – some dark cloud of technology karma was hanging over my head there for a few weeks – and it took 3 days to recover even with a current backup. I’m still missing a few apps for which I need to hunt down the old versions before upgrading again. Not just a time sink, but a time sink with a genuine soul drain at its center. Continue Reading »
Parallels Desktop for Mac, the virtualization software that allows users to run a variety of OSes virtually alongside Mac OS X has been updated again to build 2.2.1970.0, released on Nov. 1st. Some handy features have been added to this update.
First of all, a new installation assistant is included which will complete the entire installation process for you – you don’t have to select any configurations, answer any questions, or make decisions about partitions or other options if you don’t want to. Continue Reading »
Hey, I realize that switcher stories are getting so common these days, we’re all at risk of fatigue from the influx of new Mac fans and fanatics among us. Forgive me then for adding a few words more in the rising tide of Mac market share. When I quite literally blew up my home-built PC a few weeks back—with a dramatic flameout of the PSU and a roomful of acrid smoke–I was driven to make my “second-tier” switcher commitment. I am now officially a “switched-again” Mac user.
I got my 2Ghz MacBook as my first Mac in May, but in truth I’ve primarily used this machine as a desktop, KVM’d next to my home-built XP machine. Real multi-taskers use separate machines. Despite (or perhaps because of) over a decade of masochistic personal Windows malaise, I was struggling to get myself even to attempt Microsoft OS on my Mac. I’d upgraded to a 100gb 7200rpm drive, but I couldn’t convince myself that Parallels or Boot Camp would beat the sheer convenience of hitting the scroll lock key and moving over the to other box. My original plan was not to deepen my Mac ties until Leopard came out, then think about a MacBook Pro or Mac Pro, and let Windows run in its own isolated tier. Continue Reading »
Sling Media has announced the release of a public beta version of SlingPlayer for Mac OS X. SlingPlayer works with the Slingbox and allows you to watch and control your TV from just about anywhere in the world.
The beta release of SlingPlayer will run on Mac OS X 10.4 and is a Universal Binary application. There is no Mac OS X 10.3 support for SlingPlayer at this time. Sling Media will be providing a 10.3 version of SlingPlayer as soon as possible.
One of the utilities that I wonder how I ever got along without is called Jumpcut by Steve Cook.
My day job is working for an internet company so I live in my browser for hours and hours everyday. I am constantly copying or cutting and then pasting a piece of information from one place to another or more likely more than one piece of information. For example, before Jumpcut if I had 3 pieces of information to copy from someplace into a form I would have to do this one piece of information at a time, often switching windows or applications in between. Jumpcut lets me paste in any of the last 25 things that I cut or copied into the clipboard. Instead of doing a paste with command-V, I use control-option-V to pop up a transparent overlay that shows the current clipboard. If I hit the arrow keys while continuing to hold down the control and option keys then I can scroll through any of the last 25 clipboards. When I am done, I have pasted the information and also changed the current contents of the clipboard.
I had a busy two days at Mac Expo, leaving behind the crowds with a real good feeling that this years show was a great success. More so than previous years, because I had met so many NEW mac users. From people who had attended the show to find out more, through to those who left the show clutching their new Mac gear.
One gentleman who I approached was leaving with a big smile on his face. When asked, he said, “I came here to find out about the new iMac. I had my eye on the 20 inch model”. He obviously had his questions more than answered, he continued… Now I just have to convince the wife that this 24 inch model really is only 20 inches.” So another new user, but surprisingly buying in at the top of the iMac range. Whilst taking a break for lunch, the general conversation seemed to be around the MacBook and the iPod Nano. To the extreme one nice young lady was discussing how to match the different colored Nano’s with her outfits. This made me smile, knowing that Apple had hit the nail on the head.
So all in all a great show and it can only grow in size from year-to-year. I predict that this will be reflected in other shows around the world. It cannot be ignored that the Mac’s popularity is growing at quite a rapid rate. The iPod and the very cost effective MacBook may well lead new users in, but the quality of product and friendly community will be sure to keep them hooked.
Until next year… enjoy your newfound knowledge and of course your new Apple purchases.
In true Mac style, Griffin Technology get my ‘Best of Show’ vote at the London Mac Expo 2006. Not only because my contact there is just so pleasant, but because the company produces the most stunning products available for the iPod today.
For example, take the iKaraoke. This innovative product turns your iPod into a mini Karaoke machine. The styling is good, the user interface well implemented and it is just one of those ‘must have’ products.
Griffin were all smiles on day two of the Expo, because apart from my vote, they also won the ‘Mac User iPod Accessory Manufacturer of the Year’ award ! The quality of all Griffin products is superb, delivered with such enthusiasm that it shines through, from the naming to the design.
Many thanks Griffin, keep up the good work, you are top of my list and iPod users from all corners of the world !
You know all about surfing the web. You’re a power-surfer! You keep in touch with your favorite websites every day. You open links in new background tabs to maximize your time and screen real estate. But do you know about RSS? This post is a quick glimpse at how you can keep up with your favorite websites far more efficiently, all within Mac OS X’s built in browser, Safari 2.0.
I had a busy two days at Mac Expo, leaving behind the crowds with a real good feeling that this years show was a great success. More so than previous years, because I had met so many NEW mac users. From people who had attended the show to find out more, through to those who left the show clutching their new Mac gear.
In true Mac style, Griffin Technology get my ‘Best of Show’ vote at the London Mac Expo 2006. Not only because my contact there is just so pleasant, but because the company produces the most stunning products available for the iPod today.
