Found on Twitter

First up in my find isn’t so much an app as it is a browser bookmarklet called Readability. I didn’t find this one as an add, but from following a link in a tweet in someone I follow (apologies if this was you, it’s been a while so I do not remember). Readability is by far the handiest thing I’ve used in quite some time.

Imagine if you will, going to a website like, oh, I don’t know, this one.

That is the Droid review at PCWorld.com as viewed in Google Chrome on my Mac. What a mess, until you click on the Readability bookmarklet. Instead of that mess up there, you instead get this wonderful page to read.

Wonderful. No ads, no cruft, just the story I want to read in large type with wide margins. You can customize the experience in many ways and it only takes a few minutes to setup. Oh yea, and it’s free. You really need to try this out.

The app that I found via an advertisement in Tweetie is a brilliant interface to Gmail called MailPlane. Yes, it is a desktop app to access a web based app. But it makes using Gmail so much better! I’m not sure if any of you have tried Fluid with Gmail, but it is very similiar to that experience.

With MailPlane you get drag and drop support, multiple account support that makes switching between accounts a snap, Growl support for messages and the ability to easily make it your default mail client. I’ve been using this for almost a month on the free trial and can tell you that I will be handing over my $24.95 happily next week. I’ve been looking for something exactly like this for quite a while now and am very pleased with how it works, especially when comparing to only using Gmail in a browser.

Sadly, MailPlane is Mac only. If you are a Gmail user and a Mac user, you should take the time to download this and check it out. The first 30 days are free, so why not.

If I were to go back and modified my top 5 mac applications, these 2 would definitely make the cut. If you try them out, I’m sure the rest of the class would be interested in what you thought about them. Comment below with your thoughts or opinions.

That’s right, I said it. I hate Safari.

Gasp! Boo! Hiss! Go on, get it out of your system.

There are many things that this brilliant iMac sitting on my desk does that I absolutely adore. There are many apps that I run on a daily or almost daily basis that I also think are quite keen. Keen enough to remember their name so I can fire them up in QuickSilver or that they have earned a place in the all mighty dock.

Safari is not one of them.

It’s not the way Safari looks, because it is a good looking app. And, it’s not because of how it displays websites. It is the way Safari works with a few websites, sometimes, stability and how tabs work.

In Firefox (all versions, all operating systems) and Internet Explorer v7 & v8 and Google Chrome (and, quite possibly Opera, although I never use that) you can close a tab 2 different ways using the mouse. You can either click on the ‘X’ (which, on all of these browsers is on the right, Safari is on the left) or you can press the middle/scroll wheel of your mouse anywhere on the tab. That might sound niggling, but it really slows me down. Having the use the CMD key with a mouse click has never worked for me. I’m either using a keyboard shortcut or the mouse, not both.

Then there is stability. I have recently discovered that by not keeping my cache and history tidy and neat, Safari does nothing more than crash while trying to start. Not only does it crash repeatedly when trying to start, it will sometimes crash altogether with the only fix being a complete system restart. And, since there isn’t an internet options in System Preferences (like Windows), there is no way that I’m aware of to correct it. In all of the other browsers, having a messy cache or lots of history just slows things down a bit.

Another minor thing is the lack of a status bar by default. I always check where links go in the status bar, and not having it seriously annoys me. I shouldn’t have to do a google search to find how to turn this on. Sure, it’s a hold over from my Windows days, but better safe than sorry, right?

And, finally, there is Gmail. And also, there isn’t Gmail. But, it is. Gmail is my email application. While I don’t live in there all the time, it is what I use to send and receive email (since replaced by Mailplane, more on that later). And with Safari (or Webkit, but not Chrome oddly enough) it just acts weird. And, only sometimes.

For example, on occasion when replying to an email, I click reply and start typing. Normally, the text just shows up in the email box like it is supposed to. Sometimes, and again, only with Safari, the reply window fails to grab focus, so when I start typing, the Gmail keyboard shortcuts kick in and do everything from deleting the message entirely to opening my task window. The annoying part is that it is hit or miss. If it did this consistently, I could work around it. But that’s the problem. It only seems to happen when Safari is having a bad day.

For the record, I have been using Google Chrome since it was released for the Mac and, at least for me, it’s been fantastic. It’s been my default browser for more than a month and so far so good. On occasion I do have to duck into Firefox for something specific or to use an extension, but for daily browsing, Chrome is it for me. Bonus it’s fast. Fastest on my Mac by a long shot.

Comments are open. Go ahead, do your best!

This could go anywhere

Honestly. I’m sitting at my desk letting my fingers just dance across the glorious Apple keyboard that sits directly in front of my 20″ iMac. There are cables connecting the two that constantly get in the way, but I’m just too damned cheap to pony up the $80 for the bluetooth keyboard.

I’ve mentioned this keyboard many times in the past. I really enjoy using it. I mean, really enjoy it. I actually like this one better than the one that I have at the office, which is about 2 weeks old. Why? This one is all broken in. The buttons finally work as I expect them too. The keys are smooth and silky and have a pleasant feel about them as my fingers press. The action is fluid, quiet and yet, at the same time, slightly mechanical in a very satisfying way.

Yes, I do love my keyboard.

Don’t get me wrong. That old IBM keyboard that came with my 286 back in the early 90’s was a wondrous piece of gear. It was loud, solid and keying on that board was almost the same as using a typewriter back in high school. Connected with a tightly coiled cable that was forever getting in the way of something, it was still an awesome keyboard. You could get a serious rhythm going with that board and once in the groove, man, the places it could take you.

Between the boards, there have been others. I even tried one of the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboards for a spell. While I didn’t dislike it, I’m a lazy typist that doesn’t know where the numbers are without looking, and taking a hand off of that thing to work the 10 pad was inconvenient and really slowed things down.

There was also a slew of Logitech boards with the myriads of PCs that I have used over the years. Not too bad either. Satisfying sounds and feel, wireless, comfortable and good to type on. Hell, most of the posts on this site and this one before ‘07 were made with a Logitech board. And there was some good stuff.

But, and this is just my own humble opinion, not as good as the stuff that came after.

Yes, I do love my keyboard. Is that strange? Maybe. If you don’t love yours, then perhaps you should take some time out of your day today and get to shopping. If your computer is a tool, then the keyboard is the handle and you really should find something that works for you, fits well in your hand and is pleasing to use. Otherwise, you might as well use a pencil. I shudder at that thought.

You should be able to use a keyboard like you use your car. When you reach for something, it’s just there. You didn’t have to look because your hands knew what it would find when it landed. A good keyboard is exactly like that.

And I love mine.

5 Apps that should be on every Mac

So you bought a Mac. Nicely done. I’m sure that you have already discovered why your friends and the internet won’t shut up about this damned computer. For me, it’s iPhoto, iMovie ‘08 and Preview, plus the fact that it. Just. Works.

Besides that, there are a few other apps that I think should be preinstalled on every Mac. Let’s call this my list of must have Mac applications.

First up in our hit parade has to be Skitch. Sure the Mac does screen shots out of the box very well, but Skitch takes screen shots to a new level. Easy to use, quick to start, plus you can do all kinds of neat things like add text or graphics to your snaps. Then, when you are done, you can easily share those snaps with the entire world via Flickr or Skitch.com. This is an app that should cost $50 for the Pro version. Luckily, it’s still free!

In the number 2 spot is Quicksilver. It’s an app launcher and much much more. Also free. If you are one that likes to use the keyboard more than the mouse, I highly recommend it. Once installed, set it to launch with a cmd-spacebar key* combo. Feel free to search around for other cool stuff this app can do. It’s limitless.

Coming in at numba 3 is Exposé. Ok, this one comes on every Mac already, but it’s not turned on. Go into System Preferences and do just that. Don’t forget to activate hot corners either. Being able to display all of your open windows with a simple swipe of the mouse if way handier than you think. Being able to show the desktop the same way is even handier still. For the record, I use Top right to display, botton left to show the desktop.

For you Instant Messengers out there, you need Adium. Works with AIM, Yahoo, MSN, gChat and I think ICQ. The only drawback is that it does not support video chat. Get your friends to start using Skype for that.

Of course, you have iChat already installed. It’s basically an AIM client that supports audio and video. Oh, and screen sharing that works. Great way to help or get help from your Mac friends.

If you need light image editing and don’t want to drop $700 for the latest Photoshop, I would recommend Acorn. It’s a great app, and for only $50 it’s a steal! Does almost everything Photoshop does already, is faster and easier to figure out. Sure I still use PS, but for the bulk of the image editing I do, Acorn is my go-to app.

Finally, a browser other than Safari. Sure the Mac fanboi’s are freaking out right now, but lets be honest. Safari isn’t all that and a bag of chips 100% of the time. No browser is. Always nice to have a backup, and you would be very well served by either Firefox or Camino. Unless you are an Opera person. You can run that too.

If you think I missed something, you know what to do. Comments are open! Feel free to ask questions too.

*System Preferences –> Spotlight. Uncheck the bottom 2 checkboxes. Envoke Quicksilver, press cmd+, (comma) and in the Command section, set it to cmd-spacebar.

My Week with Safari

Safari 4 was released last week. Finally including proper tab controls and a few other features that really peaked my interest. So, on the Mac, I decided to make it my default browser for a week.

Keep in mind that I have been using Firefox since before it was called Firefox. Plugins, hyper-lever control over the behavior of tabs and a great experience are tough to match. And, for me, Safari doesn’t quite fit the bill.

The new Safari is pretty rockin’, don’t get me wrong. It’s fast, it displays webpages well, has pretty ok tab controls and the new coverflow feature on new tabs is very cool. But, and this is a big but, there are a few issues that are forcing me to switch back to Firefox for full time browser duties.

First up is weird behavior in Gmail. Weirder still is that things happen (or don’t) seemingly at random. For example, in the image above, I was trying to mark that message as spam, but I couldn’t click the Report Spam button. Other times the message window won’t get focus, so when I start to type who knows what’s going to happen with the Google Keyboard Shortcuts kick in.

Next up is Facebook. The same thing happens there as does with Gmail. Buttons not clickable, comment fields don’t grab focus and sometimes, the site won’t load at all (eventhough it will in Firefox).

I was thinking maybe this is a Webkit issue. But, using Google Chrome on the EeePC under Windows is perfect on both of these sites, everytime. I’ve never had an issue.

I’ve had these issues before when I was using Fluid.app for Gmail and Facebook, both on the iMac and the Macbook. As cool as Fluid is, I had to stop using it because it was too unreliable on the 2 sites that I use the most.

Much like Safari is now.

I’m a fan of backing up, we know this. For said backup duties, I rely on SuperDuper, which has been rock solid and relatively problem free since I’ve been using it.

I say relatively because I have recently had a few issues with how it backs up. I am down to using a single, 1TB, external drive for backup and media storage. I didn’t think this was a problem at all. I even configured SuperDuper to not overwrite the drive, only the files. Problem free for about a month.

I went to re-edit a video and found it was gone. Not only was it gone, but everything else I was storing on that drive was gone as well. Great. So, I configured SuperDuper again, making sure it wasn’t overwriting the drive.

Fast forward about another month. All of my AMVIV video, all of the swim meet video and everything else I was again storing on that drive is gone. Crap. At least it’s not going to happen again.

Last night I reconfigured that drive. It’s now 2 partitions. The first is set to 320GB (which is the size of the drive on my iMac). The other partition is using the rest of the space and has been designated as my media drive.

If you too are trying to get 1 external drive to pull double duty, I would highly recommend doing this. Just in case.

• Battery life is excellent. Like I mentioned before, at least 4 hours of use, but it might be closer to 5.
• The keyboard size isn’t an issue except
• The position of the right shift key is horrible. If you aren’t a touch typist, this probably won’t be as big an issue for you, but as I am and the majority of words I capitalize start with letters that live on the left side of the keyboard, it’s a bit of a problem.
• The screen is very good, especially for it’s size.
• Full screen video playback from Hulu is ok, unless it’s high quality. For that, you need to be plugged into power, not running on battery. Even then, playback isn’t what you would call ideal.
• Viddler videos do not playback at all on the Eee. Doesn’t matter if it’s plugged in or not, or if the power settings are set to max power. Playback is jerky and sound is horrible. This particularly sucks for me. I have tried YouTube and get similiar results, although not as bad. Still have yet to try Vimeo or other video sites.
• The trackpad is almost completely unusable. The problem with it is that it is too sensitive. Barely touching it triggers a click which can, and has, caused problems in almost every application, especially the Start menu.
• The trackpad is pretty cool otherwise. 2 and 3 finger functions that actually work, most of the time. Not bad for a Windows device. 2 finger scroll always works, 2 finger taps usually works and 3 finger taps work sometimes. But they do work.

Still a great device, but not without a few comprises in use. I have found that using a mouse whenever possible is the best course of action. As for the right shift key, I just have to think a little more before I need to capitalize any of the letters on the left.

I still want to get OS X loaded on this, but that will be slightly delayed while I save up the money for an external DVD drive. I might try dual booting Ubuntu or DSL on it, possibly from an SD Card. More on that as it happens.

So I have found myself eyeing the latest crop of Netbooks and I have to tell you something. They are pretty small. I mean, like tiny.

I thought I would cruise through BestBuy, just to see what they had so I could check them out. They had the Dell Mini 9 and the HP1000. Both seemed capable enough, but the 8.9″ screen is barely useable for me. And the Dell keyboard is awful. The keys are about the same size as those found on a pocket calculator and they are spaced even closer together. It’s completely unusable for someone with moderate-sized hands that can touch type (much like myself). The HP on the other hand had a very nice keyboard and everything was laid out as it should. But it still only had a 8.9 inch screen.

A little Amazon searching and some review reading later and I think I have settled on the Asus Eee PC 1000HA. 160GB hard drive, 10″ display, 1GB of RAM and the Intel Atom processor, plus a few other features that I think are cool. From what I can tell, the only true downside to this device is the fact that it’s running Windows XP. Not really a problem, but boy wouldn’t it be cool to have one running Leopard.

So more searching (and crowd sourcing) brings me to the OS X Netbook Compatibilty chart that BoingBoing has assembled. And what do you know, the Asus is on the list with almost 100% compatibility.

I poked around some more and it looks like a doable project that should keep me occupied for the better part of a few days. I’m hoping that when I do finally purchase this device and start the transformation that I can actually use it to dual boot OS X and Windows XP.

Is there anyone among us that is using a Netbook now? If so, which one and what do you think of it?

And don’t say buy another Mac. Both of money trees are dead and I didn’t win the lotto this week. Even from the refurb shop, the best deal I can get is either on a Macbook ($899) or an Air ($999). But with the pricing of the Eee PC (with 2GB RAM upgrade) coming in just under $400, it’s much more attractive to me. That and the fact that it kinda works, which means I’ll get to tinker a bit. Fun stuff!

Playing with a few things, changing a few things, updating a few things.

A couple of new apps this week. The first I heard about on Mac Break Weekly called Shape Collage. You can read the write up at dbmini. I know I know, I don’t normally post software reviews there, but most of the readers carry camera and they still out-number you 2:1.

Second app I’m playing with is called DoubleTwist. It’s an app for getting media to your device of any shape (mp3 players, phones, game consoles) and for sharing with your friends. I don’t see a real need for this on the ATP, but if you have anything else that holds media, it might be worth checking out. Full write-up to follow after I play with it some more.

Oh yea, both of these run on Windows and Mac. So go nuts.

More playing with HD and I’m starting to get the hang of it, or at least I think I am. In case you missed it, you can see the latest on Vimeo and YouTube (be sure to click HD).

Why did I post to both? I wanted to see which is better. I still prefer Vimeo over YouTube since it has a nicer player, but YouTube allows a larger file size and I can upload more than 1 HD video a week (without paying). If I start to post a lot of stuff in HD, I might opt for the ‘Pro’ account at Vimeo. I also posted this video at Viddler and the results were very good.

That is the exact same file I put on Vimeo and YouTube. Not too shabby I think.

Finally, I started playing with the Tumblr again. I’ve changed it so that the only going there are photos from Flickr, links from Delicious and video from everywhere. That will change to be Viddler only I believe. Next up will be integrating that into db.com and then I will start using it for random videos and links and all that. Keep an eye out for that to happen soon.

And I have finally managed to get an interview at the end of next week. Details on my Facebook page. Good interview JuJu my way if you please (and can spare it).

Sure, it’s simple, right? Find the app in The Finder, drag it to the trash and poof, it’s gone. Except that it really isn’t.

Over on Windows, MS made developers include a uninstallation routine with the installer. Sure it was hit or miss until Windows XP, but it was still there. And, it was there for many reasons, least of which is that uninstalling applications in Windows without it is practically impossible unless you are the original developer of the app. There are folders. There are .dll files. There are registry entries. Log files. Mold, mildew and soap scum. When you install an app on Windows, it gets everywhere.

Not so on the Mac. You open the .dmg, drag the icon out and that’s it. Everything that app needs contained inside of a nice package.

Until you run the app.

Suddenly .plist files are created and stuck in one of 37 /library folders, buried 4 or 5 folders deep from there. But not just in 1 folder, in multiples. Places where I’m sure normal computer user folk would not dare to go. These are also files that, when you uninstall an app, do not get uninstalled. You might have noticed this if you unstalled an app, then reinstalled only to find that your settings are still there. I thought that was odd the first time it happened to me.

Sure there are apps that you can get for the Mac that will help you to uninstall applications, including getting rid of all of those pesky preference files. But should I have to pay $15 or so for this? Sure I could go through and start deleting preference files, but what if I delete the wrong one? I could mistakenly remove the files for Transmit when I thought I was removing transmission. That could be a serious nightmare for me. Made even worse by the fact that I’m not using Time Machine (but that’s for another post).

Just don’t think that when you drag an application icon to the trash that it’s all the way uninstalled. If you do want to make sure an application is 100% uninstalled, go over and purchase AppZapper. That will do the geek stuff for you.

Speaking of the /library folder, is there a definitive guide that tells me what the difference between ~/ folders and / folders are? It would be keen if said guide also explained the hieroglyphics that are everywhere in this damned OS too. It’s been more than 2 years and I still don’t know which is which.