Weblog of a “Switcher”

I found out today, Friday 13th of all days, that I have been offered a position with a company called Mobile Armor. They do security software for smart phones and computers both notebook and desktop. A really great sounding company really.

Word on the street is that I will be starting on July 1st, but depending on Mobile Armor, it could be sooner. I can start at any time, myself.

I will be helping the company test their software and make sure that it's working as good as possible so that users won't find any nasty surprises later. At least that is the plan.

This has been a tough search, but not as tough as my last search after being laid off. I was 8 months without a job then, this time it was 7 months. I was a little slower getting started looking for a job since I have been recovering from Ulcerative Colitis (rather unsettling picture on linked page). I've still been getting sick from it, but I'm learning what I can and can not eat to avoid having relapses. Until these last few days, I have been feeling pretty healthy for about 4 weeks. The longest run in quite some time. I know what I ate to cause this last relapse to occur, so I know what to avoid, but there are probably other foods that will do me in.

Since I have had this illness, I have lost just a little over 70 lbs. It started Aug. 2007, 11 months ago, so I have been losing weight rather slowly. Which is the way one is supposed to lose weight. However, I need to be able to stop losing weight when I get to the weight I want which is just under 200. Anyway, that's off topic.

I was actually not sure I was going to get this job. April 17th was my first interview with Mobile Armor. The interview went pretty well, and I felt pretty comfortable with the folks I was talking to. I felt that they seemed to like me. So I found out the next week that one of the folks that started the company wanted to talk to me for a few minutes on the phone as a second interview. So I called him and we had a great conversation. I think I impressed him with my self motivation and my previous job history. I really felt that I had this job. I heard from the recruiters that found the job for me that I was going to be offered the position, so I was all ready to go, but I didn't hear anything else after that. I thought that I had done something wrong, but it turned out that they had some issues with funding and had to wait a while to continue.

I got the call last Friday that the company was still interested in me which really lifted my spirits. Then I got the call today that an offer letter was being sent today and we'll be working out when I will be starting. It looks like it might be July 1st, but that was only the recruiters feeling. I'll find out soon enough. I'm just thrilled that I finally have a new job.

So, now I just need to stay healthy for longer than a month...

written by Dave M. \\ tags: employment, Job

If you are actually switching to a Macintosh and OS X from a Windows computer, there are some differences between the two OS's that might make you wish you hadn't made the switch. However, if you are patient and stick with the Macintosh, overcoming these differences are pretty easy and most are for the better.

Before I begin, I feel that I must point out that I am not the first to ever write about these differences and will probably not be the last. In fact, the idea to write about the differences came to me from a fellow "switcher" who has been writing about his experiences in his own personal blog.

I have been following David Alison's progress for quite some time now and his insights on switching to the Macintosh have been quite interesting. His history with Windows sounds similar to mine. He just started the switch later than I did. I would definitely suggest checking out his site for more info on switching to a Macintosh.

The differences:

Applications

Typically, applications in Windows and other OS's are a collection of files including the actual executable file, images, data, libraries (DLL's in Windows), localization files, etc... Even before OS X, OS 9 and earlier Mac OS's had these collections. Usually stored in a single folder on the hard drive, or spread throughout the hard drive to aid in sharing resources.

With OS X, Apple took an idea used by NeXTSTEP (an OS from NeXT computers) and put all the files that make up an application into a folder. Doesn't sound all that different does it? Well, in this case, the folder has an extension of ".app" and looks and acts like the application. So instead of opening a folder when double-clicked, double clicking this .app folder actually launches the application that is stored in this folder.

By putting all the resources into a folder that looks like an application, moving the application to a new location on your hard drive, installing or uninstalling the application is just a simple file operation. No need for bulky install applications and you are free to move the application around as you see fit. Don't try this in Windows, you will royally screw up the application and have to re-install it.

DMG files

DMG files are basically the floppy disks of the Macintosh world. In fact, they act just like a mini-hard drive. Their icon is a document icon with the image of a hard drive printed on the paper and when you double-click or open a DMG file, the icon typically looks like a disk drive of some kind.

Actually, a DMG file is nothing more than an advanced ZIP file. They contain files and applications that are compressed just like a ZIP file, and you can copy files off of DMG files by opening the DMG and dragging the files off the DMG to your hard drive.

DMG files are mostly used to distribute applications to the Macintosh. When you find a shareware program that you would like to try out, you will either be downloading a DMG file, or a ZIP file that contains a DMG file. (I've never quite understood why this is until I read that some web servers don't handle the DMG type correctly, so putting the DMG in a ZIP file makes it easier for visitors to download the file.)

Installing Applications

Installing applications on a Mac can be quite confusing if you are new to OS X and have used nothing but Windows before. If so, you are used to running a "setup" program to install an application to your computer. It was quite rare to find applications that would run after expanding a recently downloaded ZIP file, though not unheard of.

With OS X, there are two common ways to install applications. The first is the familiar installation application way. The other common way is to simply copy the application to either your Applications folder or a separate folder you have created for putting applications that only your login account can run.

A disk image that contains an installer will look similar to this:

The install program is an icon that represents a cardboard box like you would see when moving or receiving a package from Amazon.com. Simply double-clicking on this icon will start the install process.

Applications sometimes use installer programs because they need to put files into folders other than in the application's folder and sometimes even modify the OS is a small way. The installation program will usually let you know that this is happening and often requires a reboot after completion.

If the application doesn't need to do anything fancy, they will look more like this:

In this case, you simply copy the application file to your Applications folder.

99% of the time, the DMG file will have a background image that instructs the user what to do to install the application. In the above screen shots you can see this by the instructions in text at the bottom of the windows and in the case of Picturesque, they also include a graphic arrow and an "alias" to the Applications folder on your computer to making copying the file to the Applications folder a simple matter of dragging the application icon to that alias.

There are some exceptions. These are usually Plug-ins, Preference Panes, Fonts, Dashboard widgets and some others. These DMG's might have instructions as a background image to the DMG window, or more likely, they will contain instructions on how to install them in a README file:

Most cases like this, if you double-click the file you are trying to install, the file will be placed in the correct location. The Witch Preference Pane in the screen shot above can be installed by double-clicking the Witch.prefPane file. It's usually a good idea to open the README file or QuickLook the file if you are using Leopard (10.5.x) and follow the instructions provided.

Uninstalling Applications

If you can install applications, then you should be able to uninstall them to. With OS X, this is typically a very easy task. Just drag the application to the trash can. That's it. Done. No fancy application designed to remove files that if you are not careful will corrupt your OS (I'm referring to Windows DLL files here).

As with installing applications, there are exceptions to uninstalling them too. With Preference Panes, you have to hold down the Control key and click on the Preference Pane icon you wish to uninstall. In the Dashboard, you need to click the circle with the plus sign inside, then click "Manage Widgets..." to open a widget that allows you to remove unwanted widgets.

There are even cases where you will need to run an uninstaller. Those cases are ones that install files into the OS itself. Parallels, a program that lets you run Windows applications in OS X is a good example of an application that needs an uninstaller. These cases are the rarest but they do exist.

If you are a neat freak like myself, dragging an application to the trash isn't quite good enough for uninstalling an application. If you have run the application you are uninstalling, it will have left some small text files laying around in different folders on your hard drive. They are quite small and don't affect the performance of the OS at all, but I like to get rid of them if I am truly uninstalling an application.

AppZapper

CleanApp

AppCleaner

There are a bunch of really cheap or even free tools that help with this task. AppZapper ($12.95), CleanApp ($10) or the free program AppCleaner (free). Each of those programs help you uninstall applications or remove Preference Panes as well as other files that you may not need to help you recover space on a Hard Drive. I personally use CleanApp, I found it to have more features than AppZapper and it's a little cheaper. I have not looked at AppCleaner, I wasn't aware of a free Application Uninstaller like AppCleaner until after I had purchased CleanApp. However, I don't mind paying the $10 for a program.

Copying and Moving files

There is a pretty big difference here that can possibly bite you big if you are unaware of the difference. It's a little hard to describe in text, but I'll try my best.

Say you have a folder on your hard drive called "Vacation" with the files:

• Pictures
• Vacation
• pic1.jpg
• pic2.jpg
• pic3.jpg
• pic4.jpg

You have a CD you got from your family that contains a folder with the same name "Vacation" and the files:

• CD Disc
• Vacation
• pic5.jpg
• pic6.jpg
• pic7.jpg
• pic8.jpg

In Windows, if you drag the "Vacation" folder on the CD to the folder containing the folder "Vacation" on your hard drive, Windows will "merge" the two folders together and the result on your hard drive will contain the files:

• Pictures
• Vacation
• pic1.jpg
• pic2.jpg
• pic3.jpg
• pic4.jpg
• pic5.jpg
• pic6.jpg
• pic7.jpg
• pic8.jpg

On the Mac, the same operation will "replace" the contents of the "Vacation" folder on your hard drive with the contents of the "Vacation" folder on the CD yielding a completely different result:

• Pictures
• Vacation
• pic5.jpg
• pic6.jpg
• pic7.jpg
• pic8.jpg

The first 4 pictures will be destroyed. This is because OS X and older Mac OS versions took a different approach to what it meant to copy a folder from one location to another.

If you look at updating an application in OS X this will make more sense. Say you have a new version of TextEdit. Copying the TextEdit application from a DMG file to your Applications folder appears to just be copying a single file from the DMG file to the Applications folder. In fact, OS X is copying a bunch of files stored in a folder called TextEdit.app. If it were to "merge" the files like Windows does, then its possible that there would be extra files in the updated version on your hard drive that were to the older version. There could also be folders that were not needed in the new version that would stick around.

Since OS X "replaces" the contents of folders completely, all the files from the older version of TextEdit will be destroyed before the newer files are copied over. When the copy is finished, you have an exact copy of the new version of TextEdit just like the DMG.

In order to copy the pictures from the CD to the "Vacation" folder on your hard drive without losing older pictures, you will want to open the "Vacation" folder on the CD and drag the image files into the "Vacation" folder on your hard drive. You don't have to open the "Vacation" folder on your hard drive to do this, if you hold the files being dragged over the "Vacation" folder on your hard drive for a short time, the folder will "spring" open for you and you can let go then. Or you can just let go of the files with the cursor over the folder "Vacation" and the files will be copied into the folder just like Windows would do.

Just remember to be very careful when copying files from one location to another and you will never have to suffer the loss of files.

Changing the size of Windows

This is a difference that will probably frustrate you for quite some time after switching to Macintosh.

In Windows, you can change the size of most windows by moving the mouse cursor to any edge of the window until the cursor changes its shape to arrows pointing in opposite directions. You can then click and drag to adjust the size of the window.

On the Mac in OS X, if the window can be resized, there is only one way to do it. The lower right corner of the window will have a graphic that looks like a gripping texture. Moving the cursor to that corner of the window will allow you to change the size of the window.

Fortunately, there are some shareware programs that make it a little easier to move and change the size of windows on the Mac. One such program is Zooom/2. This program lets you move a window no matter where your mouse is by holding down some user configurable keys. You can also change the size of the window in the same way.

Keyboard and shortcut keys

You will probably stumble quite a bit on this change. There are differences with the keyboard itself:

Windows Keyboard

Macintosh Keyboard

The biggest difference between Windows and Mac keyboards are the "Windows" and "Alt" keys on the Windows keyboard and the "Option/Alt" and "Command" keys on the Mac keyboard. These are the two keys on either side of the space bar.

With Mac's, Cut, Copy and Paste are Command-X, Command-C and Command-V respectively. You will find yourself trying to use Control-X, Control-C and Control-V to work with the clipboard. However, I personally found that my brain was able to rewire itself fairly quickly so that I use my thumb on the command key instead of my pinky finder on the control key. Once I got used to that, keyboard shortcuts in menus became second nature.

Some other differences are that the Home and End keys don't work quite the same way between Windows and OS X. The Function keys, F1-F12, on Macintosh keyboards default to modifying attributes of your computer instead of typing an Fkey value. You can type an Fkey instead of modifying an attribute by holding down the "fn" key or modifying the Keyboard preferences to default to using Fkeys as standard function keys.

No backspace key

On Macintosh keyboards, the key where the Backspace key normally is on Windows keyboards is "delete". There is also a "delete" key in the cluster of keys above the arrow keys. Although the name of the key is "delete", the key functions as the backspace key does on Windows keyboards. Typing the "delete" key will remove the character to the left of the text caret and move the caret one character to the left.

The delete key over the arrow keys works the same as the delete key in Windows.

No Start menu or Windows task bar

Thankfully, there is no Start menu on OS X. I say this because if you have ever installed hundreds of programs in Windows, you could have several columns of items in the "All Programs" menu. Vista made an attempt at fixing this with the search box in the Start menu (or what's it called now? The Windows menu?). However, OS X Tiger (released back in 2005) had Spotlight which is what a lot of people think Windows Vista got it's inspiration from.

OS X uses something called the Dock which holds icons of applications that are currently running as well as applications that can be launched by clicking on the icon. On the right side of the Dock you can put folders so that you can see a list of the files inside that folder. Minimized application windows appear on the right side too and finally the trash can.

Only one menu bar

I have seen a lot of complaints about the fact that Apple only has one Menu bar at the top of the desktop window. However, try telling someone to look at the Edit menu of a program that hasn't used a computer before and you might see where a Windows user could get confused over "which" Edit menu to look at. Where on the Mac, no matter what, there is only one location for the edit menu. Of course they would need to have the application they want to work in the Edit menu as the active application, which is true for Windows too.

So, it's probably one of those 6 of one, half a dozen of the other type of things.

I suppose you could say that the Apple menu bar item (the item in the menu bar that looks like the Apple logo) is the equivalent of the Start Menu in Windows. The Apple menu is where you find items like System Update, System Preferences, Shutdown, Restart, and Logout as well as a few other items. Very similar to the Windows Start Menu.

In Windows, there is a section of the Taskbar called the System Tray that contains little programs that display status info and such. With the Mac, there is a type of program called Menu Extra's that allow you to put status info in the Menu Bar on the right side. This is where the magnifying glass sits for Spotlight and the time display is located.

The close button on a window doesn't always close an application

Another difference you will find yourself annoyed with until you get used to it is the Close, Minimize and Maximize buttons in OS X windows. They are on the opposite side of the window for OS X and they function a little differently than the equivalent buttons in Windows.

The yellow minimize button works pretty much the same as minimize in Windows. The maximize will toggle the window size between as big as it can, to the size it was before being pressed once.

A big difference is the close button. Yes, it will close the application window as one would expect, but under OS X, there is a good chance that the application will stay open after closing the window. There are some applications that will close when you close out the window like the Dictionary application. However, a program like System Preferences or Safari, when you close out will not close out the application.

I actually like this behavior because I can leave Mail running without having to have it's window open or minimized on the dock.

There is another little button in the windows title bar on the right side of the title bar. Clicking this button will toggle the toolbar display in most cases. In the Finder, it will also turn off the sidebar as well as the toolbar.

Terminating programs that hang or become non-responsive

One nice thing about running an OS on top of Unix is that when a program hangs up or becomes non-responsive, you can kill the application without fail. Windows may allow you to kill a hung application. I have had some problems killing hung apps in Windows.

By typing Command-Option-Esc, you will get a Force Quit Applications window to appear. Select an application that is red (which means it's non-responsive or hung) or just select an application on the list and press the Force Quit button. This will do a Unix "kill" command and cause the application to go away. If you select the Finder application, the button will change to "Relaunch" since the Finder should always be running.

You could also run an application called "Activity Monitor" to see a list of every process running in OS X including stuff that isn't visible in the Force Quit Applications window. You can then select a process and either tell it to Quit or Force Quit. Be careful there though, it could be as dangerous to kill processes running there as it is to kill a process listed in the Task Manager Processes tab.

Using the Tab key doesn't always take you to every control

By default, when dialog boxes are open in OS X, you can only tab to different text edit boxes. If you want to be able to select a checkbox or radio button with the keyboard, you need to open System Preferences, select the Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, and select the Keyboard Shortcuts tab. Near the bottom of the window is something called: "Full keyboard access:". You will want to change the selected radio button from "Text boxes and lists only" to "All controls". You will then be able to tab to any control in a dialog box.

With Safari, it's a little more complicated. Both the Keyboard preferences and an option is Safari preferences will allow you to access several levels of tabbing access. From just text fields, to buttons and text fields, to buttons, text fields and links.

In conclusion

There are more differences than the ones mentioned above, but most are pretty minor and only Windows power users might be the only folks that notice them.

Again, thanks to David Alison for posting basically the same topic before I thought of it. It's a very important topic for folks that are either considering switching to a Mac or already have.

In the next installment, I'll go over a few applications that I personally feel every Macintosh owner should have.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Mac, Macintosh, switch, Switcher

Apple includes quite a bit of software with each computer they sell, desktop and notebook alike. I would like to spend this article going over what comes with your brand new Macintosh computer software wise.

iLife ’08 suite

All the following programs come free with your new Apple Macintosh computer. The value of the software that comes in iLife is hard to calculate, but I would have to say that when you look at comparable Windows software, we could be talking in the $400-$500 range. As an example, GarageBand reminds me of a program I used to play around with back in my Windows days called Cakewalk. Back in those days, Cakewalk used to cost over $200.

iPhoto:

This is a great application for dealing with photos and supports pretty much every digital camera out there. It’s pretty darn fast as well. I have over 4,200 pictures and videos in it now and it updates pretty smoothly. I have heard that with photo libraries of 20,000 it has issues. I can’t verify this so I can’t say one way or the other. I do know that it works great for my needs.

iMovie:

iMovie is not a tool for professional video editing, but for a family recording their kids and such, this thing is just amazing. A lot of time was put into making iMovie as easy to use as possible.

I really don't feel like I should say more about it than that since I don't usually work with iMovie. So, make sure to check out Apple's web pages about iMovie to get the full picture of what all it can do.

GarageBand:

GarageBand is really an amazing program. Sort of a jack of all trades. You can use it to put together music that you record yourself, or use existing loops to piece together a great piece of music, or even use it to create a podcast or a ringtone for an iPhone or other type of cell phone.

You can use GarageBand supports Midi so that you can hook up a Midi keyboard to help enter music directly from that keyboard. There are a ton of effects you can add to really take your work to another level.

The best feature is called Magic GarageBand where you can jam with GarageBand to record your instrument with the rest of a band already recorded in many genre's.

iWeb:

Have you ever wanted to setup a website, but just didn't have a clue on how to setup a domain or how to use tools like DreamWeaver (not to mention the cost of DreamWeaver). Even if were able to use a tool like DreamWeaver, getting the web pages you created sent up to your website might be a mystery to you.

Well, iWeb takes the hard work out of creating and uploading your website. If you opt for a .Mac account, you can use iWeb to create a web based photo gallery, or a simple website for announcing a new arrival to your family. With the templates provided with iWeb and photos you take from iPhoto, you can setup such a site in a matter of minutes.

iDVD:

Last, but not least, iDVD rounds out a great suite of programs with a tool to help you put all your work together. Take a slideshow created in iPhoto or home movies from your last vacation created in iMovie with music you created in GarageBand. Put them all together with a professional looking DVD menu to create a great DVD to send to your family and friends.

iDVD makes creating DVD menus a breeze so that DVD's you create look as if they were made by a big movie studio thanks to a bunch of great DVD menu templates that come with iDVD.

iTunes:

Even if you don't own an iPod or iPhone, iTunes is a great way to control your digital entertainment library. It supports music, movies, TV Shows, and even podcasts. All from one program. For someone who just bought a MacBook or MacBook Pro for college or business, you can use iTunes to entertain yourself in your dorm room or on that boring business trip across the country.

.Mac:

.Mac has a lot of benefits for Macintosh owners with more than one Mac in their house or someone who wants to setup a website but doesn't really know all the tools or tricks to setting up a web host, domain, etc... Maybe you want to centralize your family's calendar so that you can keep track of what everyone in your household is doing no matter where you are.

For $99 a year, .Mac give you:

• A web based photo gallery connected to iPhoto
• Space to create a website
• An IMAP based email account
• Back to My Mac: securely connect to your desktop Macintosh with your notebook Mac no matter where you are in the world
• Sync bookmarks, calendar events and data between your desktop and notebook Macs
• Share and access files from anywhere with iDisk
• Keep your team, club or family up to date with what is going on
• Use iChat to not only talk to but see your friends and family
• All the above shares 10GB's of storage or purchase more if needed

.Mac is not for everyone. I personally use Back to My Mac and Sync. If I didn't have this web domain, I would probably be using much more of .Mac. However, I can emulate a lot of .Mac's features with my web host.

iWork:

iWork is not free but a trial version is installed on your new Macintosh computer. When you purchase a new Windows based computer, the manufacturer installs a bunch of software known as Crapware to help bring the cost of the computer down some. Some folks argue that the Trail version of iWork installed on every new Macintosh is also Crapware.

The major difference between trial software installed on a Mac and the crapware installed on Windows based computers is that to get rid of the trial software on a Mac, simply drag the iWork folder to the trash and empty the trash. Done! Plus, there is usually only one or two trial programs installed on a Mac and nothing else.

iWork is a great suite of software for folks that want to do more with their Mac. It comes with:

• Pages: a great word processor / page layout program
• Numbers: a spreadsheet program designed for small business and home user
• Keynote: the best presentation software I have ever seen

For $79, you really can't go wrong. All the programs in iWork can load and save files in their counterpart's Microsoft Office format so that you can still work in a Windows world.

If you really need to, you can get Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. It's more expensive, but if you need to be compatible with the rest of the business world, this would be the way to go.

Utilities:

Every Mac comes with a vast array of utility programs to help you get your new Mac working just the way you want it to as well as diagnose possible problems and even help you install Windows with Boot Camp.

Some notable applications here are:

• Activity Monitor: shows CPU usage, hard drive activity and memory usage and lets you see what each application is doing
• Boot Camp Assistant: Walks you through setting up and installing Windows on your Mac
• Console: Shows log data that you can filter to locate why a program crashes or doesn't work the way you expect
• Disk Utility: Diagnose and maintain hard drives. Also allows you to create partitions without loosing data
• Grab: Take screen shots of your desktop or active applications
• Migration Assistant: Helps you move your data from an older Macintosh to a new Mac
• RAID Utility: Create a software based RAID with two or more hard drives, you can create Mirror or Strip RAID disks
• System Profiler: Tells you every little detail about your Macintosh and OS X
• Terminal: Access to the command-line world of OS X

Miscellaneous Applications:

I found a few other free programs that Apple didn't tell me about when I looked at my Applications folder. I personally found:

• OmniOutliner
• OmniDiskSweeper

Also, Apple puts a bunch of other programs on your computer. Mail, Dictionary, TextEdit, Address Book, iCal, and many more

In the next installment, I will go over the differences between Windows and OS X that a "Switcher" might get caught up in.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Mac, Macintosh, switch, Switcher

An explaination for why this happens is located here:
Science resonates throught the cosmos | Bad Astronomy Blog 

I've seen some weird science experiments on the web in the past, but this is just awesome!

written by Dave M. \\ tags: metronome, resonance, science, sync

As I was doing my usual RSS Feed scan, I came across an article that talked about the programming language BASIC and it's use as a training tool for learning how to program personal computers.

Coding Horror: Everything I Needed to Know About Programming I Learned from BASIC:
Edsger Dijkstra had this to say about Beginner's All Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code:

It is practically impossible to teach good programming style to students that have had prior exposure to BASIC; as potential programmers they are mentally mutilated beyond hope of regeneration.

Anyway, in this article I came across some old friends of mine:

Those books bring back some great memories, and some pretty sore wrists as one had to enter the "Computer Games" by hand using the keyboard. There was no Hard Disk Drives back then or even floppy drives. Just cassette tape interfaces to store programs entered for later retrieval.

The article had links to the books that must have been scanned in. Those links are:
BASIC Computer Games
More BASIC Computer Games

Just pop over to the site and check out some of the programs and their listings. Imagine having to enter all those lines of code by hand. There were inevitably typo's that had to be tracked down before saving them off to tape. Imagine how you would feel when you have all but a few lines of code in when a power failure occurred. All that work typing in those lines lost because there was no easy way to save your work like there is now.

Part of me is really glad that those days are gone, but part of me still misses them. A much simpler time. No Windows Vista, no viruses, spyware, adware, etc... No Internet either, modems at 300 baud if you were lucky! More likely 110 baud using the phone handset set into the "acoustic coupler" like the one pictured with this paragraph.

It sure is good to know that times can change, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worst and sometimes both.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Apple, BASIC, language, Programming

A friend of mine wrote up an interesting take on the value of some products and if they are really worth anything at all:

Radical Liberation: Worth What You Pay:
...
"If you’re interested in being able to do even more with your phone, like surf the web, then the iPhone quickly becomes worth the additional cost. Studies have already shown that even though other phones are capable of doing things like surfing the web it is only on the iPhone that people actually do such things regularly. That is no accident. If a user interface is so poor that people tend not to use a feature then, for all practical purposes, the feature might as well not be there in the first place."
...
A perfect example of this is the new Time Machine feature in Leopard. This is essentially a backup program, definitely nothing new in the world of personal computers. Not only have backup programs been available for decades, but every computer expert has pleaded with users to backup their important data. The reality though, according to a study by Apple of its customers, is that 90% of people do not backup regularly. (Regular, automated backups is pretty much the only way to have the backup you need when disaster strikes).
...

I would also say that some smart phones like Blackberry also fall into iPhone's category. However, I fully agree with the browsing part. I use my iPhone almost exclusively now for browsing when I am not in front of a computer. Even when my MacBook is just a few feet away. It's just easier and way more convenient. I would never ever consider browsing with any other phone, smart or otherwise. There really is something to having a real browser in the palm of your hand.

As to backing up home computers... Microsoft Windows Vista is suppose to have a backup solution that is pretty much always on. The interesting thing about it is that it's on for all versions of Vista as far as backing up goes, but is only accessible to restore on the most expensive versions of Vista: Business, Ultimate and Enterprise. This is great for businesses, but they already have backup solutions that work for them and really don't need something added on to that. Home users are where backing up a computer is really important and yet they don't allow Vista Home Basic or Home Premium to restore from the backups that Vista creates. Plus, there is the issue of the space those backups take.

I often wonder what was going thru the engineer's heads when they created this feature. I would love to know why they didn't allow home users access to such a useful feature.

There are folks out there that think that Time Machine is over the deep end when it comes to it's interface. The animation and windows that go off into infinity do seem a little over the top. However, those animations don't really slow down the feature all that much and really help the user understand what they are doing when it comes to restoring a file or folder. This also works for iPhoto, Address Book and other applications. It really gives the user a great idea of what they are about to do as well as helps them find a file or address that might have been removed my accident or somehow become damaged.

I would have to say that Apple has raised the bar for quite a few products that we use everyday. Phones, computers and even portable media players.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: backup, Backup Program, Blackberry, Cell Phones, computers, Home Computers, iPhone, Leopard, Macbook, Microsoft Windows Vista, opinion, Palm Of Your Hand, Personal Computers, product, Smart Phones, Time Machine, User Interface, Versions Of Vista, worth

This video is freakin' amazing! These guys did a great job of this!

Via: Twitter post and 1FPS.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: animation, Cardboard, Hueon, Job, light cycle, recreation, stop motion, Tron, Twitter

This doesn't have anything to do with the Macintosh or even computers...

I was watching television yesterday and an ad for our local waste removal service came up. They were talking about wasted energy in our homes due to all the electronics we have in our house. Even when those electronics are turned off.

They claimed that a Television that is turned off uses more energy than when it is on! On the surface, that just sounds absolutely insane.

They were referring to the fact that most electronic devices these days have "standby" modes. So even if something is off, it's drawing energy. OK, this is true. You should see all the LED glowing away in our house at night. Their solution suggests to plug all your electronics into power strips and simply switch the power strip off when you are done using them.

I still think that the statement is absurd, so I decided to look up some data. The manual for my Sharp Aquos 42" LCD HD television states that when it is on, it draws 247 Watts. OK, just under the amount that a 3-way lightbulb uses on it's highest setting. Not really all that much power.

The manual didn't have anything to say about when it was in standby mode and a quick search in Google took me to a site that showed me how much it uses. A whopping 3 Watts.

Now, I'm no electrician, so my math here may be wrong, but 3 Watts seems a bit smaller than 247 Watts. It's over 80 times less in fact. So doesn't that mean that I would have to leave my Television off for over 80 hours to draw as much power as when it is on for 1 hour?

If I am correct here, then the ad is full of male cow droppings!

I am certainly not going to suggest to anyone to use a power strip to turn off their electronics when they are not using them. They would have to reset clocks and other settings over and over again each time they want to use them and that is just not acceptable. Not in this day and age.

Back when all televisions had was a power switch, channel knob and volume knob, then I would say OK. The only problem with that is that those units didn't have a standby mode since they obviously didn't need one. No user settings or clock times were being saved.

I just felt I had to get that off my chest.

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Clocks, Cow, Drawing, Electrician, Electronic Devices, Google, Hd Television, Lightbulb, Macintosh, Macintosh Computers, Math, Modes, Power Strip, Power Strips, Power Switch, Search Google, Sharp Aquos, Standby Mode, Televisions, Volume Knob, Watching Television, Watts

So I was checking out a post on chris.pirillo.com and I catch this ad near the bottom of his page:

:blink:

So, the BSA wants me to report illegal software usage "confidentially", which says to me anonymously, and I could get a reward of up to $200,000! Now, what this must really mean is that if I submit an abuse of software giving the BSA my name and address, I could get a reward.

Now, software piracy is a bad thing. We all know that. However, this ad from the BSA makes it sound like the snitch is the bad thing. Even the picture gives me that impression. Granted, I know that they are trying to say that the guy behind the computer is the pirate, but I get the feeling that the guy behind the computer is the person reporting the pirate.

What they really want is someone working for a company that is illegally using software to report that company. If you work for this hypothetical company, you would be shooting yourself in the foot if you reported the company you work for since, if they knew it was you that reported them, would be fired for reporting them. Also, why would an employee want to report a company that they work for since, if they did, the company would wind up taking a huge hit financially that they might get laid off because of the report.

Anyway, this is just an impression I got from seeing the ad. I agree that illegal software usage should be reported. So why not just place an ad out there that states that. :shrug:

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Blink, Bsa, Chris Pirillo, Hypothetical Company, Illegal Software Usage, Name And Address, Pirate, Shrug, Snitch, Software Piracy, Using Software

This has to be the best thing I have seen in a long time. If the person who made this could sell them...

For those who have been living under a rock for a few weeks... This is the special Weighted Companion Cube that you have to carry around with you in one of the levels in Portal. The new game from VALVe, the makers of Half-Life, Half-Life 2, and Team Fortress 2 as well as many other great games available on Steam.

(Via Portal: Soft, Cuddly Companion Cube.)

written by Dave M. \\ tags: Cuddly Companion, Half Life, Half Life 2, Long Time, Many Other Great Games, New Game, Portal, Steam, Team Fortress 2