Switchblog

My favorite journalling software is now at 3.1b1. MacJournal is by Dan Schimpf.

This is the first beta of MacJournal 3.1. There are only a few code changes but a lot of localizations are updated. The following localizations should be ready for 3.1:

- Serbian
- Spanish
- Danish
- Taiwanese
- French
- Norwegian
- German

In addition, a problem with printing was fixed and a hidden preference for Wiki links was introduced. Read the Version History for the details. The code is largely finished at this point. We're waiting on one or two more localizations, so I'm shooting for sometime in April for the final release.

Posted by Joel at 09:36 PM | Permalink

I believe Chris is the first one who's done the transparent screen effect... with a Clie. Nice job!

Posted by Joel at 03:06 PM | Permalink |

The Firefox ad poster just arrived today! I'll have it framed in glass soon.

Posted by Joel at 11:26 AM | Permalink

I'm flattered that Sammy has put a Switchblog link at PalmAddict. PalmAddict's posts are what I usually read ahead of other Palm sites because of the honest tone of the posts.

Thanks Sammy! I've added your name in my blogroll too. It's your name because no one beats your breakneck posting speed.

Posted by Joel at 11:00 AM | Permalink

The biggest project I'm doing for my job is finally done. I spent the Easter break going through this and didn't imagine it would consume most of my vacation.

Now that it's done, it's cool to finally see Switchblog again.

Posted by Joel at 10:41 AM | Permalink

I suggest running iPhoto which uses a database stored in an external drive. Not only will access be faster, free space can be recovered from the Powerbook as well.

Switching databases was easy. I first copied the iPhoto Library in the Pictures folder to the LaCie external drive. I then renamed the original (I called it iPhoto Library backup) and fired up iPhoto. A message will appear saying that the database cannot be found. Just navigate to the external drive's iPhoto Library folder.

Posted by Joel at 03:33 PM | Permalink

@Engadget
Well, well, well... there's a browser in Wipeout Pure!

Posted by Joel at 01:54 PM | Permalink |

@Slashdot
Jack Campbell offered up to $50K for someone to write a virus for OS X. Even if he cancelled it, from here on, I will be calling the first OS X virus: "campbell.jacked"...Honestly, what IS going on in his mind?

Posted by Joel at 06:48 AM | Permalink

I first heard about this at Engadget. Then I heard Carlo's doing one on his own. Later, I discovered a link at PalmAddict. So, I was actually thinking it would be cool to collect all these wallpaper art at flickr. But then...

Well, someone else is doing it already! Cool.

By the way, there are some doing the same thing with the PSP.

Posted by Joel at 09:53 PM | Permalink |

@VersionTracker: Mac OS X
This is the closest you can get to a binder/notebook-like application. This new version boasts of 150 new features.

Posted by Joel at 07:20 AM | Permalink

@Engadget
$25 for this application.

Posted by Joel at 07:12 PM | Permalink

I just checked out my .mac news and found out that StickyBrain is at 50% off. I like how it works with its clean interface and search features. It even features iPod and Palm syncing. I just might buy it!

Posted by Joel at 09:21 AM | Permalink |

PSPWare looks good. I haven't tried syncing yet but the interface looks much better than iPSP. The price is also right at $10.

Posted by Joel at 09:18 AM | Permalink |

@VersionTracker: Mac OS X
A fix for timezone issues.

Posted by Joel at 09:15 AM | Permalink

The first Camino 0.8.3 nightly build is now up. If you'd like to try it, please remember that this is a nightly build so expect some unusual things to happen.

Here's what's new...

• Location bar shows secure status of page so it's more obvious.
• Added support for HTML <OPTGROUP> tag in select widget drop-down menu.
• Passwords are now filled in framesets.
• Use the Mac OS X Language setting as the primary language for requesting web pages (accept-language HTTP header).
• Fixed issue on Google Maps where the scroll direction was reversed when dragging the mouse
• Fixed issue where no window would open if home page preference was blank
• Fixed crash when quitting while downloading
• Fixed crash when displaying Download preference tab if no download location was present in Internet settings
• Fixed issue where sometimes the url of a frame would replace the url in the location bar.
• Upgraded to the Mozilla 1.7.6 Gecko engine

Posted by Joel at 06:11 PM | Permalink

Gamestop (Micronesia Mall, Guam) opened at 8AM (5PM EST) today for those who had pre-ordered the PSP. I arrived at around 9AM and was able to talk to some of the people in the store. Apparently, they confirm that the Spiderman 2 UMD does not work with the Japanese PSPs. Some of the people at the store were also saying that there are two versions of Japanese PSPs -- the later ones being not able to play North America released games. I was able to borrow a Wipeout Pure UMD. After seeing that it worked with my Japanese PSP, I got one ($47.50 over here). I also showed off Ridge Racers, which I believe is not available until later.

At least for the Micronesia Mall branch, there were about 300 pre-orders. There were a lot of varied accessories like game cases, face armors, and disk jackets. Some of the games that I saw available were: WipeOut Pure, Spiderman 2, Dynasty Warriors, and Need For Speed: Underground Rivals. I was told that Untold Legends will be coming in later today.

The customers I saw ranged from a uniformed armed forces officer to moms swinging by to get a unit before heading off to work. No kids are usually out in the mall this early during Spring Break.

Posted by Joel at 09:54 AM | Permalink

@MacNN
It's funny that the iPods were allowed to be brought in, in the first place. If rules are are set early on, then there will be no problems later. Our school for example, states that there shall be no personal electronic equipment to be brought in, unless allowed for an academic purpose.

It's funny that the iPods were allowed to be brought in, in the first place.

Posted by Joel at 07:05 AM | Permalink

v1.0.2 is now available and has fixed the following vulnerabilites:

MFSA 2005-32 Drag and drop loading of privileged XUL
MFSA 2005-31 Arbitrary code execution from Firefox sidebar panel
MFSA 2005-30 GIF heap overflow parsing Netscape extension 2

Posted by Joel at 06:38 AM | Permalink

RCDefaultApp is a freeware preference pane that allows a user to set the default application used for various URL schemes, file extensions, file types, and MIME types.

Posted by Joel at 06:30 AM | Permalink

@MacMinute
$35 mail-in rebate slashes down the price to $94.99. I believe if you apply and qualify for the Amazon Visa card, the price could down to $64.99.

[EDIT]The deal's gone.

Posted by Joel at 06:21 AM | Permalink |

@ BoingBoing

Business 2.0 features imaginary Apple products "by Robert Brunner, who was Apple's chief designer from 1989 to 1996 and who oversaw the design of the PowerBook line, among many other hit products."

Posted by Joel at 06:12 AM | Permalink

@Lifehacker
The Tech Info Blog improves on Google X. This version shows a more OS X-like dock.

Posted by Joel at 06:06 AM | Permalink

Macworld reports that free Yahoo!Mail inbox capacity will be increased to 1GB between April and May.

Will .mac offer something similar when Tiger's released?

Posted by Joel at 10:13 PM | Permalink

@Boing Boing
Matt Billings hides a Mac mini inside an old Dell case.

Posted by Joel at 12:58 PM | Permalink

I got the Murano back from Nissan Guam. The shuttle dropped by at around 3PM and I only paid for the $40 replacement battery.

The strange thing is, the gas cover lock actuator problem is gone. It used to randomly get stuck but reliably opens now. Could Nissan Guam be replacing problem parts without the owners' knowledge? The front brake squeak (which happens when I backup while the brake pads are cold) is still there though so I'd have to have that checked this summer.

These problems have been reported by other Murano users at nissanmurano.org so I'm familiar with them. I've read up on technical service manuals too and discovered other potential problems. I'm a bit worried about the quality of the Murano parts (I'm just around 12000 miles!)... but I haven't compared these with other makes and models which I'm sure are having their respective problems.

Posted by Joel at 09:28 AM | Permalink

@Gizmodo
For all things PSP.

Posted by Joel at 07:06 AM | Permalink

@MacMinute
For a 17", it will set you back at least $949.

This reminds me of an old story about a shattered 17" Powerbook lcd. I believed that story at first but now that I've had my own Powerbook, I couldn't imagine how it's possible for that guy's screen to shatter like that.

That's the picture of the lcd, and here's the link to his story.

Posted by Joel at 07:04 AM | Permalink |

@MacMinute
Featuring a site the puts together all the the third-party apps that could make Safari-browsing more enjoyable.

Posted by Joel at 06:55 AM | Permalink

@Engadget
The Audigy and Extigy are apparently not 24-bit audio cards. If you file a claim, Creative can cover as much as $62.50 on your next purchase.

Posted by Joel at 06:13 AM | Permalink

@MacMinute

TechRestore offers iPod storage upgrades.

Posted by Joel at 11:35 PM | Permalink

@MacMinute
Even MacMinute got it wrong.

Again, only the website has been updated. Camino 0.8.2 has been available since December 2004.

Posted by Joel at 12:26 PM | Permalink

@Daring Fireball Linked List
The new Camino website goes live! Woohoo!

Posted by Joel at 07:47 AM | Permalink

@Engadget
At least iTunes v4.7.1 is now needed to buy songs from the iTMS.

Posted by Joel at 07:42 AM | Permalink

A courtesy shuttle dropped me back home ... it's now about 7:30AM. Apparently the alternator job would take some time, given the other service jobs currently at Nissan Guam. The guys at nissanmurano.org said that the repair would take about four hours... so I guess the dealership will send the shuttle back this afternoon.

Posted by Joel at 07:40 AM | Permalink

Security Update 2005-003 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components:

AFP Server
Bluetooth Setup Assistant
CoreFoundation
Cyrus SASL
Folder permissions
Safari
Samba


For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

Posted by Joel at 07:31 AM | Permalink

@Apple Hot News
System X is a new cluster of 1,100 Xserve G5s.

Posted by Joel at 06:29 AM | Permalink

DecoDock will be available soon. I've just signed up for preorders!

Posted by Joel at 05:54 AM | Permalink

@Engadget

The iPod Camera Connector is now available for pre-order. $29.

Posted by Joel at 05:38 AM | Permalink

Just this afternoon, my battery and brake warning lights both turned on. We checked with the dealership and found out that it was an alternator problem.

I checked nissanmurano.org and found an Alternator Failure List.

I've also reported the incident at the NHSTA. Here's the current status of all our reports.

The Murano is still a joy to drive and to ride in. This may be a problem but it's nothing that the dealership can't fix. I'm just thankful this has happened during our Spring break!

Posted by Joel at 06:21 PM | Permalink |

Daring Fireball reports that Flickr has been acquired by Yahoo.

Posted by Joel at 05:37 PM | Permalink

This is a bug-fix release and features the following:
✓ Fixed serious bug where locally saved drafts would not upload attachments. This only occurred in Rich text mode and after opening a previously saved draft with attachments.
✓ The entry list's show/hide contextual menu item did not work for the Status column. Fixed.
✓ Removed dependency on older Growl framework per changes forthcoming in Growl 0.7.
✩ Added advanced preference to set whether to use the date of the last save for posting a new entry or the current date.
✓ Stationeries should not save the date. Fixed (applies to new stationeries only).
✩ Better selection of primary categories.
✓ KNOWN ISSUE: if the draft window's toolbar has no icons, select Window->Customize Toolbar... and drag the default set to the toolbar.

Posted by Joel at 05:23 PM | Permalink

@Engadget
It's back! Eric Rice hosts the Engadget podcast.

Posted by Joel at 05:22 PM | Permalink

I've been using JunkMatcher with Mail and I'm quite happy with the results. JunkMatcher is an open source junk mail filter add-on.

Posted by Joel at 10:59 PM | Permalink

Benedict sent me a pic of his new JBL OnStage. "The JBL OnStage sounds great. It belies its small and innocuous size. It's external power supply is just right since why would you need battery-powered speakers outdoors?"

Posted by Joel at 09:35 AM | Permalink

@Apple Hot News
Walt Mossberg provides a guide on how to use the iPod other than listening to music.

Posted by Joel at 06:38 AM | Permalink

@Boing Boing

William Gibson's Neuromancer is my all-time favorite sci-fi book (that's where the word "cyberspace" was coined). Jody Armstrong is trying to preserve the BBC radio play. I'm downloading it to help with the effort and will put it up in my .mac account or even in the 1src server... until of course there's word about copyright issues.
Here's what Jody Armstrong has to say in her site:

I've been trying to locate somebody at the BBC or some information in relation to redistributing this recording to allow those who were not able to hear the play to enjoy it. I have sent a letter, four e-mails via the tortuously confusing BBC Website contacts page and made over a dozen phone calls to various departments. I have left numerous voicemails as a result of these phoen calls. Nobody has responded to the messages, those I spoke too seemed to respond like a dog that had been shown a card trick and no hint as to whether I can redistribute it has been forthcoming.

If, whether it be the BBC itself, those responsibel for the play or William Gibson himself, has a problem with this distribution of the play, please bear in mind 4 things before breaking out the lawyers.

1) The bandwidth, this site and even the pretty pictures you see on this page is mine, an impoverished Gibson fan who wants to do a favour for the other fans. It's out of my pocket, I'm spending my money, be kind...

2) I have made attempts to contact you and have been ignored. True I am probably breaking copyright laws, however I am promoting 'Play of the Week', William Gibson's work and the talented people behind the radioplay.

3) E-Mail me, I'll take it down straight away.

Link (Thanks, Boris!)

Posted by Joel at 09:13 AM | Permalink

@Lifehacker
I'm posting this so I can explore more of these apps this weekend. These might just prove useful for the iPod shuffle!

Posted by Joel at 09:04 AM | Permalink

Pages 1.0.1 addresses isolated issues that may have affected reliability for some customers and resolves an issue related to deleting complete pages. (28.3 MB)

Keynote 2.0.1 addresses isolated issues that may have affected reliability for some customers. (21.8 MB)

Posted by Joel at 08:57 AM | Permalink

@Engadget

Those would be ”National Treasure,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” “Reign of Fire,” “Kill Bill Vol. 1” and “Hero”

I just might get all five! Wait... I don't think my PSP from Japan could handle these no thanks to region encoding. How soon can I see region coding "update" firmware?

Posted by Joel at 06:06 AM | Permalink

@Slashdot

My friend's PC was a zombie once. I didn't believe it until I saw what it was doing. Anyway, it has been resurrected now, but like all PCs, it has to be regularly fed (about every other day) with software updates for its antispam, antivirus, and antimalware programs.

If a zombie PC has been rescued and brought to life, would that then make the user a zombie by the many "maintenance" tasks one has to do regularly?

Posted by Joel at 06:02 AM | Permalink |

@MacMinute

Pixar's "The Incredibles" sold five million units on DVD and video in North America on its first day of availability, putting it on track to be the best-selling DVD of 2005.

Congratulations to Pixar! The Incredibles is still one of the best movies I've seen. We've pre-ordered the DVD a while back so it should come from Amazon around next week. I wonder how many times I'll keep on watching this movie? (My record is Star Wars and The Little Mermaid... both tied at 7 or 8... definitely less than 10 times.). Although there are two DVD versions, The Incredibles must be seen in it's widescreen version.

Posted by Joel at 05:53 AM | Permalink |

@MacMinute
I tried this briefly at MacWorld and liked it. It's like the 3D version of Gish.

Posted by Joel at 05:43 AM | Permalink

@MacMinute
Knowing that there are free loops out there makes me want to see what I can do with GarageBand... I don't use GarageBand knowing I'll get sucked into it.

Posted by Joel at 05:41 AM | Permalink

I already have a PS2 and Gran Turismo 4 (at last!). The "problem" is, I'm neck deep in work. I stared at the PS2 for a few seconds... I guess I'm out of touch in console gaming because I didn't expect the PS2 to be this small and compact! It makes my Mac mini look bulky!

Posted by Joel at 12:40 PM | Permalink

That's the black Mac mini by Colorware. It will be given away as the grand prize at BYODKM.net.

Posted by Joel at 12:27 PM | Permalink |

VersionTracker just had a site re-design. Looks great!

Posted by Joel at 06:12 AM | Permalink

I googled for "flash dock" a few minutes ago and found Iceman's page. It's still up!

Way back in 2002 (when I was still known as "Fireball" and when I still used iheka.com), Amil, me, and a few others were testing alternative docks for our Windows machines. Amil created Flash Dock while my job was to check the readme files.

Thanks to Google X for making me remember the good old days of my Windows-OS X modding.

Posted by Joel at 06:04 AM | Permalink

@Engadget

Just a rumor at this point, but I'd like to see what Apple would come out with.

Posted by Joel at 10:18 PM | Permalink

Google pays homage to OS X.

[EDIT]Google seems to have taken it down. Too bad.

Posted by Joel at 09:56 PM | Permalink |

@Engadget [Via TUAW]

A dual 500MHz G4 was converted into a classic arcade machine.

Posted by Joel at 01:04 PM | Permalink

@MacMinute

v1.1.1 fixed a bug which could cause CPU usage increase over a period of several days and added German localization.

Posted by Joel at 08:47 AM | Permalink

@Boing Boing
Some D&D players used a ceiling mounted lcd projector and a laptop to pull off this one. The Dungeon Master uses scanned images, layers, opacity, and the eraser tool to reveal sections of the map.

[EDIT] Winchell sent more info: EnWorld, Dunjinni

Posted by Joel at 05:52 AM | Permalink |