With all of Apple's new product updates I'm unable to resist coming out of my unannounced hiatus.
So, first off I've gotta say I'm not too thrilled about the iMacs (I was really hoping they would look like this) with their weird black thing and whatnot (I guess environmental friendliness comes at a price– which I'm not willing to pay). And with the slogan "You can never be too thin. Or too powerful." it seems like they're just asking for some mother's watchdog group to accuse Apple or brainwashing their little fanboys girls. (I came up with the slogan "The new iMac– more than just iCandy".)
As for the software updates– four letters for you: h-a-w-t. I gotta love a better iMovie but I think they over-simplified it a little too much, it just looks too simple. iPhoto is looking nice with its new features but it's all the same to me, seeing as how I don't use iPhoto. And as for iWeb, Garage Band, et all– whatever.
I got pretty pumped about Numbers (the new Excel killer) even though it looks (much like Pages) to be more for making your documents pretty rather than powerful. Sadly, when I downloaded the free trial it informed me that I would have to upgrade to OS 10.4.10 which I'm just not willing to do (seeing as I'd have to redo all the icons I've applied). So I'll just have to wait for TUAW to dish out the news.
(Oh yeah, and those new keyboards aren't half bad either).
As you can see I just added a TUAW article to the sidebar. Those lucky devils have received 1,000 Skitch beta invites to give out and they are giving them away to their readers. Seeing how TUAW had a large readership I assume these will be going quickly if they are not already gone. Luckily for you I have received the princely sum of five invites and I am willing to distribute them among you, the huddling masses. Simply e-mail me either with the address you would like the invite sent to or with it in the body (subject should be "Skitch Invite") and I'll tell the good folks at Plasq to send an invitation your way. (I would say "first come, first serve" but I don't think that'll be a problem). Just a reminder, Skitch is a graphics annotation program for Mac OS X only that I use for all the graphics on this site (and don't they look spiffy?). Skitch also comes with an online storage service akin to PhotoBucket.
Just to start off with a clear air I will admit right now that I am a diehard Vienna fan and not big on NNWL. My personal preferences aside, let the match begin!
Interface
Many people don't like Vienna's interface but I personally find it acceptable. For those of you who don't know NNW (but not Lite) recently received a interface lift. Let's take a look at the two apps now..jpg)
My biggest issue with NNWL is its interface. I can't pin down a single part 
of it that annoys me but I find the whole package to be rather off-putting. However, this is purely a visual thing, I think the interface is perfectly navigatable and consistent with other OS apps. I think for someone who is less of an aesthete the NNWL interface will do fine. (The interface is also much improved in the new version of NNW). One last little minor thing that I don't like about the NNW(L) environment is the non-standard dock badge (which you can judge for yourself). 
As I said earlier, many people take issue with the Vienna interface. Two issues that tend to repeat are the brushed metal and its inconsistencies with the standard OS X environment (namely, the controls at the bottom and the thick window border). Strangely, for all of my love of consistency these things don't bug me. This may be because I like my news-reader to be more of a widgetesque app (a simple program that is is simple and streamlined). One option that people like about Vienna is the three-column view (shown) that is not available in NNWL. Yet another nice thing about Vienna is the option to use different styles.
NewNetWire Lite: 7/10 - An intuitive but less-than-gorgeous interface.
Vienna: 8/10 - A controversial interface that I feel is diverse and effective.
Features
Now, even though I'm not big on bloated feature-full RSS readers I know some people are. I'm sorry to say it but Vienna wins out here too. Although free, Vienna has many of the features that are in the full version of NNW but absent from the Lite one (these include an integrated browser and a bunch of other stuff). Of course, you could shell out $30 for a couple more features and an interface you may find more appealing but unless you have a hedge fund to burn I'd suggest Vienna for features.
NewsNetWire Lite: 7/10 - Has the features I need but not enough for everyone.
Vienna: 9/10 - The developer(s) could make good money with features like these.
Overall
Vienna has one with a fairly slim lead. I feel that this is one that is really up to the user. It depends what you are looking for in an reader. Please share you opinions.
Vienna - Free
NewsNetWire (Lite) - Lite is free, $29.95 for the full version.
P.S. Here is a screenshot of how my Vienna looks, in case you're interested.
P.P.S Ignore any misspellings...it's complicated.
I have finally caved to HitTail's requests and now I am launching a new feature: Software Sumo! Software Sumo will evaluate two Mac softwares (often freeware...in which case I guess it would be Freeware Fencing). Today we will be kicking off with MacJournal vs. Journler. Soon I hope to evaluate NetNewsWire (Lite) and Vienna. Any other requests you have for match-ups can be emailed to me. And now your regularly scheduled programming....
As the names imply MacJournal and Journler are both journaling applications. For the purposes of fair evaluation I have chosen to match up the latest free version of MacJournal (2.6) against Journler.
Interface
In this first screenshot we see a comparison of the toolbars:
Journler has a nice unified look going while MacJournal has a split aqua thing going on (however, in the most recent, fairly pricey version they have moved on to unified). The buttons are fairly similar but I prefer the ones in Journler.
Next, lets look at the MacJournal window:
We see there are two drawers, one that holds journals and another that holds entries. In the middle there is a basic text entry area with a title box, a main body area and a small button to lock the entry. Pretty boring stuff especially compared to this next shot of the Journler window:
Here we see a three pane, Mail-style layout. On the side we see the Journals (as well as a nifty calendar), on the top pane we see entries (with plenty of information about them) and on the bottom we have the text. The text pane allows for a title and the body text as well as tags, a category and the date. There is also a handy word count ribbon at the bottom of the window.
I certainly prefer the interface of Journler because it is more compact without drawers hanging out all over the place, it provides more data and it just looks better (if not perfectly integrated with the OS's interface).
MacJournal: 5/10 - Looks like it stepped out of Jaguar or Panther.
Journler: 8/10 - Doesn't look completely at home among other windows but fairly nice looking.
Features
Both applications have rich text entry and picture capabilities as well as journal locking and statistics and blogging (which we'll look at in the next section). In addition to these Journler has labels (arrived in a later version of MacJournal) and better media integration. I personally never use the media features but I'm sure people will find them handy. In my opinion, as long as the application has basic text and organization features it can pass as a decent journaling application (or at least an improvement from using MS Word).
MacJournal: 7/10 - Has the basic features but not much else.
Journler: 9/10 - The only feature I wish it had is new Blogger support.
Blogging
MacJournal has full support for LiveJournal and Blogger, Journler has support for most every blogging service. Journler clearly says that it does not yet support the new Blogger, MacJournal does not address the issue but I assume that is the case because it would not configure correctly (this is a problem I have had with all blogging clients besides MarsEdit and Flock). Obviously I cannot try out the blogging features (at least not until they get new Blogger support).
Overall
Overall, Journler has scored better with 17/20 as opposed to MacJournal's 12/20. This certainly reflects my experiences, anyone else who has used these apps want to chime in?
Journler - Free ($10-20 Donation Suggested)
MacJournal - 2.6 is Free, Others $29.95
As you can see, at the moment applications are only being evaluated based on two main points, if you have more suggestions please email them in.
If nothing else, HitTail has helped me realize the obvious: if I want to find a free blogging client for Mac I should Google it (by the way, I'm the top hit if you do so). I did so and found several. The first two I came across, Bleezer and Qumana failed to configure correctly so I moved on to option three– Flock. Flock is a media-based web browser based on Firefox technologies that I have heard of before. Flock isn't an ideal solution, seeing as how it's a web browser and not a real blogging client which means the process of posting something isn't as simple. The only way that it would be quicker to use Flock is if I migrated all of my web browsing to it, which I'm not willing to do.
So, lets look at the rundown of blogging clients...
1. MarsEdit: The best one, but its not free.
2. Ecto: Didn't configure properly (and isn't free).
3. Journler: Great app, but no new Blogger support.
4. Bleezer: Didn't configure properly.
5. Qumana: Same as above.
6. Flock: Not much of an improvement over the Blogger entry client.
I think I'm just going to keep doing it the old fashioned way until I win the lottery (or find $20 in the street) and can buy MarsEdit.
P.S. Why do computers have such antiquated dictionaries? Flock (which I used to write this post) repeatedly told me that "blogging" and "Google" were not really words.
TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) recently posted something about a review by David Platt that totally chewed out the iPhone. Now, I can accept that maybe Apple has made some mistakes but he was just vicious. Now, even though the ol' Plattster has a book published and is apparently doing some keynote speeches at events that sound kind of important I still deem him a nobody. Why? Because, 1) he is declaiming the iPhone from his seat atop his blogspot blog and 2) the site promoting his book is ugly and finally, 3) I've never heard of the company that published his book. This is probably the point where you decide that I'm a hypocrite, I'm a nobody kvetching about a nobody kvetching about the iPhone. However, I have prepared for your response and I have made a list of things nobodies can do:
1. Say "NOBODY/NOTHING is good."
2. Say "NOBODY/NOTHING is great!"
3. Say "NOBODY/NOTHING is horrible."
4. Say "SOMEBODY/SOMETHING is good."
5. Say "SOMEBODY/SOMETHING is great!"
6. Say things nobody else cares about.
Obviously the iPhone, which is the Paris Hilton of gadgets (except it hasn't gone to jail...yet), is a something meaning that only major columnists/newspapers can declaim it but anyone can acclaim it. The MS Zune, in contrast, is a total nothing so anyone can say anything they want about it.
What David Platt obviously fails to take into account is the sheer force of marketing behind the iPhone (and to a lesser extent, anything with an Apple logo on it). There is no other product/company in the world that could motivate half the blogosphere to advertise for them (at no cost). I think it's pretty obvious that the iPhone will sell like crazy.
The only question that remains is "will they also be returned like crazy?". I'm not expert on contract law but it seems like the AT&T contract would at least make this more difficult (if not impossible). If customers will be allowed to transfer the contract to another phone AT&T will be making a killing, they get to harness the marketing-fueled buying frenzy and reap the profits for two years while Apple may get stuck with a couple million iPhones and a bunch of red zeros on their financial reports (I can't even think about it).
Today on (kvetch)(/kvetch) we have a very special feature: a picture of my applications folder! What could be more exciting?
So, those are all my applications (sans utilities and ones without an aqua icon). All the icons are Somatic by David Lanham (except the OmniFocus, which is updated too frequently to warrant changing the icon).
Annotations on the first one are pretty self-explainitory: x-ed out apps are ones that I never use but can't bring myself to get rid of. Hearted apps are my favorites (or at least two of them), arrowing indicate applications competing for my attention (i.e. apps that do the same thing) and the words probably mean what they say....
CandyBar is the only app in there that I've paid for, all the others either came with the computer, are freeware or are unlicensed.
All these applications (or at least most of them) are really great, so Mac users should check them out!
Now wasn't that totally (not) worth two (three?) days of silence?
Here is an excerpt from a NY Times article about some new Sony laptops (with commentary). Although I originally planned to quote the article the NY Times seems to take this whole "copyright infringement" stuff pretty seriously (one-month license to post an article excerpt online: $150, not being sued by a major news organization: priceless). Instead I will outline the "interesting variations in traditional laptop design" that Sony has managed to piece together.
1. Low-profile, lie-flat keyboard. Can you say MacBook?
2. Small media control buttons on the front of the laptop. Has Dell not been doing that since the dawn of time?
3. More media buttons above the keyboard. Hasn't every PC maker been doing that since the dawn of time?
4. Pulsating LED on the front. Hmmmmm, wonder where they came up with that. Cougheveryapplelaptopevermadecough.
5. Integrated web-cam. It was cute when Dell ripped it off but this is just silly.
Obviously, the people at Sony are the pioneers in this industry, and the tech writers for the NY Times obviously don't get out much (as I said in the title).
As those of you who read my post about looking for a free bloging client for Mac saw....I'm looking for a free blogging client for Mac (sorry, didn't know where to go with that sentence). So, just a minute ago I saw that MarsEdit (the golden standard of Mac blogging apps) had just released a new version. Now, as much as I love new features I wasn't excited about photo support (well, now that I think about it, I am) what I was really pysched about was the chance of a second life for my free trial period (many, or at least a couple, apps restart trial periods when they put out new versions), so I quickly downloaded it. I opened the disk image, opened the app and was greeted with "Trial is expired, enter serial code" (or something to that affect). Red Sweater Software is so off my holiday card list. Anyways, then I discovered the Blogger dashboard widget, which is what I'm using now. Its not exactly the same but at least I don't have to boot up Safari.
So, apparently the #1 search that leads to my blog is "i do it i get a squiggly line under the event". Am I the only one who is puzzled by that? Do what? How do you get a line under an event? (Is it a Windows thing? If so why does it lead to my "Apple" tag page?) Am I the only one who is bothered by the staggering lack of proper syntax? I could understand one person typing this in but eighteen? I think that squiggly lign ling line might have something to do with the same kind of bad grammar that would lead to typing something like "i do it i get a squiggly line under the event" into a search engine.
I really like the Milk theme...but sadly the route to new themedom if fraught with perils, is it worth it?
Pros:
1. Its puuuuuuuurdy.
2. It goes well with the Somatic icons I'm using.
3. It makes me stand out from the average aqua slave.
Cons:
1. I'd have to reapply all my icons (I'm not sure if this includes doc icons, if it did that would take hours!)
2. It might do something to my computer.
3. Shapeshifter is free for 15 days, what if I hate it and want to change on the 16th?
4. Shapeshifter made my computer lag.
Cons win by volume but by quality? I'm not sure. Should I live a little?
So, I've fallen into a posting rut. What can I say? It happens to the best of us (you're only supposed to say that to other people, aren't you?).
In my constant quest to improve my GUI I'm now pursuing the Milk theme for OS X. However, its not as easy as one would think. Apparently the file I need to download is a guikit or something which neither Safari nor Camino (yes, I went crawling back) seem willing to have any part in downloading. So now here I am, with my Aqua GUI which is growing increasingly annoying.
P.S. Finals are over (as of a while ago) and I just got my grades, all As or above except a D in math...ouch.
Today I discovered iSwiff, a flash game/movie(?) player for Mac OS X (the only good operating system). I have hopped around the free online game sites and downloaded some that I can now play from my desktop (presumably without internet access (speaking of access, what the hell is IBM thinking? Using a word no one can spell as the number for their concierge (a word that no one knows the definition of). And, really, what the hell were the pioneers of the English language thinking? Two 'c's in a row, one hard, one soft? Does that make sense to ANYONE?), we'll see if that presumption holds to be true. Regardless, increased accsess access (I've typed it twice in the last minute and I still can't spell it) to games right before final's week can't be a good thing. Oh well, I was going to fail math anyway.
Productivity and organization have always been big for me. A couple months ago I got onto a major GTD/hPDA kick (I even went so far as tracking my time. Then it died down (I just didn't have time to be productive). Now my passion for the productive has been re-illuminated thanks to kGTD and Ethan Schoonover. I have reorganized my workflow (see screenshot) made myself a new hPDA and subscribed to the Merlin Mann podcast (and, of course, I've subscribed to the feed for Ethan's wonderful blog.
I signed up to be a beta tester for OmniFocus (the new task organizer app for Omni, based around kGTD) some time ago, but I have not gotten an invitation yet (although, supposedly they are up to date with everyone who signed up before Memorial Day. It looks like OmniFocus is a lot like iGTD (except it will cost $40, rather than being freeware) but I like the look and some of the organizational features of OmniFocus more. (I must say that I have become a total Omni convert, and to think I was going to delete the preinstalled copy of OmniOutliner that came with my computer).
During my first kick I tried out Joe's Goals but it fizzled out pretty fast. So, today I wrote some new goals and now I am going to try it again (don't tell anyone, but I don't think it will work).
It is currently very late at night/very early in the morning (depending on how you look at it). I am sitting here, waiting for episodes of The Merlin show to download (I am on a major productivity kick). Is something wrong with me or do you all spend you Friday nights like this?
Freemacware.com Is Going To Shit
I'm sure many of you mac users have heard of Freemacware.com. When I discovered it several months ago (okay, I admit, I was a little late) it was an amazing Meca of Apple freeware. I was in love.
About a month ago it was announced that it would be acquired by some communications company. I welcomed this news, as more regular updates and greater quality were promised.
However, now it is very clear that the acquisition is a very bad thing for readers. Although there are updates every day now (rather than about five a week) they are anything but regular. In the old days (ODs) you could always count on either an update in the morning or none at all. Now updates can happen at any time and I don't like it.
Then there are the ads. Back in the ODs there was a little Adsense here and no one really cared. After the acquisition more ads started to creep in. Now not only are there ads all-over the place but when you click the "download" link it no longer takes you to the developer's page (which, although not the most convenient was a nice way to find out more about the product before downloading), but, instead it takes you to an ad-ridden page where you must loiter until the download begins. To say the least, I am not pleased.
My Ad Rant
Speaking of ads...what the hell? Who still clicks on those things? Sadly, it seems that we still have too many idiots (who know how to use computers) in the world to put the advertisers out of business. Internet ads are notorious for having no useful content and just seeming shady. So the questions is...why do they work? Because people are idiots. So I guess this should actually be my idiot rant.
As lovely as the Blogger interface is (no, really, I mean it) I want a desktop option (i.e. MarsEdit). Sadly, MarsEdit has decided my trial period expired (even though I removed it from my HD) and Ecto just fails to work (plus it's kind of ugly). I'm a big fan of Journler but it doesn't support the new Blogger (and I don't really want my real journal mixed in with my blog...weird things may happen). Apparently MacJournal has the same blogging functionality as Journler but trying to download something from the Mariner site makes my head spin (plus that would be cheating on the Jster).
So if anyone knows any good blogging software (for macs, of course) that:
1. Are free (or have a very long/linient trial)
2. Support the new Blogger
3. Are pretty (optional)
4. Don't give you a headache trying to download them
I'd love to hear about it.
I am never content with my computer. Do I have the best (free) browser available? Is my desktop good enough? Do my icons match?
Today I will cover my quest for the best browser....
Safari: Being a loyal Mac person I started my journey with Safari (the default Mac browser, for those of you who don't know). The main thing that bugged me about Safari was its lack of support for GTalk (and the brushed metal is just icky). This led me to a little browser you may have heard of....
Firefox: EVERYONE knows what Firefox is and most people like it. For quite a while Firefox was my browser of choice, I loved that I could hide ads and choose new skins. However, one day I read an article about why Firefox isn't as great as we all think; the points about it being ugly and in Carbon hit home so I once again became a roving malcontent.
Opera: Opera gets extra points because it is Norwegian...it just does. However, it is among the UGLIEST browsers I have ever seen (it may even beat out IE). Opera lasted less than one day...
Shiira v.2: Around this time I found Shiira. It was fast, it was trendy, it was puuuurdy. However, it didn't quite work...the beta was pretty buggy and it was missing a lot of features that were in the stable version. Despite its lack of substance, I just couldn't get rid of such a pretty piece of code so I kept it on as a secondary browser to Firefox.
Shiira v.1: Stable Shiira wasn't pretty, it was pretty much Safari but uglier. However, it did have some nice features such as Growl notifications for RSS articles (made moot by the fact that I use Vienna for that anyway). Shiira v.1 didn't last very long either....
Camino: Camino is billed as Firefox specifically for Macs (which means it is prettier, and supposedly better). I tried it and it just didn't click for me...
Safai: All this time the perfect browser had been right under my nose. Uno dealt with the ugly brushed metal (and made just about everything else really pretty) and some other plugins got rid of a lot of ads. I was in browser Nirvana...almost.
Shiira v.2: I was DELIGHTED to see a new beta of Shiira come up. It added Growl and dealt with some of the biggest bugs (like the preference panes not working). Shiira has a special place in my heart because I stole some REALLY pretty badges from it (imagine a green swamp bubble, except pretty).
Camino: Today a new version of Camino came out so I decided to give it another shot. But it lost that chance within seconds of being launched. IT WOULDN'T LET ME TYPE IN AN ADDRESS. Is it just me or is that kind of a big problem? Basically the entire browser was unresponsive without so much as an "Application Not Responding". Camino, you messed up BAD.
The Bottom Line: Safari is a fast, pretty (once you get rid of the brushed metal), simple and well-integrated browser that should fulfill most of your needs. Shiira is the more-or-less the same except a little buggy and quite a bit prettier. Firefox is ugly as sin but gets the job done (Camino is the opposite) and Opera is just...Norwegian.
#1: My Brilliant Software Idea
Last night a brilliant idea struck me– Red Ink, the computerized copy editing solution. Red Ink would fill the very small niche of copy editors with horrible handwriting.
The editor could either scan in the document or work directly from a digital file. When they opened it with Red Ink the interface would not be unlike MS Word's (or any other text editor). For instance, when they selected a portion of text and hit Command + B (bold) it would get a squiggly red line under it (the symbol to make text bold). Or, if an editor wanted to delete something they would select the text and hit delete, but instead of going away the text would get a red loopy line through it (with the appropriate whip-crack noise that I, for one, would appreciate).
Now all I need is someone to develop it (I had better get a free copy, or better yet it should be freeware)...
#2: How My English Class Describes Malcolm X
Hardcore.
Sadly, I am not a naturally productive person (organized: yes, productive: no) so I rely on numerous digital crutches to help me.
What Works
The main two applications I use to track my growing list of to-dos are iCal (can't wait 'til v3) and Schoolhouse (a homework tracker, and so much more). I generally use iCal to schedule my MANY social engagements (note sarcasm) and misc. to do items while Schoolhouse is for my homework (what else?).
In order to maintain some degree of mental togetherness I also use Sidenote to keep all my floating brain snippets caged up in one place. (For those of you unfamiliar with Sidenote, it is like Stickies except everything is kept in a tidy drawer that can be hidden from view, ideal for people (like me) who are lacking in miserly when it comes to desktop real estate).
What Doesn't
iGTD has been getting a fair amount of press (in the blogosphere) lately, so I tried it. I was delighted by its frequent updates (I live for updates) but it was just too data heavy and I didn't really get anything from it that iCal couldn't give me (plus iCal looks better). Sadly, after several weeks or trial I had to delete it.
Many Mac users swear by Quicksilver but when I tried it (after finally giving in to the raving reviews) it just didn't work for me. I have been with Macs for a long time and I'm just too used to Finder for launchers to do me much good. (Yes, I know Quicksilver is more than a launcher but the only other feature I ever really found useful was the built-in iTunes controls). Bottom line is I'm just too used to my mouse/trackpad to start filtering my workflow through key sequences.
One tool that I have NEVER seen any use for is Event Maker (and other iCal event creators). Although I will be one of the first to admit that iCal's event creation process can be a bit frustrating it just isn't worth it to open up a whole new application to make it easier. By the time I have found and opened the app I will have already sorted out my problem with iCal.
Straying away from the digital realm for a moment, the hPDA is an interesting organizational/productivity tool that I used for some time before it fizzled out. I was mainly using it as a paper Sidenote for when I was away from the computer, but a combination of the inability to synch (honestly, paper manufactures need to get on that) and my increasing attachment to my computer rendered it more or less useless. (However, I do still use it when I AM away from the computer or when pulling out the laptop would be overkill).
Also, for some strange reason, spending hours in Excel charting my time use just didn't make me more productive....
What Keeps Me Unproductive
I consider Adium to be the best chat client ever (and therefore the best at distracting me from my work). I am almost always online and I am usually being distracted/kept up too late by messages.
Vienna is another of my productivity-sapping loves. For those of you that have not aware, Vienna is a news reader (like News Net Wire Lite, except it takes less then ten seconds to say and is about 100x better in every other way too). I now call upon all you users of NNWL to switch to Vienna and see how you like it. It is basically Net News Wire (the non-free version) except with a better interface and (even) more features (plus a cooler name).
Safari and the internet are the biggest culprits when it comes to reducing my productivity (I'm sure I'm not alone there) but I figure the time I would otherwise be spending trundling back and forth to the library probably balances it out.
Finally, although I love you so, Growl, you are the one who pulls all these elements together into one big unproductive web. Without your little boxes I would never know when Vienna had new articles or when I had gotten email or when someone was IMing me. (On the other hand, knowing my personality, I would check every ten seconds for new badges on my (hidden) dock.)