乔大帮主关于Google和Adobe的言论（Wired）：这个其实是上周的言论了，乔帮主称Google "Don't be evil is a load of crap"，称Adobe "They are Lazy"。乔帮主是很多人崇拜的偶像，包括我在内，而往往这些偶像说话做事都是很有个性的。这话一出来，Adobe不得不严肃得发博客来澄清，可惜我不是特别了解flash的这些技术细节；而另一边不难听出其中的火药味。对于用户来以及市场来说，竞争是好事，可就人的感情来说，当一个最好的朋友变成最大的对手。某种程度上，乔大帮主的这番言论确是肯定了竞争给他带来的郁闷。能被对手肯定和重视，未尝不是一件好事。
Amazon电子书遭遇价格危机（WSJ）：自水果公司的平板出台之后，各大发行商仿佛抱到了一根救命稻草，Macmillan领头想Amazon施压，把畅销书的价格从$9.99向上提，随后HapperCollins以及Hachette纷纷效仿，一场价格战正在上演。消费者，发行商，电子书阅读器，大家总要打一架才能找到平衡点。看热闹的总是大有人在，最后还是要等东西真正开卖，能卖多少出去说了才算。我家Kindle除了刚开始心血来潮的时候买过总和约摸50刀的书，之后都是去找些免费的书看。虽说我不是那么看书的人，但想想Kindle还是改变了我买书的习惯：如果真的有什么书一定要买，如果不是太多彩图（譬如摄影一类），电子书即使比纸版贵也还是值，至少搬家的时候不用到处找人去送书。不过第一代ipad真的今年就能成功么？
微软遭遇创新危机（NYT）：这一大早的新闻出来没有几小时就成为所有人嘴边的话题，其最主要原因还是发布这个言论的人，微软前VP，Dick Brass，所谓之自己人掌自己人耳光，以至于逼着微软的PR当天发表博客回复此事。创新这个词很具有感情和神秘色彩，对于一个有品的公司来说，你可以骂它业绩烂，但绝不可以骂它没有创新精神，因为这太损公司形象了；可创新又往往没有一个可以量化的指标来衡量，于是公说公有理，婆说婆有理。其实我还是很敬仰微软公司的：Win7用久了发现也还满顺的，和Mac是不同风格，但是很多细节处理你不能不说没有创新；Bing虽然市场份额未见大涨，搜索结果也马马虎虎，但是它有很多处理方式（譬如Entity Card，无穷图片搜索）确实是给用户一种全新的体验，尤其是能赶着竞争对手去思考这些问题不能说没有创新。只是有两点：第一，大众对于牛公司总是有更高的期望值，你去把已有的东西做好不叫创新，你必须做个东西大家从来没有听说过，而且很炫才叫创新；第二：公司大了自然人就多了，人多的地方多多少少政治就多些，各个组为争夺资源必定少不了口水，从而有些东西就显得执行起来慢了，这是放之四海而皆准的真理。
Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label apple. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Come on new macs
Looking forward to see new iMacs (needs a SD card reader!) and new macbooks (lighter and cheaper)
in reference to: AppleInsider | Apple close to unveiling all-new MacBook line (view on Google Sidewiki)
in reference to: AppleInsider | Apple close to unveiling all-new MacBook line (view on Google Sidewiki)
Saturday, April 4, 2009
整机杂感
近日折腾电脑，发现mac和windows用起来还是差别太大，这年头还是不能彻底弃其一而忠实地用一个操作系统啊。
不得不承认xp pro是最好的windows系统，即使现在vista出来这么久了还是远不及xp的性能和稳定性。因为新买的lenovo u330配的是vista home premium，微软的垄断弄得downgrade太麻烦，所以就凑活着用了。首先是改成中文系统，mul包官方只有ultimate版本才支持，所以就只能用Vistalizator凑活装上mul包，居然能用，赞一个。不过vista的开始菜单里面右边那个文档，图片，音乐，游戏菜单真的是笨，居然不能customize。譬如，不能添加一个“下载”或者“视频”的文件夹，只能把现有的disable。有个很复杂的改注册表的方法可以将“游戏”那个文件夹变成别的，太不直观了；想想mac下面只要鼠标一拖就可以把任何一个文件夹加到finder左边的栏里面，真是痛苦啊。
不得不承认xp pro是最好的windows系统，即使现在vista出来这么久了还是远不及xp的性能和稳定性。因为新买的lenovo u330配的是vista home premium，微软的垄断弄得downgrade太麻烦，所以就凑活着用了。首先是改成中文系统，mul包官方只有ultimate版本才支持，所以就只能用Vistalizator凑活装上mul包，居然能用，赞一个。不过vista的开始菜单里面右边那个文档，图片，音乐，游戏菜单真的是笨，居然不能customize。譬如，不能添加一个“下载”或者“视频”的文件夹，只能把现有的disable。有个很复杂的改注册表的方法可以将“游戏”那个文件夹变成别的，太不直观了；想想mac下面只要鼠标一拖就可以把任何一个文件夹加到finder左边的栏里面，真是痛苦啊。
说到速度，其实机器还可以的话跑起来还是比较顺的。而且似乎sp1解决了之前拷贝文件超慢的问题，所以性能上没有太多的抱怨。当然从休眠到能正常工作的时间是远大于mac，这个似乎是一直存在没法解决的windows诟病。不过不知道为什么我插上电视机，然后让vista一直开着，平时也就用用chrome和qqqtv，居一个礼拜之内莫名其妙蓝屏了两次，晕倒。看来vista还是需要经常关机的说。
说个优点，那个window照片管理的软件不错，很快，而且做些基本的图片修改很方便。我用得比较多的是crop一个图片到某个固定的比例（譬如找itunes专辑封皮），这个照片管理工具比之前的paint好用多了。当然mac下面直接用previe的crop也很方便，不过leopard之后crop不显示几乘几（之前tiger是有的）弄得我一直不知道crop的是不是正方形，sigh。
mac的问题也多，不过不知道是不是只是我目前这个笔记本的问题，总是firefox转彩球（之前那个ppc都比这个intel的run firefox快），希望chrome早点出来可以解决这个问题。iphoto似乎不能handle太大的图片库，速度慢；而mac下的picasa似乎总不如windows的好用，有时候我都想弄台window机器存我所有的图片音乐等文件了，但是实在是对vista不敢恭维。没有试过win7，希望微软能干点好事；不过要是snow leopard可以把现在的性能再提高一下也很有吸引力的。突然发现mac下用itunes只要按option启动可以选择别的音乐库，用老ppc本本加移动硬盘当服务器似乎也不错。经济不景气，节约最重要。
最近netbook比较火，其实最吸引人的就是电池长，那样坐东西海岸的飞机都不需要充电了。可惜性能太弱，似乎不怎么能播720p，作为娱乐机的价值就小了很多。rumor说好些netbook看好android，显然路漫漫其修远兮，android太年轻了……
Monday, December 8, 2008
switch cmd and alt in windows keyboard
Using a windows keyboard, I found myself mistyping cmd and alt/option a lot, because the layout of the macbook pro is the opposite. The easiest way to fix this is to install double command, which is better than KeyRemap4MacBook.
No reboot required, and just go to system preference, select "Command Key acts as Option Key" and "Option Key acts as Command Key".
No reboot required, and just go to system preference, select "Command Key acts as Option Key" and "Option Key acts as Command Key".
Friday, December 5, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
mac下VLC字幕乱码解决方案 zz
1. Open VLC, press "Cmd+," to open the preference.
2. Select the font in Video -> Subtitles/OSD -> Text renderer. Notice that the fonts directory is /Library/Fonts or User/Library/Fonts.
3. Modify the default text encoding in Input / Codecs -> Other codecs -> Subtitles, and uncheck UTF-8 autodetection.
Following are screen shots of VLC 0.8.6e
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Setting Up Airport
There are two types of apple router: airport express and airport extreme. In fact, the set up is not as trivial as I though it should be, unless you follow the right steps, which is poorly documented in the accompanying booklet.
- Get internet connect from a regular moderm, test the direct ethernet plug into the computer works.
- Get a fresh set airport. If you messed up with the setting, restore back to factory setting by pressing the reset button while it is plugged with power, wait until it quick flash amber light, and wait it restart.
- Now your computer, with appropriate software, can detect a wireless signal. Connect to it, and open up the airport utility, select the appropriate airport device.
- Go through the recommended set up steps, DO NOT try manual set up for now. Everything is straightforward, use DHCP automatically to find the IP, gateway, DNS etc. You may not want to set up password for this time.
- Update the airport, and wait for the device to reboot. Now you should have internet connect now. Try to look at the advanced manual set up, change wherever you want, and be sure to add WPA/WPA personal password.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Gradient highlights for Stacks (zz tuaw)
If you use Stacks like we do, then you probably love any additional hacks you can do to them. While this Terminal Tip provides no really useful features, it does provide you with some awesome eye candy for your Stacks. This hack gives you a mouse-over gradient (seen above on Terminal) in your Stacks; just open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and type in the following command:
After you type in the command, type "killall Dock" to restart the Dock. You will then see the gradient in your Stacks. To get rid of the gradient, just replace "YES" with "NO" in the command above.
defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack -boolean YESAfter you type in the command, type "killall Dock" to restart the Dock. You will then see the gradient in your Stacks. To get rid of the gradient, just replace "YES" with "NO" in the command above.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
My Mac Software List 6 - documents, pictures and videos
PDF is a system wide service on mac. The benefit of this is that you can print almost every file (image, webpage etc) into pdf files, just use "Command + P" select PDF -> save as PDF, done. To view PDF files, Adobe Reader freeware is definitely a good choice, but sometimes slow to open (at least on my ancient powerbook). Apple's build in Preview is pretty decent for PDF files. You can even click the small pages in the drawer, deleting it (holding Command + delete key), or drag the relavent pages to another pdf file! One downside of Preview is that it does not have full screen feature for PDF files. Also, please do not forget the Leopard system wide QuickLook service , press the space key and you get a preview of the pdf (similar for pictures, slides, movies...) file instantly! If you need to write on the pdf files, you might need to get the expensive Adobe Acrobat Professional commercial, or the cheaper application PDFpen shareware.
The build in Photo Booth is very fun to play with, and you may display those effects in iChat if have MobileMe account. I would also strongly recommend you organizing your photos with iPhoto free in iLife with every new mac. There is no Google Picasa application for mac (at least for now), but you can upload your photos to Picasa Web from iPhoto using Picasa Web Albums free. For (semi) professional photographers, do not miss Apple's Aperture or Adobe's Light Room. Both of them have very good press, but I haven't tried them.
Talking about pictures, you cannot miss the build in Image Capture for screen capture. Or even simpler, press "Command + Shift + 3 or 4" for full screen capture or drag capture (link for detailed tips). There is also a dashboard widget, Screenshot Plus freeware, if you hate to memorize the keyboard shortcuts.
If you want to draw some simple curves (like sine wave, ellipse) and do not want to open R or Matlab, try the hidden gem in OS X, Grapher build in. Check out its own examples, and this guide on macrumors. If you want a graphical editor, but cannot afford Adobe photoshop, consider the cheaper Pixelmator shareware, or just settle with Seashore freeware. I've also tried Lineform and Vector Designer, but I am not a heavy graphical developer, so I don't have much comments on those applications.
To read comic books (or lots of sequential pictures), try this light weight application, Xee freeware. To present your photos and movies with style, try award winning Photo Presenter shareware. If you are still not satisfied, and want to make something like Scotland did in the end of his thesis defense, try FotoMagico shareware. I cannot justify its high price, but it seems Scottland is quite happy with it.
You might remember using the linux tools for batch resizing/rotating pictures, you could use Resize! freeware on a mac, and I think it is easier than setting up the an Automator routine for these simple tasks. Unless you got extra bucks to spare, you won't need to use this fancy Resize Me shareware.
Needless to say, play your music in iTunes freeware. For Chinese songs, you may need to use ID3Mod2 shareware to correct the wrong text encoding. But even better, now you can just get nLyrics freeware to do the task, and even obtain lyrics when you play the song, for free (notice, the Tiger version is not up to date). To play .ogg files, I used to use Cog freeware, but it seems that Vorbis solution is more popular these days.
Similarly, you will get used to QuickTime freeware for your video files. There is not much reason to upgrade it to the Pro version, except the easy making movie files with many sequential pictures, which I liked a lot. No more Windows Media Player on mac, but you can play .wma files through QuickTime with free plugin Flip4Mac WMV . There is also non-free version of the plugin, which offer features like convert .wma files to .mov files without the ugly watermark. For stream files (.rm files), you should definitely use RealPlayer , again go with the free version, the little blue button on the top. I hate the company, which always tries to sale you the commertial version, and hide the free version download button at a place you'll never notice. In addition, if you do found certain .rm files cannot be played, try downgrading the current version 11 to Realplayer 10 freeware. It seems they are bad at backward compatibility. For other codec, you might want to install the system preference plugin Perian freeware for iTunes, or try VLC player freeware. Mplayer freeware is also recommended when you need to view external captions for the movie files, or sometimes, you got to try DivX Player freeware (not the Pro version). To much for you? Yes! So here goes my summary: install Flip4Mac and Perian, and forget about them; then open all you video files with Quicktime and Realplayer; if you fail, try VLC; fail again? Go to your windows box, and remind the good old days you can have just one media player solve all the problem. Hopefully, you won't miss your windows computers 99% of the time.
For watching TV or on-line streamed videos, there is no Windows ppLive conterpart on mac, but there is the Joost freeware with limited programs. However, there is no problem about watching Olympics on NBC website, or YouTube, with SilverLight, or Flash plugin. So life is bearable.
To make a screencast, (notice those vocabulary: podcast, screencast...) you can try iShowU shareware or SnapzProX shareware. Both of them are not free, but if you really need them, the price is not that steep. However, if you just want to teach your grandma setting up the mac in another city, why not just use sceen share and configure the machine remotely.
The build in Photo Booth is very fun to play with, and you may display those effects in iChat if have MobileMe account. I would also strongly recommend you organizing your photos with iPhoto free in iLife with every new mac. There is no Google Picasa application for mac (at least for now), but you can upload your photos to Picasa Web from iPhoto using Picasa Web Albums free. For (semi) professional photographers, do not miss Apple's Aperture or Adobe's Light Room. Both of them have very good press, but I haven't tried them.
Talking about pictures, you cannot miss the build in Image Capture for screen capture. Or even simpler, press "Command + Shift + 3 or 4" for full screen capture or drag capture (link for detailed tips). There is also a dashboard widget, Screenshot Plus freeware, if you hate to memorize the keyboard shortcuts.
If you want to draw some simple curves (like sine wave, ellipse) and do not want to open R or Matlab, try the hidden gem in OS X, Grapher build in. Check out its own examples, and this guide on macrumors. If you want a graphical editor, but cannot afford Adobe photoshop, consider the cheaper Pixelmator shareware, or just settle with Seashore freeware. I've also tried Lineform and Vector Designer, but I am not a heavy graphical developer, so I don't have much comments on those applications.
To read comic books (or lots of sequential pictures), try this light weight application, Xee freeware. To present your photos and movies with style, try award winning Photo Presenter shareware. If you are still not satisfied, and want to make something like Scotland did in the end of his thesis defense, try FotoMagico shareware. I cannot justify its high price, but it seems Scottland is quite happy with it.
You might remember using the linux tools for batch resizing/rotating pictures, you could use Resize! freeware on a mac, and I think it is easier than setting up the an Automator routine for these simple tasks. Unless you got extra bucks to spare, you won't need to use this fancy Resize Me shareware.
Needless to say, play your music in iTunes freeware. For Chinese songs, you may need to use ID3Mod2 shareware to correct the wrong text encoding. But even better, now you can just get nLyrics freeware to do the task, and even obtain lyrics when you play the song, for free (notice, the Tiger version is not up to date). To play .ogg files, I used to use Cog freeware, but it seems that Vorbis solution is more popular these days.
Similarly, you will get used to QuickTime freeware for your video files. There is not much reason to upgrade it to the Pro version, except the easy making movie files with many sequential pictures, which I liked a lot. No more Windows Media Player on mac, but you can play .wma files through QuickTime with free plugin Flip4Mac WMV . There is also non-free version of the plugin, which offer features like convert .wma files to .mov files without the ugly watermark. For stream files (.rm files), you should definitely use RealPlayer , again go with the free version, the little blue button on the top. I hate the company, which always tries to sale you the commertial version, and hide the free version download button at a place you'll never notice. In addition, if you do found certain .rm files cannot be played, try downgrading the current version 11 to Realplayer 10 freeware. It seems they are bad at backward compatibility. For other codec, you might want to install the system preference plugin Perian freeware for iTunes, or try VLC player freeware. Mplayer freeware is also recommended when you need to view external captions for the movie files, or sometimes, you got to try DivX Player freeware (not the Pro version). To much for you? Yes! So here goes my summary: install Flip4Mac and Perian, and forget about them; then open all you video files with Quicktime and Realplayer; if you fail, try VLC; fail again? Go to your windows box, and remind the good old days you can have just one media player solve all the problem. Hopefully, you won't miss your windows computers 99% of the time.
For watching TV or on-line streamed videos, there is no Windows ppLive conterpart on mac, but there is the Joost freeware with limited programs. However, there is no problem about watching Olympics on NBC website, or YouTube, with SilverLight, or Flash plugin. So life is bearable.
To make a screencast, (notice those vocabulary: podcast, screencast...) you can try iShowU shareware or SnapzProX shareware. Both of them are not free, but if you really need them, the price is not that steep. However, if you just want to teach your grandma setting up the mac in another city, why not just use sceen share and configure the machine remotely.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
My Mac Software List 5 - writing papers and programs
The build in TextEdit is particularly good, fast and powerful for simple tasks, and I am fond of using the plain text mode (Shift + Command + T) for fast access. However, we use LaTeX for scientific writing, aren't we? The LaTeX editor on mac is called TexShop freeware, but that is just the editor. You should also install TexLive system, for example MacTex freeware. The installation is staightforward, and if you need extra packages, use i-Installer freeware.
After installing the Tex system, if you just want to generate a quick snippet of a very short tex image, for example, equation/table for your presentation, you should use LaTeXiT freeware. Great things on a mac: drag and drop works almost everywhere! For orgnizing references, you can defintely use your favarite text editor to work with plain .bib file, or try BibDesk freeware for a graphical approach. I only give BibDesk 3 stars, not because it is bad, but you don't really need to use it - you have Papers shareware to organize your papers, and simply clicking all relavent papers, and exporting it to a .bib file save you a lot of time. I rarely give a non-free software 5 stars, but it is really worthy evey penny you spend, abeilt expensive (there is student discount, not faculty discount though). At least you should give it a try. Talking about the refernce tools, if you are still using "old style" microsoft word writing your paper (or communicate with your collaborators with word documents), you should try Bookends shareware, saving your time but not cheap neither. As a note, Papers can export files to many different reference styles, including EndNote XML, BibTeX library, PDF etc.
Microsoft Office Suite commercial is also available on mac. Word is comparable to Pages in Apple's iWork Suite commercial, and Pages is easier to use for creating fancy posters. Excel is way more powerful than Numbers in iWork, but Numbers is still an interesting approach. However, PowerPoint is way behind iWork's KeyNote in iWork. A very useful plugin for Keynote is LinkBack: you can use LaTeXiT to generate equations and drag it to your Keynote slides, and later click on the image link back to LaTeXiT to modify the equation. The open source couterparts OpenOffice Aqua freeware and NeoOffice have a long way to catch up (but usable), while Google Docs Suite freeware lacks features but easy for collaborating and sharing. One line summarize: considering both features and prices, iWork wins.
For programming or general purpose, both vi/vim and emacs have a lot of editors, but I don't have much experience with them. For example, you can try Aquamacs Emacs, or Carbon Emacs. There is also an instruction for setting up Emacs Speaks for Statistics (ESS) with Enhanced Carbon Emacs plugin. Notice that you need to install X11 for displaying R graphics if it is not alreay on your system, you can find it on the Leopard installation disk. Besides the standard R you can download from CRAN or the developer page, you can also try Java GUI for R (JGR) for interactive plots (very good for teaching EDA type course), which is deveoped by a group at AT&T. Matlab users also get mac support, but I never tried to run it on my ancient powerbook G4. In addition, the optional Xcode on Leopard should be great for software developers, or writing codes, but there is a bit of learning curve, and I still need time to explore this application.
On the otherside, Textmate shareware is great for programmers, very powerful once you know how to use it. Great editor software to own if you are going to use it a lot. If you want a free alternative, try TextWrangler freeware, and if you are happy with it, you might want to try its commertial version BBEdit shareare. Eclipse is free for Java developers, and here is the instruction to install Java and the IDE. Because I don't use Java much, so I won't comment on it right now.
For a simple HTML editor to write your website, try Taco HTML Edit freeware. And if you want an advanced Cascade Style Sheets (CSS) editor, there is the CSSEdit shareware. Or if you don't want to build your website from scratch, you should try iWeb free with every new mac. iWeb is beautiful and easy to use, but not so much customization, so I don't quite like it. Alternatively, RapidWeaver shareware as another template based web creation application is much more powerful, but not free. As a Googler, I had to advertise Google Sites freeware, but admit it feature lacking. I created my STA 103 course website using RapidWeaver and Google Docs. Recently, there is also lots of publication on Coda, but I have never used it.
Last not the least, if you like to write journals on a computer, try WriteRoom shareware. It reminds me the days I kept my life journals on a black screen BBS.
After installing the Tex system, if you just want to generate a quick snippet of a very short tex image, for example, equation/table for your presentation, you should use LaTeXiT freeware. Great things on a mac: drag and drop works almost everywhere! For orgnizing references, you can defintely use your favarite text editor to work with plain .bib file, or try BibDesk freeware for a graphical approach. I only give BibDesk 3 stars, not because it is bad, but you don't really need to use it - you have Papers shareware to organize your papers, and simply clicking all relavent papers, and exporting it to a .bib file save you a lot of time. I rarely give a non-free software 5 stars, but it is really worthy evey penny you spend, abeilt expensive (there is student discount, not faculty discount though). At least you should give it a try. Talking about the refernce tools, if you are still using "old style" microsoft word writing your paper (or communicate with your collaborators with word documents), you should try Bookends shareware, saving your time but not cheap neither. As a note, Papers can export files to many different reference styles, including EndNote XML, BibTeX library, PDF etc.
Microsoft Office Suite commercial is also available on mac. Word is comparable to Pages in Apple's iWork Suite commercial, and Pages is easier to use for creating fancy posters. Excel is way more powerful than Numbers in iWork, but Numbers is still an interesting approach. However, PowerPoint is way behind iWork's KeyNote in iWork. A very useful plugin for Keynote is LinkBack: you can use LaTeXiT to generate equations and drag it to your Keynote slides, and later click on the image link back to LaTeXiT to modify the equation. The open source couterparts OpenOffice Aqua freeware and NeoOffice have a long way to catch up (but usable), while Google Docs Suite freeware lacks features but easy for collaborating and sharing. One line summarize: considering both features and prices, iWork wins.
For programming or general purpose, both vi/vim and emacs have a lot of editors, but I don't have much experience with them. For example, you can try Aquamacs Emacs, or Carbon Emacs. There is also an instruction for setting up Emacs Speaks for Statistics (ESS) with Enhanced Carbon Emacs plugin. Notice that you need to install X11 for displaying R graphics if it is not alreay on your system, you can find it on the Leopard installation disk. Besides the standard R you can download from CRAN or the developer page, you can also try Java GUI for R (JGR) for interactive plots (very good for teaching EDA type course), which is deveoped by a group at AT&T. Matlab users also get mac support, but I never tried to run it on my ancient powerbook G4. In addition, the optional Xcode on Leopard should be great for software developers, or writing codes, but there is a bit of learning curve, and I still need time to explore this application.
On the otherside, Textmate shareware is great for programmers, very powerful once you know how to use it. Great editor software to own if you are going to use it a lot. If you want a free alternative, try TextWrangler freeware, and if you are happy with it, you might want to try its commertial version BBEdit shareare. Eclipse is free for Java developers, and here is the instruction to install Java and the IDE. Because I don't use Java much, so I won't comment on it right now.
For a simple HTML editor to write your website, try Taco HTML Edit freeware. And if you want an advanced Cascade Style Sheets (CSS) editor, there is the CSSEdit shareware. Or if you don't want to build your website from scratch, you should try iWeb free with every new mac. iWeb is beautiful and easy to use, but not so much customization, so I don't quite like it. Alternatively, RapidWeaver shareware as another template based web creation application is much more powerful, but not free. As a Googler, I had to advertise Google Sites freeware, but admit it feature lacking. I created my STA 103 course website using RapidWeaver and Google Docs. Recently, there is also lots of publication on Coda, but I have never used it.
Last not the least, if you like to write journals on a computer, try WriteRoom shareware. It reminds me the days I kept my life journals on a black screen BBS.
My Mac Software List 4 - internet connection
Besides the web browser, there are many other important ways to connect with the internet. First of all is instant messenger (IM):
Adium, freeware
The best IM on mac: integrates all your IM clients (MSN, QQ, icq, gtalk, ichat, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL etc); lots of customization (skin, icon, message/panel display), and FREE. The only downside is no voice/video chat yet.
Skype, freeware
Good reception for voice/video chat, and call to phone numbers too.
iChat, build in iLife, but need MobileMe for advanced features
Very nice video chat interface, including presentation style (showing you slides along with your video chat), but need MobileMe subscription (not quite worth the money in my opinion).
MSN Messenger for mac, freeware
Workable, but lack lots of features compared with windows version. Suggst use Adium to replace it.
There is also the Yahoo! Messenger for Mac (freeware), but I never used it, no comments.
There is no standalone Google Talk application, you can either use firefox to chat, or use adium to for the features. Also, if you use Internet Relay Chat (IRC), don't miss Colloquy freeware, or Linkinus shareware.
For FTP connection, I strongly recommend Cyberduck freeware. It is so great that I don't even need to compare with other similar applications. Of cause, you can also use the Terminal build in for sftp connection with usual linux/unix commands. For bit-torrent downloads, try Transmission freeware, good enough for casual use.
For Virtual Network Computing (VNC), Chicken of the VNC freeware used to be great, but it seems to have a little bug on intel macs (under fullscreen mode), and lacks support/update for over two years. There seems no perfect solution, but Jollys Fast VNC freeware is worth trying.
For Virtual Private Network (VPN), for exmaple, download papers from Duke subscription using netID, you can use Cisco VPNClient commercial, or download it from Duke OIT website.
To access windows machines remotely, you can configure Remote Desk for windows XP professional, or Vista Primum, and access it uisng Remote Desk Connection Client for mac freeware. See my other post for details, you might also need to configure your firewall property.
For old fashioned people still use old terminal style Bulletin Board System (BBS), the best application on mac is iTerm shareware. It is actually a full featured terminal, which can run usual shell commands, but also can display BBS nicely.
Adium, freeware
The best IM on mac: integrates all your IM clients (MSN, QQ, icq, gtalk, ichat, Yahoo! Messenger, AOL etc); lots of customization (skin, icon, message/panel display), and FREE. The only downside is no voice/video chat yet.
Skype, freeware
Good reception for voice/video chat, and call to phone numbers too.
iChat, build in iLife, but need MobileMe for advanced features
Very nice video chat interface, including presentation style (showing you slides along with your video chat), but need MobileMe subscription (not quite worth the money in my opinion).
MSN Messenger for mac, freeware
Workable, but lack lots of features compared with windows version. Suggst use Adium to replace it.
There is also the Yahoo! Messenger for Mac (freeware), but I never used it, no comments.
There is no standalone Google Talk application, you can either use firefox to chat, or use adium to for the features. Also, if you use Internet Relay Chat (IRC), don't miss Colloquy freeware, or Linkinus shareware.
For FTP connection, I strongly recommend Cyberduck freeware. It is so great that I don't even need to compare with other similar applications. Of cause, you can also use the Terminal build in for sftp connection with usual linux/unix commands. For bit-torrent downloads, try Transmission freeware, good enough for casual use.
For Virtual Network Computing (VNC), Chicken of the VNC freeware used to be great, but it seems to have a little bug on intel macs (under fullscreen mode), and lacks support/update for over two years. There seems no perfect solution, but Jollys Fast VNC freeware is worth trying.
For Virtual Private Network (VPN), for exmaple, download papers from Duke subscription using netID, you can use Cisco VPNClient commercial, or download it from Duke OIT website.
To access windows machines remotely, you can configure Remote Desk for windows XP professional, or Vista Primum, and access it uisng Remote Desk Connection Client for mac freeware. See my other post for details, you might also need to configure your firewall property.
For old fashioned people still use old terminal style Bulletin Board System (BBS), the best application on mac is iTerm shareware. It is actually a full featured terminal, which can run usual shell commands, but also can display BBS nicely.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
My Mac Software List 3 - web browser
Now talk about the internet related applications. First of all, the most important application is the internet web browser. The build in Safari is pretty decent, until Firefox 3 came out. There are also a bunch of other web browsers, freeware and shareware, such as Camino, Opera, Omniweb, but I would like to say, it's more like a matter of taste, and they are almost on the same level. You will fall in love with anyone of them if you use it for more than two weeks. Summarize as follows:
If you do use Safari, check out the plugin Inquisitor freeware, which makes your search bar more powerful, and you can configure it through Safari preference panel (command + , ). There was a bit of scadal about the developer earlier this year, but David acknowledged this problem in time. I think Inquisitor joining Yahoo! is a great move, and I'm happy to see the developers getting revenu without cutting user experience.
The password manager in Firefox seems to be decent, but I am already a 1password shareware user. For my two years' experience with Agile, I feel quite happy with them, and now I've owned two licences. But I haven't quite compared it with the firefox manager, maybe that's also good enough. The only downside again is the steep price, but I got both licence from bundle sales, so I'm happy with it.
Another related software is Speed Download shareware, a download manager for web browsers. Again, good to have if cheap, and I probably won't purchase it at full reatail price. And Yazsoft is quite mean at the beginning of its bundle sale.
- Die hard mac fan stick with Safari 3 build in in leopard
- Die hard mozilla fan stick with Firefox 3 freeware
- Lovers of both mac and mozilla use Camino freeware
- Cool people use Opera freeware on their computers/cellphones/wiis
- "Rich" people use Omniweb shareware (used to be much superior than others, but now Firefox etc caught up)
If you do use Safari, check out the plugin Inquisitor freeware, which makes your search bar more powerful, and you can configure it through Safari preference panel (command + , ). There was a bit of scadal about the developer earlier this year, but David acknowledged this problem in time. I think Inquisitor joining Yahoo! is a great move, and I'm happy to see the developers getting revenu without cutting user experience.
The password manager in Firefox seems to be decent, but I am already a 1password shareware user. For my two years' experience with Agile, I feel quite happy with them, and now I've owned two licences. But I haven't quite compared it with the firefox manager, maybe that's also good enough. The only downside again is the steep price, but I got both licence from bundle sales, so I'm happy with it.
Another related software is Speed Download shareware, a download manager for web browsers. Again, good to have if cheap, and I probably won't purchase it at full reatail price. And Yazsoft is quite mean at the beginning of its bundle sale.
My Mac Software List 2 - software installation, system
Continue with my software list. Many mac newbees want to ask: how do I install/un-install a program? Where is the install/uninstall window in mac? The simple solution: drag your application to your Application folder when install it, and move it to the Trash when uninstall it. This solve 95% of the problem. Hard to believe? Yes! That is how most applications work on a mac, which is also called "green installation" on a windows PC. There are few exceptions:
AppZapper, shareware
Only downside is the price, but still resonable. However, you don't have to own it unless you are a control freak like me. As I said, I would like to tune every aspect of my computer, so I also own following sharewear. I got them from bundle sales, and they are pretty good (except for the price), and I would probablity not purchase them separately at full retail price.
MacPilot, shareware
System tuning/optimizing program. Don't think you need it with a new mac.
Xslimmer, shareware
Slim you universal binary program to ppc/intel only, and trim extra language packs. I need it because the hard drive on my old powerbook is so small... but not recommended for new macs, you have a big hard drive!
- Some application does involve a installer, like the .exe file you need to click on a windows machine. For example, our favorite statistics software, R. Just follow the instructions, select a Volumn (meaning, partition, most of the time, just your current hard drive) to install, and a stand alone application will appear in your application folder. Un-install just trash the file in Application folder.
- Some plugin needs you to execute. For example, adobe flash web brower plugin when you run for the first time. Just click it, and do not worry where it goes. Un-install gets trickier, but most of the time, you do not need to uninstall.
- Dashboard widgets. Install, click it, and choose keep it in the dashboard. Un-install, click the plus icon on the bottom left of your dashboard, and choose the widgets widget to un-install. You cannot un-install the build in widgets this way, and there are other ways to do it.
- System preference plugin, for example, the famous Growl notification. Click install most of the time, and it will appear in the bottem line of your system preference panel. Right click (option click or two fingure tap click) the icon on the sysstem preference panel to un-install.
- Other plugins. Typically, you need to manually move it to a specific folder. Un-install means trash it from that specific folder. This is every un-intuitive. Fortunately, you may not even encouter this problem if you are not an advanced user.
AppZapper, shareware
Only downside is the price, but still resonable. However, you don't have to own it unless you are a control freak like me. As I said, I would like to tune every aspect of my computer, so I also own following sharewear. I got them from bundle sales, and they are pretty good (except for the price), and I would probablity not purchase them separately at full retail price.
MacPilot, shareware
System tuning/optimizing program. Don't think you need it with a new mac.
Xslimmer, shareware
Slim you universal binary program to ppc/intel only, and trim extra language packs. I need it because the hard drive on my old powerbook is so small... but not recommended for new macs, you have a big hard drive!
My Mac Software List 1 - general, windows compatibility and chinese input
As I am getting more friends using mac, I would like to take a little time to organize my favorite programs and share them with you. Most of the software are free, but there are still a bunch of very good shareware (meaning, free trial but need to pay afterwards). If you want to discover more software, please visit:
If you want me to give you just ONE application I cannot live without, that is
QuickSilver, freeware
A unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data. In other words, you can use the keyboard only to do anything (open application, open a particular folder etc) in very few key strokes. In my opinion, it should be build in the OS! It is so cool that I recommend every one use it (except for grannies that prefer moving the mouse clicking everywhere). Also, the developer is a Googler!
If you are transiting from a windows platform, and still miss some of your favorite windows programs, you can install them on the intel-based macs in four ways: (of cause, you need a separate windows installation disk and license)
Boot camp, build in in leopard
You get a full featured windows machine (play 3D games etc), and the only downside is that you have to reboot the machine, and there is almost no interaction with your mac system.
Parallels Desktop, shareware
The good thing is that you can run windows within your mac OS X, and runing windows programs as if they are mac programs. It is also not very stable at the beginning (when I tried), but should be OK now, and I guess it is the most used solution. The downside is that it is not free, but I still give thumbs up for the developers, and purchased a copy.
VMware Fusion, shareware
The biggest competitor for Paralles Desktop, and big company does greate virtualiztion stuff. I never tried, but it should be as good as Paralles Desktop. My naive suggestion is to check which ever is cheaper (both are quite expensive in my views).
CrossOver, shareware
If you do not want to give out your money to Microsoft for a windows license, but still want to run some of your windows applications, check crossover's software list. This might be the cheapest solution considering the rediculous price of Windows XP/Vista, but it only support a few windows software, and CrossOver is not free :(
Chinese Input, check chinese mac website at Yale. How I wish Google Pinyin release a mac version (only windows version for now)!
Pinyin, build in in leopard
Decent, but slow to type (bad dictionary). Only exciting feature is that you can split the words like: "yiwei" and press enter get: 袆 instead of flip a long list under "yi".
QIM, shareware
The best input method for now. Good dictionary (collaboration with sougou), and only downside is too expensive. If you have a Chinese credit/debit card, you may save a few bucks from the Chinese version of the payment website. I did purchase a copy of QIM, but still think it is over-priced.
FIT
Fun Input Toy, based on fcitx. Best part is that it has 五笔 and it is free! Bad part is that QIM has a better pinyin dictionary.
- iusethis：http://osx.iusethis.
com / - versiontrack：http://www.
versiontracker.com/macosx/ - macupdate：http://macupdate.com
/
If you want me to give you just ONE application I cannot live without, that is
QuickSilver, freeware
A unified, extensible interface for working with applications, contacts, music, and other data. In other words, you can use the keyboard only to do anything (open application, open a particular folder etc) in very few key strokes. In my opinion, it should be build in the OS! It is so cool that I recommend every one use it (except for grannies that prefer moving the mouse clicking everywhere). Also, the developer is a Googler!
If you are transiting from a windows platform, and still miss some of your favorite windows programs, you can install them on the intel-based macs in four ways: (of cause, you need a separate windows installation disk and license)
Boot camp, build in in leopard
You get a full featured windows machine (play 3D games etc), and the only downside is that you have to reboot the machine, and there is almost no interaction with your mac system.
Parallels Desktop, shareware
The good thing is that you can run windows within your mac OS X, and runing windows programs as if they are mac programs. It is also not very stable at the beginning (when I tried), but should be OK now, and I guess it is the most used solution. The downside is that it is not free, but I still give thumbs up for the developers, and purchased a copy.
VMware Fusion, shareware
The biggest competitor for Paralles Desktop, and big company does greate virtualiztion stuff. I never tried, but it should be as good as Paralles Desktop. My naive suggestion is to check which ever is cheaper (both are quite expensive in my views).
CrossOver, shareware
If you do not want to give out your money to Microsoft for a windows license, but still want to run some of your windows applications, check crossover's software list. This might be the cheapest solution considering the rediculous price of Windows XP/Vista, but it only support a few windows software, and CrossOver is not free :(
Chinese Input, check chinese mac website at Yale. How I wish Google Pinyin release a mac version (only windows version for now)!
Pinyin, build in in leopard
Decent, but slow to type (bad dictionary). Only exciting feature is that you can split the words like: "yiwei" and press enter get: 袆 instead of flip a long list under "yi".
QIM, shareware
The best input method for now. Good dictionary (collaboration with sougou), and only downside is too expensive. If you have a Chinese credit/debit card, you may save a few bucks from the Chinese version of the payment website. I did purchase a copy of QIM, but still think it is over-priced.
FIT
Fun Input Toy, based on fcitx. Best part is that it has 五笔 and it is free! Bad part is that QIM has a better pinyin dictionary.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Enable Wireless Time Machine
In leopard, the wireless time machine was disabled by default, except time capsule. Here is the command in terminal to enable it.
defaults write com.apple.systempreferences TMShowUnsupportedNetworkVolumes 1
Friday, April 11, 2008
Safari Tips
1. Tab browsing, true one-window solution.
2. Restore last closed window/session.
3. Temporary files stored at
defaults write com.apple.Safari TargetedClicksCreateTabs -bool true
2. Restore last closed window/session.
Safari 3 Menu bar History -> Reopen last closed window.
Safari 3 Menu bar History -> Reopen all windows from last session.
3. Temporary files stored at
/var/tmp/folders.502/TemporaryItems/
Apple CMD + Shift + G, the directory.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Install Vista in Bootcamp
NOTICE: The home editions are not allowed for visualization use, such as parallels and fusion.
1. Pre-Install
1.1. Remove old partition using bootcamp assistant. Reboot.
1.2. Download latest bootcamp assistant. (Mine 1.4beta.)
1.3. Install bootcamp assistant.
1.4. Create bootcamp drivers CD.
1.5. Create new windows partition in bootcamp assistant, Vista at least 20G (I used 25G).
1.5.1. If partition failed, use disk utility to repair.
1.5.2. If failed, try to use OS X disk, boot from CD, use disk utility to repair.
1.5.3. If failed, boot into single-user mode. (Shut down, press power, press CMD+S.)
1.5.4. /sbin/fsck -fy
1.5.5. Press Enter after five phases are done, and reboot.
1.5.6. Create new windows partition in bootcamp assistant.
1.6. Insert Windows Disk, and press Start Installation button.
1.6.1. To open fancy vista retail box, first remove the certificate of authorization sticker on the top, then remove the sticky seal on the side, finally pull the red pulley on the top. So complicated...
2. Installation, about 40 min.
2.1. Chose Language etc and click start install.
2.2. Type the product key. (when you open the vista box, on one side of the plastic box.)
2.3. Chose custom install, select the correct disk.
2.4. The Installing Windows Panel, expect restarts and black screens.
2.5. Set up account, password, time-zone, etc.
2.6. Waiting for the initial set up and log in.
3. Post Installation, about 50 minutes.
3.1. Eject Vista DVD, and insert Bootcamp drivers CD. Note we don't have right click on macbook yet, so goto Computers->Select Optical Drive->Eject. Also, no sound, no internet yet.
3.2. Automatically brings up a choice, and select install the exe file. Grant Access.
3.3. Go through all the Boot Camp Installation, which will happen automatically. Expect the resolution will change during installing the drivers. About 20 minutes, reboot.
3.4. Activate Vista (Control Panel->System and Maintenance->System).
3.5. Install Vista Updates (already 30 on Sep 14), about 30 minutes! Reboot.
3.6. Install other softwares.
1. Pre-Install
1.1. Remove old partition using bootcamp assistant. Reboot.
1.2. Download latest bootcamp assistant. (Mine 1.4beta.)
1.3. Install bootcamp assistant.
1.4. Create bootcamp drivers CD.
1.5. Create new windows partition in bootcamp assistant, Vista at least 20G (I used 25G).
1.5.1. If partition failed, use disk utility to repair.
1.5.2. If failed, try to use OS X disk, boot from CD, use disk utility to repair.
1.5.3. If failed, boot into single-user mode. (Shut down, press power, press CMD+S.)
1.5.4. /sbin/fsck -fy
1.5.5. Press Enter after five phases are done, and reboot.
1.5.6. Create new windows partition in bootcamp assistant.
1.6. Insert Windows Disk, and press Start Installation button.
1.6.1. To open fancy vista retail box, first remove the certificate of authorization sticker on the top, then remove the sticky seal on the side, finally pull the red pulley on the top. So complicated...
2. Installation, about 40 min.
2.1. Chose Language etc and click start install.
2.2. Type the product key. (when you open the vista box, on one side of the plastic box.)
2.3. Chose custom install, select the correct disk.
2.4. The Installing Windows Panel, expect restarts and black screens.
2.5. Set up account, password, time-zone, etc.
2.6. Waiting for the initial set up and log in.
3. Post Installation, about 50 minutes.
3.1. Eject Vista DVD, and insert Bootcamp drivers CD. Note we don't have right click on macbook yet, so goto Computers->Select Optical Drive->Eject. Also, no sound, no internet yet.
3.2. Automatically brings up a choice, and select install the exe file. Grant Access.
3.3. Go through all the Boot Camp Installation, which will happen automatically. Expect the resolution will change during installing the drivers. About 20 minutes, reboot.
3.4. Activate Vista (Control Panel->System and Maintenance->System).
3.5. Install Vista Updates (already 30 on Sep 14), about 30 minutes! Reboot.
3.6. Install other softwares.
Clear "Open With" Menu
有时Open With菜单里面会出现重复的程序链接，譬如doc文件出现两个Office Word，jpeg文件出现两个Photoshop。修复的办法是在终端里面运行如下命令行：
cd /System/Library/Frameworks/ApplicationServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/
./lsregister -kill -domain local -domain system -domain user
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