Applications

Since I am thinking of updating my laptop, I was going through my list of applications that I currently use. These are the major applications that I have:

• Acrobat 5 - use to create and Modify PDF douments
• Adobe Illustrator - use to create Illustrations on the computer
• Adobe Indesign - perfect for creating booklets and PDF documents
• Adobe Photoshop - Photo editing tool
• Audio Hijac Pro - Record radio stations
• BBedit - Primary HTML editor on the Macintosh.
• Can Combine Icons - Custom Icons
• GraphicConverter - Use to browse images.
• Interarchy - FTP client
• Microsoft Office - Word/Excel and Powerpoint files
• SQL4X Manager J - Use to access MySQL and SQL server
• Sticky Brain - Use to jot down notes and information
• Toast 6 Titanium - Burn CDs and DVDs on unsupported Mac hardware.

Freeware Applications:

• Remote Desktop - Microsoft remote desktop tool
• VNCViewer - VNC client

I created this list so that I can find all the serial numbers and disks. I know programs like Carbon Copy can migrate data between two computers, but I am thinking of doing a fresh install.

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New Apple Display

Today I purchased a new 20" Apple Display.

Since 1999, I have been using the Apple 15" display at a 1024 x 768 resolution. The new Apple Displays are much better and have a higher resolution (1680 by 1050 pixels). Putting a new display on an existing computer almost seems like you have a brand new computer.

One of the reasons I decided on going with the new displays was that the computer at work I am using 1280x1024 resolution and I have gotten use to the higher resolution.

The downside of upgrading the monitor is that I can't use it on my Titanium Powerbook laptop. I have to purchase a ADC converter which costs $299. Its almost cheaper to buy another monitor.

I haven't figured out what I am going to do with the Apple 15" monitor.

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Smultron

I have been using BBEdit for at least 5 years on a daily bases. Recently someone told me about Smultron, a powerful text editor for the Macintosh.

This is a pretty cool app, that could easily replace BBEdit if it incorporated one feature, the ability to Zap Gremlins. Gremlins are strange bits of characters that usually appear when I copy text between Windows and Macintosh.

I really like the Code Snippets in Smultron. This makes reusing code a lot easier. In BBEdit, there isn't a way to store code within the app.

I am working on a way to integrate Smultron with Interarchy, its not working as I would expect. But if you use BBEdit, I would highly recommend checking out Smultron.

Oh, Smultron is about $119 cheaper than BBEdit, its free!

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Apple's 2 GB Limit

If you are using Peak LE, iMovie, or Photoshop and you are experiencing problems dealing with files greater than 2GB, you may need to reformat your drive. If the drive is formatted as HFS or FAT32, then filesize on external drive is limited to 2GB.

You need to format the drive as Mac OS Extended. This will eliminate the 2GB limit problems.

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Radio Shark

Last year at MacWorld in NYC Griffin Technology announce a new tool called Radio Shark. It like a TIVO for the Radio. I saw a couple of prototypes on the show floor and it seemed like a cool tool. I liked it because it the only audio program that you can set to schedule a radio show. The only other Macintosh audio program that can schedule recordings is Audiocorder.

Its been 1 year since Griffin Technology announced Radio Shark, and the webpage still says it 'shipping soon'. They are about as bad as Microsoft in announcing a product well before its finished.

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MacWorld Boston 2004

Today I was lucky and had the opportunity to get away from work and at least checkout the exhibit floor at MacWorld Boston. This was a far cry from the days when they split the show between the World Trade Center and Bayside Expo.

There were only 80 exhibitors this year, a much smaller than the last show in Boston. While everyone knows that Apple wasn't there, there were some other notable exhibitors missing from the show floor.

• Adobe
• Microsoft - They could have capitalized on Apple not being at the show!
• Aladdin Systems
• Macromedia
• Bare Bones - Makers of BBEdit, this is their home town!
• MacSoft

However, the there were lots of attendees and the exhibit floor was filled with people looking to buy software/hardware. I heard over and over again, that this is only a beginning, and the success of this show will only lead to a bigger show next year.

One of the Town Hall panelist said that Apple didn't need to be at the show since 80% of the American population lives within an hour drive of an Apple store, so if they wanted to see the latest Apple hardware and Software they could goto their store. The show was an opportunity for other developers to show their stuff.

Anyway the next Boston MacWorld is July 18, 2005, we'll see what happens next year.

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Ipod Playlist

I uploaded my daily commute playlist that I have on my iPod. Many of the songs are ones that I put together from my own music collection.

I typically select this playlist when I drive to work every morning, and sometimes on my evening commute, if there isn't anything exciting on any of the local Boston stations.

The Child Stars song comes right from the DVD. Instead of buying the soundtrack for Dickie Roberts for one song, I used Ambrosia's WireTap. If you are a Macintosh user, you can download Wiretap for free from Ambrosia Software website.

The Airplane sound is pretty funny, and this is usually the first sound I select when I leave in the mornings. This is a short sound byte that I captured before an airplane crew was about to open the cabin doors. I'll put it in my sound library shortly.

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120 GB Hard Drive

I was thinking of getting a new hard drive for my desktop computer. So this evening I spent a few minutes looking around the web at some electronic stores near me to see who had the best pricing for a 120 GB internal hard drive. (Since this is to be for storage, the speed of the drive didn't matter.)

Best Buy	Maxtor	$113.99
Comp USA	Maxtor	$119.99
Micro Center	Maxtor	$139.99
Staples	Maxtor	$119.98

It appears that Best Buy had the best pricing option. Not only that BestBuy.com has the ability to order online and pick it up at the store, so you'll know it will be there when you arrive. (It isn't fun going to the store and finding out that they don't have it in stock.)

However looking online, I noticed that MacSales.com has a Maxtor 160GB drive for $117.99. So if I am willing to wait a couple of days, I can get a 160GB drive for about the same price of 120GB drive.

I'll probably go for the MacSales.com option.

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Itunes Problems

I am in the process of making my new apartment to be pretty high tech. Right now I have a wireless network and a webcam setup. In fact, you can see the latest photo online.

In order to do this I have one of my old Macintosh computers, Powermac G3 400Mhz, in my living room. So I thought I would take advantage of the computer and use it as a personal stereo. I have run into two problems:

1. The speakers I wanted to use are not working, this is probably because I have the wrong input connector, and buying an adapter at Radio Shack should fix this.
2. The more serious problem is that I can't see other Itunes libraries from my two newer computers. This seems to be a 'known' problem since other people are encounter this.

So, once everything is successful, I'll be able to stream music from my office to the living room and the dinning room. Apple just announce a cool new adapter, I'll have to check that out to see if it will fit into my network.

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MacJournal

For the past few months I have been using MacJournal by Dan Schimpf Software. This is a great Macintosh application that allows you to store data in a Journal form.

Does this mean I am writing a book? No, I am logging all my PHP, ASP and Cold Fusion code so that I can use them again. This application allows you to store the data in an organized way and the find it easy.

For the past 2 years I was using BBEdit, and saving the files in a Library folder. However, this makes searching hard, and BBEdit doesn't support images.

If you do any development on a Macintosh, you should check out MacJournal.

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