Details are still very murky, but Twitter has revoked access for two third party Twitter clients owned by UberMedia, UberTwitter and Twidroyd.

UberMedia owns several twitter clients, many of which have been recent purchases, including Echofon and UberCurrent. We recently found out UberMedia is currently in the process of buying TweetDeck.

Twitter’s explanation is posted here, and states that the clients have been suspended due to policy violations. The post goes on to explain that Twitter suspends hundreds of 3rd party applications daily, but posted about this suspension because it would effect a much larger set of users.

Techcrunch posted a response from a Twitter spokesperson that specifically stated:

These violations include, but aren’t limited to, a privacy issue with private Direct Messages longer than 140 characters, trademark infringement, and changing the content of users’ Tweets in order to make money.

I’m personally pretty big on hearing both sides of a story before making a judgement, but privacy issues on direct messages is a very big issue to me, and changing the content of a user’s tweet is abominable. It certainly makes me nervous about using any of UberMedia’s other products until things are cleared up.

In the past I have felt that Twitter encouraged the third party clients. For a long time they didn’t offer any third party clients, and one would see Twitter employees using some of the third party tools. However, it now seems that the company is beginning to take their own tools more seriously, as we saw with Tweetie being brought into Twitter, huge improvements to the web interface, and the end of this post about UberMedia pointing to official Twitter clients.

It has only been a couple of years since Twitter was a tiny social network used by some geeks and hipsters. But the company has become one of the most important players in “new media” and has had to scale at an unbelievable pace. One can only expect things will get more interesting.

Article Via TechCrunch
Photo Credit: Ed Schramm (via iDesk)

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I tried a couple of solutions including DoubleTwist, but they didn’t quite feel right. I finally ran into Salling Media Sync, and have used it since. The best tools to me are ones I set up one time, and then don’t think about again. They just become part of my workflow.

Salling Media sync is simple. There is an icon in your notification bar, and when you plug in an Android device and turn on USB storage, Salling Media Sync will recognize the device and pop up a sync window. The first tab gives you an overview of the device and storage use, and the remaining three tabs handle options for syncing music, podcasts, and photos. I often like to sync entire artists, so I just set up a smart playlist for each artist I am interested in syncing. The podcast tab works a lot like the podcast syncing in iTunes, and the photos tab allows you to sync selected events/folders in either your iPhoto or Aperture libraries.

Syncing is simple, and fast. The only improvements I could see would be a way to choose artists or albums to sync instead of playlists, and the ability to pull new music off your Android device into your iTunes library.

A demo version of Salling Media Sync is available for free, but the paid version syncs faster. Best of all, it is on sale until Feburary 1 for $9.99. I was happy that I paid the full $20 or so back when I bought it for the “just works” it provides me. You can pay for the full version at the Salling Media website, or through the Mac App Store.

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The crowd went wild again, but now with the vitriol that is solely reserved for politics and Apple Inc. announcements.

But to a few of us, this was a big deal.

The technology company Apple Computer/Apple Inc. and the Beatles media company Apple Corps have a long history due not just to the shared name, but also to some shared values and customers. The foundations of Apple Computers are in the counterculture movement of the 1970s and 1980s that so loved the Beatles. Steve Jobs’ recent ups and downs with AT&T over the iPhone aren’t the first time he has faced the telecom giant; some of the friendship that were forged between Jobs and Steve Wozniak was based on building “Blue Boxes” used to hack the phone system. Jobs has consistently displayed an affinity for much of the ethics and practices of that time.

So we get to the naming of the company. The Apple Museum page on this subject leaves the naming a bit ambiguous, but mentions a tribute to the Beatles record company as being a possibility. I don’t think Jobs or any of the other Apple founders have ever confirmed that the company was named in honor of the record company, but I think it’s fair to guess that it had some influence. I could drag on and on with clips and quotes that point to the Steves being Beatles fans, but I’ll just toss out a few quick ones.

When Wozniak went back to school in the early 80s he enrolled with the name “Rocky Racoon Clark” to help minimize the problems his fame would cause. John Lennon (with Yoko) were in one of the images from the “Think Different” ad campain from 1997 (right after Jobs’ return). One of John Lennon’s records was featured on the box art for the iPod Touch. And the below video from 60 minutes clearly shows the Beatles’ influence on Jobs.

Steve Jobs talks about Beatles/Teamwork

All of this is really to establish that the now bigger company, Apple Inc., was started by a couple of Beatles fans, who certainly had no intention of the name harming the record company. Now on to the legal issues.

Apple Corps started as little more than a tax shelter for the Fab Four. As the song “Taxman” makes clear, the band wasn’t a big fan of how much of their money had to be given to the UK government. It turned out that by establishing a corporation they could get a lower tax rate on their music earnings. Paul McCartney is credited for coming up with the name, a phonetic wordplay on “apple core.” In the meantime they had to have this company do something to justify its existence. They originally just planned to sell some retail merchandise, and later decided to help struggling artists. Eventually the company became a bit more serious, and handled much of the Beatles’ business (which is a lot by itself) and also functioned as a full blown record label and recording studio for a few acts.

Nine years later, Apple Computer was founded. According to the Apple Museum, Wozinak was concerned that the name would be trouble. Sure enough, Apple Corps didn’t wait long and filed suit against Apple Computer in 1978. The two settled in 1981, with Apple Computer paying Apple Corps a mere $80,000, and a condition that Apple Computer wouldn’t enter the music business, and Apple Corps wouldn’t enter the computer business. It is important to keep in mind that computing in 1981 was a far cry from the multimedia world it is today. Until the early-mid 90s the concept of computer music was heavily tied to midi bleeps and squeals.

In 1986, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer again, this time because of some significant MIDI and audio hardware and capabilities added to one of the Apple II computers, stating that this was against the 1981 agreement. Apple Computer had to cough up a much more considerable amount of money to settle with Apple Corps again in 1991 when Mac OS recieved a sound sampling system. The system was originally called Chimes but was later renamed “Sosumi” as a play on the phrase “so sue me.”

Finally, in 2003, Apple Corps sued Apple Computer for the iTunes store. The fact that the computer store was now distributing music led many (myself included) to wonder if Apple Corps might have a bit of a stronger argument in court. I’m no lawyer, but I expect the wording of the 1991 settlement had a lot to do with Apple Computer surviving this one. A CNet article from the 2003 dispute quotes the 1991 ruling:

Apple Computer was allowed to use its brand on “goods or services…used to reproduce, run, play or otherwise deliver such content,” as long as it was not on physical media such as a CD.

The concept of a portable music player that stored its content digitally on a hard disk or solid state memory was a far off thought in 1991, when portable CD players like the Discman had just started to become common. However, the above statement seems to pretty strongly allow selling music through iTunes, and playing it on a computer or iPod. Apple Computer won this battle, and Apple Corps appealed. In the meantime, Apple Computer became Apple Inc.

In February 2007, Apple Inc. and Apple Corps announced that an agreement had been reached. No money for legal costs exchanged hands, but the trademarks related to “Apple” were handed over to Apple Inc., with Apple Inc. licensing use of the trademark back to Apple Corps. This led many observers to think that the Beatles would soon be on iTunes. The Beatles were one of very few popular artists not on the iTunes store, and all four of the Beatles’ solo works were on iTunes. McCartney even did an iTunes + iPod silhouette video in 2007. But it didn’t happen for almost 4 years…

The rumors came up again and again, just like the iPhone and iPad before. They heated up quite a bit in the summer of 2009 when the Beatles music was released in digital form for the first time with the Rock Band Beatles game, and the remastering and re-release of the entire catalog seemed like a perfect time to release the music on iTunes. Paul McCartney was even quoted as saying he wanted it to happen, but things were hung up on the business side (involving EMI). Additionally there were rumors and vague reports that indicated Yoko Uno wasn’t doing the best job of working with Apple Inc.

So here we are, with the Beatles finally on iTunes. As I mentioned at the beginning, much of the Apple faithful were disappointed that Apple “hyped” this event. By that they mean the front page ad that only showed up one day before the announcement. There weren’t ads or teasers or a keynote speech. To those of us that have followed this saga for years and like to show our support for music we care about, it seems like it was worth even more hype.

Header photo credit: Gabriel Alves (Creative Commons)

Much of the content of this article is sourced from Wikipedia, in particular the Apple v. Apple page.

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It will be available as a beta as of today.  You can download FaceTime from Apple’s website already; however, there has been some mention of bugs and delays in getting the app running.

FaceTime has not been integrated with iChat, nor does it let you chat or send files.  It’s a straight up video chatting application, as it was expected to be.  Upon downloading and installation you will be asked to log in to your AppleID and then add an email address to your account.  You can either use your AppleID or a secondary email address as the primary email for your FaceTime account.  For instance, my Apple ID is a Gmail account, and I’m now using my @macgasm account for FaceTime.

The application pretty much works exactly like the phone version.

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Continue following Macgasm for updates throughout the keynote, and in-depth coverage after the event.

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The eighth feature of the iPhone announced was iAds. We already heard about this in the iPhone Developers announcement of OS4, but Steve Jobs demoed the feature today and gave some numbers. These included the fact that $60 million in iAds were already committed for the second half of 2010, and that iAds already account for 48% of the US mobile display advertising market in 2010—before the service has even launched.

iAds boasts some interesting interactivity features allowing end users to learn more without having to leave the current application and go to some random website.

Continue following Macgasm for updates throughout the keynote, and in-depth coverage after the event.

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Time for Jenga! The new iPhone also sports a gyroscope, working with the existing accelerometer and compass to help the iPhone do even more, from more accurate compass readings and positioning to better gaming.

Apple has updated the camera to a 5MP sensor, but increased the size of the sensor so the pixels are the same size as with the 3MP camera in the 3GS. Additionally, to increase low light capability, the sensor is backlit and adds an LED flash. Also on tap for the camera is 5x digital zoom.

This new camera will shoot 720p video at 30fps, and can keep the LED light on for video.

Continue following Macgasm for updates throughout the keynote, and in-depth coverage after the event.

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To kick off the WWDC Keynote Steve Jobs had a number of people come on stage to announce upcoming apps.

People have really enjoyed watching Netflix streaming on the iPad, and today Apple had Netflix CEO Reed Hastings on stage to announce it is coming to the iPhone this summer.

Following this was Mark Pincus from Zynga, announcing that Farmville was coming to the iPhone, and will tie in with the Facebook Farmville game. It should be available in June.

Karthik Bala from Activision announced a “brand new Guitar Hero experience for the iPhone and iPad” including a new strumming mechanic, in the App Store today for $2.99.

Continue following Macgasm for updates throughout the keynote, and in-depth coverage after the event.

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The latest one from Google appears to be innocent, but seems like a doozy. When Google was sending the VW Beatles around with the creepy bug-eye cameras they were apparently wardriving as well. And not just connecting to any open WiFi they came in radio range of to catch up on farmville, but also reading and saving all of the data. The location of these open networks is used to aid with positioning. Devices like the iPod Touch have minor positioning data available based simply on what network they are connected to, and Google set up this system by mapping networks. The problem is that they also grabbed activity logs while they were at it.

Most people don’t understand just how insecure network communication is by default. Another machine on the same network as you will have all packets fly by it, and if the connection isn’t secure (the https you see for things like your bank, paypal, or GMail) then the data just goes by as plain text. Pretty much any web browsing activity, instant messaging, etc. can be seen by perfectly legal and freely available software. One of the most popular examples is Wireshark. The software exists to help network engineers troubleshoot problems, but can also be used to collect things like what sites are being visited, or even passwords sent by unencrypted methods.

So this means Google has collected tons of data from (presumably) anywhere that has Google streetview data on file.

I can see some reason to argue that people who didn’t have their network secured are the ones at fault, but why would Google be collecting and keeping this data. Some privacy advocates aren’t too happy about this, and according to this Financial Times article, Peter Schaar, the German commissioner for data protection, wants answers from the big G.

I really appreciate Google’s continual push for technology, they have done a tremendous amount to advance technology in the last decade. However I truly only hope that events like this and the backlash from both the government and private sector can urge Google to take a step back and remember to keep ethics a top priority.
Image via rpb on flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rbp/4254683170/

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This is a lot to digest, and I think we are all still figuring out what is going on, and what is going to happen.

The situation is unprecedented. We can’t make a strong guess at what Apple will do. Apple makes great hardware and software, but a huge part of their marketing is the secrecy, the excitement, and the surprise. A post at Codulate.com today compared Steve Jobs works of wonder and amazement with Willy Wonka.

Engadget pointed out this Twitpic from TUDream

There are still questions swirling about the legitimacy of the device. In fact our most recent post questioned it. Josh and I have talked about it a little since and I think there is now very little question of the legitimacy of the device. The device came from Apple. There are a couple of arguments, and I think by now all are proven false.

1) Gizmodo is faking this. – Probably the best argument, and one we even considered here at Macgasm. However, the fact that Gizmodo’s biggest competitor, Engadget, had posted pictures of the same device before Gizmodo posted about it means Gizmodo has either established an incredibly elaborate scheme, or it really exists. Additionally, John Gruber, who few would accuse of practicing sketchy journalism, has separately confirmed that Apple is indeed missing a device, that more than just Gizmodo knew of the device, and that Gizmodo had purchased it. He referred to it as an open secret that Gizmodo had obtained the device.

2) The device is a knock off, or the person the blogs heard about it from fabricated it. – That seemed possible until Gizmodo posted the pictures and videos. The hardware is too specialized. If someone crammed an older iPhone into a funky case, there would have been a SIM card slot at the top, not a micro slot on the side. I haven’t confirmed this, but according to Gizmodo nothing exists on the market right now with micro SIM. The iPad will be the first. Not to mention lots of other stuff that is too different from prior iPhones to be one, but too Apple to be a knock off.

Image Credit Gizmodo - Click image for their article

However this brings up a good point, and one that John Gruber also mentioned: even if this is a device from Apple, it may not be exactly what the new one will look like. Apple historically keeps the hardware engineers, hardware designers, and software engineers separate. A similar concept is used in the automotive industry, called a development mule. Most new sports cars are first seen in some super ugly shell, with the new drivetrain underneath. This helps keep spy photographers from getting the design out to the public. The fact that everyone at first thought this phone was some sort of copy-cat says a lot for that possibility. The seams seen on the device lean toward this too. According to Gizmodo, the Apple employee that lost the phone was working on the Baseband Software, which handles phone functions. His test unit almost certainly had the legit hardware, and the legit software, but the design could have been totally different. The only thing that makes me really hesitant to think this is the case is the puddle of drool on my desk after going through the Gizmodo pictures yesterday. I totally believe Apple could release a radically different design for the iPhone, the current design has been used for 2 years, and is really quite similar to the first generation iPhone.

Finally, the legal and ethical issues around this are nuts. Gizmodo certainly had a choice in how they handled this. The article about the letter Apple sent tries to make Gizmodo out to be a good Samaritan, and I don’t think they have much argument for that. The initial reaction is that all is fair in journalism. Apple has a responsibility to keep secrets if they don’t want them out, and they failed. However this isn’t really how things work. Andy Ihnatko wrote a column about this if you care at all about good writing, good journalism, etc., go read it now.

Andy has been in this game a long time. Apple is an entirely different topic than it was 15 years ago, before the return of Jobs. In fact, it is a very different company than it was 7 or 8 years ago when I started following. The secrecy has been there as long as I remember, but the leaks are getting more common these days. Many, many more people care. The number of people that have either an iPhone, Macintosh computer, or iPod must be several times what it was a few years ago. This means lots of money goes through the company, and means that both the media and the financial industry care a lot more. I think Apple is also starting to play the game a bit more. There are more “leaks” from places like the Wall Street Journal, which I am certain are on purpose.

Andy goes on to tell the story of an executive that told way too much, and Andy offered to retroactively consider it off the record. I think a lot of leaks like this happen (both Engadget and John Gruber knew about this before Gizmodo posted it) but journalists have to make a judgement on what they publish. Publishing a hot scoop can generate lots of traffic and ad revenue, but it can also alienate industry contacts. Furthermore, it can alienate readers who view the actions as unethical. There are those that don’t do something because it is unethical, even if the cost benefit says it is worth losing the contacts or reader, and then there are those that just look at the cost benefit. I think this story puts Gizmodo in the latter category, along with the likes of TechCrunch.

Additionally, Gizmodo could see some serious legal fallout. There isn’t much to prove that this unit wasn’t actually stolen from Apple. The vibe at this point is that Apple considers this unit stolen. I am not a lawyer, nor do I even play one on TV, so I won’t pretend to know if there is any possible trouble. However intellectual property is a big deal. Apple is a big company, and I’m certain they’ll hire some of the best lawyers in the industry, to protect Apple from IP theft, and to protect Apple from IP suits.

The whole thing is interesting. I can even see some reason to wonder if this is some publicity stunt and Apple is behind it in the first place, but it doesn’t seem at all like their style. I think the only thing that is certain is that there are many parts to this puzzle we will never know.

What would I bet on? A higher resolution screen in the new iPhone, a move to micro SIM (SIM stuff is critical to what this engineer would have been testing), and a not entirely different interface. Expect the home button, volume buttons, silent switch, and power buttons to still be the only buttons. The front facing camera is a very strong possibility, but it also might be axed before production. I think the overall design is still in the air. I would be surprised if it looks exactly like what Gizmodo has, the seams would probably be gone if nothing else. It might be very close to the device Gizmodo obtained, or it might look like the iPhone 3GS sitting on my desk, or it might look like something we have never seen before. But I have a gut feeling that what Gizmodo has is close.

I do echo Gizmodo’s comment about Gray Powell, the engineer that reportedly lost the phone. I hope Apple goes easy on him. I don’t know him but if he graduated from NC State in 2006, we went to school together. He is probably as upset about this getting out as anyone, and not just for his own sake. I seriously doubt he would ever make a mistake like this again. It’s too bad that Apple handles these things so harshly, and that some people (*cough*journalists*cough*) value getting a story over the fallout it could have for an individual.

I’ll give you a parting DF link and prediction. John Gruber also linked to this picture of Steve Jobs office, which brings about a final prediction that we might not see a new iPhone at all for 2010. If the pictures Gizmodo posted are the final design, Jobs might be so pissed off to axe the entire project, and if he doesn’t we will certainly hear a smarmy comment during his keynote.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

Macgasm - Apple Tips, Apple News, Apple Everything.

What I do: I am currently a system administrator with a development team at IBM, and just finished an Agricultural Business degree with a minor in computer science, and I am a photographer. My MacBook sees a wide range of use.

Apple Apps I use:

Safari: I like webapps, and live in my browser. When I first started on the Mac I clung to Firefox for a while, but with time grew to prefer the integration of Safari. I never used a ton of plug-ins on Firefox, so I didn’t miss much with Safari. I quickly got used to the way Safari handled things like auto-completion, and for some reason I like the way WebKit renders. Finally with Safari 4′s speed and new tab “Top Sites” feature, I was sold. However, I love Google Chrome, and when it comes fully to the Mac, I might switch.

iTunes: I love iTunes. I know many hate it, but it just works for me. As with most Apple products, the advantage is in the details. Things like various ways to customize your view, and I love the new Genius playlist feature. iTunes is generally speedy, and I love the fact that the rewind, play/pause, and fast-forward keys on my MacBook work no matter what. Windows never did that without trouble.

Terminal: The one sentence explanation of why I run a Mac is the “it just works” of Windows on a Unix base. I have just grown too accustomed to the Unix command line to go without it. And for development and system administration, there aren’t really many alternatives. Some people prefer iTerm, and I used it off and on in the 10.2 and 10.3 days. But Terminal with Leopard integrates perfectly into the system, supports tabs, and I stick with a modified “Homebrew” theme with semi-transparency. It sounds like eye-candy, but when you can pull up a documentation page with IP addresses or other information, and run your terminal right on top of it, things get done quicker and more accurately. I recommend looking into alternative fonts to keep things easy on your eyes. Hivelogic recently ran a good post on programmer/console fonts, my current pick is Inconsolata.

Spotlight: I am typically very organized about my filesystem, but I find Spotlight to be very useful for speed. I ran LaunchBar through a trial period, and preferred it, but it wasn’t worth the cost to me when Spotlight does 95% of what I want LaunchBar to do. I hit Cmd-Space and type the first few letters of the app or file I want to launch, and bam, its done. My obsessive compulsiveness on the computer leads me to mostly keep files off of the desktop, and minimize apps in the dock, so a launcher is perfect.

Time Machine: This should have been invented a LONG time ago. It should exist on every major operating system. For years geeks have been writing rsync scripts to do this, but why someone didn’t create a simple interface for “everyman” to use this, I don’t know. But it is a lifesaver. I still don’t do a good enough job with off-site backup, but at least I know I’m covered unless a metor hits my house, or some other terrible thing.

That is about it for built in stuff. There are some system utilities that see a little bit of use, but not enough to be considered my choice. I like TextEdit, but between TextMate and full blown word processors, it doesn’t see much use. I will pop up dashboard once in a while to check the weather, but my iPhone serves that purpose most of the time now. And I use Leopard’s quick look often, but that is less of an app and more of an OS function.

Third Party Apps I use:

Acorn: I had considered buying Acorn before it was in the latest MacHeist bundle, but with it in the bundle it was a slam dunk. It is a great little app for minor image work. I kinda think something like this should be included with the OS, but on the Mac, Acorn does it. A similar app on the PC is Paint.net. $49.95.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom: Photographers have a number of choices for RAW image organizers, but the two most popular are Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, and Apple’s Aperture. I don’t really remember why I picked Lightroom, but I have tried Aperture since, and I was disappointed. I think it is just a matter of picking one and getting used to it. Aperture does offer better integration with iPhoto and the ability to build books and cards for Apple’s printing service. Lightroom offers great integration with Adobe Photoshop. $299

Bean: I love Bean. I wish I had more reason to use it. It is lightweight, well featured, and has a clean design. So many free OSX apps are Linux/Windows apps shoehorned onto the Mac, but Bean is not. The Windows/Linux answer to Bean is Abiword, which is a great product, but Mac fit and finish is almost always better. $Free

Burn: Similar to Bean, Burn is a free, open source OSX exclusive that does things well and simply. Remember what I said about liking Unix earlier? A big part of Unix is the idea of apps that do one thing but do it well. Bean and Burn are like that. $Free

Caffeine: Nice little tool. Start up caffeine and nothing happens, but an empty coffee cup appears in your menu bar. Click on the icon and it fills with steaming hot Joe, and your Mac won’t fall asleep on you. Very handy for doing things like watching videos. $Free

CoverSutra: Some good stuff here. CoverSutra puts the Track, Album, Artist, and artwork for the song you are currently listening to in iTunes on your desktop. Very cool, looks nice. But the killer feature to me is the keyboard shortcuts. At home I have a beloved Apple Extended II keyboard. I like it better than my IBM Model M keyboards, but it lacks those keyboard controls I mentioned above. With CoverSutra I can hit F6, and up pops a box with song info and controls. I can hit the spacebar to play or pause, and Cmd-Right or Cmd-Left to skip tracks. Quite handy. I got mine from an old bundle, but I would pay $20 for it again. $19.95

Disk Inventory X: I remember triple booting Windows 98, NT4, and Red Hat Linux all on the same 500MB hard drive. I remember buying my first 80GB hard drive and wondering what I would ever fill it with. But time moves on. MP3′s go 256K, image files turn into 14bit 10MP RAW, and movies go HD. I now have a 320GB HDD in my MacBook, and recently had to move my photo archive to an external disk because my poor MacBook was packed to the gills. Disk management is tough. Disk Inventory X is a lifesaver. It gives you a visual diagram to show you what is taking up space. See that big block on the right, it’s all those TV episodes you downloaded from iTunes but don’t watch anymore. Back them up and get them off your main drive. Huge help, and $Free.

Dropbox: Speaking of hard drive issues, Dropbox has been awesome. I end up using an extra ThinkPad at home with Linux sometimes, and I keep a Windows ThinkPad in the office for weird issues that need it. I keep all of them hooked up to Dropbox so all of my important info is just a click away. The (possible) downside is that you have to have a separate folder for Dropbox, instead of just telling it to sync your entire home directory, but this can be nice to keep stuff that is too big in it’s own place. The service also provides web access, which is useful when you are using a friend’s or public computer. The 2GB account is free and gives you enough space for the important documents and a few key media files, and the 50GB account will let you keep almost anything short of a large photo collection or music and movies. For many users, 50GB will hold everything. $Free for 2GB, $10/month for 50GB, $20/month for 100GB.

Google Notifier: I was an early user of GMail. I loved the web interface, but wanted the integration a built in mail client provided. I was excited when GMail added IMAP, and used it for a while, but I missed GMails keyboard shortcuts, address book, and speed. Merlin Mann of NetNewsWire: I go back and forth on this. I will use Google Reader for a while, then I will use a desktop news reader for a while. I love the fact that you can plow through feeds with just your spacebar using NetNewsWire. I like the email inbox type view, and how easily it opens up things in a browser window. But I don’t like that it only syncs every half hour, and I often feel like it doesn’t pick up on feeds until hours after they are published. So it is a mixed bag. NetNewsWire is a great product, and allows syncronisation with the iPhone app, the web app, and readers for other operating systems. It comes down to a matter of preference. In truth part of the reason I am currently using NetNewsWire is my continued paranoia about how much Google is keeping my info. $Free

OpenOffice.org: Open Office is a really nice project, but has a bit of a checkered past with the Mac. This is a prime example of the issue I mentioned above with open source software. It is often designed with Windows or Linux in mind, and shoehorned onto the Mac. Until the recent 3.0 release, OpenOffice was one of the worst offenders. It only ran in X11. NeoOffice was available, but buggy. This new version isn’t great, and isn’t as Mac-like as I want, but it is much better. It is my current pick because of the price. iWork is a great package, and obviously very Mac like, but it is hard to create something in iWork and use it on another platform unless you export it as an uneditable PDF. MS Office for Mac is ok. It is kinda Mac-like, and mostly cooperates with other platforms, but it is clunky and expensive. I do so much in Google Docs and Bean anyway. So for the few times I need a full office suite, Open Office is good enough. $Free

TextMate: I love me some TextMate. If it wasn’t for the fit and finish and simplicity of great Mac apps like iTunes and TextMate, I would probably be on Linux. But for some reason, Mac apps are just better. They manage to be simple enough to be used by a new user, but allow enough customization and buried options for a power user to eventually put to use. TextMate is like this. A dead simple text editor at first, but as you learn the shortcuts and bundles, it is as powerful as any. The fact that there is such a community around it, and a great plug-in system to extend it really puts it over the edge as a “killer app.” Luckily a little bit less expensive than it was a year or two ago since the dollar is now stronger against the Euro. As of today it will run you USD $56.

The Unarchiver: An unsung hero. I rarely see this app mentioned. Like 7-zip on Windows I install it on every fresh box, and never think about it again. With the Unarchiver I just double click on a .zip, .rar, etc. and it opens right there. I never even think about it. But if I install a new system and forget about it, I quickly realize something is missing. It is so seamless the first time I went without it I thought I had missed an OSX system update or something. And best of all, it is $Free

Things: This one is tough. I haven’t been using it enough lately. And when you don’t take the time to open it and use it, Things is a bit useless. The feature set it there though. I can tap Ctrl-Opt-Space to open a quick entry box, bang in what I need, and it is in my inbox. It syncs with my iPhone, where it has a great (although not system-wide) entry box. It allows fairly granular but simple catagorization. I got a copy of the Hit List from the latest MacHeist, but haven’t tried it yet. However I expect Things will continue to be the winner for now. $49.95 on the Mac and $9.99 on the iPhone.

Transmission: Another open source, Mac centric app. There is also a Linux version, but the developers either write it for OSX and then port it to Linux, or they do a heckofa job with the Mac version. It is a clean, simple, but powerful BitTorrent client. $Free

Transmit: I used CyberDuck for a long time. I would almost suggest CyberDuck over transmit because it is free. CyberDuck is open source, and again, made for Mac. But something always felt clunky with CyberDuck. As a system administrator and computer science student, I spent a lot of time in an FTP client, and I just decided it was worthwhile to pay for Transmit. It is a great app, and is even more simple but powerful than CyberDuck. Like TextEdit, there just isn’t anything like it on other platforms. Panic just ran a 50% off sale last week on Transmit and all of their apps, but if you didn’t get it then, it will run you $29.95

Tweetie: Unless you live under a rock, you probably heard about Tweetie for Mac being released a while ago. The iPhone app is loved and one of the most popular iPhone twitter clients. The Mac version brought along a great package of the right features. Highly reccomended, $19.95.

VLC: The do-everything media player. Useful for any random video formats you come across on the web. I first discovered VLC when all of the Windows DVD players were clunky and expensive. I could install VLC for free without digging up the CD that came with my DVD-ROM. It was faster and had a better interface than any of the other junk out there. VLC somehow is free and open source, and has a great interface on Mac, Linux, and Windows. They do a good job of providing the performance, usability, and looks that few do on all three platforms. $Free

WriteRoom: WriteRoom provides a distraction free environment for writing. For the ADD sufferers like myself, it can be very helpful. I’ll start writing and I get a new email, or my feed reader shows some new info coming down the pipe, or I see someone come onto IM, and I get distracted. I own a few typewriters that I used to use when I needed to focus, but then you have to type or scan it back into a computer. So WriteRoom was the answer. If you need it, it is worth every penny. $24.95

That covers the bulk of my day to day software. Not everything, but most of the things that are either the most important to me, or that I think people may not be aware of yet. There are several thing that are on my machine, but are either minor enough or well-known enough I didn’t bring them up, so I will leave a partial list as “honorable mention.” Adium, Calaboration, coconutBattery, Espresso, Spirited Away, VMWare Fusion, Growl, SteerMouse.

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Seems like a cool idea. But in practice it can be quite annoying. Jogging with shake to shuffle is certainly going to provide an interesting, if not frustrating mix. Luckily Apple provided a fairly easy way to turn off the feature.

1. From the home screen, go to Settings.
2. Scroll down in settings and select “iPod”                                                             
3. The top option in the iPod settings menu is “Shake to Shuffle.” Tap the slider to turn it off.

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AnandTech: The iPhone 3GS Hardware Exposed and Analyzed

As a little side note on the 3GS, I found this tweet last night from @TheSeanWilson funny:

Apple II GS to iPhone 3GS…. It’s been a long time.

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I personally appreciated the space it saved, my biggest problem was the fact that it could click through. There were countless times that I clicked on the window to switch focus to Safari, and accidentally closed a tab. I think Google Chrome nails this style of tabs, and wish Safari had the same system, but I expect Google’s legal department wouldn’t like that too much.

Apple has a history of not listening to users. They like to tell their customers what they want, instead of listening to their customers. But today with the change in this tab system, and the announcement of the tiny MacBook Pro (with the (re-)addition of a FireWire port no less) Apple is doing a little to please the masses.

Safari 4 should be in software update soon, but if you want it sooner, hit up this link.

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Apple has been known for keeping good secrets, but in the last few years things have been leaked more often. If this is due to the higher profile they have these days, less effort to keep things under wraps, or simply intentional leaks for marketing is unknown. John Gruber has been one of the better sources for correct “predictions.” Gruber’s Daring Fireball blog started with a primary purpose of Apple coverage in late 2002. He often offers links and even commentary on other things, but his primary focus still seems to be Apple. He has almost always written competent commentary about Apple, and his predictions have generally been good. However for the last year or so, things have been a little different. He has many more specifics in his articles, and some predictions have been dead on.

Let’s take a brief look at his scorecard. I’ll start with WWDC last year. One of the major bits of news was Snow Leopard. Prior to the event rumors started that a new OS version was coming, and wouldn’t be a huge jump. Gruber came out 4 days prior to the keynote and wrote that in spite of initial skepticism, he thought the report from TUAW he cited was correct. It turned out to be true. This was more of a confirmation of an existing rumor than issuing raw information, but Gruber nailed something that seemed a little off. Additionally, his MobileMe prediction was spot on. The name was probably the biggest question (there were reports of “MobileMe,” but a lot of people found that to be very un-Apple), but he also predicted that the service would allow over the air syncing like the new Exchange support.

Next up is the October MacBook announcement. This was the first time it became apparent Gruber now has an inside connection at Apple. After the “Let’s Rock” iPod event (where some people were wrongly calling for new Macs) Gruber slid in a comment in his follow up on the event that people “holding out for a new lineup of MacBooks will have to wait until October 14, according to sources who, as they say, are familiar with Apple’s hardware plans.” It wasn’t the focus of the article, it seemed almost like an off-hand comment. But a few sources picked up on it, and it was one of the first leaks about that October 14 event.

Prior to the October 14 MacBook event Gruber pointed out a number of false rumors. One example is this comment from his “Linked List” that there would be no updates to iLife or iWork at the event. He summed up some of the bad rumors in his Claim Chowder article.

The last real big event from Apple was MacWorld 2009. Rumors of a tablet or netbook from Apple have been rampant for a couple of years now. The less reliable rumor mongers and even mainstream media and market fortune tellers keep promising it. Gruber has consistently said these rumors were wrong. One such post was this one published prior to MacWorld 2009.

He did miss quite a few predictions about this recent MacWorld. He published a full list, which he then scored after the event. Gruber probably came out close to 50/50. The MacWorld keynote, however, was pretty much a shocker. Apple has treated the MacWorld keynote as their biggest consumer announcement platform since Steve Jobs return. And one point to remember is that many of his predictions that weren’t true at MacWorld, have turned up in the first few months of the year.

Finally, and probably the reason I felt this article needed to be written, was his very odd prediction about the new shuffle. In fact, it was not even a prediction, it was a request. There had been little to no media speculation about an iPod Shuffle with voice over, but on February 28, Gruber called it. Within 2 weeks the product was announced. My guess is that his source (or sources) told him not to issue this as a prediction.

The point is that John Gruber’s Apple predictions are worth listening to. He has been following Apple as a fan and journalist for years. He draws intelligent, realistic conclusions, and recently seems to have gained a bit more divining power from an inside source. The fact that he doesn’t brag about having a great source like so many Mac rumor publishers do indicates that he might have a good one. One high up not worth losing.

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