July 2011
Typekit Jul 30, 2011
My thanks to Typekit for again sponsoring the RSS feed. Typekit is a fantastic and easy way to use custom fonts on the Web. I use Typekit here on shawnblanc.net. It was a piece of cake to set up, and … (More)
Macworld’s Preliminary Benchmarks of the i7 MacBook Airs Compared to the i5 Jul 29, 2011
In short, if you’re buying an 11-inch MacBook Air the increase in performance over the 1.6GHz i5 is noticeable; if you’re buying a 13-inch Air that comes stock with the 1.7GHz i5 then the improvement is more subtle. Alas, no … (More)
Uncommunication Devices Jul 29, 2011
Scott Adams (who lives in San Francisco) got rid of his iPhone because it got worthless reception and he went to Android: Anyway, my Android phone works most of the time for voice calls. But I’m afraid to actually use … (More)
Screen Size Matters Jul 29, 2011
Jim Dalrymple, in his review of the 13-inch MacBook Air, hits on exactly why I think the 15-inch MacBook Pro will be replaced by a powerful 15-inch MacBook Air: With the release of the latest 13-inch MacBook [Air], Apple has … (More)
Jon Beebe’s Review of Alfred Jul 29, 2011
Great review of Alfred by application-launcher newcomer, Jon Beebe. I use LaunchBar, but I’ve spent a good amount of time with Alfred and, like Jon, I have nothing but good things to say about it. Both utility apps are feature … (More)
Macworld’s Review of Adobe InDesign CS5.5 Jul 29, 2011
Jay J. Nelson wrote a nice overview of Adobe InDesign CS5.5 for Macworld. InDesign is my favorite Creative Suite app and the one I’m most familiar with. I still use CS3 (though I haven’t yet installed it onto my MacBook … (More)
Ben Brooks Reviews Calvetica Jul 29, 2011
Though I’m a fan of Dialvetica I never felt compelled to try Calvetica. However, Ben’s review and the just-released Calvetica 4.0 changed my mind.
nvALT 2.1 Jul 29, 2011
Many new features including Simplenote tag syncing, and (even more importantly) Simplenote syncing now works in Lion.
Put This On Season One Jul 28, 2011
By far, one of the best shows around. Jesse Thorn and Adam Lisagor did a great job with season one. Episode 4, Grooming, was my favorite.
Regarding the HP TouchPad 4G for AT&T Jul 28, 2011
Chris Ziegler at This is My Next: There’s an unexpected processor bump from 1.2GHz up to 1.5GHz of dual-core Snapdragon power. No change to RAM (still 1GB) or battery (still around 6300 mAh) — the battery life drain is “slightly … (More)
I Would Buy the Next iPhone Sight-Unseen Jul 28, 2011
If Steve Jobs got on stage this fall and all he said was, “We’ve designed a new iPhone and we think it’s pretty great. It goes on sale next week.” Then I would still be in line to buy one. … (More)
Cringely on Data Caps Jul 28, 2011
“Data caps that may make logical sense today make no sense tomorrow, yet once they are in place they’ll tend to stay in place.”
How PeachMac Competes With Apple Jul 28, 2011
PeachMac is an Apple retail store owned by Darryl Peck. Darryl is a long-time Apple user, former developer, and founder of the first ever Internet retail site outpost.com. Nicole Carter interviewed Darryl for Inc.com, talking about how he maintains and … (More)
Using Spaces on OS X Lion Jul 27, 2011
I don’t use Spaces ever. And I only use full-screen apps when I have my MacBook Air detached from my external monitor (full-screen apps on a 23-inch Cinema display have been known to cause neck strain). But, for the ardent … (More)
The Imminent Death of the 13-Inch Macbook Pro Jul 27, 2011
Thomas Brand, though he loves his 13-inch MacBook Pro, concedes that its days are numbered. And I agree. Want to know my wild guess on how it will all pan out? I see it happening something like this: Apple introduces … (More)
Mac Value Analysis Jul 27, 2011
David Smith looked up the Geekbench scores for every Mac available in the Apple Store today and then compared those against the costs. According to David’s comparisons the 2.3GHz i5 Mac Mini gives you the best bang for your buck … (More)
MacBook Airs Using SSDs From Both Toshiba and Samsung Jul 26, 2011
Last week I picked up a 256 GB i7 and fortunately it came with a Samsung SSD. The tech blogs are saying that in real-world experience we probably wouldn’t even notice the difference between the slower Toshiba drive and the … (More)
The B&B Podcast, Episode 20: MacBook Airs Jul 26, 2011
Ben and I talk about MacBook Airs: my new i7 and his old Core 2 Duo. All in all it’s a pretty light conversation. Brought to you by Fantastical.
A History Of The Title Sequence Jul 26, 2011
Jurjen Versteeg’s graduation project as part of his dissertation on title design: Designed as a possible title sequence for a fictitious documentary, this film shows a history of the title sequence in a nutshell. The sequence includes all the names … (More)
Joseph Cohen on Lion’s Natural Scrolling Jul 26, 2011
Joseph Cohen: They reversed the direction of mouse scrolling! Crazy! But really, they needed to. With Lion, Apple is trying to change the user experience metaphor that has governed OS design since the 80s. It was a symbolic move, but … (More)
Apple Has Moved On Jul 26, 2011
Horace Dediu: When Apple changed its name from Apple Computer to Apple Inc. they signaled that their business has moved on. They skate to where the puck is going to be. Not to get all philosophical all of a sudden, … (More)
The Benefits of a Local Typekit Sandbox Jul 26, 2011
A clever workaround from Andy McCray for when you’re doing web design mockup in Photoshop and you want Typekit fonts to be in the design: On a recent project, I began using a local Typekit sandbox — a static HTML … (More)
Disable Mail Reply Animations Jul 25, 2011
Thanks to MacStories’ miscellaneous Lion tips and tricks for this Terminal code to disabling the bouncing and sliding animations in Mail: defaults write com.apple.Mail DisableReplyAnimations -bool YES Ahhh. That’s much better.
‘The Curators’ Jul 25, 2011
This “Moomumentary” from Coudal Partners captures the origin stories of 3 of the many unique curators found in the Museum of Online Museums.
[Sponsor] Typekit Jul 25, 2011
Typekit is the easiest way to use fonts on the web. Just copy and paste two lines of code, and you’re off: design just like you ordinarily would, and Typekit takes care of the rest. A huge library of fonts … (More)
Palimpsest for iPad Jul 22, 2011
My thanks to Palimpsest for sponsoring the RSS feed this week. Palimpsest is an iPad reading app like I’ve never seen; it’s like Pandora but with long-form articles. Palimpsest curates long-form magazine articles from magazines like The Atlantic, The New … (More)
“People Want the Core Content” Jul 22, 2011
While working on her aforelinked article about Condé Nast and its iPad-publishing woes, Nitasha Tiku interviewed Khoi Vinh. The interview was transcribed and is definitely worth a read. In one of his comments, Khoi articulates precisely what I think most … (More)
Condé Nast Is Experiencing Technical Difficulties Jul 22, 2011
Great piece by Nitasha Tiku at The Observer: While Condé Nast was far from the only media company to find its established business model upended by the web, it appeared to be more paralyzed than most by the shift, perhaps … (More)
“The Mac as a Big Honkin’ iPad” Jul 22, 2011
Andy Ihnatko’s review of Lion, including what’s great and what’s not so great about all iOS ports that found their way into 10.7.
Day Old News is Fresh Enough Jul 22, 2011
Seth Godin: The value of breaking news (news = whatever is new to you) is dramatically overrated, and the cost of keeping up with what someone else thinks is urgent is just too high. Related reading: This article I wrote … (More)
Ben Brooks and I Talk About Lion and MacBook Airs Jul 20, 2011
We’re calling it a bonus episode even though we’re really just making up for the lack of an episode last week. But it’s better this way because today’s bonus episode strikes while the iron is hot.
Macworld’s Initial Benchmarks of the New MacBook Air Jul 20, 2011
They’re fast. They’re awesome. And I’m sure anyone who’s been holding on to a dying MacBook Pro from early 2008 will be very glad they waited once their new MacBook Air arrives next week.
Known Issues with Adobe products on Mac OS 10.7 Lion Jul 20, 2011
I can’t think of any good jokes about the fact that this page even exists. Fortunately, Adobe wrote one for us. Regarding Flash Player: Flash Player may cause higher CPU activity when playing a YouTube video. On a serious note, … (More)
Byword 1.3 [iTunes Link] Jul 20, 2011
A great update to a great app. Byword now has full Lion support (native full-screen mode, auto-saving, resuming, and versioning) as well as additional wonderfulness such as Markdown highlighting.
Lion Recovery Jul 20, 2011
Apple’s info page for how Lion handles restoring OS X without a physical disc.
Getting Lion to Those Without Speedy Internet Jul 20, 2011
According to the Lion press release, if you don’t have a decent Internet connection Apple gives you a few other options for getting lion: (a) you can take your computer into an Apple retail store and download Lion there; or … (More)
MG Siegler’s Review of the New MacBook Air Jul 20, 2011
In short, it’s all the awesome of the late 2010 MacBook Air but now with even more awesome on top.
Use This Link to Buy Lion and Support shawnblanc.net Jul 20, 2011
Lion is here. When you go to buy it in the Mac App Store use this link or the one in the header and I’ll get a small kickback. Every little bit counts. Thanks for your support and happy downloading.
It’s Going to Be a Roaring Good Day Tomorrow Jul 19, 2011
Lion ships for sure, and maybe we’ll see new MacBook Airs as well. I’ve got a review of the former ready to go as soon as it hits the Mac App Store.
It’s Been a Good Quarter for Apple Jul 19, 2011
Federico Viticci at MacStories reporting on Apple’s Q3 reports: iPhone is growing 142% year over year, and with 9.25 million units sold the iPad saw a 183% increase over the year-ago quarter. Apple sold sold 7.54 million iPods with a … (More)
Official Google+ iPhone App [iTunes Link] Jul 19, 2011
It’s not great, but it’s better than the mobile site. Also, Huddles are nice.
The Difference Between iOS and Android Jul 19, 2011
Ryan Heise switched from an iPhone to a Nexus S about 6 weeks ago and has been documenting the experience. After a month with Android he wrote his initial thoughts, including what he sees as the main differences between iOS … (More)
What if Everyone in the World Stopped Being Bored? Jul 18, 2011
Scott Adams: You might be there already. I know I am. If I have access to my phone, or my computer, I’m never bored. If I’m watching TV, I can fast-forward through commercials. If I’m standing in line at the … (More)
Using a MacBook Air for Web Development Jul 18, 2011
With MacBook Air refreshes seeming to be imminent, Jonathan Christopher reviews his, which is the late 2010 model. Jonathan has owned 4 Macs to date: the black MacBook, an aluminum Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro, the i7 MacBook Pro, and … (More)
“The iCloudBook” Jul 18, 2011
Andy Ihnatko: It’s so very clear to me now that just as Superman is the living ideal of Truth, Justice, and the American Way, the 11” Air is the tangible ideal of iCloud.
[Sponsor] Palimpsest Jul 18, 2011
Palimpsest for iPad presents a personalized stream of long-form magazine articles. These articles come from the archives of top magazines, including The Atlantic, The New Yorker, and many others. Your votes on previous articles influence which articles are presented to … (More)
Apple Finally Catches Up with iPad 2 Demand Jul 17, 2011
Once a week I go out to morning coffee with a good friend. The Apple store is just two doors over from our favorite coffee shop, and for about a month or more after the iPad 2 launched there was … (More)
Eponymous or Not? Jul 17, 2011
Surat Lozowick asks a handful of authors who self-publish their own weblog about the pros and cons of naming the site after your own name or coming up with a unique title.
Diacarta Jul 15, 2011
Many thanks to Diacarta for sponsoring the RSS Feed this week to promote the latest update of this unique and beautiful iPhone calendar app. I linked to Diacarta 1.0 almost a year ago when it first came out and described … (More)
Federico Viticci’s Overview of Spotify Jul 15, 2011
Nice work (as always) from Federico Viticci over at MacStories giving a high-level overview of what all Spotify offers, etc.
Spotify Jul 15, 2011
And speaking of Spotify, it became available in the United States yesterday. I was sent an invite and signed up for a free account. A few months ago I signed up for Rdio (primarily for the sake of my review … (More)
Take Five Mac App Updated Jul 15, 2011
The Iconfactory’s attractive and clever menu bar music aid, Take Five, was recently updated to include support for Rdio and Spotify.
David Pogue on the Netflix Price Raise Jul 14, 2011
Sure the price increase is a bummer, but Netflix is still a great deal. Or, as Pogue says, “even at $16, Netflix still gives you more than anyone else.”
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore Jul 13, 2011
The short film is absolutely charming, and the app looks equally as wonderful.
One Third of iPhone Owners Think They Have 4G Service Jul 13, 2011
Perhaps it is the "4" in the iPhone 4 name (since the iPhone 3G was a 3G device) that leads to the false assumption that it’s a 4G iPhone. But I also wonder if it’s not an assumption about the … (More)
Netflix is Raising its Prices Jul 12, 2011
In short, they’re splitting up their services: getting DVDs in the mail is one service and getting instant streaming is another. If you want both, you have to pay for both.
Google+ as a Project Management Tool Jul 12, 2011
Ben Brooks has a clever speculation that Google+ could grow into a project management and group collaboration tool: You wrap integration with Google+ into everyone of those and you have a powerful project management system that goes beyond the walls … (More)
Disclaimer Jul 12, 2011
Since this site has grown from a hobby weblog into a full-time business, I want to be clear about how the revenue streams relate to what gets written and published. The short of it is this: Every word I write … (More)
Quote of the Day Jul 11, 2011
Marco Arment: But there will always be the open web for the geeks, the misfits, the eccentrics, the control freaks, and any other term we can think of to proudly express our healthy skepticism of giving up too much control … (More)
Star Trek PADD [iTunes Link] Jul 11, 2011
This app is nerd overload. (Also, though he’s not a nerd, if my dad had an iPad this would be his killer app — he raised me on TNG reruns and for that I am thankful.)
[Sponsor] Diacarta Jul 11, 2011
DIACARTA is the only app that lets you create a picture of your day. Like no other planner, icons represent your planned events in an interface that is intuitive, gorgeous, and fun to use. In just-released version 2.0, Diacarta rises … (More)
The Machine to Build the Machines Jul 11, 2011
An old promo video from NeXT about their then state-of-the-art circuit board manufacturing system and factory.
Paste Interactive Jul 8, 2011
Many, many thanks to Paste Interactive for once again sponsoring the RSS feed. This is the third time they’ve sponsored the feed and they continue to be the reigning champs for most-clever promotional text. Check out what they wrote for … (More)
36 Hours Without Internet Jul 8, 2011
In episode 18 of The B&B Podcast Ben and I talked about my couple of days without Internet earlier this week (thanks to a construction mistake up the road), as well as the HP TouchPad and Google+. This episode sponsored … (More)
Footnote of the Day Jul 8, 2011
Sometimes the best stuff is in the footnotes. Like this one from Lukas Mathis while discussing the application features of Google+: Jumping in a Mario game is very simple. You hit a button, Mario jumps. But once you know how … (More)
“All of This Here Is Really Great User Interface Design” Jul 8, 2011
Oliver Reichenstein on the design of the Google+ interface, experience, and information architecture. I agree with Oliver’s thoughts — the UI and UX are perhaps the most compelling elements for me to join Google+ despite the fact that there are … (More)
Cosmic Panda Jul 8, 2011
Weird name. Weirder icon. Serious redesign of YouTube. (Side note: I am liking the updated designs Google is rolling out.)
Non-Reactive Working Jul 8, 2011
While talking about his iPhone home screen on MacSparky, Kourosh Dini (author of Creating Flow with OmniFocus) answers the question, How many times a day do you use your iPhone/iPad? Dini’s answer is a very thought-provoking aside about non-reactive working. … (More)
Tweetbot Tips and Tricks Jul 8, 2011
Straight from the Bot’s mouth. I learned a few things I hadn’t know about.
Capture Jul 7, 2011
This brand new iPhone app from my pals at Sky Balloon Studio is for recording video in a moment’s notice. It records on launch and saves on quit. Boom. Just a buck in the App Store.
Amazon’s Changes to Their Cloud Music Player Jul 7, 2011
Three big updates: (1) Their web-based cloud player is now “officially” iPad friendly; (2) all past purchase through the Amazon MP3 store can now be stored for free; and (3) you now get unlimited music storage with any paid storage … (More)
How Does the TouchPad’s App Ecosystem Stack Up? Jul 7, 2011
Ian Beck, an indie developer for webOS apps, looks at some of the most-popular uses for tablets and reviews how the TouchPad’s App Catalog stacks up against the iPad’s App Store. Beck is the developer of TapNote, the best writing … (More)
The TouchPad’s Angry Birds Easter Egg Jul 7, 2011
I’ve never played Angry Birds so I didn’t even catch this when I wrote about it in my review. I never even downloaded Angry Birds onto my TouchPad, so the easter egg is there even if Angry Birds is not. … (More)
Photographic History of the Space Shuttle Jul 5, 2011
Sixty-one photos over at Alan Taylor’s big picture weblog, In Focus, covering the 30-year history of NASA’s Space Shuttle program.
Keyboard Maestro 5.0 Jul 4, 2011
If Keyboard Maestro had an unofficial tagline written by me, it would be this: Keyboard Maestro: Bend Your Mac to Your Will.
[Sponsor] Paste Interactive Jul 4, 2011
It was 1993 when Ron Avitzur learned that his project had been canceled by Apple. He was now unemployed, but also young and determined. He decided to “uncancle” it. Sneaking into work daily, he bootstrapped a team of likeminded people … (More)
The Declaration of Independence Jul 4, 2011
Written and signed 235 years ago and certainly worth reading today: “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America…”
The Exquisite Prose of the Declaration of Independence Jul 4, 2011
Well said, Ian Hines: Though I’m sure that you — like me — are familiar with the historical themes surrounding and emanating from the Declaration, you’ll likely find that reading the document itself reveals yet another important layer: beauty. Put … (More)
LaunchBar 5.1 Jul 2, 2011
LaunchBar (my application launcher of choice) got a significant update yesterday. Too many cool new features to list, you’ll have to just read the release notes for yourself.
Hoban Cards Jul 1, 2011
A huge thanks to Evan Calkins for sponsoring the RSS feed this week to promote his company Hoban Press, and his fine product: Hoban Cards. When I was going to WWDC I knew I’d be passing out business cards and … (More)
Paper Mache Jul 1, 2011
So far as I can tell, Paper Mache by Ryan Watkins is the only Instapaper app for webOS that is designed for the TouchPad. Moreover it’s free. And moreover again, it’s well done and does Instapaper proud.
AWS Data Transfer Just Got Cheaper Jul 1, 2011
Starting today: all data transfers in to your S3 account are free, and all data transfers out are a little bit cheaper. And the people rejoiced.
