Filed under: OS, Odds and ends, Internet

You might not notice it, but actually 2008 will be one second longer than a standard year, as scientists add that leap second to make up for variations in the speed of the rotation of the earth.

The change will come on the stroke of midnight Universal Time. That adjustment will take place automatically for GPS systems, Internet time servers, and radio time signals around the world.

Like most things in our world, there is a bit of a debate on all this time changing, with some serious proposals to abolish the leap second completely.

You’ll be happy to know that your Mac will take the time change in stride, and add the appropriate second when needed. Modern Windows versions are also ready to sync up.

Just make sure your computers are using an Internet time server to set the date and time automatically, which in OS X is switched on by default. If you are not connected to the Internet, the sync will happen next time you are. Now, doesn’t all the anxiety you had about this go away?

via [Silicon Alley Insider]

TUAWDid it seem like a long year? originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, Developer

Jeff Rosen of Wolfire Games has an intriguing post up about why developers of videogames like himself should go out of their way to support the OS X and Linux markets. Their game, Lugaru, is available on Windows, OS X and Linux, and the upcoming sequel, Overgrowth, is also being developed for OS X.

Rosen says right out that the prevailing opinion, that the smaller markets aren’t worth developing for because the audience isn’t there, is just plain wrong — Mac sales accounted for a full half of Lugaru’s sales. The people who are buying software, his data seems to say, are using Macs.

And he has five main points why it’s worth the time and effort to release builds on these smaller platforms: you have sites like ours (and the great Inside Mac Games) to talk about your game for you. We Mac gamers respect companies that take the time to make sure we have just as great a gaming experience as our PC counterparts, and we talk about it when they do. He says that a Linux version gained them a mention on Slashdot, one place they’d likely never have been mentioned if they were “just another Windows game.” And power users are often Mac users as well — you want someone who will spend an entire night coming up with new content for your game just because they love it so much? Mac users are nothing if not disturbingly obsessive about the software they love.

Good points all around. Many game developers, both large and small, continue to scoff at the Mac markets as too small while at the same time wondering why they can’t get a foothold of a community on the Internet. Of course, releasing a Mac version doesn’t guarantee you higher sales and a rabid group of fans — you have to make a good game first and foremost. But some of the most influential and insightful game players online are Mac users, and by shrugging them off as “not a big enough audience,” you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

TUAWLugaru shows why game devs should support OS X and Linux originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Macworld, Analysis / Opinion

Our favorite-named analyst, Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, predicts that Apple will announce new Mac models at Macworld Expo, and a smaller iPhone for the March quarter.

Piper Jaffray expects that Apple will sell 45 million iPhones during 2009, though that estimate is predicated on the fact that Apple will release a lower-cost iPhone model early in the year, priced between and 9.

As for Macworld Expo, the expectation is that there won’t be any groundbreaking announcements, since Phil Schiller will be giving the presentation. They do expect new iMac or Mac mini models, however.

Piper Jaffray is maintaining its “buy” rating, and 5 price target, on shares of AAPL. The stock was up slightly during morning trading.

[Via StreetInsider.]

TUAWMunster: New Macs for MWSF, small iPhone by second quarter ‘09 originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Bad Apple

With the end of the year comes the cavalcade of best and worst lists, just in case you didn’t know what was best and what was worst over the course of the year.

Apple made glassdoor.com’s list of “50 Best Places to Work,” placing 19th. It scored a 3.8 out of five, and 90 percent of employees approved of the job that CEO Steve Jobs was doing. 303 employees completed reviews at the site, contributing to its score. (The reviews themselves are interesting to read, incidentally, if you have a few minutes to kill.)

On the other hand, Apple made Fortune magazine’s list of 21 Dumbest Moments in Business for the year, twice — but the second time really wasn’t its fault.

The first head-smacker, at number six, was for the approval (and subsequent removal) of the “I Am Rich” iPhone application. “The real losers?” Fortune asks: “The eight suckers who bought it.”

The second blooper, number 19, actually goes to CNN and Bloomberg for two false stories about Steve Jobs’ health. Bloomberg accidentally released an obituary on August 28, and retracted it the same day. In a similar gaffe, a post on CNN’s iReport site falsely claimed that Jobs had suffered a heart attack. CNN took down the post — but not after Apple’s stock dipped 10 percent in 10 minutes. Ouch.

[Via Macsimum News and MacNN.]

TUAWApple makes Fortune’s list of bonehead moves (twice), still a best place to work originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Beta Beat, Developer

Espresso, the highly-anticipated web design and development platform from MacRabbit (creators of CSSEdit), has been released as a public beta (originally predicted for late November). It’s not finished (that’s why it’s called beta, silly), but it’s far more complete than what we’ve seen thus far. The auto-completion capabilities of the editor are well-developed, support for HTML, XML, CSS and Javascript is included, and the live preview is working nicely. The array of available Sugars, as the extension packages are called, is frequently being added to by users, and support for additional languages is already available. A few themes, some ported from TextMate, can also be found on the wiki.

Web developers who have used CSSEdit are familiar with the simple interface which belies many powerful features. You can expect the same from Espresso. Coda users will be interested as well; when Espresso is feature-complete, you can expect a TUAW-style head-to-head comparison of the two. Personally, I’m a die-hard TextMate user, which any of the TUAW crew can attest to. I always have trouble getting into new editors, no matter how rich their feature set may be. I stopped editing CSS in TextMate when CSSEdit came out, though; there’s just no comparison. Knowing CSSEdit the way I do, Espresso may be the platform which finally pulls some of my TextMate loyalty away … at least for web design.

You can grab the time-limited (30 days) beta from MacRabbit’s site. If you’re a developer, make sure you check out the wiki. For me, the most appealing aspect of Espresso is its extensibility, and a look through the SDK should pique the interest of any code-sligner.

TUAWBeta Beat: MacRabbit’s Espresso released as public beta originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Humor, Productivity, App Store

iPhone developers Chilli X are looking for a little help with the App Store promo materials for their new ToDo list app, Done. First, though, a little bit about Done.

You’re probably thinking, “there are too many task lists available for the iPhone, and they all do the same thing.” You’ll get no argument from me there. For me, it’s a matter of how well they do it, and Done has the potential to be very fluid to use, taking a little more advantage of the iPhone platform as a user interface. Not having tried it yet, I’m judging by the features listed on the promo page: multiple lists, priorities, colors, shake to sort, as well some more novel innovations. It looks simple … maybe too simple for some, but potentially ideal for those who shudder at the mention of GTD (sorry, did I say that too loudly?).

One novel feature which I don’t believe exists in other task managers, yet, is a snapshot capability which will replace your iPhone/iPod touch wallpaper with an image showing your top 6 tasks. The app was recently submitted to the App Store, and is awaiting approval. That’s where you — with your highly-developed sense of humor and savage wit — come into play.

Chilli X would like to have clever task lists in the promo shots for the app. They are — by their own admission — developers and not comedians. You can see their prior attempts at their website, but — and I say this with love — they’re not great. If you think you have the comedic chops to write a truly fun, interesting and humorous list, leave a submission here in the comments. Chilli X will be watching and picking their favorite entries, the authors of which will receive free copies of Done, in addition to the glory of having their carefully-crafted task sequences displayed in the screenshots of the app in the App Store.

I’ve heard rumors indicating that App Store glory is often accompanied by prolonged health benefits and above average success with dating prospects, but your results may vary (the TUAW legal department kindly asks me to inform you that TUAW makes no such promises, and takes no responsibility for this post).

Chilli X does offer one stipulation: “keep them clean(ish) and don’t say nasty things about anybody.” Easy enough.

TUAWChilli X seeks the savage wit of TUAW readers originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Mac 101

Last week I told you about easily switching directories (folders) while in an open/save dialog. This was great when you knew where a folder was located in a specific place, and you could drag + drop it on the dialog. But what if you want to type in a directory path (i.e. ~/Desktop)?

While in an open/save dialog, pressing Command + Shift + G will allow you to type in a directory path. For instance, if I wanted to open my Documents directory for my user, I would type ~/Documents. The tilde (~) tells the computer to look in the current user’s home directory.

Want more tips and tricks like this? Visit TUAW’s Mac 101 section.

TUAWMac 101: Enter directory paths when in open/save dialogs originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Freeware, iPhone, App Store

How would you like to be able to shoot photos on your iPhone, and then immediately print them on your HP printer?

HP has a new product called iPrint Photo (click opens iTunes) available in the App Store that makes it very simple to print your iPhone pictures. The free download opens to a list of photo albums that looks very similar to the list in the Photos app on the iPhone. Tapping on a photo brings up a Print Photo page with a large Print button on it (see photo at right). If you only have one networked printer available, just tapping the Print button sends a 4×6 inch (10×15 cm) print job to that printer.

If more than one HP inkjet printer is on your local Wi-Fi network, tapping on a printer search icon brings up a Chooser-like list of printers that you can select one from. This is an excellent free app — it took no setup and I was able to print a picture immediately after downloading the software from the app store.

Between this software and HP’s announcement of their Mac-compatible media server, it looks like HP is starting to play nice with Apple!

Check out the gallery below for a few more photos of this app in use.

TUAWPrint photos from your iPhone with HP iPrint Photo originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends, Found Footage

We’ll be seeing a lot of predictions about the immediate future in the coming days. We’re not immune here at TUAW and you’ll likely get some predictions from your humble bloggers, but it is really interesting to look back and see how our current technology was (or was not) predicted in the past.

Here is a link to a talk by Nicholas Negroponte from 1984. At the time, Negroponte was head of the MIT Media Lab, and company CEOs were always taking their people there to see what the future might have to offer. This video is from the year the Macintosh appeared. Negroponte talked about touch screens, high resolution monitors, and the future of user interfaces. It is a fascinating presentation, and his predictions for the most part are right on target. It’s almost 30 minutes long, but give it a try and I think you’ll find it pretty eye-opening.

It isn’t easy predicting the future. I remember seeing the General Motors film about the future done for the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York. Most of those predictions were wrong, and very ‘Buck Rogers.’ Robots doing housework, automated cars and a lot of other things that haven’t come to pass, at least not yet.

Negroponte, who now is behind the One Laptop Per Child project, has had a very keen eye over time. Many of the things he predicted came to pass in products released by Apple, which have benefited users immensely.

[via Funky Space Monkey]

TUAWSeeing the future from the past originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Software, Productivity

Cultured Code has issued the 1.0 release candidate for Things, its popular GTD application, a little more than a week ahead of its official launch on January 6.

Things 1.0rc has a huge list of changes including new icons, the ability to reorder to-dos in the Today list across project and area boundaries, the ability to edit titles and reorder projects in the sidebar (my biggest pet peeve prior to this), fixes to syncing and compatibility issues with the iPhone version of Things, and numerous big fixes. A complete list can be found here via MacUpdate due to site difficulties with Cultured Code. An official mirror detailing the release notes can also be found here.

Things 1.0rc is available at the mirror of the Cultured Code website, since the main site is either being sluggish or not responding at all due to demand. An alternate download location can be found through MacUpdate, along with the complete list of changes. Full price for a Things license is USD, but a coupon for 20% off can be used until January 15 - even if you missed out signing up for the newsletter. That code is THINGSPRESALE20.

Things requires OS X 10.4 or later. It is also recommended for those who own the iPhone version to update to version 1.3 once it becomes available through the App Store.

TUAWThings 1.0rc now available originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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