April 20th, 2007
To help in the ongoing search to make the “home” and “end” keys work in Mac OS X like they work in other operating systems, I give you the Firefox version of KeyFixer. (See here and here for background on the problem and info on how to fix this issue in other apps besides Firefox).
While I believe that this software will not harm your system in any way, it is offered to you for FREE with NO GUARANTEE! This patch for Firefox has been tested by several brave beta testers, and as far as I know, it won’t damage Firefox in any way. I would however, recommend making a backup of your Firefox.app before running this patch. KeyFixer will only try to patch versions of Firefox 2.x found in your Applications folder. Also note that you’ll need to re-run the patch each time you update Firefox.
So, what does the patch do? It simply replaces the platformHTMLBindings.xml file buried deep within a .jar archive inside Firefox.app with a new version that contains fixes to make the home and end keys work correctly. Thanks to everyone who tested this and helped by making suggestions and submitting code. Please post your feedback in the comments section.
Download KeyFixer for Firefox - version 0.2
Also try the regular version of KeyFixer for fixing the home and end keys in other Mac OS X applications.
Posted in Tech, Apple, Software, Mac OS X | 2 Comments »
February 9th, 2007
I’ve recently been getting into David Allen’s book “Getting Things Done” and trying to get a good GTD system set up on my Mac. It doesn’t take much looking around to find a plethora of new GTD apps for Mac OS X. Here’s just a few of the apps that I’ve come across.
kGTD
kGTD seems to be the grandfather of Mac GTD apps. kGTD is somewhat difficult to understand and depends on OmniOutliner Pro. It’s basically a set of AppleScripts that work to sync your data between OmniOutliner and iCal. Considering its complexity and the $70 price tag on OmniOutliner Pro, I don’t recommend kGTD.
Actiontastic
Actiontastic is a fairly simple GTD application that’s still in beta. It integrates well with OS X, featuring iCal syncing and a Quicksilver plugin. I found Actiontastic a bit too simplistic, but I’m sure more features will be added as it nears version 1.0.
Ghost Action
Ghost Action looks remarkably similar to Actiontastic and feature a lot of the same functionality. This is to be expected to some degree because there are only so many ways to implement a GTD system, but I found myself wondering who is copying who. While it does offer iCal syncing, I found Ghost Action far too simplistic for my needs.
Midnight Inbox
I was really excited about Midnight Inbox when I first saw it. This application is by far the most ambitious of the current Mac GTD crop, but it really fails to deliver. I’ve tried (really tried) several times to use Midnight Inbox and each time I gave up out of frustration. The application looks beautiful, but the developer needs to focus more time on making the user interface easy to use. Midnight Inbox automatically collects things like incoming Email and lets you associate them with tasks and projects. In theory, this is a great idea, in reality, it just doesn’t work very well. This is an application that I’ll probably come back to and try again when they release version 2.0.
Upcoming Applications
OmniFocus
OmniFocus is a product that’s still under development by the guys over at OmniGroup. It’s basically the successor to kGTD and has a lot of support and buzz right now in the Mac community. I wish these guys luck and hope that they come out with a great product.
Tracks
I’ve finally settled on using the open source Tracks application. Tracks is a Ruby on Rails based application, so if you’re not a Rails developer, it’s pretty hard to get set up. Future versions of Tracks will most likely have a stand-alone version that will make installation simple. I’m currently running the unstable “work in progress” version of Tracks locally on my Mac. Tracks has a great set of features and integrates well with iCal. I plan to keep using Tracks for now. If you have some Rails experience, I highly recommend Tracks.
Hopefully, over the next year or so, the market for GTD applications will settle down and we’ll all be able to choose from 2 or 3 really solid programs that will help keep us organized and on task.
Posted in Software, GTD | No Comments »
January 12th, 2007
All the buzz these days is about the Apple iPhone (not to be confused with the Linksys iPhone). I have to admit, the iPhone is pretty cool, and I was really excited about it for a few hours. Then, reality started to sink in and I realized that the iPhone is probably not something for me. Here are 10 reasons why I’d like to buy a Nokia N800 instead of an Apple iPhone. I realize that there are areas where the iPhone will be better than the N800, I just don’t think it’s worth the extra cost and lack of freedom that comes along with having an iPhone.
1. Price
Nokia N800: $399
Apple iPhone: $499 or $599 (Plus 2 year Cingular service contract)
2. Open Source
The Nokia N800 is a Linux device based on a modified version of Debian GNU/Linux that they call “Internet Tablet OS 2007 edition”. Nokia created the open source Maemo development platform for the 770 and N800. They’ve worked hard to encourage developers to port applications to this platform. You can find more info at maemo.org.
The iPhone is far from open. We’re still not sure what Steve Jobs meant when he said that the iPhone runs “OS X”, but it’s most certainly not the full-blown “Mac OS X” that comes on a new Macbook. While the core of the phone’s OS may someday be open sourced (like Darwin), it’s highly unlikely that Apple will ever open source the entire OS or even share the iPhone APIs that would allow developers to make new iPhone apps.
3. Third Party Applications
Nokia strongly encourages 3rd party developers to make software for their N800 and 770 products. There is quite a lot of software available for Nokia’s platform and most (if not all) of it is free. You can install geeky apps such as VNC and VIM, or one of more than 35 games that are available on the Maemo site.
Apple has stated that they will not allow 3rd party applications on the iPhone. Apple want’s to control everything from the top down. They’re not even supporting Flash or Java (I guess that would make it too easy for developers to bypass Apple’s control and offer applications for the iPhone).
4. No Service Contract with Cingular Needed
With the Nokia N800, you can access the internet via Wi-Fi or with a Bluetooth enabled mobile phone. This allows you the freedom to use the mobile provider of your choosing.
To get an iPhone, you’ll need to sign up for a 2-year contract with Cingular. Nobody knows exactly how much this plan will cost, but I’m sure it won’t be cheap. Data plans are traditionally extremely expensive in the US and I’m sure Cingular and Apple will make loads of money overcharging customers for internet access.
The practice of locking mobile phones to a single mobile provider has become quite annoying in the United States. While the rest of the world can freely change providers by simply swapping out a SIM card, US customers are usually stuck with multi-year contracts and locked phones. Apple is continuing this tradition by locking all iPhones sold in the US to the Cingular network.
5. Removable Storage
The Nokia N800 has two memory slots that support a range of memory cards (SD, miniSD, microSD, MMC and RS-MMC). This allows you to keep one card in the device for a more permanent storage solution, and still have a slot available for cards from your camera or other device. With the falling price of memory cards, you could have several cards with music and videos tucked away in the carrying case that comes with the N800.
Apple’s iPhone has no removable storage. This is probably by design as it helps justify a higher priced model with more memory.
6. Better Audio and Video Codec Support
The N800 supports a wide range of audio and video formats. Supported audio formats are AAC, AMR, MP2, MP3, RA (Real Audio), WAV, WMA. You can play videos in the following formats: 3GP, AVI, H.263, MPEG-1, MPEG-4, RV (Real Video), and Flash Video (YouTube!). That covers just about anything you’d ever want to play on a media device. With the open nature of the N800’s OS, more codec support can be expected from 3rd party developers. You can also use the N800 with Real’s Rhapsody music service (if you prefer your music with DRM). You can even stream audio and video from networked computers!
The iPhone, like the iPod, plays only Apple sanctioned audio and video formats. This means you can play content from the iTunes store as well as MP3 audio and MPEG video. No streaming to the phone or playing competing formats.
7. It’s Not a Cell Phone
The N800 is not a cell phone. At first, I thought this was a bad thing. After thinking about it, I realized that I don’t need (or even want) to haul around a mini computer with me everywhere I go. Sometimes I just need a simple phone. If I’m heading to the grocery store, working in the yard, or in some busy place where my phone might get damaged or stolen, then I’d rather just tuck a simple mobile phone in my pocket and head for the door. With the N800, I can just leave it at home when I know I won’t need it.
Apple wants the iPhone to become the device that you always have with you. That sounds great at first, but how long do you think it’ll last in the New York subway? There are times when having a regular phone is more convenient. Perhaps it will be possible to switch your SIM card from the iPhone to a secondary phone when needed, but Apple hasn’t said anything about this.
8. It is a VoIP Phone
The N800 can be used to for making VoIP calls via Gizmo and GoogleTalk. Skype support is coming in the second quarter of 2007. This means that you can make cheap (or even free) calls anytime you are connected to a Wi-Fi network. With Wi-Fi becoming more prevalent every day, this means you’ll soon be able to use your N800 to make calls from just about anywhere.
With the iPhone, you will need to make all your calls via Cingular. More money for Cingular and Apple.
9. Webcam for Video Conferencing
The N800 also has a built in webcam and supports video conferencing! How great would that be for your next conference call? Star-Trek-like video calls are not sci-fi for this device.
The iPhone has a camera, but no video conferencing.
10. It’s Available Now
The Nokia N800 is available now at some stores and from the Nokia website. You can order one today.
The iPhone should be available in June.
Posted in Apple, Open Source, Linux, Screencasts | 37 Comments »
December 27th, 2006
While working on a new site today, I was reminded of just how great the Firebug extension for Firefox really is. I used Firebug heavily about 6 months ago for a Ruby on Rails application. I used it mostly for monitoring and debugging my AJAX calls. Firebug has come a long way since then, and when working on new projects, it’s one of the tools that I always have open.
Download Firebug today, then check out this screencast for an overview of Firebug’s features.
Posted in Web Authoring, CSS | No Comments »
