And so another fine year begins. We’ve got Vista around the corner and Leopard not to far off. Personally, I’m finding it hard to get excited about Vista. I’m actually not too excited about Leopard either, even though it’ll have a bigger impact on me. What I am looking forward to is digging into some OS X Utilities and Digital Photography apps like IPhoto and Aperture. A new iMac has been added to the Quest and will surely help along the trail. So Happy New Year. May your year be [...] Read the rest »
Stikkit
I came across Stikkit (www.stikkit.com) while listening to a bunch of podcasts over the long weekend. Unfortunately I don’t remember which one. Right now it’s in public beta and is free. They also claim they will always have a free version. Stikkit is a very Web 2.0-ish website based around a concept similar to post it notes with a filing system. When a Stikkit note is posted the language in it is parsed. If it’s recognized as a meeting or a to-do it’s categorized as such and you’ll get the [...] Read the rest »
SearchMash – My New Search Tool
I’ve been using SearchMash (www.searchmash.com) for a week or so. It’s a nice clean ad-free search site. In addition to websites it returns images, blogs, Video and Wikipedia links. If you use Firefox you can add it to the search tool by selecting the dropdown in the tool and select Add SearchMash. Google’s name doesn’t appear anywhere on the site, but the terms of service make it clear it’s a Google offering. I’m not going to repeat it’s features here. Check it out, click the “Features” link on the main [...] Read the rest »
The Mac Version of the BSOD
Well, I got the Mac version of the Windows Blue Screen of Death a little while ago. But in true Mac style it’s much better looking than the BSOD. No weird numbers or codes. A gray shadow comes over the screen and a nice message, in multiple languages, told me that the machine needs to be restarted by holding in the power button. (For those who want them, the weird number and codes can be viewed after the restart by selecting “report” when prompted.) So what changed and what was [...] Read the rest »
Another Security Update – Mac OS X Security Update 2006-008
A second security update this week. This time for Mac OX X. Apple release Security Update 2006-008 which “improves security” of Quartz Composer and QuickTime for Java. The info on the update can be found at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61798. It’s a small (2.7MB for PPC) download but it requires a restart. Read the rest »
Firefox 2 Updated
Firefox was updated on my Windows machine a little while ago. It’s version 2.0.0.1 and includes 8 security updates, five of which are listed as critical. Critical means code can be run or program’s installed with normal browsing. Here’s a list of what’s included: (http://www.mozilla.org/projects/security/known-vulnerabilities.html#firefox2.0.0.1) The update hasn’t shown up on my Mac yet but it is for Mac and Linux in addition to Windows. Read the rest »
They’re Back
As previously mentioned, when Yahoo added my web hosting account to my regular Yahoo account all my e-mail aliases vanished and e-mail started bouncing. Well, today I noticed that they’re back. But, they’re back in name only. I can see them, I can edit them, I can add them and I can delete them. But I can’t send to them. The mail bounces with a “the user does not have a yahoo.com account”. Even though I can pick an alias as a sending address from the list Yahoo gives me [...] Read the rest »
Carbonite – Online Backup
I’m taking a look at Carbonite Backup as my next backup solution. In short, it seems almost perfect. (Almost – because there’s no Mac client although they say one will be coming in early 2007.) It’s the cheapest backup solution out there, $50/yr or $90 for 2 years with unlimited storage. (I just noticed today that Mozy changed their pricing structure and is now very competitive.) The software installation is quick and easy. Other software software and service vendors should take the hint. There’s a 15-day trial with no credit [...] Read the rest »
JVM Updated – No Idea Why
I have Sun’s java runtime installed on my Windows PC, specifically (from the “About” box) “Java 2 Platform Version 1.5.0″. I have it set to check for updates on the 3rd of each month (I’m not positive but I think this was the default). So for the last few days it’s been telling me that there’s an update waiting. Today I finally got around to letting it update. First off, I can’t find any real mention of what’s being updated. Just that there’s an “update”. Well OK, other than a [...] Read the rest »
Maxtor OneTouch III
While I didn’t get the Maxtor OneTouch to use as a backup drive I decided to take the included backup software for a test drive to see how it works before hooking it up to my Mac. The Specs From The Box Firewire 400, IEEE 1394, i.Link and SBP-2 compliant USB 2.0 and 1.1 Compliant Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later, Windows 2000 or XP Included in the box: External hard drive, USB cable, 6 to 6 pin Firewire 400/1394/i.Link cable, External power, CD with backup software (Mac and Windows) [...] Read the rest »
