For those who love to blow stuff up!
A FREE screen saver from random-ideas.com:
Now updated for Leopard!
Fireworks screensavers have always held a fascination for me, from the earliest versions I saw first on MS-DOS, to the newer ones in Linux. Unfortunately, I’ve never really been totally happy with any of the others, because I could never control the parameters of the simulators enough to make them look the way I see them.
Highly Configurable Particle Simulation”
(Get it HERE)
Filed under Apple, apple apps, cool stuff, fun
Some General Tips for Switch to Mac From Windows [Personal Technology]
Sales of Apple’s Macintosh computers have been growing much faster than PC sales overall, with many new Mac buyers switching from years of using Windows computers. For that reason, every month I get emails from readers asking about the differences in using the Windows and Macintosh operating systems.
While the Windows and Mac user interfaces are broadly similar, they do have subtle variations in day-to-day use that require some re-education for switchers. And because there are so many fewer Mac users than Windows users, help from friends and co-workers can be harder to obtain than it is for people switching the other way, to Windows from Mac.
So, here’s a quick tip sheet explaining a few of the most common differences in the daily use of Windows XP (MSFT), from which most people would be switching, and Apple’s (AAPL) Mac OS X Leopard, which switchers would be adopting.
This column isn’t an argument for making the switch to a Mac, merely an attempt to help those who have done so, or who are considering doing so. Of course, all Macs currently sold can run Windows and Windows programs concurrently with the Mac operating system. But this guide is for folks who intend to use their Macs primarily with Leopard, not Windows.
Menu Bars: In Windows, each program typically has its own menu bar. On the Mac, there’s a single menu bar at the top of the screen that changes, depending on which program you are actively using.
Task Bar: The equivalent of the Windows XP Task Bar on the Mac is the Dock. Unlike the Task Bar, which primarily holds icons representing open windows, the Mac Dock primarily holds icons of programs you use most often. To place a program onto the Dock, you just drag its icon there. To remove it, you just drag its icon off the Dock and it disappears in a puff of animated smoke.
Start Menu: There is no Start Menu on a Mac. Its functions are divided between the Dock and the Apple menu at the upper left of the Mac screen.
Control Panel: The Mac equivalent of the Windows Control Panel is called System Preferences, and it can be launched from either the Dock or the Apple menu.
Keyboard shortcuts: Common Windows keyboard commands, such as Ctrl-S for Save, Ctrl-P for Print, and many others, are also available on the Mac. However, instead of using the Control key, they use the Mac’s Command key, which bears either a cloverlike symbol or an Apple logo. So, on the Mac, for instance, Command-S is for Save.
Quitting programs: In Windows, you can quit a program by clicking on the red “X” in a square at the upper right corner of the window you’re using. But on the Mac, if you click on the equivalent button — a red “X” in a circle in the upper left corner — you are merely closing the window, not quitting the program. To quit the program, you must either select Quit from the leftmost menu or press the Command and “Q” keys together.
Maximizing windows: When you click on the blue maximize button in Windows XP, the window you are viewing occupies the whole screen. In Leopard, the equivalent button — a green circle at the upper left — increases a small window’s size to a footprint deemed optimal for its contents, which isn’t always the whole screen.
Switching programs: One common way to switch among running programs in Windows XP is to press Alt and Tab together. This displays icons of each running program and allows you to switch among them. On a Mac, the same trick can be performed by pressing the Command and Tab keys together. The Mac also has a terrific feature called Expose, which shows every open window at once, in miniature form, so you can navigate among them. You can trigger Expose in a number of ways, but the most common is to hit either the F9 key or the dedicated Expose key, depending on your Mac model.
Right-clicking: Contrary to common belief, the Mac has a right-click menu function, just like Windows. Most desktop Macs now come with a mouse that allows right-clicking, and you can use almost any two-button USB mouse with any modern Mac. If you are using a Mac laptop, which has only one button under the track pad, you can simulate a right-click by either holding down the Control key when you click, or by placing two fingers on the track pad while clicking. The latter technique, which I favor, must first be turned on in System Preferences.
Screen: Your desktop picture and screen saver on a Mac are set via a System Preference called Desktop & Screen Saver. Screen resolution is set in the Displays System Preference. In Windows XP, all of these things are included in the Display control panel.
For more information, Apple offers two Web sites. One is called Mac 101, and is at apple.com/support/mac101. The other is called Switch 101, and is at apple.com/support/switch101
(Via All Things Digital)
Filed under Apple, cool stuff, daily news, geek, interesting, Tips
Apple accidentally ships MobileMe to .Mac customers
Apple accidentally ships MobileMe to .Mac customers Apparently someone at Apple HQ got a little trigger happy on shipments of MobileMe. According to reports, the company mistakenly mailed boxes of the all-syncing, ever-loving software to at least a couple of current .Mac users ahead of schedule. When Apple was alerted to the gaffe, the user was told that a courier would be by to pick it up the next day. One question: why would you tell Apple?
(Via Engadget)
Filed under Apple, daily news, interesting
Darth Vader Talking Computer Sitter Bobble Head Watches You Do Horrible Things
Poor Vader—condemned to kneel atop your computer and watch as you touch yourself to internet porn day in and day out. But that is not even the ultimate indignity—he will say “What is thy bidding, my master?” when you reach out a sticky hand and tap his bobbling head. To bad he can’t fetch you more Kleenex.
Product Page ($7.99—ships in September 2008)
(Via Nerd Approved)
Filed under cool stuff, gadget, geek
The last time Polaroid did something innovative, a vast majority of us hadn’t even been born yet. Isn’t it nice that we’re around to see what could be considered Polaroid’s biggest innovation since it launched instant film all those years ago?
Check it out HERE
(Via Shiny Shiny)
Filed under cool stuff, gadget, geek
The folks over at Google have released a new version of Google Talk designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch browsers in the US. No need to text message here because you can now chat on the go. No install or download required either, just go to google.com/talk, sign in and you’ll be on your way chatting it up with all your frienemies.
Now that the iPhone is becoming more and more like a computer everyday, who says you have to miss out on all the internet goodness when you’re away from your PC?
(Via GEARFUSE)
Filed under Apple, apple apps, cool stuff, geek, iPhone
Neil Young slams iTunes sound quality
Neil Young has slammed iTunes, hates MP3’s and wants better quality musical products – and has a plan to make it happen.
Speaking to the Financial Times, the singer said: "It’s like all new digital media technologies," he said: "great for convenience, but the sound quality sucks – putting on a headphone and listening to an MP3 is like hell."
Young is developing an alternative, higher-quality digital distribution platform that could provide an alternative to the download world and perhaps even a new business model for music, the artist claims.
The technology behind this was first shown off last month at Sun’s JavaOne conference. Young has spent 15 years experimenting with different technologies to assemble a complete archive of his career, and will release the first part of this on Blu-ray disc, with additional content set to be introduced later on.
As Young explains his technology: "It has every media component you could want, and they’re all married together in a platform. That means other artists could use it, other record companies could use it and gain the knowledge of our 15-year development curve."
(Via 9 to 5 Mac)
Filed under Apple, daily news, interesting, iTunes
Developers Wary Of iPhone
Developers of location-based services should be clamoring to make applications for Apple’s 3G iPhone, which features built-in global positioning system technology–but they’re not.
Instead, many are steering clear of the new device, which will go on sale July 11, because they likely won’t be able to make money on Apple’s (nasdaq: AAPL – news – people ) iTunes store, which will distribute iPhone apps.
Steve Andler, vice president of marketing at Networks In Motion, an Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based firm that provides GPS services for Verizon (nyse: VZ – news – people ) Wireless, Sprint (nyse: S – news – people ) and Alltel (nyse: AT – news – people ), says the problem is that iTunes ties applications to a user’s iTunes account, as opposed to a device. For instance, a customer could have “three iPhones synched to the same iTunes account, and thus would only be paying for one copy of the application, but using it on three devices,” Andler says.
ITunes also presents billing challenges for developers, which typically charge users a monthly or daily access fee for mapping services. The firms say their billing system keeps users’ data current and helps underwrite the expense of constantly updating maps.
But it’s not a system that Apple is embracing, at least not right now. Developers say the company has discussed only two billing options so far: free distribution or a one-time fee. This has left Networks In Motion, which charges $9.99 a month or $2.99 a day for its maps and turn-by-turn directions, cooling its heels.
(Read full Article HERE – Forbes)
Filed under Apple, interesting, iPhone
Is it even possible? Forbes does a little bit of speculating on just who might take over when Jobs takes his leave from Apple, and candidates aren’t exactly jumping out of the woodwork. Jobs is about as visionary as they come — only a guy like Steve could lead Apple from the iMac to the iPod to the iPhone, breaking records and status quo the whole time. Phil Schiller and Scott Forstall are tossed out as two names currently within Apple’s ranks, but Jobs is almost as much of a company mascot as he is a CEO. As consultant Patrick Sweeney says in the article, anyone who steps into the turtleneck has to fit completely into the culture of the company, or it won’t work.
It’s hard to imagine an Apple without him at all.
(Via (TUAW))
Filed under Apple, geek, interesting
Apple Slashes $400 from SSD Drive in MacBook Air
Apple has reduced the Solid State Drive (SSD) option on the MacBook Air from US$999 to US$599 just in time for holiday shopping. Studies have shown that current SSD drives save only a little on battery power and improve only a little on various read/write functions. Even so, the removing the HDD gets the last moving part out of a notebook computer — something that will appeal to many customers.
In addition, for those who want to upgrade to the 1.8 GHz model, that option will now cost US$100 less. Combined, that’s a reduction of $500. Happy holiday shopping to all.
(Via macobserver)
Filed under Apple, daily news, gadget, geek
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