Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
SiteSucker for OS X: transfer a remote web site to a local machine
SiteSucker
I've used similar software on my PC. I'd like to see if I can use this to create a local version of my Blogger pages. It has a great versiontracker rating.
I've used similar software on my PC. I'd like to see if I can use this to create a local version of my Blogger pages. It has a great versiontracker rating.
AppRocket: A LaunchBar clone for Windows?
Candy Labs - AppRocket
LaunchBar 3 for OS X was an essentially perfect application. Yeah, I know about QuickSilver. There's even a LaunchBar 4.01 which is supposed to be a nice update -- but why mess with perfection? I paid for LaunchBar and I love it.
I've looked without success for a Windows equivalent. Today I idly typed in an old google search 'launchbar for windows'. It returned AppRocket, now on version 1.2.
On first inspection this is basically a clone of LaunchBar 1.x. Alas, it didn't work for me. On an initial test it didn't seem to be detecting directories or folders (!?!)*. I assumed this was a glitch of the initial (very long) indexing process, but before I could retest AppRocket threw an uncaught exception and crashed. The crashed process continued to consume 40GB of drive space, but I was able to eventually restart XP. (BTW, I thought .NET apps weren't supposed to do that sort of thing any more ...)
It looks like I'll stick with my home-brewed WCD-powered folder-navigator solution for now. I'll try again with 1.3.
* One would assume any application designed to support navigation would do at least as well as Norton Change Directory (later integrated into Norton Commander 3.x) -- the perfect application for folder navigation (vintage 1989). Incredibly, application designers consistently ignore the metadata implicit in an enclosing folder. Several 'file location/navigation' utilities for Windows that I've evaluated completely ignore directories! Even some of much celebrated full text search programs don't return matches on folder/directory substrings! (Yahoo Desktop Search, my current somewhat-favorite, does match on directories.)
I do find it fascinating that truly superb ideas in software can be quite successful, then vanish and never be fully implemented again. Compared to what we attempt to do today, NCD was a trivial, utterly simple application. And yet, there's no reliable modern equivalent available on the dominant Windows platform. I think we can only explain this sort of market failure by comparison to the idiosyncratic "choices" of systems ruled by the peculiarities of evolution and natural selection.
5/21/06: I did eventually buy a later, more stable, version of AppRocket. It's ok, but it's definitely not in the same exalted class as LaunchBar. Worth the money though.
Update 6/07: I forget what happened, but I soured on AppRocket. Buggy I believe, and in the end far inferior to LaunchBar. Later, I think, Google bundled similar functionality into their desktop search engine.
LaunchBar 3 for OS X was an essentially perfect application. Yeah, I know about QuickSilver. There's even a LaunchBar 4.01 which is supposed to be a nice update -- but why mess with perfection? I paid for LaunchBar and I love it.
I've looked without success for a Windows equivalent. Today I idly typed in an old google search 'launchbar for windows'. It returned AppRocket, now on version 1.2.
On first inspection this is basically a clone of LaunchBar 1.x. Alas, it didn't work for me. On an initial test it didn't seem to be detecting directories or folders (!?!)*. I assumed this was a glitch of the initial (very long) indexing process, but before I could retest AppRocket threw an uncaught exception and crashed. The crashed process continued to consume 40GB of drive space, but I was able to eventually restart XP. (BTW, I thought .NET apps weren't supposed to do that sort of thing any more ...)
It looks like I'll stick with my home-brewed WCD-powered folder-navigator solution for now. I'll try again with 1.3.
* One would assume any application designed to support navigation would do at least as well as Norton Change Directory (later integrated into Norton Commander 3.x) -- the perfect application for folder navigation (vintage 1989). Incredibly, application designers consistently ignore the metadata implicit in an enclosing folder. Several 'file location/navigation' utilities for Windows that I've evaluated completely ignore directories! Even some of much celebrated full text search programs don't return matches on folder/directory substrings! (Yahoo Desktop Search, my current somewhat-favorite, does match on directories.)
I do find it fascinating that truly superb ideas in software can be quite successful, then vanish and never be fully implemented again. Compared to what we attempt to do today, NCD was a trivial, utterly simple application. And yet, there's no reliable modern equivalent available on the dominant Windows platform. I think we can only explain this sort of market failure by comparison to the idiosyncratic "choices" of systems ruled by the peculiarities of evolution and natural selection.
5/21/06: I did eventually buy a later, more stable, version of AppRocket. It's ok, but it's definitely not in the same exalted class as LaunchBar. Worth the money though.
Update 6/07: I forget what happened, but I soured on AppRocket. Buggy I believe, and in the end far inferior to LaunchBar. Later, I think, Google bundled similar functionality into their desktop search engine.
Monday, April 11, 2005
How to create an annotated multimedia Google map
HOW-TO: Make your own annotated multimedia Google map - Engadget - www.engadget.com.
I assume someone will shortly automate this process with a handy software app. A fascinating overview of how open standards benefit from network effects.
I assume someone will shortly automate this process with a handy software app. A fascinating overview of how open standards benefit from network effects.
Free visuals and stock photographs
Where To Find Great Free Photographs And Visuals For Your Own Online Articles - Robin Good's Latest News
An excellent overview of sites that have free photos available for use in presentations. A great way to spice up corporate presentations.
An excellent overview of sites that have free photos available for use in presentations. A great way to spice up corporate presentations.
iDVD and image distortion
Macintouch iPhoto (Part 13)
This Macintouch article was written for iPhoto export, but this is really a global issue with 16:9 vs. 6:4 vs. 4:3 video. The idea of "using a mask" in QT Pro to transform video is new to me, but sounds generally applicable.
This Macintouch article was written for iPhoto export, but this is really a global issue with 16:9 vs. 6:4 vs. 4:3 video. The idea of "using a mask" in QT Pro to transform video is new to me, but sounds generally applicable.
Albert Poon
iPhoto 5 added the ability to export slideshows with the Ken Burns effect included. However,iPhoto 5 exports slideshows to iDVD as 720 x 480 QuickTime movies. iDVD is expecting 640 x 480. When iDVD imports the 720 pixel wide movie, it squeezes the image and distorts it.
To quickly change the aspect ratio for the slideshow movie and have your pictures appear right, open the movie in QuickTime Pro and simply add a 640 x 480 mask to the video track and resave the movie. Now import the resized movie that conforms to the size iDVD is looking for.
OS X DMG utility (disk image)
FreeDMG product page
I often create disk images, including some for iPhoto Library "merges" and others for storing OS X files on an SMB share. This utility should be very useful.
I often create disk images, including some for iPhoto Library "merges" and others for storing OS X files on an SMB share. This utility should be very useful.
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