Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Google redoes their search: Integrated search
The announcement suggests we try the new improved steve jobs search. I took more notice of the the new top menus associated with personalized search. They produce an odd fusion between search and Google services associated with my Gmail username. I'm not sure I see the point, but I'll keep playing with it.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Word 2007 XML File Format Converter for Mac
TUAW has the story. Alas, we all need this. BTW, TUAW is being quite impressive lately.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Disable the 'delete go back' booby trap in Firefox
macosxhints.com - Block the 'Delete goes back' action in Firefox.
It's an OS X hint, but of course it works everywhere. I just disabled it on XP. It's a booby-trap, not a feature.
It's an OS X hint, but of course it works everywhere. I just disabled it on XP. It's a booby-trap, not a feature.
Best Finder tip ever ...
In column view names are often truncated. There's a fix
Mac 101: Viewing long file names - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)Excellent, but in comments it gets better: "if you option+double-click it will expand all available columns!". Now I'll switch to a very narrow default column view ...
...At the bottom of the column, you'll see two short, vertical "pipes" (pictured above). Double click the pipes, and the window will instantly expand to accommodate the longest file name in the window...
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Spanning Sync: the uninstall
Spanning sync had worked pretty well in my limited testing, but I couldn't solve the rest of my gCal sync challenge. Without the whole solution Spanning Sync just didn't offer enough.
Time to uninstall. But wait -- how to uninstall? Uninstalling the very best OS X apps is a drag-and-drop operation, but Spanning Sync includes a PrefPane. I started looking for uninstall directions.
At first things looked bad. The Spanning Sync FAQ doesn't mention uninstalling. One blog post suggested the process is pretty ugly. A search on the Spanning Sync site for "uninstall" returned four irrelevant hits.
I downloaded 1.04 again, and that's where I found an uninstaller. It seems to have worked. So they have one, even if they don't document it.
OS X really ought to have an uninstaller, even if most apps can be uninstalled by deleting them. (Though apps typically leave support data scattered around, you can use spotlight to find them. In the case of an app like Spanning Sync, you need to switch to each user's account and run a search if you want a full cleanup.)
Update 9/4/08: The iPhone made me a Spanning Sync customer after all. Meanwhile, a year or so after I posted this, Spanning Sync finally added a note to their FAQ about uninstalling. I'm glad they relented, but why did that take a year?
Time to uninstall. But wait -- how to uninstall? Uninstalling the very best OS X apps is a drag-and-drop operation, but Spanning Sync includes a PrefPane. I started looking for uninstall directions.
At first things looked bad. The Spanning Sync FAQ doesn't mention uninstalling. One blog post suggested the process is pretty ugly. A search on the Spanning Sync site for "uninstall" returned four irrelevant hits.
I downloaded 1.04 again, and that's where I found an uninstaller. It seems to have worked. So they have one, even if they don't document it.
OS X really ought to have an uninstaller, even if most apps can be uninstalled by deleting them. (Though apps typically leave support data scattered around, you can use spotlight to find them. In the case of an app like Spanning Sync, you need to switch to each user's account and run a search if you want a full cleanup.)
Update 9/4/08: The iPhone made me a Spanning Sync customer after all. Meanwhile, a year or so after I posted this, Spanning Sync finally added a note to their FAQ about uninstalling. I'm glad they relented, but why did that take a year?
Friday, May 11, 2007
Beginning of the end for the dSLR?
The Canon PowerShot S5 IS has very impressive specifications. We'll see how well that thumbnail sized sensor does at higher ASA ratings, but this feels like the beginning of the end for the dSLR. Many pros will use this as a backup camera, and many prosumers who might have bought a dSLR will choose an S5 instead. Current prosumer dSLR owners will hold off on major lens purchases, anticipating a possible future switch to an S6, S7, etc.
The dSLR has always been, very obviously, a transitional technology. Mechanical prism? Sensor dust? Ummm, no. The only question was when. Now I'm thinking dSLR sales will start to decline by late 2008.
The dSLR has always been, very obviously, a transitional technology. Mechanical prism? Sensor dust? Ummm, no. The only question was when. Now I'm thinking dSLR sales will start to decline by late 2008.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Cmd-Opt Drop: force open file
Finder Fu: Force an Application to open your Document - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW):
...By holding Command Option while dragging, you tell OS X applications to open files regardless of whether they 'support' that file type...
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