How to decide software is worth testing

I'm not that happy with Google's free web album plug-in for iPhoto, so I figured I'd try a commercial alternative.

If it passed a simple test.

The test?

It had to be easy to find the uninstall directions:

iPhoto to Picasa Web Albums F.A.Q. - Products | ubermind

How can I remove this plug-in from my system?
iPhoto to Picasa Web Albums can be removed by deleting the plug-in file located at:

~/Library/Application Support/iPhoto/Plugins/
iPhotoToPicasaWebAlbums.iPhotoExporter

(~ represents your home directory.)"

Not too hard, so I'll try it out.

This is a very good screening test for all OS X software ...

Update: 6/11/08

Testing concluded, software rejected because:

1. Licensing is by license server. So I can't backup my license, if their server goes down I can't recover it, etc. That's an immediately fatal flaw.
2. It's very, very, very slow to browse a large collection of albums. Something is broken, scrolling was awful.
3. It doesn't add much to Google's free uploader. In particular, there's no option to combine titles and comments to fit Picasa's single title field.
   

iPhoto '08: Grayscale images with color profiles appear black and inverted

I scanned old photos as 16 bit gray scale with Epson Scan on my V700.

The looked fine in Preview, but in iPhoto '08 (most recent) they had black previews and oddly inverted and faint views.

This has been a probelm since version 5.0.4: iPhoto 5.0.4 or later: Grayscale images appear inverted.

The scanner inserts a color profile, and they're not color images. iPhoto gets confused.

Preview doesn't.

One would think that over 3 versions Apple would have come up with better iPhoto behavior.

I removed the color profiles using the suggested AppleScript (see link) -- one at a time.

That worked. I'm sure there's a faster solution.

Very annoying, and it's only thanks to Google that it wasn't very aggravating.

iPhone doesn’t do tasks? Who cares. OmniFocus.

Who cares that Steve Jobs has a !#% religious objection to task management?

That’s why Babbage invented computing …

OmniFocus for iPhone will be location-aware - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

… OmniGroup says that by "using your location, OmniFocus can create a custom list of actions to complete nearby. Buying groceries? OmniFocus can show you the closest grocery store and create an instant shopping list."

Pretty sweet. OmniGroup expects that OmniFocus for iPhone will be available via the App Store around the launch date in early July…

One of the “GTD” principles is opportunistic execution of location specific tasks. OmniFocus is a GTD oriented task manager.

Location specific task reminders are necessarily useful, but they are very cool.

I expect to own an early version of this app.

Update 8/10/08: Not so fast. Scratch OmniFocus.

Buy iPhone today, swap for new one?

Via Ars Technica

...AT&T remains sole iPhone carrier in US, revenue sharing axed (Updated) ... If you purchased the original iPhone on or after May 27 and want to swap it with the 3G iPhone, you will be able to do so without having to pay an additional handset charge. (There is, however, a 10 percent restocking fee on your old phone, apparently.)...

So if I buy one today, can I swap it with the new one in July? Tempting, especially for a refurb.

Why Firefox 3 is a great OS X browser

My impression is that for users of the Google tool suite, FF 3 is the best OS X browser.

One of the lead engineers explains how that came to be …

Firefox 3 for Mac OS X: Under the Hood « Boom Swagger Boom

Firefox 3 will be released soon (get the RC here). While the release contains a huge number of new features and performance improvements for all platforms, it is particularly significant for Mac OS X users. We rewrote most of the Mac OS X code that was behind Firefox 2 in order to benefit from modern Apple technologies and fix long-standing bugs. Once you try it I think you’ll agree that the results are astounding. I’d like to explain what exactly we did in this rewrite, how Firefox 3 for Mac OS X is different “under the hood.”…

So much better than FF 2!

My iPhone demands: How is Apple doing?

Almost a year ago I posted my iPhone demands.

Here's a status report (bold)

Gordon's Notes: iPhone: my demands

Non-negotiable:

1. Copy, Cut, Paste. (No)
   
2. Search. (Contacts only)
   
3. Tasks at least comparable to the 1994 PalmPilot tasks. (No)
4. Synchronization with Outlook at least comparable to the modern Palm OS (in other words, flawed, but useable). A 256 character limit on contact comments is not acceptable. (No, not yet)
   
5. Run FileMaker Remote. (No)
6. Synchronize notes. (No)
7. Multi select and process for email (Yes)
8. Apple needs to fix the "international problem". It's ridiculously easy to run up a $1000 phone bill unintentionally when outside the US. (Partial)
   
9. Let the iPhone bridge a computer to its net connection. (No)

Wishes, not demands:

1. A real calculator. (Yes)
2. Flatten the recessed headphone socket. (Yes)
3. Site-selective synchronization - so can sync at both work and home, but not send home data to a work machine. (No)
4. Support for a bluetooth keyboard and mouse. (No)
5. Video out - so I can use a larger display. (No)
6. Encrypted data stores. (No)
7. Third party app support (Yes)
8. Flash support, but not from Adobe. (No)
9. GPS (Yes)
10. Custom ring and alert tones (Yes)
11. Allow file storage on the iPhone. (No)

Current score:

• essential: 2/9
• nice: 5/9

BTW, 3G wasn't on my list -- high performance web access didn't even make my "nice" rating.

The only saving grace is the SDK and the Apple Store platform. I expect 3rd party developers will give me most of what I want. I'm buying iPhone 2.0, so I'll find out soon enough. Palm is dead one way or another, so I will have to work differently.

Still, pretty lousy score!

MobileMe syncs with Outlook

There's no way on gaia's green earth that MobileMe syncs seamlessly with Outlook ...

Apple - MobileMe - Features - MobileMe on your PC

... On a PC, MobileMe works seamlessly with the applications you use every day. You can use Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Contacts on XP or Vista. MobileMe automatically pushes your email, contacts, and calendars — and even your Safari or Internet Explorer bookmarks — to your other computers, iPhone, and iPod touch.
...

No way.

Still, interesting.

Notice the absence of $%!$%!%# Task synchronization. No Notes either.

I'm looking for info on gCal syn.