TidBITS#946/22-Sep-08
=====================
Issue link: <http://db.tidbits.com/issue/946>
It's becoming a common story: After determining that he didn't
really need one, Joe Kissell finally took the plunge and bought an
iPhone 3G when it became available in France. Joe discusses how the
iPhone has changed his work and some of the limitations that he's
run into. Speaking of the iPhone 3G, Apple is recalling its
diminutive USB power adapter due to the risk of electric shock. Adam
looks at the new StuffIt Deluxe 2009 as the venerable utility turns
20, Joe highlights the improvements in VMware Fusion 2.0, Tonya
finds an immediate use for the just-released MercuryMover 2.0
window-moving utility, and we note the release of the latest edition
of Adam's "Take Control of Buying a Mac." In the TidBITS Watchlist,
we spotlight the availability of Gears for Safari, BBEdit 9.0.1,
Coda 1.5.1, Apple's Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.2,
Apple Remote Desktop 3.2.2, and Server Admin Tools 10.5.5.
Articles
Apple Recalls Supercool iPhone 3G USB Power Adapter
MercuryMover 2.0 Puts Windows Where You Want Them
StuffIt Deluxe 2009 Keeps Evolving After 20 Years
Take Control News: Buy the Right Mac at the Right Time
VMware Fusion 2.0 Released
Confessions of an iPhone Convert
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 22-Sep-08
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/22-Sep-08
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Apple Recalls Supercool iPhone 3G USB Power Adapter
---------------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9777>
In shocking news - pun intended - Apple has recalled the tiny USB
power adapter it released with great glee along with the iPhone 3G.
The ultracompact adapter, hardly more than two prongs and a USB
jack, apparently has a flaw that has led to one or both of the
prongs breaking off and remaining in an outlet. The company's recall
page says that "no injuries have been reported," and that it
involves a "very small percentage of the adapters sold."
Nonetheless, there's a risk of electric shock, and no electric shock
is good at any household amperage.
<http://tidbits.com/resources/2008-09/adapter-views2.jpg>
<http://www.apple.com/support/usbadapter/exchangeprogram/>
The company has asked its users to stop using the adapters
immediately, but won't have replacements ready to ship until
10-Oct-08. Affected adapters were sold with iPhones in the United
States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, and Peru.
The included iPhone USB cable, docks sold separately, and adapters
sold in other countries pose no risk. Apple strongly advises
charging the iPhone 3G by plugging the USB cable into a computer,
the larger fold-up Apple adapter, or a third-party adapter.
Revised ultracompact adapters will sport a green dot on the bottom
to differentiate them from the less-safe initial version. Apple is
accepting Web orders for the exchange, which requires your iPhone
serial number. You can also go to an Apple Store starting 10-Oct-08
to exchange an adapter in person, but you must bring your iPhone 3G
as well as the adapter.
There is no charge associated with the exchange.
I expect most iPhone 3G owners will continue to use the existing
ultracompact adapter until the replacements become available and
just take additional care, because the alternatives involve always
having a computer nearby or purchasing a different charger for which
Apple will not reimburse you.
MercuryMover 2.0 Puts Windows Where You Want Them
-------------------------------------------------
by Tonya Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9779>
On Sunday afternoon, just after telling a pair of boys not to throw
pillows indoors, I sat down to pay some bills and immediately lost a
window in my MYOB bookkeeping software. This problem happens
occasionally when I switch my MacBook Pro from running while
attached to an external monitor to running on its own, and I
retrieve lost windows by zooming them from MYOB's Window menu. It's
annoying, but not a big deal.
However, this time, all the commands in MYOB's Window menu were
dimmed and the window was seemingly irretrievable without spending
time rebooting, reattaching, or reinstalling on what wasn't supposed
to be a computer-intensive weekend afternoon.
I even knew what was causing the problem. I've recently been testing
the Matrox DualHead2Go - a USB device that enables me to attach a
pair of external monitors to my MacBook Pro. There's a long story
about the DualHead2Go that I'll tell at another time, but suffice to
say that MYOB put the window in a spot that the DualHead2Go had made
available, but since I'd disconnected the DualHead2Go and was using
a single external monitor, that location wasn't visible.
What to do? Sometimes being a member of the press has its perks:
coincidentally, and accompanied by some tasty homemade brownies that
made the package impossible to ignore, a CD had arrived in my house
on Friday, containing the brand new MercuryMover 2.0, a $20 utility
from Helium Foot Software. While enjoying a brownie on Saturday, I
asked Adam to remind me what MercuryMover does - it enables you to
use keyboard shortcuts to move windows around on your Mac's screen,
and to resize them. I duly noted that MercuryMover sounded useful,
and that I hoped a TidBITS staffer who was less enmeshed in editing
books would write about it. Anyway, as the boys went outside - no
doubt to look for sticks suitable for a sword fight - I realized
that MercuryMover might solve my MYOB missing window problem.
<http://www.heliumfoot.com/mercurymover/>
Indeed, MercuryMover allowed me to retrieve my missing window with
ease. After I enabled it in System Preferences and invoked it with
Control-Command-Up arrow, it walked me through how to use it,
showing which keys I could press to move my missing window and
showing the current coordinates of the window. I also took a moment
to configure the main cool new feature in version 2.0, which creates
keyboard shortcuts that correspond with particular window sizes and
locations. Because my windows often jumble as I connect and
disconnect my MacBook Pro from an external monitor, I think this
feature will help eliminate window chaos. Better still, it all
worked smoothly and intuitively, leaving me plenty of time to sneak
another brownie and make sure nobody's eye got poked out.
StuffIt Deluxe 2009 Keeps Evolving After 20 Years
-------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9775>
The world has changed over the last 20 years, but one constant for
Mac users has been the premier compression and archiving software
StuffIt Deluxe. Starting out life as shareware from teenage
programmer Raymond Lau and riding along through multiple versions as
its parent company Aladdin Systems became Allume and was then
acquired by Smith Micro, StuffIt Deluxe has continued to add
features and improve its lossless compression capabilities. Though
the need for compression isn't nearly as great in this age of large
hard disks and fast Internet connections (not to mention Apple's
support for Zip archiving within Mac OS X), StuffIt Deluxe remains
useful for large numbers of Mac users. (For those who can't quite
understand this, the mere fact that it remains the flagship product
of Smith Micro's Consumer Group should be sufficient evidence that
many Mac users do rely on it.)
Most notable among the changes in this version, StuffIt Deluxe 2009
adds support for new technologies in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Thanks
to Quick Look support, Leopard users can now look inside archives
without having to expand them first, a major boon. This works within
the Finder, Mail, or any other Quick Look-capable application.
Similarly, you can preview archives while browsing in Time Machine.
And, though unrelated to Leopard, new support for Google's MacFUSE
filesystem utility lets users mount any browsable archive type in
the Finder as though it were a disk.
<http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/StuffIt/>
It's unclear if StuffIt Deluxe 2009 has particularly different
compression capabilities, but the program does offer optimized
compressors for common file types, including MP3, PDF, iWork files,
Microsoft Office files, and more. It can losslessly compress even
JPEG images up to 30 percent. One new capability is "duplicate
folding" - a way of saving space within an archive by storing only a
single copy of duplicate files that's likely to be most helpful to
those who rely on StuffIt Deluxe's scheduled archiving capabilities
as part of a backup routine. Duplicate folding is yet another
instance of how StuffIt Deluxe views compression as happening to a
collection of files, rather than merely to each individual file in
an archive. Also new is support for expanding 7-Zip and segmented
Zip archives; in total, StuffIt Deluxe 2009 can now expand over 30
compression formats.
DropStuff, one of the major utilities that makes up the StuffIt
Deluxe 2009 package and itself the bulk of what Smith Micro sells as
the StuffIt Standard 2009 product, has been enhanced with additional
customization options. Sets of compression formats and other options
can be saved as Desktop droplets, enabling users to create different
types of archives quickly via drag-and-drop.
Another utility, SEA Maker, lets users create Mac OS X
mini-installers - it's not new, but what is new is its Remote
Payload feature that lets SEA Maker retrieve the parts of an
installer from an FTP site or iDisk. DropStuff, with help from the
StuffIt Scheduler utility, can also automatically transfer archives
to your MobileMe iDisk, making it potentially useful as part of a
backup strategy.
StuffIt Deluxe 2009 costs $79.99, StuffIt Standard 2009 (which
comprises DropStuff and the otherwise free StuffIt Expander) costs
$49.99, and StuffIt Expander 2009 remains free. Upgrades to StuffIt
Deluxe 2009 from any previous version of StuffIt Deluxe or StuffIt
Standard run $29.99, and upgrades to StuffIt Standard 2009 from
previous versions cost $14.99. Mac OS X 10.4 or later is required.
<http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/StuffIt/expander.html>
<http://my.smithmicro.com/mac/StuffIt/updates.html>
Take Control News: Buy the Right Mac at the Right Time
------------------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9776>
Deciding that you want to buy a new Mac is easy, but embarking on
the project immediately raises questions like, "What Mac will best
meet my needs?", "Should I buy now or wait a month?", "How do I move
my files from my old Mac to my new one?", and "What should I do with
my old Mac?" Mac guru Adam Engst has answered these questions
countless times, and he has distilled the answers into the 98-page
"Take Control of Buying a Mac."
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/buying-mac.html?14@@!pt=TB946>
Worksheets in the book help you match your needs and budget to the
right Mac model, and a chart of Apple's model launches over the last
5 years helps predict when new Macs will appear. Adam also explains
when you can purchase to get the most bang for your buck, compares
different venues for where to shop, gives advice and step-by-step
instructions for transferring files from an old Mac to the shiny new
one, and offers thoughts about how to get the most out of the Mac
that's being replaced.
It's only $10 and will easily pay for itself in helping you buy a
Mac with the desired extras for less.
If you've purchased a previous edition of this book prior to 2008,
click the Check for Updates button in your copy to access a 75
percent upgrade discount. (We wanted to make it as easy as possible
for people to update to this new edition while still earning a
little money to pay for the time that went into writing, Caroline
Rose's editing, and Tonya's production efforts.) Those who purchased
in 2008 should have received email from us with a link to a free
update.
VMware Fusion 2.0 Released
--------------------------
by Joe Kissell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9773>
Not so long ago, it seemed like every time I looked at my computer
screen, either Parallels or VMware had released yet another version
of their respective virtualization programs for running Windows on
an Intel-based Mac. Over the last several months, though, those
rapid-fire releases have slowed way down. Parallels has focused its
recent attention mainly on Parallels Server (see "Parallels Server
Brings Virtualization to Leopard Server," 2008-01-10) and minor
updates to Parallels Desktop, while VMware has spent the last four
months beta testing VMware Fusion 2.0 (see "VMware Fusion 2 Beta 2
Adds Significant Features" by Adam Engst, 2008-07-31). Version 2.0
is now shipping, and it's a doozy.
<http://www.parallels.com/en/products/server/mac/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9392>
<http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9719>
If you've followed our periodic updates on Fusion 2.0's public beta
testing, most of the new features will come as no surprise. But to
review, VMware Fusion has changed tremendously; the most significant
differences from version 1.1 (from among its "over 100 new features
and enhancements") include the following:
* Unity View improvements. Unity View is a mode in which the Fusion
window itself, and along with it the Windows desktop, disappear so
that windows from Windows applications appear right alongside - or
even interleaved with - windows from Mac applications. Unity now
plays better with Spaces, Expose, and the Dock; in addition, if you
close a virtual machine while it's in Unity View, it remembers that
state when you reopen it. (By the way, Fusion now uses the term
"Unity" to cover not only Unity View, but a whole list of features
that simplify and enhance the interaction between Windows
applications and Mac OS X, including the next four items on the
list.)
* Mirrored folders. With a few clicks, you can now set up Fusion to
map your Mac's Desktop, Documents, Music, and Pictures folders to
their Windows counterparts so that both operating systems share one
common set of user data.
* Application sharing. Fusion 2.0 lets you map particular Mac file
extensions so they open automatically in Windows applications, and
vice versa.
* Multiple display support. Now your Windows virtual machine can use
all the displays (up to 10) connected to your Mac.
* Driverless printing. Instead of having to install a Windows driver
for each printer you use, you can now access all your existing Mac
printers from within Windows.
* Multiple snapshots. Previously, Fusion could save your entire
Windows configuration in a single "known good" state so that you
could return to it later if you encountered problems. Now you can
save more than one of these snapshots, optionally using an
Autoprotect feature to save them on a recurring schedule.
* Anti-virus software. Fusion 2.0 includes a free 12-month
subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus.
* Enhanced graphics support. You can now play 1080p movies in Windows
with hardware acceleration, and run software (games in particular)
that requires DirectX 9.0c or Shader Model 2.
* Easier importing. If you already have Windows installed on your Mac
using Parallels Desktop, Virtual PC, or Boot Camp, Fusion now
includes a built-in import capability. (In addition, it can still
run Windows directly from your Boot Camp installation.)
* Mac OS X Server support. You can now run Leopard Server (but not the
standard version of Leopard) as a guest operating system. This is
hugely significant, because previously, the only way to do this was
to buy Parallels Server (for $1,248.75) - Parallels Desktop doesn't
support Leopard Server. Moreover, Fusion lets you run Leopard Server
on any Intel-based Mac, not just an "Intel-powered Mac server or
desktop computer," as Parallels Server requires.
* Greater Mac OS X integration. Fusion now supports Cover Flow, Quick
Look, and Apple Help, among other things.
This list is just the tip of the iceberg; for the full list of new
features, see the extensive Fusion 2.0 release notes.
<http://www.vmware.com/support/fusion2/doc/releasenotes_fusion.html>
You may have noticed that more than a few of the new features
strongly resemble features already available in Parallels Desktop.
That was, of course, intentional. Although the two programs have
always been close competitors, my overall advice in the past had
been that if you wanted the best user experience and tight
integration with Mac OS X, Parallels had the edge; whereas if you
wanted the best performance in CPU-intensive tasks or the lowest
impact on your Mac's resources, Fusion was, for the most part, the
better choice. Assuming roughly comparable performance between the
old version and the new, that equation has now changed; in terms of
integration, Fusion is now just as good as - and in some cases
better than - Parallels Desktop. Indeed, Fusion 2.0 now raises the
bar with features like driverless printing and support for Leopard
Server in a sub-$100 product, making it a compelling choice for the
time being.
VMware Fusion 2.0 is a 248 MB download. It's a free upgrade for
owners of version 1.x; the retail price for new customers remains
unchanged at $79.99. A free trial is also available.
<http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/>
<https://www.vmware.com/tryvmware/login.php?eval=fusion>
Confessions of an iPhone Convert
--------------------------------
by Joe Kissell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9774>
As I write this, it's my two-month anniversary of being an iPhone
owner. (We're celebrating by taking a vacation to Italy together; my
wife, who has sometimes referred to herself as an "iPhone widow," is
coming too.) What's surprising from my current vantage point is that
I spent a number of months fully convinced that I was outside the
target audience for this device, and that, cool as it unarguably
was, I simply would never own an iPhone (or its slimmer sibling, the
iPod touch). When I first got my iPhone 3G, I posted some thoughts
on what had persuaded me to change my mind (see "Totally an iPhone
3G Owner," 2008-07-17). Now that I've lived with it for a while,
I've learned that I was right about some things and wrong about
others - and some aspects of the iPhone experience (both good and
bad) have surprised me.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9698>
If you're thinking about joining the millions of (usually) happy
iPhone or iPod touch owners but are still on the fence - or if you,
like early-2008 Joe, think it just isn't worth it - perhaps you'll
find my observations helpful in deciding one way or the other.
**Price** -- Let's get the whole money thing out of the way first.
iPhones, though cheaper now than before thanks to the carrier
subsidies, are still not cheap, and monthly voice-and-data plans are
also rather pricey. Sure, they're in the ballpark of what you'd pay
for other comparable devices and perhaps (depending on your calling
habits) not hugely more expensive than a standard cell phone plan.
Even so, monthly service is a nontrivial financial commitment for
most of us. Obviously, an iPod touch requires just the single
up-front payment (and, of course, the occasional $10 software update
fee), but it lacks the phone, camera, and GPS. Depending on your
needs, that trade-off may make perfect sense, or it may kill the
entire appeal.
The reduction in initial cost overcame a big barrier for me, and
though I dislike having to pay so much money per month, I do believe
I'm getting more than I pay for. That is, the increase in
productivity and the decrease in lost time much more than make up
for the extra monthly expense. If I can do more paying work during
the day simply by reclaiming time that would otherwise be wasted,
that's a big deal to me.
There is one niggling issue, though, and that is international
roaming. The costs of making calls and transferring data when away
from your home country have been much discussed, and though I don't
want to belabor them here, they can certainly become a concern for
anyone who travels abroad. Given the nature of the plan I have with
Orange here in France, roaming within Europe isn't too bad, but
roaming to, say, North America is another story. Before I head to
San Francisco for Macworld Expo in January, I'll probably pay Orange
100 euros to unlock my phone (it'd be free if I could wait another
couple of weeks until my six-month anniversary), and then buy a
prepaid SIM card with a data plan for use in the United States. I
suspect the combined cost will be less than what I'd pay for voice
and data roaming during my trip.
**Productivity vs. Entertainment** -- Needless to say, if you see an
iPhone or iPod touch primarily as an entertainment device rather
than a productivity device, you have to determine how much that
entertainment is worth to you. For me, the music, videos, and games
are merely the icing on the cake, not the reason for owning the
device.
One of the reasons I thought I wouldn't benefit from an iPhone is
that I work at home and, like a good Parisian, shun exercise for its
own sake - so I don't really need a portable gadget for listening to
music or watching videos. My failure to think of my iPhone as an
iPod is so complete that I have never, even once, thought to take my
earphones with me when leaving the house. I'll see someone listening
to an iPod and think, "Oh yeah, I guess I could be listening to
music now too." But that's not what's interesting to me about the
iPhone.
<http://www.o-chateau.com/blog/not-exercising/>
My iPhone has enabled me to be more productive by, for example,
answering email and catching up on my RSS feeds while on the Metro
to run an errand across town, a frequent occurrence. As I'll
describe in a moment, it's saved me all kinds of grief by enabling
me to produce just about any piece of information I may need while
I'm out and about. I've used it as a remote control while watching
movies from my Mac mini; I'll also use it as a remote control when
giving Keynote presentations in person. And I've even - I'll regret
admitting this, I'm sure - sent email from the bathtub to my wife in
the next room.
In short, it's become an extremely handy tool, both around the house
and around town. I use it primarily as a reference book and a
communication device - usually for email, occasionally for voice,
hardly ever for SMS, and only on rare occasions for music or video.
**Head-slappers** -- Owning an iPhone has also been a headache, in
that I keep slapping myself on the forehead after forgetting I have
a gadget in my pocket that could have alleviated some hassle I just
went through. I'm not yet used to having access to the Web, my
email, my photos, and most of my files at all times. For example:
* I was chatting with a friend about a trip to Spain earlier this
year, and how lovely one of the little towns was that we'd visited.
While struggling to describe it, I remembered that I probably had
all my photos from that trip on my iPhone, because I'd selected the
option to sync every photo taken within the last year. Seconds later
I was in show-and-tell mode.
* I purchased tickets for a Suzanne Vega concert online (n.b., she's a
fellow Mac user), and opted to pick them up at a local Virgin outlet
rather than having them mailed. So I went to the store with my
credit card, having forgotten that I also needed the confirmation
number I got by email. When the clerk rebuffed me, I promised to go
home and fetch the number - but as soon as I walked out the door I
remembered that I had access to all the email in my IMAP account on
my iPhone, so I just looked up that email message, went back in,
showed it to the clerk, and walked out with my tickets.
<http://www.suzannevega.com/>
* My wife and I were at a restaurant discussing travel plans, puzzling
over where certain spots in Rome were and how to get between them.
Then I realized: I do happen to have a map of Italy in my pocket. A
few taps later, I'd zoomed in on a satellite image of the Colosseum.
* While at Apple Expo I received an email asking for a certain phone
number. I remembered picking up a piece of paper the other day that
listed this number, and thought I'd have to call home and ask my
wife to rummage through some folders to find it. But wait! I
routinely scan every piece of paper that comes across my desk, and I
recently started using SugarSync to synchronize (among other things)
the folder that contains all my scanned PDFs with their online
service (see "SugarSync Sweetens Online Syncing," 2008-08-30). So,
even though I'd never synced that particular document to my iPhone,
I was able to download it and view its contents from the floor of a
convention center.
<http://www.sugarsync.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9751>
**Traveling Light** -- The vacation on which I'm about to embark will
be computer-free - a real stretch for me. I'm trying to avoid doing
or even thinking about work, but I take tremendous comfort in
knowing that I'll have access to my email and the Web wherever I go.
Not only that, but I can (should the need arise) connect to my
Xserve remotely to reboot it, upgrade my blogging software, or run
disk repair utilities. If an editor emails me a Word or PDF file
that urgently needs commenting or review, I can handle it from my
phone. If a colleague needs a file that's on my MacBook Pro at home,
I can most likely fetch it and email it to them - even though my
home computer will be turned off. And so on. I have also, of course,
loaded an Italian phrase book!
**Clutter Reduction** -- It's great to have a single small object that
substitutes for the phone, camera, map, French dictionary, and
notebook I'd otherwise have to carry. And yet, one way the iPhone
has failed to live up to my expectations is, ironically, in ease of
use.
Let's say I'm standing on a Paris street corner trying to figure out
which Metro line to take across town. The old way of determining
this would be to pull out a map book, flip open the front cover, and
go, "Aha." The new way is to take out my iPhone, press the Home
button to turn it on, drag the slider to unlock it, enter my
passcode (a necessity for me since my iPhone contains lots of
personal data), press the Home button again to display my apps,
slide over to the screen with my Metro map, tap the icon, wait for
it to load, and then find my location. It takes a lot longer to do
all those things, so most of the time if my wife is with me she'll
pull her map out of her purse and figure out where we need to go
before I've gotten past the first screen.
This is just one example of many. As with any good multitasker (such
as the proverbial Swiss Army Knife - and yes, I carry around one of
those too), you trade usability for flexibility. You wouldn't carve
a steak or build a house with the tools in your Swiss Army Knife,
but when you'd otherwise be stuck, something is better than nothing.
The iPhone doesn't have the greatest email client or text editor or
map program or camera, but it has ones that are good enough for
quickly performing minor tasks on the go.
The question is, does the reduction of objects make up for the loss
of quality and efficiency? Well, sometimes yes and sometimes no.
Although the iPhone does many things quite well, when I start
seriously considering carrying, say, a map or a notebook around with
me again, that means my multitasking marvel didn't meet even my
basic needs in that category.
Speaking of notebooks... The iPhone is - let me be frank - a truly
terrible device for doing any sort of writing (regardless of which
spiffy text editor you've installed). Notwithstanding my relatively
small fingers and the built-in text correction feature, I end up
with tons of errors in even short, simple chunks of text, and the
whole process is far more tedious than I imagined. The lack of copy
and paste is certainly a huge irritant too, as that could save me a
great deal of typing.
But the very lamest thing of all about the current iPhone, in my
opinion, is that it cannot synchronize notes or to-do items. On Mac
OS X, Mail and iCal can share to-do items, and you can sync notes
from Mail with your other Macs via MobileMe. But you can't sync the
iPhone's Notes with Mail's notes (or any other application), and the
iPhone can't even display to-do items, much less sync them, without
third-party software. I've tried a number of iPhone apps that can
synchronize their own private notes and/or to-do items with a
Web-based service or, in some cases, with a proprietary desktop
application - but as far as I know, there is currently no way at all
to synchronize those two basic and essential kinds of data between
the software included with the iPhone and Mac OS X.
(An aside here: I'm not asking for recommendations; I'm merely
venting. I know lots of developers are trying very hard to crack
this nut, and though I haven't been entirely satisfied with any of
the solutions I've found so far, I'm sure one of them will get there
eventually. It's just the principle of the thing - I can't believe
Apple has made it this hard.)
Along the same lines, another hope I had for the iPhone was that it
would make a handy voice recorder. My French skills being what they
are, I frequently have conversations in which I absorb only about
half of what the other person is saying. I always wish I could
record it and play it back later to figure out what I missed. Well,
again, if it takes me 20 seconds of tapping, sliding, and waiting to
get to the point where audio is being recorded, it's too late. With
a conventional digital recorder in my pocket, I'd press one button
(or maybe two) and be recording in under a second.
**Failing the Impromptu Demo Test** -- The built-in GPS has been a
godsend on several occasions. But because the iPhone relies on a
data connection to download and display maps, its operation isn't
always what it should be. One evening my wife and I were walking
along the Seine, and some tourists came up to us to ask where the
nearest Metro stop was. I didn't know offhand, so I pulled out my
iPhone, turned it on, and tapped the Maps icon, thinking I'd
instantly get a map showing our current location and, of course, all
the Metro stops in the vicinity. I'd done that many times before
without any trouble. On this occasion, though, the map didn't load.
I tried toggling 3G, but that didn't help. Not knowing what else to
do, I turned off the phone and waited for it to restart. By this
time, the tourists had gotten completely fed up with me and asked if
I couldn't just point them in the general direction of a likely
stop. So I did, and about 30 seconds later, the map finally showed
up on the screen.
I don't know what they murmured to themselves as they walked away,
but I imagine it was some combination of "what an idiot" and "what a
stupid phone." I thought I was going to show off this impressive
capability of a powerful device, and I only got egg on my face.
Then there was the time I was at a government office and had to look
up a phone number on my iPhone. I went to Contacts and tapped in the
right place, but the screen froze. After some time, I managed to get
to the contact I wanted, but when I accidentally tapped the screen
while trying to scroll, the phone began dialing the contact (a
process that, as a side effect, hid the number from view). By the
time I got back to the screen I wanted, three public servants were
laughing and trading jokes about my iPhone. Well, I knew this was a
powerful device, but I had no idea it had the power to make a French
bureaucrat crack a smile. That's amazing! I must use this feature
more often.
**Wishing for More** -- For every wonderful capability the iPhone has,
I find myself wishing it were just a touch more fantastic. For
example, I've been using Evernote to snap photos of signs, menus,
and the like. When I do this, the phone uploads the photos to
Evernote's servers, which use OCR software to find the text in the
images and index their contents in a few minutes. So I can search
(on my phone or on my Mac) for the name of a dish on a menu at a
restaurant where I ate last month and find it instantly. That's very
cool, but what I really want is for my iPhone to give me a rapid
English translation of that text. All it would require is sending
the text through any of the many machine translation services out
there, but as things stand now, I can't get that all in one package.
<http://www.evernote.com/>
Similarly, I sometimes use Jott to record short memos to myself that
are converted into editable, searchable text by a combination of
speech recognition software and human transcriptionists. Even better
would be a service that lets me record someone speaking French and
give me an English translation of the text (or vice versa). Sure, it
would be rough, but in some situations, anything is better than
nothing.
<http://www.jott.com/>
**Final Thoughts** -- The thing that made me realize the iPhone was
worth the money was simply realizing that it would serve me best as
a tool rather than as a toy. As tools go, it achieves some things
far better than I'd ever imagined, and fails at some things I
assumed it would get right. On the whole, though, I am happy with my
choice. Unlike most tools, this one stands a good chance of becoming
even better in the future, thanks to software updates. It does make
my wife a bit jealous, but I think I can make it up to her by having
my iPhone order her some great Italian food.
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 22-Sep-08
---------------------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9772>
* iPhone Configuration Utility 1.0.1 for Mac OS X from Apple updates
the utility used by system administrators to manage iPhone and iPod
touch configurations. Apple doesn't specify what's changed in this
revision, so we're assuming it applies bug fixes. (Free, 9.3 MB)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/finalcutserverupdate111.html>
* Final Cut Server Update 1.1.1 from Apple addresses performance,
stability, and installation issues in Final Cut Server 1.1. A Final
Cut Server serial number is required to download the standalone
update. (Free, 55.3 MB)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/finalcutserverupdate111.html>
* Pro Applications Update 2008-03 from Apple improves performance and
stability in Compressor and Apple Qmaster, and is recommended for
owners of Final Cut Studio 2, Final Cut Server, and Logic Studio.
The update is available via Software Update or as a standalone
download; the latter requires a valid Final Cut Studio 2 serial
number. (Free, 64.4 MB)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/proapplicationsupdate200803.html>
* Gears for Safari 0.4.22.0 from Google is the official release of the
software that enables offline use of otherwise online Web apps like
Google Docs (for more information, see "How to Use Google Docs
Offline in Safari," 2008-09-01). Google offers a bit more technical
information in the introductory blog post. (Free)
<http://gears.google.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9752>
<http://googlemac.blogspot.com/2008/09/gears-for-safari.html>
* BBEdit 9.0.1 from Bare Bones Software fixes a wide variety of minor
bugs in the recently released BBEdit text editor. Areas of focus
include text completion, dealing with documents that appear in
multiple windows, and the new modeless Find dialog. It's worth
browsing through the release notes to see if any of the changes fix
any annoyance you've had, but this really is tweaky stuff. ($125
new, free update for 9.0 users or $30 from previous versions, 15.4
MB)
<http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/>
<http://www.barebones.com/support/bbedit/arch_bbedit901.html>
* Coda 1.5.1 from Panic offers bug fixes for the just-updated Coda Web
development tool. A number of crashing bugs have been squashed, the
Terminal window can now prompt before allowing itself to be closed,
drag-and-drop duplication now works for folders, and deleting a
remote file while it's being edited closes its editor. Coda's
release notes detail a number of other interesting changes - they're
worth a read. ($99 new, free update, 19 MB)
<http://www.panic.com/coda/>
<http://www.panic.com/coda/releasenotes.html>
* Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 2.2 from Apple adds raw
image file compatibility to Aperture 2 and iPhoto '08 for the
following cameras: Canon EOS Digital Rebel XS/Kiss Digital F/1000D,
Kodak DCS Pro SLR/n, Nikon D700, Olympus EVOLT E-420, Olympus EVOLT
E-520, Olympus SP-570, Samsung GX-10, Samsung GX-20, Sony DSLR-A300,
and Sony DSC-R1. Apple installs camera compatibility at the system
level, so installing the update requires a restart. (Free, 3.5 MB)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/digitalcamerarawcompatibilityupdate22.html>
* Apple Remote Desktop 3.2.2 Client and Apple Remote Desktop 3.2.2
Admin from Apple improve the reliability of the Copy Items command,
use unicast packets for improved performance while upgrading client
software across a network, and apply fixes to the Force Quit All
Applications and Copy items to Computer Automator actions. The
updates require Apple Remote Desktop 3.0 or later. (Free update,
2.82 MB for the Client or 30 MB for the Admin)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/appleremotedesktop322client.html>
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/appleremotedesktop322admin.html>
* Server Admin Tools 10.5.5 from Apple updates the collection of
server tools by correctly enabling and showing the status of RADIUS
or Kerberos authentication for PPTP VPN, reliably displays the
primary IP address for 802.11n-enabled AirPort Base Stations, and
fixes a number of other issues. (Free, 64 MB)
<http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/serveradmintools1055.html>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/22-Sep-08
------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9778>
**Chrome Port for the Mac is Out** -- Code Weavers has posted a quick
port of the Google Chrome Web browser, and readers give it a spin
while arguing about what constitutes a "native" application. (25
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2216>
**VMware Fusion 2.0 Released** -- A reader runs into trouble after
installing Fusion 2.0 on top of Mac OS X 10.5.5, but others aren't
seeing the problem. (2 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2219>
**Confessions of an iPhone Convert** -- Joe Kissell's account of how
the iPhone is proving useful elicits comments. (2 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2222>
**iTunes 8 Adds Genius; iTunes Store Adds HD TV and NBC** -- A reader
notes that the new Genius feature in iTunes 8 performs poorly with
classical music (which has never been the software's strong suit). 2
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2224>
$$
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