TidBITS#948/06-Oct-08
=====================
Issue link: <http://db.tidbits.com/issue/948>
Although it doesn't directly impact customers right now, this week's
big news was Apple lifting its overly restrictive iPhone
non-disclosure agreement; iPhone software developers can now
communicate with one another freely (and technical books in the
pipeline can finally be published), which should result in better
applications in the future. In other news, AOL Instant Messenger
(AIM) makes an unexpected return to the Mac, Easy Wi-Fi simplifies
hotspot access on the iPhone or iPod touch, and a French newspaper
article claims that older Mac Pros could be poisoning owners. Joe
Kissell starts writing a review of iPhone games and realizes that
the task isn't so simple, and Adam revels in the font of
typographical goodness that is Bravefont. We're also extremely
excited to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Take Control with a
big half-off sale! In the TidBITS Watchlist, we cover the releases
of Apple TV 2.2, Firefox PDF Plugin for Mac OS X 0.9.9, iTunes
8.0.1, SousChef 1.0, OmniWeb 5.8, Quark Publishing System 8, Drive
Genius 2.1, and You Control: Desktops 1.3.
Articles
Font Puns Galore in Extensis's Bravefont Trailer
Take Control News: 50%-Off Sale to Celebrate 5th Anniversary
Apple Allows Developers to Talk about iPhone Software
Older Mac Pros Toxic or Just Smelly?
The Return of AIM (in Beta)
Easy Wi-Fi Enters Hotspot Passwords for You
The iPhone Game Review Conundrum
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 06-Oct-08
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/06-Oct-08
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Font Puns Galore in Extensis's Bravefont Trailer
------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9790>
Extensis has set a new standard for pre-release promotion of a
software product - the font management tool Suitcase Fusion 2, due
out soon - with a hilarious spoof trailer for Bravefont, "a
historical, romantic, action-adventure, science fiction drama"
featuring Stone Serif (Citizen Kern), Lucida Blackletter, Sean
Symbol, and Corvina Skyline (My Big Fat Greeking Wedding) and with a
supporting cast including Gill Sans (The Fontographer's Wife) and
Dom Casual (It's a Wonderful Ligature). Go watch the video, and pay
close attention so you don't miss any of the jokes.
<http://www.suitcasefusion2.com/preview.html>
Take Control News: 50%-Off Sale to Celebrate 5th Anniversary
------------------------------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9797>
It's almost hard to believe, but we're coming up on the 5th
anniversary of the Take Control ebook series. To celebrate, we're
offering a 50% discount on all the ebooks in our catalog - just use
this link to browse through our titles (check all the tabs!) with
the necessary coupon code pre-loaded; the discount appears once you
add items to your cart. The sale will continue through Tuesday,
14-Oct-08. (The sale is only for ebooks, though once you buy a Take
Control ebook you can get a print copy - discounted by the full
cover price - via the Print link on the first page of the PDF.)
<http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/catalog.html?14@@!pt=TB948-TC5&cp=CPN81006TC5>
We started Take Control back in October of 2003, publishing our
first title - Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Upgrading to Panther" -
simultaneously with Apple's release of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. By the
time Tiger rolled around in April of 2005, we were ready with four
ebooks for what's called in the industry a "day and date" release,
and we repeated that feat with five ebooks for Leopard in October of
2007.
Over that time we've published 58 Take Control titles, more free
updates than I have time to count, and a slew of new editions that
we've always offered at a discount to owners of previous editions.
Added up, that's nearly 8,000 pages of text! All 58 books, combined
with the ebook versions of my iPhoto Visual QuickStart Guide and the
Macworld Superguides that we resell, have sold over 155,000 copies.
That may not be Harry Potter territory, but it's done a bang-up job
of helping us and our authors pay the rent and keep the lights on.
But the real story here is the confidence you, our readers, have
shown in us. Back in 2003, an electronic book that existed only in
PDF format was an oddity at best. While we worked hard to address
the criticisms of PDFs in general, and ebooks in particular, you
trusted us enough to buy those first titles and to come back for
more (some readers have complete collections!). There's little more
terrifying than starting a business with a product that almost no
one has ever purchased before. The initial success of our first
books and your words of support gave us the incentive to publish
more titles and devote more time and resources to improving Take
Control. That has resulted in some of our most popular titles, like
Joe's "Take Control of Mac OS X Backups" and Glenn Fleishman's books
on AirPort networking.
Not everything we've tried has worked out so well. We had high hopes
for translations, but the difficulty of marketing in multiple
languages and markets proved overwhelming. Our furthest foray from
the computer industry - Joe Kissell's "Take Control of Thanksgiving
Dinner" - is an excellent book (and we still rely on it every
year!), but has been a commercial failure. And despite constantly
beaming powerful mind rays at Cupertino, Apple still hasn't released
an iPod that's ideal for reading PDF-based ebooks (the iPhone and
iPod touch can be made to, but it's not yet the experience we want).
Nevertheless, stay tuned, because we're always working on new and
updated ebooks, and we have a number of other ideas that we're
trying to implement, ideas that might change the world of electronic
books as much as Take Control did back in 2003.
Apple Allows Developers to Talk about iPhone Software
-----------------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9793>
Apple dropped a bombshell in one of its typically unsigned
quasi-blog posts last week, noting that the non-disclosure agreement
(NDA) that prevented developers of software for the iPhone and iPod
touch from publicly discussing their work had been dropped for
iPhone software that had been released.
<http://developer.apple.com/iphone/program/>
Apple will release a new developer contract in about a week that
will still restrict those in its program from discussing unreleased
iPhone software and unannounced features, reasonably enough. But
everything else will apparently be fair game, which is a smart move
for Apple and the platform.
The NDA, euphemistically called the FNDA by one prominent
independent developer - you can guess what the F might stand for -
prevented the formation of a community of programmers that could
learn from one another, easy sharing of tips, and the ability for
developers to choose to release code openly with or without
restrictions. Brent Simmons of NewsGator immediately started up a
developer mailing list, though he expects it might be superceded by
something more official.
<http://lists.ranchero.com/listinfo.cgi/iphonedev-ranchero.com>
Some developers had chosen to violate aspects of the NDA, but none
have been punished as far as we are aware.
Because Apple never discusses these kinds of decisions it's hard to
know why it took so long for the NDA to be lifted. It may have been
the news that an iPhone programming book had to be cancelled, that a
message describing why a program was rejected from the App Store had
an NDA notice at the bottom, that an increasingly large number of
developers were angry, or even that a major Apple partner
complained.
Whatever the reason, more discussion and collaboration typically
means better software and a richer platform. Let's hope Apple's next
move is figuring out how to more transparently discuss what it won't
allow in applications for the App Store (see "Developers Could Turn
Away from iPhone App Store," 2008-09-25). Given the lifting of this
utterly unreasonable NDA on shipping software, a change in App Store
restrictions and review process seems more likely.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9784>
Older Mac Pros Toxic or Just Smelly?
------------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9795>
A TidBITS reader in France who wishes to remain anonymous has
alerted us to a tempest brewing around older units of the Mac Pro
line. Apparently, users noticed a strong smell emanating from the
machines, particularly when they were new, and the French newspaper
Liberation just published an article about the experiences of a lab
researcher who reportedly analyzed the emissions and found volatile
organic compounds, including benzene, a known carcinogen.
<http://translate.google.fr/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.liberation.fr%2Fterre%2F010133618-mac-pro-le-pepin-toxique-pour-apple&hl=fr&ie=UTF-8&sl=fr&tl=en>
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene#Health_effects>
AppleCare representatives in France contacted by our reader
confirmed the problem as affecting Mac Pros built before 2008 but
refused to put it in writing. Apple spokesman Bill Evans told
Macworld, "We have not found anything that supports this claim, but
continue to investigate it for the customer."
<http://www.macworld.com/article/135835/2008/10/macpro_benzene.html>
Apple's discussion forum contains posts from 2007 from users who
experienced the smell, some of whom had their Macs replaced under
AppleCare. In some cases, the smell may have been related to a seal
near the power supply, small plastic strips on the access door, or
the thermal compound on the processor heat sinks. Many, though not
all, of the affected Macs were built in China.
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=962025>
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1285988>
<http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-desktops/61705-mac-pro-has-odor-problem-3.html>
The discussion thread started by our reader (reportedly after having
several previous attempts deleted by Apple) hasn't generated nearly
the number of "me too" posts as the 2007 threads, although some Mac
Pro users who haven't experienced the smell are expressing concern.
<http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1733919>
It's difficult to know what to suggest with regard to this issue.
Strong smells coming from a computer aren't likely to be a good
thing, although without careful analysis, it's impossible to know
whether the compounds being emitted are actually toxic, and if
they're being emitted in concentrations that could pose a health
risk. Plus, the machines in question are nearly a year old at
minimum, so if there was a manufacturing problem, Apple has
undoubtedly addressed it months ago. There seems no reason to
suspect current Mac Pro units, but if you have a pre-2008 Mac Pro
that emits a strong smell, or did for some time when it was new, you
may wish to contact Apple about it.
The Return of AIM (in Beta)
---------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9792>
AOL, which I often forget still exists and has millions of users,
has released a beta test version of AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
rebuilt from scratch. The first glimmer of a revised version since
February 2004 - according to the folks at CNET's Webware - AIM for
Mac 1.0 beta has a few differences from iChat, but nothing that
seems significant.
<http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10054769-2.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5>
<http://beta.aol.com/projects.php?project=aimformac>
The interface features a design and icons that are similar to
Apple's AIM-connected iChat software, although audio and video
options are missing. Screen sharing via instant messaging is unique
to iChat in Leopard, and thus isn't available in AIM. The beta
version of AIM also adds tabbed browsing sessions, something Apple
added in Leopard's iChat release as well.
<http://beta.aol.com/projects/aimformac/image/AIMMacScreenshot1.gif>
As you pass over an entry in the Buddy List, AIM pops up a "flyover"
that shows an enlarged version of their buddy icon, how long they've
been online (if they allow that detail to be disclosed), and their
current status message.
AIM allows you to set a more detailed response for when you're away
from your computer, including using the name of the person pinging
you, which seems quite useful. You can also go crazy and access
animated icons and wallpapers and load custom emoticon sets. I'm too
old to find that appealing.
While the software is "integrated" with AOL Mail, that just means
there's a mail icon on the bottom of the Buddy List that, when
clicked, opens a Web browser and logs you into your AOL Mail
account.
Easy Wi-Fi Enters Hotspot Passwords for You
-------------------------------------------
by Glenn Fleishman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9794>
The iPhone has many fantastic features, but Apple's choice to
disable form-filling and password storage in Mobile Safari means
lots of tedious re-entry of data. At hotspots, this can be
particularly irritating if you have an account, and have to dig out
the details, tap them in, and inevitably - as I do - make a mistake
in the process. (Apple might have removed this feature for security
reasons, but could have allowed it with an App Store-like
requirement to enter a password that's good only for a time-limited
session.)
Devicescape solved this problem years ago with software that can run
under Mac OS X and Windows and on an increasingly large number of
mobile devices, mostly smartphones. Their software works in concert
with an account you maintain on their servers that contains any
network information you choose, including encryption keys for home
networks.
A year ago, I wrote about Devicescape's Connect software (see
"Connect More Easily to Wi-Fi Hotspots with the iPhone,"
2007-09-17), which required a jailbroken iPhone. This software has
finally been released with Apple's approval via the App Store as the
$1.99 Easy Wi-Fi.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9182>
<http://tidbits.com/resources/2008-10/devicescape_easywifi.jpg>
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=288328989>
Easy Wi-Fi's price is noted as introductory; previously, Devicescape
hasn't charged consumers for their product, but they might be
testing the waters in this market since there's nothing quite like
what they're offering. Since I'd suggest that every iPhone and iPod
touch owner who uses hotspots buy this software, perhaps they could
make a few dollars this way.
Even though I have a Boingo Wireless subscription that gives me
access to tens of thousands of U.S. locations for a flat monthly
rate, Boingo doesn't offer iPhone software yet, so I must tediously
find and enter my login information through partner pages on the
hotspots that Boingo aggregates. Devicescape supports hundreds of
hotspot network credential-entering systems, including Boingo's, so
it's a neat pairing that saves me money (Boingo) and time plus
frustration (Devicescape).
<http://www.boingo.com/>
Beyond plugging in hotspot passwords, you can enter home network
keys and then choose a set of buddies with whom to share those keys
automatically through the software. While you can, of course, give
friends and colleagues the passwords for your network, Devicescape's
approach lets you change your network password without alerting your
friends, remove friends or colleagues from having access, and
obviate others' need to enter your password details.
Devicescape doesn't currently offer enterprise authentication
presets through 802.1X, also known as WPA/WPA2 Enterprise. Apple
added 802.1X support through the use of a separate provisioning
application with the iPhone 2.0 software release.
The iPhone Game Review Conundrum
--------------------------------
by Joe Kissell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9791>
I was intending to write a simple review of three iPhone/iPod touch
games from Ambrosia. Having played all the games quite a few times,
I felt more than qualified to comment on their strengths and
weaknesses at suitable length and make some sort of overall
recommendation. However, in the process of working on the review, I
realized I had a problem on my hands involving the number of
competing games and the way the iTunes App Store works.
So I am going to tell you about the games in a moment. But first, I
must say a few words about why I'm reviewing these particular games,
and why reviewing iPhone software - and casual games in particular -
is problematic.
**Games for Non-Gamers** -- I should confess up front that I'm not
much of a gamer, in the same way that Pluto is not much of a planet.
The only game on my Mac is the one that came with it (Chess, which
I've never played - that is, I've played chess but not Chess). In
fact, I actively dislike and avoid most games of any kind, from
board games to football. However, I do like solving problems, so
certain kinds of puzzles appeal to me. In addition, I sometimes get
into a work-avoidance mode where there's some urgent project I want
to put off at all costs (like finishing up a Take Control book
that's past its deadline), and at times like that, I can certainly
convince myself of the need to spend _just one more hour_ unjumbling
words or matching jewels or whatever.
<http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060824-pluto-planet.html>
So, on those relatively uncommon occasions when I play games, I
favor the so-called casual games, which is to say simple, one-off,
single-player puzzles that require no ongoing commitment. When I
play them, I play obsessively for a few hours or a few days, and
then I spontaneously lose all interest and don't touch them again
for months.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casual_games>
When it came time to equip my new iPhone with some casual games to
help me through my hours of need, I downloaded a trio of offerings
from the well-known and respected developer Ambrosia Software: Mr.
Sudoku ($4.99), Aki Mahjong Mobile ($4.99), and mondo Solitaire
($9.99). (Ambrosia also sells mondo Top 5 Solitaire, which features
just the five most popular solitaire games and costs $2.99; I didn't
try that version.)
<http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/games/mrsudokumobile/>
<http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/games/akimobile/>
<http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/games/mondomobile/>
<http://www.AmbrosiaSW.com/games/mondotop5mobile/>
In fact, I began reviewing early versions of the three games some
time ago (one of which, Aki Mahjong, originally cost $9.99). All
three have been updated at least once since I first played them, and
it's a good thing, too: I had some serious complaints about the
initial versions of all three programs that were later remedied with
free updates.
**The Problem of Review Criteria** -- Ordinarily, a software review
consists of describing a program's features and interface, outlining
its pros and cons, mentioning any problems encountered, and wrapping
up with a bottom-line recommendation of some sort. That end result -
yes, you should use this; no, you shouldn't - depends a great deal
on what your other options are. I might recommend a one-of-a-kind
program despite significant flaws if there's no other good way to
get the job done. Conversely, if I'm reviewing a program with
obvious competition (for instance, a Web browser), my recommendation
can't be isolated from the other programs; it must take into account
what a user could choose instead, so it would be irresponsible of me
not to have at least a passing familiarity with that other software.
Likewise, cost plays into a recommendation: I might recommend an
average but cheap program over a fantastic but wildly expensive
alternative because it's a better value.
When I posted my latest table of Mac backup software (see "Monster
List of Mac Backup Software Updated," 2008-09-14) - which didn't
include actual ratings or recommendations, by the way - I bemoaned
the fact that with around 100 choices, it's difficult for anyone to
compare their options and make an informed decision. But at least
with backup software, the available programs differ widely in their
range of features, so you could quickly narrow down your choices to
(for example) only those that support Amazon S3 or offer encryption
if those features are important to you.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9769>
You can probably see where I'm going with this: casual iPhone games
of the sort I'm looking at have, essentially by definition, quite
small feature sets, as well as a narrow range of prices. So the more
choices there are, the more difficult it becomes to make a
recommendation - or, indeed, even to determine reasonable review
criteria.
Let's consider Sudoku first, as the most extreme example. The game
itself is about as simple as they get: based on a limited number of
initial clues, fill in a 9-by-9 grid with the numbers 1 through 9
such that every column, every row, and all nine 3-by-3 subgrids use
each digit exactly once. You can play the game with nothing more
than a piece of paper and a pencil. Therefore, beyond a few basics,
a computerized Sudoku game neither needs nor benefits from lots of
features.
Back in July 2008, when Dan Frakes did a round-up of iPhone Sudoku
apps for Macworld, he found a mere 18 to choose from (and ended up
reviewing three in depth). Now, a couple of months later, I've
counted 41 Sudoku games on the App Store, ranging in price from free
to $5.99.
<http://www.macworld.com/article/134522/2008/07/iphonesudoku.html>
I thought it was silly that there are (at the moment) 11
"flashlight" apps for the iPhone, whose main function is to turn the
screen completely white. But 41 Sudoku apps - that's way beyond
silly. As with backup software, having more choices is not
necessarily a good thing.
It's probably fair to say that no one - not an ordinary user, not a
hard-core Sudoku addict, and not even a dedicated software reviewer
- is going to download, play, and try to compare 41 different Sudoku
programs. Although even an investment of $5.99 is not much, most
people prefer to know what they're getting before shelling out
money. Unfortunately, the iTunes Store currently offers no way to
try an app for free and then later pay to license it, as is common
with Mac OS X software. As a result, a number of developers offer
two (or more) versions of their programs - usually a free, limited
version along with a full, paid version. In the case of Sudoku apps,
all nine that are free are limited versions (generally meaning they
have a small, fixed number of puzzles to choose from) that serve as
demos for their paid counterparts. Of course, downloading even nine
Sudoku games is a stretch, and most of the competitors (including
Ambrosia's Mr. Sudoku) don't come in free versions anyway.
My point is: in a tiny field so crowded with apps doing essentially
the same thing, any reviewer is going to have a tough time making a
good recommendation one way or another. The same goes, to a lesser
extent, for solitaire (31 choices by my count) and mahjong (11
choices). I can't really tell the world's iPhone developers to
un-develop their redundant games and make something more useful
instead, but I do hope that in the future we see more genuine
variety rather than innumerable variations of the same thing.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can tell you a bit about
these three games. If I may give away the punch line: I liked them
all reasonably well on their own but, to the extent I could compare
them with other games, I found them wanting, and can't
enthusiastically recommend that you buy them.
**Mr. Sudoku** -- I must admit I kind of got off on the wrong foot
with Mr. Sudoku. The first time I played the game, it introduced
itself to me by saying, "Mr. Sudoku!" in a loud, excessively
friendly voice, thus irritating me (and the people nearby) when I
thought I was going to play a quiet, solitary game. I quickly found
the setting to turn off the sound. Note to all Sudoku developers:
sound doesn't really help this game, and gratuitous sound hurts.
You can choose any of several predefined games in four difficulty
levels. Once you've played all the games in the list, though, you
have to tap the + button to add a new game (of whatever difficulty
level), and then select it to play that game. (You can choose
whether completed games remain in the list or are hidden.) This
arrangement lets you keep track of multiple unfinished games at once
(the app keeps track of your elapsed time and progress on each one),
but seemed unnecessarily complicated to me. I'd have preferred
simply tapping a single button to determine difficulty and working
through a single game until I finished it. At the very least, it
would be nice for the list to repopulate itself after you've
completed each game - perhaps by adding a new game at the same or
next-higher difficulty level.
As with other iPhone Sudoku games, you can enter a number into a
square by tapping the square to select it and then tapping a number
(the numbers appear in a row when your device is held vertically, or
in a 3-by-3 grid when it's held horizontally). Oddly, the number
buttons appear only when a square is selected and disappear after
you've entered the number; I found this distracting. In addition to
highlighting the selected square, Mr. Sudoku highlights the current
row, column, and 3x3 block, which can be helpful aids to play.
Mr. Sudoku's marquee feature appears to be the option to draw
numbers on the screen with your finger rather than tapping a button,
but this required much more effort and was far more error-prone. In
my opinion, it detracted from the game rather than adding to it.
To jot a note to yourself of a number that might work in a given
square, you can tap a pencil icon before tapping (or drawing) the
number. There's also a button to clear your entry in any square. In
addition to being able to turn sound effects (and music) on and off,
you can toggle real-time display of mistakes - a common feature in
computerized Sudoku games.
And that's about it. Game play itself was no better or worse than
any other form of Sudoku I've tried. But I kept feeling as though
the app was trying too hard, and that a simpler design would have
been better. Just to give myself some basis of comparison, I
downloaded a few of the free Sudoku apps. Most of them turned out to
be significantly worse - surprising because this simple game should
be as hard to mess up as boiling water - but one, Sudoku for iPhone
from Mighty Mighty Good Games, was significantly better in my
opinion (largely as a result of having fewer distracting gimmicks),
so that's what I ended up playing most of the time. (The paid
version, which costs $2.99, has 360 puzzles and a variety of color
schemes, whereas the free version has 20 games and three color
schemes.)
<http://mmggames.com/products/sudoku/>
Because I've only tried perhaps six or eight iPhone Sudoku games in
all, I can't tell you that the Mighty Mighty Good Games version is
the best (or even the best value). I can say for sure that Mr.
Sudoku is far from the worst (a left-handed compliment, I know) but
also a poorer value than at least one of its competitors.
**Aki Mahjong** -- Mahjong (or mah-jongg) is a simple yet challenging
matching game. In mahjong solitaire, the form you typically find in
computerized versions, you begin with tiles stacked up in any of
numerous configurations. Then you have to select two tiles with the
same design, neither of which is blocked by tiles on both left and
right sides, to remove them from the stack. The trick is to figure
out how to remove the tiles in the right order so that you don't end
up with one tile of a pair stacked on top of another one.
Aki Mahjong has 12 main layouts, or "levels," and you must
successfully complete each before unlocking the next (though you can
revisit a completed layout, shuffled differently, at any time).
Having chosen a level, you can also choose any of three difficulties
(which impose time constraints) or an untimed version, and
completing even the easiest variant unlocks the next level. So you
don't automatically progress to greater levels of difficulty. The
game also includes 25 bonus levels, any of which you can freely
choose at any time (again, with your choice of difficulty level). I
never quite got why the game distinguished between "main" and
"bonus" levels or why it insisted on unlocking a level before moving
to another one if difficulty wasn't a consideration. I'd have
preferred either a single large set of layouts, any of which can be
freely chosen (along with the free choice of difficulty level), or
progressive play in which you get expanded options only after
demonstrating improved skills.
Once you've selected a game, you tap two matching tiles to remove
them from the board and continue this process until you've matched
them all, time runs out, or you lose due to having stacked tiles.
Music optionally plays in the background, and you can turn sound
effects on and off.
The graphics display is top-notch: the tiles, background, and
animation are all lovely. For better or worse, Aki Mahjong dims
tiles that are blocked - it's an aid to gameplay but some might
consider it a crutch that reduces the challenge. You can use the
usual pinch and drag gestures to zoom in and out or pan the display.
However, you can't change the viewing angle, and most frustratingly,
rotating the device doesn't rotate the display - it's always in
landscape mode, even if the tile configuration is square or oriented
vertically.
The game is (for my tastes, at least) too forgiving. For example, if
you get to the point where no further matches are possible (that is,
you lose), the game doesn't end; you tap the screen to reshuffle the
remaining tiles, but keeping the same configuration. (You can also
shake your iPhone at any time to shuffle the tiles.) What you can't
do is restart the same game with all the tiles in their original
positions so that you can try again to match them in the correct
order; the emphasis seems to be on getting you through the game
rather than on enjoying the mental challenge. Also, the timer (or
timed variants of the game) is weirdly non-linear: you gain time by
matching tiles and lose time by accepting hints or reshuffling,
rather than having a simple timer run out after a fixed amount of
time. I didn't see the point to that extra complexity.
I tried a few other mahjong games just to get a sense of how Aki
Mahjong, you know, stacks up. Again, I found a range - some better,
some worse. One free game, Moonlight Mahjong Lite from Midnight
Martian, had many of the features I missed in Aki Mahjong. For
example, it lets you change the viewing angle with a two-fingered
drag or rotate the board with a two-fingered twist; the display also
reorients automatically when you rotate the device. You can freely
choose from any of four layouts (more are available in the full
version, which costs $4.99, the same as Aki Mahjong), and can
restart a lost game with its initial tile orientation to try again.
On the downside, Moonlight Mahjong's graphics are less attractive
than those in Aki Mahjong, with significant jagged edges at some
combinations of zoom and angle. Even so, I found myself playing
Moonlight Mahjong more often because it annoyed me less on the
whole. Thus, once again, I've got to say that Ambrosia's game -
neither the best nor the worst of the bunch - would not be my pick.
<http://www.midnightmartian.com/moonlightmahjong/moonlightmahjong.htm>
**mondo Solitaire** -- Finally we come to mondo Solitaire, which
includes more than 100 different solitaire card games, including old
standards like Klondike and Baker's Dozen, plus about a zillion I've
never heard of. Many of the games offer a variety of settings - for
example, you can choose to play Klondike with anywhere from two to
six suits and change how many cards are flipped at once. If it's
variety you're looking for, this app certainly has it.
If you hold your device vertically while selecting games, you get a
list; if you hold it horizontally, you get a Cover Flow-like series
of thumbnails of the card layouts. As with Aki Mahjong, however, all
actual game play is horizontal. This annoyed me to no end,
especially since my old phone had a teensy screen but still offered
several solitaire games in portrait orientation. Because of this
limitation, you almost always need both hands to play effectively.
Like Aki Mahjong, mondo Solitaire has unimpeachable graphics. The
app also supports one-swipe gestures to undo/redo, cheat, and play
out all available cards. Game play is straightforward; if you've
played any computerized solitaire game, you should find pretty much
all the features you expect here.
However, two other things about mondo Solitaire seriously bugged me.
First, the procedure for moving a stack of cards onto another
tableau is odd: you have to tap a card, which puts a paperclip icon
on all the cards from there to the bottom; then tap the bottom-most
card and drag it to the new location. If you don't tap in exactly
the right spot to select the topmost card in a set (meaning the
paperclip grabs too many or too few cards), you can adjust its
position by holding your finger on the stack, displaying a magnified
view of the surrounding area. The problem is, this magnified area
tends to be right under your finger so you can't see it - and it
doesn't show the paperclip itself, so it's not always clear which
cards will be selected. All in all, this seemed too complex of a
procedure to accomplish something so basic.
The other thing I didn't like is mondo Solitaire's game statistics.
It doesn't just show you wins and losses. If, at any point during a
game, you use the undo gesture (even to correct a simple misplaced
tap - in fact, even if you undo and then immediately redo) and you
go on to win that game, mondo Solitaire calls that win "tainted." So
you'll have a line on the Statistics screen that says, for example,
"Won: 4 (2 tainted)." Are you kidding me? Tainted? This is
solitaire, for crying out loud, something that's just for wasting
time. To be chided for, in effect, cheating simply by using a game's
undo feature blows my mind. Tainted! Bah!
Once again, I downloaded a small sampling of free solitaire games to
see what the competition looked like. Once again, I randomly found a
free program, Smallware's Sol Free Solitaire, that I liked better.
Sol Free supports portrait mode (only, but that's my preference),
has perfectly adequate if less-elegant graphics, and a selection of
five games (a paid version with 30 games is also available). Game
play requires a bit more tapping, but on the whole made me happier
than using mondo Solitaire.
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=287197884&mt=8>
**The Problem Remains** -- All three of these games, by themselves,
are perfectly playable and will successfully enable you to avoid
work for hours on end. I truly wish, therefore, that I could tell
you to go out and buy them, but even though they're inexpensive, I
have a hard time recommending them when I know of free games that
(in my opinion) are more fun.
Of course, having tried only a few of the competing programs in each
category, I can't tell you what the best Sudoku, mahjong, or
solitaire game for the iPhone is. And free is great, but even the
paid games in these categories are quite cheap, and it may well be
the case that for a few dollars you can have the greatest Sudoku
game of all time for just a smidge over nothing. Finding it is the
trick.
I'd like to see more developers offer free trial versions of their
iPhone software, but I'd like it even more if Apple made a way to
try out full versions for a limited time and unlock them later.
Until then, many of us will be playing the increasingly popular but
fabulously expensive "Find the Best Game" game.
TidBITS Watchlist: Notable Software Updates for 06-Oct-08
---------------------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9789>
* Apple TV 2.2 brings security updates to Apple's home media center -
in theory, maliciously crafted movie files could result in crashes
or arbitrary code execution. More interestingly, the update also
brings the Genius feature to Apple TV - hold down the Play/Pause
button while a song is playing to display a pop-up menu that lets
you start Genius. Other features include an HD tag next to HD TV
shows, support for buying HD TV shows, Music Video playlists,
shuffle support for music videos, and a Standby menu option accessed
from the Settings menu (you can still press Play/Pause for three
seconds to put the Apple TV in standby, but only from the main
menu). Some people have reported sluggish performance after applying
the update; restoring the Apple TV to its factory settings and then
downloading and applying the update appears to fix that issue.
(Free)
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3189>
* Firefox PDF Plugin for Mac OS X 0.9.9 from Sam Gross updates the
plug-in that enables Firefox to display PDF files within the browser
with the capability to open a displayed PDF in Preview via the
contextual menu. The plug-in works only in Firefox 3.0.x on
Intel-based Macs running Mac OS X 10.4 or later. (Free)
<http://code.google.com/p/firefox-mac-pdf/>
* PDFpen 4.0.1 and PDFpenPro 4.0.1 from SmileOnMyMac update the PDF
editing software with new preferences for OCR prompts and a number
of bug fixes to the 4.0 versions released last week. ($49.95/$99.95
new, free update for 4.0 users or $25 for previous owners, 11 MB)
<http://www.smileonmymac.com/PDFpen/>
* iTunes 8.0.1 from Apple fixes several bugs related to new features
introduced in iTunes 8.0. The Genius feature now plays the current
song when you create a new Genius playlist (instead of restarting
the song at the beginning) and also syncs its results to an iPod.
The VoiceOver accessibility feature is also improved, as well as
syncing spoken menus to the iPod nano. This release also fixes a
problem when checking for updates at the App Store and no longer
deletes HD TV episodes when downloading the SD versions. (Free, 58.5
MB)
<http://www.apple.com/itunes/>
* SousChef 1.0 from Acacia Tree Software is a new addition to the
world of cooking and recipe management tools (see Andy Affleck's
"Cook from Your Mac: 10 Recipe Tools Compared," 2007-09-21). Notable
features include an interactive online recipe database, recipe
substitute suggestions, and a voice-controlled hands-free mode. ($30
new, 7.5 MB)
<http://acaciatreesoftware.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/9198>
* OmniWeb 5.8 from The Omni Group updates the independent Web browser
with support for the latest version of WebKit, so OmniWeb 5.8 now
uses the same version of WebKit as Safari 3.1 and has the same core
capabilities, such as downloadable fonts, CSS animation, HTML 5
media tags, and client-side database storage. Other changes include
a fix for a Spaces-related bug, support for non-POSIX file URLs,
tweaked toolbar icons, and the capability to masquerade as Google
Chrome. Requires Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later. ($14.95 new, free update
from OmniWeb 5.x, 19.4 MB)
<http://www.omnigroup.com/omniweb/>
* Quark Publishing System 8, QuarkCopyDesk 8, and QuarkXPress Server 8
have been unveiled by Quark in support of QuarkXPress 8. New in
QuarkCopyDesk 8, the text and picture editing software, is a
redesigned interface, advanced typographical control, and support
for East Asian text. Major changes to QuarkXPress Server 8 include a
global file format that enables users to open files made with any
language version of QuarkXPress 8, and support for native Adobe
Illustrator files. Also new to QuarkXPress Server 8 is interface
support for 13 languages, spell checking for more than 30 languages,
and improved asset management through QPS Connect Client. Quark
Publishing System 8, QuarkCopyDesk 8 and QuarkXPress Server 8 will
be available in Q4 2008. (Full release notes)
<http://dynamicpublishing.quark.com/qps/>
<http://dynamicpublishing.quark.com/qps/key_features.html>
* Drive Genius 2.1 from Prosoft Engineering updates the disk utility
software with the new DriveSlim feature, which enables you to search
for and delete files on your hard drive to free up additional space.
Delete options include Large File Search and Delete, Duplicate File
Search and Delete, Multi-Language Slimming, Universal Binary Support
Removal, and Backup. ($99 new, free update from 2.0, 29.5 MB)
<http://prosofteng.com/products/drive_genius.php>
* You Control: Desktops 1.3 from You Software updates the virtual
desktop manager with Leopard support, added customization options,
and a number of bug fixes. New to this version are improved controls
over cursor behavior, options for highlighting the active desktop in
the menu bar, and an additional Quartz Extreme transition effect.
($29.95 new, free update, 2.8 MB)
<http://www.yousoftware.com/desktops/desktops.php>
<http://www.yousoftware.com/support/desktops_releasenotes.php>
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/06-Oct-08
------------------------------------
by Jeff Carlson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
article link: <http://db.tidbits.com/article/9798>
**Favorite Screen Saver?** What screen savers do TidBITS Talk readers
use, and is there even a need for such a thing anymore? (12
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2243>
**Why no keyboard support for the iPhone/touch** -- Almost all the
pieces seem to be in place, so why can't you use an Apple Bluetooth
keyboard with an iPhone or iPod touch? Well, there's that one
missing piece... from Apple. (11 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2244>
**XML Editor** -- Any text editor will edit XML, but what programs
excel at creating well-formed XML? Readers suggest a few options. (5
messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2245>
**A URL Manager Pro Replacement?** A reader who wants a central
location for managing URLs is looking for something modern to
replace the aging URL Manager Pro. (3 messages)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2246>
**Return of AIM** -- AOL hasn't forgotten Mac users, but have Mac
users forgotten AOL? (1 message)
<http://emperor.tidbits.com/TidBITS/Talk/2247>
$$
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