08.07.07
New iMac, Mac mini, iLife, iWork…
Apple just released the new iMac in a new robe. And up to 2.8GHz! Of course the new iLife is included and a demo of the new iWork. Don’t forget the new Mac mini with a Core2Duo now. I know, the price may be a bit high compared to the iMac. But what if you already have a screen? And have you ever seen one? It is sooo cute!
08.06.07
Celestia
As a kid I was very amazed by the outer space. I even read a book about the solar system even though I hated reading. I was a bit of a dyslectic . I wish I had a software like Celestia back then. You can view so many stars, planets, moons, asteroids, space stations… amazing. This would be a perfect tool for school. I had to learn all the planets in our solar system which was not a problem for me, but what a joy whould it have been to use Celestia and see them moving around the sun! This is just a little example. The possibilities are uncountable. I know that not every school can afford computers for students. But maybe they should think about it.
VMware Fusion again
I just tried it out and am surprised in a positive way. I never used Parallels, so I can’t compare to that. An assistant helps to install Windows XP. You just give your informations to it and it will set usernames, passwords, the serial key… Folder sharing just works. The mouse is smooth with contrast to VirtualBox. The display resolution can be pretty high. I don’t want to say that VirtualBox is bad, virtualization is not easy to do. The VMware guys have some experience with this kind of software.
Now I wonder how fast the 3d integration will come. In believe VMware and Parallels will support it pretty well in a while.
08.05.07
VMware Fusion
Well, I’m not too happy with VirtualBox. There are several little things that are not really working as I would like them to work. In addition I had some other little problems with shared folders. Maybe this could be solved with a bit more patience. Anyway, VMware Fusion is just going to be released. Today if I’m right. But as long as it is not, you can get it for 40 Dollars. After it’s release the price will go up to 80. That’s why I just purchased it. Let’s see how it works out…
08.04.07
Windows on the Mac
I just installed Windows XP on my Mac. The virtualisation software I use is VirtualBox. There are two versions, one is open source. The other not, but has some additional features. I chose the second one. My first approach failed. It said the installation CD was kind of broken… then I changed some disk image settings and tried again, this time it worked. It is quite an experience to have an other OS in a window of OS X.
Why would anyone do this? I’m sure there are various reasons. I need it for the integration in the network of my University for applied science. That’s what they said in the info-letter. Strange, but in case they are serious I am steeled now.
08.03.07
AudioXplorer
There is a nice application called AudioXplorer. It’s an oscilloscope which uses the sound input as source. You can also tell it to use the microphone, but this makes no sense for an oscilloscope. Since sound is stereo you have two channels. As mentioned here the sound output is not the best in the world. However I didn’t test the input. For simple usage scenarios it could be sufficient. The spectrum of course is limitted too. For handicraft enthusiasts it may be a nice solution.
08.01.07
PathFinder as a MacUpdate Promo
I just purchased PathFinder as a MacUpdate Promo for 20 Dollars. There are a bit more than 9 hours left. A really good offer. There are many representation and navigation options. I have to try it all out but I’m sure I will not regret this decision.
07.30.07
Sogudi
I found an amazing plugin for Safari. I’m not a plugin-freak but this is so useful. It’s called Sogudi. I found it on a MacBreak Video. It lets you define short names for websites, an ovious example is w for Wikipedia. When you want to search something in Wikipedia, you type in your address bar “w ” and then your search term. For example “w voodoopad” to get the entry for “voodoopad”. There are many predefined websites, but you can define your own ones. This way I got rid of some bookmarks and also removed the google searchbox of Safari by editing the Toolbaritems.nib. Great idea.
