Jim MacCormaic: Cupertino is the Place to be

Thu, 14 Nov 2002 09:38:28 GMT

The simple thrills of an Apache/PHP/SQL novice
I got a great thrill last night when I finally got my first bit of PHP coding to work as intended. I was working through a tutorial using BBEdit to produce my HTML and PHP and presumed I could use 'Preview With' on BBEdit's Markup menu like I do with my HTML files. I was becoming increasingly frustrated when my PHP wasn't working and all I was getting was either the raw code displayed or blanks in my HTML where PHP output should have been.
It took a very long time before I realised what was wrong: by using BBEdit's Preview facility I was getting a 'file' protocol showing in the browser's location bar rather than the 'http' which I needed. Once I changed this everything worked. When the penny dropped and the intended result was finally displayed I must admit that I literally cheered! As I say, simple thrills. More seriously, though, this one evening's work has been immensely educational. I am surprised at how reasonably straight-forward PHP is, and its so-neat in-and-out slotting with HTML is just amazing. I'm going to enjoy this, I can tell—though I'm sure there will be many further frustrations along the way when I come to adding in a touch of SQL too. Still, there are so many helpful sites out there that I should manage fine.

Sat, 09 Nov 2002 04:16:17 GMT

I've been very bad in terms of posting updates to this part of my site. Why has this been, I wonder? To a certain extent it's because I became obsessed with a small number of rants on my main page—most specifically US policy since Dubyoo's election and the antics of the Israeli government (whose change of direction so coincidentally coincided with the likelihood of a change of complexion in the White House at the end of Bill Clinton's second term).
      But this is all very unfair to my Apple interests, so it's time I rectified the situation. Right now it seems appropriate to do so because of the announcement a couple of days ago of the latest revisions to the iBook and PowerBook range. I invested in a new 17-inch flat-panel iMac about two months ago, and part of my rationale when doing so was that I would follow this move with a trade-in of my old iMac and my old (clamshell) iBook for a new iBook. The revised specification makes this idea all the more enticing.
      Meanwhile, I'm enjoying the experience of OS X 10.2.1. I had already installed this on my previous DVD-SE graphite iMac and was very pleased with its performance. Now that I have the added benefit of a G4 processor I'm really seeing the new OS in something like its true potential. As one of the earliest adopters of OS X (I got my copy of the Public Beta back in September 200 when it was released at Apple Expo in Paris), I've been using the new system for over two years now. I've gradually found myself abandoning my other machines which don't run it—indeed my iBook sits on the coffee table downstairs largely unused. I've found myself drifting into a situation where OS X now fulfils most of my casual and business needs, only using Classic now for the occasional times I need to work in Quark XPress.
      Now, with Christmas already upon us as far as advertisers are concerned (our streets and stores already have their decorations in place, and cynical ads for kiddy toys have taken over TV ad-slots), I'm becoming infected with the idea of getting something for myself. I'm torn between a digital camera and an iPod. I have legitimate reasons for both, and sometimes even find myself trying to justify getting both rather than just one. Being realistic, I think my instinct is to plump for the camera. I definitely have no need for the iPod's primary function as a portable music device (I can't abide the idea of music on the move), though I'm tempted by its other potential as a super-compact portable hard drive.
      Let's be realistic here: a digital camera would be something I could use for work and play. And if I get it within the next couple of weeks I could take it with me on my forthcoming trip to Brussels and be fully familiar with it for my trip to Vienna in April next year. OK. That's decided: I must get a camera and enable my iMac's potential as a real digital hub.

Thu, 23 May 2002 00:42:38 GMT

Well, Apple sure have been busy recently! Not content with giving us a sneak peak at Jaguar, they first fulfil their promise from the WWDC and unveil Xserve, their amazing-looking rack-mount server, and then announce improvements to the iBook specifications with faster processors and upgraded video cards. What remains in store for New York in July, I wonder?
One thing worries me a bit about all this: not so long ago Steve Jobs was making a big thing of the need to rationalise the hardware product line and came up with the famous 'Four Boxes', neatly divided into comsumer desktop, pro desktop, consumer laptop, pro laptop. But now we have the Xserve, the G4 PowerMac, the G4 iMac, the G3 iMac, the eMac the G4 TiBook, the iBook (in two sizes) and the iPod (have I covered everything?). I sure hope Steve knows what he's doing, and that he has a long-term, focused strategy.
But seriously, folks: isn't the Xserve gorgeous?! My immediate reaction when first I saw it on Apple's site was 'this could be made by B&O', and it certainly does continue the Apple design philosophy in a wonderful way. I have never seen any other rack-mount server illustrated, but I cannot imagine anything BA (before Apple) being other than boring and utilitarian compared to this. Way to go!

Wed, 08 May 2002 00:06:03 GMT

Tidbits covers Apple's new Mac OS X, codenamed Jaguar. [Scripting News]

This is an excellent listing of the Jaguar improvements announced at WWDC. It all sure sounds impressive! Most bets seem to be for a release date of August/September. Once again, I CAN't WAIT!

Tue, 30 Apr 2002 15:02:30 GMT

Grads Want to Study on EMacs, Too. News that Apple has a new toy for students has some Mac fans green with envy. How come only students get the new, cheaper Macs? By Farhad Manjoo. [Wired News]

I stumbled on the eMac by accident when I learned of the new PowerBook on one of my mailing lists. Imagine my surprise when I went to Apple's site and was greeted with an image of a totally new all-in-one design! My immediate reaction was to think that it was a hoax, and it was only when I delved further that its limitation to the (US-only?) education market became clear.
I must say I like the 17" screen, the specification and the price. If it's successful within its target market, could we possibly see a future general release?

Thu, 14 Mar 2002 18:46:35 GMT

Linux Journal: Unix under the Desktop. By Doc and Brent. [Scripting News]

An excellent article from an unexpected source. My favourite quote: 'The GUI is called Aqua, named for its watery, gum-droppy look, which includes variably translucent windows and other stuff Microsoft can copy later.'

Sat, 02 Mar 2002 01:07:57 GMT
Apple DVD Player v3.1 for Mac OS X available [MacNN]
Apple sure have been busy lately with updates. No sooner had I installed the AirPort update than I saw this MacNN item in New Aggregator, and that is also safely installed.
      I'm really looking forward to trying out the updated DVD Player, because only the other day I had a tremendous experience with a DVD on my iMac. I'd borrowed The Matrix from a friend about a week ago but hadn't got round to watching it. I was delighted when I did. I originally had trouble with this DVD on my iBook running OS 9 (presumably because it was one of those which needed the Cmd-Alt-i key combination to get it to mount). Imagine my surprise when I tried this combo in OS X and I ended up with my iDisk on my desktop! I don't know if this means that the OS X DVD Player is better than the OS 9 one, but at least I was up and running -- and how! I have my iMac connected to a Mission NXT setup (flat-panel speakers and a woofer), and this movie took full advantage of that extra sound dimension. Despite watching on the iMac's relatively tiny screen (which seemed even smaller because of the wide-screen format), I was totally wrapped up in the movie from beginning to end. Now for another DVD so I can test the updated player.

Wed, 27 Feb 2002 04:22:38 GMT
Apple to receive Grammy honor [MacNN]
I was delighted with this news when first I heard it. Unfortunately, I expect this particular award will not be included in the main televised part of the proceedings, but will be lumped instead in the 'also presented . . .' section.

Fri, 22 Feb 2002 00:01:10 GMT
iMac sales looking up, analysts say. It's still too early to get concrete sales figures for the new iMac. But analysts, citing anecdotal evidence, believe sales are strong so far. [CNET News.com]
I can't say I'm too happy about the reliance on 'anecdotal evidence', but still it's a reassuring story. (I also can't say I'm too happy with the look of the C|NET News site -- at least on IE 5.1 for Mac.)

Wed, 13 Feb 2002 18:35:37 GMT
Apple. "Analysts often ask about when Apple will make a push for the huge corporate office. It doesn't make sense for Apple to focus their energies here..." [The Motley Fool]
Well ... it's a good read, and a good analysis of Apple's business strategy I'm sure, but the final summary seems hugely ambitious when it speaks about Apple enjoying 50% market share by 2011!

Tue, 12 Feb 2002 15:38:58 GMT
Apple posts iMac animations by Pixar [MacNN]
These are just brilliant! Nice serendipity, too

Thu, 07 Feb 2002 14:34:27 GMT
Apple: design innovator, does it matter? [MacNN]
Some negativity towards the end of the USA Today article (mostly about a non-cooperative CD), but generally this follows what has become the review norm: the new iMac rocks! Favourite quote: A word of caution: The design is so inviting, you might be tempted to start redecorating the rest of the room.

Tue, 05 Feb 2002 20:38:52 GMT
The Passion for Designing Macs. An entire culture exists in which people's lives are dominated by designing Macintosh computers. But they usually realize the Apple folks do it better. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
The scariest part of this article is this: 'Some of the most enthusiastic Mac mockup artists are precocious teenagers.' -- and one of them has even been hired by the Omni Group!

Sun, 03 Feb 2002 22:52:43 GMT
Useit.Com: Avoiding Commodity Status. However, industrial design is not the main road ahead for computers. Improved software design is much more important. This does require some thinking, and it's not Steve Job's strategy, but I believe that software innovations are the main way to differentiate both high-tech products and websites. [Tomalak's Realm]
Quote : 'Much has been made of the flat-panel display on the new iMac, but the use of anti-aliased typefaces in Windows XP is the true revolution in screen design this year.'
      What's all this about? Am I missing the point here? Is the writer trying to say that there's something different about the way XP uses anti-aliased type compared with the Apple implementation in OS X, or is he claiming that XP 'pioneered' its use? Perhaps it's the former, since there's a very strange statement to the effect that XP's anti-aliasing isn't possible on CRT monitors. I'm confused!
      Leaving aside the gratuitous sideswipe at Steve Jobs, the article comes across as wooly in its thinking -- e.g. turning on Clear Type saves the user $2,000. Huh?

Fri, 01 Feb 2002 23:07:22 GMT
So, what gives here? I'm on my (local) home page, there's an item which shows as having been posted four hours ago, but it still hasn't appeared either in my local XML file or on my live site. It was posted only to my second category (and not to my home page). Is this the problem? I'll do that again now and see what happens.

Fri, 01 Feb 2002 19:02:53 GMT
osOpinion: Mac gaming starting to pick-up? [MacNN]
Is it coincidence that we should have two games-related postings coming up together, or did one flow from the other? Anyway, all I can say as an end-user is that I've never had it so good (most recently with 'Baldur's Gate II' which I'm trying to come to grips with).

Fri, 01 Feb 2002 18:57:20 GMT
IMG: Jobs interview on Mac gaming [MacNN]

Fri, 01 Feb 2002 17:57:59 GMT
Dan Shafer on migrating from Mac OS 9 to X. [Scripting News]
I found this a strange read indeed. Mr Shafer describes himself as a 'former CNET Builder.com pundit and widely published author', but he comes across as surprisingly inept, and certainly not as someone who's been using 'Classic Mac [strange terminology!] . . . semi-exclusively since the mid-1980's'. Strangest of all is when he accuses Apple of 'designing and deploying an operating system they don't care about one whit.' I think I'd better stop commenting. Read, and judge, for yourself.

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 17:22:43 GMT
Ken Bereskin, an exec at Apple, is using his weblog to keep us informed on developments at his company. This is a very good use of the medium. [Scripting News]
I look forward to reading Ken's postings on a regular basis.

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 17:12:01 GMT
Ersatz Designs Honor Apple. In the old days, Apple's future product plans were known to everyone. But under Steve Jobs, the company's become obsessively secretive. The information vacuum has fostered a strange manifestation of wishful thinking: fans who design their own Macs. By Leander Kahney. [Wired News]
It's a long, four-part article, but makes interesting reading.

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 17:00:19 GMT
Mac Net Journal: The State of OS X Web Browsers. [Scripting News]
I'd give OmniWeb more credit than this writer does. Admittedly it falls short on some sites, but it looks so damn gorgeous that I'd forgive it many shortfallings.

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 16:02:35 GMT
OK, so this is a test. Let's see now if my 'apple' category works as I want it to.
Right , , , it works OK, but apparently won't let me post to this Category while retaining the date-stamp of the original item (by which I mean that I editing a previous post on my Home page and directed it to this Category; it appeared, but within today's listing! Ah well, at least I have a second category functioning now.
Mind you, it took some fiddling. I had to mess around in the WWW folder, dumping old Category info and setting things up again from scratch -- and even then I didn't get HTML format showing up until I duplicated the index.txt file from the top level and manually added my category name. I think this all happened because I'd played about with re-naming the default categories and had got things out of synch.

Thu, 31 Jan 2002 07:18:11 GMT
OS Opinion: Apple Doesn't Need Zealots. [Scripting News]
I especially liked this from the article: A couple of years ago, the only Mac people in my workplace were "Mac people." They were identified by their sad eyes and the lack of spring in their step. These days -- and I'm talking about a Fortune 500 company -- the "Mac people" are managers and highflyers telling their colleagues about their digital movies and DVD burning. These people are the decision makers. They aren't zealots -- they just recognize good technology.