Now is as good a time as any to start one.

4/13/2010 10:26:15 AM

Now that I'm back at my desk, I can actually post some content in here to get us started.

Apple announces WebKit2 with Chrome-like process splitting
http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/09/apple-announces-webkit2-with-chrome-like-process-splitting/

It's neat to have it in the browser, but even better to just make it a feature of the framework. Let everyone using Webkit benefit from plug-in-separation stability.

4/13/2010 10:58:23 AM

This is unrelated, but I love comments like these:

Quote :

"If by 'interactive websites' you mean 'websites full of distracting ads flashing (no pun intended) around' I'll gladly pass and be happy with my HTML5 browser w/o Flash."

I mean, earlier this week Apple announced their flashy new iAd stuff, which is all HTML5 and people honestly think that Flash becoming less pervasive will get rid of "CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'VE WON!" and "HIT THE MONKEY AND WIN A PRIZE!!!!" ads?

4/13/2010 11:21:53 AM

^That, thank you.

4/13/2010 11:33:10 AM

At least it gets rid of the performance issues with these ads. But no, ads will never go away. Also, comments like that are no different then ignorant Apple hater comments. They aren't fact or based on facts, just one mans opinion on something he doesn't understand.


So I've been playing with Automator which was updated to be very powerful in Snow Leopard since you can add your own Services. I've always seen the Automator icon in the apps folder but never thought twice about it...now I can't believe I haven't been using it all this time. Still trying to learn it though but so far I've added a service called "New Project" that will take a selected folder and create all sub-folders that I use to structure my projects and any files that I use like my log for tracking hours etc. This is just an example of the simplest task it can do.



Also, from the other thread:

New Macbook pros in the apple store online. Comes with i5 or i7 and upgraded graphics and battery. 7-10 hours.

[Edited on April 13, 2010 at 11:35 AM. Reason : .]

4/13/2010 11:33:12 AM

It's about time they started supporting audio through mini-displayport.

http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=8828

4/13/2010 6:15:23 PM

^^ i used automator to reverse the frames in a video so it would play backwards. It's pretty nice.

Apple needs to create a good tutorial or documentation for it or something though. It's not always clear what actions do what, and you end up have to try it out to see exactly how something works.

4/13/2010 6:42:04 PM

^^ So basically it's HDMI ... with a different shape. Typical Apple.

4/13/2010 8:23:25 PM

^it is HDMI with the $29 adapter. the port on the Macbook Pro is different but not on the display device (HDMI).

What I like about the mini display port is simple form factor. Its tiny.

Quote :

"Apple needs to create a good tutorial or documentation for it or something though. It's not always clear what actions do what, and you end up have to try it out to see exactly how something works."

Couldn't agree more. Its so powerful but completely useless if you don't know how to use it or worse, where to learn how to use it. I'm still fiddling around and trying to make some sense of it.


[Edited on April 13, 2010 at 8:29 PM. Reason : .]

4/13/2010 8:28:17 PM

I don't know anything about Automator but it sounds pretty awesome, I'll have to look it up.

4/13/2010 8:37:00 PM

Yeah, it is pretty awesome. I've always wondered what the hell it was and now I'm glad I do know. Although pre-Snow Leopard it wasn't as useful or so i've read.

4/13/2010 8:45:19 PM

Pre-Snow Leopard, it was fairly painful. Large parts of that pain were based on the fact that particular Automator actions were either unreliable, or not fully integrated into other apps. For example, I once tried to create an Automator script that would move files to a different folder once every hour, using the Finder. Basically just a few hundred images that were being FTP'ed in from a camera. Fucking thing choked once a day, at least.

[Edited on April 13, 2010 at 8:48 PM. Reason : I haven't had reason to try it in Snow Leopard yet.]

4/13/2010 8:47:58 PM

The most obvious difference between Leopard and Snow Leopard is that only services that apply to a particular application will be visible in the menu. On leopard you'd get a list a mile long of every service known to mac even though none of them could be used in that application.

Also that you can actually create your own services.

4/13/2010 8:58:55 PM

Quote :

"it is HDMI with the $29 adapter."

They're all the same. And all 3rd party. And you can find them for way cheaper than $29.

4/13/2010 9:13:55 PM

I think gs7's point was that mini-DP is not industry standard, there's already an audio/video standard over a single cable and it's called HDMI

4/13/2010 11:39:13 PM

^actually, it is a standard

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2355691,00.asp

Many laptop makers are including it in their shit cause the small size is perfect for laptops. Need to strike one thing off you list of apple things to hate

4/13/2010 11:49:28 PM

IBT'but...'

4/13/2010 11:55:45 PM

nah, complaining about magsafe is next. Another apple-only-superior-to-everything-out-there-and-any-user-would-prefer-but-nerds-complain-about-it-for-totally-faggot-reasons connector

4/14/2010 12:06:55 AM

I didn't mean a 'but...' from you I meant from the bandwagon haters on the express line to stupid.

Speaking of magsafe. I wish my gf's netbook had a magsafe adapter. Would have saved me $$ from having to replace her old adapter. I tripped on it and it brought the laptop crashing to the floor and bent the adapter pin inside. At least it wasn't the laptop that was damage i suppose.

4/14/2010 12:08:53 AM

Yeah, MagSafe totally bwns, I also love how basically every laptop charger from Apple will work with each other in a pinch. I remember being pissed off when IBM changed the power plug on the ThinkPads after I'd accumulated 3 of them. :'(

Also, typical me, bought one on Sunday, SUNDAY, 2 days before the MacBook Pro update...

4/14/2010 12:27:49 AM

pardon my terminology, yes i know it's a standard by the literal meaning of the word, i believe i even posted about it when it was accepted by VESA, but it's far from being put in every tech device out there like HDMI is, do i wish mDP was the widely-adopted (what i refer to as industry standard) standard, heck yea, it's clearly superior. i'm not hating, i'm just saying it's common that Apple designs their own shit that isn't compatible with 90% of what everyone else uses. i just wish the industry as a whole would pick the more superior standard and widely-adopt it rather than have multiple competing standards that do the same thing.

i know you like to hate on what you think to be haters, but you gotta get your facts straight and stop presuming.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 12:31 AM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 12:27:59 AM

Quote :

"IBT'but...'"

Quote :

"Also, typical me, bought one on Sunday, SUNDAY, 2 days before the MacBook Pro update..."

Had you told me thats why you were in the store when I saw you I would have told you about the announcement, n00b

Also, take that shit back and they will exchange it for the new one.

Quote :

"i'm just saying it's common that Apple designs their own shit that isn't compatible with 90% of what everyone else uses. i just wish the industry as a whole would pick the more superior standard and widely-adopt it rather than have multiple competing standards that do the same thing."

Quote :

"Apple agreed to license the mDP interface to VESA for inclusion in the DisplayPort specification earlier this year."

This would be one reason why its not widely adopted. 'earlier this year' would put that early 2009.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 12:33 AM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 12:30:58 AM

well i can't wait when we can have projectors for all the mac people that show up to give presentations and forget their mDP adapters..... <sigh>

4/14/2010 12:38:51 AM

Don't they sell those pocket projectors at the Apple store?

4/14/2010 12:42:40 AM

Quote :

"nah, complaining about magsafe is next. Another apple-only-superior-to-everything-out-there-and-any-user-would-prefer-but-nerds-complain-about-it-for-totally-faggot-reasons connector"

I complain about legitimate things, thank you. The A/V hardware makers took long enough to adopt HDMI and we only -just- started seeing them on laptops, so why did Apple go and make a new size port? Oh that's right, because they want you to buy an over-priced accessory.

I have NEVER complained about the MagSafe power plug, in fact just about every laptop manufacturer has a different plug, so A) it is expected, and B) Apple has the damn idea patented. I would love for every laptop maker to have a MagSafe plug, however there are enough complaints about fraying and overheating issues associated with the plugs that I really don't care to fight that battle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MagSafe#Criticisms_and_defects

Besides, I am not clumsy with my laptop and have never come close to ripping out a power cord in the 10 years that I've owned various laptops.

4/14/2010 12:47:50 AM

^Do you own a Mac?

4/14/2010 12:53:06 AM

^Does my wife's count?

4/14/2010 12:54:12 AM

Quote :

"Oh that's right, because they want you to buy an over-priced accessory."

only if the over-priced accessories come out of your pocket.

4/14/2010 12:54:52 AM

Quote :

" The A/V hardware makers took long enough to adopt HDMI and we only -just- started seeing them on laptops, so why did Apple go and make a new size port? Oh that's right, because they want you to buy an over-priced accessory. "

Simple, because Apple prefers to adopt what they see as superior technologies, even at the expense of their popularity and customers. For other examples see USB, (the defunct) ADC connections, and Firewire. Sometimes these bets pay off (USB), and other times they fail miserably (ADC), but at the very least they're trying.

4/14/2010 7:45:45 AM

Quote :

"for all the mac people that show up to give presentations and forget their mDP adapters....."

yeah, let's just leave those big fat VGA ports on there just so it's compatible with projectors that have yet to catch up to this century.

Personally, i'd rather have a slimmer laptop.

4/14/2010 7:53:27 AM

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/04/inside-apples-automatic-gpu-switching.ars

Quote :

"Apple's approach in the new 15" and 17" MacBook Pros differs from Optimus in two key ways. The first is that the switching is all handled automatically by Mac OS X without any user intervention (though there is actually a System Preference to deactivate it, if you choose). Apps that use advanced graphics frameworks such as OpenGL, Core Graphics, Quartz Composer or others will cause the OS to trigger the discrete GPU. So, when you are reading or writing Mail, or editing an Excel spreadsheet, Mac OS X will simply use the integrated Intel HD graphics. If you fire up Aperture or Photoshop, Mac OS X kicks on the NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M. The second way that it differs from Optimus is that the integrated graphics are powered down when the discrete GPU is active. This saves even more power than Optimus does, leading to a stated battery life as long as nine hours."

4/14/2010 8:04:11 AM

Quote :

"Simple, because Apple prefers to adopt what they see as superior technologies, even at the expense of their popularity and customers. For other examples see USB, (the defunct) ADC connections, and Firewire. Sometimes these bets pay off (USB), and other times they fail miserably (ADC), but at the very least they're trying."

Then Apple goes and pulls shit like this:

Quote :

"Apple has shipped non-standard USB extension cables with some of their computers, for use with the included Apple USB keyboards. The extension cable's socket is keyed with a small protrusion to prevent the insertion of a standard USB plug, while the Apple USB keyboard's plug has a matching indentation."

And you know they're just trying to fuck with you.

4/14/2010 8:38:00 AM

Quote :

"I complain about legitimate things, thank you. The A/V hardware makers took long enough to adopt HDMI and we only -just- started seeing them on laptops, so why did Apple go and make a new size port? Oh that's right, because they want you to buy an over-priced accessory."

because it's a hell of a lot smaller than an HDMI port, that's why.

4/14/2010 8:43:12 AM

Quote :

"And you know they're just trying to fuck with you."

Out of all the macs I've purchased I've never once seen that. Granted only one had a wired keyboard and I do have a extension cable that shipped with a Mac mini but never knew about this issue Simply because I have other shit plugged into it.

4/14/2010 9:37:56 AM

^^^ Yeah, I always thought that was kind of a dick move on Apple's part. I mean, if some idiot wants to spend $50 on your keyboard just for an extension cable, who are you to care one way or the other?

4/14/2010 10:03:06 AM

The best part is that while you can plug a Mac keyboard into it, if you want to plug your Mac mouse into it, you're shit out of luck.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 10:04 AM. Reason : Keep in mind that on the other side of the USB cable, there's no notch. It's just normal USB.]

4/14/2010 10:03:36 AM

I think I might spend a day in teck talk complaining about shiit that I don't use or care about. Just to see what all the fuss is about.

4/14/2010 10:08:36 AM

Just for the record, I did try to use that!

My co-worker had to hunt down another USB extension cable for me so I could use a Dell keyboard (it has a longer built in cable than the Mini's keyboard does) on the Mini connected on the other side of my office. Now I've got keyboards everywhere.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 10:24 AM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 10:19:27 AM

That also pissed me off to no end.

4/14/2010 11:44:15 AM

^^^^ that was due to power restrictions, not because apple only wanted you to use their peripheral with the cable.

4/14/2010 1:09:12 PM

"Power Restrictions"?

Going to need a little more info on that one.

4/14/2010 2:22:10 PM

The cable doesn't meet USB compliance. But as a whole (device + cable) it does meet USB standard compliance because the device is tested that way.

Also, a little bit of searching returns results that some people went as far as shaving down that nub and the cable didn't work with their non-keyboard devices.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 2:32 PM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 2:32:03 PM

hahaha thats hilariously stupid

4/14/2010 2:46:28 PM

Obviously you have yet to googlebing it.

4/14/2010 3:04:21 PM

hmmm, we could simply include a basic USB cable that costs $.00002 or we can build a custom cable that isn't up to spec for some dumb reason and notch it so it only works with our keyboard.

that way no one finds out we spent more money to make something that was less functional. hurrrr.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 3:07 PM. Reason : /]

4/14/2010 3:07:15 PM

yup. exactly. How else are they going to justify their outrageously over priced garbage hardware?

4/14/2010 3:11:13 PM

Quote :

"How else are they going to justify their outrageously over priced garbage hardware?"

You shouldn't be so mean to Apple, they do make really nice hardware.

4/14/2010 4:42:07 PM

Quote :

"yeah, let's just leave those big fat VGA ports on there just so it's compatible with projectors that have yet to catch up to this century."

i don't think anyone is suggesting we keep VGA, HDMI is slim enough for most laptops, sans Macbook Air

4/14/2010 4:46:40 PM

Quote :

"You shouldn't be so mean to Apple, they do make really nice hardware."

I was trying to put it into words the haters would understand.

Quote :

"i don't think anyone is suggesting we keep VGA, HDMI is slim enough for most laptops, sans Macbook Air"

That would be great too but projectors still use VGA and some have DVI.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 4:58 PM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 4:57:11 PM

^but projectors aren't trying to meet a certain form factor, they have much higher heat dissipation requirements than a laptop, they have the space to have multiple inputs, and nearly ALL new projectors you can buy today have HDMI input (heck nearly every HDTV has it), so no adapter needed, mDP hasn't shown up yet. we're talking business projectors, not el cheapo projectors.

my comment was more in regards to my workplace, i just hate having to deal with people who forgot a video adapter when they're responsible for presenting.

[Edited on April 14, 2010 at 5:32 PM. Reason : .]

4/14/2010 5:31:46 PM