Old Reliable
David Caolo, the latest interviewee in Shawn Blanc’s “Sweet Mac Setup” series:
My main computer is a well-worn, 2GHz Intel Core Duo MacBook Pro with a 15″ display. This machine has been in 5 US states and three countries; it’s missing three keys and the bottom is badly scratched. It’s also the most reliable workhorse I’ve ever owned. I’ll continue to use it until it dies or refuses to run essential software, whichever comes first.
When it’s on my desk, it rests in a Radtech Omnistand and connects to a 17″ Viewsonic display, a Mighty Mouse and an old Apple Extended Keyboard II with the help of a Griffin iMate.
I’m thrilled to see another Extended II user. It’s the best keyboard ever made.
Update: Kevin Lipe is right about the Extended being bigger, but I stand my by statement.
On Macworld
What a joke Macworld has become over the past few years. When I can find Mac Developer websites with Google faster than I can by clicking a link in an the article talking about said developer, then I think as a publisher you should be damned ashamed of yourself.
‘There is no try’
I’ve got a new wallpaper on my machines. It’s homemade with Mueso Slab and a stolen copy of the Rebel Alliance logo. You can download a 1440 × 900 version here. If you center it and choose “Tungsten” as the background color, it matches perfectly.
Woz on the ‘Big Bang Theory’
Droid R2-D2
Xmarks Speaks Out on Paid Services
We’re revisiting the idea of Xmarks as a premium service. We’ve set up a Pledgebank page where you can sign up if you’re willing to pay at least $10 a year for Xmarks. No credit card is required, but please only pledge if you are genuinely willing and able to pay.
[…]
Hopefully you can see that, for us and our investors, we were aiming for a different business, and staffing at a different level, than what it is likely appropriate for a freemium model. For a new company taking a fresh start with Xmarks, a freemium model could be really compelling. The overwhelming positive user support from all of you, combined with strong interest by companies looking to take over Xmarks, means that the service might just find a ninth life. Please stay tuned.
Joaquin claims in the post that Xmarks cost over $2 million annually to run, and has already had $9 million invested. Declaring the end of your company, just to share the actual numbers days later sure seems like a strange way to sorta imply your company could be for sale. Weak.
On NYC’s Subway System and Flooding
There’s a massive tropical storm headed to New York, one that may flood the subway. What most people don’t know is that we depend on just 700 fragile water pumps to keep the tunnels dry—some a century old.
In fact, if someone powered down all these pumps tomorrow, the entire subway network would be inundated in just a few hours. To give you an idea of how complex and massive this system is, it pulls 13 million gallons of water out of the subway on any sunny day. No rain. Not even a single drop of water from the sky.
[…]
Back in the 1990s, a water main broke open, completely flooding the station at 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. They had to send scuba divers to fix it, and use a diesel-powered train car to take the water out. It took an entire week to drain the station, extracting 2,700 gallons per minute. That’s more than 27 million gallons.
Holy crap.
Kill Ping Pop-up in iTunes
John Martellaro at the Mac Observer has the glorious Terminal command:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes hide-ping-dropdown -bool TRUE
Be sure to close iTunes first.
Speaking of the Web…
Axiis has posted a brilliant chart showing browser market share, by year, since 2002.
Sadly, it’s done in Flash and doesn’t list MobileSafari as a separate browser.
‘Apple and the Open Web’
While I know I probably sound like a Gruber fanboy, his recent talk at Web 2.0 Expo 2010 really was great. Check it out.
On the new Apple TV
Joshua Topolsky, in his review of the new device:
The video and audio quality of the Apple TV is to be lauded, the company is making a lot of high quality titles available right off the bat, sharing from your current computers is a snap, and if you’re a Netflix user, the inclusion here is perfectly seamless. The question is ultimately about ease versus options — right now it’s hard to whole-heartedly recommend the Apple TV even at its $99 price point given the thin list of partners Apple has courted. If you just want a dead simple movie rental box and you’re not that picky about content, the Apple TV is a no-brainer. If, like us, you’re looking for options good enough to make you can the cable, Apple’s new box still feels a lot like a hobby.