512 Pixels

StateStats:

This tool shows you how popular a Google search query is in each U.S. state, giving a ranking like the one you see in the left column. It then compares this ranking with other ways of ranking states, like average income or population density, using Spearman’s rank correlation. The middle column shows the results of these comparisons, with the strongest correlations listed first. High numbers (close to 1.0) mean that the rankings “line up” closely, which may indicate a relationship between the search query and the ranking metric. For example, mittens tends to be searched by users who are in northerly states (high latitude) and states with a lot of frost. Low numbers (close to –1.0) indicate a negative relationship – that is, the rankings are close to being opposites, as in “yoga” and “VotedForBush.”

I took some pictures of my Color Classic today:

TUAW turned up Apple’s “Xserve Field Guide.” This guide is design to assist on-site technicians with Xserve hardware issues. It’s good, but not heavy duty on the high-end information.

Click here to see some screenshots of the guide. On the left, the desktop version (as rendered on the iPhone), and on the right the iPhone-optimized version.

From the NY Times:

It’s a long way from $700 billion, but the media start-up Six Apart is introducing its own economic bailout plan.

The TypePad Journalist Bailout Program offers recently terminated bloggers and journalists a free pro account (worth $150 annually) on the company’s popular blogging platform. In addition to the free yearly membership, the 20 to 30 journalists who are accepted will receive professional tech support, placement on the company’s blog aggregation site, Blogs.com, and automatic enrollment in the company’s advertising revenue-sharing program.

James and John of the RetroMacCast mentioned on their show this week a document titled “Inside Macintosh” they found. Here’s a bit from the preface:

I nside Macintosh is a three-volume set of manuals that tells you what you need to know to write software for the Apple® Macintosh™ 128K, 512K, or XL (or a Lisa® running MacWorks™ XL). Although directed mainly toward programmers writing standard Macintosh applications, Inside Macintosh also contains the information needed to write simple utility programs, desk accessories, device drivers, or any other Macintosh software. It includes: - the user interface guidelines for applications on the Macintosh - a complete description of the routines available for your program to call (both those built into the Macintosh and others on disk), along with related concepts and background information - a description of the Macintosh 128K and 512K hardware

It’s long, but interesting that even early on, people wanted to write great stuff for the Mac.

Touch Arcade, on why some games are faster on a Touch:

The most clear difference is that fact that the iPod Touch’s processor was quietly boosted to 532MHz (up from 412MHz) with the 2nd generation model introduced in September. Meanwhile, the iPhone 3G, Original iPhone and 1st Generation iPod Touch continue to run at the original 412MHz.

I can’t decided what I think about this. The Touch has been pushed as Apple’s gaming device, but the iPhone is the flagship product, and does a lot more than it’s touch-based iPod cousin.

Read more about the guts of the devices here.

AppleInsider:

The Cupertino-based firm is conscious that any retail layoffs would give a negative impression of its health and hurt its share value, and instead plans to scale back the hours worked by its part-time Mac Specialists that greet customers and promote products. This would keep them on the store floors while trimming employment costs, those aware of the changes say.

To compensate for the shortfall, Geniuses normally assigned to servicing products and answering questions will be asked to spend four of their weekly hours in the Mac Specialist role. Creatives manning the Studio sections of some stores will be asked to work as many as eight hours selling products.

If I were still Lead Genius at our local Store, I would probably have yelled at someone about this.

The NY Times on Google’s failed “ Lively” services:

Google portrayed the move away from user frivolity as a sound business move. “It has been a tough decision, but we want to ensure that we prioritize our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business,” the company said on a blog post.

In the past Google has shown a willingness to let projects linger with a “beta” tag for months and months. But the virtual experiment was apparently not worth even that effort.

Oh snap. But this all seems somewhat familiar.  An online world in which you can move around and get information. Oh yeah, Apple’s failed eWorld. Wikipedia:

Apple’s marketing and promotion efforts were at best indifferent. The service was only available on the Macintosh, along with e-mail only support on the Newton handheld. Apple was in a challenging financial position at the time and CEO Michael Spindler told the Online Services Group that significant marketing for the service could not be provided so eWorld shipped on new Macs with only an icon on the desktop and a brochure in the box. There was also little if anything in the way of media marketing for the service. The promised Windows version of eWorld was not launched following a decision by Apple’s senior management to position eWorld as a unique service for Macintosh owners.

Conclusion: Apple failed at the “virtual world” thing in the 1990s, and Google somehow missed it. Wait, they didn’t exist yet.

Oh wait, one more bit from the NY Times:

That said, large companies such as I.B.M. appear intent on investing in this type of technology, betting that it will one day lead to richer Internet experiences.

I think I know how it’ll go for them.

Here’s a list of where it is, though. Memphis isn’t on the list.

In April 2003, Apple announced a new low-end and high-end PowerBook to wrap around the Titanium PowerBook family. The new 12-inch and 17-inch models sported a new, all-aluminum case, silver keys, and faster insides. (The 15-inch PowerBook would remain “Titanium” for several more months. My first Mac was one of those Titaniums.)

The 12-inch model was especially interesting, size wise. Low End Mac, in their Guide to the 12-inch PowerBook:

The Little Al ’Book was the smallest PowerBook ever built (110.6 cubic inches vs. 168.3 for the PowerBook 100 and 169.6 for the 2400c - only the MacBook Air has had a smaller volume), although at 4.6 lb. it was not quite as light as the original PowerBook Duo 210.

The 12-inch PowerBook is a even a little smaller then the 12-inch iBook. But inside it’s tiny frame, Apple stuffed a 867Mhz G4 (the last revision sported a 1.5Ghz G4), an optical drive and enough I/O for most users.

The little notebook had fans from all over. Again, Low End Mac:

The 12“ PowerBook is just a really nice package - small enough to be comfortable packing around but large and full-featured enough to serve quite satisfactorily as a main workhorse computer. These machines are particularly popular with photographers, presumably because they have pretty decent video support (arguably better than the Intel GMA 950/3100 ”vampire video" in the MacBook), and, of course, are small enough to carry in a large camera bag.

Although hailed as ultra-portable, the 12-inch PowerBook is not the toughest laptop around. The metal that makes the bottom case has a tendency to warp and bend, especially above the optical drive and around the front corners of the machine. These weak areas may be more prone to bending simply due to the fact that owners of 12-inch PowerBooks seem to take them everywhere- being so portable, it is easy to toss one in a bag, just to have it get banged up. Since the model was quite popular with both students and business people with busy travel schedules, most 12-inch PowerBooks have some scars.

In 2005, my best friend bought one (a 1.5 Ghz) for college, and it was the first time I’d really spent time with one, and I was impressed. I’ve always wanted one, and last week, I bought one on eBay.

I own a 1.33Ghz model, with 1.25 GB of RAM, and the thing runs Leopard pretty well. It’s a little banged up, but far from some of the horrific-looking ones I’ve seen in the past. While I won’t be using CS4 on it, the 12-inch PowerBook may finally end my search for an ultra-portable I will actually use. The size is perfect- I can use it in bed, carry it in my bag on my bike to a coffee shop, yet still use it for everyday tasks, thanks to the 12-inch screen and full-sized keyboard (Take that, Eee PC!). And with a late-model G4, it can run most things I would do in bed or at a coffee shop, anyways.

When Apple moved to Intel, the 12-inch form-factor was left behind. The smallest notebook Apple has shipped since the Intel transition are 13-inches. While that doesn’t sound much bigger, it is. The 12-inch PowerBook feels far smaller (and sturdier) than the plastic MacBooks ever were. Now, with the new aluminum MacBooks out, it is easier to draw the the conclusion that the MacBook has replaced the 12-inch PowerBook. I’m not sold on this, but it is easier to accept. (Side note: the LCD on the 12-inch PowerBook can be opened further back than any other Apple notebook I’ve ever used or seen- it’s really nice.)

One side note about the MacBook Air. As I have said before, it has the same footprint as the MacBook; meaning, it takes up the same amount of space on a table. Yes, it’s light as hell, but it’s still 13-inches of MacBook.

Nvidia’s Neil Trevett on OpenCL, part of Snow Leopard that will allow the OS (and apps) have greater access to the GPU:

“If Apple ends up following through on the plans they stated on building this specification into Snow Leopard, I think you could see opportunity for imaging applications vendors, video application vendors to tap into the goodness of GPU hardware. Everyone has a supercomputer locked away in their Mac, but it’s hard to get at it. And OpenCL will unlock the potential of that supercomputer.”

Sounds pretty damn good to me.

Via Macworld.

I am a big Remember the Milk user, and up until last week, was using Todo to sync RTM with my iPhone. RTM has since come out with a native iPhone app, and it’s stunning (and much better than Todo, in my opinion). Here’s the thought that led the company to create such a great app:

Building an app that simply gave access to your RTM tasks online wasn’t enough (after all, the web-based iPhone version does that already) The app needed to give you the power of all of RTM’s functionality in your pocket (Smart Lists, tagging, search, etc), take advantage of the device’s features (like knowing your location), and of course the whole thing needed to work offline too (it’s no good carrying RTM around with you if you can’t manage your tasks as soon as you’re out of phone or Wi-Fi range!).

The key here is simple: iPhone users want real applications that harness the iPhone’s power and ease-of-use, not rinky-dink wannabe apps that just get things done.