Tag Archives: Software

Xcode 4: The Coda of Compiled Software Development?

Jul 30, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts No Comments

I noticed something interesting recently. The new version of Apple’s Xcode development suite (which is used to build applications of iPhones and OS X) is starting remind me a little of Coda and Espresso. The latter two applications are one-window development environments for web developers.

Coda, which is similar to Espresso but was released first, combines a powerful text editor with FTP syncing, visual CSS editing and support for the SVN versioning system. This has proven to be popular among web designers looking to streamline their workflow.

Xcode 4 is taking the same one-window approach, bringing the previously separate Interface Builder application inside of Xcode. The UI is also looking a lot more streamlined. The boring Windows-style file tree pane on the left hand side has been redesigned to look more like the iTunes sidebar. (Which is another interface feature of Espresso and Coda.)

Xcode is already a great IDE, and a pleasure to work with. The changes should make it even better, and more in line with the “Mac-like” feel the great tools that other developers have been building for web designers.

Firefox 4 Beta 1 Released

Jul 12, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts 2 Comments

The first beta of Firefox 4 is now available (and can be downloaded here). It features plenty of new functionality and web standards support, including hardware-accelerated video and additional support for the evolving CSS3 and HTML5 standards.

I’m already impressed by the speed improvements. The browser launches a little bit faster and overall seems more responsive. Pages seem to render a lot faster, as well.

I am a bit disappointed that the Mac version, so far at least, looks much more like Firefox 3 than the wonderful mockup from before. I really like the cleaner interface, despite it’s slight deviation from the norm on OS X.

If you want to try it out, keep in mind that it is an early beta release. Beta software is generally full of bugs and glitches, as the whole point of a beta test is to find problems so they can be fixed before the final release. Do not remove your existing Firefox installation and do not use it for anything mission-critical. Also, don’t judge the application too harshly. It will likely be much different by the time of the final release.

Arq: Back Up Your Mac to Amazon S3

Jul 7, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts No Comments

I use some shell scripts to back up my web server to Amazon S3. It’s very cheap and off-site, two things that make for a good backup strategy. But what about personal computers? Most people, myself included, simply back up to external hard disk. Off-site backups stored “in the cloud” on remote servers would be a much preferable option. (But most people balk at paying $5-$20 per month for a service like Dropbox, JungleDisk, SpiderOak or Carbonite.)

Arq, by Haystack Software, takes a slightly different approach. It’s designed for those of us who already have Amazon S3 accounts. Arq lets you set a monthly budget, say $5 (which gets you 50GB or storage). The application then keeps the folders you choose mirrored with Amazon S3. It operates on the same hourly schedule as Time Machine, keeping multiple versions of the files. It periodically deletes old versions of the files to stay within the storage space equivalent to the monthly budget you set. It even encrypts your files with a passkey of your choosing.

If you’re selective about the data you back up, the pricing should be fairly reasonable. It seems like a good way to back up data. You could use it in tandem with Dropbox; Arq+S3 for backing up your critical data, Dropbox for sharing and collaborating.

Further Reading

The Safari Challenge

Jul 2, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts 2 Comments

I happened across an interesting post by Chris Coyier recently: The Safari Challenge. Besides being a creative example of the “blogazine” concept, it sums-up an issue that has been bothering me lately. Should I be using Firefox or Safari?

I’ve traditionally been a Firefox guy. I like Firefox. I like the peeps at Mozilla, and they do great things. I also like Apple, and when I can, I try to use Apple products. So for an entire week, I decided I was going to suck it up and just try and make the switch to using Safari as my main web browser. No going back and forth, no half-assing it. All-or-nothing. Some people claim to be able to use different web browsers for different things. Not me, I can’t do that. I can’t even have more than one pair of shoes without getting confused.

I, too, have long been a Firefox user. I’ve liked the browser ever since it was first released back in 2004. It’s still my primary browser, even since becoming a full-time Mac user. There are several extensions that I depend on, such as the veritable Firebug.

But it just seems so slow. All of its major competitors are now so much faster than the browser that single-handedly put an end to Microsoft’s decade of browser domination. What went wrong? Why isn’t it being rectified?

Safari is a great browser, but I can’t give up functionality for the speed, however tempting it may be.

Chris’s title, The Safari Challenge, is more apt than he probably thought. That is the very challenge Mozilla faces: to catch up to the speed of Safari and Chrome. Hopefully it will be soon.

14 Mac Applications I Use Every Day

May 28, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Featured, Software & Scripts 15 Comments

I made the switch to Mac OS X a little over two years ago when I bought my first MacBook (which is still working fine as my main computer, I might add). I find that my workflow has improved, and I’m more efficient in my daily tasks. Exposé and Spaces are probably a large part of that.

The idea to share my most frequently used applications came to me recently, so I thought I would write-up a quick compilation of the software that I use on a daily basis post-Windows. Obviously I needn’t bother with the “well, duh…” applications like iTunes, Terminal, or my choice in web browser. After all, the major browsers all have Mac versions. Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari. (I use Firefox, despite the speed issues, since I’m fairly dependent on certain extensions.)

Adium

I don’t do a lot of Instant Messaging, but I keep an account on all of the major services for the occasions when I need to. Apple’s own iChat only supports AIM, MobileMe, ICQ, and Bonjour, if I’m not mistaken. Many users, including myself, prefer Adium for it’s extensive protocol support. You can chat on AIM, Jabber (GMail/GTalk), Yahoo, MSN, Facebook, ICQ, Bonjour, and many others. It has a good interface, and it’s feature set is more than adequate for most users. I don’t believe it offers voice or video chat options, but you can always open Skype or iChat for those.

Homepage: Adium

CloudApp

Need to share a file fast? That’s what CloudApp is all about. It sits in your menu bar, waiting for you to drag a file onto it. When you do, it uploads the file to the service’s redundant servers and copies a short URL to your clipboard. It has some more nice features, but that’s the crux of it. I find it useful for sharing files or screenshots, and it keeps my Dropbox account from becoming too cluttered.

Homepage: CloudApp

Continue reading →

Transmit 4: The Ultimate Mac FTP and S3 Client

May 17, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Featured, Software & Scripts 6 Comments

Panic Inc has released version four of their popular Transmit FTP client. To simply call it an “FTP client,” though, doesn’t do the software justice. Really, it’s a file transfer application. It can interact with FTP and SFTP servers as well as Amazon S3, Apple iDisk, WebDAV servers, and Bonjour locations. Not only can Transmit move files between your computer and a remote server, but it can easily transfer data between servers.

Continue reading →

MacHeist nanoBundle 2 is Here

Mar 5, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts No Comments

Mac users: do you want to get over $260 worth of software for less than twenty dollars? The second Macheist nanoBundle is here, and it’s worth a close look, at least.

The applications included aren’t necessarily as impressive as those from previous bundles, but there are some good ones.

If you ever need to backup a DVD, RipIt has replaced the difficult to obtain “Mac the Ripper” as the most prominent solution. It’s very simple to use, and it works with pretty much any disc you can throw at it. It’s usually $20 or so when your trial period is ends, so the MacHeist bundle is a pretty good value if you’re already looking for a good DVD ripping application. I haven’t tried out all of the other apps yet, but the clipboard enhancer Clips and the CoverScout album artwork-finder sound like they might be useful.

Oh, and one of the software packages included is Tales of Monkey Island, the latest installment in the infamous Monkey Island series of video games. As usual, don’t worry about the fact that it and RapidWeaver are not “unlocked” yet; they will be.

Is Firefox Losing its Focus?

Jan 28, 2010 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts One Comment

Firefox is a great web browser, certainly the most extendable. In the beginning, one of Firefox’s strong points was how lightweight it was. It wasn’t full of extraneous features, it was pretty snappy. It did one thing, web browsing, and it did it well. But lately it has become rather heavy, especially in comparison to newcomers to the browser field like Google’s Chrome browser. It eats up a bit of RAM, takes awhile to start, and it just doesn’t feel as quick and nimble as Safari or Chrome.

I have to wonder, is Firefox losing its original focus? Is it time for a massive overhaul?

It has become apparent that the average user values startup time and UI responsiveness far more than extensions or other power features. Maybe it’s time that performance be given the spotlight once again, and extensibility given a back seat until the issue is sorted out.

My ideal browser isn’t Chrome, Opera, Safari, or even Camino; it’s a faster Firefox. I haven’t jumped ship because I would find it hard to get things done without certain extensions. I can’t see Chrome having similar extensions any time in the near future, and I’m not a fan of how Google has given Mac support a lower priority.

Edit: Just two days after I wrote this, Firefox 3.6 was released. Already, it’s a step in the right direction. The latest version uses significantly less RAM.

Dropbox: Easy File Synchronization

Nov 25, 2009 by Matt | Posted in Services and Tools 3 Comments

As long as people have worked with multiple computers, they’ve always had to find ways to transfer files between them. Back in the old days, we used square plastic things called “floppy diskettes” to store data and recall it on any convenient computer. They could hold an amazing 1.41 megabytes worth of files. Back when everything was plain text, that was workable.

Nowadays, people still use sneakernet, though the medium of choice is now USB flash drives and occasionally an external hard disk. But the idea remains the same: You have files you’re working on, and you want to access them on more than one computer; so you load the files onto a drive and bring them with you. Perhaps you want to take your work home, or you want to smuggle some music into your workplace or school. Maybe you’re writing a novel and you want to continue to write while you travel.

Meet Dropbox.

Dropbox Illustration

Dropbox does away with the need to manually copy files from place to place. All you have to do is tell the software which files it should sync, and those files are mirrored in “the cloud,” where any of your linked computers can access them. You can view documents on your iPhone/iPod, edit them on your laptop, or work with them on someone else’s computer.

Continue reading →

Subversion Picked Up by the Apache Software Foundation

Nov 11, 2009 by Matt | Posted in Software & Scripts No Comments

The popular version control software Subversion (or SVN) is moving to the Apache Software Foundation.

While Subversion is undergoing incubation at the ASF, CollabNet will continue to host the project at http://subversion.tigris.org. In addition, third party-certified binaries of the software configuration management system will continue to be available from CollabNet, as well as from other vendors, both during and after the incubation period.

This was brought to my attention by @ArtemR on Twitter. It’s interesting, and certainly important to the project. I think that it can only make things more efficient though. I highly doubt that the ASF is going to cause the sky to fall, or whatever it is everyone’s afraid of.