Microsoft Invented Desktop Search

alternateorg on December 15, 2004

Ugh. This guy needs a refresher course in modern computer history.

Essentially, here are the main points from the above link:

  1. Microsoft unveiled search features in 2003 that will be included in Longhorn, due mid-2006
  2. Apple and Google copied the idea and created software that is a pale subset of what Microsoft is promising
  3. Apple has been busy “copping” features from Windows since Jobs returned in ’96.
  4. Apple has a “tiny” market-share so very few people will benefit from Spotlight
  5. The new “MSN Toolbar Suite” represents a step in the promised direction that Longhorn is taking

This is wrong in so many ways. The first of which is that Longhorn will definitely not ship in 2006, and even if it does, Mac users will be using MacOS X 10.6, which will undoubtedly include updates and added features to Spotlight. The second thing he’s wrong about is that Apple’s been working on desktop search since fucking Copland, and Sherlock in OS 8 was the first application that could search your local drive as well as the internet from the same interface. Oh, and as far as Google goes… what the fuck else would Google be doing now? They’ve got web search down cold, desktop search is the next frontier for them. A logical move for Google.

You all know how wrong a statement “Apple’s been copping features from Windows since 1996” is. I don’t even need to fucking go there, nor do I need to go into the concept that over 90% of the world’s media and content is created or laid-out using a Mac, extending its influence far beyond its “tiny” market-share.

This is just another instance of a Windows pundit thinking he knows stuff about Apple and the world in general by what Microsoft has told him. The world is a lot different when you take off those XP-colored glasses, buddy.

Thanks, Macromedia!

alternateorg on October 13, 2004

I’d just like to go ahead and extend a few thank-yous to Macromedia right about now:

1. Thanks for making me delete the cached ActionScript 2 classes directory every time I export a SWF using AS2! I think it’s really cool that you won’t let me set a preference to automatically use the newest version of a class if the FLA resides on a server! Deleting that directory every time I export is a treat!

2. Oh, and your bug-checking tools can’t be beat! I mean, not telling me a MovieClip doesn’t exist when I try to use it in ActionScript but instead just doing nothing at all is tops! I mean, what MORON would type “UIScrollBar” instead of “UIScrollbar?”

3. Also, the fact that the Flex server is $12,000.00 and that FlexBuilder doesn’t work on Macintosh, I mean, this stuff is really ground-breaking. Let alone the fact that you can’t download developer versions of this stuff. I didn’t need that $8.99 and those 3 days in order to get a CD from you, anyway.

Hats off to Macromedia for being another awesome closed-source developer of software development tools!

Delicious Library

alternateorg on October 11, 2004

Delicious Monster has posted a new site for Library, the media catalog application that allows you to scan the bar code of your books, music, DVDs etc using your iSight and instantly have a digital catalog of everything you own media-wise. Not that it’s worth much if your computer itself burns up or gets stolen, but it could be nice to scroll through the iTunes-ish interface late at night in order to keep the wolves of insecurity at bay. Or something.

Vinyl 1.7

alternateorg on October 11, 2004

Ever miss that old vinyl sound you don’t get from your digital music? Even if you’re too young to remember vinyl as being the best option? Either way, you should check out iZotope Vinyl 1.7 for Windows and Mac:
Vinyl uses 64-bit processing and advanced filtering, modeling and resampling to create authentic “vinyl” simulation, as if the audio was a record being played on a record player.

MacOSXBox

alternateorg on October 7, 2004

MacOSX running on an XBox. Kyle was still wrong, because it used PearPC and a firt-gen XBox, but still. It’s a little too close to him being right about something for my stomach to take this morning.

Mirrored Tiger Screens

alternateorg on October 5, 2004

Since AppleInsider posted these Tiger screens, I figured I’d mirror them here in case Apple decides to ask that they be taken down.

Take a gander:

Since I need my computers for, like, work, I don’t have the balls to run the Tiger betas, so these screenshots are nice to see. Anyone using it out there in internet-land?

The text of the AppleInsider report is as follows:

Brushed aluminum swept aside as Apple’s Mail 2.0 will reportedly sport an updated theme.

For the past several years Apple Computer has adorned its Mac OS X applications with a mixture of its Aqua and brushed aluminum interface themes. But with the release of Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” due in a matter of months, the Cupertino, Calif.-based company is primed to add a third interface theme to the mix.

An apparent blending of two themes, the new look lifts interface elements from both of the company’s existing themes and embeds them inside a sleek platinum gradient. According to sources, the first application to adhere to the new look will be the company’s email client, Mail version 2.0.

Removed from the days of old is the retractable Mailbox drawer. Instead, the reworked email client sports a single window interface with mailboxes and folders that are docked on the left. The titlebar now flows into the toolbar and message counts are encapsulated inside circular interface elements. Overall, the theme presents a soothing, yet futurist feel.

Interface changes aside, Mail 2.0 will sport several additional enhancements such as smart mailboxes, an e-mail certificate viewer, and iCal integration. The application will also interface with an upcoming set of parental controls, which will allow Mac OS X 10.4 administrative account holders to censor information provided to sub-users on an application specific basis.

Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” is currently undergoing extensive development inside Apple with recent builds falling in the 8A27x range. An official release of the operating system is tentatively scheduled for early next year.

That dipshit from Real

alternateorg on September 25, 2004

Link

What would you do if the next version of Quicktime could play .rm files, even ones with DRM? Suppose that they respect the DRM, and only play on authorized computers. Suppose Quicktime Pro were capable of creating .rm files with DRM.

Why shouldn’t Apple do this?

Glaser: (CEO of Real)
We would be happy to cross-license our DRM and formats to Apple to enable exactly the kind of interoperability you propose.

Unbelievable.

The question is if Apple did it without Reals permission (hence no licensing involved) what would he think of that… he double speaks around it and basically says, yeah I wish they would buy our format from us.

Fucking hypocrite.