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MacHeist 3 bundle unveiled
The Heist might be over, but the software saving fun is just beginning! Tonight, the MacHeist 3 bundle was revealed in a geek-star studded live show. This year's bundle is, from a software perspective, really incredible. I love software bundles because they are a great way to get cool stuff, but the problem is, lots of stuff is frequently repeated across bundles, making it less and less exciting for the more seasoned Mac software-addict. This is not a bundle that can be accused of retreading old software; on the contrary, some new (and high profile) apps are available. This is the line-up: iSale Picturesque Sous Chef World of Goo PhoneView LittleSnapper Acorn Kinemac It wouldn't be a bundle without unlock incentives, and this year, MacHeist goes all out: WireTap Studio BoinxTV Sponsored Edition The Hit List Espresso And knowing MacHeist, I'm sure there will be other surprises to come as the sale takes shape.
Take a shot of Espresso 1.0
We first started hearing about MacRabbit's Espresso back in September; six months, a public beta and countless cups of coffee later, Espresso 1.0 is finally ready for sipping!MacRabbit, makers of the award-winning CSSEdit, parlayed the idea of an HTMLEdit companion app into an all around web development app. Right now, Espresso supports HTML, CSS, XML, JavaScript and PHP -- but utilizing plugins (Sugars), Espresso can support more languages and platforms.Similar to Panic's Coda (another TUAW favorite), you can also directly publish from the app, using FTP, SFTP, FTP/SSL and Amazon S3. Espresso shares many interface similarities with CSSEdit and the presentation is very, very polished. If you're comfortable with CSSEdit, Espresso will likely fit comfortably into your workflow.We'll be reviewing Espresso in-depth soon and doing some head-to-head action to see how it stacks up against Coda and TextMate.Espresso is 59.95€ (about $80 US) and 49.95€ ($68 US) for existing CSSEdit 2 customers. You can try Espresso without limitations for 15 days. Espresso requires OS X 10.5 Leopard or higher.Thanks Nik!
Beta Beat: MacRabbit's Espresso released as public beta
Espresso, the highly-anticipated web design and development platform from MacRabbit (creators of CSSEdit), has been released as a public beta (originally predicted for late November). It's not finished (that's why it's called beta, silly), but it's far more complete than what we've seen thus far. The auto-completion capabilities of the editor are well-developed, support for HTML, XML, CSS and Javascript is included, and the live preview is working nicely. The array of available Sugars, as the extension packages are called, is frequently being added to by users, and support for additional languages is already available. A few themes, some ported from TextMate, can also be found on the wiki. Web developers who have used CSSEdit are familiar with the simple interface which belies many powerful features. You can expect the same from Espresso. Coda users will be interested as well; when Espresso is feature-complete, you can expect a TUAW-style head-to-head comparison of the two. Personally, I'm a die-hard TextMate user, which any of the TUAW crew can attest to. I always have trouble getting into new editors, no matter how rich their feature set may be. I stopped editing CSS in TextMate when CSSEdit came out, though; there's just no comparison. Knowing CSSEdit the way I do, Espresso may be the platform which finally pulls some of my TextMate loyalty away ... at least for web design. You can grab the time-limited (30 days) beta from MacRabbit's site. If you're a developer, make sure you check out the wiki. For me, the most appealing aspect of Espresso is its extensibility, and a look through the SDK should pique the interest of any code-sligner.
Espresso testers selected, beta coming late November
If you've been salivating for a shot of Espresso, the upcoming integrated web development environment for Mac OS X, you'll have to wait just a little bit longer. An email sent this morning by the developer, MacRabbit's Jan Van Boghout, confirmed the status of those accepted into the beta program, but he also indicated that the top priority was to give plug-in developers working with the Sugar framework "a solid SDK to start with." Van Boghout expects that the company will release a beta in late November. Espresso, which stares Coda straight in the eye and says, "Yeah, I'm lookin' at you," is from the same people who make CSSEdit, and was announced in mid-September.
A quick shot of Espresso for web designers
Word is out ... there's a new contender for the do-it-all web design and development title belt. Espresso has been announced by the creators of CSSEdit, and it looks like major competition for a TUAW favorite, Coda. Espresso looks like it's going to be a solid editing platform, with an advanced XHTML editor (with spell checking in non-code contexts), live preview (even for database driven applications), advanced search with regular expressions, tabbed interface and sidebar tools and, of course, the things we love about CSSEdit throughout the interface. Espresso will ship with support for HTML, XML, CSS and JavaScript, but here's the really impressive part: it -- not unlike TextMate -- is going to be very extensible. Using XML-based "Sugars," you can add new languages, CodeSense support and more. An SDK will be available for those who wish to earn the title "Sugar Daddy." I'm looking forward to this release with great anticipation, and the chatter around TUAW indicates I'm not alone. You can sign up for updates on the Espresso page at MacRabbit.
Is this Philips' next-generation Senseo?
Going out for coffee is so pre-recession, right? Either way, what you see above is a purported rendering of Philips' next-generation Senseo coffee system, which actually looks to be taking a step backwards in the design department. Not that we have anything against non-futuristic styling -- just an observation, is all. We know, at least a handful of you are already champing at the bit to yell "FAKE1one!," but really, who spends time creating a mockup of a java machine? And besides, aren't all the good designers working up those derisory iPhone nano images?[Thanks, GPFransen]
Rancilio's Silvia espresso machine gets hacked via the Arduino and Wii nunchuk
If you're both a coffee- and gadget-freak, this project by DIY'er Tim Hirzel will probably be a notably inspiring hack. By combining a fancy-pants Rancilio Silvia espresso machine, the multi-purpose Arduino micro-controller, a Wii nunchuk, and some seriously high-level hacking, Tim has created a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. The typically straight-up espresso maker is now controlled electronically, allowing integration of a calendar, sleep timer, wake-up alarm, and temperature regulation. The system also allows a user to time its functions (to get that perfect cup of espresso), and the nunchuk can be used to alter settings on the unit. Be sure and take a look at the video after the break to see this mod in action.[Thanks, Russ]
Researchers devise coffee machine that can tell good coffee from bad
It looks like coffee technology could be about to take another leap forward, with Nestle researchers now touting that they've devised a machine that can tell the difference between good coffee and bad coffee -- espresso, in particular. Apparently, the machine has "nearly" the taste accuracy of a panel of trained espresso tasters, who, if this machine is any indication, may soon have to kiss their envious job goodbye (like so many others that have been forced to confront the cold hard reality of the machines taking over). While there's apparently still quite a bit of work to be done on the coffee tasting machine, Nestle eventually sees it being used as a quality control device for the entire coffee industry. [Via Single Serve Coffee]
Handpresso gets unboxed: how did we ever get by without?
Actually, that headline is a bit misleading, since we'd never actually subscribe to a method of coffee production that required any sort of effort before the coffee is actually in our body -- clearly defeating the purpose -- but this Handpresso thing is still quite the little gizmo in its own right. It works pretty much exactly like you'd expect: pump the handle to the right pressure level, add an espresso pod and hot water, flip the switch and blammo, you've got a few waking hours in a cup. Apparently the box is all fancy too, which is always nice.
Whirlpool Espresso refrigerator brings the coffee to the cream
Today's "Adventure in Laziness" is brought to you by Whirlpool, which has just -- rather cleverly, we must admit -- announced an upcoming refrigerator with built-in espresso maker, saving you several precious steps during your rushed morning routine. No longer will you flutter between fridge and coffee machine like a caffeine-addicted idiot; instead, your milk, creamers, and sweeteners are just inches away from a freshly-brewed cup. Coming in January of next year for what will likely be significantly more than your standard icebox, the "20RI D4 Espresso" bodes well for future fridge-tech, and makes us yearn for the day when our Whirlpool sends us off to work with a warm cup of joe and welcomes us home at night with a frosty, self-brewed lager.[Via The Appliancist]
The internet-enabled coffee maker
Finally you can get your coffee served up just the way you like it... via the internet. Thanks to some caffeine-loving DIY'ers, you can now whip up (or at least serve) a cup of steaming-hot espresso from across the room, or across the Atlantic (though, why would you make a cup of coffee if you won't be able to drink it while it's hot?). Regardless, inspired by Larry Masinter's circa-1998 Hyper Text Coffee Pot Control Protocol, and utilizing the O2M8 WebBrick (a controller designed for automation in houses), the gang was able to put together a solution for coffee making that has been heretofore unseen, though (we suspect) desperately needed. Check the link to see all the percolating action unfold.[Via Hacked Gadgets]
New York Public Library gets first Espresso Book Machine
While it looks like it's still a ways from setting up shop next to more traditional vending machines, those in New York CIty can now get their instant-book fix from the very first (non-beta) Espresso Book Machine, which has found a home in the New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library. For the time being, most of the books on offer appear to be ones in the public domain, including over 200,000 titles from the Open Content Alliance database, which visitors to the library can print off books free of charge, the end result of which is supposedly "indistinguishable from the factory-made title." From the looks of it, Espresso manufacturer On Demand Books doesn't seem to be having any trouble getting takers for the machine, with the New Orleans Public Library, the University of Alberta, the Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, Vermont, and the Open Content Alliance in San Francisco each already in line to get one this fall.
The Espresso from On Demand Books brews you up a copy right fresh
As an idea, on demand book printing is nothing new, and we even spotted that Bookmachine monstrosity doing the whole ATM-for-books thing back in 2004, but it looks like the concept is about to take a big step with the new "Espresso" machine from On Demand Books. The $50,000 vending machine is about to debut in somewhere between 10 and 25 libraries and bookstores in 2007, including the New York Public Library in February. The machine can produce two books simultaneously in seven minutes, a time which includes all the printing, binding and cutting involved. The machine even slaps a snazzy laminated full-color cover on its creations. Books top out at around 550 pages, and right-to-left texts are possible. Production cost is about five cents per page, which should be quite a bargain for the roughly one million public domain English works currently floating around the Internets, but we're not sure what the exact costs will be levied by bookstores and copyright holders for the other titles -- there are currently 2.5 million books available for printing by the Espresso.[Via SCI FI Tech]
NES gamepad controls espresso machine
There's nothing like reminiscing about the go-go '80s, the decade that gave us the NES and the cocaine craze that would eventually be displaced by the "less addictive" espresso fad. (Just go with us.) But all of this caffeine makes us want to reminisce faster; shouldn't there be a way to drink an espresso while contemplating the classic, boxy NES controller?Now there is, with this crazy-hacked espresso machine, complete with add-on microchip, temperature sensor, and text display, with the NES controller orchestrating the brewing process. Now how long before Nintendo emails hacker Tim Hierzel, warning him not to drink coffee if it's too hot?[Via Engadget]
NES gamepad-controlled espresso machine
We've touted the benefits of espresso machine modding in the past, but Tim Herzel has taken the dark art to even geekier caffeine-fueled heights with his latest contraption, an espresso machine controllable by an NES gamepad. That bit of retro engineering alone would be enough to get our attention, but the machine (a Rancilio Silvia number) has also been outfitted with an array of other "improvements," including the ever-present PIC microcontroller, a 20 character VFD display, three zero-crossing solid state relays, an IC thermometer, and a laser cut acrylic top to put all that hard work on display. Not present, unfortunately, is an actual NES embedded in the machine to let you squeeze in a bout of Punch-Out!! while you wait for your brew, though maybe we can convince our pal Ben Heckendorn to hook us up with that feature.[Via MAKE:Blog]
Jura-Capresso's Z-Series Cup Warmer preheats mugs for your enjoyment
If you're kicked back enjoying a cup of brew from your recently purchased Melitta ME1MSB coffeemaker, but just can't stop wishing your cold, uninspired coffee mug was a tad warmer on your palms, Williams-Sonoma has your solution. For folks who just need one more gizmo taking up space in the kitchen, the Jura-Capresso Z-Series Cup Warmer provides a heated storage bin for "up to 24 espresso cups or 16 coffee cups" that quickly brings cups to "the optimal serving temperature." The freestanding "accessory" was designed to work with the Impressa Z-series espresso machine, and boasts a convection heating system to get those mugs ready for company. While we're fine with the idea of a toasty cup on a cold, blustery morn, we'd rather rock the ole G-Gloves than throw down $999 for this contraption.[Via Appliancist]
How-To: Mod your espresso machine
The quest for caffeine leads many a geek down the road to espresso, as we know all too well. We haven't gotten around to turning a MacBook into an espresso machine... yet, but we just can't resist modifying our stuff. Today's How-To is a bit along the lines of Tim Taylor, but it's all about the espresso.
