alarm
Latest
Aurora 3
We have written about Aurora before, and now a new version of this freeware alarm clock app is available. It will still awake you with some sweet, sweet tunes from your iTunes library (you can even use a playlist, or smart playlist). It now supports a snooze function using the Apple Remote, which is pretty darned cool if you ask me. It also supports playing radio or TV shows from EyeTV.Aurora is a Universal Binary, and is free (donations are welcome).
How to set the alarm on your DS -- info you could care less about
If you don't have the convenience of a Wal-Mart in your area to purchase an alarm to wake you for your daily adventures or lack the money to buy one, yet have enough dough to get a DS, then by all means, use the alarm feature. Honestly we think it silly. We didn't even realize there was a need to create a guide to set the DS alarm. It is pretty simple after all. Even if you don't know how to tell military time, Google can help you out in 0.07 seconds (we checked). What do you all think? Can you even hear the DS to wake up? Do you use the DS alarm feature to rise and shine every afternoon to catch the newest episode of Project Runway?
The elephant in the room: Apple pulls a Microsoft, delays Leopard past original promise
The first bell that rung in my ear when Steve announced Mac OS X 10.5's ship date of Spring 2007 was: "Apple just pulled a Microsoft". I know, I know: those words might be nails on the chalkboard in your head, but it's true. Leopard was originally promised for Fall 2006, and now it's been bumped back to 2007.Now don't get me wrong, if they need the time to work on it and bang out all the new features (including those secret ones they couldn't even show today) then by all means the company should take their time. I'm simply interested in the ramifications, if any, of a delay like this.Microsoft has received boatloads of criticism from every media outlet imaginable for continually delaying Longhorn Vista for the last 4 years. Some have postulated that today's modern and feature-packed OSes might be getting too big for their britches. Even those recent prominent un-switchers in the media also cited buggy software and wonky Mac OS X problems as part of their reasoning for jumping ship.I'm not trying to Pull a Dvorak™ and invent some crisis here or anything, but could some of these complications be making their way into the Apple side of the fence? Each new version of Mac OS X has brought incredible innovation with it (and these 10 new Leopard features are no exception), but also slightly more instability and 'growing pains' as well. Mail.app is widely harped on for a good number of reasons, namely instability and flakiness. GarageBand rocks, but only until you try to use the fancy podcast recording features. Even the cutting-edge new Spotlight is a great concept with a decent implementation, but it too suffers problems of inaccuracy, sluggish performance (even on recent machines like my MBP) and over-activity.What do you TUAW readers think though? Is the new Leopard ship date cause for alarm? Do you think you'll pick up the 1.0 release, or wait for initial reports and the subsequent updates? Sound off![UPDATE: For clarification, many reports since the introduction of Leopard have changed their tune for a release of 'late 2006/early 2007', but plenty of them, at least around the original announcement, specified Fall 2006.]
iCalFix: automatically add reminders to iCal events
We've blogged iCalFix before, back when it was just a fledgling 0.1 release that didn't even have a GUI interface (you had to edit a pref file lying around in ~/Library). For those who don't remember: it's a simple iCal plugin that automatically adds a reminder to every event you create.In this latest 0.5 release, iCal has become a true-blue iCal plugin, with its own preference pane and everything (As you can see, Robert Blum, iCalFix's creator, is looking for an icon designer. Check his blog for contact details). Now it's possible to specify your own alarm time for new events, as well as which sound to use, right from within iCal's preferences.iCalFix is donationware and available from Robert Blum's site.[via Hawk Wings]
Portable iPod protection with Yelpie
There are several ways to protect your iPod at work or on-the-go, but what to do when you're at the beach and you need to leave your 'Pod unattended while you take a dip in the water? Unless you actually have some friends who are willing to watch your valuables for you -- which is unlikely, if you're sitting around reading this blog on a Sunday afternoon (we kid, we kid) -- your best bet is probably a new motion sensor-equipped product adorably-named "Yelpie" that sounds a loud alarm if anyone tries to mess with your gear. After stowing the device of your choice inside Yelpie's secure yellow confines, arming the unit with your personal PIN number ensures that thieves trying to make off with the case will be treated to a shrieking, attention-grabbing 90-decibel alarm that's likely to shame him/her into dropping the goods and slinking away empty-handed. Friendless beach-goers will be able to pick up one of these portable safes sometime in the middle of the month for around $70, which in the long run is much cheaper than hiring the local kids who probably steal your stuff themselves as often as they actually guard it.[Via Real Tech News]
Hack iCal to present alarms through Growl
If you're a Growl fanatic, or maybe iCal's alarms just aren't cutting it for you, a forum thread at cocoaforge might provide you with some options for getting iCal and Growl to shake hands. Discussion has included various methods of using AppleScript, hacking the innards of iCal and even replacing the GUI option of emailing a reminder with sending it to Growl. Either way, it doesn't sound like any of the methods are for the meek of heart, so if you don't feel like digging around in application bundles and AppleScript, you might want to wait for a prettier solution.[via Hawk Wings]
aXbo Sleep Phase Alarm Clock reviewed
Sure, the aXbo alarm clock sounds quite promising with its ability to monitor your sleep phases and wake you at just the right time, but does it promise too much? Martin Regtien doesn't seem to think so, and after reviewing the Sleeptracker as well, he seems to think the aXbo not only bests its rival, but happens to be one of the best systems on the market for waking up right. Unfortunately, he didn't receive the USB cable with his review unit that allows you to check out your sleep patterns with your computer, but he did have an easy time setting up and using the actual aXbo. Turns out the wristband sensors are plenty comfortable, but though you can set separate alarms for both you and your partner, Martin's wife was wakened by his alarm. He suggests that the makers of aXbo create a vibrating alarm for the ultimate in sleep bliss, but for the casual user the aXbo seems to fit the bill exactly if you're prepared to fork over the $250.[Via Gadget Review]
Gmail-Growl Utility 1.7
The Gmail-Growl Utility that adds some seriously handy features to Google's official Gmail Notifier has been updated with a functionality face-lift and some fixes. It now has an option to toggle on/off Growl notifications for those times when you just need silence, and in Mac OS X Tiger you can now drag and drop notification field elements such as sender, subject and date, to build the actual notification you want to see (Panther users can still copy/paste text blocks to customize this notification).Gmail-Growl Utility has also gone fully universal as long as you're using Google's latest Notifier version (1.8.2). It is also donationware (bonus points: the dev donates 10% to charity) and available from Waffle Software.
iAlertU demo
I had my doubts about iAlertU, but I am big enough to admit that I was wrong (though I waited a few days just to be sure). iAlertU does, in fact, work and there is a free beta so you can protect your MacBook Pro.The developer is hard at work on another version of the software, so be sure to keep your eyes out for it.
Widget watch: Reminder
For all those times when adding a quick reminder to iCal is too cumbersome, or you might not be online so the Backpack widget can do its thing, the Reminder widget might be right up your alley. As you can see, the widget has a simple interface allowing you to add some type of a reminder name/message, along with a reminder time. As an added bonus, this widget actually adds events to its own iCal calendar.The Reminder widget is, of course, free and available from DashboardWidgets.com.
