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MacTech 2010: Wil Shipley on Noogle Noggles, a new Delicious Library and the Mac App Store
Wil Shipley is probably the premiere Mac developer -- he co-founded The Omni Group, and now runs Delicious Monster, whose Delicious Library app pretty much embodies the best of this platform we love so much. Wil kindly sat down to talk with me at last week's MacTech 2010 conference here in Los Angeles, and we chatted about what's next for Delicious Library, what the response was like to his company's Noogle Noggles app, and what he believes is in store for Apple's upcoming Mac App Store. Shipley began by saying he was a little disappointed with the way Noogle Noggles worked out -- the idea was, of course, to beat Google Goggles to the App Store, and Google worked faster than he expected. "We thought we were going to beat them by two and a half months, but they beat us by a day." Still, the app has seen a solid chunk of downloads so far. "Last I checked it was 35,000 people, and I'm like that's a pretty good number of people for working on something for a month." Photo by Flickr user Inju, licensed under Creative Commons.
First RS-232 to dock connector interface controls telescope
In the video on the next page you'll see a demo of the SkySafari app from Southern Stars. It's a great app for astronomy buffs, complete with gorgeous renderings of the night sky and an illustrated astronomy textbook in one neat little package. You'll also see a product called SkyFi, which is a WiFi dongle that connects to telescopes using an RS-232 port (sometimes old school is the best school, yes). Finally, you'll see a first: the very first 30-pin dock connector-to-RS-232 port cable used by SkySafari to control a telescope. It's called SkyWire and seeing an iPhone control a telescope is a treat. We're told the cable starts shipping in December and will be sold as an Apple-approved, Made For iPod product. (Editor's note: SkyWire is currently in the final stages of Apple's certification process.) While SkySafari is awesome, I'm kind of hoping to see this cable put to more uses, like robotics or electronics hobbyist tools. The RS-232 port has been around for a long time, and while newer technologies have surpassed it in speed, it's an accessible tech for the amateur electronics buff. Check out SkySafari for iOS on the App Store or try the Lite version here. Both are on sale during the MacTech conference (ending November 5). Please note the picture above is of a prototype unit. TUAW is a media sponsor of the MacTech Conference 2010.
MacTech 2010: Daniel Jalkut on the Mac App Store and more
Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software (creator developer of MarsEdit, a TUAW favorite app for blogging) gave a talk at MacTech 2010 this morning about unit testing Mac apps, and while his developer talk was mostly over our heads, he did kindly allow us to corner him afterwards to chat about the state of Mac development and what he expects out of Apple's upcoming Mac App Store. Like most of the developers we've met up with at the conference this week, Jalkut is hesitant but optimistic about the way the Mac App Store will work. His most recent issue is with so-called "land grabbers" on the App Store -- some developers are already grabbing up names (since submissions just started recently), and Jalkut is worried that Apple regulations means he won't be able to call his upcoming iPhone app by the same name as his widely used Mac app. "Which, as you can imagine," he told me, "is kind of a challenge and a problem."
MacTech 2010: Andy Ihnatko on the coming of Lion
Commentator Andy Ihnatko took the stage at this week's MacTech conference here in Los Angeles today to give the conference keynote. In his talk, Ihnatko spoke about the upcoming new version of OS X, Lion, and specifically three different features of it. First, he talked about the Mac App Store, and what he thought would be the outcome of Apple bringing an App Store system to its desktop platform. Then, he spoke about what he called "unitasking," and how focusing on just one task at a time both changes the way computers work and the way we do, and finally he mentioned Apple's changing hardware, and how the new MacBook Air embodies Apple's ongoing curve in hardware creation and production. First up was Ihnatko's opinion on the Mac App Store so far, and he said that though he'd been "trying to get upset about it," he actually liked the idea. "The good news," he said, is that "Apple really doesn't care about" developers. Instead, it cares about users, and from users' point of view, the Mac App Store is actually a great idea. Though developers may have issues with it, Ihnatko said that anything that allows more than the around 200,000 (he estimated) Mac users out of 40 million to actually purchase and use apps will end up being a good thing.
Mac-based autonomous rovers at MacTech Conference 2010
We're here at the MacTech conference, and as everyone checked in and got breakfast there was a demonstration of some clever Mac-based rover robots designed and built by a team at the University of Arizona. The brainchildren of Professor Wolfgang Fink, these robots are designed to be autonomous and use a Mac mini inside to provide a modicum of intelligence. For demonstration purposes, however, the robots were being controlled by iPod touches. I spoke briefly with Professor Fink's colleague Mark Tarbell about the robots. He told me the Mac minis in these models still use platter-based hard drives, although he expressed the intention to someday use SSDs for reliability. Currently the Macs are protected in a foam and air enclosure that protects them from shocks, although the movement of treads on pavement were causing more bumping around than occurs when the robots are moving over grass. The robotic machinery interfaces with the Mac mini via USB, but Mr. Tarbell pointed out that USB can freeze up unexpectedly. Since a human might not be in a position to unplug and re-plug the USB interfaces in the case of an freeze, the team is hoping to move to a WiFi-based control system in the future. The power systems are kept separate for the Mac and the robotics. Macs like a nice, clean power signal and robotic systems can cause power spikes, so the engineers found two power supplies (battery-powered, of course) to be optimal. Top speed for the tread-based models being demonstrated was about a meter per second. The power these robots pack is so great that Mr. Tarbell stated if they were placed on the grass and I were to try to hold them back, I wouldn't be able to restrain them. The basic platform is ingenious, and it's cool to see Macs being used to power our future robot overlords. In fact, Fink's research suggests that teams of these robots could be sent on extraterrestrial missions, complete with boats, rovers and blimps all communicating together and making decisions independently given specific mission goals and overall mission objectives. In the meanwhile, they are still in a very early stage of research and development, but are progressing quickly thanks to the Mac hardware which powers their decision-making systems. Check out the video of these robots in action on the next page. %Gallery-106619%
MacTech conference: a chance to save $200, highlights of what's to come
MacTech will be the first opportunity for Mac developers to talk OS X 10.7 Lion and how to best use the coming Mac App Store. If you register before Thursday, October 28, you'll be able to save US$200. Just go here to register, and don't forget to check here for your travel and lodging options (some of the nights at the host hotel are sold out already). TUAW will be there to cover the event and talk to developers about why they develop for Macs and take a look at what they make. For info on the jam-packed schedule, check this calendar page out. Here's a look at some highlights for the conference: There will be the debut public demo of Planetary Exploration Rovers controlled by iPod touches. The keynote speech is with that much-beloved tech journalist Andy Ihnatko. Sessions designed to help make developers and IT pros better at what they do (plus the inherent networking opportunities that are part of any conference). Macworld's "Trends in Virtualization" panel. The inventor of Parallels Desktop is flying in from Russia for this, along with representatives from VMware. An exclusive evening at the Griffith Observatory including a behind the scenes look at how planetarium animation is created. We hope to see you there!
MacTech Conference to offer Apple Certification Exams
Here's good news for aspiring Mac techs attending the MacTech Conference in November. Attendees will be able to visit a study session and take their Apple Certification Exams right there at the conference. It's a great idea, as you'll already be in a "tech-y" mood. Here's how it works. Immediately following the last session of MacTech Conference, Apple Authorized Training Center v.2 Consulting is offering a study hour and exam session: November 5th, 12:30-4:00PM, on site at the conference. Conference attendees can take any Apple Certification Exam that is currently available at the time of testing. The cost of the study session and the exam is included in the US$899 registration fee (a $200 value). You'll find which exams are available here and register here. You say you don't need to take an exam after the conference? Then you can get a $100 discount on the conference and register for this bundle for just $799. Sweet! TUAW is happy to be a media sponsor of the conference, and we're looking forward to meeting some of you there.
Register now for MacTech 2010, $50 off for TUAW readers
Registration has begun for the inaugural MacTech conference, taking place from November 3-5 in Los Angeles, CA. The conference is a three-day series of sessions covering IT, programming and development, and it will feature presentations by lots of Mac and tech luminaries, including Wil Shipley, Daniel Jalkut, Mike Lee, and a keynote by none other than Andy Ihnatko. And if that's not enough, there will also be an evening out at the Griffith Observatory, as well as a party featuring the opportunity to go bowling and raise some money for charity with MacTech Bowl. If MacTech 2010 sounds like your idea of a good time, check this out. As a media sponsor of the conference, TUAW has a special discount for our readers; you can go to this registration URL and get your ticket for $50 off of the usual price, as long as you order by September 27th. If you do end up going, keep an eye out for me -- I'm planning to be there, covering all of the goings-on for TUAW. If you bring an app to show off, I'll be happy to take a look at it. Seems like it'll be an excellent time -- hope to see you there!
MacTech Conference announced for November 2010
Did you miss the Mac IT track at this year's WWDC, with its lively cross-pollination of Mac managers and developers? Good news, then -- there's a new conference in town, and it aims to raise everyone's game when it comes to learning about the Mac. The MacTech Conference will be taking place for three days in LA on 11/3-5, giving Mac IT managers and developers a chance to get it together with leading presenters and instructors. For $899 (or less -- see below for an early bird deal) participants will get a lively two-track event for IT folk and developers, including all meals, sessions and special activities like a behind-the-scenes visit to Griffith Observatory. "The whole idea of the MacTech Conference is to allow members of the Apple community to meet and exchange ideas," said Edward Marczak, the Executive Editor of MacTech and the chair of the conference program. "This will be spurred on by presentations from some of the best and well-known experts in the community." TUAW is happy to be a media sponsor of the conference, and we're looking forward to meeting some of you there. That special early-bird registration option gives you $200 off that $899 registration cost, if you sign up before July 22 -- just click here to register.
MacTech re-releases VBA to AppleScript Transition Guide
As someone who spent months hand-crafting Visual Basic scripts in Microsoft Office, only to have Microsoft pull the rug out from under me with the release of Office 2008 (they abandoned VB support for the Mac. Grrr.), I'm very grateful to MacTech magazine and longtime AppleScript guru Paul Berkowitz.MacTech has re-released Paul's 150-page guide for making the transition from VBA to AppleScript (originally printed in the April 2007 issue of the magazine, and also available in modified form on the Microsoft Mac BU site). It's highly detailed, with step-by-step instructions. It looks like I know what I'll be reading next week (and if I run into trouble I can always bug Cory for help).You can download the guide as a PDF for $9.95US, or get the PDF plus a hardcover version for $19.95US. Both options include a free subscription to MacTech magazine, which is a great bonus for anyone who likes to dig into the underside of Mac OS X. If your wallet is a bit light, you can read the entire thing online for free.
MacTech's 25 most influential, version 2007
MacTech has released their MacTech 25 for the second year in a row-- it's a list of the top 25 most influential people in the Mac community (as selected by the community itself), and it reads like a who's who of people doing great stuff : John Gruber, the suave-looking Aaron Hillegass and Brent Simmons all make return appearances. This year they chose everyone who's ever programmed for MarsEdit (as Daniel Jalkut is happy to say), not to mention both co-founders of Rogue Ameoba, Paul Kafasis and Alex Lagutin.Who's missing? Anyone from Apple-- MacTech specifically left them off the list to make sure they didn't hog the Spotlight, so to speak. They say that Apple employees are allowed to be put in the Honorable Mentions section, but as far as I can tell, while Leo Laporte, David Pogue and Merlin Mann all made it, no one from Apple actually did. Better get cracking on those influencing techniques for next year, guys.
MacTech VBA to AppleScript Guide free online
We've mentioned before Microsoft's controversial decision to end support for Visual Basic (VBA) scripting in the forthcoming Office 2008 and replace it with AppleScript. While normally moving to an Apple standard technology over a closed Microsoft solution is a good thing, this move will have major repercussions with respect to cross-platform compatibility. Once this is done many scripts and macros written for the Windows versions of MS Office will no longer work on the Mac version. There is a work-around, rewriting the macros and scripts in AppleScript, though that will take some doing. Fortunately, MacTech magazine has produced a VBA to Applescript Transition Guide to help with the process. Originally the Guide was only included with the April issue of MacTech Magazine, but they have now seen the light and are offering it free on their website. You can still purchase a PDF or paper copy as well. Check it out over at MacTech.[via The Apple Blog]
AppleJack 1.4.3rc3 adds Intel support
AppleJack, the wildly popular open source, single user mode troubleshooting tool for Macs, has finally been updated to support Intel-based Macs. Version 1.4.3rc3, a release candidate, is downloadable now on sourceforge and the final version is expected within the week.Besides Intel compatibility, the following tweaks have been made to the new version: Added an automated uninstaller routine, to enable easy and almost foolproof uninstallation of AppleJack. Added /var/root/Library/Caches to the system cache cleanup routine. Experimental expert mode exists, but is currently hidden until it can be tested further. (see Appendix B of the Read Me). The only well-tested options at this point are the memory test using the included Memtest utility, and the option to disable auto login. Improved the internal coding of user-input prompts. Uses a standardized interface for these functions now. The preference file check now uses a null byte character to separate files rather than an arbitrary "improbable" string. I'm just giddy about this. Integrating Memtest is a nice bonus since I use it all the time. Instead of launching Rember, which is a graphical interface for Memtest (proving my command-line phobia once again), I can just add it to my AppleJack routine. Thanks, Apotek, for your continued development of the troubleshooting tool I use the most!
MacTech benchmarks Office 2004 on Rosetta
MacTech has published what I am fairly certain are the comprehensive Office 2004 on Rosetta test results for Intel Macs. Honestly, there is so much literature and testing in this article that I simply skimmed most of it and skipped ahead to the conclusion: "in general, Office 2004 under Rosetta works "well enough" to "very well," and in some cases, it's even faster than on the PowerPC baseline machine." Having recently acquired a MacBook Pro, I have to agree. However, I think Word has a slightly longer startup time than on my previous PowerBook, but I would attribute that to Rosetta having to work some magic in the background.Don't take my word though: check out MacTech's article for more than you'd ever want to know about how well Office 2004 will perform on Intel Macs.[via MacMinute]
