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Reader WoWspace of the Week: March 7 - 20
This week, Ben sends in some interesting images, and writes: I've been tempted to send in a shot of my workspace for a few weeks now after seeing the WoWSpaces of the week, and now I guess I've gotten around to it. So here 'goes, from left-ish to right: - my Logitech X-230 speakers- a note from my mom congratulating me on the arrival of my new PC- a newspaper clipping about DST changes- under that, a greeting card and some weird round orange post-its- my television remote - cream soda x2 (awwww yeah)- a J!NX bumper sticker (yep, it's stuck on right on there)- a page from an old Nintendo Power magazine about Ken from Street Fighter II- partially under that, my DS charger
Mac Pilot half-off at MacZOT today only
We've mentioned Mac Pilot - a powerful Mac OS X tweaking and optimizing utility - before, as it's a great piece of software for bending nearly every aspect of the OS to your bidding. While Koingo Software typically offers a 15 day trial for Mac Pilot with a license going for $19.95, MacZOT has a 50% off deal today that knocks the price down to $9.95. That's a heckuva deal, but in true MacZOT form, it's today only, so get a move on and try Mac Pilot out if you haven't already.
Calling all C64 fans: Impossible Mission screens
Here's something we still don't believe we're seeing: a DS remake of the Commodore 64 hit Impossible Mission. And judging from the character art, it casts players in the role of Almost Keanu Reeves But Just Edited Enough That Hopefully Nobody Gets Sued. We love that guy! The game involves searching for password components in randomly-generated rooms, then using those passwords in control rooms, while avoiding enemies and manipulating platforms with computer terminals.This was supposed to release in January, and didn't, but at least it still appears to exist! We don't know if this will get released outside of Europe, since Commodore fandom is a mostly Euro phenomenon. European fanboys: how do you feel about C64 remakes on the DS? And how off the mark were we with our description of the game?We've included a few screens after the break.
Toyota getting into the anti-drunk driving game
Just days after most everyone in the world celebrated (read: ingested alcohol) the new year, Toyota is hitting us up with news declaring that drunk driving won't be tolerated in its future fleet of vehicles. Although Nissan has already considered an add-on option that would prevent inebriated individuals from motoring around on a whim, it looks like Toyota is following suit with its own anti-drunk driving approach. Reportedly, the automaker is developing a "fail-safe system for cars that detects drunken drivers and automatically shuts the vehicle down if sensors pick up signs of excessive alcohol consumption." Utilizing "sweat detectors," the steering wheel automatically sniffs out the driver's BAC and can restrict the car from cranking if it deems necessary; additionally, it can recognize "abnormal steering" or take advantage of the "special camera installed to monitor your pupils" in order to slow your vehicle to a halt if you're smart aware enough to wear gloves when taking the wheel. While we've no idea how much Toyota will inflate vehicle prices to account for this, um, luxury, the firm purportedly hopes to outfit its cars with the system "by the end of 2009."[Via The Raw Feed]
Mysterious Wii System Update
Late last night, shrieks of glee were coming from my living room. "Look!" cried Navi one of my roommates, urging me to the living room. "It's a system update!" Wonderful possibilities began running through our heads. Could it be an early activation of the news and/or forecast channels? Maybe they were adding new Mii features, or a proper .mp3 playing channel! Alas, such was not the case.In fact, the update seemed to do very little, with only the cryptic message "Parental Controls updated" left as a clue. Since we (and most readers of this site, most likely) don't bother with parental controls, does any loving parent out there know what was changed?Rumors also abound of the update fixing this little problem. HaX0rs?![Thanks to Brent, Sean, and all the other readers that sent this in!]
Are you Wii-less? We can help [update 1]
[Update 1: Our apologies; we had simply assumed the service was free. Thanks to our trusty commenters, we found a better one! For free! WiiSearcher.com!]All right, well, maybe not us. We're too busy having way too much fun slamming our parents into the ground in Wii Tennis (except for Nikki, of course). The internet is a vast place, however, and the local denizens are sure to help you find your way if you ask nicely enough.Welcome to NintendoFinder.com WiiSearcher.com, a wonderful place that uses voodoo and sorcery to immediately discern availability of the Wii at pretty much every retailer ever. As soon as a store restocks, torrents of E-mail are sent to any and all subscribers to the system, letting them know to get their click on. It's a great tool for those of you worried about getting a system before Christmas, and we recommend you tell your parents (nudge nudge) to check it out. You know. So they can let Santa know, too.(Santa is a universally understood figure used for the purposes of a substandard joke. Please, no religious quarreling.)[Thanks, Matt, for shamelessly plugging your own site! ^^]
iSlayer releases 7 new mini stat widgets, iStat app
iSlayer, makers of the istat widgets we're all such a fan of, has just announced 7 new Dashboard system monitoring widgets, as well as a full iStat application (call me crazy, but I think these guys like keeping an eye on their systems). The new widgets more or less cover the same ground their iStat nano and iStat pro widgets do - they just take on the individual tasks of monitoring everything from CPU, memory, wireless, battery and even temperature performance.The standalone iStat app offers a bit more customization options, as well as the ability to make it float above other applications or even stay at desktop level, so it can't get in the way of anything else you're doing. It also features a more standard Mac OS X preferences window, including a pane which states that Growl support is coming soon (for Growl cliffnotes: it's a system-wide monitoring utility through which 3rd party apps like Transmit, Quicksilver and - soon - iStat can display notifications of things like completed tasks).All of these widgets and the new app are, surprisingly, donationware, and available now from iSlayer's website.
Wii: it's all about the bling, son
A report over at Reuters is quoting Reggie Fils-ass kicker, name takerAime as saying that the Wii "will make a profit on the entire Wii proposition out of the box -- hardware and software." This is good news for Nintendo, who are not adapting the business models of their competition. With Sony and Microsoft, initial units sold are at a loss, so in this manner Nintendo has already managed to win in the next-gen console wars.Now that we have the pricing on the hardware, is this the reason the Wiimote and nunchuk attachment cost a ridiculous amount of money, to ensure profit immediately?[Via Joystiq]
Wii to utilize OS that allows updates
During the recent interviews Satoru Iwata conducted with Japanese Wii designers and engineers, Genyo Takeda let slip that the Wii's operating system will be able to receive updates. Takeda, who is general manager of Nintendo's Integrated Research & Development division, let this little nugget slip during the third part of the first interview.With this being a first for Nintendo as previous systems lacked this feature, the first thing one should do is try to interpret how this could benefit and/or harm Nintendo and their console's users. Of course, the benefits come in the added service of patches and including extra features for gamers. The harm, really, is nonexistent, at least in the eyes of the Wii Fanboy staff. Sure, maybe Nintendo could charge for features or something, but do we honestly expect this to be the case?With Nintendo's press event tomorrow, we expect to hear more on the console's OS from New York city.
Epyx back on DS, Wii
Development studio System 3 has scored rights to the old Epyx library of games and is already planning to bring popular titles Impossible Mission and California Games to the DS and PSP. Impossible Mission is due to grace the handhelds in January, while California Games will release in May including unlockable content in the form of older titles Winter Games and Summer Games. While these games will be remakes of their original, dust-covered cousins, System 3's founder Mark Kale said they will not be updated to 3D."You gotta keep the gameplay mechanics the same or else it ceases to be the original game and you're only using the game brand to sell games," Kale said. "It ceases to be Impossible Mission or California Games or what have you. ...What we're doing is we're incorporating the original gameplay and mechanics and bringing the gameplay up to date."Kale also noted that versions of these remakes are also planned to release on the Wii, which he was quick to say had the ideal control scheme for these games. We assume the games will be sold independently via Nintendo's Virtual Console service, however the piece makes no mention of distribution plans.
Yet Another Yasu Update
Unlike Windows, OS X is great at taking care of itself. Built in periodic maintenance such as cron jobs (a holdover from the FreeBSD on which OS X is based) and on-the-fly disk defragmentation of the journaled file system make OS X essentially self sufficient when it comes to keeping itself running smoothly, so much so that many users never even consider running third party maintenance tools. However, for older systems and systems in special usage cases such as computer labs, the built in tools aren't always enough to stop system slowdown and other issues. That's where programs like Yasu come in. Yasu, standing for Yet Another System Utility, is a donationware utility designed for administrators of large groups of systems and allows easy running and automation of cache and log cleanup, permissions repair, and other similar activities. YASU 1.3.9 fixes some early issues with Intel/PPC compatibilities, and is availalbe from the developers site.
More 'evidence' of a looming iPhone uncovered
If you still aren't tired of yet more iPhone rumors, here's a fairly juice one that's fueled by the crafty digital sleuthing of an AppleInsider reader. By dissecting the latest iPod firmware update, the reader found references to "t_feature_app_PHONE_APP" and variables such as "kPhoneSignalStrength", "prPhoneSettingsMenu" and more. To further fuel the fire, it's unlikely that this code has anything to do with the Motorola phones as they use an entirely different operating system. If you're interested in seeing the rest of the findings, including references to an iPod-based search application and an iPod keyboard, check out this AppleInsider forum thread.Engadget is betting that we could see this now-infamous iPhone as soon as WWDC, beginning Monday August 7th, 2006. I guess time will only tell if Steve pulls an Apple-branded phone out of his jeans any time soon.
Free Mac OS history PDF
Amit Singh (the same guy who hacked the 'book motion sensor), author of the newly released "Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach," has made an expanded version of first chapter of the epic 1700 page tome available online as a free PDF download. Entitled "A Technical History of Apple's Operating Systems," the piece covers the entire gamut of operating systems that Apple has ever shown the least bit of interest in since its birth 30 years ago. Weighing in at 140 pages and 3MB, the chapter delves pretty deeply into the technical aspects of Operating Systems, and might be a bit dense for some less tech savvy readers. I haven't yet read much more than the first few pages yet (other than skimming), but I can tell this will be an interesting and invaluable read that will give me a better grasp on OS X by showing me where it has been.Via MacUser
Get organized: a survey of digital junk drawer apps
A while ago I decided to bring some sanity to the way I do things and organize all my stuff. I'm working on a design thesis in my multimedia undergrad degree, I'm constantly doing research for my blogging work, and I have countless other projects and ideas that were growing in both size and disorganization in my Home folder. When I decided to finally start getting organized, I realized I might not be the only person in this position, and I figured I would turn my research and testing experiences into a post; a sort of survey of what some call 'digital junk drawer' applications.What follows is a pro and con summary of four of the most popular junk drawer apps I looked at, but read this post with a few of my criteria in mind: I like keyboard shortcuts. I like them a lot. Being able to highlight a chunk of text in a browser or a PDF I'm reading and hitting a couple of keys to send it to a junk drawer app is far more efficient and less workflow-intrusive than having to use a mouse to drag and drop it to some far corner of my display. I decided not to touch apps that employ entirely different paradigms such as the wiki-like VoodooPad; I'm not denying the usefulness of these other ways of working, but adding that entirely new level to this survey would've meant putting this post on the back-burner for longer than I would like. I'm using a MacBook Pro 2.0 Ghz with 1.5 GB RAM, and while I synced my notes library across these apps to gauge performance 'n all that jazz, my library is a mere 500 notes (URLs, PDFs, etc.) strong, so your mileage may vary. With that said, check out my survey of some Mac OS X apps that could help you bring order to your digital chaos, and feel free to post your thoughts or mention apps that should've made this list, and why.
Automator Action Packs galore
In my newsreader today I saw an 'iPhoto Action Pack' from Automator World that adds a handy action for workflows involving iPhoto: "Find iPhoto Item Path". While debating whether that was TUAW-worthy, my newsreader became bombarded with more headlines like System Action Pack, TextEdit Action Pack, Preview Action Pack... until I finally decided to post a roundup to cover them all in one fell swoop. So here you go kids, a whole batch of Automator Actions that add some missing abilities to everyone's favorite (or the only?) OS automation utiliity: System Action Pack iPhoto Action Pack Filemaker Pro Action Pack TextEdit Action Pack QuarkXPress Action Pack Preview Action Pack Photoshop Action Pack InDesign Action Pack These actions, to my knowledge, are provided free from Automated Workflows, LLC.[UPDATE: Automator World's admin stopped by to let us know that some of these action packs are actually demos of retail versions of these products offered by Automated Workflows, LLC.]
iStat nano updated with support for Intel Mac CPU temp
iStat nano, a handy system monitoring Dashboard widget, has been updated to version 1.51b with support for CPU temps on Intel Macs. The one catch is that you'll have to install SpeedIt, a System Preference pane and kernel extension that allows this kind of functionality (and much more). We've heard nothing but good things about SpeedIt and the features it provides (such as controlling CPU whine by regulating voltage), but we'd understand if the thought of installing kernel extensions has already made you skip this post in your newsreader.If you're still reading this, however, it seems both iStat nano and the SpeedIt kernel extension are provided free, so have at it.[thanks Aaron]
Application Enhancer v2.0 goes Universal, with other enhancements
Unsanity has released a Universal Binary version of Application Enhancer, their software preference pane (and set of frameworks) that enables their various handy system hacks and UI additions. Along with Intel Mac compatibility, this update also includes enhancements like: Redesigned the preference pane to be simpler and more accessible. Now follows the precedent set by other Mac OS X services and disables itself if the shift key is held down while booting. While Application Enhancer and some of their products are Intel-friendly, you should check their full compatibility list for details on exactly which apps have made the leap, as some are in a public beta testing phase.Application Enhancer is free and available from Unsanity's website.
Widget Watch: miniStat2 v1.81 adds Intel Mac temp, more
While I'm still a bigger fan of the iStat pro widget, miniStat2 definitely wins points for compactness, creativity and for quickly incorporating a monitor for Intel Mac temperatures. Other updates include the ability to change the currently monitored network interface right from Network tab of the widget, the storage tab only displaying physical hard drives (as opposed to including .DMG files and the like) as well as a Spanish localization.A demo of miniStat 2 is available from ShockWidgets, and a license will cost $5.
Widget Watch: iStat pro and nano updated
Two of my favorite system monitor widgets have been updated: iStat pro 2.3 and iStat nano 1.5. The main new additions are drive filtering, as in: CDs, DVDs and .DMGs will no longer appear in the drive list, and support has been included for MacBook Pro batteries. Unfortunately, it looks like the temp and fan monitors don't support the MacBook Pros just yet.Both of these widgets are available from iSlayer.net, apparently for free, as I can't even find a donation link. Also: their download links do point to these new versions, so don't pay any attention to the versions listed on their site, as it seems they haven't updated it to reflect these new additions just yet.
Maintenance 3.5 released
Maintenance, the Automator action that performs many system repair and clean-up tasks, has been updated to version 3.5. New features include: Ability to automatically restart after Maintenance has run Ability to automatically view the results file Time stamp added to results file Also, for a few versions now, Maintenance has included an AppleScript that I believe performs the same tasks for pre-Tiger 10.4 versions of Mac OS X. Included with the download is a ReadMe PDF that explains what each task is and when/why you should run them.Maintenance is free and available from Automator World.
