macmeister

EVGA GTX 285

2009-07-08T20:47:00.000-07:00

Just received my EVGA GTX 285 for my Mac Pro today and made a short film on it using my iPhone 3GS. Testing and evaluation will come later.

Update on iPhone Push Notifications

2009-05-20T19:35:00.000-07:00

Apparently the owl questions this bit of news (alert style update)

I can confirm now that push notifications are working as I have been getting news updates every few hours from the Associated Press app for the past day and a half. It's unclear how it decides what to notify you of, as it is constantly being updated but only spits out notifications occasionally. It's hard to say how quickly the notifications are sent after the actual update as well, but at least the system is working. Hopefully Apple will have everything sorted out by this summer.

Badge style update

5 Top-notch Mac-exclusive Applications

2009-05-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

Windows fanboys are always going on about how many more programs there are for their OS and how there are no apps for OSX. Well, that is simply not true. Not only are Mac users blessed with countless excellent applications, many of them are free and some (amazingly) are only for Macs. I've compiled a list of a few notable apps that are incredibly well designed, free AND OSX-exclusive. Get out a notepad and prepare to gloat...

1.) Adium. Probably the single most amazing chat program ever. Not only does Adium support the usual IM accounts like MSN, AIM, Yahoo etc, but it even supports Facebook chat and Twitter. Having Adium around means only one app for all your chatting needs. Though it lacks the flashiness and fancy video features of iChat, it makes up for it with its flexibility and extensions.

2.) Carbon Copy Cloner. Sorry Time Machine, yes you're pretty but you're not actually duplicating my system. Leave your worries behind with CCC, which is my trusted choice for duplicating hard disks on a Mac. CCC can be set to a schedule so it will back-up your files in the background without any fuss. Because CCC is in a fighting mood and feels like kicking Time Machine while its down, CCC creates back-ups that you can actually boot from, in case your main drive fails. Remember, Mr. T pities the fool that doesn't back-up their files!

3.) Fluid. Such an obvious concept. Basically like Mozilla Prism, only it works better. The idea behind Fluid is turning websites (like Gmail, Twitter, YouTube) into actual applications that run off your Mac's dock. This way sites you access frequently and treat as apps can really be apps. The best example is Gmail, which really is an app replacement, only on the web. Wouldn't it be nice if you had Gmail in your dock behaving like a mail app and notifying you of new email? Of course it would. Launch Fluid, type in the url and you're done. It's that simple for any site.

4.) iStat menus. If only you could keep an eye on all the processes running on your Mac and check in on how much memory they were eating. With iStat menus, all the information and more is sitting conveniently in your menu bar. Everything from system temperatures to fan speed and hard drive usage. It certainly is a handy tool for finding out what is being stressed on your machine or if an app is really multicore aware.

5.) Growl. Not really an app but still a must have utility for any OSX system. Growl is system wide notification tool that is supported by many different apps. Growl runs in the background and when an event occurs in a Growl-supported app, Growl notifies you. For example when a contact signs on in Adium or when your HandBrake encode finishes.

There are many many more .dmg files waiting out there for your downloading pleasure but this is just a taste of the amazing applications out there that are 100% free. Fling this list in your PC buddy's face next time he bashes your UNIX beast.

Apple testing Push Notifications en masse

2009-05-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

Today Apple sent out an email to its iPhone developers, stating that they would begin testing of a pre-release Associated Press application designed for OS 3.0. The news application has been provided to developers free of charge and is intended to allow Apple to test its push notification service with a large number of customers in order to gauge server stress.

The application can be downloaded through the "Redeem" section in the iTunes store using the code provided by Apple. Once installed the application asks for permission to use push notifications and then begins to fetch relevant news for your location.

Installing the app adds the preferences pane seen above where the type of notifications can be configured. As of this writing I have yet to hear a peep out of the app, but I certainly hope Apple does not disappoint with their design choices for push notifications, as it is a highly demanded and potentially very useful feature.

This test is scheduled to last for only 7 days. I will update later when the app decides to do something.

My Mac Pro

2009-05-16T19:04:00.000-07:00

My Mac Pro showing its guts.

Impressions of Google Chrome for Mac

2009-05-14T12:07:00.000-07:00

Well I've been trying out Chrome for the past couple of days and I have to say I'm pretty impressed. It's nice to finally see a working version of Chrome on OSX, the latest build of which can be downloaded here. The browser is clearly very pre-release in nature, but is still usable for most tasks (no Flash at the moment, so forget YouTube). Probably the most appealing features are the snappiness and the interface. It takes a bit of getting used to coming from Firefox, but the minimalist design is certainly pleasing to the eyes. When it comes to performance, Chrome seems to be even faster than Mozilla Minefield which certainly surprised me. I'd say Chrome has a lot of promise and I can't wait to see what else Google has up their sleeves.
Right now I would describe its state as "fun to toy with", but I continue to recommend Firefox 3 as a main, stable browser.

PS3 Firmware 2.76 live

2009-05-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

Nothing very exciting here. According to the PS Blog, "This is a minor update that improves the playback quality of some PS3 format software." Get to downloading.

Mission

2009-05-13T22:51:00.000-07:00

Hi all, this blog is dedicated to all things Apple and PlayStation 3! I'll be posting reviews, tips, news and thoughts about these things from time to time. Feel free to leave comments and suggestions. Enjoy...