:skyecade online

Four of us were sitting at my friends house a about a week ago, when I brought up some interesting news stories I read about Apple’s OS X vs. Windows Vista. Now, when you’re sitting in a room full of avid Windows users, it’s interesting to see how instantly hostile they can get towards Apple, and how defensive they can be of Windows. This kind of boggles me. I’ve always used multiple operating systems side by side and have found that each of them offer things that the other can’t. Granted, I spend the vast majority of my time using Windows and have invested way, way, more time in that OS than in all of the others combined. It would definitely be a hard sell to get me to switch my primary operating system.

If there were such an operating system that could make me switch, however, it would most likely be OS X Tiger. I’ve been using OS X on a daily basis now for about five months and have loved every minute of it. This is a new frontier for me. I have no substantial experience with any of the other Apple operating systems, so I can’t form a valid opinion of them. Just OS X Tiger.

Here are some of my thoughts on OS X in comparison to Windows and Linux:

First of all, OS X is really just a pretty version of Unix, so we know right away that it’s far more secure than Windows. Having a background in Linux/Unix really helped me with the transition to OS X. In fact, the first time I booted up my Mac I was surprised at how much it looked like Kubuntu, menus and all.

Boot up and shutdown times are ridiculously quick. Noticeably faster than Windows and quite a bit faster than Ubuntu. Coming out of sleep mode is almost instantaneous too.

Installing programs couldn’t be easier. Drag the new program to the Applications folder and voila, it’s installed. Uninstalling couldn’t be easier either. Drag the program to the trash bin and voila, it’s uninstalled. No orphaned DLL files or abandoned registry entries to clutter up your system.

No viruses. The typical argument here is that it’s because the writers of such malicious programs don’t create viruses for Macs, because no one uses Macs. That’s partially true. It is possible to write a virus (or other malware) for OS X — and as the operating system becomes more popular you can bet we’ll see more of them. The simple fact is, however, it’s much harder to write this kind of software for a Unix based OS. One reason for this is because 99% of Windows users are going about their daily business logged onto their computers as administrator, also called a root. Ask any Linux user if he or she surfs the net as root and they’ll most likely laugh at you. OS X, for all intents and purposes, is Linux.

It’s very intuitive to use, but first, you have to clear your mind of all Windows. Only then will yo be able to accept the OS X interface. For example, the whole corners thing is genius. When I move my mouse to the top left corner (or whichever corner you choose), all my open applications are tiled in front of me. It’s like alt-tab times 100. It’s little things like that that make OS X shine.

OS X is a very powerful development platform which comes preloaded with languages such as Python, Perl, PHP, and Ruby, while still remaining incredibly user friendly to the computer novice.

Spotlight! By far the best search utility in any operating system. So good that Microsoft is putting a Spotlight clone in Vista.

Plenty of software applications. From what I used to hear about Macs, the main problem was that no one made software for them. Like I said, I don’t know anything about the older versions of Apple’s OS, so this may be true. I can tell you that with OS X, there is definitely no shortage of software. Because OS X is Unix based, you can essentially run any Linux program you want on it. For example, I don’t use Microsoft Office anymore, even on Windows. I use OpenOffice which is a free, cross-platform office suite. I don’t use Dreamweaver anymore. I use NVU, which is a free, cross-platform HTML editor. Software that is cross-platform is especially nice because no matter what OS you are using, your workspace remains familiar.

OS X is geared more towards the user. In the world of Web 2.0, content is king. In the world content creation, OS X is king. It’s hard for anyone to argue the fact that the Mac reigns supreme in the area of photo manipulation and audio / video production. With bundled apps like Garage Band, Photo Booth, iTunes, and iMovie, the average user can easily produce rich content, ripe for a new dynamic web.

These are just some of the examples of why I love OS X, and it’s only been 5 months. So if you are a Windows user and you haven’t looked at an Apple in a while, I recommend that you take another look, you may be surprised.

Or you can wait a bit. Apple and Microsoft both have new operating systems due out shortly, OS X Leopard and Windows Vista respectively. 2007 could turn out to be an interesting year.

     

Filed under: Apple, Microsoft, Software, Productivity, Reviews, Technology
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First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

This year we had a very small Thanksgiving, especially for a very large family. It was just my father, step-mother, step-sister, and me. It was nice, and the food was incredible, but without the rest of the family there, we had to entertain ourselves.

Christina and I were sitting on the couch watching videos on Youtube. Specifically, we were watching videos created using stop motion photography. We were cracking up. Then we realized, we could make our own stop motion video. So we did. And seven hours later, here it is.

Don’t be too critical though, it’s the first feature film of Sinzzo Productions. Enjoy.

     

Filed under: TV / Video, Zen Geekery
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This is a really good article from read/write web, laying out the three most viable scenarios for the Google OS, and they predict we could see it within the next six months.

Here’s the break down:

• A web based desktop (i.e. operating system)
• A full featured Linux distribution
• A lightweight Linux distro and/or BIOS

Personally, I think the first option is the most likely, considering that this is the direction the internet is heading. Let’s dismiss the other two options for the time being. Most of the apps I use are internet based already, e.g., Writley (now Google Docs), del.icio.us, gmail, Google Calendar, flickr, Netvibes, meebo,…

The only thing really holding back resource heavy apps from residing on the net, i.e., video games, photo editing software, are the broadband limitations. Someday this will be the thing of the past. When that happens, hard drives will also be the thing of the past, at least in the conventional sense. This is still a long ways away though.

For those of you who don’t use internet apps, you really don’t know what your missing. Over the course of a month, I must sit in front of twenty different computers. Yes, I know, for the average user this may be a bit extreme, but for people like us it’s not that strange. My point is, it’s nice to be able to hop on to any computer and have my bookmarks, my documents, my email, my news, my instant messengers, my appointments, my RSS feeds, my photos and videos, etc… right at my finger tips.

Now imagine having your entire desktop there as well. This isn’t a matter of if it will happen, but when will it happen. When eyeOS was launched (or at least when I first saw it) about a year ago, it was in rough shape. It’s come along way since then. Though still not even close to ready for the mainstream, you can definitely see the potential. Some other webtops to check out are YouOS, Goowy, DesktopTwo, and Xin, the latter of which really caught my eye. I’m just waiting for my confirmation email to check it out.

So, as you can see, there is some progress being made towards full featured online desktops, though even I think you would be crazy to use them in their current state. Google OS could possibly change this. And I stress, possibly.

Until that day, what every power user should be using is an ajax driven, dynamic, customizable start page such as Netvibes, Pageflakes, Google Pages, Live, Protopage, or the relatively new contender, Webwag (which I have to admit, looks very impressive). Use one of these for a month and you would be lost with out them. I prefer Netvibes, but all of the above offer a slightly different look and feel as well as there own set of features.

     

Filed under: Software, Google, Web 2.0, Cyberculture, Design / Development, Technology, Internet
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It was cold this morning; November finally showed up. It’s been a warm month up until today, too warm if you ask me. When I woke up this morning, frost covered every inch of the ground and I could see my breathe when I went outside. There’s nothing quite like breathing in cold November air.

I wore a tee-shirt to work yesterday.

I love New England.

     

Filed under: Life, Random Bits
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I’m blogging about this so I don’t forget how to do it, but some of you may find it useful too.

I needed to edit my .htaccess file from my web server, but when I downloaded it to my desktop, the file magically disappeared. So I downloaded it again. This time it asked me if I wanted to overwrite the existing .htaccess file on my desktop. That’s when it hit me, .htaccess is a hidden file. Duh!

I did a quick scan in Finder for a “Show Hidden Files” option, but I had no luck. Google here we come. And this is what I found.

In a terminal, type the following:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

To revert back to the way it was, repeat the above step, but this time replace the TRUE value with a FALSE value. Voila! Nice and easy.

     

Filed under: Apple, Technology, Design / Development, How To's
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Three reasons sites break in Internet Explorer 7.

This is a great write-up by Swedish blogger Roger Johansson. From my experiences over the last month, I would say he hit the hammer right on the head. This is what he had to say:

1. Sites that have an XML declaration before the DOCTYPE, making IE 6 use quirks mode, but not IE 7. Both browsers still get the same CSS, so IE 7 renders it differently.
2. Sites that depend heavily on CSS hacks that no longer work in IE 7.
3. Sites that use conditional comments to feed a bugfix stylesheet to IE without specifying a version number, thereby making IE 7 load the bugfixes and mess up rendering.

     

Filed under: Microsoft, Design / Development, Internet
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Jason Calacanis of AOL/Netscape has resigned. In case you don’t know who he is, let me refresh your memory. He is this guy.

Though he may be despised by a good chunk of the digg community, he is still arguably one of the most respected business men in the internet world. This news will surely send ripples throughout cyberspace.

Regardless of my feelings towards his actions at Netscape, I still wish him well in his next endeavor. What ever that may be.

     

Filed under: News
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This is incredible. It’s a stop motion video of a guy playing the drums and the piano. He claims he can’t play either, but using stop motion, he sounds like a pro. It’s pretty cool looking too, in a freaky sort of way.

     

Filed under: Links, TV / Video, Music, Zen Geekery, Random Bits
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Busy, busy, busy.

So a few of us have been working on a new community site geared specifically towards geeks. The site is still being developed, but the forums are up and running and the official blog is only days away.

Check it out at zengeeks.com. A bit of a warning though, this community is not for everyone. It’s for the geekiest of geeks, e.g., TWiT fans, digg fans, gamers, coders, technology enthusiasts, sci-fi fans, movie buffs, web 2.0 geeks, cyberculturists, Mac heads, hardware freaks, modders, podcasters, bloggers, internet junkies….

If you don’t have an interest in at least one of the above topics, then save yourself a trip. You would most likely die of severe geek shock. In fact, just to be safe, I set up a little geek test for you below. See how you do. Don’t cheat!

You must know one or more of the following people (and if they’re fictional or real):

• Joss Whedon
• Steve Wozniak
• Leo Laporte
• Kara Thrace
• Kevin Rose
• Boba Fett
• John Carmack
• Gordon Freeman
• Linus Torvalds
• Kevin Mitnick

You must know what two or more of the following stand for:

• LotR
• IBM
• BF1942
• HTML
• USB
• RSS
• WoW
• 1337
• HTTP
• BIOS

You must understand and accept the following:

• The internet is not a series of tubes.
• Web 2.0 is not the next version of the web.
• When someone tells you they’re in a clan, don’t assume they’re racist.
• Star Wars Episodes 1, 2, & 3 suck!!
• A hacker is a programmer, not a pimply faced kid in his basement trying to break into your computer.
• Never use the term “l33t haX0r” in a sentence, written or verbal, unless to tell people never to use the term “l33t haX0r” in a sentence, written or verbal.

Was that so bad? If you think you did half way decent then head on over, register a user name, create a profile, and start geeking out. The more the merrier. The more the geekier. Sorry, I had to say it.

     

Filed under: Cyberculture, News, Zen Geekery, Design / Development, Internet
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I finally fixed the IE7 problem that plagued this site, although it’s really only a temporary fix. It’s also a very ugly fix. I had to use a conditional comment in my code which detects Internet Explorer 7 browsers and then loads a separate CSS file.


<!--[if IE 7]>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../wp-content/themes/skyecade/ie7_hacks.css" />
< ![endif]-->


It sucks that I had to do it this way. I was warned by multiple web developers that this is not the preferred method and I tend to agree with them. For now though, the site works in IE7 and it will buy me some time until I can really look over the code and see what, if anything, is causing this stupid, annoying, pain in my ass behavior. It should be fun.

     

Filed under: Microsoft, Design / Development
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