David Chartier:
The sites are called “The Finer Things,” a play on the phrase “finer things in life.” We’re interested in the little details, handy features, and appreciated bits of UI polish that we find in software and hardware. Sometimes they’re deep, hidden, and lesser-known features, sometimes they’re more obvious but appreciated polish. It’s hard to please everyone, but we try.
via DVD Player has a hidden scrub bar | Finer Things in Mac.
This little guy isn’t going to let go.
Let this vinyl decal bring out your inner child. It measures 4″x7″ fits right on your Macbook. *Please note: this decal will definitely make you the coolest kid in the library.
via Lego My Apple by MacSlaps on Etsy.
Speaking of Lego, I’m considering getting something similar for my Mac.
Namely, the black version of the Snow White one available on Etsy. Hawt.
Not a moment too soon? Sad to say it — I do like the app — but it’s months and months too late. The pace of progress has been so glacial that it’s impossible to have faith in its future development; I can’t let myself become dependent on an app without that.
via the comments in TUAW’s “Potion Factory seeking beta testers for The Hit List iPhone”.
Also another favourite:
Is that a joke? after all this time of waiting… and it’s not even in beta? he hasn’t update the desktop program for quite a while saying he was working on the iphone app, and only now it’s ready for beta…
To further add insult to injury, The Potion Factory (the guys behind The Hit List) say that beta invites are open until September 21. FOR. TEN. PLACES.
I’m currently undecided as to how I should apply…
Dear Potion Factory,
So, how do I use The Hit List?
Put simply, I don’t.
And why would I, when any software development can only be described as “glacial”, the beta invites are frankly, a joke, and there’s not even a leaked screenshot to show for any progress that may or may not have been made?
Sure, I can understand that you’re a one-man team. If you’re willing to make such a great application and then pretty much stall any development, don’t promise things without delivering. Last Google Group interaction was months ago. The iPhone app promise has been out there for at least as long as THL Mac has been out there, and yet there’s nothing to show?
I now use Things on my iPhone, and am seriously considering switching to Things on the Mac as well, and I’m sure that there are countless others like me who have done the same.
It’s one thing to promise. As I’ve found out, it’s entirely another to deliver – underpromise and overdeliver is the name of the game, and you’ve clearly failed. First mistake was promising an iPhone app. Second was not delivering said iPhone app within a reasonable time frame.
I’m sorry, but for a getting things done client, you clearly don’t.
via The Joy of Tech comic… There is only one Snow Leopard..
Snow Leopard.
You’ll probably get my thoughts later in the week, but for now -
Damn.
Are software touchscreen keyboards good for everyone? Certainly not. But this is another aspect of the Apple Way. Apple tries to make things that many people love, not things that all people like. The key is that they’re not afraid of the staunch criticism, and often outright derision, that comes with breaking conventions.
via Daring Fireball: Mobile Phone Keyboards.
..and you know what?
He’s damn right – Apple products aren’t for everyone, and that’s okay.
No, it’s not about “maintaining exclusivity”, or anything like that. It’s not about “being of a higher status” than someone else. Mostly, it’s just about having quality.
People have said that the Mac is a way of life – once you go Mac, you won’t go back and all that – but it’s more than that.
There’s a heap of people out there that shop on price alone. And that’s totally okay – everyone loves a good bargain, and it doesn’t make sense to be ripped off.
However, I get the feeling that those that compare spec for spec don’t take into account the other things – things like the OS, design, all the R&D money, etc. It’s those things that make the whole package, and one of the things that appeal the most to new Mac users.
via YMFY.
I’m not usually one to buy my music (unless it’s free, thanks for the coupons @Mac1), so this fits perfectly with my modus operandi.
However, stealing is bad. While I won’t go out of my way to buy things that I can easily steal (music, software), I’ll usually endeavour to buy those things that I can’t easily steal (hardware, things I can touch etc), as well as those things that I use or enjoy on a frequent basis – software from awesome Mac developers Panic is a great example, as is music from Dream Theater (iTMS Link).
This literally popped up on my desktop and I thought it was too good not to share. I’ll try and come up with a few more, but here are a few get started.
via Mac Dock Icon Spelling! – Mike Giepert.
LULZ.
I’m so inmature. 
Now there are many things Mac OS X does better than Windows 7 and vice-versa. I’m not taking advantage of either OS and it’s features. I’m sure Windows 7 has lots more up it’s sleeve than I know about. Ditto Mac OS X – I know I don’t use all the things in Mac OS X like I should because I’m too lazy to seek it out. The aim of this experiment isn’t to choose a winner, or declare Mac OS X THE BEST OS EVAR SCREW YOU MICRO$OFT! It’s to see what Windows is, how it works, what it does and what it does differently. Everyone’s computer use is different, so you need to make up your own mind as to whether Windows 7 or Mac OS X is for you. It’s great to have competition and choice. Windows 7 is way better than I expected and very competent.
[...]
So while the HP is much cheaper, has better specs, a built in card reader, HDMI and digital TV, loads more ports and a snazzy webcam, it has some real livability faults. The LCD is rubbish and even a layman can tell it looks awful, it’s that poor. The trackpad is virtually useless with it’s total lack of glide. If the screen was slightly higher quality and the trackpad not so crappy, it would be a vastly better experience. I’m actually confused as to why HP sent me this laptop to replace the MBP. The MBP retails for $3,199 – you’d think they’d send something a bit more upmarket.
via A Week Without Apple – Day Two, A Lesson in Understanding | MacTalk Australia.
I concur wholeheartedly.
This is why I use a Mac – even though I’m more than proficient at using both either/all OSs well.
Irony: this defines it.
I’m not the only one that thinks the new selected tweet colour style sucks, either.
Bill had added new code to QuickDraw (which was still called LisaGraf at this point) to draw circles and ovals very quickly. That was a bit hard to do on the Macintosh, since the math for circles usually involved taking square roots, and the 68000 processor in the Lisa and Macintosh didn’t support floating point operations. But Bill had come up with a clever way to do the circle calculation that only used addition and subtraction, not even multiplication or division, which the 68000 could do, but was kind of slow at.
Bill’s technique used the fact the sum of a sequence of odd numbers is always the next perfect square (For example, 1 + 3 = 4, 1 + 3 + 5 = 9, 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16, etc). So he could figure out when to bump the dependent coordinate value by iterating in a loop until a threshold was exceeded. This allowed QuickDraw to draw ovals very quickly.
via Folklore.org: Macintosh Stories: Round Rects Are Everywhere!.
How do you make sure all the parts fit correctly in a new design? You test “shoot” the mold with clear plastic before the mold is textured.
At Apple, some of these test shots were built until finished and given to key team members as awards for a job well done.
You may still buy a nice poster.
After much research I have learned that no more than 10 of these clear Macs were ever built.
via Transparent Mac SE/30 – Boing Boing Gadgets.
Awesome. I like it – in my opinion, more things should be transparent. Us geeks like knowing what’s inside the box, you know?
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