Star Wars as MacGyver
This was done by the same person who edited & put together the A-Team Starwars Intro.
Magic Sales for a Not-So-Magic Mouse
Magic Sales for a Not-So-Magic Mouse:
Holiday spending has seen sales of Apple’s Magic Mouse soar. According to a report by NPD and covered today by AppleInsider, last month saw a twofold increase in Apple’s share of domestic mice sales. By the end of November, Apple had captured 10 percent of the market.
NPD analyst Stephen Baker told AppleInsider:
Sales in November were through the roof. The Magic Mouse had the best month for a mouse product from Apple that we’ve ever seen.
It’s the first time Apple’s share of the domestic mouse market has ever reached double digits, and even more impressive considering the data was compiled from standalone sales. Units sold with new iMacs were not counted.
While that’s fantastic news for Apple, I find myself wondering whether those new Magic Mouse owners aren’t going to be feeling somewhat disappointed because, despite its name, the Magic Mouse is anything but magical. For a company that gets so much of its user experience spot-on, it does keep missing the target with its pointing devices.
Andy Ihnatko said it best:
I can’t think of a single good Apple mouse released this millennium. Ideologically, they’ve all been covered with spray-glitter and rainbow stickers.
When I got my Magic Mouse I admired its diminutive form factor and minimalist lines but it was clearly not an ergonomic design. That super slimline, ground-hugging shape took some getting used to. But aesthetic and ergonomic matters aside, I think the thorniest issue isn’t with the hardware at all. The problem, as I see it, is one of user perception.
You see, users accustomed to the touchy-goodness of an iPhone or MacBook trackpad lament the lack of similar functionality in their supposedly ‘magic’ mouse. The major criticism is usually expressed in the form of common questions, like, Why is there no pinch to zoom functionality? Why do we have to click, when we could tap? Why aren’t more swipe-gestures supported?
‘It’s just a software fix,’ reviewers on popular Apple tech sites have concluded, ‘Apple will likely add that functionality later in a software update.’
Well, I don’t think so. In fact, I think Apple will intentionally avoid adding further touch functionality to this mouse, and I think I know why.
Be Careful What You Wish For
In the relatively short time since the Magic Mouse was released in late October, several third-party applications have appeared, both free and paid, that (ahem) ‘tap’ into the Magic Mouse software and foist upon the device all that pinching, swiping, multi-touch functionality people think they want. Well, I also thought I wanted those things…until I got them.
Remember how, with the Mighty Mouse, you had to handle it with care because those side-buttons could be way too sensitive? They were so sensitive, in fact, many people disabled those buttons entirely because they proved such a nuisance. Turns out, having multifunctional touch-sensitive controls all across the surface of the Magic Mouse turns the thing into a far greater nuisance than its ‘mighty’ predecessor ever was.
I swiftly discovered that controls I wanted to trigger (say, a three-finger-tap) often wouldn’t register. I’d spend an inordinate amount of time obsessive-compulsively tapping the mouse with minimal success. Pinching and zooming was literally painful, transforming my hand into a deformed claw of knotted knuckles and cramp. Yet, for all my efforts, it still never zoomed in a controlled, predictable manner.
Worse still, functions I didn’t intentionally invoke would trigger while I was doing something else entirely. It got to the point where simply moving the pointer across the screen — an action so natural and normal I normally give it no conscious thought — was now an event demanding deliberate care and attention. I tried two of the most popular apps and got the same results each time.
In short , it’s not a software problem, but rather, a limitation imposed by the very form factor of the mouse. As long as Apple wants its flagship pointing device to be small, svelte and sexy, it’s just not going to be the right shape and size for full-fledged multi-touch controls.
Software like MagicPrefs introduces hugely varied additional functionality
Apple, I’m sure, did a lot of R&D to determine what were the most appropriate default touch controls for the Magic Mouse. Therefore, a feature’s absence is a deliberate choice. It makes perfect sense. One of the most celebrated aspects of Apple’s user-experience is its consistency; across all Macs the user experience is predictable and dependable. There are rarely unexpected (or unwelcome) surprises. Much of the time, that’s made possible by Apple’s minimalist, ‘less-is-more’ approach to interface design.
That is why so many people disliked the Mighty Mouse. In trying to do so much it was just too unpredictable and ruined the user experience. And that is why the Magic Mouse is so limited. It’s better this way.
I just wonder if all those new Magic Mouse owners will agree?
(Via The Apple Blog.)
My year in cities 2009
I've observed other bloggers who do this, and I like the concept, so I thought I would start doing this as well.
The following list is of the cities in which I've spent one or more nights in each place. Cities marked with an asterisk were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.
Alexandria, VA*
Wirtz, VA*
Lafayette, IN
Austin, TX
Phoenix, AZ
My thoughts on the new 27" iMac after 3 days use
I've had my iMac for 3 days now so I thought I'd write about a few observations I've made. I previously wrote about the high calibre of the new display within the 27" iMac. After now using this display, I can attest that it is indeed a thing of beauty. Watching hi-res videos, whether from iTunes or Youtube, it looks great. The color gamut is awesome. The viewing angle is awesome, and I'm really enjoying using it with my new Bamboo Fun.
Speed
As for the speed question? It's fast. Application resource hogs that used to take many 'bounces' to open on the Dock now open in 2 or 3 bounces at most. Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta now opens in less than 6 seconds. I was able to import 400 RAW photos from my Canon 40D to Lightroom while also importing 30 minutes worth of video from my new Flip Ultra to iMovie at the same time the iMac handled the workload just fine.
Bluetooth connection issues with the Apple Wireless Keyboard & Magic Mouse
My major problem has been, so far, having the Apple Wireless Keyboard & Magic Mouse lose their bluetooth connection. I don't mind typing on this keyboard, although I dislike the fact that Apple felt the need to chop off the number pad. The Magic Mouse is leaps and bounds improved over the previous Mighty Mouse, but that being said, it still is not comfortable to use for any length of time if you hands are as large as mine. It feels tiny in my hand. Too small, too uncomfortable. Sure, it's beautifully designed but my 
Logitech G5 just feels NICE is my hand. Oh and it has a wire so if the CPU spikes to 100% for 3 hours when encoding video, the damned thing doesn't lose connection.
And while I'm on that topic....the keyboard & mouse only seem to lose connection whenever the CPU cores max out to 100% for any length of time (mostly video encoding so far). HA! As I type this post, and watch MacBreak Weekly on youtube in HD, the damned keyboard lost its connection again. iStat Menus reports my current CPU use at ~ 55% on both cores.
Really Apple? How do you expect people to use this thing? It wouldn't be quite as bad if it automatically reconnected on its own. Sadly, that is not the case. Even keying the bluetooth drop-down menu, selecting disconnect for the keyboard, and then selecting connect again will not cause it to reconnect. I have to toggle bluetooth off and then toggle it back on in order for it to pick up the keyboard once more. This process is sufficiently annoying and tedious to make this product unusable for me. Thanks to Amazon Prime, I should have the wired full-sized keyboard by
Luxurious desktop screen real-estate
Did I mention how BIG this screen us? Under my previous desktop setup I was using a 17" MacBook Pro alongside a Dell 24" Widescreen LCD. I'm still at my family's farm in southern Virginia, so alas, haven't hooked the Dell up to the iMac yet. Under the previous setup, I used the MacBook's screen on the left to keep things like GMail, Adium, and Twitter displayed all the time. I use the 24" Dell as my main screen. Under this setup, I plan to use the 27" iMac as the main screen with the Dell as the secondary display for panels such as Twitter/email/IM. Even without the second display, I'm able to comfortably have a full sized Chrome window alongside my MarEdit markup screen + its preview screen. Also, I have Adium & Tweetie for Mac tucked up in the top right corner. All at once. On one screen. Without using Spaces. AWESOME.
Editing photos of the family I took during Christmas was a treat within Lightroom as well. None of the various control panels felt cramped on the screen as I was still able to see a fairly large image in the center for editing. I high recommend this computer to photographers or designers who regularly use Adobe products.
Now, a reminder, I've only used this machine for 3 days, so my experience is limited but overall I have found no faults with the iMac. Apple's peripherals on the other hand...