Other Sites
MailForge Follows Ghost of Eudora Past
iFixit Opens Up Repository Of Repair Manuals
Blogger Plays The Browser Field
Cures For A Crusty Keyboard
MacFixIt's Free Drive Analysis And Maintenance Utility Recommendations
'Christmas In Cupertino': Because There Isn't Enough Weird Stuff On The Web
Apple's 'Worldwide Loyalty Team' Ensures Secrets Stay Secret
Mac Clones Through The Years
Political Media, Inc. Launches GOP.am Branded Link Shortener
Jesus, Not G.I. Joe – Expert on the Origin, Role of Religious-Based Games and Toys Explored During this Holiday Season
iChurchNetwork.com Goes Digital
McDonald's Wi-Fi To Be Permanently Free
MailForge Follows Ghost of Eudora Past
The Mac Observer's John Martellaro has posted an in-depth review of the new MailForge email client, with which Infinity Data Systems continues the spirit and tradition of Eudora in a ground up rewrite. Those who were bumped off the Eudora bandwagon and want to climb back aboard will welcome MailForge, says John, but those who are happy with with Thunderbird 3 or Mail.app will wonder what the fuss is about and shrug. If so, then just move along. Nothing to see here.
John notes that to fully appreciate what Infinity Data Systems has done, one must be aware of the history of Eudora. Wikipedia has a short history, referencing Charles Moore, who back in May 2009, summarized the development of MailForge and how it differs from Eudora 8.
John, who was was a Eudora beta tester for over ten years, and used it as his e-mail program of choice fron 1992-2006, assesses the goal of MailForge's developers as being to duplicate, to the extent possible, the features of the last version of Eudora (6.2.4 on the Mac, released 11 Oct 2006 -- a PPC only application that will still run in Leopard and Snow Leopard on Intel Macs under Rosetta, but with minor [and in some instances not-so-minor ED.) gotchas to deal with.
MailForge, now at version 1.3.4, can import your Eudora e-mail, is available for Mac and PC, and runs natively on Intel Macs but still comes in three versions - one for PowerPC and Mac OS 10.3 or later, one for Intel Macs and Mac OS X 10.3 or later and one for Windows 2000 or later. An optional Unified Mode integrates the program's Eudora-esque scattered window into a single window, since as John notes, juggling multiple windows in Mac OS X Spaces is tricky, so Spaces users will especially appreciate the Unified Mode, and John praises the program's very clean UI.
He also reports that in two weeks of testing MailForge never crashed, and feels smooth, fast and stable, and while still a work in progress, is already a very friendly, focused, and customizable e-mail program -- a capable e-mail program for casual users, but not power users.
Of course in this day of $ .99 iPhone apps, Google's and others' free "cloud" applications and Mozilla.org's formidable Thunderbird (and Eudora 8) Open Source email applications, there is the issue of price. Qualcomm couldn't make a business case for continuing Eudora at $39.95 (with an ad-supported option). BareBones Software just made the same determination with MailSmith, handing it off as an Open Source project. MailForge sells for $39.95 with no ad-support option.
For the full review visit here:
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/review/mailforge_follows_ghost_of_eudora_past/
iFixit Opens Up Repository Of Repair Manuals
The Guardian reports:
You might have heard of iFixit before: they're the chaps that take great delight in doing teardowns of new gadgets - ripping apart, say, a brand new iMac to show you the constituent parts....
The site itself offers DIY repair manuals for all sorts of Apple products... the company has just announced that it's releasing its manuals under Creative Commons licenses - which means that they'll continue to be free forever, and that you are free to reuse, adapt and build on what's already there, announcing:
"Today, we are giving all that content to the world. Effective immediately, we are licensing all iFixit repair manuals under the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license. To my knowledge, this is the largest free release of repair documentation ever. We are committing to make our repair manuals available to everyone in the world, forever, for free."
For the full report visit here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/dec/16/ifixit-creativecommons
Blogger Plays The Browser Field
A blogger named Jen E. says that when Firefox developed a brain cramp of gigantic proportions, she decided to play the field for awhile. Tried Safari, but wasn't totally happy, then a Dev. version of Google Chrome but found it buggy, on to Camino but never loved it. Back to Safari again, updated recently and liked it a lot until her computer started having speed issues. The new Beta version of Chrome came out so she happily abandoned Safari in favor of the new beautiful browser on the block.... Chrome and she weren't working out, so back to Firefox… and guess what?
"It works perfectly. It's fast and although not as beautiful as Chrome, it has an overall appeal that works for me..... Firefox is so fast right now it's kind of blowing my mind after months of painfully slow browsing. I think it might be the one."
For the full commentary visit here:
http://mommablogsalot.com/2009/12/16/an-open-letter-to-the-internet/
Cures For A Crusty Keyboard
Macworld's Christopher Breen offers a short tutorial on cleaning keyboards, from blowing the accumulatged crud out with compressed air to chucking it in the dishwasher on rinse only setting.
You can check it out at:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/184865/cures_for_a_crusty_keyboard.html?tk=rss_news
MacFixIt's Free Drive Analysis And Maintenance Utility Recommendations
MacFixIt's Topher Kessler says:
There are a variety of tools available for managing your hard drive's structure and data. Most are shareware utilities that give you function or time limits until you register the program, but there are a few out there that are both useful and free.
Profiled are:
Grand Perspective
OmniDiskSweeper
SMARTReporter
AppleJack
OnyX
Drive Genius
DiskWarrior
TechTool Pro
DiskTools Pro
For the full report visit here:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10416947-263.html?tag=mncol;txt
'Christmas In Cupertino': Because There Isn't Enough Weird Stuff On The Web
TUAW's Michael Grothaus says:
You guys know I love combining Christmas and my Mac, but this is just plain weird. A Dutch Apple community website by the name of One More Thing has written and produced a Christmas song called 'Christmas in Cupertino'.
To read more, click here.
http://tinyurl.com/yhftuwm
Apple's 'Worldwide Loyalty Team' Ensures Secrets Stay Secret
Appleinsider's Brian Garner reports:
Gizmodo highlights the story of Apple's 'Gestapo' Loyalty Team as relayed by a Cupertino employee known simply as Tom.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/yepfx7k
Mac Clones Through The Years
CNET's Erica Ogg says:
With Psystar barred permanently by a judge from selling anymore Open Computers, the Mac clone maker became just one in a string of companies that have tried selling Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware, including two companies safely outside the U.S. and the reach of American copyright law continuing to defy Apple's legally upheld EULA.
For a look back:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-10416889-260.html?tag=mncol
Political Media, Inc. Launches GOP.am Branded Link Shortener
Under the slogan "GOP.am, Making Long URL's…Conservative," Political Media Inc, a New Media consulting firm has released GOP.am ( http://gop.am ), the first branded link-shortener in politics. Larry Ward, President of Political Media, Inc says: "We are very excited to be launching GOP.am. We expect the Republican and Conservative grassroots to adopt GOP.am as their primary link shortening service."
""We are very excited to be launching GOP.am," says Ward. "We expect the Republican and Conservative grassroots to adopt GOP.am as their primary link shortening service."
"Republican-led politics have dominated Twitter's content since it's inception. We believe this is a natural progression in political microblogging," comments Christopher Merola, Political Director of Political Media.
"Our data suggests that users are not particularly loyal or attached to one link-shortener over another. In contrast, online Republican activists have a strong emotional attachment to the Republican brand. GOP.AM provides an excellent tool for Republican activists to demonstrate brand loyalty," adds Ward.
GOP.am Version 1.0 features a link shortener, a toolbar bookmarklet, and widgets designed for use on right-of-center blogs and social networks. The developers expect to roll new features including link tracking in the first quarter of 2010.
Follow Larry Ward on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/lward99
Jesus, Not G.I. Joe – Expert on the Origin, Role of Religious-Based Games and Toys Explored During this Holiday Season
[Press Release]
Dolls, action figures, and video games all dominate the wish list for many children this time of year. Not G.I. Joe, but rather Jesus Christ and Job, as well as board games such as Catholic-opoly, Missionary Conquest, The Great Mosque Game, have the sales of religious games and toys doubling annually. Dr. Rebecca Sachs Norris, professor and chair of religious and theological studies at Merrimack College, is studying this phenomenon to better determine how and why religious-based games and toys are used, and their impact in areas as diverse as politics and psychology.
"Religious games are not only an important indicator of cultural values and practices, but they are also an influence on the formation of religious identity and principles," says Norris.
Dr. Norris plays religious-based board games with her students, and observes that "Religious games are not only an important indicator of cultural values and practices, but they are also an influence on the formation of religious identity and principles."
Determining the origin of certain religious games is also part of Norris' research. For example, the popular American game Chutes & Ladders is believed to be derived from a game invented by a Tibetan Lama in the 12th century. The object of the Tibetan game was to improve karma and gain ground towards enlightenment; a child playing Chutes and Ladders ascends based on good deeds.
Norris also co-authored a book on the topic of religious toys and games entitled "Toying with God" with Nikki Bado-Frlaick of Iowa State University. The book is scheduled to be released in February 2010.
Contact: If interested in contacting with Dr. Rebecca Sachs-Norris, contact Heather Notaro at (978) 837-5195 or heather.notaro(at)merrimack(dot)edu
iChurchNetwork.com Goes Digital
[Press Release]
iChurchNetwork.com, one of the fastest growing Christian social-academic networks on the Internet is adding digital downloads of games, eBooks and Mp3s
Love playing online games? Have a passion for downloading music? iChurchNetwork.com is launching an iStore featuring Mp3s, Ebooks and games for its users.
"This is an awesome opportunity to provide a site with many features the entire family can enjoy," said the site's founder John Allen. "We are developing our platform to become a major niche player in the Christian industry for prayer, finding a church home as well as shopping."
iChurch Network is working with Karew Records/EMI Gospel on their release of A Clark Sisters Family Christmas and with N Season Records/Universal Christian Music Group on the release of Virtue front woman Karima Kibble's solo debut release.
"Major recording artist, as well as independent artist will benefit from the huge royalty payment for selected digital products also" said entertainment attorney, Darrell Thompson, who has worked with major artist across multiple genres. iChurchNetwork.com is providing an 90% royalty return for digital products purchased directly through their website.
To make the experience easier for members, iChurchNetwork.com has partnered with GetGo Software Ltd, to provide a download accelerator to simplify the process. Fans will be able to preview new releases and download the latest tunes form the iStore with an easy application.
"GetGo's accelerator will allow their member with even the most basic computer to download and enjoy the items in the iStore," said Frank G. Lin, CEO of GetGo Software Ltd.
Since its beginning in March of 2009, iChurchNetwork.com has increased its memberships by 400% in the last two months and is becoming the premiere site for Christians to meet online.
"I lead all my friends, family and Christian contacts to IChurchNetwork.Com. I was first impressed with the heart of their CEO, John Allen and found the website to be a place I visit daily," said Frank George of Video Promotions. "I love to get their updates and emails. As a Christian artist/business owner I have found IChurchNetwork to be a great connection vehicle, providing super exposure for my business."
iChurchNetwork is an ecommerce driven academic-social network that enables people to connect and share with friends, family, co-workers and ministries. As a global technology company, the focus lies in the development of new and innovative tools that help you reconnect with old friends and make new ones; keep up with your family, church members, book club, youth group and baseball team; stay in touch with the missionary you support or the artists you like.
For more information, visit:
http://www.ichurchnetwork.com/
McDonald's Wi-Fi To Be Permanently Free
Electronista reports:
McDonald's tonight revealed that its Wi-Fi hotspots will soon be free. The fast food chain is dropping its previous $3, two-hour rate as of mid-January as an effort to turn its stores into "destinations" where customers are encouraged to stay for longer periods and use their notebooks or smartphones.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/12/15/restaurant.drops.wi.fi.fees/
The Tech Night Owl: The 27-inch iMac Aftermath: Does Apple Ship Too Early?
I suppose there's an eternal battle between a company's product engineering and marketing departments. The former wants to deliver something as close to sheer perfection as possible, while the latter needs something to sell and deliver income to the company. As you might suspect, these goals are usually out of alignment.
Here's the URL for today's commentary:
http://tinyurl.com/yh2nset
Notes: You can also access our new RSS feed, available at:
http://www.technightowl.com/rss
Tags: News ď Tech-Industry ď
