In this week’s MPU episode, I talk at length about third party tools that improve upon the Mac OS X Finder.
Zuckerberg on 1 Billion Facebook Users
“But the bigger question is, what services can get built now that every company can assume they can get access to knowing who everyone’s friends are.”
Ugg.
via Shawn Blanc
Sponsor: O’Reilly Titles on Inkling
For years, those who’ve wanted to teach themselves programming have been caught between the trusted content found in books and the ease of use with online materials. Now, O’Reilly Media and Inkling have teamed up to reimagine the world’s most trusted technological resources for iPad, iPhone, and the web.
From embedded coding sandboxes to notes with web links, syntax highlighting, and more, books in the Animal series, Missing Manual series, and others are amplified with Inkling-only features not found in any other e-book version. Copy-and-paste bits of code as you go on your laptop, or drill down into the logic behind the syntax when reading on your iPad or iPhone.
Budding developers and tech enthusiasts alike now have some of the world’s best tech resources right at their fingertips. Watch a video that shows how it all works, and shop for books.
Maps at Night
I used the Maps app through much of the beta and never had any problems. I used it to drive from Orange County to San Diego and Los Angeles several times. It didn’t route me any different than my prior driving app, Motion X.
In truth, I just don’t think I’m much of a Maps power user. I put in an address and I go there. I don’t do much more and, as a result, didn’t bump into a lot of Maps’ sins. I’m not denying that the app has troubles. It does.
My biggest gripe with the Maps app is driving at night. It displays the driving directions in the full screen with a brightly colored background. I use a window mount and the Maps app plays hell on my night vision. It feels like a safety hazard for me and I stopped using it when driving at night. I complained about this on a recent MPU episode and listener Mike wrote in with a great temporary fix.
Go in the Settings app and tap on the Accessibility screen. Then tap the Triple-click Home button and select Invert Colors. Now tripple tapping the home screen inverts your iPhone colors, which makes the maps nice and dark at night. I recognize this isn’t a long term solution and Apple should fix this properly but for now, it works.
iTunes Screencasts from the Cutting Room Floor
At one point during development of the 60 Tips book, I had a chapter on iTunes tips but I was never really happy with it. When Apple announced they were re-jiggering iTunes last month, it gave me the excuse I needed to pull the iTunes chapter from the book. I did, however, have some screencasts already completed. I’m not sure if they’ll still be relevant when the new iTunes ships but here they are anyway.
MPU 105: Workflows With Music Video Director Greg Jardin
I saw this video and was fascinated. As soon as I realized it was created with a Mac, I pestered its director, Greg Jardin, until he agreed to do a MPU episode. Little did I know at the time Greg was busy shooting another video for a Joey Ramone Song. Greg talks about how he made them both on Episode 105.
New Field Guide: 60 Mountain Lion Tips
I’m pleased to announce the newest MacSparky Field Guide is for sale: 60 Mountain Lion Tips. This is the first Field Guide I have co-authored and who could possibly be better for this collaboration than Brett Terpstra? Brett and I, along with Merlin Mann, gave a session at Macworld earlier this year talking about some of our favorite Mac tips. This book took the idea and ran with it.
The book includes 60 tips carefully selected by Brett and Me. Chapters include Mountain Lion, Mail, Spotlight, Terminal, and Third Party Apps. Most of the tips have a screencast showing you exactly how Brett or I pull off these magic tricks on our Macs. There are 53 screencasts and over 1.5 hours of video. The book is over 650 MB.
Brett and I included a range of tips ranging from basic to advanced. Our goal is for anyone to pick this up and have a black belt in Mac-nerdery by the end. The book is $7 and you can get it in the iBookstore for your iPad or a PDF version if you are iPad-less or iBookstore-less. The iBookstore version was created in iBooks Author and includes all of the whiz-bang interactivity that comes with it. It was a lot of fun creating this book. I’m quite proud of it and I hope you dig it.
You can check out the book’s website at 60tips.com or buy it below.
Monday…
I’ve got something big planned for Monday. Stay tuned.
The $100 Invisible iPhone Case
With the arrival of a new iPhone, nerds everywhere gather to talk about cases. This is even more pronounced when Apple has a new design, as with the iPhone 5. I’ve certainly bought my fair share of cases over the years. However, the last few years, I’ve been buying a $100 invisible case. It offers no protection whatsoever and, looking at my phone, you can’t even recognize it. It is called AppleCare+.
A few years ago Apple started selling AppleCare+ for iPhones and iPads. It costs $100 and with it you can wreck your phone, twice. That includes drops, broken glass, and water excursions. You just bring the phone into your local Apple Store and they give you a new one. (There is a $49 fee with each replacement.)
I bought the plan for my iPhone 4S and I’ve not used it yet but there is still a year left on the policy and the phone is in my wife’s hands. With my new iPhone 5, I purchased it again. Purchasing this insurance give me the freedom to put my phone in my pocket sans case with no attached guilt and anxiety.
If you just received your new iPhone 5 without AppleCare+, it is not too late. For the first 30 days after purchase you can add AppleCare+. It will, however, require a trip to an Apple store so they can confirm you haven’t already dunked it.
RSS Sponsor: Scratch for iPhone
Great ideas need to be captured immediately. Scratch for iPhone cuts through the barriers of note taking and gives you a clean slate to get your idea down fast. You don’t have to come up with a title or navigate a long list of notes. Just open Scratch, type, and worry about it later. Scratch remembers everything so you don’t have to.
Once you’re ready to work with the note, Scratch gives you the options you need to move the text where it belongs: Dropbox, email, your favorite text editor or just about anywhere else.
Download Scratch for iPhone today.
Sponsorship by The Syndicate.