Don’t you think it’s got to be driving Jony Ive and other Apple designers nuts that this stuff is out? It is like releasing the rough draft of a really good novel. I don’t get everyone’s fascination with it. While I can really enjoy a fine bratwurst, I don’t want to watch it made.

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Is it wrong that I’m more excited about John Siracusa’s Mountain Lion review than fiddling with Mountain Lion itself?

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Twas the night before Mountain Lion, when all through the Net,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

The hard drives were backed up, stored offsite with care,
In hopes that a new OS soon would be there.

The geeks were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Siracusa words danced in their heads.

Enjoy the new operating system gang. Before getting started, here are a few tips:

• Backup. If you’ve got an extra hard drive, make a full clone of Lion and stick it in a drawer for a month or three.
• If you are in the middle of a project, don’t upgrade.
• Read every word Siracusa writes. Merlin is right. He is The Cleric.
• In the name of all that is holy, do not upgrade your significant other’s computer for at least two weeks. Your sex life is on the line here.
• Have fun.

One of my favorite Menu Bar apps just got retina display support and a temporary price drop to ten bucks. Boom.

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Early bird registration is about to end for MILOfest, the annual gathering of Mac-using attorneys lovingly organized by Victor Medina. I can’t make it but everyone that I know who attends says it is the most fun you can have with a room full of lawyers.

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I’m with Louie and Marco. After the way the mainstream media reacted to the “4S” moniker, I’d expect Apple to drop numbers altogether and just call the next one “iPhone”, like they just did with the iPad.

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Mac Power Users Episode 95, Engineering Workflows with Dr. Drang, is up. In it, one of my very favorite people in Internet-land joins us to talk about how he uses his Mac to figure out how things break and tell the story. Get the episode over at 5by5. Also, don’t forget to subscribe in iTunes. To learn even more Dr. Drang lore, make sure to download the AfterDark.

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Last week, Squarespace released version six of its most awesome web hosting platform. Because I can’t help but be the canary in the coal mine, I immediately started moving the site over. After spending way too much time on this project, I’m happy to display the newest version of MacSparky.com. This new version takes full advantage of Squarespace 6 and adds several features.

Links in Titles

Finally, I can link the title of the post to source website. Now my reference entries will actually link over to the source in the title, instead of linked words within the post body. I’m not going back and fixing old posts but this works on everything else going forward, effective immediately. I’m going to use the right facing triangle (▻) at the end of a post to indicate it links somewhere else. On those posts, I’ll also put an infinity symbol (∞) at the bottom of the post with a permalink to the MacSparky article. I’m considering adding something smart to long original pieces, as pioneered by Mr. Gruber, but I also realize that now I’m talking crazy.

Mobile Version

The website now automatically senses when it’s being viewed on an iOS (or other mobile) device and adjusts itself accordingly. MacSparky now looks great on the Mac, iPad, and iPhone.

Easier Navigation

The menus are now live, some of which include submenus making the site cleaner and easier to navigate. I realize the “More” button is a huge nerd faux pas, but it just seemed to make sense. For example, it gave me a place to put my occasional picture galleries without giving them undue exposure on the site. Who knows, maybe I’ll even add some music at some point.

Regardless, my love affair with Squarespace continues. These guys make it ridiculously easy to build an attractive website. Moreover, they enable me to continue to fiddle with the site as I continue my desperate effort to remove every unnecessary pixel.

There are a few pieces I’m still working on. The Search function isn’t fully baked yet and there are a few remaining hiccups that I’m still sorting out, with some help form Squarespace. Overall, I’m really happy with the transition.

Once in awhile, it is fun to put down the computer and work with my hands. A few years ago, I made this watch cabinet for my sister. I was visiting my sister today and admiring how the cabinet is holding up. I’m really proud of this cabinet with hand-cut dovetail joinery and some simple looking, yet tricky, knife hinges. My influences are the Arts & Crafts movement and James Krenov. The cabinet is all maple, except for the hand carved pulls, which are cherry. There is no stain. I just used a bit of finish and wax. If you are into this sort of thing, I posted a small gallery with more pictures.
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