Episode 13 of the Mac Power Users posted today. In it, Katie and I go into excruciating detail on our Things and OmniFocus workflows and tips. You’ve been warned.
Continue readingMac Power Users 13: Task Manager Smack Down
Apple Users and Fear
It seems there is a bit of underlying fear among Apple users that stems from the old days. Many remember how dominant the Macintosh was over the original PC and how that position changed so drastically that by the 90’s, Apple seemed everyone’s favorite candidate for hostile takeover.
For Apple enthusiasts, those memories are never too far from their mind and every Apple move, product, decision, market statistic, and rumor gets passed through that filter. “Is Apple going to crash again?” “Am I going to be forced back into Windows?” Users are so dependent on Apple’s products that they fear losing them in the future. This collective mindset is not unknown. Reporters and pundits often examine Apple moves in light of “what went wrong” back in the 80’s and 90’s and predicting Apple’s next demise is great sport. Joe Wilcox just wrote a much linked piece attempting to apply this to the developing iPhone/Android market. (Gruber responds here.)
The thing is, this fear is irrational. Nobody at Apple is afraid.
Apple has its own, fairly obvious, plan: Dominate the top of the market. They make a high-end product with very few compromises. They are happy to sell 10% of the market with high profits and let the rest of the hardware manufactures race to the bottom for small profits on volumes of junk. I think this is also true for the iPhone. As demonstrated by the the meteoric rise of Apple’s stock combined with the company’s piles of cash reserves, this plan works.
There is a significant portion of the market that wants a controlled, superior interface and is willing to pay for it. Apple simply needs to continue to make superior products. Market percentages are not what will hurt Apple, corporate indifference to making superior products is. I think Apple is aware of this and I don’t think Apple users have anything to be afraid of.
Mac Roundtable Live from Blogworld
Several of the Mac Roundtable gang met up at Blogworld this year. It is always fun speaking with my fellow Mac geek friends. Chuck Joiner was kind enough to organize a brief Mac Roundtable recording (including video) that can be found right here.
Continue readingFix for Snow Leopard Mail Address Clipping
I’m not exactly sure why, but in Snow Leopard, clipping a mail address also copies the addressee name. So when you paste it, you don’t have a mailable address. Why Apple changed this? I have no clue. Thanks to Hawk Wings, I found the solution today.
Open your terminal and paste in the following:
defaults write com.apple.mail AddressesIncludeNameOnPasteboard -bool NO
Problem solved.
Band in a Box Review
Before I got a day job, I used to be a professional musician. This goes back some time. Back to the 80’s and the days of big hair and skinny ties. That was also the time that MIDI really started to take off and there was a fantastic little application (that came on 3.5 inch floppy disc no less) called Band in a Box. I loved it back then and I’m very pleased to report (20 years later), Band in a Box continues to amaze.
If you are a singer or a musician and want to practice a song, one problem you will face is the fact that your band members are not always around. Using this application, it doesn’t matter. You don’t need any musical talent to operate it other than the ability to type in chord changes for your favorite song. Once they are in you set beginning and ending points and pick a genre of music and hit “play”. It is that easy. The application generates a convincing back up group, including piano, guitar, bass, and drums for you to play and sing along with.
The genius of this application is that it creates a full back up band for any song in just about any style for you to sing along with or accompany on your instrument. The standard version comes loaded with backup styles from salsa to straight ahead jazz. You can also buy supplemental style modules to fit your taste and needs.
Since its inception Band in a Box has played through the MIDI instruments in your computer. That was great 20 years ago but, if you don’t have the right hardware, can sound strangely like a bad e-card. Band in a Box has expanded beyond this applications MIDI roots and include wave files of actual musicians playing their instruments in place of MIDI signals. This “RealTracks” feature provides a noticeably better sound.
Once you complete your arrangements you can freeze the song so there is no delay in loading and starting. This would be great for live performances.
You can record your melodies right into Band in a Box or export a MIDI file for use in GarageBand or Logic Studio. This can provide a great jumping
off point for laying down your basic tracks.
The newest release of Band in a Box also features the ‘Audio Chord Wizard’, which will take an MP3 file and extract the chords from it remarkably well. Think about it. Any MP3 song converted to chord changes. No fakebook required. I tested this on John Coletrane’s “Giant Steps” which, has some complex changes and Band in a Box did well.
For guitar players, Band in a Box also includes ‘RealCharts’ with an on-screen guitar display so that you can hear the audio performance and learn from on-screen notation, tablature, or visual guitar fretboard.
This application could be extremely useful for students, musicians, singers, and music teachers. For music students in particular it is a fantastic tool teaching chord structures as well as providing an excellent back up band to play along with. It would also be nice for the karaoke crowd in that you could make a back up tape for any song you have chord changes to in the style of your preference.
You can learn more about Band in a Box at PGMusic.com. They have a variety of licenses starting at $129 and some versions (with the large real tracks and real drums files) ship on a USB hard drive. They also have an educational discounts and a generous upgrade policy. A few years ago I got the upgrade price from my original purchase of the application on an Atari ST in 1986. Check it out.
You can listen to this review on the MacReviewCast Podcast.
FTC (Keep MacSparky out of jail) Disclosure:
While I have paid for Band in a Box (several times) over the years. The version upon which this review is based was a review copy.
MiFi iPhone Application
The iPhone Appstore now has a little app that tells you how much time is left in your MiFi battery. It is free and simple to use. Just sign into your MiFi and punch the MiFi App to get all the gory details. While the screen display is nothing to write home about and I’d prefer something a bit more specific than just the four bars for battery life, it does provide critical information and the App is free.
Continue readingLaunchbar 5 – Out of Beta and Looking Good
I am pleased to report Launchbar 5 has left beta and is now in official release. I’ve written before about how I became frustrated with my beloved Quicksilver and moved to Launchbar. I’ve been using the beta for a long time and am very satisfied with it. If you really want to get the most out of it, head over to the Mac Power Users episode 7 and listen to our hour long podcast on its features.
Continue readingEconomy Tanks, Macs Fly Off Shelves
It seems Apple truly is recession proof.
Continue readingBlogworld 2009
Today I spent some time wandering the aisles of Blogworld. While the exhibitors were definitely slanted in favor of blogging over podcasting there were some interesting booths. I was particularly impressed with Shure’s XLR to USB microphone converter which may ultimately replace my somewhat flakey Blue Icicle in my podcasting rig. I also enjoyed talking to the gang from Technorati about their recent changes and future direction. I hope in the future, the show organizers can get a bit more support from podcasting venders and a bit less from blog aggregators.
It looks like I really missed out on the sessions where some of my favorite bloggers and podcasters talked about their trade. Perhaps next year I will have more time to attend the conference session.
By far though, my favorite part of attending was re-connecting with some of my favorite Mac podcasters for a few meals and a lot of laughs. I’ll have some fun pictures once I get back to MacSparky headquarters.
Thank You Bowers & Wilkins
I would like to thank Bowers & Wilkins for sponsoring another month at MacSparky.com. They make outstanding iPhone and iPod speakers and are most certainly click-worthy.
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