Recently in For the Mac Category
I spent a bit of time researching how to do this - there just had to be a way. It turns out that TiVo Desktop plays nicely with LAME and will transcode on the fly. This is, of course, a bit more lossy than it could be, but I'm ripping discs into 190kbps AAC files and they sound fine to me.
First I found this hint that taught me about LAME, but all I heard was static. So I dug and then I found a posting here outlining a fix. I tried it and it absolutely worked. So you don't have to sift through the postings, I will copy the post here for you.
gerickson posted:
Thanks to everyone here who helped me figure out my AAC -> static issue running on a Mac Pro w/ Mac OS X 10.4.8 and TiVo Desktop 1.9.3 (008).I tweaked the recipe slightly and installed the following script in "/Library/Application Support/TiVo/lame" since SoundConvert checks there first:
#!/bin/sh
exec /usr/local/bin/lame -x $*However, in the process of doing this, I noticed that TiVo Desktop leaves around zombie processes when you skip AAC tracks. I did a 'ps -jx' and noticed tens to hundreds of sleeping 'SoundConvert' and 'lame' processes.
Has anyone modified the above script/wrapper to reap any such zombies before exec'ing the next iteration of 'lame' on the "current" track?
I have not tried to solve the zombie process problem. I left it in for full disclosure and all.
This post is mostly for me to find later when I inevitably screw around, break this, and wonder how I got it working in the first place.
If you're anything like me, you pretty much rely on quicksilver when working on your mac. Who needs that Finder thing? That's why one the first things I noticed, even before I noticed my bluetooth issues, was that Qiucksilver was suddenly appearing in the dock and failing every now and again.
And then I remembered seeing some comments on TUAW about Quicksilver having disappeared from the web due to its servers being (rightfully) overwhelmed. Well, what I had missed until this morning is that TUAW had also found a beta version of Quicksilver available on blacktree (Quicksilver's host) which remedies the problem. They also have some more information ont he disappearance. But more importantly (to me), they had a direct link to the download.
I should note that this a beta, so if you're not brave just sit back and wait for a proper version to be released. Myself, I always use Quicksilver betas and find them to be pretty stable. And if you're on Leopard, it's pretty much this or, well, nothing.
Quicksilver b53 for Leopard - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)
I have not yet had time to play with this, but I did find it a few days ago and thought I'd share. XScreenSaver has been ported to OS X. It looks like you can get a version to run in X11, or you can get the screen savers themselves in a format that will run with OS X's framework. Pretty neat.
I know, I know, I'm behind the times. It's been out for quite a while now. But give me a break - I've been busy! Tonight I finally got around to upgrading Voodoo Pad to version 3. I've been stuck on 2 for a while now.
But let me back up. Voodoo Pad's motto is, "You put your brain in it," and that's exactly right. It is, for all intents and purposes, your very own wiki. But it can do so much more. It lives on your desktop, it's not a web-based application. You edit its pages just as you would an RTF in TextEdit, for example. But my description really doesn't do it justice. Let's just say it's my do-everything application. It's a scratch pad, a repository for my technical knowledge, a table of my budget, even a cook book. Quite simply, I put my brain in it.
Anyway. This post is more for people like me - long time Voodoo Pad users who have been too busy to upgrade to version 3. Trust me, it's worth it.
gSync is another answer to two-way syncing with Google Calendar. On the heels of SpanningSync's "controversial" pricing announcement, gSync posted their answer. For a one time payment of $20 you will be able to get gSync for life.
gSync addresses concerns about SpanningSync. For example, it is a standalone client and does not rely on a third-party server. It also allows you to sync with multiple Google accounts.
That all being said, gSync is still very much in beta and I did give it a try - I've not yet mastered getting it to sync multiple calendars within just one account. I'm reasonably confident I simply did it wrong, though. I'll probably have another go tonight.
Yesterday I wrote that Spanning Sync went 1.0 and became a pay service. I also wrote that it was worth it. Regretfully I had not seen the full price list, nor had I tried 1.0 yet. This is a mistake I won't make in the future.
Since upgrading to 1.0 I have received an error each time Spanning Sync attempts to do its thing. Further, there is a great deal of suspicion that this sort of thing will be built into Leopard's iCal, given its CalDav support. All in ll, I wouldn't think it's worth a lifetime subscription. Maybe year to get us through, and even that is a very big maybe considering 1.0 is less stable than the latest beta.
I'm disappointed in the product to say the least, but after a brief (and very prompt) discussion with Spanning Sync's support team I have to admit being pleased by their willingness and effort to support their product. I do not think they were ready to go 1.0 when they did, but I do think that with a little bit of code cleaning and price changing they will find that they have a quality product.
Spanning Sync released version 1.0 today. Spanning Sync is the best (only?) two-way syncing solution for your google calendar account and iCal client. The only down side is that it's become a pay service. Well worth it if you're an avid calendar user.
Spanning Sync is a very handy piece of software that provides long-sought functionality - two-way synchronization between iCal and Google Calendar! The idea seems to be something similar to .Mac's syncing between two macs. Unlike .Mac, however, Google Calendar can be written to via web interface. This is a huge feather in Google's cap, and allows this functionality to be so useful. Stuck on a PC, or just a computer you don't want your password in the keychain for, at the office? No problem. Just add an event to your google calendar and Spanning Sync will bring it down to your mac at home for you.
Beware, though - the software is in beta and should be treated with caution until its full release.
The browser wars continue to rage as Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7 are both released, but on my own private battlefield there are only two contenders - Firefox and Camino. Oh, sure, when I'm working with a Linux or Windows machine it's Firefox hands down, but on OS X I have other options.
When I first started using a mac I was immediately wooed by the sleek looking and high performance Safari. Unfortunately I had several rendering issues with Safari that quickly drove me back to my coveted Gecko rendering engine and Firefox. Camino, then Chimera, wasn't nearly robust enough for my limited patience. Firefox had the pinstripe theme that I loved so much, and all was well with the world.
Not long ago I started exploring Camino again. Camino, you'll recall, is an open source browser written by the Mozilla Foundation natively for OS X. It does use the Gecko rendering engine and that means everything loads properly and looks nice. With utilities like CamiTools and CaminIcon, Camino looks and feels like the ideal browser. With the speed, performance, and localized look and feel of Safari combined with the rendering power and accuracy of Gecko it's hard to go wrong.
So why even consider Firefox here at home? In what possible way can it compete with Camino? Well, it's the little things. To begin with, I am not part of Camino's target userbase. Camino is designed to replace Safari, not Firefox. As a result certain little features that I enjoy are missing or different. As a heavy tab user, I instinctively attempt to use Command+number to switch tabs. It works in Adium, which I use for chat, and it works in iTerm, which I live in for my terminal. In Safari and Camino the behavior is to open the corresponding single bookmark on the bookmark bar. I like to blog, but when I press Command-1 I'm trying to get to the first tab not trying to open my blog bookmarklet!
While on the subject of tabs I'd just like to mention that I'm a huge fan of reorganizing my tabs and that means dragging them. Firefox can do it. Camino can't.
This is not to say Camino isn't improving. It is! I hang onto the latest nightlies and I adore the progress they've made. My browsing experience has improved tenfold by sticking to these bleeding edge builds instead of the stable. Unfortunately there are certain behaviors that I'm unwilling to give up. While I hope they become options some day, I am not and have never been much of a Safari user and that makes it tough. Especially with the performance boost Firefox 2.0 has received.
So I'll see you on the browser flip side, folks. Times and opinions keep on changing here.
One of the most sought after features for Camino has been RSS feed handling similar to Firefox's live bookmarks. Well, finally we're getting our wish. I've had my eye on the ticket on bugzilla for a while and saw a few days ago that a patch was in. Tonight I grabbed an updated nightly build and lo and behold, RSS feed handling! So if you follow nightly builds and haven't updated in a while, now seems like a good time!
Standard disclaimer. While I encourage folks who have an understanding of the development process to download and run nightly builds and contribute to bugzilla, those who cannot deal with possible bugs or instability, or who don't really know what any of that means, should avoid nightly builds. If there's going to be a problem with software, that's probably where you'll find it.