Laughing Means A Lot To Me

There's no doubt that this new stuff will make it the hottest keyword in the coming days - iPad. Hey good name is't it? While just changing a character of iPod, there's no better one.

No need to say too much about what it can do now - as so many rumors have been proven - this not-too-little gadget costs $499 for 16GB, WiFi, 9.7inch touch IPS screen, $599 for 32GB and $799 for 64GB. Use 3G to browse internet? $130 more for each model makes it true.

Ok. That's all for the show. Surprised and excited? Nah~~ that's ok. For me, it's cool enough, but I like my MacBook more. 

Plus, it must be the hottest stuff in Starbucks in the near future too.

You must know where to find it.

Update: Maybe I have to take my words back? It beats the photo frame, the game console, the book, and ... I'd say, who don't want one? 

Cover creation from Peter Belanger on Vimeo.

In Terminal, paste command below and press enter:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

Done,

After turning to Mac, in a sudden, I'm thinking why it's so attractive to me? When there are a lot of reasons like OS X is more stable, virus free (though partly because of  market share is smaller than Windows) and so on, it's much more important to me that OS X has a great user interface. I got the impression from friends that Mac has a strong graphic engine, more powerful than PC. Since they are using similar hardware, then it's all about the beauty of software.

Apple mobile system inherits this.  Safari on iPhone could provide web-based 3D graphic. 3D graphic is not new to web browser. JavaScript, Java Applet, Flash has been working on it all the time. You can even start a 3D virtual tour of  THE FOBIDDEN CITY which requires extra plug-in. Powered by WebKit, Safari supports CSS Transforms and now CSS Animation. With Safari 4, you can see beautiful leaves falling here. The more wonderful thing is on iPhone OS:

Though this 3D animation can be created by JavaScript too, WebKit's CSS transforms offer greater performance. And CSS could be handier for Web UI designer to create and manipulate elements to interact with users.

"It's hardware accelerated, and all the timing and intervals needed for the animations are handled more efficiently by Safari itself instead of Safari's JavaScript engine," Peter Zich, a Chicago-area developer, told Ars. "The framerate for JS animations on the iPhone usually doesn't get past 5fps, for instance, while with CSS it is far more."

Personally, I'm using Firefox more for there are many convenient plug-ins. Hope it could catch up soon.

When 3D graphic control becomes a standard of industry and more web applications get involved, we are getting one step near to the Matrix world.

• Q: When save Automator as a plug-in for Finder, where on the earth is it?
  A: Find it here "~/Library/Workflows/Applications/Finder"
• Q: How can I get the full path of a file as soon as possible?
  A: Use AppleScript + Automator in this way. Or install the contextual menu plugin below.
• Q: I want more handy commands in mouse right click menu?
  A: OnMyCommand is exactly what you need. Though it's somewhat complicated, there are already a bunch of ready-to-go commands for beginners.

We are experiencing the most serious financial crisis since the Great Crash of 1929. So WHOSE fault, when $1 does not worth $1 any more?

Okay, I'm sorry for bluffing. First, we might meet currency deflation not inflation, second, it's all about a bug of Mac OS X build-in widget.
After upgrading to OS X 10.5.6, this widget does not work right.
To fix this problem, make a copy of /Library/Widgets/Unit Converter.wdgt on your Desktop, Control-click on it and choose Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu, then open the UnitConverter.js file in a text editor. Search for "USD" (with the quotes). There should be only one matching line:

if (a.iso == "USD") return -1;

Delete this line. Then, delete the else at the start of the next line, i.e. change the line from this...

else if (a.name < b.name) return -1;

...to this...

if (a.name < b.name) return -1;

Save the changes and close the document. I suggest keeping the original widget in /Library/Widgets, and installing the corrected version in ~/Library/Widgets, so that the system's version remains untouched.

The solution was found here:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20090225162441861

You can add google account in iCal to sync the calendar. Previously you have to do that manually by a few copy and paste steps, really boring. Last night I found google had released a tool named Calaboration on December 9th last year, which is tiny but easy to use. Simply login with your google account, it will show the calendar you have. Check the ones you want to sync with iCal and click "Add to iCal" and it's done.

Note that the calendar with a lock after it, is read-only. For example, the calendar shared to you by your friends. You can change the setting in preference if it can be ADDED into iCal, but you can not modify it in iCal(either in Google Calendar of course).

Download it here.

I decided to add Chinese version of each post from today. Have to remove to avoid unwanted ads.

Previously I met the problem that the Apple Mail application starts automatically. I tracked the history for a few days and now I find out the reason. Here under is my analyze:

• There was no sign that the Apple Mail run in a fixed frequency.
• The chance of virus is slim too. Because virus often hides itself when doing anything bad like sending email to all contacts. And in another hand, OS X is much safer than Windows at present and no too much virus is reported so far.
• It could be triggered by some application that I had to find out.

So I check the system log in Console. I found out an error of iCal occurred at the same time that Mail run. When I look into the details, yes, it was there, iCal called a function to run Mail to send a email out. Since I have never set up an account in Mail, it pops up an notice to let me set one. The log also recorded what kind of mail iCal wanted to send. Then everything is clear: I sync the iCal to my google calendar, my google calendar has a series of email reminders to send to myself. While google has it's own mechanism to send them out, iCal uses Apple Mail.

This is just a specific problem. But the way of wisely using the Console and tracking down the history is the key to find out the reason for most problems.

You see, there is only one constant, one universal, it is the only real truth: causality. Action. Reaction. Cause and effect.

-- The Matrix Reloaded

Updates: Reason has been found here.

The Mail app started itself unexpectedly just now (2009-02-08 at 1:15 am). I remember this is the second time in 24 hours. Generally, if any mail application starts, it means a email link has been clicked to trigger it, or something strange behind the scene is using it.  I did not set any account in Mail. The application just notifies me to setup one when it starts. Good side is nothing to lease out. Bad side is I'm not sure what is going on. So I put a note here to remind when it happens again. It is said that Mac OS X is a very safe operating system. I hope it's not a virus but a mis-clicking on email link by myself. - Update on 2009-02-13 at 0:00 The mail application started itself again. - Update on 2009-02-13 at 23:51 Started again. - Update on 2009-02-16 at 0:02 Again 2/13/09 12:00:03 AM Mail[1674] DeliveryAccounts are missing. Trying to restore from backup. (null) 2/13/09 11:50:02 PM Mail[686] DeliveryAccounts are missing. Trying to restore from backup. (null) 2/16/09 12:02:00 AM iCal Helper[328] CALScriptUtils error: send_mail_sbr /System/Library/Frameworks/CalendarStore.framework/Versions/A/Resources/iCal Helper.app/Contents/Resources/Scripts/Mail.scpt ( "Alarm - \U884C", "February 18, 2009 : \U884C", "username@maildomain.com", "" ) |  { NSAppleScriptErrorAppName = Mail; NSAppleScriptErrorBriefMessage = "AppleEvent timed out."; NSAppleScriptErrorMessage = "Mail got an error: AppleEvent timed out."; }