Musings from Mars

SimpleMachines Forums: Open Source Forum Software

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:52:43 +0000

Home of SMF: Free PHP and MySQL forum software. Several customers have asked me to set up a forum for users of CrystalClear Interface, and I've got it on my to-do list. (...)

A Browser for Core Data

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:33:23 +0000

Browsing Core Data databases using F-Script. Hmm... I've been wanting something like this ever since I started learning about Core Data. (...)

Mac Stuff: A wealth of sample code for AppleScript

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 19:52:41 +0000

Mac Stuff. This site's author shares a lot of great AppleScript code, with explanations of how they work. Pointers to AppleScript resources as well. He also covers shell scripts and Automator.

White House Freezes IT Projects To Revisit Wasteful IT Contracting

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:39:39 +0000

White House, citing waste, freezes IT projects - Computerworld. Wow... this was certainly good news, especially given my rabid views on the subject, as often expressed on Mars in the past. (...)

Google Ditching Windows?

admin — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 21:06:29 +0000

FT.com / Technology - Google ditches Windows on security concerns. I do hope this turns out to be true. If so, it's about time some IT folks wised up about Windows. (...)

CrystalClear Interface 2.5: Taming a Leopard in Winter

admin — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:26:08 +0000

I recently released a major new version of CrystalClear Interface (CCI). Among the most significant enhancements in version 2.5 are its full compatibility with Mac OS X 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") and its ability to finally theme the Finder. Because of new limitations to system add-ons imposed by Apple, taming Snow Leopard has been a daunting challenge, but the final outcome is a version of CCI that's the most stable, robust, and compatible yet. The extended struggle with Snow Leopard over the winter is one of the primary reasons I've decided to require a license fee for CCI 2.5 ($12.00).

The Future for Home Computing

admin — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 22:43:05 +0000

The iPad is the future for home computing - Computerworld. (...)

The Ultimate Solution To Window Clutter: You Can Call Me SAM

llscotts — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 02:24:10 +0000

I've observed that one of the most intractable problems bedeviling computer users, which makers of operating system software never seem to solve, is that of "Window Clutter." The inability to …

Stay focused on the window you're working in, while
Keep auxiliary windows handy and visible when needed,
Avoid confusing any of these windows with those of other running applications, and
Maintain some reasonable level of aesthetic quality to your computer desktop.

… is a nettle that keeps on pricking. At least, judging from continued user grumbling about it and the continued, less-than-satisfactory, though often valiant, solutions that user-interface experts keep offering users as the final salvation from this longstanding hindrance to productivity, I conclude that the nettle is alive and well.

That Window Clutter should still be a topic of conversation among engineers at Apple (I don't think Microsoft has any high-level staff who really care about or understand the issues surrounding interface usability, and Linux developers don't have the time to do so) is testament to their failure to stamp out a problem that appears from Mars to have a fairly simple solution, namely:

Make it so that only one application's windows are visible at any one time.

Affectionately referred to as Single Application Mode, or SAM, this is the default desktop environment on Mars. It's also widespread on Earth, though its human adherents often practice SAM quietly or even in secret because it's not an official, supported Mac OS X desktop environment.

Still, we find SAM the best way of dealing with today's large monitors, huge RAM capacity, and equally huge software options—all of which spell Window Clutter at a scale never before experienced.

CocoaOniguruma: Objective-C Framework for Regular Expressions

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 04:21:34 +0000

CocoaOniguruma: Simple and tiny Objective-C binding of Oniguruma. I ran across this today after noticing that SafariStand now uses it for its regular expressions search support. (...)

Getting Started With Cocoa Scripting

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:02:19 +0000

Getting Started With Cocoa Scripting . (...)

Adding An Apple Help File To Your Cocoa App

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 02:52:31 +0000

Apple Help Screencast Here's a 2008 screencast from developer Matt Neuberg explaining how to make an Apple Help bundle for your app. (...)

CocoaLab: New source of info for Cocoa programmers

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:00:22 +0000

CocoaLab. This site has loads of tutorials and other articles on Cocoa-programming topics. It also goes into specifics on issues such as software licensing and code signing. (...)

Quartz Composer Lab: qtzlcodex.com

admin — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 06:56:03 +0000

qtzlcodex.com. If I ever find time to learn more about QuartzComposer and making compositions, here's a site I'll want to revisit. Includes patches, compositions, and tutorials.

Government Going Apple?

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 23:15:01 +0000

Government going Apple? - Security Systems News. I guess I missed this little tidbit from last fall, courtesy of Security Systems News. (...)

Eight New Themes Coming in CrystalClear Interface 2.5

llscotts — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:47:57 +0000

Besides the set of Crystal Document icons previewed recently, another feature of the forthcoming CrystalClear Interface 2.5 is a new set of eight beautiful preset themes, shown below. (Click the images for a closer look.) The themes are designed to complement the eight Frosted Crystals desktop pictures released with CCI 2.2. Of course, you can still set colors, frames, and transparency settings for Mac OS X windows to your own taste, as always. The preset themes are ones I've enjoyed and find a convenient shortcut to designing custom themes.

Introducing Crystal Documents:A Set of Document Icons for CrystalClear Interface

admin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 17:29:30 +0000

This is a set of 74 document icons intended to complement CrystalClear Interface and the set of Crystal Albook system and application icons I released a couple of years ago. The set covers most of the document types used by Apple's applications as well as a limited set of document types for third-party applications. The icon set for third-party apps will be augmented substantially as time permits.

These icons are available for download now, and they will be included in the forthcoming release of CrystalClear Interface 2.5 (more on that in another article). In CCI 2.5, you will be able to automatically install and uninstall the various icon sets displayed below, including any of the Crystal Docs icons for any of the third-party applications you use. The new icon install feature will be included in the new CCI Preferences window.

Enjoy!

Microsoft Exec Admits Windows 7 Emulates OS X

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:38:32 +0000

Microsoft rebukes exec for Mac inspiration comment. They can run, but they just can't hide.

ComputerWorld Pits Snow Leopard Against Windows 7 (Again)

admin — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:53:49 +0000

Smackdown: Windows 7 takes on Apples Snow Leopard. Now, this is more like it! (...)

Analysis Shows Snow Leopard Faster Than Windows 7

admin — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:47:33 +0000

Performance showdown: Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard | Windows 7 Insider - CNET Reviews. (...)

CrystalClear Interface 2.2

admin — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:50:15 +0000

I posted the new version of CrystalClear Interface a few days ago, and then proceeded to hunt down and squash a couple of last-minute bugs. Yesterday, I was also moved to make one of the hard-wired features a configurable option. While not as dramatic an upgrade as version 2.1, CCI 2.2 nevertheless has a large number of new features, enhanced features, and bug fixes, as well a great deal of code optimizing. This article summarizes the more significant changes since version 2.1 was released in June.

Introducing Frosted Crystals for CrystalClear Interface

admin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:40:00 +0000

.frostHolder { position: relative; margin-right: 0px; margin-left: auto; width: 329px; height: 312px; } .frostedBg { position: absolute; width: 329px; height: 312px; background: transparent url(/images/frostedimages/background.png) no-repeat; } .frostedimg { position: absolute; right: 0px; width: 324px; height: 307px; margin-top:2px; margin-left:2px; margin-right: 3px; margin-bottom: 3px; -webkit-box-reflect: below 0px -webkit-gradient(linear, 0% 0%, 0% 100%, from(transparent), color-stop(0.82, transparent), to(rgba(255,255,255,0.9))) 0 0 0 0 stretch stretch; } .title { float: left; width: 125px; height: 45px; top: 186px; position: relative; }.gradientBox { position:relative; width:470px; left:0px; right:0px; margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto; margin-top: 45px; padding:15px 12px 10px 2px; height:381px; background: url(/images/frostedarticle_bg.jpg) top left repeat-x; -webkit-box-shadow: 0px 3px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65); -moz-box-shadow: 0px 3px 5px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65); -webkit-border-bottom-left-radius: 8px; -moz-border-radius-bottomleft: 8px; -webkit-border-bottom-right-radius: 12px; -moz-border-radius-bottomright: 12px; -webkit-box-reflect:below 1px -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, from(transparent), color-stop(0.9, transparent), to(rgba(255,255,255,0.9)));}#credits { text-transform: uppercase; font-family: Trebuchet-MS, Verdana, sans-serif; letter-spacing: 0.3em; font-weight: bold; font-size: 7pt; margin-top:50px; color: rgb(70, 70, 70);text-align:center;text-shadow: 0px 1px 1px rgba(253,252,252,0.9); z-index:5;} These are snippets of the 9 "Frosted Crystal" desktop pictures that'll be distributed with CrystalClear Interface 2.2. (...)

Judge Bans Sales of Microsoft Word, Says MS Stole Code

admin — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:48:11 +0000

Microsoft Word Sales Banned In 60 Days -- InformationWeek. Interesting tidbit, though I'm sure it will come to nothing with respect to Microsoft's monopoly word processing software. (...)

WebKit Introduces Styleable Scrollbars

admin — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 03:04:19 +0000

Surfin’ Safari - Blog Archive » Styling Scrollbars. I've been so busy I missed this... (...)

A Gift for Self-Deception

admin — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:50:41 +0000

For a long time now, I've been explaining why the world would have been better off if Apple's computers had come to dominate homes and businesses. I've focused on the virtues of Apple's software almost exclusively, even though Apple has for most of existence been primarily a hardware company, like Dell or Hewlett Packard. Why? Because it's clear to all us Martians that what makes or breaks a computing experience is the software. To paraphrase one of your ex-Presidents, "It's the Software, stupid!" I've also come to believe that humans are genetically predisposed to self-deception, allowing them to talk themselves into whatever point of view is most convenient, or is perceived as being in their best self-interest. Thus, argument over the relative worth of one technology or another is pointless, because no carefully researched and supported set of facts will ever be enough to persuade someone with the opposite view. Indeed, the truth of this axiom is encapsulated in the common human phrase of folk wisdom,

"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink."

I've noted that when someone conjures this phrase to explain a colleague or acquaintance's intransigence about something, those listening will nod to each other knowingly and somewhat sadly aver, "So true." And yet, how many humans really think they're as "stupid" as horses?

Mac | I Love Code

admin — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:53:32 +0000

Mac | I Love Code. This is a terrific collection of tutorials on software development, covering various languages and platforms including Mac OS X (Cocoa), HTML/CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and iPhone. (...)