Posts by Mat Lu at The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

Mat Lu
- http://www.tuaw.com

Professionally Mat Lu teaches and writes philosophy; unprofessionally, he writes about the Mac and related technology. He is one of those half-mythical iPod halo switchers, having come to the fairer platform after purchasing a first generation iPod. Technologically speaking, in addition to Apple gear, he maintains an avid interest in console and computer gaming as well as high-definition home theater. Philosophically speaking, he is a Thomistic Aristotelian in everything that matters.

VBA to return in next version of Microsoft Office; SP1 released

Posted May 13th 2008 7:15AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Software

Macworld UK is reporting that Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac saw record sales since its release, becoming the best selling version ever. Of particular interest, however, is that Microsoft has announced the next version of Office will return Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) to the Mac platform.

You may recall that one of the big brouhahas connected with Office 2008 was the elimination of VBA, which was present in Office 2004 and earlier versions; Microsoft suggested that users rearchitect their macros and automation with AppleScript. While it's generally a good thing for third-party applications to support AppleScript thoroughly, in this case it created a lot of problems for cross-platform users since the Windows version of Office depends on VBA for macros. While it is possible to duplicate some (though not all) VBA functionality with AppleScript, cross-platform macros were completely broken, leaving some users, especially in corporate environments, unwilling to upgrade from Office 2004. In this light, it is good news that VBA will return, though no timeline is yet available.

In addition to the roadmap announcements, today Microsoft is also releasing Service Pack 1 for Office for Mac 2008 with a host of improvements, including improved compatibility with Windows versions and better printing support. It should available for download at noon PDT from Microsoft or via Auto Update in Office. Full change list in the continuation of this post.

Update: Mac BU developer Erik Schwiebert has a post up on the revitalization of VBA; he originally discussed the decision not to implement it for Office 2008 here.

Continue reading VBA to return in next version of Microsoft Office; SP1 released

WD MyBook updates for Leopard compatibility

Posted May 12th 2008 7:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Hardware, Peripherals, Troubleshooting

I have previously noted that I like the Western Digital My Book line of external hard drives (particularly for their design cues). However, since Leopard I have had some problems with my drive, in particular it would randomly unmount causing my SuperDuper! based automatic backup schedule to fail. Since I suspect some of our readers might suffer similar problems I thought it worth pointing out that Western Digital has finally released some updates. I've been testing them for a couple of weeks now and things seem to finally be working as advertised.

First there is a firmware update for the drive itself (be sure to pick your actual model) which is necessary for using the drive with Leopard. Second, there is also a Mac WD Drive Manager menubar application which is supposedly necessary for light and button functionality. In fact, the light "fuel gauge" on my drive still doesn't work properly, but since doing the firmware update and installing the drive manager I have not had the drive randomly unmount. So if you have been having problems running a My Book drive with Leopard I highly suggest applying the firmware update and running the Drive Manager to see if it helps.

Apple gets trademark for iPod shape

Posted May 12th 2008 6:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPod Family

According to the Wall Street Journal Apple has received an interesting new trademark for the three-dimensional shape of the iPod. Traditional trademarks have generally been granted for two-dimensional designs (logos, etc.) so actually trademarking the shape of the iPod is unusual. One key advantage of the trademark over patents is that while the latter expire after a period of time, a trademark can be continually renewed.

In some ways this move on Apple's part is rather curious as the shape in question is the classic iPod shape, and I think at this point it's clear that the classic is more the past than future of iPod design. The awarded trademark itself is for the "design of a portable and handheld digital electronic media device comprised of a rectangular casing displaying circular and rectangular shapes therein arranged in an aesthetically pleasing manner." However, Apple has also applied for a similar trademark for the iPhone. For those of us of a certain age the phrase "look and feel" can't help but come to mind, though this time with rather more success for Cupertino.

[via Daring Fireball]

Ask TUAW: PPPoE, SSH, Exposé, Wake on LAN, importing DAT tapes and more

Posted May 12th 2008 1:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

This time in Ask TUAW we'll be looking at getting rid of a PPPoE menubar item, assigning keys to Exposé, activating Wake on LAN, importing 32MHz DAT tapes, changing the iTunes Library location, learning SSH and more.

As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of OS X, as certain answers will vary between different Macs and Tiger vs. Leopard, etc. (we'll assume you're running Leopard if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!

Continue reading Ask TUAW: PPPoE, SSH, Exposé, Wake on LAN, importing DAT tapes and more

moshi zephyr MacBook cooler

Posted May 12th 2008 12:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: MacBook, MacBook Air

There are plenty of Mac portable stands and cooling devices out there, but few can rival the moshi zephyr for good looks. This cast aluminum stand incorporates a "high-thermal conduction interface compound" that contacts the bottom of the Mac and draws heat away to the heat sink and an "USB-powered ultra-silent fan (<20db)." The company claims around 10 degrees F of heat reduction on both the MacBook and Air.

The moshi zephyr seems to be designed for the MacBook and MacBook Air only and is available in silver or black for $75.

[via Engadget]

SingTel confirms iPhone for Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia

Posted May 12th 2008 8:15AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: iPhone

In a singularly uninformative press release, SingTel, Singapore's largest telecommunications company, has announced that it is bringing the iPhone to "Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia later this year" through several subsidiary carrier brands: SingTel, Bharti Airtel, Globe and Optus.

The latter confirms our earlier post that Aussies won't be limited to Vodafone for their iPhone needs. Unfortunately no dates or pricing have been announced; it seems safe to assume this will cover the forthcoming 3G iPhone. In any case, this is good news for some of our Asia / Pacific iPhone brethren.

Thanks Peter!

AT&T: free iPhone wifi is coming at some point

Posted May 11th 2008 6:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: iPhone

AT&T has been teasing us with free iPhone wifi. First it was on then it was off, and AT&T didn't seem to be saying anything. Well the New York Times finally got somebody to say something official and apparently the launch of the service was "human error" but AT&T "has long planned to offer free Wi-Fi to customers with iPhones and other phones that have Wi-Fi capability" as a "way of differentiating the AT&T network and giving customers another reason to choose us over a competitor."

The upshot: free iPhone (and other smartphone) wifi is coming from AT&T, but they're not saying when. My guess is that they may roll it out to coincide with the launch of the 3G iPhone.

[via Gizmodo]

Kensington battery packs for iPhone

Posted May 7th 2008 10:15AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Accessories, iPhone

As someone who regularly runs his iPhone battery all the way down I was interested when Kensington announced two new external batteries for the iPhone. The standard battery pack and charger is a larger stand-alone battery that connects to the iPhone via a dock cable and offers "playing time up to 100 hours of music; 21 hours of video; 6 hours of talk." Personally, however, I find the smaller mini battery pack (pictured right) more intriguing since it simply plugs into the dock connector and offers up to 3 hours extra talk time.

The standard battery pack is available for $69.99 while the mini battery pack is $49.99.

[via Engadget]

SyncMan handles Address Book to Gmail syncing

Posted May 2nd 2008 2:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Software, Productivity, Internet Tools

SyncMan is a simple application for syncing your Mac's Address Book with your Gmail contacts, a feature long desired by Gmail and Google Calendar users who may have other sync tools already in place. While we have noted that a similar feature is forthcoming in the more broad-based iCal syncing tool Spanning Sync 2, SyncMan concentrates just on contacts and is available now.

SyncMan is €9.95 (~$15.32) and a demo is available.

[via Macintouch / Daring Fireball]

Times makes your RSS feeds into a newspaper

Posted May 2nd 2008 1:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Software, Internet Tools

Times is a new RSS reader with a snazzy interface designed to look like a newspaper. You can choose different RSS feeds to supply the content to the different columns. In the screenshot above I've got TUAW in the top, an Apple feed on the right, and I've left the space below TUAW clear where another feed would go. When you want to read a story the top page folds down and the story appears on a separate page behind it. At the top are buttons to go different sections, each with a different set of feeds. Finally there's a "shelf" where you can "save and sort articles for later reading."

While I couldn't possibily use Times in place of NetNewsWire for the hundreds of feeds I read, nonetheless it is a very slick piece of work. Times is $30 and a demo is available.

[via The Apple Blog]

AppMenuBoy: all your apps in your Dock

Posted May 2nd 2008 11:00AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Freeware, Open Source

Over on the Office Google Mac Blog they're calling attention to simple little application from Google Mac Team member David Phillip Oster called AppMenuBoy. Basically, it will allow you to get one click access to all your applications by clicking on its Dock icon.

David designed it to function like folders on the Dock did back in the good old Tiger days, when you could simply drag your Applications folder to the Dock to get a basic launcher. Though the 10.5.2 update improved things to some degree from the original Stacks behavior in Leopard, AppMenuBoy "shows only applications, follows aliases, and if a folder contains only an application, it silently 'hoists' that application in the menu so you don't have hierarchical menus that contain only a single icon."

AppMenuBoy is a free download from Google Code.

Ask TUAW: Permissions problems, html email, Quick Look and Illustrator, RDC, SugarSync and more

Posted May 2nd 2008 8:30AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

In this round of Ask TUAW we'll be looking at questions about permissions problems after an upgrade to Leopard, html email in Mail.app. using Quick Look with Adobe Illustrator files, Remote Desktop Connection for controlling PCs from OS X, syncing files across platforms, and much more.

As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of OS X, as certain answers will vary between different Macs and Tiger vs. Leopard, etc. (we'll assume you're running Leopard if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!

Continue reading Ask TUAW: Permissions problems, html email, Quick Look and Illustrator, RDC, SugarSync and more

Remote Buddy 1.10 offers iTunes streaming to iPhone / iPod touch

Posted Apr 30th 2008 1:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: iPod Family, iTunes, iPhone

I've long been a fan of Remote Buddy, which originally started as an Apple remote utility. Over time, however, it's developed considerably and some time back added support for controlling your Mac with the iPhone / iPod touch via a built-in web server. Version 1.10 takes this to the next level and offers iTunes streaming to your iPhone or iPod touch via wifi (among the changes).

While there have been several ways to accomplish remote playback on the iPhone, Remote Buddy works particularly well with playlists and albums. In addition, the new version improves support for controlling playback to multiple Airport Expresses.

Remote Buddy is €19.99 (~$31) and a demo is available.

[via iPhone Atlas]

AT&T offers iPhone plan for the hearing-impaired

Posted Apr 30th 2008 12:00PM by Mat Lu
Filed under: iPhone

It's not surprising that the hearing impaired also want to share in the iPhone experience, but until recently they had to sign up for the same voice plans as everyone else. Now, however, AT&T is introducing the $40/month Text Accessibility Plan which offers:

Unlimited SMS messages
Unlimited data usage (email and web)
$.40 per minute pay-per-use voice
Visual VoiceMail

To qualify you have to complete "the disability certification forms" found here (download link). New users activate their iPhones in the normal way through iTunes and then have to contact AT&T's National Center for Customers with Disabilities to change over the Text Accessibility Plan.

[via iPhone Atlas]

Apple TV linux bootloader

Posted Apr 30th 2008 11:00AM by Mat Lu
Filed under: Hacks, Apple TV

If the native hackability of the version of OS X on the Apple TV isn't enough for you, there's now a convenient boot loader that allows you to install linux. This also opens up the possibility of running linux based video software, particularly MPlayer, Myth TV, and XMBC. Further, since there are linux drivers for the NVIDIA hardware decoder in the Apple TV there's also the possibility of higher resolution 1080i output as opposed to the 720p it's normally limited to.

Unfortunately, this is project is still in the early stages and none of this is working perfectly yet. Nonetheless, it's a interesting development on the Apple TV hacking front.

[via Apple TV Hacks]

Next Page >

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Dave Caolo	49	0
2	Cory Bohon	45	5
3	Mat Lu	37	4
4	Erica Sadun	35	1
5	Scott McNulty	34	1
6	Michael Rose	29	19
7	Brett Terpstra	24	0
8	Mike Schramm	19	4
9	Robert Palmer	13	23
10	Steven Sande	13	9
11	Christina Warren	6	18
12	Joshua Ellis	6	4
13	Nik Fletcher	4	1
14	Chris Ullrich	2	1
15	Jason Clarke	1	1
16	Lisa Hoover	1	1
17	Victor Agreda, Jr.	1	4

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VBA to return in next version of Microsoft Office; SP1 released

WD MyBook updates for Leopard compatibility

Apple gets trademark for iPod shape

Ask TUAW: PPPoE, SSH, Exposé, Wake on LAN, importing DAT tapes and more

moshi zephyr MacBook cooler

SingTel confirms iPhone for Singapore, India, the Philippines and Australia

AT&T: free iPhone wifi is coming at some point

Kensington battery packs for iPhone

SyncMan handles Address Book to Gmail syncing

Times makes your RSS feeds into a newspaper

AppMenuBoy: all your apps in your Dock

Ask TUAW: Permissions problems, html email, Quick Look and Illustrator, RDC, SugarSync and more

Remote Buddy 1.10 offers iTunes streaming to iPhone / iPod touch

AT&T offers iPhone plan for the hearing-impaired

Apple TV linux bootloader

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