Miscellaneous Ramblings....

Serendipity 1.2.1 was released on December 5th, 2007. After being at version 1.0.2 for ages ( ), I finally got off my lazy duff and upgraded. The main changes seem to be new Bulletproof Theme options as well as fixing some browser quirks (according to the release notes).

(P.S. For those who like to live on the bleeding edge, Serendipity 1.3-beta-1 was released on February 25th, 2008. )

A couple of weeks ago I downloaded the latest Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 browser (on my Mac OSX) to put it through the paces. I am very happy to give a very positive review so far - only two crashes (and that is with running with 20+ tabs for several days on end. Pros: • Performance (especially with native Mac OSX     widget support) • Stability • Drag tabs between windows • Integrated support to add extensions from within Firefox Cons: • Some funkiness with cut-n-paste, most notably     with some Serendipity Blog Forms • Even with the compatibility check turned off,     some funkiness with some of the extensions     (to be expected with a beta version) So there are my initial first impressions. Feel free to download. Note: Rumor has it that Firefox 3.0 Beta 4 should be coming           in a couple of weeks. Yeah!

As everyone in iPhone-land knows by now, Apple released firmware update 1.1.4 for the iPhone yesterday. There doesn't seem to be any major improvements with this release and of course, speculation is rife that the purpose of this firmware update is to lay the ground work for the upcoming iPhone SDK. On a related note, it appears that the iPhone jailbreak app, ZiPhone still does work with firmware update 1.1.4, although the developer is advising users to wait a couple of days until it is fully tested with firmware 1.1.4. (For the impatient ones, iNdependence, another jailbreak utility, has been updated to version beta 5 which is supposed to work with 1.1.4).

And yet again, Apple raises the bar. Today it introduced the new MacBookPro and MacBook models, which come equipped with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors (up to 2.6 GHz) and the the Multi-Touch trackpad (the same one that comes on the MacBookAir). It can also be equipped with a 300 GB drive (only 4200 rpms though) or a 7200 200 GB drive. Hmmm, time to upgrade my MBP? - maybe not so fast - there is an interesting article over at TUAW regarding some of the more subtle changes in the new MacBookPro and MacBook lines; definitely worth a read if you are considering buying one. Also just found this tidbit over at Mac Rumors that speculates that Apple will be refreshing MacBook and MacBookPro lineups again in June 2008, due to Intel is planning to replace the Santa Rosa mobile platform with Montevina this June. Update (3/01/08): Engadget has a nice comparison on the effects of the new Penryn chip in the new MacBookPros.

Apple has released a firmware update for MacBooks and MacBookPros running Leopard (10.5) to correct the issue where the first key press may be ignored if the computer has been sitting idle.

As the end of February comes near, there are rumors circulating that the promised Feb 2008 delivery of the iPhone SDK may be delayed with no reason given as of yet. Word has it that it can be delayed between one and three weeks. (While waiting for the long promised SDK, here is a good step by step article on transferring your DVDs (via Handbrake) to your iPhone {and another nice article as well} - Note: The latest version of Handbrake {0.92} is Leopard-OSX compatible only and it apparently takes some doing to downgrade back to 0.91 on Tiger). Update (2/27/08): Apparently Apple is sending out invitations for an iPhone event to take place on March 6th. Needless to say, the discussion will likely touch upon the long awaited iPhone SDK. Update (3/05/08): TechCrunch is already posting their links on where you can tune in for live updates for the Apple SDK event. Update (3/06/08): Here is the LiveBlog link (via CrunchGear) for the Apple SDK event (haven't had a chance to read through it yet).

iTunes 7.6.1 has been released. Looks like this is a fairly minor release containing some bug fixes as well as adding support for Apple TV version 2. Also, according to MacRumors, Apple has notified iTunes customers through its weekly email, that they will be offering a different $0.99 movie rental every Thursday.

A couple of reviews comparing the MacBookAir with the upcoming new Lenovo ThinkPad X300 from both Gizmodo and Walt Mossberg. The general consensus seems to be that it is a tie, but with my new found Mac-bias, I would declare the MacBookAir the winner. Of course, the one thing both portables share is a hefty price tag. ( For summary purposes, MacRumors has a nice table comparing the two side by side ).

Getting closer and yet closer still... The third release of the Firefox 3 Beta 3 is now in the wild (and rumor has it that there will only be one more beta release after this before Firefox 3 is officially released). Ars Technica has a review up (complete with screenshots). The review is pretty positive, and the new version is rumored to have better MacOSX native widget support (yes!). Some other huge pluses is the ability to add extensions from addons.mozilla.org from directly within Firefox 3 and also being able to move tabs between windows. Here is more info on what is new in the beta release. Update (2/15/08): I have just installed this on my MacBookPro and am in the process of putting it through the paces. Initial impressions is that it is very fast. I'll see how it performs once I have it up with 20+ tabs for a couple of hours. Update (2/21/08): So far, so good with the Firefox 3.0 Beta 3 testing on my box - the only drawback is that a lot of the add-ons that I use (duplicateTabs & scrollbarAnywhere among some of my favorites) are not yet compatible with the beta version, but here is a nice work around to get some of your add-ons back. So far there has only been one crash, even with having 20+ tabs open regularly and it still performing well.

Leopard 10.5.2 has been released. Here is a quick laundry list of some of the fixes: • Airport connection reliability and stability • Back to my Mac for third-party routers • Dashboard widget performance improvement • Stacks fix! List view, Folder view, and updated background for Grid Vid View • Menubar transparency disabling • Less translucent menus • Several iCal recurring meetings supports, bug fixes overall • iChat Bugfixes • iSync support added for Samsung D600E and D900i phones • AFP network volume hanging fixed • Time Machine bugfixes (some external drives not being recognized) Also, there is a a lot of bug fixes for various other applications included as well.

Firefox 2.0.0.12 has been released, mainly containing bug fixes and security fixes. Here are the release notes for the interested. (Note: For all you Mac users who have been using Beatnik's optimized builds, it looks like it might be a little bit before there are any new builds available. ) Update (3/26/08): It looks like there is now a 2.0.0.12 optimized version available - yeah!

Recently I have come across the need to run both IE6 and IE7 side by side in the same environment (in order to test some web pages behavior). My starting point was Windows XP SP2 with IE7 already installed. There a couple of different ways to do this. One way is to set up a separate virtual machine with IE6 installed. Another way is to download the stand-alone binary - the only drawback is that the two binaries seem to share cookies. Another slight oddity about running the IE6 StandAlone Binary, is that if you select "Help --> About Internet Explorer" it will still show the Version as 7.0 (but the binary is a IE6 one). (For the Mac die-hards out there, an enthusiast figured out how to run IE6 under MacOSX, bypassing the need for running Parallels).

Somewhat tired of listening to the endless dribble on the various news channels about the elections results, I turned to the internet - in particular the combination of Google Maps and Twitter (and TwitterVision). The combination allows Twitter posters from all over the world to comment on the elections via Twitter and Google Maps and TwitterVision shifts to where the user is actually posting from. And the comments are far more entertaining then the paid newscasters.

Apple introduced new higher capacity iPhone and iPodTouch models today. The iPhone is now available in 8GB and 16GB models, while the iPodTouch is now available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB models.