I’ll give a talk at the International “QL & Mac are 25” event
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Early 1984 two milestones were unfolded on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Europe was first with the launch of the 32bit multitasking/multi-windowing Sinclair QL. 12 days later America saw the launch of the 32bit GUI Apple Macintosh. Because of this anniversary, the Sinclair QL community has organized the International "QL & Mac are 25" event.
I'll giving a talk about the Mac OS X, it's recent history, and about Cocoa development on the Mac and the iPhone. The title of the talk: "The Mac died nine years ago.". Don't worry, it was a good thing after all. Back in 2000 Mac OS 9 was outdated (remember the Mac bomb and crashes?) and Macs were slower than comparable PCs or Unix workstations. But everything changed when NeXTstep morphed to Mac OS X and later Macs got Intel processors. Would an iPhone have been possible without NeXTstep? Would we have a 64bit Mac OS?
If you happen to be near Lucerne, you're very welcome to attend this free event:
When? Sat/Sun Oct 31st/Nov 1st 2009. The talk will start Saturday at 13:00
Where? Verkehrshaus (Swiss Transport Museum) Lucerne, Switzerland
Check out the web page for the event for more information.
What’s new with Gmail on iPhone
Monday, October 26, 2009
Google just blogged about the Gmail improvements on the iPhone:
Over the last six months, we've added a lot: mute, label management, keyboard shortcuts, smart links, an outbox, and the ability to move messages (label and archive in one step). Some new features, like swipe-to-archive and auto-expanding compose boxes, take advantage of these mobile phones' unique properties. We also made address auto-complete faster, enhanced refresh capabilities, and sped up loading so Gmail for mobile starts in under three seconds on newer smartphones.
We'll continue to add more functionality —and there's no need to download or update anything as long as you have iPhone/iPod touch OS 2.2.1 or above or are using an Android-powered device. Just go to gmail.com from your mobile browser as you do on your PC.
Swedish Review on iLove.nu
Pierre Orsander published a very positive Mailplane review on iLove.nu. It's written in Swedish, so I can only guess it's contents, but the "4 out 5" verdict sounds great to me :)
Update: The review title in English is "Mailplane is like Gmail on steroids"
Macgasm Mailplane video review
Monday, October 19, 2009
Corey Harris published a detailed and very useful video review on Macgasm:
I don’t know about you, But I have several Gmail accounts. It can be a pain in the rear to sign in and out of my accounts just to check my mail. Mailplane makes it easy though. Mailplane is a desktop application that allows you to setup all your gmail accounts and have full access at any time, without having to log in and out of all your accounts.
Here are a few comments to keep in mind when you watch the video:
- Mailplane is fully Snow Leopard compatible – the missing label creating feature isn’t related to Snow Leopard
- Label creation from the Command-L dialog: This is a Mailplane 2.1 feature, which is still in beta. Mailplane 2.0.x doesn't have the feature.
- Family license: It’s for up to 5 users living in the same household.
- Using the “Multiple Inbox” lab feature w/ Mailplane may cause some problems with keyboard shortcuts.
Mailplane 2.0.15 released
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Release notes:
Fixed issues caused by some recent Gmail changes:
- Send, Discard, and Save Now toolbar buttons and menu items stopped working
- Attachment handling like drag and drop didn't work correctly
- Command-L (Apply/Remove Label) showed empty list
Plus:
- FIX: Error message at startup when used with some InputManagers.
New Gmail Lab Feature: Google docs previews
Friday, October 16, 2009
If you're a Google docs user, you may like the preview lab feature:
Being an avid Google Docs user, I receive a ton of emails with links to documents that my co-workers and friends share with me. From technical design documents at work to my roommate's expenses spreadsheet, my inbox is full of document links that I need to view as I reply to my mail.
Opening these links in another tab or window is kind of annoying, plus it can be tough to keep the context of the email in mind while viewing the document.
Starting today, you can preview the contents of a Google document, spreadsheet, or presentation right in your Gmail inbox — just like you've already been able to do with YouTube videos, Yelp reviews, and Picasa and Flickr albums. Gmail will automatically detect when you receive a document link and display the name and type of doc below the email.
Just click "Show preview" and the contents of the document will display right there — no need to switch back and forth between email response and document.
New Gmail Lab Feature: Got the wrong Bob?
Thursday, October 15, 2009
If you visit the Gmail > Settings > Lab page you'll find a brand new lab feature called "Got the wrong Bob?"
When's the last time you got an email from a stranger asking, "Are you sure you meant to send this to me?" and promptly realized that you didn't? Sometimes these little mistakes are actually quite painful. Hate mail about your boss to your boss? Personal info to some random guy named Bob instead of Bob the HR rep? Doh!
"Got the wrong Bob?" is a new Labs feature aimed at sparing you this kind of embarrassment. Turn it on from the Labs tab under Gmail Settings, and based on the groups of people you email most often, Gmail will try to identify when you've accidentally included the wrong person — before it's too late.
TUAW: Mac power tools - charge up your workflow
Friday, October 09, 2009
Victor Agreda, Jr just published a very interesting blog post about his favorite Mac power tools. Mailplane is among them!
Next I needed a better way to juggle 3 Gmail accounts. But I also needed a way to track the metric ton of inbox items that flow through those email conduits. The solution was the combination of MailPlane and Things. I had really dedicated my heart to Toodledo, but there's one trick I couldn't replicate on any setup (The Hit List included): when I get an email in MailPlane, I can select some text and press Shift-Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-0 and the Things HUD pops up and autofills the notes section with a link to the email itself. It is awesome.
