Overdue Review: Aperture 2

I'm a huge fan of Apple's iLife suite, and as a longtime user of iPhoto, I wanted something along those lines when I started doing more serious photography.  iPhoto worked for some stuff (and it's gotten more powerful), but I needed something professional grade.  I first used Aperture when it was originally released at version 1.  At the time, I didn't feel quite comfortable, and the interface wasn't intuitive enough for me.  I moved on and tried other solutions, such as Lightroom, never really finding what I wanted.  With the release of Aperture 2, I decided to give it a more serious go, making myself sit down with some tutorials.  Aperture 2 was a big step up from 1 for me.  I'm very comfortable using it, the interface makes sense, and the tools are powerful.  Adjustments are a snap, the stacks work very well for organization, and importing couldn't be easier.  I quickly learned to take command of even the most difficult of tasks, and I'm still learning more every time I use the program.  As with most professional photography programs, all edits are reversible, and the original is never changed.  Aperture also supports 3rd party plugins, which greatly extends it's ability.  You can also create dynamic web galleries with MobileMe.  I have a feeling that most Mac photographers out there are already using (or have at least tried) Aperture, so I won't make an appeal for you to do so unless you haven't already.  With a free trial, there's nothing to lose.  Aperture costs $199 (or $99 for upgrading from Aperture 1).  www.Apple.com/Aperture

Overdue Review: Pixelmator

For those on Mac (or Hacs, as I am) looking for a Photoshop alternative, you should check out Pixelmator. While it's not quite on par with full Photoshop, it loads fast, has a very familiar (and gorgeous) interface, and is quite powerful with it's use of Core Graphics and Quartz Composer.  It works so well, in fact, that in the past 2 weeks of being back on Leopard, I have yet to install Photoshop.  Pixelmator has easily covered what I've needed.  That's not to say that I won't need to install Photoshop, but I haven't even felt the twinge yet to do so.  It runs smooth, fast, and the menu structure is very familiar for any Photoshop user.  The latest release (1.2.2, as of this writing) added a cool new gradient feature that allows you to see in real-time the gradient you are creating.  It is fully compatible with PSD files created in Photoshop (at least, all the ones I've opened), and it's use of Quartz Composer for certain filters actually extends some of it's functionality beyond that of Photoshop's.  I highly recommend that any digital artist give Pixelmator a go; they have a 30 day trial available.  Pixelmator costs $59 (well below even Photoshop Elements).  www.Pixelmator.com

Zune Up and Running

I finally got my Zune working with Leopard after two days of setup.  First, I couldn't find my XP disc, then I couldn't find the sync cable (I used the A/V dock to charge and wirelessly sync with Vista).  Then the Zune software wouldn't install until after I installed SP3.  Then it wiped my Zune and resynced all my music, pictures, and videos since the directory wasn't where it expected it to be.  That took all freakin' night since virtualized Windows isn't nearly as fast as native Windows.  It's just finishing up downloading all my podcasts and syncing them.  I guess now that it's set up, it probably won't be such a pain in the future.  I do lose my wireless sync capability, and simply plugging in the Zune won't crank up the software (unless XP is already running), but if I run a sync a couple of times a week, I should be able to keep up with all my podcasts.  I would say that I want an iPod again, but the convenience of it wouldn't be worth it.  I have more than enough room on my Zune, and I like the interface better.  Not to mention, the dock works a LOT better than the iPod's in that it has an on screen display for the TV.  Yeah, I had to kill 5 GB of hard drive space for XP, but I really do like the Zune more than the iPod.

Giving Thanks

There are two things in modern computer technology that I am truly, honestly thankful for: Live CDs and Time Machine.  While attempting a system update yesterday, right after transferring all my documents and media off of my external hard drive, my infant son smacked the keyboard, somehow freezing the computer in the update process.  This wouldn't have been that big of a deal if I hadn't wiped the external drive in anticipation of creating a Time Machine backup after the update.  The system wouldn't boot, and I had killed my backup not 10 minutes earlier.  5 years worth of documents, photos, music, and video, gone.  Or so I thought.

After about 20 minutes of freaking out, I realized that I might be able to gain access to my files through my Ubuntu CD.  I popped the CD in and booted into the Live CD.  I elated realized that I could see my hard drive, and the folders contained within.  But upon going into my home directory, I was blocked access (as I was hoping to avoid).  Another few minutes of sweating bullets, and then I remembered how to get sudo file access through the terminal.  After entering the requisite commands, I was given the ability to see the files.  Upon trying to copy the individual folders (Documents, Music, Movies, Photos), I was told that I didn't have that access.  This is where I really started to panic, as I was out of the options I knew.  After a few minutes, I just tried to copy the entire home directory to the external drive, and was rewarded with an hour of glorious file transfer.

After that, I reinstalled Leopard and copied all of my media over.  I did a Time Machine backup as soon as that was complete (a freakin' 4 hour process, for some reason), and then went ahead with my system updates, application installs, etc.  Now, as I'm running a Hacintosh, I can't do the Apple Combo Updates from Software Update as most do.  I have to use specially formulated Combo Updates just for us Mac-on-PC types.  Well, the update for 10.5.3 (I'm installed at 10.5.2) has repeatedly bricked my install.  Time Machine has saved my ass multiple times in the past few days, and allowed me the flexibility to trial and error a wifi issue without worrying about reinstalling.  A full restore from my Time Machine takes about an hour, whereas installing the system, copying files, installing updates, and installing applications takes around 6-8 hours.  I love Leopard and Time Machine.  In my opinion, it's the best backup system out there.

So what's the moral of this story?  Don't ever wipe your backup and install a system update while holding an infant in your lap.  You WILL regret the results.  Trust me.

Another Byte of the Apple

Working in Ubuntu, and my last post that I made, got me wondering how development of Leopard was going on my particular laptop model.  Come to find out, some of the bugs (ie. the dragon breath from the vents in the laptop) were fixed.  Since I already had all of my media and documents on an external hard drive, I created a third partition (well, fourth if you count the Linux swap partition) and gave it a go again.  Following very specific installation instructions, I successfully booted into a working version of Leopard, sans the the stovetop/keyboard.  I killed Vista and, slightly sadly, Ubuntu to clear the whole hard drive for Leopard.  Now, it's not to say I'm without issues; as I always had to before, I have to boot with the DVD in the drive.  I'm not sure what I've always done wrong in that regard, but it's a non-issue in my book since I'm so used to it.  I also had no wifi, which meant piggybacking off my wife's PowerBook through ethernet.  Of course, this cut both of our connection speeds, so I worked diligently today to restore wifi.

Try as I might, I could find nothing on how to fix my particular model's wifi.  It was supposed to work "out of the box", but for some reason, it wasn't for me, nor the person who I copied the install instructions from (we did install all available networking options, so it wasn't for lack of trying).  I eventually broadened my search to look for similar wifi chips and how to enable those.  Still nothing useful.  I eventually pieced together enough parts of the puzzle to realize that a driver within a driver was missing.  The only way to get that was to download a huge system update file from Apple, crack it open, and individually install just that single file.  After rebooting, I was up and running on wireless.  It felt good to troubleshoot and solve a problem on my own (though it was an afternoon full of trial and error). Frustrating as it was, it was pretty damn cool to fix a problem that hadn't been specifically fixed before.

So I'm back in Leopard, where I'm completely comfortable, with the programs that I love.  While not as extensive as Vista, or as customizable as Ubuntu, Leopard is fast, reliable, and does exactly what I want it to do.  Call me an OS Switcher, but barring any unforseen future mega-issues, I'm going to stick with OS X on my PC laptop.  Yes, I have a Zune, and that won't work with Mac OS X, but I do own a license for VMWare Fusion and I have a full copy of XP Pro laying around gathering dust.  And that'll be my Zune solution.  With PocketMac for my BlackBerry, I'm all set!

Aaaaand, we're back. Kinda...

Back to Ubuntu.  Well, okay, not completely.  I still have a heavy dependency on Office and Photoshop.  Not to mention, my Zune and Blackberry won't sync with Ubuntu...

A couple of days ago, I realized my hard drive was down to 6 GB free due to my media usage.  Yeah, not cool.  So I killed my backup drive and moved all my documents and media to it (since that's all that truly matters in a backup anyway).  That left me with 66 GB free to do with what I want.  I toyed with the idea of installing Leopard again, but I can't remember the settings I used to get it to run like I did, I don't have a Time Machine backup anymore, and most importantly, it threatened to make my lappy spontaneously combust at a moments notice.  Having not tried Ubuntu beyond the Live CD since it hit 8.04, I decided to give it a 20 GB slice.  With all my documents and media on an external hard drive, I have full access to it within Linux too.

I just wish that Microsoft would get off it's high horse and support Linux, or at least the major distros (such as Ubuntu) with it's software.  I know there are Office alternatives, such as OpenOffice.org, but none have the full functionality or ease of use that I get with Microsoft Office.  Compatibility with Office-created documents is pretty good, but not all there.  The same goes with Photoshop.  Yeah, there's Gimp, and it's good, but it's no Photoshop.  Without getting into the intracacies of building software to be compatible with a totally different code-base, I do understand why Microsoft and Adobe don't support such a minor percentage of the OS population.  But it would be really nice to kick Windows to the curb permanantly.  Yes, I could do that with Leopard, but considering the actual, physical risk it poses to my laptop, it's not really worth it.  Now, when someone get's it running with no heat issues and all the hardware working, I'll be there in a heartbeat.

And we haven't even talked about the Zune (which is Windows only) or my BlackBerry (which will sync with either Vista or Leopard).  Apparently Linux folk don't touch the Zune.  I've only found a few references to people asking questions on forums in regards to that.  There's Barry for the BlackBerry, but it's command-line only right now, and I haven't actually gotten it to work.  Not to mention, MobileMe only syncs with Outlook (or Mail, Address Book, and iCal in Leopard), so I lose my cloud-sync without those avenues.  Again, I wish Apple would expand support, but I seriously doubt they'd do that.  The only 2 big programs they've done for outside of OS X are iTunes and Safari.  Neither of those have a Linux package.

All that being said, I know I seem like a habitual OS switcher.  And no, I don't like Ubuntu just because it's an alternative to Windows.  As much as I sometimes complain about Windows and my preference to alternatives such as Leopard and Ubuntu, I don't really hold that much beef with it.  It's a good, stable operating system (yes, even Vista).  Is it bloated?  Yeah.  Does it run slower than I think it should (especially considering how fast Ubuntu and Leopard run on the same hardware)?  Oh yeah! 

But it does everything I need it to do.  It has Office and Photoshop, so I can't cut the chain that binds me to it.  Leopard gets me away from it, but binds the laptop to a desk with fans.  Ubuntu is fast, streamlined, and super-customizable, but lacks the few programs that I really need.  So until the alternatives get better, or I get more used to them, I dual-boot.  But Ubuntu is my primary system, while Windows is there for my Zune, Blackberry, and a few programs.  In fact, I'll be logging into Vista in a few to clean out some programs that I won't use anymore...

Why I Don't Want an iPhone

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that the new iPhone launched yesterday.  Honestly, I've been more immersed in it's sister service, MobileMe.  But if you're a reader here, you know my thoughts on that.  Horrible launches aside, my interest in the iPhone has been mediocre at best for the past week.  Last week, I got a BlackBerry Pearl (8100), and I haven't looked back.  Let me preface this by saying that push email hasn't been anything new to me for years now.  When Gmail launched (well, I guess it's still in perpetual beta, but that's another discussion), I set my emails to forward to my MMS account on my phone.  As soon as I got an email, boom, it was on my phone.  So the push email isn't all that amazing to me as I set up a push system years back.  Nor is the organizer function; on my Nokia phones, I've set them to sync calendars, tasks, and contacts.  Full web browsing?  Opera Mini.  So what is so cool that it has quelled my desire for the coveted iPhone?  The tight integration of everything is one thing.  Background application processes are another (Viigo, my RSS reader, grabs feeds without even being open, for example).  It all just works.  SureType was something I thought I would abhore, but it's actually turned out to be very intuitive, much moreso than the iPhone's keyboard (remember, I had an iPod touch for a few months).  Everything is fast, easy, and overall smooth.  There's a ton of 3rd party support out there, so I can get an app to do just about anything I need.  It has some seriously fast EDGE performance; I've had several EDGE phones, and none have even come close to this speed.  Media functions?  The Pearl can do that, but I have my 80 GB Zune to cover me on that front anyway.

Now, spec for spec, the iPhone beats out the Pearl.  I don't begrudge that at all.  And one day, I might pick up one on the cheap, but I don't have any desire for one anymore.  My Pearl is almost perfect; it's gold, which is fugly, but I got it second hand, and I'll be ordering an OEM black housing kit next week to fix that!  My Pearl has become my connection due to it's tight integration of everything I need on the go.  No longer am I jury-rigging a push email solution, proxying internet through Opera Mini (though I do have that installed for some things), and digging through a menu structure to get to my calendar.  And now that MobileMe syncs with my Outlook, I can keep all of my information "in the cloud" and my calendar synced with with my wife's computer.  I love my BlackBerry, and honestly, my next phone will either be a newer Pearl (I'd love onboard GPS), Bold, or I'll hold out for a Thunder.

The MobileMe Fiasco

I, like many, have been very excited about MobileMe since it was announced (see past post about it).  I've been eagerly waiting for the new features to transform .Mac into something really useful.  Wednesday, we were told that the transition would occur between 6P and 12A (starting at 9P my time) Thursday night.  Come Thursday, that was pushed to 8P.  Friday morning rolls around, and still nothing (I was able to hit the login screen once, but was kicked to Apple's MobileMe marketing site after that).  Those of us on Windows (I know, as a .Mac subscriber, I'm in the minority) weren't told at all how to integrate MobileMe.  Come to find out, after installing iTunes 7.7, it puts a Control Panel under the Network settings.  So without the new web apps to play with, I download and install 7.7.  Now, on the .Mac status page, it explicitely states at this point that web apps are not working, but that syncing is up.  After cranking up the new MobileMe control panel, I input my username and password and I'm promptly told that the MobileMe service cannot be connected to.  This didn't work until last night, almost 24 hours after the supposed deployment.  Web apps had limited functionality; I could get into my Mail (which is awesome, but REALLY needs a Reply To setting), iDisk, and Gallery (which again, is awesome).  I couldn't get to my Contacts until today, and Calendar is still really flaky.  I got a BlackBerry Pearl (8100) last week, and while I know MobileMe doesn't support it, I do religiously sync it with Outlook, which syncs with MobileMe.

Which brings me to my next sticking point; Tiger integration.  My wife has a 12" PowerBook G4 with Tiger on it, and I still can't get her synced.  All I want is for her to have instant access to my calendar through iCal, and though the .Mac panel shows me as logged in with a verified password (I even have iDisk access), it gives me an error when clicking on the sync tab that ".Mac login failed".  I did some research, and a TON of people on forums are hitting this same issue, though again, there's nothing about this issue on the MobileMe status page.  Wanting to hear some encouraging "we know, we're working on it" response, I hit up the MobileMe support chat.  The rep walked me through resetting this, deleting that, and creating that before she finally said she'd submit a ticket.  How hard is it to regurgitate a canned "We're working on that known issue" response?  Don't tell me Apple doesn't know about this.  There are still a lot of people on Tiger, and they list 10.4.11 as the supported version of Tiger (which she is).  Just acknowledge the issue, say you're working on it, and swallow your pride.  Ignoring the issue (even if only publicly) will NOT fix it.  It only angers people.  I know I'm pissed.

And it wouldn't matter so much if it wasn't a PAID service.  I pay for this.  While I love that they are making it worth the $99 a year, there shouldn't be such a big gap in service.  And I know that the reason this deployment has been a clusterf*ck has been them rushing to get the new iPhone ready and out the door, but they've even managed to botch that, I hear.  It's rediculous that a company as large as Apple could, and would, hype something (in this case, 2 somethings) so much, and then not be prepared when they said they would be.  Yeah, in a couple of days, this stuff will all be smoothed out, but they predicted it would be a 6 hour deployment of MobileMe (in order to be ready when the new iPhones went live).  We're a day and a half later, and stuff still doesn't work right.  There's a lot of people in Cupertino working extra hours this weekend, that's for sure.  Let's just hope they get it together and figure this out...

EDIT: If you're on Tiger and having the same issue, search in Finder for all files that contain "dotmac".  For me, it brought up 3 files.  Send those to the trash, empty the trash, restart, and try syncing again in System Preferences.  Worked for me!  I wish Apple would publish this fix; I found it on a support forum.