A new beta of the Chax plugin for iChat has just been released, and with it comes the one feature from Adium that I truly miss: a Unified Contact List!
Also new is the inclusion of a unified contact list, which displays all contacts from all logged-in accounts. It will appear automatically at startup on first run, but it can also be shown from the Window menu. You can’t yet add or remove contacts from this list, but it will immediately reflect changes made to the original contact lists.
Finally my AIM, Google Talk and LJ Talk buddies can live happily all in one iChat list!
Check out the release notes for the latest beta version. (via TUAW)
The Linksys WRT54G series of home wireless routers are remarkably flexible little devices. With their powerful processors and Linux-based Open Source firmware, the inexpensive routers can be modified to perform functions normally present only in enterprise-class equipment that costs thousands of dollars.
I’ve replaced the stock firmware in my WRT54G with the excellent and free Tomato Firmware. Among other things, this allows me to set Quality of Service settings on my network, so that large downloads–things like BitTorrent and TiVo downloads from Amazon Unbox–don’t interfere with web browsing or, more critically, our AT&T CallVantage service. Right now, I can have an Amazon Unbox download running, while I place a call using CallVantage and browse the web all on another my laptop. This essentially fills my Comcast cable connection to capacity, but the firmware in the router is able to manage the connections so that the phone call has the highest priority, followed by web browsing, and lastly the TiVo download.
Ensuring that bandwidth and latency-sensitive applications such as VoIP and web browsing aren’t affected by large video downloads and P2P apps like BitTorrent is key to their success, and hopefully more consumer level equipment will come with these settings enabled by default.
This time, the Leopard Love comes from Tom Yager, an InfoWorld Technologist with some pretty impressive credentials.
Leopard is a legitimately big deal. It’s underhyped compared to iPhone, and yet unlike iPhone, Leopard is a genuine triumph of customer-focused engineering. It’s a pleasure and a relief to see that Apple remembers how to deliver open, affordable, standards-based products. There probably won’t be lines around the block at Apple retail stores for people who can’t wait to get their hands on Leopard. If they had been using Leopard as long as developers have, Apple wouldn’t be able to stamp Leopard DVDs fast enough. Word will get out.
Full Article at InfoWorld (via TUAW)
A coworker of mine pointed me in the direction of an article on TidBITS by security consultant Rich Mogull that outlines some of the major security updates in Mac OS X 10.5, due out this coming Friday.
Overall, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is perhaps the most significant update in the history of Mac OS X - perhaps in the history of Apple - from a security standpoint. It marks a shift from basing Macintosh security on hard outside walls to building more resiliency and survivability into the core operating system.
Check out the article to learn more about the security perspectives of Time Machine, how Library Randomization will help prevent buffer overflow attacks, and several new features that will improve the overall integrity of your system.
I will not install Leopard until…
- All the laundry is done
- The apartment is dusted and vacuumed
- The refrigerator is cleaned out
- The wiring behind the TV is tidied
- My desk is clean and I come up with some sort of wire management scheme
It will be difficult, but I can do it!
There’s finally some real competition on the DRM-free major label music store front. Amazon.com launched their amazonmp3 service today; selling DRM-free music both from major labels Universal and EMI and from independents. The price is certainly right, with single tracks going for 89 or 99 cents, and albums selling for anywhere between $5.69 and $9.99. Compare this to Apple’s iTunes Plus store, where tracks are $1.29 apiece and albums are generally between $9.99 and $15.00. I look forward to trying the new service, and will certainly prefer to use it over iTunes for tracks that are available on both stores. If you want more information, Ars Technica has a fairly comprehensive overview of the store at in their news pages.
Interestingly enough, as I’m writing this the #2 most popular song on Amazon’s store is Feist’s 1234, recently featured in a commercial for Apple’s new video-capable iPod Nano.
After my first on-call rotation at work a few months ago, I was feeling a little overwhelmed by the requirement of constant connectivity. Along with my my personal BlackBerry Pearl, I had to carry a BlackBerry and pager for work 24/7. I foolishly ditched the BlackBerry Pearl for a Motorola Z3 slider, but quickly remembered why I had a PDA phone in the first place–I actually like being connected all the time when it’s not work-related.
Within a few days, I picked up an unlocked HTC Dash for cheap on eBay and sold the Z3 so I just about broke even. After about a month, I was starting to grow weary of the Dash. Windows Mobile 6 is pretty slick, but you have to have a Hosted Exchange server in order for push e-mail to work, whereas the BlackBerry just works with my existing GMail account and can be set up to receive messages according to my existing GMail filters (instructions from Jeff Keen).
So tonight, I find myself back where I was three months ago: with a BlackBerry Pearl. I was foolish to ever give it up, it’s the ideal phone for me. And at $120 on eBay, it was such a great deal that I’ll be able to sell the Dash and walk away with about $85 in my pocket!
Latest Comments
Bryan, Bryan, John, Bryan
John, Jackson
kobalt
John, xtex
josh