Wordpress Tiger Administration Plugin

This was mentioned on the ScreenCastsOnline Forums a while ago but I've only just checked it out. It's a plugin that makes your Wordpress Admin Screens look like an OSX app. There's no extra functionality as far as I can see but the results are spectacular! Installation is a breeze and is just a matter of copying the plugin files to the wp-content/plugins folder (notes are in a pdf supplied) and activate the plugin. May be only for standalone WP installs mind you... Link

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ScreenCastsOnline Review on @Monitor.CA

Whether you're a Mac-newbie looking to come up to speed on a complex Mac application or a seasoned Mac veteran looking to hone up on a particular software package, ScreenCastsOnline (SCO) can definitely help you keep abreast of the latest Macintosh technology.

Read Full Article - @MONiTOR.CA - MACstuff - July 2006

Steve Lawrenson over at @Monitor.CA has done a really nice (and extensive) review of ScreenCastsOnline. Steve is the Macintosh feature writer for Monitor magazine based in Ottawa, Canada and the article originally appeared in print but is now available on the Web. Thanks Steve, after reading this perhaps I should consider increasing the Extra! subscription rates!

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Blu-ray or HD-DVD

The competition between the competing next-generation optical disk technologies of Blu-ray and HD DVD has entered a new phase, as optical drive makers start rolling out the first products based on the rival technologies. As products based on these formats begin to arrive in stores, one major question for Mac users is: When will Apple integrate this new technology into its computers?The question is more than just idle speculation. Apple enjoys a long track record of embracing emerging technologies—think FireWire, Bluetooth, and wireless networking, among others—and incorporating them into its offerings. Also consider that Apple is on the board of directors for the Blu-ray Disc Association, and it’s not hard to envision a future where Macs are sporting Blu-ray-based drives.As with any future product, Apple is keeping its plans for Blu-ray under wraps. But industry analysts don’t think we'll have long to wait before Apple puts a Blu-ray drive in an Intel-based Mac.The most likely candidate? The as-yet unreleased machine that will replace the Power Mac as Apple’s professional desktop offering.

Macworld: News: Analysts: Blu-ray looms in Apple's future

So if the speculation is right and Steve announces a new Mac Pro range of desktops at the WWDC in August (3 weeks to go!), will the new machines sport a new Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive?

Do we need either?

I would say yes and the driver will be consumer produced HD movies. Apple have included HD support in all their video products from high end in Final Cut Pro to consumer versions in iMovieHD and the missing piece is what to do with the final product.

iDVD does a fine job of compressing your HD movies into Standard Definition automatically (even supporting dual layer DVDs) but if you've gone to the trouble of creating a HD movie, you want to see it in HD. The only option at the minute is to link your mac up to the TV and play via FrontRow directly from the hard drive - which works remarkably well by the way!

But I want to archive my video to optical disk. Even just the data. My last HD project was a 2.5 hour movie at 1080i which came in at 25GB in Quicktime format.

So I think the answer will be yes but perhaps only as a build to order and not as a standard component purely on the cost issue. But which one?

Surely Blu-Ray must be the favourite with Apple being on the board of directors for the Blue-ray Disc Association or will Steve's new role at Disney have any bearings on future Apple strategy ... ooh hang on....

Disney's home video operation, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, said it will ship "popular new releases and classic pictures" on BD when suitable "hardware launches in the North America and Japan". This is expected to take place in a year or so.

Disney backs Blu-ray | The Register

Ah well, any bets on Blu-ray then!

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Fame at Last!

I've been offline for most of the weekend attending to a big family party for our wedding anniversary. Imagine my delight to sit down at my mac to catch up with my mail and RSS feeds to see that Jan Kabili has posted a great entry all about ScreenCastsOnline over on the TUAW blog Not only that, but she's also mentioned ScreenCastsOnline Extra! membership and even taken out a subscription! Many many thanks to Jan for spreading the word!

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Backup, Backup, Backup

My Powermac G5 has 2 x 250GB hard disks. I use Superduper to backup the system drive overnight to make a bootable copy so if the disk crashes I can be running again in minutes.

I have 2 x 250GB USB2 drives attached to the G5, one primary and one backup. The primary disk holds all my data (well nearly all my data...read on) and is backed up overnight by Superduper to the backup drive.

Oh, and I have another USB2 drive attached to the G5 that holds my iTunes library - 120GB of music............

Guess which drive crashed today!

Sob!

Backup people, backup!!!

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