Isaak Kwok dot Com » Mac

New Mac Ads

Isaak Kwok — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:40:59 +0000

[Apple](1) just launched 3 new “[Get a Mac](2)” ads today. This is in response to the recent spate of Microsoft ads that have been aired recently. You can see the whole series through the [official Microsoft Youtube](3) page.

My personal favourite is the “**Elimination**” ad. The other two ads are titled “**Customer Care**” and “**PC Choice Chat**”.

[1]: http://www.apple.com/
[2]: http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
[3]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIS6G-HvnkU&feature=channel_page

New Mac Ads originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on May 13, 2009.

Mozilla Firefox 3 To Be Launched on 17 June 2008

Isaak Kwok — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:03:48 +0000

Really looking forward to the release of Mozilla Firefox 3 on 17 June 2008 (18 June in Singapore). Have been using the betas of Firefox 3 (the latest is Release Candidate 3) for the past couple of months and it has been a pleasure to use. The previous version had problems with high memory usage and frequent crashes. But all such problems have eliminated or reduced.

So, remember to click on the logo above and pledge that you’ll download Mozilla Firefox 3 on the launch day!

UPDATE: Had fun playing around with the new version of Firefox 3. Anyway, if you have downloaded, you can go print your own certificate for participating in the download.

Here’s mine:

Mozilla Firefox 3 To Be Launched on 17 June 2008 originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on June 16, 2008.

WWDC Keynote Starting Soon

Isaak Kwok — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 16:53:56 +0000

Steve Job’s keynote at the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference is going to be starting in another 5 minutes. Really looking forward to whatever is going to be announced. Hopefully, a 3G iPhone is one of them.

Am camping out on the following sites for live updates:
- MacRumors Live
- TechCrunch
- LiveCrunch

Hopefully, none of the servers crash during the keynote due to heavy loading. :)

UPDATE - 1:25am: Only thing confirmed so far is that the next version of OS X has been codenamed Snow Leopard.

UPDATE - 2.30am: .mac service has been renamed MobileMe. Good for me as I’ve just renewed my .mac service.

UPDATE - 2.33am: Steve Jobs just announced a 3G iPhone. And the 8GB 3G iPhone will be going for US$199 with the 16GB version will be going for US$299. You choose either white or black colours for the 16GB iPhone. The 3G iPhone will be available 11 July … but not too sure whether it’ll be launched in Singapore on the same day.

UPDATE - 3.00am: No confirmed dates for when the iPhone will be available in Singapore. But Australians will be able to buy one from 11 July.

WWDC Keynote Starting Soon originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on June 10, 2008.

Mac Addiction

Isaak Kwok — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:14:02 +0000

72%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

Seems like I’m quite addicted to the Apple family. :) Think I must go sign up for AA classes … Apple Anonymous!

So, what’s your level of Mac addictiveness? Go give the quiz a try.

Mac Addiction originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on January 4, 2008.

Mac Purchases in 2007

Isaak Kwok — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 05:48:22 +0000

Last year, I [posted][1] about the software I bought in 2006. So, here’s a listing of the software and hardware I bought in 2007.

## Purchased Software
+ [VelaClock][2] - An excellent clock Dashboard widget as compared to the one that Apple provides with OS X.
+ [Yojimbo][3] - An information organizer. I basically use it to store the serial numbers of the software I have. It can also be used to store PDF files, bookmarks, text and images for projects that you might have and which are scattered all over your hard disk.
+ [TextExpander][4] - I really wondered how much time I had wasted typing all the URLs to the different blogs I have or going back to correct the commonly mistyped words or typing my full name. Now, all I have to do is just to type a short abbreviation.
+ [SpamSieve][5] - An invaluable tool to help you sieve out the spam from your mail boxes. Besides working with Apple Mail, it also works with other Mac email software such as Mailsmith and Thunderbird.
+ [1Password][6] - A password manager and autofill tool for remembering and submitting the many web passwords that you have. Saves quite a lot of time and headaches when you forget your password. It happens when I’ve got to use the office Windows PC.
+ [Skitch][7] - A wonderful screenshot and simple image editor app. Currently in beta and thus it’s free to use. But will definitely buy it when it is finally released. Oh, if you want an invite, do leave a comment below as I still have a couple to give away.
+ [Flow][8] - Got this as part of the MacHeist/MacUpdate promotion. It’s a FTP client and am currently using it in place of Transmit. Looks and works alright though I still prefer Transmit. :)
+ [VMware Fusion][9] - For whenever I need to use Windows … which isn’t very often.
+ [Sofa Control][10] - As I was doing a little more training sessions last year, I decided that I needed to make better use of the Apple Remote besides just using it for Front Row. Sofa Control allows you to use the Apple Remote with more applications including Keynote, Powerpoint, Safari, Preview and even Google Earth.
+ [Speed Download][11] - A download manager for the Mac. Integrates wonderfully with Safari.
+ [MarsEdit][12] - The tool that I’m using this to compose all my blog posts unless I’m not at my Mac. Really useful!
+ [iWork][13] - The Apple alternative to Microsoft Office. I have basically abandoned Microsoft Office and using iWork exclusively.
+ [iLife][14] - This doesn’t need any introduction.
+ [Leopard - Mac OS 10.5][15] - This was one of my more highly anticipated software. Pre-ordered it and it was delivered even before the official release time of 6.00pm Singapore time. I guess the delivery people didn’t want to work overtime!
+ [DeliciousSafari][16] - A wonderful tool! As the software title implies, it integrates the excellent social bookmarking site, [de.licio.us][17], together with Safari. You can view your de.licio.us bookmarks without actually going to the site and can tag the sites that you want to bookmark to de.licio.us. What I would hope the developer would do is to also include suggested tags like the de.licio.us extension for Firefox.

## Purchased Hardware
+ [MacBook Pro 17” 2.33GHz][18] - My workhorse!
+ [iPod Touch 16GB][19] - Bought one for myself and one for my wife as her Christmas present. It has been a pleasure to use though I would have hoped that it was an [iPhone][20] instead (and which I hope would be released in a 3G version in Singapore sometime this year). :P

I’m definitely looking forward to the Macworld 08 keynote to be delivered by Steve Jobs on 15 January at San Francisco’s Moscone Center to see what interesting stuff he will be announcing.

So, that’s my list. How about your Mac purchases for 2007? Or are there any outstanding (in your opinion) software that I should be getting?

[1]: http://www.isaakkwok.com/2007/01/03/what-apps-did-i-buy-in-2006/
[2]: http://www.veladg.com/velaclock.html
[3]: http://www.barebones.com/products/yojimbo/index.shtml
[4]: http://www.smileonmymac.com/textexpander/
[5]: http://c-command.com/spamsieve/
[6]: http://1password.com/
[7]: http://plasq.com/skitch
[8]: http://www.extendmac.com/flow/
[9]: http://vmware.com/products/fusion/
[10]: http://caseapps.com/sofacontrol.html
[11]: http://www.yazsoft.com/
[12]: http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/
[13]: http://www.apple.com/iwork/
[14]: http://www.apple.com/ilife/
[15]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/
[16]: http://delicioussafari.com/
[17]: http://de.licio.us/
[18]: http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/
[19]: http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/
[20]: http://www.apple.com/iphone/

Mac Purchases in 2007 originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on January 2, 2008.

Interesting Use of Technology

Isaak Kwok — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 05:32:36 +0000

Here’s an interesting mix of old and new technology.

Old technology in this case is an old newspaper box where people used to buy newspapers from. New technology is a Mac Mini and flat screen monitor. Combined you get a digital newsstand that pulls information directly from the internet for display.

You can read how this is all put together on Scott Walker’s blog. Scott Walker happens to be an assistant managing editor at Birmingham News.

Technorati Tags: internet, mac, newspapers

Interesting Use of Technology originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on June 25, 2007.

Apple Airport Extreme

Isaak Kwok — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 09:01:56 +0000

Since the Apple AirPort Extreme was silently announced during the Macworld conference in January 2007 together with Apple TV with a shipping date in February, I was already thinking of placing an online order for it. At that point of time, my previous router, a D-Link 634, was alos giving problems with connection dropouts. However, I thought I would wait and check out what else was available in the market.

It was a tough choice between the Linksys Wireless-N Gigabit Router with Storage Link and Apple AirPort Extreme. I guess design won over features.

Well, I’m not planning to do another review of the AirPort Extreme. There are tons of it on the web and I’m linking to some of them at the end of the post. I’ll just say simply that the router works right out of the box. The only thing I needed to do, after plugging all the wires into the correct slots, was to reset my cable modem so that the AirPort Extreme can detect it. I was also able to access both my portable storage boxes as well as print from my printer, an Canon IP6600D. And I must add that the latest wireless specifications do make a difference in the transfer speeds, particularly when I’m accessing my portable storage wirelessly.

The only sore point I have is that it doesn’t support Gigabit Ethernet. But I think it is a minor setback considering I’m only using the wireless portion of the router. I think I would only feel the difference if I had a couple of machines that I want to transfer files between them.

So, if you’re looking for a new router and have the latest Intel-based Macs, then go ahead and get the Apple AirPort Extreme.

Well, here are the more in-depth reviews that would provide you with a more technical look at the AirPort Extreme:
- Gizmodo - The Things Other Apple AirPort Extreme Reviews Don’t Tell Y
- Engadget - Hands-on with Apple’s AirPort Extreme 802.11n Base Station
- MacInTouch - Review: AirPort Extreme 802.11n
- Ars Technica - AirPort Extreme 802.11n Wi-Fi Base Station
- TUAW - First Thoughts: AirPort Extreme Base Station
- Macworld - Up close with AirPort Extreme

Technorati Tags: airport extreme, apple, mac

Apple Airport Extreme originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on March 1, 2007.

Essential Mac OS X Applications

Isaak Kwok — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 03:39:04 +0000

Peter Galvin recently switched to a Mac and has built a wonderful and very large listing of Mac OS X applications. Plus a few more in the comments.

Well, seems like most of the applications I’m using are on the listing. You can have a look at what applications I bought last year. But there are some that I’m seeing for the first time and will definitely be trying some of them out in the next couple of days.

Technorati Tags: applications, mac os x, listing

Essential Mac OS X Applications originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on February 9, 2007.

Apple iPhone at Steve Jobs’ Macworld 2007 Keynote

Isaak Kwok — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 12:44:57 +0000

Unless you were out in the wilderness without Internet and TV access, you would already have read or seen news reports about Apple, Inc. introducing the iPhone during Steve Jobs’s keynote at Macworld.

The iPhone will combine iPod, phone and internet commuincator functions into a single, super-slim, widescreen and touchscreen device. There’s only one visible button on the front face of the iPhone and that’s the ‘Home’ button. What’s amazing is the usability functions of the phone as it integrates an accelerometer to determine when to switch to portrait or landscape, a proximity sensor to turn off the screen when you place the iPhone on your ear to save battery power and unintended touches to the touchscreen, and an ambient light sensor to determine appropriate screen brightness. To see the wonderful usability of the iPhone, I suggest you go watch the keynote as that would give you a much better feel than me describing it in words. The iPhone will have two version: the 4GB one will be priced at US$499 and the 8GB one is at US$599. Unfortunately for me, the iPhone would only be available in Asia in 2008 as compared to the US launch in June 2007.

The other product that Steve Jobs announced was the Apple TV that would be available in February 2007. Basically, it acts as an interface between iTunes and your widescreen LCD or plasma TV. It also has the ability to stream your music or movies wirelessly from your computer onto your TV. The Apple TV is compatible with both Mac and Windows computers. You can pre-order now and it’s available for US$299. For my fellow Singaporeans, you can pre-order as well at the Apple Store Singapore for S$488 (with free shipping) or through your favorite Apple retailer.

There was also one unannounced product launched after the keynote and that was the new and upgraded Airport Extreme Base Station. The new Airport Extreme features the draft specifications of 802.11n and is backward compatible with the older WiFi standards. If you didn’t already know, most of the Intel-based Mac computers already are equipped with the updated WiFi cards. When you purchase the Airport Extreme, it comes with an enabler to activate the cards. The Airport Extreme can be had for US$179 or S$298.

Well, that was all for the keynote. Personally, I was a little disappointed in not hearing anything about the upcoming release of Leopard or new versions of iWork and iLife. I would have love to have a better look at what Leopard has to offer and the changes made since WWDC 2006. There were also no mentions of new additions or upgrades to any of the Mac hardware.

Guess will just have wait to see if Apple introduces other changes in the next couple of months as suggested by Steve Jobs in his keynote.

Oh, one other thing … Apple Computer, Inc. is now officially known as Apple, Inc. They have decided to remove the word ‘Computer’ from their name to better reflect the diversity of their product line that’s not totally related to computers such as the iPod, iPhone and Apple TV.

Apple iPhone at Steve Jobs’ Macworld 2007 Keynote originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on January 10, 2007.

What Apps Did I Buy in 2006

Isaak Kwok — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 08:30:00 +0000

It started with [this post on Lifehacker][1] and a number of [other][2] [bloggers][3] have put up their own [posts][4] on what apps they bought in the past year and what they plan to buy in 2007. So, I decided that I should join in the fun and list down some of the apps I bought this year.

As I was compiling this list, I was quite surprised that I actually bought quite a lot of software in 2006. So, here’s my list of software in chronological order of purchases.

## Purchased
***
+ [Path Finder][5] - The Finder replacement!!! Tried going back to using just Finder when I did a re-install of my Powerbook after getting the logic board replaced, but I was too used to the many conveniences and shortcuts that Path Finder provided.
+ [iClip][6] (through MacZot!) - Very useful tool for copying and pasting. I have also created a bin that stores all the useful code that I often re-use while blogging.
+ [TransType Pro][7] - Bought this because I had a lot of free fonts that I downloaded when I was using Windows but had problems loading on my PowerBook.
+ [TinkerTool System][8] - An additional maintenance tool I bought which I run regularly together with [Cocktail][9].
+ [AppZapper][10] (through MacZot!) - Wonderful uninstaller for Mac OS X. Although applications are easily uninstall in Macs by just dragging the application to the trash bin, the applications might have left behind preferences and other files. AppZapper removes everything that is linked to the application.
+ [SubEthaEdit][11] (through MacZot!) - A collaborative text editor though I haven’t used it much. But then again, I was given a free registration as part of the MacZot! promotion with Coding Monkeys.
+ [FlickrExport for iPhoto][12] - An iPhoto plugin that allows you to upload photos directly within iPhoto to Flickr.
+ [Disco][13] (through MacZot!) - An interesting app that has smoke animations as it burns your data or photos onto either CDs or DVDs.
+ [VisualHub][14] - A very useful video converter that allows you to convert videos from and to most formats, including iPod, WMV, PSP, AVI and Flash. I use it to convert Flash videos from Google Video and YouTube to iPod capable format to upload into my iPod.
+ [Koingo Bundle][15] (through MacZot!) - All the applications produced by Koingo Software though I found only Alarm Clock Pro, Data Guardian useful and Librarian Pro useful.
+ [MailTags 2.0][16] - A plugin for Mail.app that allows for tagging and setting priorities to your email and also to assign project titles to the emails for easy sorting.
+ [CSSEdit 2][17] - Bought this visual CSS editor as I foresee that I’ll be doing a little bit more of coding this year given there are plans to migrate MPOW blog’s to WordPress. And also the things I plan to do with my own blogs.

## Plan to Purchase This Year
***
+ [Leopard][18], [iWork][19] 07 and [iLife][20] 07 - Whenever it is released by Steve Jobs
+ Adobe Creative Suite 3

Looking forward to what 2007 holds for Mac software.

[1]: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/ask-the-readers/ask-the-readers—what-software-did-you-fork-over-cash-for-this-year-224111.php
[2]: http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/12/27/what-apps-did-you-buy-this-year/
[3]: http://cavemonkey50.com/2006/12/what-apps-did-you-buy-this-year/
[4]: http://www.glennwolsey.com/2006/12/28/what-apps-did-you-buy-this-year/
[5]: http://www.cocoatech.com/pf4/
[6]: http://inventive.us/
[7]: http://www.fontlab.com/FontConverters/TransType/
[8]: http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerToolSys.html
[9]: http://www.maintain.se/cocktail/index.html
[10]: http://appzapper.com/
[11]: http://codingmonkeys.de/subethaedit/
[12]: http://connectedflow.com/flickrexport/iphoto
[13]: http://www.discoapp.com/
[14]: http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/
[15]: http://www.koingosw.com/
[16]: http://indev.ca/MailTags.html
[17]: http://macrabbit.com/cssedit/
[18]: http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/
[19]: http://www.apple.com/iwork/
[20]: http://www.apple.com/ilife/

What Apps Did I Buy in 2006 originally appeared on Isaak Kwok dot Com on January 3, 2007.