What a nice surprise FileMaker delivered on Tuesday! Of course Bento is only a preview release but after a couple days of use I'm very happy with it. Over the course of the past couple years I've developed a workflow based on Spotlight as a project manager that brings together related iCal tasks, email, contacts, and files. With Leopard this has only gotten better. The only hiccup has been my need to use FileMaker Pro for my invoices. I've created my own fancy invoice template/system with FileMaker Pro and it works very well. But it is a system outside of my workflow. I have to add clients, project jobs, and line items separately. The great thing about Bento is that it may allow me to bring everything under one unified workflow.

First, let me say that Bento is a Leopard only product because it simply would not be possible without the new features of Leopard. With Bento FileMaker has adopted the very slick interface that has become common with many of today's Apple and third party Mac applications: iTunes, iCal, Delicious Library, NetNewsWire, and many others. This is definitely not FileMaker Pro! This is what I would expect from the iWork team, a database to sit alongside of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers. It is a perfect compliment to iWork and given the quality of this preview release I would not hesitate to recommend it.

In my couple of days with Bento I've tweaked the "Project" library (in Bento a database or table is referred to as a Library) and the Time Billing Library so that I can use them in conjunction with iCal tasks to track projects and billing. Because the system is using data from iCal and Address Book there's no duplication. Not only that, but I can modify iCal and Address Book data from within Bento. Even better, I can enhance the usefulness of this data by adding new fields in Bento.

As an example, iCal tasks do not include a field for job hours but when I track a task for a paid project I need to track the hours. I normally add this into the task notes field in iCal. When it comes time to create an invoice I gather up my iCal tasks and the lists of hours within the notes fields and transfer them to line items in my FMP invoice database. It works but it is not ideal. With Bento iCal task and event data, as long as the preference is set, is easily viewable within the provided form layout. I've added a field for job hours and this data resides in Bento but is associated with that particular iCal task data. By doing this I can now display and modify my iCal tasks, along with the duration of the task in my Project and Time Billing Libraries.

To put it simply Bento uses the Apple apps and data as a foundation and allows me to build new functionality around them. This is a preview release and there is plenty of room for improvement. As it is now I cannot add any graphic objects such as my logo to the invoice I have set up. Text formatting is a bit limited and the layout is a bit clunky requiring spacer boxes and only allowing one line of text per text box. I'd much prefer a layout engine like the iWork apps that are much more free form. Still, this is an excellent start.

Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, Macintosh, Leopard, FileMaker, Bento

It's been almost two weeks with the new MacBook Pro with the Core 2 Duo so I thought I'd post a brief follow-up to my first post. As of this writing I've not had any problems. I've had a chance to use a few apps that I'd not used at the time of the previous post. Specifically I want to mention QuickTime, VisualHub, and FileMaker Pro Advanced 8.5, all of which are Universal Binaries. The performance, when compared to the 1GHZ G4 PowerBook and the 1.6 GHZ G5 iMac is incredible. Viewing QuickTime files, including HD clips from Apple are a breeze for the MBP. The 12" PB won't play them without constant skips. The iMac plays them but pegs the processor and ramps up the fan to high speed. The MBP plays everything I've thrown at it effortlessly.

Converting DVDs to mp4s using H.264 encoding for playback via iTunes has also seen incredible improvement. Using the iMac to convert Video TS folders with Handbrake or VisualHub requires 9-12 hours for just 1 pass encoding. During that time the processor is pegged at 100% and the fans are running at high speed. The MBP does the same job in 2 hours with both processors at 60-80%. The fan does come on and seems to run at a low to medium speed. The laptop heats up a bit but never seems to get as hot as the 12" PB gets when I push it's processor. In fact, the performance of the MBP has me wondering if there might be something wrong with the G5 iMac!

Here's another comparison. Right now the 12" PB which I've hooked up to a tv and sound system for music and movies is downloading a video podcast. The only open application is iTunes and it's running at 50 - 75% with the fans on. When I watch that videocast or any QuickTime file the processor will run at 60 - 90% depending on the size, bitrate, and encoding of the file. The benefit of this is that my PB functions as a space heater in the winter. Compare that performance to the MBP which currently has the following apps open: Safari, Vienna, iChat, Mail, iCal, Remote Desktop, iTunes, Smultron, Preview, TextEdit, RapidWeaver, and QuickTime. Active tasks include playing a song in iTunes and typing this post. The processors are, combined, hovering at 15 - 40%. I have yet to hear the fans kick on today and the palm rests are only slightly warm to the touch. While Apple does a decent job of keeping new versions of OS X and the various applications functional on older processors it only makes sense that those processors will strain a bit more with each new versions features. A good example would be iTunes 7 and its integration of Cover Flow. Great visuals but there's no doubt it uses more processor and memory resources.

Something else I've noticed is performance at idle. The PB with one or two apps open but nothing actually being done will hover at 5 - 15% and is warm to the touch. The iMac which gets a bit more use by others in the house and may have 4-6 apps open hovers at 10-50% even with no apparent tasks being performed. On both of those Macs the fans kick on occasionally during these times of no/low usage. The MBP, were I to stop iTunes and stop typing drops to 10% or less and will remain cool to the touch with no fan coming on at all. Energy use is worth noting. Computers in use range from 40- 110+ watts of energy consumption. That may not seem like much but the cumulative effect of millions of computers contributes to carbon in our atmosphere and that means a contribution to climate change. Based on what I'm seeing with the MBP can't help but think that the overall energy usage of the Intel Macs must be much lower than the G4 and G5 generations.

After nearly 2 weeks with the MacBook Pro I'm a happy camper with not a single complaint.


Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, MacBook Pro, Core 2 Duo

Ah yes, finally Apple has released the first revision of the Intel-based MacBook Pro. It's an update I've been waiting for and I wasted no time getting one from the St. Louis Apple Store. This is not a full review of the new Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro, but more of a first impression. I'll add that this is the first time that I've really sat down for more than a few minutes with any of the new Intel Macs. I should also add that my primary Mac has been a 1 GHZ 12" PowerBook (768 MB of RAM) purchased in late 2003 so that's what I'm comparing it to. I've also been using the 1.6 GHZ G5 iMac (1 GIG of RAM) though I use the iMac less often.

My MacBook Pro is the base model, 2.16 GHZ Core 2 Duo and 1 GIG of RAM. My first reaction was not at all surprising: WOW. This is one very fast machine. FAST! Tasks such as opening a RapidWeaver site that previously took 15-20 seconds, now take only 2-3 seconds. Most applications open up in 1 bounce. It is a bit bizarre to look up at MenuMeters and see 2 processor indicators! Thus far I've been using my usual apps: Safari, Vienna, iChat, Mail, iCal, Remote Desktop, iTunes, RapidWeaver, Smultron, FileMaker Pro, and iPhoto. Most of those are open at this very moment and the computer is cool and silent. What I've seen as that the processors are each staying at 7% or less. Compare that to the 12" PowerBook which had the processor consistently at 15 -35%. I have yet to notice the fan kick in. Lots of folks have discussed the heat generated by the MacBook and the MacBook Pro. I have no doubt that there are certain tasks that would kick the processor up and the fan would indeed come on but for my normal, day-to-day work I'm enjoying a rather cool MBP!

The keyboard is very nice and seems to be identical to the 12" PowerBook with the exception of the very cool background light. I wish there was a way to adjust when the background light comes on though. As it is it comes on in low light which means it is on quite alot. I'd rather it only come on in very low light. The speakers are very nice for a laptop though I don't expect to use them too often as I'll be using the old PB, now attached to the television and sound system as me media hub. The screen is bright and oh so nice! Not a single dead or stuck pixel. Last but not least is the built in iSight camera which is quite cool. We will eventually get a highspeed connection out in these woods and when we do I intend to use the iSight for video iChats with clients. At the moment the camera is, at the very least, fun to use with Photo Booth. I'd imagine that it would also prove useful for anyone interested in a videocast.

I have yet to notice any kind of exterior blemish or irregularity on the case of the MBP. The wireless connection to my Airport Express seems to be equal to that of the 12" PowerBook. I won't comment on battery life as I've not had enough time to condition/callibrate the battery.

The experience thus far: fantastic.


Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, MacBook Pro, Core 2 Duo

First, let me say that I'm a relative new comer to RapidWeaver but with the recent updates to these web tools thought I'd post a few thoughts. RapidWeaver has moved from 3.2 to 3.5 (beta) and iWeb and Sandvox have also seen updates since my last post on these apps. I'm not new to web development, I've been coding websites since 1997, mostly by hand but I've fiddled with countless programs over the years: PageMill, Dreamweaver, GoLive and most recently iWeb, Sandvox, and RapidWeaver. There were probably a couple others before PageMill. Generally I've always used a text editor as my primary tool, all the others were really just playing around. In no way am I an expert, but I've been around the block a few times.

I tried the earlier versions of RapidWeaver and never quite got it. I only really played with it so perhaps I did not give it a fair shake. I'm fairly certain I did not. My problem then, and to some degree now, is the "theme look." While the themes have gotten better many of them still have a canned feel about them and too many seem to rely on a plastic/glass style. This can also be said of the iWeb templates and the Sandvox templates. I think my other problem was the feeling of being confined. I'm used to the freedom of coding whatever I want. The template based process, quite frankly, freaked me out a bit.

That said, I think many of these templates for the three are very nice and quite stylish. I think the iWeb templates are the best but I think iWeb is the worst of the three in terms of over all performance. The code is a mess, the sites way too heavy and very slow to download. Sandvox, at $39 is not a bad deal. It's putting out better code, more optimized graphics, and quicker to download sites but it seems equally closed though bit more flexible. If I want access to html and greater customization Karelia offers a Pro version for $69 but I'd never pay that kind of money for those features. I'm certain that both iWeb and Sandvox will improve by leaps and bounds in their next versions but for now, I'll pass.

Last and best of the bunch would be RapidWeaver. With the release of iWeb and Sandvox earlier this year I got curious and decided to revisit RapidWeaver. Of the bunch, RapidWeaver is my favorite and at $39.95 I think it is a bargain. I've put this site together using RapidWeaver, but not because of it's ease of use. I could have put MacProductive together much more quickly by just coding it up. But as an experiment and basis for review I wanted to really give RapidWeaver a real run through.

So I dug in. My first run through resulted in a basic site that looked just like one of the default templates offered. Within a day I'd performed a couple modifications. Within a week I'd switched themes twice and modified more. I wanted to shake the look of the standard theme. If this had been a site for my family I wouldn't have cared much. But as my professional face, a template will not work. So, I modified, modified, modified. I started with 3.2 and had few problems to speak of once I got the hang of it. FTP can be a bit funky at times. Over all the tweaking of templates works well though it seems a bit slower than just coding from the ground up.

With the release of 3.5 I backed up and jumped right in. It's definitely an improvement. In particular I like the blog permalinks, code preview, and the interface changes. It doesn't make customization of code a whole lot easier but the new inspectors are an improvement. This version, as with the last, allows custom css and javascript via the inspector, no extra cost. It's also worth noting that of the various page styles RapidWeaver allows an html page and I can use html in the styled text pages too. Overall, it's quite a bit more flexible than iWeb or Sandvox and with no extra fee for a pro version. I'm sure I'll continue to discover more that I like. There are a few bugs but it is still a beta. There's nothing scary enough that I won't use it, I'll just be sure to backup more often.

Will I use RapidWeaver to build websites for clients? That I'm not sure about. I don't think I'd feel comfortable charging someone for an out of the box, template-based site unless they just need it quick and simple. If they are on a budget then a RapidWeaver site would be the way to go. But if they want something custom, something built for them I don't know that I would want to take the time to customize an already existing theme. Perhaps I just don't have the hang of it yet but it seems much slower going.

I'll end by saying that RapidWeaver is the application I'd recommend to any client, friend, or family member interested in building their own site. If I know a client uses a Mac and wants to maintain their site content after I build it I'd think that RapidWeaver would be a great way to go. Overall it is the best in its class and will improve, I'm sure.

I think we'll all enjoy the progress that RapidWeaver, along with its competition, will make in the coming years.

Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, iWeb, Sandvox, RapidWeaver

When Apple released iChat I was pretty happy with it. Of course back then I often only chatted with one or two people. These days it's not uncommon for me to have 2-4 chats going off and on throughout the day. Enter Adium and tabbed chat windows. I loved it as well as the ability to customize the interface with themes. But there is a downside: file transfers. Recent builds have gotten better but i still have problems transferring files. Enter Chax which adds new features, most notably, tabbed chat windows to iChat. I've been using it for a couple weeks now and iChat has returned as my favored chat client. Nice to have the choice of course but I'm happy to be using iChat again.


Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, iChat, Chax

It had to happen sooner or later: spam. Yes, I know it's been around but for the most part, I've been lucky. My current set of 6 email accounts the oldest of which dates back to 2002 have escaped the attention of the spammers. I did have an older account which I had set up way back in 1997 that, after three years, fell under an avalanche of spam. Luckily I had already transitioned to several new accounts and was ready to move on at that point.

In recent months I've notice that my oldest active email address has become a target. I've also taken notice that today's spammers have gotten smarter because the junk I do get is mostly slipping through Mail's junk filtering mechanisms. Yes, I've dutifully used Mail's "Mark as Junk" button in a failed attempt to train Mail. In fact I've always done that but it is becoming far less affective.

Enter JunkMatcher. Download and drop it into the Applications folder. Open it with a double click and it will install a plugin for Mail and open the JunkMatcher application. Use the JunkMatcher application to configure the plugin then close the app. The plugin goes to work in the background. Anytime you want to tweak the settings open the app back up... and yes, there are many settings to tweak if you so choose. I left it alone and have thus far been very happy with the default settings. In fact, JunkMatcher has caught every single piece of junk, flagged it red, and stuck it in my junk box. Nice. Not so nice is that it has also identified quite a few non-junk items as junk. No problem, JunkMatcher is easily trained. Control click these false positives and choose "Train as Ham".

Definitely an improvement. I'd rather have it lean in that direction. Time will tell if it will learn and in turn, if Mail learns. Here are more details from the site:

JunkMatcher is a cocktail-styled spam filter for Mail.app on Mac OS X (10.3.x or later). It filters spam by conducting a wealth of tests over emails. Two types of tests are available: property tests can detect general characteristics of spam using techniques such as naive Bayesian filtering (thanks to SpamBayes) and blacklist lookup (checking if a message was sent from a spamming IP address), and pattern tests can spot keywords such as "v1ägra" or "\/Iagr á" by using patterns written in regular expressions, a very powerful language designed just for that - to describe patterns.

JunkMatcher integrates tightly with Mail.app and OS X. You don't need to keep a second app running in order to use it - the filter will automagically spring into action via a rule within Mail.app! You can even use it with Mail.app's built-in filter if you wish, in which case it will become a good teacher to the built-in filter. JunkMatcher also knows your Address Book, and you can train emails as spam/ham (good emails) directly from within Mail.app, etc.

JunkMatcher is extremely configurable. The GUI lets you tweak a gazillion of settings, analyze mis-classified emails, and even design your own pattern tests to catch more spam. You can write patterns to match many "views" of cleanly distilled emails such as the headers, the subject, the body, and even the text rendering for HTML emails (thanks to ELinks). You can also check on what JunkMatcher has done in the past and correct its mistakes if necessary, all from a very friendly GUI.

JunkMatcher evolves, too. In addition to the built-in Bayesian classifier that learns from mistakes, you can also download new pattern updates directly within the JunkMatcher GUI. Best of all? JunkMatcher is completely free (donation is welcome)! In fact, it is an open-source app so you also get the source code!

Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, Apple Mail, JunkMatcher

Most avid Mac users know by now that the introduction of iLife 06 brought with it a new application: iWeb. I've given it a spin along side of a demo account of .Mac and I'll pass on both. I can sum up the experience with one word: yuck.

I used .Mac during it's first year as a paid product but did not renew. My feelings then as now, I like the concept and the features but not the performance. Terrible even on broadband. While I generally like the Finder in OS X this does not apply to the use of .Mac's iDisk which makes the Finder (and me) crawl up into a little ball and cry. I've painted whole houses in the time it takes anything show up in my iDisk. It's not even close to acceptable. Uploading files? Yes, that's me sobbing in the corner again. In my attempts anything larger than a couple of megabytes proved to be a task akin to finding Mulder's abducted sister (you do watch X-Files reruns, don't you?). Uploading an iWeb site? The same.

I really do like the advertised features but without speedy performance features are pointless.

I've used iWeb for a couple hours and followed this up with browsing the Apple iWeb discussion forums to confirm my experience. As a 1st version iWeb is off to a slow start. It could be much worse. But it could be better. The included templates are very nice and adding content to those templates to create my own site could not have been easier. Given that the intended users are folks who do not design websites this is perfect. I'd like to be able to customize but I realize that's not really the intent.

The real problem with iWeb seems to be the size of the sites it outputs. Huge. My test site was fairly minimal. A couple pages, a blog with 2 entries, and 2 small photo pages: 7.1 MB. As a comparison I created sites in Sandvox (still in beta) and RapidWeaver. Both came out to around 1 MB. The problem seems to be iWeb's graphics output. While some images are optimized others are not. That's crazy. No website creation app should output images that have not been optimized. Apple should not assume every user has a broadband connection. I opened my iWeb site on a dial-up connection and yes, I ended up falling asleep while I waited for the pages to load. I woke up and still had time to take the dog out for a walk. Then I made lasagna from scratch. Even on a broadband the pages were slow to load.

As of now I'll pass and I would not recommend the .Mac/iWeb solution for any of my family or any client. Apple products are supposed to be top of class and this combination is not.

The good news is that these problems are fixable and there's great potential here. A company the size of Apple can make .Mac work if it so chooses. iWeb, in its next version will be improved I'm sure. Maybe even a few incremental upgrades in the next few months might do the trick.

If you really want to set up a simple to use site now my suggestion would be RapidWeaver and a standard site hosting service. Alternatively there are free and paid blogging services that are very easy to use. Some of these, such as TypePad, have built in photo galleries. If your primary goal is to share images in your iPhoto library then Flickr is an excellent option. Download the free Flickr Export plug-in and you'll see that iPhoto already works very well with Flickr.

Technorati Tags: iWeb, .Mac, iLife

My new favorite application. Voodoo Pad and Voodoo Pad Lite. The first is the paid version, the second is free. Voodoo Pad would be best described as a sticky note which hyperlinks to sub stickies. The interface is simple and the features perfect.

So how does Voodoo Pad work? It's very simple actually. Open up the program and you are greeted with an index page. Delete all the provided text (which is a nice intro to the program so read it first!) and begin adding your own content. I'll be using the program as a way to store passwords, account info, to dos, blog notes, and a good bit more. My index page is just a list of categories with sub topics that I've designated as links which means they open up to their own note or page. Any text in any note can easily be turned into a new link by highlighting and using a control click or the link button in the top of every window. The moment text is designated a link a new note opens ready for content. Text and graphics files are easily added to any page via drag and drop or import.

With the free version of the program I can export the journal as text. With the paid version these can be exported to html, Microsoft Word, RTF, or RTDF. Both versions will export a Journal and its link pages directly to the notes folder of an attached iPod (Generation 3-5). Another difference is that the full version has a "Recently Updated" window that contains a list with the most recently update notes at the top.

Other apps that serve a similar purpose that are worth trying: Sticky Brain and Mac Journal. I've tried them and I like them both but between the three I think I like Voodoo Pad the most.

Technorati Tags: Apple, OS X, VooDoo Pad

Not so much a Mac tip as it is a tip for Getting Things Done and general productivity. Check out GTDTiddlyWiki. A self contained, single file wiki that has been designed around GTD. Very cool. It won't work with Safari but works very well with Camino or Firefox. The newest version is self saving so you never have to remember to save. To get started save the html file to your hard drive by control clicking the above link and choose "Save linked file to Desktop". Next, open that file in Camino or Firefox, and you're set to go. Open existing articles, "Tiddlers" to learn more about how it works and delete them or change them to your needs. As much as I like Instiki I like this better because it's not a separate application. The only way it could be better is with Safari support.

Technorati tags: GTD, GTDTiddlyWiki, Productivity