Review
Tuesday, May 31, 2022
Swinsian1 is a native music jukebox app for the Mac. It displays songs in customizable columns with a browser just like iTunes did before it became a music store, video player, iOS app organizer, social network, and streaming service.
With Swinsian you can make smart playlists. You can edit tags on multiple tracks at once. You can shuffle songs. There is a 31 band Graphic Equalizer, and real-time search. Swinsian even syncs your music with classic iPods, and streams my music over AirPlay.
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Saturday, January 1, 2022
Video games were a big part of my adolescence. And although my memories of playing these games as a child will never die, far too often the chance to replay these games is tied to obsolete hardware that is both hard to come by and difficult to preserve.
Not true for source ports!
Source ports are projects derived from a original game’s source code, designed to extend the game’s capabilities while providing compatibility with modern hardware like Apple Silicon.
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Tuesday, May 26, 2020
I made the switch from an iPhone 7 to Android last month. Not for a particular handset, but features like a headphone jack, expandable storage, USB Type-C, and a 128 GBs of storage Apple does not make available on a iPhone; let alone a phone that costs under $229.
I am not an iOS power user. I don’t use Apple services like iCloud, Photos, Apple Music, or Shortcuts. Many of the third-party services I do use, like Slack, Outlook, Nike+, Instapaper, Foobar2000, and Brave offer native Android apps that are just as good if not better than their iOS equivalents.
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Friday, April 10, 2020
I first heard about OutRun from Bradley Chambers, writing for 9to5Mac.
OutRun is exactly what you’d want from a simple iPhone run tracker. It fits in nicely with a great iOS 13 design, is 100% private, and syncs with Apple Health. The syncing with Apple Health is optional as well. Settings wise, you can change your energy unit, weight unit, GPS accuracy settings, create data backups, and enable syncing. There is no friends list, ads to dismiss, or subscriptions to sign up for bonus features.
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Thursday, August 2, 2018
I read this post on Daring Fireball last year and I wanted to comment on it: Charlie:
I simply hate people relying on brittle client-side javascript when there are other alternatives. In the same way as I wouldn’t rely on some unknown minicab firm as the sole way of getting me to the airport for a wedding flight, I don’t like relying on a non-guaranteed technology as the sole way of delivering a web app.
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Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Workouts++ is a new app for your Apple Watch from David Smith. It allows you to customize your workouts and view them in new ways on your iPhone.nI am a long distance runner so I won’t be writing about how Workouts++ works with a bicycle, on a rowboat, or in a Yoga class. Instead I can tell you how Workouts++ has helped me target my training for this year’s Boston Marathon.
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Tuesday, November 1, 2016
If you can wear Apple Earpods, you can wear Amazon Premium Headphones. If you think Apple Earpods sound good, Amazon Premium Headphones sound the same. If you take calls or pause the music on your Apple EarPods, Amazon Premium Headphones won’t let you down. And if you replace your Apple Earpods every few months due to loss or damage, don’t expect Amazon Premium Headphones to hold up any better. They are made out of the same materials, but Amazon Premium Headphones are half the price.
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Wednesday, October 19, 2016
I skipped the first Apple Watch. I missed the benefits of customizable watch faces, the importance of complications, and the appeal of swappable bands. I read how Apple Watch was slow, the screen was dim, but battery life was OK. I learned you could get Apple Watch wet even if you shouldn’t take it for a swim. And I listened to nerds worry about meeting fitness goals for the first time.
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Thursday, September 1, 2016
I do not own a wireless keyboard. I do not own a wireless mouse. Because when it comes to wireless, wired is always faster, cheaper, and without batteries to charge or replace. But starting this Summer I began to get tired of running my earbuds up under my shirt to avoid tangles. I watched horrified as three pairs of Amazon premium earbuds get yanked out of my ears and smashed to the ground.
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Thursday, January 8, 2015
For the past month I have been the owner of an Amazon Fire Phone. The mythical device whose name is adhered upon many an Amazon shipping container, but whose visage is rarely seen in public.nFor the past month I have grappled with a decision.nShould I accept the Fire Phone as my primary digital companion, or send it back to Amazon in the cardboard box that bears its name? As an instrument of suspense, I will leave my ultimate decision until the end of this review.
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Thursday, December 11, 2014
Before Spotlight there was Sherlock.nAnd before Sherlock there was the Find.nWe have come a long way since the search in System 7.nContent awareness, deep indexes, and live results have made modern search powerful.nBut sometimes I wish I could return to a simpler search.nWhere the indexing every file isn’t required, and I can see the results from every folder on my hard drive.nEasyFind is powerful search made easy.
EasyFind’s Best Three Features:
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Saturday, June 7, 2014
I met Bryan Clark and Jesse Herlitz during last year’s WWDC. Under the cover of darkness, in the backroom of a bar, they showed me the beginning of a brand new client for App.net . By combining slick animations, colorful transparencies, and intuitive natural gestures, they created an app the looked at home on Apple’s new iOS 7; introduced just days earlier. Today, after a year of refinement, Blixt has finally made it to the App Store.
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Monday, April 8, 2013
DEFCON is a real-time strategy game created by independent British game developer Introversion Software. Inspired by movies like Dr. Strangelove, and WarGames:
Players are given a 1980s vector graphics computer-themed world map, a varied arsenal of nuclear and conventional weaponry, and a primary objective: destroy as much of the enemy’s population as possible while having as little of one’s own population destroyed as possible. A typical game will see civilian casualties numbering in the millions (megadeaths) while players try their hand at annihilating their opponents.
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Friday, December 21, 2012
In the late 2000’s the original iPhone was the best phones money could buy, but it wasn’t necessarily the best phone for British Secret Agent James Bond.
For one, the iPhone 2G was too flashy. Its broad aluminum back, shiny chrome Apple logo, and large illuminated 3.5 inch screen attracted too much attention in a time when multitouch smart phones were new and noticeable. If Bond pulled that phone out in a crowd during his Quantum of Solace mission, everyone would have taken notice.
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
When you think of a Bond Watch, what comes to mind? Style, luxury, sophistication? Perhaps the actor who played James Bond in your favorite 007 movie, or maybe the over-the-top gadgetry that made the Bond Watch a trademark of the 007 films from the late 70’s and early 80’s?1 No matter your initial reaction, or the concealed gadget inside, we can all attest to the coolness of the 007 timepiece. A symbol for the man every boy wants to grow up to be, and the confidence every grown man wishes he could achieve.
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Friday, October 26, 2012
I am spending more time on the PC these days; running Windows 10 and dialing into MIT’s Linux servers. My trusty Apple Extended Keyboard hasn’t been getting much use. Instead of taking the time to perform the obvious task or remapping my Apple keyboard, I decided to indulge my curiosity and purchase the Das Model S Ultimate Keyboard instead. I first heard about the Das Keyboard from Shawn Blanc, when he reviewed three different clicky keyboards for use on the Mac.
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Friday, June 15, 2012
I missed out on the original release of Pretty Hate Machine in October of 1989. I was only six years old. Since then Nine Inch Nails has become my favorite band, Pretty Hate Machine my favorite album, and Trent Reznor my favorite artist. It is hard to sum up why I like Nine Inch Nails so much. As with most memorable human experiences it comes down to connections. I first discovered Nine Inch Nails during a difficult period in my life when I felt trapped.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
As a long time Mac user I was born into the desktop metaphor of files, folders, drag, and drop. It is hard to imagine using my computer in any other way. iOS opened my eyes to how functional a simplified mobile operating system can be, and why ditching the filesystem might not be a bad thing for most users. But what about the Power Users amongst us? If iOS is a simplified computing platform, and the Mac is the “computer for the rest of us,” then what are die hard file system addicts like myself supposed to be using?
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Thursday, April 12, 2012
Google Reader is dead. NetNewWire is a shadow of its former self. For the last couple of years I have been using Shaun Inman‘s Feverº to access my feed from any browser. Install Fever is not your ordinary web app. You have to install it on a hosted server you control. The system requirements are pretty standard,1 but you don’t need command line access to get started. If you have ever installed a web based CMS like Joomla!
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Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Trine 2 takes place in the same fantasy world as the original, and once again our three heroes, Zoya the thief, Pontius the knight, and Amadeus the wizard are bound together by the Trine and forced into saving the kingdom from darkness.
Trine 2 shares the same game mechanics as the original. Only one hero can be on the screen at a time, and the player must decide which hero’s unique set of abilities is up to the current task.
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Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Limbo is a puzzle-platform game that was released for the Xbox 360 in July 2010. It has only recently made its way to the Mac. I have been excited to play Limbo since I first saw the concept art over two years ago. Once you see a screenshot of Limbo you will know why it is unlike any platform puzzle game you ever have played before. Limbo was created by Danish game developer Playdead.
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Monday, February 13, 2012
Trine. is a side-scrolling platform adventure.nThe game follows the adventures of three heroes bound together by a mythical crystal force known as the Trine.nOnly one hero can be on screen at a time, and the player must switch between the three heroes often in order to complete the games various puzzles, obstacles, and enemies.
Gameplay is similar to Castlevania with elements taken from the Legend of Zelda and Diablo.nThe game is set in a fantasy world with a very Tolkien feel.
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Thursday, September 22, 2011
NetNewsWire Lite is an almost perfect app. It does one thing, and one thing well, deliver RSS. Released on March 3rd of this year, NetNewsWire Lite has become my favorite news reader not because of the features it includes but because of the features it leaves behind. Rewritten by its creator Brent Simmons from the ground up to be fast, NewNewsWire Lite is the lite version of NetNewsWire for Macintosh. It doesn’t have features like Google Reader sync, browser tabs, or the combined view found in its full featured big brother.
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Monday, April 18, 2011
Stacey is a framework for building simple websites.
The project is based around two core ideals:
Separating textual content & assets from your HTML Keeping ugly PHP-style logic out of your templates Stacey accomplishes this without a database, or installation files. Simply drag the application onto a web server with PHP installed and Stacey starts runing. “Content is managed by creating folders and editing text files.” Templates are generated by authoring HTML with a special set of tags.
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