Coda: The new web development app from Panic!
I didn’t think it would ever happen but it has. A new web development application has come along that makes me wish Dreamweaver would get on the ball. Today Panic, a small Mac software development company released Coda, which is described as “one-window web development.â€? They’ve done some very interesting things and added some great features (such as a built in terminal) but what impresses me the most is the interface design. Coda makes every aspect of web development beautiful, even the most gritty of details.
While I don’t expect many professional developers to abandon their Dreamweaver licenses anytime soon, Coda does make me wish that Adobe would pay a little more attention to sprucing up DW’s outdated interface.
Read More13 killer Mac apps for $13
I heard about this last night and I couldn’t believe it. It looks like MacZOT is offering 13 well known Mac applications as a bundle for $13. As of right now they’ve only unveiled 4 of the 13 apps but the ones they have unveiled are worth much more than $13, the total value of the bundle is around $300!!!
Read MoreMoving away from table-based web design
Back in 1997 typographer David Siegel changed the way web designers made websites; some would say he even changed the web itself. He wrote about an emerging technique for pixel-perfect designs. The technique involved combining the <table> tag with sliced images and spacer gif images to achieve a design that was all but impossible back then. Web designers were overjoyed with this new found wisdom. They could now create web page designs that were as graphically rich and fluid as their traditional print media cousins. But as happy as the designers around the world were, David began to recognize the implications of his discovery.
In David’s “The Web Is Ruined and I Ruined It�? he writes:
Read More“I ruined the Web by mixing chocolate and peanut butter so they could never become unmixed. I committed the hangable offense of mixing structure with presentation, and in HTML and SGML circles, that’s a big no-no. The reason the HTML purists never carried out their threats is not that they’re against violence, it’s that they know that if they kill me, someone else will rise to take my place. It seems that structure and presentation have been mixed forever, and the Web is in the fast lane of the road to Hell. Fortunately, nothing on the Web is what it seems, and “forever“ lasts only about six months.�?
Macworld 2007 Predictions
The 2007 Macworld conference and expo is happening next week and as any Apple user will tell you this is a big deal. Steve Jobs, the CEO of Apple gives the keynote presentation in which he almost always introduces or announces new products. There’s no shortage of Macworld predictions out there. From the iPhone to the announced but yet unreleased iTV, there are plenty of predictions out there. But I thought of a couple of likely announcements that I haven’t seen elsewhere. So, at the risk of looking like a typical Apple fan boy, here are my 2007 Macworld predictions.
More color options for MacBook
Apple has made it clear over the last couple of years that it is trying to use its popular iPod to help and sell more of their computers, and to a large extent they’ve been very successful at doing so. In most cases this has meant MacBooks (previously iBook) that closely resemble the industrial design of the iPod. Smooth curves and glossy white as well as black finishes are obvious similarities on both the iPod and the MacBook. So, now that we’ve got a highly colorful assortment of iPod Nanos can we expect Apple to roll out new color options for the MacBooks? We’ll see! I have to admit that a lime green MacBook would almost put my MacBook lust over the edge.
iTunes Movie Store Rental Option
Apple didn’t exactly surprise the world when they announced the inclusion of movies on the iTunes store. There had been speculation for many months before the event that suggested Apple would do so. However, what was surprising was the lack of movie studio support and the absence of a rental option. Purchasing a digital copy of a movie is a great idea, but paying around $10 for it isn’t that enticing when many DVDs are nearly the same price.
I believe we’ll see a new DRM-controlled rental option on the iTunes movie store. You pay $3 or less for a digital download of the movie that will play as expected on your computer for 30 days or so. Then, after that period, the file (which can no longer be played) can be deleted.
Apple Video Tablet
Some time ago there was a big to-do made about Apple patent filings for what appeared to be a large tablet PC with a touch screen display that was around 8�? in size. After the TabletMac was all but dismissed some others started to speculate about the possibility of this being a new portable video device that Apple was planning to release. With Apple’s recent interest in the movie field this seems highly possible. It also sounds like a good companion to the iTV. Movies streamed wirelessly to your portable video screen anyone?
Some other well known predictions that I also agree with are:
- Video iPod with larger, widescreen display
- iPhone
- iTV release (finally)
However, those who have visited Apple’s website recently likely noted the new graphical feature which states “The first 30 years were just the beginning.�?. So could we all selling Apple’s announcements short?
Read MoreAudion: The Rise and Retirement of a Mac Application
Although this is a computer-related posting I believe that, given a chance, just about anyone would find this a very interesting read.
For those of you who aren’t familiar Mac software Audion was one of the first CD/MP3 player applications available for the Mac. It had a lot of firsts which helped propel it to being one of the best audio players out there, for Mac or PC.
In The True Story of Audion one of the founders of Panic, the company who created the software, tells the entire story of the rise and eventual retirement of Audion with the arrival of iTunes. From their heated competition with SoundJam to the job offer he and his partner received from Apple this is a wonderful read.
Here’s a little taste:
“When we created Audion, our Mac-only, multipurpose MP3 application, Steven Frank and I had one goal: we wanted to listen to our music CDs on our computers while we worked, and we wanted to it be stylish. We had no indication that MP3s would one day turn the music industry upside down and have it running for cover. We certainly had no idea that something like the iPod would pop up and literally change Apple as a company. And even though we weren’t really responsible for any revolutions per se — rather, we rode on the revolution-train with many others — everything that happened to Audion just fell into place, magically and unexpectedly, like so many beautiful moments in life.”
Click here for the whole story.
Read MoreBloggers in Richmond Indiana
I’ve had several people email me lately telling me that they found my website while looking for bloggers in the Richmond Indiana area. As recently as two years ago there were only a handful of us around here that even knew what a blog was much less actually have our own blogs. Now as the internet and its offerings become more common in households across the midwest we’re seeing a rise in the number of bloggers in the area. Chris Hardie has developed a listing of the local bloggers around town and it’s very exciting to see all of these people who share their lives with the world.
If you don’t currently have a blog I highly recommend starting one today! There are several free services out there that allow you to setup a blog with little or no technical ability. Whether it’s an online journal or a place for you to share your ideas with the world, I for one would love to hear what you have to say.
Here are a couple of bloggers that aren’t yet on Chris’ list:
- Barry Pike’s Blog
- More to come
About Me
I'm a Christ-following website developer, filmmaker and songwriter. I love Jesus and love spending time and ministering to my brothers and sisters. I am owner/partner at Resonate Creative a creative services firm based in Fort Worth, TX and Systems Analyst at Gateway Church.
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