µTorrent For Mac Lacks

My favorite bit torrent client is by far µTorrent. In the Windows version it allows me to throw an RSS feed into it and have it automatically download all my favorite shows, which means the fastest possible way to get my favorite shows the second they are available on the illegal market.

This is all fine and dandy... except when I opened up the new µTorrent Beta for Mac it seems to be missing the one thing it does best, the RSS handling. :( Oh well, a future update someday will hold what I so desire.

Big Huge Labs

Flickr is a amazing photo sharing site, as well as just a great place to keep your favorite photos, but when you want to show off your photos sometimes showing friends a stunning picture, all the Flickr bars and options pull the attention from the actual photo.

Here’s where one of this week’s company come in... Big Huge Labs is a site that aggregates a whole slew of Flickr tools and toys all on one page.

Now on my more important photos I always add a link to “View This Photo On Black” so if someone wants to see the photo in the raw without all the Flickr tools and options that take away from the experience. Instead, the viewers gets the following experience.

Some other cool tools Big Huge Labs provides for your photos are adding a digital matting, puzzles to purchase, mosaics, calendars, movie posters, magazine covers, CD cover, blog headers, or maybe you would like to add cartoon bubbles to a photo with captions.

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DIY RSS Bit Torrent!!!

I’m sure you know by now that Bit Torrent is the most effective way to download music, movies, and television shows (legal ones of course...) and I’m sure you also know that RSS (really simple syndication) is the best way to keep up with your favorite websites and news without actually visiting the full websites themselves.

Let’s learn how to combine these two concepts into a cool little mash-up! First you’ll need to download two applications: NetNewsWire and Transmission (both free! :)).

Now that you have the two essential components needed to create the best ‘automatic’ RSS downloader let’s start the configuration!

Step One: Open up Transmission and go to the Preferences window and the ‘Transfers’ tab.

Now copy my settings into your prefs window and make sure to check the ‘Auto Add’ box at the bottom and select a folder where you want Transmission to always watch for new torrent files.

Step Two: Navigate on over to tvrss.net and find an rss feed that fits your liking and copy the url. (example, here’s an rss feed for one of my favorite shows: right-click on Dexter and copy link)

Step Three: Open up NetNewsWire and click into the pref pane. / ‘Downloading’ tab / ‘Downloads Folder’ tab

Now, choose the folder you made before to download your files to.

Step Four: Now just hit the subscribe button on the top left and paste in the RSS url! Then select an episode and hit the download button at the bottom left of the window and it will download the torrent file to the folder Transmission is watching which will cause Transmission to start downloading the episode to your desktop. Ta-daaaa!

IMAP Gmail Settings

If you have an iPhone and check your email with it as well as use a desktop mail application you should make sure you’re using IMAP. This lets you keep your mail on the server, and when you read or delete an email from your phone, it will say it’s read or it will also delete on your computer.

The other great thing about IMAP is you can see and edit all your online folders that Gmail provides from your desktop and your mobile device. The downside is these folders really clutter up your inbox... also I don;t want to see my spam email, that’s why I have the spam filter in the first place... so the solution comes with Google Labs!

Scroll halfway down and look for “Advanced IMAP Controls” and click enable. Then go to your settings and the labels tab (or just click here). Now you have complete control over what folders are visible when you access your IMAP email!

Now your iPhone can be much less cluttered, and when you delete emails on the road you won’t have a full inbox when you get home!

Top Draw Viewer

Like to switch your desktops up all the time? Well Google has made it easy for us Mac users to have really cool artsy backdrops randomly generated and replaced on our desktop at a given time interval with their new application Top Draw. Here’s an example of what Top Draw has on my desktop right now...

iTunes 8

Two bits of iTunes awesomeness... first up, iTunes 8 is out, as many of you must know by now. Well there are some nice new changes and one annoying one. First the good: the new Genius feature lets you get a chance to make playlists that are similar to the song you are currently listening to. A lot like Pandora al in itunes with your music. The other great new feature is the new visualizer!

Along with being really cool it can be controlled with some pretty basic key commands that make it even more fun!

Check it out:

• • + and -: Increase or decrease the intensity (brightness) of the particles; multiple presses further increase or decrease the intensity.
• A and S: Add or Subtract particles to the visualizer. You can make the visualizer as complex (or sparse) as you wish.
• R: Reset the intensity and particle count to their default values.
• E: When in nebula mode (press N), this greatly accentuates the nebula clouds, making them very easy to see. (If you’ve used the M key to change modes, you may find that the nebula clouds aren’t visible; it seems they’re only used in certain modes.)

And my one annoyance is that now iTunes has the arrows to the iTunes store on always... not cool. Well throw this line into your terminal and goodbye annoying little arrows!

defaults write com.apple.iTunes show-store-arrow-links -bool FALSE

Until next time, enjoy!

Google Chrome

Google seems like they want to get into pretty much anything and everything that touches the internet... until recently they had yet to make a browser; enter Chrome. This browser is still in the workings, but Google has released a working version for XP and Vista so far, and... I really like it.

Chrome is smooth and simple to use. The url bar doubles as a search bar, the tabs are above everything and out of the way, but they don’t feel out of place. Bookmarks are imported from Firefox automatically, including the toolbar bookmarks. My favorite part is that Google thinks of everything... when you open a new tab the window shows you your most visited sites in thumbnail form and has a list on the side of recent sites. How cool is that?

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Eubiq

Eubiq is a really awesome company that offers a modern alternative to electrical sockets. They took the standard plug and made it safer and easier to use in cluttered areas. Check it out!

Facebook Chat in Adium 1.3

The newest version of Adium, the far superior iChat replacement, now incorporates Facebook chat! You know, that really annoying chat window that pops up now and then from someone you don’t talk to enough for them to have your number or screen name...

My favorite part about this is not the chatting ability, but rather that I can set my Facebook status easily without ever even opening up a browser.

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Leatherman Keys!

Instructables has a wicked cool Leatherman hack that lets you have both your favorite mini tool and your keys with you at all times! Check it out!

B+ with Jamie Lidell

Here’s one of my favorite songs and the promo video that goes along with it, so if you’re feeling in a down mood... cheer up and B+!

dSLRs And The Nikon D40

The Nikon D40 is a wonderfully made digital single lens reflex (dSLR) camera. It includes an 18-55mm kit lens, which is equal to about a 3x zoom, and can be interchanged with a variety of other lenses from cheap $250 upgrades to the same $2500 lenses other super high end cameras can accept. This is exceptionally awesome because you are given the option to do a LOT more with your camera down the road when you want to step up your photography.

If you’re used to normal digital point-and-shoot cameras but you want to get a much better picture quality and a more organic feel to shooting photos this is the perfect camera to help you transition from a general point and shooter into the world of amateur photography.

The learning curve is very minimal if you’ve ever used a standard 35mm SLR film camera, digital SLR cameras work almost exactly the same. Anyone can easily pick up a D40 and take amazing pictures, it’s as easy as learning how to use the zoom and then the rest is generally the same as any other digital camera.

The main reason to step up to a dSLR of course is to get better picture quality. The D40 is a 6.1 megapixel camera, which seems low for a high end consumer camera/low end professional camera when compared to some Olympus 10.2MP camera you can find at Target for $250... but the megapixel rating has nothing to do with quality, just physical picture size. When you take a picture with a dSLR your camera actually opens a shutter and looks through an aperture for a given amount of time which exposes a certain amount of light in, and that image information is recorded digitally to an SD card just like a film camera would record that information to the mylar film.

The colors dSLRs are able to capture are simply amazing! Where you really notice the difference in your photos is in the saturation and clarity of colors and shadows. This seems basic, but the ability to capture black as ‘black’ and not just ‘dark grey’ is absolutely crucial to presenting colors as they look in real life.

For instance: the photos below are cropped from larger versions to accentuate the differences. On the left the photo was taken with a standard point-and-shoot (Canon PowerShot). Notice how it looks grainy and the colors are dull. Whereas the photo on the right was taken with a dSLR (Pentax K100D) and you can right away see how much more clear it is and how the colors really pop out. You can see how shadows really make a difference if you look at the difference between the boy’s hair in the two pictures; the dSLR lets you really see the true colors and definition of everything in the photo, where with the standard camera everything just looks dull and flat.

The next thing that worries people often times with dSLR cameras is they think they will be difficult to use or figure out all the different settings... well the Nikon D40 takes all of that frustration and throws it out the window! You can just throw it in automatic mode and it will figure everything for you except how close to zoom in; that includes ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focusing, flash, white balance, and the list goes on!

When you do get to a level where you want to experiment a little the camera has built in pointers to help you shoot perfect pictures too. So say you’re in a dark room and you need a flash, the camera will tell you that you should turn on the flash because of low light. Also, when you are changing settings like ISO you are shown examples of what the different setting should be used for. This makes the Nikon D40 not only easy to use, but much more fun when you can get professional quality photos without even opening up the manual or taking a photography class!


Pros: High quality ‘prosumer’ level dSLR camera with interchangeable lenses, very cheap ($475 on Amazon) for a dSLR with a kit lens included, can shoot in RAW, high quality 6.1 megapixel sized photos, very easy to use as a beginner, excellent color capturing capabilities.
Cons: The msrp of $499 for this camera is not cheap by average camera standards, it can’t even compare to the size of a simple point-and-shoot camera

The Bottom Line: The Nikon D40 is for the aspiring photography hobbyist, not the layman nor the professional. This is a perfect stepping stone from general picture taking to the world of professional digital photography. It’s cheap, comes with everything you need right in the box (except an SD card), and it’s very easy to use and catch amazing photos with. This is a great buy, DEFINITELY check it out if you want to capture life’s very best memories to remember for the rest of yours... just as you lived them!

Overall: 8.5

Usability: 7 This is a very easy dSLR to use if you know anything about cameras, but it’s not for the layman
Customizability: 8 Interchangeable lenses, the ability to add on filters, and external flashes is awesome, some old lenses won’t fit properly without expensive adapter rings though
GUI: 9 very appealing indeed, beautiful screen that tells you every pertinent piece of information you’d need to know to take simply amazing photos
Coolness: 10 This camera turns heads left and right... and it takes photos that do the same!

Hi-Res LED Screen Color Profile

I have been slightly struggling to get the perfect calibration for my MacBook Pro 17” with the new Hi-Res LED backlight screen. The screen is VERY bright (as you can see in the comparrison photo), and uses very little energy, but the colors aren’t as impressive as the standard TFT screens.

These screen often show deep blacks as dark grey. I’ve posted my screen calibration profile though, that seems to be quite accurate and true at presenting colors in a realistic light. Just downlod the zip file, unzip it, and place the calibration .icc file in the path included, then choose it from the display color settings in the system preferences.

Android Kicks iPhone's Ass!

Google Android is an open source cell phone operating system that will be available at the end of this year. Here’s a video(full article) from a recent press conference Google put on to show off some of the awesome features.

You will notice a lot of iPhone-like features, which is awesome because why not use ideas that are already great and work well, but Android steps it up and takes iPhone features and improves upon them in a way that makes the device much more fun and easy to use.

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Minimalist Outlets

Here's a wicked cool idea for the minimalist in all of us! Bocci has a system that lets you install these reeeeallllly cool looking electrical outlets in your wall!

You do have to do some pretty serious surgery to your walls... but if you're handy, determined, crafty, or think you are any of the above ;-), then this is a definite must check out product!

Floating Stairs!

Uhh, floating stairs? Yes please! This is awesome! I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be letting my niece play on them, but they give such an awesome modern look!

Comcast on Twitter?

On Twitter this morning I posted that I was going to find a local Comcast service center to return my modem and when I got back I noticed that, what? Comcast posted a reply...

Weird and kind of creepy if you ask me. All I did was mention Comcast and they are right there trying to help me, I didn't say I had a problem, all I said is that I was trying to find a local store... I'm not one to usually care about privacy issues, but this is pushing it.

Commands-N Concept...

Just thought I'd share a bit of geek humor mixed with a relaxing concept...

Grand Central

Grand Central is a recently Google acquired service that lets you have one phone number that will call all of your devices. This can be really handy when you're home so you can answer either your land line or cell phone calls on whatever phone is most convenient. Or say you're on vacation... never miss an important call again. Or if you want to let it go, it will go to one central voicemail so you can access it from anywhere.

In addition to the basic features, you can also monitor your calls on your computer as they come in, listen to the calls as they are being recorded to voicemail, block callers, record calls, one number that can ring different phones depending on who's calling, switch to another phone in the middle of the call if you need to be on the run but aren't ready to hang up, special rings, and ringback tones too.

Obama "Yes We Can" Video

Kudos to will.i.am for gathering such an amazing group of people to express the message of hope from our next president.

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Cork'd

If you love wine, want to catalog your wine cellar, or just get a feel for what other people think about the wines you're drinking, you should check out Corkd. I've been using this awesome free site for around a year now (only since I turned 21 of course ;-)), it's a great site that lets you read and write reviews, take personal notes, or just keep track of wines you've tried or want to try.

Cork'd can also log all the wines in your cellar for you with vintages, varietals, scores, average prices, reviews, and quick easy to use tasting tags (for example: cherry, honeydew melon, raspberry, apple, et cetera). Once you have an account, get some drinking buddies and recommend wines to each other! It's a great way to find the best wines at reasonable prices, let someone else try them first... :)

Afloat Goes 2.0

Leopard is great, but with Leopard came the inability to have transparent windows anymore :(. Until Afloat 2.0 was released just recently! The old Afloat was great, but it was broken when Apple upgraded to 10.5 Leopard.

Afloat is an app that lets you make windows transparent and adds various other superfluous effects to all cocoa apps.

A quick FREE download and you'll all ready to go! Just open up any cocoa application (Safari and iChat for example) and click on the "Window" menu item. Any option with a little cloud next to it is a special Afloat add on.

Facebook Chat

Facebook used to be clean and easy to use, that's why pretty much every college student told MySpace where to stick it. Facebook was then opened to the public, which wasn't too much of a difference for most people. THEN applications were brought to Facebook... This caused a pretty big uproar and is still as issue among many students. The next big thing that Facebook just publicly released this morning is chat.

You could always see who was on Facebook right now by going to "Friends > Who's Online" but now you can go one step further and talk to those that are online right away. The chats are instant messages just like AOL Instant Messenger so there's no need to wait for a reply like in a personal message or wall post. Want to check it out? Go to Facebook right now, look on the bottom right corner of your window and you'll see the new chat box. Neat huh?

NOAA.gov Buoys

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is an organization funded by our wonderful government and they are diligent scientists that record everything there is to record having to do with water and weather in the US. The department I'm really excited about is the automated buoy information system. There are self sustained weather stations with solar powered accelerometers and computers that record and keep track of the movement of the water.

This recorded data is then sent by satellite back to home base and is actually posted on their website every 10 minutes!!! Wicked cool!!! The information that is recorded is ridiculously in depth too, the best parts are the height of the swells, the length of the period between swells, the water and air direction, water and air temps, et cetera. Check it out, there's even an RSS feed!

LED Magic

This is by far the most impressive stop-motion video I've ever seen, period. What's so interesting is that this project could have only been captured by long exposures (10 seconds each) due to the LED light sources and how they are being captured as pictures. Keep that in mind when you check out this film.

Panoramio

Yet another FREE Google service that is awesome! Panoramio is a great web based service that provides the same service as Flickr's geo tagging, except Google takes it one step farther, you can then see those tagged photos right in Google Earth when you view that area!!! Pretty cool huh?!?!

Here's what the site looks like


Here's what that looks like in google earth with a photo selected

Leopard Volume!

(From TUAW)
"Sure, you can use the volume key on your MacBook or Apple keyboard to do quick volume changes, but that doesn't adjust the volume that precisely. If you want to fine tune your volume, you have to either open System Preferences or click on the volume icon in the menu bar. However, you can also tweak the volume by holding down the option + shift keys and tapping the volume up/down keys on your keyboard.

As an additional note, you can also hold down the shift button while pressing the volume keys to mute the "pop" that you hear when pressing the volume key.

If you want to permanently silence the volume-adjust beeping, uncheck "Play feedback when volume is changed" in the Sound Effects preference pane and it won't bother you again (helpful for podcasting or other situations when you might need to adjust your volume on the fly)."

Calibrate Your Screen

Most people take their computer screens for granted. They don't realize the full potential is just a few clicks away! Leopard has a built in screen calibrator that will help you get your screen looking as color popping and accurate as possible!

Macworld has this slightly old, yet still accurate article on how to set up your screen quickly and accurately. It was a great help when trying to match my two screens so they were similarly and accurately displaying color.

Syslogd Process

If you're using Leopard's Time Machine, from time to time check out the ram/cpu usage on a process called "syslogd." It gets extremely high, the good news is all you have to do is kill the process and it restarts in a few seconds at its normal ram usage around 7MB. There are two ways to go about doing this without having to open Activity Monitor every time you notice this problem. The first way uses the Terminal, just type in sudo killall syslogd then enter in your password. like this:

Or you could write an Applescript that says the following:

This is what I do because I use the scripts menu item and I can access and run this and other commonly used scripts with just a quick click. I like menu items a lot, what can I say? :)

Flickr Pro

We all know about Flickr, the website for organizing and sharing our photos. Most people don't actually have an account though. I got a free account a little over a year ago to host some photos, but recently I decided that I was going to use Flickr a lot more, so I upgraded to a pro account. Lets compare the differences: with a free account you get a 100MB a month upload limit, you are allowed 3 photo sets and your photos are cut off at the 1024x768 size, images under 5MB each only.

With the Flickr account you are given unlimited storage, unlimited photo sets, a permanent online archive for your photos, ad free browsing and sharing, account and photo statistics, and the photo quality has essentially no resolution limit.

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