Cogs can think.

PowerBook:~ thomholwerda$ sudo lsof | grep ExplainingBBLeadership.pdf
Password:
Finder 94 thomholwerda txt REG 14,2 82162 2482912 /Users/thomholwerda/.Trash/ExplainingBBLeadership.pdf

What I dont understand is why the goddamn “File in use” error dialog doesn’t tell me WHAT process is using it.

“The world’s most advanced operating system” MY ASS.

I want an iPhone.

There, I said it. The recent SDK, no matter how limited it might be, will allow the full force of Mac developers to descend upon the iPhone. And let’s face it, application developers for the Mac know how to make great, functional applications. I prefer them over any other platforms’.

Sadly, my two-year contract was renewed only a few months ago, and of course, the iPhone will be way too expensive over here. In addition, Apple will obviously partner with any carrier except my own (T-Mobile). In other words, I won’t be having one any time soon.

Curse the control freaks in Cupertino.

“With 300+ new features, Leopard is the most impressive Mac OS X version yet.”

We can go back in time, edit photos while making a cure for cancer, and of course, we look cool and hip while doing it.

AND YET STILL NO ARROW KEY NAVIGATION IN DIALOGS.

• Last Thursday, I finally bought a new Mac, after months and months of pondering what to buy. I decided to buy a 2nd hand PowerBook G4 from an Apple retailer (so I get support and guarantee). It’s a 15″ PowerBook G4 1.25Ghz, 768Mb of RAM, Radeon 9600 with 64Mb of RAM, 60GB hard disk, and a combodrive. It runs Tiger, and I’m really, really happy with it - it’s in mint condition. I’ll up the RAM to 1.5GB next month.
• I’m launching a web comic on and about OSNews. It’s a definite gamble, but I like doing it, and the first responses were very positive. We have settled on a name, which will be revealed as soon as we get the website in order to publish comics.
• I’ll spend my New Year’s Eve in Amsterdam.

There are a few things about being the OSNews guy that really rock. Apart from having the superpower to be pro and anti everything at the same time, I also got the superpower that lets me get free stuff from companies.

Apple has loaned me a brand new MacBook (2.2Ghz Core 2 Duo/1GB of RAM/Intel GMA x3100/120GB HDD/SuperDrive) with Leopard on it so I can review it for OSNews. Obviously, the device has to go back to Apple when I’m done, and we’ve set a four week window; this gives me enough time to properly review the thing. Right before the Apple MacBook goes back, I will buy my own so I can transfer settings and such - or maybe they will let me buy the one they sent me, who knows. I want the OSNews review to be done in about three weeks. December 1st is my birthday (I’m turning 23), and somewhere soon after that, I will buy my own MacBook.

So far, I like the MacBook. One thing though, Apple: would it kill you to include the mini-dvi-to-vga adapter by default?

Thank you.

It’s sold. The Cube is no longer in my possession. I really didn’t like parting with it, but as a parting gift (besides the 300 EUR, that is), consider the following conversation with the buyer.

“I have to say though, the Cube is an American Cube, so it has an American power plug. I’m giving you an adapter with it, though, and of course, you can replace the American power cord with a Dutch one.”

“No problem. It’s replacing an American Cube as well. My NeXTcube browser was starting to annoy me, old and all.”

The guy was using a NeXTcube as his main computer. I can assure you, my Cube is in good hands.

You want good Mac for good price? You come to Thom, I sell good Cube for good price!

In goede staat verkerende PowerMac G4 Cube te koop wegens overstap naar Intel Mac. Met alle originele toebehoren, inclusief de originele doos. Uiteraard werkend te zien, en draait Tiger heerlijk.

Specs:
- PowerMac G4 Cube 450Mhz
- 768MB RAM
- 128GB HDD
- GeForce 2MX 32MB videokaart uitbreiding (dus Quartz Extreme)
- Originele bolletje speakers, keyboard, muis, en doos
- Externe USB geluidskaart bijgeleverd zodat je externe speakers kunt aansluiten

EUR 350. Take it or leave it.

I just bought the new aluminium Apple keyboard - wired, of course. Nice piece of machinery. I always preferred laptop keyboards over traditional ones, as they feel more natural. Let’s hope it doesn’t get restricted to 867Mhz+ machines when Leopard comes out.

And it has that new-Apple-gear-smell. I love that smell.

And so Apple decided to turn up the heat under satisfied PowerPC owners by (most likely) dropping support for 800Mhz and lower PowerPC G4 Macs from Leopard. For me, this sucks major balls.

I have a PowerMac G4 Cube, with a 450Mhz PowerPC G4 with 1Mb L2 cache, 768MB of pc133 SDRAM, and an nVIDIA GeForce 2MX with 32MB of video RAM. It has a nice 128GB hard drive, AirPort Extreme, and of course a DVD drive. It’s a completely silent machine, and serves me extremely well as my main machine. It runs the latest OSX just fine (except for Flash). I can do a lot of stuff simultaneously, and therefore, am perfectly happy with the system’s performance.

And, lest we forget, it’s the best-looking computer man has ever conceived, and is a great fit for my living room.

Apple’s reasons for this decision are clear: financial gains. By cutting off a whole bunch of G4 owners, they will force them to upgrade to Intel Macs if they wish to continue to run the latest and greatest. On top of that, this cut off is completely arbitrary - I have received many reports from Leopard testers that Leopard ran just fine on machines similar to mine, including the new fancy effects. So, it’s obvious Apple wants to please their stockholders - which is fine by me, but that doesn’t make it nicer to its customers. Once again Apple is showing that it is not a single bit better than every other company out there - Apple is just like Microsoft. Make no mistake about it.

I wish Apple would go about this the same way as Microsoft: set minimum specifications, but let customers decide *shock gasp horror* for themselves if they are willing to run the OS slightly slower than His Steveness intends. Give us customers the freedom to do whatever the fcuk we deem acceptable. I have run Vista on machines way below the minimum specifications, and I could get acceptable performance out of them, simply because Microsoft allows me, as a customer, to have the freedom to actually try it.

Anyway, as OSNews’ managing editor, I find that I ought to always run the latest and greatest (software-wise), in order to make informed decisions as to what news items to publish, and to have good knowledge on what’s available on the market - knowledge I need for writing informed editorials and reviews. Apple is making that impossible for me.

You see, despite claims to the contrary, OSNews ain’t making any of us money. All our ad money goes to hosting, and whatever’s left goes to David to give us the odd present here and there. Oh, and of course, the company DB9 we all drive. So, in other words, I ain’t rich. I simply cannot afford to spend a 1099 1199 EUR on a new iMac (no, I don’t want a Mini, I don’t like it, it’s ugly, and it’s a toy, and in The Netherlands, way overpriced), just because His Steveness wants me to.

I’m genuinely pissed off about this one.

Played with the new iMac for a while today at the Apple store (well, premium reseller, same thing).

Damn, that’s one sexy piece of engineering. I need to find a method to get rich fast.