Today at the iPod event, Apple announced, and subsequently released, iTunes 9. The major improvements are the iTunes store and the ability to rearrange apps through iTunes. There are also some slight cosmetic changes in iTunes 9. For comparison, I have screenshots of both iTunes 8 and 9.
Continue reading →

It’s nice to see Steve Jobs back, and Apple taking more jabs at Microsoft. Although in the mp3 market, they’re totally justified in doing so. Read on to see the highlights of (and my opinions on) the iPod event.
Continue reading →

All those web designers out there, with their fancy coding skills, nobody knows how to make a proper website anymore. In this wonderful article, I’ll show you how. So open up Frontpage and let’s get started!
Continue reading →

A little late on today’s post, but I’m still technically on time. Down to business, I was browsing around, being totally unproductive one day, when I stumbled upon (no pun intended) an interesting bit of news. Apparently, China had banned World of Warcraft because they didn’t want the “democratic west corrupting the People’s Republic of China (that in itself is the biggest lie here).”
Continue reading →

As stated in a previous update, I’ve failed two classes. Of course my parents took my computer away almost instantly, along with my iPod and guitar. Which probably explains why I’m posting at 3:45am. I can only blame myself for this, though. I was too lazy to do any work, and I got the grades I deserved. I don’t know what I was hoping for by not doing any coursework. Ah well, live and learn. Also, I’m probably going to summer school to make up those credits, which should be quite an interesting experience.

Other Updates

I installed Textile on the blog, and let me tell you, writing posts in it is so much faster than with the WYSIWYG editor. It’s even faster than in HTML. Hosting and domain have been renewed, so this blog isn’t going down anytime soon.

New Site

I recently finished working on danielzabolotny.com. It’s basically one of those little address card-like microsites that are oh-so popular these days among web designers. It’s still not perfect, but the basics are there. Also, try the .org, .net, and .info TLD’s on the aforementioned domain. I bought all of them, and GoDaddy gave me a great deal for all four.

Killswitch Engage II

One of my favorite bands of all time, Killswitch Engage, has released their new CD recently. Well not really… the official release date is about a week away. Anyway, it’s a great record, with some very catchy songs. Production is top-notch as always. Their sound is slightly different, but it’s still easily recognizable as Killswitch Engage. A great record, I highly recommend it to all metalcore enthusiasts.

Xscope

Great piece of software by Iconfactory. It overlays several useful tools over all apps, while still allowing apps to be used at the same time. Ever needed a ruler to measure if two elements are truly level? Easy, with the ruler tool. See a really nice color? Just use the loupe tool to mouse over the desired tool and cmd+shift+c copies the color. You can even configure it to copy in different formats, such as hex, rgba, hsb, etc. Need some guides? No problem, with the guide tool. It works just like the guides in Photoshop; you drag them wherever you need them. All the different tools reside in the menubar, ready to be used at any time. Even though it’s a pretty powerful app, it takes surprisingly little CPU power, meaning I can run it in the background all the time without slowing down my computer. A free trial is available, and it costs a reasonable $26.95 for a license. Definitely a good buy for any Mac-using designer out there.

That’s all I have to write about for now… Kinda tired, off to bed now.

PS: +1 internets to the person who can name where I got the title from. 

Today was WWDC, the Apple event where they annually amaze everybody with their innovation/shininess.

Firstly, the Macbook Pro line was updated, with the price of a 15-inch MacBook Pro dropped to $1699, and the 17-incher got a price drop as well. Both models now have sealed, non-removable batteries, which claim to last up to 7 hours, and have a supposed lifespan of 7 years. They also lost the Express Card slot, in favor of an SD card slot. This is a huge plus for me, as I’m a little tired of dragging a full card reader along with me, when 90% of the consumer cameras out there use SD cards. Also, a 13-inch MacBook Pro has been added to the MacBook Pro line, starting at $1199. Thankfully, the anti-glare option was added to all the models in the Pro line. Glossy looks nice, but in the world outside of perfectly lit showrooms, it’s a disaster.

However, the iPhone is what everybody was really anxious to see. Some of the rumors proved true, while others false. I was a little disappointed at Apple’s decision to keep the glossy, fingerprint-magnet iPhone design rather than the rumored matte design. The new iPhone is called the iPhone 3GS, with the “S” standing for speed, as Apple claims the new iPhone to be twice as fast as the the older one. The new iPhone OS finally has copy and paste, video recording, and spotlight. As usual, Apple will probably charge a fee to upgrade iPod Touches. The new iPhone didn’t have the rumored OLED display, though. It will retail at $199 for the 16gb version, and $299 for the 32gb version. The older iPhone 3G will not be discontinued- its price has been dropped to $99, to cater to the lower-end market. Still, for a “low-end” phone, it’s still pretty awesome.

Snow Leopard was announced, and it will ship in September. What appealed to me is the $29 upgrade price for Leopard users- much less than upgrade prices before. No major UI changes have been made, with most of the changes being under the hood, including speed improvements, decreased file size, and more.

Sadly, Steve Jobs did not make an appearance at this WWDC. Apple executives say his health has improved and he is in good condition, but following his absence, I highly doubt these claims. For all we know, he could be dead, and Apple is keeping him “alive” to avoid the inevitable plummeting of Apple shares if the truth got out.

SAT

I took the SAT this past Saturday. I think I did a lot better on the essay, which I actually finished, unlike last time. The essay topic was a bit easier this time, too. It was something along the lines of:

“Can we benefit by learning from the flaws of people that we greatly respect and admire?”

The rest was pretty easy as well. I sure hope I got a 2000, so that I can finally end with this SAT crap. The Regents examinations are next week, but those I could ace in my sleep, so I’m not the slightest bit worried.

Safari 4

Apple has finally released the official, final version of Safari 4. I’ve downloaded it, but I haven’t installed it yet; it requires me to have the latest Leopard update, and I really don’t feel like restarting my Mac right now. From what I’ve seen, it seems like the tabs have been relocated to below the address bar, like in Firefox and Safari 3.