Leopard 10.5.3 Update available for Mac

Apple released today the 10.5.3 update for leopard, it is available through the system update as a 420M download or via the Apple support site as 10.5.2 update or comboUpdate.

this release is not ready for hackintosh yet, but it will be soon enough, it include several bug fix, Time Machine improvements, Clearer images for Spaces, and some bugfix for other apps like iCal, mail etc.

the complete list of changes and download is available at these links:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1141

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222

Shay.

Apple OS X Server Admin Tools

if you haven't heard of Leopard Server 10.5.2 then you should know that there is such a release of leopard, a server side, note that there is no distribution yet for OSX86, but you can patch it using the old methods of brazilmac, also you can install some OSX86 release and then open the server dmg and install it (so i heard, never tried it).

but if it is the tools and apps that found on the server (and don't come with client leopard) you are looking for, then you can download the leopard server full version (about 6.5G) and extract the tools using pacifist and run them on your leopard.

apps included in the server release includes:
iCal Server
wiki
Podcast producer
Spotlight server
iChat Server
Mail services
Web Hosting
Directory
etc.

if you are looking for the cool blue aurora desktop image, it can be found here.

also if you would like to control your server from a remote leopard client then download the remote server admin tools, you can get it for free (apple give it away), it can be downloaded from version tracker at this link or directly from apple at this link.

after download has completed mount the dmg, and install the package it will install these tools:
Server Monitor
Server Assistance
Server Admin
Server Preferences
System Image Utility
Workgroup Manager
Xgrid Admin

here are the screenshots:













Enjoy.

Visor - Terminal Everywhere

I have found this cool utility written by BlackTree named Visor,

it allows you to use terminal when and where ever you need it,

it has a cool animation that scroll (the terminal window) down from the menu bar (like a console from within 3D games when you press ~ key),

of-course it needs the terminal application to be running, and you use the key combination Ctrl+F1 (can be changed), in order to install it you will need SIMBL which is a smart simple way to write small plugins to existing application (without compilation or ever needing the application source).

the screenshot at the top of the post display the way the end result looks like, and here is a small video that display the animation.

in order to install it follow these steps:

1. Download SIMBL from here

2. Install SIMBL (execute the downloaded SIMBL.pkg)

3. Download Visor from here.

4. copy the downloaded Bundle file into: ~/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins

if this folder does not exist - create it

5. launch (or relaunch) the terminal application and press Ctrl+F1

Note the "Visor Preferences..." menu item from the Terminal Menu.

Enjoy.

How to Access OSX drives from Windows

If you have a disk or partition of windows that you boot from and you need to access your files (images, music, movies, etc.) on the Leopard or any other OSX drive then read on.

for this purpose you need to use MacDrive application, this application is installed on windows and can display Macintosh Hard Drives inside "My Computer" as if they are normal windows partitions, you can read, write, change and even delete files if you must.

the installation is very simple (next,next,next), and after it is done you reboot and you can access your OSX drives from the hackintosh dual boot, or from USB external Time-Machine.

1. download MacDrive
2. from windows install MacDrive
3. reboot into windows (make sure Mac drives are connected)

thats it, the MacDrives will be marked with a special icon indicating they are Mac and not simple windows HD.
after the install "My Computer" should looks like this:


Enjoy.

How to Access NTFS (R/W access) from OSX

this post is written due to a readers question (i added the email and the response as a comment to this post),
he was having problems writing to NTFS (Windows Hard Drives), if you have dual boot or connecting USB Hard Drives that have NTFS File System and want to access it from within OSX for writing purposes then read on.

if the HD is plugged or mounted after the system has loaded (for instance a USB disk on key) then you get a read/write access and can do whatever you wish to that USB Flash Drive.

but if you have a Disk connected and already have an NTFS file system on it then it will be auto mounted at boot time but it will give you read only access. for instance i have a vista partition dual booting with OSX and from within OSX it looks like this:



so what you need to do is to install two simple utilities:
MacFUSE (Mac File-System User-Space) it support the file system of many kind in a kernel-level so they integrate from the OSX almost natively.
NTFS-3G a driver that support the linux FUSE spec and can be run on-top of the MacFUSE Plugin and support the NTFS from within Mac OSX.

the steps are very easy:
1. download MacFUSE
2. run MacFUSE Core.pkg
3. download NTFS-3g (make sure to download the "Mac OS X DMG Package")
4. mount the DMG file
5. run NTFS-3G.pkg
6. restart

thats it, the final result should look like any other drive like this:



if you would like to uninstall NTFS-3G follow these steps:

1. from the NTFS-3g DMG execute the script: "Uninstall NTFS-3G.command"
2. press "Open" on the appearing popup
3. in the terminal that appear enter your password and press enter
4. wait until this message appears: [Process completed] and then you can close the terminal
   

if you would like to uninstall MacFUSE follow these steps:

1. open a new terminal and write: sudo -s (and press enter)
2. enter your password and press enter
3. paste these two lines and press enter after each one of them
4. lsbom -fls /Library/Receipts/MacFUSE\ Core.pkg/Contents/Archive.bom | colrm 1 1 | xargs rm -v
5. rm -rv /Library/Receipts/MacFUSE\ Core.pkg
6. reboot
   

your computer will come up without NTFS-3G and without MacFUSE.

here are the Install screenshots in case you need them:

MacFuse Install Screen Shots:










and the NTFS-3G Install Screenshots:









Enjoy.

Sticky Windows - keep your screen sorted

Sticky Windows is a utility that helps you keep your screen clear,
the application dock your windows to the edges of the screen and turn windows into tabs,
this way you can decide which window to see and the others (docked) will minimize to their tab,


to be fair, this is kind of the windows icon function in the start bar, only funkier, more then that it allow only one window active at a time (unless you choose manual settings then it really act like windows bar), so it auto minimize, and since we don't want to clutter our dock (and we can't have multiple docks (or can we?)) then it is the next best thing.

1. download the utility from here
2. double click the install icon, it will install the preference pane
3. it will open system preferences and the Sticky Windows panel
4. check the lower check box to activate Sticky Windows
   
5. press settings and make sure you like the defaults or set your tab corners, colors, etc.
6. a magenta line will run from the bottom of your screen to the top to indicate activation
7. drag a screen to one of the edges (top edge is not enabled by default)

as with dock you can drag the tab away from the edge in order to remove it (you will see the puff cloud like in the dock).

all in all it is a nice feature, help organize your screen and keep it tidy, it just give me another dilemma when moving from window to window, should i use spaces? rely on expose and leave the screen as is? minimize to dock, or click on the next window with Option (Alt) pressed so the window will hide? ... but thats what i like in mac all these options and freedom to choose.

the utility is not memory or CPU consuming i have been monitoring it though it uses 0.1-0.5 from the CPU every 5-10 sec (what for i am not sure), its eye candy and even mac geazers will wonder whats that on your screen.


up side:

1. organize your windows, remove window clutter, can see the desktop again
   
2. simple to use just click to appear and drag to organize or convert to tab
3. support non tabbed windows (old school)
4. you decide where to tab (all 4 edges supported)
5. automatically minimize window if not in focus (configurable)
6. fast, small on disk, no CPU/Memory consuming, nice minimize/maximize effect
7. if application needs focus it gets maximized
8. if you keep holding window on the edge spaces switch trick is working (didn't damage it)
9. support drag and drop from window to window
   

down sides:

1. the nagging shareware warning makes you wait between windows transfer every 5-10 transfers (so buy it)
2. if you use full screen windows the tabs might cover some parts of the screen you need (there is no way to avoid always on-top) but you can drag the tabs and move them around and also move from left to right or down edges.
3. you don't control the size of the tab, you can't decide if it will display text and icons/ only text/ only icon/ or even your own text
4. no 10.5.2 translucency feature on these tabs
5. is not spaces aware (all spaces have the same tabs)

Shareware Nag Screen:


I give this utility a 4 out of 5.

Enjoy.

Joost on Mac

Joost is a free streaming video, like a free IPTV, or free Online TV, like youTube with application of its own but it has a controlled content which means real full featured episodes of drama, comedy, sports, kids, entertainment, lifestyle, etc.

Joost has lots of channels to choose from, lots of programs at each channel, every program have a long list of episodes, it has a neat sexy UI, it incorporates viewers interaction, rating, favorites, news, summary info, bursting notification of hot content that might interest you etc.

Joost is a startup that being managed by a Skype founder, so if the quality and delivery we saw in skype available on Joost? almost, the TV show quality is not HDTV (just yet) and more like divx the early years, so it won't be amazing on a 42" LCD but it should do, since its free and there is more to come in the near future. (warner has joined the game so you know it's going to get interesting)

go to the Joost site and download a Mac version, it will mount a dmg file that will appear on your desktop looking like this:

(even the mount icon is sexy), next you will see this screen telling you to install Joost by dragging the Joost icon to the left Applications icon (they took care of every detail, perfect - they didn't invest only in windows users)

next you can execute the application and a cool dock icon appears:

the Joost splash screen appears:

followed by a login screen (only first time):

next you will see a "connecting" indication screen:

then a screen indicating what content is being loaded:

some times (rarely) you might get an error saying the connection is lost:

if all goes well you will immediately start watching the content:

(notice the visible controls that fade out after 5 sec and fade in when mouse moved or keyboard pressed)

there is also the channel view that looks like this, allowing you to search, register, go to category, read quick info and see a thumbnail:

Joost is free, have good content, very stylish UI and user friendly interface, good community awareness (although needs more like plugins to existing communities, or list of viewers, co-viewing, etc.).

here is a movie displaying the UI of Joost (the content streaming seems slow but it is because of the sampling and capturing while streaming):

the equivalent for free online TV (that i know of) are:

• Vuze (that comes built in to Azureus - covered in this post)
• JetSet (freeware client for the Epic-Fu.com site)
• and some sites that try to deliver (not all legal, and none compare to Joost)

http://freetvonline.com

http://www.live-online-tv.com
http://freetube.us.tc

http://www.streamick.com
http://dynamic.abc.go.com (if you are a US resident)

http://tv-video.net

http://zattoo.com (for certain areas)

http://www.indietv.tv (the indipendent TV revolution)

if any of the readers know of good apps/sites that gives you free TV, please leave a link as a comment - thanks.

and as always - Enjoy.