freeloader

Apr 27 2009

Freeloader on Safari

Don the pith helmets, it’s time to take Jaguar on Safari. Steve may have taken the crowd at MacWorld by surprise, but we’ve had some time to tinker with Apple’s answer to Internet Explorer.

safari Freeloader on Safari

On my 867 Quicksilver, Safari made game of Internet Explorer and even caught Chimera. Launch time and load time are faster than anything on my system.

Safari has quite a few features on IE, one of which is support for Favicons (those nifty icons that show up in the address bar). Also included is text spell checking, something only found in OnmiWeb. Add on pop-up blocking, SnapBack and Google built-in and you have quite the browsing experience.

Chimera Navigator, my pick for 2002′s best browser, still has a few advantages like tabbed browsing and Keychain support, but Safari is still in beta. A handy “bug” button lets you submit bugs, but don’t forget to submit those feature requests.

Here are a few tips for those of you joining the Safari:

  • Don’t forget to turn on pop-up blocking. Safari can dodge unwanted pop-ups, but only if you activate it on the Safari menu (or by pressing Command-K).
  • Command-click opens a link in a new window, option-click to download a link’s source. [NOTE: This feature has been reported to case data loss.]
  • Option-shift-A opens the “Activity Window” that lists current process.
  • While Safari only supports importing IE bookmarks, bookmarks from some other browsers can be dragged into the bookmark window. [UPDATE: Chimera users: check out this utility for migrating Chimera bookmarks to Safari!]

Script Editor 2.0

In an update that went pretty much unnoticed, Apple released a beta of its new AppleScript editor. Now OS X native, it also sports a new interface, find and replace and support for plug-ins.

X11 support

Apple also released X11 for OS X (public beta). This is full, side-by-side support for running X Windows applications, enabling you to install a slew of free apps without a nasty installation process.

Well, thatís our look at Safari and friends. Enjoy your browsing and please, donít feed the animals.

Until next week,

Brian

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Apr 27 2009

Create a Website for Free

Brought to you by: James

This week, I’d like to continue with the “theme” established by Brian in last week’s Freeloader Friday and “farm-out” to a few different sources in order to show you some quick tips to get your first website off of the ground.

Keep in mind that this article assumes that you have already signed up for a host with PHP and MySQL, such as Pair Networks or A Small Orange. Need a domain name? I highly recommend . All of the following items mentioned are free and open-source, except for SimpleViewer and Delicious Library. SimpleViewer is free, but the source code costs $45. Delicious Library costs $40, and is closed-source.

First, you’ll need an FTP app to transfer these files to your website. I recommend Cyberduck.

As Brian mentioned, WordPress makes a great blogging tool to get started with and has a great community-built reference library.

WordPress is easy to install, especially when you follow these instructions. Does your host provide you with cPanel? Then follow these cPanel-specific instructions. Are you planning on installing WordPress locally on your Mac? Then follow these Mac OS X-specific instructions. Do you already have WordPress installed on your current host, but plan to change hosts? Then follow these moving directions. If you’re upgrading from v1.2.x to the latest v1.5.x, then follow these upgrade instructions.

Now, that you have WordPress installed (which is not difficult), it’s time to take your first steps with WordPress. You probably want your blog to have a better look than the one provided by the default theme. Start by looking through this list. For a one-column theme, I recommend Manji. For a two-column theme, I recommend either Fauna or Rin. And, for a three-column theme, I recommend either Anaconda or Journalized (Winter). Do you want to replace that big blue header image in the default theme with a nicer image? Then give Kubrickr a spin. If you’re skilled, you can create your own theme, using the blog design and layout guides, or this theme generator.

Ok, now you’ve got WordPress installed and personalized a bit. You may want to learn how to combat comment spam (because it happens to everyone), backup your posts and data, optimize your blog for search engines, or work with Pages. If you want plugins, there are three resources. The Official Repository, The Codex, and the unofficial WordPress Plugin DB.

Is WordPress not what you’re looking for? Do you need something bigger? Something grander? Then you probably want a Content Management System. As Brian mentioned, Drupal will make a fine CMS for your needs.

mmxb Create a Website for Free

Ok, so you have your blog. You probably want a gallery too. You’ll find a great collection of gallery scripts here. I recommend SimpleViewer. Now, working with SimpleViewer is no walk-in-the-park. For that, try adding SimpleViewerAdmin into the mix.

mmxg Create a Website for Free

Now, if you’re like me and have a big collection, you’ll want to add some form of a personal library. I use Delicious Library (review) to keep my personal library catalogued. To make my library internet-ready, I use DeliciWeb.

mmxl Create a Website for Free

Ok, you’ve read my recommendations, but maybe you just want to do it your way. Then download NVU and start designing. You can find free website-building tutorials at W3 Schools. Remember, I’m no professional designer. You’ll have to talk to Rick or Jon about that.

Now that your website is live, I should let you know that there are some bad bots out there. Some bots are out to index your site for search engines or other legitimate online services, but some are out only to spam your site, steal email addresses, and waste your bandwidth. Fortunately, it’s easy to keep bad bots out of your website.

Well, hopefully you’re on your way to having a great website. If did get your site up-and-running because of either Brian’s article or mine, please let us know.

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Apr 27 2009

Game Day

Projects are due, your boss is angry but you have the wisdom to know that a few rounds of arcade fun are exactly what you need to max your productivity.

Maelstrom 3.0

I was happy to see this classic come back in both OS X and classic form. Spin, thrust and blast your way through the asteroids offline or with others on the Internet.

GLTron

Another classic reborn: GLTron. This game is pretty simply Tron for OS X with a funky 80′s soundtrack (in stereo). Tip: remap the keys.

Quinn

Tetris in OS X. Not much more to say about this one. Have fun!

Virtual Pet Rock

Another free game. This one requires a serial number you get online. This unique number will allow you to upload information on your pet rock to the web site. Sad? Yes, but a great time killer.

Well, that wraps it up for this Freeloader Friday. I’ve got to work on that high score…

Until next week,

Brian

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