By way of As the Apple Turns (the Apple News god whose merest FireWire adapter cables we are not worthy to gaze upon) comes this gem from Kuro5hin. Read We Are Morons: a quick look at the Win2k source || kuro5hin.org and learn something you’ve known all along. (Warning: explicit content. May cause blushing or crashes.)

In computer news, there were a couple of related articles on Macs and security issues. MacCentral’s article Macs and viruses—are we as safe as we think? (short answer: pretty much, yeah) admits that, while no one’s written a virus for Mac OS X yet, it’s still theoretically possible that someone will take up the challenge. More disturbing is that, despite no actual Mac virus problems, Intego’s Mac-only antivirus software, VirusBarrier, “has seen steady growth in its anti-virus software sales.” Okay, I guess it’s good to be prepared, but companies who make a living off of spreading FUD make me heave.

MacFixIt points to an AustralianIT article titled Why Windows Breaks. Short version: lousy programming. (Quick quote: “This error is a stupid fault. Whoever wrote that piece of software should be mortified.”) Reading the article makes me wish I’d thought to do with my Windows installation CDs what the guys at PowerLabs did with theirs. Watch the movie. And don’t try this at home.

As reported at Geek.com and Brighthand (via Gizmodo), Palm is dropping support for Macs. As of OS 6, PalmSource will no longer be including a version of the Palm Desktop for Macs. That means that Mac users who want to synchronize with their new Palms will have to shell out additional buckage for third-party solutions.

This is nothing new in the Mac world, of course. Palm users once payed extra for cradle adapters before USB became all the rage. And it’s also nothing new for Mac users to feel like second-class citizens when it comes to getting software ported to our platform of choice. Harsh economic realities often mandate against parallel development, leading to a syndrome known as Mac Marginalization.

The odd thing to me in this case is that even though Mac’s total market share might be small, I would think that most Mac users would be using Palm devices as opposed to Win PDAs. (Although I can’t seem to find any stats on that. Can anyone help?)

Why would you alienate a community that is technically savvy, appreciates good design and engineering, and is likely faithful to your brand?

I’ve been using Palms since the Palm Pilot Professional came out in 1997. I’ve always admired the way they work – they just work! But recent reports out of Milpitas have led to the sneaking suspicion that Palm has lost its way as it seeks to fend off challenges from Windows CE devices. Abandoning the Mac platform seems to confirm a shift in ideology. If there’s any group of users that are technologically and philosophically sympatico with Palm’s PDAs, it’s the Mac’s rabid fan base.

Ah well. Here’s hoping that, as the author of the Geek.com piece suggested, Apple itself will step up to the plate by beefing up iSync to be a true Palm HotSync replacement. If not, then Mark/Space will probably shoot some ‘roids into the Missing Sync and Mac/Palm users will keep rolling along, thumbing their noses at the rest of the world and saying, “Neener-neener.”

From Geek.com:
“In Too cramped to write, Chief Geek Joel shares his recent experiences in Laptop/Airplane Hell, and dreams of possible alternatives.”

In a comment on the entry, I got a chance to spout off on something that’s been on my mind for some time – the computer form factor. Antelope Technologies has been working on something like what I want. And here’s a link to a French PowerPoint document wearablecomputing.ppt that explores the issue of wearable computing.

Anyway, here’s what I wrote to Geek.com (I’ve added a few links):

Why are we constrained to the laptop form factor in the first place? Tablet PCs are a step in the right direction, but imagine the following scenario (parts of which exist already):

1) A Bluetooth-enabled CPU about the size of a paperback book that sits in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of you.
2) A head-mounted display, perhaps one that fits like a pair of glasses.

[MicroOptical Products
Microvision
Tek Gear
LitEye 400]

3) either:
a) A Bluetooth keyboard and pointing device, perhaps along the lines of the flexible keyboard mentioned in the article or
b) A completely new alternate input device like a glove or one of those one-handed typing thingies.

[The Twiddler
The WearClam
The SenseBoard]

In this scenario, you could sit comfortably in your cramped seat and work away to your heart’s content with no-one else looking over your shoulder and no worries about getting cramps in your shoulders from shrugging them back to type.

Okay, so other people who are more in the know than I am could write more intelligently about this, but you get my point. The form factor needs to be radically redesigned. We don’t need the input and output devices to be connected to the CPU anymore. We don’t necessarily need a box to contain all the bits anymore.

And while I’m on the subject, I want an alternative to the mouse so bad I could spit. There’s got to be a better way to make a cursor move on the screen. What about a wristband that moved the cursor when I pressed a key and moved my arm? Or an eye-tracking device. Something!

I could also do without video screens, LCD or otherwise. I’ve never used LCD glasses, but I assume there’s some drawbacks that are keeping them from being adopted. Price, maybe?

Following up on The Hammer’s post from last night, here’s another doozy: In an article titled Microsoft Advises to Type in URLs Rather than Click, Slashdot is discussing an MS Knowledge Base article meant to keep users safe from malicious hyperlinks. The bottom line from MS: don’t click on hyperlinks.

Is this part of a pattern? Is Microsoft really going to start laying the burden on users to provide workarounds for that company’s lousy programming practices?

Linux, Mac… your time may be at hand…

I was just trying to get a category list to display on my sidebar. Now I’ve got inline formatting for my MovableType powered blog!

Brad Choate’s most excellent website provided the little plugin that could. Formatting, for example, a

1. Numbered
2. List
3. of

1. items

   or a

   • bulleted

• list

  will be a piece of cake!

  I’ve already discovered Movable Style for cool style sheets. Today’s jackpot was the MT Wiki at Virtual Venus. With the help of this great resource, I hope to make the blog more feature-rich and useful.

Since a blog is supposed to be all about the links, I figured it was time that I started getting with the program. Sure nobody’s actually reading the site now, but that could all change one day and I should probably oughta be prepared.

You’re supposed to write what you know, and if there’s one thing I do know, it’s gadgets! Though I’m not generally what you’d call a first adopter, I’m usually at least riding the first wave of acceptance of new technology. A good gadget should make your life easier, and when I spot a new device that does something faster, better, and/or just plain cooler than the old way, I’m happy to ding the Visa on the slim justification that anything that revolutionary has just got to have a payoff eventually.

Take my Palm, for instance. I’ve carried one of these babies in one incarnation or another since my first 3Com Palm Pilot Pro in 1997. For seven years, I’ve marvelled at the sheer volume of usefulness that Palm has been able to pack into this little PDA. Back in the day, when my schedule was much more hectic and changeable than it is now, I mostly just wanted to get rid of the awkward limitations of my bulky Day Runner. The Palm filled the bill in spades, but the thing that kept me hooked was that people were writing applications for the device that turned it into the electronic equivalent of a Swiss Army Knife.

My Palms have been around the world and all over the country with me. With the right software, my palm can be a notepad, a calculator, a multi-time zone clock, a translator, a dictionary, a game player, an electronic book reader, a web and email browser, a car maintenance log, a map, a flashlight, and even a mirror! I’ve been drawn into more than a few conversations with strangers who’ve been intrigued by my tricorder-thingy. I’ve been directly responsible for turning at least eight of my friends onto the devices, and I bet I’ve convinced more than a few strangers, too.

My current pocket companion is the Palm 505, my first color PDA. Though I lust after the new Palm Tungsten T3, with its wide-screen-revealing sliding case, Bluetooth capability and whopping 64 MB of RAM, I’m likely to pass the 505 on to my lovely finance Louise and buy myself a new Handspring Treo 600.

The Treo 600 is part of a new breed of PDA/cell phone hybrid called the “smart phone.” That means that it’s one more step closer towards the gadget-lover’s holy grail: an all-in-one total convergence device. The 600 combines all the great features of a Palm PDA with the convenience of a cell phone. The fact that it’s a cell phone also means that it can browse the web and read email just like a desktop computer. There have been more than a few times in the last year when such functionality would have come in right handy, so as soon as Handspring can get its assembly line cranked up to meet the demand, I plan to jump on the bandwagon and put one of these beauties in my pocket.

Of course, the 600’s high price tag, low-res screen, and low-quality camera may mean that it’s not the device for everyone. And some people swear by the Sony Clie series, which also runs the Palm operating system. If you’re interested in exploring the options, do what I do: Try starting with PalmOne’s Solutions page to see which PDA might fit your needs. Then, check out the reviews at Shopping.com (formerly epinions.com), InfoSync World, BargainPDA.com, and Brighthand.com.

Before you make your final decision, check out Gizmodo.com. This wicked cool site, a mecca for gadget freaks, is the place to check up-to-the-minute news, reviews, and rumors. For instance, I first heard rumors of the updated Treo, the 610, on Gizmodo. Now I can decide if I really need Bluetooth, or if I want to go ahead and splurge so that I can have the 600 in my hot little hands. Decisions, decisions.

When you’re finally ready to buy, use ”DealTime or PriceGrabber to check the latest prices. To make your new palm useful, head over to PalmSource, the official site for over 20,000 PalmOS programs.

I’ll let you know how the Treo 600 works out as soon as I can get my hands on one. In the meantime, I’ll continue to post useful links to product and service pages around the web. Happy gadgeting!