Macosx on Zio Ivan

Apache Hadoop on Mac OS X

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:04:06 +0000

For some reasons I started to play with Apache Hadoop (Core):

Hadoop is a software platform that lets one easily write and run applications that process vast amounts of data.

Here’s what makes Hadoop especially useful:

Scalable: Hadoop can reliably store and process petabytes.

Economical: It distributes the data and processing across clusters of commonly available computers. These clusters can number into the thousands of nodes.

Efficient: By distributing the data, Hadoop can process it in parallel on the nodes where the data is located. This makes it extremely rapid.

Reliable: Hadoop automatically maintains multiple copies of data and automatically redeploys computing tasks based on failures. Hadoop implements MapReduce, using theHadoop Distributed File System (HDFS). MapReduce divides applications into many small blocks of work. HDFS creates multiple replicas of data blocks for reliability, placing them on compute nodes around the cluster. MapReduce can then process the data where it is located. Hadoop has been demonstrated on clusters with 2000 nodes. The current design target is 10,000 node clusters.

I followed the Quickstart guide and I can confirm that it works on [en:Mac OS X] too, but I managed only to make it run in “standalone” mode: usefull for first-stage development and debugging.

HiEuro 0.2

Sun, 09 Sep 2007 11:43:27 +0000

Here we are. 0.2. 0.2 of nothing but a “divertissment” which help me to learn better and better the Cocoa Framework, and discover all the magic stuff it does.

The release notes is:

0.2 (2007-09-09)

* Support for Italian, Spanish, French and German (Thanks to [Manu](http://secretum.neminis.org/)). > * New "Preferences" panel to set the "Default Currency" to convert from/to and the "Default Currency Ammount" to set at the application startup (Thanks to the [Alhandra's](http://alhandra.wordpress.com/) suggestion). > * Remove a Bug in the "German Mark" definition (I wrote "Deutsche Mark" in the English version :P ) >

One important aspect I learnt is how to bind Preferences to the User Defaults (the Cocoa default preferences system). Pratically, the one that generates, for every app, a file .plist in your ~/Library/Preferences directory. Unix-Style joined with Apple-Style.

HiEuro 0.1

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:37:51 +0000

First release, first problem.

After a lot of research about the standard [en:ISO 4217] (the one that define the “3 letter name” for every currency in the world) and all the symbols of European currencies, I miss one: the [en:Slovenian Tolar].

If someone is able to find it out and, ideally, to give me the relative [en:Unicode_Symbols|Unicode] it will be very appreciated.

Also, I’m looking for someone able to translate the name of the different currencies (13) in, at least, French, German and Spanish. Other languages are welcome too. Manu, this call is to you ;) .

Let's start experimenting new flavours

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 23:32:44 +0000

I started. What? My “project” of learn how to write (serious) apps for Mac OS X. Using Cocoa. Details on the “official” page: Experiments with Cocoa.

Cocoa Butter…

What’s the first “experiment”? HiEuro!

Google Desktop on (My) Mac

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 15:38:16 +0000

I tried it from the first release, but I was disappointed because of the “heavyness” of the indexing process: all my apps seems to be like “yawning” at every interaction I did.

But because I like Google (yes, I said! I like it!) I thought “why don’t give to it another chance?”.

I read a post on the Official Google Mac Blog about the latest release (1.1.0.520 (8/31/2007)) and I simply installed it (not a classical Mac OS X installer, but we can forgive this…).

Better Samba File Sharing in Leopard

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 11:19:04 +0000

I know: Samba is Open Source and you can ALREADY do it by hand (on Tiger too) but it’s quite easier if you have a panel to set up it quicker.

Take a look at this:

Here is a complete gallery of screen-shots of the latest build of Leopard: 9A527.

Source, mela|blog.it.

iSync and SonyEricsson Symbian/UIQ 3.0 finally speaking

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:53:12 +0000

Thanks God, now I can [en:iSync]!!!

As someone probably remember, I switched from an [en:Nokia E70] to a [en:Sony Ericsson W950i].

In the beginning, it was not possible to synchronize my [en:iBook] with my new smarth-phone because of a “strange” implementation of the [en:SyncML] protocol on Sony Ericsson/UIQ 3.0 phones.

A lot of people has tried to figure out how to do it (Google for it), failing! But now [en:Sony_Ericsson] has finally released the relative plugins:

The more you Hide, The more I want to See!

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 21:46:45 +0000

Update 14th August 2007: Look at this!!! The first NATIVE GAME for iPhone! Before that Apple itself release any game for it 8-O !!!

It’s true: [en:iPhone] is based on [en:Mac_OS_X|Mac OSX] and it is quite similar to it. Apple, from the beginning, has chosen to close it, avoiding to release any [en:SDK] or stuff like that.

Theoretically, the only thing a developer can do is to work on a Web 2.0/Ajax web app. That is not so bad, but… not enough. At least, for hackers that “likes to know more and more”.

Where the Hell is ZFS?

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 09:53:38 +0000

Ok, the features of Leo are not so “special” and “amazing” and “incredible”, but I suppose that, until October, Applewants to still hide some secrets.

But, WHERE THE HELL IS ZFS???

Video of the Day

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:49:23 +0000

> Title: Unity in VMware Fusion for Mac OS X Abstract: Demonstration of VMware Fusion's upcoming Unity feature which allows users to interact with Windows applications on Mac OS X as if they were Mac applications. Source: [TUAW](http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/06/vmware-fusion-unity/).

S. Jobs is gonna kill J. Schwartz

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 10:46:35 +0000

The information comes directly form Jonathan Schwartz, Sun Microsystems CEO. I ~~hope~~ am sure [en:Steve_Jobs|Steve] will ~~not~~ be angry for this: the WWDCis the next week… and [en:Jonathan_Schwartz|Schwartz] has revealed one of the BIGGEST FEATURES!!!

Anyway, GREAT NEWS! Leopard is gonna be the BEST [en:Operating_System|OS] for Desktops in the World.

Source: TUAW and Mac Rumors.

Edit: Thanks alhandra for the hint about “hungry” and “angry” :P .

Is like give a A Glass of Ice Water in the Hell

Thu, 31 May 2007 13:58:24 +0000

I’m looking these 2 videos about the Chat between [en:Steve_Jobs|S. Jobs] and [en:Bill_Gates|B. Gates] at All Things Digital 2007.

Actually I finished this:

And on my way to see the most interesting one:

HDR experiments...

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 15:40:33 +0000

Because I can’t resist to try to understand… when my great friend try something ;) .

Here you can see the original version of two images:

London - Regent’s Street - Apple Store (made by me during my second trip at London for the Assesment Day of Symbian)

Gulls (by National Geographics)

And, after the jump, the [en:HDR]ed version.

Speed up Mail.app

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 12:06:06 +0000

+ + `vacuum`

BRRRRRUUUUUUUUUMMMMM!

Anyone that use Mail.app (the “official” mail client on [en:Mac OS X]) knows that the greater mailboxes become, the slower Mail.app goes. I don’t know how many email I have, but the oldest is from the 2002 (I have cutted older because they became useless).

Today, I found an interesting link on TUAW: A faster way to speed up Mail.app on Hawk Wings.

Starting from that tips, I have expanded it to vacuum every table in the SQLite3 database used from Mail.app to index our emails.

Continue to see the mini-howto.

Fusion Beta 2 available

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 11:37:20 +0000

Today, after finishing of the URL-game of xmau (I have jumped the 42 because… I don’t know how to make THE QUESTION: I have found the credits casually! ;) ), I have decided to come back to life.

And, on TUAW, I found this: VMWare release the beta 2 of Fusion, the [en:Mac_OS_X|MacOSX] version of VMWare Virtualization System.

The biggest news is the availability of the native 3D-Support of DirectX for virtualized [en:Windows] installations.

Here the Release Notes.

How to Make Mac Icons

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 22:45:51 +0000

Are you curious about “how to make icons for Mac”? I’m. And TUAW have something for someone interested in the same thing.

A few weeks ago, Matthew Cone showed us how Macinstruct’s beautiful icons, courtesy of the talented Gary Gehiere, came to be (http://www.macinstruct.com/node/40). In that article, you were shown the beginning stages of icon design – how the meaning of an idea is distilled down to a few carefully placed pixels. The end result, of course, is seen here - on Macinstruct - in the icons scattered throughout the website.

XCode meets Mono

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:15:12 +0000

And… seems to be a nice meeting. ;) After a lot of development, the comunity surrounding the project realeases last stable version 1.2.3.1 of Mono.

What about [en:Mac_OS_X|Mac OS X]? Here is a dedicated page on the official wiki of Mono. And, in particular, I’m happy to highlight a tutorial/howto about XCode and Mono integration: CSharpPlugin.

I know that [en:Mono_(software)|Mono] is the open-source implementation of [en:.NET_Framework|.Net] (started by [en:Novell]), and that I hate [en:Microsoft|M$], but… I can’t hate a framework. It’s like to hate the [en:Plutonium] because we make the [en:Atomic_Bomb] with it! ;)

Learn Cocoa: a new howto

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:24:01 +0000

TUAW today highlights this new Tutorial about Cocoa: Learn Cocoa (part II).

Some people on TUAW say that:

… there wasn’t actually any coding involved…

But it was about the first part, that is “introductive”. In this second part seems that things are changing. I haven’t readed yet to give a valutation; but I’ll do… I promise.

Stay tuned.

Picture of the Day

Mon, 19 Feb 2007 10:07:44 +0000

ROTFL

Source, EntreGeeks.

The BEST Apple Ad

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 18:12:48 +0000

Absolutelly the BEST! No Way!

:D :D :D :D :D

Windows Vista vs MacOSX Leopard

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 14:52:37 +0000

It doesn’t need words.

VS.

Source, GadgetBlog.

SpotlightFS: example of MacFUSE usage

Tue, 30 Jan 2007 16:45:21 +0000

I check the Official Google MacBlog regularly and, yeasterday, I read something interest on it:

SpotlightFS is a MacFUSE file system that creates true smart folders, where the folders’ contents are dynamically generated by querying Spotlight. This differs from Finder’s version of smart folders, which are really plist files with a “.savedSearch” file extension. Since SpotlightFS smart folders are true folders, they can be used from anywhere—including the command line!

SpotlightFS is not very complicated, and it’s a good example of what can quickly and easily be done using MacFUSE. Please check out SpotlightFS and the other cool stuff on the newly updated MacFUSE project site.

I'd like to buy Vista...

Sun, 28 Jan 2007 13:30:29 +0000

LOL! Aren’t you confused about the hundreds… thousands kinds, versions, upgrades of [en:Windows_Vista|Vista]? Really [en:Microsoft|M$] thinks that users doesn’t have nothing better to do that read a brochure full of useless and incomprehensible differences?

Source, TUAW.

iPhone: Apple reinvents Mobility

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 21:04:46 +0000

I think its so useless to spend any kind of word. Go to the (very busy) official iPhone presentation page… and wait for June (or October if you are in Europe… or 2008 for the rest of the world).

Gorgeous!!! O_o

Testing DashBlog

Mon, 08 Jan 2007 15:43:22 +0000

This post is made using DashBlog, a widget for Dashboard (MacOSX)

Dashcode public beta released

Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:42:26 +0000

If you have an ADC (Apple Developer Connection) account and you are interested in Widget’s Development, probably you’ll consider interesting to know that Apple have released the beta of Dashcode.

Personally, I’m not a Dashboard lover. I have disabled it few days after Tiger Installation: it wolf down much too much memory… and, if I need a “small-service-app”, I use an equivalent web-page or normal-app.

Source, Melablog.

VMWARE 6.0 Beta Released

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:19:24 +0000

The most known Virtualization System is under heavy development, and many interesting features will be in the final version. The most interesting? Integration with the Eclipse IDE.

I have only a doubt: what about Fusion? Will be a different project or it’s only the beta name for VMWARE for MacOSX? Will they be merged?

Release Notes on

VMWare Fusion Beta Released

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:12:24 +0000

From the official announcement page:

VMware Virtualization for Mac Beta Program

What is VMware’s virtualization product for Mac? The new VMware desktop product for the Mac, codenamed Fusion, allows Intel-based Macs to run x86 operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris, in virtual machines at the same time as Mac OS X. It is built on VMware’s rock-solid and advanced desktop virtualization platform that is used by over four million users today. With Fusion, you can run traditional PC applications on your Mac: if you need to run PC applications, you can now do so by leveraging the power of virtual machine technology.

I still haven’t a MacIntel ( :( ) but I’m so happy about it: I saw Parallels Desktop in action and… I was not really enthusiast about it. I know VMWare and its quality level: the bigger and the stronger player in the battle for virtuallization it’s on its way.

Other details about Fusion (I suspect it will not be the final name of this product ;) ), on

Month of Apple Bugs: another Fake?

Fri, 22 Dec 2006 19:03:41 +0000

My friend V.V. (thank you, dear V.) sent to me this link: Coming in January: “Month of Apple Bugs”. This “article” speaks about an “hypothetical” developer, called “LMH”, who will start, in January 2007, an entire month dedicated to “searching for MacOSX bugs”.

Mmmm…. Ok, I love MacOSX, and I love every Unix System too (Linux Rulez!!! ;) ) but… I think that: this “announcement of power” has only 2 possible whys:

Video of the Day

Sat, 16 Dec 2006 15:58:31 +0000

> Title: NYT: Did Microsoft rip-off Apple Mac OS X in Windows Vista? Abstract: Vista and Mac OSX are NOT the same thing at all!!! ;)

Leopard Technology Series for Developers

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 09:47:10 +0000

Today Apple release a new “Technology Series” about Leopard. And I think to show you it… on my blog.

The list of articles:

Leopard Technology Overview

  		* [Leopard Developer Tools Overview](http://developer.apple.com/leopard/overview/tools.html)

  		* [Leopard Developer Application Technology Overview](http://developer.apple.com/leopard/overview/apptech.html)

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) for the Mac

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:33:50 +0000

On 16 Nov 2006 Google release the new version of GWT (Google Web Toolkit). As experts probably know, until this release GWT was not “develop-able” on MacOSX. But the music is changing…

Edit Nov 22 2006: On the Official GWT Blog:

After a couple weeks of fixing all the issues our developer community has so diligently reported in the issue tracker, we are happy to announce the official release of Google Web Toolkit 1.2 today.

Spanning Sync: iCal meets GCal

Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:49:32 +0000

Finally, someone makes it: it’s probabile the best fitting things for me and my iCal addiction. I have ever thinked about the possibilty of sync my iCall calendars (8 or 9… 8O ) with GCal, thinking that the Google WebApp is very very impressive and beautiful… but there was nothing that make it easy and effective.

Now, the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not available right now… but soon it will be. Until then, take a look to the Blog.

MacOSX: "Well Known" TCP and UDP Ports

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 09:07:51 +0000

This document lists TCP and UDP ports used by Apple software products, such as Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, AppleShare IP, Network Assistant, Apple Remote Desktop, Macintosh Manager, and .Mac. Many of these are referred to as “well known,” industry standard ports….

Here. Source, Tevac.

Apple HIG: Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Reference

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 08:31:19 +0000

Chapter: Apple Human Interface Guidelines Section: Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Reference Extract: As you implement keyboard shortcuts in your application, use this table to find:

Which key sequences are reserved by Mac OS X. Users rely on these shortcuts to perform the specified actions no matter which application is currently running (these include shortcuts reserved for accessibility purposes). Do not override these shortcuts.

Which key sequences are recommended for common application tasks. Users expect these shortcuts to mean the same thing from application to application. Provide these shortcuts if your application performs the associated tasks. You should avoid using these shortcuts for other purposes. Link: click here.

Cool things you can do on Mac

Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:20:57 +0000

I suggest to take a look at SilverMac: Tips&Tricks for your MacOSX ;) .

An example?

Mac e Cellulari

Fri, 08 Sep 2006 16:59:32 +0000

MacCity ha messo online una pagina interessantissima sugli script per usare i nostri cellulari come modem per MacOSX (Mac ne contiene già tanti di suo, ma non sempre si dispone del cellulare giusto (come a dire “c’vò ‘a ciort”).

Appena tengo 2 secondi, provo il mio 610i :D

KDE4 su Mac OS X

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:49:10 +0000

It can be REAL! After the sufficient, but instable, KDE3 compiled on Mac OSX, seems that KDE4’s developers are working to run it on Mac OS X.

This is possible because Trolltech have released many months ago QT4 for Mac OS X: a very powerfull, smart and fast C++ Framework… integrated with Aqua.

Riflessioni su ZFS

Wed, 30 Aug 2006 10:37:51 +0000

Stamane, venendo in auto nell’ufficio dove ho svolto il tirocinio pre-laurea, riflettevo su ZFS in Mac OS X.

Mi domandavo come mai gli sviluppatori di Apple abbiano inserito nel VFS le strutture necessarie per integrare ZFS… senza poi annunciarlo al mondo intero con squilli di trombe e rulli di tamburi.

Ho infine fantasticato su COME ZFS si sarebbe potuto integrare nel discorso di Apple sul Backup, Time Machine ecc… e ho realizzato una cosa: Apple vuole integrare un sistema di Backup facile e trasparente. Non il versioning. ZFS ha il supporto per il versioning, non per il backup.

Spot "Get a Mac" localizzati

Sat, 26 Aug 2006 10:09:11 +0000

Gli spot “Get a Mac”, già segnalati in precedenza, sono finalmente stati tradotti.

Onestamente il doppiaggio é di basso livello (la versione originale é molto più spassosa), ma… si ride comunque. Io avrei preso una voce più giovane per interpretare Justin. Ad esempio, la sua voce nel film con la Lohan (il remake di “Herbie”, per capirci) sarebbe andata mooooolto meglio.

Source, Neminis.org.

Time Machine: La delusione diventa sconforto

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 22:47:49 +0000

Apple, ora sono profondamente deluso da te. “The Next big Features”? Questa é il tipico “JOKE”!. E’ una presa per i fondelli.

Mi sono andato a leggere tutto l’articolo (ottimo, da 10 e lode) di Ars Technica scritto dal talentuoso (almeno con le parole e per la conoscenza) John Siracusa… e lo sconforto mi ha assalito.

Io quest’anno sono stato (e sono ancora) impegnatissimo, quindi ho dovuto letteralmente “bypassare” Solaris 10. L’ho solo scaricato, ma senza avere il tempo di installarlo. 2 erano le cose che mi interessavano (e ora lo sono anche di più): ZFS e DTrace.

Time Machine: Madonna e che delusione... ;(

Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:41:14 +0000

Sul blog di Nemo, una spiegazione semplice in italiano di quello che ha “accocchiato” Apple per realizzarlo. Madonna che delusione, dopo tante discussioni.

Una bella ma inutile interfaccia.

A proposito dell'Usabilità

Wed, 16 Aug 2006 15:05:38 +0000

Questo post vuole essere qualcosa in più di un commento al post di Nemo a proposito della “Guerra della Copia”.

In particolare, voglio citare Time Machine (prossimo venturo in Leopard aka Mac OS X 10.5) e Previous Version (prossimo venturo in Vista aka il-sistema-operativo-in-perenne-sviluppo).

Usabilità e Semplicità. Sta tutta qui la chiave. Ed è qui proprio il punto dove dissento dal parere di Nemo: come informatici, sappiamo bene quanto l’Usability sia parte integrante dello sviluppo di un Software. Si possono avere migliaia di features fantastiche:

Apple Store Down: 2006-08-07 18:00

Mon, 07 Aug 2006 17:01:50 +0000

Aptana: advanced IDE for Web 2.0

Wed, 26 Jul 2006 14:28:33 +0000

Aptana is a robust, JavaScript-focused IDE for building dynamic web applications. Highlights include the following features:

Code Assist on JavaScript, HTML, and CSS languages, including your own JavaScript functions

Outliner that gives a snapshot view of your JavaScript, HTML, and CSS code structure

Error and warning notification for your code

Support for Aptana UI customization and extensions

Cross-platform support

Free and open source. (Source available soon)

Aptana seems to be a very powerfull IDE for Javascript (finally!!!). The biggest features is the Integrated documentation, merged with a “suggestions-system” that indicate standard and non standard tags and attributes (indicating the browser compatibility with icons). A screenshot follows:

Mac OS X 10.4.7 Update released

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 12:14:50 +0000

Mac OS X 10.4.7 Update was released yesterday night: various improvements and few little new features.

You can find informations about it, here.

A little extract, follows.

James Bond si rifà il trucco... con un Cluster di PowerMac

Wed, 14 Jun 2006 11:50:28 +0000

Prendi un Cluster di 600 PowerMac G5, mettigli vicino uno storage da 700 Terabytes e fagli vedere tutti i film di/su James Bond; cosa ottieni?

Tutta la filmografia dell’agente segreto di Sua Maestà, ridigitalizzata fotogramma per fotogramma in altissima risoluzione.

Il 17 luglio prossimo avremo la possibilità di rivedere l’agente segreto più famoso del mondo con una nitidezza d’immagine inedita e una purezza del suono assoluta. Sarà disponibile infatti la James Bond Ultimate Edition DVD Collection, che comprende tutti e 20 i film tratti dalla penna di Ian Fleming, completamente restaurati, fotogramma per fotogramma, grazie ad una flotta di 600 PowerMac G5, collegati in cluster come il famoso Big Mac del Virginia Tech.

Google thinks Different

Tue, 13 Jun 2006 12:36:55 +0000

I Google Labs si sono decisi: hanno rilasciato SketchUp e Google Earth per MacOSX. Il primo era sin ora disponibile solo in versione “PRO” mentre il secondo non era Universal Binary.

C’è inoltre da evidenziare che GEarth é ora disponibile nativamente anche per Linux: qui la situazione, sin ora, era peggiore, con una versione di prova rilasciata per girare in Wine (tristissimo :P ).

Sembra quindi che Google abbia mantenuto tutte le promesse, volendo coprire almeno tutta la “TRIADE” dei sistemi più diffusi.

Apple DOES NOT close the Darwin's Kernel (by now)

Mon, 22 May 2006 11:39:54 +0000

In the last week, some blogs and online-tech nical-newspaper speaks about the Apple’s intention to close the Darwin’s Kernel Source Code for Intel.

Last Friday, Ernest Prabhakar, Product Manager and Open Source & Open Standards Mac OS X Product Marketing at Apple Computer, says:

Hi all, Just to be clear, Tom Yager was speculating about why we have – so far – not released the source code of the kernel for Intel-based Macintoshes. We continue to release all the Darwin sources for our PowerPC systems, and so far has released all the non-kernel Darwin sources for Intel.

Nothing has been announced, so he (and everyone else) certainly has the right to speculate. But please don’t confuse “speculation” with “fact.” Thanks, – Ernie P.

Ernest N. Prabhakar, Ph.D. (408) 974-3075 Product Manager, Open Source & Open Standards; Mac OS X Product Marketing Apple Computer; 303-4SW 3 Infinite Loop; Cupertino, CA 95014

Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, too

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 22:05:11 +0000

More and more people are buying and loving Macs. To make this choice simply irresistible, Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today.

I think its a great idea: supporting directly Windows on Apple Intel computers aims Users to become MacOSX users easly. First buy a MacIntel, then install the 2 systems and “try both 2 worlds”… what’s the result? New MacOSX-lovers. I’m sure ;) .

Tiger 10.4.6 available

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 23:51:23 +0000

[Apple] → [Software Update…] Or search on that page the update for your system.

Darwin on L4

Tue, 04 Apr 2006 23:35:04 +0000

Operating Systems based on Micro-Kernel seems to return fashionable, and some experimental OS releases demonstrate it: the National ICT of Australia, infact, has released a Darwin porting for L4. This is for being able to study the behaviour of that class of o.s..

This porting include XNU, the hearth of MacOSX.

ADC's ScreenCasts

Sat, 01 Apr 2006 09:31:54 +0000

Since now, Apple makes “only” good howto to make simple application, helping developers to learn our beauty technology: Apple calls these howtos “Sample Code”. It was a good thing. Sometimes, howtos was very very “advanced”, using technologies too much difficult to understand in “few words”. It was a bad thing.

Zucconi e le mele

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 16:55:22 +0000

Un bellissimo articolo (si legge la qualità dello scrittore) di Vittorio Zucconi, che scopro essere vecchissimo amante delle Mele.

… “Mi perdoni se m’intrometto e mi presento, sono un professore della Stanford University in California, sono a Parigi in vacanza con mia moglie”. E allora? “Le voglio raccontare una piccola storia. Lavoro nel dipartimento di fisica e di computer non so niente. Un paio di mesi or sono una azienda vicina al nostro campus, chiamata Apple Computers, ci ha recapitato una macchinetta che nessuno aveva mai visto prima, gratis, per provarla. I miei colleghi e io le abbiamo dato un’occhiata per divertimento e da allora tutti fanno la fila per adoperarla e ignorano le altre. La prego di credermi, non ho nessun interesse personale né commerciale, non lavoro per la Apple, ma mi permetta di darle un consiglio: si porti a casa questo qui e le giuro su mia moglie - la signora alle sue spalle lo guardò male - che questa sera lei lo userà come se lo avesse sempre avuto”.

Nestopia: renew NES

Sun, 26 Mar 2006 12:52:33 +0000

A portable NES/Famicom emulator written in C++

It’s available for Windows and MacOSX and here you can found a rich collection of roms.

Source, Melablog.

On The Old Computer Dot Com a wide collection of emulator and roms.

Q [kju:]

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:01:02 +0000

Run Windows, Linux and a lot more Systems on your Mac. Q is a feature packed cocoa port of QEMU: Switch fast between guest PCs. Save and restart guest PCs at any stage. Easily exchange Files between Host and Guest. Q makes use of OS X most advanced technologies like openGL and coreaudio to accelerate your experience with your guest PC.

This is “only” an easy-interface to QEMU, «a generic and open source processor emulator which achieves a good emulation speed by using dynamic translation», but it works very very good (and smarty, imho).

SketchUp Google Earth Plugin

Thu, 16 Mar 2006 16:31:54 +0000

With the SketchUp Google Earth plugin, you can use Google Earth to view 3D models in their real-world context. You’re no longer limited to just viewing the world through satellite imagery; now you can build on the tapestry provided by Google Earth.

Whether you want to create presentations of proposed developments, share a building you’ve designed, or view a model in context, you’ll find the combination of SketchUp and Google Earth provide you with a great venue to express your creativity.

I tempi NON cambiano...

Wed, 08 Mar 2006 10:58:32 +0000

… la madre degli imbecilli é sempre incinta.

Ho aggiornato il post di ieri relativo ai “test di sicurezza” su MacOSX: é quasi VERGOGNOSO scrivere dei titoli “sensazionalistici” al solo scopo di fare aumentare il numero di visite di un sito.

I tempi cambiano...

Tue, 07 Mar 2006 11:40:23 +0000

… o almeno iniziano a farlo.

Io personalmente non avevo mai letto niente a proposito di test/challenge per il cracking di sistemi MacOSX (ce ne sono stati, ma sempre per dimostrare la robustezza di questi sistemi e di Linux rispetto a W32).

Ebbene, ne sono stati lanciati già 2 (ma sicuramente altri ce ne sono e non ci (mi) sono pervenuti):

RM MY MAC

Mac OS X Security Challenge

Studiando Cocoa

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 13:08:52 +0000

Salve. Era da parecchio tempo che mi ripromettevo di farlo: finalmente adesso ho trovato il tempo per cominciare il mio studio del framework Cocoa.

Ma prima, una citazione da Wikipedia:

Cocoa is the dried and partially fermented fatty seed of the cacao tree from which chocolate is made. In the United States, ‘cocoa’ often refers to cocoa powder, the dry powder made by grinding cocoa seeds and removing the cocoa butter from the dark, bitter cocoa solids. By itself it has an extremely bitter flavor.

Democracy - Internet TV

Wed, 22 Feb 2006 17:13:54 +0000

Download and watch all the best internet TV shows and videos in one powerful application. New channels arrive daily in the built-in Channel Guide.

Stop squinting at tedious web videos– sit back and watch big, high resolution videos one after another. It’s so easy to use that you’ll be watching interesting videos in moments.

It’s name is Democracy TV (DTV). It’s an Internet TV Platform TOTALLY Opensource.

Now, a Windows version is also available (before this, DTV was only for MacOSX).

Tablet Mac: Another Patent

Sun, 19 Feb 2006 21:56:27 +0000

Yes, another patent from Apple.

That patent describe interaction-patterns in details, with particular attention on a “virtual keyboard” that appear in a “contextual-way”.

Apple seems to be ready for an HCI REVOLUTON!!! Finally!

Example images:

Source, Melablog.

Camino 1.0 released

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:17:27 +0000

It’s now available in Universal Binary. List of features is here.

I’m not a Camino user: I’m a Firefox-Extension’s addicted web-developer! But a Browser Gecko-Based with the powerful and beauty of MacOSX is a really interesting alternative for non-dev users…

Source, Melablog.

Mac OS X Update 10.4.5

Wed, 15 Feb 2006 15:04:05 +0000

10.4.5 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies:

-Address Book, AppleScript, Automator, Dictionary and Font Book -iCal, iChat, DVD Player, Mail, Preview, Safari and Stickies -Disk Utility, Keychain Access, Migration Assistant, Software Update -usability of Dashboard and widgets -viewing of QuickTime streaming media behind a firewall -time zone and daylight savings for 2006 and 2007 -RAW camera support, including updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers -sharing using AFP, SMB/CIFS, NFS and FTP file sharing protocols -reliable access to Open Directory, LDAP and Active Directory services -VPN connections to Cisco servers when using NAT -AirPort and Bluetooth wireless connectivity -compatibility with third party applications and devices -previous Mac OS X updates and standalone security updates

iPod of the future: one more... Patent!

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 15:42:04 +0000

The Patent: click. The Source: Melablog. Meaningfull image 01: Meaningfull image 02: Meaningfull image 03:

MacMini-based Server

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 01:36:47 +0000

A state-of-art Server made up with beauty (and small) MacMini as “mind”.

Take a look at this interesting howto (start from Melablog). He makes up Software Firewall, Mail Server, DNS Server, IP-over-Firewall connection for DB Server… all based on Air Port extreme!!! How? Modding the Air Port Antenna, obviously! ;)

Geekbench Comparison: G4 vs G5 vs AMD64 vs P4 vs Xeon

Wed, 01 Feb 2006 12:01:16 +0000

On Geekpatrol.ca there is a comparison between…

Mac Mini 1.42 GHz

512 KB L2 cache

167 MHz system bus

1 GB DDR 333 SDRAM

iMac G5 2.1 GHz

512 KB L2 cache

700 MHz system bus

1.5 GB DDR2 533 SDRAM.

iMac Core Duo 1.83 GHz

2 MB L2 cache shared between cores

667 MHz system bus

1 GB DDR2 667 SDRAM.

iMac Core Duo 2.0 GHz

2 MB L2 cache shared between cores

667 MHz system bus

512 MB RAM DDR2 667 SDRAM

Power Mac G4 Dual 1.25 GHz

256 KB L2 cache per cpu

2 MB backside L3 cache per cpu

167 MHz system bus

1.75 GB DDR 333 SDRAM

Power Mac G5 1.6 GHz

512 KB L2 cache

800 MHz system bus

768 MB DDR 333 SDRAM

Power Mac G5 Dual 1.8 GHz

512 KB L2 cache per processor

900 MHz system bus

1 GB DDR 400 SDRAM.

Power Mac G5 Dual Core 2.0 GHz

1 MB L2 cache per core

1000 MHz system bus

2.5 GB DDR2 533 SDRAM

Power Mac G5 ‘Quad’ 2.5 GHz

1 MB L2 cache per core

1.25 GHz system bus

1.5 GB DDR2 533 SDRAM

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2.2 GHz)

512 KB L2 cache

800 MHz system bus

1 GB of DDR 400 SDRAM.

Intel Pentium 4c 2.4 GHz HT

512 KB L2 cache

800 MHz system bus

1 GB DDR 400 SDRAM

Intel Xeon Dual 3.2 GHz HT

1MB L2 cache per CPU

800 MHz system bus

1 GB DDR2 400 SDRAM

… using Geeckbench Preview: a ~~opensource~~ benchmark running on MacOSX and Windows by now.

Soon, Native GTK+ on MacOSX

Tue, 31 Jan 2006 23:58:22 +0000

Soon you may be able to execute Gnome/Gtk+ based programs ~~NATIVELLY~~ NATIVELY on Quartz without the X11 Emulation. Someone (thanks to exist) is working on the porting.

It may be the incipit of a new era for Open Source software on MacOSX. Take a look at this.

One of the most interesting characteristics of Gnome-oriented applications is the coherence between the HIG (Human Interface Guidelines) of Gnome and MacOSX.

Source: Melablog.it and StyleMac.com.

PHP 5.1.2 and PostgreSQL 8.1.2 MacOSX Packages

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 23:22:54 +0000

Marc Liyanage releases the last version of his packaged version of PHP 5.1.2 and PostgreSQL 8.1.2.

I don’t know how is the packaged PostgreSQL but… I use the PHP of Marc from 2 years without any problems (excluding personalization to the php.ini file).

Thanks Marc for your nice work! ;-)

Ah, these packages are made for MacOSX.

Ziplight: make Spotlight more curious

Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:03:23 +0000

On that page of the Apple Download Center you can find Ziplight, a Spotlight plugin that enable searches into our zip archives.

A much usefull idea, it isn’t?

Shiira 1.2.1 released

Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:24:33 +0000

A new version of this very powerfull browser was released.

We released Shiira 1.2.1. It is the Universal Binary. Shiira can run natively on both PowerPC and Intel based Mac.

And we implemented the auto filling feature. Your user names and passwords are automatically filled in the Web form. They are stored in the Keychain which is a standard password management tool of Mac OS X. What’s new of 1.2.1

The House that Apple build

Mon, 23 Jan 2006 00:30:50 +0000

Source, Melablog.

Firefox, Thunderbird and Camino: first Universal Binary build

Mon, 16 Jan 2006 23:25:35 +0000

Developers of Firefox, Thunderbird and Camino are working on a Universal Binary release: they have promised a official release in march.

By now, here are sufficiently stable releases. But, problems still remain: Java-plugin and Flash-plugin does not run, right now. On MacIntel (if you are so lucky ;) ) use Firefox build for PPC over Rosetta.

Source, Melablog.

Play WinMediaFiles in QT

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 19:33:36 +0000

Microsoft, because of the STOP to development of Windows Media Player for MacOSX, make a page on our site where we can download a nice thing: a plugin for QuickTime aims to view Windows Media Files.

Seems to be a good product: I will update you soon.

The plugin is Flip4Mac. The company behind this piece of code is Telestream, that sell other plugins to import/edit WMF.

I have a question: M$ is the richest company in the World and… needs third-part plugin to make our file-formats viewable on MacOSX? It’s a Joke? :| ( :lol: )

It's too late...

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 01:00:59 +0000

… every people (hi hope ;) ) in the world know about the MacWorld of yesterday.

Then, I write just a little list of recommended links:

Find out what do you want! :D

Ah, last observation: I like too much the logo of the Intel Code Duo!

A 3D interface to the planet... on MacOSX Tiger

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:44:17 +0000

After you have installed Google Earth, you may want to explore some of the interesting data layers being published by other folks on the web. Anyone can publish content for Google Earth using our geographic markup language (KML). To view these, simply click the links below. They will appear in your “Places” list. To save them for future use, right-click on the feed you wish to save and select “Save to My Places.”

How to compile aMule 2.1.0 for Ubuntu/Debian

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 12:54:19 +0000

Thanks to Treviño for the howto (in italian).

But, for high-speed ubuntu/debian users, click here for the .deb.

Apple Bluetooth device: firmware update available

Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:33:46 +0000

1.2 Version available on Apple MacOSX site.

Notice: needs reboot, AC-Power and average 15 minutes, after the reboot, to complete the update.

OpenOffice.org 2.0.1 available

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 15:28:51 +0000

Via OSSBlog.

Shiira 1.2

Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:11:13 +0000

This browser is a beauty “piece of code”: use the WebKit rendering engine and is full of good, usefull, great ideas.

It’s very slim and fast (as Safari) and have some functionality that I saw only in FF extensions.

Homepage here.

Screenshots here.

Play with Xcode build settings

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 00:09:19 +0000

In order to become an effective Xcode user, you need to understand two major Xcode concepts. The first is how Xcode projects are defined and organized. The second is how the Xcode build system takes the targets that are defined in your projects and turns them into products.

There is a lot of flexibility in the Xcode build system for customization, so you can choose to keep your settings simple or make them as complex as you like. But for most purposes, a basic understanding of how build settings and build configurations work will make this topic easy to master—once you have these concepts clear, you can choose the settings that work best for you.

To Blue or not to Blue?

Wed, 14 Dec 2005 22:18:40 +0000

Ok ok. Excuse me, but I can’t resist :). Personally, I use a different style for a different emotional-status (in other words, change the Aqua theme one month at time).

Vote for your preferred here.

ps Obviously, it’s only for (cool) Mac users :D.

DivX 6.0 now available for MacOSX >= 10.3

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 01:35:10 +0000

DivX 6 for MacOSX

I’m not a DivX lover now: I prefer absolutelly XviD but on the net we will find some video compressed with DivX and… it’s a “must have” thing.

New logo for Intel

Tue, 13 Dec 2005 01:26:21 +0000

Intel wants to rebrand itself: here a link to the article. On the web, there is various new example “brands” for Intel: .

Here an interesting comment of MelaBlog about this question.

Anyway, I think thats are only speculations: that logos are no “credible” for a company like Intel. IMHO.

Macosx on Zio Ivan

Apache Hadoop on Mac OS X

HiEuro 0.2

HiEuro 0.1

Let's start experimenting new flavours

Google Desktop on (My) Mac

Better Samba File Sharing in Leopard

iSync and SonyEricsson Symbian/UIQ 3.0 finally speaking

The more you Hide, The more I want to See!

Where the Hell is ZFS?

Video of the Day

S. Jobs is gonna kill J. Schwartz

Is like give a A Glass of Ice Water in the Hell

HDR experiments...

Speed up Mail.app

+ + vacuum

Fusion Beta 2 available

How to Make Mac Icons

XCode meets Mono

Learn Cocoa: a new howto

Picture of the Day

The BEST Apple Ad

Windows Vista vs MacOSX Leopard

SpotlightFS: example of MacFUSE usage

I'd like to buy Vista...

iPhone: Apple reinvents Mobility

Testing DashBlog

Dashcode public beta released

VMWARE 6.0 Beta Released

VMWare Fusion Beta Released

Month of Apple Bugs: another Fake?

Video of the Day

Leopard Technology Series for Developers

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) for the Mac

Spanning Sync: iCal meets GCal

MacOSX: "Well Known" TCP and UDP Ports

Apple HIG: Keyboard Shortcuts Quick Reference

Cool things you can do on Mac

Mac e Cellulari

KDE4 su Mac OS X

Riflessioni su ZFS

Spot "Get a Mac" localizzati

Time Machine: La delusione diventa sconforto

Time Machine: Madonna e che delusione... ;(

A proposito dell'Usabilità

Apple Store Down: 2006-08-07 18:00

Aptana: advanced IDE for Web 2.0

Mac OS X 10.4.7 Update released

James Bond si rifà il trucco... con un Cluster di PowerMac

Google thinks Different

Apple DOES NOT close the Darwin's Kernel (by now)

Boot Camp: Macs do Windows, too

Tiger 10.4.6 available

Darwin on L4

ADC's ScreenCasts

Zucconi e le mele

Nestopia: renew NES

Q [kju:]

SketchUp Google Earth Plugin

I tempi NON cambiano...

I tempi cambiano...

Studiando Cocoa

Democracy - Internet TV

Tablet Mac: Another Patent

Camino 1.0 released

Mac OS X Update 10.4.5

iPod of the future: one more... Patent!

MacMini-based Server

Geekbench Comparison: G4 vs G5 vs AMD64 vs P4 vs Xeon

Soon, Native GTK+ on MacOSX

PHP 5.1.2 and PostgreSQL 8.1.2 MacOSX Packages

Ziplight: make Spotlight more curious

Shiira 1.2.1 released

The House that Apple build

Firefox, Thunderbird and Camino: first Universal Binary build

Play WinMediaFiles in QT

It's too late...

A 3D interface to the planet... on MacOSX Tiger

How to compile aMule 2.1.0 for Ubuntu/Debian

Apple Bluetooth device: firmware update available

+ + `vacuum`