For years iChat has been the best bet for a instant messaging program on OS X. At least in my opinion, the old Adium lacked in many features, and the new one still lacks some. These are excused by one simple feature that iChat is no where near beating. Facebook Chat support.

Facebook chat is possibly the ugliest thing ever invented. It plagues the bottom part of your Facebook page, blocking links, obstructing pokes, and making me piss blood I am so angry. I mean why in the name of all that is good and holy in the world of technology would Facebook ever think that something like a pop-up chat bar at the bottom of the screen would be anywhere near a good idea? Honestly, I have nothing that relates to any kind of clue as to why they did this. I just know it pisses me off. The chat interface when a window is opened takes up about 400 pixels. So depending on what computer your using to look at Facebook, the chat window may eat anywhere from 20% of your screen to 100%.

Seriously though, this chat interface is possibly one of the worst I have ever seen. Even irc was better planned when it came out in the 1990’s. This completely obtrusive chat window keeps popping up and blocking me from clicking on one of those adds that has the half naked girl on it! Cause I am totally interested in womens underwear Mark Zuckerburg. Yeah that’s…
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It’s back to school time again here in the United States, and you know what that means: kids going off to college! And these kids may need a computer! Are you a parent without a clue of what to buy, and what your kid might need for school? Read on.

Mac or PC?

Who would have imagined that a such a simple question would resort to fanatical responses? At any rate, the decision isn’t as clear-cut as it used to be. Despite big gains by Apple, Windows still controls a good 90% of the market. There is still much more software and accessories available for Windows than the Mac, but that doesn’t mean the Mac isn’t a good option. There may not be as many products available for the Mac, but there are still more than enough choices out there for most users, and that number is always growing. Windows PCs start at lower prices, but Macs are not out of reach for most people (Mac laptops are available from $1099 US). Another thing to note is that Macs can run Windows too.

Also, some schools or academic departments may have certain requirements; some may require Macs, others may require Windows. Be sure to check with your kid’s school for any specific requirements.

Desktop or laptop?

In my two years working at an on-campus computer store, I can tell you this much: students love laptops. They take them to the library, to class, and to study groups. So for most students,…
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The WWDC keynote has come and gone. Now it’s time for pundits (or wannabe pundits) to pick apart every detail about the keynote. Let’s do just that. Before we go any further, be sure to take a look at my WWDC predictions to see where I stood before today.

In general today’s keynote had no surprises. And I expected it to me almost entirely iPhone (which it was). Let’s take a closer look at what was announced, and what wasn’t.

What we saw

iPhone apps, OS 2.0 and SDK

Again, no big surprises (though some new features that’ll make developers a little happier, including the iPhone’s “push” notification system). What we did see is that the iPhone may become a pretty damn good mobile gaming system. I’m not going to det too into detail here, since there was nothing really new announced, except to ask, what will these apps mean for iPhone battery life?

My prediction: I pretty much nailed this one, right down to there being 3rd-party app demos (I’d go so far as to say there were too many app demos, but whatever).

3G iPhone

Anyone who predicted a more radical change in form factor (larger iPhone, etc...) was proven wrong. Let’s be honest, the iPhone is a perfect pocket size right now. What good would it do for Apple to release a larger one? As for the appearance, the black-and-white-back rumor was spot-on, even with the non-recessed headphone jack. So once again, this was pretty much what everyone…
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All right, my predictions won’t be that absurd; I think I’ve filled my quota for absurdity for a while, thank you very much. But in the spirit of unending Apple speculation, and to kick off our WWDC coverage, here is yet another WWDC 08 predictions article. The likelihood of each rumor coming to fruition is measured in meatballs (in keeping with fixation on food¹); the fewer the meatballs, the less likely it is that Lord Steve, Controller of Apple, Our Destinies, and Lesser Kingdoms will unveil it.

And now it’s time for my most favorite disclaimer: the contents of this post are a figment of my own imagination. I have no insider sources, so these predictions, like Miss Cleo, are for entertainment purposes only.²

OS X for Windows boxes

As fun as it was for me to speculate, I don’t see this actually happening, and I never did for that matter. And I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised that some people took what I said (read the article) as anything more than “cloning probably won’t happen, but if it did, this is how it could work.” At any rate, while the dropping of the word “Mac” from Mac OS X is interesting, and we can never entirely rule things out with Jobs, I don’t see a clone revival happening. I give this one half a meatball (out of five).

.mac rebranded to MobileMe/Me.com

The MobileMe name came up in rumors once before. Since a good portion of .mac features revolve…
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I have a couple of questions: When does speculation become a rumor? When is a rumor really speculation?

Here’s why I ask: yesterday afternoon I wrote up a piece for The Apple Blog regarding the photos of the banners hung in Moscone Center for next week’s WWDC. I noted John Gruber’s belief that dropping the “Mac” from Mac OS X is an attempt to unify the OS X brand (OS X iPhone and OS X Leopard), and I noted that “this is probably the simplest and most logical explanation.”

And then I jumped into speculative fun times: is Apple planning to license the Mac OS again? Considering the fact that rumors are pointing toward Apple turning .mac into something more platform-agnostic, and the fact that Apple has yet to do anything publicly in regards to Psystar, maker of the “Open Computer” Mac clone, as well as some other conjecture, I put this all together and raised some questions. Do I really think we’ll really see Apple jump into cloning again? I don’t think so. But you can never count anything out when it comes to Steve Jobs (see also: Apple switching to Intel—who saw that one coming?). So I offered my admittedly absurd speculation (said so in the article), and it somehow ended up on MacRumors.

Yes, that’s right. My article. On MacRumors, one of the biggest Mac sites out there. Excuse me while I pass out.

That’s the backstory. So I’ll ask again, when does speculation become rumor, and when…
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