SaudiMac

TUAW reader Dylan O'Donnell has set up his Macbook Pro to snap a picture using the built-in iSight whenever its lid opens. He put together a simple command line capture utility and triggered it with Bernard Bahr's SleepWatcher. Then he added automatic uploads via FTP and displayed the results with the open source BolGallery.
"I initially did this as an anti-theft measure as the script will upload the photos to any FTP site for you, and the PHP gallery will autothumb and display the photos. Apart from the nauseating effect of seeing my ugly mug repeating, the result is good and I hope to maybe do a time lapse in quicktime sometime down the track!"<
It's a cute idea, completely open source, and an excellent example of ingenuity in action. It's also a good example of the completely self-conscious reasons that I do not personally own a webcam. Me, in the morning, before I've woken up and had my caffeine? Not a pretty picture.

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(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog.)

Steve Jobs just dropped a bombshell on the audience attending his Macworld Keynote Address. Jobs at first announced the product as three separate products; a widescreen video iPod, a phone, and a mobile internet communicator. This was exciting enough, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who was a bit disappointed to think about carrying three devices. According to Laurie who is listening to the feed from the expo floor, the crowd went absolutely wild at this announcement.

The iPhone will use a revolutionary interface called MultiTouch, first seen in Apple patent filings over a year ago. The iPhone will run OS X, and be capable of running desktop-class applications.

The Nitty Gritty:

• Single front button.
• 3.5 inch widescreen display featuring the highest pixel density ever shipped in a portable device.
• 2 megapixel camera.
• iPod dock.
• Proximity sensor which switches between modes and screen orientation based on how a user holds it.
• 11.6 mm thick.
• Syncs with iTunes
• GSM/EDGE
• Wifi
• Bluetooth
• Cinglar only.
• Visual voicemail - shows a list of your voicemails like you see a list of emails.
• Error correcting on-screen keyboard.
• Gestural interface
• Mail.
• Safari.
• Google Maps.
• Widgets.
• Switches seamlessly between EDGE and WiFi.
• Free Yahoo! IMAP email to all iPhone customs.
• GPS
• 5 hour video battery life.
• 16 hour audio battery life.
  

The 4GB costs $499 and the 8GB $599 (includes a 2 year contract). It is shipping in June.


[Photo via Engadget]

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(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog.)

Mac enthusiast Dustin Bachrach has written up his picks for some of the best Mac software you might never have heard of. His list includes:

Backdrop: an easy way to take OS X screenshots

CocoaMySQL: a great interface for management of databases

Service Scrubber: helps clear out your services menu.

Do you have an unknown Mac app you'd like to share? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. — Wendy Boswell
The Best Unknown Mac Apps [Dustin Bachrach Blog]

(Via Lifehacker.)

Interested in learning Ruby, the open-source, object-oriented programming language? Start with Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby Book, a new e-book that teaches the basics and then some. An introductory excerpt:

In Ruby, everything you manipulate will be an object. Everything. Even the results of operations on said objects are objects; this approach differs from C++ or Java where primitive types exist or some statements do not return a value.

I'm no programmer, but I like the author's relaxed, humorous approach to the subject. (For example, there's a Chapter 0, and it's titled "What'chu talkin' 'bout, Mister?") This looks to be required reading for anyone new to Ruby or even somewhat familiar with it. You can download the e-book as a PDF or view it online, though the author does encourage purchasing a print copy to help support hosting. — Rick Broida
Mr. Neighborly's Humble Little Ruby Book

(Via Lifehacker.)

Is it a sunrise? A monolith? The light from an oncoming train? Whatever it is, it's now decorating the website of everyone's favorite fruit-flavored company.

Presumably we may expect big things this year from AAPL.

[via MacRumors]

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(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog.)

MacBreak 33: The Distracted Mac (Direct MOV Download)

Although it covers a lot of the same ground as a previous MacBreak we did on the subject, I think Leo and my segment on un-distract-ifying your Mac turned out pretty good (my atrocious hairstyle at shoot time notwithstanding). Download 10:28 MOV file now…
Here’s the apps and tricks that we covered, with links:

• Hide Others - In the front app, select “[Application name menu] > Hide Others“


• Turn [Dock] Hiding On - In the Dock, CTRL-Click the Dock’s vertical separator bar, and select “Turn Hiding On“


• Backdrop - Create a black background that still lets you easily interact with Desktop contents


• MenuShade - Alter the brightness of your Menu — or totally black it out, like I do


• Spirited Away — Hides non-active applications after the interval of your choice (thanks for the legacy download link, Don)


• Path Finder - Totally tricked out Finder on steroids that I love love love; where I made the Desktop black and hid all mounted drives, folders, etc. (doable in the regular Finder, too)


• Hazel - Automagically clean up the contents of folders and the Desktop (e.g., “move old MP3s here” or “archive files older than a week” etc.)


• Textmate - My favorite text editor. Which I apparently love to plug for no particular reason.

Edit 2006-12-21 16:51:22: Check after the cut for reader suggestions from comments for this post…

Recommended by 43f readers in comments

• Witch - “Witch lets you access all of your windows by pressing a shortcut and choosing from a clearly arranged list of window titles…”


• Desktopple - “With Desktopple, you can quickly and easily hide all of your Desktop clutter.”


• LiteSwitch X - Merlin’s fave app switcher; handy also for quitting, hiding, or restarting apps without changing focus


• [unsanity] WindowShade X - Hack control of your Finder Windows


• Menufela - “Menufela is a haxie that lets you hide away the menubar and/or get rid of the spotlight menu item.”


• Doodim - “Doodim permits one to dim the background of the foremost application thereby enhancing its visibility.”


• ianhenderson.org - megazoomer - “Megazoomer makes windows full-screen. “


• WriteRoom | Hog Bay Software - “WriteRoom is a full screen, distraction free, writing environment.”

(Via 43 Folders.)