Firefox 2.0 builds for G4, G5 and Intel

While going to the Firefox site just gives you a generic OS X version of the new Firefox, Beatnikpad.com has links to optimized versions for the various Mac processors, namely G4, G5 and Intel.

For each processor, there’s also the choice of “Firefoxy form widgets,” or “aqua form widgets.” I have no idea what that means.

I don’t think I’ve downloaded the new Firefox for our iBook G4, but this theoretically means a better browsing experience, given that I can get a version somewhat tuned to what is now an obsolete processor.

Not that I use Firefox all that much. This is where Josh Kleinbaum and I differ. At the office, I prefer Internet Explorer because a) some Web applications for the Daily News require it, and b) I’m just used to the way it works and c) it’s lighter on system resources and starts much quicker.

And at home, on the Mac, I reluctantly gave up IE long ago and have gotten comfortable with Safari. Again, Safari is quicker and lighter on the system than Firefox.

But especially for Mac, I find myself being required to use Firefox more and more. Blogger only works with Firefox on the Mac. It works with other browsers, but you can’t do automatic links or even upload photos. And Google Docs doesn’t work with Safari (or IE 5.2, for that matter), so I need Firefox for that, too.

What’s wrong with Microsoft? After “winning” the browser war by killing Netscape, they abandon an entire, growing platform (the Mac)? Idiocy. IE for Mac, especially in its final version, was a sweet, sweet product, in my opinion. Read this appreciation (and expression of frustration) from a guy who worked on it.

In my observation, Microsoft applications, though regarded as bloated, really aren’t so much. I’ve found that most Microsoft applications (Word, Outlook, IE, Windows Media Player, Win2K) run fairly quickly and get the basics done very, very well). Part of this might be that MS is slow to update and tune their products to the latest processors and memory configurations (i.e. faster and more).

That’s good news for people who aren’t upgrading hardware every two years — and that’s way more people and businesses than you’d think. Still, get ready for a major MS upgrading of just about everything for Windows Vista, which the computer industry as a whole hopes will get everybody and their mother to buy new, Vista-compatible hardware.

It’s a gamble that could work. Or not.

Back to browsers: For the PC, a Web developer would be crazy to have an application or page that didn’t work on IE and required Firefox. I wish the same were true for the Mac and Safari, which I’ve grown to enjoy working with.

Update: Mac System 7 takes a lickin’

Here are parts one and two of the Low End Mac interview with System 7 Today‘s Dan Palka.

My System 7 guru, Dan Palka, who helps me immensely with System 7 Today and his answers on Low End Mac’s Powerbook group is interviewed on Low End Mac … in two parts, with Part 1 up today. Even though it’s in Thommy Thomas’ “The Legends of 68K” column, Dan focuses his energy on the PowerPC (rather than 68K processors), advocating System 7.6.1 as the best OS for pre-G3 PowerPC Macs (including my Powerbook 1400).

The hitch is that while Apple still offers System 7.5.5 for free, you have to pay for System 7.6 — in fact, some Apple dealers will still sell it to you. Check eBay instead — you can score a CD pretty cheaply at this point.

The 7.6.1 update is still free from Apple, but you need a 7.6 CD to make it work. I got a 7.6.1 Powerbook-specific CD a long time ago from eBay and never even looked at it when I started running the 1400, which was equipped with 7.5.3.

But just as Dan said, upgrading to 7.6.1 was easy and made everything run a whole lot better. So if you do have a pre-G3 PowerPC Mac, head over to System 7 Today and get everything you need, from IE 5 to Speed Driver 8 to make your Mac run as good as it ever will.

Get under Google’s hood

Want to know how Google works, or just to see what the giant of search is doing? Go to Google Code. The three main categories are “Enhance Your Web Site,” “Reach Google Users,” and “Integrate With Google.” Resistance is futile.

For the rest of us, the same page offers the Google Code Blog, where you can also find links to other Google geek blogs, which they call “Google Developer Blogs.”

Check out the Google Code FAQ.

What if you ran your iPod over THREE times?

After yesterday’s news that an iPod lasts four years, and that you can run over it with a car and put it through the washer (if you’re not picky about the display working), I thought it might be time to tell you how to get your iPod repaired — or even get the battery replaced.

One place I’ve found is iPodResQ, which says, “We service ANY MODEL iPod and repair Hard Drives, Logic Boards, Ports, Scroll Wheels, Screens, or anything else wrong with your iPod!” They also sell “self-service” batteries for replacement, if your iPod is no longer holding a charge — and they’ll also do the work for you.

And if your Mac laptop is ailing, they’ll fix that, too. You even get this super-secure “power box” (pictured at right) to send them your laptop — Powerbook, iBook or MacBook. You can get 3-day or next-day turnaround, too.

Writeboard — a Writely alternative

So what if you either a) don’t like Writely (oops, I mean Google Docs) or b) use Safari on the Mac?

Writeboard to the rescue. It’s another collaborative online writing site, except that it works with Safari. And it works with the Backpack organizer system, both from 37Signals, whose free (or low cost for more services) business tools include Basecamp project collaboration, Campfire group chat for business, and Ta-Da sharable group to-do lists.

Hey, if I was Yahoo! I’d buy 37signals today:

We’re a privately-held Chicago-based company committed to building the best web-based software products possible with the least number of features necessary. Our products do less than the competition — intentionally. We’ve been in business since 1999 and love what we do. Our Signal vs. Noise Weblog is read by over 30,000 people every day.

We believe software is too complex. Too many features, too many buttons, too much to learn. We build web-based products that do less, work smarter, feel better, and are easier to use. We pay enormous attention to the details, interface, and overall customer experience of our products.

While our products are mainly built for small businesses and individuals (we call this group the Fortune 5,000,000), companies of all sizes use them every day. From 1 person to teams of 3-5 people to companies of 5000. Everyone loves simple tools that help get the job done and then get out of your way. That’s what our products do.

Google cares about your Mac

Google even has an Official Mac Blog with which to woo you. Best thing so far is the Blogs We Read roll on the right, which has links to all the biggies (including Infinite Loop, MacSlash, Mac Minute and more).

On the blog (which only has four posts at this point), Google is touting it’s Mac-ness:

— A handy set of Dashboard widgets for checking Gmail, posting to your blog, and checking your search history

— Two ways to upload photos from your Mac to Picasa Web Albums

— A cool Google Notifier that alerts you to new Gmail messages and (a Mac-only feature) upcoming Google Calendar events

But they don’t care enough to make Writely (now Google Docs and Spreadsheets) work with Safari. I don’t know if the explanation is still on the site, but in the days when it was still called Writely, there was a reason for the lack of Safari support, something about the lack of ability to write HTML on the fly in the browser. And was I hallucinating about Writely supporting Netscape 4.8? Now it emphatically doesn’t, but at one time I thought it did. And yes, I do run Netscape 4.78 on This Old Mac, and I do, after a fashion, “write,” and thus have an interest in this matter.

Your iPod will last four years

That’s the verdict from Apple — iPods are designed to last four years before giving up the ghost, one way or another. And according to this same Apple Insider article, the failure rate for new iPods is 5 percent. At least the Apple Store is there for you.

And the move from little, itty bitty disc drives to flash memory is a positive step:

Apple’s fairly recent decision to embrace solid-state NAND flash memory at the core of its most popular iPod models, rather than hard disk drives, is likely to improve failure rates. Flash memory lacks the moveable parts contained inside hard disks, making the storage medium significantly more durable.

But what if you’re a geek with lots of time — and iPod nanos– on your hands? You want to drive a car over one, as the Ars Technica reviewers did:

We placed the nano in the path of the car and drove over it with both front and rear tires. Driving over the nano produced sickening crunching noises which coincidentally sounded a lot like an LCD being crushed. After the first hit and run, the iPod’s display was not cracked but was showing some nasty vertical lines. Shockingly, the nano was still playing music and the controls still operated as expected, as we were still able to skip ahead, go back, pause, and play music!

To kill the nano, they had to drop it from a height of 40 feet:

Alas, the iPod nano finally gave up the ghost. In addition to the display showing nothing and the backlight being perpetually stuck on, the music finally subsided. The nano had journeyed to the Land Where Consumer Electronics Are Eternally Blessed.

And the Ars Technica people did the same thing to a next-generation iPod nano (the kind that comes in colors). They think it will withstand a trip through the washing machine, if not the dryer. But only if you don’t drop and crack it first:

Despite many requests to drop the nano into the toilet, boiling water, and cups of beer, I decided to quit with the washing machine. Since the nano had already survived the washer, I deemed it unnecessary to perform similar liquid-related tests that would probably ultimately give the nano at least an equal chance of survival (one would hope that after dropping a nano into a cup of beer, it would be rinsed off before drying out).

So here’s the deal. You can sit on your iPod. You probably can drive your car over it. You might even be able to machine wash it. But don’t drop it out of a three-story building. Class dismissed.

The Cult of vi

I wrote just about every paper I ever did in college on the UC Santa Cruz’s Unix B computer system in the Unix program vi. As I wrote previously, I learned all I needed from the iconographic “Unix for Luddites,” by Scott Brookie, available in Xerox form at the UCSC Bay Tree Bookstore.

But if you want to dip your foot into the geeky world of vi, start at the Vi Lovers Home Page, where I learned you can get a vi clone for everything from an Amiga to Windows XP. Why you’d want to … well you just gotta be geeky enough.

One of the most well-known vi clones is called Elvis, and all can be learned about it at this page: http://elvis.the-little-red-haired-girl.org/ (I had to print the URL so you could see it …)

And for those torn between vi and its rival text editors, there’s The Cult of vi.

Relive your video-game past and play Pong on your browser

All the way back to Pong and beyond, relive your classic gaming past in the Classic Gaming Museum.

On the Pong page, you can play the game on your browser. (So far, the computer is beating my ass).

And from the extensive Atari 2600 coverage, you can relive your 8-bit past. (This picture is from the “ET” game)

For TV news geeks

Believe it or not, plenty of Web sites that cover the business of TV news, both local and national, actually charge a fee for access. It’s not even porn! Or the Wall Street Journal! Well, there’s a really good site that covers the national scene, both broadcast and cable, with all the ratings numbers you can handle, personnel changes and more.

TV Newser, part of the MediaBistro empire, today has the info on which cable network will present the first GOP presidential debate in May 2007. Bet you can guess who the lucky winner is without clicking.

And of course, who doesn’t want to know nightly cable news and broadcast ratings in key demos? Am I right?

And in the NBC-lite era, the network is mulling plans to rely on local Florida station WTVJ for any future hurricane coverage.