Category Archives: Apple

Apple Preview PDF Bug

For a long time I had an ongoing problem optimizing PDFs in CS3 (I believe the problem occurs with CS2 and possibly other versions too). After a file had been optimized it wouldn’t display or print properly from Apple Preview. Elements of the PDF would either be missing or only partially displayed. I found documentation of the bug online but in each case the person said there was no known workaround.

In my case it was happening with sales documents. They had to be optimized because they had to be small enough to send via email or for people to download from our website, so “no known workaround” just wasn’t acceptable.

I spent a few hours playing around with different optimization settings, different ways of saving the files, basically anything I could think of that might possibly have an effect and by not doing a few things, I hit upon a fix:

  • Don’t optimize transparency
  • Don’t discard unused objects
  • Don’t perform a “clean up” on the document

You can still optimize the PDF and reduce the file down to 20-40% of the original size without performing those actions. You’ll retain print quality and the PDF will view and print correctly from Apple Preview.

$200 Price Drop on Apple iPhone

iPhoneI’m probably the last person who cares to actually find out about this, but last night Apple dropped the price on the 8GB iPhone from $599 to $399! And they added new touch iPods that are basically the iPhone without the phone (but with the web features and apps) that start at $299.

I still need a MacBook Pro first and I’m still debating whether or not to wait for the next rev on those before buying one. They’re in the middle of their product cycle, so it’ll be at least another three months before new versions come out. The smart thing to do is to wait.

How does Apple make their products so appealing that it is physically difficult to not buy them? Every day Apple makes the case for why design is so important.

One step closer to world domination

Apple – Boot Camp

As cool as this is, I’m not sure I want to sully my Mac with Windows. My desktop machine crashed this weekend after I rank a disk check. I’m going to have to pull it and send it to a professional. Argh. That has never happened on one of my Macs. And why would I expose my Mac to Windows virii?

The flip side is that this might bring in a lot of Windows users who will be willing to experiment with OS X so long as they have the option to switch to Windows at any time. Especially given the fact that the MacBook Pro is the fastest Windows XP notebook on the market.

Apple’s Burning Ring of Fire

An amazing thing happened to me today. I was sitting at my laptop working when, all of a sudden, the connector for the power cord that plugs into the laptop caught on fire. I yanked the cord immediately. The thing gave off a few thin tendrils of smoke and then died a quiet, peaceful death.

Had I not been at my computer when it happened I’m quite sure my computer would have burned up. Had I not been home my entire house might have burned down.

Apple makes really shitty power connectors. What are the odds that on the same day this happens to me I would pop over to read the “Cult of Mac” blog and see a discussion about a power cord melting down on a MacBook?

Different laptops, different situations. I really doubt that guy’s cat pulled the cord out of his laptop. I think the magnetic link broke once the connector caught on fire and the thing fell out on it’s own.

In my case, my connector had been previously bent when it had been yanked out of the laptop on accident. Over time the thicker part of the cable at the base of the plastic plug (the one that goes into the laptop) split open. I can’t say exactly why. It could have been a stress fracture from the new angle of use or heat from the electrical wire inside acting on a point of weakness that developed when the cord was yanked or, most likely, some combination thereof.

The split got worse but the plug still worked. I was planning on using the Ultimate Tool to Fix All Problems (duct-tape) but I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. I really don’t know what the final straw for it was today but I do have some advice for people with broken power cords. This may seem like really obvious advice, but go with me here, as I made the mistake myself and I’m not a total idiot:

Don’t use broken power cords.

Bent may be okay but once the electrical wire inside of the plastic is exposed stop. It’s time to buy a new cord. It hurts. Apple charges $80 for the $%@! things. Your house or business most likely cost more than that though, so it’s worth it.

SXSW Update

Flickr photo stream

I’ve temporarily added the Flickr Flash app to display my SXSW photo stream below the menu on this site. Temporary because I don’t like the Javascript implementation but I don’t have time to put up anything else right now.

Microformats presentation by Tantek Çelik

I saw these applications on Jakob Heuser‘s laptop and thought they were cool:

Textmate (Text Editor for OS X)

It first grabbed my attention because Jakob had edited his color schemes to be colored text on a black background. Silly reason I know but it took me back to my days of programming MUDs back in college.

The functionality took me back too. It was the best of both worlds with the syntax highlighting and robust features of a GUI editor and the aliasing system of Linux. I’m not saying I’m going to replace my BBEdit, but I’m definitely going to play around with Textmate.

Adium X (Messenger for OS X)

I have no idea about this one but it looked interesting and I saw it at the same time that I saw Textmate, so I want to check it out too.

When Good Interfaces Go Bad

I had been wondering why I read Daring Fireball for about a week now when this post popped up in my news reader: iLife ’06 From the Perspective of an Anthropomorphized Brushed Metal Interface.

If you’re not a designer and you don’t use Apple products, it might not be that funny to you. If you are a designer and/or you use Apple products, try not to spew whatever you’re drinking all over your keyboard. Especially if it’s a laptop. That can really damage it…