I’ve been using Delicious Library for quite some time, and since I got my first Mac have used Apple’s Backup software as part of my backup solution. When I upgraded to DL2, I noticed that the backups weren’t changing size any more. I dug into the QuickPick package provided by the Delicious Monster website, and noticed that it hadn’t been changed to reflect the changes made in DL2.

I modified the QuickPick for my own use, expecting an official version to come soon. As of this writing, I’m still waiting.

I asked Wil Shipley why there was no updated QuickPick and got this response: “I think most people running DL2 have Time Machine.” (full response here) This seems to me to be quite a large assumption on Wil’s part. True, Time Machine is the “preferred” way to back up your Mac now, but the Backup software is still available and I would imagine there are quite a few people who still use it. For what it’s worth, I use Backup, Time Machine, Backblaze and SuperDuper! to back of various parts of my data. I’ve heard too many stories of Time Capsules failing to trust it to be my only backup solution.

The Delicious Monster website still points to the DL1 QuickPick from its FAQ entry about backing up data. This really frustrates me because users may download the QuickPick and trust that it is backing up their data while nothing of the sort is actually happening.

If you are using Delicious Library 2.x and Apple’s Backup software, you can download the QuickPick I created to correctly back up your data.

iTunes 7.6 also fixed a nasty bug that would cause Smart Playlists created with a "Video Kind" rule to fail – sometimes horribly.

Maybe I’m not looking in the right places. I love watching video on my iPhone. I also have a few season passes to TV shows through the iTunes Music Store. Some shows, like my new favorite Dexter, don’t release any episodes until the entire season is available. Here’s where the problem comes in. The first season of Dexter is 14 episodes, each around 660-670 megabytes in size. I have a 4 gig iPhone, so there’s no way all of the episodes will fit. Luckily, iTunes offers some flexibility in how video is synced to devices. I can select to sync all unwatched episodes of a show, or a subset of 1, 3, 5, or 10 unwatched episodes. For some reason, though, I can only pick the most recent unwatched episodes. WTF? Why the hell would I download an entire series, then choose to only sync the last 10 episodes? Why on earth didn’t Apple put in a similar set of options to let me sync the first 1, 3, 5, 10 episodes?

As it stands now, I have to watch enough episodes on my computer or my video iPod to be able to sync remaining episodes with the iPhone. I can create a smart playlist that keeps track of the oldest X number of unwatched episodes, but it doesn’t sync to the iPhone. iTunes sees the playlist as belonging to the Music category, and I can only choose to sync music videos, not TV shows within playlists.

C’mon Apple. I know this can’t be too hard. Make it easy for me to watch video on my iPhone like all the hype tells me I should do.

Maximizing windows – the little plus actually is for maximizing the window, but it only maximizes to what the application developer thought should be the maximum size. A bit disconcerting, but once you get used to the other window management techniques that the Mac offers, it’s not such a big deal. The only complaint I have sometimes is that the maximum window size is a bit small for a 13 inch laptop screen.

Mousing – this has become more of a both-hand technique than I’m used to from the Windows world. I think I’ve pretty well got the hang of hitting the ctrl key to get contextual actions, and have almost mastered using the command key as a replacement for the Windows CTRL key. It’s not too bad, but I still have moments of forgetting what key to use when I just want to open a new tab in my browser.

My last complaint was about the function keys, and getting them to perform function like activities. I still haven’t figured this one out, but I’ll admit to spending no time looking for the answer. To be honest, I haven’t missed the "regular" functions provided by the function keys.

technorati tags:macintosh, mac, laptop, gadgets, macbook

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I like to think of myself as a very knowledgable computer guy – I’ve been doing it for a living for quite some time now. I have to admit that I’m going to have to learn the ins and outs of the Macintosh operating system. Are there any good tutorials available for folks like me who are used to the Windows (and even KDE/Gnome) way of doing things? I mean, I’m figuring out that closing a window in not the same as actually exiting a program, but things like being able to maximize a window are still eluding me. Is this even something I want to do? Perhaps there are window management tricks I need to learn instead of making my windows take up the whole screen.

And the mouse! The built-in trackpad has a single button, but I can plug in a three button USB scroll mouse and have something happen when I use each button. How do I emulate these actions with a single button? I’ve noticed that for some things, holding the mouse button down longer brings up a context menu, but some context menus I can’t seem to access. Do I also need to press a keyboard key?

Lastly – I can’t get the function keys to perform function commands. Even if I hold down the "fn" key while I hit a function key, I still get the "alternate" action. I’m sure it’s just another setting that I haven’t stumbled across yet.

technorati tags:laptop, macbook, macosx, macintosh, learning curve, gear, gadgets, geek toys

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