Dave Carabetta: My Thoughts - Apple

Important Adobe Flash Player 9 Security Update Released

Tue, 14 Nov 2006 17:20:00 -0400

This Security Bulletin was just posted to the Adobe site regarding a security exploit in the Flash Player. From the bulletin:

Adobe has provided an update to resolve vulnerabilities in Adobe Flash Player. These vulnerabilities would allow remote attackers to modify HTTP headers of client requests and conduct HTTP Request Splitting attacks. The flexibility of the attack varies depending on the type of web browser being used.

Apparently, Flash Player 7, 8, and 9 are all affected, but there is only an update available for version 9 at the moment. I should also note that the fix has been marked as "Important," which is one step below their highest severity level of "Critical," so definitely look into upgrading if possible. For any Flash or Flex developers who rely on the Debug version of the player for development, Adobe unfortunately makes it hard to find the updated Players on their site, so here you go.

My Flex Ad Campaign Suggestions

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:15:00 -0400

So Ryan Stewart rightly flamed Adobe for a poor execution of an ad campaign they were running on some of the Federated Media sites. In one of the comments, Jeff Whatcott, Senior Director of Product Marketing for the Enterprise and Developer Business Unit at Adobe (I'm not sure his title can get any longer), not only acknowledged the execution gaffe, but further comments that the campaign has been pulled altogether. He then went on to challenge the readers as to what we think a better online advertising campaign should be:

So here's the invitation: please jump on this thread with your specific suggestions for what the Flex online advertising should say and what is should look like. What should the tone be (sophisticated, edgy, friendly, in your face, or what have you)? What should the catchy tag line be? What should the short product description be? What benefits, if any, should we mention right in the ad and what should be on the jump page? Should we bang directly on the competition (think Oracle ads) or should we focus on our own strengths? What creative concepts should we consider (code puzzles that convey a message, movies of Flex coding/results, what else)?

Here's the thing though... I'm a developer by trade, so actually designing something more than a stick figure (which is a challenge in and of itself) is pretty comical. Seriously, Photoshop/Fireworks and I just aren't friends. So I'm going to leave the "looks" part of his request to the pros. But that doesn't mean I can't put in my two cents on a couple of his questions. Specifically:

What should the catchy tag line be? What should the short product description be?

I spent a bit of time tonight just throwing down ideas. Here's what I've come up with so far... Catchy Tag Line Ideas

Adobe Flex 2: Why Wait For What's Here Already?
Adobe Flex 2: Flash Reborn
Adobe Flex 2: Rich Internet Applications Redefined
Adobe Flex 2: The Web Like You've Never Seen It
Adobe Flex 2: Free Has Never Been This Easy
Adobe Flex 2: Set Your Data Free
Adobe Flex 2: Unleash Your Data
Adobe Flex 2 and You: Perfect Together

OK, the last one's awful, but I had to give a shout out to my New Jersey roots by paying homage to its successful 1980s ad campaign: New Jersey and You, Perfect Together. Feel free to ignore that one. Anyway, I think the other ones walk the advertising balance between piquing one's interest, conveying (albeit at a very high level) what the technology does, and taking a light jab at Microsoft (yes, I had Sparkle in mind in the first bullet.) I also had one that said "Adobe Flex 2: The Power Of Your Desktop On The Web," but that's really more Apollo-esque, so I left it out. Short Product Description This one's pretty tough too because you have several audiences that will potentially see the text, and you need to cater to all of them at some level. From hard-core C++/Java/.NET developers to designers to managers, the text needs to have something that will at least make them click into a more descriptive landing page. This is what I came up with:

Adobe Flex 2 delivers on the promise of Rich Internet Applications by fusing the power of the web with the familiar feel of your desktop. And because it runs in the Adobe Flash Player, the most pervasive plugin in the history of the Internet, it runs exactly the same on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Leverage your existing Service Oriented Architecture by putting the interactivity of traditional desktop applications at your customers' fingertips. Oh, and it can be done in about 10 lines of code!

My thought process was to come up with something that describes what the product does, while promoting its competitive advantage in that it's cross-platform, runs in a familiar plugin, and doesn't require a complete rewrite of existing code. I'm still not that totally content with it, but I thought I'd throw it out there for feedback to see what others are thinking. I stayed away from a couple of other people's suggestions and some of Jeff's questions intentionally.

I didn't put any code as a complement to the overview statement. One developer pool that I know Adobe is trying to pull from is the hard core C++/Java/.NET camp. As a long-time ColdFusion developer, there's still a stigma that tag-based languages, such as ColdFusion and MXML, are inferior because their abstraction takes away the developer's power and degrades overall performance. I would submit that the landing page should have the links to the code samples along with plenty of videos that point out how quickly you really can develop some pretty advanced behaviors. Also, the code examples shouldn't rely on third-party tools, such as Flickr. It's cool that you can do that, but I don't think you're going to see people rusing out to get their own Flickr API key just to run a sample. I actually think the samples are a big strength for Adobe, and they've done a good job of getting examples for all levels of expertise online.
I don't think Adobe should go the "Oracle route" and single out competitors. First off, it gives the competitors free press. Let them pay for their own airtime. Second, I think it's class-less and evokes a feeling of fear that their own product is inferior and they're just covering those shortcomings up.

What do you think? How would you improve on the current Flex 2 online marketing campaign? How'd I do? Remember, I'm a developer, so my thoughts are really just raw brain dumps...nothing polished.

F-ing Apple...Now I'm Mad

Wed, 12 Jul 2006 14:08:00 -0400

OK, so I've been a huge fan of Apple's conversion to Intel-based machines, and in my short time with my initial MacBook Pro, I was enamored (despite some of the Switcher headaches I had). But as I mentioned previously, I unfortunately had to send back my MBP because the second DIMM slot (for adding RAM) was dead. The Apple support person sent me a shipping label which I should use to ship the machine back. Here starts the beginning of an aggravating process... Apparently they were also supposed to send me a kit that would provide me all the shipping materials needed to send back the machine. Yeah, not so much. Nothing arrived and when I called back, they said it was a mistake in their system and that I could just use any box to send it back instead of waiting for a new kit to be sent. When I first got my iPod a few years back, it, too, had a problem. Not only did Apple overnight a shipping box, but all service was done via overnight shipping and I literally had my replacement 3 days after first reporting my problem. Needless to say, I was very impressed. I wish I could say the same this time. I live in New York City and I had to ship the MBP back to Elk Grove, California....via Ground shipping. See, that's the label they sent, and I couldn't change it without having to pay for the shipping myself. If this is something that's their fault, why not offer the same Overnight service that you provided with my iPod? So I mailed it out on July 3rd, and it finally arrived yesterday, July 11th. It was a long week of constantly pinging the FedEx tracking system to see if it arrived! I waited until late last night to hit up the Repair Status site to see what the story was so that I could get an estimate on a return delivery date. I kept getting a "Status not available" message when I entered my Repair ID, even through this morning, which should have been more than enough time to process the return. Since my machine was technically a custom order (I upgraded the RAM and the hard drive when I first purchased it), I knew that it had to come from China, which is where the machines are built. I also had a strange feeling that it was going to be ground shipped back to me (after waiting a week for the order to be processed, based on my previous experience, which would have put the guess-timated date near the end of July). That didn't fly with me, so coupled with the "Status not available" message, I decided to call the AppleCare Support Line to see what was up. (To this point, my real problem was just that it had been a slow process, which is annoying when you're excited from something. I'd be OK with things if that were it. But...) Upon reaching an AppleCare support person (I have to say, they are very good about short wait times), she read the case notes and said that she had to transfer me to a Sales support person. OK, fair enough. A short wait later, and a guy comes on the line to introduce himself. He, too, reads through the case notes and says that, despite multiple notes in the log that the machine needed to simply be swapped for a new one, a refund was issued to my account and that the case what closed. Wait, what?! Yes, somebody on their end, despite the numerous notes to replace the machine, issued a refund to my account rather than processing a replacement. Since the refund was already issued, the case is now closed and the only way to get a MacBook Pro is to order a new one! Oh, and I can't get a refund right now on my AppleCare support plan. That's a separate issue. Are you kidding me?! I don't even own the machine anymore and I still have to go through the hassle of a separate call to cancel that?! All I got was "I'm sorry this happened. Do you want to buy a new one?" as a reply. I was floored. I also believe that he was sorry, but sorry doesn't fix the problem. So now I'm furious because of all the lost time and I'm seriously reconsidering whether or not I want to buy another one. As I said, the MacBook Pro, both the machine and the software stack that comes with it, is pretty sweet. But this experience leaves an awfully bad taste in my mouth with Apple's support. Further, Intel's about to announce the Core 2 Duo availability. How do I know if Apple is going to announce less than a month from now at the Worldwide Developers Conference that they are bumping up to that chipset (which offers better performance, and, more importantly for a laptop, lower power consumption). As usual with my luck, I'll have bought something that is significantly upgraded literally a few weeks later. And lastly, in my brief experience, I found that it was a bit harder to run certain must-have applications without having to "trick" the system. From ColdFusion MX's startup quirks to the lack of Flex Builder to the lack of TiVoToGo, I found myself in Parallels a bit more often that I thought I'd be. Perhaps that's just the "lifeboat" reaction of going back to something familiar. But it also seemed crazy to have had to switch my system's loaded JVM just to fire up ColdFusion (The OS relies on JDK 1.5 but ColdFusion doesn't support that). Frankly, I'm not sure what to do at this point. I have to say that just writing this out has been therapeutic in a way because I am starting to cool down a bit. And while most who happen to read this are likely thinking "that was just a one-off bad experience," well, when it happens to you it doesn't make you feel any better. I'm going to see what Dell has going on right now and take a couple of days to do another comparison and see if things have changed. In the meantime, it's back to my old, painfully slow laptop where I can't run half the applications I need to due to lack of resources.

Great OS X Resource For "Switchers"

Mon, 10 Jul 2006 11:30:00 -0400

So I had no idea that there was a name for people like me who are making the switch from Windows to Mac OS X. Apparently, we're called "Switchers." That's cool...Lord knows I've been called worse! Anyway, that's not why I'm writing this entry. I was surfing through Digg last night and noticed an article entitled A Guide to OS X Software for Switchers. Now, even though I had to send my MacBook Pro back for a new one (grrrrrrr) and am still waiting for it, this "guide" is exactly the sort of resource I am looking for. The one area where I've had some issues getting used to the switch is how to get the "little things" done that were second nature to me in the Windows world. There are lots of resources for using "big ticket" items like web browsers and Eclipse, but I'm talking more about things like unzipping SIT files (seemingly the preferred zipping method for the Mac community), FTP-ing files to my web site, capturing screen shots, etc. Well, this "Guide" has all those answers and more. If you are a recent Switcher or even if you are a long time Mac user, there are tips, tricks, and references for everybody that are extremely useful. Now if I only had that replacement machine to apply these tips... ;)

A MacBook Pro Review From A Windows Perspective

Fri, 23 Jun 2006 01:55:00 -0400

So I wrote a few posts about my dilemma regarding switching to a Mac for my personal laptop after spending (literally) my whole life on a Windows-based PC, and people were interested in hearing how it worked out, so here goes... The Ordering Experience Simple. Standard. The ordering process was very familiar if you've ever been to and/or ordered from Dell's web site. Choose your desired model, click a few radio buttons to configure your personal specs for the machine, and off you go. I will say that if Apple really wants to gain market share, they have to provide better financing options than they currently do. Essentially, you either pay by credit card or a P.O. if it's for work. That's lame. Where I believe Dell really has a leg up is that they provide a leasing option whereby you pay off the balance of a secured loan over a multi-year period at a fixed percentage rate. When I was paying off my old Dell, it was great to know that $78.56 was being deducted from my account every month and that, over the agreed-upon time period, the balance of the loan was paid off. Now I have yet another credit card to juggle. Oh yeah, and if you choose to finance through Apple rather than using an existing personal credit card, you literally have to open a new credit card account. The worst part about it is that you don't know what the interest rate is until after you've opened the account! So even if you decide that you don't want to use the account because the interest rate is too high, the account is already opened and reflected in your credit report. The above being said, I was still elated with my purchase (made on a Tuesday), and received an early birthday gift when it arrived that same week on Friday. The Machine Gorgeous. Sleek. Thin. Screaming Fast. Hot. Yeah, the common gripe is indeed true....these things get hot. Although I guess that's what happens when you take a high-powered processor and stuff it in a metal case that's only 1 inch thick. So I was definitely prepared for it. As the guys at the Apple Store told me when I was looking at the machines and comparing the 15 inch with the 17 inch model (I got the 15 inch), they're intentionally not calling them "laptops." Rather, the Apple company line has been to call them "portables" so that people don't put them on their lap and burn themselves. The Software This is probably my favorite part about the machine. A lot is made of the high cost of purchasing a Mac versus a PC. However, what I think gets lost in the debate is that Apple provides a ton of useful software out of the box. If you were to add up the cost of the individual software components, it's likely around $1,000 USD. Seriously. I'm not talking about the common PC trial-ware for AOL or EarthLink or any of the hundreds of other titles that most people uninstall as soon as they power up their new PC. I'm talking about a music recording application called GarageBand (which I now use to record my guitar songs....I'm not very good by the way), iTunes, iPhoto (a powerful photo editing and organization application), HD video editing software, multiple chat applications, iWeb (for creating web sites), and, of course, a solid web browser. Mac Eye For The Windows Guy OK, a cheesy section title, but that's the best I could do this late at night while trying to convey the fact that using a Mac is a different mindset as compared to using a PC. On a PC, you're likely have multiple partitions on your drive to separate your data from your applications in the event of a system crash (corrupt registry, etc.). Well, with a Mac, you don't have to worry about that. There's no such thing as a registry, and everything is treated as a file, so if you want to delete a program, just drag the program to the Trash and it's gone. No Start -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs -> Do a Dance To Make Sure All Registry Keys Are Deleted, Which Likely Won't Happen. But I'm still having trouble adjusting to the fact that closing a window does not close the application itself. You still have to separately quit out of the application itself (in most cases). I'm not sure how I feel about that. For the most part, if I'm shutting the application window, then I'm likely done with it. So close altogether please. Installing software is still tripping me up from time to time as well. Most Mac applications come as a DMG file, which is roughly equivalent to a ZIP file. When you double-click the DMG file, it doesn't actually install the application in most cases, as you would expect from double-clicking an EXE file in Windows. All it does it mount the file archive so that you can then run the installer application. This took me a few attempts to figure out. I would "install" Firefox and then re-boot my machine only to see that it disappeared! The other problem I have is that sometimes applications don't tell me where they're being installed and I can't choose the location. I installed the TiVo Desktop Software about 8 times (seriously) before I realized it was in my System Preferences folder. I was clueless. Lastly, I went ahead and plunked down the amazingly cheap $39.99 for Parallels Software's Desktop For Mac application and installed Windows into it. Even in a virtual OS, Windows now runs about twice as fast as my old Dell ever did. Not that it's the Dell machine's fault, mind you, but it's still incredibe to see the speed difference. I'm going to be using this machine to do some Flex 2 development, and it's nice to see I won't be hindered by performance. The "Intel" Problem The big thing that I'm finding out about this machine is that most people still haven't updated their applications to support the Intel-based Mac yet (Adobe, I'm looking in your direction). So a lot of programs need to run in an emulation mode using something called "Rosetta" to translate the PowerPC-based instruction set to the Intel platform. It's supposed to slow down the application, and I suppose it does, but, honestly, these machines are so fast as it is that it's barely noticeable. I will say that running ColdFusion is a royal pain in the behind. See, Macs come with the Java 5 SDK as its default Java Virtual Machine. Unfortunately, ColdFusion doesn't run on this JVM yet. So, thanks to Google and Simeon Bateman's blog, I was able to track down a shell script that allows me to set the JDK to Java 1.4.2 so that ColdFusion is happy and will start. So I have ColdFusion out of the way. Now I have to track down an Oracle installation for this machine, as this is what my company uses and it'd be good to have it set up locally. The Negative So with all the gushing and positive comments, you'd think everything is great. Well, it is and it isn't. You see, my computer technically works, but it's also what Apple considers to be DOA (Dead On Arrival). The second memory bank (where I was trying to install some more RAM because it was cheaper than getting it from Apple) is dead. So I call up the AppleCare number because that's what I just paid good money for. Within 10 seconds, the tech support guy tells me he's a "software guy" and that hardware's out of his realm. His suggestion....bring it to a Mac Genius at one of their retail stores. I was a bit annoyed, but I was willing to give it a shot. I made an appointment with a "Genius," and, sure enough, he confirmed what I already knew. So you'd think that they would replace the laptop there on the spot because it's a retail store and they carry those kinds of things. Well, not so much. It turns out that because I upgraded a couple items at the time of my purchase (from 512 MB to 1 GB RAM and frm the 5400 RPM to the 7200 RPM hard drive), that's technically considered a "custom built machine" and they'll have to have it specially built for me in China. Oh yeah, and that'll take two weeks. I mean, what the heck's the point of the retail stores if they can't replace my machine right there? So, needless to say, I'm blogging this entry right now on a soon-to-be-returned machine. However, since it does function without issue with the 1 GB RAM module that came with the machine, they're letting me keep this through the CFUNITED conference next week, which is the main reason why I bought it when I did. I do have to say that their support staff was very accomodating to my situation, and they're allowing a "grace period" for me to return the machine for a new one rather than repairing this machine. As they put it, who wants a new computer that immediately has to be repaired? A Couple Pointers In closing, since this is the longest post in my short blogging history, I wanted to pass along two great little tips I've learned in my short experience with the computer.

Empty Trash vs. Secure Empty Trash: I saw this one whie waiting on line in the Apple Store. When you empty your Trash Bin, you're not really deleting the files from your system. Sure, they don't appear in your folders, but all you've done is tell the OS that the space the deleted file once occupied is eligible to be overwritten when space is needed. If you want to erase all remnants of a file from your system and immediately free up the space, choose the Finder->Secure Empty Trash menu option. This is particularly important for personal data files.
Get the iStat Pro Dashboard Widget: The Mac Genius I spoke to pointed out the iStat Pro dashboard widget, which gives you a high-level overview of all the major system components, such as battery life, temperature, memory usage, broadband speed, and more. The temperature and fan feature isn't working on the Intel-based Macs yet, but support for it is imminent, and this free widget is certainly a useful utility.

Overall Yeah, I have to send the computer back, but overall I'm ecstatic with the purchase. I really am. There are some things I need to learn to better use the machine (shortcuts, etc.), but I hope to pick the brains of some Mac users at CFUNITED next week to get a better grasp of the OS. I'm already more productive with this machine than I have been in a long time for my personal work. If you're on the fence, do it. You still have Windows via Parallels as a safety net, and it's such a complete system that has everything I need to be productive. The product reviews I read before buying the MacBook Pro were all from previous Mac users, so I was a bit skeptical. Well, I see why Mac users are loyal. Apple's on to something with this line, and if they can sort out the aforementioned financing problems (and ship fully functioning hardware), they have a great shot at converting large numbers of Windows users.

Leak? June 28th Release For Adobe Flex 2

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 13:04:00 -0400

Scott Langeberg just posted on the flexcoders list that he learned in a Breeze webinar that Adobe Flex 2 is slated to be released on June 28th! Here is the contents of the post, which includes the long-awaited pricing breakdown:

According to Sydney Sloan (Marketing - Adobe) in a Breeze webinar @ 11AM (c): Official release date: June 28, 2006 Pricing as follows: Flex 2 SDK - FREE Flex Builder 2 - $499, $749 w/charting FDS - $6,000 (100 concurrent users), $20,000 (enterprise) Interestingly: FDS Express - FREE (one app per cpu). Charting components - $299

I want to stress that the above information came from one non-Adobe employee, and may not be entirely accurate, if at all. That disclaimer aside, AWESOME!!! That positions the release to be on Day 1 of the CFUNITED conference, which also means that Mystic (aka, ColdFusion 7.0.2) will be released that day as well (it was noted in a Developer Week presentation that the CF bits would be released simultaneously). The release date does seem to make sense, as Adobe will be giving the keynote address at the conference that day, which makes it the perfect platform to make a major announcement such as this (among other channels, of course). Further, it follows the "first half of 2006" official line on release dates to this point, yet maximizes the time they have to get it out the door. I have to say, the pricing is extremely aggressive, and I think is a further testament to how much Adobe has riding on this release. If you haven't been checking out the online presentations this week surrounding Flex during Adobe Developer Week, then you're missing out on a ton of great information. P.E. -- (Post Entry) I hope Sydney Sloan doesn't get in too much trouble!!

Parallels Desktop for Mac Goes Gold

Thu, 15 Jun 2006 10:55:00 -0400

*** Updated: Thanks to Walt Mossberg for pointing out that his columns are available for free. The referenced article link below has been updated accordingly. *** My colleague Sam gave me a heads up this morning that famed technology columnist Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal wrote a glowing review (paid subscription required, unfortunately) of Parallels Desktop for Mac. It's on page B1 of today's WSJ paper edition, if you happen to have one. As I went over to the Parallels site, I noted that the final version of the product was released today, and that they introducing the price point at $49.99 until July 15th (the full price will be $79.99 after that). Like I said, Mr. Mossberg has extremely positive thoughts on the product, with only a few small drawbacks that he notes will be fixed by Parallels in a subsequent release (i.e., USB 2.0 works as USB 1.1, no DirectX support). He writes that, as a test, he wrote his article partially in the Windows version of Word and then cut-and-paste it seamlessly into the Mac version of Word to show the interoperability. Further, all the standard applications that you might use on Windows (MS Office, Internet Explorer, Adobe Reader, Firefox, etc.) all worked without issue and were very snappy. For those who might be thinking that Apple has a free way to do the same thing (called Boot Camp), there are a couple of notable drawbacks to it:

You must entirely shut down and re-boot into the desired operating system
You must pre-define a partition for Windows, whereas Parallels is really just a huge Mac data file on your hard drive that uses only as much space as Windows needs

Overall, this is a killer product and, honestly, the only reason why I entertained (and ultimately bought) the idea of getting a MacBook Pro. The barrier to crossing-over is almost entirely gone, and I believe that Parallels is a company to keep your eye on. In closing, if you'd like to read about some more "real world" experience rather than simply taking Mr. Mossberg's column as gospel, Sean Corfield (a long-time Mac user who needs Windows for certain job requirements) wrote a great write-up on his experience with it thus far.

Happy Birthday To Me

Sat, 10 Jun 2006 17:37:00 -0400

Yep, June 10th is indeed my birthday and I've entered the last year of my twenties....29....wow. Where does the time go? Anyway, I hope everybody's enjoying the World Cup. Oh yeah, this is also my first post from my brand new MacBook Pro!!

MacBook Pro, Table Two!!

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 11:30:00 -0400

OK, after much deliberation (and intentionally waiting in the hopes that Intel would release the Merom chips early enough to warrant holding off for the Core 2 Duo), I got my (financial) act together and bought my first Mac! It's on its way from Shanghai, China, as I write this. Holy cow was it scary. Seriously. You have to understand, I don't own a home, car, or other "big ticket" item where dropping a couple thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket. (Incidentally, for those who don't know, I live in New York City, hence the lack of owning those things...I'm not homeless!) Sure, I bought a Dell about 5 years ago out of college, but I was a bit more reckless with money then, so I tended to rationalize things in terms of "this costs 3 nights of drinking." Plus, it was the Internet boom, when everybody in our line of work thought they were going to be millionaires in no time. But there are a few reasons why I was "scared." First, as much as Apple has become en vogue again, I have to be practical and keep in mind that I will rely heavily on this machine for work. This isn't a vanity purchase by any stretch. So it's important for me to be productive as soon as I receive the machine. Enter the new Apple store on 5th Avenue here in Manhattan (which is the most beautiful piece of architecture I've ever seen for a retail store) and Parallels Desktop for Mac. Why the Apple store? Well, on Monday after work, I decided to walk up to the store and check out the difference between the 15.4" and 17" MacBook Pro. I spent one solid hour using each machine to get a feel for each. Never once was I told by any of the employees that I was hogging the machine (there were about 10 of each on display, so it's not I had the only one, but still...). Further, when I finally got all my questions in order, I peppered two employees who not only never sighed or gave any indication that I was a pain, but they got incredibly excited that I was looking to switch and spent another half an hour walking me through the OS and pointing out keys things a developer would need to know. I was blown away. I was very up front that I wasn't going to be purchasing from them at that moment and they couldn't have cared less. There were hundreds of other customers they could have easily gone on to them, but they didn't. Great stuff. As for Parallels, well, they're my life boat. With their Desktop for Mac product, I can still fall back to Windows when I need to. Since Flex Builder 2 doesn't exist for the Mac (yet), I know I'll need to be in there for some things, and it's great to know that one machine can handle both of my needs. OK, so what did I get? I went with the 15.4" MacBook Pro with 1 GB of RAM and the 100 GB hard drive at 7200 RPM. I also ordered an additional 1 GB of RAM from NewEgg, who is selling it for literally almost half of what Apple wanted for the same amount ($160 USD vs. $300 USD). I chose the 15.4" over the 17" because the 17", while sleek and beautiful was a bit too much machine for me. I was telling somebody yesterday that using the 17" MacBook Pro reminded of a line from the movie Starsky and Hutch towards the end when Ben Stiller is telling Owen Wilson that his mom never "thought he could handle the V8. It was too much car for him." Well, that's how I felt about the 17" model. It was monstrous and noticeably heavier (about 1.5 pounds). If you're looking for a desktop replacement, it's a no-brainer, but not if you truly need a portable machine. Before closing the entry out, I do want to give a huge shout-out to Adam Wayne Lehman. I met Adam last year at the CFUNITED conference and we've kept in sporadic touch over the last year. Out of nowhere, Adam offered to sponsor my purchase so that I could receive 10% off the price. Apple has this cool program where if you work for the federal government, you can sponsor up to 6 friends and/or family to buy products from the Federal Employee store. This unsolicited gesture saved me almost $500 USD off the total price! This is yet another reason why I can't recommend the CFUNITED conference enough if you're a ColdFusion developer. Thanks again Adam!

Debating a MacBook Pro: Help Me Decide

Thu, 27 Apr 2006 13:45:00 -0400

Hot off my Adobe Messenger Bag purchase, I have a need (a real one, not a vanity one) for a new laptop to go in it. I've been a Windows user since 3.1 was out (OK, I technically used 3.1 to get into a DOS shell to play computer games but really didn't get into it as a useful system until Windows 95). I've spent thousands of hours on some sort of Windows operating system, both personally and professionally. It's what I know. If I did drugs, it would be my crack fix. I have to have it. Then Apple came along and introduced a new drug called the MacBook Pro. This drug has the feeling of my usual crack but the payload of, say, heroin. It just feels better. (Note: I honestly have no idea how either feels, but if movies are any indication, heroin makes you feel better.) On top of it supposedly being a better drug, Apple offers a bonus transition drug called, say, crystal meth, to wean me off the crack and onto the heroin full-time. Apple has done everything possible to make me switch drugs. The question becomes: should I switch? Seriously, I'm about 75% sure I'm going to switch (yes, there's still decent wiggle room in there). But I do need to ask those who have done so a few questions: First, there are several applications that simply don't (and won't, in some cases) exist for the Mac. The 800 pound gorilla for me is Micosoft Office. I legitimately use most of its components at some level: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., plus apps like Visio and MS Project. In short, this is a must-have for me. I know there's OpenOffice.org, but does it suffice? If I'm going to make this investment, I don't want to run dual OS-es forever. While it's nice to have Boot Camp and Parallels Workstation as an option, I don't want it to be a long-term necessity (ideally). Further, I don't like the idea of shutting down my computer and re-booting into another OS entirely (Boot Camp) just for an application or two, and the idea of OS virtualization (Parallels Workstation) makes me pause. I'm just not sure how mature OS virtualization really is at the consumer level (I really don't...that's not a rhetorical statement). Second, the price. The 17" MBP I'm looking at winds up being USD $3,448 (I'd go with 2GB RAM and the Apple Care package, which pushes the base price up). A comparable Dell Latitude D820 (same processor, RAM, hard drive, etc., but only a 15.4" widescreen) is USD $2,779 (due to a USD $400 instanct rebate they're offering). That's a USD $781 differential right there...certainly nothing to sneeze at! Is it really worth the difference? Third, I'd have to re-format my iPod for use with a Mac, wouldn't I? I have things pretty well set up right now and I'd hate to have to re-format it and start from scratch. Am I correct on this assumption? Are there any tools around to bridge the Windows/Mac divide in this regard? I hold no disdain for Microsoft, unlike a lot of people. I like their products. I've avoided all the horror stories I've read from (former) Windows users (knock on wood). Maybe I'm just lucky, but I also bang on my laptop considerably so I'm definitely a knowledgable source. But I have to say I'm blown away by the UI and feature set offered for the Mac. I know Vista is coming at some point this decade, but I'm not really sure what added value it's going to have other than the Aero GUI feature that Macs already seem to have. At the same time, it's not about the appearance; I need my critical applications to work. We are going to be getting into Flex in the near-term and, while I know Simeon has blogged about using Flex 2.0 on a Mac, there is currently no Flex Builder for it and there won't be for a while. I don't know if I want to worry about using ANT and the command-line just to do a basic compilation of my project. What do you think? I was telling Sean Corfield that Mac users are the most loyal user base I've ever seen. I love their passion and I think that's what really draws me to the platform. But I'm a realist and have to be productive. I need to learn a whole new operating system. Even basic navigation and where to find things is going to be foreign to me. What resources are out there for this? Is it worth the switch?

Review: The Adobe Messenger Bag

Fri, 21 Apr 2006 12:40:00 -0400

So a few days ago I gushed about the availability of the Adobe Messenger Bag from the MEDIUM Design Group. I promised a review of the bag, and here it is... Ordering Process and Delivery OK, so this part isn't about the physical aspects of the bag, but customer service is as important to me as the product itself, so I feel like it's worth noting. The order process was the standard "shopping cart" format we've come to know and love. However, I went back to the site a few hours later to check the Order Status (like I said, I was antsy), but figuring out where to log back in was a chore in and of itself. In short, I'm not a fan of their store layout. Anyway, I don't want to get off-topic by critiquing their site. However, I do want to compliment MEDIUM on one thing. I selected two-day delivery as my shipping option, and they overnighted it to me instead at no extra charge. A seemingly small enhancement to my order, but great customer service. The Bag Itself OK, so I had no way of physically seeing the bag before placing the order. I had to rely on the Flash demo of the product for my information because I am apparently the first one on the internet to have bought the bag! Upon arrival, I ripped the box open and saw this beautiful black leather bag wrapped in plastic. After taking it out of the plastic and removing the 768 mini sacs of desiccant (I swear, I thought somebody was messing with me), I noticed it was a bit wider than I thought it was going to be. That's not a bad thing, but just something I noticed. Then I opened the bag up. Opening the bag... that's an interesting "feature." The flap with the Adobe logo is standard, and there is a slot for a name/address tag on the inside of it. Curiously, there was no tag provided. There is a swath of fabric that you roll up and down to open and close the inner compartment. When rolled up, you secure it by pulling down on straps on either side of the bag. The straps don't buckle and unbuckle, they just tighten and loosen. This rollup fabric is part of the "water-proof your contents" feature, and it's not bad. In the rain, the inside will definitely stay dry. However, I'm curious as to why there would be a need for it when you have the "rain hood" built in to the bag to cover the bag in the bad weather anyway. This thing is made of good-quality leather, so I'm definitely going to be using the hood if it's ugly outside. After unrolling the fabric, I noticed that the bag didn't open as wide as I had hoped it would. At first I just thought that maybe the new leather was a little tight, but I came to realize it just doesn't open that wide. There are a ton of pockets and pouches in there, but since the bag doesn't open that wide, it's hard to get to any but the ones at the top. (I also found about another ten sacs of desiccant while perusing the pockets. This is crazy.) Now, the big test... How does the bag handle a standard size laptop with a couple of books that I am reading. The laptop pocket in slightly "elevated" from the outer lining of the bag, so there's an extra cushion to protect your machine. But herein lies my biggest complaint about the bag. Remember how I said the bag didn't open that wide? Well, the natural side-effect of this is that you can't put a whole lot in the bag because that means the outer flap then won't close. I had my laptop, my new Pragmatic Ajax book and another amazing book I just finished entitled The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki. Neither book is very thick at all (a couple hundred pages each), but the combination of the three made it very tight to close the bag. There's no way the thick Ben Forta books would ever make it into the bag while still being able to properly close the flap. That being said, I thought about how much I really carry with me on a daily basis. I occasionally carry my laptop, but always carry a book with me. With that sort of load, this bag is perfectly adequate. However, if you're a "road warrior," I think the "tightness" of the compartment might be a showstopper. The strap that comes with the bag is a bit of a mixed review as well. On the one hand, the strap itself is made out of the fabric that airplane seat belts are made from. It's smooth and it's sturdy. The padded part of the strap is great. It's a very good size and with all the aforementioned contents, it didn't bother my shoulder at all while walking to and from work over the last couple of days. That's the good part. The downside to the strap is that they don't give you a whole lot of slack. I like carrying my bag across my shoulder diagonally. In that position, I have the strap length max-ed out and I still find that I would like for it to be a little longer. It's not that big of a deal, but I do notice it. If you're a taller person (I'm 5 feet, 10 inches...178 cm for the non-Americans), I don't know how the bag would feel if carrying it cross-shoulder; it might be a bit snug. Also, the clips on the shoulder pad for streamlining your headphone cord isn't really useful if you're not carrying the bag on one shoulder. The built-in rain hood is pretty cool actually, and even unexpectedly give you an outer pocket to put a book in without having to actually open the bag. It full covers the front and bottom of the back, but the back is exposed. That's not really such a big deal though because that's the part that would be hugging your body, which is (hopefully) covered by an umbrella. Overall Overall, I don't regret buying the bag at all. Heck, even the iPod has design flaws, even though nobody likes to mention them! The last big question is whether or not the bag was "worth" the $250 USD I spent on it. In a word, "no." (And again, other than the "cool" factor, are iPods worth their current prices? Not sure about that.) If the price point was around the $185 USD range, I think this would be a great buy. It is made of top-shelf leather and has all the fixings of a solid bag, but the space constraints on it don't really warrant the higher price tag, and can even be a showstopper in certain cases. But I also realize this is a "boutique" bag as well. You can't walk in to a store and purchase it. Living in New York City, it's all about keeping your own identity. I now have a bag that I am happy with and is also unique to me. I won't get on the jam-packed subway in the morning and see others with it and that's kind of a cool feeling. To that end, if you're looking for a higher-end bag for work that exudes professionalism, it should definitely be on your list of candidates.

I Think I'm Getting One: The Adobe Messenger Bag

Mon, 17 Apr 2006 11:15:00 -0400

*** Updated: I just pulled the trigger and bought one. I'll let you know how it is in a few days (I got antsy and did 2-day delivery)! *** I've been using the same bag for work for about 6 years now. In fact, it's the freebie bag that was given out at the Allaire DevCon 2000 conference in Washington, DC! While durable and sufficient, it has sort of outgrown my "early career" needs and I have been passively looking for a new all-purpose work bag. While reading Stephen Collins' blog entry entitled "The quest for the ultimate PowerBook bag", he made mention of a bag designed by MEDIUM Design Group in collaboration with Adobe called the Adobe messenger bag. All I can say is: Wow. I'm floored. Seriously. How has this not been more publicly advertised, particularly in the blogoshere? It looks as if it's been around since the fall of last year, so it's certainly not new. At a high level, here's what you get:

Fits almost any 10"-17" notebook, both Mac and PC
Full-grain leather (including a built-in pull-out rain shield for bad weather)
Routing clips to keep cables out of the way
External cable routing, allowing you to access internal electronic stuff (i.e., your iPod) while the bag is closed
Tons of stretch internal pockets and pouches for organizing everything from pens to cell phones to PDAs

The only real "gotcha" is the price tag. At $250 USD, it's certainly not cheap, and it's only available through the MEDIUM site, so you can't "bargain hunt." However, if I get a couple of years of use out of it, then it's more than paid for itself (I tend to break larger expenses like this down into cost per day of use so that I can sleep better at night). One last thing I took note of is that the entire design process used Adobe products (Illustrator, Photoshop). They have put up a slick flash-based overview of the bag and the design process. Hey Adobe-ans, have any of you seen this or own one? If so, why are you holding out on us!

Run Windows Natively...On A Mac!

Wed, 05 Apr 2006 10:42:00 -0400

I've been searching high and low for a new laptop for the past couple of months and, while I was extremely tempted by the new MacBook Pro, I avoided it due to price and compatibility with software I need to use (as well as some extremely negative feedback about its performance). Well, just when I thought I had settled on a sweet new dual core from Dell, along comes this announcement that Apple has released "Boot Camp" into public beta which allows you to natively run Windows XP on a Mac. All you need to do is hold down the "option" key on startup and a screen is presented that allows you to choose which OS to boot. Available now on Intel-based Macs (meaning just the MacBook Pro for now) via a patch to current OS X installations and natively built in to their next major OS, code named Leopard, this release has the potential to draw in literally millions of new Mac users. As I said, I've been intrigued by Macs for the last couple of years, but have never pulled the trigger on a purchase because there are still some programs that I use (and prefer to keep using) that only run on Windows. While I know I could run virtualization software to run Windows on a Mac, it wasn't all that appealing. However, Boot Camp gives me pause. However, there are still some gotchas that might keep me in the Windows-only camp for now. Here are some potential show-stoppers:

You need a Windows installation CD that has Service Pack 2 on it. You cannot install a basic Windows XP CD and then upgrade it later. Most Windows CD do not have SP2 integrated because you can easily go to the Windows Update site to get it.
If your hard drive is larger than 32GB (which most are today), then you can only format your Windows partition using NTFS. In a Windows-only setup, that's what you want. However, Macs can only read from a NTFS partition, whereas it can both read and write FAT volumes (the older partition type). Therefore, you almost have to run Windows XP using a less-than-deal partition type
Any songs purchased through iTunes must be authorized for both Windows and Macs, which I think means you need to buy them twice.
Apple in no way supports Windows installations, so any problems are your own to solve.

As this is a public beta, hopefully some of these issues are ironed out over time. In the meantime, it's back to tearing my hair out over what to buy!