Safari 5

I recently downloaded Safari 5 and I am impressed. I want to go over some things: Safari Extensions, Readability, UI changes. Those alone make this update worth the download.

I will start off with UI changes. There are a few things that the user will notice. First, the brought back the blue loading bar. Another UI change can be seen in the History and Bookmarks window. They changed the style of the buttons and the color. Anyway, since these UI changes were more for show than for functionality and accessibility, I will move on to the next two things I want to talk about.

Readability. This is a great feature that analyzes the active webpage. It breaks it down utilizing DOM's functionality. After parsing appropriately, it reformats for easy reading, what is most likely the main article in the page. It is much easier to use than the old Arc90 bookmarklet. I bet the code is essentially the same, but by putting it into the Objective-C language, it runs faster.

Finally, Safari extensions. Now any developer can create extensions to add functionality to the Safari Web Browser. One example is an extension that allows the user to download the current YouTube video.
I find it nice that an extension can really get a high level of interaction with a web page (UI Interaction and WebPage injection). Soon, I will post a tutorial on how to make Safari extensions.

In sum, Safari 5 is loaded with some killer features. Safari Extensions, and Readability, along with algorithmic optimization makes this browser REALLY impressive. It is something everyone MUST download.

Programming Tip: Be Care With Quote Syntax

The other day, I was writing a program. It has to display a "\". So obviously, my first instinct was to write that. What I did not remember was that a slash there usually is waiting for some letter to come after it to denote a return or something similar. So, it was taking a quote as that letter. However, a ' " \" ' doesn't actually mean anything so the debugger was getting stuck there. So when you want to write a back slash, you have to click it twice.

Essentially, by doing so you tell the javascript engine that the \ is not denoting a symbol to realize that the \ isn't actually waiting for something like "\n". Alternatively, you could use the special characters ampersand format for a slash: "&#92".

Slow Boot up Macintosh Snow Leopard

NOTE: This probably applies to Leopard too.

Over a month ago, I had a problem with start up on my mac. I think it was because I had a partition that was the main one for boot up, but after I deleted it Snow Leopard did not know what HDD to boot from. So, it would first check for network volumes. However, none could be found. We all know that loosely-connected or nonexistent network devices will cause problems, because they cannot be found. Anyway, that was my problem. It was increasing boot times between the bootloader and the Apple Logo up to 25 seconds.

Lesson to take away: If there is an unusually large delay in the time it takes to switch from the bootloader to the Apple Logo, the problem could possibly be remedied by going to "Apple Logo --> System Preferences --> Startup disk", and selecting a startup disk. (There is no need to click any apply buttons, because when you select the disk, the OS basically just automatically applies it.

Chromium

I think that if Google Chrome cannot find a search on a website, then when you type in a website and click tab to search that website it should just create a google search with the "site:" parameter. I'll submit my code for that soon.

Hackintosh

I am back into Hackintosh mode.

Basically, I will just install OS X onto a flash drive with a bootloader so that it can start on a pc, HOWEVER, when it crashes I will run it in verbose mode. Therefore, I can see what went wrong.

That is just a quick idea.

No Third-Party Application Multi-Tasking

I will get straight to the point.

1. The processor on the iPhone isn't strong enough just yet and an algorithm that would try to give more power to the primary process would likely end up using the rest of the power and become inefficient.

1a. It isn't seen on the iPad, because that would mean a rewrite of the iPad kernel (which I believe is shared with the iPhone. They would be better off waiting until they rewrite the iPhone's kernel.

2. This would lower battery life, which is still a struggle to improve.

3. Also, malicious code could run in the background and steal passwords when the malicious code and the App Store are running. To prevent this Apple would then need more professionals who TRULY analyze code, which would take more time and cost more money consequently making applications and the device cost more.

4. Lastly, I read in an article that the biggest (non-trivial) complaint about Android OS is the multi-tasking. (I am not attacking Android it is just an example.)

If you are really not worried about any security risks, you can jailbreak it. At least Apple gives you the option to keep it locked up safe, unless you chose otherwise.

iPad closes the gap

Some people might say that I am just being another fanboy and avidly supporting any new Apple product. However, I will hopefully convince you, with this article, that the iPad is TRULY closing the gap between an iPhone and a MacBook.

First, I would like to point out that the iPad keyboard, when in landscape mode, is AMAZING to type on. Unfortunately, the portrait keyboard feels a little cramped. Nevertheless, the typing, input, and text-manipulation experience, is wonderful.

Second, in the new applications you see "pop-ups" or other windows and palettes, which are only really found on computers, because of the ample screen space.

Third, I see certain functionality that can't be found on small devices, BUT they can be found on the iPad. For example, on a mac, you can put your mouse over any word and receive its definition by clicking Control - Command - D. This dictionary technology is implemented in a fashion much more similar to a computer, than an iPod/iPhone. This might seem like something unimportant, HOWEVER this is online one instance where I see the gap closing. Also, in the iWork app, the user can now manipulate document margins. Things like that are only seen on computers, and are much harder to implement on small iPhone-sized devices.

In sum, the iPad is not given justice by being considered a "bigger iPod Touch." It truly does narrow the gap between an iPhone/iPod and a MacBook. It allows for more computer-like functionality.