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Linked List: December 14, 2007

Friday, 14 December 2007

Run Python Script 

Jonathan Wight:

Apple already provides “Run AppleScript” and “Run Shell Script” actions with Automator which give Automator a high degree of flexibility. However Python is my preferred scripting language and by writing a custom action purely for Python I was able to take advantage of some PyObjC features that in my opinion make my action superior to the provided Apple scripting action.

NetNewsWire: Just What You Wanted 

Nice review and overview of NetNewsWire by Shawn Blanc.

Michael Tsai’s Acorn Trim Scripts 

Looking at the source (Python) shows how simple it can be to write image manipulating plugins for Acorn. (Granted, these are simple plugins, but still.)

Reducing the File Size of Graphics-Heavy PDFs in the Print Dialog 

Neat tip. (Via Mat Lu.)

How To: Create Custom iPhone Ringtones the Free and Apple Way 

Adam Pash shows the steps to using the latest version of GarageBand to create free iPhone ringtones. Now that I think about it, it’s interesting that it’s Mac-only.

Dumbest Thing I’ve Read All Week 

Noted for future gloating: Don Reisinger thinks (a) Apple won’t release a subnotebook MacBook, and (b) that if they do, it’ll tank.

Remote Buddy:  Brilliant Bit O’ Software for iPhone and Mac OS X 

Bill Bumgarner hails Remote Buddy, which (among other things), allows you to use your iPhone as a remote control for iTunes.

FlickrExport 

My thanks to Fraser Speirs’s Connected Flow for sponsoring the DF RSS feed this week. His FlickrExport plugins for iPhoto and Aperture are the best way to send photos to Flickr from either of those apps. FlickrExport handles everything from uploading the photos themselves to including them in groups and creating and adding to photosets.

Through December 17, Connected Flow is offering Daring Fireball readers a 50 percent discount — half off! — on any purchase with the coupon code “DARINGFIREBALL”.

Apple: How to Create Custom Ringtones in GarageBand 4.1.1 

Whoa, so Apple now officially supports free, custom ringtones for the iPhone? (Thanks to Paul Kafasis.)

Amazon SimpleDB 

New database companion to Amazon S3. Interesting, for sure.

Layer Tennis: Hello Brooklyn 

Commentator Joshua Allen’s prelude to today’s Layer Tennis match between Jason Gnewikow and Matt Owens is a classic. Plus, in his own bio at the bottom, he reveals that he (Allen, that is) was the author of the late, lamented, hilarious, and beautiful The House of Wigs.

A Year Later, the Same Scene: Long Lines for the Elusive Wii 

Matt Richtel reports for The New York Times on the fact that, a year after its release, Nintendo’s Wii is still in short supply:

The unsated demand is costing Nintendo more than face. Estimates from industry analysts and retailers indicate that the company, which is based in Kyoto, Japan, is giving up $1 billion or more in sales in the ever-important holiday retail season, not including sales of games for those unbuilt consoles.

Trajan Is the Movie Font 

Kirby Ferguson: “Everywhere I look nowadays, it’s just Trajan, Trajan, Trajan, Trajan.”