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Linked List: February 4, 2008

Monday, 4 February 2008

I missed this last week: a detailed piece by Jason Snell specifically on the MacBook Air’s over-the-network Migration Assistant. He used Ethernet, though, not Wi-Fi, which is what Jacqui Cheng reported doesn’t actually work.

Unboxing a Mint Condition Apple IIc ★

What a great computer. The industrial design holds up remarkably well for a 20-year-old machine.

Habemus Dialogum ★

The team from CulturedCode reveals the thinking behind the UI design of Things’s new recurring task dialog. I love looking at the assortment of rejected designs they went through on the way to their solution.

Waxy.org: My First Week ★

Andy Baio:

So I’m going to try an experiment this year: publish something original on Waxy.org, every weekday. Not my opinions about news (opinions are cheap) and not just glorified linkblogging, but something new: original research, investigative journalism, information visualization, digitizing dead media, live reporting, or interviews. I’ll also be releasing new applications, interactive web toys, and social software throughout the year, because as much as I love journalism, I love coding just as much.

It’s hard for me to express how much I’m enjoying Waxy.org again now that Andy’s writing it full-time.

MacBook Air Wi-Fi Migration Assistant ★

So the good news from Jacqui Cheng’s MacBook Air review: even without FireWire, you can still use Apple’s Migration Assistant to move data from your old Mac. How? Via the network, using Wi-Fi or a USB Ethernet adaptor. The bad news: Migration Assistant via Wi-Fi doesn’t actually work.

Flickr Group: ‘Microsoft: Keep Your Evil Grubby Hands Off of Our Flickr’ ★

Well, Flickr users certainly seem to have some strong opinions about Microsoft’s Yahoo takeover bid.

Polling Place Photo Project ★

Noteworthy for those of you in “Super Tuesday” primary states:

The Polling Place Photo Project is a nationwide experiment in citizen journalism that encourages voters to capture, post and share photographs of this year’s primaries, caucuses and general election.

Originally a joint effort of AIGA and Design Observer, now with a home at The New York Times.

The Making of a Lego Brick ★

BusinessWeek:

The production of Lego bricks is so accurate that only 18 out of 1 million Lego elements produced is considered defective. It’s an astonishing number, considering that 15 billion Lego components are made every year.

(Via Steve Delahoyde.)

The iPhone’s Long-Missing Two-Pane Email Client ★

Ryan Block recalls that during the iPhone’s Macworld introduction a year ago, the demo showed a two-pane mode for MobileMail, and wishes Apple would bring it back.

MobileMail is a good enough 1.0, but clearly needs a lot of work, especially for users who deal with a significant amount of email. Two-pane mode, though, isn’t it. My guess is that Apple ditched this mode because they tried it and concluded it wasn’t a good idea within the overall UI of Mobile OS X. It just doesn’t fit from a scrolling perspective alone.

Out Loud ★

Presentation advice from Rands:

There is one unforgivable mistake when giving a presentation. You’ve heard it before: “Don’t read from your slides.” As you’ll see, my approach for presentation development is designed around avoiding this cardinal mistake, and it starts with picking the right tool.

Microsoft Likely to Go Into Debt for Yahoo Deal ★

Todd Bishop:

Microsoft has historically been renowned for its huge cash holdings, and its ability to avoid going into debt, but the company will probably need to borrow for the first time to help cover the cash portion of its giant Yahoo bid. […] The move underscores the magnitude of the Yahoo bid and the risk the company is apparently willing to take in its effort to make the deal happen. Microsoft is still generating cash at a considerable rate, reporting more than $5.8 billion in net cash from operations in its last quarter alone

‘Unbeatable’ ★

Paperback from The Boston Globe: 19-0: The Historic Championship Season of New England’s Unbeatable Patriots. What makes this so beautiful, so heart-warming, is their decision to use the word “unbeatable” rather than “undefeated”. (Via Ryan Naraine.)

Update: Amazon pulled the book. Anyone have a screenshot or web archive? Update 2: Here’s one.

HyperPort — Free HyperCard Export Utility ★

For anyone who still has data stored in HyperCard stacks, Danny Goodman has released as freeware his HyperPort universal export utility for HyperCard. HyperCard requires Classic, and Classic no longer works with either Leopard or Intel-based Macs.

Google Chief Legal Officer Sounds a Little Downbeat on Microsoft-Yahoo Takeover ★

David Drummond:

And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors’ email, IM, and web-based services?

So, either Google really sees this as a troubling development, or, they think it’d be a disaster for Microsoft, and are taking a “Oh no, please don’t buy Yahoo!” stance just to encourage Microsoft to go through with it.