"Planet Tao of Mac" via Rui

Amazon has released the Mac version of the Kindle software. It’s built using Qt and has a weird looking interface. On the other hand, Apple’s iBooks e-reader looks like it will debut as iPad-only.

Update: John Gruber has screenshots.

I just released new version of Pake.

Pake is a command line utility for executing predefined tasks, inspired by make. It is written in PHP and the tasks are also described in PHP. Pake can be used for compiling projects from different pieces, generating code, preprocessing templates and deploying projects.

If you know Phing, then Pake is a similar thing, but doesn’t use XML, is easier to use and faster.

Here’s the brief Changelog:

• added “interactive mode” (pake -i)
• new helper: pakeMercurial (in addition to pakeSubversion and pakeGit we already had)
• updated sfYaml library
• use copy+unlink instead of rename in pake_rename() to workaround problem of moving files between volumes
• “pake compact” (developers-only) command works again
• added explicit pakePearTask::package_pear_package($file, $target) method
• fixed output-formatting (long texts in exceptions, etc.)
• various packaging fixes

All Pake 1.x versions are compatible with php-5.2. Earlier versions might work, but those are not tested.

If you need automation tool for your project, then Pake might be exactly what you need.

Useful links:

• Pake’s homepage (including documentation)
• Installation instructions

Drew Thaler:

But for what I was doing, I needed to go the other way around. Mac OS X provides BoolCAS functions in <libkern/OSAtomic.h>, and I needed to convert those to ValueCAS functions.

John Gruber:

Three weeks ago the hard drive in my MacBook Pro went bad. So far as I can tell, I didn’t lose a single byte of data. Here’s how.

DiskWarrior and SuperDuper are indeed fantastic. Dropbox is in many ways very well done. Why can’t iDisk work like that? Still, I wish there were an option to operate Dropbox in non-haxie mode, where it didn’t load its code into the Finder. And I think that the company has been irresponsible with their users’ resource forks and metadata (and also with disclosing which parts of the files they sync). However, there is now a beta version that addresses these issues, so hopefully they’ll soon be a thing of the past.

Gruber potentially had a problem because his SuperDuper clone was over 10 days old, since he had been out of town. His solution: back up important files constantly to Dropbox. My solution: travel with a portable clone drive and back up important files to CrashPlan.

I hate the iPad! I love the iPad!

I object to Apple’s sometimes farcical behavior when it comes to App Store policies, rejections, exceptions, etc. But my feelings are extremely mixed. I love the hell out of my iPhone, and I pre-ordered an iPad at 8:30 AM on Friday. I believe Apple has a morsel of magical quicksilver in its palm. As with the iPhone, I’m coming along for the ride, whether or not I like the way they are driving.

The iPhone and iPad are compelling enough, so why haven’t I released any significant apps yet?  I still have several apps under development, but none of them is ready for mass consumption. Mainly because my Mac software takes priority for my attention, but also because I want to make sure I understand how software on touch devices should work before I tackle the problem.

I attended Apple’s iPhone Developer Tech Talk in New York in December. During the reception, I had the privilege of speaking briefly with Apple’s UI design rock-star evangelist, John Geleynse. I got to talking with him about the iPhone and its significance in the world:

“I’ve lost 20 pounds in the last 4 months,” I blurted out. “I don’t think I could have done it without the iPhone.”

I had downloaded an app called Lose It, and thanks to the ubiquity of the iPhone, I was able to use this simple calorie-counting aid to change my eating habits for several months. I was eager to share how this little app had changed my life. I struggled to make my point:

“The iPhone has changed everything. Surfers love waves, right? And they want to surf everywhere. But if you’re a surfer and you want to surf in Antarctica, you’re screwed. But if you had the right wetsuit, you could surf anywhere. You could surf in Antarctica!”

Mr. Geleynse indulged the metaphor, but seemed to be waiting for the punch line.

“So, I lost all this weight, and it wouldn’t have happened without the iPhone. Before the iPhone and before this app, losing weight to me was like surfing in Antarctica: I had no equipment, and no chance of survival.  The iPhone gave me the equipment not only to survive, but to know that survival was possible.”

This is what Apple does well. While the rest of the world iterates on existing solutions to known problems, Apple discovers and solves problems we didn’t even know we had. I didn’t realize that the lack of a ubiquitous, hand-held computer was limiting my abilities. I didn’t know what had been impossible would become possible.

Skeptics of Apple’s innovation tend to be stuck in that mode of thinking which judges solutions only in terms of known problems. Imagine the poor inventor of the scuba suit, who upon first showing his contraption to peers, may have been met with flat rejection: “It doesn’t look very comfortable.” True, the scuba makes for terrible evening wear … unless you’re throwing a party at the bottom of the ocean!

If you’re not looking beyond the horizon, if you don’t care to expand the reach of civilization, or to solve impossible problems, then you don’t need a scuba suit.

If you are looking for adventure, suit up. Antarctica on a surfboard? April 3.