Web Design, Consulting, and Instruction

I reported a while back that it was coming, and now it’s here. Microsoft released today Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) for public download. Current users of Vista should use Windows Update to retrieve and install the download.

I’m just reporting here. I don’t have Vista installed on anything to test it out. Enjoy.

Oh…I can’t help it. If you’re thinking about getting Vista, you might just want to click here instead.

I can’t seem to give it up. My favorite web browser is still Safari.

I know, I know… Firefox is more widely used, Opera has that cool “speed-dial” thingy, but I love Mac. And I love iLife integration. And I love trying to use Apple applications for everything I can. (I’m still holding strong with Aperture!)

Anyway, this morning, Apple made version 3.1 of Safari available for free download. It’s available for both PC and Mac here.

One of my favorite new features (I haven’t spent much time exploring yet) is the Develop menu that can be activated in the program’s preferences. As a web developer, it allows me to quickly analyze a page’s scripts, CSS, image elements, etc, and compare their performance in different browsers. Previously, I’d used the Web Developer extension in Firefox for this purpose.

The detailed documentation on Safari 3.1 from Apple is available here.

I reported on Friday that Adobe had released version 1.4 of Lightroom and version 4.4. of Camera Raw. They have since pulled those updates from their site. Check out this MacWorld article for more information.

Today, Adobe released version 1.4 of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and version 4.4 of the Camera Raw plug-in for Bridge/Photoshop/Elements. Among other things, it adds support for Mac OS X (Leopard) printer driver compatibility and support for additional cameras including the Canon Rebel XSi, Nikon D60, Sony A350, and more.

Click here to download version 1.4 of Lightroom.

Click here (or use the Adobe Updater) to get Camera Raw 4.4.

So my second-generation iPod Shuffle has been out of commission for a while. It turns on and plays, but will not show up when connected to any computer. I’ve reset, retried, connected to many different USB ports on many different machines…it’s just broke.

I finally got around to trying to get it serviced or replaced last night. This is what I ran into:

The screenshot above (click on it for a larger view) shows that, to get my iPod serviced or replaced, Apple would like me to pay a $59.00 service fee plus $6.95 shipping and handling, for a total of $65.95. Keep in mind that this is to receive a refurbished second-generation iPod Shuffle.

Well, this seemed a bit unusual to me, so I opened up another tab in Safari, navigated to the Apple store, and confirmed my suspicions with this:

Yes. I can buy a brand-new iPod Shuffle for only $49…with FREE shipping! This is almost $17 less than a refurbished model would cost!

For just over $3 more than I was being charged for a used 1GB Shuffle, I could get a new 2GB Shuffle.

Thanks for nothing, Apple.

Not sure why I’ve been on such an iPhone kick today, but I just had to post this article.

In a post this morning, I referred to a draft bill in congress that had the potential to end the exclusive agreement between Apple and AT&T in the US, thus making the iPhone available with other carriers.

Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Investment Symposium, Tim Cook, Apple CEO, stated that Apple isn’t married to the one-carrier strategy it has used so far, even if it makes the most business sense.

Click here to read the full article at AppleInsider.

This is fairly irrelevant to this site, but I’ve been drooling over the iPhone since it was just a rumor. Therefore, news such as this tends to excite me.

A draft law proposed by Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) would require mobile providers to offer subsidy-free wireless equipment which would effectively break the exclusive deal between Apple and AT&T.

Now, I’m not sure how I feel about the ethics of the whole thing. I do support a company’s right to make exclusive deals. I just (selfishly) would like to be able to buy an iPhone here in Montana!

Read the full article here.

Del.icio.us (pronounced “delicious”) is one of my favorite social bookmarking sites. Basically, it’s a place for you to save, or “bookmark,” interesting sites that you’ve visited so you can return to them later. You also have the option of sharing your bookmarks with others.

When you bookmark a page, you can change the name and add a description and keywords, or “tags,” if you desire. These can really come in handy for searching when the number of sites you bookmark start adding up.

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As predicted, Apple updated their MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops today, and there are some exciting changes…enough to make my MacBook Pro feel inferior.

Both models now feature the Intel Penryn Pro Core 2 Duo processor with faster processor speeds. As is typical of Apple, the price points for the machines stay about the same while the performance and capacity of the machines goes up.

Read on for the details…

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I must admit that in preparing for this article, I visited Reddit.com for the first time. It’s functionality appears similar to Digg’s in the form or submitted links that are voted up or down on by users of the site. It looks like it could be fun, but there’s not enough time in my day to follow another one of these social bookmarking sites! I may check in on it occasionally, though.

The widget below is displaying the 5 hottest links on Reddit right now:

Here’s the Wikipedia article, if you’re curious. Enjoy.