mercredi 11 février 2004

Slow loading apologies and Panther browser bites Apologies to those, notably in low Net bandwidth countries, for whom this blog has been loading slowly sometimes. I've tweaked features of the home page a little to speed it up again. Many people who've recently updated Apple's Safari browser to version 1.2 (v125) via the Mac software update panel have also complained about an annoying speed drop on a host of sites. Some have noted in Mac reports that this happens to them particularly when the images are expected to load. Being among those affected, I found a fix that works. Re-download the stand-alone version direct from Apple ('Get Safari', 7.9 MB). Trash your current Safari application and the com.apple.Safari.plist preferences file in your home library, but for safety's sake don't empty the trash until you've installed the new package. And don't trash the separate Safari file in the library, which contains your bookmarks, etc. The new one will work much faster. I've no idea why in this instance, but it often seems to be the case that various Mac OS X stand-alone installers from Apple eliminate little problems with updates offered via the panel. For serious Mac-heads, "some excellent discoveries of some minor regressions from 1.1 to 1.2" have just been listed by developer Dave Hyatt ('Surfin' Safari'). Finally, for those of us who like the radically changed Omniweb 5, I've found it prone to the occasional freeze, but it is still in beta, and hasn't yet had a more accessible explanation of some of its hidden features than last week's one by Michael Brewer at the MacDevCenter. If you, like me and John Siracusa, are not among the "people (who) have trouble getting excited about web browsers," he gives you the full works on the Omni event at Ars Technica. There are pages and pages of it, which explain among other things why Omni products are worth paying for. P.S. I like OW 5's tabs drawer, cause of much argument, and not just because it's different from what we've come to expect. But to explain why would require being more of a geek than I fancy tonight. 9:40:56 PM  link   your views? [] Those new new iPods and Susheela's wide world Not a Mac rag around, in any language I've seen, seems able to avoid making its current cover picture and story Apple's new range of mini iPods, even if some have very little to say. So while you know I'm very happy with the non-mini one I've acquired, I'll jump on the bandwagon and link to one of the first extended comparative reviews I've seen, written by Walter Mossberg for today's Wall Street Journal: 'Smaller iPod to Hit Stores Next Week'. The voice of my day has been Susheela Raman. I immediately -- and readily -- give her new CD 'Love Trap' a star more than the 3/5 offered by the sole person so far to write it up at Amazon UK, and it's about the only album on my music player which I've filed as "world" music without a finer classification. This is because the music ranges from devotional songs of the Carnatic repertoire ('Indian Heritage' at Saigan) to a Joan Armatrading standard, the musicians include the Greek Manos Achalinotopoulos, Andalusian pianist David Dorantes and Fela Kuti's former drummer Tony Allen, and Susheela also found inspiration in Ethiopia. You can't get much more world than that, but I want to listen to it all again before any attempt at a review, especially since only two songs are in a language I understand. Meanwhile, I like it! 9:35:34 PM  link   your views? []

nick b. 2007 do share, don't steal, please credit under artistic licence terms; contributing friends (pix, other work) retain their rights.