Applefritter - Review

Review: Hakko FX-901 Cordless Soldering Iron

Sat, 11 Feb 2006 22:31:15 -0800

After reviewing and ultimately disliking the ColdHeat, I found myself still looking for a cordless soldering iron that I felt I could do quality work with. I have an excellent desktop iron, a Weller WLC-100, but that's hardly portable and is a pain to dig out and set up just to do a few quick solder joints. I figured I'd end up having to buy a butane-fueled iron, but then I found something much better. Well, in the interest of full disclosure, that much better something actually found [i]me[/i]. A few weeks after the ColdHeat review went online, I was e-mailed by Hakko USA and asked if I'd be interested in reviewing its cordless iron, the FX-901. I agreed, and shortly thereafter I received the iron with the price voided out on the invoice. [i]The Hakko FX-901 in its retail packaging.[/i] The packaging the FX-901 comes in is pretty straightforward. The iron and its accompanying safety cap are packed in a cardboard-backed blister pack. There's no instruction manual, no guidelines on how you need to solder with the iron -- in fact, right on the front of the package it instructs to "use standard soldering techniques." There's another interesting bit of information on the front of the packaging: "Safe! No spark! No flame!" After my [url=http://www.applefritter.com/node/9642]last review[/url], I know exactly what that info is referring to; I'll leave it to you to figure it out. There's some other useful info on the back of the package, such as instructions on how to replace the batteries and tip. The iron uses four AA-size batteries, which aren't included with the iron (but when was the last time you saw AA batteries included with a product anyway?). The tip that's included with the iron is of the pencil variety, with a nice sharp tip for precision work. There's a chart on the packaging that shows how long two types of batteries, alkaline and NiMH rechargeable, last and how the operating temperature of the iron decreases with their use. [i]The battery life-iron temperature chart printed on the back of the FX-901 packaging. Image courtesy Hakko USA.[/i] I was surprised to see that NiMH rechargeables were reported to last longer than alkaline batteries. Alkalines offer a higher voltage output, which one would assume would yield a longer operating time -- they generally do in other devices. But strangely, even though they output less voltage, NiMH rechargeables are reported to last almost twice as long as alkalines, 120 minutes vs. 70. I can only guess that NiMH rechargeables are much more linear in how their voltage output decreases over time, and that's what can make them last longer. The safety cap serves two purposes. First, it protects the tip (or protects other tools in your toolbox from the tip, depending on how you want to see it), and second, it keeps the power switch from inadvertently being turned on. The cap snaps on solidly and fits well. It provides a nice space around the tip internally, and is vented at the end; I was able to put the safety cap on the FX-901 while the tip was still hot, but this isn't endorsed or recommended by Hakko. [i]The FX-901 with safety cap attached.[/i] The yellow part towards the back of the iron is the battery cartridge. It's removed by sliding a locking tab at the end of the iron, and then pulling the cartridge out of the body. It's easy to load the four AAs, and there's a diagram printed on the side of the cartridge (hidden from view when the cartridge is installed in the iron body) that shows the polarity in which the batteries need to be installed. With the batteries installed, the iron is decently weighted, not too light but not too heavy. The iron is heavier towards the rear, but the balance isn't enough to make the iron difficult to hold or otherwise affect the ability to solder. The top-mounted power switch slides solidly, and a red LED illuminates when the iron is turned on. The FX-901 uses pretty conventional technology to heat the tip, so I figured the iron would take several minutes, like my desktop iron does, to heat to operational temperature. Surprisingly, it only takes a minute or so, much faster than I was expecting. The operational temperature of the iron was good too -- it's not adjustable, and won't get as hot as my desktop iron running full blast, but it gets plenty hot to melt solder and heat wires and terminals quickly. [i]The FX-901 without safety cap. The iron has a comfortable weight to it and is easy to hold.[/i] My primary test for the iron was with wiring and connectors. I tinned several ends of Belden PY balanced microphone cable, and I couldn't really tell the difference between tinning the leads with the FX-901 and my desktop iron. I then soldered on some Switchcraft and Neutrik XLR connectors and, again, couldn't see or feel a discernable difference in solder joint quality between the FX-901 and the desktop iron. Both irons heated the connection quickly and evenly, which made for smooth, defined solder joints. All of the joints I made with the FX-901 were solid and passed a clean signal.I didn't have a printed circuit board to test the FX-901 on, but I suspect it would work just as well as a desktop iron there too. The sharp pencil tip should make it easy to work on smaller components, and since the iron heats up the tip like conventional irons do, there should be no worry about killing ESD-sensitive components. I'm not sure I would do marathon PCB soldering sessions with the FX-901, nor would I solder under a microscope with it (leave that to a desktop iron with variable temperature control), but for routine repairs and mods, the Hakko should work just fine. Overall, I'm very impressed with the iron. It heats up quickly -- quicker than many desktop irons, even -- and feels natural to use. Because of its size, it's probably not appropriate for use on heavy-gauge wire, but neither would a comparable desktop iron. The back end of the iron is perfectly flat, so it will stand stably on a flat surface, and it will also lay on its side without the tip touching the work surface, so no soldering iron stand is necessary. It's probably a good idea to turn the iron off when you're not actually soldering, in order to maximize battery life. The FX-901's two drawbacks, as I see them, are rather trivial. First, though 70 and 120 minutes of runtime using alkaline and NiMH batteries, respectively, is quite decent, it would be nice to see that extended. Second, the FX-901 isn't as easy to find in stores as some of its competition; neither Digi-Key nor Mouser carry Hakko products. However, it's readily available online; just Google for it and you'll find a number of vendors who carry it. Hakko USA's Web site can also point you in the direction of a local reseller at [url]http://www.hakkousa.com/map.asp[/url]. Considering the price, which is commonly about $30, the Hakko FX-901 is a great value in my opinion -- it combines competent, solid soldering ability with good portability. It won't replace my desktop iron, but it's definitely earned a place in my toolbox. Here are my pros, cons and overall rating of the FX-901: [b]Pros:[/b] Good weighted feel and ergonomics Tip heats quickly Decent battery life, uses standard AA batteries Comes with solid metal pencil tip for precision work Heats up joints about as fast as a desktop iron Attractive price [b]Cons:[/b] Battery life good, but could be better Iron could be hard to find in some areas [b]Overall rating:[/b] Four-and-a-half out of five stars. [b]Additional info:[/b] Hakko USA product page: [url]http://www.hakkousa.com/products.asp?PID=FX-901/P&Page=1[/url] Froogle search for FX-901: [url]http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=fx-901&btnG=Search+Froogle&lmode=unknown[/url]

Review: ColdHeat Soldering Iron

Wed, 04 Jan 2006 09:28:00 -0800

The ColdHeat soldering iron has been touted in stores and advertisements as an end-all solution to one's soldering iron needs. And indeed, when one reads the features list, the ColdHeat is appealing: it only uses a few AA batteries, has a built-in white LED work light, and the tip heats up and cools down in only a few seconds. On paper, the ColdHeat beats not only other, portable soldering irons (most of which are butane-powered), but also traditional corded irons. However, that's just on paper. As they say, looks can be deceiving. And in the case of the ColdHeat, unfortunately, they are deceiving indeed. I picked up a ColdHeat at Radio Shack; I was looking for something that would heat up faster than the plain $8.19 25-Watt iron I'd been using. The ColdHeat, which was sold under the Radio Shack brand, cost $19.99 and included the iron, plastic carrying case, and chisel tip. Supply a few AA batteries, and you're good to go. I don't like working with chisel tips on soldering irons, as a lot of times they end up being too large when working with small components. So for $9.99, I picked up the conical tip for the ColdHeat. [i] Fig. 1. The ColdHeat in its carrying case. [/i] An immediate problem I saw with the ColdHeat is the placement of the white LED light, meant to illuminate what you're working on. The problem with it is that they put it [i]underneath[/i] the tip, instead of on top of it. This, therefore, pretty much makes the light useless, unless you use the iron upside-down. [i] Fig. 2. The ColdHeat's white LED light. [/i] When I first opened the case, something didn't look quite right to me. First, the ColdHeat comes with a cap for the tip -- I had never seen an iron come with one. Also, the yellow sticker on the inside top of the case offered a warning: "The soldering tip is fragile. Please do not press hard." The warning is very true. After I installed the batteries in the ColdHeat, I pulled out the chisel tip that it came with and swapped in the conical one. As a test, I tried soldering two wires together. With some work, I got them together. I then tried adding more solder to the joint, and in pressing down on it, part of the tip snapped off. It was no more pressure than I'd exert on a normal iron with a small pencil tip. Herein lies one of the fundamental flaws of the ColdHeat's "instant heat" technology -- the tips are not made of metal, but rather a soft ceramic. [i]Fig. 3. The ColdHeat tips are split down the middle and are made of a soft ceramic material. [/i] The second flaw with the tip, that exacerbates the first flaw and also poses another problem altogether, is that the tips are split down the middle. The way the ColdHeat works is by passing an electrical current through the tip. When you press both halves of the tip to a conductive surface -- the solder or wire or whatever you're soldering -- it completes the circuit and causes the tip to heat up rapidly. However, because the tip is split, it reduces its strength. You need to use a very gentle touch when soldering with the ColdHeat, or else you'll be out $9.99 as I now am. The other problem that the split tip causes is a nasty sparking when the circuit is completed. And it's not a single spark that's emitted when the circuit is completed; no, it's more of a continuous arcing. [i]Fig. 4. The ColdHeat's tip sparks and arcs when it completes the circuit to heat the tip. [/i] It's hard to take a picture of the sparking/arcing, but the little bright spot next to one of the prongs of the tip above is one of the sparks. I don't know how much voltage and amperage the ColdHeat uses to heat the tip, but I'm seriously concerned about using it with anything ESD-sensitive. In fact, I'd go so far as to recommend that anyone who uses a ColdHeat use it for use on wires and connectors only. Do not use the ColdHeat on any kind of PCB. Overall, the ColdHeat has a good concept -- a soldering iron that's completely portable, heats up and cools down fast, and uses standard batteries. Its execution is horrible, however. While the tip does heat up and cool down in about 5 seconds, the longer you use the ColdHeat the longer it takes for the tip to cool down. The tips wear quickly, and prone to breaking, are large (making detail work hard if not impossible), and expensive, and the overall technology behind how the ColdHeat works could potentially kill any ICs you work on. Here are my pros, cons and overall rating for the ColdHeat: [b]Pros:[/b] Iron is relatively inexpensive ($20) Uses standard AA batteries Compact Comes with carrying case [b] Cons:[/b] It solders, but not well (normal irons create joints smoothly) White LED light misplaced Tips are large, expensive ($10 each) and prone to breaking Iron is potentially dangerous to ICs [b] Overall rating:[/b] Two out of five stars. [b] Additional note:[/b] ColdHeat has struck a licensing deal with Weller, a well-known and respected soldering iron manufacturer. Weller will begin selling the ColdHeat under the Weller brand name. Keep in mind that Weller does not manufacture this version of the ColdHeat; as sold by Weller, it's just a normal ColdHeat that's been rebadged. So, don't buy the Weller version thinking it'll be better -- it's not. [i]The Weller iron is actually ColdHeat's new "Pro" model, not the model reviewed here. Please see Weller's post in the comments below. - Tom[/i]

Classic Shell Scripting

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:53:00 -0800

[center] [center][b]Classic Shell Scripting[/b][/center] [center]by Arnold Robbins & Nelson H. F. Beebe[/center] The Unix shell is to command line interfaces what the Mac is to the GUI: elegant. Unix commands are verbs, modified by adverbs (flags), acting on nouns (files). Take the following example: [b]cat -n simple.txt[/b] The command (or verb) [b]cat[/b] is short for "concatenate and print." It acts on the file (or noun) [b]simple.txt[/b], printing the file contents to screen. The flag (or adverb) [b]-n[/b] modifies the command, instructing it to print line numbers. The pipe [b]|[/b] is an "and," the semicolon [b]:[/b] a "then." With these and other combinations it is possible to construct complex statements. [i]Classic Shell Scripting[/i] is very much a grammar and vocabulary guide for Unix systems. Shell commands, often called tools, are most commonly used for text manipulation, and can be thought of as filters through which the text flows. A shell script pieces together a series of commands to create a more advanced tool. [i]Classic Shell Scripting[/i] introduces the reader to a variety of useful tools and explains how to connect them using a shell script. The book is not specific to Mac OS X and does not cover Mac-only commands such as [b]pbcopy[/b]/[b]pbpaste[/b] and [b]open[/b]. The commands and features it does cover, however, are entirely relevant to Mac OS X, as they are to Linux or *BSD. If you can find your way around with Apple's Terminal, [i]Classic Shell Scripting[/i] is an excellent choice of books to take your unix skills to the next level. [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596005954/applefritter-20]Classic Shell Scripting[/url]

PC Hardware Buyer's Guide

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 14:59:36 -0800

[center] [center][b]Choosing the Perfect Components[/b][/center] [i]PC Hardware Buyer's Guide[/i], by Robert Bruce Thompson and Barbara Fritchman Thompson is intended for readers seeking advice on how to build their own PC. From the power supply to the mouse, it provides purchase recommendations and warns of potential hazards. This review will approach the book from the perspective of an experienced Macintosh user looking to build an Intel-based Linux system. The components covered in the book are: [list][*]Case [*]Power Supply [*]Processor [*]Heatsink/Fan [*]Motherboard [*]Memory [*]Floppy Drive [*]Hard DRive [*]Optical Drive [*]Video Adapter [*]Display [*]Audio Adapter [*]Speakers [*]Keyboard [*]Mouse [*]Network Adapter [*]Modem[/list] Thompsons' advice on choosing a case is all common sense, but the discussion of power supplies is very helpful, providing quite a bit of information on output ratings and operational temperatures. They explain how much current you'll need based on several sample systems. Next, processors are explained. This section covers a lot of topics Mac users are probably unfamiliar with, including choosing a fabrication size and socket type. As usual, the Thompsons provide buying advice based on what sort of system the reader is building. They also provide recommendations for heatsinks, processor fans, and thermal compounds - not topics I've traditionally had to worry about! The explanation of motherboards is adequate and explains which chipsets are appropriate for which types of systems and how to check processor compatibility. It also covers such features as power management, wakeup functions, and boot device support. The section on RAM is a straightforward discussion of different RAM types and their abilities. The discussion of hard drives and optical drives contains nothing a Mac user will be unfamiliar with. They also cover floppy drives, which I scoffed at, until I saw [url=http://www.mitsumi.com/products/fa402amain.html]this cool device[/url]. The Thompsons recommend embedded video for most applications, but still provide a lot of information on possible video cards. They recommend most users stick with onboard audio, but also suggest a few high-end audio cards. Linux compatibility is discussed. The section discussing the relative merits of CRTs and LCDs seems dated to the point of uselessness. Keyboard, mouse, and speakers are also covered, but there's nothing here particularly surprising. Network cards are covered but these are such a commodity there isn't much to discuss. Wireless cards and modems are addressed, but there's not a lot in these sections a Mac user won't already be familiar with. The book ends with a discussion of where to buy components that's not particularly useful. As a whole, though, the book is an excellent reference when choosing components. For the reader who isn't familiar with the PC architecture, this is an excellent guide with which to navigate the specification-laden component listings on sites like PriceWatch. [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596009380/applefritter-20]PC Hardware Buyer's Guide: Choosing the Perfect Components[/url]

Apple I Replica Creation

Sun, 09 Apr 2006 20:19:05 -0700

[center] [b]Apple I Replica Creation: Back to the Garage[/b] by Tom Owad Technical Editor: Dr. John Greco Foreword by: Steve Wozniak Available at [url=http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/partner?partner_id=29552&cgi=product&isbn=193183640X]Powells[/url] and [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/193183640X/applefritter-20]Amazon[/url][/center] [i]"The author's style is conversational and light. Where another author might have been tempted to descend into pedantic lecturing, Tom has deftly avoided this trap. It is a rare gift to be able to teach complex subjects and keep it light. I, for one, am thankful! ... All in all a great read and highly recommended. If you are a Mac enthusiast, an electronics hobbyist or otherwise technically curious, you will enjoy it."[/i] - Will Senn, [url=http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=10085]OSNews Review[/url] [b]From the Foreword by Steve Wozniak:[/b] “The Apple ][ was really the computer designed from the ground up that would kick off personal computing on a large scale. But the Apple I took the biggest step of all. Some very simple concepts are very hard to do the first time. This computer told the world that small computers should never again come with geeky front panels, but rather with human keyboards, ready to type on." [b]1. BUILD IT[/b] What’s a little dried blood on the breadboard? A small price to pay for having some fun with multimeters, logic probes, wire-wrap tools, soldering irons, TTL chips, circuit boards, chip pullers, and straighteners. [b]2. PROGRAM IT[/b] Tough guys don’t code with Visual Studios and Object Libraries. They program their hardware the most efficient and difficult way possible: assembly language. [b]3. PLAY WITH IT[/b] Once you’re done, begin writing software and modifying the hardware design. The results will both impress and scare your friends. Remember, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. [b]4. MODIFY IT.[/b] McCAD EDS-SE400 is an integrated Electronic Design System which takes the designer through the complete design cycle: Schematic capture, PCB layout, and board fabrication. McCAD software gives the electronic designer the technical range needed, and at the same time provides control and flexibility. The Apple1 Replica was designed with [url=http://www.mccad.com]McCAD EDS SE400[/url]. [b]An in-depth description of the book by author Tom Owad:[/b] The aim of [i]Apple I Replica Creation[/i] is to guide the reader in building, programming, and [i]understanding[/i] the Apple I. The book begins with a history of the Apple I, but not the sort of corporate history you may be used to reading. This account is of the computer itself, the early peripherals and modifications, and the hobbyists and visionaries who bought and used the the Apple I. The second chapter describes the tools and parts needed to complete the project and chapter 3 introduces reader to digital circuits. This chapter is very hands-on. It introduces basic logic gates and a few designs you can build with them. This chapter won't make you an engineer, but it will give you everything you need to start tinkering on your own. [center] In chapter 4 we get down to business with a step-by-step guide to building the Replica I kit. While advanced readers may want to use chapter 7 and the included software to design their own board, the novice will be better served by having a working replica with which to experiment while reading the rest of the chapters. Builders who run into trouble with the kit can fall back on the skills they learned in chapter 3 to diagnose the problem or may ask for guidance on the Apple I Owners Club forum at applefritter.com. [center] The kit assembled, it's time to learn a bit of programming. Chapter 5 is a typical introduction to programming in BASIC, but Woz's implementation of BASIC for the Apple I contains a lot of idiosyncrasies, making this chapter a valuable reference for any Apple I programmer. Chapter 6 teaches the reader how to program in assembly. This chapter explains how to use a cross-assembler and introduces the (MOS 6502) processor's assembly instructions through exercises and sample programs. [center] The final chapter, Understanding the Apple I, draws together everything learned in previous chapters to examine how the replica really works. Memory addressing, interactions with the bus, the functions of the processor, and in/out are all discussed. The beginner will come away from this chapter with a basic understanding of each chip on the replica's circuit board. More advanced readers will have all the information they need to make their own modified replica circuits. [center] The Replica I kit described in this book can be purchased from Briel Computers for $119 (a bare-bones kit is available for $60). For advanced builders, Briel sells just the specialized chips (programmed EEPROM, etc.) for $30. The book's CD includes a full version of McCAD EDS SE 400, the best schematic capture and pcb layout software for the Mac. The Replica I's schematics, pcb layout, and fabrication documents are all included on the CD. Send the included gerber files to a pcb manufacturer and get your own prototypes made or modify the schematics to design your own custom boards. McCAD EDS SE 400 is an excellent piece of software which I worked very hard to get included with the book. The full EDS-1 package retails for $1495 (the book includes a coupon for 50% off any McCAD product, by the way). This special edition of the McCAD software was written exclusively for inclusion with Apple I Replica Creation and is not available from any other source. The SE 400 version of McCAD EDS includes all the features of the full version, but limits the design's complexity so you can't design anything much more complex than a typical 8-bit microcomputer. You'll be hard pressed to find a similar software suite for under $500. The interface is without equal. While evaluating the software, I got into an argument with a McCAD programmer over the proper layout of the buttons in one of the dialog boxes, each of us backing up our position with extensive references to the Apple Human Interface Guidelines. He won (but only on a technicality!). These guys take user interface very seriously and I'm happy to say I've never used a more intuitive design package. The McCAD package is Mac OS X native, but also compatible with Mac OS 9. If you don't have a Mac, you may want to consider picking up an old $50 iMac just for this software. PC users might want to try running it in Basilisk. [center] Anybody interested in learning more about Apple I Replica Creation is welcome to visit my website, Applefritter. There you'll find the Apple I Owners Club and various user-contributed projects. Stop by and feel free to ask questions. We have the Apple I Owners Club forum for discussion of the Apple I and a McCAD support forum for those who have questions about the software. If there's anything you'd like to know about the book, don't hesitate to post. [b]Contents of this Book Include…[/b] Foreword/Intro 1: The History of the Apple 1 2: Tools and Materials 3: Digital Logic 4: Building the Replica 5: Programming in BASIC 6: Programming in Assembly 7: Understanding the Apple I Appendix A: ASCII Codes Appendix B: Operation Codes and Status Register Appendix C: OpCode Matrix Appendix D: Instructions by Category Appendix E: Hacking Macintosh Appendix F: Electrical Engineering Basics [b]About the Authors[/b] [b]Tom Owad[/b] is a Macintosh consultant in south-central PA and the D.C. area and vice president of Keystone MacCentral. He serves on the board of directors of the Apple I Owners Club, where he is also webmaster and archivist. Tom is owner and Webmaster of Applefritter, a Macintosh community of artists and engineers. Applefritter provides its members with discussion boards for the exchange of ideas and hosts countless member-contributed hardware hacks and other projects. Tom holds a BA in computer science and international affairs from Lafayette College, PA [b]John Greco[/b] (Technical Editor) is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Lafayette College, where he has taught digital circuit and system design for 28 years. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the City University of New York. In addition to teaching there and at the University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia, he has worked for GTE-Sylvania and has performed consulting work for (the former) Bell Laboratories and Moore Products. [b]Steve Wozniak[/b], Foreword, A Silicon Valley icon and philanthropist for the past three decades, Steve Wozniak, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Wheels of Zeus (wOz), helped shape the computing industry with his design of Apple's first line of products the Apple I and II and influenced the popular Macintosh. For his achievements at Apple Computer, Steve was awarded the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States in 1985, the highest honor bestowed America's leading innovators. In 2000 Steve was inducted into the Inventors Hall of Fame and was awarded the prestigious Heinz Award for Technology, The Economy and Employment for “single-handedly designing the first personal computer and for then redirecting his lifelong passion for mathematics and electronics toward lighting the fires of excitement for education in grade school students and their teachers." Making significant investments of both his time and resources in education, Wozniak “adopted" the Los Gatos School District, providing students and teachers with hands-on teaching and donations of state-of-the-art technology equipment. Wozniak founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and was the founding sponsor of the Tech Museum, Silicon Valley Ballet and Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Steve is currently a member of the board of directors for Jacent, a developer of cost-effective telephony solutions, and Danger, Inc., developer of a end-to-end wireless Internet platform.

Revolution in The Valley

Fri, 04 Feb 2005 06:27:56 -0800

[center] [center][b]The Insanely Great Story of How The Mac Was Made[/b][/center] How was the Macintosh made? How did it evolve? What are the stories of the people who created it? [i]Revolution in the Valley[/i] is a series of anecdotes compiled by Software Wizard Andy Hertzfeld about the early days of the Macintosh. Andy first began to tell his tales of the Mac's creation on his website, [url=http://www.folklore.org]Folklore.org[/url]. Not long after, Tim O'Reilly approached him about the possibility of compiling the stories into a book. Browse Folklore.org and you can still read most of these stories online, but [i]Revolution in the Valley[/i] presents them in a more comfortable, enjoyable format. Every story Andy presents is an entertaining read, but most fascinating are the tales of chance. Luck and the determination of individuals working on scorned projects played a decisive role in the formation of user interface characteristics that we take for granted today. The Lisa, for example, almost had an interface based on dialog boxes. It was the surreptitious work of Bill Atkinson and Dan Smith that gave us the icon-based Finder we use today. In another story, Andy tells of how the "OK" button was labeled "Do It" - until one user asked why his computer was calling him a "Dolt." Equally interesting are the features that [i]didn't[/i] make it. The original Macintosh almost had a slot (euphemistically called the "diagnostic port") until management realized what it was [i]really[/i] supposed to be. On the more whimsical side, had it not been for limited ROM space, "Mr. Macintosh" would have appeared in a menu waving his hand, once every couple thousand times the user pulled down a menu. [i]Revolution in the Valley[/i] is an fascinating book which anybody reading this site will enjoy immensely. Even if you don't buy a copy, at least head over to [url=http://www.folklore.org]Folklore.org[/url], where you can read many of the stories online. [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0596007191/applefritter-20]Revolution in The Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How The Mac Was Made[/url]

Memento

Fri, 21 Jan 2005 20:04:17 -0800

It's happened to me a thousand times. I'll need to visit a web page, but all I can remember is the gist of what it's about. When this occurs, I rack my brain for a quote from the page, and then head to Google. If I'm lucky, the quote is unique or nearly so, and I quickly find the page I'm looking for. More often, I end up having to add aditional quotes and keywords to the search in an attempt to narrow down the results. Joakim Nygård has written Memento, a freeware application that aids the forgetful. Memento presents a list of all the pages in Safari's cache and allows the user to search them. Google's cache contains over eight billion pages. My Safari cache contains 287. Suddenly, searching for common words and phrases becomes a lot more practical. A common phrase on Google is very likely unique in my Safari cache. But how far back can you go? How many days is 287 pages? For me, a mere fourteen hours, it turns out and over half of those 287 pages were loaded in the last three hours. Making matters worse, each iframe is considred its own page. Many advertisements, such as Google Adwords use iframes, and therefore are counted as separate pages. This alone can inflate the page-count to nearly double it's actual number. Numbers can very drastically, however. When I ran Memento yesterday, I had 426 pages in my cache. This large variation occurs because the cache is based not on page count but file size. Safari's limit is 20 MB. If you use a lot of graphic-intensive web sites, you'll have a lot fewer pages stored in cache than somebody who browses with images turned off entirely. I'm sure there's a hack to increase the size of Safari's cache and I hope somebody will post it in the comments. At a mere 20 MB, Memento's usefulness is severely limited. There is, however, one very specific area in which Memento shines: browsing pages that are no longer available. In the image below, I have an Applefritter Preview page loaded. I can also load Applefritter Edit pages from the cache, where they contain the pre-edited forms of the pages that have since been overwritten. Safari's cache is not large enough to make Memento terribly useful in the manner that it was intended. However, its ability to recover cached web pages that no longer exist elsewhere makes Memento a valuable tool in an emergency. Developer's website: [url=http://jokke.dk/software/memento/] Joakim Nygård[/url] Applefritter Archive: [node:6143]

Apple Confidential 2.0

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 15:01:26 -0800

The subtitle of Apple Confidential 2.0 does a really nice job of saying what the whole book is about: "The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company". I would agree that this is an up-to-date and thorough history of Apple Computers. This contains chapters on subjects as diverse as "Why 1985 wasn't like 1984" to "Woz's Wanderings". Since it would be almost impossible to summarize what's contained in this book, I've concentrated more on readability in this review. As with anything that people offer to send me for free, I am of course slightly biased towards Owen W. Linzmayers new book, Apple Confidential 2.0. Though I'll try not to let it effect the review (I waited a while before writing this so I could think the book over), keep in mind that I opened this book with a good mindset. I'm pleased to say that I kept that mindset throughout reading this book. In the press sheet that came with it, one reviewer states that he was up all night reading the whole book through. Though I'd like to say I experienced a similar thing, I found this book heavy enough that I had to space it out over the period of a week. Of course, if you aren't concerned about being on time for work or school tommorrow, and you are an avid Mac fan, you may find this hard to put down. Thankfully, I was able to put this book down at the end of each chapter if I wanted to, as each chapter is pretty much self enclosed. With no cliffhanger to keep me reading, I tend to go off and find something else to do for a bit, and I don't think that Apple Confidential suffered in the slightest from this approach. Every chapter was absorbing and demanded to be read through. This makes this book great finding information quickly because, unlike many other 'history of computers and other stuff' books I've read, it doesn't make any huge attempt to carry one narative throughout the entire book. This means that I don't have to search through chapters 12-15 to find that sentence I thought I read. Ranging from 4-25+ pages, each chapter was interesting in it's own right, though I found it hard to see them all joined together. All in all, I'd say this is worth reading if you're a big Apple fan. If you aren't, it's a good history lesson. And for all the rest of you, I have to ask, why are you reading Applefritter? [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593270100/applefritter-20]Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company[/url]

Review: Nerds 2.0.1

Sun, 04 Dec 2005 15:02:44 -0800

Like [i]Where Wizards Stay Up Late[/i], [i]Nerds 2.0.1[/i] attempted to provide a history of the internet. It was filled with interviews, information, and stories. As a referance source its not the best because it goes off on multiple tangents, making little to no effort (in my opinion) to keep the story continuous. The general story is continuous, however the author had the habit of telling a story, skipping to somewhere else, going back to the original story and then telling yet something else, expecting you to relate it all together. If this was on the Internet I'd have no problem with it, but he does a poor job of keeping the book together in a linear fashion. Almost completly ignoring the contributions of other nations and people, the author, Stephen Segaller, focused primarily on the deveolpment of the Internet in the United States. When he did mention another country, it was on a tangent. An example would be how in the second last chapter he goes off on a large tangent about the number of programmers available in India. While reading books like [i]Where Wizards Stay Up Late[/i], or [i]Soul Of A New Machine[/i] I was genuinely touched by the story and wished the book hadn't ended. In this book I spent the latter half counting the pages until it was done. Keep in mind that my conflict with the book is with Mr. Segallers writing style. You might enjoy it. One of the redeeming features of this book was how it told many more "people stories" than other books I've read. Almost ignoring the technical aspects, it concentrated on telling everything from the garages companies started in, to the difference in tech companies management styles. A good read, but only if you've nothing else to read. [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1575001063/applefritter-20]Nerds 2.0.1[/url]

Where Wizards Stay Up Late

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 14:32:34 -0700

[b]Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet Authored by Katie Hafner And Matthew Lyon[/b] Reviewed by Robert Warwick These days we take networks for granted. Who needs to transfer files via disk when a quick Appletalk connection will do the job? All machines can talk to each other. The Internet is there and works quickly, reliably, and is easy to hook up to. Yet as little as forty years ago, networks were nowhere to be found. Not in the home, the office, or the country. They were just a concept by a group of scientists in a then emerging field. Digital computers. In those days, only research organizations, universities, and large companies could even afford to have a computer. Resources were being wasted because each of the computers was isolated from one another. Not only were they not hooked together, they didn't even speak the same language! "Where Wizards Stay Up Late - The Origins of the Internet" tells the story of the men and woman who were involved in building the first wide scale computer network. From designers, to companies, to programmers, including my personal hero, Willy Crowther. This book doesn't merely list the technical details, nor does it sweep them aside in favor of the story. "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" weaves the two components together and transparently. Anyone who enjoys a good story or a good history will enjoy this book. Don't expect the details to be missing. It tells everything from Crowthers sneakers to the head funding offices in the US Department of Defense. As a Canadian, I expected this story to be completely concentrated on the US part of the project, however other country's and peoples contributions are mentioned for what they were. This is one of the books that I am truly sorry to read the last page, because that means its all over. Luckily it isn't. The internet is still in its youth, and there is still a lot of story to be written. [i]Buy on Amazon:[/i] [url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0684832674/applefritter-20]Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins Of The Internet[/url]