Windows only: With the increasing popularity of sidebar gadgets/widgets, dock applications like RocketDock and ObjectDock, and other desktop integration applications like Samurize, a maximized window can cover a lot more than you want it to. Donationware application DesktopCoral reserves desktop space and prevents maximized applications from covering your reserved screen real estate. Just run the app and define the area you want restricted from maximized apps. From now on, any maximized window will stay off your reserved screen area, letting you go big with apps without covering the desktop space you want access to. DesktopCoral is donationware, Windows only, requires a free license key.
All Posts by Paul
Fake Steve Jobs on Android: “It’s Not a Phone, It’s an Alliance”
Fake Steve’s lengthy stream of bile laying waste to the Google Phone isn’t simply pure invective, it’s actually a mostly well-reasoned indictment of coalitions that trumpets the values of “one vision, one man, one genius.” It’s worth reading in its entirety, but this is our favorite quote:
The only companies that join consortia are the ones who are too stupid or shitty to make a great product on their own. It’s like, Hey, we’ve got forty spazzo companies that can’t fuck their way out of a paper bag; let’s put them all together and maybe they’ll magically become some kind of big bad powerhouse.
There are, of course, numerous cons to the singular “hand of God” approach, but the problems with consortia that FSJ lays out are real. It’s hard for everyone to agree, and rarely do all involved push for the “greater good” at their individual expense. It might be different this time around, but with so much at stake, martyrs for the Alliance probably won’t exactly be lining up. And oh yeah, there’s no phone to wrap our hands around yet. [FSJ via Daring Fireball]
An alliance with who? and for what reason? I would love to find out more!!
Two Possible Mac Data Loss Issues Still Unadressed by Apple
Although no official word has been released by Apple, there appears to be two serious data loss issues that could affect MacBook owners and users of Mac OS X Leopard. According to blogger Tom Karpik, Leopard’s Finder has a bug in its directory-moving code that can result in massive data loss when transferring large files—regardless of the type of destination drive. Apparently, this flaw has been around since the days of Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, so it could represent an ongoing problem that Apple has failed to address.
The other issue involves a flaw in certain 2.5-inch Segate SATA drives with a firmware version 7.01. As mentioned last week on Giz, the flaw causes read/write heads to fail and scratch up the drive. Again, these issues are not official, but you may want to take steps to back up your data just to be on the safe side. [TomKarpik via AppleInsider]
I guess they still have problems with the mac OSX just like Windows. I do hope they fix the problems!!
Keep an Eye on Hard Drive Space with SpaceControl
Mac OS X only: Freeware application SpaceControl keeps watch of your hard drive space and alerts you when you’re getting low on free space. The application lives in your Mac’s menu bar and displays the total amount of free space available on all drives. You can also set alerts to notify you with a simple system sound or with an email when your startup disk drops below a threshold you define. In general iStat Menus is an excellent menu bar app for monitoring you system (including hard drives), but if you have trouble keeping enough free space on your drive, SpaceControl might be for you. SpaceControl is freeware, Mac OS X only.
Gmail Macros Updates for New Gmail, Adds Productivity Shortcut
Firefox with Greasemonkey: Bring the keyboard shortcut glory of Gmail Macros back to your updated Gmail account with the new and improved Gmail Macros Greasemonkey script. Whether you grew to love the Gmail Macros script through its integration with our very own Better Gmail Firefox extension or you’ve always used it with Greasemonkey and have been aching for it back ever since Gmail updated and broke Macros, the new script from Google Reader developer Mihai Parparita promises to restore your favorite Gmail shortcut tool.As an added bonus for the productivity set, the script has added a new shortcut (f) that will focus the current view. That is, pressing ‘f’ from a Followup label will display all unread, starred, or messages that are also in the inbox. The Gmail Macros script is free to install, requires Greasemonkey. This also means that Better Gmail enthusiasts can eventually expect restored support for Gmail Macros. That snappy new Gmail is beginning to look really attractive.