njr 3.0

This post being empty was causing Apple's XML-RPC implementation, used in NetNewsWire, some consternation, so I may as well fill it.

It originally complained about FaxSTF X preventing my PowerBook from going to sleep in a timely fashion, and asked if anyone else had the same problem. I should have done a Google search first, as I just did and found other people complaining and a workaround for the misbehavior of the FaxJobMgr daemon.

After implementing power awareness in Pester, I know exactly what Smith Micro needs to do to fix this, and it isn't exactly complicated. That they've know about it since last September and haven't fixed it, nor has Apple done anything about it considering they bundle FaxSTF with their portable computers…can't someone else please make some decent OS X fax software? FaxSTF has been around for ages, and has always been abysmal, even back to the 2.x version I remember I got bundled with my copy of MicroPhone II back in 1992 or so. GlobalFax rocked, but was unfortunately left to die. There was a third major Mac fax program I can't think of at the moment, which was also good; I believe Symantec bought it at some point, but left it to die or only preserved the Windows version?

It appears paragraph breaks correctly appear in my RSS feed when I use explicit <P> tags rather than relying on Radio to do it automatically, so I'll start doing exactly that, as ugly as it is.

9:19 PM | Radio
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I made a couple minor bug fixes and enhancements to DSBRTuner today, bringing the version to 1.0.1+njr3. I broke saving of the playthrough setting in the last version; it's now fixed. The space bar works as a keyboard equivalent for the power button, and the power setting is saved so the radio doesn't automatically come on if you have it added to Login Items as I do.

8:23 PM | Radio
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Also in the radio department, I've been listening to the MPEG-4 audio stream for radioio a lot this week. At around 130-150kbits/sec (VBR), it's dramatically better-sounding than the 128kbit/sec MP3 streams to which I ordinarily listen. Just heard a song that used to be my favorite for a while in high school: now, while I still know the lyrics by heart, I can't stand the singer's voice or the excessively poppy style. On the other hand, it's the first time I've heard it on the “radio” since it was popular. I always wondered what people meant when they said their tastes in music change; now I know.

radioio is going subscriber-only at the end of the month, and I'm sorely tempted to fork out for it, especially with the loss of FolkScene and KPIG broadcasts.

8:53 PM | Radio
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Spent some more time on DSBRTuner today: the playthrough CPU usage bug is fixed, it now supports clearing presets, and includes a more informative and useful dock menu.

Source is here if anyone is interested.

8:24 PM | Radio
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Today marks not only the first anniversary of Radio 8's release, but the first anniversary of this Weblog. In an ideal world I'd have something profound to write here, or at least a site redesign. Sorry about that. It's been fun, and I hope to make the following year even more productive.

Les Orchard has some DSBRTuner timed recording scripts, saving me the trouble of writing them—or modifying Pester, which was my first thought. I've discovered that DSBRTuner uses CPU when playthrough is enabled yet the tuner is powered off, so I'll fix that bug today and (since I've seen some interest) post the modified sources.

Safari continues to impress, though without reasonable stand-ins for tabbed browsing and automatic form filling it's not going to replace Chimera as my everyday browser. Today's “wow!” features are the feedback you get in the Downloads window as Safari downloads and Disk Copy subsequently extracts a UDIF image (.dmg) file, and the beautifully worded HTTP authentication sheet.

As I've commented before, it's been a few years since I've been amazed by Apple's software design. It's wonderful to see a return to quietly excellent software, or as Claris's ad slogan went, “simply powerful”. Now the Safari team needs to convince the developers of the rest of OS X (*cough*Finder*cough*) to take as much care.

3:28 PM | Radio
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