My Automator Service to spoof your MAC address didn’t appear to work as well as I had hoped. For some reason it was hit or miss on any Mac that wasn’t my own but luckily a reader took my code and fixed it. Not only is the code fixed but it’s wrapped up in a nice GUI. Head over to Manuel’s site and download AirPortClown.
Spoof your MAC address update
SIMBL: the Swiss Army tool of OSX
To put it simply SIMBL (like cymbal) is a neat way to add functionality to an already existing application. I swore it off a few years ago when all it seemed to do was make my system unstable. Since then the project has matured and with it comes convenient application mods. Just recently I got excited for one such mod.
First a word of caution. SIMBL isn’t exactly what I would call a stable tweak, there can be quirks so if you don’t like rock solid performance then this isn’t for you.
Tabbed Finder
Basically the holy grail of Finder fans comes from a SIMBL mod called TotalFinder. This tweak basically rips the tab functions from Google Chrome and injects them into Finder. You read that correctly. I’m surprised at how intuitive this is not to mention how badly Finder needs this functionality. 
- This is what Finder should have been in 10.6
Right now TotalFinder is in Alpha testing and will be shareware once it hits the Beta stage. This is one application I can get behind.
The next SIMBL mod I use constantly is Afloat. Afloat is a bit difficult to explain but essentially it allows for applications to go transparent and maintain focus. Why you would want to do this can also be difficult to explain. For the most part I use it when bashing away on a terminal all while I have video playing on top. Multitasking at its finest. I also use Afloat to just quickly hide windows by making them transparent. Below you can see my Pandora player is kept afloat.
All in all people seem to complain about SIMBL mods because they either crash or make their Macs unstable. That was the case for me a while ago but I have been using Afloat for what seems like ages now and have yet to experience a crash or bug. Your mileage may vary like always but SIMBL gets praise in my book.
The iPad: My thoughts
Everyone is talking about Apple’s new toy and I can tell you I’m not the only person disappointed. We were all waiting for a tablet computer than ran a full operating system and knocked us out with multitouch controls. We wanted a $1,000+ computer that could replace our MacBooks from time to time and actually be a feasible couch computer. What we got instead is a larger iPod touch with a bit more horsepower.
It doesn’t do ___!
This was my first complaint. It doesn’t seem to do multitasking, no camera, hardly any storage, no file system, I could go on. But after the initial shock of such a crippled device I came back down from hatesville. The reason the iPad doesn’t have the stuff mentioned above is because it’s not a computer, it’s a tablet. That last sentence might not make sense but just think about it for a minute. This is a new platform, and Apple knows what they are doing.
Don’t get me wrong, I will never buy an iPad. It isn’t what I want. In the next year however it may mature into something I lust over. We saw the possibilities of this device with the introduction of iWork for the iPad and I can bet more is coming down the pipeline. The race to the bottom for the iPhone AppStore won’t be as aggressive on this device. I can see OSX like applications being developed for this device, coming with it OSX like abilities, and not to mention the same prices.
The future
The iPad isn’t what I want but it’s going to sell like hotcakes. The price seems high but compared to what? I remember when people were double fisting the 1st gen iPhone at $600 a piece. Yes, I just said double fisting. At $499 unlocked these babies will sell. I don’t feel like they are a netbook killer, yet. You can still pick up at Dell Mini10 for $300 and a Nook for $259, my ideal setup. We’ll see how rapidly the applications mature on the iPad and I believe the software is what will make this thing take off like a rocket. When there are a few killer apps in the AppStore (MIDI Controller anyone?) let me know how much of a flop you think it still is.