zerolight » OSX

SABNZBD

zerolight — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 01:41:33 +0000

SABNZBD+ is the ultimate nzb file downloader. It’s particularly useful in conjunction with SABNZBDX, an OSX GUI for interacting with the SABNZBD+ server. Unlike other nzb downloaders, SAB runs as a server on your Mac. It’s surprisingly easy to set up. I’d procrastinated for weeks over using it, fearing that setup would be compex.

You place nzb files in a folder of your choosing and the SAB server will automatically download, par, unrar, and organize the them for you. It even cleans up after itself. As my ISP uses traffic shaping between 10am and 9pm I was pleased to see that you can schedule SAB to pause and resume at times of your choosing. You can optionally have it poll your newzbin bookmarks, downloading anything it finds. If that’s not enough, it has powerful post processing scripting options should the basic functionality not do what you need. I’ve been using it for a few days now and am very impressed. Check it out.

Dark Dock

zerolight — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 18:54:37 +0000

I’m a big fan of Apple’s new OS X Leopard, even of the glass menus and the 3D dock. I do however quite like the smoke look that’s popular in Mac applications these days. So with the help of Fireworks I set about smokifying the 3D dock.

Leopard Preview on Apple.com

zerolight — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 13:13:32 +0000

Is it sad to get excited about a new OS? I can’t wait for the new version of OS X from Apple. Check out the preview here. I’m loving Time Machine, the new Desktop – especially Stacksl, and QuickLook and the new Finder look interesting.

Photo’s Added

zerolight — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 15:26:25 +0000

At long last an update. I’ve not posted in what seems like ages. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Eid Mubarak to all.

OS X – All Good

zerolight — Wed, 12 Apr 2006 08:24:34 +0000

It’s been almost two weeks since an application in OS X hung. The guilty apps tended to be Entourage, VLC Media Player, and Firefox. It’s now as reliable as you’d expect, which is a relief. I didn’t want all the Hardware and OS eyecandy at the expense of reliability. An Entourage update together with the latest point release of OS X seem to have cured any issues.

The ownership experience continues to be a joy, though I still crave a Mac monitor to complete the experience. A large part of the Mac experience has always been the look of the hardware as well as the software interface. Using a PowerMac with a PC monitor somehow doesn’t have the same impact. I still drool when I play with a 20″ iMac or view a PowerMac through the Apple 20″ Cinema display. Macs are about style & quality in parallel with ease of use & functionality. It’s a price worth paying. Without that they’d just be PC’s running a variant of Unix. But then, I guess that’s all the average PC user wants or needs. Nothing wrong with that. If I was that kinda guy then I’d probably play a Squier guitar instead of a Tyler or PRS.

Life with a Mac

zerolight — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:35:15 +0000

It’s been almost a week since we took delivery of the Mac. I expected a long learning curve. I didn’t get it. Pretty much everything has been straight forward, straight out of the box, despite the fact that I’d barely used OSX in the past. It’s an easy, friendly, and efficient OS. It also looks lovely which makes the user experience very nice. 99% of the things I did on Windows XP I can do on OSX, and much more. A lot of the little things, like Expose (or the F9 key as some users call it) and Spotlight really enhance the experience.

Behind all the glitz is a near bullet-proof OS. It’s based on Unix, which has a proven track record in just about every major company around the world.

Is there any app on XP that I miss on the Mac. Yes. Just one. PowerTab. However as the guitar tab that this app displays is now illegal on the internet, it’s not really something I miss. Other than that, everything from Word to Fireworks is present and correct. My XBMC streams media from the Mac just fine, and Xbox360 can stream Pictures and Music as if it was connected to Windows XP. No media centre support as yet, but given how ropey that is, it’s not a huge loss. Straight out the box, OSX Tiger can connect to windows shares, and using SharePoint it’s easy to setup shares that a PC can access. Mac – PC connectivity problems are a thing of the past, it would seem.

So far. So good.