isnoop.net blog

UPDATE: Version 1.1 is now available. It includes keyboard backlight effects.

MacSaber 1.0 Final has been released. This new version includes support for iBooks and PowerBooks equipped with SMS. It also includes a “Check for updates” menu item and debug output if you are having problems (the report button is not yet available).

Compatibility notes:
iBook: SMS only exists on iBooks built after July 26, 2005. These iBooks are either 1.33GHz or 1.42GHz. All 1.42GHz iBooks have SMS. Only 1.33 GHz iBooks with a scrolling trackpad, 512MB RAM (stock), and 40GB HDD (stock) have SMS.

PowerBook: SMS only exists on PowerBooks built after January 31, 2005. These PowerBooks are either 1.5GHz or 1.67GHz. All 1.67GHz PowerBooks have SMS. All 1.5GHz PowerBooks without backlit keyboard have SMS. 1.5GHz PowerBooks with both backlit keyboard and the 8X superdrive have SMS.

Download MacSaber 1.0 here

Thank you to those who have provided their feedback. I have released MacSaber 1.0 with support for iBook and PowerBook machines. Please read here for more information.

I sure wish I had a PowerBook and an iBook right now. In lieu of that, I am calling on you to test for me.

Thank you for your help!

UPDATE: Version 1.1 is now available.

Now that you’ve spent entirely too much money on your fancy sudden motion sensor equipped Mac laptop, I predict you’ll soon be swinging it around like a loon.

Introducing MacSaber. Using your Mac’s sudden motion sensor, this software turns your computer into a Jedi weapon almost worthy of taking on the real thing by making authentic lightsaber sound effects. It senses speed for the lightsaber movement sounds and acceleration for different levels of striking sounds.

This beta is not yet compatible with the motion sensors in older Mac laptops, but I understand you can move the window arond to get the idea.

Update: Thanks go to Sak from Lot23 for the fancy icon!

Download the latest version of MacSaber

A co-worker and I attended PHP|Tek in Orlando last month. As part of the conference, we were able to test and become Zend Certified Engineers.

I’d like to thank all of the little people that helped me get this far. Thanks go to my wife for believing in me when nobody else did. Much love to my family; without them I wouldn’t be where I am today.

One love.

I recently learned that my Gmail invite spooler was mentioned in a couple of books. The first is Google Search & Rescue for Dummies (pictured below) and the second is the French version of Google Hacks (as seen in Google Book Search).

Unfortunately for these publishers, the spooler was shut down just as the books started rolling off the presses. Oh well, I honestly appreciate their mention!

Judging by the lack of people yammering about this, I assume Google only recently rolled it out. When I first signed up for the Google Hosted Mail beta test in February, they were missing the ability to configure an email catch-all account. This was the one thing keeping me from making the switch.

Upon spotting the new feature in the admin panel, I copied all of my isnoop.net user accounts and added all seven of Google’s MX servers to my DNS. I immediately began receiving email to my fancy new mail hosting. The entire process took fifteen minutes.

I’d write up a review of the service, but if you’ve ever used Gmail, you know just how it works. The only apparent addition for hosted mail is the admin interface. Like many Google labs interfaces, this one is stark and contains just what you need to get the job done.

My only wish would be a means of copying all of the mail out of my original Gmail account into my primary Google Hosted Mail account. However, I wouldn’t hold it against them if they never gave me that ability. They’ve already done much more than I could have expected from a search engine company.

If you use an automatic toilet sanitizer such as 2,000 Flushes Blue or anything similar, you are probably familiar with the phenomenon of the sharp spike in blueness over the first week or two followed by a whimpering taper off into nothingness.

You can get a much longer lasting and more consistent experience out of your toilet tablets if you find yourself a low, wide plastic cup. Put the puck into the cup and carefully drop it into your tank, letting the cup sink to the bottom. Make sure not to touch the puck with your bare hands, though; it’s a bloody rock made of ultra-concentrated toilet cleaner.

You may have to adjust the cup’s position based on your tank’s flow pattern, but you should find that the cleaning lasts longer and stays more consistent over its lifetime.

This has to be the most random and off-topic thing I have blogged so far, but I’m sure at least one person out there will benefit from the tip.