281 posts tagged with mac.
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R1/B5, 5-7-5
Over on Youtube
"Haiku Beta 5 is OUT!"
Action Retro shouts
Said right: "Be Oh Ess,"
Beta 5 brings huge upgrades
in stability [more inside]
"Haiku Beta 5 is OUT!"
Action Retro shouts
Said right: "Be Oh Ess,"
Beta 5 brings huge upgrades
in stability [more inside]
For when "Crusader Kings" is a bit much
Sort the Court is a charmingly addictive "kingdombuilder" of sorts that's perfect for a lazy Saturday. Designed and written by Graeme Borland in just 72 hours for Ludum Dare 34, the game casts you as a new monarch who must judiciously grow your realm's wealth, population, and happiness with an eye toward joining the illustrious Council of Crowns... all by giving flat yes-or-no answers to an endless parade of requests from dozens of whimsical subjects. It's possible to lose, and the more common asks can get a bit repetitive, but with hundreds of scenarios and a number of longer-term storylines, the game can be won in an hour or two while remaining funny and fresh.
See the forum or the wiki for help, enjoy the original art of Amy "amymja" Gerardy and the soundtrack by Bogdan Rybak, or check out some other fantasy decisionmaking games in this vein: Borland's spiritual prequel A Crown of My Own - the somewhat darker card-based REIGNS - the more expansive and story-driven pixel drama Yes, Your Grace (reviews), which has a sequel due out this year
AI-detic Memory
Microsoft held a live event today showcasing their vision of the future of the home PC (or "Copilot+ PC"), boasting longer battery life, better-standardized ARM processors, and (predictably) a whole host of new AI features built on dedicated hardware, from real-time translation to in-system assistant prompts to custom-guided image creation. Perhaps most interesting is the new "Recall" feature that records all on-screen activity securely on-device, allowing natural-language recall of all articles read, text written, and videos seen. It's just the first foray into a new era of AI PCs -- and Apple is expected to join the push with an expected partnership with OpenAI debuting at WWDC next month. In a tech world that has lately been defined by the smartphone, can AI make the PC cool again?
Paperclip hole included
Making the ultimate Hackintosh: the Brewintosh
Infinite Mac
A LaserWriter dreamscape
"Very grateful sentient tomatoes busily working on their third opera"
Halfway through the third book of the Hitchhiker's Guide series, there is a throwaway reference to a doomed starship, one whose incredible splendor was matched only by the cosmic absurdity of its maiden-day annihilation.
But the story didn't end there. Unbeknownst to many fans, this small piece of Adamsian lore was the inspiration for an ambitious and richly-detailed side-story: a 1998 computer adventure game called Starship Titanic.
Designed by Douglas Adams himself, the game set players loose in the infamous vessel, challenging them with a maddening mystery laced with the devilish wit of the novels.
The game was laden with extra content, including an in-depth strategy guide, a (mediocre) tie-in novel (and audiobook) by Terry Jones, a whimsical First Class In-Flight Magazine, and even a pair of 3D glasses for one of the more inventive puzzles.
Key to solving these puzzles was the game's groundbreaking communications system -- players interacted with the ship's robotic crew through a natural language parsing engine called SpookiTalk, whose 10,000+ lines of conversational dialogue spawned 16 hours of audio recorded by professional voice actors, including John Cleese, Terry Jones, and even Douglas Adams himself in several cameos (spoiler cameo). Want to experience the voyage for yourself? Then pick up a $6 modernized copy of the game on Steam or GOG, watch this narrated video playthrough... or peruse this spectacular MetaFilter comment from developer Yoz Grahame, which touches on not just behind-the-scenes trivia and unknown easter eggs, but the most remarkable story of accidental online community you're ever going to hear. [more inside]
Apple unveils M1, its first system-on-a-chip for Mac computers.
Apple is unveiling its first Apple Silicon Macs today at its event that marks the beginning of the end of Intel inside Apple notebooks and desktops. "Apple is gambling the future of the Mac on a chip design pioneered in the iPhone, and it could pull off something the PC industry has been trying to do for years" - Business Insider. "John Hodgman returns as Apple’s PC punching bag
Mac to the Future
Tim Sneath upgrades his trusty Macintosh SE/30 to a brand new iMac G4 and marvels at the technological progress that a decade brings, including a DVD player, built-in Ethernet and modem, OS X Panther, EarthLink, and World Book 2004.
A Cozy Management Game About Dying
Natalie Flores on Spiritfarer, a heartbreaking and heartwarming meditation on life where the player becomes “a ferry master to the deceased whose job is to help them pass on to the afterlife. By caring for them and helping them fulfill their wishes, you allow the spirits to wrap up the loose ends in their lives that otherwise keep them from achieving peace.” [more inside]
Should this have been a native app? Absolutely.
Ever wanted your very own 1991 Macintosh Quadra running Mac OS 8? macintosh.js is here for you: a free Mac OS 8 virtual machine running in an Electron app for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Even better, it comes with games, apps, and demos preinstalled including Oregon Trail, Duke Nukem 3D, Civilization II, Photoshop 3, Premiere 4, Illustrator 5.5, StuffIt Expander, the Apple Web Page Construction Kit, and more.
Apple Silicon
Apple’s WWDC 2020 conference began today with announcements on iOS 14’s new home screen, Apple CarKey, App Clips (similar to Android’s Instant Apps), improved handwriting recognition on iPadOS, 3D audio on AirPods Pro, handwashing and sleep tracking on WatchOS, macOS 11 “Big Sur”, and of course, Apple’s transition away from Intel and to its own in-house ARM processors for its computers.
Hard Lads
Hard Lads is a new, free downloadable masculinity simulator by Robert Yang (Windows, Mac, Linux). Based on the viral video British lads hit each other with chair, Yang describes how his game echoes it in revealing “how straight mate energy is actually quite fragile ... [and] that queer love is also the force that honors masculine vulnerability, and so only we have the power to reclaim these lads.” [more inside]
🧀🖥️
Can the New Mac Pro Actually Shred Cheese? [iFixit][YouTube] The repair website iFixit decided on Friday to actually test whether new Mac Pro could act as cheese grater. Unfortunately, the product's aluminum casing doesn't perform as well as users might have hoped.
Mac OS update leaves legacy software users in the dust
Some users of older Mac software are just now learning that their beloved apps — DragThing, for one example — won't work with Apple's latest operating system, Mac OS X 10.15 Catalina, which was released to the public on Monday after a customary period of beta testing. [more inside]
📦🛒🏴❤️🍏🔔↙️🔆🌲
Wilmot's Warehouse [YouTube][Launch Trailer] “In the game, you control Wilmot, a square person who is in charge of a warehouse full of similarly sized squares with pictures on them that abstractly represent what they contain. One might have a bird head on it, while another might have an alternating series of red-and-white diagonal lines. As Wilmot, it’s up to you to run the warehouse by organizing it however you see fit and retrieving items from it when requested. This naturally splits the game into two separate stages, which manage to test your puzzle-solving abilities in different ways. The organization stage tests how good you are at sorting everything in the warehouse while also planning ahead. During the retrieval stage, you’ll need to remember where you put things, and you’ll also learn if you made your warehouse navigable.” [via: The Verge] [more inside]
quantum ungulations
The mysteries of space can be tragically unreachable for all but a select few. While you may not meet the requirements to be counted among their number, that's no reason to fret: if you have a compatible computer, an Xbox, or the ability to wait for the game to appear on other platforms, you can just play Outer Wilds instead. Originally discussed here in 2015, several critics agree that you should probably play the game before learning too much about it, so consider whether you'd like to watch the trailer or try it yourself before clicking through. [more inside]
No more chips for you, but let's not have another meltdown
Apple will reportedly ditch Intel chips in Macs as early as 2020. [SL The Verge]
"Oooh, boy, this is a doozy"
There is a major security issue with macOS High Sierra. "We always see malware trying to escalate privileges and get root access," says Patrick Wardle, a security researcher with Synack. "This is best, easiest way ever to get root, and Apple has handed it to them on a silver platter."
HyperCard at 30
August 11 was Hypercard's 30th birthday, and to celebrate, the Internet Archive has made a bunch of stacks available through emulation. [more inside]
Stop hurling insults on Twitter and start throwing rocks in Dark Castle.
Wired: Want to leave the internet behind for a simpler time, one where computer frogs crossed rivers instead of spewing hate speech? The Macintosh Software Library from the Internet Archive lets you run old-school Macintosh games and applications in your browser, so stop hurling insults on Twitter and start throwing rocks in Dark Castle. [more inside]
I've got boxes full of Pepe!
David Dockery brings us Pepe Silvia with drums.
HAL: Apple’s Other Super Bowl Commercial
In 1999, while the world was gripped in fear of the Y2K bug, Apple's advertising firm TBWA/Chiat/Day had an inspiration for the perfect representative to reassure everyone their Macintosh computers would be fine: HAL 9000. With Stanley Kubrick's blessing, Apple aired their third Super Bowl commercial, "It Was a Bug, Dave", 15 years after their most famous one.
I'm a Mac. I'm a PC.
"Obviously I read for the PC, which I found to be a little bit surprising, because at that point I was about to turn 35—I still considered myself to be a 24-year-old thin, cool person." An oral history of "Get A Mac." (via kottke.org).
Creator of the Big Mac Died
Michael James Delligatti, Creator of the Big Mac, Dies at 98 "Jim Delligatti, the McDonald’s franchise owner who invented the Big Mac, died on Monday at his home in Fox Chapel, Pa. He was 98. The death was confirmed by his son Michael.
Mr. Delligatti, who opened the first McDonald’s in western Pennsylvania in 1957, owned about a dozen franchises in the Pittsburgh area by the mid-1960s, but he struggled to compete with the Big Boy and Burger King chains.
He proposed to company executives that they add a double-patty hamburger to the McDonald’s menu, something along the lines of the Big Boy, that could put a dent in sales of Burger King’s Whopper."
Weekend means filesearch comparisons and a drink (drink not provided)
From grep, ag, git grep, ucg, pt, sift comes a New Challenger: ripgrep In this article I will introduce a new command line search tool, ripgrep, that combines the usability of The Silver Searcher (an ack clone) with the raw performance of GNU grep. ripgrep is fast, cross platform (with binaries available for Linux, Mac and Windows) and written in Rust.
We will attempt to do the impossible: a fair benchmark comparison between several popular code search tools. Specifically, we will dive into a series of 25 benchmarks
We will attempt to do the impossible: a fair benchmark comparison between several popular code search tools. Specifically, we will dive into a series of 25 benchmarks
About This Computer
Think Retro: writings on vintage Macs
For the last year or so, Christopher Phin's Macworld column Think Retro has been a wonderful showcase of classic Apple hardware and software. While this column has come to a close after 73 installments, the archives are worthwhile reading for Mac enthusiasts. Some highlights: [more inside]
OS X Ransomware
First OS X ransomware detected in the wild, will maliciously encrypt hard drives on infected Macs. [more inside]
Macs and Cheeses of the Internet
Beyond Dark Castle
"During one of the worst years of my life, I drew solace, as much as from any book, from regularly visiting the swamp level of Beyond Dark Castle, a video game for the Mac. You had a little helicopter-backpack, and you just motored over this desolate bayou throwing rocks at bats in the darkness and silence. There was a sense of stillness and peace there that I still refer back to in my head." [more inside]
The Hijacking of Flight 102
About a month ago Motherboard posted about artist Jesse England looking for a lost Mac game that he played in his 7th grade social studies class. He knew it was about terrorism and an aircraft hijacking but not much else besides some images he remembered, which he drew out and shared in hopes someone would recognize it. Fortunately, he found it, and decided to share it with everyone. Let's Play: Research Paper Writer
Her Story: A game about a 20-year-old crime
In June, 1994, a man goes missing. His wife makes a series of interviews with police. Those interviews form the basis of the recently released title Her Story, an FMV-style game that tasks the player with digging through hours of video to determine what happened, and how, and why. [more inside]
No giant mechanical death machines here!
Regular Human Basketball: A QWOP-like multiplayer game for Mac/Windows/Linux in which you play basketball as God and James Naismith intended—with the slight addition of thrusters, a magnet arm, and all-terrain wheels. Comes with realistic basketball commentary from real human commentators!
Hey, What's the Rumpus? The CD-ROMs of Theresa Duncan
In December of last year, the NYC-based digital art nonprofit Rhizome successfully Kickstarted an online exhibition of cloud-emulated copies of the three CD-ROMs created by Theresa Duncan and based on young girls' everyday experiences. Last month, they were made available for play for a minimum of one year with probable extension. You can read about - and, thanks to embedding - play them at Rhizome itself and The Verge (or just play them right here). Note: you may have to wait in a queue. Also, you may have to wait a while for the computer running the game, which will be streamed to you, to start up.
Plugging a 1986 Mac Plus into the modern Web
Kernelmag's Jeff Keacher documents connecting his old Macintosh Plus to the World Wibe Web, courtesy of a Raspberry Pi and a bunch of software to remove all those pesky <div>s and such. [more inside]
You have 20 minutes before the sun blows up
Outer Wilds begins around a fire, like so many of the best stories do. When you step towards the crackling flames, you're offered a surprisingly whimsical option: press X to roast a marshmallow. Why not? You transform the sugary orb into a ball of flame. When you step back, however, you see that the world is about to get far, far bigger than a campfire, or even a planet. You're sitting at the base of a rocketship, as a nearby engineer explains that you're the astronaut about to blast off into space.[more inside]
All you need are the launch codes, and after a leisurely detour through your home planet where you pick up a few essential piloting skills, you suit up, buckle in, and launch your craft triumphantly into space, ready to explore the wonders of the universe.
Then the sun explodes.
These are speed holes. They make the computer go faster.
Big Mac
Before the world knew him as Dr. John, Mr. Mac Rebennack was, as a very young man, already cooking up some utterly groovy, rollicking, jazzy and soulful R&B instrumentals that could've only come from New Orleans. One particularly delightful one was The Point, and another was Feedbag. Just let 'em hit ya, man, you're gonna love it.
Evolution of the PC, 2004-2014
A Decade of Computer Design [SL-Engadget]
WWDC 2014: Buttons so different you won't want to lick them anymore
WWDC is almost upon us, and with it comes the live-streaming keynote, delivered at 10am PST, in which Apple traditionally announces new software (and sometimes something else to boot). Rumors of an iWatch abound, but just as intriguing is the popularly-believed notion that Apple will be introducing a new design to OS X which matches last year's iOS 7, breaking clean of the Aqua interface which has defined the Mac since January 2000. Rumors abound. [more inside]
Let The Healing Begin
No one is safe from the big fruit.
The world's first Apple reseller is no more. Minneapolis-based FirstTech sold its first computer, an Apple II, in 1977 as a sideline to its growing technology business. By 1984, Apple computers were its primary focus. The world's first Apple reseller, FirstTech actually used its own boilerplate legal documents and swapped in Apple's name when drawing up its first sales contract. Its final day of business will be March 29. [more inside]
Happy 30th Birthday Macintosh!
Apple is kicking off the Mac's 30th in typical Apple style with a lovely landing page. Slate has a copy of the video of Steve Jobs unveiling the Macintosh in 1984. Watch as the audience looses their minds over scrolling graphics and a basic voice synthesizer. iFixit has posted an appropriately retro teardown of a Mac 128k in celebration. As always, Folklore.org is your best source for first hand accounts of what it was like to actually create something cheaper and less clunky than the Lisa. All whilst hiding in the closet from Steve Jobs.
Mountains of Post-Mortem-ness
"Last April, I began working on a game. In October, I released it. This is the story of Eldritch." David Pitman tells the story of developing and selling the roguelike/FPS Eldritch, described as equal parts Lovecraft and Minecraft. Includes lots of lovely sales figures.
Programming stories
For your Sunday reading, a couple of stories of ye olden computing days: Why MacPaint's Original Canvas was 416 Pixels Wide and A Great Old Timey Game Programming Hack.
Siracusa pens longform review of OS X 10.9 Mavericks
Along with today's release of OS X 10.9 Mavericks (a free download from the Mac App Store) comes John Siracusa's remarkably detailed 24,008 word review of the new OS for Ars Technica.
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Nostalgia, Brought To You By Web Technology
Free HTML5 animations for all
Do you remember?
A game that would be at home in an arcade cabinet beside Robotron, FORGET-ME-NOT is a classic-style, that is to say, neon-filled, randomness-laden, bone-hard 2D maze/shooting game, with cute characters and retro effects, inspired by the Commodore game Crossroads II, Nethack and Pac-Man CE. Collect all the FLOWERS in each random, single-screen level to make the EXIT appear. Then, get the KEY and take it there to move to the next level.
The only controls are the arrow keys (or screen swipes in the iOS version). Face down a large variety of randomly-generated enemy types, and get as far as you can! You automatically shoot in front of you, but beware: your shots can wrap-around, and if they hit you they hurt! They key to playing well is grinding: push into a wall as you sail past it to build up a charge. Charge up enough and you start glowing; while glowing, you instantly kill any enemies you touch, but if you charge to much you blow up.
Free: Windows - OSX - Pandora - Morphos. Not free: iOS [more inside]
The only controls are the arrow keys (or screen swipes in the iOS version). Face down a large variety of randomly-generated enemy types, and get as far as you can! You automatically shoot in front of you, but beware: your shots can wrap-around, and if they hit you they hurt! They key to playing well is grinding: push into a wall as you sail past it to build up a charge. Charge up enough and you start glowing; while glowing, you instantly kill any enemies you touch, but if you charge to much you blow up.
Free: Windows - OSX - Pandora - Morphos. Not free: iOS [more inside]