d00dism

I’ve been a big fan of Adium for some time now (ever since its very first release so long ago). It was the first and only Instant Message client to properly use the dock. With a quick glance, you could tell who just signed on or off, who was messaging. Because it was in the dock, you didn’t need to switch out of your current application to see notifications. The effect was also minimal, causing little distraction or taking up any screen space.

Alas, it was not without its failings, most prominently its lack of file transfer support and the ability to read away messages. The latter was nearly impossible to go without. It was an unfortunate side effect of the protocol being used. I was forced to move to iChat until this was addressed.

That brings us to Adium 2 (whose current number is less than 1, which I agree is confusing in many ways). Adam Iser, the author of the original program, made Adium into a Sourceforge project. This doesn’t work for all projects, as some just get neglected. However, after a slow start, their team started making headway, allowing users to download and compile their own copy off the development CVS. They now churn out regular milestone builds like any good open source project.

The most recent milestone (0.7) which is available at their website has some impressive features and though they may not agree, I think is ready for primetime and general use. The level of customization is unparalleled in any other product and save for audio/video and file transfers, is feature complete.

To go along with this customization, Adium has an excellent “Xtras” site to host them all. I personally have my own preferences, which I will post screenshots of once I get home.

These customizations include: * Dock Icons * Emoticons (Smileys) * Contact (Buddy) List Styles * Message View (Chat Window) Styles * Sound Sets * Of course, AppleScripts

Adium isn’t just an AOL Instant Message client either. It also supports: * MSN Messenger * Yahoo Messenger * Jabber (which according to rumor will be added to iChat) * Gadu-Gadu * Rendezvous * .Mac * and more

It also supports plugins, including one for the previously mentioned Growl. The possibilities are truly endless.

Honestly, this is the single project I’d like most to get involved with if I could only motivate myself enough to get Cocoa and Objective-C down pat.

Keep reading for pictures.

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I’ve been preaching about Firefox for some time now. Most everyone I know has switched from Internet Explorer and loved the change.

With the Firefox 1.0 release fast approaching, Spreadfirefox.com (caution, it’s currently being slashdotted, so you may not be able to get the page) is raising money for a full page advertisement in the New York Times to gain even more users. $30 will get your name in the ad (only $10 for students; I’m looking at you Dana, Katie, and Scott). Donate here.

I encourage everyone who uses and loves this browser to contribute something. With your help and support, Firefox can become the predominant browser on the web.

I know you’re all very excited boys and girls. Apple has bumped their iBook computers.

We now have: * A 1.2GHz 12″ iBook with 30GB hard drive and a combo drive * A 1.33GHz 14″ iBook with 60GB hard drive and your choice of combo or super drive

All three models sport: * 512KB of Level 2 Cache * 133MHz system bus * 256MB of PC2100 RAM built-in (with a single slot free, allowing for 1.25GB total) * ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 with 32MB of SDRAM * One Firewire 400 port * Two USB 2.0 ports * Video mirroring (no spanning) * V.92 56Kbps modem * 10/100Base-T Ethernet port * Airport Extreme on all models * Optional Bluetooth * Display supporting 1024×768 resolution

More details are available at Apple.

Pricing is $999 for the 12″, and $1,299 and $1,499 for the 14″ version with combo drive and superdrive respectively.

The 12″ isn’t a bad deal, but for the prices of the 14″ iBooks, I’d move on up to the 12″ Powerbook. The screen may be bigger on the 14″, but again, the actual pixel space is the same, so things will only be bigger on the 14″ screen. It’s good to see Airport Extreme on all laptops that Apple now offers (though this should have happened earlier). The small amount of RAM is disappointing again.

I’m going to predict that one of the first things that nay-sayers will harp on is the lack of Firewire 800. Get over it, this is a consumer machine and it’s entirely inappropriate to have.