osascript

Note to self: osascript doesn’t execute the contents of on run handlers. Neither does NSAppleScript under Jaguar.

Safari 1.2

Dave Hyatt has posted release notes for Safari 1.2. Here are some other points that interest me:

Safari now stores partially downloaded files in folders (packages) whose names end with .download. Inside the folder is an Info.plist file with some metadata, and a file with the actual downloaded data. With previous versions of Safari, partially downloaded files looked as if they had finished downloading. Now, they have a progress bar in the icon, which is much better. However, Apple often leads by example, and I wonder what this example says to developers. The .download extension now belongs to Safari. Should other developers follow suit, we might see .omnidownload, .fetchdownload, and .unisondownload. Either that, or short, cryptic extensions. Yuck! This was a problem that type and creator codes solved neatly. The partially downloaded file got the creator code of the downloading application (e.g. MSIE). The type code indicated that the file was a partial download and how much of the downloaded had been completed (e.g. bzy0). The Finder would automatically draw the proper progress icon, and the user saw the real file name.

Safari’s Downloads window no longer shows the throughput of the downloads in progress. I think that’s a mistake.

Password fields now show the Shift symbol when the Caps Lock key is down. This is a great idea that should be adopted system-wide.

Safari no longer limits you to four connections, which previously rendered the browser unusable as soon as you got four downloads in progress. But the new version is not yet where it needs to be. Safari should let the user specify how many connections to allow, and how many to reserve for browsing. This was pioneered years ago in iCab, and also adopted by Internet Explorer. It’s especially nice on slow connections.

The Megapixel Myth

Fazal Majid:

For any given generation of cameras, the conclusion is clear - bigger pixels are better, they yield sharper, smoother images with more latitude for creative manipulation of depth of field. This is not true across generations, however.

How to Manage Smart People

Scott Berkun:

Over the years I’ve experienced many mistakes and successes in both how I was managed, and how I managed others. What follows is a short distillation of some of what I’ve learned. There's no one way to manage people, but there are some approaches that I think most good managers share.