The Mac Observer Forums

Beginning programming for children?

2009-06-09T20:42:35-05:00

My son (9 years old) has expressed some interest in learning how to program. While I have some programming experience, it’s quite dated (as in I started with Pascal on a Apple II+) and the closest I’ve come to programming in the last decade is Excel Macros or simple Applescripts.

Any suggestions on age appropriate ways to get him started?

Thanks

Extracting image from word document and store it in filesystem using applescript

2009-07-30T07:23:08-05:00

I need applescript steps or commands to extract the selected image from word document and then save that image in PNG or JPEG format on the local filesystem.

iMac for prosumer work?

2009-07-30T10:39:13-05:00

My latest G4 just croaked, and I’m debating digging deep and buying a new system. While I have only owned and used towers, I just don’t think I can afford one now. I do lots of InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Painter work; all for print publishing so it’s lots of big files. So I’m wondering if any designers out there are using the new iMac for pro work. I know I can get lots of external storage nowadays because firewire hard drives are so cheap, but I’m worried the RAM won’t keep up with the work and it won’t last as long as my towers have because of lack of upgrade options. Plus I have grown used to using 2 monitors, and I’m not sure the iMac’s video board (or ports) can handle that. Any thoughts or advice?

Thanks

Recommended podcast feed generator?

2009-09-02T14:34:07-05:00

I’m looking for recommendations to create a feed for a podcast. After geeking out on looking at the XML tags, I realized that I need a solution that is (1) easy for me to use and also (2) usable by someone other than me.

I’ve tried podcastgen (long name = “Podcast Generator”) and have liked the fact that I can set it up on my own webserver and that it allows uploading and feed creation from a single, simple entry page. Also, it supports CSS and I hope to get into some customization to make the podcast page fit into the rest of the site.

Unfortunately, I can’t adjust the date when creating/editing items in podcastgen—which is a big deal because I have three months of almost daily recordings from a program and I would like some control over their dates.

Does anyone have either tips for adjusting the date in podcastgen or a similar program that they would recommend?

I’ve also looked at uploading the actual media files to one location and using a third-party website to create the XML feed. This adds more steps and would not be ideal. That said, if anyone has any favorites (specifically ones that facilitate changing the dates on feeds), please recommend.

Thanks in advance.

P.S.—I’m a noob to the forums, so please forgive my inability to have found this in a prior post if one exists. I searched for a few terms but couldn’t find anything already in the forums.

What's your favorite app for organizing photos?

2007-08-11T21:45:29-05:00

On any platform, what do you use to organize your photos, and why?

Hardware for editing photos?

2007-05-18T12:57:13-05:00

The avdent of RAW, the need for Fit to View (for big files), and an ever larger number of (photo) files to edit makes every wait seem longer. Presently, I have a G5 with 2 BG memory and a ATI Radeon 9600 XT (256 MB) graphics board.

For large files with compute-intensive edits, I am looking to upgrade to newer hardware. But not right away.

For the G5, would I be better off spending for newer/faster graphics board more memory?

Eventually, I will need a dedicate/faster machine, and was thinking about a 24 inch IMac with a GeForce7600 and 2 GM RAM. Will this be enough, or will I need to think about a Mac Pro?

TIA

Quicktime video files metadata

2009-08-12T04:15:19-05:00

hi
i’m not sure of this is the right place for this question, but i’ll ask anyway…
i’ve been working on an application that will give me some general info about a quicktime video file (Dimensions, Frame Rate, Compressor Name, Audio channels…)

so i read the “Quicktime File Format Specification” document from apple.com, and i did get to read most of the data i need from the corresponding atoms (atoms are the building units of a quicktime file), but i came across some files that didn’t have these atoms at all (since most of these atoms are optional)

examples include
- ‘stsd’ atoms hold the compressor name, but it’s optional
- ‘stts’ atoms hold data vital to the frame rate calculation, also optional
- ‘stss’ atoms hold data regarding key frames, also optional

and even though one of the atoms i need isn’t even optional, i still couldn’t find it (‘tkhd’ for the video dimensions)

but when i open these files (which missing atoms) they work well, and when i open them in VLC player, i can see the data i need in the ‘media information’ provided by the player

so my question is: how can i get the data i need even when the atoms aren’t available? (it must be doable, VLC proves that!)

ps. i’m working on a java applet, so i can only use standard java libraries

Fonts Don’t Open

2009-05-12T20:44:25-05:00

Since going to OS X Tiger from Panther I can’t open a downloaded font. All I get now is a blinking cursor in an empty box. I used to be able to ask font book to install it if I liked it.

Do you still use MIN/MAX-WIDTH and MIN/MAX-HEIGHT

2009-07-22T00:08:02-05:00

Title is wrong , correct one should be :
Do you use MIN/MAX-WIDTH and MIN/MAX-HEIGHT ??

I am building a liquid layout with percentage and wonder if I have to use MIN/MAX-WIDTH and MIN/MAX-HEIGHT , knowing that IE 6 and earlier versions do not support it.
Do you use them ?
Is there any rule available to avoid the bug ?

Can you delete or rename a Project in Garage Band?

2008-12-30T18:18:59-05:00

My son has created some songs that I don’t like (vulgar, etc) and I would like to delete them from the project list….or if I can’t delete them, I would like to rename them. I know I can delete the tracks, but it’s the entire project I would like to get rid of.
Now let’s say I CAN’T delete or rename the Projects. Is there a way to ‘partition’ the ones I don’t like, or set up a separate Account for my son that will start with an empty Project list..so I can keep better control and separate his stuff from mine? Thanks. Any ideas would be helpful.