Computers
Myst Online: Uru Live Again on a Mac!
One of the most popular posts on my site is How to run Uru:CC on a Mac. You may have also heard that Uru Live is back, under the new name “Myst Online: Uru Live Again”. Unfortunately, this version of Uru is PC-only by default.
However, it’s very easy to set it up to run on a Mac! Here’s how to do it:
- Download and install MacPorts.
- Download and install Xcode. This will take a very long time to download, unfortunately. It’s also an optional install on the CD that came with your Mac. If you don’t mind having a slightly out-of-date version (which shouldn’t matter for this), you can insert that CD and find the Xcode installer on there instead of downloading it.
- Reboot. (Might not be necessary, but I’d always recommend it)
- Go to Applications>Utilities in Finder, and launch Terminal.app.
- Type in the following:
sudo port install mystonline-cider - It will ask for your password, type in the same password you use to log in to your computer.
- When it’s all done downloading/installing, you can find Uru in /Applications/MacPorts/Myst Online (Cider).app
And that’s all it takes! Keep in mind that this is the “bare-bones” installer, so it’s going to download all of the meat of the game (the ages, sound effects, everything) the first time you start it up. That means it will most likely take a very long time to get past the loading section. It will eventually get there, though, so don’t worry that it’s crashed.
I don’t take any credit for discovering this method, I got it from “rainbow” on the Myst Online forums.
See you in the cavern!
The iPhone, iPad, and Why We Need to Get Over Flash
When I first heard about the iPhone, back in 2007, one of my biggest gripes (and I think many can relate with me here) was its lack of flash support. Even back then, Flash Lite was available on various phones (granted, most of them in Japan, but Verizon had a couple), and it seemed ridiculous to me that the iPhone, with all its power and capabilities, couldn’t run even that. This quickly took a backseat to the complaints about lack of native apps, then multitasking, app store rejections, etc. (I never cared that much about copy/paste support, to this day I’ve only ever used it once, but I concede that this was also a pretty popular complaint at one point)
Well, one by one, all most of those problems were solved (ahem, app store). The biggest remaining problem now is simply the lack of Flash support on the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the larger iPod Touch iPad (another rant for another time).
As we probably all know, there has been a war waging between Apple and Adobe for some time. This is a pointless and stupid war, because the two companies should really work together to make computing more enjoyable for everyone. Then again, media industries should embrace piracy and it should rain chocolate every Thursday, some things just aren’t going to happen. In the past, the two companies kept their conflict somewhat private, as the two relied on each other for a large portion of their profits. Apple had (successfully) built up an image of the Mac as the absolute best computer for creatives. Creatives use Adobe products practically exclusively. If Adobe dropped support for Macs, they would lose a huge number of customers, and Mac sales would drop drastically. Neither company could afford this, so they made their peace and lived with the status quo.
Since 2007, however, Apple has had a new bargaining chip. With the launch of the iPhone, Apple’s largest source of income is no longer its computers. They would suffer if they somehow lost their computer business, but it isn’t anywhere close to something that could be considered a ‘large’ portion of their revenue. Adobe is in the same position it always was. Apple now has the upper hand, and can begin to act against Adobe. Hence the lack of iPhone Flash support.
It boils down to this: Apple and Adobe hate each other, despite past appearances. Adobe has no leverage on Apple anymore, thus Apple can do what it wants, thus no iPhone Flash. Ever.
Now the thing about this, is that it isn’t as bad as everybody makes it out to be. While yes, it would be nice to have access to so much of the content out there on the internet that’s made in Flash, but let’s face it: Flash really sucks.
Apple outlined this in Steve Jobs’ “Thoughts on Flash” letter, but I’ll reiterate. What it basically comes down to is this:
- Flash is a closed system. As widely used as Flash is, it is still a proprietary plugin made by a single company. Adobe called Jobs a hypocrite for making this point, with the App Store being the walled garden that it is, but I feel that the difference is that there’s still Cydia and the jailbroken apps. Apple can’t stop the jailbreaking of their devices, and thus anybody not happy with the restrictions that Apple imposes on the App Store has an alternative (of course, if Apple had its way, we would not have this alternative, and then I’d have to re-evaluate all of this). Adobe is in control of Flash, and they can use it to serve their own purposes.
- Flash is clunky, old, and slow. While I recognize that Steve Jobs is bullshitting to some extent when he claims that most of the crashes that happen on a Mac are due to Flash, I also know that Flash, historically, is just really slow. The new Gala release (which takes advantage of GPU acceleration on Macs) is somewhat better, but it isn’t fixed yet. I still hear my fans spin up during long Hulu or Youtube videos. Flash is not something I want to be dependent on, not until Adobe makes it much more enjoyable to use, on a Mac and elsewhere.
- We are addicted to Flash. While I’m sure it wouldn’t be that hard to support Flash on the iPhone (hey, Android is doing it now), Apple is choosing not to. They have chosen to cut us off from the massive amount of content made in Flash on the Internet. While this might seem like a bad thing, look at the previous two points again. Flash sucks. While the number of Flash movies, games, and apps that exist on the Internet is huge, there are much better options out there, and we need to start breaking our reliance on Flash. That starts by quitting cold-turkey.
So there you have it. I’m siding with Apple on this one, for a change. Flash sucks, and we need to stop using it until Adobe makes it better. Hence, I’m not pissed at Apple for refusing to support it on their devices. There are better alternatives out there, such as HTML5 (cue angelic choir), which are supported on the iPhone OS devices. Youtube has been converting their videos from flv to h.264 since the launch of the iPhone, and we’re starting to see a lot more of that kind of media now (This, unfortunately, isn’t a great solution either, as the h.264 is a proprietary format as well, and companies must pay a licensing fee to use it. Something else like Ogg Theora would be even better, but it is still really inefficient. Oh well, another rant for another time).
And for those of you who think that HTML5 is only revolutionary for video, but Flash is still required for all of those wonderful games, I would tell you to take a look at Google’s Native Client SDK (NaCl for short – ha!):
(Skip to 4:30 for an example, if you aren’t interested in the geeky aspects of NaCl)
NaCl allows programmers to run regular old code in a web browser. This means that you can write a program in C or C++, in the same manner you would if you were writing a desktop app, but then run it as a web app, in an HTML5-compliant browser. It lets you make great-looking, fast apps, using 2D or 3D graphics, that are instantly cross-platform to iPhone OS, OS X, Windows, and Linux. Plus, it’s open-source. Basically, it does everything Flash does, but better. It’s already built into your iPhone, Android Phone, Laptop, Desktop, and even some HDTVs.
HTML5 is the warrior we need to defeat the old, cantankerous dragon that is Flash. The iPhone supports it, something it will never do for Flash. Flash is dead, long live HTML5.
Victory of The Daleks Wallpaper
I watched the latest Doctor Who episode yesterday, Victory of The Daleks, which took place in World War Two-era Britain. The Daleks had managed to infiltrate the British army, and were posing as a ‘secret weapon’ against the Nazi menace. Winston Churchill was extremely happy to use the alien tech to win the war, but of course, The Doctor knew that the xenophobic cyborgs had to have some ulterior motive. That’s all I’ll say about the plot for now, but a basic review of the episode was that it was awesome.
Anyway, about halfway through the episode Churchill shows The Doctor an early draft of a propaganda poster based on the Dalek secret weapon. It looks like this:
Well, I took that poster, and made a wallpaper out of it. Check it out:
Update: For those so inclined, I made an iPhone version as well. Click the image:
I keep wanting to tweet that Twitter is down, and I have no way to tweet, but then I realize that since Twitter is down, I can’t tweet. Hence this odd little tweet-like post.
For those who aren’t following me already, I’m zib_redlektab on Twitter.
Mysterium 2009
I just got home from Mysterium 2009, the annual gathering of Myst fan(atics). It was held in Spokane, Washington this year (as it is every few years). Spokane is the hometown of Cyan Worlds, the company that made Myst.
The convention was really great, although the last day was somewhat ruined by a flu outbreak in the hotel. It was fun to meet all of the other fans of Myst, and to know that I wasn’t even close to being the geekiest person there (ha).
On the second day we all piled into a few cars and visited the Cyan offices. We got to meet all the Cyan bigwigs, past and present, and they threw a party for us. I had Rand Miller sign my collectibles, including the copy of From Myst to Riven that I bought at their store, and the Myst concept art that Robyn Miller sent me a few years ago. We were given a tour of their awesome workspace, which I filmed, but due to some accident, I no longer have that footage.
After the party, a few members of the Uru community (Blade, Brian Fioca, Douglas Sharper, and Eleri) held a panel about storytelling in Uru, which was pretty cool as they all were (or are) celebrities in our community at one point or another. After that, the real show started with a Q&A session with Rand Miller. He answered all of our questions, covering topics from Something Else, to MO:RE, to the Book of Marrim, to many other things. It was quite entertaining, and also educational!
For those who weren’t present at Mysterium, or those who would simply like a refresher on the convention, check out the video footage I captured over the course of the weekend. The file is about 580mb, so be careful if you have a slow connection (took me about 20 minutes to download on a standard-speed connection). Also, please don’t directly link to the video file, link to this post instead. There is also a torrent of the video file available, for those who would rather use a P2P connection.
If you’re more into photos, check out this thread on MystOnline.com, this Flickr pool, and this thread on UruObsession.com.
In other news, THIS IS THE 500TH POST! Yes, you read that correctly. I have now posted 500 things to this website. Pretty ridiculous. Here’s to 500 posts, and hoping for another strong 500 in the future!
Snow Leopard – First Impressions
I have gotten my hands on the latest build of the next version of Mac OS X – Snow Leopard. The 6th version of OS X, due to be released in September of this year, promises speed boosts…and not much else. The OS upgrade focuses almost entirely on under-the-hood improvements (like opening images and pdf files faster, and quicker boot/shut down times, as well as overall zippiness), with a few additional features. Perhaps this is why the upgrade is only going to cost $29?
That being said, the new features that are included are pretty handy. For example, there’s this new exposé feature that lets you simply click and hold an icon on the dock to see all open windows for that application, a feature very similar to the new tile bar in Windows 7. This enables easy window flipping without the use of the keyboard (or those annoying screen corner shortcuts).
Stack folder navigation is even more useful. This is functionality that should have been in Leopard, it’s so obvious. Why Apple didn’t include it in the first place perplexes me. Basically, if a stack on your dock has a folder in it, clicking that folder will open its contents within the stack, instead of opening the folder in Finder. It’s really a no-brainer, and a great feature.
The new look for Quicktime X is nice, but the big black titlebar is a little off-putting. It really doesn’t match anything else in the system, except perhaps the Quicklook HUD windows. This is forgivable, however, because the titlebar quickly vanishes along with the controls, leaving simply a borderless video playing on your desktop. This has a very slick feel to it, but its still a bit disconcerting to have a window with no titlebar. Other Quicktime X features include screen recording (something that previously required the purchase of a 3rd party app), and all QT Pro features enabled by default.
My favorite feature is actually relatively unadvertised, though. The ability to set a time frame for locking the computer after it goes to sleep is a godsend. This should have been included in OS X a long time ago. Anybody with a laptop whose hinges are loosening up knows how aggravating it is when the lid slams shut and immediately asks for your password. With Snow Leopard, you can set it to require a password after being asleep for 5 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, and so on.
Other cool features include small touches like WiFi signal strength indicators in the Airport menu, a battery health indicator for the battery menu, and the date in the time menu (all on the menu bar at the top).
As for the speed increases, the system did seem a bit faster when using 10.6 as opposed to 10.5, but honestly that might have just been because a fresh install always operates faster than one that’s been bogged down with stuff like mine has. Then again, speed increases aren’t really promised for a computer as old as mine. Apparently every application in the OS has been re-written to be completely 64-bit compatible, which is the root of these speed claims, but that means that older computers (such as mine, and anything else made before 2007, pretty much) won’t see any speed boosts. Anything made after that point, however, should (in theory) clock in at least a little faster under Snow Leopard.
Overall, 10.6 doesn’t seem like much of an upgrade, but if you have a computer newer than mine, and even one of the above features (or one of the features from Apple’s features page) appeals to you, then the purchase will be worth it. It is only $29, after all.
Happy Belated Birthday, Eve!
Yesterday was my beloved MacBook Pro’s third birthday. She’s running smoothly now, despite having a few problems recently. I polished her up, tightened her screws, and gave her most of the day off so I could bake a cake with a friend in her honor. I’m still really happy with her, even though she’s 5 generations old now. She still crunches pretty much anything I can throw at her with ease and grace, so I don’t really see a need to replace her any time soon (barring unforeseen tragedies).
Happy Birthday, Eve!
UPDATE: Ok, not sure why, but the post didn’t originally go through, making this a very belated birthday message…
More Windows 7
Microsoft has announce the official pricing system for Windows 7. Thankfully, the new OS isn’t going to cost more than Vista, as was rumored, and it is actually the most inexpensive version of Windows ever produced.
That being said, There’s definitely still room for improvement. The pricing system for Windows 7 is as follows:
- Home Premium Full Version – $199.99
This is the version of Windows 7 that most people are going to get. It offers all features of Windows 7 except for automatic backup & restore, XP emulation, and BitLocker encryption. - Professional Full Version – $299.99
Professional adds the ability to emulate Windows XP (very handy for business professionals who cannot afford to have software incompatibilities), and make automatic backups. - Ultimate Full Version – $319.99
Ultimate adds BitLocker on top of the Professional features. Ultimate is, overall, a ripoff that Microsoft should not be offering anymore. Don’t buy it unless you desperately need BitLocker…
Compared to Windows Vista’s $239.99 for Home Premium, that’s pretty good. However, the real discounts come with the upgrade versions, for which Microsoft currently has a promotion running so that Home Premium and Pro are half off:
- Home Premium Upgrade – usually $119.99, now $49.99
- Professional Upgrade – usually $199.99, now $99.99
- Ultimate Upgrade – $219.99 (no promotional discount for Ultimate)
Considering how much better Windows 7 is compared to Vista, these prices are just right. Of course, it would be great if Microsoft could be more like Apple and release one version of their OS with all of the features for $29.99, although Snow Leopard admittedly adds less to Leopard than Windows 7 does to Vista.
You can buy Windows 7 at Microsoft’s Store. Act fast, the promotional prices won’t last forever!
Silence
Yeah, I haven’t posted in a while. Not for lack of things to write about either: I saw Up in 3D (loved it), I played around with a Palm Pre (enjoyed it), there’s a new iPhone, etc etc. I’ve just been incredibly busy lately. That being said, school is ending next wednesday, so I’ll have much more time to post about fun things. In the mean time, check out Little Wheel, one of the best Flash games I’ve played since Samorost.
Fan failure and other tales of woe
Lately, Eve (my 15″ MacBook Pro) has been showing her age a bit more than I’m comfortable with.
A few weeks ago, she suddenly became unresponsive, as in no applications would launch, and finder froze. She complained that spotlight had quit unexpectedly, and at other times (the problem persisted after a reboot) she added more serious things too, like the loginwindow (which is supposed to always be running in the background), and even more seriously, the systemuiserver (which manages the entire visible interface of the computer). After some personal messing around (ensuring that I had all of my files backed up-thank god for Time Machine), I brought her into the Apple Store.
The Geniuses tried re-installing the OS from an external hard drive (as my superdrive had been broken for more than a year), and it repeatedly failed. This led them to the conclusion that Eve’s hard drive was corrupted. Seeing as how she is almost 3 years old, and that’s about the average life of a hard drive, it seemed likely….However, they said that it was highly unlikely that they’d be able to repair it themselves due to the computer’s cosmetic damage (dents and such, particularly one directly under the hard drive, not to mention a huge crack across the base of the frame of the display). Instead, they sent me to a little place in Allston called The Computer Loft, who agreed to replace/upgrade the hard drive and the superdrive for around $600.
Well, they did an amazing job – Eve’s hard drive is now a 7200rpm, 320gb drive, which is absolutely amazing, and I finally have a working superdrive again, which is nice. However, two days ago Eve’s right-hand started acting up.
I noticed that she was making a pretty loud buzzing noise, with a relatively light load, so I checked the fan speeds – as I thought, the left fan was going at about 5000rpm, and the right fan was spinning at around 2400rpm. This itself was abnormal, since I have the fans set to always spin in synchronization, but even more abnormal was the buzzing noise – a fan spinning at 2400rpm should be relatively quiet. I put her to sleep, and woke her up again – the buzzing was entirely gone. I was happy, but that didn’t last long, because I realized that the buzzing had only stopped because the fan had, as well. That was two days ago, and my right fan hasn’t risen above 0rpm since.
As a result, Eve is running a bit hotter than normal, but the left fan is working in overtime to keep the temperature regulated. Meanwhile, I’m trying to avoid heavy loads (opeations which would normally push both fans to their maximum) for fear of overheating her. I suppose I’m going to have to bring her back into The Computer Loft. I’m not really ready to buy a new computer yet, but Eve is starting to fall apart…
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