Google has released Update Engine, an open source (released under the Apache license) software update framework for Mac OS X.
Of course, there’s already a very successful software update framework known as Sparkle, developed by Andy Matuschak. Judging by this comment in his Twitter stream (”Update Engine looks much better-designed and engineered than Sparkle, though a little clunkier in a few minor ways”), he’s already impressed with what he sees.
In an announcement on the Google Mac Blog, engineer Greg Miller says: “Update Engine can update all the usual suspects, like Cocoa apps, preference panes, and screen savers. But it can also update oddballs like arbitrary files, and even things that require root—like kernel extensions. On top of that, it can update multiple products as easily as it can update one.”
So what’s the difference between this and Sparkle? As I understand things (someone correct me if I’m wrong), Sparkle sits inside each app that uses it, and is used by that app to update itself. Update Engine runs separately and independently, and uses a system of tickets to remember which apps it should monitor and when they should be updated. And, as Miller explains, it can be used to update anything, not just apps but also prefpanes and the like.
Written by Giles Turnbull on September 30th, 2008 with no comments.
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New today from the Mac devs at Google is Top Draw, an experimental image drawing app.
I’ll let them explain it in more detail: “The Top Draw scripting language leverages Apple’s Quartz and CoreImage rendering engines for graphical muscle. In addition to the drawing commands that are supported by the HTML canvas tag, there is support for particle systems, plasma clouds, random noise, multi-layer compositing and much more.”
It doesn’t do very much, so don’t download it and expect it to suddenly start editing photos or creating beautiful logos for you. It takes text input and renders images based on it; and for kicks, it can set the result as your desktop background, or act as a screen saver.
Still, fun to play with if messing with JavaScript is your thing. Indeed, still fun even if you have no clue about JavaScript and just want something different on your desktop.
Written by Giles Turnbull on September 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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If there’s one thing the British like complaining about more than the weather, it’s the transport system.
So it shouldn’t be a surprise to find the App Store bulging with apps for people on the move. Here are just a handful of my favourites…
There’s Alistair Stuart’s Trains, giving near-as-dammit live information from UK station departure boards: essential for people five minutes walk away from the station door, and whose train ought to be leaving in four minutes.
And there’s Ian Smith’s LondonCam, a highly rated app that displays the latest image from any of more than 80 traffic cams that monitor London’s busiest roads and interchanges.
Traffic UK provides real-time traffic updates for the area around your current location, or for any place you care to name.
And TubeStatus is one of several London Underground monitoring apps, providing timely warnings of line closures and service disruptions. Which, as any Londoner will tell you, are many and varied and frustratingly frequent.
Written by Giles Turnbull on September 29th, 2008 with no comments.
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One of the things that I’ve wanted since day one, last year for my iPhone was a To Do feature. I always thought that it was odd that Apple included To Do’s in both iCal and Mail on the desktop in Mac OS X, but not in the iPhone. I still think it’s strange. However, [...]
Written by Terry White on September 26th, 2008 with no comments.
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It’s… it’s like looking into the Eye of Sauron. If each application were a different Eye.
More at Gizmodo.
Written by Pete Mortensen on September 26th, 2008 with no comments.
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