The Tiger Growls Today

I can’t wait to get my paws on a Tiger. Apple’s OSX Tiger (10.4), its newest operating system that offers 200 new features and innovations, comes out this weekend. Hey, couldn’t you use 200 more cool things on your computer’s operating system? I can’t name all of them here, but here are a few highlights of Tiger:

Spotlight allows you to find anything on your computer as quickly as you type. You can search your entire system from one plac, and files, e-mails, contacts, images, calendars and applications appear instantly. When you do a search with Spotlight, you’re actually accessing a comprehensive and constantly updated index that sees all the metadata inside your files — that’s the “what, when and who” of every piece of information saved on your Mac. Most documents, images and e-mails already contain rich metadata and because of this, Spotlight searches the insides of your files too, not just the filename.

You can check the time, watch the weather, track flights, view stock prices and find a restaurant all at the same time with Dashboard. It gives you fast access to nifty widgets, mini applications that let you perform common tasks. These widgets bring you a world of information by giving you a quick view of just about anything you add to your widget list: iTunes, stock ticker, dictionary, translator, unit converter, calendar, address list, phone book or even a tile game if you get bored. With one click of a button Dashboard appears or disappears from your desktop. QuickTime 7 Pro features an ultra-efficient new video codec called H.264. This codec delivers unbelievable video quality at low data rates so you can watch crisp, clear video in small files. QuickTime 7 makes it easy to create a movie and share it with family and friends via e-mail or your Mac account. The controls are easy to use and it automatically determines your connection speed to ensure you get the highest quality content stream.

Tiger allows you to “secure the cookie jar.” Children are curious and love to explore. The parental controls allow you to lock down just about everything you don’t want them touching. Block applications you don’t want them launching or make a safe list for e-mails they can and cannot send and receive.

That goes for the buddy list on iChat too, you can specify who your child adds to his/her buddy list since you don’t want them talking to strangers in person or on the computer.

For all you UNIX propeller heads out there, remember that OSX is UNIX-based and is solid as a rock. The UNIX foundation keeps your system stable and free of system crashes and compromised performance.

Also keep in mind that you can run all your commands with the Terminal application.

To get your own Tiger for $129, go to www.apple.com. It’s also available after 6 p.m. today (April 29) at the Apple Store at Ala Moana Center or at your nearest CompUSA. You can view demonstrations of just about all the new features in QuickTime on Apple’s website.

Runner’s High. Running is a huge part of my life. I must run 20+ miles a week and unless I’m on a treadmill, I have no definite way of knowing how far I actually ran. Sure there’s the good ol’ pedometer, but none that I’ve ever owned was accurate. Well, I finally found something that’s accurate, and it’s called the Nike Philips MP3Run.

I would never consider the Nike Philips MP3 Run to be an excellent music player for the mp3 connoisseur, but it’s awesome for a serious runner (or walker) like myself who wants to enjoy its unique capabilities. A small pod clips to your shoelaces and communicates pace and distance information to the player wirelessly with Bluetooth.

Once you have your stride calibrated, it will track your time, distance and pace. You then set the player to announce your progress based on your choice of distance or time, or when you ask for it with the push of a button. The voice of your “virtual coach” comes on over the headphones announcing how many minutes you’ve been running, how many miles you’ve gone and your pace in minutes per mile. This information is also available with a gander at the screen. The feature that intrigues me the most is that you can download all your statistics to your computer with the included Digital Media Manager software to track your progress. That is very useful for someone who is in training for a big event such as a marathon or triathlon. As a mediocre mp3 player, it does offer FM radio, a 256MB capacity and a 710-minute battery life with its rechargeable battery.

Sure, I’ll be willing to rotate my iPod(s) with this thing just to get the additional information. The Nike Philips MP3Run is available for about $233 on www.amazon.com.

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