A user has installed Leopard 10.5.4 on a Dell Mini Inspiron 9 using an installer image designed for the MSI Wind. There is a script to install the Dell Broadcom drivers, and there is also an application that fixes the sound output on the Mini 9. After running those two patches, OS X will be fully functional* on the Mini 9.

* some small things aren’t working such as two-finger scrolling

Apple has dropped its NDA as it applies to released iPhone software. This is a relief to developers and authors who have otherwise been unable to talk about their software.

From Apple’s iPhone Developer Site:

We have decided to drop the non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for released iPhone software.

We put the NDA in place because the iPhone OS includes many Apple inventions and innovations that we would like to protect, so that others don’t steal our work. It has happened before. While we have filed for hundreds of patents on iPhone technology, the NDA added yet another level of protection. We put it in place as one more way to help protect the iPhone from being ripped off by others.

However, the NDA has created too much of a burden on developers, authors and others interested in helping further the iPhone’s success, so we are dropping it for released software. Developers will receive a new agreement without an NDA covering released software within a week or so. Please note that unreleased software and features will remain under NDA until they are released. (#)

Just when you thought you had figured out all the intricacies of Adobe Creative Suite 3, Adobe releases Creative Suite 4.

Buy:
Amazon | Adobe

I gave SquidMan a test drive today and am pleased with how easy it makes setting up a Squid proxy on Mac OS X. SquidMan will install and manage the Squid proxy cache. With SquidMan you can cache frequently downloaded content to allow for faster web browsing. You can also use SquidMan to cache content for other computers on your network.

My only complaint with this experience is not actually a complaint against SquidMan, but instead against Firefox (and possibly other browsers). Once I had setup the machine that was running SquidMan, I went to another machine on the network, changed its proxy settings to point to the SquidMan machine, and then launched Firefox and browsed some pages. I then went back to SquidMan and checked the access_log, but there was nothing. At first I thoughtSquidMan wasn’t working, but after some checking, I realized that Firefox does not use the Mac’s proxy settings. Instead, you have to go to the Firefox preferences and enter the proxy settings there. However, Safari will honor the settings that you set in the System Preferences. What this means is that anyone with access to a non-Safari browser can change the browser settings to get around the proxy. I don’t see any way in which to lock those settings.

Download SquidMan (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Screenshots below:
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I was asked today for an easy way for one of our supervisors to check on and help salespeople with screen sharing. Remote Desktop works great, but it is overkill for what this person needed. Timbuktu works, but it can be inelegant from time to time, not to mention that all computers need to have it installed to work.

Here’s where Apple’s built-in Screen Sharing shines. It’s free, easy to use, and is already installed by default (it just needs to be turned on). The only disadvantage is that getting to the computer whose screen you want to share can be tedious.

Here is a solution to that. It is more or less just an exercise in organization.

First of all, Screen Sharing can be invoked with the URL vnc://ip.address.here and as with many protocols, the username and password can be passed in the URL, as shown below. This URL can be used in the “Connect to Server” dialog box or in any browser’s address bar.

Once you verify that URL works, you can drag it from your browser’s address bar to the Bookmark Bar (or a folder in your Bookmarks Bar if you have a lot of links to organize). Here is an example of how I organized mine.

If you prefer to use icons on your desktop, that is an option as well. Just drag the URL from the address bar to your desktop, and you will have a clickable icon for easy access to screen sharing.

Of course, if you have an aversion to storing the username and password in a bookmark, you can leave it out and enter it when needed. You can also use a non-administrator username and password for your Screen Sharing purposes.

I hope you will find this tip useful.

Nullriver’s NetShare app, which allows users to use their iPhone’s cell ‘net connection with a laptop (also known as tethering), has once again been removed from the App Store. Last week, after about a day in the App Store directory, NetShare was removed without any notice from Apple. Then on August 1 it mysteriously reappeared in the App Store. Today, NetShare has again been de-listed from the App Store directory.

Much of speculation about NetShare’s removal from the App Store revolves around the fact that NetShare would allow iPhone users to tether their laptop to the iPhone without paying extra (about $30/month) for AT&T’s tethering data plan.

In my opinion, if AT&T is calling the iPhone data plan “unlimited”, then the way in which that data plan is used should be up to the subscriber. Otherwise, the data plan should be called “limited unlimited”.

AppleInsider reports that the iPhone v2.0 software will securely erase data. This is done by overwriting files with random bits so they cannot be easily retrieved. The feature arrives in conjunction with the enterprise-ready “remote wipe” feature. Of this secure delete will come at the expense of a longer wait when performing an erase and restore, but it’s a small price to pay to know your personal data cannot be retrieved should you ever sell your iPhone.

Apple has updated their Xsan software to version 2.1. The Xsan update is available via both Apple Downloads and Software Update.

Read more details here.

TUAW is reporting that Apple will seed an early beta of Mac OS X 10.6 to developers at the upcoming WWDC. Mac OS 10.6 is said to be simply a polished and perfected version of what we already with Leopard. It will also drop support for the PowerPC architecture and will be completely 64-bit.

Snow Leopard?

WebKit has gotten a new JavaScript interpreter called SquirrelFish that is 1.6 times faster than WebKit’s previous interpreter. This is great news for Safari.