iUgly

Fucked up gradients and blindingly white backgrounds? Why, Apple, why?!

Oh, and Mindless Self Indulgence kicks ass; check ‘em out.

In other news, Apple updated their line of iPods. The Shuffle now comes in more colors and still kinda sucks, the Classic got a space bump to 160 GBs for the same price, the Nano got a sparkly new camera, and the iPod touch got a processor bump and still has no camera (and here’s some theories on why).

All in all, not too exciting for an Apple event. Steve’s back on stage with the liver of a 20-something-year-old who got hit by a car. That’s interesting, right?

Update: Apple’s released footage of the keynote which is available for download here.

Update 2: You can make iTunes 9 less ugly with this unofficial patch (OS X only, for now).

1. Thomas say “Back-up your computer“. Listen to the man, and do it.

2. Download the 10.5.8 Drivers Pack. You won’t have WiFi or sound after the update.

3. Go over here and download the Combo Update. You can use Software Update, but the Combo Update is safer.

4. When the .dmg is finished downloading (it’ll take a while, it’s nearly 800 MB) the installer will automatically start (if you’re using Safari that is; if not, just double-click the .dmg and then run the .pkg). All you have to do it click Continue a couple times. Installation will take awhile. I almost force-quit the installer because it appeared to be stalling, but it wasn’t. Be patient. Go get some coffee and ruminate on whether Starbucks customers are addicts or assholes.

5. When the installer is done, you’ll be prompted to reboot. You’re first reboot will most likely fail. This is normal. It’ll probably reboot on its own, but if it doesn’t, just hold down the power button. Boot with the -v (verbose) flag next time to see if there are any errors. If you still can’t boot without getting a Kernel Panic, boot with -x and that will get you in.

6. If all goes well, you’ll be back at your desktop. Not much is broken; only WiFi and Sound. Unzip the driver pack you downloaded earlier and install the kexts. Be sure to repair disk permissions when you’re done.

Note: If the included audio driver doesn’t work for you try following Richard’s instructions.

7. Reboot and then download the Sleep Fix provided by Sami (Thanks Sami!)

8. Navigate to /System/Library/Extensions/ and delete IntelCPUPowerManagement.kext

9. Install the included Kext, Repair Permissions in Disk Utility, and then reboot with the -f flag

10. Thank Sami for this find!

The list of changes in 10.5.8, from Apple itself, include:

• Upgrades Safari to version 4.0.2
• Improves the accuracy of full history search in Safari 4.
• Improves overall Bluetooth reliability with external devices, USB webcams and printers.
• Addresses an issue that could cause extended startup times.
• Improves compatibility with some external USB hard drives.
• Includes latest security fixes.

Full release notes are here and details on security fixes are here. Happy upgrading!

Note: If there’s anything else that isn’t working take a look at the drivers guide.

Update 1: It looks like sleep is broken but we’re currently working on a fix.

Update 2: If you had the trackpad preference-pane installed, it’ll be gone. You can find it in the drivers guide mentioned earlier along with instruction on how to fix it.

Recently, I became aware of a handy programs that allows you to do what Richard’s script does, but just on a much wider scale. The program in this guide allows for the synchronization of your iTunes music library with nearly any device, including Flash Drives and Mobile Phones. The software, iTuneMyWalkman, is free and open source, which just makes the software even better. To iTuneYourWalkman:

1.) Download iTuneMyWalkman and copy it over to your Applications folder

2.) Quit iTunes if it is open and launch iTuneMyWalkman

3.) Click Install Scripts under Scripts for iTunes for better integration

4.) Then click Edit Preferences and under the General Tab, navigate to the folder where you want your music stored on the device (ie. If you want to sync your Music Library with a Flash Drive then just choose the root of the Flash Drive)

5.) Now hit the Playlists tab to choose what you want to sync and hit Save (If you are an advanced user and you want to change the number of Directory Levels or the encoding used, you can find all these options under the different tabs)

6.) If you would like to just sync all of your Music to the select destination then under the Playlists tab, uncheck Sync Podcasts and Sync Audiobooks. Also, select the option From Selected Playlists: and check Music. Now hit Save.

7.) Quit iTuneMyWalkman and launch iTunes

8.) On the menu bar of iTunes, click the Scripts button (it looks like a scroll) and select iTWM – Synchronize. This will start the synchronization process with the files you selected to the folder you selected

9.) Once the Sync has completed you will see a message letting you know. Now just choose to Unmount the device and you should be good to go

If you found this guide useful then feel free to make a donation by clicking the link at the end of the Author’s Mini-Biography, or by clicking on some ads around the site. Any amount truly does help.