Last weekend I was very disappointed with the NCAA when I opened up my laptop and hoped to watch some of the NCAA Tournament games that were not being broadcast on my television over the live internet broadcasts.

I navigated to the NCAA tournament website that has been advertised all across the internet and clicked on the link to watch a game.

A new window appeared but instead of streaming video, I received noticed that my browser wasn’t supported. It mentioned that I could try with a Mozilla Firefox browser so I quickly opened firefox, cut and pasted the URL, and hit enter. TOTAL DISAPPOINTMENT!

Even Firefox was not capable of viewing the streaming video for the March Madness games. How dare the NCAA mock me by putting all the games on the internet but not even thinking about us 7% of the market that use Apple computers.

Although at the time I didn’t search further, I didn’t give up completely. Today, I was pleased to find that a solution to the March Madness problems of Mac users.

WATCH NCAA MARCH MADNESS ON YOUR MAC

Joost, an application that delivers video over the internet, was proudly announcing that this year they’re include a “test” version of the March Madness streaming games. I quickly downloaded the beta version of their software and entered my username and password.

After click explore I instantly noticed the March Madness section of their shows. The first 4 games of the sweet sixteen match ups were listed for this weekend. Game times were listed and I plan on navigating back to test out Joost and its March Madness streaming video.

Like Safari and many of the other Apple applications, iChat supports custom plugins that allow you to customize or optimize your iChat experience.

One great plugin for iChat is Chax. Chax is made by the same developer that brought us WARP for Spaces and adds some great features to iChat.

Merge Your iChat Contact Lists

If you’re a user of multiple instant messaging accounts, Chax will automatically create a new merged contact list for you. Once this list is in view feel free to close your iChat contact lists for AIM, .MAC, and Google Talk.

Additional Features

Additional Chax features include:

1. Unified contact list shows all contacts from all accounts in one window
2. Growl notifications for new messages and users changing status
3. Automatically resize the contact list to fit the number of visible users
4. Built-in log viewer
5. Activity log that displays your contacts’ status changes
6. Auto-accept file transfers, AV chats, and screen sharing requests
7. Toggle text status visibility of users
8. Always on top option for contact list, message windows and AV chats
9. Set font of names, status messages, and group separators
10. Option to auto-accept text chats, skipping new message notification window
11. Show status changes directly in the message window
12. Additional unread message notifications in the Dock
13. Automatically go away when the screensaver activates
14. Properly use ICQ accounts without sending text formatting in messages

Chax is a free download and may be just what you need to get the most out of iChat. Installing Chax is a breeze and a great addition to iChat. What iChat plugins do you use?

New OSX 10.5 feature Spaces allows users to manage their workspace by dividing application windows any way you want.

We recently mentioned how keyboard shortcuts can help you switch easily between each of your Spaces but there is an even easier way to do this.

Warp, a free download and preference pane, allows to switch between all of their spaces using their mouse instead of the keyboard.

You can setup your Warp preference pane to switch to a new space when you move your mouse to the edge of the screen. Or preview your space before switching to it:

Warp offers the ability to display a live preview of a space when you move the mouse to the edge of the screen, allowing you to see what you have on another space before actually switching to it. Clicking the preview will then warp you to that space.

Once you’ve installed Warp on your system, open System Preferences and you’ll notice the new Warp preference option under Other.

Select it and then customize how you’d like Warp to work on your system. When you’re finished and Warp is active, move your mouse to the edge of your screen and see yourself Warp to the next Space.

If you’re already a fan of Spaces, Warp is a must have addition. If you’re still getting use to Spaces, Warp may just make it that much easier to use.

How do you use Spaces?

Apple released an update to Safari today and brought the system to version 3.1. While updates are often made to Apple software, this update to Safari was a significant one.

To help you take advantage of the updates to Safari we’ll walk you through them and how they may impact your browsing experience.

Improvements

Two improvements are listed in the details to the Safari update. While these improvements don’t add additional user options they will impact your browser experience.

1. Performance
2. Improved JavaScript performance

There were reports before this release that Apple would soon release an update to Safari that would double the browsers speed. Safari was already one of the fastest browsers so it may be difficult to notice the increase browser speed.

Web Standards

Safari’s upgrade included improvements in Web Standards compliance.

1. Adds support for CSS 3 web fonts
2. Adds support for CSS transforms and transitions
3. Adds support for HTML 5

This is great news for web developers but many of these additions won’t be seen on most websites and the majority of the market share (Internet Explorer, Firefox) still lag behind in this area. Apple will be ready when everyone catches up.

Compatibility and Stability

The release notice from Apple point to increased website compatibility and application stability. Now is your chance to to check out any websites that previously did not support Safari. Keep your fingers crossed.

Developer Support

Since Apple recently released Safari to both Windows and OSX users, they must have realized that they needed to increase the developer tools included in Safari. This should make website development and customization for Safari browsers easier. The updates include:

1. Adds option in Safari preferences to turn on the new Develop menu which contains various web development features
2. Allows access to Web Inspector
3. Allows access to Network Timeline
4. Allows editing CSS in the Web Inspector
5. Allows custom user agent string
6. Improves snippet editor

To enable the Developer Menu in Safari:

1. Open Preferences in Safari
2. Click the Advanced Tab
3. Check the box next to “Show Developer Menu in Menu Bar”

You should now see Develop on the menu bar. Some of the additional Developer options is to open the current page in another web browser, ability to disable images, and the ability to disable javascript on the current page. Check out the other options in the Developer Menu.

Other Additions

In addition to the increased speed, improved stability, and developer tools Apple added a few other features:

1. Double clicking on the Tab Bar opens new tab
2. Includes URL metadata when images are dragged or saved from browser
3. Opens Download and Activity window in current Space
4. Supports trackpad gestures for back, forward, and magnify on MacBook Air and compatible MacBook Pro computers
5. Shows Caps Lock icon in password fields

I personally enjoy the addition of the double click for a new tab (Thanks Firefox for the idea) and the Caps Lock icon in password feels… That caps lock button is always getting in the way.

Conclusion

Overall, the combined enhancements to Safari in version 3.1 make Safari even more competitive with the other browsers on the market. Additionally, Apple has seen the importance of web developers making websites that work well in multiple operating systems and on their mobile devices.

This software update has clearly positioned Safari in a competitive position amongst the leading web browsers. With additional support for plugin development, we may see Safari eat away at Internet Explorer and Firefox market share.

Many of you know that Apple recently announced their SDK for the iPhone and iPod Touch. During their announcement they also took time to announce that Kleiner Perkings Caufield & Byers will be investing $100 million of venture capital into companies that will be developing applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

FUNDING INNOVATION

$100 million dollars is a lot of money, especially since developers will be essential building applications for one mobile device. The fact that KPCB is willing to put so much capital behind the iPhone/iPod Touch is that they see an amazing Future with these Apple Mobile Devices.

With a true mobile computing device a completely new market of potential applications and technical solutions will start to be explored. Over the past few years the GPS system has become more and more popular as it was a device that provided people with information and service from anywhere.

This is something the iPhone and iPod Touch will be doing but unlike the GPS which just sends a location signal, the iPhone and iPod Touch have the ability to prompt the user for information, act on it, and send it out to servers across the world.

WHAT COULD CHANGE?

Imagine what Car shopping will be like when you have the ability to pull up the inventory, safety report, and price that other dealers in the area, State, or Country are selling the car for. With an iPhone application optimized to provide such information the customer has all the information needed to make knowledgeable purchasing decisions.

Additionally, imagine sitting at a Major League Baseball game when you get the urge for a hot dog. Instead of waiting for the inning to end to walk to the concession stand, you could use the iPhone or iPod Touch to pull up the Stadium concession’s menu, select your food, and pay for it with your credit card all while enjoying the game. Then the food could be brought to you at your seat.

A customized iPhone App could allow you to enter your Ticket ID number which would identify your seat location. Then professional sports teams could also provide fans with statistics about how often foul balls are hit to that section of the stadium, which parts of the stadium are providing the most vocal support for the home team, and provide additional stats to the fans about the game and players they’re watching.

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, recently touched on one way that the iPhone/iPod Touch can be used while viewing events at the American Airlines Center during Maverick games and other sporting events. He even sent out inquires to his IT Head to investigate ways that the platform can be used before, during, and after events and by leveraging the WiFi signal in the Arena.

CONCLUSION

The future possibilities of how the iPhone/iPod Touch can be used and applications that developers can provide are truly endless. From purchasing on the go, to being provided with interesting and new information, the iPhone/iPod Touch may have just started to change the way we experience media and entertainment. It seems certain that great things are coming for the iPhone/iPod touch and it looks like the user has everything to gain.