Applelust is looking to add writers to its staff. If you
are interested or want to be part of the Applelust community, drop us
a line with your resume or vita. We are always on the look out for good,
very smart, and reliable people to join the staff. If you think you have
what it takes, let us know.
Book Review: Mac OS X In A Nutshell (5-16-03) Dr. Neale Monks. Could Mac OS X In A Nutshell from O'Reilly really be the definitive one-volume guide for experienced Mac users? Neale Monks thinks so.
Book Review: "UNIX Power Tools 3rd edition" and "Mac OS X Hacks" (4-18-03) Dr. Neale Monks. Two new books from O'Reilly offer the Mac power-user some serious reading. But are these books only for super-geeks, or will Mac users at home or in the office find them useful too? Neale Monks finds out.
Two Useful Tools for Gene Sequence Analysis: ClustalW and NEdit (3-28-03) Dr. Neale Monks. OS X has given biologists using Macintosh computers more and better tools than ever. Neale Monks, working in the field of molecular phylogeny, looks at two of them.
Review:
Sonnet Encore/ST G4 1GHz and Tempo ATA133
Host Adapter (2-14-03) Bryan William
Jones. There are millions of older Macintosh
computers out there, and many of them
are capable of being upgraded. Upgrading
your computer system can be quick and
easy and give a cheap means of much
faster performance. Bryan examines the
Sonnet Encore/ST G4 CPU upgrade and
concludes that Sonnet makes the best
alternative for users looking for complete
compatibility.
One
Trick Ponies for OS X (1-10-03)
Dr. Neale Monks. However good a GUI,
someone always finds a way to make it
better! Neale Monks tries out a few
OS X enhancements.
OS
X and Distributed Computing (12-20-02)
Brian William Jones. What is distributed
computing, why is it important and how
far away are we from natively supported
distributed computing in OS X?
Review:
Keyspan Presentation Remote (11-22-02)
Bryan William Jones. Presentation Control
and laser pointer in one... Bryan is
in presentation heaven.
Review:
Mathematica 4.2 (10-25-02) Dr. Dean
E. Dauger. Dean Dauger of Dauger Research
and Pooch fame reviews the latest update
to the symbolic and technical mathematics
package, Mathematica 4.2
OS
X Is Easy On The Eyes (10-18-02)
Bryan William Jones. Bryan explains
some basics of computer related visual
strain and how OS X helps to ease computer
related vision dysfunction.
Playing
with UNIX in OS X, part 3 (10-14-02)
Dr. Neale Monks. Carrying on his look
at look at the Mac's take on UNIX, Neale
Monks suggests a few fun and useful
applications worth trying out.
Playing
with UNIX in OS X, part 2 (9-27-02)
Dr. Neale Monks. In the second part
of his series on using UNIX, Neale Monks
explores the world of Fink and Fink
Commander, a UNIX application installer
for Mac OS X.
Playing
with UNIX in OS X, part 1 (9-20-02)
Dr. Neale Monks. In the first of a short
series of articles for absolute beginners,
Neale Monks takes a look at using UNIX
on OS X.
Mathematica:
The Mathematical Revolution (6-21-02)
Lance M. Westerhoff and Edward N. Brothers.
Lance and Edward discuss what Mathematica
as and why it is important.
Apple
and Bioinformatics (6-21-02) Bryan
William Jones. What is all this business
about Apple and the bioscience markets?
Bryan William Jones looks into Apple’s
new market focus, explaining why Apple
is interested in bioscience and illustrating
how Apple technologies will help push
forward bioinformatics research for
less money than the competition.
iPod
Improvements for Science or Education?
(3-29-02) Bryan William Jones. iPods
are great devices for entertainment,
but how can the iPod be a productive
solution in the science, engineering
and education markets?
Review: Night Sky 3.2 (5-23-03) Dr. Neale Monks. There's an eight years gap between Night Sky 2 and Night Sky 3. Has the wait been worth it? Neale Monks finds out.
Review:
KStars 0.9 Revisited: KDE and Linux
instead of OS X? (3-21-03) Dr.
Neale Monks. Previously Neale Monks
looked at KStars, an open source
planetarium program designed for
Linux but ported to OS X. Now he
takes KStars out for a second and
a then a third spin, using KDE on
the Mac and then Yellow Dog Linux
on the iBook.
Review:
KStars 0.9 (2-21-03) Dr. Neale
Monks. They say the best things in
life
are free, and for UNIX computers,
open source software certainly goes
a long way towards proving that statement.
KStars, a planetarium program written
for UNIX machines running the K Desktop
Environment, has been ported to OS
X, and offers Mac users a sophisticated
but free planetarium program. Neale
Monks takes a closer look at KStars
and sees how it stacks against the
shareware and commercial Mac OS planetarium
programs.
Review:
Starry Night Pro 4 (1-24-03) Dr.
Neale Monks. Starry Night Pro is certainly
bigger than before, but is it better?
And is it really the "Pro" application
Mac astronomers have been waiting for?
Review:
Astroplanner (10-25-02) Dr. Neale
Monks. How does this astronomical planning
tool stack up?
Review:
Voyager III v.3 (8-16-02) Dr. Neale
Monks. Carina's Voyager is the grandfather
of Mac planetarium programs, but does
it still have what it takes to keep
up the current generation?
Review:
Scope Driver (8-2-02) Dr. Neale
Monks. An alternative to the 'point
and click' telescope control paradigm:
a powerful list-based utility for Autostar
and LX200 telescopes.
Review:
Stargazer's Delight (6-28-02) Dr.
Neale Monks. Looking for a viable shareware
alternative to the big commercial astronomy
software packages? Neale may have found
one.
Review:
TheSky (6-21-02) Dr. Neale Monks.
Neale takes a look at the easiest to
use planetarium program for the Mac.
Review:
The Digital Universe (6-14-02) Neale
Monks. Planetarium program, astronomy
encyclopaedia and space flight simulator
all rolled into one - could The Digital
Universe be the ClarisWorks of astronomy
software? Neale Monks takes a look.
XEphem
3.5: An Amateur Astronomer's Take
(4-12-04) Neale Monks. Neale take a
look at this astronomy software which
uses X Windows to run on your Mac. A
powerful aid for the amateur astronomer.
Webcam
Astrophotography for the Mac - Part
1 (4-5-02) Neale Monks. In the first
of a series of articles on astrophotography,
Neale buys a webcam and takes his first
pictures of the Moon.
Observe Different. Join the "AstroMac"
mailing list, a private and spam-free
mailing list for Mac-using pro and amateur
astronomers. Discuss astronomy software
for the Mac, get help on controlling your
scope from your Mac, get and give tips
and tricks, share your photos, talk about
using your Palm as an astromical helper
in the field. We'll show you how the Mac
is the digital hub of your universe.
Latest SciTech Mac Software from VersionTracker
Bios
Neale Monks grew up as
a hotel brat in the West End of London.
He knows how to mix a martini, serve caviare,
and when to wear brown shoes and when
to wear black. Perhaps because of his
early exposure to salmon, lobsters and
tiger shrimp (admittedly cooked), he decided
to study marine biology. Despite drinking
his inheritance away in the student union
and the best efforts of his friends, he
still managed to get a First from the
University of Aberdeen (in their 500th
graduating year), and then went on to
do a Ph.D. at the Natural History Museum
in London. There he studied long-dead
shellfish called ammonites, which are
useless for sushi but excellent for aging
rocks. Since that time he has done full-time
research, taught astronomy, biology and
palaeontology, and written a number of
books and magazine articles.
Bryan is currently enrolled
in a doctoral program in a US school of
medicine. His work involves the development
and application of new methods for exploring
metabolic phenotypes in tissues with single
cell resolution. These methods will allow
quantitative mapping of metabolic signatures
of tissues in normal and disease states,
and can be applied to screening of genetic
models, the analysis of neural circuits
and the receptors mediating those circuits.
Additionally the development of novel
pharmacologic compounds can benefit from
the application of these techniques. In
his dissertation, through the use of these
methods, Bryan attempts to answer whether
or not the neural retina is preserved
in retinal degenerations such as retinitis
pigmentosa. A disorder that causes a loss
of vision, resulting in blindness, starting
typically in the early twenties.
He has used a variety of
computing platforms including the Apple
II, Kaypro, TRS-80 and PC compatible computers
and progressed through the Macintosh,
Windows and Silicon Graphics computers,
but has always come back to the Mac. "The
platform simply allows me to get more
work done without getting in the way or
requiring me to spend too much time making
the tools work. From this comes my passion
for the Mac platform and the efforts to
make sure I have the tools with which
to explore Nature and mankind."
