Panic, Inc. just updated their system information utility, Stattoo, to version 1.2. I’ve been waiting for Tiger support for this since I upgraded my system, and I’ll definitely be using this little gem now that it plays nice again. If you haven’t used it before, Stattoo draws small “tattoos” on your desktop, showing you quick tidbits of information such as disk space, the date, iCal events, battery life, and more. While the principle is the same as Dashboard’s, Stattoo stays active on your desktop all the time and blends right in with your work, keeping you informed without getting in your way. Download Stattoo [via]

Up until recently, I wasn’t a big fan of JavaScript, primarily because I was under the impression that it had limited functionality (possibly a result of seeing it only being used for popup windows and the like). Since I’ve started working on some Dashboard widgets, I’ve found tons of resources on doing useful things with JavaScript, including one recent site, script.aculo.us, which shows a number of ways to liven up web application interfaces. Animations like sliding, folding, fading, and even drag-and-drop resorting are all possible with the right JavaScript. If you’re into creating cool web apps (like Backpack), I highly recommend checking it out. Even if you’re not a coder, script.aculo.us is still worth a look, as it’s rather impressive to see some of these things happening in a web browser. I hope this is only the beginning for interactive web applications.

Recently I got a Garmin iQue 3600 GPS/PDA. I like it a lot because it runs Palm OS, has GPS capabilities, and also doesn’t lock out off-the-shelf SD cards for map storage. To store more maps than I’ll probably ever need, I purchased a 1 GB SD card to go with it, which it happily formatted and took advantage of. I also used the SD card for a short period in my Minolta Dimage G500. I like having plenty of storage in both devices, and wished there was an easy way to swap the card back and forth. I could just let my camera erase the card, and then re-download the maps onto it when I need them, but that requires Windows and about an hour and a half of my time — probably much longer running Virtual PC, as opposed to a real PC.

I discovered that I could read the SD card in it’s map-storing state via a PCMCIA card reader, and I imagine any SD capable adapter would allow the same. The iQue formats the SD card as FAT16, and Mac OS X is able to read it. Using Disk Utility, it’s easy to create a new image of the card onto my hard drive by selecting the device and choosing New->Image From disk2 (where disk2 is the Unix device for the card). With a 1:1 duplicate of the SD card’s maps on my hard drive as a read-only disk image, the card can be reformatted for use in my digital camera. When I want to quickly load the maps back onto the card, I plug it in and restore the .dmg file back to the card. Now I can swap the card back and forth while on the road without having to wait an hour, or use Windows.

I could always just buy another 1 GB SD card, but that would be too easy, now wouldn’t it?

6/26/05 Update: If you’re looking for a multi-format PCMCIA card reader like the one I used, which is no longer available, I suggest this one made by SanDisk. While I haven’t tried it, I’d bet that it works identically to mine.

If you recently got a Mac Mini and are still looking for something useful to do with it, aside from using it as a normal desktop computer, here are 50 Mac Mini projects to keep you busy. Useful purposes include web and mail servers, firewalls, backup servers, and media players. The Mini fits into the server category very well, considering it’s lack of a built-in display, as well as it’s FireWire connectivity. If you’re looking for a technical summer project involving everyone’s favorite “headless iMac,” that’s the place to start.