In attempting to write cross-platform, portable PHP code, I used PHP's DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR constant to write path strings, e.g. "..".DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR."foo", because the "proper" way to do it on Windows would be "..\foo" while on everything else (Linux, UNIX, Mac OS X) it would be "../foo".

Well, as Christian on php.net pointed out and the guys at Web Design Forums confirmed, that's completely unnecessary. As long as you use the forward slash, "/", you'll be OK. Windows doesn't mind it, and it's best for *nix operating systems.

Apple's "Scrolling TrackPads," found in the MacBook and MacBook Pro, are flawless.

Some who have used HP or Dell touchpads may find this hard to believe. Here I respond to common questions and discuss what I love about Apple's touchpads.

Quick tip: Convert your .wma files (Windows media audio) to .mp3 files
on your Mac quickly and easily with Switch, a free download from http://www.nch.com.au/switch/plus.html. It works great and is very customizable; you can output to MP3 in whatever bitrate you choose, or convert to AIFF (.aif), .au, Ogg Vorbis (.ogg), Free Lossless Audio Codec (.flac), or many others.

Something that has bothered me for a very long time is my inability to play FLAC audio files on my Mac. (FLAC stands for Free Lossless Audio Codec and does not play in iTunes.) Well, I’ve finally gotten it figured out. Just follow these simple steps.

1. Download xACT, which converts from FLAC to WAV or AIFF, and iLAS, which is an extremely high-quality MP3 encoder, better than iTunes’s built-in one. Install both of them.
2. Open your FLAC files in xACT. Convert them to either WAV or AIFF; it doesn’t matter which.
3. Import your finished WAV or AIFF files into iTunes (I usually just drag them onto Library on the left). If you want completely lossless files, you are done!
4. Most of us will want to save space (and enjoy playback with less of a system resource hit!), so create a playlist with any and all WAV and AIFF files you want to convert to MP3.
5. When you are viewing that playlist, open iLAS and convert to MP3! I use the default settings, which produce extremely high quality MP3s, almost losslessly.
6. Almost done! Now delete the WAV/AIFF files from your iTunes library and move them to the Trash. Manually edit the information on the songs, because unfortunately, WAV and AIFF do not support the ID3 tags that MP3 files have to store information about song title, artist, and album.

Also of note is that iLAS is great for ripping CDs. Instead of making a playlist, just click on the Audio CD and rip away!

Finally, I have joined Technorati, just so I can read Tantek’s blog. Technorati Profile

Previously, I've written to you in support of iTunes Plus, Apple's DRM-free music. Well, I would like to mention a very cool alternative: Amazon MP3.

You may know about iTunes Plus, which is that you can buy songs for $1.29 but at twice the bitrate and with no DRM (you can send it to friends and family, play it in Winamp or your non-iPod music player, convert to MP3, or anything you want!).

... But did you know?

1. Buying a whole album in Plus format is normally STILL ONLY $9.99!
2. If you go to the iTunes Store, click iTunes Plus, and look for “Upgrade My Library”, it will let you upgrade your previously purchased music (if it's now available as iTunes Plus) for only 30¬¢ a song (and less for most albums)!

Recently, someone asked me, “Is there a Delete button on a Mac?”

Yes and no. The primary key labeled Delete is where the Backspace button was, and works mostly the same way. Sometimes that Delete is called the Backwards Delete, and sometimes pressing it will delete the currently selected item. (Other times, Cmd – the Apple key – should be held down at the same time as you press Delete.)

Full-size Apple keyboards, but not those on laptops like the MacBook and MacBook Pro, also have a "Forward Delete" key approximately where the Delete key would be on typical Windows keyboards.

If are an Apple fan but use Windows (perhaps via Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop or – like me – at work), you may find that you often hit Alt instead of Ctrl, as much of the Windows Ctrl key functionality is present in Mac’s Cmd key functionality, located it the same place as Windows Alt key. The solution is to swap the positions of the left Alt key with the left Ctrl key. Here’s how.