Happy New Year 2007!

Posted on Dec. 31, ’06, 9:00 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | MacUser

Happy New Year everyone. It’s now 2007 on the east coast. If you’re on the left coast, or one of those timezones in between (apparently Mac fans actually do exist in that land mass in between the two oceans), then pretend you read this one, two, three, or possibly more hours from now. This is a message from the future.

2006 was our first full year and we hope we’ve managed to make you one of the addicted loyal readers we hope to amass. Was 2006 as good to you as it was to us? 2007 is full of promise and hopefully we can put this silly iPhone/iPod Phone business to rest. What do you expect to see in this year? Will Apple finally crush Microsoft? Will the 12” laptop return? Will Leopard be the last OS we’ll ever need to buy? Will I stop asking stupid questions? Only time will tell, but you need to lay your rep on the line and tell us what will happen so we can start writing it up now.

Macintendo family values

Posted on Dec. 31, ’06, 7:15 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Humor

Ah, satire, I may have to write you a letter to let you know that now that the Internet is here, your day is done (apparently taking David Pogue seriously wasn’t enough of a signal). Daniel Jalkut’s very funny Macintendo Family Values is now prefaced by a very long disclaimer. It makes me sad that it’s necessary, but I suppose it’s a fault of the text medium. Some people still take A Modest Proposal seriously.

We at Red Sweater Software were lucky enough to be among the first to learn of this unbelievable development, when the popular Nintendo character Yoshi bounced into the office and delivered the news, along with a complete copy of the previously confidential family values document. We are pleased to be able to reproduce this document publicly, in its entirety. As an indie developer, I’m not sure I agree completely with the “Product Then Platform” family value, but I can sort of see the logic.

It’s worth a chuckle, particularly if you’re all alone, hunched over your computer tonight.

Service slow downs are the new way to advertise

Posted on Dec. 31, ’06, 4:28 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Advertising

Forget viral videos on Youtube. That’s not how you create product buzz. Instead, you capitalize on service slowdowns and spin it as “a positive”.

It’s actually created more positive buzz among analysts — traffic was so great it blew up the site. If anything it could be a positive — demand was better than they were expecting.

Indeed, whether it was dissatisfied users trying to cash in their iTunes gift cards or analysts discussing unprecedented sales, it all adds up to free publicity for Apple. It also reinforces the idea that iTunes is still the destination for online music. It’s so popular that Christmas morning overloaded it. I don’t need to name the competition because the news outlets haven’t mentioned them either. This is a feel good failure on Apple’s part.

Steve Jobs continues the $1 salary tradition

Posted on Dec. 31, ’06, 4:17 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » People

In 2005, Apple paid Steve Jobs $1. In 2006, Apple paid Steve Jobs $1. Of course, it’s really still all about the stock options.

As an Apple fan, maybe I shouldn’t mention stock options. Instead, let’s all focus on how he got paid. Was it 12 easy payments of 8.3 cents? After taxes, was that 5.5 cents per payment? What about weekly at 1.3 cents? Don’t go spending that all in one place Steve.

iPod vending machines are big business

Posted on Dec. 31, ’06, 4:00 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | iPod

When I first heard about iPod vending machines, I was skeptical. I understand that the iPod shuffle is inexpensive and even makes the perfect stocking stuffer or so I hear, I got coal, I don’t know what that’s about. On the other hand, I still don’t see it as an impulse buy item. To me, it’s still one of those items you put just a little thought into before putting your hard earned dollars onto the counter. That said, they seem to be making money hand over fist.

“We’ve done about $55,000 in a month in gross sales just for the one on Concourse A,” said Leopold, executive vice-president and owner Business Traveler Services. “This is becoming the future for some high-end products in places like airports where space is at a premium.”

That’s more than a couple iPods. Here’s the thing though. You swipe a credit card through the slot and the iPod of your choice gets delivered gently to your hands. Doesn’t it seem like an obvious target for abuse? With that stolen credit card in your hand, you can quickly get at least one iPod, no questions asked. I’m just glad I don’t have to walk by one ever day or else I’d feel compelled to give the machine the obligatory shake, hoping for a free prize.

[via Infinite Loop]

Parallels Beta 3 now ready for download

Posted on Dec. 31, ’06, 9:01 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Windows

I must applaud Parallels for not resting during this holiday break. They’ve released another beta. It’s a bug fix release that doesn’t seem to add any new features.

• Coherence now handles “round” windows like Windows Media Player or Winamp correctly.
• Fullscreen and Coherence mode on secondary monitor fixed.
• Guest pixel size calculation was fixed – applications like MS Access or MS PowerPoint should handle graphs correctly.
• Guest Linux screen resolutions in 24 bit mode fixed.
• Possiblity to switch off Command+ZXCV mapping or swap Control and Command keys introduced (the feature was requested by a number of beta-testers)
• Several USB 2.0 fixes – more bulk devices to work since now. The work on web cameras and other isochronous devices is still in progress.

Unfortunately, it didn’t fix my problems and I still can’t use my Boot Camp partition/disk. I would really hate to see this problem continue into full release versions. Until Parallels is full Boot Camp speed, being able to use a single partition in both environments is a must for anyone not interested in maintaining two separate installations.

Steve Jobs’ best year ever

Posted on Dec. 31, ’06, 7:47 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » People

Leander Kahney wrote Steve Jobs’ Best Year Ever a while back, but it seems more appropriate to share it with you now that the year is just about over. After all, what are the chances of Steve announcing something as the ball drops?

I think the underlying theme for the year was the Intel switch, which I think it’s safe to say, was an overwhelming success. I personally underestimated how well it would go. I thought Rosetta would have far more limitations and performance issues, so I’m glad to see my fears were unfounded. I’ve since replaced my Power Mac with a Mac Pro and I have no regrets. Bravo Steve.

Leander breaks it down month by month, but breaking it up that way comes off a little dry, missing the overall big picture.

For some, one button is enough

Posted on Dec. 30, ’06, 9:08 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Hardware

The one-button mouse: its legacy has haunted Apple in many ways since the first two-button mouse hit the market. Apple was constantly seen as behind the times; even the introduction of the Mighty Mouse and its wireless successor did little to salve this open wound. Even though the Apple faithful knew that two-button mouse support had been in the OS since System 8 or so, critics regularly hit Apple at its “simplistic” one button mouse.

Andru at GearLive has put together the quintessential rationale for the one-button mouse:

I kid you not, ten times a day I would talk to someone who has never right clicked in their life. After they first do it, they will ASK YOU EVERY TIME if they should right click or left click. Now, though we may not be the typical computer user, Apple is always concerned with creating a user experience that is as intuitive as possible. Giving the average person a right mouse button is like giving a bald man a comb.

[…]

Apple has gone through great pains and great expense to study human-computer interaction. Because of these studies, one thing Apple insists on is that every feature of an application should be accessible through menu items. It’s great and even encouraged to create additional ways of accessing features, but at a bare minimum, you should be able to reach it from the menu.

Some argue that by this point, everybody understands the difference between right- and left-clicking—people who argue that have not, in my experience, worked in tech support. In ten or twenty years, that might be the case, but there are still some people who have a hard time getting the idea of clicking and dragging, much less two button clicking.

Inconsistency breeds contempt

Posted on Dec. 30, ’06, 8:03 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Around the time of the “15 Things Apple Should Change in OS X” piece, one user offered a counter-argument titled “The Genius of Apple’s User Interface Themes.” His rebuttal, unfortunately, struck me as not-quite-on-the-mark and I intended to write a response that was both incisive and insightful, along with a splash of flair.

Then I got distracted, apparently—probably by something shiny. This morning, I found the wind taken out of my sails by none other than my close friend and frequent collaborator Jason over at Doombot. As usual, Jason touches on most of the points that I myself was planning to make. Isn’t he smart:

Tim (of the “Genius” article) argues that the violations described in the “15 Things” article must be both intentional and brilliant. He offers an analogy: if all your remote controls looked exactly the same, wouldn’t it be hard to figure out which remote control to use? But hey, I can make up weird analogies too: if your TV came with six remote controls and they all looked different, could you tell it apart from the remote for your VCR? Or: if your TV remote had buttons in the shape of a bear, a wombat, and a cherry, which would you use to change the volume? (Hint: second analogy may be less useful.)

Jobs at Heli-speed

Posted on Dec. 29, ’06, 2:53 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Apple » Steve Jobs

Here’s a little bit of Steve trivia to brighten your day. It’s exactly nine years ago, on December 29th, 1997, that Steve Jobs received permission from the Richmond city council to build a heliport on top of the Pixar building in Richmond. His commute from Apple to Pixar took about an hour by car, but only 25 minutes by air. Since for good ol’ Stevey time equals money, a helicopter pad it would be. This was a strong hint that Mr. Jobs would be staying as the CEO of Apple Computer.

[via Apple Matters]

Who really uses Dashboard?

Posted on Dec. 29, ’06, 2:12 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

I have a question: Do people really use Mac OS X’s Dashboard? Sometimes it appears that the interface is more there for looks and bragging rights than anything else. I often don’t find myself using Dashboard at all, but rather just the normal interface of OS X to perform the same tasks. A while ago there was some talk about 10.5 Leopard doing away with Dashboard, and so now I bring the question to you. Do you use Dashboard, or would you rather sees its demise/replacement in Leopard?

Come see MacUser Live at Macworld Expo

Posted on Dec. 29, ’06, 9:12 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

Not that you need me to remind you, but Macworld is right around the corner—waiting, lurking. Will Steve Jobs announce an iPhone? A transition to chips built on the elusive “Frito Lay” platform? Will he lead the keynote crowd in song? Anything can happen.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to mention that not only will Derik, Scott, and myself be attending the show, we’ll be recording a live episode of the MacUser Podcast on stage at the Macworld Live booth (that’s S408 to those in the know). It’s open to all attendees, so mark your calendars for Thursday January 11th at 3:15PM (Pacific, natch).

Besides our appearance at the booth, us three Macateers (man, I just came up with that off the top of my head! Crazy!) will be roaming the show floors, combing the industrial-strength carpeting for any elusive trace of the show’s highlights. Feel free to stop us, say hi, give us candy, or punch us in the stomach—please, please, please let it be candy this year.

A convenient truth: Jobs and board cleared of wrongdoing

Posted on Dec. 29, ’06, 8:03 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Business

And now, the news you’ve all been waiting to hear: Apple has filed its 10-Q and 10-K forms with the Securities and Exchange Commission (as we reported earlier this month, Apple delayed filing the reports because of the options backdating irregularities). I know, I know—you’re foaming at the mouth for more details.

…the Company has recognized total additional non-cash stock-based compensation expense of $84 million after tax, including $4 million and $7 million in fiscal years 2006 and 2005, respectively. The restatement arises solely from certain stock option grants made between 1997 and 2002; the investigation found no grants after December 31, 2002 that required accounting adjustments.

With the close of 2006 upon us, can Apple put its stock woes behind itself and plow ahead to a year of exciting products? As Apple’s stock was up on trading, to $85.32, we’re going to go with “Yes.”

[via Macworld]

The year’s not all about Apple

Posted on Dec. 28, ’06, 2:43 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Apple

Looking back upon this past year it’s rather easy to get distracted by the big white giant that is Apple. We may forget that there have been many other significant Mac achievements from companies other than Apple. Thankfully, we have Macworld to help us recall other top stories of 2006. Let’s have a look:

• Parallels Desktop, VMWare, and Boot Camp
• Microsoft promises five more years of Mac development (and stopped) Windows Media Player for Mac development
• PC sales level off, while Apple’s grow
• Blu-ray and HD DVD advancements
• Adobe releases public betas Lightroom, Soundbooth, and Photoshop CS3

Be sure to check out the Macworld article to read about each of these significant events in greater depth. Which other events to you deem significant that Macworld may have missed?

iTunes Store experiences holiday woes

Posted on Dec. 28, ’06, 2:03 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

I’m pretty sure the iTunes Store was designed with work in mind. What do I mean by this? Well I think Apple took into account the fact that many potential users will be at work during the day, thus rendering themselves unable to browse the iTunes Store as use up server bandwidth. How do I reach this conclusion? Well I’ll tell you.

When people have time off from work (ie: during the holidays), they spend much more time in the iTunes Store, thus creating high amounts of traffic. I don’t know about you, but many many times throughout these past few days I received an error from the iTunes Store stating it could not be accessed because the server was busy (or something of the like).

Of course, the high traffic could certainly be due to hundreds of thousands of iTunes gift certificate recipients all trying to redeem their holiday cash for songs, but the bottom line is: iTunes seems to have done well this holiday season. Maybe Apple should look into a few new servers?

Top ten Apple Rumors

Posted on Dec. 28, ’06, 10:05 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Speculation

You know, a list of the top ten rumors from Apple’s history kind of reads like one of those compilation albums you’ll see advertised on TV: “You’ll get such favorites as ‘The iPhone Medley’ and ‘I wish upon an Apple PDA’…” CNet’s Crave has run down the list of old chestnuts, from “porting the Mac OS to generic PC hardware” to “a true video iPod.”

I have to wonder if this is really a comprehensive list of the last 30 years, since most of them date from the ’90s at the earliest. Then again, I don’t think I was cogent enough during the eighties to be aware of Apple rumors. Unless they involved He-Man or Transformers.

Of the list, only one of the rumors has panned out: the transition of the Mac OS to the Intel platform (okay, we’ll give them half credit on the “Apple purchasing BeOS” rumor by substituting Be for NeXT). Some may still have their day in the sun (the true video iPod), while others are probably only a matter of wishful thinking (a Nintendo-Apple partnership, sigh), and, of course, the iPhone, which I refuse to believe in until I’m making a call on it while not surrounded by a gaggle of supermodels (that’s how I’ll know I’m awake). But here, on the eve of Macworld Expo, the rumor mills are churning away. I myself plan to start a good four or five rumors per month in 2007. Call it my New Year’s resolution.

[via Slashdot]

OS X’s Finder perhaps not a keeper

Posted on Dec. 28, ’06, 9:31 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

I’m second to none in admitting that OS X’s Finder needs a bit of an overhaul. But I haven’t quite convinced myself to replace the Finder with something else—specifically, in this case, Path Finder. Productivity guru extraordinaire (and my personal hero) Merlin Mann is a huge proponent of Cocoatech’s app, but I guess I just haven’t figured out how to integrate it into my workflow, which relies more on things like Exposé.

Derik commented in one of our recent podcasts that he doesn’t use the Finder that much anymore, and after thinking about it for a while, I realized that I don’t either. Sure, I move files around in it from time to time, but I don’t do any heavy lifting there. This had me wondering: are we exceptions to the rule? Or is the Finder, as a metaphor, kind of dying out? What say you, readers? Finder, Finder replacement, or Finder foregoing?

Dvorak’s new keyboard symphony

Posted on Dec. 28, ’06, 8:44 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Geekery

If you have some time on your hands, and access to a friend or loved one’s MacBook, then it’s time to start planning that April Fool’s Day prank that would make Woz proud. Now, admittedly, this process was originally intended to help, not hurt people, but I think we all know in what direction it’s going.

Flickr user sjwalsh384 decided that he’d rather use the Dvorak keyboard layout (don’t worry—no relationship to Mac troll John of the same name). While in OS X, that’s as easy as popping open the “International” preference pane, clicking over to the Input Menu section and checking off “Dvorak,” it doesn’t fix the fact that your physical keyboard is still laid out in QWERTY format. But I suppose there’s nothing to be done about that short of repainting the keys, or popping each one off and putting it in the correct place. And come on, who’s going to spend their…time…doing…tha—okay, now that’s dedication.

Wow, think of the possibilities. My dream scenario is spelling out messages on a friend’s keyboard, though I’m unfortunately restricted to sentences that contain only one instance of each letter. Maybe I’ll hold myself back to a couple of words. “WATCH OUT!” for example.

The font of all knowledge

Posted on Dec. 28, ’06, 8:11 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Unless terms like “serif” and “kerning” tend to get your salivary glands working overtime, you probably have little need for a font manager beyond OS X’s included Font Book (right). But for those who do get all hot and bothered by fontography and need a way to separate their Garamond Pro from their Mona Lisa Solid ITC TT, there are a number of options. Ars Technica’s Dave Girard has delved—in frightening depth—into the world of font managers.

The contestants? Insider FontAgent Pro 3.3.0, Linotype FontExplorer 1.1, and Extensis Suitcase Fusion 12.1.3. Three enter, but only one will leave. Alright, all of them will probably leave. Though FontAgent Pro comes out with an 8, narrowly beating Suitcase and FontExplorer, which both ended up with 7’s, all three offerings have different strengths and weaknesses to present your average fontophile. If you’re in the market for a font manager, you’ll want to check out the full review, or at least the comparison chart at the bottom of the final page.

For me, though, fonts have been useless since Apple stopped including San Francisco in the MacOS. How am I supposed to make ransom notes now?

Public shaming: How NOT to upgrade your MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec. 28, ’06, 5:26 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Humor

We all get that itch to improve our Macs, as spectacular as they may already be. For example, I’ve got my Mac Pro crammed full of SATA drives including an 80GB Raptor drive (yes, they do exist) that makes it noticeably louder, despite the fact that I love how quiet the Mac Pro is. sam-i-am on MacRumors forums takes the cake though.

So, to recap: Upgraded hard drive from 80 to 160 gigs. Downgraded latch to non-opening, top case to non-fitting, and screen to permanent smudge. I also realize that I probably hosed my warranty. I sprung for the 3 year and am in my first year. I assume I can’t get a refund on the last two years so I’m pretty much screwed. A refund would be nice because it would at least pay for a new top case (~$250).

Moral of the story: don’t be a dumbass.

Seriously, with a summary like that, how can you not read his tale of dumbassery? If you’re shaking your head at the end as much as I was, you’ll need a neck brace.

[via Digg]

Apple’s stock-option documents under review by Feds

Posted on Dec. 27, ’06, 7:58 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Business

That stock option post-dating scandal hasn’t fully disappeared into the background. In fact, documents involved are undergoing further scrutiny.

U.S. federal investigators are “looking closely” at stock-option documents that former Apple officials allegedly falsified to boost their own profits, The Recorder legal newspaper reported late Tuesday in its online edition. Revelations regarding past stock-options practices are expected in Apple’s delayed annual report due out Friday.

Further, word is that Big Daddy Jobs has hired a lawyer to help protect himself though he appears to be clear of any wrong doing. According to the original source of the investigation story, the government’s lawyers will be focusing on the falsified documents as the proof that Apple’s executives knew they were doing something wrong.

We’re still expecting the company’s delayed financial report this Friday, which should hopefully be enough to keep them listed in the NASDAQ.

“Who’s served by the delisting of Apple?” asked Jahan Raissi, a partner at Shartsis Friese who represents companies in SEC matters. “If it was Joe’s Shlock and Poultry Farm, then sure, get them out of there. But not Apple.”

Hopefully, the events of years past will be made more clear soon, and not behind closed doors.

Designed in CA

Posted on Dec. 27, ’06, 1:51 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Internet

I’ve recently stumbled upon a little site cleverly called Designed in California. This site contains the model history of every (relatively recent) model of Apple hardware ever made. The history includes the date of release along with the basic spec information such as processor speed and iSights. If you ever need to know the most recent update to hardware, then just check out the site. It may help you predict when the next revision will appear.

Xslimmer saves space, speeds up apps

Posted on Dec. 27, ’06, 11:58 AM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

Nick Santilli over at The Apple Blog has been testing a little app called Xslimmer. This application will slim down Universal applications, pulling out the PowerPC code on an Intel machine and vice versa. Now, the space-saving benefits are somewhat insignificant, as what’s a few hundred megs in light of a 100 GB hard drive? But apparently Xslimmer has other benefits as well: it will actually speed up your applications.

Nick observed that after slimming down Firefox it launched and loaded several browser tabs much quicker than before. Similarly, Photoshop CS3 (a Universal application with PowerPC code) launched in roughly 5 seconds as compared to the 6-8 second launch time before its code-liposuction. To me, this sounds wonderful: I can speed up my apps (especially the big ones like CS3) and save a little hard disk space. Now the only question that lies before me is if its worth the $10 dent Xslimmer will put in my wallet?

Cocoa for all (even those other guys)

Posted on Dec. 27, ’06, 7:32 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Geekery

Cocotron is an open-source Cocoa clone for Windows. Basically, it allows developers to deploy their Cocoa apps with less effort than a total rewrite. The Cocotron developer tools include a plugin for compiling to a variety of target platforms including Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, and Solaris. You read that right, you can develop Windows apps with Xcode.

In related news, GNUstep has a new maintainer. Basically, he oversees the continued life of the software project. GNUstep has a somewhat similar aim as Cocotron in that it implements OpenStep as Cocoa does as well. It helps provide a set of APIs that can be used on multiple platforms.

This might be a higher performance solution for things that Java is typically used for.

Change nearly any toolbar with command-click

Posted on Dec. 27, ’06, 6:13 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Tips

This one is pretty new to me. I like customizing the toolbars in my Cocoa applications. On my Powerbook 12”, I really like small icons (no text) while I like regular sized icons on my Mac Pro. The thing is, you can’t always right-click or use a customize toolbar command to set your preferences.

Hold down command and click the little pill looking button at the right end of the title bar. With each click, you get to see a new combination of options (whether it’s icon, text, icon+text, small, or big, it’s all there). This is particularly useful for those preference windows. Amaze your friends with your toolbar manipulation skill.

Virtualization beta woes

Posted on Dec. 26, ’06, 10:41 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Windows

Now that both Parallels and VMware are competing in the Mac market with their virtualization products, we can do some honest comparisons. Up until now, people have been comparing Parallels to Virtual PC (VPC). They may have the same goal in some respects, that is to run Windows inside a Mac/Mac OS X. Really though, they’re not the same class of software as VPC completely emulates a CPU. Parallels basically takes the copy of Windows/other x86 OS and gives it essentially direct access to the CPU. No emulation.

That’s why I cringe when people exclaim that “Parallels is so much faster than VPC!” or ask “Can I run Parallels on my PPC Mac?” It’s missing the point of Parallels, which is basically just giving an OS direct access to the hardware while still inside another OS. On the other hand, VMware is a direct, real competitor to Parallels. They aim to do the same thing using the same techniques and technology.

That said, both are fairly new to the Mac market and it shows. Allow me to run down my problems.

Computer purchasing trends: 2007 looks good

Posted on Dec. 26, ’06, 7:00 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Business

We all know about the number wars that rage between the major computer manufactures—mostly Dell, HP, and Apple. Percent of market share, as well as likely brand to purchase are major figures in the point-war between these three companies, and the numbers are looking good for Apple.

According to an Investor’s Business Daily (IBD) report, which uses a 0-100 scoring system to measure computer buying intent, consumers are 17% more likely to purchase a computer when comparing current December poll results to past November’s. 27% of Americans are planning to buy a new home computer in the next six months, and 53% of those are looking to buy a notebook. This is good news for Apple, which has reached a three-year peak in IBD’s Home Computer Purchase Outlook index.

Dell currently sits at 43%, HP at 13%, and Apple right on their tail at 12% of consumers likely to purchase a computer from each company. When examining notebook computers only, those numbers jump to 47%, 15%, and 15%, respectively. With Macworld just around the corner, Leopard coming soon, and Vista shipping in just under a month, sales certainly ought to be interesting. Some analysts are even projecting a staggering 9 million Macs will be sold in 2007. It looks like this is going to be a good year for Apple.

[via Applelinks]

Latest Aperture update boosts performance

Posted on Dec. 26, ’06, 5:00 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

Over the past few days I’ve spent much time taking photos of holiday family events. I’ve processed these hundreds of images with my MacBook Pro and Aperture. In the past I found Aperture unbearably slow, bringing frustration and anger in place of what should have been speed and ease of use. However, with the 1.5 update, and most recent 1.5.2 patch, it seems that Apple has greatly improved the speed of Aperture.

Imports are speedy, using the loupe provides almost instant magnification, switching between projects or albums is very responsive, and application launch time seems improved. Image adjustments and previews are not nearly as fast as they could/should be, but even they have come a long way as well.

If you’ve been thinking about Aperture as a post-production solution, or have a camera which shoots RAW images (pretty much any DSLR or high-end point and shoot), then I would strongly recommend giving Aperture a try. It’s come a long way.

Ihnatko: Windows Vista… doesn’t suck

Posted on Dec. 26, ’06, 10:31 AM PT by Andy Ihnatko

Category | Windows

With an eye on the calendar and the knowledge that in just a few days, otherwise peaceful men and women were going to be lacing up their golf shoes and preparing to step on the knees and necks of anybody who stands between them and the purchase of the new Tickle Me Elmo, I sat down with every intention of writing a nice, holiday-themed column for you folks.

I swear to God. A column filled with cozy yuletide carols and the scent of cinnamon and apples and the sights of Victorian-era people - not the scabby, greasy, smoky actual Victorians, mind you, but the way-better American version of Victorian England. The overall effect that I wanted to evoke could only be exceeded by ranks of gingerbread men organized into ruthlessly-efficient militas, fanning out through the city from street to street and house to house, peppering the baffled and terrified citizenry with chestnuts and holly leaves and mistletoe until they all beg for the sweet, sweet escape that only death can provide.

But how could my head and my heart have filled with such cheery things under these circumstances? Instead of visions of sugar plums, I’ve had thoughts of miserable stinking rat-bastards dancing through my head all month.

Folks, last month Microsoft has sent me the final (for now) release candidate of Windows Vista, due to be released to general users in January. And they couldn’t have deposited a more offensive thing into my stocking:

It doesn’t suck.

How could Microsoft have betrayed me like this?

“Get a Mac” ads claimed best of ‘06

Posted on Dec. 26, ’06, 9:13 AM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Apple » Advertising

As 2006 is beginning to wind down, it’s a great time to have a look at the last 12 months we call a year. And what better way to do that then look at some of the best advertisements of 2006? Well that’s exactly what The Wall Street Journal has done with their list of the Best (and Worst) Ads of ‘06 (warning: article requires subscription). Not surprisingly, Apple’s “Get A Mac” are some of the best of 2006:

The Mac-man — played by actor Justin Long, star of the film ‘Accepted,’ is clever, fun and handy — he can communicate with all sorts of different people, and knows how to come up with pictures and music. The PC, played by another actor known to the youth crowd, “Daily Show” commentator John Hodgman, is decidedly less hip, and is always amazed, humbled or befuddled by Mac’s never-ending range of abilities.

Other companies with top ads were CareerBuilder.com, KFC, Philips Norelco, and Sprint-Nextel. Some of the worst were Walmart, Head On, and Outback Steakhouse.

[via MacNN]

Happy holidays from MacUser!

Posted on Dec. 25, ’06, 7:00 AM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | MacUser

Well, if you’ve noticed, things have been a bit slow here at MacUser the past couple days. Many of our dedicated bloggers are enjoying time with their families or are off somewhere exotic on vacation. Hopefully all of you are doing the same, but just in case you decided to stop by MacUser.com (it’s tough to avoid, we know) we wanted to wish you a very happy holiday season! Hopefully all your Mac and iPod dreams came true! (If you’d like to post a list of your loot in the comments, feel free!) Without further ado, Happy Holidays, and we’ll see you back here on Tuesday!

Wait, ZFS actually means something?

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 1:56 PM PT by Aaron Freedman

Category | Geekery

We’ve posted a few times here on MacUser about ZFS, but now it’s really getting into the spotlight in the Mac world, as the latest version of Leopard supports it. But wait, what exactly is ZFS? Well, it stands for…uh…Zettabyte File System? Actually, now it’s just a pseudo-acronym, but at core ZFS is a 128-bit file system — which means absolutely nothing to most Mac users.

But, apparently, ZFS does mean something for your average Mac user. This article explains some of the clear advantages of ZFS for laptop and desktop users. Mainly, as mentioned before, ZFS is built from the ground-up for working well with drive snapshots, which is exactly what Time Machine does. But ZFS has other advantages too, such as the ability to be read and written to in a compressed state. And, ZFS works well for Mac Pro and server users, with features like automatically growing when new storage is attached, and an easy command line interface. So hey, maybe this crazy acronym does mean something.

[via digg]

Instant clutter solution: Camouflage 1.8

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 11:34 AM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

There have been a couple of times in the past when I’ve been giving presentations, showing movies, or giving demonstrations of a projector or large TV. Often times I would make a special wallpaper in Photoshop with a title and icon specific to the event. It looked great, except for the fact that all my shortcuts and files on the desktop cluttered my beautiful title. It’s times like those I would have killed for Camouflage 1.8.

This nifty (and free) little app clears off your desktop of icons, leaving only your desktop background exposed and perfectly clean. Not even your hard drive will show up. Check out the Brik Software page to learn more of the many little features of Camouflage.

[via Applelinks]

VMware’s Fusion goes into public beta

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 10:46 AM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

At the beginning of November Aaron covered VMware’s Fusion, a virtualization program similar to Parallels Desktop. By the very nature of the term virtualization it obviously allows you to run Windows, Linux, or other x86 operating systems with Mac OSX. A few key features from VMware’s website:

• Run 32- and 64-bit operating systems with x86 applications next to your OSX apps.
• Assign multiple CPUs to your virtual machine to allocate performance
• Access all USB 2.0 devices at full speed
• Drag and drop files/folders between OS X and your virtual machine

Perhaps one of the best things about Fusion, however, is that the public beta (build 36932) was released to the public yesterday. That means that you’re only a free download away from running Windows applications within OS X. Now if only Windows came in a free public beta…

Wheel…of…icons!

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 9:08 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Aaron mentioned Photoshop’s new icon in his first glance, as well as Adobe Bridge’s icon’s resemblance to a periodic table element. Now, Adobe’s John Nack has released the icons for the rest of Adobe’s Creative Suite 3, all of which are patterned on the same idea.

Opinion over the new design appears to be split. Some consider them ugly icons that will stick out like a sore thumb; others (myself included) applaud their clean lines and simplicity. However, it’s easy to agree about one thing: taking the icons out of context makes it hard to understand which is for what. Fortunately, there’s an annotated version of the wheel on Flickr, which has identified most if not all of the applications.

To me, they’re more linked with the application than the current white box with feather, butterfly, etc. But at the same time, I wish they were a little more consistent: some of the icons still use pictures (the Acrobat apps) instead of text. But how do you sum up “Photoshop” in a picture? There’s not necessarily an easily recognizable, iconic image the way there is for Mail, Safari, iTunes, etc. What do you think of the new icon, folks? Love it? Hate it? Don’t really care at all?

[via Daring Fireball]

The IndieHIG looks to replace Apple’s HIG

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 8:14 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Geekery

Apple’s HIG (aka Human Interface Guidelines) is what tells developers how to make their software look and feel. It’s the guiding principle that should be kept in mind. It’s not the law, as you can break it as Apple has been doing on a regular basis in recent history.

However, according to one Brandon Walkin, it’s dead and needs replacing. While it may be neglected or need some major revision, it was last updated in October and is far from dead. He wants to address this with a Wiki named the IndieHIG. The project aims to supply a new set of guidelines, MIT licensed images for use, and MIT licensed code. I really like the latter two, but couldn’t the guidelines simply supplement Apple’s? Perhaps it could serve as more of a discussion center that allows developers to hash out the pros and cons of particular decisions.

I hate to say it, but design by committee results in interfaces like those used in Linux. I’m not trying to hate on Linux, but it’s interface by attrition. Interface is one of those situations that are best served by having a pseudo dictatorship. A more democratic approach lends itself to overly complicated interfaces that try to be everything to everyone.

[via Digg]

Dashcode beta available to ADC members

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 8:01 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » News

As we discussed on the most recent podcast Apple ventured into the beta arena recently with Aperture; now it’s released a beta version of the forthcoming Dashcode developer environment for Dashboard widgets. It’s available to Apple Developer Connection members (including those with free accounts). Here’s what it says:

This is a developer beta release of Dashcode, a new application for creating powerful Dashboard widgets coming in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). This beta release has been scaled back to be compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) in order to get feedback from a broad range of users. Dashcode will only be released officially as part of Mac OS X 10.5. This beta release will cease to function on July 15, 2007.

[via Uneasy Silence]

The best seat in Cupertino

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 7:39 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Humor

Valleywag has broken what will clearly be the story of 2006: Steve Jobs Secret Stool. It’s what makes him so successful as we can clearly rule out the turtleneck of yesteryear. Their source:

With annual Mac Nuremberg rally just around the corner I thought I’d drop a line on an interesting tid-bid I just heard about His Steveness. We all know about his size 14 feet and shifting allegiances to bottled water…….

We can now also confirm that The Dear Mac Leader has a special stool. It’s three-legged, designer (natch) and is his special friend on long business trips in the company jet: he requires the stool be present at all worldwide company events that he attends as well as outbound speaking engagements that are designated “stool-appropriate”. Let’s hear it for the hardest working stool in Silicon Valley!

I hadn’t thought about it until now, but this got me thinking. Maybe that stool that always rests in front of his demo machine of choice really is what compels me to watch each keynote over and over again. It looks so comfortable. Allow me to share with you in a moment of private humility that I totally misread Valleywag’s piece the first time through. Use Mac OS X’s built-in dictionary to figure out how I misinterpreted the object in question. I was tired when I read it. Forgive me.

Hess Memorial Macworld Expo SF 2007 Events List released

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 6:35 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Events

I’ll be attending Macworld Expo for the first time next month, so I’m trying to do all my research to be prepared to participate as best I can. I’ll readily admit that even though it’s in its twelfth year, this is the first I’ve heard of the Hess Memorial Macworld Expo SF 2007 Events List (compiled by Ilene Hoffman and dedicated to Robert Hess, associate editor at MacWEEK).

It’s a big list of what’s going at and around the Expo, when, where, and even tells you if you can attend. I’m definitely going to keep my eye on it and print out a fresh copy at the beginning of every day. Now is my big moment to call upon all you experienced, savvy, smart, and let’s not forget handsome (or beautiful) readers to tell me what events are a must (besides the obvious keynote)?

[via Macworld]

Safari can stroke

Posted on Dec. 22, ’06, 5:27 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Internet

Web guru Dave Hyatt has announced a new addition to Safari, text-stroke. But what is that? Well, the term that seemed to resonate with me most was outline. Basically, you can define a color to surround the edges of text. With a transparent fill, it’s hollow letters. An easier way to understand, look to the right. Not the black surrounding the purple.

This isn’t part of a set standard, so the CSS attribute for it begins with a dash (indicating vendor specific). Now, clearly, it’s nice to have extra stuff to make Safari even better. However, the vendor specific part makes me a bit queasy. I’d rather it was pushed into a standard.

What’s the motivation for allocating development resources to a non-standard attribute? Well, it’s probably to support something intrinsic to a new Apple product. We an expect this to show up somewhere in Leopard I’m guessing. We won’t know until it’s released, or some bad little boy releases screenshots from a pre-release version.

No snow outside? Try it inside.

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 2:43 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

Upon reading Dan’s post on Tuesday about Snowfall, A Quartz-based screensaver full of snowflakes, I downloaded it immediately. We don’t have much any snow here in Massachusetts, and home (California) hardly sees a single flake all year long. I love Snowfall, but thought you can never have too much snow (as long as it’s not on your driveway) and thus discovered seven other Mac Snow applications.

My favorite is Snow 1.1, which causes snow to fall across your entire Desktop. The experience is complete with a polar bear, santa and reindeer, and even snow piling up on top of your windows and at the bottom of your screen. I love sneaking these little applications onto the computers of my friends, only for them to return to their computer to find that it’s snowing!

The Griffin Elevator replaces the iCurve

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 2:00 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Hardware » Accessories

One of my all-time favorite accessories for my laptop is the iCurve (I wrote up a little piece on how I use my iCurve a couple months ago). Griffin today updated the iCurve, renaming it the Elevator. It is now brushed aluminum to complement your MacBook Pro and/or Apple Cinema Display. Small news? Sure, but the Elevator would make a great little last-minute holiday gift for any laptop user. (It probably wouldn’t make it here by the 25th, but you can always use my favorite gift-giving method, the wrap-up-a-picture-and-tell-them-its-coming.)

Apple has 90% of paid video downloads

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 1:49 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Video

Despite all the competition from various video download services (which seem to be popping up faster than a field of daisies) Apple still manages to hold its own. According to a recent research study, Apple currently holds about about 90% of all video downloads. 62% of that is TV content, 24% music videos, and 6% mainstream movies.

Sounds strong right? Now realize that for about the 1.2 million households that purchased a video from an online store, about five times as many households downloaded a video illegally—and most of that was porn. Hmm, maybe Apple should reconsider its target market?

Parallels Beta2 out with updates to new features

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 10:57 AM PT by Aaron Freedman

Category | Software

The latest beta of Parallels Desktop brought forth tons of new features, including Boot Camp support and a Coherence mode that runs your Windows apps alongside your OS X ones. But now, an update to that new version, Beta2, has emerged. Beta2 includes several updates to Parallels, including USB 2.0 support at native speeds, easier Boot Camp set-up (now fully supported on NTFS and FAT32-formatted Boot Camp drives), and the ability to put Windows apps n your Mac dock via Coherence (which is now supported on Windows XP, 2003, 2000, and Vista). The new beta is available, along with a full list of features, at the Parallels site. While this new beta brings some great new features to Parallels, if it could just get accelerated-graphics support, I’d never touch a PC again.

Apple Story of the Year, 2006 edition

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 10:01 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple

As the year draws to a close, it’s human nature to look back over the past twelve months and consider what 2006 has meant to us. For example, there was January where…er…oh, January. Alright, so I can’t actually remember what happened this year. It’s kind of a blur of blogging and, um, scotch.

That’s where you guys come in. On the heel of Pat’s tremendously successful best app and worst app posts, I’d like to throw open the gates for the Apple Story of the Year. What was the biggest development of the year in the Apple world? Remember, there’s no wrong answer—unless you mention something having to do with this summer’s alleged AirPort hack. That answer is oh-so-wrong. It has embarked from Wrongsville, USA on a plane designed by the Wrong Brothers.

Ahem. Anyway, I’ll get the snowball rolling with my suggestion for the Apple Story of the year: Boot Camp. I know everybody loves Parallels—it’s like the Raymond of the software world—but to me, Apple facilitating the installation of Windows on its hardware was the bigger story. But hey, your answer is just as good as mine—oh, let’s face it: your completely hypothetical answer is far better than mine. Fire away.

Printing firm gives employees iPod shuffles with best case ever

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 9:32 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iPod

What’s better than getting an iPod shuffle from your work for Christmas? If you guessed “getting an iPod shuffle in an origami box made from two Ben Franklins” then…crap…you must be fricking psychic—listen, you and me are going to take this show on the road; we’re going to make some serious money here.

BIG Images, a large-format printing and technology company, decided to reward their employees this holiday season by wrapping their shuffles in a pair of hundred dollar bills. Their goal was to outdo Steve Jobs, who has supposedly ordered iPod shuffles for all Apple employees. They posted images of the origami box along with complete instructions on their website (I’m assured that $100 bills are not necessary to make the box).

In related news, for my holiday bonus I got a rock.

[via Digg]

Any SMTP port in an email-blocking storm

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 8:40 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Tips

I have travelled with my Mac quite a bit over the years, including dragging it all the way to Ireland and the UK for a month-long backpacking sojourn (by the way, don’t ever do that—it’s way too heavy and not nearly useful enough). Various problems arise when you’re trying to use your Mac out of its element, such as occasionally running into situations where you can’t send mail via a Mail client.

Outgoing mail is sent via an SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server, which usually operates via port 25. It’s quite easy to login to an SMTP server and spoof (use a fake) email address, though, so many hotspots and ISPs block that port to prevent spam and other malicious emails, meaning that you won’t be able to send mail via Mail.app, Thunderbird, or other clients (web-based email is not affected).

The solution? You can also often send mail via an alternate port, commonly 587. .Mac, for example, uses this port. In Mail.app, you can change the port by going to Preferences -> Accounts -> Account Information and then click on the “Server Settings” button. Often times, the SMTP server on port 587 requires authentication, so you may have to enter your username and password.

Other services sometimes uses different ports (GMail apparently uses 465), so it’s best to check with your mail provider.

[via Hawk Wings]

Great software taste, less controversially filling!

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 8:02 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » People

‘Twas the day before the night before the night before the night before Christmas and all through the tubes…what rhymes with tubes? Rubes? n00bs? Oh, forget it. Anyway, here’s an update on holiday Mac happenings.

If you haven’t checked out MacSanta since Derik’s initial post, you may be interested to know that it’s up to 98 participating companies as of this writing. I’ve got my fingers crossed that they’ll break the 100 mark today. Remember, it’s 20% off everything on the list with the coupon code MACSANTA. We’ve decided to join the fun by giving you 20% off our blog content. Let’s see, 20% of nothing…carry the five…

Also, the Cocoa Holiday Duel at Ten Paces is officially under way with a handful of apps from the likes of Daniel Jalkut, Gus Mueller, and Austin Sarner. I downloaded a bunch of them this morning, and they’re pretty amusing, but—as to be expected—a bit buggy. I really like John Casasanta’s SantaSnaps, but it kept saving corrupt image files, so I had to take that creepy screenshot above. The duel runs until midnight MST of Tuesday, December 26th; you can support your favorite app by making a donation to that developer’s charity.

Soundbooth Beta 2 released

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 7:34 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

Oh sure, it used to be a big deal when Soundbooth was first released. It was hot, new, and Intel only. It caused quite a stir. Life was good for the new software. Then big bad Photoshop CS3, the beta, came to town.

Suddenly Soundbooth was neglected and feeling lonely. Luckily, Adobe has taken pity and released the second beta version. Look at it this way: you don’t need a valid serial number to download it.

Origins of the command key

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 6:57 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple

Today’s popular entry from Andy Hertzfeld’s excellent Folklore is about the origin of what is now know as either the “apple” or “command” key.

One day, late in the afternoon, Steve Jobs burst into the software fishbowl area in Bandley III, upset about something. This was not unusual. I think he had just seen MacDraw for the first time, which had longer menus than our other applications.

“There are too many Apples on the screen! It’s ridiculous! We’re taking the Apple logo in vain! We’ve got to stop doing that!”

Of course, the chosen solution was to find a new symbol. The bitmap artist Susan Kare flipped through some symbol books until she happened upon the Swedish symbol for campground. The cloverleaf we now know as the command symbol was born.

Help. The Swedes put their hands all over my Mac.

[via Digg]

[Edit: Jason Snell spotted the symbol in Estonia last year; his picture now appears up top.]

Robbing an Apple Store is dangerous

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 6:03 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Stores

A man was caught in Weymouth, Massachusetts (3 out of 7 MacUser bloggers are currently choosing the state for residence) after robbing an Apple Store. The perp used a typical smash and grab technique, which ultimately became his biggest mistake. He smashed the storefront, grabbed a bunch of iPods and ran away.

Because he broke the glass, he sustained several serious cuts.

Just minutes before at about 1:30 a.m., Dillon allegedly used a monkey wrench to smash the glass in the front door of the Apple Store. The trail of blood led to the iPod display where police think Dillon used his arm to swipe the iPods off the counter and into the pink laundry tub that he was carrying. When he left the store he cut himself again on the broken glass as he tried to get the tub out the door.

“Police saw the trail of blood to the iPod case and saw that is was heavier as he exited,” Hingham Lt. Michael Peraino said.

Tis the season to steal the hot gifts, but clearly this wasn’t the most brilliantly executed job.

[via ifoAppleStore]

Macs declared not “appropriate technology” for schools

Posted on Dec. 21, ’06, 5:24 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Huh?

I remember when Apple computers were actually considered a positive thing to include in a school curriculum. You know, before schools thought having an IT staff was a good idea. Since then, it seems like schools have been making decisions based upon hardware purchase price alone. District 300 in Carpentersville, IL has hired a director of technology that’s decided Macs should be eliminated.

The article is full of stuff for me to pick at, so follow me into the extended section where I lay into one Mr. Eric Willard. He pulls out all the stops when it comes to stereotypical justification for eliminating diversity from their computer resources.

12” PowerBook more than 13” MacBook?

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 2:42 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Hardware

Here’s an interesting little piece of Apple-store-trivia for you: the refurbished 12” PowerBook G4 is more expensive than any refurbished MacBook. Yes, that even includes the famously-taxed black MacBook. In one case, the 12” PowerBook even challenges the cost of the MacBook Pro (which is only $100 more than the PowerBook).

The 12” PowerBook will run you $1,199 in the refurbished store, where as most expensive MacBook (an upgraded white model) runs $1,049. The cheapest MacBook is $799 while a 15” MacBook Pro is $1,299.

What could possibly be inflating the price of this old little 12” PowerPC wonder? My theory: everyone really loves the 12” form-factor, and also, as one of the last shipping iterations of PowerPC processors, it still has some demand. Could this price difference (which often reflects demand) be justification for Apple making a 12” MacBook Pro?

Glory of Mail.app’s junk filtering

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 2:03 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

I’ve been getting massive amounts of spam within the last couple of months. It seems as though the spam industry has hit a record high. On average, I receive about 30 spam messages a day—on a good day less, on a bad day more. But thanks to Mail.app’s built in junk mail filtering, I only have to deal with a couple junk messages per day.

The Apple Mail junk filtering boils down to some very complex math, including vector representation, singular value decomposition, and a training feature which improves accuracy. I don’t really understand that stuff, but if you do then this Mac DevCenter article may be of interest to you. All I know is that Mail’s junk filter is about 90% accurate for me, which, in the context of 30+ messages a day, makes me very happy.

The Bob of Jobs?

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 10:26 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Software

Yesterday, I asked you guys and gals for your thoughts on what you consider to be the best Mac app of all time. Your response was tremendous, forcing an incredulous grin on my face not unlike George Bailey’s at the end of It’s a Wonderful Life (you heard it here first! A blogger who likes comments!). Your response was so tremendous in fact, that I’m afraid you’ve left me no option but to see what happens when I ask you the exact opposite.

So now, in the spirit of better things to come, and taking the time to note specific reasons, let’s hear about the apps that you think could’ve spent a bit more time in beta, say a couple weeks, months or… forever. I trust you’ll employ the same eye for insight you did yesterday, and I look forward to your responses. I’m also curious to see if any of the responses of today overlap with those of yesterday. One man’s XP is another’s OS X, or something.

So here we go for round 2: the shall we say, atypical experience. Heck, I’ll drop the pleasantries. What would you call the worst app in the history of OS X?

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 10:13 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Geekery

Like all kids of my era, I whiled away hours trying to get a small wagon of people from Independence, Missouri to the Oregon Territory. I forded rivers, shot rabbits, and desperately tried to prevent little Suzy from succumbing to dysentery (usually unsuccessfully). Oregon was, to me, a mythical land, not unlike Narnia or Canada, where all things were plentiful and good. Only instead of reaching it through a magical wardrobe, I used an Apple ][.

There’s something almost obscene about the fact that you can now emulate an Apple ][e in a Dashboard widget. One of the most influential computers ever has been relegated to a spot between a sticky note and a countdown timer for the Dr. Who Christmas Special. Then again, perhaps that’s really the safest place for little Suzy.

In order to run Apple][Go, you’ll need a ROM, which you may only legally download if you own an actual Apple][; more information is available on this page. After that, you’ll also need to grab some software. Then it’s off to Oregon, where the snow tastes like confectionary sugar and the air smells of happiness (and it’s illegal for you to pump your own gas).

Pulp your iPod, no blender necessary

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 9:23 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iPod » iPod Accessories

I review a lot of iPod cases in my work for Playlist—a lot. So many that I sometimes have trouble finding my actual iPod among all the fake cardboard iPod inserts that the case manufacturers ship inside their cases. Anyway, my trained iPod case reviewing eye makes me skeptical about these $70 fake pulp novel cases for 4G and 5G iPods. But my keen love of all things pulpy still makes my heart go pitter-patter. I’m not sure if these books (Hotel Fever, Scavengers in Space, Lovely You) were ever real or not, but they make me dream of The Shadow and Tom Swift.

Hiding your iPod in a fake book is a great way to prevent would-be thieves from swiping the goods, but the impact may be lessened by the headphone cord trailing out of the book and into your ears. If anyone asks, tell ‘em it’s one of them new “audiobooks.”

[via Popgadget]

If I can’t see you, you can’t see me

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 8:41 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Security

Just another tidbit on the Security Update that Derik told you about earlier. The ability to capture QuickTime info from inside unsigned Java applets apparently also meant that a maliciously-crafted applet could indeed capture images from your iSight, using the trick that we told you about a while back (it was so freaky we told you about it twice). As I mentioned in that first piece, I wondered if some sort of script trickery could rebroadcast the images.

While the patch doesn’t break the iSight trick from above, it makes it impossible for the Java applet to capture that information. There’s a page supposedly demoing the vulnerability, but since I updated my machine this morning—silly me—I can’t confirm it. It certainly doesn’t seem to work with the patch applied (and it may crash Safari, so be careful). Either way, I’m certainly glad that I have a pattern of wearing pants.

[via Slashdot]

PC and Mac get into the holiday spirit

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 8:07 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Advertising

There’s a lesson we can all learn from Apple’s latest holiday-themed Get a Mac ad: everybody, PC and Mac users alike, could use a good hug this time of year. So, readers, I want you to take this opportunity to stand up and hug the person in the next cubic—hey, watch those hands, Jeff!

In related news, Apple ad actors Justin Long and John Hodgman taken home the 2006 Garfield “Bobby” Award for best performance, male (I just hope that the statue isn’t of a certain cartoon feline—that’d be like getting kicked in the teeth). Advertising Age breaks the commercials down for us:

Hodgman is a PC, earnest and uptight, and Long is a Mac, casually cool. Yes, PC is a doofus, but what so distinguishes these performances is how the two interact — affably and respectfully, in spite of the central premise. Long is cool not because he’s ultrahip but because he’s laid-back and confident, minus any trace of condescension.

Damn it, Jeff, hands.

[via Macworld]

Browser updates: Opera and Firefox

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 7:43 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

Let’s face it. Web browsers are fast becoming the most essential piece of software on computers. Keeping them up to date may be the best way for you to maintain your user experience.

Opera released 9.10 of their web browser. The big feature additions center around anti-phishing (aka anti-fraud) technology. The browser white or blacklists websites based upon the databases maintained at GeoTrust and PhishTank. It also has other bug fixes listed in their release notes.

Mozilla also released a minor security update in Firefox 2.0.0.1 (that’s a lot of dots). Their release notes have more gory details.

I have both browsers installed on all the computers I use and for brief periods they became my default browser. It’s great to see so many thriving browsers that are taking security seriously.

More portable apps

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 7:14 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Tips

Pat told you about the wide range of portable applications available for Macs. You download and save them to your choice of USB flash drives or iPods. The data associated with those applications (save for keychain data) is stored on that portable medium with the application.

I personally have little use for them because I synchronize my data using other means, but for those looking to do this because they’re guests on other people’s Macs regularly or don’t want to pay for .Mac, these are a great solution. When Pat pointed you at them, they still hadn’t come up with portable versions of Safari, Mail.app, iCal, Address Book, and iChat. Now they have.

With those five apps, you’ll still be able to get a lot of work done when using someone else’s Mac.

DiskWarrior 4 arriving

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 6:34 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

It’s been a while since I’ve had a copy of DiskWarrior that worked on all my Macs and I’m highly anticipating its arrival. Reports are starting to trickle in that some lucky few are receiving their copy and the impressions are largely positive at this early stage.

MacFixit (warning: link will expire) is reporting that it’s much faster performing its tests. Additionally, starting up off the CD is much slower.

xlr8yourmac has started its own user report page for the new version with its first testimonial. I personally like this approach because you get many honest opinions from people who don’t have the motivation of getting attention to cloud the account.

Once I get my copy, I’ll be sure to share my experiences, but if all goes well, my account will be superficial. I say that because unless I have a major meltdown that DiskWarrior is needed to save me from, it’s hard for me express how effective it is at its job.

Security Update 2006-008 released

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 5:41 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Security

Apple has kicked out yet another security update for Mac OS X. This time around, a single issue is described as fixed.

QuickTime for Java, Quartz Composer
CVE-ID: CVE-2006-5681
Available for: Mac OS X v10.4.8, Mac OS X Server v10.4.8
Impact: Visiting a malicious web site may lead to information disclosure
Description: Java applets may use QuickTime for Java to obtain the images rendered on screen by embedded QuickTime objects and upload them to the originating web site. When this facility is used in conjunction with Quartz Composer, it becomes possible to capture images that may contain local information. This update addresses the issue by disallowing Quartz Composer compositions in unsigned Java applets. Quartz Composer compositions continue to function locally. Applications and signed Java applets that utilize QuickTime and QuickTime for Java are unaffected. This issue does not affect systems prior to Mac OS X v10.4. It also does not affect the Windows platform. Credit to Geoff Beier for reporting this issue.

That is seriously scary. Foreign websites have the ability to look at portions of your screen. I’ve installed it on my Mac Pro and all looks well.

Free pearls of wisdom from Hodgman, aka PC

Posted on Dec. 20, ’06, 5:02 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Even if you don’t normally visit the FREE ON iTunes section on the iTunes Store, you have a reason now. You can get the full (abridged) audiobook version of John Hodgman’s book The Areas of My Expertise, as read by him.

I would have copied and pasted the audiobook description from the store, but much to my chagrin, you can’t. Instead, I’ll retype the first sentence and whine about the inability to be lazy.

In the great tradition of the America almanac, The Areas of My Expertise is a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small.

It’s broken up into three files when played at regular speed, go for almost seven hours. Seven hours. You can’t say that Apple didn’t give you something for Christmas now.

MacHeist: that’s a wrap

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 3:26 PM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Apple » News

So now that the sale has ended, the dust has settled, and John Gruber has made me feel thorougly ashamed of participating, I thought it was a good time to take a look back at the MacHeist that was.

I bought the bundle with less than a half hour left on the clock. I figured I was going to buy TextMate no matter what, Dan said something about wanting Delicious Library (I’m working on a better term for suck-up, but I haven’t found one yet), and my girlfriend might enjoy a copy of Disco (even though I sure didn’t).

As the licenses are trickling in as promised, I can see that most of the apps come with strings attached, with which I’m perfectly fine. I’ll gladly plunk down the 40% for TextMate 2 (in fact, I’m going to buy another copy for a different Mac sometime soon hopefully). Whether or not I’ll “enhance” my NewsFire license is a different story.

All told though, I’m left with a better taste in my mouth than I had originally expected (and predicted). I hope that the participating developers are as well.

MacUser Podcast #11: ‘Tis the season for controversy

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 1:55 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

I made a bit of a gaffe in podcast editing the other day, so some of you might have gotten a recording without my voice track. Amusing listening apparently, but not terribly useful. The technical difficulties have been resolved, and the correct file is attached below.

Be of good cheer—it’s time for the latest episode of the MacUser Podcast. This week, we discuss the naughty and the nice, ranging from the contentious issues of MacHeist and iTunes sales figures to the world harmony-inducing power of the new Photoshop CS3 Beta. Season with a dash of speculation on the iPhone and you’ve got yourself a delicious helping of holiday goodness. Derik and I are joined by Aaron and first-time podcast participant Pat, and, well, the going gets a bit festive—at the least, Derik acknowledges a history of sock eating.

To subscribe to the MacUser Podcast, point your favorite podcast-savvy RSS reader at: http://feeds.macuser.com/macuser/podcast or find us in the iTunes Music Store.

Download the MacUser Podcast:

AAC version (16.9 MB, 69 min)

Comments and feedback on the show are always welcome, so feel free to share your thoughts below, or in an email to macuser [at] macuser [dot] com.

Show notes after the jump…

The best Mac app of all time?

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 10:10 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Software

I was starting to roll ideas around my head in search of the best Mac app of the year. I thought I’d ask you, the readers to weigh in on the subject. Then I thought, forget the “year” part. Now I want to know what you feel is the best Mac app you’ve ever used.

I know we’ll get our fair share of Photoshops, we’ll get a few iLife’s, and the big picture people will mention OS X as a whole. Whatever you think made being a Mac user worth it, whatever the first app you would show a PC user to make him or her switch, that’s the app I want to hear about.

Anybody can write a list of popular apps and call it the “Best Mac Software of All Time” or “Best Software for Your Mac” and end up with a list of decent apps. Let’s see if we can’t do it right and get a list of stupendous apps.

So how ‘bout it? Who will be the first to nominate “The Best Mac App of All Time?”

MacBU speaks out on premature patching

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 9:57 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Security

It’s tough working for a big company. There are all sorts of people to keep in the loop, testing to be done, and protocols to be followed. Not like these fly-by-night operations you see all over the web. We’re talking Microsoft here.

So when they prematurely publish a patch for their most popular software program, you’d expect some damage control, right? Better late than never, I guess, the MacBU has responded to questions about why the patch was pulled.

On Tuesday, while testing that download process for an upcoming Office patch, we accidentally released the bits to the live servers. That patch included some normal stability issues as well as preparatory work for an upcoming security release. All the code in the patch had been tested and approved except for the security-related bits, which we weren’t ready to release.

Most interestingly, from my perspective, is that the MacBU confirmed that the patch did not apparently fix for the recently announced zero-day exploits in Office—the ones for which Microsoft advises you to “not open or save Word files.” Great. How about a solution for that one now?

Update: Microsoft has now officially released the patches for Office v.X and Office 2004. They can be installed regardless of whether or not you applied the earlier, pulled patch.

[via Infinite Loop]

January 2007 to bug Mac users?

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 9:23 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Security

From AirPort hacks to proof-of-concept worms, security has been a major topic in the Mac community this past year. That said, there still hasn’t been a concrete exploit with widespread effect. That might change in January with the launch of the Month of Apple Bugs. The project was devised by LMH, the person behind the Month of Kernel Bugs project, and will follow much the same strategy by reporting Apple vulnerabilities to the public without notifying Apple. LMH spoke to everybody’s favorite security reporter, the Washington Post’s Brian Krebs:

LMH said that while his upcoming project had the potential to at least temporarily make security more tenuous for the average Mac user, he believes that in the long run the project will improve OS X security.

“Right now, many OS X users still think their system is bulletproof, and some people are interested on making it look that way,” LMH said.

I’m not saying that Apple doesn’t have a part to play here, but whatever I say about them is supposition at best—I have no idea what their security practices involve, or how they work with security researchers. That said, they’re a big company and they’re a smart company; I’m sure they understand that it’s in their best interests to keep OS X as secure as possible. But their penchant for secrecy shouldn’t be equated with inactivity—not, at least, without actual evidence of that fact.

The Month of Apple Bugs is security vigilantism, and not very good vigilantism at that, because it’s not fixing the problems; it’s standing in the middle of the street, yelling as loudly as possible that the front door of number 47 is unlocked and boy, we sure hope nobody will waltz in and steal their new widescreen HDTV. Gee, you’re sure smart for noticing, and we’ll applaud you for not stealing the TV yourself, but if you were really interested in helping out, maybe you ought to go ring the bell and politely tell the owners instead, hm?

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 8:43 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

At least up in New England, the weather is far from frightful (clear and sunny with a high of 48° for the day), but if you’re looking to get into a holiday frame of mind, what better than some of the white stuff? What? Yeah, coconut, genius, that’s what I was talking about.

Snowfall is a Quartz-based screensaver that fills your display with beautiful, impeccably rendered snowflakes. You can control the background color, whether or not there are stripes, the rate at which the snowflakes fall, and how many there are. You can even slip an image in the background, should you prefer to see snowflakes falling on a landscape. I’ve slipped in a picture of Hell—with conditions like that, maybe we can all get our Stevedialer 3000s after all.

Apple is reputedly using Snowfall on displays in the Apple Stores, so you’re in good company. For my part, it doesn’t show signs of stopping, so I brought some corn for popping. Mmm. Popcorn.

[via Digg]

Sudoku on iPod finally adds up

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 8:06 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Games

I’ve never gotten the hang of the whole Sudoku craze. That’s probably because I’m more of a word guy than a numbers fellow. Why spend my time adding up numbers in a Tic Tac Toe grid when I could be solving “Canterbury coppers” in five letters? One of these is a far better way to utilize my otherwise useless cesspool of trivial information.

Regardless, I understand that this Sudoku thing is all the rage, so I’m sure there are any number of people who will be psyched that Apple’s added Sudoku (iTunes link) for the iPod. It’s one of two new games for the iPod available to buy at the iTunes Store today—the other is Royal Solitaire (iTunes link), which is apparently quite a step up from the built-in version. It includes ten different variants, including Klondike, Pyramid, and and Canfield, plus allows you to track scores from around the world. Both games were developed by Electronic Arts.

So, if you’re still looking for a few last minute stocking stuffers, you can gift the games for $4.99 each. I’m still waiting on Baccarat for the iPod. I think it’ll be a real winner.

[via Playlist]

Mac OS 7.5 on a Nintendo DS

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 7:38 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Geekery

Seriously, this has to be one of the best hacks I’ve seen in a while. Using Lazyone’s Mini vMac DS, you can run up to Mac OS 7.5.5 (really known as System 7.5.5 to those in the know). Sure, it’s black and white, you have to pan around, and you almost can’t run anything, but it’s still a Mac operating system on a great game system.

I would have embedded the video, but it’s long. Over ten minutes long. It’s neat to see, but that’s a bit much. I think a couple minutes would have sufficed. Seeing my roots makes me want to break out the old Quadra 660av. Who’s with me?

Yes, they’re still developing AOL for Macs

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 6:31 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Internet

AOL has turned into something that simply won’t die despite an apparent lack of a business plan. They can’t even give away accounts for free with their bring your own access plan. The latest beta version called Cheshire is available for download.

A WebKit based browser is built-in. Clicking the IM button opens iChat. Their built-in email client looks… um… exactly like Mail.app when composing (witness the attached picture). That email can be accessed through any IMAP email client like (surprise, surprise) Mail.app.

What does that leave? Well, you get AOL Radio (which you really should be able to access through the web), AOL Pictures, and some Parental Controls. I’m really just not seeing anything compelling about their suite anymore. As AOL tries to better use Mac OS X services that what they offer really isn’t all that special anymore. Place your bets. How many days before it’s axed completely?

Sit on MacSanta’s lap

Posted on Dec. 19, ’06, 5:23 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

In case you thought the last few months haven’t exposed you to enough shareware and MacHeist’s bundle didn’t do it for you, the mythical MacSanta has made his way down the chimney for Mac users far and wide.

Great software developers large and small are participating. You’ve got Flying Meat, Karelia, Unsanity, C-Command, Rogue Amoeba, plus many, many more including the glorious Bare Bones software. Visit Santa and he’ll supply you with a coupon for 20% off. That’s nothing to sneeze at (and if you do, you’ll get some virtual coal in your stocking).

A few items I consider highlights: BBEdit, Yojimbo, SpamSieve, Mira, VoodooPad, and the classic Fetch.

For further comedic relief, when I loaded the page for the first time, Unsanity (Jason Harris) and Flying Meat (Gus Mueller) were on opposite sides of Eastgate.

Exclusive! Super Cool Device to Ship Soon!

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 4:53 PM PT by Philip Michaels

Category | Apple » Humor

I’ve just gotten word that a new product will be shipping soon, and I feel pretty confident in stating that it might possibly be the most important product ever to ship. Certainly, it will be something that every man, woman, and child will want to own, or at least think about owning, or possibly not own at all if it turns out they’re not interested in the product. But I can’t imagine they wouldn’t be.

When this product ships—and I assure you, I’ve never been more certain of anything my life that it will ship soon enough—it will totally revolutionize the way you think about products like this one. What does the product do, specifically? Is it hardware or software? Some sort of new computer? A handheld device with video and telephony capabilities? Or something else entirely. Yes—something like that. But it’ll shake your beliefs to their foundations, let me tell you.

Is it an Apple product? Hey, you didn’t hear that from me. If you want to infer that I’m talking about an Apple product, that’s your right as an American. I’m just talking about a product from a company that could be Apple. Don’t put words in my mouth, pal.

I’d love to tell you more, but I’ve probably already said enough to compromise my sources and put my access at risk. Apple’s spies are everywhere—they’d love to catch me talking about a product that may not even be theirs, and if they do, there’ll be hell to pay. Oh—someone’s coming right now. I’m going to talk in a loud voice about a different subject altogether to throw them off the scent…YES, I DID WATCH THE CHARGER GAME LAST NIGHT. IT SURE WAS EXCITING WHEN THEY SCORED THAT TOUC… OK, they’re gone now.

Look, I realize that my credibility as a guy who posts things at the Internet is a precious commodity. So it is with utmost confidence that I say this mystery product which might be from Apple though it also might not is going to be announced… right… nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn—(Anything shipping yet? No? Drat.)—nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnow.

Well, something probably shipped while I was typing that. And I’m sure it’s cool enough to make my headline accurate.

Sorry if it didn’t live up to your expectations. It certainly wasn’t my intention to write something vague enough for you cultists to easily misinterpret—that’s really your failing, not mine. Besides, in all this hubbub over what did or didn’t get announced, let’s not lose sight of the most important thing about this exercise:

Made you look.

Bruce Fraser, 1954-2006

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 2:00 PM PT by Jason Snell

Category | Photography

I can’t remember when I first met Bruce Fraser. It was back in my days at the old MacUser magazine. Who was this scotsman who knew more about color, and photography, and Photoshop, than anyone I had ever met before? Through connected friends and a series of parties at his house, I got to know Bruce better. In February, I spent some time with Bruce and his wife on the back deck of the ms Oosterdam as we left San Diego on the Mac Mania cruise.

So I knew Bruce, but only a little bit. We published his stuff all the time in Macworld, and would’ve gladly published more if he wasn’t in such demand as an imaging all-star. He taught me what dynamic range was. I’m not really good with color, and knowing someone who was so well-versed in all things chromatic made me want to just give up and desaturate my photos.

Other people who knew Bruce better will be able to eulogize him in ways that I can’t. So I’ll just say this: His work and depth of knowledge were unsurpassed, and yet when you were around him you didn’t feel like you were talking to one of the top imaging experts on the planet. It was just Bruce.

Bruce passed away this weekend, and I’ll miss him. The world is worse off for not having his intelligence and humor in it.

(Update: Macworld Editor at Large Rick LePage shares a remembrance of Bruce.)

[Photo: Derrick Story]

I work, you work, but usually not with iWork

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 12:18 PM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Software

Louis Gray over at The Apple Blog has written a piece that questions the success of Apple’s iWork suite. He points out the absence of even one mention of iWork in Apple’s “Get a Mac” ads, some eye opening market share data (at the beginning of 2006, iWork had a 2% market share), and the fact that iWork didn’t receive a single slide during Steve Jobs’ 2006 Macworld keynote.

Louis attributes this lack of popularity, especially when held in comparison to apps like Safari, Garageband, and iCal, to the fact that those apps are free, whereas iWork requires users to pay for a license. I (as usual) have a different theory.

People use software to accomplish a certain goal. In the case of Pages and Keynote, that goal would be document creation and presentation respectively. The trouble is, in nine out of ten instances, those tasks require compatibility with multiple machines, especially in the case of the latter. Since the probability of those multiple machines all being Macs is slim, the only cross platform solutions just happen to be the market leader, Microsoft Office, and web-based apps like those offered by Google.

Also, students and business users alike need to make things called spreadsheets. iWork has perhaps, heard of these, but really, you need an app like Excel to handle large amounts of data. That usually means an Office license. Unless iWork can make a Microsoft Office license unnecessary, it will always be an unnecessary “extra.”

The iSight is dead…long live the iSight?

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 9:26 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Video

Our own Pat Nakajima was recently informed by a gregarious Apple employee that the iSight has ceased to see the light of day. Pushing up the iDaisies, if you will. We noted back in August that availability of the external iSight had slipped to October, and now the camera has disappeared entirely from the online Apple Store (you can, however, still buy an iSight accessory kit, should the desire strike you like a thunderbolt from on high).

With iSights built in to iMacs, MacBooks, and MacBook Pros and the video features of iChat it’s impossible to argue that video is not a major plank of Apple’s plan. Mac Pro and Mac mini users have been left out in the cold so far, but it seems likely that we’ll be seeing some sort of iSight revision in January. One persistent rumor has been the integration of iSights into Apple’s Cinema Display line. Frankly, I would be surprised if there wasn’t some sort of stand-alone model. Hopefully it will clock in a little cheaper than the original iSight. And have some sort of feature that makes me look like George Clooney (fingers crossed!).

And, of course, there have been the ongoing rumors that the Stevedialer 3000 would have some sort of video conferencing features. But you all know how I feel about the old rumor mill when it comes to that.

[hat tip to reader Richard C.; Digg]

Holidays and duels to go together like milk and cookies

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 8:43 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Perhaps the dispute over MacHeist and the week of the independent Mac developer can have some benefit after all. Jason Harris of Unsanity, who took to task Gus Mueller (and subsequently apologized), has launched A Cocoa Holiday Duel at Ten Paces. The event is a little like Ironcoder—participants will code a small (open-source!) holiday-themed app (the example given is Snö) and pick a charity. You, the Mac user, get to vote by donating to one of the participant’s charities—the winner is the coder whose charity gets the most donations. They receive a small gift from the rest of the coders valued at $20 (or two six packs of “good” beer).

Besides Harris, the participants currently include Dustin MacDonald (Wallet), John Casasanta (iClip), Jonathan Grynspan (mFurc), and Gus Mueller. As of this writing, only Grynspan has announced his charity so far, which is Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play. Apps need to be ready for download by the 20th, with the donations totaled at midnight MST on December 26th.

While I’m a favor of anything that benefits charities, I’ve got to ask this much: is a duel really in the spirit of the season? Perhaps it should be A Cocoa Holiday Codealong? Like a sing-along, but with, er, less music and more singing. Or maybe they could call it Cocoa with Marshmallows. Mmmm. Marshmallows.

Apple “iPhone” totally iPhony?

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 8:06 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Hardware

I think I’ve made it pretty clear how sick I am of hearing about the iPhone. iPhone this, iPhone that. It’s like the most annoying bratty little brother ever. So I’m just as glad that the name turns out to have been owned for quite some time by Cisco—maybe that’ll take some of the steam out of the made up news.

Meanwhile, if you’re dying to own an iPhone, you can go out and buy one of the Linksys iPhones that have been announced today (shown above). And if you’re dying for an Apple iPhone, well, that’s what your sheet of Apple decals are for.

Of course, I imagine that as the unstoppable juggernaut they are, iPhone rumors will merely transmogrify into stories about what Apple will call their forthcoming handset. The iCell? The iMobile? The iCan’tHearYouNow? Given that the iPhone mark has been registered for seven years, originally to a company called InfoGear that was acquired by Cisco in 2000, Apple has had a bit of heads up on this. I’m guessing they’ve got a name up their sleeve (dare I suggest—the Stevedialer 3000??).

Finally, Gizmodo editor Brian Lam should expect a big chunk of coal in his stocking for preying on the pure, innocent minds of his readership. The Giz used to have some class—it used to mean something. *Sob*. If you need me, I’ll be starting up the Bring-Back-Joel-Johnson campaign.

Exploding batteries aren’t your only concern

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 7:54 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Huh?

I have no idea how you can “plugged [your] cable line into the ‘wrong outlet’” of a cable modem, but apparently you can to disastrous effect. Doing so can cause a cable modem to explode. That kinda makes me glad my cable modem is safely nestled in a closet away from my Mac Pro and external hard drives.

I’d like to think this is a freak accident, but it does underline an important issue that most computer users don’t take seriously enough. The owner of that poor Powerbook lost over 500 GB of important data that were spread over the internal 80 GB hard drive, two 300 GB Maxtor drives, and a 160 GB Lacie drive. Rough.

The lessons here are:

1) Backup your data. 2) Keep one set of backups “offsite” either in a different building, or at least in a different room.

I’ll admit that I don’t follow the latter rule as it can be a costly proposition if you want to have a full backup. Alternatively, you could just backup just essential data to DVDs or to a service such as Amazon’s S3. Don’t learn the lesson the hard way. Develop a plan now and stick to it so you can “shrug off” data loss disasters.

[via Mac DevCenter]

Scary thought: zero-day exploits for sale

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 7:18 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Security

Microsoft really should have been more reserved before calling Vista the most secure OS in the marketplace yet. Like most security experts will tell you, it takes time to prove something is secure. You can’t predict it with certainty.

I’m certainly glad I’m not taking Microsoft at their word when zero-day exploits for Windows Vista are available for $50,000. If I were a Windows user looking to upgrade, I’d be more than just a little worried. You have to wonder how many others exist for each that are currently for sale.

It won’t be released to the public for about a month and a half and we already know the security isn’t quite as bulletproof as some would have you think.

Sarcasm is lost on the net, even in video form

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 6:36 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Humor

I can understand that sometimes it’s hard to detect sarcasm in text, but you’d think that in video it’d be much clearer. If you didn’t detect the sarcasm in David Pogue’s “Vista did not copy Mac OS X” video, you’re not alone. Pogue has received some rather harsh rebuttals.

But a few people have already written me, saying, “You must be the dumbest man in America. You think that’s a DIFFERENCE? Who the @#*#*#** cares if they use a different term? It’s EXACTLY THE SAME THING!”

Of course that actually was the point of the video. What’s the five letter word describing an email to point out to Pogue that there is no difference between the various things he compared? Irony. I can’t think of any way that he could have tweaked his delivery, except for maybe winking.

You want this belt buckle

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 5:49 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple

Wearing the right thing can make or break your visit to the upcoming Macworld Expo San Francisco 2007. That’s why you need to buy this belt buckle. There’s still a good three days left on this auction so getting it as a Christmas gift may not be an option.

As of writing this, the current bid is a mere $51 for an essential piece of Apple memorabilia that will make you the envy of the Expo. It looks pretty substantial, making even a Texas Apple fan proud. In case you just can’t wait, this vintage 70s fashion piece can be yours for a $200 “Buy It Now” price. And get this: Woz has worn one. Bid, bid, bid!

CBS Records resurrected for iTunes

Posted on Dec. 18, ’06, 5:10 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

To make distribution of its television content easier, CBS Corporation is bringing back CBS Records. It will act as the proxy to online outlets such as Apple’s iTunes Store. That’s a smart move for CBS as online distribution is exploding as a new channel and giving it the proper attention will help maximize their sales.

They’ll also use the resurrected company to scout new talent for use in their television programs as well as for standalone sale through both iTunes and their own website. Considering how most companies have dragged their heels on utilizing new distribution channels, perhaps this is a signal that they’re looking forward. Maybe next the movie studios will wise up to the idea that supporting as many media stores on the net as possible will help maximize sales. I’m a little disappointed we still can’t get anything but Disney stuff on iTunes.

Apple to delay annual SEC filings

Posted on Dec. 16, ’06, 9:52 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Business

It’s the end of the year, and that can only mean one thing: 10-K annual reports for the Securities and Exchange Commission! If you’re reaching for the scroll wheel with a yawn, well, allow me to express my pity for you. There’s little more fascinating than a company’s fiscal record of the past year; it’s the kind of reading that makes War & Peace look dull. Why, there’s nothing better than sitting myself down by a cozy fire and thumbing—holy crap, I just lost my own attention.

Yes, 10-K annual reports are pretty boring—ceiling-tile-counting boring, actually. But it’s our sworn duty to fill you in on the pertinent Apple news, so somewhere I have to fit in this little nugget: Apple has delayed filing their annual report because of the stock options irregularities relating to past option grants. Don’t panic! The report will be missing the December 14th deadline, but they’re hoping to have it in by December 29th. Whew. Close one.

And to those who didn’t think that annual fiscal reports could be interesting, did you or did you not just read everything I wrote above? Sucka.

Photoshop CS3 Beta launch times

Posted on Dec. 16, ’06, 9:32 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Here are some totally unscientific numbers as a result of my brief playing around with the Photoshop CS3 Beta. I recorded three pairs of numbers; in each case, the amount of time it took to launch Photoshop cold, followed by the amount of time it took if I then immediately quit the application and relaunched it. I tried the experiment with my existing version of Photoshop, 7, on both my 2.0GHz MacBook (1GB of RAM) and my B&W G4/600 (512MB of RAM). In the past, the first launch of Photoshop 7 has been glacial under Rosetta, but on second launch, it’s roughly comparable to the G4.

I haven’t yet installed the CS3 Beta on the G4 to see how it runs, nor have I tried timing other functions either. For the most part CS3 seems much snappier on the MacBook, though I have gotten both beachballs and spinning watches while running it (probably due to a lack of RAM). I don’t know how much more playing around I can really do in the next two days—like Scott, I lack a valid CS2 serial number—but expect to hear some more about this on the upcoming MacUser Podcast.

Apple’s holiday promo spins you right round, baby, like a record

Posted on Dec. 16, ’06, 8:50 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Advertising

Usually it takes a few glasses of eggnog before I start to see dancing Apple products, but this year, it looks like Christmas has come early. French site Technocitizen has a copy of the Apple’s holiday-themed video, featuring MacBooks, iMacs, and iPods spinning joyously around like they’re trying out for The Nutcracker. If you prefer your Apple products in high definition (and who doesn’t?) macTV has the clip up in QuickTime glory as well—I have to admit, it looks pretty stunning in HD.

And because I’m a huge movie score geek, I can tell you that the music they’ve set the promo to is the “PM’s Love Theme” from Love Actually. There, that’s your Christmas present.

[via Digg]

ImageWell 3: like Photoshop CS3 only smaller, faster, cheaper

Posted on Dec. 16, ’06, 8:19 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software » Updates

With all the fuss over Photoshop’s new beta, some may have missed the fact that a new version of my truly indispensable image app ImageWell was also released. Version three puts the app through a handful of sizeable interface changes, including really beefing up the editing capabilities. Sure, it doesn’t have the fancy-shmancy tools of that other image editing program, but it’s a heck of a lot smaller and a heck of a lot cheaper. And, despite Photoshop CS3’s Intel-native status, a heck of a lot faster too.

As I remarked in the original post on this software (one of my earliest posts for MacUser), sometimes you don’t need the whole Swiss Army knife—sometimes you just need one tool. If what you need is quick resizing and simple editing capabilities, than ImageWell is your can opener. And version three comes with the same pricetag as earlier releases: a big goose egg. If you want to send some money XtraLean’s way, you can buy the editing “Xtras” for $15.

Get DSL, get a free MacBook

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 10:22 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Huh?

Bundling DSL service along with a MacBook is an intriguing proposition. Unfortunately, the deal is only available in France from mobile operator Orange. If you’re living over there, you can spend a mere 2 Euros a day ($2.65 approximately according to Google’s currency translations) and get both.

According to my calculations, that works out to about $967.40 per year. Looking at the very rough translation of the original French article, it seems you’re locked into a 3 year contract, but you can purchase that MacBook. Further details become very fuzzy. If you can figure out the translation, or better yet, can translate French, chime in with the details.

Anyway, it’s an interesting idea, as long as the price is right.

MacHeist unlocks TextMate and does the right thing

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 5:12 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

If you’re one of the many holding out on buying a MacHeist bundle because the inclusion of TextMate was unsure, wait no longer. They’ve decided to include it, regardless of the end charity contribution number. Additionally, Phill has guaranteed a charitable contribution of at least $100,000. Good form.

Last night I actually suggested in their forums that they bump up their charity percentage to 40%, which at the time would have put them just about at the $100k mark. By doing that and unlocking TextMate, the sales would start rolling in. If you don’t believe me, check out the graphs confirming it. The charities would get more, more bundles would get sold (and considering the flat fee payments to the developers, that would mean more money for MacHeist), and the customers would get more.

By unlocking early (at about $70k), they’ve spurred on extra sales, essentially guaranteeing reaching the original goal (and they get to keep the extra money that they would have lost in my proposal). This is a very good software bundle for the price now and I’m looking forward to getting to know TextMate, even though I know I’ll be shelling out somewhat soon to stay up to date.

Your TextMate license will be guaranteed free updates through version 1.x, and MacroMates will offer a steeply discounted upgrade path (of at least 60% off) to the upcoming, Leopard only version 2. (This license differs from a normally purchased $49 license, which includes a free 2.0 upgrade.)

Yeah, that sucks. Just another lesson in nothing being free. I will say though, that if you’ve been eyeing several of these, now probably is a good time to buy.

A Visa which earns free iTunes songs

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 2:08 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Money

While browsing the Apple store in my free time yesterday (yeah, that’s right, that’s how I spend my free time) I came across something of interest to Mac users who like to spend money. It’s the Juniper Visa Card with iTunes Rewards. At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, this credit card comes with an APR as low as 13.74%, an open line of credit up to $25,000, and no annual fee (wink).

Seriously, though, the really interesting part is that you earn two iTunes points for every dollar spent at any Apple store and one point for every dollar spent everywhere else. Basically once you accumulate 2,500 points (or about one MacBook) they’ll send you a free $25 iTunes gift card. For you math whizzes out there, that means that you earn 2% (two cents) of an iTunes song for every dollar you spend with Apple. Great deal? Not really, but I’d rather have iTunes dollars than Gold Delta Sky Miles anyways.

First Glance: Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 2:02 PM PT by Aaron Freedman

Category | Software

Welcome to the very first MacUser First Glance. What is a first glance, you ask? Well, it’s just like a first look feature on a piece of software, except that you only have that software for two days and have used it for less than an hour. As you probably already guessed, this first glance is on Adobe Photoshop CS3 Beta. I’ve never owned the full version of Photoshop, only Elements, but I took a short class on it this summer. From that, I learned how to play around with and use Photoshop 7.

At first glance (get it!), Photoshop CS3 does look different. The toolbar is only one column, there are many floating and collapsable palettes, and it has an icon that looks like something out of the Periodic Table. I mean really, it does (in fact, it seems that the Adobe Bridge icon is the same symbol used for the gas Bromine). The Camera Raw function in CS3 is very full-featured and very much like the ones in Adobe Lightroom and Aperture. While I only briefly toyed around with it, it was very easy to use and felt much like Aperture. Besides that, I didn’t play around that much in the Photoshop beta (yet), though I was able to evaluate a major feature in it — speed.

While I never ran Photoshop CS2 under Rosetta, I have used Photoshop Elements frequently on my Intel Mac. For the work that I did, emulated Elements wasn’t that bad, but it could freeze up at times. In compairson, Photoshop CS3 is blazing fast, and still very, very good when running a bunch of other apps in the background.

One other thing that I was able to briefly try out was the new Adobe Bridge. I never used the old Bridge, but the new one has a very black and reflective Apple/Aperture/Lightroom feel to it. It’s a great file browser for my photos, integrates very well with Photoshop, and even allows me to purchase stock photos online from Adobe. And, Bridge shows all of the metadata for my photos, without having to open up another program. Definitely a plus.

Overall, I really look the look, feel, and speed of the Photoshop CS3 beta. In fact, my only major problem with it is that you need a CS2 license to use it for more than two days. Oh well, I’ll just have to wait for the full release this spring and see how far my education discount will go.

iPhoto secret editing mode

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 1:48 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Tips

I love secrets. They make me feel special and privileged. Perhaps the best part of a secret, though, is the sharing part. When you share a secret you feel better than the person you share to, as if you were somehow superior then them. Thus, for my own gratification, I will share an iPhoto secret with you.

This one’s called the “iPhoto secret editing mode.” Access it as follows:

1. Double click an image you wish to edit, to bring iPhoto into the editing mode.
2. Activate either the red-eye or retouch tool and press ctrl+caps lock+9.
3. Press the tab key and watch the cursor secretly transform.
4. Use the bracket [ ] keys to increase or decrease the brush size.
5. Use the curly brace { } keys to increase or decrease the intensity.

Now it’s your turn to feel better than someone else. Go share this secret with another uninformed Mac user.

[via MacWork]

Guess what Print Window does…go on, guess

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 10:02 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Ever need to print a list of folder contents for someone? I tend to avoid paper when at all possible—I love the environment, after all—but sometimes it’s just handy. OS X doesn’t make it easy to do this—you could take a screenshot of the window and question and print it out, but that’s probably a bit more involved than you’d like.

SearchWare’s Print Window adds a boatload—nay, an arkload—of features, letting you specify the size of the icons in the window, how many sub-folders to print, and whether to print just the name of the files, or more information. That’s just the free Print Window Standard, too. If you purchase the advanced version for $15, it offers you more fine-grained controls over what information is printed, which sub-directories, and allows you to print information for a CD or DVD cover, convenient for printing out liners for burned CDs or DVDs.

While this isn’t a feature I run into a need for often, it’s certainly handy functionality when the need arises.

[via Mac360]

A look at Computerworld’s “15 Things Apple Should Change in OS X”

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 9:30 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Now, of course we here at MacUser are Mac fans. If we weren’t, we’d be writing for some other site…RutabagaLover, perhaps, I don’t know. But while we’re prepared to defend our operating system choice (eloquently and politely, of course), we also have our own private gripes and annoyances with OS X. It’s not perfect.

Our IDG-family over at Computerworld has posted an article with 15 suggestions on what could be improved in OS X. The article, by Scot Finnie and Ken Mingis, acknowledges that Tiger is pretty much the best out there in terms of OS, but could still use some tweaks. By and large I agree with most of the suggestions that Finnie and Mingis have put together, although I disagree with a handful of them. I’m going to take a run at each of them below the jump, so follow along—if you dare.

Photoshop CS3 madness continues

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 8:49 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

With the announcement that a Photoshop CS3 beta would be released to the public today, you’d think that the dead were roaming the earth—seriously, that’s the level of excitement that’s going around. As of this writing, the beta is still not available to download (or at the least, I can’t find it). We asked our brothers and sisters at Macworld for a copy, but they refused to let us even look at “the preciousssss.” Okey dokey, then.

Still, they’re not shy about sharing with the rest of you guys. Besides the podcast episode that Scott mentioned yesterday, they’ve also done a video podcast, featuring an interview with Photoshop’s senior project manager, John Nack. In addition, digital photography expert (and all-around nice guy) Ben Long has taken a first look at the software, showing off some of its fanciest new features.

Granted, this is probably the single most anticipated software, excepting perhaps Leopard, so some degree of excitement is a given. Still, I haven’t seen this many people fainting since The Beatles came to America or Steve Jobs started speaking in tongues at the last Macworld Expo.

Update: Gracious reader kdo points me towards the download link below—honestly, I thought it was big enough that it would be on the front page of the Adobe Labs site, but guess I was wrong.

Upload your Photobooth shots with FlickrBooth

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 8:13 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Photography

Photobooth is the app on my Mac that most often brings in those “gee whiz!” reactions (you know, when I’m transported back in time to the ’50s), especially with my younger cousins. They can (and have) spent hours snapping pictures of themselves with the bizarre funhouse mirror CoreImage effects that Apple’s packed into the program—I’ve got the hard drive full of pics to prove it. But what to do with them?

Well, I could embarrass them with any future attempts at dating by posting all the bizarre pictures on Flickr. And FlickrBooth makes it easy by letting you upload Photobooth snaps to the online service directly from the application itself. Take a picture and FlickrBooth will slide down a sheet prompting you to fill a title, a description, and tags.

Find a scriptable way to combine this with the login failure iSight trick we posted the other day, and you can view a Flickr set of your friends, family, and co-workers as they try to crack your login password. I hope for your sake that it’s a little more original than “password1.”

[via Lifehacker]

OmniPlan is final

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 7:27 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

Omni’s project planning program, OmniPlan reached version 1.0 final status yesterday. If I actually used the application, I would have written about it yesterday.

I personally, in my blogging and personal ventures, have no need for this software. It’s overkill for most anybody outside some kind of corporate or business setting with large elaborate projects. If that’s your thing and you even admit to people outside your immediate family that you love process, then OmniPlan is probably something you should stick under your Christmas tree and write off on your taxes next year.

At the same time, Omni actually dropped the normal price of OmniWeb to $14.95. That’s higher than last months $9.95, but I suspect that they saw a huge surge in sales that overcompensated for the loss of capital per license. Let me confess, OmniWeb is actually my default browser now. I like it that much.

A little bit on passwords

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 6:38 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Security

This isn’t strictly Mac related, but passwords are a fact of life, regardless of what platform you’re on. That goes double if you do anything online. Bruce Schneier, one of the lead security technology experts of our time, did a little breakdown of some MySpace passwords (retrieved by a recent phishing attack).

His blog entry is chock full of useful statistics and lessons in what not to do with passwords. A few quick rules of thumb out of my own book:

• Longer is better, just as long as you can remember it. If you have to write it down or string together a lot of dictionary words, making it longer isn’t helping.
• Mix letters and numbers. Don’t use just one or the other and if you use both, do it in earnest. Attaching “1” at the end of an all letter password isn’t helping.
• Don’t use common words or phrases.

That said, the top password chosen in the sample was “password1”. That’s not a particularly bright password. Here’s a few other common ones: abc123, myspace1, password, blink182, qwerty1, 123abc, baseball1, football1, 123456, soccer, monkey1, liverpool1, princess1, jordan23, slipknot1, superman1, iloveyou1 and monkey. Note the adding of “1”. I removed one of the passwords from Bruce’s list. Enterprising individuals will be able to figure out why.

The good news is that compared to a corporations password database, this sample is much better in terms of security. Considering how much less important MySpace is, it’s a good sign that kids are learning the lesson earlier.

For Mac users, we need to keep password strength in mind when choosing ours. It’s even more important if you have any services from your Mac exposed to the net, particularly the FTP, personal file sharing, or remote login services.

Pogue proves it: Microsoft did not rip off Apple

Posted on Dec. 15, ’06, 5:31 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Humor

I really wish I could embed New York Times videos in posts here at MacUser. If I could, David Pogue’s proof of how Vista is not a copy of Mac OS X would be sitting prominently on your screen. Alas, I can not and you’ll have to visit the site yourself. Apologies if the link ends up incorrect, the Times doesn’t make their URLs particularly intuitive.

I will admit that many of the features I heard about made me scratch my head a bit. For example, Paul Thurrott, Windows fan #1 (he has the card to prove it), regularly touts Vista’s instant live searching as a great new feature. It may be new to the core, but Mac OS X has Spotlight and many companies have made third-party solutions to do the same thing for Windows for quite some time now. Anyway, watch the video. It made me chuckle.

I appreciate Apple’s humor, a little too much

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 2:41 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Geekery

I was innocently browsing the online Apple Store this afternoon when I glanced up at their seasonal “display,” pictured to the right. Upon close inspection I realized that the pictured iPod was engraved with some clever, witty Apple message. With some deep meditation (and a little help from Photoshop) I was able to decipher the 15-pixel message:

Sorry I sunk your boat. Have an iPod.

Maybe it’s because I’m sleep-deprived, maybe it’s because I idolize Apple, or maybe it’s just because I’m weird, but I really loved this. Only Apple would print something like this—something barely even noticeable—in one of their advertisements. It’s these little details that make me love the company which makes my computer. I hope some people feel the same way (as that’s partial proof I’m not too weird).

Adobe releases Photoshop CS3 public beta tomorrow

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 1:43 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

You’ve probably heard a couple of the rumors by now. Adobe has decided, like with Photoshop Lightroom, to release the next major version, CS3’s beta to the public tomorrow, the 15th. However, unlike Lightroom, it’s not primarily to get community feedback as the feature set is essentially frozen. Rather, it’s to help customers ease into the new version before it’s finally released in full this coming Spring.

I haven’t used Photoshop extensively and lack the valid CS2 serial number necessary to try the beta (for more than two days), but others on the MacUser team will bring you their experiences in the coming days. This is a big milestone as we can start the performance gains on our new Intel hardware in earnest. Not to trivialize all the software that’s already been made into Universal Binaries, but Photoshop is one of the big boys that so many Mac users have been holding their breath waiting for.

“I upgraded to a MacBook Pro and Photoshop just screams on that,” Nack said. “We are seeing an 40 percent increase in speed in addition to the 30 percent speed increase in what Rosetta was able to do with the 10.4.8 update.”

That’s a nice speed boost. Macworld also has a podcast all about it. Keep your eye on Adobe Labs tomorrow. You can expect us to let you know when it lands as well. We’re nearly out of the Rosetta woods guys.

Skype free-ness to cease

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 10:56 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Software

Hopefully, all of you Skype fans out there have an extra $29.95 to spare next year, because the free trial period is coming to a close on December 31. Computer to computer calls will remain free, but reaching land-line lubbers is going to come at a cost: A yearly subscription of $29.95 or 2.1 cents per minute for calls within the U.S. and Canada.

The good news is, if you sign up before January 31, 2007, you can get a special rate of $14.95 per year, as well as 100 free minutes of international calling.

While we’re talking about Skype, version 2.5.0.63 just dropped today. Go ahead and pick it up.

iPod smoothies, anyone?

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 9:19 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iPod

There are many questions you might ask yourself in life: “how many roads must I walk down?”; “does this shirt look stupid?”; and, of course, the eternal “will it blend?” Let me save you some time: the answers are “42,” “very much so,” and “hell yeah.”

If you’re not familiar with the “blending” question, let me introduce you to the Will it Blend? site, featuring Tom Dickson. Tom and his trusty Blendtec blender have blended many an item, from chicken to golf clubs. And now Tom has added to the repertoire his own 4G iPod. Will the iPod blend? The suspense is killing me.

Unfortunately, not even Apple’s industrial design can withstand the forces of Blendtec’s Total Blender, and the iPod is reduced to a smoking pile of dust. We hardly knew you, Tom’s iPod. Still, we are slightly heartened by the fact that come December 15th (tomorrow!), we will be able to bid on you on eBay. You can’t go home again, but I guess you can shop there.

[via Digg]

Schedule iCal events via Quicksilver

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 8:43 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

I’m in the bizarre position of actually using two different launcher programs on two different computers: my desktop has Quicksilver installed, while my MacBook relies on Butler. As the MacBook is my everyday machine, I end up using Butler more often, but Quicksilver catches my eye every once in a while.

For example, Tim Gaden from Hawk Wings tipped us on a new Quicksilver extension that lets you create iCal events from within Quicksilver itself. Such power demands complexity, and so the syntax of the event creation has a bit of a learning curve, though I think most people should be able to master it with some practice. The extension was created by Benjamin Hartley, who also created the ABG Merge app, which syncs your GMail contacts with OS X’s Address Book.

If you’re a Quicksilver user looking for a way to bring even more power to, as Tim calls it, the “undocumented mystery” of the program or you, like me, simply can’t be bothered to open iCal most days, perhaps this extension will be of use to you.

Apple offers Podcast Packs to .Mac subscribers

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 8:10 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Music » Podcasting

Now, in order to get a really great voice for your podcast, you could spend years in voice training, honing your instrument, fine tuning your timbre, whetting your whistle—or you could just go download Apple’s new Podcast Packs. Ten different packs have been made available to .Mac subscribers, ranging from “Alternative Rock” to “Rock and Pop” to “I’ve Got a Rock”—okay, I made that one up. Each pack contains a number of professionally-produced jingles that you can pop into your GarageBand-created podcast.

I’ve only downloaded one so far, the Voice Over pack which features the work of professional voice over artist Joe Cipriano (whose performance in Apple’s Podcast Seminar I lauded a week back). Apple’s also tapped Joe to provide a few examples of what can be done with the Podcast Packs in a short podcast on the download page.

I’ll probably give the rest of them a whirl at some point; who knows, you might even hear them on the upcoming MacUser Podcast.

[via MacMinute]

Pillows that are reassuring in more ways than one

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 7:55 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Humor

I got some pillows made of that tempurpedic material a while back. I never attached strong feelings to them, but a good pillow can get you through some tough times. Pillows in familiar Mac related shapes (bandwidth exceeded, visit MAKE’s article) such as the Mac OS smily face, Dashboard, iChat, iPhoto, iTunes, Photobooth.

I am so totally jealous. Now that Roberto has shown off, why hasn’t he put the wheels in motion to start manufacturing and selling these in mass quantities? I’d pay good money for these. Now, I wouldn’t litter my bed with them as I’d drop them in the infinitely more masculine location of my couch.

iPhone bingo cards

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 7:16 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re tired of all the rumors and speculation. But that’s the point of this entry! Rui Carmo has created a iPhone Rumor Bulls*** Bingo card generator.

How to play:

Before your daily visit to the rumor sites, come here and print one copy of this page.

Check off each block when you find any of these words on an Apple news blog. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, write a blog post, link to the news site and here, and shout BULLS***!!

I’m certainly up for a game (though I think I’ll play from my personal site rather than subject you to it here). What we really need now is another bingo generator for the scenario in which it actually is released. To my knowledge, no one shouted bingo at WWDC this year. We need someone to stand up and shout it at the MWSF keynote in the coming year.

More on the MacHeist fairness saga

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 6:36 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

I’d like each and every post about the conflict I mentioned yesterday, but I don’t want to give myself carpal tunnel. I will mention the ever-insightful John Gruber’s article (go read). I’d also like to mention the usually brusque Wil Shipley’s interview on Infinite Loop. Not all of the interview is about it, but he mentions the MacHeist controversey.

Also, because the MacHeist deal offers a bundle of applications, some people who aren’t interested in Delicious Library right now will buy the bundle for the other applications, and then start using Delicious Library and discover they love it, and later upgrade to Delicious Library 2. The biggest source of revenue for a software developer is upgrade revenue, so I don’t mind getting new customers at a discount if I’m pretty sure they’ll fall in love with my app and pay for upgrades later. And if people use it and don’t fall in love with it; well, that didn’t really hurt my any, did it?

Ah, the pieces come together. Now that Delicious Library is so deep into its current revision and they’ve announced a new upgrade for which new pricing hasn’t been announced (essentially removing motivation for many buyers to spend the money now and again in a couple months), it certainly makes sense to let it be part of this bundle. Squeeze a few bucks out now that sales will go into decline and drum up possible upgrade sales.

Apple unleashes another AirPort update

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 6:01 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

This is getting downright ridiculous. Apple needs to start paying the people that write up the descriptions for software updates by the word or something. AirPort Update 2006-002 released today in Apple’s words:

AirPort Update 2006-002 improves AirPort compatibility in the following computers: MacBook Pro (15-inch Core 2 Duo), MacBook Pro (17-inch Core 2 Duo), MacBook (13-inch Core 2 Duo)

Helpful. Really helpful. Apple, I’m begging you, tell us just a little bit of information. Not only will it allow me to fill out my posts a little more, but it’ll help your customers know why they want to apply updates such as these. I know most people will apply them without thinking, but not everyone has that frame of mind.

This is one of those cases where simplicity just isn’t a positive. A thorough description is a good thing.

iBuzz is definitely NSFW

Posted on Dec. 14, ’06, 5:20 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Legal

Apple’s legal team has taken on yet another product. This time it’s the iBuzz [NSFW]. The iBuzz is an adult accessory for your iPod. As they put it, it’s a “music-activated vibrator”. Nuf’ said.

Anyway, Apple is suing for similarities to their silhouette advertising campaign. Now, in the letter, it refers to this quote:

Certain images used on your website (www.ibuzz.co.uk) may have been copied or substantially copied from those in which our client own the copyright, without our client’s consent… Your use of such images amounts to copyright infringement.

The company goes on to explain they hired some guy to make the images (insert a series of silly jokes).

Ok, stop looking at the site you pervs. It might rot your brain, or warp your psyche, or grow hair on your palms, or make you go blind.

[via CrunchGear]

Apple campus floods; Steve Jobs orders construction of iArk

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 3:22 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » News

It appears as though some of the folks in Cupertino may be in need of SCUBA gear this afternoon after a major leak sprung in a building on the Apple Campus:

California Water Service Co. crews are cleaning up what’s left of a major water leak that left more than a foot of water lining the floor of an Apple Computer Inc. building in Cupertino early this morning.

At one point more than 100 gallons of water per minute were flooding into the building from a leak under the first floor, a Santa Clara County Fire Department dispatcher said.

[via Digg]

Do the Piston Shuffle

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 2:27 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | iPod

Hmm…something’s fishy about that little white stick to the right. Wait a minute, isn’t that the 1G iPod shuffle with a Detroit Pistons logo painted on it?! By golly, I think it is!

The Pistons have begun selling the “MP3 player” pictured to the right for $25 each, the proceeds of which will go to the Detroit Medical Center to benefit breast cancer prevention. The MP3 device sports 128 MB of internal memory, 8 hours of battery life, and MP3/WMA compatibility. It is not compatible with Apple’s FairPlay DRM protected files. Is this copyright infringement, or is it the beginning of Apple licensing old technology (hey, remember the HP iPod)?

[via MacNN)

A (hopefully temporary) Pages auto-save solution

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 1:59 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Tips

Recently, I’ve abandoned Microsoft Word for my word processing needs. While there are certainly some functions which work better in Word, for the basic paper writing process I prefer to use iWork 06’s Pages application. It’s much simpler, has a stream-lined interface, and produces a prettier end product (like automatic word hyphenations). This afternoon, however, I ran into an issue: Pages will not auto-save my work. That means that after a 50 minute writing spree I could potentially be placed back to stage one, unless I saved somewhere in those 50 minutes (which, let’s be honest, is a rare occurrence).

For a solution I turned to my favorite Apple app resource, the Discussions. There I found quite a handy little AppleScript which will tell Pages to automatically save on any interval of your choosing (I chose five minutes). The AppleScript (saved as an application) will automatically launch Pages and invoke the saving. Thus, rather than having to start Pages and then remember to run my little auto-save AppleScript as well, I came up with a simpler solution.

Once I had the AppleScript saved as an application, I placed it inside the iWork folder (Applications > iWork ‘06). Then I used a free download of File Buddy to replace the standard AppleScript icon with the Pages icon (shown above). Then I simply dragged the AppleScript application onto my dock where my Pages shortcut normally sits. Now every time I click the Pages icon in my dock, the application is launched and the AppleScript runs. Now how creative is that? (I’m still hoping that Apple includes auto-save in iWork ‘07, however.)

What if…Apple sold DRM-free music?

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 9:57 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

It may sound like a total and utter daydream, but it’s a legitimate proposition that bears consideration. I was reading Thomas Fitzgerald’s thought-provoking blog post on the subject this morning, and it started me down this long, twisty trail of theorizing.

What would Apple—and indeed, the people who “matter,” the record companies—stand to lose should they switch the online music industry to a DRM-free format? Unprotected MP3s are already sold from a few different vendors: eMusic, for one, has long been in the business, and Yahoo! has continued their experiment as well.

What does the music industry fear from DRM-free downloads? They fear file-sharing, of course—piracy. But that’s silly, because piracy is well-established by this point; we’ve had almost a solid decade of high volume media piracy. I’d say that the vast majority of the songs that you can find on iTunes and the other services are available through file-sharing networks, if you know where to look. Meanwhile, destroying piracy has proved to be emblematic of a phenomenon I like to call the “hydratic equation”—for every service you take out, two more sprout up in its place.

Rumors of iTunes sale “collapse” are greatly exaggerated

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 9:37 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Go skim the top headlines for Apple news today, and you’ll see one excited phrase cropping up over and over again: “iTunes sales are collapsing!” The news media has jumped on this idea like it’s a super-powered trampoline. If they got any more excited, they’d be roaming the streets, holding hand-painted signs scrawled with doomsday predictions and Bible verses. Is the sky really falling, or have these Chicken Littles just decided to jump on the latest bandwagon (to totally mix my metaphors)?

All of these stories cite the same source, the Forrester Research report that we mentioned yesterday, which discusses the buying habits of approximately 2,700 iTunes consumers. The report alleged that iTunes sales have dipped in the first half of 2006, and it suggested that perhaps “even at $0.99, most consumers still aren’t sold on the value of digital music.” But even it didn’t go so far as to allege iTunes’s “collapse”—for that, we have the media to thank.

But how true is it? Blackfriars’ Marketing’s Carl Howe disputes the idea of collapse (twice), saying that “anyone who claims iPod sales are collapsing can’t do basic math.”

The rate of song purchases is going to change month-to-month, and Forrester’s data shows that. But the iTunes Store is the fourth largest online retailer of any type and is selling almost three million songs a day. And of course, none of that counts revenues from TV shows or movies either, each of which amount to millions of dollars of revenue per year. If that’s a collapse, I don’t know what these authors consider success.

This kind of thing is dangerous, if only because it could become a self-fulfilling prophecy, encouraging people not to shop at the iTunes Store. Apple’s stock did dip on the news, but it has rebounded somewhat today. My opinion? Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Update: The author of the original report, Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff chimes in, reiterating what I said above: “Now for the record, iTunes sales are not collapsing. Our credit card transaction data shows a real drop between the January post-holiday peak and the rest of the year, but with the number of transactions we counted it’s simply not possible to draw this conclusion”.

A nifty Expose feature

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 8:46 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Tips

OS X’s Exposé feature has over the years become one of those little pieces of functionality that I simply can’t live without. F9, F10, and F11 are a part of my everyday workflow now, and they’re the feature I miss the most when I have to use Windows for some reason.

I discovered this particular behavior by accident—I haven’t seen it any of the documentation, but perhaps I just haven’t looked closely enough. While using F11 to reveal the desktop is very handy, often I need to move a file from the desktop to another location. I could just switch to the Finder and choose to Hide Others, but that’s more steps than I want to deal with. However, if you hit F11 and then click on the Finder icon in the Dock, or switch to the Finder via command-tab, the rest of the windows will stay hidden. Even better, if you click on the Finder icon in the Dock, and there are no Finder windows currently open, it will open one for you and keep the rest of the windows hidden. As far as I can tell, this only works for the Finder. Switching to any other application will cause all the windows to spring back into place.

This is probably common knowledge, but I still find it incredibly useful when I need to file a document away deep within my cavernous hard disk. That’s right, cavernous. It’s like an echo chamber in there.

Office v.X and 2004 updates hit…psych!

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 8:02 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Security

Last week, we alerted you to a possible security vulnerability that affected Microsoft Office on both Windows and OS X. While we never got too much in the way of details, updates for both affected Mac versions have been released today—sort of. While a pair of updates were available, MacFixIt reports that they’ve both been pulled. It’s not known at the moment whether this is intentional or not.

The description for the patches read:

This update contains several updates to enhance security and stability, including fixes for vulnerabilities that an attacker can use to overwrite the contents of your computer’s memory with malicious code.

Update: Microsoft has acknowledged that the updates were mistakenly posted: “The updates posted in error were pre-release binaries that had been staged internally as part of our testing for an upcoming release. Due to human error, they were accidentally published to the public websites before our full testing release process was complete.” Oh, those pesky humans.

[via Infinite Loop]

Mail.app IMAP tips

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 7:36 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Tips

The secret is out. I try to help people with Mac problems all across the net. I tried to quietly help Jon on his Wizardishungry blog who was having a bunch of issues with Mail.app. I love Mail.app and I’m a little tired of people bashing it (particularly when the solution is to use Gmail), so if I can help make it as pleasant as it is for me for someone else, I’m happy. Here were his issues in fast form:

1. Folders appeared underneath the Inbox instead of being broken out.
2. Duplicate “Sent”, “Drafts”, etc. special function folders.
3. Sent emails were being banished into the abyss.

The solutions, in short form are:

1. Use the “IMAP Path Prefix” to break them out. In most cases where the above problem happens (extremely frequently I might add), the correct value is “INBOX”.
2. Select the folder you want to use and use the “Use This Mailbox For” menu in the Mailbox menu. This is good if your webmail access or command line client insists upon using an alternately named folder. The weird naming even gets hidden from you.
3. Related to number 1, until Mail.app knows to make folder underneath your Inbox, it tries to make them on the same level, fails to make the Sent folder, and has to dump the receipt.

Tim Gaden just had to out me as being helpful. Hopefully this advice will help a couple of you as well.

The BEST iSight security use yet

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 6:49 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Security

When I came across this tip at macosxhints.com today, my jaw dropped. It has to be the most brilliant use of the iSight yet. Seriously. It describes how to make your iSight snap pictures any time someone tries to log into your Mac and fails. Now you can catch your jealous roommate in the act.

It requires a tiny bit of technical knowledge, but the author of the hint has repackaged the required code as an installation package to make it easy. For those interested in how it’s done, it’s a little bit of a Unix hack. Basically, it uses a script that watches the end of a log for a failed login attempt and when the appropriate line is written, your iSight is invoked and takes a picture.

No doubt you could hack this even further to upload the pictures to somewhere on the net. That is left as an exercise for the reader.

Virtualization in the Linux kernel

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 6:12 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Rivals

Virtualization isn’t just going to be hot technology, it’s already hot technology. I’ll admit it, I’ve been playing with the copy of Parallels I bought including its Coherence mode for Windows and installing a half dozen Linux distributions. For those that need that one Windows app, it’s a god send. That need exists in Linux as well.

As such, Linus Torvalds, the progenitor of the operating system has added KVM virtualization technology to version 2.6.20 of the kernel. It takes advantage of virtualization technology that’s becoming standard in modern processors, much like Parallels does. I’m sure a few people will use this as yet another reason that if Apple hasn’t already bought out Parallels, that it will.

Let the rumor mill churn on that.

[via Slashdot]

The (poorly named) notMac Challenge

Posted on Dec. 13, ’06, 5:32 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Internet

When I read about the notMac Challenge today in the news, I thought I must have missed something. Basically, this guy pledges to match up to $10,000 for a reward going to someone assembling a free .Mac (or dotMac) replacement. I’ve had my share of gripes with the service, but I still feel the $80 to renew each year (buy it on Amazon instead of using auto-renew) isn’t me being soaked. As I’d like to get that money, here is my solution:

1. Email: Use an AIM account for email. It’s IMAP and they give you 2 GB. You can even use SSL to protect yourself as you check email. Their web interface isn’t horrendous either.
2. Sync: Use MySync. It’s recently been bought up and the future pricing is unknown, but it’s still a solution.
3. iDisk: Use Box.net’s WebDAV access.
4. iWeb publishing: Publish to a folder and upload to any webhost you want. There are free ones out there with FTP access.
5. iCal publishing: Use iCal Exchange.
6. Online access to your Address Book: Use Plaxo.

There. Do I win?

Firefox 3 alpha released for the brave

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 4:58 PM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Software

Gran Paradiso, a.k.a. Firefox 3, has many hoping that Mac users will finally get a robust browser that can handle whatever you throw at it, from endless flexibility to rendering text properly. While the Firefox 1 alpha probably registered on the excitement scale at a similar level as a new emoticon set, checking out the Firefox 3 alpha was a no brainer. How’d it go, you ask? You’re too kind. My thoughts:

• It flies. Web pages are loaded so fast that it stings.
• Text handling has indeed improved significantly. The Cairo engine makes the older Gecko one look like a toy. And not a very fun one at that.
• Not all of my extensions worked, but that’s to be expected, as this is both an alpha build and a significant change in the codebase. New extensions will come when Firefox 3 gets a bit closer to release

[via LifeHacker]

Prediction: the Apple iPhone will not be “iPhone” at all

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 2:42 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Apple » Speculation

I predict that when (and if) Apple releases an iPhone it will not be called “iPhone” at all. There is too much speculation, market analysis, and just plain rumor manufacturing for Apple to use the title. There are great expectations that this Apple’s phone device will revamp the entire cell phone market, just as the iPod did to the MP3 player market. For that reason I believe that Apple will attempt to distance itself from these preconceived notions by choosing a new name for the device. Also, don’t forget we’re talking about Apple, the company who loves secrets and surprises. I hope we find that I’m right in just four short weeks at Macworld Expo 2007.

Waiting for the day Photoshop goes Universal

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 2:04 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

For me, the day Photoshop goes Universal could not come sooner. Consistently running such a large application with heavy processing in Rosetta creates countless problems for my system. I’ve been greeted by application errors at launch (Sorry, a serious error has been detected. To continue using Adobe Photoshop, please reinstall the application.), kernel panics, and most recently an error every time I attempt to open an image (Could not complete your request because of a program error.). Not to mention the non-native application is a huge RAM hog and launch time is ridiculously long. I’m greatly looking forward to the day when Adobe finally takes Universal Photoshop CS3 to market. Anyone else feel similarly?

In Praise of the Zune?

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 10:49 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | iPod

Ever had to write something that was absolutely contrary to every fiber of being in your body? If so, it probably read a bit like Leander Kahney’s In Praise of the Zune which can be found on wired.com. For one reason or another, in the Cult of Mac, there is a tepid defense of the Zune, complete the oft-negated arguments of a bigger screen (at same resolution), subscription-based music store (here’s to hoping the Zune store doesn’t fail), and even a claim that the iPod’s control scheme is inferior, because Mr. Kahney tends to “frequently mess up the buttons on the iPod, even after five years of using them.” Sounds like a design problem to me.

You’ll also find the standard downplaying of poor battery life, worthless wi-fi, and atrocious software.

Perhaps the best part is the assertion that the Zune is OS X:

Using the Zune is like graduating from the boring 2-D world of Windows XP to the bright, dynamic world of Mac OS X. Except in this case, the Zune is OS X.

Save your power cord with a loop-de-loop

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 9:53 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Tips

As much as I love the industrial design of Apple’s power adapters (I’ve had an ode to them in mind for months now), they do occasionally leave something to be desired in the way of robustness. I went through two or three of the old “yo-yo” power adapters for my PowerBook G3 and iBook, and I’ve started to worry about the MagSafe connector on my new MacBook. Sure, you could rewrap and reinforce your connector, but what if you—like me—are so abysmal at arts and crafts type stuff that your seventh grade bird house resembled a surrealist painting?

For us DIY-impaired users, Mac OS X Hints reader tightlines submitted this simple solution for alleviating pressure on your power adapter’s connector.

Slide the cord keeper right up to the reinforcement at the male end, as seen in the image at right. Insert the plug into your Mac. About three inches from Mac, make a loop and double the cord back on itself and insert the doubled portion into the cord keeper to maintain the loop. This reinforces the connection to the computer, holding it at a 90 degree angle from computer. It also serves as a shock absorber, as the loop will release first before pulling the cord from the computer.

iPodcast trademark rumor is nonsense

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 9:21 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Huh?

Update: As a reader below points out, a search of the USPTO’s site reveals two trademark applications for “iPodcast,” both filed by Apple last September, and both still marked as “LIVE.” Neither has been approved as of the moment, and both predate Apple’s refusal to claim “podcast.” That said, neither of these applications are mentioned or referenced in the blog post which I’ve linked to. I still suspect that they have little chance of getting such a trademark, but I suppose that remains to be seen. Either way, it appears that I should have done a little more thorough research myself. Apologies.

Let’s nip this one in the bud shall we? Apple is not looking to trademark “iPodcast.” Nor would they really have any more chance of actually getting said trademark than I do of winning American Idol. This half-baked blog post is possibly the flimsiest combination of conjecture and misinformation that I’ve ever read.

With this filing It makes me feel that Apple really does not want to play nice in the podcasts space. First and foremost Apple needs to remember that they did not come up with the word Podcast and for them to try and exert their influence on sites and applications that have any portion of the word “Pod” or “Podcast” in it’s name is in my opinion not the way to build community devotion.

Not only does the patent in question (which we covered several weeks ago) only refer to a hierarchical menu system present in iPods for the past year, but there is a rather substantial difference between a patent and a trademark. Furthermore, Apple has repeatedly disavowed any intention of trademarking “podcast.” Apple issued cease and desists only over their iPod trademark, which they are legally required to defend, or else risk losing.

Nobody knows what the game plan is for Apple but after seeing this Patent filing along with others that they have filed in the past I am sure it will require lawyers and hopefully the Patent office will not have there [sic] heads in the sand on their tactics.

[via Digg]

Jim Allchin’s secret identity: Mac-man?

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 8:41 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Rivals

See this man? This is James Edward “Jim” Allchin, co-president of the Platform Products and Services Group at Microsoft. Allchin is one of the primary movers behind Windows Vista, although he’ll be retiring after the OS ships.

But Allchin harbors a deep, dark secret. He wants a Mac. Truly, madly, deeply.

During a recent lawsuit against Microsoft over anti-competitive behavior, an email from Allchin to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer came to light, in which Allchin stated: “I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft.” The subject of the email was that Microsoft was losing sight of what its customers wanted in terms of developing Vista.

In a blog entry posted today, Allchin takes the email for a spin, insisting that the Mac comment was intended “for effect” and was “purposefully dramatic.” Okay, sure. What else do you have to say, Jim?

Windows Vista has turned into a phenomenal product, better than any other OS we’ve ever built and far, far better than any other software available today, in my opinion. It’s going to be available to customers on Jan 30, and I suggest everyone go out and get it as soon as you can. It’s that good.

Allchin, you may recall, was proposed as a candidate for replacing Steve Jobs. I’m not sure that’s a logical decision at all, but I do think we’ll be keeping an ear to the ground after Vista ships and Allchin retires. Perhaps he’ll be singing a different tune.

Macworld’s 22nd Eddy Awards

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 8:03 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Our colleagues over at Macworld have released their annual list of the best of the best for the Mac. The Editors’ Choice Awards (known colloquially by the guys down at the bar as the “Eddys”) are voted upon by Macworld’s editorial team. This year’s list (the 22nd) features 29 items, ranging from Apple hardware like the MacBook and Mac Pro, to software like Google Earth and Fission, to peripherals like the EyeTV Hybrid and Logitech’s Revolution mice.

In order to be eligible for a 2006 Eddy award, the product had to be released between November 1st, 2005, and November 1st, 2006. Though only 29 made the final cut, the original list had 120 items. As we speak, the remaining 91 items are being sealed in a stone container and buried deep beneath the sands of Egypt…wait, sorry, that’s the Ark of the Covenant.

Of course, it’s never too soon to start thinking about next year’s Eddys. With Macworld Expo fast approaching, we’re bound to see some potential candidates surface. How about a piece of hardware that shoots lightning-like death rays over the assembled hordes of darkness—sorry, that’s the Ark of the Covenant again. Sorry. Damn.

Quad core chips coming early

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 8:03 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Hardware

Intel woke a sleeping giant when it started talking about its upcoming quad core chips. After all, the server applications alone are tremendous due to parallel processing power. They’ve moved their schedule up two months, resulting in sales starting on Monday. However, these chips clock speed aren’t as high as those in the Mac Pro.

The 5335 is a 2GHz processor with a 1.333GHz front-side bus and 8M bytes of Level 2 memory cache. The front side bus is the connection between the central processing unit and the memory cache. The 5335’s list price is $690 when purchased in quantities of 1,000 or more.

It is positioned above the 5320 model, which features a 1.86GHz processor, a 1.066GHz front-side bus, also selling for $690, and below the 5345, with a 2.33GHz processor and a 1.333GHz front-side bus for $851.

Two more versions are coming in the next quarter. The question is though, would typical Mac Pro buyers benefit from the change. Certainly a portion use Mac Pros for long running tasks that are threaded effectively, having the ability to take advantage of all four existing and eight future cores. Another segment, which use it as an expandable desktop (such as myself) that benefit from a better clock speed with fewer cores might experience a speed loss. Perhaps this is just another precursor to Apple releasing the mythical headless iMac with a couple PCI and hard drive slots with more consumer aimed processors.

Clear up .Mac sync issues by starting fresh

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 7:19 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Tips

The big selling point of Apple’s .Mac service is the syncing aspect. I use it heavily for the stock stuff (contacts, calendar, email preferences, keychains, etc.) as well as Yojimbo (the syncing is what sells it). However, I started seeing weird behavior. My Mac Pro was syncing all the time. When I started fresh with my Powerbook, it couldn’t sync the calendar.

I tried using the Reset capability over and over again, but no matter how many times I tried it, the situation stayed the same. I purposely left the Mac Pro off only to find five plus dialogs reporting sync errors on the Powerbook. The solution was to unregister all my Macs. Once you unregister the last, it prompts you to delete all your data off the server. Do it. That clears out the data store. I then started syncing up again, starting my Mac Pro (as it had the most complete set).

All my syncing weirdness ceased. The Mac Pro wasn’t endlessly trying to sync. My Powerbook quickly got my calendar data. All is good. The lesson here is that if you’ve been using syncing heavily for a while now and things aren’t working quite like you’d expect, unregister everything and start over. The problem may be on the server.

Microsoft gets petty: now they’re ripping off Apple’s icons

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 6:38 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Rivals

Just when you thought Microsoft couldn’t sink any lower by copying Apple’s features and sense of style, they steal icons. Seriously guys, don’t you have a staff of artists to come up with stuff like this for you? The stolen image was on this page. It was originally on Apple’s Mac OS X Server page.

Once word of this got out, Microsoft naturally removed the offending image and replaced with its own hastily created version. I can almost understand the repeated use of stock photography featuring Macs instead of Windows PCs (back in the day before Macs couldn’t run Windows without VPC). This is just plain lame. Maybe it’s not a big thing, but at the same time, Microsoft needs to cut it out.

Aperture 1.5.2 update released

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 5:52 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

Scott’s spidey sense is probably tingling right about now as his beloved Aperture has been updated to 1.5.2. Apple was a little less terse than what has become the standard update description of “Bug fixes”.

Here are the areas that get the much more verbose “addresses issues related to overall reliability and performance”:

• Contact sheet printing
• Smart Albums
• Watermarks
• Lift and stamp
• Image export
• Versions created using an external editor

Sounds like good areas to work on. I guess. Anyone else really wishing for a more complete explanation?

The REAL Week of Independent Developers

Posted on Dec. 12, ’06, 5:24 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

I’m not sure MacZOT helps Mac developers (and yes, I have seen some developers overly joyed by its results). The question today is whether MacHeist’s bundle of apps as part of its “Week of the Independent Mac Developer” is really helping.

Justin Williams doesn’t think so:

Rather than support gimmicks such as MacHeist that hurt the independent Mac software platform why not directly support shareware developers so they earn the full amount of money for all their hard work? Sometime this week purchase a license for three shareware applications that you have had on your radar for a while. Let those developers know that you want to support all of their hard work with your dollars.

Neither does Gus Mueller:

Well, that’s a big crock of s***…I’m certain the developers who are participating in the bundle know what they are getting into, and have good reasons for doing so. But for MacHeist to call it “The Week of the Independent Mac Developer” and to practically give away the software… well, that’s just a f***ing insult to me and all the other hard working developers out there.

Don’t forget to look at the comments in Gus’s post for a financial breakdown. I personally buy software as I need it, so I’m not eyeing anything per se. Except TextMate, which will be part of this bundle should a certain number of bundles be sold. I’m willing to shell out that much for licenses to the rest (though I’ll be gifting away a few of them as Xmas presents).

I won’t feel bad for buying a bundle as these developers indeed knew what they were getting themselves into. Also, 25% going to the charity of my choice is a great thing. At the same time, Justin’s idea is brilliant. If you’ve been looking at any shareware, now is the time to stop penny pinching and buy a license.

Project your iPod with an iProjector

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 2:42 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | iPod » iPod Accessories

Ever wished your iPod could become a portable movie theater? (Let’s first clarify that movie theaters must have screens larger than 2.5 inches.) Well your wishes will soon be fulfilled, as Ion Audio has previewed its iProjector. Simply put this device is a projector with an iPod dock, along with several other video inputs for DVD players or VCRs. 24-bit color, 1,000 ANSI lumens, and an up to 90x30 inch screen promise to make your video viewing experience excellent. The iProjector is slated for release at CES in January (which will be covered by none other than MacUser’s own Dan Moren!).

[via Electronista]

Dell releases first Blu-ray laptop

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 2:08 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Apple » Rivals

Dell has taken a major step and released its first notebook with a Blu-ray DVD drive. Not only does this drive allow the user to watch (the relatively few) high-definition DVDs, but it also allows discs to be burnt with up to 50GB of data on them. This is what differentiates Blu-ray from HD-DVD (although the Blu-ray discs are much more expensive). Dell’s Blu-ray laptop, the priciest version of the XPS M1710, can be had for $3,699 with a 2.33 GHz Core 2 Duo, 1 GB of RAM, and a 80 GB SATA hard drive.

As of right now Sony and Dell have chosen Blu-ray and Acer and Toshiba have chosen HD-DVD. It seems to me that the format war is nearing an end, with both Sony and Dell on board with Blu-ray. I’m still waiting for Apple, though, to call the war over.

[via Macworld]

Grab a $10 discount off any NewsGator product

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 10:40 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Software

Head over to NewsGator right now for a special Holiday Discount on any of their products. Just enter promo code NGHoliday at the Shopping Cart phase to receive a $10 discount off any NewsGator product during December. That includes, for those of you who may be wondering, the fantastic NetNewsWire, an app that I quite plausibly use more than any other. It is simply the best RSS reader in existence.

Assuming you care less about consuming information than creating it, you can also grab a $10 dollar discount off MarsEdit, the fantastic blogging tool. Designed to work hand in hand with NetNewsWire, MarsEdit makes blogging a rather simple experience, from writing to posting. With a normal price of $24.95, the Holiday Discount brings the price down to less than $15.

MacHeist Bundle announced today

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 10:00 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Apple » Events

As promised, the entire MacHeist bundle has been announced. They are as follows:

1. Delicious Library
2. FotoMagico
3. ShapeShifter
4. DEVONthink Personal
5. Disco
6. RapidWeaver
7. iClip
8. One Pangea Game
9. NewsFire*
10. TextMate*

Here’s how I see it. A good deal of people will probably hold off making the purchase to try to determine whether or not NewsFire and TextMate will be unlocked. If they all made their purchase right off the bat, the apps probably would. However, with thousands of consumers waiting around playing a game of “if you do it, I’ll do it, but you go first…”, the odds of TextMate, and possibly NewsFire becoming unlocked are slim, at least in this blogger’s eyes.

As we’ve seen before though, I’m a jaded cynic. Let’s hear what you guys think will happen.

Stock blogger should stick to stock in trade

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 9:22 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Here’s another oft-repeated fallacy that needs to be quashed: iPod owners are thieves. The latest allegation comes from Blogging Stocks writer Matthew Himler. As evidence, Himler cites a Forrester Research report showing lackluster sales for the iTunes Store. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have read the details closely. Here’s what he somewhat confusingly reports:

Forrester Research issued a report last week declaring that the 3% of households that have purchased music from iTunes store spent a total of $35 for the year [emphasis added], and half of them spent only $3 or less at a single time.

Forrester’s recent analysis of more than 2,700 US iTunes debit and credit card transactions reveals that 3% of online households made an iTunes purchase in the past year. Apple’s iTunes proves that $0.99 micropayments for digital music can lead to substantial revenue; buyers spent an average of $35 [emphasis added] at iTunes over the past year…With half of all transactions costing $3 or less…

Himler continues on with foggy assertions, speculating where-oh-where these iPod users get their music:

My best guess is through the illegal peer-to-peer networks, which continue to give the music industry its biggest challenge to greater profitability.

I don’t find it hard to believe that the majority of iTunes users don’t spend a lot on music (taking the crazy $8000 guy as an outlier); I haven’t bought music from the iTunes store in over a year—then again, I’m not a big music customer in the first place. Still, I do know people who use the store quite heavily, and Apple has moved over a billion songs.

Forrester asserts that since half of the purchases are under $3, the credit-card transaction fees could quickly make iTunes “unprofitable.” That said, Apple’s Q4 financials reported that the store was running above break-even. Either way, it’s little excuse for calling iPod owners thieves.

In space, no one can hear you rock

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 8:42 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Geekery

As a child, I used to amuse myself by building space stations out of LEGOs. One thing I never took into account was how the astronauts would entertain themselves—after all, with the constant threat of alien attacks (action figures) and the looming danger of a black hole (my mother vacuuming), there wasn’t really time for them to enjoy themselves.

Fortunately, the International Space Station has proved fairly safe from those sorts of mishaps, so the personnel aboard have plenty of time to unwind. European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter appears to do so by jamming to a 4G iPod (complete with Belkin battery pack, for, er extended play). I’ve circled the iPod in the picture above, but it’s much easier to see in the high-res image. Well, at least he doesn’t need to worry about winding up his cables.

So, readers, what is Colonel Reiter rocking out to in low Earth orbit? I’ve got my fingers crossed for “Spirit in the Sky,” but that may have been because I’ve seen Apollo 13 too many times.

[via Macworld UK]

Install twice (or more), optimize once

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 8:11 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Tips

From the I-didn’t-know-that Department (it’s actually quite large), comes this little tidbit: did you know that you can launch multiple installer packages at once? If you open several different .pkgs, OS X’s Installer will install them sequentially and then—here’s the kicker—only running system optimiziation once, potentially saving you a bundle of time. I mean, c’mon, how many times in your life have you stared at that little candy-striped bar as the optimization inches its way up to 100%?

In some ways, this is kind of a no-brainer, as the Software Update service basically does the same thing. But, here’s another little trick: you can even launch a second (or third, or fourth) installer package while the first one is installing. The installer will queue it and still only run system optimization once.

In fact, I’m going to go install twenty apps just so I can see this at work. I’m just that kind of guy. What? Yeah, that kind of guy. Crazy.

[via Daring Fireball]

Steve to Steve: You had nothing to do with the Apple I and II

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 7:54 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » People

Steve Wozniak is getting pretty cantankerous in his latter years, calling Steve Jobs out for claiming that he helped engineer early Apple computers. I’m waiting for tempers get so heated that Fox brings back celebrity boxing with an all Apple match of Steve vs. Steve.

Another misconception that bothered him was the idea that he and Steve Jobs had designed the Apple I and the Apple II together. The sole designer of both those computers was Steve Wozniak. The sole designer.

I need some drama back in my life now that MacBook wireless hack saga is over. Considering the interview also contains an account of Woz pranking President Nixon. Could Woz possibly take his Segway out late one night to TP Jobs house? Nah, it’s got to be something far more geeky, like rewiring his doorbell to play the sound from his car commercial.

[via Valleywag]

Apple answers my questions about Lights Out Management

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 7:19 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Geekery

I’m going to pretend that Apple wrote this support article based upon my curiosity about Lights Out Management.

Lights Out Management (LOM) is Apple’s implementation of the remote monitoring and management protocol Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) developed by Intel.

The addition of Lights Out Management to Xserve provides for the monitoring of over 100 sensors that measure voltage, temperature, fan speeds, etc. Using Server Monitor, one can get a fairly complete picture of the health of an Xserve.

In addition to monitoring LOM can also be used to control some functions of an Xserve. Xserve can be shutdown or restarted from a remote location via the implementation of LOM in Server Monitor. Even if the Xserve is in an unresponsive state, one should be able to gain access via LOM.

I’d rather not copy the entire document into this entry, so if you’d like the four one one, take a look. I have used similar technologies in bigger servers, so it’s good that I can now compare it to something else.

Firefox text handling follow up

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 6:29 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Internet

Jon Hicks saw Zeldman’s article on Firefox’s poor text handling and has responded with information about Cairo, the next big thing in Mozilla product text handling. He breaks it down about why Mozilla products will suddenly improve rather drastically (see picture attached).

As highlighted recently by Jeffrey Zeldman, Firefox text rendering lags behind that of Safari, or rather Gecko lags behind WebKit. This is because at present, Gecko browsers use the older Quickdraw graphics library, originally developed for OS 9, rather than Quartz, or the more recent Core Image libraries. Its been the main reason I prefer Omniweb or Safari over Camino/Firefox, text just looks SO much crisper and smoother.

Things are about to change however, as the switch to the Cairo graphics library in Gecko browsers will allow them to use Core Image on the OS X platform. There is already a developer release of Firefox 3.0, codenamed Gran Paradiso with Cairo enabled. You can also grab a latest trunk build of Camino, which also uses Cairo.

I’m crossing my fingers that Firefox 3.0 will finally start to look and feel like an OS X application.

Wanna get lucky?

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 5:49 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Stores

Some of you may be familiar with Woot, the one item deal per day website. One of their recurring themes is their Bag of Crap. Basically, they sell you something for a dollar that could be just about anything. Anybody that’s used the website for a week or two becomes nearly rabid about wanting to get in on the deal.

Apple is doing something similar in Japan, dubbing it Lucky Bag. However, it’s not really modeled after Woot at all as it’s a Japanese New Years tradition called Fukubukuro. Retailers sell the bags with the contents substantially discounted. Apple’s bags are approximately $450. Pricey, but considering they could contain almost a grand in stuff, it’s a great deal. Now only if I could order it here in the US from the online product page.

Apple fan at birth

Posted on Dec. 11, ’06, 5:05 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple

I think the picture attached to this post from Flickr, speaks for itself. Just in case it doesn’t, allow me babble on for a while. This kid was born with an Apple symbol birthmark. Wasn’t it just a bit ago Dan was talking about constructing Steve Jobs successor? Could it be that Steve has paid someone to genetically engineer his replacement?

I can see it now, the Turtlenecked One will hold this mystical child up for all of the Apple campus to see. It won’t be long before some secret, back room ritual is performed to pass on CEO status. The real question is, will SJ wait until the kid is 18, or will he do it earlier and stay on in an advisory role? Perhaps that’s the big surprise for Macworld SF 2006.

[via Digg]

MacHeist Bundle to be released tomorrow morning

Posted on Dec. 10, ’06, 12:13 PM PT by Aaron Freedman

Category | Internet

While I admit that I haven’t put much effort into MacHeist (I’ve gotten codes from the forums for almost every one), I still really like the whole game. But now, the big splash for the end of MacHeist is upon us. At Midnight EST tonight, MacHeist will have some sort of “evening party,” followed by the release of of the elusive MacHeist bundle at 9 AM that morning. And, in addition to getting a discount on the bundle price based on how many heists you’ve completed, the first 10 customers will also get the entire bundle for free. So, start your refresh buttons and get ready for what could be one hell of a software deal.

VLC hits 0.8.6, adds Windows Media 9 support

Posted on Dec. 10, ’06, 8:49 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Video

If you spend any time watching video on your Mac, you’ve probably at least heard of VLC. If not, well, I’m here to fix that. VLC is an indispensable weapon in your Mac’s arsenal. It takes the hassle out of worrying about codecs and feature lock-out (yeah, I’m looking at you, QuickTime Player), and just helps you play back whatever video you want. And to top that all off, it’s free. As in air.

The fine folks have just released the latest version of VLC, 0.8.6, featuring a handful of new features, including support for Windows Media 9 files. It runs on both PowerPC and Intel Macs, and is being downloaded at a rate of roughly 3.6 copies per second as I write this. So what the heck are you waiting for?

Update: Clarified, as per comment below, that support was added for Windows Media 9 specifically.

Stop the presses! Analyst Gartenberg takes reasoned approach

Posted on Dec. 10, ’06, 8:23 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Speculation

I know we’ve been pretty harsh on analysts in the past (not, I would argue, unduly so—it’s not as if they don’t get paid way more than we do, so what do they care?). Still, when I read an analyst who really hits all the high points in a reasonable, sensible fashion, well, I have to say I’m impressed. So kudos to Michael Gartenberg of Jupiter Research:

I got a call the other day from a Wall Street publication asking me if the new delays in shipping the iPhone was affecting Apple’s stock price. Excuse me? Delays? Is it possible to call a product that hasn’t been acknowledged much less shipped delayed? While I know that December is the best month for Apple rumors, this is starting to get out of hand as mainstream press and analysts comment about a product that may or may not even be announced at Macworld.

While Michael does delve into prognostication towards the end of his post, he does so in a very general manner. So am I lauding totally vague predictions? Not across the board, but when an analyst who doesn’t have information (or who has no information that can be shared) is forthright about admitting that, well, that’s someone I’ll be listening to. Because the alternative is people who just seem to be making stuff up.

Fix ‘preferred’ email address for Address Book groups

Posted on Dec. 9, ’06, 9:59 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Tips

Well, those of you who didn’t enjoy my self-proclaimed stupidest-Address-Book-hack-ever yesterday, perhaps this will be more to your liking. As I browsed through some new AppleCare help documentation, I came across a feature of Address Book that not only had I never seen before, but also helped fixed a problem I’d been having.

I have a couple groups of friends set up as Address Book groups, so I can just pop that group name in Mail.app’s “To” field, but a number of my friends have accumulated multiple email addresses over the years for home, work, etc. A while back I started noticing that I had to change the addresses for some of them every time I used this group functionality, so I reverted to just typing in their names automatically.

Then I saw this AppleCare article: Mac OS X 10.4, .Mac: “Preferred” address not synced if contact is in an Address Book group. “‘Preferred’ address?” I thought. “What’s that about?” Skimming through, it quickly became apparent that it was the solution of my dreams.

Select a group in Address Book and choose “Edit Distribution List…” from the Edit menu and you’ll be given the option of selecting a default address for every member of that group by clicking on it (it’ll turn bold when you do). Problem fixed! Back to using groups for me.

Hello, I’m a Christian…

Posted on Dec. 9, ’06, 9:31 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Advertising

Apple ads always seem to be among the most frequently parodied commercials around. Earlier this year saw one comparing the PS3 vs. Nintendo Wii; a quick search on YouTube shows dozens more.

Have to admit, though, that this is the first time I’ve seen a religious parody of Apple ads. Think Christian has a series of videos where the PC and Mac roles are filled by a Christian and a “Christ-follower.” While this blogger is neither, having been raised by a Jewish father and an ex-Catholic mother, I have a number of friends who would probably prefer to describe themselves as “Christ-followers” over “Christians.” For one thing, it’s well-established that Christ-followers don’t get as many viruses as Christians, though that could be due to their relatively small marketshare.

On a related note, TIME Magazine has also apparently established that God is a Mac user, so I guess we know WWJC (that’s “Where Would Jesus Compute”).

PC Magazine do-it-themselves iPhone

Posted on Dec. 9, ’06, 8:43 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Geekery

Tired of waiting for an iPhone? PC Magazine’s Sascha Segan walks you through making your own by modding an existing phone, in his case the Motorola SLVR. Segan picked the SLVR because Motorolas are among the most hackable phones on the market. He swapped the phone’s silver keypad for a black one, removed the 100 song limit on the internal version of iTunes, ditched the 512MB SD card for a 1GB model, added podcast support, killed the included browser in favor of Opera’s cell browser, reskinned the interface, removed the network branding (using sugar!), and upgraded the antenna.

The combined cost of all the upgrades, though? $420 (though most of that was the $250 antenna upgrade). The software changes are mostly free, though you need to be careful not to delete your data or brick your phone while doing that—be sure to make a backup of any existing contacts or data on your handset first. The end result is still—we hope—pretty far from what an actual iPhone might offer, but at the same time, it’s probably a sight better than most other phones on the market. And a little do-it-yourselfing never hurt anybody. Mostly.

[via Gizmodo]

Clean up with the Sudden Motion Sensor and your Roomba

Posted on Dec. 9, ’06, 8:04 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Geekery

I’ve begun coveting a Roomba recently, as living in an apartment with a cat definitely means a fair amount of dust accumulation (I think the cat enjoys acting as a makeshift duster). Besides that, there’s the obvious benefit of having the Roomba chase the cat around. While I could wait for their paths to intersect by chance, I’m more of a proactive guy.

Now, if I install this Perl script, I can control my Roomba with my MacBook. Better yet, I can use the MacBook’s Sudden Motion Sensor to send my little friendly robot after our little furry roommate. Finally, something more useful (and perhaps even more fun) than turning it into a virtual lightsaber.

The program requires that you download Amit Singh’s AMSTracker in order to enable the Sudden Motion Sensor functionality. From there, it’s only a short hop to cat-chasing excitement. And if you really want to take it up a notch, you can have your Roomba sing the Jaws theme at the same time.

[via Digg]

How not to enjoy surround sound

Posted on Dec. 9, ’06, 12:28 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Troubleshooting

I managed to get my hands on some Logitech Z-5450 speakers ($187 after a $50 mail-in rebate at Amazon recently). I used to have surround sound with some Logitech Z-640 speakers and a M-Audio Revolution 7.1 soundcard. It used regular analog outputs which worked for a few things, but not DVDs.

When I moved up to the Mac Pro, the sound card got lost in the PCI compatibility struggle. That meant I was back to pumping stereo sound through a set of surround sound speakers. It was silly to say the least. I wanted to move up to optical to get surround sound that even worked with DVDs. I’d have the bonus of having speakers I could use with any of Apple’s current Macs including full surround sound.

I got Griffin’s Xpress Cable that is not only a Toslink cable, but includes mini-jack adapters that give it Mac mini, iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro compatibility. I set up the speakers, connected the cable, set EyeTV to use digital output, and… nothing. Bah. If I held down the settings button on the speakers, suddenly the sound came through. That seemed to indicate a speaker defect. But then I tried to force the entire system to use digital sound. No go. Instead of getting an error because EyeTV had tied up that output, it silently fails but gives no indication (note to Apple: indicate there was a problem). Once EyeTV was quit, I could route sound perfectly (including DVD sound).

After some quick investigation, I found that EyeTV 2.3.2 has digital output issues. It’s not spelled out in El Gato’s documentation, but it handles it really poorly. You can’t even pipe the sound into the standard system output in order to work around the issue. Instead, you need to download a beta of the next release. You could download the listed beta 26, or you could download the beta 31 that I found through a series of “curl -I” requests to see how high the versions go. Once I got the beta, all was good. Now if only I could still control the sound (or at least mute) with my keyboard.

Vista’s activation hacked in the blink of an eye

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 2:35 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Windows

Dan reported on the activation scheme of Windows Vista nearly two months ago. According to his post, if you don’t activate your copy of Vista, the OS places severe limitations on what you can and cannot do. For example, web surfing is limited to one hour sessions, the pretty new Aero interface is disabled, and Office will not launch. Additionally, Vista “phones home” every time the computer communicates with Microsoft (ie: downloading updates), just to check that your license is still valid.

Today, no less than eight days after the release of Windows Vista for businesses, the activation scheme has been cracked. And it’s been cracked on a very large scale as well—not on the individual level, but on the enterprise level. To summarize, the crack basically simulates a Microsoft Key Management Service (KMS) activation server, which normally would allow corporate users to activate their many copies of Windows Vista. However, when the server is virtually simulated, the same end result (activation) is achieved with no communication to Microsoft. Thus, piracy ensues.

Well, Microsoft, you’ve outdone yourself again. An elaborate effort with an easily hacked end result. Now, I will admit that for the actual individual end-user this hack may not be feasible, but considering Mac OSX has been activation (and hack) free since its conception, I think Microsoft has something to learn.

[via Macworld]

Put your photos to good use with Posterino

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 2:01 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Software

So you’ve accumulated thousands of digital photos, maybe even have them organized and sorted in iPhoto, and now have nothing to do with them. I find this a perplexing problem with digital art—it mostly just sits on your hard drive (sometimes on the internet) with no real great benefit to mankind. Posterino is one application which may put some of your photos to good use. You can use iPhoto or Aperture albums to instantly create giant posters of all your work (check out the awesome one to the right) or snappy make little e-postcards meant for emailing to friends and family. My favorite example poster on the Posterino sample page has got to be this one. That’s way too many ferrets on one poster.

Second Impressions: Return to Parallels Desktop

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 1:37 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Windows

I finally had a chance to revisit Parallels today, after my brief dive into the new beta last week. At that point, I’d complained that I couldn’t get the coherence mode to work, and I had a handful of other little gripes. One of my astute readers asked if I’d installed the Parallels Tools. I thought I had, given that I’d installed them on Boot Camp before launching Parallels, but it turns out that there are two separate sets of Parallels Tools, the second of which are installed from inside Parallels Desktop (Actions -> Install Parallels Tools…). So this afternoon, when I had some spare time, I fired those up, and restarted my Virtual Machine.

Me = blown away.

If it wasn’t for the fact that Parallels chugs my processor power like nobody’s business (on my Core Duo 2.0Ghz MacBook, it uses on average, the equivalent of one core) as well as eating up a decent chunk of my RAM, I’d have this sucker running all the time. The only downside, at the moment, is that since I’m using the Boot Camp partition for Parallels as well, you cannot suspend it (probably because it has to access the actual disk).

Coherence adds not only the ability run Windows apps like they’re Mac apps, but it also lets you drag and drop files between Windows and Mac apps. The ability to run XP and OS X in separate virtual desktops is cool, but Coherence makes that look kludgy. I was shocked and amazed to find that my two-finger scrolling worked perfectly in Firefox running in Coherence mode.

A few small gripes remain: Exposé and command-tab don’t let you pick out individual windows, but I’d imagine that’s pretty time consuming. Also, trying to login to my VPN via either Parallels or OS X failed, but I may just need to play around with that some more. Also, having the Windows taskbar hanging around just above the dock was annoying, but moving it up to the top of the screen and setting it to auto-hide tucks it neatly under OS X’s menubar unless called for.

All in all, Parallels has really delivered on a product that for once really makes me feel like I’m living in the future. When I one day get my eight-core Mac Pro with eight gigs of RAM, I’m going to be all about this sucker. Still, it’s getting me thinking that I need to pop a second gig of RAM into my MacBook stat.

Make it easy to send Mom and Dad email

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 12:31 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Tips

A friend of mine was complaining to me this morning about a problem he was having with Address Book and Mail. While I couldn’t reproduce his exactly difficulty, it did lead me to another question: how do you create an alias for an address card? Let’s say, for example, that you have your parents in Address Book, listed by their full names, but you’d like to be able to type “Dad” or “Mom” into a Mail message, and have it recognized. My initial suggested fix was to put their full names into the Address Book entries and add “Mom” and “Dad” as nicknames. Unfortunately, Mail.app doesn’t recognize nickname fields.

Instead, I came up with the stupidest-Address-Book-hack-ever™. I made an Address Book group called “Mom” which contains only my mother’s address card and one called “Dad” which contains only my father’s address card. Then, entering “Dad” or “Mom” into Mail.app’s “To” field and hitting tab correctly resolved them to my parents’ addresses (though you won’t get the handy drop-down completion functionality you get from names and email addresses).

On the downside, using this fix does mean that your mother—who no doubt not only reads MacUser but lives it—will be pestering you to write her more often, now that it’s so easy.

Anybody know of any other, less stupid solutions for this?

Apple’s Podcast Recipe: one part perform, one part produce, one part promote

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 9:56 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Music » Podcasting

With eight podcasts under my belt, I’ve picked up a few things here and there. For example: good microphones are a good investment. And don’t blow into the microphone. Yeah, people don’t like that. Sorry.

There’s still plenty for me to learn about the fine art of recording, though, so when I heard that Apple had a free online video seminar on just that topic, well, I was on it like the proverbial white on rice. The seminar features three parts, all conveniently labeled with a plosive-popping ‘P’ word: Perform, Produce, and Promote.

Perform was by far the most interesting of the three. It featured professional voiceover man Joe Cipriano (pictured), whose voice you’ve almost certainly heard adorning many a network promo and trailer (“It’s the television event of the year…”). Joe gives some tips on mics, setting up a makeshift studio, and how to speak into a mic. He’s limited to some extent by the time window, but he’s quite fun to listen to.

Produce was a bit weak. It features Paul Garay, host of the Inside Home Recording podcast, walking you through the basics of podcasting using GarageBand. And I’m talking basics: how to do a simple edit, add pictures and links to the podcast track, and upload it with iWeb. It’s pretty much an Apple shill for GarageBand. As I’m pretty much sold on using GB, this was preaching to the choir. There were a couple amusing moments, but they were all from part one’s Joe Cipriano, who appears briefly (he tries to steal a microphone. Twice).

Promote. Okay, you caught me. I haven’t watched the “Promote” segment yet. From the looks of it, it’s mainly about adding your podcast to the iTunes podcast directory. As we’ve already done that for MacUser’s podcast, and as I’d already had my fill of salesmanship from part two, I decided to forego it for the moment. Maybe I’ll come back to it later. Maybe not.

Anyway, the whole thing is free, so the only thing you lose is a perhaps valuable hour and a half of your life. Still, if you’re interested in some podcast basics, it’s probably worthwhile.

[via TUAW]

Hang up the iPhone and turn on the iTV

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 9:19 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Speculation

The countdown is hitting the final stretch. One month from today, the Macworld Conference begins; one month from tomorrow, the Expo officially opens with Steve Jobs’s keynote. We’ve had no dearth of speculation about the iPhone, but I wonder if that’s just a shiny, white smokescreen. What about the things that we’re sure to hear about Macworld? I can think of two: Leopard and iTV. Both are due out sometime in Q1 2007, and I would be surprised—nay, flabbergasted—should the Jobsnote pass without a mention of either.

There’s been some rumor and speculation about the latter device, though it has mainly been overshadowed by the blogosphere’s continuing iPhonegasm. Jason O’Grady at ZDNet posted an email from a friend about the iTV, which contains this perplexing line:

Let’s face it, iTV is not a revolutionary device like the iPod, it’s evolutionary.

While we may not know the full details of the forthcoming iTV, I feel pretty confident saying that it will not involve a partnership with TiVo. Apple is not looking to enter the DVR market, as I’ve said before on many an occasion. I hold fast to this very theory; it’s the core of my otherwise shaky world. Should Steve-o step onto the stage at Macworld SF and announce DVR functionality, you will find me swearing off gambling for all time (which will be awkward, as I will be in Vegas covering CES at that exact moment). I also think that the idea that the iTV will be renamed the “Mac Media Capsule” is so patently ridiculous that I’m going to check the USPTO site. We’re talking Apple here. Yes, iPod may be an odd name, but one thing it isn’t is unwieldy. We know iTV won’t be the final name, but to think that they’d go from three letters to three words is ludicrous. My money’s on something simpler: “iWatch” perhaps, or “iFlicks.” Or maybe they’ll drop the “i” moniker, though I’d be surprised.

Either way, the iTV, unlike the iPhone, has some substance behind it, vague patents notwithstanding. While the idea of an Apple handset has its appeal, I dearly love my video, so I’m looking forward to the iTV. I’ve already started saving pennies, so don’t forget to drop one in the tip jar on your way out. Cheers.

Guided tour of Leopard Server hits the high points

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 8:42 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Speculation

Computerworld’s Yuval Kossovsky wants to share with you his enthusiasm for Leopard Server. That’s right: server. None of this client rigmarole for Yuval. Server is where it’s at. Yuval gives us a run down of what to expect in the next iteration of the Mac’s server OS.

The marquee features? Seamless support for both 32-bit and 64-bit software and drivers, and adaptive firewall that will block connections after a threshold is reached, Time Machine (which it shares with OS X client), iCal Server, WikiServer, and a handful of others.

So, how about it, readers: are you waiting, on the edge of your seat, for OS X Server? Or is this merely an appetizer for the OS X client news to come?

TiVoDecode now GUIfied

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 8:13 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Video

Remember the other day when we mentioned TiVo Decode, the command-line app that lets you convert your .tivo video files into MPEG-2s? In that post, I opined:

TiVo Decode is only a command-line program at the moment, but I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a GUI front-end available in the next month or so.

TiVoDecode Manager is here in GUIferous glory. It’ll find your TiVo(s) on your LAN, let you download any recording, sorted by any of a variety of criteria, and convert it to MPEG-2 format. As mentioned in the previous post, QuickTime doesn’t seem to handle the files particularly well, but VLC and MPlayer come to the rescue.

Thanks, Mac community, for a speedy and elegant solution. You guys rock.

[via Engadget]

Woz: engineer, visionary, inventor, car salesman

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 7:27 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Humor

With all our birthday celebration yesterday, we missed the big story. Steve Wozniak used to sell cars. No, not literally, but he endorsed a Datsun. Datsun was one of Nissan’s brands back in the day, for those not in the know. Nowadays, he drives a Toyota Prius of course (a hybrid, just like my Toyota Camry; you wanted to know). Now behold the 70s advertising production value. Truly awesome.

The iPhone has already failed

Posted on Dec. 8, ’06, 6:03 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple

Ok, so Dan brought you the news that Apple’s working on its second iPhone before even announcing the first. Surely, that’s out of hand. How could they be reporting on the second before even getting confirmation of the first? It lacks all journalistic integrity.

Well, CNET is going to one up CNBC (clearly, with four letter abbreviations starting with the letter “C”, they are in cahoots) by proclaiming that the iPhone will be a flop. That’s right faithful reader, you just saw a cart go flying by at full speed with a horse still in the stable. I’m just as excited as anyone because I’m looking to replace my phone in the coming months, but is it too much to wait for it to be announced, released, and in our hands for at least say… five minutes before rendering a verdict?

Let’s do an executive summary of why Michael Kanellos thinks the iPhone will fail. CNET wrote a story on the Mac mini causing widespread mini PC proliferation and it didn’t happen. CNET wrote a piece on Apple raising iMac prices not being contagious and that came true (the problem here is, I don’t remember everyone predicting that other companies would follow Apple’s move, that bit was fabricated by CNET). So basically, CNET suggests something foolish about an Apple product and it doesn’t come true. Then they suggest something foolish and refute it themselves. I can do the same thing. This doesn’t have anything to do with the iPhone.

Kanellos then goes on to the logical reasons. First, he contends that current cell phones aren’t awkward. They’re easy to use and stylish. Finally, he thinks users won’t trust in Apple’s ability to bring the right radio technology together.

Here’s the thing, no phone, save maybe Blackberry’s and Palms handle sync well. The only cell phone to enjoy iPod-like popularity has been the Razr. Even that hold is a little tenuous. There has yet to be that one standard setting cell phone that will send customers to stores in droves. That crown is still waiting to be claimed (unless you’re talking about the Razr). (For the record, Kanellos contends that Samsung has been working hard on their designs; I contend not enough: no one thinks the Blackjack is sexy.) Finally, customers won’t care if Apple is a proven radio manufacturer (completely ignoring their use of Bluetooth and WiFi). They care whether Apple supports its products well and have easily accessed support locations. Double check on that.

So finally, can we please at least wait for it to be announced before making any more judgments? I really don’t want to read an article on “what Apple did wrong in the iPhone” before Apple has even announced it.

MacUser Turns One: Wait, where are the presents?

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 5:01 PM PT by Aaron Freedman

Category | MacUser

MacUser, while I may not have known you since birth, I’ve been with you since March. It’s been a fun ride, and I hope to enjoy another year and more writing about Macs, iPods, and those damn iPhone rumors (which will always be around, touting the “next” version of the iPhone).

In my nine months at MacUser, I’ve seen some pretty good posts come out over the years. Of the ones I’ve written, I particularly like my review of Songbird. It was rich, well-written, and got a pretty nice comment. And of the posts of my co-bloggers, I liked Dan’s post on the Boot Camp release, complete with a witty title and intro, like almost all of Dan’s posts. In addition, this was one of the first MacUser posts I saw after recovering from a car accident, and it was great to read about Apple’s latest Intel Mac plot twist.

And, of course, remembering the good times at MacUser can’t be without the bad. That being said, here’s what my first post ever at MacUser was:

All of the products confirmed earlier here on MacUser are now available for purchasing or your viewing pleasure are on Apple.com. I can also add some more information about the products. The Mac Mini now has analog/optical input and output ports for connecting to a home theater system. The iPod Hi-Fi is a big white box with a Universal iPod mount on top that supports the iPod adapters made by Apple and has a big, black speaker on the front. The iPod Leather Case is also confirmed, with three models for the 30GB iPod, the 60GB iPod, and the iPod Nano. All of the products are available for purchasing today, so buy them while they’re still hot!

I sure learned a lot after writing this post. While it may not show now, the original post was ridden with horrendous typos. After that incident, I always spell check before I post. This post, and many others after it, also had another major flaw: proofreading. I rarely proofread any of my early posts, but, after learning from two of my writing mentors, former MacUser blogger Cyrus Farivar and my father, I now read every one of my posts out loud before publishing.

So, it’s been great blogging here at MacUser, and I look forward to another fun, Apple-rumor ridden year.

An iPod’s mortality rate

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 2:51 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | iPod

An article from the Wall Street Journal this morning highlights a problem of interest to all iPod users: the failure rate of the iPod:

The iPod’s durability could become a more important issue as consumers become less dazzled by cutting-edge technology and more concerned about longevity, especially for a device that can cost hundreds of dollars.

“Some people swear there’s a self-destruct mechanism in it after the warranty is up,” says Matthew Bremner, a founder of iRepair.ca, an iPod fix-it service with a store in Toronto and on the Internet.

I have not found the failure rate of the iPod to be a huge problem myself, although you may remember from a couple podcasts ago that I am currently on my 10th iPod. Every time I’ve had an issue with an iPod, Apple replaces it promptly and without many questions. That being said, most of my iPods have been under warranty or AppleCare for the entirety of their life in my hands. Before the fateful day of warranty expiration comes about, the iPod will most likely experience the likes of eBay. So perhaps I’m not the best person to judge an iPod’s failure rate. How about all of you? Does the WSJ article ring true for you, or has your iPod had a long life full of happiness and good fortune?

New 2G iPod nano cases from Griffin

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 2:34 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | iPod » iPod Accessories

We are in what I like to call the “wake phase” of the 2G iPod nano. That’s the phase where all the iPod case manufactures recover from their stupor over the release of a new iPod and begin to ramp up production of their cases. Speaking of which, here’s two more that are shipping today thanks to Griffin: the ever popular iClear and the Disko. The iClear is just a good-looking clear polycarbonate case which shows off the 2G iPod’s natural good looks, while the Disko is similar in concept, but with more flashing pretty lights.

I’m still looking for the ultimate case for my green 2G nano. Strongly considering the Slyder from Marware…any other suggestions?

MacUser Turns One: Here’s to ten more!

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 2:00 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | MacUser

Oh MacUser, you’re growing up so fast. Such happy times we’ve had together—all those nights pouring over countless benchmarks, patent requests, Mac Pro speculations, and special “It’s Showtime” media events. This year has been quite an eventful one seeing the transition of all Apples to Intel processors, a new iPod nano, and Apple’s own 30th birthday. But enough about Apple, today’s about MacUser! Which brings me to a few of my favorite posts we’ve seen over the past year:

Critiques of Mac ads, as written from a PC
This is my favorite post from my almost ten months of writing here at MacUser. Why? Because it rips a real journalist to shreds. Just kidding, we’re not that heartless here at MacUser. I really like this post because it simply but effectively defends a point that Macs stand behind their claims, even when disputed by a large newspaper like the Seattle Times. I also love the discussion that goes on below the post in the comments.

An open letter to Target
I love Dan’s satirical post on Target following in the footsteps of Wal-Mart, complaining about the low costs of digital movie downloads. Classic lines like “Be honest with me, Target: have you been drinking?” personify the giant red-and-white bulls eye, making it that much more effective. His post isn’t just a post, it’s a social commentary. It’s timeless. That’s why it’s my favorite.

I’m all teary eyed now. I still remember when you were just a chap and I made my first post on Smart Playlists. OK, I’ll shut up now—back to our regularly scheduled programming.

MacUser Turns One: Make a wish!

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 1:45 PM PT by Collin Allen

Category | MacUser

While I haven’t been with MacUser but two months, I still felt I should join in with the big 1.0 celebration, and add my two cents.

Overlooked Mac App: Can Combine Icons
First post! When I joined MacUser, the first thing I did was cover a cool little shareware app, and I hope to continue the theme by digging up relatively unknown Mac software and bringing it to your browser or RSS aggregator. They may not dazzle like Disco or groove like GarageBand, but they’ll get the job done fast and easy.

Flickr helps you find a camera
I really enjoyed Scott’s tip about Flickr’s new camera-finding service, which is a really clever spin on the extra data they receive along with your uploaded photos. By pulling out all the camera stats and graphing them, you can clearly identify which cameras are popular and when they got to that point.

textutil
My favorite post has to be right after the discovery of textutil, a quick and easy way to convert documents from format to format — I use it all the time now, and highly recommend trying it.

Quick tip: One-click Dock positioning

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 1:30 PM PT by Collin Allen

Category | Tips

Here’s a quick tip you probably haven’t seen yet — it was certainly new to me. You’re undoubtedly aware that you can resize the Dock by dragging the divider that separates applications from documents, but by holding the Shift key and dragging, you can position the Dock against one of the three available screen boundaries.

For more tricks like this, check out Apple’s Pro Tips column on their website, where a new tip is posted every week. Other tips such as burning discs multiple times, converting from EPS to PDF in one step, and more are available. Even as a long-time Mac user and Apple follower, I hadn’t seen these Pro Tips until now, but after discovering cool hints like these, I’ll be sure to check back often.

Installing Vista on a MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 12:30 PM PT by Collin Allen

Category | Tips

With the daily rounds of new information pouring in surrounding Intel Macs, Boot Camp, Parallels, and VMware, it’s worthwhile taking a step back and reading a straightforward guide detailing how to install Windows Vista on a MacBook Pro. While you won’t officially be able to buy Vista off the shelf until January 30th, it’s already available to businesses and MSDN subscribers (and on various corners of the internet).

Before diving headlong into a Vista (or any other OS) installation, be absolutely sure to back up your Mac volume, perhaps using Carbon Copy Cloner, because you may end up inadvertently wiping your system if you’re not careful. With this detailed guide and photos, a Vista disc, and some Boot Camp tools, you’ll be well on your way to dual booting the two foremost operating systems on the market.

MacUser Turns One: A very special Pat post…

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 10:55 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | MacUser

While I’ve only been writing for MacUser.com for a short while, I’ve been reading it since last December. I was contemplating whether or not I should make the move to Mac. While sifting through every Mac related website the Internet has ever seen, MacUser.com caught my eye. I got a Mac and MacUser became a part of my daily routine soon after.

Fast forward to almost two months ago, when you may have noticed this post hit the site: Email An Entire Web Page. I didn’t want to bust out the snark for my first impression. I managed to hold off until my second post for that.

Speaking of snarkiness, the fact that Dan is above reveling in haughty spells cast on those suffering from intellectual anemia doesn’t mean that I am as well. And if you asked me what my favorite post was from the last year, I may just be inclinded to tell you that it was Dan’s evisceration of a certain iPod critic who must have left his credentials in the Mac community at the top of Mt. Everest. That’s the kind of read that I send to my friends, even when I know they have no intention of even opening it.

All we have to talk about now is my favorite post. It’s tough. MacUser has become an everyday delight, much like breakfast. Once I began writing here, it was like I started having some input on what actually gets served. It’s tough to choose a day that you thought that your breakfast was the best, so I’m going to say that it’s the one that got linked to by John Gruber. Happy Birthday indeed.

MacUser Turns One: The alumni perspective

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 10:15 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | MacUser

Don’t adjust your TV! I enticed MacUser alum and Engadget Senior Associate Editor Cyrus Farivar into posting a few of his reminiscences with promises of fame and fortune. That was pretty much an out-and-out lie on my part, though, so I guess I owe him a beer. -DM

While I’m no longer a regular at MacUser, it certainly feels like home. MacUser is a friendly, shiny place on the Internet, free from vitriol and chaos. Re-reading some old posts for MacUser is like walking through your undergraduate campus in some way—I know that I’ll never be how I was in those days, but I’m glad that it’s continuing on for a new generation of bloggers. I had the pleasure of hanging out with Dan and Derik for an evening once, and they’re just as smart and friendly fellows in person as they are in the blogosphere. They’ve handled the reins of MacUser with professionalism, and they’ve kept the humor tap flowing, and have continued to pique my interest as a reader. My glass is raised to you, sirs. (And to the rest of the crew as well!)

Probably my favorite post by one of the other fellows is by my good buddy Dan Moren, about the French DRM law—if
for no other reason than he used a picture of delicious French toast to lure me in. I’ve always said that computer-related writing could use a little more pictures of delicious food items. (I mean, we do like writing about Apple, right?) That’s a food. Sorta. Ok, forget it. Still, I think it highlights two of his main talents, his ability to write about something potentially boring (DRM puts me to sleep most of the time), and his ability to write in a knowledgable and suave manner by throwing down nifty words like: “tricksy.”

Among stuff that I wrote? Sheesh, I dunno. If I had to pick one, it probably would be the one about installing MacBook RAM. It wasn’t the most earth-shattering thing I’ve ever wrote, but I’d like to think that someone found some value of my adventures in installing memory into my precious MacBook. Having recently performed hard drive surgery on an iBook G3, I definitely appreciate the new friendly design of the MacBook, where accessing RAM and the hard drive is really freakin’ easy.

So guys, here’s to another many years of snark-infused Mac punditry! I’ll be reading. If you’re one of the many legions of Farivar fanatics — there have to be at least a few, I hope — you can find me pretty regularly at Engadget, or more irregularly at my personal blog. A very happy holiday season to you and yours, and a very happy new year to MacUser!

Finding that ever elusive iTunes support phone number

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 9:19 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Some it seems like “customer service” has become an oxymoron. The other night, I caught a 60 Minutes segment with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. When asked by the interviewer to find a customer service telephone number on Netflix’s website, Hastings was unable to do so, even after several minutes of looking (at the end of the segment, they claimed that Netflix had added a customer service phone number, but I still couldn’t find it).

While it’s pretty easy to contact Apple, Slate’s Timothy Noah was searching for a phone number that would let him talk to a customer support rep for the iTunes Store. Most other avenues Noah tried let him to an online customer service form, but he was determined to talk to a real person. After a year of looking, he seems to have found it:

1.) Telephone the following number: 800-275-2273. This is the Apple Care Service and Support Line.
2.) When you hear the recorded greeting, enter 70. The recording will very likely reject that entry at first. If so, try again.
3.) When you’re prompted to say the product that you need tech support for, say “iTunes.”
4.) When you’re prompted to say what type of computer you’re using, say “a Windows machine” or “Macintosh.”
5.) When you’re prompted to say whether you’re calling on behalf of a school, answer “yes” or “no.”
6.) This will get you a live person. Please note: You will need to state the serial number of your iPod before you can proceed.

Mac developers team up for Child’s Play

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 8:39 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » People

If you’ve been inured by the barrage of free Mac software available lately, here’s a chance to pay full price for a great cause. A handful of Mac developers are donating the proceeds from all of their apps sold today, December 7th to Penny Arcade’s Child’s Play charity. If you’re not familiar with this organization, it buys toys and games for sick kids staying at a few dozen children’s hospitals around the world.

I’ve been participating in Child’s Play since its inception, and every year the program raises more money and adds new hospitals. Jerry and Mike have done a terrific job of bringing the gaming community together to help out the kids. And if shows the public that people who play videogames aren’t the evil menace society makes them out to be, well, that’s just a bonus.

Among the Mac developers participating in the donations are companies like Delicious Monster, Flying Meat, Red Sweater Software, and several more. You can find the full list at the link above. And if you miss out on today’s software donations, you can always hit up the Child’s Play site to donate directly.

MacUser Turns One: We’re gonna have a good time

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 8:05 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

This is it, we’ve turned the big oh-one (that’s one year old in binary, if you’re keeping score at home). And, as you may have noticed, we’ve indulged in letting ourselves wax nostalgic about our youth: those bright, sunny days when we played without a care in the backyard, pulling our little toy wagon behind us. Time of our lives, it was. Allow me to be the Virgil to your Dante for this past year, seen through mine own eyes.

The Microsoft iPod…Box
While this was my inaugural post, I chiefly remember my first day for the harrowing experience of trying to figure out if I was supposed to be covering that day’s Apple special event, which introduced the iPod Hi-Fi, the Intel Mac minis, and Apple’s $99 leather iPod case. And to this day, the last of those still has me wondering: what the hell were they thinking?

Analyst Logic Rare, But May Rise (Just Kidding)
Why do I love this post by Pat? He sums up exactly what frustrates me about “analysts.” Plus, “…it kicks reason in the shins and runs off in a getaway car of vague credentials” makes me giggle like a schoolboy every time.

When it comes to video, Apple is short-sighted
It boggles the mind, but I’ve written almost 900 posts for MacUser since I started in March. To pick one favorite is like trying to decide which kid you love the most—although when little Johnny dumps your iPod in the toilet, he clearly gets demoted on the list. Now, I could have picked any number of snarky posts where I deconstruct people’s fallacious arguments for my own self-gratifying comedic effect, but the Christmas season must be getting to me, so I opted instead for a constructive piece. Why this one? Because, though I wrote it more than six months ago, everything I say here still holds true today, and I hold out the vague hope that somewhere, Apple is listening.

Anyway, now that we’ve hit one year old, we’ve got some big plans: we think we might try some intelligble words, and if that’s not too disastrous, perhaps some walking. You know what that means: time to child-proof the Internet.

But thanks, most of all, goes out to you, dear readers. You’re the ones who make the whole blog worthwhile, each and every one of you (okay, maybe not you, but those other guys, definitely). So, how about it? Any favorite posts from this past year?

Adobe Reader 8 is out and Universal

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 7:43 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

Since Adobe announced its Creative Suite version 2.3, Acrobat has been a Universal Binary. As its PDF reader, Adobe Reader gets a new release when Acrobat does. Its own Univeral version of 8.0 has been “coming soon” on their website for some time now. It finally came today.

Preview still beats it out pretty soundly when it comes to some stuff like speed and ease of use. However, Adobe’s reader has the best compatability and includes superior form handling. I actually also like its browser plugin better than the supplied one.

What do you guys use?

And millions of hard drives exhale: DiskWarrior becomes Universal

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 6:34 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

It wasn’t so long ago I was wondering about DiskWarrior, the premier disk utility. After a very lengthy wait, Alsoft has delivered with not only a Universal Binary that can boot all currently existing Macs, but has jumped up to a new version number, 4.

It has a bunch of new features:

• Faster.
• Restores file permissions.
• Identifies corrupted preference files.
• Repairs FileVault volumes.
• Much, much more.

An upgrade will cost you $49.95 and a brand new license is $99.95 available at their website. Considering what it can do, it’s quite a steal. Now I have to wonder if I’ll be able to stand the wait for my new disc.

MacUser Turns One: Happy birthday to us!

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 5:47 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | MacUser

If I could sing, I would have recorded my warbling voice. Alas, I can’t, so I’ll just say that MacUser has turned 1 today. It was a mere year ago that Jason put up the very first post. That was soon followed by my first (ok, so my first post was rather inauspicious). I didn’t even imagine ending up with six writers, having the other original blogger leave for Engadget (hi Cyrus!), or becoming a co-editor.

It’s been a wild ride and we’re just getting started. The community is growing and I’d like to thank any of you that have been around since the beginning. That said, this gives me an opportunity to look back at some of my favorite posts.

The black tax is my favorite post thus far that I’ve written for the site. The big reason is that most people refer to the black MacBook’s price difference using this phrase. I have no proof, but I like to think I was the first to use it (even if that’s just my ego talking).

Hands-on with the MacBook: first impressions is a favorite by Dan. It underlines how blogs should work. He took the initiative and headed down to the Apple Store to get timely insight and pictures.

So here’s to many more years of bringing you the best of the Mac web!

iPod firmware 1.2.1

Posted on Dec. 7, ’06, 5:13 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | iPod » iPod Software

I can’t seem to find any documentation at all on it, but iTunes just told me it wanted to update my iPod video to firmware version 1.2.1. The update dialog listed exactly one change: Bug fixes. Apple really has a way with words lately.

I’d point you at a link to read more, but information is conspicuously absent, almost as if I’m the only one that got it. Should I be afraid? Will every other frame have a pixar movie still inserted in order to promote movie sales? Hopefully more information will be available soon.

Grainy screen on the 15” MacBook Pro

Posted on Dec. 6, ’06, 4:03 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | Hardware » Intel Macs

According to a report from Le MacBidouille, a French Mac news site, the 15” MacBook Pro is experiencing some production delays on account of a grainy screen. According to Electronista, the problem is only affecting matte screen models and the glossy versions are continuing to ship as normal. A visit to the US online Apple Store confirms this, as matte screen models have a 1-3 business day shipping time, where as glossy models have a 24-hour shipping time. If you’re considering ordering a MacBook Pro with a matte screen in time for holiday delivery, better act fast.

Use Spotlight from the Terminal

Posted on Dec. 6, ’06, 3:30 PM PT by Collin Allen

Category | Tips

Here’s a tip that actually makes Spotlight usable! You can avoid Spotlight’s eagerness to search for files by opening a Terminal windows and using the ‘mdfind’ command. With it, you can hunt for images with metadata containing “Mac OS X 10.5” instead of hunting for all kinds of documents containing “Ma”, as Spotlight usually starts running before you’ve even begun to type anything worth searching for. OS X Daily has the details on ‘mdfind’, which is nothing more than Apple’s own back-end to Spotlight.

It’s quite common in the open-source world to first build a command-line application, then attach a graphical interface on top of that, which is what Mac OS X is all about. Spotlight’s ‘mdfind’ command also has a number of filters, including the ability to search within specific folders and only on certain keys (like title, author, etc.), making it quite the robust little command-line utility, and one you’ll undoubtedly want to add to your Terminal skill set.

Memories of middle school, now on the iPod

Posted on Dec. 6, ’06, 2:41 PM PT by Scott Silverman

Category | iPod » iPod Software

If you’re a cheater then Apple’s right up your alley. This morning Apple’s senior director of iPod marketing, Stan Ng, revealed cheat codes to two iPod games. The cheats apply to Vortex and Texas Hold ‘Em, revealing a background of an Apple conference room and an image of Stonehenge. Both cheats and instructions can be found at iLounge.com, which, at the time of writing, is down.

Ng did confirm one other thing: that a special team focused on iPod game development exists at Apple. He also observed that third party game developers have expressed desire to develop for the iPod. A special iPod game team at Apple? Acknowledgment of developers wanting to make games for the iPod? It sounds to me like we might be seeing the iPod game market expanding sometime in the future.

[via Macworld UK via MacNN]

Ihnatko: An iPhone In Your Pocket?

Posted on Dec. 6, ’06, 11:38 AM PT by Andy Ihnatko

Category | Ihnatko

Okay! No more distractions. Tonight’s the night: I’m serious this time.

“A cellphone designed by Apple.”

Nothin’.

“An Apple phone…with iPod styling and simplicity.”

Mmm… no.

“Imagine an iPod…only instead of sharing media with your desktop it can share it with the world.”

…

No, I still can’t get excited about it. And I was really, really trying that time, too.

I don’t know why I’m having so much trouble with this. Perhaps my endocrine system can’t produce a certain critical enzyme or something. I think “iPod + Phone” and my immediate response is always the same: I get a crystal-clear mental image of being in a dicey parking lot late at night with a car that won’t start. And I can’t call for help on my iPod Phone, because on my flight home I listened to all six hours and seventeen minutes of Robert Evans reading The Kid Stays In The Picture, which drained the batteries right to the floor.

Look, why is it so important to have a music player and a cellphone in one package, anyway? I’m a lazy, lazy man; if I expended any less energy over the course of a given day, I’d be operating my PowerBook via one of those puffer tubes that quadriplegics use. And yet, when I leave the house for the day and I scoop my phone and my iPod from their charging stations, I’m not the least bit intimidated by the prospect of lugging a whole additional 4.8 ounces of hardware with me. I mean, I carry more weight than that with me in my wallet, in the form of useless receipts and foreign currency.

But I need to keep working on this. Everybody else is really excited about the idea, despite any sort of official announcement from Apple. A survey of news and rumors sites this past week reveals yet another industry analyst who’s recommending Apple stock, based solely on buzz for this nonexistent product. And there’s some mysterious reports floating around from members of focus groups. They were shown a half-dozen product mockups and then quizzed on their reactions. Apparently, the devices looked suspiciously like the illustrations seen in patent filings for a gadget that Apple describes as “hand-held electronic device with multiple touch sensing devices.”

iPhone: Say it ain’t so!

Posted on Dec. 6, ’06, 11:38 AM PT by Pat Nakajima

Category | Apple » Speculation

iPhone iPhone iPhone, right? All anybody talks about anymore is the iPhone, with people either gathering in mansions, waiting for its arrival to drink the punch, or people like me, who care not for such a device, at least in its rumored iteration. After reading Andy Ihnatko’s fantastic piece on his apathy concerning the second coming of pod, I was inspired to contemplate my own. Why don’t I want an iPhone? Don’t I want to be normal like everybody else?

A phone is more or less a tool that one uses to accomplish a task, namely, communicating with others. The iPod on the other hand, is a device of pure leisure. Obviously, both can be used for either function, but the essential nature of each device remains.

The reasons you don’t find Doom in Microsoft Word, or graphing capabilities in Tetris, are the reasons that the phone and the iPod should not cohabitate the same device. Sometimes, practicality necessitates the compromise between consolidation and specialization (see swiss army knife) but sometimes, it’s simply for novelty value (see swiss army knife with built-in mp3 player).

The iPhone is pure novelty. One might even brandish the word “gimmick.” Adding music capabilities to a device ceased to be innovative after the invention of the clock radio.

I’m sorry to say it, but there’s going to be at least one more post about the iPhone coming from this blogger. So stay tuned and hear what I feel would make an Apple phone great.

100GB iPod, coming soon!

Posted on Dec. 6, ’06, 11:37 AM PT by Collin Allen

Category | Hardware

Toshiba, makers of the hard drives used inside the current video-playing iPods, has announced a newly revised 100GB model, which packs even more storage into the same cramped 1.8” enclosure. As has happened in the past, Apple will likely announce new iPods in the near future (perhaps in the spring), making use of the new capacity drives. When is uncertain, but new 100GB Toshiba drives is a no-brainer.

Apple has continued to make use of Toshiba’s storage technologies since the first generation iPod, save for the iPod mini and nano, which employ different hardware altogether. Here’s hoping for a bright and spacious future.

All this added capacity would be great for — say — widescreen videos, don’t you think?

[via TUAW]

An Apple iToy?

Posted on Dec. 6, ’06, 10:51 AM PT by Pat