Skype, the immensely popular VoIP client, has just taken Skype for Mac 2.5 out of beta and into the world. Version 2.5 features the ability to send SMS text messages (for a fee, of course), have automatic birthday notifications sent to your friends, and conduct free ten person conference calls. Plus, with a little tweaking, you can now get 640 x 480 quality for video chats. And, as always, Skype 2.5 for Mac can be downloaded for free.
Here's something Greenpeace never really thought about: Apple's iTunes Store is reducing waste, reducing the manufacture of petroleum-based plastics, and reducing the effects transportation has on the environment.
Every time you purchase music from the iTunes Store, you are preventing the manufacture of a CD, which, according to a blog entry entitled the Apple iTunes Store Environmental Impact:
are mostly manufactured from Aluminum and Polycarbonate along with Lacquer, Dyes, and other materials such as water, glass, and nickel. Most of these materials must also be processed before manufacturers can use them to make CD's. As an example, to make plastic, crude oil from the ground is combined with natural gas and chemicals in a processing plant.
Think of all those toxins you are eliminating! Additionally, by buying your music digitally, you are reducing the amount of waste (a CD, its jewel case, and packaging) that will someday end up in a landfill:
A CD along with a slim jewel case and 1-2 pages of liner weighs about 60 grams. That's about .13224 lbs. If a standard tractor trailer can move 80,000 lbs of product (or about 605,000 CD's) the Apple iTunes Store has saved about 275 tractor trailers worth of CD's from being manufactured and shipped and is adding to that by about 5 tractor trailers worth per week.
And of course I must bring to your attention the gas and air-pollutants you save by using the iTunes Store. Not only does an online music purchase stop you from driving to Walmart to buy a CD, but the CD doesn't need to be trucked around the globe from the manufacturing plant to reach Walmart in the first place. Of course I should mention that there's all the power and maintenance equipment used to actually provide iTunes music, but I think it uses comparatively less energy and resources than a physical CD.
So next time you burn $9.99 on an album from the iTunes Store, at least your wallet can feel a little better knowing you're helping the environment.
Let's face it: you can never really have too much of Ellen Feiss. You know, that girl whose 30 seconds of "Switch" fame exploded into unparalleled Apple ad recognition? Macenstein has posted the transcript with a special one-on-one interview with her, which provides some very special answers to some very special questions.
Certain rumors about the ad can now be dispelled based on facts contained in the interview. For example, Ellen Feiss' story of her PC eating her paper is a true one. The ads were actually filmed in an interview-style where she was asked questions about her computing experiences. A second ad which never aired featured Ellen's Powerbook G4, which her parents purchased for her after that PC ate her paper. Lastly, it has been confirmed that there were no illegal drugs involved in the shoot, despite popular belief.
[via Slashdot]
The fine Adium development team started closing in on version 1.0 a while back. While the betas have been treating me really well, it never got the warm fuzzy final release status. The devs have explained why. First, they decided to use some Java libraries.
Then, disaster struck. Rather, Apple did. They deprecated the Java-Objective-C language bridge that we were depending on. We had a few choices, none were very good. We could spend 1-2 years rewriting both Joscar and Smack to work using JNI, the supported way going forward for what we were doing with Joscar and Smack. We could have spent time doing other things. In the end, the decision was made to move back to Libgaim, and just take it. In some ways this is where Microsoft is a better platform, since they inform everyone of their roadmaps way beforehand. But it’s what we’re left with. Evan, David and myself came up with a letter to send out to everyone, Evan sent it, and we moved on.
Lately, Apple has been dropping Java like something far more offensive, but no less warm, than a hot potato. As part of that, Apple burned the Java-Objective-C language bridge (I don’t care if you won’t forgive me for the pun). This behavior isn’t directly visible to end users, but its effects can be felt. By eliminating an option for developers, end users can expect some software to lack features or slower development. While Java may get a bad rap, it’s still relevant and frequently used. This is one case where Apple shouldn’t succumb to public perception and do what’s right for developers and users.
If you missed Bill Gates’ appearance on the Daily Show last night, you really didn’t miss much. It did have a high point though. The end. Allow me to share it with you now through the wonders of YouTube.
Poor Jon Stewart is caught completely off-guard. You may now leave your own punchline about Gates’ departure in the comments. Let me help you. Puns using both “Gates” and leaving are fair game.
[via Valleywag]
Most passionate Mac users are currently using Tiger, so the whole Daylight Savings Time change is mostly academic. For those that haven’t really been paying attention, let’s turn to Wikipedia of what has become an unnecessarily complex concept.
DST commonly begins in the northern hemisphere on the last Sunday in March or the first Sunday in April, and ends on the last Sunday in October. However, due to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, beginning in 2007, the United States will begin observing DST from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in November. (Studies will determine if this remains permanent.) Most of Canada will also observe the new period to avoid possible economic losses from confusion with the United States. Since 2002, the European Union has fixed the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October as start and end dates (European Summer Time).
My. Head. Hurts. TidBITS has a nice breakdown. As long as you’ve updated to 10.4.6, you’ve got the official Apple fix and your clock will shift automatically. But wait, not everyone is using Tiger (I was shocked to hear this as well). If you’re using 10.3, you’re in luck, Ian Ward Comfort has come to your rescue with an unofficial fix.
Where’s Apple? Isn’t this one of those things that Apple needs to stay on top of despite development status? This type of problem will fade into the background as Apple slows its Mac OS X development cycle, but in the mean time, users without the latest and greatest should still get some minimal support.
Jayson Stark, writing for ESPN, has an excellent article on the iPod’s influence on baseball. I’ll admit, few sports articles really catch my interest, but Stark has put together a great piece. The article centers around Jason Jennings, whose ERA (earned run average) was effectively cut in half by watching film on an iPod. (For those that heard the podcast, you know the reason I’m covering this article instead of, say, Dan.)
“The great thing is, it’s so easy to use,” said Jennings, who became a happy iPod convert in a hurry. “It’s such an easy thing to have access to. You can go to Best Buy and, by that night, you can have all your starts for the last four years on there.”
Cool. But you’re no doubt thinking: Does any of this really matter? Well, yeah. In fact, Jennings actually thinks his iPod turned his whole season around.
He also found out something else.
“I admit I’ve got a bunch of country music videos on there,” Jennings confessed. “And I think ‘Prison Break’ was a big hit on our team last year. I know a lot of guys were watching that. … I mean, sometimes you need a break, you know? It’s not just for baseball.”
Hmmm. Sounds like a catchy slogan for the folks at Apple once this really catches on: “The iPod — It’s Not Just for Baseball.”
[danke Jason Snell]
Mint, the fantastic stats package created by Shaun Inman, graphic design extraordinaire, was upgraded to version 2.0 today. Along with the online component, a new dashboard widget was released as well, which gives a quick look at your traffic stats, directly from the dashboard. Like everything else in Mint, it conveys the right amount of information with a healthy dose of beauty.
Mint is a web app that feels and responds the way a desktop app would, yet has capabilities due to its web-based nature that wouldn't come so naturally to something you drop in your Applications folder. I like seeing the gap between web and desktop bridged like that, and the addition of integrated widgets only sweetens the deal.
If you're interested in Mint, you can grab a license for $30 (per domain). If you already use Mint, then an upgrade to Mint 2 costs $19, unless you purchased your license since January 2007, in which case the upgrade is free (as it was in my case.) Mint is the only stats package that can show me that I get literally zero traffic, yet entice me to look at it over and over again.
I think Apple's up to something mischievous. As I'm sure you're well-aware (being the MacUser reader that you are) Apple released a few small things this morning--namely colored iPod Shuffles, the infamous 802.11n enabler patch, and the news that the AirPort extreme is shipping. But why are these releases mischievous, you ask? Well, perhaps you've forgotten that today marked the launch of Windows Vista.
I am of the belief that Apple just couldn't let Microsoft have their one day. I mean, come on Apple, it took Redmond nearly six years to get to this day, and you couldn't even let them have it all to themselves. Some small children behave better than this.
The bottom line is that Apple shouldn't have been concerned in the first place. After all, the midnight Vista launch in San Francisco attracted more local homeless for the free food, than it did PC users to grab the first copy of Vista. So while I certainly appreciate colored Shuffles and speedy 802.11n, I'm a little embarrassed for Apple that they couldn't even have the decency to give Microsoft their one day of attention.
Colorful Shuffles and an 802.11n enabler weren't the only things new at Apple.com this morning. They have also, as of this morning, officially started shipping the new AirPort Extreme with 802.11n. That's right--it's shipping before its estimated ship date.
While the Apple Store's estimated ship date may still report a "February" ship date, we have in fact confirmed with Macworld and several other sources that Apple's site is incorrect. The flat white little wonder really is shipping. (If you're planning on picking up one of these babies, don't forget that it ships with the 802.11n enabler. There's no need to spend one single penny extra on that nasty, attention-sucking 802.11n enabler.)
