Actually worthwhile lawsuit leveled against Apple Stores

Posted on Aug. 31, ’07, 12:16 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Legal

We’re all too accustomed to frivolous lawsuits about iPhone batteries or people being blinded by MacBooks that are just too damn white, so it’s always a pleasant surprise to see the legal system carrying out the job it was intended to: righting wrongs.

Two customers of the San Francisco Apple Store on Stockton Street have launched a suit complaining that the store in question fails to comply with both the Americans with Disability Act and the California Health and Safety Code by not providing “full and equal” access for disabled patrons. Counters and tables which display products are located too high for wheelchair-bound customers to reach, and the height of the Genius Bar means that it’s difficult for them to observe when they bring a machine in for service. In addition, the several parts of the store, including the theater and the restrooms, were not wheelchair-friendly.

Worse, though, was the fact that both customers found themselves overlooked—presumably unintentionally—by the store’s staff, leading them to conclude that Apple did not have a policy in place for assisting disabled customers.

If Apple doesn’t have an existing policy, they should certainly put one in place, and if a lawsuit is what that takes, so be it. I would hope they’ll quickly remedy this issue for all of their stores.

Peacock ruffles Apple’s feathers; Apple takes chomp out of peacock

Posted on Aug. 31, ’07, 9:49 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Holy cow, Steve Jobs must be pissed. This morning, we saw that NBC was planning on dropping its shows from the iTunes Store in a dispute over pricing and bundling. Now, Apple’s fired back press release style, announcing that instead of waiting until December, when the deal with NBC expires, they’ll drop the shows as of September, so that they won’t disappear in the middle of the season.

As if that preemptive strike wasn’t enough, Apple’s also laid out exactly where the dispute with NBC came in. I’m just going to repeat what they said here, since my jaw has not yet returned to its fully upright and locked position:

The move follows NBC’s decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW, along with more than 50 cable networks, are signed up to sell TV shows from their upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode.

If what Apple’s saying is true—and, of course, they have a vested interest in presenting it as if it’s totally NBC’s fault—then, well, all the better: I wouldn’t pay $5 for the shows I like on television these days, much less the drivel that constitutes most of it. I have a feeling this isn’t the end of the story, though, so stay tuned.

Apple digs deep on patent reform

Posted on Aug. 31, ’07, 9:26 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Legal

According to an article in Forbes, Apple’s spent quite the bundle on lobbying for patent reform. Cupertino’s laid down $720,000 this year (or, in layman’s terms, more money than I’ve ever had) to lobby for retooling the patent system. Here’s what’s in play:

Trade groups for high-tech industries favor legislation that would help weed out bad patents by allowing companies to re-evaluate them after they are granted. The groups say this could help companies avoid financial burden of defending patents in lengthy court cases.

The company also advocated bills that would increase funding for technology education and provide tax breaks for company spending on research and development.

[via The Mac Observer]

Sony Connect, we hardly knew ya (and we were okay with that)

Posted on Aug. 31, ’07, 8:25 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Dear Sony,
There was a time when you were the articulatio genu of the proverbial Apis mellifera, but, well, you couldn’t keep trading on the Walkman forever. The world moved on to a digital age, and you got left behind. It’s understandable. Your multitude of attempts to capitalize on the burgeoning market of digital music players failed repeatedly, and the Sony Connect store was just embarrassing. Which you’ve thankfully finally realized.

People often take Apple to task for what they perceive a closed system, but if there’s anybody who was truly guilty of this offense, it’s Sony. MemoryStick, MiniDisc, ATRAC. Seriously: ATRAC? While the rest of the world was enjoying the freedom of MP3, you decided it would be a good time to launch players that only worked with your own crazy little format? People criticize Apple’s use of AAC all the time, but those people are usually missing two key points: 1) the iPod plays MP3 alongside AAC just fine and 2) AAC is actually an open format.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Digital Rights Management of the Connect store wove a positively spiderlike web of confusion. Here’s an excerpt from the Wikipedia article:

Music sold at Sony CONNECT may be downloaded on up to 5 PC’s that are authorized at any given time All music purchased may be re-downloaded at any given time.
All music, with the exception of Warner Music Group, allow Sony device exportation an UNLIMITED number of times.
Music purchased from Warner Music Group may only be exported 3 times to Minidisc & Memory Stick.
All music, with the exception of Universal Music Group, may be burned to ATRAC CD’s ONLY 5 times.
Music purchased from Universal Music Group may NOT be burned to an ATRAC CD.
All music from Sony CONNECT may be burned into Redbook format 7 Playlist Times.
All Music exported to Sony Network Walkmans that are authorized (meaning only flash & HDD based players) with CONNECT can be exported an UNLIMITED number of times. Meaning Warner Music Group content can be exported an unlimited number of times on these devices without using your 3 export rights.
Memory Sticks & Minidisc’s are not authorizable, thus utilize your 3 Warner Music Group export rights.

So I’m not sad that you’ve killed off Connect, Sony. Or even that you’ve replaced it with Windows Media support on your music players. It was really only a matter of time. And perhaps you’ll take this as a lesson of this simple fact: you don’t need to compete in every market.

So good luck to you in your future endeavors, Sony. Perhaps we shall one day meet again on the bumpy road to love. Or not.

Cheerio,
Dan

The latest Mac minis are looking good

Posted on Aug. 31, ’07, 7:16 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Hardware

When Apple quietly refreshed the Mac mini, I was pretty happy with the specs. Sure, the laptop hard drive is a little pokey, the lack of 802.11n is bizarre, and integrated graphics is teh suck, but for an entry level machine, it’s quite capable. I wouldn’t use one as my primary machine, but as a media server, Xgrid slave, or HD TV media center, it performs quite adequately. I’d even recommend it as a primary machine for less discerning computer users, such as my parents. The graphics card and storage won’t affect what they’re doing.

The $64,000 question is how much better are the new minis though. Madman James Galbraith put them through their paces. He locked them in a steel cage along with the old Mac minis and the new iMac. While they ably handled the previous generation, the iMac used its keyboard as a weapon (they’ve got an awful sharp edge). In all seriousness though, the CPU boost and change in processor makes them much more capable. On par with the iMac in some cases.

There’s one more thing not touched on in the review that will sweeten the pot. The new Mac mini can actually handle 3 GB of RAM. Buy, buy, buy.

NBC pulling out of iTunes, BSG fans everywhere cry

Posted on Aug. 31, ’07, 6:04 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

According to a report by the New York Times, NBC Universal has decided to end its contract to sell its television shows through the store. This is a major blow for the media store because NBC accounts for a staggering 40% of all video sales. While many analysts believe that Apple makes little/nothing on iTunes Store sales, losing a large chunk of content makes the store that much less useful. And it’s good content.

Among the most popular NBC Universal shows available for sale on iTunes are “Battlestar Galactica,” “The Office” and “Heroes.”

I watch all these shows. Clearly NBC is being run by Cylons. Ok, so I record them myself straight off the air and I probably never will buy them off iTunes, but it gave me a warm fuzzy to know that I could. The Times also mentions NBC’s upcoming Hulu.com, which is aimed at being sort of a YouTube competitor. Great, so now you’ll have to be online to watch. That’s real convenient. It also means no more iPod and iPhone compatibility.

You may be wondering what NBC wanted to do that Apple refused to go along with.

NBC Universal and other companies say they want to increase prices by packaging content— say an episode of “The Office” with the movie “The 40- Year-Old Virgin,” because they both star the comedian Steve Carell.

In other words, in order to buy a simple episode of “The Office”, you’ll need to pay multiple times that price and buy a movie as well. On this front, I think we can all agree to tell NBC to get bent.

Tor releases beta update 0.2.0.6 for covering your online traces

Posted on Aug. 30, ’07, 11:05 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Internet

I recently came across Global Voices’ authoritative guide to keeping your online traces hidden. One of the tools that you can use to anonymize your online speech is by using a program called Tor (The Onion Router).

This week, Tor just updated its latest beta version to 0.2.0.6 for Mac OS X (Universal Binary).

While most MacUser.com readers probably don’t need to worry about this sort of thing, if you live in a politically sensitive place, or just want to ensure that your online tracks stay as discreet as possible, you might want to check it out.

Safari doesn’t support gChat?

Posted on Aug. 30, ’07, 10:00 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Internet

Yesterday, I was exchanging rapid-fire emails with a friend in New York. It got to the point where it seemed like it would make much more sense if we just switched to IM. Seeing as she was on a Gmail account, I suggested that we used gChat (Google Talk), the free IM client that’s part of any Gmail account.

However, she couldn’t seem to find how to sign onto gChat. Mystified, I inquired as to what browser she was using — and she told me that she was on Safari, while I was on Firefox.

One quick firing up of my Safari, and I discovered the sad, sad, truth — Safari doesn’t appear to support Saved Searches or the Quick Contacts box on the lower left side. As the picture illustrates, Firefox has those boxes, whereas Safari doesn’t.

Of course, astute readers of this blog will note that this isn’t the first time I’ve pointed out Firefox’s superiority over Safari. Still, if Apple can get just about everything else right, why can’t they do browsers right?

Putting the brakes on the iCar rumors

Posted on Aug. 30, ’07, 9:19 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Apple » Speculation

People have gone a little been nutty about the idea that VW and Apple are teaming up to create a “iCar.” You can find coverage at Mac sites like Ars Technica and Apple Insider, as well as at the larger gadget blogs like Gizmodo and Engadget; even mainstream press like the International Herald Tribune and Wall Street Journal have gotten in on the fun.

Me, I’m a little more skeptical. This hardly marks the first time that VW and Apple have collaborated. Earlier this year, Volkswagen launched the iGolf in Spain, a version of their compact car that had a built-in dock for the iPod that was integrated with the stereo system, much like the solutions offered by manufacturers like BMW. Better yet, the iGolf came with an 8GB nano, so you wouldn’t feel like you’d wasted all that money on a car with features that you couldn’t use.

Maybe I’m totally wrong here, but my instincts tell me that the noise we’re hearing now about Apple and the Fahrvergnügen folks is along the same lines as the iGolf, probably expanded geographically. So don’t be surprised to see the iGolf in a VW dealer near you sometime in the next year or two. But don’t get your hopes up for a shiny white, four Click Wheel-drive Apple-logoed Jetta. With a remote. ‘Kay?

Will iTunes UK threaten conventional broadcasting?

Posted on Aug. 30, ’07, 8:52 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

On Tuesday, Apple announced the long-awaited addition of television shows to the UK version of iTunes, making it the first store outside of the US to get that content. And while most of the shows added were American in nature, it’s still led some to speculate that iTunes’s brand and dominance in the music arena might transfer well to video, thus threatening the digital video services being put in place by UK broadcasters.

The Hollywood Reporter advances this theory this morning, with specific attention towards networks Channel 4, Channel Five, and SkyTV, all of which have launched download-to-own services in the recent past. No mention is made of UK television monolith BBC, which launched its own extensive online iPlayer service this year as well—a service that is notably incompatible with Mac OS X.

I do wonder a little about the chances for downloading in the commercial television market in the UK, where broadcasting works somewhat differently from the US. In Great Britain, television broadcasting is funded primarily by a license fee paid on a per household basis. Will UK residents be willing to pay for downloaded television atop the license fee, or will some consider dropping their televisions for exclusively downloaded content? The latter is still a ways off, given the relative paucity of content available in the UK store, but if the US store is any indication, that will quickly change.

UK readers, chime in. Is the availability of television content in iTunes change your plans for viewing? What are your hopes, your fears, your joys, and your sorrows?

Forbes sez marketshare up, customer satisfaction down

Posted on Aug. 30, ’07, 7:43 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Business

Allow me a moment to rant and rave before I get into the actual meat of the Forbes piece. The title of the article is “Worm In The Apple”. I’m begging tech writers everywhere to please stop using this trite, unimaginative pun any time Apple and something unpleasant happen together. Better yet, stop using puns all together because you clearly don’t have the sense to avoid overused ones. Thank you.

Now that I’ve got that off my chest, Forbes reports that while Apple is making ground in marketshare, customers are less than pleased with the support they’re receiving.

Apple’s mark on the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index slipped four points to 79 for the second quarter, down from 83 during the year-ago period.

Forbes explanation is the influx of switchers that are having trouble acclimating to the new interface. Other offered explanations include the iPhone’s introduction (and AT&T seems a little unprepared). I’m most apt to believe that it’s growth in general that’s spreading the support thin (look at how you need to schedule appointments with Mac Geniuses).

MacFixit and VersionTracker bought by CNET

Posted on Aug. 30, ’07, 6:35 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Troubleshooting

Both MacFixIt and VersionTracker have become important stops for Mac users. They teamed up some time ago to promote paid premium accounts for both sites. It makes sense due to the nature of their sites, but once this happened and MacFixIt made their archives a paid section, the monetary motivations of the site became quite clear.

Anyway, both sites announced (MacFixIt, VersionTracker) that they have become “part of the CNET family”. The family angle must have been part of the acquisition terms. Both sites seem excited about the new ownership due largely to the money that will help fund the sites for improvements. Thought it’s not touched on by MacFixIt, I hope one of those improvements is free access to their archives. Something tells me they might be able to afford it.

Transmit 3.6 lets you access Amazon S3

Posted on Aug. 30, ’07, 5:24 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

Transmit is still my favorite FTP program. Interarchy has been giving it a run for its money though, particularly as it had one advantage, Amazon S3 support. JungleDisk has been doing an admirable job of managing my account, but having the ability to directly manage that file storage is mighty handy.

Transmit 3.6 adds the ability to connect to Amazon S3 for all your file management needs. Unfortunately, in my very preliminary, very unscientific testing, Transmit is unable to handle larger collections of files on those accounts. The directory (if that’s what they’re called on S3) that contains my JungleDisk backup of my photos is causing Transmit to crash and thrash. Meanwhile, my copy of Interarchy is able to easily handle the 11,599 files in there.

Another new feature is the ability to associate a URL with a bookmark so that you can use a new command to copy the URL of those files for testing elsewhere, such as in a browser.

AirPort Extreme gets an exciting firmware update

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 5:39 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Hardware

Proud owners of the AirPort Extreme Base Station will be glad to know Apple today issued a firmware update for it. The big thing with this firmware, version 7.2.1, is that it’s officially certified for draft 2.0 of 802.11n, which is excellent. We can’t wait for the wireless standard to be definitely set in stone.

Also included in the update are several bug fixes and, perhaps more importantly, security updates:

Apple reports that the software fixes a security problem that could enable remote attackers to “adversely affect network performance.” The exploit involved the IPv6 protocol’s handling of type 0 routing headers; the update addresses the issue by disabling support for such headers.

Download all of this right here, but keep in mind you’ll need version 5.1 or later of the AirPort Utility to install it.

Nokia launches music store

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 2:32 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Music

Trust the tech industry to have no respect for the media. I mean, I only just finished a roundup of current rivals to iTunes and Nokia has the gumption to launch a brand new one this very day.

Nokia’s store is aimed largely at its own customers, enabling over-the-air downloads of tracks to Nokia’s N81 handsets, either via Wi-Fi or 3G. The tracks will then sync with your computer. Of course, you can download music onto your PC as well, though it doesn’t seem as though Macs are supported (boo, hiss). The 192kbps tracks are WMA files, encoded with Microsoft’s DRM scheme, and cost €1 apiece, with albums runnning €10.

Any threat to iTunes? Nah, not particularly. It’s too limited in appeal and reach with so few compatible devices. The over-the-air purchasing is nice, and it’s certainly cheaper than competing ventures from many wireless providers. But if you want my opinion—and face it, why else would you be reading?—I fully expect it to fade into obscurity in the next few months, and be discontinued with a couple of years.

[via Engadget]

Mariner’s birthday is reason for you to celebrate

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 1:11 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

We don’t normally go in for crazy discount deals, but every once in a while we come across something we figure that our readers might appreciate. Mariner Software, maker of word-processor Mariner Write, screenwriting program Montage, and other software too sundry to name, is celebrating its seventeenth year in operation, and they’re painting the virtual town red with a sale on their entire software catalog. Hey, one more year, and they’ll finally be able to vote.

So, until midnight CDT on the 31st, you can pick up any of Mariner’s many programs at a 30% discount. In order to do so, you just need to enter coupon code “Happy” at checkout. Tricky, we know, but we’re sure you can handle it. Good luck, we’re all counting on you.

It’s official: Apple crimewave

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 12:30 PM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple

I hope Apple is beefing up their security because they’re undergoing an assault of epic proportions. Just today Thomas shared the story of an attempted burglary. Now I’ve got another to share. This time, the “smash and grab” technique was used to break the front window of the Saddle Creek Apple store and steal merchandise out of the store.

Here’s the remarkable thing. The crooks managed to take off with $25k stuff in less than 60 seconds. Talk about Gone in 60 Seconds. zing! A police officer arrived a minute later only to find the scene abandoned. And because I know you’re dying to know, they took off with 10 iPhones, one iMac, and six MacBooks. Why the iMac? Nobody likes that glossy screen.

Microsoft may not know art, but it knows what it likes

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 12:00 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Internet

Microsoft would like to remind you that it’s not just about boring spreadsheets and TPS reports. Every once in a while, even your office drone has to cast off the shackles of cubicledom and create something. Make art. And Microsoft can be there to help with its brilliant suite of creative tools: Microsoft Office.

Wait—say whaaaaa?

The Mac Business Unit has launched a new virtual commons site called the Art of Office, dedicated to showing what Mac users can create in the confines of the productivity suite. And, we’re certain, it has nothing whatsoever to do with a software package whose name rhymes with myQuirk.

Featured artists on the site include the likes of Devo founder Mark Mothersbaugh and MAKE magazine senior editor Phillip Torrone, as well as plenty of users just like you and me (well, maybe not you). You can upload your own creations or remix and reuse what others have submitted. Yes, amazing. Welcome to the Internet, Microsoft.

At the end of the day, though, this smells a lot like Microsoft trying desperately to buy itself some street cred. And the fact that it’s that obvious likely also means that it’s doomed to failure. Remember: when you try too hard to be cool, all you end up doing is looking like a doof.

[via Macworld]

Attempted infiltration of an Apple building fails

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 7:49 AM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Apple » News

Cyrus recently published a post about a burglary that occurred at a Seattle Apple Store earlier this month. Sunday, however, the attempt by two men to infiltrate our favorite tech company’s facility in Elk Grove, California, miserably failed.

Interestingly enough, the two men the police apprehended are ex-employees of Apple. What they planned on stealing in the building is unknown — juicy secret prototypes or a massive helping of freshly refurbished iPods, perhaps? The Sacramento Bee explains the arrest:

At 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Elk Grove detectives spotted [the suspects] cutting a hole in an exterior chain-link fence to get onto the grounds of Apple. They then tried to forcibly enter an exterior door, but were unsuccessful and ran away when detectives approached, according to a press release from the Elk Grove Police Department. Police said the pair tried to escape into a nearby creek, but were located after a search involving Elk Grove police officers, Elk Grove K-9 units and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department’s helicopter.

G5s now not only look like a sieve, they leak like one

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 6:33 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Troubleshooting

One of the many reasons we never saw a G5 in a Powerbook was heat. Later generation G5s put out a ton of heat. So much so that a liquid cooling system was employed to keep things under control. I remember a number of Mac fans being concerned about the long term viability of such a system. It turns out those worries were quite justified.

According to one reader of MacFixit and Xlr8yourmac (I saw his report on both sites):

I have a lab of 17 Dual 2.7Ghz G5s that are all now leaking their coolant- all at once. A significant number are dead in the water and the rest are just holding on right now. Symptoms are wide-ranged but will include fans spinning wildly, machines shutting down when they heat up, greenish liquid leaking from the case, and if you are able to look, crystalized liquid forming where the CPU meets the heatsink as well as corrosion of all the metal surrounding the CPU module. Eventually, the machines just stop working altogether necessitating a replacement of CPU, Logic Board, Power Supply, and two smaller parts. In one case the power supply started to shoot off black smoke and then died.

Thus far Apple hasn’t done anything about this issue. Of course many of these G5s are out of warranty coverage, leaving Apple blameless or at least not obligated to do anything about it. It’s a sad fact though, considering the number of G3 and G4 towers that are still cranking away after all these years. It makes me glad my Mac Pro didn’t need such an elaborate cooling system, unlike Capri-Sun, it’s not liquid cool.

Raging Menace releases SideTrack 1.5

Posted on Aug. 29, ’07, 5:24 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

I got my Powerbook before Apple came up with its own solution for scrolling using the trackpad. With such a tiny screen, you can imagine that I need to scroll quite a bit. It was then that I bought SideTrack. This little gem allows you to use the sides of a trackpad as a scroll control (you slide your finger along the side).

Many of you may have become accustomed to Apple’s two finger method, but SideTrack’s method has become a muscle memory for me. The ability to assign various actions to the corner’s of the trackpad has also become a favorite gesture of mine. By tapping one corner, I right-click. The others expose two Expose functions and trigger a new tab in web browsers.

Version 1.5 supports the very latest Mac laptops and even adds preliminary support for Leopard. Considering part of the software package is a kernel extension, it’s good to know it’s being worked now.

Music to British ears: “TV Programmes Now Available!”

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 5:51 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Evening Tuesday news just keeps coming, and today turns out to be a special day for all iTunes users in the UK: they finally have access to TV Shows. I can hear screams of joy from the other side of the pond. More than two years after Lost and Desperate Housewives first graced the US store, it’s finally time for another country to enjoy the same treat.

Specifically, Apple quietly posted several TV shows on iTunes UK (curiously, there’s no announcement yet on their UK website). Those include “programmes” from ABC, Disney Channel, MTV, and a few others, which translates into the availability of, for example, Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, and South Park. The selection is pretty small, reminiscent of the one found in the US a little less than two years ago. But, hopefully, that selection will grow exponentially in a similar way.

Single episodes are priced at £1.89 — before you whip out the Unit Converter widget, that’s worth approximately $3.80 USD, or almost two dollars more than a US episode. Of course, I wouldn’t expect it to be completely equivalent, especially with the current state of the US dollar, but that’s a pretty steep difference in my opinion.

Pricey or not, they’re there for your enjoyment, so enjoy! Oh, and Apple, thanks, but Canada is next, isn’t it?

The beat goes on

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 5:04 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Apple » Events

Now that my jaw has regained its usual position — it had dropped a few inches for a relatively long period of time, which delayed the posting of this entry — it’s my duty to tell you about today’s breaking news! Apple has just sent out invitations to members of the press for its upcoming special event, which will be held at Moscone West next Wednesday, September the 5th. As you can see from the image and the slogan shown here, “The beat goes on”, the focus will clearly be on the iPod and iTunes.

Yes, Apple is getting into quite a routine with their September iPod roll-outs: it’s now the third year they’ve released new gadgets at this time of year. In 2005, the iPod nano was unveiled, along with the Motorola ROKR in its shadow, while 2006 brought an entire refresh of the iPod line and iTunes 7.

We’re definitely looking forward to the event and the goodies it will bring, as I’m sure you do. What we’re less looking forward to is the inevitable mix of rampant speculation, desperate rumors, and over-analysis that will grace the Internet between now and September 5th.

So, what are you betting on? New iPods, new iTunes? Let us know. Wait, will that contribute to that rampant speculation I was complaining about? Sigh.

[Hat tip: the one-and-only Jason Snell]

iPhoto 7.0.2 arrives

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 3:16 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Software » Updates

Right in the footsteps of minor updates to iWeb and iMovie ‘08 follows iPhoto 7.0.2, already the second revision of iPhoto ‘08 (the first, you might remember, was released immediately after the recent keynote). This time, Apple promises fixes for a few aspects of the app:

This update to iPhoto addresses issues associated with publishing to .Mac Web Gallery, rebuilding thumbnails, and editing books. It also addresses a number of other minor issues.

Dear new iPhoto
Your spiffy Web Gallery:
Debugged and repaired.

Wow. That was like, not very good at all. Go download the update and forget about my futile attempts to capture the magic of Japanese poetry.

How to batch image resize with Automator

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 11:45 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Tips

If there’s one image program that I loved, it’s Lemke Software’s GraphicConverter, if for nothing else than the fact that it can do batch image conversions, something that not all image editors can do.

But imagine my surprise when our friends over at LifeHacker point out this trick can be achieved using Automator. Maybe I won’t need to use GraphicConverter after all.

Ringo Starr comes to iTunes

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 10:30 AM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Starting today, former Beatle drummer Ringo Starr will release his back catalogue and his upcoming compilation album on iTunes, reports Macworld UK.

The move marks the first time music from Ringo Starr has been made available through digital music services on a global basis - and also marks a seismic shift in the manner in which the former Beatles regard online music services.

Music from the artist will be made available through iTunes Plus and also through other services offering EMI’s premium DRM-free music.

How does this bode for getting the Fab Four’s collection of albums on iTunes? We’re hoping it’s a positive sign.

SCPlugin’s goal is to subvert the Finder

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 9:19 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

Version control’s an important part of being a programmer. You’ve got to know who made what changes and when, and the ability to roll back an older version of files is pretty darn critical. The system of choice for many in recent years has been Subversion, but Macs have largely been second-class citizens: while Subversion clients like SvnX and SmartSVN have existed, there hasn’t been a way to integrate Subversion into the Finder like there is with TortoiseSVN on Windows.

Now there’s SCPlugin, a little app that aims to be your “one-and-only Subversion interface.” Provided, of course, that you treat it right, remember to buy flowers, and don’t forget its anniversary. What do you expect from software that expects you to commit all the time? Ha ha, just a little monogamy humor there.

SCPlugin is at version 0.7, so it doesn’t do everything yet—repository browsing, for example, is listed as a future feature—it’s still likely to be a step-up for many frequent Subversion users, since it provides two major features: integration of Subversion commands into contextual menus in the Finder, and dynamic badging of icons to let you know the status of particular files.

But I wouldn’t bounce back-and-forth between SCPlugin and those other clients: I hear they get jealous when they hear you’ve been version controlling all over the place.

[via Lifehacker]

The construction of robotic hordes on your Mac just got a little easier

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 8:35 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software » Updates

Back to back days of Mac/Lego news? My heart cannot contain the joy that wants to surge outwards from it. It is…too much.

I haven’t spent time playing around with Lego Mindstorms NXT, the nifty system that lets you basically build sentient robots out of little plastic bricks, but the Bond villain part of me is tempted. Very tempted.

While Lego and National Instruments, whose combined powers fuel these amazing feats, had released an OS X client, it wasn’t Universal. But the newly released version 1.1 adds support for Intel-based Macs. And now, my plans for world domination can unfurl and sweep across the globe like the latest dance craze. You have been warned.

[via Macworld]

Just like Gucci bags on NY street-corners, make Tiger into Leopard

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 7:43 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Geekery

Appletell has put together an interesting list of ways (currently down, try this if it still is) to make Tiger into Leopard. It may be a trite simile, but this transformation is a bit like putting lipstick on a pig. That said, a quick review of their suggestions is in order.

1. Use SuperDuper instead of Time Machine. They’re both backup software, but that’s where the similarity ends. Not really a great suggestion in my book.

2. Instead of Spaces, use VirtueDesktop or Desktop Manager.

3. Put folders into the Dock in place of stacks.

4. Use a theme called Liger to simulate the interface.

5. Use a Finder replacement.

6. Use ChatFX to do more with iChat.

7. A widget from fondantfancies.com let’s you simulate the web page cropping widgets now.

Like I said, this is lipstick. Personally, I think I can wait a month or two.

[via Digg]

Skim updated to 0.7

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 6:31 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software » Updates

Starting with college, I’ve had a number of PDF documents that I’ve needed to read. Acrobat Reader (now known as Adobe Reader) and later Preview did a fair job in that they both worked. Both have improved over time. Neither measure up to Skim. I first remarked that it was my new favorite back when it was at a young 0.2. It’s reached 0.7 and has really started to show some maturity.

Skim has all the trimmings you’d expect out of a good Mac app including good, strong use of Cocoa and the now ultra popular Sparkle software update component. You can mark up your PDFs with notes for future study. The place it really shines though is the search facilities. Like Apple’s Preview, it presents a live updating search result list. Double clicking a result switches to the page, highlights the text and also circles it with a red oval, making it extremely clear where the text is. That’s a huge help.

The new version has a slew of new features. My favorites are search result tool tips that show the full context of the search result without forcing the user to actually move to that location in the file as well as an option to save PDFs directly to a disk image that encloses your PDF along with the notes you’ve made all over the document. This update is especially relevant now as students return to the schools of their choice. This software is for you.

Yahoo asks “What is this Safari you speak of?”

Posted on Aug. 28, ’07, 5:23 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Internet

Yahoo has been offering a new, Ajaxy version of the webmail for about a year now. It’s been in beta this entire time. They’re supposed to remove the beta qualifier. I’ve been using it on my account for some time now. While it’s certainly more up to date than the interface it replaces, it’s a bit “heavy” (slow). It also has rather restrictive browser requirements. It supports IE and Firefox ‘natch, but not Safari and Camino.

“Our team is working hard to add Safari 3 support to the new Yahoo! Mail,” said Mahon. “Since Safari 3 is currently in beta, I understand it’s a bit of a moving target, and our developers are working with Apple to ensure compatibility. We hope to support Safari 3 soon.”

Hear that sound? It’s a light rustling sound. That’s the sound of the buck being passed. Rather than find a way to support Safari 2.x, they shoot for 3.x which is clearly still in development and subsequently blame its lack of stability for any compatibility. I can only hope they actually deliver.

On the other hand, Camino is based on the same rendering engine as Firefox. What’s up with that?

The Joy of Tech publishes its 1,000th comic

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 5:09 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Geekery

Geek entertainment is always priceless, and the Joy of Tech is the kind of comic that always makes me smile. For Nitrozac and Snaggy, the authors, this is a special day: they’ve just published comic #1,000. Now that’s quite an accomplishment.

Of course, this kind of event has to be a celebration, and the Joy of Tech has an eclectic collection of desirable geek stuff to give away. First and foremost are a autographed copy of iWoz and a choice between two signed David Pogue books: iPhone, the Missing Manual or an old techno-thriller novel, Hard Drive. (Who knew Pogue had even written such a thing? Not me.)

Anyhoo, there’s also gear from RadTech (a wireless mouse, a 2GB secure drive, and more) and SendStation (iPod accessories). To round it out on the software side, Freeverse is giving out copies of Sound Studio and many of its Mac games.

Entries are entered through a JoT forum thread (users registered before last Saturday get double the chance to win) and end on September 2nd, at 8 PM Pacific Time. Good luck to you, and I’ll be looking forward to another 1,000 great JoT comics!

Lego my ego: Jobs and Woz circa 1972

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 1:23 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Geekery

Mixing Legos and Macs is, for me, a practically spiritual experience, on par with the combination of chocolate and beer. If you’ve missed out on your chance for exclusive Apple-themed Lego artworks from the folks at PodBrix in the past, then don’t fret: another chance has just rolled along for you.

For just $39.99, you can be the proud owner of one of 300 limited edition playsets featuring Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in their youthful days of rebellion. Woz is sporting flowing locks and a screwdriver, while a smirking Steve Jobs appears to already be considering where their future might take them. The detail-oriented among us will notice an Apple II-style computer, circuit board, calendar complete with 2001 theme, and a smell of success. Sure, some might complain that the computer is an anachronism given the supposed date of 1972, but we say that such whining is dull and pedantic, and clearly out of keeping with Apple’s timeless nature.

The set goes on sale 9PM EST this Thursday, the 29th. Will they be snapped up like the exclusive 1984 playset? We don’t know, of course, but can you really afford the risk?

Exclusive first look: iGlasses 2 comes into focus

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 11:59 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Software

As much as we love the built-in iSight that comes on most new Macs (it’s great for quick wacky pictures), it certainly has its share of shortcomings. For one thing, the controls for adjusting the image suffer from a severe case of non-existence. That’s kind of a mixed blessing, though, since it means that it leaves a gaping hole through which the folks over at Ecamm Network can stealthily slip their iGlasses software.

Thanks to Ken and Glen over at Ecamm (the brains behind the iPhone’s two-way video-conferencing hack), we’ve gotten an exclusive peek at the long-awaited iGlasses 2. Numero dos keeps the same great simple interface and all of the features you’ve become accustomed to, while adding some new functionality to give you even more control over tweaking your iSight (or the host of other cameras that version two now supports).

In the first version of iGlasses, you could choose from a variety of presets like Sepia, Black and White, Enhanced, Extra Bright, etc. iGlasses 2 takes things to the next level by letting you directly adjust things like your camera’s sharpness, contrast, brightness, and more. You can adjust an image exactly to your liking, then save a custom preset that you can choose from iGlasses’s pop-up menu in any supported application, of which there are now even more.

And my favorite feature: iGlasses 2 now supports digital pan and zoom of your camera, which allows for scary pictures like the one above. Finally, a one-stop shop for all of those alien horror movies that I’ve been longing to make (I think that picture above would make a great poster for the film I’m tentatively titling The Horror, about a giant radioactive eye that can incinerate people…over the Internet. Hollywood, if you’re reading: call me).

At what cost greatness, you ask? The original version of iGlasses cost just $8, but all good things must come to an end, and due to vagaries of inflation and the fall of subprime mortgages, they’ve had to raise the price to an astounding $9.95. Oh, unless you’re upgrading from version one, in which case that price looks a lot more like sweet, sweet free.

I should have a more detailed write-up of iGlasses 2 later this week over at Macworld, so stay-tuned for that.

Gateway to moooooove into Acer’s paddock

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 9:08 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Business

After all, what’s a Gateway post without at least one cow joke? The faltering PC maker has been given an infusion of new life from Taiwan’s Acer, who has purchased the company for $710 million. While Gateway’s position as the fourth largest PC seller in the US was nothing to sneeze at, the company’s growth has been negative of late. Acer, meanwhile, was on the way up, but had gotten stuck at about the number six spot (they hold down the four spot internationally).

The acquisition of Gateway, which still has to undergo government approval, would put Acer firmly in the number three sales spot behind Dell and HP, and just topping Apple, who had tied with Gateway last quarter.

More significantly, the deal also smacks Acer rival Lenovo upside the head by interfering with their plans to acquire PC maker Packard Bell. John Hui, the largest shareholder in Packard Bell, was also the founder of eMachines, which was bought by Gateway in 2004. Gateway is exercising its rights of first refusal on the Packard Bell deal, which leaves Lenovo out in the cold.

[via Macworld]

My sound balance issue: a solution

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 8:33 AM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Troubleshooting

Yesterday, I wrote about an issue I was having where my Mac’s sound output would randomly shift to the right side. It didn’t take long for you guys to weigh in with your comments, and it turns out I wasn’t alone. Reader Christopher in particular directed my attention towards two things: a possible cause and a solution.

First, the cause. The System Preferences slider appears to sometimes move by itself when the keyboard volume keys are pressed, especially if they’re pressed rapidly or if the processor is under heavy load. This last bit is particularly interesting, because I still have an eMac and you guys mention it mostly affects you on older machines such as Powerbooks. As Christopher pointed out, this is documented on Apple’s website, although only for OS X 10.2 — needless to say, I’m running Tiger and this is clearly the same issue.

So if Apple hasn’t fixed it, who will? Why, a third-party developer! In this case, Christopher found a very simple free daemon, aptly named “balanced”, developed by Whamb, a small French and Swiss company. You basically download it, install it, and the only thing it does is monitor the Mac’s sound balance; as soon as the balance shifts left or right, balanced immediately snaps it back in the middle. I haven’t run into any problems, but it’s worth mentioning this runs at the root level.

In conclusion, it seems this simply is a peculiar bug, but thankfully, there is a reasonable solution in the form of balanced. Thanks to everyone who weighed in and hopefully we can enjoy well-balanced sound from our computers in the future.

One good software bundle deserves another

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 7:41 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

You’re Mac users, so the stereotype goes that you have money to throw around. Naturally, this means you can buy software bundle after software bundle. MacHeist and the MacUpdate bundles have come and gone. The latest (I don’t know about greatest) is the MacToSchool bundle. For a mere $50, you get 12 education related apps.

• Atomic Mac - handy dandy periodic table
• Clockwork - egg timer
• Diet Sleuth - help avoid the freshman 15
• Exces - file encryption
• Family - genealogy software
• Horizon - finance management
• iUnit - unit conversion (because Google isn’t convenient enough)
• Macaroni - force maintenance tasks to happen periodically
• Mori - notes management
• Pencils Down - test creation software
• Sound Byte Lite - digital soundboard
• WriteRoom - because the intarweb is so distracting when writing papers

While there’s some excellent software in there, I feel less inclined to recommend the bundle blindly. A bunch of these apps aren’t going to be useful to students while others won’t be for teachers. I bet if you’re honest with yourself about which of these you’d actually buy and use, getting just those at regular price would be cheaper.

[via Infinite Loop]

NeoOffice 2.2.1 supports OS X spellchecker and Address Book

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 6:29 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

While I’ve jumped on the iWork bandwagon, some people still find it lacking. NeoOffice had a steady following prior to that. There’s a lot to like about the software package, like a mature, stable code base. The developers have been pouring their heart and soul into making OpenOffice work well in OS X. The newly released 2.2.1 shows further proof of this.

• Support for the native Mac OS X spellchecker
• Support for the native Mac OS X address book
• Support for high resolution printing
• Opening, editing, and saving of most Microsoft Office 2007 Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents
• The latest features from OpenOffice.org 2.2.1

Note the first two. The one problem that many legacy and cross-platform programs seem to suffer from is that they don’t use the services afforded by OS X. It’s understandable from the standpoint of minimizing duplicate code, but still disappointing for a user.

NeoOffice is really doing a bangup job of integrating OpenOffice into OS X. What’s even better is that it’s free (though I highly recommend you donate money to the project if you use the fruits of their labor).

[via MacDevCenter]

Windows Genuine Advantage: forced vacations

Posted on Aug. 27, ’07, 5:24 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Apple » Rivals

We’ve all taken the complete lack of license enforcement in OS X for granted for a while now. I’ve never had to think about whether reinstalling Mac OS X, performing an upgrade (adding RAM, changing storage), or moving OS X to a different Mac would cause a problem. OS X just keeps performing as expected without obnoxiously requiring one to type in a long string of letters and numbers.

Windows users (which surprisingly includes some Mac users, believe it or not) have become accustomed to Microsoft’s mostly futile efforts to lock down the unauthorized distribution of their software. That includes loads of wasted time even when trying to use the software in a legitimate way. Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) is their latest attempt to enforce it (how wasting users’ time is an advantage is beyond me).

Well, that’s well and good until their validation servers start scewing up. Users couldn’t validate their installations. Some users even had their “Genuine” installations turned into ungenuine installations (it has since been fixed). In all fairness, things keep working (in XP, not so much in Vista), but you can’t get all but critical software updates. Plus it keeps bugging you to become “Genuine”. If you thought “Clippy” was annoying, well, consider the reminders “Clippy 2.0”. “It looks like you’re trying to use your stolen copy of Windows. Don’t you think now is a good time to stop breaking the law?”

My mysterious sound balance issue

Posted on Aug. 26, ’07, 5:14 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Troubleshooting

A while back, I was wondering if my left ear was gradually becoming deaf: the sound coming from my left headphone definitely seemed fainter than the right. After a little bit of poking around, it turned out it was my Mac’s fault: the sound balance slider in System Preferences, the one that adjusts how the sound output is balanced between left and right, was definitely a little on the right side. I firmly put it back in the middle, satisfied to find out my hearing was fine (at 16 years old, it’s quite a relief).

Problem solved, right? Er… no. A few weeks later, noticing the same phenomenon, I popped open System Preferences and, you guessed it, the slider had gone back to its slightly unbalanced spot. Basically, the story ends here: every once in a while, I have to re-adjust the slider, because I haven’t found the cause of the problem. Is it a secret keystroke I sometimes inadvertently press? A third-party app gone wild? Or the most likely culprit, a malicious leprechaun?

The moral of the story is this: if you ever experience a similar issue, remember to look in the Sound panel of System Preferences. And if you have any insight on why I’m cursed with this mysterious problem, feel free to leave a comment.

Update: it looks like we have a solution! Check out my follow-up post.

Picasa Web Albums, photo sharing on the cheap

Posted on Aug. 24, ’07, 5:01 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Photography

If you live in the comfort of all things Apple, you might not be familiar with one of Google’s trillion free services: Picasa Web Albums. Picasa the app is Google’s photo management program — a free iPhoto for Windows and Linux, if you will. Picasa Web Albums, on the other hand, is available to anyone for free, and offers 1GB of storage to show off your photos on the web.

Why am I bringing this up? Because for now, it’s the answer to my quest for a free, simple and private-enough way to share photos online with computer-challenged relatives. The new dot Mac Web Gallery is the ideal solution, but $99 per year is out of question for me. Flickr is nice, but it’s rather geared towards social interaction, and privately sharing photos with family members requires them to have an account too. Picasa Web Albums, however, offer a nice balance of simplicity and privacy, for free.

Read on for my impressions and details on how it all works.

Modifier keys expose Expose functions

Posted on Aug. 24, ’07, 10:17 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Tips

An anonymous tipster over at Mac OS X Hints has answered one of my long-standing questions about Apple’s new aluminum keyboard (no, not “Will it blend?”). We know that Apple’s shifted the hot keys for Dashboard and Exposé to F3, but with just one Exposé key, how does one trigger the other functions, like showing all the windows from one app, or displaying the desktop?

The answer may shock you. Or it might not surprise you at all, if you’re kind of a pretty even-keeled person. Modifier keys, my dear Watson—modifier keys. Holding down command and pressing the Exposé key will move all windows to reveal the desktop, while holding the control key will show you all the windows in the current application. Finally, as per one of our other recent tips, holding down option and hitting the key will launch the Exposé preferences.

Shuffle dock gets Creative

Posted on Aug. 24, ’07, 9:05 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | iPod » iPod Accessories

The second-generation iPod shuffle is a marvel of engineering, but one feature it lacks—aside from a screen—is the ability to share your tunes with your friends, family, heck—random people walking down the street.

Creative’s solved that problem—if you can call it a problem—with its new TravelSound i50, a portable dock/speaker designed specifically for the iPod shuffle. Besides a honking big speaker, the TravelSound i50 features a built-in lithium polymer battery rated for 15 hours of play, and a USB port for charging the shuffle (yet another great solution for powering it up on the go). It’ll be available in Japan for about $69, sometime in September.

Some people are wondering why Creative doesn’t show the same love for its own line of Zen players. I’m guessing it’s because they’d rather spend their time making accessories for an MP3 player that actually sells. Wasn’t that what that settlement was all about?

[via Engadget]

MarsEdit 2 upgrade policy announced

Posted on Aug. 24, ’07, 7:38 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Software

MarsEdit is the blogging tool of choice here at MacUser. I’ve been a fan since its very first release personally. Friend o’ the blog, Daniel Jalkut, has since took it over and breathed a lot of new life into the program. After a long hiatus without any maintenance updates, the program really needed his loving touch. Good guy that he is, he put a lot of work into free updates for existing users.

As he prepares the latest, the greatest, the 2.0 version of MarsEdit, he’s announced a modest $9.95 upgrade fee for users that purchased their license prior to July 1st of this year (those who bought after get the upgrade for free). It’s a small price to pay to support the continued development of what I consider an essential part of a blogger’s toolbox.

Besides supporting his livelihood, you’ll be helping him pay for Sligo punch, an experience no Boston area Mac dev should be without. It might even motivate him to show off the new version a bit.

Analysis at USA Today is “tenuous”

Posted on Aug. 24, ’07, 6:32 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Money

VMware’s recent IPO success is a big deal. From a Mac user’s perspective, its success means continued development of their new virtualization solution for Macs. However, the bigger picture relevance is that IPO in the tech industry after the dot com boom and bust became a dirty word. IPOs were avoided and this success shows more strength in the sector. Even more important, it shows the strength and market value in virtualization products.

Virtualization has become an important tool not only for Mac users looking to run Windows, but for those running multiple servers on a single piece of hardware and those looking to test known configurations with new software (by creating “images” that can be made kept fresh for repeated use). Any tech savvy individual, particularly one also interested in business, should know this. Apparently Matt Krantz at USA Today doesn’t. Let’s examine what he thinks.

Hardware already needs Leopard

Posted on Aug. 24, ’07, 5:13 AM PT by Derik DeLong

Category | Hardware

Sonnet, known in the Mac community for its Mac CPU upgrades among other products, has started selling a new Firewire and USB Express/34 card. Ok, so it requires Windows. You may be wondering why Sonnet is selling it at all, or why I care. The reason you need to care is that support will be coming through the next version of OS X, Leopard.

We’ve heard plenty about new applications currently in development that will require Leopard, but this is the first piece of hardware to formally require it. It also reminded me, amongst the iPhone love and hackfest that we have but one full month before Leopard is released. I love Apple gadgets and all, but it’s the Mac OS that has kept me coming back time and time again. We can finally return to that.

Dine-O-Matic 2 improves its psychic food suggestions

Posted on Aug. 23, ’07, 3:30 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen

Category | Software » Updates

Some people believe iTunes’ shuffle is really handled by a kind of half-evil spirit whose ideas about what music to play are not the same as yours. Since my name is Thomas and I’m pretty suspicious about those kinds of matters, I won’t comment on that, but rather talk about the Iconfactory’s Dine-O-Matic widget.

Just in case you’re not familiar with this little guy, it considers the restaurant selection you provide and “randomly selects a place to eat out when you just can’t make up your mind”. You see, Dine-O-Matic is also gifted with a mysterious intelligence: when I click its nice lil’ plate, it inevitably suggests the restaurant I was thinking of.

That’s all very fine, but somewhat primitive, don’t you think? That’s why the Iconfactory created version 2, which is now officially available as a free download. This iteration’s improvements really step up the experience. For example, you can enter ratings and price information for restaurants; Dine-O-Matic will suggest higher rated items more often and, if you like, exclude expensive ones. Plus, if you enter the appropriate info, the widget integrates with Google Maps. Finally, there’s full category customization.

All in all, the guys at the Iconfactory did a great job refining Dine-O-Matic to make its suggestions even better without the help of its hidden spirit, so my hat’s off to them.

Another fix for the new iMac keyboards

Posted on Aug. 23, ’07, 2:30 PM PT by Cyrus Farivar

Category | Hardware

Sure, you could take the easy route and simply install that software update to get the function keys on your newfangled aluminum keyboard to work, but tha