Engadget obtains Psystar Open Computer, posts video and benchmarks
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 6:15 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » Huh?
I know you’re probably tired of all the Psystar coverage, but for some reason I’m morbidly interested and amused by the concept of the elegant Mac OS X running on a bulky, generic PC. Whereas a video of the home brewed Mac first arose a few days ago, the folks at Engadget have managed to obtain their very own Psystar Open Computer, and have been playing around with it since earlier today.
Like any self respecting geek site, they’ve posted unboxing photos (if Mac unboxing photos are the equivalent of geek supermodel porn, this would have to be geek vagrant porn), and have put up a video as well as benchmark tests.
One of the first things noticeable is that its fan is really, really loud. It seems that OS X can’t interface with the fan controller, and so it’s always on full blast. Other than that, the machine boots up properly, and we’re soon looking at the typical OS X desktop. The guy shooting the video wisely decides to forego installing updates when he is prompted with the option, noting that he’d like to run benchmarks before seeing if it breaks when attempting to update.
Looking at the system specs, it looks like Pystar has managed to trick OS X into thinking it’s running on a Mac Pro. A few glitches include the system profiler’s inability to detect its memory settings and built in audio. Audio, however, does seem to work fine when speakers are plugged into the output.
Interestingly, in benchmark tests, the Open Computer holds its own pretty well. Of course we must still scratch our heads in wonder at whoever would go so far as to seriously purchase one of these things.
Warner Bros to release iTunes rentals same day as DVD, Blockbuster totally screwed
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 5:35 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Business
Hear that sound? That’s Blockbuster’s coffin being slowly lowered into the ground as their sole customer incentive (DVD rentals before On-Demand availability) goes up in smoke, at least for Warner Bros. releases.
The prophetic Dan Moren noticed an odd trend about a month ago in which iTunes movie rentals released by Warner Bros. were becoming available for download significantly sooner than Apple’s stated 30-day policy. It looks like he was on to something, as Warner Bros. chief executive announced today that they will release movies for on-demand systems like Comcast’s and yes, Apple TV, on the same day they are released on DVD from here on out. Rejoice!
While the film industry at first seemed worried that online rentals would eat into DVD rentals, it seems that offering same-day releases on the internet only cuts into DVD rentals by 3-5 percent. Ironically, internet rentals also seem to increase DVD sales as well. My condolences to the brick and mortar rental industry. Looks like you guys are going the way of the record store.
[Via Gizmodo]
Email annoyances and solutions
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 2:42 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Tips
I have four email accounts — down from 11 last year — that are constantly slaughtered by work emails and newsletters and, of course, an unholy daily barrage of spam that tries to convince me I need V1agra or C1al1s or sexy underwear or cheap prescriptions or a low-interest mortgage or designer footwear or Microsoft Office or stamps (??) or a date or… Well, you get it.
What I’m trying to get at is managing email is pretty crazy for me, and I imagine it is for plenty of you too. Brainiac Breen (two references in two posts!) over at the Mothership recognizes this problem, and has written up a bunch of tips for fixing annoyances and better managing your messy mail.
If you’re like 99.7 percent of computer users, your e-mail client gets more of a workout than any other software you use. And given the amount of time you spend with this particular software, it’s not surprising that minor annoyances you’d forgive in other programs become a Big Deal when you encounter them hour after hour, day after day. I’ve rounded up some common e-mail problems and provided solutions to help you keep them under control.
Tips include deciphering Windows-specific mail files, fixing sluggish email clients, sending email when you’re out, saving server space, and more. Check the article for all the frustration-easing info.
See ya CD: iPods taking over cars
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 1:54 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | iPod » iPod Accessories
I’ll be honest: I use the cassette deck in my car way more than I use my CD player. In fact, I hardly ever use the CD player, and use the cassette deck every day.
And no, it’s not because I have a bunch of cassettes with old-person music that geezers like Chris Breen probably listen to. Nor is it because I’m one of those “post-modern” analog-loving hipsters who make mix tapes Old Skool style to demonstrate their chic non-conformist approach to the our “evil” consumerist culture.
I actually just use the cassette deck because I have one of those nifty cassette adapters that let you play your iPod music through your car speakers. And these days, most people I know play more iPod music in their cars then they do CDs — either with cassette adapters, or FM transmitters, or integrated iPod player systems.
Seems that car stereo manufacturers are taking notice of this, too, according to a piece at MacNewsWorld by USA Today detailing a few companies’ new stereo products that do away with CD drives entirely, replacing them instead with iPod/MP3-player/USB/SD card player systems (adapters, slots, ports, etc.).
Stereo-makers like Clarion, Alpine Electronics, and Blaupunkt have all jumped on the CD-player-less (it has an iPod jack instead) bandwagon, offering car stereo units sans optical drives. Some, though, like Pioneer Mobile Entertainment, are standing their CD-lovin’ ground until the disk-less concept builds some momentum.
Check the MNW article for more details, and sound off in the comments: How do you listen to music in your car?
[image from Car Domain]
Lenovo X300 vs. MacBook Air on YouTube (Guest starring: Manila envelope)
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 12:00 PM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Apple » Humor
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then a parody is practically worship. Just run an appropriate search on YouTube and you’ll be deluged by scores of videos (the number is pegged at 983 as of this writing), made by enthusiastic individuals and competing companies alike, spoofing all sorts of Apple’s advertisements. Clearly, no company is as flattered and worshipped as much as Apple seems to be.
The latest entrant in this mock-fest is YouTube user LoStreib’s take on the MacBook Air’s disadvantages compared to the Lenovo X300. The basic idea he’s gunning for is that the Lenovo X300, which is just about as thin as the MacBook Air, comes loaded with a lot more stuff than our beloved MacBook Air does.
Of course, no spoof video sentence involving the MacBook Air can ever be complete without some mention of the manila envelope, so rest assured that it plays an important supporting role in this little video. Check it out; it is one of the funnier spoofs we’ve seen around these parts (though by no means would we nominate it for an Oscar, or even just an Emmy).
[Via The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs]
Copland, screenshots, history, nostalgia. Enough said.
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 11:14 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Apple
Over at Macworld, head honcho Jason Snell, has laid out a veritable feast for the Mac geek and lover in all of us. Helping out with an article for sister site PC World, he dug up archived content from the mid-nineties, primary among which were several screenshots of Copland, Apple’s much-hyped replacement to Mac OS 7 that never even made it to the market.
The screenshots, which can be viewed in all their washed out, almost grayscale glory over at the mothership, reveal some interesting insights into what sort of plans Apple had, even as early as in the previous decade.
There was supposed to be a Macintosh Guide which would help you do several tasks on your machine, the most notable of which was Computer Custodian, which allowed you to backup your files and “check for computer viruses.” Also of note is the systemwide search utility that was planned for Copland, the great grandfather of the Spotlight feature we all enjoy and adore today.
I know you’re probably jumping in excitement over there, waiting for me to shut up so that you can proceed to the screenshots. Go ahead and check them out and weigh in with your opinions. Any guesses as to what that forever inactive “Huh?” button does?
Apple sued for patent infringement over something to do with iPods and stuff
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 10:29 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Legal
Thomas Claburn, writing for InformationWeek, brings word of yet another patent infringement lawsuit filed against Apple, this time about how Apple attaches solid state drives in its iPod nano and iPod touch lines (and possibly even the iPhone). It has been filed by law firm Butzel Long on behalf of Henry Milan, in the United States District Court of the Eastern District of Michigan.
Mr. Henry’s claim seems to be that the patent rights to the particular method which Apple uses to connect the drive to the connection port, which allows them to easily use the same setup on various devices, belong to him. The patent application in question was filed on 12 November 2004 and granted on 31 January 2006.They’ve tried to get Apple to license “their” technology and haven’t met with any success so far.
Quite frankly, if I were them, I wouldn’t have bothered at all. Then again, if I were them, I probably would’ve looked at better ways to make money than randomly suing giant corporations and hoping to win. I might’ve paid some heed to this whole thing and taken it seriously, if these things didn’t crop up out of nowhere practically every other week. We’ve all heard the story of the boy who cried wolf a little too often, haven’t we?
The truth revealed: Bill Gates is made of felt
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 9:39 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Video
And now a touch of surreality for your day. Have you ever sat there thinking to yourself: “Gee, Bill Gates sounds a lot like a muppet.” No? Okay, take a minute to really toss that one over; I’ll wait.
Done? Great. One YouTube user took it a step further when he combined audio of Bill Gates discussing the Mac back in 1984 with a video of everybody’s favorite verdant muppet. The eerie result? The video below. Prepare to be disturbed.
Seriously, I am never letting my kids watch Sesame Street.
[via Macenstein]
Visigami paints a pretty picture (of pandas!)
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 8:57 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Software
Those nutty folks over at the GOOG are up to it again. One of the company’s policies is that it’s employees are encouraged to work on open source projects, either full time or in the 20% time that they can work on personal projects. One of the latest Mac-based projects to hit Google’s Mac Developer Playground is Visigami.
It’s an application! It’s a screen saver! It’s a—okay, actually, that’s pretty much it. Enter a search term and choose your picture source (currently, Flickr, Picasa, or Google Image Search) and you’ll be barraged with images. You can pick how you want them displayed (in a grid, a fan, or a carousel), and alter the speed, spread, and zoom until your little heart is content. Do be aware that the animation takes up a decent amount of horsepower on some machines (it totally slowed my Growl notifications to a crawl, for example).
I also made the fatal mistake of specifying “baby panda” as my search term. The resulting overdose of cuteness almost sent me into convulsions—do not mess around with baby pandas, folks. I’ve already been contacted about doing a PSA on the subject.
Apple Store is Bristol-bound
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 8:11 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Stores
Reader Chris sent us a tip about a new UK Apple Store—we cleverly mislaid his email in our pile of virtual papers, but good man that he is, Chris didn’t give up. This time we’ve got the message loud and clear: Apple’s got space in a new development going up in Bristol. The 6,000 square foot store will be part of the new one million square foot Cabot Circus, billed as a “city centre retail and leisure destination.” Shopping is leisure? I suppose that’s true; it explains why malls always make me sleepy, anyway.
Cabot Circus is one of the biggest developments going up in the UK at present; it’ll feature residential as well as commercial properties. Apple will be residing in the “Quakers Friars” section of the center—that sounds adorably British—alongside high-end retailers such as Harvey Nichols, The White Company, and Fred Perry. None of whom I know anything about. The whole place is scheduled to open in the autumn of this year, when it will join the existing nine fifteen UK stores. At least one other UK store, in my old haunt of Edinburgh, is rumored to open sometime in 2009.
Update: Yes, there are more than nine UK stores. Which is weird, because this list has substantially fewer. But still more than nine. Not sure how that number got into my head.
[hat tip: Chris K.]
Could this get more overused than blink?
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 7:14 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Internet
Safari has implemented a new feature into its CSS lexicon. It now supports reflections. With some style information, you can make Safari into a soulful web browser, thinking back on past crashes and bad rendering of older versions. Actually, it will take and image and give you an alternate representation, to give that reflection effect.
I can practically see every blog across the web putting this in for the header. As a Firefox user, you won’t be seeing it as it’s a WebKit specific set of attributes. All your Safari using friends (and hopelessly confused Windows users that can’t figure out how to uncheck an install box) will get to see it in all its glory (which may make you even more smug). Even better, it even works with videos and features live updating.
WWDC early registration pricing continues until May 9
Posted on Apr. 30, ’08, 5:32 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Geekery
Were you afraid you missed out on discount admission to the wondrous theme park that is WWDC? Fear not, you now have until the 9th of next month. But what about all the good little developers that actually signed up, you know, early?
I’ll admit my curiosity is provoked as to why Apple would bother doing this. A natural conclusion to jump to is that registration numbers aren’t what Apple expected and they needed to boost them. However, an alternate scenario also seems likely to me. Apple may be trying to pull in all those new iPhone developers that weren’t attending until now.
At any rate, we’ll bring you coverage of any announcements that will be coming out of the Apple developer conference.
Microsoft releases Messenger 7, thinks it’s 2003
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 3:45 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen
Category | Software » Updates
To my surprise, Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit today released a new “major” version of their MSN (and Yahoo) chat client, Messenger for Mac 7. Oh, you mean it still exists?
Now, I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but Messenger for Mac has to be the most neglected, behind-the-Windows-version piece of software the MacBU puts out. For proof of this, look no further than the exciting new features this version brings: contact search by name or email, contact nicknames and Bonjour support.
Excuse me? Adium has had these features — with the exception of contact search, which is a decent idea — for years. If I hadn’t had nicknames all this time, I would’ve gone nuts: how am I supposed to know who “··¤(`×[¤ ναии ¤]×´)¤·· ..:: мємσяιєѕ ::..* (W)¸.´)(`· [ ѕιιѕтααz ]·´)(` .¸” is? (And yes, that is the actual screen name of one of my MSN buddies.)
The one good thing in this release I was ready to applaud Microsoft for is A/V chat capabilities, but that’s only for corporate users, who also get a few other niceties.
As someone who cares about the survival of the Mac platform, it’s my duty to thank Microsoft for not killing the darn thing, but please, if you’re going to keep it alive, don’t leave it in a coma.
Software update quickie: Java
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 2:58 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen
Category | Software » Updates
No day in the Apple world we live in would be complete without a minor, usually uninteresting software update. Today is no exception.
If you have a 64-bit Intel Mac running Leopard, waiting for your little greedy mouse clicks is Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 1. Says Apple, “[it] adds Java SE 6 version 1.6.0_05 to your Mac. This update does not replace the existing installation of J2SE 5.0 or change the default version of Java.” For all the gory details, visit this page.
As usual, you’re invited to tell us if this impacts the way your Mac behaves. We hope it does in a good way!
Sending out for a new battery? Better make sure you have $130 in your bank account
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 1:10 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » Huh?
Let me relay to you a recent, fun little experience I had this week with AppleCare. How recent is this experience? Well, let’s just say that I’m writing this article as I wait on hold for a call that’s taken 30 minutes of my life so far. [Update: the call (my second call to AppleCare on this issue) has taken 40+ minutes, and this post has now evolved into a full on rant]. But I digress.
Anyway, I have a 17 month old MacBook, and as some of you may have heard, battery longevity on new Macs just ain’t what it used to be. And so after less than a year and a half of semi-regular battery use, handy dandy Coconut Battery (a free app that gives info on your Mac’s battery) tells me that my battery is running at 38% of its original capacity—a statistic corroborated by the fact that my battery has been dying often after less than an hour of regular use.
This is a problem, and since I purchased extended AppleCare, it seemed to be an easily solvable one. So I called them up and told the agent “Yo, my battery’s whack, send me a new 1 plz?” to which the agent replied “word”. (This conversation has been paraphrased to spare you the boring details). After getting my battery info and deciding that I indeed qualified for a new one, the agent then asked me for my credit card info. This struck me as a little odd, because weren’t they going to send me one for free?
SSH Back to Your Mac
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 12:31 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Tips
I remember trying to access a remote computer’s files via FTP and SSH in the past: enabling an FTP/SSH server on the machine, forwarding the appropriate ports on the router, paying extra for a static IP address or using a service like DynDNS, and lots and lots of praying.
Several services made all that easier, but none as easy as Back to My Mac, which enables screen sharing and in-Finder file access of remote Macs. If you can get it to work (it can be a teensy bit flaky), BtMM can be amazingly handy.
And a great tip at Mac OS X Hints shows you how to easily use Back to My Mac to access your remote machines using SSH — the command line tool for remote file management built into OS X’s Terminal app.
Make sure Remote Login is turned on in the Sharing menu of System Preferences on the Mac you want to access remotely. Then, in Terminal, use this command to SSH into that machine:
ssh -vvv -p 22 hostname.username.members.mac.com.
Where hostname is the name you gave to the machine (i.e. the name that appears in Finder), and username is your .Mac username (i.e. if your email address is steve@mac.com, your .Mac username is steve). Note that there is a “.” at the very end of the command — I’ve had more consistent success using it that way. You can also try Terminal.app » Shell » New Remote Connection (or press Command-Shift-K) and then look under ‘Secure Shell (ssh) for “Discovered Servers”’.
I tried it, and it works beautifully. So if you’re a UNIX/command line kinda guy, here’s a great way to make Back to My Mac work for you.
You want wireless ‘net? Here’s your stinkin’ wireless ‘net
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 11:58 AM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Geekery
The MacBook Air is “truly” wireless — aside from the fact that you need to be near something wired (i.e., a WiFi base station) to access the Internet. Most modern mini-notebooks have some sort of cellular tech that enables ‘net browsing anywhere you can get a cellular signal.
The Air is an exception…‘till now. Intrepid (and brave) modder Jordan Bunnell ripped apart his AirBook and, using some extra unused USB controllers on the logic board, installed an internal EV-DO card for full location-indepedent Internet goodness.
I consistently get about 1,400-1,700Kbps vs. 1,800-2,000 when it was external, The hardest hit was the upload, I would get around 500Kbps, now I’m closer to 380Kbps.I upgraded the firmware and activated the USB727 whilst still in USB form, and after I set-up and activated it I simply use the network controls under System preferences to “connect automatically when needed” which works like a charm when I close the lid to sleep, open to resume, and as soon as I make an internet request, a few seconds later I’m online!
Bunnell details the mod step-by-step, illustrated with photos, if you’re crazy enough to try it yourself. It seems he had to sacrifice the Air’s WiFi and Bluetooth capabilities — two steps forward, one step back, if you’re looking for “truly” wireless…but it’s all about priorities.
Check out this page for the steps, and this InsanelyMac forum thread for a discussion about the mod. Or, if you want EV-DO but don’t feel like voiding your warranty, you can check out a few external options as well.
[via Engadget]
Hacked OQO may be smallest Mac ever
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 9:01 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Geekery
If the MacBook Air just isn’t portable enough for you, but you want something a little more than an iPhone, there haven’t been a lot of options in the Mac arena to date. Windows users, meanwhile, have had the choice of using handheld computers like the OQO. Of course, the OQO is really just a very small PC, and as the Psytar clone wars have shown us, you can run OS X on pretty much anything you can run Windows on these days.
A user at the OQO Talk forums, going by the handle trf, claims to have gotten Leopard running on an OQO, dual-booting alongside Windows. The process is apparently not for the faint of heart, and there are still some lingering issues (getting the WWAN support working seems to be the biggest of them), but you can take a gander at this video to see the setup in action.
From what I can see, the performance looks a wee bit sluggish in some aspects (look how long it takes the icons to appear in Cover Flow); I attribute that to the OQO’s fairly lackluster graphics chipset and the 1GB of RAM ceiling. It does, however, appear to work, which is admittedly pretty darn cool.
How about it, readers? Does this setup get your salivary glands working overtime, or is it merely shrugworthy?
[via Gizmodo]
The British are coming, the British are coming…to iTunes
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 8:08 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store
Last night, I vowed to start using more Anglicisms even if meant holding up under the disparaging looks of my colleagues: it’s worth the sacrifice just to be able to refer to someone as a complete muppet. What fuels this passion of mine? Well, much as I’d like to merely chalk it up to those months that I lived in the UK back in the early part of the decade, I have to admit it’s mainly a function of the excessive amounts of British TV that I watch.
That’s just gotten even easier, as Apple’s added shows from BBC America to the iTunes Store (iTunes link). You can now pick up episodes from three series: Torchwood, Little Britain, and Robin Hood. I’ve watched both the first and last of those shows, and enjoyed both. The store, unfortunately, only has the second seasons of both shows Robin Hood (as Sean points out below, Torchwood Series 1 is there), so if you’re looking for completeness, you’ll have to go elsewhere.
Honestly, though, I was hoping more for the likes of Doctor Who, Hustle, and Spooks, all of which are shown on networks other than BBC America in the US. Why must you continue to thwart me, silly international borders?
MacFUSE 1.5 is out
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 7:17 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Software » Updates
Yes, I can’t stop babbling about MacFUSE. I love the idea of being able to make essentially anything into a file system in Mac OS X. I love that it plays a part in products bringing FTP into the Finder (despite the myriad of issues it brings up, like random read and write expectations). I just want it to do more and more.
The good news is that development is continuing on the project, as evidenced as the recently released 1.5. There is a very detailed, geeky list of changes (imagine the utopia if Apple got this detailed). A couple of 10.5 specific changes stood out to me, namely garbage collection and BridgeSupport.
Now we just need more plugins. More I tell you! How about a Flickr browsing plugin? The possibilities boggle the mind.
Microsoft hires away Photoshop veteran
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 5:00 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Photography
Mark Hamburg is one of those people that were instrumental to the success that Photoshop is today, particularly in the early days. He joined Adobe in 1990 to work on Photoshop 2.0. His contributions vary from working on paths, to raising the minimum RAM allocation, to promoting a user interface redesign for 4.0, to being the eye in the splash screen for 5.0, to the history palette, free transform, screen caching, and shapes.
So, yes, he was important to the Photoshop project. More recently, he worked on Adobe’s Photoshop Lightroom. All that is at an end though, as he’s about to start working at Microsoft. What’s his assignment? The next Photoshop killer? Maybe… but current word is that he’ll be working on “user experience”. Good luck on trying to improve that at Microsoft. He’ll need it.
[via Valleywag, photo courtesy of Lightroom News]
WWDC extends early registration pricing
Posted on Apr. 29, ’08, 3:00 AM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » News
Apple has extended early registration from April 25th to May 9th, giving late birds a second chance at early savings. If you sign up between now and May 9th, you’ll save $300US—almost enough to buy an iPhone!
WWDC ‘08 will be held June 9-13 at Moscone West in San Francisco. It features over 150 scheduled sessions, broken down into three tracks: IT, Mac, and the new iPhone track. Plus, you get to see the real life Steve Jobs deliver his famous keynote address. Joy!
New graphics firmware update for iMacs
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 5:00 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Software » Updates
Attention ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or Radeon HD 2400 XT graphics card equipped iMac users: It’s time for an update of the firmware variety. If you fall into the above mentioned demographic and you’re running Mac OS X v10.5.2 or later, this update is for you.
The update, creatively titled iMac ATI Radeon HD Graphics Firmware Update 1.0.1, makes a change to the graphics card firmware on these systems that improves system stability. Once it’s done, the Mac’s Boot ROM or SMC version information (as listed in System Profiler) will read 113-B2250L-259. Ooh.
So get on with it and enjoy your improved stability (system stability, that is. We can’t account for emotional stability at this point.)
3GHz iMac’s CPU overclocked, not really next-gen
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 4:00 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » News
For those of you frothing at the mouth for the new 3.06GHz iMac, we have some news that you may find a bit disappointing. It turns out that the new iMacs are part of a special run of Intel’s existing technology rather than an early introduction of the anticipated Centrino 2 technology.
Essentially, the 3.06GHz processors are current generation chips modified to take in more power (55 watts instead of the typical 35-45 watts) and to support the faster system bus speeds (1,066MHz up from 800MHz) so that they can be revved up to the impressive 3.06GHz Apple is advertising.
This is a big difference from the upcoming Centrino 2 processors which are expected to consume 25W to 35W and to achieve the faster processor speeds through all natural, organic, free-range methods rather than through barbaric, unnatural overclocking. Either way, a 3.06GHz processor is still a 3.06GHz processor regardless of how the speed is achieved, and that’s fast, so we’re not complaining!
[Via Electronista]
Mac Pilot 3 boosts its repertoire with 200 new tweaks
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 3:10 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Software
Koingo Software’s Mac Pilot 3 is now available, and it sports whopping 200-something new tweaks. “Wait!” you might be thinking, “what exactly is Mac Pilot, and how could it really have been tweaked that many times?”
Mac Pilot lets you perform OS customizations that normally require 1337 h4x0r terminal skillz through an easy to use GUI. Users can alter the configuration of the Mac OS X file server, fine tune the network card for broadband, erase logs and caches, change disk settings, disable Spotlight (although why you’d want to do this is beyond me), schedule power events, view character map for fonts, and a bunch of other tweaks mere Mac mortals wouldn’t have a clue about accomplishing without this program.
Mac Pilot 3 is fully compatible with Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger and includes documentation for each feature as well as a reset function to undo any changes you might have made. Cop it new for $20, or get it as a free upgrade if you bought Mac Pilot 1.x or 2.x after October 31, 2007. Otherwise the upgrade is $10.
[Via Macworld]
Access Cupertino: Ballmer on a Mac, Kathy and Woz split
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 2:10 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Apple » People
Tonight, on Access Cupertino:
Microsoft CEO and resident crazyman Steve “Developers Developers Developers Developers” Ballmer was caught red-handed giving a PowerPoint presentation on “business leadership” on…wait for it…a Mac.
What’s next, Steve? iPod instead of a Zune? Wii instead of an XBox 360? Good instead of evil?
Speaking of Steves. Billionaire Apple-cofounder and tech diva Steve “Woz” Wozniak has reportedly split with D-list celeb Kathy “Am I funny yet?” Griffin.
The red-head comedian/actress told Usmagazine.com:
“He is an awesome guy, but I have to say he is in the friends category now,” Griffin, 47, told Usmagazine.com at the GLAAD Awards in L.A. Saturday.“As a matter of fact,” she added, “I got an email last week from him, and he is going to marry someone else… I think he might be married. I don’t really know that for sure, though.”
Married already? Ouch. Woz sure seems to get around — that Segway probably doesn’t hurt.
Be sure to catch Steve in the upcoming season of Griffin’s Bravo reality show, My Life on the D-List.
***
Why were Steve Jobs and Bill Gates seen holding hands at a local dog park? And the real reason CARS is on hiatus…all the dirty details John Moltz doesn’t want you to know. All this and more, next time on…Access Cupertino.
Hey, neat: Open Computer is actually real
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 1:15 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Hardware
We’ve written a lot about Psystar’s Open Computer Mac clone. I’d venture so far as to say we’ve written about it way too freakin’ much.
But I figure it scores pretty high on the “potentially interesting” meter, so it’s worth mentioning that the Open Computer may actually be a real, booting-and-computing machine that Pystar is actually selling and actually shipping.
Gizmodo seems to have video proof:
It’s alive. Reader Patrick (Whiskeyfrown) is lucky enough to be using one of the few Psystar Open Computing machines that have made it into the wild, and he was generous enough to make a video showing the machine (including the connections in the back to the monitor to show that it’s legit). The thing boots up and runs pretty damn fast, says Patrick, but Software Update won’t recognize it so you won’t be able to patch. System Profiler thinks that it’s a Mac Pro.
Obviously, the lack of a working Software Update means the machine is nowhere near “average consumer” class, but it still may be a viable inexpensive alternative to Apple-made Macs for serious hobbyists and technophiles. And who knows where the advent of the Open Computer may lead in terms of Mac clones.
The best thing about all this? I can hassle Derik for this post. Thank you, Psystar!
Yahoo thumbs nose at Microsoft acquisition deadline
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 12:39 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Money
Microsoft wants Yahoo. Yahoo thinks Microsoft is nerdy and smells funny and would much rather be purchased by a cuter company who uses deodorant and plays football.
Why else do you think the search giant ignored Microsoft’s Saturday deadline for wrapping up an acquisition agreement the Redmond company really, really, wants?
You know the story: Microsoft wanted to purchase Yahoo for a price well-above its current market value. Yahoo said “No, not enough money.” Microsoft said “Yes, or else.” Yahoo said “La la la can’t hear you.” Microsoft said “Agree to it by Saturday or we’ll go hostile on your ass.” Yahoo said “Did you hear something? Must be the wind.” Microsoft said “You suck!” then ran to its room crying. Sorta.
Microsoft’s execs have been threatening to purchase Yahoo in a hostile takeover via proxies if the web company didn’t agree to the deal by Saturday. But as the deadline approached and Yahoo seemed unflinching, they toned down their rhetoric, going from “Big Tough Guy With Lots of Money” to “Defeated Child on the Playground.”
“Unless we make progress with Yahoo towards an agreement by this weekend, we will reconsider our alternatives. We will provide updates as appropriate next week, these alternatives clearly including taking an offer to the Yahoo shareholders, or to withdraw our proposal and focus on other opportunities, both organic and inorganic,” [Microsoft CFO Chris] Liddell said then.
Seems like the hoopla is finally coming to a head — either Microsoft will take the next steps in executing a hostile takeover, or they’ll give up altogether and pretend like it never happened.
There’s a great piece at the Mothership about the whole acquisition business that’s definitely worth a read — it reveals a lot about Microsoft’s intentions with the bid, and their surprise and frustration at Yahoo’s reluctance to accept. But once again it seems like Big Red is all talk and no walk — which, in this case, may actually be a good thing for users who don’t want to see the tech industry’s garbage disposal obliterate Yahoo’s great array of online services.
Microsoft to cloak XP sales as those of Windows Vista
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 11:14 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Business
The hits just keep coming for Windows Vista and Microsoft and they’re not the only ones suffering due to them. Dell, in an attempt to satisfy customer demands, has announced that Windows XP will be offered as an option to customers even after June 30th, the day Microsoft officially halts sales of the operating system.
On the surface, that sounds lovely but it’s the details where matters get sketchy. To be able to offer this convenience, Dell’s going to use Microsoft’s “downgrade” license, which allows PC vendors to provide XP under the Vista license. In the words of Ephraim Schwartz, of sister site InfoWorld, this means that “the user is buying a Vista license that it can apply to XP, and Microsoft can still claim a Vista sale”.
That’s a cheap, underhanded tactic if ever there was one. It’s a convenient way for Microsoft to report misleadingly inflated sales numbers of Windows Vista, even though a lot of those sales numbers potentially apply to customers who bought the OS with no intention of using it.
In other words, every copy of Windows sold after June 30th, whether it be of XP or Vista, will be reported by Microsoft as sales of Windows Vista, and the company will use that to show how popular the OS is. Don’t be surprised to hear some fantastically high numbers from Microsoft later this year. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “two for the price of one”, doesn’t it?
The silhouettes are back with a new iPod commercial
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 10:29 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Apple » Advertising
Quick question: What are the two things synonymous with the iPod? If you answered the white earphones and the silhouette advertisements, then you are correct. Congratulations, you’ve been nominated for a place in the MacUser readers’ Hall of Fame!
One of those two things, however, had been missing in action for a while now. With the advent of the latest line of iPods, Apple had switched to more mainstream commercials which actually showed the device and its features. Bah, how boring is that!
It’s now time to rejoice for all of you who’d been craving for some of that crazy silhouette action again, because they’re back with a bang. Check out the latest iPod + iTunes advertisement on the Apple website. Grab your iPod, plug it in and rock on with the funky silhouettes to the tunes of “Shut Up and Let Me Go” by The Ting Tings (iTunes link).
MercuryMover helps keyboard users who like to move it, move it
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 9:45 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Software
There are two types of people in this world—no more, no less: those who prefer to use the mouse/trackpad, and those who like to keep their hands firmly on the keyboard. Both are equally valid, except for the mouse users, who are totally wrong. Those of us in the keyboard clan have long had to resort to the pointing device for quotidian tasks like moving and resizing windows, but those days may finally be approaching their timely demise.
Helium Foot Software’s MercuryMover is a preference pane that allows you to move and resize your windows all from the keyboard. By hooking into the “access for assistive devices” component of OS X’s Universal Access system, MercuryMover allows you to designate a hot key that switches you into a mode where you can then adjust the foremost window’s position and size. Additional options let you assign modifier keys that control the increments by which it adjusts window sizes (for example, you could say that holding control and an arrow key will adjust window sizes by 100 pixels while holding the shift key adjusts it by 10 pixels). When you toggle MercuryMover on, it’ll even give you a helpful overlay that reminds you which modifiers do what.
You can download a free 30 day trial of MercuryMover, but the full version will cost you $24. It’s a small price to pay to be forever free from the shackles of the tyrannical trackpad.
[via Mac OS X Hints]
Confessions of a dangerous mind (Mac Specialist edition)
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 9:04 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Stores
We’ve all, at some time or another, wondered about what exactly goes on behind the scenes in an Apple Store. Are there super-secret Apple products just lying about? Do they build towers out of iPhone boxes and then knock them down (hence, the recent supply shortage)? Or is it—as many have whispered—staffed entirely by human-looking robots?
An anonymous informant claiming to be an Apple Store employee sent The Consumerist a tantalizing missive called “7 Confessions of an Apple Mac Specialist”, which they have shared with the world at large. Some of these apocalyptic revelations we were already aware of—for example, that Apple Store employees have no knowledge of future products—while others confirmed things that we’d only conjectured.
If you have a return outside of the return policy we will most likely take care of you. If it’s sealed we’ll take it back, and open, if you speak to a manager and plead your case, they will most likely take care of you no matter what.
Much of it more or less jibes with what I’ve heard from other, reputable sources, but it’s still an interesting look into the life at the Apple Store, not to mention likely a valuable resource if you’re considering working there (#3 particularly).
However, I was disappointed about the prodigious lack of information on robots. Sounds like HBO won’t be picking up Apple Store Confessions for its late-night lineup anytime soon.
The annual Dan + iTunes birthday bash
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 8:14 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store
Last night I was made to endure a terrifying experience, the pain of which still lingers fresh in my brain. My life flashed before my eyes, shot in fuzzy, grainy VHS splendor. On the eve of my birthday, my mother produced a videocassette containing recordings of my fifth, sixth, and seventh birthdays. It was actually the first time I’ve ever seen a video of myself as a child, and let me tell you, it was frightening: the bowl cut hair, the red grade-school sweatshirt, the sheer ’80s-ness of it all. Add to that the slightly surreal soundtrack provided by an anti-smoking documentary that was not fully erased when my parents taped over it—oh, 1980s technology, how you amuse.
So I know how iTunes feels. Here it is, turning five years old, and no doubt Apple is recording every moment, hovering alongside with some digital video camera, making sure that no embarrassing moment is forgotten. The celebrations are already underway in the store itself, where Apple has put up a special section featuring hit music and videos from the last five years. Oh, look, 2003! Jack Johnson and OutKast. Those were the days.
iTunes, of course, has come a long way since 2003, rising from its position as an upstart in the industry to the number one retailer in the country. They started with a selection of a mere 200,000 tracks and have today worked their way up to more than 10 million, selling more than four billion songs along the way.
Which, you’d better believe my mother points out reproachfully when she asks about how work is going. Anyway, happy birthday, iTunes—I’m glad that we can share this special day together every year. Cake?
Upgraded iMacs sport faster processors and more memory
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 6:12 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Hardware » Intel Macs
Apple launched the upgraded range of iMacs today that feature no visual changes but have been bumped up to include faster processors and more memory as part of the standard configurations. The prices, for the most part, haven’t seen any changes.
The three models now ship with 2.4GHz, 2.66GHz and 2.8GHz processors, all of which sport 6MB shared L2 caches. The base model still has only 1GB of RAM, while the other two have been bumped up to 2GB each. The bus speeds for RAM modules have been ramped up to 800MHz across the board.
The default storage configuration remains the same but you can optionally configure your iMac to include up to a 1TB hard disk spinning at 7200 rpm. Other optional configurations include a 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and the much needed option of the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GS in the graphics department.
At $1,199, $1,499, and $1,799, the prices remain the same for the three basic configurations, but the 3.06GHz configuration can now be had for $2,199 (which is a $50 discount). If you’d been waiting for an iMac refresh, like me, it’s time to break open that piggy bank you’d been hiding for the past few months.
In related news, with the launch of the updated iMacs today, Tuesday officially loses the exclusive rights to Apple product launches. It was seen wailing on the gates of the Apple Online Store, pleading to be let in on the fun again. We’ll know whether it met with any success or not tomorrow.
Apple Store goes down and the anticipation begins
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 5:29 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Apple » Speculation
The last time the Apple Store went down on a Monday, we saw the AirPort Express get updated to the 802.11n Wi-Fi standard. It’s a Monday again today and the Apple Store has its cheerful yellow sticky face up again.
What might it be? New products? An updated iMac? Or is it just scheduled maintenance? Maybe they’re just clearing the cobwebs for the big iMac launch tomorrow—oops! Do weigh in with your valuable speculation.
Adobe kills GoLive
Posted on Apr. 28, ’08, 5:15 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Software
It’s almost as if it were a really poorly implemented April fools joke, Adobe has ended development and sales of GoLive. Despite surviving the Macromedia takeover of 2005 (which featured Freehand as a casualty), GoLive just couldn’t compete with a product of the same company. Dreamweaver basically started to eat its lunch, leaving barely enough scraps to keep GoLive development profitable.
As Adobe describes the situation, GoLive was basically a crutch for creative professionals moving to the web while Dreamweaver was for web professionals.
Now that more and more creative professionals are becoming Web professionals, their needs have increased, and Dreamweaver is a better fit, said Fernandez.
I won’t comment on better fit, but I think the sales figure probably spoke for themselves.
Support will continue with heavy emphasis on how to migrate to Dreamweaver. They’re also offering a $199 “upgrade” on their website. I’ll use quotes because I’m sure a few of you consider GoLive the superior product. Personally, I think all you young whippersnappers with your fancy web IDEs are spoiled. Back in my day we coded with nothing but an HTML reference and a text editor. Still do.
iPod disco makeout closet gives whole new meaning to term iPod Touch
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 6:35 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » Huh?
Let’s face it: sometimes you just wanna dance. This urge can come at the most inopportune moments, like say, in business meetings, or while you’re just walking down a busy street blasting Blondie on your iPod. This is where artist Nick Rodregues’ mixed-media installation the “Porta Party” would come in quite handy. It’s basically a booth in which you and perhaps another party goer enter, dock your ipod, and get funky in a most discreet manner. It’s got a light show and everything. Rodregues sums it up like this:
“If you walk around with a party going on inside your head and your just too shy to bust a move in public. Or if you like partying but hate people. Your prayers have been answered. ‘The ‘porta-party’ is the place you can relieve your need to party it up. Just go inside and plug in. Is this a statement about isolation or just a fun place to make out and do other scandalous activities? Who knows, what I do know is it’s available for rent at your next party.”
One thing I know, is that I probably wouldn’t want to go in there after it’s been “occupied” at a party a couple of times…
[Via the LAist]
VMWare bumps Fusion to 1.1.2
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 2:23 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Software » Updates
A quickie down the proverbial software pipe: VMWare updated its Fusion virtualization software — which lets you run Windows and Linux on top of OS X — to 1.1.2, and for a point update, it’s got some tasty treats:
VMware Fusion 1.1.2 now provides better support for the MacBook Air, enables Time Machine backup of virtual machines, adds support for Windows XP SP3 Boot Camp partitions, and is now available in Simplified Chinese.
It also has a ton of bug fixes — properly disconnecting USB drives, a fix for the Aluminum Keyboard, a fix for an audio problem, and more.
The Time Machine thing is great, but VMWare does note that each time Time Machine runs, it will make another copy of your virtual machine file — which can add up to a lot of used hard disk space. So, you know, keep an eye on that.
Fusion 1.1.2 is a free update and is available from VMWare’s site.
[via Macworld]
Boston Apple Store progressing, opening soon
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 12:29 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Apple » Stores
We’ve been following the construction of Boston’s new flagship Apple Store for what seems like years now. It appears that for all of our waiting, the day of revelation is increasingly imminent. I was just—moments ago—talking to an acquaintance who told me that he was beginning training to start work at the store, and now I come across a post on ifoAppleStore with a link to some pictures snapped yesterday that show off a green-painted facade reminiscent of Fenway Park’s iconic Green Monster. Another pic showed up at Geek Force Five too.
Exciting! You can bet when the store opening goes down, MacUser will be there to see it at long last. I hope it lives up to all my expectations—if it does, then perhaps I can finally set sail from my hometown once and for all. My work here will be done.
Final Cut continues the product tour season at Apple
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 11:29 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Apple » Events
If you’re a fan of Apple’s product tours, then it’s practically going to be Christmas again for you in the coming months. The Aperture World Tour 2008 hits its last stop, Seattle, on April 28th and the Leopard Server Tour just kicked off yesterday and will continue until May 14th.
If that wasn’t enough, Apple has the Final Cut World Tour 2008 lined up on the heels of these two, just to keep things interesting. It begins in Hollywood on May 13th and goes on from there to New York, Chicago, Korea, Washington D.C., Beijing, Mumbai, Seattle, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Taiwan, Atlanta and ends up in Dallas on July 8th.
Attendees to these four hour events will learn about the key features of Final Cut Studio 2 and Final Cut Server as well as see live demonstrations, view demos of professional real-world projects, and have a chance to “talk to representatives of leading professional video companies and view demonstrations of solutions combining Final Cut Studio with third-party hardware and software.”
If any of that sounds wildly exciting to you and you live anywhere near the cities mentioned above, then you’re exactly the kind of person Apple is looking for. Go ahead and book yourself a seat before they run out of them. They’re available on a first come, first served basis, mind you.
The Big Book of Apple Hacks helps you regain control of your Apple products
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 10:44 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Tips
O’Reilly Media recently released the new Big Book of Apple Hacks, a 640-page tome chock full of tips and tricks related to Apple products, requiring varying levels of expertise. Authored by Chris Seibold, a senior author for Apple Matters, the book covers Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger, iPods, the iPhone and Apple TV.
The book’s aimed at all sorts of users, from power users to recent switchers. The hacks vary from minor software level tweaks (known as “quick hacks”) to the full blown extravaganzas that may require you to get down and dirty with the hardware itself.
If you frequently find yourself wishing that your Mac or iPod did things differently and don’t find any preferences in the default set of options, this might be the book for you. Now, if only I could find a way to stop iChat from launching at random times in the day and sending nonsensical auto-replies to dumbfounded buddies.
P.S.: In the interest of full disclosure, I’d like to add that I’m also an author for Apple Matters. That, however, did not influence this post in any way.
MacJury #4 features two counts of MacUser
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 9:59 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Music » Podcasting
We’ve been remiss in bringing you a fresh episode of the MacUser Podcast. I know. Mea culpa. Please accept my most sincere apologies. But in its lieu, please accept the closest thing we have to a replacement: the most recent episode of the MacJury podcast, which features both myself and MacUser contributor Cyrus Farivar, alongside moderator Chuck Joiner of MacNotables fame, Matt Neuburg of TidBITS, and Friend of the Blog John Moltz, who really needs no introduction—not even that one right there.
On the docket was primarily a discussion of the ongoing battle between sophistication and simplicity in the Mac OS. But we, like General Zod, cannot be contained, and so we veered over to the future of digital media, launching from recent comments by NBC executives about Apple and iTunes, and then on to the diverse uses and joys of Twitter.
I certainly enjoyed my time on the panel quite a bit—I’m listening to it in full now, because I really need that morning ego-boost, and I look forward to participating in future episodes. Next time, perhaps I’ll remember not to nod in agreement quite so much.
Internet Sharing issues reveal subnet snare
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 9:17 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | Troubleshooting
Some days, all your technology works. I’m not quite sure, but I think that’s the first and third Thursday of every month. Or maybe that’s street sweeping. Other days, the time you spent in the trenches of the IT industry come back to you in lurid detail: the smell of sweat, of fear, the screams pummeling your ears. Today was such a day.
The proposition seemed simple: I was connected to a wireless network at my local cafe, and I wanted to share that connection (over Ethernet or FireWire) with a friend of mine on his own MacBook. Easy peasy, right? Turn on Internet Sharing and connect a cable.
Well, that’s what I thought. Only it didn’t work. As Homer once wrote, “FAIL.” Very puzzling. His computer would get an IP in the 192.168.x.x range, and it even had Bonjour support—he could connect to my computer, we could chat via Bonjour, but he couldn’t get to the outside world at all. What. The. Hell?
Days like this—dark days where even souls fail to see the light of the sun—Google is your best friend. I searched on likely keywords for a while, then decided to narrow my focus to Apple’s support boards, where I found this illuminating post, which contained the following tantalizing detail:
Basically, both ports on the Mac Pro were given the same subnet. This confused the Pro, as it didn’t know which port to forward TCP packets. It was stopping all packets from the Mac Mini.
Ah ha. Now we’re getting somewhere. Unfortunately, there was no link directly to the post where he found the solution, but knowing that subnets were an issue, it was simple enough to assign a manual IP address to my Ethernet connection (I chose something in the 10.0.x.x IP range, since my AirPort connection was already using the 192.168.x.x range), give him a manual IP address in the same range, and voilà: Internet. Case closed. Well, except for getting to shout “I am the king of the world!” That got me some odd looks.
Now, if only Apple would design Internet sharing to be smart enough to take care of this for me. That would make me the happiest panda of them all.
Summer of Code students chosen for Adium
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 7:11 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Geekery
Google’s Summer of Code program sponsors students that want to help contribute to open source projects. It is, quite simply, one of the best things anybody has done for the open source community. Both Camino and Adium have participated in this program in the past. In fact, Camino’s new tab bar was born of such a project.
Adium has announced its three contributors, Branton Homer, Arcadio García, and Geoffrey Foster. Homer will be extending Adium’s testing infrastructure (not a shiny bit). García will be implementing behavior driven development (interesting, but mostly unimportant to most end users).
Finally, and I’m really excited about this one, Foster will be putting something like Apple’s data detectors into Adium. Each message you receive will be analyzed and have context relevant actions associated and made available. Also, the plan is to make the framework available for use by other applications. Having this everywhere sounds good to me.
Alumni Apple executive shows up at Immersion
Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 6:38 AM PT by Derik DeLong
Category | Games
We love to see former Apple executives show up in other companies. Why? World domination. Clearly these former Apple guys will pump some Mac into their new employers. The latest Apple executive to reemerge is Clent Richardson, who has shown up at Immersion, who you may remember as partnering with Apple to enable force feedback controllers in OS X back in 2002.
I can see it now, Immersion mandating Mac support by all their licensing customers. Yup. Don’t bother me with “reality” and “facts”. Anyway, Richardson is replacing Vic Viegas as President and CEO, but Viegas will stay on as chairman. Maybe now we can get force feedback enabled Photoshop. Imagine a little vibration every time it thinks you made a mistake, just making problems worse.
Apple bumps Boot Camp to version 2.1
Posted on Apr. 24, ’08, 3:48 PM PT by Brian Chen
Category | Software
Apple today released an update for Boot Camp, its software that allows Intel-based Macs to run Windows. According to Apple’s Web site, Boot Camp version 2.1 “addresses issues and improves compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista running on a Mac computer using Boot Camp.”
A bit vague, yes, but updates to Boot Camp are always welcome: Windows could use as much help as it can get to run stably — whether it be on a Mac or a PC.
Piano Wizard gives gift of music without a stern teacher
Posted on Apr. 24, ’08, 2:15 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Software
Until not so long ago, the best way to learn an instrument was to buy or rent the real thing, and then commit to regular lessons from a real life teacher. Things have changed, especially for piano, as a full size MIDI keyboard can run you less than $100 these days. Combine that with a cool program like Music Wizard Group’s Piano Wizard, and you can get yourself on the path to the concert hall for a fraction of what it used to cost.
Piano Wizard is a customizable and complex piano program that can take you from beginner to pro through a series of exercises and games. They even include stickers to put on your keys to help remember which key is what. The program earned a 4 star rating at MacNN, so if you’re an aspiring keyboardist / pianist but don’t have the scrilla to lay down for weekly lessons, this could be an effective, fun way to hone your skill.
Will the Dept. of Defense challenge Apple’s P.A. Semi bid?
Posted on Apr. 24, ’08, 1:15 PM PT by David Dahlquist
Category | Apple » Huh?
Here’s something we didn’t expect: By purchasing P.A. Semi, a company known for its design of sophisticated, low-power chips, Apple may be crimping some plans held by none other than the U.S. Department of Defense. This is because, according to a source involved in a company that makes embedded computer boards with P.A. Semi processors, at least ten defense systems utilize the PWRficient CPU. One program forecasts the need for up to 70,000 of the chips over the next ten years.
So it’s understandable that when P.A. Semi informed its customers it was being acquired and it could no longer guarantee supplies of its chips, some feathers may have been ruffled. And by feathers, I mean missiles.
P.A. Semi is acclaimed for its power efficient chips that pack high performance while consuming less power than competitors. Defense behemoths like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon use these chips, and there’s no telling how they’ll react to the acquisition news. Let’s hope they don’t go nuclear.
[Via EETimes]
Jobs, Intel still k-i-s-s-i-n-g in proverbial tree
Posted on Apr. 24, ’08, 12:35 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Hardware
As with every Apple move, the acquisition of processor-producer P.A. Semi spurred a lot of discussion and speculation as to why, and how this $278 million deal fits into Jobs’s Master Plan. My theory is that Apple is just having some relationship issues and turned — as many do — to shopping to ease the pain. I know when I’m upset I often go out and spend hundreds of millions of dollars purchasing small technology firms…it’s comforting, you know?
Some, though, think it’s Apple building a foundation for eventually moving away from Intel and producing its own line of processors. It’s kind of an impractical theory as it is: P.A. Semi designs processors suited for mobile devices, and Apple’s great at engineering…but this is a whole different ballgame. And after the company’s earnings report yesterday, Steve Jobs, speaking to The Wall Street Journal tech blog, worked to alleviate Intel’s worries that he’s is going to break its heart and run off with some cheap chip floozy:
“We have a great partnership with Intel,” Jobs said. “We expect that to continue forever.”Jobs said Apple acquired P.A. Semi mainly for its chip designers and suggested it will rely on P.A. Semi’s expertise primarily for portable electronics devices like the iPod and iPhone for which Intel doesn’t currently supply chips (though they would like to). Jobs says Apple has long been involved in custom designing chips for iPhones and iPods and P.A. Semi will help enhance its capacity to do so.
(…) “I wouldn’t lose too much sleep over that,” he said. “We’re very happy with Intel.”
Jobs then hugged Intel and said “I love you” while kissing its forehead and whispering naughty things in its ear.
Check the WSJ blog post for more, then treat your Intel Mac to a movie followed by a romantic candlelight dinner…it deserves it.
Insert lame Mesh pun here
Posted on Apr. 24, ’08, 12:01 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Apple » Rivals
Microsoft is constantly innovating, designing new, revolutionary, market-creating products that take the public by storm and change the way we view and use technology, like the [insert several high-profile Microsoft flops that completely contradict what I just wrote].
And their machine-gun approach to product-creation has spawned yet another Sure Thing Success™: Live Mesh, an online service (now in private preview testing) designed to integrate a user’s digital life. From ReadWriteWeb:
Live Mesh synchronizes data across multiple devices (currently just Windows computers, but theoretically it will extend to mobile and other devices in the future) as well as to a web desktop that exists in the cloud. It can sync data across devices used by a single users, as well as create shared spaces for multiple users.
Well, it sounds [insert tongue-in-cheek praise of Live Mesh, backhandedly emphasizing Microsoft’s utter inability to turn their grandiose concept services into viable and functional mass-consumer products].
Live Mesh works by aggregating “feeds” from the user’s various devices — almost anything can be added to the Mesh, like files and folders and messages, and it’s rendered as a piece of information that is then relayed to the user in a “news feed” that lists all updates to his Mesh. [insert sarcastic joke about how simple and straightforward the whole thing is while simultaneously conveying the idea that Microsoft can’t do anything without making it unnecessarily convoluted].
Live Mesh does put an interesting spin on the concept of multi-machine synchronization, and the way it presents synced info may actually be useful to folks who’ve had a problem with managing files across their digital armada.
You can get more info (and watch a demo) on Live Mesh at the preview site, and at ReadWriteWeb. Knowing Microsoft’s strength in shipping concept platforms, [insert joke about how Live Mesh will probably never get out of “tech preview,” and this post was really just a waste of everyone’s time].
[via Slashdot]