Our pals over at Infinite Loop and Engadget are reporting that while Apple's new laptops might have snazzy Mini DisplayPorts, some iTunes content is all sewn up in High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) ridiculousness--a new version of DRM for video that requires all devices in the chain of video transmission to be authorized to play back content. In other words, if you want hook up a projector or an older monitor to your new machine in order to watch certain iTunes content, you're going to get the above error message. The solution? You'll need an HDCP-compliant display.
Apparently this has been brewing on the Apple discussion boards for a few weeks now, with one poster reporting on October 26:
Just got a new MacBook last week and finally found a mini Display Port -> VGA adapter so i could use my 19" external display. I rented a movie from the iTunes store yesterday and when I tried to play it on my external display, it gave me a warning/error that the display was 'not an authorized HDCP display' and it would not play. Plays fine on the small MacBook screen, just nothing external. To make it even worse, i tried all the movies that I have purchased from the iTunes store with the same result... NONE of them will play on anything but the MacBook's small 13" screen. This is crazy unacceptable.
Word.
We’ve seen our fair share of knockoffs of Apple products, usually produced in Asia where attempts to track them down for legal reasons would probably be less successful than trying to round up outlaws in the Wild West. But this one has to be my favorite in a long while. Look, if Apple doesn’t make the netbook that you desperately believe they should, why not just go make it yourself?
Hence, the MacBook Nano. That’s right: combining the great flavor of the MacBook with the tiny package of an iPod nano. Done and done! Some creative vendor has modded an MSI Wind netbook into a “MacBook Nano.” You can check the entire unboxing at this Flickr stream for the full effect. Meanwhile, let’s give the pluses and minuses a quick rundown:
Plus * Compact 10” screen—it’s the tiny Mac laptop we’ve all wanted! * Backlit Apple logo on the case. * Runs Leopard. * Comes with a two-wheel scroll mouse. * They even got the font right.
Minus * Keyboard looks ugly and PC-like. * 1995 called: It wants its VGA port back. * Construction looks cheap. Plastic is so out. * Seriously, what’s up with plastering Apple logos on everything? Do you think you can magically convince us that this is an Apple product?
I’ll admit it: as thrilled as I am with my new MacBook, I long for something even smaller and lighter. MacRumors thinks that this “shows possbilities”—personally, I think it just shows how much attention goes into an Apple product. I believe, as far as Apple is concerned, the Air is its lightweight notebook, so don’t hold your breath for a MacBook Nano.
[via MacRumors]
So I heard that a bunch of laptops were overhauled or something today. I'm half-tempted to tell you to just stay on that article because then you'd be spared the pain of Microsoft accusing Apple of having an "Apple tax." Oh, Microsoft--why you be so silly, as my sister would say? You see, the day before Apple's Special Event, Microsoft's vice president of Windows Consumer Product Marketing, Brad Brooks, sat down with CNet's Ina Fried for a "little" chit-chat (no mention if it was by a fireside or not which is a shame, because you just don't see those anymore). A chit-chat that repeatedly insists Apple customers are subject to an "Apple tax" for doing anything other than, I don't know, looking at the computer or something.
Brooks' main point:
There really is a tax around there for people that are evaluating their choices going into this holiday season and going forward. There's a choice tax that we talked about, which is, hey, you want to buy a machine that's other than black, white, or silver, and if you want to get it in multiple different configurations or price points, you're going to be paying a tax if you go the Apple way. There's going to be an application tax, which is if you want choice around applications, or if you want the same type of application experience on your Mac versus Windows, you're going to be purchasing a lot of software. And even at that you're not going to get the same experience. You're not going to get things like Microsoft Outlook, you're not going to get the games that you're used to playing.
So wait, all this week when I've been writing letters in Pages ($79 USD as part of the iWork suite; education discounts and other promotions can be found), exporting them to rich text or Word files, and then reopening them in Microsoft Word on a Windows PC running XP, I've actually been paying a tax to Apple? Is that how that works? I've been inconvenienced by the big, bad bean counters at Apple? Because honestly, I could also use TextEdit (free with every new Mac) to write my letters, save them directly to rich text format, and then reopen them in Word on the desktop PC without suffering any loss in formatting, content, etc. I use Pages because I bought it and I bought Pages because I wanted an alternative to MS Word (nice to know that apparently, all those copies of Office for the Mac weren't what they should have been, Brooks). I've been lucky that I really don't need to run Windows on my Macbook at all so no, I haven't had to pay for a legal copy of Windows, or buy Parallels or such. However, if I did, I'd look it at this way: I now have a one machine that runs at least two operating systems. Hells yes.
As tech writers (and, perhaps more important, fans), we’re accustomed to constantly clamoring after the newest, shiniest devices. I can name at least two members of my staff who sell off their old laptops and buy a brand new one pretty much every time Apple releases a new model.
But maybe there’s something to the idea of not fixing what ain’t broke. Take, for example, the cover for the latest issue of The New Yorker, by illustrator and author Bob Staake. Staake has a rather interesting artistic method which involves creating basic shapes and refining them into more complex ones. Even more interesting from a technology perspective is that the primary tool he uses to do so is Photoshop.
Photoshop 3.0.
No, that’s not a typo. I don’t mean CS3. I mean 3.0. The version that was released in 1995. Says Bob on his site:
I continue to work in the program even although I have Adobe Creative Suite 2 on my G5. For me, the familiarity of Photoshop 3.0 keeps me locked into the program, even though my son says the days are officially numbered given that the classic program won’t physically run on the new dual processor Macs (and being an Apple employee, he should know).
You can watch the process Bob uses to create his drawings, where you can see him at work on his thirteen year old version of Photoshop. I’ve embedded the video of the above cover creation after the jump. (Note: I believe the Gizmodo and Boing Boing stories are incorrect in their statement that he runs Photoshop 3.0 on MacOS 7, since at least one post on his blog suggests that he’s using OS X—presumably, he runs Photoshop 3.0 via Classic, which I believe requires OS 9.)
I feel like this is the kind of thing Merlin Mann would approve of: consider it a reminder that tools can be a distraction; instead focus on the work the tools let you do. Heck, I wrote two novels in AppleWorks.
What about you, readers? Got any vintage software that you can’t seem to let go of?
[via Gizmodo]
Continue reading "New Yorker cover artist can't quit Photoshop 3.0"
David showed us an ultra cool Lego Mac Pro. While it looks great, seeing how it was made is even better.
Bricked Mac - Time-Lapse from RP Cuenco on Vimeo.
Teh awesome is beyond compare.
You may not realize it, but you are traveling through another dimension right now. A dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. Next stop…the Apple Screen Sharing Zone.
If you’re the curious sort—and I know I am—perhaps you’ve wondered what happens when you turn on screen sharing on two of your Macs, connect to the remote machine, and then use the remote machine to connect back to your local machine. Perhaps you have also wondered about the sound of one-hand clapping. But I digress.
Reader William was kind enough to send us the answer to the former question—click the picture above for an immersive view. Ah, it takes me back to the days of my high school freshman video class, where I would play around by pointing the video camera at the monitor that it was hooked up to. From there, you could almost see infinity—the joys of being easily amused.
Oh, and if you were wondering: the sound of one-hand clapping is “cl.” The other hand makes the “ap.”
Steve "Monkey Boy" Ballmer just can't seem to embarrass himself enough. In a recent video that has surfaced on the YouTubes, Ballmer is seen walking toward a cowering camera man in a menacing manner, loudly professing his love for Microsoft while flailing about erratically.
There are no reports yet as to whether or not the camera man, or other bystanders, were injured during what can only be described as a "walk-by monkey boy"—a variant on the drive-by monkey boy. We have reason to believe there were no survivors.
Parents, keep an eye on your kids. Don't walk the streets alone at night. Walk-by monkey boys can happen to anyone at any time. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Feast your eyes, my friends, on what is nothing less than pure Lego perfection. What looks like a perfect reproduction of a Mac Pro made with Legos, is in fact a beefy PC running Mac OS X, with a Mac Mini thrown in for good measures. Let me run that by you one more time: that's a nicely specced Hackintosh combined with a real Mac mini, housed in an elaborate Lego exterior. How can you not love this?
This Lego Hackintosh/Mac Mini was designed in the Lego Digital Designer 2.0 for the MacMod Challenge 2008. The housing is made of 2,588 Lego bricks, while the Hackintosh is a plain PC with a Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4Ghz CPU running Mac OS X. The Mac Mini is a Core Duo 1.66Ghz. All of this adds up to pure, Lego-y delicious goodness.
The fellow behind this design should sell limited edition Lego Mac Pro cases, because hey, who wouldn't want a Lego enclosure for their PC?
