April 05, 2006
Cats and Dogs Living Together?
What's next, is hell going to freeze over?
Apple will include technology in the next major release of Mac OS X, Leopard, that lets you install and run the Windows XP operating system on your Mac. Called Boot Camp (for now), you can download a public beta today.
Apple announced today official support for running WinXP on the Intel Mac. I can't effing believe it.
technorati tags: winxp, mac, apple, hell freezes over
Posted by jetrotz at 10:14 AM | Comments (0)
January 24, 2006
iPhoto '06
Forget about Aperture's 'beta release' - it's all about iLife '06! I installed the yearly update late last week, and good lord does it rock. The improvements to iPhoto alone are worth the price of admission.
My iPhoto'05 library was over 28k images. So I was surprised to hear various reports that the '06 installment increased capacity from 25k to 250k. Hmmm - perhaps that's why my old install was so sluggish - but never any errors or warnings about the size of ye olde library. Anyway, the new version is blazingly fast - like WOW!
It also upgrades handling of RAW images. In iPhoto5, your edits to RAW images were to a JPEG version. You could also edit in an external editor, but you were still working with the JPEG version. 2006's version enhances this by letting you open the actual RAW file in the external editor. It doesn't automagically import the RAW edits back to iPhoto (though I wish it would), but you can fairly easily re-import the edited RAW version.
technorati tags: ilife, iphoto, photography, mac, apple
Full screen editing has also made the leap from Aperture to the consumer photo app. You can select multiple images, hit the 'full-screen' icon, and voila! A very nice full-screen view of your images. You can also mouse among these to lock your selection, then thumb through other images in that 'slot' with your arrow keys. And it's about 5x faster than freaking Aperture is on my dual 2.5G5. The full screen mode includes an ability to rate images, zoom in, fit to screen etc. Looks sweeeeet on the old 24" monitor ;-).
I'm also digging the integration with iWeb and the Photocasts. If I want a slightly prettier presentation of images I want to post I might use the iWeb feature; and Photocasts will be a nice way to make sure friends and family get the latests photos of Sam.
There are some comments about how Photocasting breaks some RSS standards - but if you dig deep, there are not so many standards around photo syndication, so Apple had to break some new ground here. Whatever - it just 'works' to a large degree.
I'll also let folks discuss how some of these features - Photocasts, iWeb to some degree, etc. require a dotMac subscription - that does suck. But it's probably worth spending the cash to enable all that integration. Maybe .Mac will again be free one day soon....
technorati tags: ilife, iphoto, photography, mac, apple
Posted by jetrotz at 07:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 23, 2006
Such Low Heights
In an interesting case of 'who had the rights,' it's been widely reported on the web that Apple's first video ad campaign promoting the new 'Intel Inside' Macs is a blatant rip off of one of my favorite bands music videos. Here is an excellent sie-by-side comparison created on the 'Cult of Mac' site. The Postal Service is one of many side projects of Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard, and their video for 'Such Great Heights' is a frame-by-frame match to the Apple spot, showing bunny-suited lab techs in a clean room, carefully lifting out some precious silicon, etc. It turns out that the same director created both the Apple Intel ad and the Postal Service video. Unclear if he had rights to essentially duplicate a product for a commercial service without the band or label's blessing, though. Ben chimes in on the controversy with a note on the band's website saying that "We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely disappointed with both parties." The band's label could, conceivably, have approved reuse of the video which one would think they might own.
Long story short - I love the Postal Service, and can't wait to get my hands on a MacBook Pro (at least when the 12" is available). But like the controversy over the recent 'orange' Eminem iPod ads which bore their own uncanny resemblance to a Lugz campaign, this is fishy. I hope Apple comes out and clears this up soon.
technorati tags: apple, mac, intel, the postal service, advertising, cult of mac
Posted by jetrotz at 05:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 05, 2005
Aperture Anxiety
In an exhaustive review on ars.technica, serious concerns are raised about the RAW import/translation capabilities of the new monster app from Apple. While they rave about the UI and organization tools in Aperture, they point out that the output from the program includes far more noise than any professional would tolerate in the images. Basically, the program is getting hammered in reviews. Studio2f.com points to one commenter on Slashdot who said it like this: 'Photoshop is the darkroom. Aperture is the light table. If you don't understand this, you're not in the target market.' While that sounds dead-on right, I'd have to say that crappy RAW handling is something that any pro-level workflow tool simply cannot have.
From the red channel framegrabs in the Ars review, I suspect that Aperture is using a JPEG as a transitional format for display purposes despite the fact that the source is a RAW file. iPhoto has always done this - claimed 'RAW' support but actually converted all the files to JPEG. Ars sums up the problem thusly:
The problems continue for basic features like Unsharp Mask combining with this type of post-import noise to produce lots more artifacts for basic editing tasks. Also missing are a true 'curves' tool - only a 4-step levels tool exists. And a pixel sampler is also absent, something most pros want to see in their basic workflow. To me, this app would need to provide the basic tools I need to import, ouptut galleries, prints, etc plus organize, do basic color and exposure correction, plus minimal unsharp mask tools. If, however, the RAW issue is pervasive and real, Apple may have jumped the gun on releasing this latest application. To sum it up, Ars closes as follows:
Ouch! Even with all these problems, if Aperture helps deal more fluidly with the 22k+ images in my iPhoto library, it will be a godsend.
technorati tags: apple, mac, photography, RAW, aperture
Posted by jetrotz at 07:16 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 02, 2005
Widening our view of Aperture
This is a good read. Rob Galbraith digs more deeply into Apple's Aperture due later this month. In addition to looking at many of the features in more detail, Rob has some interesting conclusions about how the new app compares with other programs in this category. And he obviously concludes that Photoshop remains safe and sound, but seems to think this will be a great addition to many shooters workflow setups.
Rob Galbraith DPI: Bringing Aperture into focus
Technorati Tags: apple, mac, photography, aperture, photoshop
Posted by jetrotz at 04:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 28, 2005
PhotoBooth, FrontRow
It didn't take long. Both FrontRow (Apple's 10-foot multimedia interface) and PhotoBooth (another cute Mac app designed to take snaps of a user a la an old school photo booth) have been modified to work on most any Mac, not just the latest iMac with the built in IR/iSight. Here's a snap of yours truly using the 'Pop Art' filter via a G5 with an external iSight.
Technorati Tags: photobooth, frontrow, imac, apple, macintosh, mac, warhol, isight, g5
Posted by jetrotz at 11:49 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 20, 2005
iPhoto Grows Up
It wasn't enough for Apple to surprise everyone with a Video iPod last week, a Windows-Media-Center-like iMac (interesting) and to begin offering network television broadcasts for download on the ITMS. Yesterday, in an event I wasn't even aware of in advance, Apple took the lid off minor resolution enhancements to the current crop of Powerbooks (yawn), announced a new Quad-Processor G5 (wow), and released a new application called Aperture. This is what I've been waiting for.
More after the jump.....
iPhoto has been my 'master library' for my images for a long time now. Ever since it began to support the format, I've shot RAW images. But iPhoto can lag, and while it has a great interface and feels like a Mac application, it just doesn't offer the kind of tools I needed. Enter Aperture. Apple describes it thusly:
Designed from the ground up for professional photographers, Aperture provides everything you need for after the shoot, delivering the first all-in-one post-production tool for photographers.
Featuring a RAW-focused workflow, Aperture makes RAW as easy as JPEG, letting you import, edit, catalog, organize, retouch, publish, and archive your images more effectively and efficiently than ever before. From capture to output, you work directly with your RAW files, never having to first convert them into another format before viewing, adjusting, organizing, or printing them.
Apple also highlights SI Photographer Heinz Kluetmeier who I worked with in 1999 on the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition 3-D shoot in Mexico. He gives it very high marks, and points out how helpful this applications becomes in sifting through large shoots - like the 1000 images he might typically capture at a football game.
The new app has some serious hardware requirements. Apple is suggesting a dual-2Ghz G5, but say it will run on a 1.25 Ghz Powerbook. But all that horsepower looks well worth it in this application, combining professional workflow, a truly Mac-like interface, and superb archiving tools. I can't wait to get my hands on this one.
Posted by jetrotz at 04:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2005
Sgt Pepper, French Horn & the Mac
As Sir Paul McCartney was prepping for his Live 8 performance, he realized that there was no arrangement at hand for the four french horns in the piece. With the help of Sir George Martin and a Mac laptop running Sibelius software, these missing parts were recreated and emailed across the pond in time for the performance.
(Via MacWorldUK)Posted by jetrotz at 03:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
$50 iBooks cause stampede!
Yes, there really was a stampede. No one was seriously injured, but this morning's $50 iBook sale was an insane mob scene by all accounts. Lines of parked cars started to form around 1:30am and by 7:00am, when the sale was to begin, the line was said to be more than a 1/2 mile long, while thousands of people rushed the gate for an opportunity to spend $50 on a 4-year old iBook that stood a good chance of barely being worth even that little. There are reports of baby strollers being tipped over and mangled and one old man in a walker was reportedly trampled to the ground!
One of TUAW.com's readers, Jason Coleman, sent in this first-hand account of the scene:
"My wife and I just came from the Henrico County iBook sale. It was absolutely insane. The estimate was that about 12,000 people showed up. There were a number of people injured when people rushed the gates. [link]"
"We left after 4 hours of baking in the sun, empty-handed. There were some rumors that the actual number was something less than 1,000, but I couldn't say for sure. However many, there were many times that in people who wanted one and the crowd control... well it wasn't being controlled really. Just the police shouting at people to keep backing up, even though there was no where to go. Insane. Your readers should be very glad that they didn't come. Just wait and buy one for cheap on eBay next week.
"
Phi sent in a link to some video footage. It's not pretty.
Related link from CNN.com: Panic ensues in rush for cheap laptops
(Via TUAW.com)
Posted by jetrotz at 03:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 09, 2005
iChatAV on CNN's Situation Room
You go Wolf! On the debut of Wolf Blitzer's new show yesterday, our favorite blog reporters Jacki Schechner and Abbi Tatton held a webcam interview with Joichi Ito, who then wrote about the interview on his blog. Joichi explains that Abbi had found him via a mention on another weblog (BuzzMachine) where Jeff Jarvis discussed Ito's op-ed piece on the anniversary of the use of nuclear weapons over Japan. Macworld UK also talks about the use of the technology.
Link: Macworld UK talks about the use of iChatAV on CNN
Link: Ito talks about his appearance on CNN
Link: CNN's show page for The Situation Room
Update: TVNewser has a round up on reax to the first broadcast.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 03, 2005
iPod My Baby
And I quote:Because the only thing cuter than a baby, is an iPodified baby.What that really means is unknown to yours truly, but it sure is an interesting concept. $15.95 from iPodMyBaby.com. Does anyone expect Apple's lawyers to take this one lying down? Expect a domain name change pronto. I do think, however, that Sam would look darn spiffy in one of these. (Via Engadget, via iLounge).
Posted by jetrotz at 07:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 02, 2005
The Mighty Mouse Roars
After 21 years of denial, the Mighty Mouse roars.
I can just hear Steve Jobs to his product dev team - "Bring me a two-button mouse - with no buttons! Forget about that VideoPod you've been working on!"
Posted by jetrotz at 07:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
July 25, 2005
Konfabulator Kraziness
Yahoo has added another one of my favorite sites to their service - first Flickr, now they have announced the acquisition of Konfabulator. And best of all - it's now FREE!
Konfabulator is a Windows/Mac tool to allow users to run small mini-apps (called Widgets). The company was created by former Apple employee Arlo Rose, and preceeded the Tiger Dashboard by several years. It remains my favorite over Dashboard - as it has a simply amazing catalog of user-created widgets, and best of all the apps remain on-screen at all times, easily accessible from a menubar icon or expose-like function key reveal feature.
Frankly, I keep one of my two office monitors cluttered with widgets. I've got several webcams on there, rotating through radar images, a local Atlanta TV station towercam (all via the WebImages widget). I have Hong Kong, San Fran, Denver, Atlanta and London wall clocks (WorldClockPro). I also have a minicalendar, a couple of spiffy uptime/cpu usage monitors, a weather warning widget, and a great widget called the iTunes Companion. If I play a song w/out album art, it fetches it and installs it in the MP3. Sweet!
I had paid for Konfabulator (it used to be a nag-ware product) for the Mac a couple of years back. When the PC version came out, I was bummed to discover that my existing SN wouldn't work on the new version - I'd have to pony up cash for the PC independent of the Mac. This past weekend, I was actually considering a purchase for the PC - but Y! made that decision a bit simpler.
Anyway, it's great news that Yahoo has seen this as a product to spread via their considerable market reach. The PR indicates that they saw value in using Konfabulator as a means to extend access to Yahoo's APIs. Seems like another in a series of major portals buying a pay service and setting it free. Google's Maps/Earth (Keyhole) and Picasa are just two examples...
Links:
Konfabulator's letter to the community
Slashdot reports on the purchase
Om Malik breaks the news about Pixoria's buyout
PaidContent.org on the new business model
Posted by jetrotz at 07:30 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
June 06, 2005
Mintel, Anyone?
Is it particularly chilly in hell today? At the Apple WorldWide Developers Conference in San Francisco this morning, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced a plan to completely migrate from Motorola PowerPC processors to Intel CPUs by 2007. MacWorld has a running commentary from the WWDC, and are holding up to the onsalught of traffic. Amazingly, he reports that for the past five years, every Mac OS build has been compiled to run on the Intel platform. For one, Jobs mentioned that Apple had to make this move to continue to improve the PowerBook line - the PowerPC just wasn't going to cut it on power and heat issues. Here's a key quote from Jobs:
"I stood up here two years ago and promised you 3.0 GHz. I think a lot of you would like a G5 in your PowerBook, and we haven't been able to deliver that to you. But as we look ahead, and though we've got great products now, and great PowerPC products still to come, we can envision great products we want to build, and we can't envision how to build them with the current PowerPC roadmap."
First machines will ship with Intel inside (cough, marketing slogan, cough) by this time in 2006. I want to know how this implementation will prevent users from installing the Intel-compatible builds of OSX on generic Intel hardware. If not, this opens the Mac up in ways some thought would never happen. Good luck, Mr. Jobs, and I think congrats are in order.
Update: very good analysis from AppleMatters.com is here. All assumptions aren't valid, but some are right on target.
Posted by jetrotz at 02:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 24, 2005
Tiger Geekery
Apple's new OS, codename Tiger, ships this coming Friday. I've seen it in action here and there, and word is that it's a tremendous improvement. It includes features for my Mom (ie - visually impaired assistance improvements). But this recap looks at 50 random features of the new OS any geek would love to know. Read on.
Posted by jetrotz at 01:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 07, 2005
Apple Store Coming to Rochester
From today's Democrat & Chronicle:
Apple Computer Inc. is to open its first Rochester-area store this summer at Eastview Mall. The Apple Store will take over the 3,600-square-foot space occupied by B. Dalton Books, which is closing, said Dennis Wilmot, vice president and regional director of leasing at Wilmorite Property Management, which operates the mall.Now I can get my Mac fix in Amy's hometown.
Posted by jetrotz at 08:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
April 01, 2005
First Look - the iPod Phone from Motorola
The long rumored iPhone, born out of a relationship between Motorola and Apple, has finally been leaked. Insider The Mobile Music Blog has details plus pics. It's so simple, it's a wonder they've waited so long to finally get this product together. Pure Genious!
Posted by jetrotz at 08:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 30, 2005
Future of Mac
The mainstream media rarely dives this far into speculation about our favorite computer manufacturer, so this is something of a treat. Business 2.0 has a long feature story on the past, present and mostly the future of Apple. The story includes a great gallery of conceptual product images produced by design firm Pentagram and a breakdown of how likely they are to exist. This is a must read for all you Mac lovers (and haters).
Posted by jetrotz at 07:01 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 17, 2005
TalmudPod
For the Torah-studying scholar on-the-go, 23-year-old entrepreneur Yehuda Shmidman has created the ShasPod, a 20GB iPod filled with the equivalent of 2,700 pages of the Talmud as read and commented by Rabbi Dovid Grossman of Los Angeles. The $399 price is one hundred bucks over the price of the iPod as shipped from Apple. And while the lectures by Rabbi Grossman are available for free at dafyomi.org, some Orthodox Jews will not use the web for non-work purposes. Timing is key here as well. As the New York Times reported (free registration required), Jews worldwide recently celebrated the completion of the seven-and-a-half-year cycle of Talmudic learning called the Siyum HaShas, where students learn one page per day. Here's a sample file about the s'hma.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:55 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
March 14, 2005
April Fools?
The outlaws at ThinkSecret are reporting today that Apple will release Tiger on April 1st, the next major upgrade to the OSX operating system (full feature rundown for v10.4 here).
Apple will officially announce Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger's release at an event in early April and will begin shipping the operating system within two or three weeks afterwards, Think Secret has learned. Apple has previously only stated that Tiger will ship during the first half of the 2005.I'm hoping this new release helps out my Mom with the promising set of new disability features built-in.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:16 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 16, 2005
Delicious Monster in the News Again
Seattle NBC Affiliate KING-5 visited Delicious Monster HQ (the Zoka coffee shop) recently. Mike Matas posted the 90-second Quicktime -- it's a nice promo for the boys from DM. Now if I can only find some time to scan all my stuff. Trouble is, my Wi-Fi gets weak in the back room of my house where all my books are. So I'm gonna have to methodically cart them to the office at the front. A small price to pay to fill my library though. My earlier posts on Delicious Monster here and here.
Posted by jetrotz at 08:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 07, 2005
Delicious Library gets more Kudos
As I mentioned earlier, Delicious Library ($39.95 for OSX from the minds at Delicious Monster) is a great application for you obsessive compulsive types out there with big media collections and an iSight camera. This app uses a very Mac-like interface to organize the books, games, CDs and DVDs you own onto virtual 'bookshelves'. And by the way - it turns your iSight into a bar-code scanner, and looks up your stuff to fill your library. Anyway, a very good blog called 43 Folders has reviewed the app and started an interesting conversation about it. Several interesting tidbits therein, including someone mentioning that an iTunes to Delicious Library plugin is under development. A life saver! I bought it a few weeks ago, and I'm slowly scanning my collection. Nice way to remind yourself that it's been a while since you've watched The Fifth Element, and to know that your deadbeat friend borrowed it in 2002 and still hasn't returned it.
Posted by jetrotz at 07:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 04, 2005
iPod Stereogram
Now this is a really old technique brought way into the 21st century. In the 1800s, photographers travelled the world creating 'stereograms,' pairs of photos mounted on card-stock which appeared three-dimensional when observed through a special viewer. These cards and viewers are quite collectible, and some photographers (like my brother) are enjoying the ease that digital photography provides the steroscopic process. But this guy takes it a step further. No printing required here - just mount your iPod Photos as shown in his diagram, and voila!
Posted by jetrotz at 07:28 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 27, 2005
Another G5 Powerbook Clue?
An intrepid reader of the British website theregister.co.uk tipped the site off to an interesting bit of code on Apple's Powerbook product page. Apparently, a 1x1 pixel tracking gif from marketing firm Avenue A is labelled as 'apple_g5_powerbook.' A typo, perhaps? Probably, but all other such tracking tags across the apple.com site have the appropriate (and correct) processor and product names. It's probably just wishful thinking, but we can hope, can't we?
Posted by jetrotz at 03:36 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 17, 2005
G5 Powerbook/iBook by Q2?!?
Despite Apple claims just last week that 'thermal challenges' might delay the announcement of portable G5 laptops, Taiwanese tech magazine DigiTimes reports on two manufacturers there ready to ship G5 portables in quantity by the end of Q2 2005. The report is headlined in ho-hum fashion: 'Sources: Taiwan makers receive Apple’s Mac mini and iPod shuffle orders.' Yawn. Well, what the report fails to highlight is that two Taiwanese vendors are on track to ship 200k+ portables to Apple by Q2 2005.
Asustek Computer is making the iPod shuffle, and is tapped in this report to ship G5 iBooks in quantity before the end of Q2. Quanta is reported to be on track to ship 30-50k Powerbook G5s per month in Q2.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Posted by jetrotz at 08:40 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Bill Gates: Teen Idol
BoingBoing reports on this posting from monkey methods' blog: photos allegedly from a 'Teen Beat' magazine story on Bill Gates, circa 1983. My favorite part of these is not the vintage nostalgia, yadda yadda, but rather the fact that what looks like a 512k Mac appears on the desk next to his stinky AT in the background. I seriously doubt that you'd find a Dual-G5 and Cinema Display sharing space with Mr. Gates P4 if you visited his office at Redmond these days...
Posted by jetrotz at 08:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 16, 2005
Mmmmmm Delicious!
Wired profiles one of the more interesting Mac software developers around, Delicious Monster. This is the group behind the fascinating Delicious Library, their first release, an app that fuels what Wired calls some users 'Nick Hornby-esque desire to catalog every song, book and movie on their living room shelves.' These guys don't have an office - the seven employees typically meet in a local coffee shop all day long, paying 'rent' by buying lots of coffee. With the innovation and successs of 'Library,' which uses an iSight to read bar codes and look up data about your stuff on the 'net, they might be able to have their own office - with it's own barista - soon.
Posted by jetrotz at 11:13 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
iWork Screens
Apple-X.net has a scoop this morning. They have an extensive set of screen shots of Apple's new iWork application. Lots of looks at templates for Keynote2 as well as Pages. No big surprises, but the apps look good. I'm glad I've pre-ordered mine ;-).
Posted by jetrotz at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 14, 2005
Marathon is Dead, Long Live Marathon!
MacSlash reports on the public release (for free download, but not to the open-source community) of the seminal Marathon Trilogy by Bungie. You know them - makers of Pathways into Darkness, Myth, Oni -- and a little game called Halo/Halo2?
Way back in the day, when we had a couple of bad-ass Quadra 900s and CX's networked in our design office at The Augusta Chronicle, my buddies and I would stay after work until close to dawn chasing one another around with flamethrowers, shooting BOBs with dual pistols, and making myself motion sick. Ah, those were the days.
Now, with this release by Bungie.org we can experience these games on the latest and greatest hardware!
Posted by jetrotz at 04:34 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 11, 2005
My, My, Macintosh!
Okay - you've probably heard all of this by now, but here goes. iLife, iWork, iShuffle and the Mac Mini are all here!
Completely new app suite called iWork - featuring souped up Keynote, revved to v.2 AND 'Pages', Apple's first word processor since AppleWorks. Includes MSFT Word compatibility. $79, available 1/22/05.
New iLife - every application with major revisions except for iTunes. iPhoto gets RAW support, iMovie is now HD, iDVD now has instant import from tape to DVD. $79, available 1/22/05.
New iPod Shuffle - flash-based iPod is a reality. Those ThinkSecret guys DO have street cred. Basically, an elegant flash drive. Good stuff. 512MB/1GB versions at $99/$149. Available now, if the Apple Store can get back up and running - it's swamped by traffic right now.
And best of all - the new Mac mini! Like a slice of the old cube (about the height of an iPod mini), this baby is sweet. Measuring 6 x 6 x 2.5-inches, it features the following specs: 1.25/1.42GHz G4, 256MB RAM (upgradable to 1GB), ATI Radeon 9200 32MB, 40GB/80GB Ultra ATA, Combo Drive (DVD-ROM, CD burner), Firewire 400, two USB 2.0, Audio out (but no audio in, unfortunately) DVI and VGA output, 10/100BASE-T Ethernet and a 56k modem. Built-to-order options include Bluetooth and Airport. Ships with OSX Panther and iLife '05. Looks like I know what my Mom's getting to video conference and see the baby.
Posted by jetrotz at 11:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
iPresident
Who knew that a member of the red states might be an iPod user. Well, Christopher Morris' excellent black and white photo essay of the private life of our fearless leader (cough) shows that, in fact, said President likes to exercise with his iPod. Obviously, this specific photo could be of anyone holding the iPod, but take a look at the entire picture story, and you'll see. I wish we could make out what he was listening to in this photo, however. George has taken advantage of what has to be a very large gadget budget. MacDailyNews reports that he's sporting a pair of those high-end Etymotic Research ER-6i Isolator earphones and that he's listening to Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl (from Moondance). Too bad I don't care for any of his other choices, but that's a killer album. Sigh.
That makes both top members of the executive brance iPod users. The Washington Post reported that Dick Cheney's kids bought him an iPod for Christmas in 2003. This news sparked an ugly squabble on MacDailyNews boards. Can't we all just get along?
Posted by jetrotz at 08:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 08, 2005
Holy iHome, Batman!
This set of very suspect snaps showed up on someone's iDisk yesterday - could this be a very crafty mockup, or is it in fact the headless Mac we've been hearing so much about? This seems like it might be one of those typical pre-MacWorld hoaxes. But hey, who cares. It's kinda fun to look at. I'm suspicious in that we don't see a video port on these photos of the 'iHome Media Centre'. And why has Apple gone all 'UK-style' on us?. Or perhaps there is no VGA/DVI port for this baby - it's gonna be an s-video out or some kind of wacky outboard composite connector or something. Or maybe it's truly meant as a media server, no head, only connected to via a remote PC or Mac. I dunno, but it's fun to speculate wildly, isn't it?
Posted by jetrotz at 10:41 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 07, 2005
Motorola Coughs up iPod Phone Details
From PCMag this morning -
"Speaking during a keynote at the International Consumer Electronics Show here, the executive demonstrated the phone, which in many ways mimics the iPod. It syncs with a computer and the iTunes Music Store like an iPod does, and incorporates the iPod interface for navigating and playing digital music, said Ron Garriques, a Motorola executive vice president."
Too bad it's not a Treo, though.
Posted by jetrotz at 10:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
What are they hiding?
Ok. Apple is one of my favorite companies. But why in the world would are we hearing about two really draconian moves this week. First, the suit against ThinkSecret. Now, Macintouch is reporting that Steve Jobs Macworld SF keynote will not be webcast, nor will it be uplinked to a satellite feed. Here at CNN, our incoming routers always carried the keynote, and you could always count on the Mac geeks around here (including myself) to be found glued to the TVs at their desks for the duration. I don't get it.
More commentary here at Slashdot.
Posted by jetrotz at 10:07 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 06, 2005
Leaky Apple
As widely reported today, Apple is suing Mac-rumors web site ThinkSecret.com specifically mentioning published articles on the headless iMac and the iWork office suite.
Aside from adding tremendous street cred to ThinkSecret and the likelihood that these rumors are true (heck, even Reuters ran a story on the headless Mac), it seems odd that Apple would get so ramped up about products which will be publicly announced soon. As a big Mac fan, new product rumor mongering is a favorite pastime, and it seems draconian to be coming down on TS. Curious to see what happens next...
Posted by jetrotz at 01:37 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 04, 2005
Patently Absurd
The patent office is a fascinating resource, I have discovered, after readying an interesting post on Waxy.org.
Andy Baio points out a patent application by Apple Computer for the backend software used to publish music to the iTunes Music Store. Cool stuff.
Even more interestingly, he points out that you can keep up with your favorite companies approved and pending patents, like so.
So, here are all approved patents and pending applications for Apple Computer. Some other interesting company searches: Google's pending and approved, TiVo's pending and approved, and Yahoo's pending and approved.
And this blog, FreshPatents.com, has RSS feeds by industry on new patent requests/grants. Cool!
Posted by jetrotz at 10:53 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 03, 2005
Headless Mac
Apple is expected to announce a bare bones, G4-based iMac without a display at Macworld Expo on January 11 that will retail for $499, highly reliable sources have confirmed to Think Secret (via eHomeUpgrade). The machine will be a slim form factor to go beneath or beside a monitor, and include a custom version of iLife. This one will target likley PC-switchers who would already have a monitor they might use with their shiny new Mac.
Posted by jetrotz at 01:18 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 23, 2004
I almost forgot...
Yes, it's true. I'd say it's looking a lot like Christmas, excpet for my religious affiliation. I have just received a brand-spanking new G5 dual-2.5gHz liquid cooled PowerMac at work. Oh, baby! I spent much of the last day of work before heading out on vacation getting this bad boy set up. It's just amazing. First off, the Setup Assistant was able to seamlessly transfer my home directory and most of my applications from my old 1Ghz TiPB drive with little or no work on my part. It took a while - over 2 hours - but when it finished, the new machine rebooted and looked just like the old one. Same desktop, same dock configuration - everything. Except of course the incessant slowdowns whenever I tried to do much of anything. Gone are the days of the spinning beach ball in iPhoto. My current library has about 2,000 6MB+ photos. Even touching the thumbnail slider was enough to trigger a beach-ball wait of 15+ seconds. Scrolling was the same - each page took at least 10 seconds. Now, I can scroll from top to bottom of my collection in a blink of the eye.
The new G5 arrived only a day after I received a new Seagate 100GB 2.5" 5400 RPM internal drive for my aging Titanium Powerbook. The enclosure I ordered was dead out of the box, causing some concern until I could confirm that it was not the new drive, and I have managed to migrate the old data onto the new one, and installing was easy-peasy.
Put simply, I am a very happy man.
Posted by jetrotz at 08:24 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 19, 2004
Where you goin'?
Since most of us are on the move this holiday season, I thought I'd point this new bit of functionality Yahoo! has rolled out this week. As reported on Slashdot, the Yahoo! Maps site is now providing real-time traffic overlays on their maps. Supported mostly in major metros, this might save a step or two when planning a (yuk) trip to the mall this season. In Atlanta, the maps are using info from the GA DOT, which looks like the same info on the Georgia Navigator site. All the same, I'll keep my Konfabulator Web Images widget showing me a set of Atlanta traffic cams all the same. And when I'm on the go (and isn't that when we usually need traffic info?), I use the GA Navigator's new PDA-friendly mobile version of their web site on my Treo 600.
Posted by jetrotz at 11:57 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
December 17, 2004
iPhone Gets Official
After months of speculation, Apple confirmed today that they are in a partnership with Motorola to produce an iPod-compatible phone. Forbes.com is reporting that the phone should be available early in 2005. All the buzz is short on specifics, but expect at the very least a phone with a strong sense of Apple's navigational and design usability. Apple announced back in July that they were creating a mobile version of iTunes for Motorola - hopefully this new announcement will mean more. Jobs cautions that this won't be an iPod replacement - but a way to take your iTunes with you. Hmmm. That still sounds like an iPod with a phone. Anyway, too bad it's not an iTreo....
Posted by jetrotz at 12:13 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
November 20, 2004
Boston's Other Big Dig
Look at what's happening inside Fenway Park! After 86 years, we take the pennant - and the entire outfield is stripped down to dirt. I, for one, would like to own a patch of that grass! Anyway, this work is all part of the park expansions announced earlier this year. Click the image to see an up-to-date view of the activity at America's best ball park.
I'm keeping tabs on the construction in one of the rotating webcams I monitor with the super-spiffy Konfabulator application. Since my office is a bit of a cave, it's nice to know what the world outside looks like. Konfabulator is a small application which runs desktop 'widgets', you know, like the feature Apple is ripping off with their concept of widgets in Tiger, the next version of OSX. Anyway, I run a couple of windows from the very flexible Web Images widget. In one, I keep the local ABC affiliate's downtown Atlanta webcam there all the time. In the other, I rotate Atlanta weather radar, home page images from CNN.com, SI.com & ESPN.com, as well as a few webcams around the country. I've got Mount St. Helens, a Manhattan cam, a few in Savannah, GA and several from Boston. One is a Fenway Park cam from Weatherbug's 'Instacam' service.
Posted by jetrotz at 11:27 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack