Mac Rumors is reporting that Apple has created Japanese versions of it’s popular ‘Get a Mac’ Ads. The ads seem to be almost exact recreations of the ads played in the US but with the Mac and PC being replaced by Japanese actors. It’s pretty cool because even though I can’t understand what they are saying I know what the ad is about having seen the US version. The ads can be seen at http://www.apple.com/jp/getamac/ads/

A couple shows back I told you about the Apple Digital Store in Manchester, UK which opened just this past weekend. Well, listener Peter was kind enough to checkout the UK’s newest independent Apple store and sent in his thoughts and the photos below (check ’em out on Flickr). As you can see the store is small but, as Peter points out, very well designed. It is situated right in the heart of Manchester and has all the Apple products any Mac Geek could want. Plus, the staff seems to fit the Apple hipster bill too. Peter says he found the staff extremely knowledgeable and helpful and notes they plan to distinguish themselves from the Apple Retail Stores by offering cheaper upgrades and great financing options. If you happen to be in the area this store looks like it definitely warrants a visit.

The Apple Digital Store, http://www.digitalstoremanchester.co.uk/

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 165. Core 2 Duo MacBooks released. Sundance Channel documentaries available on iTunes. Nvidia to acquire Portal Player. Apple offers PowerMac G5 power supply repair. Justin Long is no longer a “Mac”. Follow-up to OS X remote access solutions. iTunes CD ripping fails? Be patient. Apple is not the best choice for non-warranty service. Apple won’t cover “cosmetic” issues. Corrupt MIME mail attachments from PC users. Solutions for long term storage of large files and data. You have heard of speed reading, try speed listening.

New music, Going to the Party by Mobius Donut

Would you just stop rubbing your body up against mine, because I can’t concentrate when you do that. — Big Trouble in Little China (1986)

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So yesterday I went out and bought a Blue, 4GB second generation iPod nano. I am stunned.

The first thing of course was the packaging; dramatic change. The whole thing feels much more finished, much more professional and much more Apple than the really “nice”, but still cardboard, cardboard boxes of the first generation Nanos. The whole thing is encapsulated in a small transparent box which somehow brings to mind the 5th Avenue NYC store. It’s held out by two clasps (top and bottom) from a clear backing which “hides” a fold out cuboid of very silky card, in which the headphones, dock and USB cable reside. Overall the design of the packaging is much smaller (due to it not coming with an iTunes install CD), simple, more elegant, cleaner and more refined.
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…but you need to tell them it’s broken.

Editor’s note: When Matt sent me the following piece I was grateful because the timing could not have been better. Just this week I answered at least 3 to 4 emails from listeners who had issues with their systems that were covered by one of Apple’s Repair Extension Programs(REP). I agree with Matt, it is amazing how many people don’t know to check for these coverages. It is even more amazing how many people choose NOT to take advantage of them. In my 3 to 4 cases at least 2 people said they would not contact Apple to get the repair because they “could not afford” to be without their Mac for a a few days to a week! Seriously!? So, you would rather have a broken, annoying and less productive Mac than one that actually works like it should? If you rely on your Mac that much to make a living you should consider keeping an old system around, getting a used Mac or purchasing a bottom of the line Mac Mini as a backup system. Combine that with a good cloned backup regiment using a product like SuperDuper and you are covered.

A word to the wise folks… if you have ANY defective product and the company has a program for you to get it fixed free of charge… run, don’t walk, to the service center.

One of the most under-utilized offerings from Cupertino is theRepair Extension Program(REP). This model allows different "known issues" with certain Macintosh computers to be rectified even on out of warranty machines as a courtesy from Apple, meaning it’s absolutely free. Now before I divulge any more of these secrets it has to be said that this is not in any way a service to be abused; if you don’t have the fault linked with these machines you won’t gain anything but higher future pricing by entering the program; if however you are experiencing the issue then you have it all to gain and Apple will be more than willing to help.
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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 164. Apple re-launches .Mac Webmail. Apple updates DVD Studio Pro to 4.1.1. 2G iPod Shuffle now shipping. Apple releases iTunes 7.0.2. Apple releases new Boot Camp BETA 1.1.2. First Apple Store in Scotland? New macBook Pro loses iSight indicator, sorta. Apple tech doc typo stirs the iPod video pot. Apple offers a 30-day Aperture 1.5 “test drive“. Bigger (RED) Nano. 7th Son Promo. Additional tools for locating large files on your Mac. Zip compression built into OS X. Confirmation from listeners on MacBook cosmetic issues. More iTunes Store “workarounds”. What are permissions and why do we need to repair them? Formatting an old mac or hard drive for sale. Make album art stick on 4th Gen iPods. Advanced subscribing to Podcasts in iTunes. A new store in the UK for Apple products. Speeding up Photo Booth picture taking. Ways for remotely accessing your Mac. Tip for incrementally backing up iTunes using smart playlists.My other Podcast, Mac Roundtable.

Patchwork by Plank63

Promo for the Gadgetboyz podcast.

I play hockey and I fornicate, ’cause those are the two most fun things to do in cold weather. — Mystery, Alaska(1999)

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Listener Richard just sent me an email to a funny “Easter Egg” in Mac OS X. I have verified this exists in 10.4.8 and it may have been there for a while, but who knows. Here’s what you do:

1) In the Finder, choose ‘Go to Folder’ from the ‘Go’ menu
2) Copy and paste this path into the dialog box, /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.3/lib/python2.3/test/, and hit ‘Go’.
3) Locate the ‘audiotest.au’ file and play it. You can open it in QuickTime, play it in the preview in the Finder, etc.
4) Have a laugh.

Now I am not sure if this is an Apple Easter egg or something that has been a part of the Python project for a while now, but either way it’s fun.

Update: We’ll thanks to Adam for pointing out what should have been obvious to me, but wasn’t. Since the reference is to a Monty PYTHON quote this Easter Egg is part of the Python distro and not Apple’s. I am told there are numerous other references like this to be found in Python.

Seidai Software has released FairGame to allow you to strip Apple’s FairPlay DRM from your iTunes music. Apparently the software “trickery” is accomplished by enabling “Access for Assistive Devices” in the Universal Access system preferences and then turning on “Place Clip in Movie Timeline” in the iMovie HD “Import” preferences. Once set up you can select the tracks in iTunes and “process” the tracks to remove the DRM. According to the companies web site FairGame scripts the iMovie interface to process the songs and you must not interfere with the processing. It takes about 2 mins and 42 seconds to process a 4 minute song on a 2.16GHz MacBook Pro. Now I am sure this is completely illegal in more ways than I can count, but if it works… Sweeeeet.

Mac Expo London – End of Day One: Wow, what a busy day, trying to split my interest with the big players and the smaller vendors too. My day kicked off with the Quark launch of ‘Quark Interactive Designer’ posted online earlier today. The most important note of this launch (apart from a great product) is the pricing. Grab it now whilst it is on special offer for just £69, but fear not, even the full asking price of £139 is very good.

Onto the main Mac Expo show floor and things are very busy from the off. There is a lot of buzz and visitors seem genuinely enthusiastic. The one thing I picked up on very early was the number of people I heard discussing a MacBook purchase. Asking a few of them after their initial questions to Apple revealed that they were new to Apple. I must have spoken to at least twelve new users that had made their first Apple purchase at the show.
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by Dave Cryer
RouteBuddy, a first siting for myself, is a GPS solution for the Apple Mac. Gone are the days relying on Route 66 (which has not seen an update for many years). Routebuddy delivers one standalone app which intergrates with Garmin GPS devices (more device support to follow). Once purchased, all updates are free, with new maps available at an additional cost. Geocaching is built right into the software, with topographical data being added at a later date.

Head on over to www.routebuddy.com for the full lowdown.
Price: $99.50