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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 161. Apple seeking a Mobile Marketing Manager. Former Apple CFO Andersen resigns from Apple board. Target gets in on movie studio “persuasion”. Apple posts new “Get a Mac” ads. Starbucks most recent expansion… iTunes. Is Santa Steve bringing us a real video iPod for Christmas this year? iPod Screensaver trick. Comment about iTV and HDMI connector. Rumors of Core 2 Duo MacBooks (Pros?), but are they worth it? Is Apple’s .Mac customer service sub-par? How I create an enhanced podcast. How to display the full date in the menu bar. Can we get a non-Apple BT mouse and keyboard recommendation? Geekanoids Mac Expo London Coverage.

New music, Open Mind by Daniel Bjornmo.

In the fortress you will need more than men and swords. You will need the power of the glave. — Krull (1983)

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I have been using computers for about 25 years, and have owned a variety of different platforms. Over the last 15 years I’ve owned nothing but PCs running DOS, then Windows. I had never owned an Apple product (and never thought I would), and really didn’t know much about them. In high school I learned Pascal on an Apple IIe, then wrote for the school paper using one of the very early Macs. Several years ago I worked for a magazine publisher and there were many Macs there that the designers and editors used. I was around Macs then and picked up a little, but was never really that intrigued.

About 2 years ago I saw an iPod and was completely blown away. I had heard about them but never really thought that it was something I would want…. until I held one. So I bought one the next day and have been thrilled with it ever since. After my iPod experience I became interested in Apple and started following Apple news and products. Then I saw a Jobs keynote where he showed the iMac, Front Row and Dashboard and I must say I was more than a bit intrigued. It looked like such a beautiful platform that really focused on style and elegance. For several months to follow I read a lot about Apple and the Mac and listened to the Maccast.
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Apple now has 3 new “Get a Mac” ads up on their web site. These are the ads that, until recently, seemed to only be playing in some Apple retail stores. The ads are titled “Counselor”, “Self Pity” and “Better Results”. The “Better Results” ad is the much anticipated and talked about ad featuring Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen. I don’t know if these are airing on TV yet, but my guess is if they didn’t start airing last week we will probably see them starting today.
[ View Apple Get a Mac Site ]

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Live from Podcast Expo 2006 in Ontario, CA. A special episode recorded in the Orange County Podcasters booth on the show floor of the Podcasting and Portable Media Expo. Victor Cajiao (Typical Mac User) and myself took the opportunity to sit down with some great podcasters who also happen to be Mac users. We spoke with Fr. Roderick (Catholic Insider), Rob Walch (Podcast 411), John Chambers (One Minute Tip) and Chris Christensen (The Amateur Traveler). We discuss how they became Mac users, what some of their early systems were, how they use Macs in life and in podcasting, plus a whole lot more. It was a lot of fun talking with these guys and I hope you have as much fun listening to this as we did recording it.

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Links
The Catholic Insider
Podcast 411
One Minute Tip
The Amateur Traveler
Rouge Amoeba Fission
Revolution in the Valley (Amazon)
Folklore.org
Mac Folklore Radio

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 160. Mac OS X 10.4.8 update, Aperture 1.5 released. iTunes 7.0.1 Update released. Intel shipping “Quads” staring in November. Another Apple preview, .Mac Webmail. New Jersey’s new iTunes tax? Apple and SecureWorks now working together. New iMacs have 802.11n capable chips. Hide System updates you don’t need. Transferring Outlook info to Mac using O2M. Will NAND flash memory bring us new laptops? OS 10.4.8 adds click wheel zooming. MacCast needs some Wiki love.

New music, Pandemonium by Ocean Street.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit drinking. — Airplane! (1980)

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It has come to my attention in the past few days that some of you are reporting issues downloading the latest MacCast (9/25) in iTunes. The strange thing is this issue seems to be effecting only a small handful of listeners and I personally had no trouble downloading the episode. So you know, I have been working very hard over the past few days to identify and fix the problem. As far as I can determine the problem seems to be with some of the servers at Libsyn, the company who hosts my media files, which are assigning the wrong MIME type to the enhanced AAC files. I am working closely with Libsyn to try and resolve the issue and it should be fixed soon. Until then feel free to download the AAC version of the show directly from this link. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

So you are all aware by now of the debate that Apple has opened up through their recent legal wrangling with the folks over at Podcast Ready (in case you missed it, you can catch up here). Now many people, myself included, had felt that Apple was getting a bit heavy handed in it’s quest to protect it’s iPod and related trademarks. The main source of debate seems to come when you ask the question, “Is Apple attempting to trademark ‘podcast'”? After reading the letters sent to Podcast Ready by Apple, which are posted on the Podcast Ready web site, my personal opinion is that Apple does seem to be objecting to the use of Podcast in the Podcast Ready name, but does not object to it’s use as a “descriptive term”. A quote from one the the letters reads:

“While Apple, of course, has no general objection to the proper use of the descriptive term “podcast” as part of a trademark for goods and services offered in the podcasting field, it cannot allow marks that go beyond this legitimate use and infringe on Apple’s rights in POD and IPOD“.

As near as I can tell, Podcast Ready has two applications at the US Trademark and Patent Office (USPTO) for the term “Podcast Ready”. One is a service mark (Serial number, 78813822) which Apple has no objection to and the other is a trademark (Serial number, 78761085) which is the one Apple is opposing. Now I don’t understand this from a legal perspective, but I think the basic argument is that Apple is OK with the term “podcast” being applied to services, but has chosen to go after any marks where the term “podcast” is applied to a physical product. The Podcast Ready trademark application is for, “Portable listening devices, namely, MP3 players”. Where Apple is choosing to make this distinction seems to be a fine line and one that has sparked a heated debate in the podcasting community.
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Recently I was lucky enough to have Bill Palmer (iProng) and Shelly (Shelly’s Podcast) invite me to be on their iProng Radio Show. It was their first of the five live podcasts recorded at the Podcast & Portable Media Expo. I was on with Bill, Shelly and Dave Hamilton from The Mac Observer, iPod Observer and Mac Geek Gab. It had been three weeks since Steve Jobs’ Show Time event and we discussed the new iPods, iTunes, 7, Apples upcoming iTV product, and more. The show is posted on the iProng Radio site if you want to listen or you can simply point your favorite podcatcher at the iProng Radio feed and subscribe.

Hey Geeks! In case you were not aware I am currently at the Podcasting and Portable Media Expo in Ontario, CA. This is THE annual show for podcasters and is a whos who of all your favorite shows. I have already run into Leo Laporte (TWiT), Alex Lindsay (MacBreak Weekly), Cali Lewis (Geek Brief TV), Dave Hamilton (MacObserver), Ken Ray (Mac OS Ken) and many others. On Friday I did a live recording on the iProng Radio Show, so watch for that to come out in a couple days.

I have been super busy and I have been a little slower than usual answering my email, so if you sent me something you may not hear back until next week. Of course there will be a new MacCast coming out next week too, but if you want to get an early fix I have something for you to checkout. Today (9/30) at 1:00 PM (PST) Victor Cajiao (Typical Mac User) and myself will be doing a live show at the Orange County Podcasters booth on the show floor at the Expo. If you are in town be sure to stop by the booth, but if not you can listen live, just go here for the stream. Victor and I will be talking to some great podcasters who are also big time Mac Geeks including Rob Walch (Podcast 411), Fr Roderick (Catholic Insider), John Chambers (One Minute Tip) and Paul Figgiani (The Point Podcast). It should be a great “cast” and don’t worry if you miss the live stream because I will also be releasing it as a special episode of the MacCast.

Listen to the OC Podcasters Live Feed Now!

Just as we suspected… Software Update just alerted me to the availablity of iTunes 7.0.1. According to the note it says, “iTunes 7.0.1 addresses stability and performance issues with Cover Flow, CD importing, iPod syncing, and more.”. So what are you waiting for, go grab it and let me know what is fixed and what isn’t.

To get iTunes 7.0.1 , just run Software Update or you can get it here. The update requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later, or Windows 2000/XP.

Update: CoverFlow now seems to scream on my Dual Core Mac Mini. Anyone else?