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MC20060708.mp3 [23.2mb 00:50:37 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 148. Strange and random iPod news, a teenager blames getting struck by lightning, National Semiconductor fires employees and takes away their iPods, 10 new iPod Interface designs filled with the European trademark and design office, is Microsoft planning a wi-fi iPod “killer” for Christmas? Apple sued for stock option grant irregularities. Apple announces new educational iMac. Apple cancels plans for new Portland, OR retail store. Chicago radio station offers custom iTunes Music Store interface on their web site. OS 10.4.7. quietly adds Dashboard “phone home” feature. Ellen Feiss is appearing in an upcoming French short film, Bed and Breakfast. Apple may add spreadsheets to iWork ’07 with “Charts”. 10.4.7 Intel OpenGL update from Blizzard. Review: PocketMac for Blackberry. How to manage OS X Mails “Previous Recipients”. Should you turn your Mac off or leave it on? How to place folders or files anywhere in the Dock. Additional comments and thoughts on Codeweavers CrossOver for Mac. What is Apple’s definition of owning music? Tips on keeping your iTunes purchased music. Remember to vote at PodcastAlley

New music, Closer to Ourselves by Jody Whitesides [Buy on iTunes]

Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything. — The Karate Kid (1984)

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On the official PS3 website, click on “Specs” or “Gallery” and then click back in your browser and you’ll see an Apple logo fade in and out quickly in the middle of the PS3 console in the image. Take a look at the image on the right and you can make out the faint Apple logo. Click the image to see the full screen grab I made from the sony PS3 site.

UPDATE: Looks like they may have updated the file and the logo is no longer there. You can still see the faint logo in the screenshot I took. Click the image on the right and you can see the full screenshot. It is a faint logo just above controller.

Mystery solved: And no, this isn’t a secret hint of the PS3 running a custom version of OS X. It is the more logical explanation of some contacted designer who didn’t want to pay for his software. An update on Engadget points out that the Apple logo will flash on projects authored with a trial version of Apple’s Shake. Oh well, here’s to daring to dream.

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Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060704.mp3 [24.0mb 00:52:18 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 147. French iPod law adopted in stripped down form. Apple reports stock option irregularities to SEC. Run Windows applications on Intel Macs without Windows using CodeWeavers CrossOver. Apple officially recognizes MacBook stain issue. Apple releases revised 10.4.7 update for Intel. OS X Security flaw once again over-hyped. Apple offers new retail configurations on MacBooks. MacCast One Minute Tip #17 – Screenshots. Parsley is Atomically Delicious, not “automatically”. Review of SlimDevices Squeezebox. Slow Parallels performance? Check memory allocation. Take advantage of Account login items. Using Keychain Access. What is it good for?

Music, Stars and stripes forever by John Philip Sousa

Am I bugging you? I don’t mean to bug ya. — U2: Rattle and Hum (1988)

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Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060629.mp3 [23.3mb 00:50:52 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 146. Foxconn admits breaking Chinese labor laws. Jobs to Keynote WWDC and show off Leopard. Rumors say we will be waiting for next gen iPods. NBC sold over 6 million shows via iTunes. Apple releases 10.4.7 and other updates. Apple opens two new retail stores this weekend. Intel ships new 2.33GHz Core Duo. More suggestions on location management, try Location X. Review of Blue Snowball USB Microphone. Apple’s repair and warranty extension programs. A simple reboot can often fix a pesky iPod. How to reorganizing your Application folder and keep Software Update functionality. Do Apple’s TV ad changes signal death of BootCamp? How to label your own content as a “TV Show” in iTunes.

New music, Lost in the Sound by Chuck Richards

Promos from Neat Little Mac Apps Podcast and Scores for Movies.

Ilove being a turtle. — Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – The Movie (1990)

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First Bungie (Halo), then Connectix (Virtual PC) and now iView Multimedia. Microsoft seems to be developing a good track record for buying up companies that develop great Mac software. iView’s Media and MediaPro applications are some of the better digital asset management titles on the Mac. Combined they offer the next logical steps up for users who need photo management functionality beyond iPhoto. Microsoft has posted a FAQ for the acquisition and claims they plan to continue to develop iView products for the Mac. That is good news, but for some reason I can’t help feeling a twinge of sadness every time I hear Microsoft has scooped up another great developer of Mac software. I just hope the Microsoft Mac Business Unit (who does a great job) is heavily involved with the future development of the product. I also wonder if this acquisition hints to the fact that the in-house Vista photo management software hasn’t come out good as Microsoft had hoped.

With the official word from Apple that Steve will give us a glimpse of Leopard at the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in August the media frenzy to predict new features is starting to roll into high gear. I have already seen many of the fakes which are surfacing around the web and now there is even a how-to so you can join the party. While surfing this morning I ran across this great article on MacWorld listing 23 new features some of the best minds in Mac media would like to see included in the upcoming OS X release. As I was reading the article and nodding in agreement to many of their suggestions I realized that for almost every “feature” they were recommending, they also pointed out a 3rd party program already available and already doing the job. Then I realized while I use many of these 3rd party applications myself there were others listed that I don’t use and I am not interested in using. So why are we, and Apple, seemingly so eager to pump up OS Xs feature set? With the last few releases of OS X we know Apple has set a precedence of “borrowing” concepts from great 3rd party developers and rolling them into OS X. The downside to this “borrowing” is we often alienate and lose these developers along with their innovative thinking. Plus, I wonder if there isn’t a better argument for not integrating so many features into the OS.
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Calling all MacCast designers… Listener Edward just dropped me a note and his band needs some help. They are currently set to release a new CD but are having a hard time coming to an agreement on a cover design. Because of their dilemma they have decided to turn to the Mac community for help. The band is called ‘reel’ and the album is called ‘escape from america’. If you can come up with the design they choose you will get full credit in the liner notes, a couple of copies of the CD and the band will ship you a brand new shiny iPod Nano for your efforts. You can listen to tracks off their CD and get more details about the design competition* on the bands web site, http://www.reelband.com/.

*The MacCast is not affiliated with nor does this post serve an endorsement of this contest.

Well thanks to Shooby and Colm, I just found out that Apple is celebrating the 1st anniversary of Podcast support in iTunes. Apple has set up a special section in the iTunes Music Store and the MacCast is one of the featured podcasts. I can say it is truly an honor to be featured along side other pioneering shows like TWiT, TikiBar TV, RocketBoom and others who Apple selected for this category. When I started the MacCast it was to try and deliver Mac news in a format that was easy to digest while on a commute to work. From there it grew and became a way to extend my experiences with my local Mac community and User Group. Now the MacCast has really become a global Mac community and it provides a way for us to get together a few times a week and discuss “all things Macintosh”. I had hopes, but really no idea that podcasting or the MacCast would become what it is today. I want to thank all of you who take the time to listen to a Mac Geek in his spare bed room talk about one of his passions. Without you, the listeners, there is no MacCast. This celebration is as much yours as it is mine. So grab some cake and punch and thanks for a great year on iTunes. I look forward to many more.

I had planed to get a show out today, but due to unforeseen technical difficulties (see this post for details) it may be a day or two before I get the next show out. Sorry.

Here is a story about why you should all do as I say and not as I do.

About a week and a half ago my 20″ iMac G5 started to turn off by itself. I thought it was a fluke at first, but when it happened 2 nights in a row I began to get suspicious. So I began the normal troubleshooting procedure: plugged into another outlet, reset the PRAM, ran repair permissions, reset the Energy Saver settings, reset the SMU, etc. Now, this is my main desktop system where I store all my iPhotos and other personal files, so you would think at this point it would have been a good idea for me to make a backup right? Of course it would of, but if I had, I would not be writing this and since I am, I’m hoping sharing my story will allow you to learn from my idiocy.
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