Sorry Geeks, I know I owe you a show and I am working on it. It’s now 12:34 AM on Tuesday morning and I just finished prepping a BIG show. The bummer is, I am fighting a cold and I think I should get some rest. I am sure the show notes will grow tomorrow, so look for a mega-MacCast on Wednesday. Thanks for your patience.

Apple, please no big news today. OK?

The Penny-Arcade, http://www.penny-arcade.com, is a great web comic that mostly focuses on gaming. Of course we know that most gamers are also PC users, but it looks like Tycho and Gabriel (the guys behind Penny-Arcade) are becoming switchers. They sat down and actually used a Mac for a week and have confirmed what I always try to explain, but seems so elusive unless you just use a Mac. As Tyco writes in his latest post, “What I have ascertained is not that PCs as we know them lack good design, but that PCs as we know them have hardly any design to speak of. I’m not trying to be insulting. Use a Mac for a week, and we’ll talk again.” Check out their latest comic and blog post and you can see a good account of the computer enlightenment that takes place when you use a Mac. See I am not crazy.

Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060301.mp3 [14.3mb 00:31:10 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 124. Apple Feburary 28th “fun product” announcements. New Intel Mac Mini. Apple leather iPod cases. iPod HiFi (Boombox). My final thoughts and reactions.

New music, Brighter Day by Derick Dahl

You don’t make history by following the rules, you make it by seizing the moment.

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Ok, ok. I know this is standard Microsoft bashing fare, but how can you not do it when they make it so easy. Several people sent me links to this video on YouTube. It shows what would have come to be if the Microsoft marketing team had been in charge of designing the iPod packaging. This is some really funny stuff and, while over the top, somewhat based in fact. Enjoy.

Video: If Microsoft Designed the iPod Packaging

Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060227.mp3 [26.0mb 00:56:48 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 123. Apple to reveal “Fun New Products” February 28th. Safari/Mail security vulnerability. Apple sells one billionth iTunes song. Apple shows off Intel native Aperture 1.1. MacCast One Minute Tip #12: iChat Images. What gives the Mac it’s “Soul”? Do all these new security alerts mean Macs are no longer safe? A staight discussion on Mac security and what you can do to say safe. A review of the MacBook Pro from the Nosillacast. A listener issue with FrontRow Enabler on a G4 and how to uninstall. Correction on MacRumors.com.

New music, Djilawurr (Orange-Footed Scrub Fowl) by Saltwater Band

I asked for a car, I got a computer. How’s that for being born under a bad sign?

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I personally can’t watch all those surgery shows on Discovery Health Channel. Seeing human innards makes my stomach turn. Seeing this is almost worse. The folks over at Other World Computing (OWC) have already performed surgery on a new 15″ MacBook Pro. It’s cool to see, but at the same time a bit horrifying. The good news is I already read on MacDevCenter that this model is easier to dissect than the current PowerBook. That should make things like future hard drive upgrades a bit nicer. I just hope the folks at OWC got this one put back together and working.

Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060221.mp3 [16.5mb 00:36:02 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 122. Dvorak predicts Apple switch to Windows?!!. Apple lawyers and the OSX86 Project. Details emerge on Apple OS X Leap-A Worm. Second OS X worm discovered by F-Secure but is non-threat. Rumors of a 17″ MacBook Pro by the Apple World Wide Developer Conference in June. Apple and NBC offer free pilot episode of Conviction, maybe? Follow up: Grants.gov does offer Mac support, sort of. New iWeb update allows duplicate page names between sites. Apps and hardware to help you remote control for your Mac and use FrontRow with buying a new Mac.

New music, Broken In all the Right Places by I am Jen

Promo from The HogCast

Everybody needs money. That’s why they call it money.

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Message from Adam: Listener Stephen sent me this email with some great observations about the effect additional memory has on Rosetta performance in the new Intel systems.

Well, I’ve had my 17-inch iMac Core Duo, for 15 days now. I’ve used in 512 MB, 1 GB, and 1.5 GB memory configurations.

I purchased this machine as pretty much a tower. I always knew I wanted to get an intel Mac as soon as they were released. I had hoped that that would mean I could replace my 12-inch Powerbook 1.5GHZ G4 with something like a 13-inch Mac Book Pro. Of course, Apple did not make a sub-15 pro notebook and may not ever again. Because of this I decided to keep my Powerbook, for I don’t need more power than the 1.5GHZ G4, when not at my desk. Furthermore, at my desk I always have it connected to my Apple Cinema Display, so I have a desktop experience.

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Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060216.mp3 [17.7mb 00:38:35 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 121. Apple upgrades MacBook Pros and starts shipping. Mac OS 10.4.5 released. iLife ’06 updates. Government grant application system excludes Macs. Hacker succeeds in getting Intel 10.4.4 to run on PC. First Mac OS X Virus? Over 700 Universal apps now available. Tivo on Mac follow-up. How to sync iWeb sites with Backup 3.1 Control iTunes with CoverBuddy and Clutter.

New music, Wasting My Time by Matthew Ebel

Promo from Couch Potato Illustrated

Someday it will be like we already lived.

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I just grabbed and installed the 10.4.5 update off Software Update and it seems like the faster processor upgrades from Apple are not just for Mac Book Pro buyers. I may be imagining things, but my G4 iBook/933 seems to have a new lease on life. All of my applications are launching a lot faster. This is especially true on the second launch. I am not an expert, but to me Apple seems to have tweaked the caching a bit. Here is an example of what I noticed… on the first launch of Safari after the update it launched after 4-5 dock bounces, not a big deal. On subsequent launches however, it was up in running in under 2 bounces. AWESOME! The Dashboard exhibits similar behaviour. On the first hit of F12 it still takes a little time for my Widgets to initalize (but they do so about 3 times faster than before) and then on the second hit… BOOM they are there almost instantly. My scrolling everywhere is “like butter”, Expose does its swooshing acrobatics like a jet fighter, iPhoto screams and Spotlight searches are truly instant. It’s like I have a brand new iBook. Can everyone please tell me I am not dreaming. Am I just imagining things? Did Steve give me a virtual processor upgrade? Did some of those OS X for Intel optimization creep over into the PowerPC code? If anyone can enlighten us I would love to hear it, but for now I think this update to Tiger is the best ever.