ShapeShifer developer Jason Harris has brought together a team of Mac Cocoa programmers for a 3-day event of extreme coding with gifts for the Mac community and for charity. The web site Cocoa Dual has all the details, but in essence the participating developers, including Disco’s Austin Sarner, iClip’s John Casasanta, and VoodooPad’s Gus Mueller, had 3 days to create a holiday themed Mac application. The apps are all available for free download via links on the Cocoa Dual site. In addition, for those truly geeky Mac geeks out there, all the source code for the apps can be downloaded as well. After you download and checkout the apps, you “vote” for your favorite app by making a donation to a charity chosen by the applications developer. The Cocoa Dual web site will then keep track of which app (and charity) garners the most donations and that app will be declared the winner of the “duel”. The competition will run until Dec. 26 at midnight MST when all donations will be tallied. It’s a great idea. We all get seasonal apps from some of our favorite Mac developers and some money is raised for several deserving charities. Now, what about the developers themselves? Well, in addition to the warm feeling of doing a good deed, the developer who’s charity has received the most donations will get a small gift from the other developers in the group. So go grab a couple stocking stuffers for your hard drive and spread some holiday cheer with a donation or two. Heck, there is no rule that says you can’t make more than one donation so why not donate to them all? Happy Holidays.

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/maccast/MC20061220.mp3]
Download today’s show here!
MC20061220.mp3 [20.5MB 00:44:38 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 171. An iPhone, but not from Apple? Is Apple developing OS X Mobile? Apple addresses Quicktime flaw with security update. Some Apple, iTunes Store and Apple Store updates. Intel to launch another Quad core chip in January. Security researchers target OS X with “Month of Bugs” A new file system makes it’s way into Leopard. Apple makes nice with South Park fans. Could iTunes Gift Card explain “slumping” iTunes sales? A possible fix for iPods not playing purchased music. My procedure for clean installing OS X. Podcaster Meetup at Macworld.

New music, White Top Cadillac by A Thousand Cures

Promo from JogTunes podcast.

The first man to raise a fist is the man who’s run out of ideas. — Time After Time (1979)

Shownotes: HTML or OPML
Subscribe to the Podcast Feed or Get the MP3

Recently, a hack was developed that finally gives Mac users access to the content stored on their TiVo, a service that TiVo had promised but up to now has only allowed to PC users with TiVo-To-Go. I decided to take a look at the latest developments of this hack, for personal playback on my Mac.

A Quick Lay of the Land

The original hack is a command-line / Terminal tool, credited to Jeremy Drake and a number of other contributors, dubbed “tivodecode.” From there, a good how-to was written by Dave Zatz, and although it was written well, the method isn’t exactly user-friendly. From there, other folks put together some Automator actions, droplets, etc, but there’s only one that I’ve seen so far that actually works like a Mac app, and that’s TiVoDecode Manager, by David Benesch.
Continue Reading »

Well, true to the predictions on Gizmodo the iPhone was announced today, but it is not the device Apple fans have been waiting for. The iPhone is a new product from Linksys. It is a “dual mode” phone that connects to your computer and allows you to make both Voice Over IP (VoIP) calls and standard POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) calls. It offers VOIP integration with both Skype and Yahoo! Messenger Voice and includes other features like information services and multimedia integration. You can search for local business information and make calls directly from results with the push of a button. The integrated media viewer gives you the ability to access music, photos, and streaming video directly from the Internet and see the content right on the iPhone. So while not the Apple iPhone we had envisioned the Linksys version does have some nice features.

Now for the proverbial rain on the Mac rumor mongers parade… the Linksys iPhone product page does state that, “iPhone and Linksys are registered trademarks of Cisco Systems, Inc.”, so if Apple does have a phone product ready for launch at Macworld it will obviously not be called an “iPhone”. iTalk anyone?

I wanted to bring something a little different to my readers, because I felt it would be the right thing to try and entice you away from your screens for a little while. Spending hours in front of your Mac is a fine way to spend your day, but can induce back ache and eye strain if you overdo it. So, why not pick up a copy of ‘How to Get Rich – by Felix Dennis’.

Now, I am not a massive reader, but two things drew me to this book, firstly the title, as I wouldn’t mind a bit (or a lot) of extra money, but secondly the man behind the book. We have all heard of the publication ‘Mac User’ and some of us may have seen ‘Personal Computer World’ on the shelf, well these are just a few titles by Dennis Publishing, founded in 1973 by Felix Dennis. He sold the two magazines and made millions and continues to do so in various ways.
Continue Reading »

Here are a few hopefully useful and informative Mac-related links found both on the MacCast and elsewhere on the series of tubes.

Let’s take a look…

via the MacCast:

• MacCast Episode 170

• Scott gives us his thoughts on Digital Convergence.

• Andrew tries out a new CD/DVD burning Mac app called Disco.

• Adam talks with Doug Bell on the PreviewCast.

• Cynthia lets us know about an update to AppZapper, ver. 1.8.

• Charles says MacHeist is promoting Independent Mac Developers.

• MacCast Episode 170

via the Interweb:

• Yet Another Birthday Importer (YABI): a beta tool that gives Mac users more flexibility with sending important Address Book dates (like birthdays and anniversaries) to iCal. It has a simple user interface, creates read-write calendars (unlike the built in iCal features), and makes the exporting very easy.

• notMac Challenge: If you’re like me, you’ve become weary of paying $99 a month year (thanks Jim!) for the Apple neglected dotMac service. So was the person who setup the notMac Challenge, who is asking the developer community to develop a dotMac substitute, and has setup a bounty-pledge system for the like-minded. I think it’s a great idea, but I was a little concerned about accountability. I’ve emailed the creator to try to find out more, and I’ll post more in the comments, but for right now—buyer (or donator) beware. (linked from MacWorld).

• iTunes is in a slump, no it’s not. Darn, just as I was writing a long post on how Podcasts have replaced iTunes music purchases—I know they have for me!

• Gizmodo: iPhone this Monday, Dec. 18, Brian Lam says, “I guarantee it.” Note: he doesn’t say that “the iPhone” or that it’s from Apple, or if it’s a phone. And doesn’t Apple tend to release products on Tuesdays?

DEVONtechnologies has just updated it’s popular DESKTOP TRANSPORTER software to version 2.0.1. For those who do not know what Transporter is, it is a “remote desktop solution that allows users to use other Macs on either the local network or the Internet without physically accessing them.” Version 2.0.1 adds some bug fixes and a few cool new features. It now includes a status tab which displays your Mac’s local IP address along with what port Transporter is currently listening on. Also in this settings panel is a function to set the resolution/size of the monitor you are controlling. One of the welcome improvements is a greatly improved online help system with details on setting up port forwarding and links to networking tools and utilities. Transporter 2.0.1 is a free upgrade to all Transporter users and for everybody else it is $29.95 with a 4 week trial and discounts for students and teachers.

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/maccast/MC20061215.mp3]
Download today’s show here!
MC20061215.mp3 [23.8MB 00:51:55 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 170. Are iTunes sales slumping or not? Apple may be carrier for iPhone service. Three new iPods for 2007? Adobe to release Universal CS3 BETA on Friday. Correction on the show number. Exporting a disk catalog list from the Finder. Explaining the different “types” of memory in OS X. Apple explanation and fix for “blue tint” issue. Re-download old iTunes Podcasts without re-subscribing. iPod Shuffles losing their authorizations? Comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts. Why you can’t curl up in bed with a good 17″ MacBook Pro. Review of Disco. MacCast at Macworld and Mac Podcaster Meetup. 2nd Anniversary Maccast wishes from Frat Pack Tribute Podcast.

New music, I Love My IPod by Daphne Kalfon

So long, Earth. Catch you on the flip side. — Apollo 13 (1995)

Shownotes: HTML or OPML
Subscribe to the Podcast Feed or Get the MP3

The MacCast always seems to get me thinking. This time, Adam, you got me thinking more and more about the topic of Digital Convergence. There are so many things going on in this area right now, I thought I’d share with you some of my observations.

The impact of the following issues are nothing less than dramatic . . .

• Professional music and video is now competing with amateur music and video (the democratization of content).
• New devices are being introduced daily that can support all different kinds of media.
• People don’t have any more TIME to spend on content/media absorption

than they already do today (most important).

• Viewing habits of an attention-span challenged generation are kicking in (people want shorter bursts of content).
• VOIP is now ubiquitious and PC video chat applications actually work.

Traditional media, brick and mortar retail stores, service providers, and new network-based services are all hardening for battle. The consequences of this battle will be severe and permanent.
Continue Reading »

I was recently invited to sit down with one of my listeners who is also a podcaster. Laurence Anderson and Douglas Bell do a show called the Previewcast. Larry wasn’t able to make the recording, but Doug and I had a nice time chatting about Apple and Macs among other things. The Previewcast recently received one of the infamous Apple legal letters because of some images used in their album art. The story made for a fun start to our conversation. Things went on from there and I had a great time. If you want to take a listen the show was just posted up on the site. Enjoy.