Remember back in the 70s and early 80s when sweatbands were all the rage? Well, the folks over at iMojo have released an armband called the nano Sweats which holds the 1G and 2G iPod nano. It’s made out of that same elastic-like cotton weave that was so popular with runners of yore, that fits around your forearm, instead of your wrists or head.
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What do you do if you are big fan of the Mac and also a big fan of SecondLife? If you are  Dario Darrow (in SecondLife) then you create a  copy of Apple’s new Manhattan store on your land in SecondLife and stream in the video for the latest Apple announcement.

GoDaddy responds
Well strangely several hours after re-directing MacCast.com to my other domain so I could at least get a message to you and let you know what was happening (read the original message here) , I received a personal email from GoDaddy’s VP of technology. I am not saying these two events are related, but the timing was uncanny. In his email he stated that my shared hosting for MacCast.com had been re-activated and I was free to point the DNS back. He was also clear to point out that they will be monitoring the server “closely”. He expressed interest in talking to me about the incident and left his personal number, so I phoned him back and left a message. I am glad to see this type of service, but have to wonder if everyone gets this type of personal attention. Not long after I called him back I got a received a call from GoDaddy’s Hosting Operations Manager. I was able to discuss with him my situation and express my frustration with how things were handled. He was very apologetic and said they are now investigating their internal procedures for handling these situations and will be attempting to improve the process in the future. It may be a PR move, but I have hope that my incident my improve things for others.

So where are we?
As for MacCast.com… In the short term we are back and GoDaddy will closely monitor the server and notify me in advance of any issues to avoid another shutdown. I asked GoDaddy if they could tell me what the source of this issue was and they really can’t seem to identify a single cause other than the growing popularity of MacCast.com. I have not added or changed any services on the site in the past two months. I run WordPress, Invision PowerBoard, Gallery and some other small PHP/MySQL applications. In speaking with GoDaddy and others who run web sites the consensus seems to be that under heavy traffic each of the applications will place a load on a server. So in short, MacCast is getting too big for it’s britches, or at least it’s hosting plan. I still plan on moving to a better hosting plan (probably dedicated) and at least for now we are back in business.

For the Future
As I mentioned in my Podcast message to you, the MacCast is growing and I hope to continue that growth. This “event” has obviously proved we crossed the threshold and have grown into something more ambitious than just a podcast. I am excited by the opportunity and at the same time a little frightened by what other unknowns may lie ahead. The good news is that I have you on this journey with me and I know you won’t let me screw it up. Thank you for you continued support and encouragement.

“We’ve done the impossible, and that makes us mighty.” — Captain Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly)

I’m still here and this is my domain
First off, the MacCast and myself are still here, but as you can see we are having MAJOR server and hosting issues. MacCast.com and the enhanced feed have been down for the last day and a half. You can still subscribe to the regular feed at http://feeds.feedburner.com/maccast, although I have not posted a new show since 9/13/2006 (I planned to release a show yesterday and then this happened). I want to say I am sorry for all the confusion and frustration my recent hosting issues have caused you. Second, please don’t be alarmed by the changed URL (http://maccast.terraform.com). This is a temporary measure which I will explain in a minute. Terraform.com is the domain for my new business and is still my domain.
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Apple iPod Earphones (USD $29.00)
Website: Apple Store
Having caved in to what must have been significant request, Apple has finally released some sleeker, form-fitting earphones, and I’ve already picked up a pair for my 30g Video.

Having tried Apple’s terrible, tinny, and low-volume in-ear earphones, I was hopeful that these new iPod earphones would finally achieve what I had missed in ditching my old Sony Fontopia earphones – smoother, thinner, and elongated stem earphones that fit so snugly you forget they’re there. I also hoped that the excellent sound quality (in my opinion) that was present in the previous, stock iPod earphones would remain, or improve.

So how do they measure up?
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Verizon is spending $20 billion upgrading its network to provide fiber to the home, a new network running fiber optic cable for voice, internet and TV/Entertainment applications. I was one of the first in line to swap out my Comcast services. Why?

Good old-fashioned, raw, American speed, of course. While Comcast Internet provides anywhere from 4-8Mbps downloading and somewhere between 500-768K upload service, performance wavers substantially during typical usage. For the same price, I could get Verizon’s middle tier service, offering 15Mbps downloads and 2Mbps uploading speed. Pricing may vary in some regions, but the basic options are as follows:

5Mbps/2Mbps: $34.95/month
15Mbps/2Mbps: $44.95/month
30Mbps/5Mbps: $179.95/month

All with free installation. And unlike cable, fiber technology promises to be “truer” to its rated speeds. You can run a bandwidth tester such as http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest, and see what you’re getting now with your current provider. So far with FIOS, I’m almost always getting the advertised download speeds, and come very close with the upload speeds as well.
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The Mouse BT II (USD $69.00)
Website: macmice.com

I am forever searching for that ultimate mouse, having tried offerings from Logitech, Microsoft and Apple I am always left with mixed feelings. Apple’s Mighty Mouse in either the corded or Bluetooth version looked promising, but I just did not get on with the whole two button sensor arrangement. I found myself having to lift my left finger slightly to get the right click to work. This was a shame as the shape and feel was spot on. So back I went to my Logitech cordless which is great, just a tad big.

The guys at MacMice just recently released a new offering call ‘The Mouse BT II’ and one just landed on my desk to review. To say I am excited is an understatement because the size and shape is almost identical to the Mighty Mouse but with some awesome differences.
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If you’re a Mac switcher from either Windows or Linux like I was a few years ago, one of the first applications you’ll want to get to know is Address Book. The sooner you import your contacts into Mac OS X’s Address Book, the sooner you’ll appreciate how a little bit of data like your contacts transform and compliment the Mac’s usability in other applications. Let’s take a look…
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[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/maccast/MC20060913.mp3]
Download today’s show here!
MC20060913.mp3 [30.3mb 01:06:11 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 158. Coverage of Apple’s “It’s ShowTime event”. The 5.5 Gen iPod. The new color iPod Nanos. New redesigned iPod Shuffle. New iTunes 7.0. Movies on the iTunes Music Store (Is it still the iTunes Music Store?). And one more thing… iTV! Apple responds to RSS (Random Shutdown Syndrome), kinda. Signs shows that Mac Pro is processor upgradable. You can burn multisession CDs, not DVDs. Has Apple retired Aqua and brushed metal? Single Framer 2.1, Stop-motion on a budget. LCDs and native resolution. Meet the MacCast blogging team. Come see me at the Podcast Expo.

New music, Prodigal Son by JMS

Promos: The Self Defense Show and Cryptic Universe

Goddamn foreign TV. I told ya we should’ve got a Zenith. — Gremlins (1984)

Shownotes: HTML or OPML
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I am writing this blog posting from the food court of a local mall between the TCBY and the Cinnibon. No, this mall does not have anything as great as free wi-fi. Instead I am trying out a new service from Verizon using the emerging EVDO (Evolution-Data Optimized) wireless data standard. EVDO is being offered by a number of cell phone providers using their networks. To use EVDO you need to have special hardware which comes in the form of a PCCard for the PowerBook, or the new express card version for the MacBook Pro. USB versions of the cards will soon become available.

So how well does it work? Pretty well. Having connectivity even more widely available than what is provided by Wi-fi is very addictive. The download speed feels faster than dialup but slower than DSL. The upload speed is much less impressive. Recently it took me 2 hours to upload a 15Mb mp3 file for the latest episode of my podcast. Not impressive speed except that I was driving 65 MPH at the time up highway 101 in California and during that 2 hour period it was connected to my companies VPN server without losing its connection. I also tested it on a commuter train from San Jose to San Francisco and this is the kind of technology that could get me to take the train more often.

I have tried both the Sprint service and the Verizon service and both work well, although the setup with Sprint on a Mac was simpler (you put in the card). Verizon seems to require installing their software. Cost for the service is around $70 a month with flat rate pricing for data.