Listen to today’s show here!
MC20060120.mp3 [1.9mb 00:04:08 64kbps]

A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Just a quick note to let you know that a new MacCast is in the works, but might not be here until the weekend. sorry for the delay. In the meantime checkout my interviews:

Mr. MacGeek: http://www.mrmacgeek.com
Colmination: http://www.colmination.com
Podcast 411: http://www. podcast411.com
Systemtrash: http://www. systemtrash.com

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If you are old school and prefer the feel of rifling through your CD collection to browsing the Library in iTunes then this may be the App to help bridge your digital divide. CoverFlow is a beautifully designed media player that integrates with iTunes and allows you to visually select the tracks you want to hear. It’s hard to describe, but the website features a video that show it off well. Basically think of it like filpping through a stack of CDs to find the music you want. I just looks freakin’ awesome. While the current version is just a “technology” preview, it worked great for me on my G4 iBook. It does require Tiger and at least a RAGE 128 graphics card, but beyond that it performs beautifully. This is really fun and shows off the power and creativity of the Mac well. I can’t wait to see the fully finished product.

Looks like Apple has listened to the many critics of the new “Mini Store” feature in iTunes and is (at least in part) trying to correct their mistake. They have updated the feature to include a message (see below) telling you information is being sent to Apple, confirming you want to enable it and showing you how to turn it off. This change comes in response to many users who were up in arms over the potential privacy concerns the new feature imposed. Some critics were so vocal that they took to calling the new version “SpyTunes”. This new update should help, but I think there will many who still feel the feature should be removed all together. Personally I didn’t have much of a problem with the feature as it only sent song info, which I already share with the world via the “Mac Geek is listening to” feature on this site. :)

The other night I did another interview (seem to be doing a lot of these lately :) ). This time I talked with Rob over at Podcast 411. Podcast 411 is an interview show where Rob talks to all kinds of Podcasters. He does a great job and I was honored he selected me for an interview. We had a good time discussing the latest MacWorld announcements and other Mac stuff. We talked about how I started in Podcasting and the history and future of the MacCast among other things. I think many of you may find it interesting, so if you want to hear it just click the link below. Also, if you want to hear more great interviews with other pocasters be sure to visit Robs site and subscribe to his Podcast in iTunes.

Logitech Cordless Desktop S 530 Laser for Mac (approx. $100 USD)

I was lucky enough to attend Macworld 2006 and, while there were a ton of cool new products and innovative software titles at the Expo, I was really excited to see the new, made for Mac, keyboard and laser mouse from Logitech. This killer combo was being displayed at just about every other booth. Looks like Logitech wanted to make sure you saw it over and over again. As for myself, being a two button mouse guy and the owner of a MX Duo, I am very glad to see this product finally hit the market. The Logitech system offers a look and feel that rivals that of Apples own mouse and keyboard. The keyboard has a soft textile feel to it and the mouse is laser which makes it more accurate than an optical mouse. The keyboard offers a Mac button layout which includes the eject button, volume controls and also a set programable buttons. Without a doubt this keyboard is, to me, the best you can get for your Mac. With an estimated price tag is approx $100 it’s a good value and this baby also boasts battery life of up to 6 months, which is awesome. The mouse also has a built in on/off switch for more energy savings. The Logitech S530 a must have for any two button Mac user.

OK. That was more painful than it should have been. We should now be all moved over to the new server. Please let me know if you notice anything out of place. I had a really hard time with the forum. Even though I did a complete backup, it turned out the new host would not let me upload a backup of more than 8MB and the forum database is approx 30MB!! Thank goodness I found this.

Ok gang, I just changed the DNS for maccast.com so sometime in the next 48 hours we will be moved over to the new servers. I think I have everything in place for a smooth transition, but if not please bear with me. Things could break over the next couple days, but I will try to get them fixed quickly. There also is some possibility of some blog comments getting lost in the transition, so I will apologize in advance if that occurs. Thank you in advance for your patience and we will get through this together.

“You are now entering…”

I finally had the opportunity to sit down and have a discussion with long time MacCast listener and fellow podcaster Colm, from The Colmination. To kick off the discusssion we tried out iLife ’06 and it’s new iChat recording features, we do the Colmination Top 5 Mac-style and talk about our histories with Apple and the Mac. Listen to the AAC here and be sure to checkout the Colmination, which I describe as a “hanging with the guys” lifestyle podcast. Each episode the Colm has a buddy or two over and they talk about life, sports, video games and music. If your lucky Colm’s lovely girlfriend Alissa will also make an appearance and share a gross medical story.

Recently I had the opportunity to do an interview with a couple of teen podcasters. Brandon and Erik are the hosts of the Mr. Mac Geek Podcast and they are probably some of the most articulate and well prepared teen podcasters I have encountered. For my episode we got together and discussed all the recent announcements at MacWorld 2006. There were some slight audio glitches due to Skype, but overall I think it is an episode many would enjoy. Check it out over on http://www.mrmacgeek.com.

Listener Andre pointed out a really cool feature of the new MacBook Pro that many, including myself, had missed. If you carefully read the “Pure Digital Signal” section of the MacBook Pro Graphics page on Apples site you’ll see this:

…you get three options for using your display: dual-display mode, video mirroring, and lid-closed mode.

So apparently the MacBook can be run with the lid shut. This is a BIG change from the PowerBook. With the PowerBooks you can use software like Sleepless, but doing so could cause excess heat and damage your Mac, so it is NOT recommended. I’m sure addition of lid closed operation will be a welcome feature for many new MacBook owners.

OOPS: Looks like I made a mistake on this one. From the comments on this post it looks like PowerBook have been able to run with the lid closed for a while now. The trick is they need to be connected to an external display. I was confused becasue this topic came up on the MacCast in the past, but in that case the listener wanted to run with the lid closed and still have the PowerBook a connected to the network, but with no external monitor attached. He wanted it available for server operation.