maccast_20080828

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is Say Anything by Manda and the Marbles
    Mandaandthemarbles.com
  Intro
    Horrible show notes prep accident and Time Machine failed me, or I failed myself? Don't add your main drive to the "exclude' list.
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    TextExpander
    Snippet Groups for CSS and HTML. Plus a bunch of other. Details on the site.
      These can auto-update if you "Add Predefined Group" from the Snippets tab. Or load manually.
    Free trials available on their web site
News
  New iPhone ads spotlight AppStore
    Lonely Planet, Cro Mag and Vicinity are three new iPhone ads now airing and available for viewing on Apple.com
    Lonely Planet shows off a Language learning app, CroMag demos the gaming functionality, and Vicinity highlights the location based apps.
    Tag.. "and this is when you realize, this is going to change everything".
    While your there also checkout the 4 new Mac/PC ads: Off the Air, Pizza Box, Throne, and Calming Teas
    For it's part Microsoft will spend some of it's $300 Vista marking budget to get their own switcher, Jerry Seinfeld. The reportedly $10 million dollar deal with have Jerry (who was featured in a Think Different ad and allegedly a Mac fan) helping restore Vista's image and bring users back to the Dark side. Chris Rock and Will Ferrell (who also appeared in Apple Ads) are also rumored to possibly be showing up in the spots.
    Meanwhile, according to The Guardian, the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority has pull an iPhone ad from British "tellies" because of the iPhone's lack of Flash or Java support. A portion of the ad claims that "all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone.". Because many sites today use Flash and sometimes Java the Standards Authority felt the ads made misleading claims about the internet capabilities of the iPhone.
  MacBook Air Software Update 1.0 released
    Fix for an issue where the Air would shut down processor cores (know as core idling) under heavy load like during video playback.
    This is precisely when you would need additional cores.
    Users were reporting overheating, poor performance, and choppy video playback.
    A software note also reminds Air owners to remove any third-party software used to control processor speeds before installation
  Apple looking to post a strong quarter
    Apple Insider reports that Gene Munster has crunched the July figures from NPD group and like what he sees.
    If the numbers hold true for the quarter Apple might see sales of 2.7 to 2.9 million Macs beating Street estimates of 2.6 million.
      Rumors of a new notebook announcement in September along with an unknown launch date is keeping Munster conservative on Mac sales, at 2.55 million.
    Munster is looking for between 5 to 10 percent growth on iPod sales at between 10.7 million units to 11.2 million units.
    Tack on an estimated 4.1 million iPhones and the Mun-man is think Apple could see per-share earnings of up to $1.19 on revenue of $8.5 billion. Not too shabby against Apple's own estimates of of $1.00 on $7.8 billion.
    Munster currently has Apple on a buy rating with an estimated target of $250.
    Apple's enterprise share also seems to be on the rise, at least according to Ben Gray of Forrester Research. MacNN reports that Gray claims that Mac OS X use in enterprise has risen to 4.5%, up from just 1.2% in January of 2007.
      And the iPhone may be claiming it's way up in Enterprise too. Mac Observer reports on a recent Change Wave survey of 2,000 IT professionals that showed 17% were planning to buy iPhones for their organization in the next quarter. That's up 4% from a year ago. Also 19% claimed the addition of 3G makes them more likely to purchase Apple products in the future.
  What is wrong with 3G?
    Apple is fixing something. USA Today reported that company spokesperson Jennifer Bowcock said, "The (2.0.2) software update improves communication with 3G networks."
    Has already spawned a class-action lawsuit from an Alabama woman and her attorneys.
    Engadget reports on tests conducted by Swedish engineers from Bluetest who claim the iPhone 3G hardware stood up in FCC style testing. Matching the reception quality of both a Nokia N73 and a Sony Ericsson P1. That would leave only firmware and software as possible issues within the device. Of course outside forces like network coverage could also factor.
    According to Mac NN Wired's Gadget Lab conducted a survey with the help of 2600 people internationally and concluded that poor network Infrastructure was the issue.
      1,638 US, 233 Australia, 152 Canada, the rest primarily EU
      Australia was the slowest with an average speed of 759 Kbps, but Optus and Virgin measuring speeds of just 390Kbps
      Germany and the Netherlands were the fastest at 2000 Kbps
      Canada (Rogers and Fido) second at 1330 Kbps.
      AT&T in the US tied Telstra, Telia, and Softbank at 3rd with speeds of 990 Kbps.
      Now this was just speed tests. US had the most "drops" of the 3G network with 63 out of 80 reported overall. Keep in mind 62% of the respondents were from the US.
    There could be something to the network thing. AppleInsider reports that a Citigroup analyst has encountered similar dropped call and network performance issues while testing the new Blackberry "Bold" on the AT&T 3G network . The Bold use a chipset from Marvell and not Infineon, so it does seem to support the carrier/network theory.
    MacNN also rpeorted that the Gothenburg Post in Sweden brought 2 iPhone 3Gs from reader who were complaining of issue to the same facility and the test held up. Interestingly in an informal field test near their homes a Sony Ericsson showed full bars while the iPhone showed low 3G connectivity. But when they load the newspapers homepage the Sony on 3g loads it in 46 seconds, an iPhone on Edge? 32 seconds.
  Rumors brew. Possible Sept 9th iPod Event
    Digg founder Kevin Rose is at the crest of another rumor wave and Brian Lam (Gizmodo) and ArsTechnica are riding the wake.
    Apple has held Sept. iPod events before and this time round is strong rumors of a new Nano along with redesigned iPod Touches
    The Nano seems to be returning to it's roots. Candybar shape, oblong end profile, and wider screen (which I assume can orient horizontal)
    iPod Touch
    Lower price points
    Rose speculates at iTunes version 8 (Ars cannot confirm) and says no subscriptions, but sophisticated recommendations? Browsing and discovery in the enormous catalog has become an issue.
    Now not to let other rumors wither and die, Mac Rumors claims some retailer have been told to stop restocking Mac minis, MacBook Pros, iPods and even Cinema Displays.
  Psystar sues back.
    Psystar has finally answered Apple's lawsuit filed back in July and they are doing so with a countersuit.
    Psystar has been, and continues to, sell low cost Mac clones pre-installed with a hacked version of the OS X operating system.
    In the countersuit Psystar's lawyers claim Apple is participating in the unlawful restraint of trade and they allege violating the Sherman and the Clayton Antitrust Acts by tying their OS to their own hardware.
    Psystar denies modding any of Apple's proprietary OS X code, but has admitted to modified some of the open-source code, but only while keeping in line with the terms of those open source licenses.
  Bloomberg glitch kills Steve Jobs
    Wired.com says that with updating their 17-page obituary for Steve Jobs something went horribly wrong and the article was sent out to all Bloomberg PR subscribers.
    It is common for organizations to prepare obits for high profile individuals in advance and this seems like simply an accident and is unrelated to any recent reports of health issues for the Apple co-founder.
    The obit also did contain names and contact info (including some phone numbers) for many key figures who knew Job's. (Woz, Larry Ellison, Al Gore, Bill Gates, Eric Schmidt, and Guy Kawasaki among others)
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Feedback, Comments and Commentary
  Feedback to App store and Apple comments from last show
    Woah! Did I apparently stir things up.
    Clarify some comments about the App Store
      I think the App store is a good thing for Apple and Developers
      I like the AppStore
      I am not sure I like Apple having ALL the control over software for ANY platform.
        I can rip my own CDs and movies into iTunes, I can buy apps of any kind or content on my Mac, why not on my iPhone?
          I get the arguments of stability and or security, but so far even with the restrictions that hasn't been the case.
          I know people who have Jailbroken phones that are just as stable.
        Part of the reason is the carriers, but the iPhone has moved beyond just a phone. You no longer lease your phone from Ma bell. Why should Apple and AT&T get to dictate usage on top of their service? By all means feel free to restrict the services, just not the device, but if you do that then you need to give me choice in service providers.
        I guess I'm saying the old model is broken and we can do better.
      Of course Jailbreak is an option, but it is unsanctioned and while it seems safe now there are no guarantees it will not break the phone at some point in the future. A hack is a hack.
    Apple's quality issues
      Over Mobile Me, hardware, etc.
      I have lots of emails saying things like "after my bad experience I will never buy an Apple product again", yet I read most of these and it's from people who had their issues finally resolved by Apple. Apple eventually replaced their system (with brand new models), Mobile Me mail was restored, it took 10 days, but it was restored.
        This to me is extreme, other companies would have said, "tough dookie".
        Apple is still a good company, but I think in flux. Growing pains as they branch into new markets, try to extend their media reach. compete a platform migration, and innovate new hardware designs.
        Also this may be an observation of percentages, more hardware to more people, means more reports when issues arise. I have no hard facts that hardware is less reliable, but form reports it does seem that way and personally i do think there is a higher failure rate, but that's just my gut feeling.
        To my comment about hiring more people many responded that the talent Apple requires may just not be available and it is costly to hire away talent from other companies.
        I have faith they will get a handle on it, but will be keeping a watchful eye.
        Good news is they listen, apple.com/feedback
    Go over email from "Barney Fife", aka Phil.
      iPhone numbers
        5.4 million 1st Gen iPhone sold. Number as of May 31st in Apple's Q2 2008 call
        1 Million iPhone 3G's sold in opening weekend, some to resellers, thus the 750,000 estimate.
        Predictions of up to 3 million iPhone 3Gs sold in the opening month.
  Your Mac is smart, use it.
    Smart Playlists, Smart Albums, Smart Mailboxes, Smart folders, Saved searches...
    Can use Smart Playlists to create Podcasts that will play all episodes back to back.
    Many smart lists dynamically update, so as events happen the items change.
  Phishing scams targeting more Mac owners
    Getting lot's of email from people like Shane
    Appears to be from Apple Store, Mobile Me,, Apple, etc. Asks you to update your credit card or billing info.
    Phishing scams are common, but more are targeting Mac owners. Beware, watch the URLs.
    Also Apple or any legitimate company would never ask for private, personal data in from an email.
    Check site certificates, the lock. Firefox 3 has a green color in the menubar (new standard Safari needs to support). This is now a guarantee, still check the URL.
    When in doubt call or email the company support to verify the email before giving any info.
  MobileMe not for all Me's
    Dennis found out that when attempting to access his .Me web mail from work it was a no go on IE.
    Mobile me supports Safari 3, Firfox 2 and 3 on Macs and PCs. IE 7 has limited support and no support for IE 6.
    IE's lack of support for web standards.
    iWeb web gallery and blog comment issues on Firefox 3
      Needed an update to some AJAX libraries used by iWeb. Be sure to have latest updates (2.0.4) and re-publish your entire site.
  Review: Recorder for iPhone
    Play clip from Jerry
    App web site
    on iTunes App Store for $0.99
  iPhone Apps like rabbits in iTunes
    Byron sent me an email about the state of his Music/iTunes/ Mobile Applications folder
    Multiple copies of many apps labeled App1, app2, app3, etc.
    I have the same issue, each time I update it seems to multiply.
    Deleting the older files and renaming the last one appears to make the issue worse. could probably just always leave the highest numbered one, but what a hassle.
    Dupe Remover 3,000 by Dan Pourhadi
  Time Machine warnings can be confusing
    Listener discovered that the 'Warn when old backups are deleted" setting in the Time Machine options did not work as he was thinking it would.
    It did display the warning, but after it removed the oldest backups.
    As such there was a older file he could no longer recover, but in terms of backup methodology it makes sense that it works this way
      You wouldn't want to stop the most recent backups because the disk was full. You would want to rotate out the older stuff and move on.
    If you are out of space you have a couple options
      replace your current drive with a larger one. Some report that you can use SuperDuper or another cloning tool to migrate the existing data to the new drive.
      Exclude items that you may not needed in Time Machine
  iPhone lore: 9:42 AM
    Pete has noticed that the time displayed on the iPhone in ads and commercials says 9:42 AM and wonders what if any significance there is to that number.
    Internet lore claims it to be the time to the minute that the iPhone was announced to the world on January 9th, 2007.
    At least one of the original iPhone PR images shows a time of 9:41 AM.
    The iCal icon also shows a date of Jun 9th.
  Keyboard navigation for Open Save dialogs
    Ali wanted to know how to use the keyboard to select a button, like 'cancel' in the open/save dialog box.
    You can tab to move the blue highlight to the desired item and then hit the spacebar to select. Return or enter will select the default which is typically the 'Save' or 'Open' button.
    Other useful shortcuts in Open/Save dialogs
      tab - Switch between browser and text fields
      arrow keys, page up/down - Navigate in browser
      command+N - Create new folder in the current directory
      command+D - Change directory to Desktop
      command+shift+A - Change directory to /Applications
      command+shift+C - Change directory to Computer view (list of volumes)
      command+shift+F - Change directory to Favorites folder
      command+shift+H - Change directory to Home folder
      command+shift+I - Change directory to iDisk (mounts iDisk if necessary)
Closing
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  "Walk Right Over Me" by The Gathering
    A friends college band, and not the Dutch Goth rock alternative one on iTunes
  EOL: Wings Over Wallstreet
    Play comment from Warren