shownotes_20100227

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is "Say Anything" by Manda and the Marbles
    Band's MySpace page
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News
  Apple bans the "naughty" apps
    Apple pulled "adult" apps from the store. Some reports citing as many as 5,000 apps being purged.
      I was happy that they now honor the iTunes parental control settings for screenshots on the App Store.
        Still a problem here is that almost any app that accesses with web with an integrated browser get's a 17+ rating. eg. NetNewsWire
      Outright pulling the content they already allowed seems dodgy at best.
        Still Apple is a private company and can do what they want, but we don't have to like it.
        I like many others feel there is not enough transparency in the standards and Apple seemingly make arbitrary exceptions to their own policies.
      This was all something I worried about when Apple first launched the App Store.
    Why?
      In a NYT piece Phil Schiller said the purge was due to increasing customer complaint. He also noted that a small number of developers were submitting an increasing number of "objectionable" apps.
        I wonder if app review volume played a role.
      He was asked about the double standard of leaving apps like SI Swimsuit and Playboy in. Said it was due to content being from "well-know" publishers with material available broadly in a well-accepted format".
        Herein lies the problem, who sets the standard. Not to mention Apple's pending deals with content publishers calls the reasoning into question.
    Solutions?
      App Store "red-light" district?
        An 'Explicit' category in iTunes Connect, but it disappeared.
      Allow Apps to be installed outside the App Store.
  Apple righting product wrongs
    MacBook Repair Extension Program for Hard Drive Issues
      For Macbooks sold between May 2006 and December 2007.
        13-in models with
        Processor speed - 1.83GHz, 2GHz, or 2.16GHz
        Hard drive capacity - 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB, or 160GB
      If it displays a flashing question mark on the screen take it to Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
    Yellow, flickering 27-in iMac displays
      Gizmodo says Apple issued them a short statement saying that they have addressed the issues, but that affected customers contact AppleCare.
      Doesn't mean Apple is replacing screens 100%, but they should at least not deny the existence of the issue when you contact them.
      Ship times on new 27-in models seem to be returning to normal. 3-5 days now.
    Mac Pro Audio Update 1.0 released earlier in the month
      Addressing heat and performance issues experienced by users of Apple's Nehalem-based Mac Pros when processing audio.
  Memory issues with Aperture 3. Apple has fix.
    The Aperture 3 release proved to be troublesome for a number of users
      Quit unexpectedly on launch, or after entering an Aperture 3 upgrade serial number
      For some Aperture's virtual memory would expand to control all free hard drive space slowing performance or locking up the system.
    Apple recommendations for upgrading
      Rebuild your library before upgrading. Hold Option+command on launch.
      Aperture uses a lot of space during the upgrade, so you need to have your library on a drive with a lot of free space.
      Large libraries can take hours, even overnight, to update.
    Apple quickly released Aperture 3.0.1
      Fixed a number of issues including the
    Digital Camera Raw Compatibility Update 3.1
      Adds RAW support for new camera models to Aperture 3 and iPhoto
      Hasselblad, Leica, Olympus, Panasonic, Pentax, and Sony.
  Buzz of new Macbook Pros gets stronger
    AppleInsider reporting on possible Nvidia Optimus GPUs to go along with the Core i7 and i5 mobile processors from Intel
      Intel requires the use of the integrated chipsets with the Nehalem architecture.
      The Optimus would work along side the integrated chips, like today's Macbook Pros with the M9400.
      Apple rumored to have OS X improvements to allow auto switching of the GUPs on the fly.
    Supposed "in the wild" sightings of Macbook Pro 2010 RAM modules. Random blog, with just a screenshot and no source citation.
    Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu is checking and says that Macbook Pro supplies are limited.
  iPad roundup
    Still rumors of video support with MacOSRumors site ferreting out references to camera flash, zoom, and a front-facing camera in the latest iPhone OS 3.2 SDK Beta 3.
    iPad SDK Beta 3 documentation says the iPad uses Imagination Technologies’ PowerVR SGX Graphics Hardware for its GPU. Same as in the iPhone and iPod Touch.
    New Your Times reported that Apple likely spent about $1 Billion dollars to develop the custom A4 silicon that's in the upcoming iPad. Based on typical ARM-based chip development without fabrication.
      Apple COO Tim Cook said Apple has more custom silicon planned for future products.
    A RBC/ChangeWave survey of 3,200 people found that 13% are likely to buy the iPad. I similar pre-iPhone survey in 2007 showed 9% interest.
  iTunes reaches 10 Billion Download mark
    Happened on Wednesday the 24th.
    Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia downloaded the 10 Billionth iTunes track.
    The track was Johnny Cash’s “Guess Things Happen That Way". Bought because he was making a mix for his son.
    Steve Jobs called him personally, but he thought his son was playing a prank on him until he read 'Apple' on the caller ID.
    He recently received an iPod Nano as a gift and had no idea Apple was even having a contest. He won a $10,000 iTunes gift card.
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Feedback, Comments and Commentary
  My Word Service tip was lacking
    Apparently when I gave you my great tip on using Services to get Word Counts in any OS X Cocoa app I though the "Statistics" service as an Apple built in one. It wasn't.
    It's part of a free collection that you can download and install from the folks at Devon Technologies.
      Word Service 2.7 does in addition to statistics:
      Reformat, Remove line attachments/endings/links/multiple spaces/multiple feeds/quotes, Trim line beginnings/line endings/lines, Sort lines ascending/descending, Shift left/right, Initial caps of words/sentences, All caps and lowercase, Mac/Windows/Unix line endings, Rotate 13, Straight/Smart Quotes, Encode/Decode tabs, Insert date/date and time/time/contents of path, Speak native/German text.
    To install:
      Download it from the Devon Site, WordService.zip
      Unzip.
      Copy WordService into the directory "Services" (located in the Library folder of your home directory), then log out and log in again. If there's no such folder, just create one using the Finder.
  A little about the ePub format
    The iPad will support ePub as it's format for eBooks, but Les and I both were wondering what exactly is ePub and how do you create it.
    I found a great site called Jedisaber.com that explained a lot of this.
    The .epub is a standard for eBooks created by the International Digital Publishing Forum
    Under the hood ePub is basically just a collection of XHTML and XML files in a ZIP package.
    As for publishing tools, there are a couple for the Mac. Lexcycle (Stanza) has a good list.
      Adobe InDesign, Calibre, Stanza to name a few.
  "Hey, I've got a great idea for an iPhone app"
    Yeah, you and about 150,000 or more other people.
    Seriously though Adam has a great question that I don't have a good answer for but I'll talk about it any way.
    You have a great idea for an iPhone app, but lack the skills to make it. How do you outsource the coding, but protect your idea.
      I would imagine you want to talk to an IP attorney.
      Reach out to the developer community, look for an iPhone dev group in your area, get to know developers, Google is your friend.
      Chances are someone else has the same idea, so focus on executing yours better or at least have a hook.
    Code it yourself?
      Great books and lots of info on-line.
      For Objective-C I would recommend the Aaron Hillegass book and O'Rielly's series
      If you have the cash I have heard Big Nerd Ranch is the way to jumpstart things. $4750 for 7 days of intensive coding. 2-days of objective C and 5 day iPhone bootcamp
  Getting better voice recording on the Mac
    Larry is an actor and wants to do some voice work, but was looking to get better sound in recoding his demos.
    Was using a USB headset mic, which is better than recording with the built-in mic, but a good mic is the key first step to better audio.
      These days there are bunch of options for Studio USB Condenser mics in the USD $100-$250 price range.
        Samson C01-U
        Blue Yeti
        Audio Technica AT-2020
        Rode Podcaster
        Shure PG-42
    Software wise there are lots of choices, Logic, Soundtrack Pro, Audacity. I prefer Garageband because you get it on every mac.
      Set up a new "Voice" project in Garageband and then delete the default male and female tracks. These have effects on them I don't like. esp. Echo and Reverb
      Add a new "basic" track (Track-->New Basic Track).
      In the Garageband preferences check the Audio/Midi settings and make sure you have your USB mic as the input source
      Check your levels by watching the meters on your track in Garageband. they should not go into the red and only occasionally hit the yellow. It's better to go too low than too high,
      Once you are ready hit record and talk away.
        Close mic is better for voice
        Room noise can be reduced with something as simple as a curtain or blanket.
      Share menu and select the Export to Disk option.
        uncheck the 'compress' checkbox it will export as a full CD quality AIFF file
        Checking the box will give you options for MP3 or AAC file type.
        You can also use the direct to iTunes share option if you'd like.
  Typing superscript on the Mac.
    Dan wanted to know how to create a superscript character on the Mac.
    In many OS X apps the option is typically found under the 'Format' menu, under Fonts-->Baseline-->Superscript. So select the text or character and choose that option.
    Keyboard Shortcuts - (didn't seem to work in most apps, well did in Pages)
      Make text superscript - Control-Command-plus sign (+) [had to add Shift on non-extended keyboard]
      Make text subscript - Control-Command-minus sign (-)
  Saving Quicktime from a site where there are no save options
    Johannes noticed that sometimes it's not always possible to save an embedded quicktime movie from a web page.
    Things kind of changed when Apple launched Quicktime X.
      Now typically if you Control+Click the video while it's playing you'll see the Save As Source... option, but not always.
    You can get the URL and open in Quicktime Player
      In Safari, load the page with the embedded Quicktime file
      Go to the 'Window' menu and select 'Activity'
      Expand the section for the page you are on and locate the movie URL, look for large file size or .mov. Single click the link to select it and choose 'Copy'. You can also double click to open the URL in it;s own window, but we want to save.
      Open Quicktime Player X
      Go to 'File' --> 'Open URL…' and paste the URL and click 'Open'
      Wait for the Movie to load completely. Then choose 'File' --> 'Save As', select your format options, and save the movie.
Closing
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  "Old Soul" by Meg Allison
    From Musicalley
    Buy on iTunes
  EOL: iPod 8-track
    Some guy revived his old 8-track player by jacking in his iPod (via TUAW)