shownotes_20100909

Opening
  Opening Music
    Music is "Say Anything" by Manda and the Marbles
    Band's MySpace page
Sponsor
  Faronics
    Deep Freeze
    Perfect for School IT Administrators setting up computer labs
    Allows you to control what areas of the system can persist between re-boots.
    Doesn't restrict the system in a way that interferes with the users ability to work with the system
      You could even choose to allow users to have full access to system software and settings if you want.
    Best of both worlds. You know the system is safe and users don't a bunch of security blocks, restrictions, etc.
News
  Safari 5.0.2 Software Update
    Improvements to compatibility and security
    Fixes an issue that could prevent users from submitting web forms
    Fixes an issue that could cause web content to display incorrectly when viewing a Google Image result with Flash 10.1 installed
    Establishes an encrypted, authenticated connection to the Safari Extensions Gallery
    Security updates
      An input validation issue in WebKit's handling of floating point data types. Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue is addressed through improved validation of floating point values.
      A use after free issue exists in WebKit's handling of elements with run-in styling. Visiting a maliciously crafted website may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. This issue is addressed through improved handling of object pointers.
  iOS 4.1 Release
    Fixes
      Proximity sensor bug seems to be gone for me. Yeah!
      Performance on 3G and 2nd Gen iPod
      AVRCP (Audio/Visual Remote Control Profile) Bluetooth devices should now work properly
    HDR Photos
      My impressions
      iPhone 4 only
      Keeps both versions by default, but can turn off in Settings-->Photos
      Can't use flash with HDR and it only works with rear camera
      Photo's in camera roll are marked with an "HDR" badge, but not noted when sync'd to iPhoto or in the Photos app.
    Game Center
      My impressions
        Games were hard to find at first, but now there is a dedicated App store section. 29 apps so far.
        Update you apps.
      Not available on the iPhone 3G
    iTunes TV Rentals
      30 days to start watching 48 hours to complete watching.
      US only at the moment.
    FaceTime
      iPhone 4 and 4G iPod Touch
      Separate app on the Touch
      Add FaceTime contacts to favorites
    Disable spell check from the Keyboard settings. To use spell check auto-correction must also be enabled.
    Gmail "archive" icon in Mail (replaces trash icon)
    A long list of security fixes.
    If you jailbreak you'll need to hold off
  New iPods are out. Details emerge.
    iPod Touch
      Reported that even though Apple said it's the "Retina" Display, it's not the same as the iPhone 4
        No IPS, or at least off angle viewing isn't the same
        Still 960 x 640 resolution at 326 ppi
      Rear facing camera is 0.7MP and doesn't support the new HDR mode in iOS 4.1
      No auto-auto focus
      Clearly if you want a device that is a point an shoot camera replacement then Apple's telling you to buy an iPhone
      Wi-fi antenna has been moved to the front.
      Still 256MB of RAM
      Glass and touch panel are fused together like the iPhone 4, so need to replace both if either are damaged.
      No vibration motor, despite a removed reference to it on the Nano accessibility page.
    iPod Nano
      Multitouch, but not iOS
      iFixit teardown says it's more like a shuffle with a screen than a Nano. Similar case design.
        Screen is raised above the case by 0.3 mm because case is a thick as the headphone jack.
        240x240 display for a pixel density of 220 pixels per inch
      In-line headphone controls work, but you need to buy separately.
      No built-in speaker or camera.
      Plays music videos and video podcasts (audio only) [iLounge]
        Artwork is just the video keyframe
      Component connect cable to attach to TV for Photo slideshows.
    iPod Shuffle
      Apple's headphone volume controls work with the Shuffle, but not all 3rd party headphones.
  AirPlay streams outside Apple
    Apple Airplay technology will work with 3rd party systems
    iHome already announced a new speaker product
    Engadget reports that a company called BridgeCo worked with Apple on AirPlay
      BridgeCo makes a network media processor and software that's embedded into partner products
      Those partners include Denon, Marantz, B&W, JBL, and iHome. Apple lists the same partners on it's AirPlay site along with Marantz (which is a sister company of Denon).
    So for us this means we can expect to see all kinds of wireless audio devices and speakers that we can stream content to from iTunes and our iOS 4.1 and greater devices.
    AirPlay also supports video, but so far it looks like the new AppleTV is the only announced device with AirPlay video support.
  Apple allows 3rd party iOS development tools
    Apple has reversed it's decision to disallow cross-compilers
    As long as the resulting apps are native and don't download additional code
    Means that Adobe's Flash Packager should now be allowed.
    Unlike some headlines seem to be reporting this doesn't mean that Flash itself is being supported or allowed on the iPhone.
      Adobe's Flash Packager still generates an iOS native app from original Flash Actionscript 3 code
  Apple gives Developers Guidelines
    Finally
    Cult of Mac posted the full text for your perusal. At least until the Cease and Desist arrives.
    Reports are that the rules are laid out in fairly specific detail and in plain language.
      TUAW posted some highlights
        "If your App looks like it was cobbled together in a few days, or you're trying to get your first practice App into the store to impress your friends, please brace yourself for rejection."
        "We have over 250,000 apps in the App Store. We don't need any more Fart apps. If your app doesn't do something useful or provide some form of lasting entertainment, it may not be accepted."
        "We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, 'I'll know it when I see it'. And we think that you will also know it when you cross it."
    Even if developers don't agree with the rules at least they now know what they are up against.
    There are still some rules that will be up for interpretation, but it's clear that there Apple will have the final say.
      "This is a living document, and new apps presenting new questions may result in new rules at any time. Perhaps your app will trigger this"
    You can't game the store
    You can't violate a users privacy.
    10.1 Apps must comply with all terms and conditions explained in the Apple iPhone Human Interface Guidelines and the Apple iPad Human Interface Guidelines
      Apple can reject an app if they simply don't like the UI.
    Guidelines for conserving cellular bandwidth
      9.3 Audio streaming content over a cellular network may not use more than 5MB over 5 minutes
      9.4 Video streaming content over a cellular network longer than 10 minutes must use HTTP Live Streaming and include a baseline 64 kbps audio-only HTTP Live stream
    The guidelines are nice to have in writing and I'm sure they will change over time.
    What won't change are the complaints and rallying crys of "unfair" or "blocking".
    Apple also established a App Review Board
      Not a lot of details yet, but presumably developers would now be able to appeal to the board if they feel their app was rejected unfairly.
      Apple specifically mentions not running to the press to air your grievances in public.
    Again not every developer is going to be happy with the ultimate outcome and I'm sure we'll still have plenty of "Apple killed my app" stories for the foreseeable future.
    In addition to easing restrictions on 3rd party development tools they also apparently eased restrictions on 3rd party in-app ad platforms
      Google responded with a post on their blog
      They prior language appeared to severely restrict iAd competitor networks like Google's AdMob.
Feedback, Comments and Commentary
  Maccast One Minute Tip: Secure Delete
    Play tip
    One Minute Tip Podcast
  Thoughts on Ping
    So far I like it, but I stand by my comments that it feels Alpha or Beta at best
    They reached 1 million users in just 48 hours
    Hard to find friends without just emailing everyone you know
    navigating around it tricky
    Featured and follow recommendations seem to be commercially driven, not based on music tastes.
    Limited music genre choices when setting up profile.
      Only 10 slots for "Music i like"
    The "recent activity" can get a bit cluttered, esp. with mostly "started following…" messages
    Music discovery based on what my friends buy is nice and it's nice to be able to comment on it.
    Wish there was a way to just post a random comment, but they need to be tied to an "Activity", like buying a track.
    I also like that I can "like" or "post" a track from the store and comment on it. Seems like a good way to share my music. Wish I could do it from my Library.
      Work around is to Control+Click the "track info area" in itUnes when the song is playing and then choose the 'Find in iTunes Store' option to try and find the track or album in the store. From there you can post it to Ping.
  iTunes 10 tricks
    Podcast arrows with links to iTunes store are gone.
      Create a playlist or use the "Find in iTunes Store" info window trick as a work around
      Album art player
      Album list view, shows album art by default if there are 5 or more tracks from the same album.
        View-->Always Show Album Art, if you want artwork for all albums regardless of number of tracks.
      CD playback/ripping bug
        Inserting the CD mounts in Finder, but then in iTunes selection rapidly switches between the CD an music becoming unresponsive eventually resulting in the CD unmounting in both iTunes and the Finder.
        Fix is to turn off the “Automatically retrieve CD track names from Internet” in the iTunes preferences.
      Broken Automator Workflows
        If you use these in iTunes 9 they may be broken in 10
        If you don't want to wait for Apple to issue a fix you can hack the Info.plist file in the Package Contents
        Issue is that Automator sorts the version number alphabetically instead of by number, so it thinks iTunes 10 is an older version than 9.
  HTML 5 local database files
    a great new feature in HTML, but it may be leaving data you don't want around
    Unlike cookies many users don't know about this data on their system
    Some of this data you want. Google Voice on my iPhone stores my config data there. Web apps saved to iOS can also use these DB files to be able to operate when offline or in airplane mode.
    Some advertising companies are starting to use this for tracking instead of cookies especially on iOS
    in Safari on your Mac:
      Safari-->Preferences-->Security
      Click the "Show Databases" button.
      Only shows you the databases, their source, and how much data they are using and max size.
      You can remove them from here.
      Actually MySQL lite databases stored at: ~/Library/Safari/Databases
        To see the actual data...
        Can open with 'Base' app
        SQLLite Database Browser (free)
    In iOS
      Settings-->Safari-->Databases
      Again you can see what DBs are there and remove them
      Can't see the actual data stored on the iPhone.
  Field test your iPhone Signal
    iOS 4.1 brought back the field test mode (via Cult of Mac)
    On your iPhone keypad type: *3001#12345#* and pressing Call.
    You will enter "Field Test" mode and your signal bars will be replaced by numbers.
    iPhone 4.0.1 ranges were:
      -75 to -51 or greater: 5 bars
      -87 to -76: 4 bars
      -98 to -88: 3 bars
      -107 to -99: 2 bars
      -121 to -108: 1 bar
    Pressing the "Home button" will exit field test mode.
  Location can improve wi-fi
    Aleksandr was helping a friend with a new 27in iMac who was having trouble getting maximum signal strength and throughput from the wi-fi.
    Even tough it was close to the base station and other devices further away were getting better signal.
    Repositioning the Mac fixed the issue (pointing back toward the router).
    Think about what is around or near your Mac.
    Use a Wireless Distribution System (WDS) device, like the Airport Express or get a device like the BearExtender
Closing
  Get even more Maccast
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  Mac Computer Expo 2010
    I'll be doing the Keynote Panel at the North Coast Mac User Group Mac Computer Expo in Petaluma, CA in October
    iFuture.
    Victor Cajiao, Jeff Gamet, Bryan Chaffin, Chris Christensen and I will discuss Apple changes and their meaning for the future
    It's free
    Saturday, October 2nd, 2010 9am – 5pm Petaluma Community Cente
  Podcast Marketplace
    Thanks to my sponsors
      Circus Ponies
      Smile
      Faronics, Deep Freeze
      Cocoatech, Pathfinder 5
      Gazelle
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  Keep emails coming. Audio comments.
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  "Dormant and Grey" by Derek Clegg
    One of my favorite Maccast Artists
    Find him on iTunes and buy his stuff
  EOL: Son of Newton
    Someone took an old Newton and modded it into an iPhone case. Perfect merging of old and new tech. (via MacMerc)