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@ growl.info
It's a global notification system which displays definable windows.

Posted by Joel at 08:27 PM | Permalink

@Gizmo
It's owned by Queensland-based warbird collector Randal McFarlane... wait, there actually is a warbird collector?!

Posted by Joel at 08:22 PM | Permalink

@Engadget

...because it's gonna set you back $5000.

Posted by Joel at 08:20 PM | Permalink

We saw Beauty and the Beast at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre at W 46th St, last New Year's Eve. After the show, the entire street was sealed off in preparation for the Times Square event. It was just around 4PM.

Posted by Joel at 02:23 PM | Permalink

@ Working Smart
Michael Hyatt switches to a 15" Powerbook.

Posted by Joel at 08:31 AM | Permalink

@Gizmodo
If this was true, I'd get an Xbox just for the design.

Posted by Joel at 08:24 AM | Permalink

@ Powerpage
He is credited with the decision to use a one-button mouse as part of the Apple interface.

Posted by Joel at 08:22 AM | Permalink

Google Maps now work with Opera and Safari.

Posted by Joel at 04:39 PM | Permalink

I was playing around with the shuffle in my car the other day when it hit me. The PSP also has an earphone jack! So I got the PSP, fired up Ridge Racers, and cranked up the volume of the Bose radio.

An awesome experience. I guess parking and waiting in my car would not be as boring anymore.

(The car is a 2003 Nissan Murano. The PSP is only attached via a cassette adapter. It is not physically attached on the radio... I just balanced it on the control knobs.)

Posted by Joel at 06:51 AM | Permalink |

42nd Mersenne Prime Confirmed:
Jazzer_Techie writes "The possible Mersenne Prime discovered last week has now been confirmed. This prime has 7,816,230 digits, which makes it not only the largest Mersenne Prime, but also the largest prime of any kind ever discovered. For those who don't want to take time to read the article, the prime is 2^25,964,951 - 1."

@ Slashdot

I really don't get what's the deal with prime numbers but it's amazing that this was discovered. I'm sure our Mathcounts team can use this bit of info.

Posted by Joel at 05:59 AM | Permalink

Doom 3 to ship March 14:
Aspyr announced today that Doom 3, the blockbuster hit from id Software, has gone gold for Mac and is scheduled to begin shipping Monday, March 14.

@MacMinute

Good news for those who have high-end Macs.

Posted by Joel at 06:52 AM | Permalink

For this and more artwork, check out the Shuffle Art Archive.

Posted by Joel at 06:40 AM | Permalink

Screen Query assists in determining whether your LCD screen / CRT monitor contains any dead pixels. Simple, straightforward and free!

No dead pixels!

Posted by Joel at 01:20 PM | Permalink

I did several browser speed tests...

10.3.7 (fresh out of the box)

10.3.8

Opera 8.0 is clearly ahead of the pack however, this version was only configured for browsing. No email. No RSS. With Ads. There might be performance hits once RSS and Mail are activated. However, Camino is my choice because all of the sites I throw at it all work well.

Opera and Camino may not be as well known but they offer the best web performance that I'm glad I'm experiencing.

Posted by Joel at 01:12 PM | Permalink

Cultured Containers has developed the BananaBunker®
to protect this delicate fruit from bruising when placed in
your backpack, nap sack, soft carrying case, or briefcase.
The container also protects your backpack’s valuable
contents, such as CD players, textbooks, binders, and
business documents.

I ordered five (backordered 4-6 weeks).

Posted by Joel at 12:16 PM | Permalink

Document business hours of your regular stops:
Flickr user getofab keeps photos of business hours placards at all his frequent haunts to avoid a phonecall if he's wondering if they're open. Got any other creative uses for Flickr or cameraphones? Lemme know - tips at lifehacker.com. Thanks...

@Lifehacker

Great tip! I think I'll do that too and create a category for the pics -- later on when I start playing around with Splashblog.

Posted by Joel at 08:21 AM | Permalink

Interarchy 7.3.2 FTP client released:
Stairways Software today announced the release of Interarchy 7.3.2, the latest version of its powerful, flexible, award-winning Internet application for Mac OS X...

@MacMinute

Interarchy is my default FTP app. The weird thing is, I've never heard of this fantastic program until about a month ago.

Posted by Joel at 05:57 AM | Permalink

My Mac mini arrived on a Tuesday afternoon and since then I've been testing it. I ordered a stock mini, only having 256MB and 40 GB. I figured the true value of the mini will stand out at its lowest price-point.

The first thing I did was to create a backup. I downloaded all software updates and installed three additional third-party applications: Carbon Copy Cloner, Quicksilver, and Camino. I cleared the cache and Recent Items list before resetting Camino. Permissions were fixed before I ran Carbon Copy Cloner to create a bootable clone of the Mac mini in a LaCie external drive.

After that, the Mac mini was officially ready for every day use.

I did some browser speed tests but I'll put it up in a later post.

Posted by Joel at 11:08 PM | Permalink

Apple's Special Deals section now carries the 40GB and 60GB iPod photo's for $379 and $479 respectively.

Posted by Joel at 11:02 AM | Permalink

Linux, Mac, and Windows versions of the Firefox 1.0.1 beta are now available. Remember, these are betas so expect the usual unusuals.

Posted by Joel at 08:58 AM | Permalink

The Abe BT 80C Bluetooth Stereo Cassette:
OH. MY. GOD. Three words for you: Bluetooth Stereo Cassette. What we’re talking about is the Abe BT 80C, an audio cassette adapter that you can pop into your car’s tape deck and stream music to from your Bluetooth-enabled MP3 player, handheld, or PC. Obviously not as simple as that, since not every Bluetooth gadget supports the A2DP, or Advanced Audio Distribution Profile, that this thing uses to stream in stereo, but we so like where this is all going.

[Thanks, chuckkay] @Engadget

OMG (again). This would be perfect with the rumored Bluetooth iPod -- or Bluetooth-enabled 'books and iTunes.

Posted by Joel at 06:11 AM | Permalink

BBC has Infocom's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
Mark Frauenfelder: Ajit Monteiro says: "At the BBC they have the Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, Infocom game from 1984, written by Douglas Adams. Its a text based adventure game, reminiscent of games from way back when. The two episode game works pretty well even ported to flash."

In the '80s, I spent many hours playing this game. It was a lot of fun, but I got stuck (I think I was trying to convince the depressed robot to open a spaceship door for me) and never finished it. The BBC version I'm playing comes with graphics (created by people who entered a BBC contest to port the game to Flash), which might make it a little easier to solve the puzzles this time around. Link

@boingboing

Infocom's text adventure games were the best during my high school days. (Sonny's Apple IIC was a hit among us -- and I'm proud to say I finished Scimitar on my own!). This 20th anniversary edition in Flash format would be something worth playing soon... (Why do I discover fantastic games when I'm in the middle of a school project?)

Posted by Joel at 06:00 AM | Permalink |

iPod software update 2005-02-22 delivers the following software:

iPod shuffle software 1.1 (for iPod shuffle) Support for iPod shuffle Battery Pack

Increased software stability

iPod mini software 1.3 (for iPod mini) Support for second-generation iPod mini

Support for charging and syncing over USB with Mac OS X v10.2.8 or 10.3.4 or later

iPod software 2.3 (for 3rd Generation iPod with dock connector) Shuffle Songs selection in Main Menu

Music menu item in Main Menu
Support for iTunes 4.7 and later

iPod software 1.5 (for Touch Wheel and Scroll Wheel iPod) Shuffle Songs selection in Main Menu

Music menu item in Main Menu
Support for iTunes 4.7 and later

iPod software update 2005-02-22 contains the same software versions as iPod software update 2005-01-11 for all other iPod models.

Posted by Joel at 05:37 AM | Permalink |

New iPods have been announced.

iPod mini - 4GB - $199 (from $249) - $49.75/GB
iPod mini - 6GB - $249 (new) - $41.50/GB
comes in blue, pink, green, and silver

iPod photo - 30GB - $349 (new - 40 GB was $499) - $11.63/GB
iPod photo - 60GB - $449 (from $599) - $7.48/GB

Both models hold up to 25,000 digital photos and can import photos from your digital camera via the new iPod Camera Connector for instant viewing and slide show playback on iPod photo.

If I understand this right, the iPod photo can now be used as backup storage for pictures and as an instant slide show device. The 25,000 picture capacity is based on the picture sizes when imported from iTunes.

The prices are incredibly low and I again wonder how the other mobile music players can compete with the iPod.

Posted by Joel at 05:32 AM | Permalink |

Cocktail has just been updated.

Version 3.5.3:

* Added support for special characters in disk, folder and file names
* Addresses an issue in which the computer did not go to sleep, was not restarted and/or did not shut down if Cocktail was running behind the login screen
* Addresses an issue in which position of the main window was not saved
* Addresses an issue in which check of the SMART status may fail
* Improved startup time
* Added "Search subfolders" option to the DS Store cleaning feature (Files)
* Added "Do not cache website icons" Safari setting (Interface)
* Addresses an issue in which Uptime was not updated (Specifications)
* Interface improvements
* Other minor bug fixes
* Updated Help

Posted by Joel at 12:00 PM | Permalink

Security Update 2005-002 delivers a number of security enhancements and is recommended for all Macintosh users. This update includes the following components:

Java Web Start
JavaPluginCocoa.bundle
JavaScriptCore
Core Java classes

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798


Also, since I already have iLife 05, there have been other updates that I've missed:

iPhoto 5.0.1 addresses issues with upgrading iPhoto 4 libraries, dragging albums into folders, importing MPEG 4 movies, and also includes a number of other minor fixes.

iMovie HD 5.0.1 addresses issues related to video and audio synchronization for DV projects and other minor issues

Posted by Joel at 10:42 AM | Permalink

NewsFire has been updated over the past few weeks:

1.0 build 26

• fix launch crash
• safari 1.3 aesthetic fix

1.0 build 25

• launching a website marks all news in its feed as read
• fix for incorrect 'does not contain' behavior
• french, japanese, german translations

Posted by Joel at 10:07 AM | Permalink

Our local network will be launching their podcast -- the first here in Guam. Congratulations to KUAM.

KUAM.COM to launch Guam's first podcasts for mobile MP3 players:
The next evolution of the Internet as you know it is on the way. (Actually, it's already here.) No longer are online users going to be forced to receive data en masse with no customization as pure text. Very soon, you'll be able to access KUAM.COM's new podcasts, accessing our most popular online content as downloadable MP3 audio files.

Podcasting is a relatively new format of content delivery, having been conceived as a progression of the Rich Site Summary (RSS) standard to include multimedia. We currently offer our news headlines as an XML feed, and have been hugely successful with it. Now, we're expanding our feeds to include audio.

If you're a news junkie, stay on top of the latest Guam current events or get the latest gossip and lowdown from our radio talkshows. And being designed for mobility, you'll have our content with you wherever you go on your portable media device.

Despite the name, podcasts aren't limited to Apple's iPod. Audio files can be downloaded onto any mobile media player, a desktop computer, laptop, or other digital device capable of playing MP3 files. We'll feature special downloadable audio of round-the-clock KUAM News casts for the latest island happenings, comedy skits from the Malafunkshun Boyz, and talk radio casts from the Positively Local show with Tony Blaz, and our sportstalk show, JockTalk 61, with yours truly.

We'll also feature lots of podcast-only content you won't find anywhere else, like interviews, specials, contests and various programming features.

This is dramatically different to anything we've offered to this point. Our web content requires you to physically browse to KUAM.COM and read text. Our streaming webcasts in our Archives can't be downloaded, so you're forced to sit at your computer to watch a newscast. And the key necessity of our live streaming radio broadcasts is tuning in at the right time to catch your favorite shows. The beauty of podcasting is that you access our stuff, and listen to it whenever you want, wherever you are, as many times as you want. Being asynchronous in nature, podcasts aren't time-sensitive, so you'll never miss out on anything.

We've empowered you to get the latest information about Guam and then get on with your life - you can get the day's latest headlines and listen to them while you workout or in the background while on the job, walking through the mall, or in line at the bank.

But the best thing is the personalization podcasts deliver. You subscribe once to receive only the audio feeds you want, and can change your profile at any time. It's all free and takes mere seconds to setup.

You can download the freeware cross-platform application iPodder either for Windows, for the Mac or for BSD/Linux, even if you don't have an iPod. There are also tons of podcast apps you can download, so Google the topic and see what you can find to try it out.

So keep an eye out for our new podcasts! I'm quite sure you'll enjoy them. If you'd like to try the KUAM.COM podcasts as a beta tester, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send you the information you'll need to get our stuff. Enjoy!

Posted by Joel at 06:02 AM | Permalink |

Sad news this afternoon. I was just about to pack up to go home (and install my Mac mini) when Eugene emailed me this news. I read through it speechless, posted it at 1src, and contacted Sammy, Shaun, and Vivian about the news...

Impress Watch has an article that says Sony will stop producing the Clie after July 2005. They will continue to provide parts and repair services until six years after the last production. Clie support desk will stop service after 1 year and support and repair will continue to be provided by the Vaio Customer Support Center after that. Clie related software sales and network services will continue for the time being.

Posted by Joel at 05:16 PM | Permalink |

The new preference pane for iScroll2 further gives more value to this hack. The two-finger scroll hack began as a simple application that was a challenge to install. Not only is v0.7 easy to install, it now provides fine-tuning options for the many scrolling habits of different users. iScroll2 has quickly become a must-install application in my Powerbook.

Posted by Joel at 09:44 PM | Permalink

Bertrand has informed me of a new French iPod+iTunes book that has just been released. It's called "Le guide de l'iPod et de iTunes" (Editions Eska Interactive, ISBN 2-7472-0692-0, 544 pages).

The Guide is dedicated to to the professional in the Music and the Consumer Products area , as well as iPod aficionados.
It envisions :
-Detailed aspects of the iPod (history+marketing, model+connection opportunities)
-iTunes and Mac+PC booster softwares (their functions, step by step)
-Professional use of the iPod (an extensive review of digital protocols and business applications, a guide to program Notes museum audio sites)
-A review of 35 goodies in which we note a great potential
-And one more thing... some pictures of Steve Jobs :-)

Posted by Joel at 09:27 PM | Permalink

The Return Of The Pop-Up Ad:
SYFer writes "Shortly after upgrading my Macs to OS X 10.3.8, I noticed that I was getting pop-up ads on Safari. It had been so long since I'd seen a pop-up, I completely forgotten how annoying they can be. I went over to Apple's Support site to see if there was a relationship, but learned that the timing is just a coincidence (even though there's a lot of the usual FUD and flailing of arms in the discussion forums). In fact, it turns out that the pop-up advertisers (what's the proper denigrating term here?) have finally defeated the pop-up blocking functionality found in many browsers. MacFixIt is running a front page article on the topic and says 'Contrary to initial reports, this problem isn't limited to Safari; subsequent reports have noted pop-under ads victimizing a number of browsers that provide pop-up-blocking features, including the latest versions of Safari, FireFox, Mozilla, OmniWeb, and Camino.'"

@Slashdot

This has happened to me on several occasions. I thought I was the only one experiencing it!

Posted by Joel at 08:17 PM | Permalink

iScroll2 (Two-finger scroll hack) has been updated. This new version has

- added graphical installer
- added preference pane
- changed kext name to allow coexistence of Apple's and my driver - changed installation procedure

Posted by Joel at 12:30 PM | Permalink

• 512MB Flash Memory MP3 Walkman
• ATRAC3plus and MP3 direct playback
• NW-E505: More than 20 CD’s in ATRAC3plus, 10 CD’s in MP3
• FM tuner
• Stylish, compact design
• Bright and clear 3-line Organic EL display for easy navigation
• Super light: weighs just 37 grams
• WMA / WAV compatibility
• Lithium-Ion rechargeable Battery: 50h continuous playback
• High speed charging: 3 minutes charging = 3H playback time
• Easy music management with Sonic Stage 3.0 Jukebox software
• Available in: Blue and Silver

At first I thought, wow, this would be a worthy match for the iPod shuffle. I was looking at the screen, radio, and battery life. Then it hit me. This is a complicated device -- it precisely has features that Apple wanted to avoid in it's shuffle design.

Put this side by side with the iPod shuffle and I believe the shuffle would win hands down. If I want a device that's this complicated, I'd get an iPod.

Or is this Network Walkman competing with the iPod and not the iPod shuffle?

Posted by Joel at 07:46 AM | Permalink

I just did some browsers tests on all the browsers in my Powerbook and those were the results.

I used BenchJS to test the browsers. The tests were done in one pass. It's not really scientific but I like to see how the browsers would do during first visits.

Opera was the fastest followed by the Mozilla-based browsers led by Camino. Safari and Omniweb were the slowest.

EDIT: The Camino and Firefox versions used for this test are builds optimized for OS X.

Camino: http://www.fiberoptikz.tk/~slowmo/Camino.html

Firefox: http://homepage.mac.com/krmathis/

Posted by Joel at 09:04 PM | Permalink |

I was able to make a simple journal layout with Pages. Here's what I did:

For the date and time

1. On the Menu Bar, click View - Show Layout
2. On the page, click the Header. On the Menu Bar, click Insert - Date & Time. Choose a format. *Make sure to check "Automatically update date and time..."*

For the page background

1. On the page bar, click Objects - choose the square shape.
2. Drag the square until it fits the entire page.
3. On the menu bar, click Arrange - Send to Back.
4. Open Inspector. Go to Fill (fifth button). Choose a Fill method: Color Fill, Gradient Fill, Image Fill, Tinted Image Fill (aka Watermark). If you choose a color fill, you can choose opacity settings.

Saving

1. On the menu bar, go to File - Save As Template... Make sure all Advance Options are checked (just to be sure).

I save by using a keyword based on the journal entry. All of my journals are in a folder and are of course, automatically time stamped every save.

I don't see a need for a search box because everything's in a folder. I can then use Finder if I really need to search an entry.

Later on, when Tiger is out, Spotlight can search for everything and you can save the journal entry literally anywhere in the drive.

Posted by Joel at 09:47 AM | Permalink |

ThinkSecret: Apple iPod mini with Color Screens:

ThinkSecret is reporting that the next update to the iPod mini will include a 5 ot 6GB hard drive and full-color screens. The price will remain the same, at $250. Expect an announcement within the next two weeks, they say.

There's no word about new case colors for the mini, which were previously rumored to be updated around the time we first saw the iPod photo.

iPod mini moves to color screen with pending updatee [ThinkSecret]

@Gizmodo

This would be a steal at the same price! I'm seeing this now as a portable presentation device! Yesterday, I did a presentation using an LCD projector and my 17" Powerbook. The whole setup was heavy! With the iPod mini, I can do presentations anywhere, conveniently. Related to this, I've since dropped the use of fancy text and transition effects from any of my presentations. They looked cool a few years back but I find them cheesy now. Simple slideshows, such as that offered by the iPod photo, would be more than enough.

Dickoy, if you're reading this, this is a great package to offer... LCD projector + iPod mini/iPod photo.

Posted by Joel at 06:43 AM | Permalink |

Just found out that Camino Extra Prefs, which I've just installed and found useful, can make Camino have a brushed-metal look.

Posted by Joel at 06:27 AM | Permalink

Installing the 2-finger scrolling hack is now easier than ever -- and it's done without a reboot. The download comes with an installer run in Terminal.

Here's the text that's shown:

Checking if trackpad driver is loaded...
Driver found.

Checking if trackpad supports W-enhanced mode...
W-enhanced mode supported.

This will PERMANENTLY activate the modified trackpad driver.
A backup copy of the Apple-supplied original driver will be created in /Users/joel/Library/Application Support/iScroll2/Backup.
If you want to revert to using the original driver, use the supplied script or copy the backup to /System/Library/Extensions and REPAIR PERMISSIONS!

Are you sure you want to continue?
Press CTRL-C or close this window to abort, RETURN to continue.

And thanks to an uninstaller, the normal settings can easily be reinstalled.

Visit iScroll2 again to check out these files.

Posted by Joel at 01:00 PM | Permalink

I'm having no problems with Camino (which is the "true" Firefox for OS X) -- Camino uses Gecko but is build with Cocoa. (hey it rhymes!)

For those with G4's, I recommend this build:
http://www.fiberoptikz.tk/~slowmo/Camino-g4-2-16_v2.dmg.tgz

Again I say, I don't use Firefox, Safari, and yes, Opera anymore in favor of Camino. That's how good it is for me!

Posted by Joel at 06:31 AM | Permalink

5GB iPod mini next week?:

AppleInsider seems pretty sure that next week Apple is going to refresh the iPod mini and bump up its storage capacity from 4GB to 5GB. Probably not enough to make you feel more than a twinge of regret if you just picked one up, but it does eliminate that nagging one gig advantage the Creative Zen Micro, the iRiver H10, the GoVideo Rave-MP ARC5.0, the Motorola M500, the Rio Carbon, the Dell Pocket DJ, and Virgin’s 5GB MP3 player have over the current iPod mini. Can we expect to finally see some new colors, too?

@Engadget

Actually, my attention centered on the other music players. I wonder if their sales are enough to make them survive?

Posted by Joel at 06:20 AM | Permalink

Google cheat sheet:
The Google cheat sheet is a quick reference to the surprising number of ways to search the web with Google. Search for a word and it's synonyms (~auto), a range of numbers ($100...150) or one term but not the other...

@Lifehacker

This is a fantastic collection of tips and tricks on how to use Google. I'll print this out later and give it to the Google newbies at work. I'll also be requiring my students to use: "safesearch: <search string>" to do all searches with Google.

Posted by Joel at 06:02 AM | Permalink

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger packaging revealed:
Today's issue of the UK/Ireland Apple eNews newsletter shows for the first time what the retail box for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is expected to look like...

@MacMinute

Honestly, I really thought of it as an X-men utility box... or something!

Posted by Joel at 11:28 PM | Permalink

The Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT:

Looks like this accidentally leaked out a bit early, but Canon is introducing the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, a new 8.0 megapixel digital SLR that is supposed to be lighter and smaller than the original Canon Digital Rebel, have an improved CMOS sensor, and be able to write images to its memory card 3.5 times faster.

@Engadget [Via Digital Photography Blog]

<mantra mode>I will not get one. I will not get one. I will... not... get... one</mantra mode>

Posted by Joel at 10:00 PM | Permalink

SAN FRANCISCO--Reversing a longstanding Microsoft policy, Bill Gates said Tuesday that the company will ship an update to its browser separately from the next major version of Windows.

@CNet

No OS X version?

Posted by Joel at 11:00 AM | Permalink

LaunchBar was updated yesterday. Being the first application I bought for my Mac, I tried it out again. (I switched to Quicksilver a while back).

To my surprise, LaunchBar is more accurate than Quicksilver. I tried doing the same keystrokes and almost always, LaunchBar found the file I was searching for. Quicksilver actually missed and in some cases did not find the same file!

I love Quicksilver's eyecandy effects but if functionality suffers, then the app is quite useless.

So, is it just me or is LaunchBar actually much better than Quicksilver?

Posted by Joel at 08:34 AM | Permalink |

MainMenu is a menu item to repair permissions, run maintenance tasks, force empty the trash and a lot more, with most tasks giving feedback during execution. MainMenu does not have to be run in an administrator's account. Feature requests, bug reports appreciated.

Features:

* Repair disk permissions
* Repair OS 9 permissions
* Run system maintenance scripts
* Update prebindings
* Update locate database
* Update whatis database
* Clean user cache
* Clean system cache
* Force empty all trash
* Force delete files/folders
* Eject all non-local disks
* Clean temporary files
* Flush lookupd cache
* Remove .DS_Store files

Posted by Joel at 07:16 AM | Permalink

Honoring GRAMMY Award Winning Artists:
In recognition of the tremendous achievements of this year’s GRAMMY award winning artists, Apple’s offering special pricing on all albums that include a GRAMMY award winning track on the iTunes Music Store in the US. The special version of “Across the Universe” performed live during the CBS GRAMMY telecast by leading artists including Bono, Stevie Wonder, Norah Jones, Alicia Keys, Velvet Revolver, Tim McGraw and Brian Wilson is also available as a 99 cent download exclusively on the iTunes Music Store in the US and Canada, with all proceeds going to the Southeast Asia tsunami relief efforts. [Feb 14, 2005]

I'll be picking this up (and the Ray Charles album) soon!

Posted by Joel at 06:04 AM | Permalink

Motorola E1060: The iTunes Phone: So here it is, the mythical iTunes phone. The Motorola E1060 will be the first Motorola handset to run the mobile Java version of iTunes that will become the default media player for future Motorola handsets.

"We're committed to have iTunes as the default music client, but we'll also continue to support other music players such as RealPlayer (from RealNetworks), Husaini said.

Other features include a 1.3-megapixel camera, TransFlash memory support up to 512MB, and Bluetooth. Strangely, the product page on Motorola's site doesn't mention iTunes at all.

Product Page [Motorola]
Motorola Unveils RAZR Successors, iTunes Phone [Reuters]

I didn't know that this phone is not just for iTunes, it's also for RealPlayer as well. Looking at the specs, this phone will roughly hold about 100 songs.

I'm also thinking that there might be a Bluetooth-based iTunes later on. The Bluetooth-enabled Mac/PC would stream the songs, while this phone will pick it up too... sort of like a remote "speaker."

Posted by Joel at 05:51 AM | Permalink

That's what I now call my Sony Clie TH55/E. After reviewing and buying Mobile Stream's Landscape 1.0 application, I feel that I still have a TH55 that just came fresh from the box!

Posted by Joel at 07:15 PM | Permalink

Wow! The two-finger scrolling hack works! Just to make sure that it works for you too, here are the steps to follow:

0. Read this developer's note:

"To check if your trackpad can support two-finger scrolling, use the following command:
ioreg -l | grep "W Enhanced Trackpad"

If this prints out a line containing "W Enhanced Trackpad" = 1 on the right, your trackpad is "W-Enhanced" (and can thus be used for two-finger scrolling); if it doesn't print out anything at all, it's not.

Please note that this check will not work if you have SideTrack installed. SideTrack loads its own mouse driver, which doesn't publish the "W Enhanced" property."

If your 'book is W-Enchanced then go on to step 1. :)

1. Download the hack from razzfazz's site. (I got the "all scroll modes enabled" version.)

2. Go to your /System/Library/Extensions/ folder and make a copy of the file AppleADBMouse.kext for safe keeping.

3. Copy the new AppleADBMouse.kext to the /System/Library/Extensions/ folder. NOTE: This step will ask for your administrator password. This is where you should stop if you're not sure of what you're getting yourself into.

4. Open Terminal (found in the Applications/Utilities folder) and type:
sudo chown -R root:wheel /System/Library/Extensions/AppleADBMouse.kext

5. Press Return. It should go back to the prompt. If there's any kind of (error) message that appears, type the command again and double check spacing and spelling. Probably copy and paste the command to be sure.

6. Restart.

7. If there's a window that opens saying that the AppleADMouse.kext file was incorrectly installed. Try the steps again. My earlier problem was installing everything while a USB mouse was connected. Another note from the developer: "WARNING: In case the driver should for any reason fail to load, do not touch the trackpad before you have reloaded the original driver or your machine will crash! It's OK to use the keyboard, though."

Also, if you are a Sidetrack user, make sure you have uninstalled Sidetrack first.

8. How to uninstall. Copy the original AppleADBMouse.kext over the hacked version in the /System/Library/Extension folder. (You did make a backup, right?). Repair disk permissions. Restart. And that should do it.

My comments:

Honestly, it takes some time to get used to the two-finger scroll. I found out that I could never really make the page scroll if I use the pointer-and-middle finger, rather, I found the middle-and-ring finger most effective for me.

I almost paid for Sidetrack the other day. Thanks to this hack, I won't have to use Sidetrack. Don't get me wrong, Sidetrack is a powerful app and others will find it more useful than I do. In my case, I'm just happy with the scrolling feature this new hack provides. I wonder why this isn't turned on by default?

DISCLAIMER: Use this hack at your own risk. I will not be held responsible for whatever happens with your 'books.

Posted by Joel at 12:00 PM | Permalink |

NewsFire 1.0 v24 is now available. This new version fixes my biggest gripe: wake from sleep problems. Italian, Norwegian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish translations are also available.

Posted by Joel at 06:03 PM | Permalink

The 10.3.8 Update delivers improved compatibility and reliability for Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther" and is recommended for all users.

Key updates include:

• improved OpenGL technology and updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers
• improved file sharing and directory services for mixed Mac and PC networks
• improved compatibility for third party applications and devices
• previous standalone security updates

For detailed information on this Update, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n300569
For detailed information on Security Updates, please visit this website: http://www.info.apple.com/kbnum/n61798

Posted by Joel at 08:28 AM | Permalink

Lars Kleinschmidt at the Opera Community, provides his view of the IDN spoofing vulnerability:

A few days ago http://www.shmoo.com/idn/ published an "exploit" of a long standing spoofing "vulnerability" in every browser supporting IDN.
This vulnerability uses chars looking similar to ASCII chars to spoof URLs.

If you read all the press about this issue you'll notice many mistakes...

Posted by Joel at 05:32 AM | Permalink

International Domain Name [IDN] support in modern browsers allows attackers to spoof domain name URLs + SSL certs.

http://www.shmoo.com/idn/

Clicking on any of the two links in the above webpage using anything but IE should result in a spoofed paypal.com webpage.

The links are directed at "http://www.p&#1072;ypal.com/", which the browsers punycode handlers render as www.xn--pypal-4ve.com.

Posted by Joel at 10:55 AM | Permalink

BluePhoneElite - 0.9.697 is Bluetooth phone caller ID, SMS chat, archiving. This is the only program I use with my SE T610.

New Features:

* Added localizations: Spanish, Italian, Chinese (Traditional), Brazilian Portuguese
* Added image to Address field in SMS Center
* Alert window will display if phone is disconnected when it stops responding

Fixes:

* Rules would stop working if Device filter was changed from a device back to Any
* SMS sound notification was not being saved
* SMS Progress sheet would show when SMS Center was not visible
* Crash would occur when quitting through the dock menu
* Freeze would occur in SMS Chat window
* Workaround for Nokia SMS bug was not always successful

Posted by Joel at 10:48 AM | Permalink

Grammy Nominees Album: Get ready for the Grammy Awards Feb 13. You’ll find the “2005 Grammy Nominees” album, consisting of 21 select tracks from Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Best New Artist categories, exclusively on iTunes.

@Apple Hot News

Posted by Joel at 08:47 AM | Permalink

After the great worldwide success of Virginia Tech's Big Mac , a new Macintosh cluster has took everybody in the Mac community by storm. The Quarter Pounder Mac mini Cluster is turning heads in the low-performance computing world because it has been built for just over 2.000 $, from off-the-shelf Mac mini, in about six hours.Recently the cluster was super sized with a Google Search Appliance (AKA cheese box)Clustering, which involves linking hundreds or thousands of computers to take on massive projects, has little to do with this project.

@Red-Lobster.it

Amazing job!

Posted by Joel at 11:05 PM | Permalink

Pod Finder.: Welcome to FINDiPod.com the search engine totally dedicated to anything iPod. iPod has the Internet buzzing and FINDiPod.com makes all that information easily accessible. Be it accessories, software, news or blogs - if it's about iPod FINDiPod.com will find it for you. Try it NOW.

@Red Ferret

The search site looks like it needs some redesign... but it does work!

Posted by Joel at 08:31 PM | Permalink

Subscription Small Print is the latest article by John Gruber. He has observed that with Napster's subscription service, you lose access to downloaded songs once you stop your subscription.

Posted by Joel at 08:26 PM | Permalink

Georgia school district looking to get 63,000 iBooks: Georgia's Cobb County wants Apple to provide laptops (presumably iBooks) to more than 63,000 teachers and students in what would be one of the largest such programs in the country, reports The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

@MacMinute

This is great! More people would hopefully realize that using a Mac is really more convenient.

Posted by Joel at 06:30 PM | Permalink

PodBrix iPod-themed Lego mini figure available: PodBrix is a custom designed Lego mini figure inspired by Apple's silhouette iPod broadcast and print ad campaign.

@MacMinute

Or it's what you get when you paint your Lego figures black and stick an iPod-looking thingy in their hands.

PodBrix sold for $16.99 each. There were only 300 available and all have since been sold.

Posted by Joel at 02:49 PM | Permalink

Using OS X, Windows, and/or Linux browsers? Mark Wilton-Jones provides us with unbiased browser speed tests. Check out how your favorite browsers fare.

Posted by Joel at 07:47 PM | Permalink |

I don't know what exactly I was doing but before I knew it I was in the NewsFire site and noticed two things: the new $18.99 price tag and the dev log:

I am pleased to announce the immediate release of NewsFire 1.0, the most stylish RSS news reader on the Mac. Built from the ground-up with OS X in mind, NewsFire dazzles with a gorgeous animated interface that needs to be seen to be understood.

• Beneath its simple exterior lies a powerful feature set including:
• support for all major syndication formats
• powerful feed discovery interface
• user-controlled smart feeds
• instant search of local and remote feeds
• support for embedded audio content
• multiple display options
• external blog editor support
• import/export of feed collections
• powerful keyboard navigation and shortcuts

NewsFire’s greatest feature, however, is its minimalist yet expressive user interface. Using design cues from iChat and Safari, NewsFire presents a friendly and sensible interface to new users. At the same time, advanced features like smart feeds and extensive keyboard shortcuts enhance the experience for power users. Ultimately, NewsFire is the easiest and most stylish way to join the RSS revolution and begin benefiting from this booming notification technology.

Of course, descriptions aside, the best way to understand NewsFire is to download and try it.

And that's what I did -- I downloaded v1.0. In a few minutes, I was playing around with NewsFire once again. I'm still amazed at how simple yet powerful NewsFire's interface and functions are. I love that it has blog support (Cocoa.licio.us, ecto (!), MarsEdit, and Xjournal) -- and this is probably the feature I was longing for.

After a few more minutes, I bought a license.

I regret that I've posted bad remarks about NewsFire earlier. I now fully recommend NewsFire and I wish David Watanabe all the best.

Posted by Joel at 06:40 PM | Permalink

BYODKM.net, our Mac mini enthusiast site, has been Slashdotted!

Posted by Joel at 06:07 AM | Permalink

Your source for the latest insider information on upcoming Dell products!

Posted by Joel at 09:02 PM | Permalink

I have always wanted to start a project to allow my 20GB iPod to work with the SAT option of my car's radio, but right now, I'm impressed with how the iPod shuffle works with it. Since I won't be personally using the lanyard, I just looped it to the rear view mirror. The lanyard was long enough to conveniently dangle the shuffle a few inches from the radio. This lets me easily reach for the shuffle if I want to access the controls. I still use the cassette tape adapter for the shuffle -- the wire's a mess but sound quality's good. Before I leave the car, I unclasp the shuffle and unplug the adapter -- no sense in leaving the shuffle dangled where the sun might damage it and where others might easily get my car door windows out of the way to borrow the shuffle.

Posted by Joel at 07:05 PM | Permalink

MiNews - 0.21 is the latest RSS news aggregator to be developed for OS X. MiNews looks great and has potential. The only problem I'm seeing is the lack of an article preview (though there's clearly an option for this) -- the article headers can be seen, while double clicking them opens the site's page.

I'll look into MiNews again in its next version.

Posted by Joel at 05:37 PM | Permalink

PlayStation Portable delayed in Europe:

Notice how Europe gets shafted on regular basis when it comes to new video game consoles? Apart from occasionally geting a minor platform like the Gizmondo first, the continent is consistently a lower priority for giants like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft than the US and Japan markets (which makes sense on a business level—these are the two biggest markets for video games). The Nintendo DS still isn’t slated to debut in Europe until March 11th (and honestly, doesn’t it seem like&nbsp; the DS has already been out here for ages?), but the latest bad news is that the PlayStation Portable, which Sony had been promising would be released before the end of March just like here in the States, now won’t come out there until sometime in the second quarter of this year because of “chip shortages”. Sony spokesperson Kenichi Fukunaga conceded in an interview that the company simply doesn’t have the manufacturing capacity to make enough PlayStation Portables for all three markets.

@Engadget

Bad news for my friends in Europe. However this means there's more time to save up for the PSP and more time to read reviews and see if the games are really as good as the hype surrounding them.

Posted by Joel at 01:41 PM | Permalink |

NewsFire has just reached v1.0 but only offers minor changes:

minor performance tweaks

minor interface tweaks

dutch, swedish, traditional chinese translations

I was expecting some major announcements and changes, usually associated to v1.0 releases. I still don't like the fact that it's $19.99 and other user reviews share my view.

Posted by Joel at 06:53 AM | Permalink

It seems like Joe Clark has made up his mind to hate Opera even before he made this "review." It has pissed me off so much that I'm using Opera again... and have realized in the process that Opera really does provide the best internet experience for me.

Opera for Macintosh: Not exactly magnum
Well, God love ’em for trying and all, but what’s wrong with Opera for Macintosh 8.0 beta? Lots.

[edit^2] Joe Clark has just commented to say that he was reviewing v7 and not 8 that he was reviewing version 8 but was also using version 7 before that. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding.

Posted by Joel at 06:46 AM | Permalink |

Linksys Wireless-G Broadband Router - 3.03.6: for WRT54G v1&2, was recently released. So far this firmware upgrade has not caused any problems.

Posted by Joel at 08:50 PM | Permalink |

This happened to a friend of mine.

Be careful with your iPod shuffles!

Posted by Joel at 07:44 PM | Permalink

iPulse gets configurable status bar, G5 support:

The Iconfactory today released iPulse 2.1, a new version of its popular Mac OS X system monitoring utility.

iPulse 2.1
(Released 2/3/05 - free upgrade for registered users)
Added a configurable status gauge to the menubar
Added Fahrenheit and Kelvin to temperature reading
Support for the G5's on-chip temperature sensor
Increased PowerMate support
Added hotkey to lock information window in place
Menubar gauge and information window settings are now saved with Jackets
iPulse windows may now be set to remain on screen when Exposé is used
Updated network information window to include MAC addresses and link speeds
Various performance improvements and bug fixes

Posted by Joel at 06:23 AM | Permalink

Reuters reports that the PSP will be available late March.

The unit will retail as a "value pack" for $249.99 in the United States and C$299.99 in Canada. The package will include a number of accessories and a copy of the movie "Spider-Man 2" on Sony's new UMD disc format, designed for the PSP and capable of holding three times the data of a traditional CD-ROM.

Reggie and I have been lucky enough to get the Japanese version. What I can tell you is, the PSP is the best portable gaming platform I've seen. I'm sorry to the DS fans but side-by-side, the PSP just blows the DS out of the water.

Let me just say that it's a matter of fan base too. If you're a hardcore DS fan than I can't do anything about it. As for me, Sony has taken hold of my attention once again. (I have to say it again, the PSP could very well be the next Communication, Link, Information, and Entertainment device )

Posted by Joel at 06:17 AM | Permalink |

Napster takes aim at iPod with portable service:
Napster has unveiled plans to lauch a portable music service with a US$30 million ad campaign aimed directly at Apple's iPod, reports Reuters.

Ummm.... good luck?

Posted by Joel at 05:55 AM | Permalink

Fire up your Software Update This is weird... Software Update does not show the new version yet. I'll check again later.

Posted by Joel at 06:52 PM | Permalink

RubberDockey provides you with a list of applications it believes you are likely to use next, in the form of an easily accessible "Command-Tab"- like menu. RubberDockey first watches and learns about your application behavior, and then bases its assumptions on what it's seen you use before.

Priced just right at $5.00, RubberDockey is something I won't mind paying for. I found it useful when starting up apps. However, Quicksilver would allow you to launch any app anytime, with just a few quick strokes. Still, I'm impressed with how RubberDockey works.

This guy's not related to the app. I just keep on remembering Ernie whenever I read about a rubber ducky.

Posted by Joel at 05:13 PM | Permalink |

I just got this from a geologist, "allanmandy." Thanks to him, my comments about earthquakes have been corrected. Thanks!

As a geologist, let me point out/correct some of the things you said here. You are correct in saying that Guam is sandwiched between two tectonic plates. They are actually the Philippine Sea Plate (or the Philippine Plate, but the first one is more appropriate since the Philippines is not on this plate) and the Pacific Plate. You are also correct in saying that the Marianas Trench was the result of the plates' collision. Let me just share that up to now, they are still colliding (the Pacific Plate move towards and subducts under the Philippine Sea Plate) so that's why there are volcanoes and active seismicity in that area up to now. You are wrong in saying that you experience earthquakes about only once a year, because in fact, you get hundreds of earthquakes (though mild so you can't feel them) everyday! It's only the strong ones that happen less frequently. The Philippines experiences a very strong earthquake once every decade (roughly), the last one being in 1991. Another one, statistically, is long over due (but I hope I'm wrong). So, just like Guam, the Philippines ain't a place you wanna be when an earthquake strikes.

Posted by Joel at 02:22 PM | Permalink

IOGEAR MiniView Micro USB Plus: IOGEAR has a new KVM switch they're billing as a solution for use with the Mac mini, but should work with just about any PC out there. Billed as the "smallest two-port KVM ... with audio support," the MiniView Micro USB Plus includes drivers that allow a PC keyboard to emulate the function keys of a Mac. It has no expandability, but you don't have to buy cables, either, making its $80 retail price a bit more reasonable.

Press Release [eHomeUpgrade]

I'll probably get one of these before the Mac mini arrives. No sense is always bending and groping around the back of the PC case every time I want to switch systems. Hey! That gives a new twist to the term "switch!"

Posted by Joel at 06:06 AM | Permalink

A few minutes ago, Guam was hit by an earthquake. I was in the middle of a class, talking to a co-teacher, when it happened. There was a low rumble then a mild up-down motion. Silence. This was followed by a mild sideways then a stronger up-down motion. I don't know if it was my imagination but I felt that the ground was still shaking mildly after for about 10 more seconds. Total time of everything was about 30 seconds.

I don't know how strong it was officially but it was scary. Two of my girls were crying while we were evacuating. We checked the school for cracks but it was amazing that there were none. I'm thankful for that.

Aside from a few rattled students, we're all ok. I'll check the earthquake sites in a while to see what really took place.

Posted by Joel at 12:51 PM | Permalink |

Finally it hits v1.0.

Skype 1.0 for Mac OS X and Linux now available:
Skype today announced the availability of Skype for Mac OS X Version 1.0 and Skype for Linux Version 1.0 software applications, enabling high-quality voice calling via the Internet for multiple computer platforms...

Posted by Joel at 09:53 AM | Permalink

Here's The Gadgeteer's review of the PSP:

Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP) Review:
Handheld gaming console reviewed by Julie Strietelmeier

Ok, so what is the bottom line? Pretty much that I love this thing and everyone should buy one. No seriously, I do reallllllly like the Sony PSP. I don't say that lightly given the fact that I only have 1 game that I'm playing so far. There's just something about this device that makes me want to pick it up every time I walk by it. Yeah it's pretty, but the games are fun. More fun than any handheld gaming device I've owned so far. But there are some big gotchas that go along with my praise.

Posted by Joel at 10:30 PM | Permalink

Tofu has been updated.

Tofu helps address the common problem that people don't like reading text on the screen. Why is that, anyway? I believe there are two main reasons: line width and visual instability. Text is usually very wide on the screen, which makes going from the end of one line to the beginning of the next difficult. That's why newspapers have narrow columns: It makes them faster to read.

Version 1.3:
* Added "Rewrap Lines" command to Edit menu, which removes extra line breaks, for example from emails.
* Added smooth scrolling, to help keep track of where you are. This can be turned off in the preferences.
* The confirmation dialog shown when closing unsaved texts is now an option in the preferences.
* Using the scroll wheel now scrolls by columns.
* Shift-space can now be used to scroll left.
* Fixed a problem where lines would be cut off in some texts.
* Added Traditional Chinese localisation. (Thanks to Jack Ming-Hung Lin.)
* Added Italian localisation. (Thanks to Monica Cainarca at Traweb.)

Posted by Joel at 11:44 AM | Permalink

Boinx Mousepose - 1.1 highlights the mouse cursor when the (default) F1 key is pressed. Fantastic for presos and demos.

What's new in this version:

* AppleScript support, see ReadMe and Extras folder for details. Now you can control Mouseposé via Speakable Items or Salling Clicker.
* No more nasty "gmon.out" file
* Increased timeout of the unregistered version to 5 minutes
* Small fixes

Mousepose is freeware. All you need to do to register is to email the developer.

Posted by Joel at 11:43 AM | Permalink

CocoViewX - 0.9 is an image browser with multi-format export & slideshow. I used to think that iPhoto is all I need until Carlo explained to me the convenience of using ACDSee-like software. Well, I hope CocoViewX is what we're waiting for... so far, it's been a stable app.

Here's the larger screenshot (large file warning. 1273 x 993 pixels).

Posted by Joel at 11:37 AM | Permalink

The new Powerbook trackpads would allow you to scroll by using two fingers! Is this hardware-based? I hope not because I'd welcome an Apple-made software driver rather than use the once-freeware Sidetrack.

By the way, three of the freeware software I've been using are now shareware: Sidetrack, MacJournal, and NewsFire. So far I've only bought MacJournal (yes, Dan, the MacWorld booth, and meeting you in person helped a lot).

Posted by Joel at 11:31 AM | Permalink

This would be "tight" if it can be mounted on a dashboard!

MiG-29 Instrument Panel Clock:


Your lover still won't call you "Maverick" - you can at least get some ego-stroking respect from your desk. While not as fun at parties as the Geiger-triggering substances siphoned off the black market as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union, the MiG-29 instrument panel clock will keep time even at 1,800 miles per hour or while pulling multiple Gs. Siegler & Co. is selling them as part of their "Sovietski Collection" for $179.00, where they tell us the clocks are "terrific for your desk, home or office. Or, use in your plane! One-year warranty. May not meet U.S. F.A.A. requirements."

Product Page [Sovietski via RedFerret]

Posted by Joel at 06:21 AM | Permalink

Apple unveils faster, more affordable PowerBooks:
Apple today unveiled its fastest, most affordable PowerBook line to date, featuring PowerPC G4 processors running up to 1.67 GHz, faster hard drives and a faster 8X SuperDrive...

And that officially makes our 1.33GHz Powerbooks two steps older. I don't mind though as I've learned a lot about the Mac since I got my Powerbook.

Posted by Joel at 06:17 AM | Permalink

Wow. I was selected Member of the Month of my Apple Users' Group! Check it out at Pinoymac.org.

Props to Gino for the great article. Rommel for hounding me for the pic. Ian for putting it up in the site. And to George for the usual first greeting (how do you do it, man?!).

Posted by Joel at 05:46 AM | Permalink |