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Bryan Chaffin

Bryan Chaffin is the cofounder of The Mac Observer and currently serves as Afternoon Editor. He has contributed to MacAddict and MacFormat magazines, and co-authored the last two updates of iPad and iPad Pro for Dummies with Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus and Ed Baig. You can find out more about Bryan at his personal site, GeekTells, or find his Twitter link below.

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Apple Hot Deals Updates For Sweetwater, ClubMac, O'Reilly's

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for Sweetwater, ClubMac, & OiReillyis at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get,…

Microsoft Loses $520.6 Million In Browser Lawsuit Verdict

Eolas Technologies has won a US$520.6 million award in a lawsuit against software giant Microsoft. The case involves patented technology developed by Eolas that allows the use of plugins and applets in Web browsers. Eolas, a company started by former University of California professor Michael Doyle, filed the lawsuit against Microsoft in 1999, according to…

BuyMusic Spokesperson: Our Ads Were Meant To Be A Compliment To Apple

Wired has published a very interesting article on BuyMusic’s (BM) attempts to rip-off Apple’s iTunes Music Store (iTMS) ads. If that sounds familiar, it’s because we mentioned an article on the same topic from the Washington Post about an hour ago. Wired takes a different angle, however, and discusses such issues as copyright infringement, the…

Apple Updates Hot Deals Page For OWC

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for Other World Computing (OWC) at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get,…

Bill Gates: 5% Of Windows Machines Crash More Than Twice A Day

T he New York Times has published an interesting write up of Microsoftis annual financial analyst meeting. We were considering a general-interest reference article to the Timesi coverage until we noted one specifically interesting tidbit concerning Microsoftis own estimation of Windowsi robustness. According to the article, Mr. Gates says that 5% of all Windows installations…

Pods Unite: Buy A Beetle, Get A Free iPod

A pple and Volkswagen have announced a very interesting new promotion called Pods Unite. If you buy a new Beetle from Volkswagen, you can get a 15 GB iPod and a "Volkswagen iPod connectivity kit." The iPods are engraved with the Volkswagen Driveris Wanted logo, and you also get a coupon good for US$100 off…

Apple Updates Hot Deals Page For ProMAX With DV Gear

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for ProMAX at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get, at least in…

Apple Hot Deals Updates: DV Editing & Audio Gear

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for AudioMIDI.com, Sweetwater, and DVDirect at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get,…

Digit Magazine & MWJ Offer In-Depth Looks At G5

Two pieces on the G5 were published this week that we wanted to draw to your attention. The first is from Digit Magazine, part of the Macworld/IDG publishing stable, and was written by MacCentral’s Jim Dalrymple. That piece is titled "Apple G5: in-depth analysis," and includes information and comments from a variety of sources. In…

Apple Hot Deals Update For MacConnection

A pple has updated the Hot Deals page for MacConnection at the Macintosh Product Guide. The Mac Product Guide is a list of Mac compatible hardware and software products on the market. The Hot Deals section of the Product Guide features several Mac retailers and special offers that one can only get, at least in…

WWDC Keynote Participant, Luxology, Defends G5 Performance

T he discussion concerning the speed claims of Appleis new Power Mac G5 continues to churn on the Internet. Apple introduced the Power Mac G4 replacement last Monday during the WWDC keynote. During the presentation, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced the new architecture by calling the Dual 2 GHz Power Mac G5 the "worldis fastest…

Hardware RAID Storage: Pricey, Reliable, & Worth It

R AID: Redundant Array of Independent Disks. RAID is the technology that allows computer users to use multiple hard drives as one large and/or fast drive. The main two versions allow for speed (called striping), or for redundancy (called mirroring). A quick Google search offers this fairly accurate and concise explanation from Infortrend, a RAID…

The Back Page - Lies, Damned Lies, & Benchmarks

[Update 6/25/2003: Since I wrote this column, Apple VP Greg Joswiak has answered many of the criticisms discussed below (see TMO’s full coverage for more information). It remains to be seen if all the things Apple’s detractors have complained about are, after all, quite appropriate, but the company is being very transparent and up front…

MacHack Report - In Anticipation Of The WWDC, From MacHack

Amidst the buzz and hubbub swirling about from the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), there is the little-conference-that-could: MacHack. Normally MacHack takes place one month after the WWDC, but a schedule change threw Apple’s developer conference to just a few days after the scrappier affair in Michigan. While the WWDC has taken some of MacHack’s…

Mix Up On Apple Store Could Reveal Details On New PowerMacs

L ast night, a very interesting piece of information was posted on Appleis online Apple Store. On the companyis PowerMac G4 Web page at the Apple Store, the list of specs for the PowerMac G4 was briefly replaced by a list of specs that are far beyond anything currently offered by the Mac maker. The…

A Real Mac To PC Switcher Ready To Dump The Mac

H eis mad, and heis just not going to take it any more. Dale Tournemille is a Canadian journalist who says he is leaving the Mac platform after 10 years as a "faithful Mac user and firm believer that it was indeed iinsanely great.i" The reason, according to a rant posted at Mssr. Tournemilleis Web…

Jobs Won't Do Macworld CreativePro Keynote, But Greg Joswiak Will

IDG World Expo has announced the keynote speaker for Macworld CreativePro in July. Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of hardware product marketing, will be the man in the spotlight. This will mark the first time Steve Jobs has not given the keynote address at a Macworld since his return to the throne in 1997. Macworld…

Competitors Accuse Microsoft Of Abusing Antitrust Settlement Terms

This may possibly surprise you, but Microsoft is being accused of abusing the terms of the antitrust settlement worked out last year between the company and the DoJ. The Washington Post is reporting that Microsoft is charging what some are calling exorbitant prices to be able to access some Microsoft technology. The technology — some…