*** The Mac Observer is pleased to announce our first drawing for TMO Subscribers. If you are like us, you have tons of Mac and Apple stuff you have collected over the years. You have the way cool 6-colored Apple mug you took from your boss when he wasnit looking. You have the stickers that…
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.
Articles by Bryan Chaffin
Mac Chatter - The Best & Worst Mac Forum Posts From Around The Web
The Mac Chatter series gathers up some of the juiciest, silliest, most outrageous, and most interesting discussion about the Mac industry from around the Web. Raena Armitage and Bryan Chaffin scour the forums, message boards, and article comments from some of the most (and least) popular hangouts in the Mac Web and beyond. Please note…
MacSoft Releases Major Patch For Mac Civilization III
Macsoft, an Infogrames, Inc. label, has posted a Civ III patch. This patch tweaks and enhances the already great gameplay youive been enjoying in Sid Meieris Civilization III. The new patch adds features and improvements, including: Stack movement for units of the same type: This means that you can set multiple go-to orders for units…
Apple Previews QuickTime 6, Releases QuickTime Streaming Server 4
Also in this press release is the release of QuickTime Streaming Server 4. QuickTime Streaming Server 4 allows streaming content in both MPEG-4 and MP3, and the company says it is releasing this product now because it does not require the royalties mentioned above. From Apple: Apple® today previewed QuickTime® 6, featuring full support for…
QuickTime Live! Conference To Begin Next Week
The big event is finally here – QuickTime Live is next week! The event of the year for the QuickTime community opens next Tuesday, February 12 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Right now the team is polishing up the exhibits, running through the demois, testing all the equipment and getting ready…
Apple Pulls An ATI, Announces GeForce4 Titanium For PowerMac G4s, Again
Yesterday, a press release hit the wire services in Apple’s name announcing a new BTO option for Apple’s PowerMac G4 product line, the GeForce4 Titanium. The only problem with this is that NVIDIA hadn’t actually announced the GeForce4 Titanium meaning that Apple accidentally stole NVIDIA’s thunder. You might remember a similar gaff that reportedly angered…
David Coursey's First Week Of His "Mac Month" Is Looking Good
A couple of weeks ago, David Coursey announced that he was going to try using Mac OS X as his sole operating system for a month. Though many Mac users raised a howl saying that Mr. Coursey was not going to be open minded, the reality is that Mr. Coursey is having a great time…
Apple Releases 800, 933, & Dual 1 GHz PowerMacs With GeForce4 MX [UPDATED]
Apple has surprised us all, or at least those not paying attention to the rumor sites, by releasing 4 new PowerMac towers today. The company has released four new PowerMac towers today at the Apple Store. The new units come in 800 MHz, 933 MHz, and two models with dual 1 GHz processors. Much as…
Apple Defies PC Industry, Turns In US$38 Million Profit
Apple has turned in its fiscal 1st quarter (Q1) results, for the quarter ending in December 2001. The company turned in an outstanding quarter considering the economy and the damage done to the high-tech industry by the terrorist attacks of September 11th. The company turned in a profit of US$38 million, including US$23 million in…
Microsoft's Most Secure OS Ever, Windows XP, Subject To Major Security Hole
"This is a serious vulnerability. People running Windows XP need to put the patch on right away," said Scott Culp, manager of Microsoftis Security Response Center. Culp said users of Windows ME or Windows 98 only need the patch if they are running UPnP. Windows ME was released with UPnP built in, but the feature…
Apple Updates DVD Player For Mac OS X, Including New Support For G3s/G4s
DVD Player update delivers improved performance and stability, as well as support for Blue and White Power Mac G3 and Power Mac G4 systems with PCI-based graphics. Hardware Requirements DVD Player update delivers improved performance and stability, as well as support for Blue and White Power Mac G3 and Power Mac G4 systems with PCI-based…
Apple Gets More Aggressive: Steve Jobs Pushes Revised Settlement For Microsoft Class Action Lawsuits
Today, however, that has changed somewhat. One of the spin-offs of the fact that Microsoft has been upheld by an appellate court to be an illegal monopoly was a raft of class action lawsuits spearheaded by attorneys looking to cash in on MSis legal standing. Last month, a settlement offer was announced by the litigants…
Apple Touts Victories In The Movie Trailer Production Business With Final Cut Pro
Apple® today announced that Final Cut Pro® is rapidly becoming the preferred video editing system for companies creating trailers and commercials for Hollywoodis biggest movies. Four of the leading movie trailer companies — The Cimarron Group, Trailer Park, Aspect Ratio and New Wave Media — have switched the majority of their editing systems to Final…
Apple Updates Hot Deals Section
We just finished a complete update of the Hot Deals offered by ClubMac. Everythingis refreshed, like new games bundles for Mac OS X, digital photography bundles, digital music bundles, lots of new bundles that include Apple hardware (i.e., iMac, Power Mac G4, iPod, and iBook), and much more. You can find more ClubMacis Hot Deals…
Apple Pays Tribute To George Harrison (With Screen Shot)
Click the thumbnail for a larger version of this screen shot.
Apple Claims One Million QuickTime Downloads Every Three Days
Driven by the popularity of high-quality QuickTime® content on popular web sites, one million copies of Appleis QuickTime 5 are being downloaded every three days. The rate of QuickTime 5 downloads has steadily increased since its launch in April, putting QuickTime 5 on track to exceed 100 million downloads in its first year of distribution.…
QuickTime & Office v.X On Tonight's Mac Show
The Featured Guest on The Mac Show this Wednesday will be the Product Manager for Office v. X, Eric Ryan of Microsoftis Macintosh Business Unit. If you have Office questions for Eric, send them to [email protected]. And the show has three copies of Office v. X to be given away! And, this week is the…
Absolutely Fabulous Is Absolutely Mac Happy
Last night on Comedy central the new season premiere episode of Absolutely Fabulous had Edina using an Apple Flat screen display in her kitchen and Bubbles had a Blue Dalmation iMac in the office. Bart Stagner Iim sure you guys already know about this, but Iill tell you about my Mac-sighting anyway. The new Absolutely…
Microsoft Scores Another Major Settlement In Its Favor, & One That Might Hurt Apple's Education
Under the terms of the settlement, Microsoft would pay not the plaintiffs, but would instead pay somewhere between US$550 million and US$1 billion to low income school districts. Better yet, as far as Microsoft is concerned, that payoff would largely be in the form of its own software. Thatis right, the company would be punished…
Is That A Mac Featured On A Microsoft Xbox Page? (With Pics)
Well, thatis just what it seems that Microsoft did. On the companyis job recruiting section for designers, there is a page dedicated to the Xbox. Long time Observer CrazyEric pointed out to us that there is a section on industrial design on the Xbox page, and that the person being highlighted is working on a…
Macs Have A Super-Presence On WB's Smallville
Donit know if you saw this on WBis Smallville, but.. In the Smallville episode with the Coach that could start fires, Lex Luthor uses a Titanium PowerBook and the School newspaper uses iMacs for their publishing. I was surprised at how visible Apple was in that episode. Did Apple pay for Product Placement or was…
Dr. Mac Tips Us Off On How To Listen To An iPod Through Your Car Stereo
Dr. Macis Revolutionary iPod Car Audio Adapter Ever thought, "Wouldnit it be wonderful to play tunes from my iPod on my car stereo?" Well think no more — now you can! All you need is one of Dr. Macis Revolutionary iPod Car Audio Adapter (DMRICAA™), a cassette player in your car, and a few bucks.…