PC makers, confronted by the complexity and slow boot time of Vista, are offering their own unique add-ons to make PC buyers happier, according to the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Falling average selling prices have also driven the makers to those extra value options. The PC experience has been tarnished by Vista, according to…
News
Psystar Responds to Apple's Lawsuit
Psystar, sued by Apple for trademark and copyright infringement, has prepared its response to Appleis complaint. Psystar will claim that Apple is engaging in anticompetitive practices and will counter sue. According to owner Rudy Pedraza, Psystar will counter sue under the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act and claim that when Apple ties…
Laptop Locks: Not Quite So Secure
A 2600 t-shirt clad gent shows in a video how he fashioned a small cardboard tube out of a toilet paper roll and then pick a Kensington lock all in about a minute. Bypassing Kensington lock security.
MathMagic 5.8 Adds Support for QuarkXPress, LaTex
InfoLogic announced version 5.8 of MathMagic on Monday. The new version adds support for QuarkXPress 8 and can read and export to LaTex files, and more. Version 5.8 also allows multiple math tags to be opened simultaneously when importing MathML files, and the user can now specify the resolution of PICT images. MathMagic
Podcast - Apple Weekly Report #131: App Store Sales, Open XML, iPhone Kill Switch
Direct Link: MP3 Version Listen Now: Sales at Apple’s App Store have topped $30 million, Microsoft managed to get Open XML approved as an ISO standard, Wall Street says Apple is worth more than Google, and Nancy Heinen kissed and made up with the SEC. There really is a kill switch in the iPhone, chips…
Woz's Advice to Engineers: Follow Your Heart
In at interview at the Intel Developer forum, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak urged future engineers to follow their heart. It isnit always about the money. CNET posted tibits of wisdom from the man who was the mind behind the Apple I and Apple II. Steve Wozniak (CNET)
PCW: Intel, Dell Innovate for Mobile Users, Windows Sleeps
Dell, Intel and their partners have sidestepped Windows and developed some key technologies for mobile users, according to PCWorld. For example, users can check e-mail without booting Windows on a Dell notebook. This is a disaster for Microsoft. The technology is called “Latitude ON,” and according to Mike Elgan with PCWorld, it could also be…
Combustion at Apple and Particle Debris
Look ing back this week, it was a watershed time for Apple. A lot of the news centered on reported problems with the Infineon 3G radio system in the iPhone 3G, and that came on the heels of of an embarrassing MobileMe roll out. Apple found out that when even the smallest glitch appears in…
Fire Breaks Out at Apple Campus
Apple’s Cupertino campus was the scene of a three-alarm fire Tuesday night. Firefighters spent over three hours fighting to extinguish the blaze, and finally managed to put the fire out early Wednesday morning, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Over 60 firefighters from the Santa Clara County, San Jose, Saratoga, and Los Altos fire…
Analyst: Best Buy's iPhone Sales Impact Minimal
Best Buy’s deal with Apple to sell the iPhone 3G will help drive up holiday sales numbers for the combination iPod and smartphone, but not by much, according to UBS analyst Maynard Um. While the increase in iPhone sales will likely be incremental, the Best Buy deal could be an indicator that Apple is successfully…
NVIDA Takes $200M Charge for Bad Graphics Chips
NVIDIA has taken a one-time charge of US$196M to cover the cost of replacing some bad graphics chips under warranty, according to Computerworld on Wednesday. The problem has affected computers from Hewlett-Packard, Dell and some from Apple. The problem, previously reported, appears to be related to a substrate material in some graphics chips that malfunctions…
Microsoft Releases Two MS Office Updates
Microsoft released updates for both Office 2004 and Office 2008 for the Mac late on Tuesday. The updates are available at the Mactopia downloads site. Version 11.5.1 is for Office 2004 and version 12.1.2 is for Office 2008. The update for Office 2008 is 153 MB and can be found in the column labelled “Newest”…
iSync plugins 6.3 Adds Support for New Samsung, Nokia Phones
Version 6.3 added support for the Nokia 6650, the Samsung SGH-F110 and the Samsung SGH-F480, which is also the official cell phone of the 208 Olympic summer games. iSync plugins 6.3 is priced at US$9.95 and is available for download at the nova media Web site.
Exploring the Differences Between StarOffice and OpenOffice
Both StarOffice 9 and OpenOffice.org 3 will offer an office suite of tools compatible with Microsoft Office. Both are based on the same code base, and both will be native on the Mac, no longer requiring X11. Sun’s Louis Suarez-Potts explained the key differences to TMO and what the customer should know before selecting one…
YML Tonight: All About Photography with Scott Kelby
Your Mac Life (YML), with Shawn King, which airs every Wednesday night, will be all about one of YMLis favorite subjects: photography. Scott Kelby, photoshop guru, will be on hand to chat about it. “Photoshop Guru Scott Kelby is organizing a iWorldwide Photo Walki on August 23rd. He has asked Your Mac Life to lead…
iSync plugins 6.2 Adds Support for New Sony Ericsson, Nokia Handsets
New phones supported by the iSync plugins 6.2 include: Nokia 6124 classic, E66, E71, N78 Sony Ericsson W380i, C702, C702c, C902, C902c, G502, G502c, K530c, K550im, K610i, K610im, K818i, K858i, T658i, V640i, W350i, W380i, W580i, W580im, W712a, W715a, W760c, W760i, W830i, W888i, W908c, W980, Z710a, Z715i, Z750a, Z750i, Z780i iSync plugins adds iSync support to…
Apple Security Team Pulled from Black Hat Conference
“[Apple] Marketing got wind of it, and nobody at Apple is ever allowed to speak publicly about anything without marketing approval,” said Black Hat Conference Director, Jeff Moss. “It was them talking about security engineering and how they take security seriously,” Moss said. “It would have put Apple in a positive light.”The team was not…
Apple Security Update 2008-005 Fixes DNS Issue
Apple rolled out a late day security update on Thursday that addressed potential DNS-related flaws in Mac OS X Leopard and Tiger. Security Update 2008-005 prevents malicious attackers from forging Web sites — a trick that could potentially be used for phishing attacks where hackers trick Web surfers into giving up personal information like passwords…
Podcast - Mac Geek Gab #161: Unlearning Spelling, Cache Sizes, Bypassing Password Security, and Haikus
Listen Now: Download: or (AAC courtesy of Michael Johnston of iPhoneAlley) Show notes for Mac Geek Gab Podcast For July 28, 2008 John and Dave dig into topics decided by YOU, the loyal listener. Discussions include bypassing login passwords, quickly restoring a Mac to its pristine software state, UPSs and power strips, and taming Mac…
Podcast - Apple Weekly Report #130: Apple Earnings, Jobs' Health, MobileMe Headaches
Direct Link: MP3 Version Listen Now: Apple reported is second best quarter in the company’s history, App Store downloads topped 25 million, and there’s a mystery product transition coming in the next couple of months. The second iPhone 3G launch is coming in August, and MobileMe is giving people headaches. This week’s Quick Tip: Deleting…
Jobs: I'm OK, Butt Out
Public concerns over Mr. Jobsis health increased after The New York Post claimed “many” people were worried about his current condition. The article was published on the same day that Apple held its third quarter earnings report conference call, and Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes asked the company to comment on the article and Mr.…
Neverwinter Nights 2
Say what you will about the history of “Dungeons & Dragons,” poke fun at its stereotypes and the imagery of geeks eating bags of Cheetos while arguing over minute rules; it still makes for a terrific computer game. With this in mind, Neverwinter Nights 2, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, published by Atari and ported to…
AOL Cuts Back on Blogs to Save Cash
The moratorium on content is bad news for the impacted blog sites and their writers who earn their pay based on posts they publish, and also for readers that look to the blogs for news and other content. Diylife.com appears to have been handed the short end of the stick since it will be shut…
Bloxorz
For most of us, however, wasting time is an occasional endeavor remanded to those times when it is socially acceptable — kind of like belching or picking your nose (both of which can be excellent time wasters). Wasting time while at work is not acceptable, but the true practitioner can waste time while making it…