The Slacker's Guide - Descent 2 Soars Again

It began almost 10 years ago in high school and escalated from there. Three of my best friends (hefty and profitable contributors in terms of damage done for the psychiatric community) became involved in a blood feud via a new 3D point-of-view fighter/maze/science fiction game called Descent. As high school progressed, the days were filled…

Fortune Reprints Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech

Mr. Jobs addressed Standford University graduates on June 13 of this year, as previously reported by The Mac Observer. Fortune editors prefaced the transcript of the speech, saying his address and three life lessons “struck a powerful chord — not only with Stanfordis graduating class but also with tech cognoscenti in Silicon Valley and beyond,…

Motley Fool: Apple is Good Candidate for Buying Six Flags

"Apple Computer has the greenery on its balance sheet to make an all-cash buyout happen," he wrote. "Given its volatile share price, though, Apple would be taking a real gamble if the market interpreted the acquisition as misguided — even though it wouldnit be." He continued, "From digital delivery of onboard photographs to podcast updates…

Apple Computer, Freescale Enter Into Purchase Agreement (UPDATE)

Apple said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that under the terms of the agreement, Freescale must supply its microprocessors for orders placed by Apple through Dec. 31, 2008 — full year after the date when the company plans to move its Macintosh computer line from PowerPC to Intel processor. Apple said…

Apple Wins Two PC Magazine Reader's Choice Awards

The venerable magazine surveyed nearly 14,000 of its subscribers, who rated more than 26,000 PCs as well as over 19,000 printers. Readers were asked to respond in six different areas: overall satisfaction, product reliability, quality and frequency of repairs, initial setup experience, hardware and software reliability and technical support, including the tech support professionalis ability…

Unity 1.1 Enables Game Publishing on Windows

Other additions to Unity include new render-to-texture effects, virtual displacement mapping, a 30-page scripting tutorial and a new C/C++ plug-in SDK (software development kit) for interfacing with hardware or software that Unity doesnit already support. Other improvements and bug fixes have also been made. This is a free update for existing users. Unity 1.0 was…

Just a Thought - Keeping the Apple Smelling Sweet

The Sweet Smell of Success I’m an realistic optimist; that means that I know crap happens, but I smile because I also know that it relieves constipation. I’m also a strong proponent of Change: It’s gonna happen regardless of what we do or don’t do. The good stuff happening with Apple at the moment can’t…

The Slacker's Guide - Marathon Redux

There are some moments that simply define a transition, a new stage of life. A first driver’s license signifies a form of freedom as well as an element of responsibility. An 18th birthday entails the right to vote and be considered an adult under most circumstances and a 25th birthday portends the less-than-awe-inspiring privilege of…

DEVONthink Professional 1.0 Ships

Previously available as a Beta, DEVONthink Professional is a more robust version of its sibling, DEVONthink Personal, that offers support for multiple databases, full AppleScript support, the ability to export data to an iPod or as a Web site, online archiving capabilities and more. DEVONthink Professional requires Mac OS X v10.3.9, although some features, such…

Commodity Issues Not Likely to Impact Apple

He writes: “There are two reasons why we believe Apple is not being impacted: 1) component pricing factored into guidance, and 2) Apple has essentially maintained ASPs [average selling prices].” He goes on to quote Tim Cook, Appleis Executive Vice-President of Worldwide Sales, as saying during the companyis July 13 quarterly results conference call: “Going…

Positive Piper Jaffray Research Note Pushes Apple Stock Higher

Mr. Munster pointed to the upcoming Apple Expo in Paris, which will be held Sept. 20 to 24, and next Januaryis Macworld San Francisco as two likely venues for new product announcements. He writes: “We believe likely product releases in CY05 [calendar year 2005] include: a higher capacity iPod shuffle or another form of flash-based…

Transitive CEO Talks Rosetta With Wired

Mr. Wiederhold says that despite the skepticism thatis out there, “the people who have seen this technology, who have dived into the details, are hugely impressed. The proof is once you see your application running — a sophisticated application that you never thought could run under translation.” He wouldnit comment on how well an application…

Apple's Patent Application for iPod Interface Denied [Update]

A patent application for the iPod’s interface was not granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), according to a report by AppleInsider. The patent was originally filed in October 2002 (and ameneded on March 25, 2004), but was denied by the USPTO because of a May 2002 patent application filed by an…

Macromedia Updates Product Line to Version 8

Macromedia Studio 8, which combines Dreamweaver 8, Flash Professional 8, and Fireworks 8, Contribute 3 (a basic content manager), and FlashPaper 2, which converts printable files into Flash documents or PDFs, and will ship in September for US$999 for a full license and $399 for the upgrade. “Studio 8 is a huge leap forward,” said…

First Windows Vista Virus Found

An Austrian virus writer has published five sample viruses targeting Microsoft’s new Windows Vista operating system. While there is little concern they could wreak serious problems, the viruses carry the distinction of being the first to impact an OS that has yet to even be released in final form. Written in July, the viruses take…