iPontificate: Stuff That Crossed My Mind

At a certain point, usually after the night terrors start, I realize I absolutely have to write a column about Some Great Topic. And when I haven’t been creative enough to think of Some Great Topic, rather than deal with night terrors, I like to go with Stuff That Crossed My Mind. Item Number One:…

iPod Your Car (Even if it's not a BMW)

I f you ever wanted to integrate an iPod into your car stereo but donit own a BMW, Monster Cable will soon have be able to take care of your needs with iCruze. Announced Tuesday, iCruze enables an iPod to be connected to a caris factory or aftermarket system through either the head unitis CD…

Firefox, Mozilla Loosen Internet Explorer's Grip on Browsers

Safari users number less than one percent of the U.S. Web browsing populace, according to a new online study, but Microsoft’s dominance has slipped recently, as Internet Explorer users fell to 92.86 percent of the market. Internet Explorer’s decline, from 95.48 percent in June, is primarily due to the Mozilla and Firefox browsers, which saw…

Forbes Suggests Steve Jobs as Disney CEO

Forbes Magazine Editor Steve Forbes believes Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is the best candidate to succeed Michael Eisner as CEO of The Walt Disney Co. Writing in his weekly opinion column, Mr. Forbes said, “(Mr.) Jobs knows high tech, Hollywood and finances as few Hollywood moguls do, and he knows the critical importance…

Frameline - HD Production: 24 Days in the Valley, Part IV

24 Days In The Valley: The Life And Times Of An HD Production In South Texas In Part I -III of this series, I introduced readers to the production of Harvest of Redemption, a High-Definition narrative feature I shot in the Texas Valley. In Part IV, I will cover the technical aspects of the post-production…

Another 52-Week High: Apple Closes At $52.19

A fter hitting a 52-week high on Wednesday, shares in Apple Computer (AAPL) closed Thursday at yet another new 52-week high of US$52.19, a gain of $1.89 (+3.76%). The stock traded on heavy volume of 15.4 million shares trading hands. Appleis current market value climbed to $20.43 billion, and its price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) stands at…

Apple Stock Hits New 4-Year High; Closes at $50.30

Shares in Apple closed up $2.33, or 4.86%, on volume of 20.98 million shares. The companyis previous 52-week high at market close was set on October 19 at $48.35. Appleis current market value stands at $19.69 billion. The new close is Appleis highest since September 2002. The new high comes the day after the company…

First on TMO - Apple Introduces iPod Socks (W/Photo)

Apple’s new iPod Sock (Click the thumbnail for larger image.) SAN JOSE, Calif — During Thursday’s U2 event in the California Theater, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced Apple’s first iPod accessory, the iPod Sock. The socks come five to a package, with one each in green, purple, orange, pink, and blue. Packaged just like normal…

Apple Launches Online iPod Store Within Apple Store

On the heels of Thursday’s iPod announcements, Apple has added an "iPod Store" to the online Apple Store. The iPod Store prominently features Apple’s four iPod offerings as well as links to a multitude of iPod and iTunes-related pages and accessories. A section titled "iPod Everywhere" includes pages with specific accessories for connecting an iPod…

Apple Co-Founder Wozniak Inducted Into CE Hall of Fame

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and leaders from throughout the consumer electronics industry honored 11 new inductees in to the class of 2004 of the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame at an awards dinner during a cermony in San Francisco on October 19. In addition to his designing the original Apple with Apple Chief Executive…

Virginia Tech Xserve G5 Cluster Hits 12.25 Teraflops

System X was originally built from 1,100 standard desktop Power Mac G5s. In the past few months, the system has been upgraded to 1,100 dual 2.3GHz Xserve G5s, making the system 15% faster than the desktop machines they replaced. Virginia Tech announced in January that it planned to migrate its cluster of Power Mac G5s…

Just a Thought - David Pogue Points Out The Windows Paradox

In David Pogue’s latest column for the New York Times, titled The Security Paradox, he discusses the odd state of affairs Microsoft and its patch update strategy, and the virus ad worm writers who take advantage of the holes in the Microsoft products the patches are suppose to fix. Mr. Pogue relays a story in…

Cinemetographer Shoots 5 Shorts Using Cell Phone

M otorola has announced five new documentary shorts created entirely on cell phone cameras. Using the Motorola V710 camera phones, director/cinematographer Edward Lachman based the shorts on stories where cell phones played a central role. According to Motorola, Mr. Lachman shot the shorts using the "Polaroid mosaic" visual style where a single individual is made…

Just a Thought - Hey! I'm Workin' Here!

Step Aside If you use a modern Mac, then you are likely already familiar with the ease and elegance of using OS X. I’ve said it before, and it doesn’t hurt to say it again; OS X, unlike any other OS, tries its damnedest to get out of your way to let you work. It…

iPod Chip Maker Not Seeing Much Halo Effect

BusinessWeek’s Alex Salkever has turned his attention this week to one of Apple’s suppliers, PortalPlayer. The company supplies the chip that powers both the iPod and the iPod mini. With Apple’s massive iPod success, one could be excused for thinking PortalPlayer, a fabless chip maker, might be doing well, making its impending IPO attractive. According…

TMO Reports - Apple to Announce Special Edition U2 iPod?

Apple Computer will announce a new special edition U2 iPod promoting the band’s forthcoming album at an invite-only event next week, according to report’s by Think Secret and Forbes magazine. Forbes reporter Matthew Miller reported Monday that sources close to the band have confirmed the U2 edition of the popular digital music player will come…

Gefen Re-Engineers HDTV Switcher, Splitter

Gefen has announced that its HDTV Switcher, 4×1 HDTV Switcher, and HDTV Splitter products have been re-engineered. The company has done so "to address connection issues between new DVD players and set-top boxes with DVI or HDMI ports and HDTV displays with HDMI inputs." In their place, Gefen is announcing the HDMI Switcher, the 4×1…

Jobs House One Step Closer to Moving; Preservationists to Object

After months of wrangling over a 78-year-old, 17,000-square-foot mansion in southern California Apple CEO Steve Jobs doesn’t want, it appears someone is willing to take it off his hands, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday. The paper reports 30 enquiries have been made into the property. Mr. Jobs, who has described the house as “one…

HD Production: 24 Days in the Valley, Part III

24 Days In The Valley: The Life And Times Of An HD Production In South Texas In Part I and II of this series, I introduced readers to the production of Harvest of Redemption, a High-Definition narrative feature I shot in the Texas Valley. In Part III I will cover the technical aspects of the…