Macs

Apple posts iPhoto 4.0.3 update Following a short lived release of iPhoto 4.0.2 (which was posted and then revoked a few short hours later), Apple has released iPhoto 4.0.3. The difference? No one knows but Apple, which is becoming a very strong trend. Most users are assuming that it has something to do with extended start up and shut down times associated with the previous update, but in typical Apple style, this new update’s notes exactly match those of the old one. Is it so terrible to admit a mistake and delineate what has changed? If they truly are the same, why not use the same version number? ...

Linux on the Rise Macminute has a couple stories on Linux in relation to Macs. The first is that Linux has surpassed the Mac as the second most prevalent desktop OS. It’s not entirely surprising as Linux combines the low price of x86 hardware, the low cost of the Linux OS, and the hard stability and functionality of a *nix operating system. It’s ideal for many corporate and software development settings. Despite looking like a loss for Apple, this is actually a win. Increased use of Linux will lead to the necessity of all businesses needing a cross-platform solution. It will also decrease the amount of web pages that are Windows IE only as more and more customers will not have that as an option. Additionally, most software being developed for Linux is also being made available for OS X through the terminal and X11. This is a major win for Apple. ...

Most .Mac users may not have noticed, but mail aliases are available for use through .Mac’s webmail interface. You choose another email address ([email protected]) and all mail to that address goes to your existing account. The primary purpose for this feature is fairly obvious. It allows you to have “throw away” addresses to use in situations in which you don’t trust the entity you are giving your email to. If you begin to receive a lot of spam through that address, you simply disable it. Other services have had this for a while, but it’s a welcome addition to .Mac’s existing tools. .Mac’s web-mail also color codes incoming email according to the alias address they came in through (very nice). It’s finally being exposed by websites like MacFixit. I actually discovered this gem several weeks back and never thought to tell anyone about it. .Mac’s documentation actually makes no reference to it. ...

Apple versus RealNetworks: A lawyer’s perspective My interpretation of this whole situation? Apple should let Real do whatever it is planning, but use of those files will be completely unsupported by Apple. Users are on their own if they decide to use them (or Real can do the support work). Additionally, Apple doesn’t make any guarantees about future firmware working, so if the files stop playing, Apple can say “Talk to Real”. ...

Netscape fans will be thrilled to hear that reports of Netscape’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Netscape 7.2 will be making its debut very soon as reported by MacMinute. From what I had read earlier, this new version will be based on Mozilla 1.7, which is one of Mozilla’s most stable releases. In fact, I believe that was their priority issue for that milestone. This doesn’t affect me so much as I use Safari on my Macs and Firefox on my work computer. It is a good thing for those that refuse to use anything but the big two (Internet Explorer and Netscape). It also means that modern Mozilla-based executables will begin gracing corporate desktops again as well (again, because support is generally restricted to the big two). ...

As reported on every single Mac news site under the sun, Steve Jobs has undergone surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer. I wish him a complete and speedy recovery. You can read more about it at Maccentral.

I can’t say too much about the two following links as they are fairly self-explanatory. I will say that they are worth the extremely long read. By reading these stories you can also figure out common scammer tactics on eBay. Any experienced eBayer will already know all the do’s and don’ts, but it’s still worth the read. Without further ado, they are: The Sal Wise Fraud P-P-P-Powerbook

It’s hard to believe that in this day and age that any email client doesn’t support IMAP. For those of you who already know what IMAP is, you can skip down to the next paragraph. IMAP is a mail protocol, like POP, only more powerful. The POP protocol, while ubiquitous. is very simple. It stores messages on the server in a simple queue that one downloads and deletes from the server one at a time. That mail is then stored locally on your computer, accessible no where but that server. While this may work fine for many people, it’s limitations are impossible to ignore for power users. With IMAP, the messages are stored permanently on the server, including a complete directory structure to file messages. This allows one to access their mail at any time, load only messages you want to see instead of having to download them all, and allows mail providers to place a web interface on your mail. ...

Apple released new iPods officially yesterday. New features include multiple on-the-go playlists, the ability to delete songs from those playlists, a revised menu including a “Music” entry as will as shuffle within easy access. Apple also released a firmware update for all iPods, or so it would seem at first. They actually did not release an update for any iPod other than the new ones. This has actually left existing users out in the cold. I can understand if certain features simply weren’t possible with existing iPod hardware (the ability to slow or speed up Audible content), but shifting access to the shuffle function into the main menu should be brain dead easy. It’s already implemented and in place on existing iPods, all that remains for Apple is to implant a menu item to access that call. ...

From MacMinute, Newsweek has the new iPod on its cover. Other new sites are saying that Monday will bring the formal announcement on the net. New features include a clickable scroll-wheel (a la iPod Mini) and smaller size (physically, not storage). It looks to be a rather incremental upgrade. This is the second time Apple has made public new announcements in a major magazine before announcing them otherwise. The first time was of course when the iMac G4 graced the cover of Time magazine. It was in fact possible to find out about the new iMac in Time before reading it on the net (other than through sites that basically referenced the article in Time). ...