After a little hiatus this weekend, I’m back. So is Apple with exciting news. They’ve updated their Powerbook line of computers. Don’t get too excited though, they’re still G4s. However, it’s a nice solid revision. The bus speed is the same, but there’s a whole host of new statistics.
For the 17″:
1.67 GHz G4 512 MB RAM 100 GB hard drive 8x SuperDrive ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (128 MB) dual-link DVI $2,699 For the 15″:
The Mac mini has spurred large amounts of interest in the PC community. With the mini’s lack of a bundled keyboard and mouse, the natural question becomes “Can I use my existing mouse and keyboard with the Mac mini?” Given that they are USB, the answer is yes. For mice, this is largely trivial. Just plug it in and use it. Optionally install drivers if it’s a Logitech or Microsoft product.
Apple has released the 2005-001 Security Update for Mac OS X. This update fixes several important vulnerabilities.
at Commands # The at commands (at, atrm, batch, atq, and atrun) allow a user to specify commands be run at a later time. That’s not the inherint bad thing. Being able to schedule things on a whim without using cron is good because it’s a one time deal. Want to run permissions repair in an hour while you’re on lunch, but afraid you’ll forget to initiate it later? Use the at command.
Now you can’t. I read this out of CNN:
During the committee hearings, Boxer said the Bush administration had changed its rationale for the Iraq war from eradicating weapons of mass destruction after no such weapons were found.
In response, Rice asked Boxer to “refrain from impugning my integrity.”
That sounds pretty damning for Rice. It also seems very clear cut that she was avoiding a question. However, it doesn’t seem so when we examine the actual question posed (or at least what appears to be what Rice was responding to).
I’ve been thinking about replacing my Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer for some time now. It’s a great mouse and has always served me well. However, considering it was a gift from my ex, it carries some emotional discomfort with it. Besides, it only has five buttons and is wired. Wired peripherals are soo 2003.
I’ve done so well with Microsoft mice thus I thought I’d continue to throw business their way. I looked at the Wireless Intellimouse Explorer 2.0 in the “Night Vision” color. I found it listed at Buy.com for less than $20. Kick in a mail-in rebate and a store coupon and the price was $12. I couldn’t afford to not get this mouse. Sadly, it seems that the mouse has been discontinued by Microsoft, catching nearly every retailer carrying the mouse off guard. Nearly every retailer I visited showed the mouse as in stock, but in the several days following my order, all of them marked the mouse as discontinued.
I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for an update from yours truly to make sure I survived the blizzard. I have.
I spent a good portion of the day cleaning several feet of snow off our deck. Sounds easy enough, but it’s far more involved than it seems. First, I had to use the regular scoop shovel to make a little path and level the snow down enough to use the wide push shovel. Then as mother was using that, I had to try to level down the rest of the deck. After a couple hours of that, the deck is almost finished.
It’s tough for Mac software and hardware developers to make announcements at events like Macworld Expos. The all encompassing Stevenote will always overshadow them. Some of the more overlooked announcements this year are:
Elgato and ATi teaming up for the EyeTV Wonder: Finally a lag-free external TV device for Mac. People can finally play their Playstation 2 and other consoles on their iMac (or any USB 2.0 capable Mac). While I can’t live without my original USB EyeTV, the lag made it useless for much other than TV watching (or maybe VHS tape digitizing). This is huge. Imagine a Mac mini coupled with a nice LCD monitor, one of these bad boys, and your game console of choice. You have a tiny, modular media center. Elgato EyeTV 500 adds digital cable support: My primary concern about moving up to digital cable when I finally get my own place (damn down payment takes too long to build up) was that I couldn’t use my EyeTV to record the enhanced content and in order to enjoy it, I’d either have to actually be watching when the show was on (god forbid) or shell out the money for the cable company’s DVR. That’s no longer a concern. Unencrypted digital cable stations can be watched and recorded with this. Cool! Elgato intros EyeConnect streaming software: Last Elgato plug, I swear. This software lets you use standard UPnP AV hardware devices to view your content. You can watch your movies, listen to your music, look at your pictures, EyeTV recordings, whatever! Elgato already has their Eyehome product to fill this niche, but now you can get or use your existing device (such as D-Link’s) to look at this media on your TV. MacMice intros lots of new products: This infamous company seems to have finally come into its own. They now offer such distinctive products as a bluetooth trackball. MacBU reaffirms Mac support: Mostly expected, but it’s still good to hear. Griffin shows BlueTrip, Filewave: iPod music streamed via Bluetooth to your home stereo? How cool. Is it $150 worth of cool? I don’t think so. However, that all pales in comparison to Bare Bones software‘s announcement.
Seeing as there are only two games next week, I think I can pick them now.
New England vs. Pittsburgh Atlanta vs. Philadelphia Atlanta looked really strong and I think their run game may destroy the Eagles. Pittsburgh simply didn’t look that good against the Jets (who would have won save for two missed kicks).