cipher: Mac

Fri, 22 Aug 2003 21:12:05 GMT

system.verbs.builtins.radio.html.editTextFile changed on Thu, 21 Aug 2003 23:58:52 GMT: Added support for the Mozilla rich text editor. [Radio.root Updates]

Now that's really cool!

Sat, 14 Jun 2003 14:31:01 GMT

Should I restart? Irak is still a major mess! Lies, lies, lies!

Sat, 17 May 2003 21:08:52 GMT

Why Panther May Tear Up Longhorn. Sophrosyne writes "Microsoft Watch has presented an article on Longhorn, which is due not before 2005, and compares it with Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther), which may ... [Slashdot: Apple]

Sat, 17 May 2003 21:01:47 GMT

New Safari Beta fixes security hole; Online Banking compatibility. Apple has released a minor update to its Safari web browser, patching a recently discovered security hole that made it "possible to spoof SSL sites." Safari 1.0 Beta 2 (v74) is available via Software Update and on Apple's very own Safari page. Early reader reports indicate that compatibility with several online banking sites -- which prior to this update experienced authentication and connection failures -- has been sufficiently increased. Apple is being brief on exactly... [Spymac]

Thu, 08 May 2003 20:07:12 GMT

Apple Releases Mac OS X 10.2.6. Numeric writes "Apple has released 10.2.6 update, which you can read in detail. Here's a partial list: Addresses an issue for Mac OS X 10.2.5 in which a kernel ... [Slashdot: Apple]

Thu, 08 May 2003 20:05:20 GMT

Mozilla 1.3.1 Available [Mozilla Dot Org] Fixed Mac issues that basically prevented almost anyone from upgrading to 1.3.

Mon, 05 May 2003 22:00:43 GMT

Apple opens the door to music pirates. Apple is promoting its new iTunes Music Store as a revolutionary step against digital music piracy, but enthusiasts this weekend discovered that the company's iTunes 4 -- which allows users to stream their music collection to anyone with Internet access -- may be used for unlawful purposes. "Apple has made it very easy for anyone to hijack these streams and to download [someone else's] music onto their local system," says Spymac reader Greg Molden. "There's... [Spymac]

Mon, 05 May 2003 21:56:46 GMT

One Million Songs Sold. The iTunes Music Store sold more than one million songs during its first week. Over half of the songs were purchased as albums and over half of the 200,000 songs offered on the iTunes Music Store were purchased at least once. More than one million copies of iTunes 4 have been downloaded, and Apple has received orders for more than 110,000 new third-generation iPods since their introduction a week ago. [May 5] [Apple Hot News]

Sun, 04 May 2003 15:51:52 GMT

Recording iPods secretly infiltrate homes. The new line of iPods feature more than just additional games. Thanks to a tip on iPodding.com, several readers have confirmed that the devices are capable of recording, hinting at what may be coming next from music-obsessed Apple. Although the implications of having a 30 GB digital recorder are far reaching, the iPods' talent in that area is still not ready for prime time -- Apple does not provide any external microphone or recording accessory that exploits the new capability. A reader... [Spymac]

Sun, 04 May 2003 15:41:14 GMT

Audio Recording on New iPods. Vertig0gitreV writes "Over at iPodding they are reporting that in the Diagnostic Mode of the new new iPods (released on the 28th of May) there are two options ... [Slashdot: Apple]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:42:00 GMT

Music stations coming to Apple Stores. Following the successful launch of the iTunes Music Store, recent information reveals that Apple plans on providing access to its digital music shop from the dozens of retail outlets spread throughout the United States. Although the iMac-powered kiosks will double as information and showcase displays, customers will be able to purchase music and take it home with them, provided they bring along an iPod or purchase a disc to burn. "Apple wants to get the point across that the... [Spymac]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:38:06 GMT

Fortune on Apple Music Store.

There is an onslaught of articles about the new iTunes Music Store on the Fortune web site, including one entitled "Songs in the Key of Steve" [Jobs].

This particular article includes several debatable statements, including the following:

U.S. music sales plunged 8.2% last year, largely because songs are being distributed free on the Internet through illicit file-sharing destinations like KaZaA.

As I already mentioned in previous items, both the industry and the mainstream media have yet to provide any hard evidence that there is actually a causal link between on-line file sharing and music sales.

This same article, however, does provide some valuable information about what distinguishes Apple's offering from previous attempts to establish on-line music retail outlets. For example, the article explains how Jobs was able to convince the industry:

Apple has also come up with a copy-protection scheme that satisfies the music industry but won't alienate paying customers. You can burn individual songs onto an unlimited number of CDs. You can download them onto as many iPods as you might own. In other words, the music is pretty much yours to do with as you please. Casual music pirates, however, won't like it. The iTunes jukebox software will allow a specific playlist of songs or an album to be burned onto a CD ten times. You can burn more than that only if you manually change the order of the songs in the playlist.

This is exactly the kind of stuff that Apple can be excellent at: very simple and effective solutions to seemingly unsolvable problems. Whether this solution will actually be an effective deterrent is another issue. The important point is that Jobs managed to convince the recording industry that it was a solution. And that effectively makes it a solution.

Jobs rightfully chides the recording industry for coming up with totally absurd schemes designed to prevent piracy. The industry's assumption that everyone is a thief is simply insulting. I am glad to see that Jobs is at least trying, with some degree of success so far, to find a middleground.

There is little doubt, however, that the recording industry views this as a test on a relatively small market, where the potential damage if things don't work out as planned will be minimal.

But regardless of what the industry's ultimate motives are, for once, it pays to be in the minority! (Well, as long as you live in the US, that is. Being a Mac user outside the US is even more challenging, as the current US-only status of the iTunes Music Store, and several other Apple offerings, unfortunately illustrates...)

[Betalogue]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:37:07 GMT

Won OS X Innovators Contest. NetNewsWire and Spring took first and second place in O’Reilly’s Mac OS X Innovators contest. So cool!

Thanks to O’Reilly for the recognition—it’s much appreciated. And it was great to win along with Robb Beal.

But the main thanks as always go to the people who use NetNewsWire. All your bug reports, feature requests, and support are what make the difference between a so-so app and something better.

The next step is just to continue—fix bugs, add new features. Lots of exciting things are to come. [inessential.com]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:36:20 GMT

iPod Software Updater 1.3. iPod Software 1.3 provides iTunes 4 support, including playback of AAC encoded audio files. [Mac OS X Hot Downloads]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:36:01 GMT

QuickTime 6.2. Apple?s award-winning software for creating, playing, and streaming high-quality audio and video over the Internet. [Mac OS X Hot Downloads]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:35:45 GMT

iTunes 4.0. iTunes 4 adds the ability to share music within the same household, play and encode AAC files, and view album art. [Mac OS X Hot Downloads]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:34:53 GMT

Apple Introduces New iPods [Apple Press Releases]

Tue, 29 Apr 2003 20:34:32 GMT

Apple Launches the iTunes Music Store [Apple Press Releases]

Tue, 18 Mar 2003 20:21:18 GMT

PowerBook 17": Apple Developer Notes, 2GB RAM Supported?. Low-level tech documentation for the 17" AlumBook. [Insanely Great Mac]

Mon, 17 Mar 2003 20:17:03 GMT

X11 for Mac OS X Public Beta 3. X Window System that makes it possible to run X11-based applications in Mac OS X. [Mac OS X Hot Downloads] What's New in this Version

Pseudocolor (8-bit) visual plane support
Option to quit X11 without presenting warning dialog
Command-Q keyboard shortcut to quit X11
Command-, to bring up preferences dialog
Keyboard mappings with dead keys fixed
Linking against libGL no longer results with multiple definitions of glGetColorTableEXT
Locked files left behind in /tmp no longer block non-admin users from starting X11
Windows can be resized by user to any size and not be limited by the Dock?s height
Dragging remotely hosted windows no longer causes crash
Hardware accelerated scrolling in 16 bit mode now works
X Server no longer crashes if application tried to retrieve data back from the framebuffer using XGetImage
Bug fixes and other feature enhancements

Mon, 17 Mar 2003 19:53:29 GMT

Dismal Apple Forecasts Are Wrong. Nutrimentia writes "Tom Yager has a new column at Infoworld disputing poor analytic forecasts of Apple's future, especially based on criticism of Apple's lack ... [Slashdot: Apple]

Mon, 17 Mar 2003 19:20:11 GMT

XML-RPC and OS X 10.2.5. I’ve received email from people this morning telling me that OS X 10.2.5 will contain fixes to Apple’s XML-RPC code. Which I think is great. I had no doubt they would fix the bugs.

Now, I don’t get pre-release copies of the system, so I can’t confirm this. But, assuming it’s true, the obvious question for me is: why not switch back to the system-supplied XML-RPC code?

Here’s why I do not plan to switch back:

1. My philosophy is to always use system-supplied code whenever possible. My time can be much better spent in ways other than re-inventing the wheel. However, I already have re-invented the wheel in this case. There’s a value to being in control of the source code. If I want to or need to add features, I can.

2. My XML-RPC code runs on systems previous to 10.2.5. I don’t want to require that NetNewsWire users run 10.2.5.

3. The code is designed to be forgiving of things like unencoded ampersands and characters outside of the XML-RPC spec. It has to be forgiving, because not all of the various weblog publishing systems return perfectly valid responses all of the time. (That’s just a fact of life. It’s not my job to be an XML cop. I’d rather just have things work.)

4. My code is in the form of a set of Cocoa classes. Apple’s code is procedural. I prefer using Cocoa, since NetNewsWire is a Cocoa app. It fits better.

5. My code uses CURLHandle, which is what NetNewsWire uses to read feeds and so on. There’s a value to using the same HTTP client software throughout the app. For instance, once I fix the bug with authenticating proxies in the news reader, I can fix it in the XML-RPC code at the same time, since the fix will be the same. [inessential.com]

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:54:48 GMT

Apple Ships 17-inch PowerBook. spathi writes "After a long wait, Apple has finally started shipping the 17" PowerBook. This thread over on the MacNN Forums shows a few people have received ... [Slashdot: Apple]

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:48:36 GMT

Large PowerBooks start to trickle in. Apple has begun shipping the 17" PowerBooks, reports MacNN. The 1GHz machines, which were originally scheduled for February availability, feature high-end luxuries such as a lighted keyboarded, SuperDrive and built-in BlueTooth and Airport Extreme. Unfortunately, the shipments are still very limited and widespread distribution is not expected for several additional weeks. The considerate delay has provoked frustration for early buyers, especially following rumors that Apple... [Spymac]

Sun, 16 Mar 2003 09:48:02 GMT

17" PowerBook developer note posted. Apple has released its developer note for the 17-inch PowerBook G4, which offers a plethora of detailed information regarding the new laptop... [MacMinute.com: Up-to-the-Minute Apple Mac News]