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Wed - January 25, 2006Let 'Er RipThere is a tasty new build of Handbrake
available, which now allows you to rip and convert
any DVD
to MP4, even if said DVD was encrypted. Better, you can still mix and match
video and audio codecs, so you can make the most of the storage space on
portable platforms like iPods and the PSP. Or you can just make you porn fit
better on your hard drive. Whatever.
Posted at 01:44 PM Read More Mon - January 23, 2006Breaking Blackberry NewsThe U.S. Supreme Court just rejected RIM's request to
review the lower court ruling that puts the Blackberry service at risk due to
patent infringements. That would be RIM's last avenue of legal
resolution. More to come.
Posted at 10:33 AM Read More Thu - January 19, 2006Say CheeseThe Great Camera And Film Shakeout continues. At
CES this year a senior technical developer at Fuji gave a seminar in which he
revealed that it is now cheaper to make disposable digital cameras than it is to
make disposable film cameras. A couple of weeks later, Nikon gave notice that
they are ceasing the manufacture and sales of 35mm film
cameras, claiming that the consumer film format is officially dead.
Now Konica/Minolta has announced the ultimate bombshell - they are getting out of the camera biz, period. They claim that the market is too crowded, but if you read between the lines of the quotes, it become pretty obvious that they didn't get on the digital bandwagon fast enough, and whey they did they didn't have products that could compete. Generally, Minolta digital gear does suck pretty large, but their copiers are no better so I am not sure how this counts as a better business path. Wait and see, I guess ... Posted at 06:16 AM Read More Wed - January 18, 2006Tue - January 17, 20068 Bits Of Wearable JoyIt was mentioned last week in These Very Pages that we are hard upon the 30th
anniversary of Steve and Steve cobbling together the first Apple - arguably the
first "personal" computer, as even the dreaded PET and much-less-dreaded TRS-80
were really aimed at the business
crowd.
While Apple obviously has something planned for the big event in April, you can get a head start now with a new shirt from Tomi: The Wozwear 6502. This is easily the coolest shirt Tomi has done to date ... nay, this is the coolest shirt of all time, ever, period. Goes on sale tonight (Tuesday) at 9:00 EST. 300 units only, signed and authenticated. Don't miss out. Posted at 08:07 AM Read More Fri - January 13, 2006MacWorld PostmortemA couple of interesting things are being talked
about at the Apple campuses in Cupertino and Toronto today
...
THING ONE: The keynote you heard was not the keynote that Steve planned to give. The sort of interminable lag in the middle while he demoed iLife (including an unrehearsed bit of "podcasting") was to cover for the fact that a key product announcement was dropped at literally the eleventh hour. The "one more thing" was not supposed to be the new drool-inducing MacBook ... the new laptop was supposed to be shown alongside the new iMac. The shuffle (pun intended) was made because Apple cannot get enough of the Core Duo (nee Yonah) chips right now, and they expect so much demand for this whatever-it-is that they fear insane backorders unless they have stock the day they announce it. So what was the real "one more thing"? What is this magic device that needs a huge supply of the new chips? Annoyingly, everyone is being wildly tight-lipped about it, but I was told two things: One -"It is much cooler than anything on the market now." Two - "You probably shouldn't order a MacBook until you see this." Hmmmm. THING TWO: One of the apps that will ship with the built-in software suite on the new MacBooks will be Plasq's stupidly fun Comic Life package. If you read my blatherings for any sort of time, you will know what this application is and why I think it is the greatest thing since sliced pizza. If you are new to the drill, Comic Life is a wicked-cool little photo manipulation thing that looks into your iPhoto library and lets you make totally fun shit like this:  Yes, it's moronic, that is the point. The above took me 10 minutes to make (including the shooting the photos), so you can inflict this sort of shit like a plague into your friends' inboxes, much to the delight of all. Or at least you. As built-in apps go, this is a winner. Posted at 02:15 PM Read More Lost?In case anyone missed it (the announcements of
this were less than intrusive) there is now a version of Google Maps / Google
Local available for a large number of Java-enable cell phones, including the
Blackberry. There are some limitations with the package to be sure - most of
the "Google Local" data is only for locations in the states, and the distances
are in bogus Imperial units with, oddly, no way for the user to select
otherwise. I mean, come on, even General
Motors products have this feature, which is
really scraping the bottom of the
barrel.
However, it does give you a searchable map and driving directions in a portable format. It is slow, and will never replace a GPS, but in a pinch it looks like it is really handy. Visit the Google Local for Mobile page to download this directly to your handheld ... which is another little bonus on it's own. No jerking around with an external installer that some manufacturers like to torment you with. Enjoy. Posted at 02:04 AM Read More Thu - January 12, 2006GarageBandThe new emphasis on GarageBand in iLife '06 has a
lot of people starting to poke around with the idea of making something cool.
Towards that end, here is a fairly comprehensive collection of free loops
for GarageBand.
Posted at 07:49 AM Read More BeesThe old saw about it being "aerodynamically impossible for
bees to fly" has been put to rest. Another kick in the head for the
"intelligent design" crowd, so I heartily approve.
Posted at 06:48 AM Read More Tue - January 10, 2006Something UsefulOne of the better things to hit the floor at this
year's CES is a combo pen / USB flash drive. Because this
isn't just any pen, this is a pen that positionally records everything you
write/draw/doodle/whatever to the USB drive, for easy downloading and retrieval
later. So now you can come up with a killer idea at lunch, sketch it on a
placemat, and just download the drawing when you get back to the office. No
more dragging along the "How About A Cocktail" placemat complete with Kung Pao
stains and then roaming around looking for a
scanner.
Nice. Posted at 03:19 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:41 amThat's it. Reminder from Steve that the first
Apple will be 30 years old on 2006/04/04. Hints that there may be something
special in store for that date.
Full discussion to follow ... Posted at 01:44 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:38 amOrders for MacBook being taken today. Shipping
in February.
Posted at 01:39 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:30 am5 times faster than current PowerBook. Fastest
laptop in the world, period. TWO dual-core Yonah chips. Built-in iSight.
Yes, please. Posted at 01:35 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:28 amSteve shows G4 PowerBook. Claims that they have
been trying to shoehorn a G5 in there for months. Tried everything. Despair.
Doom. Defeat.
But ... Who says you need a "PowerBook". How about "MacBook"? Posted at 01:30 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:26 amNew Yonah-based iMacs are shipping
today.
Yum.
Posted at 01:27 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:21 amThe trolls in Redmond claim that the new Yonah
apps from them (Office et al) will feature sync to handheld devices
including
Blackberries. Interesting ... but too little, too late?
Posted at 01:24 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:19 amTiger 10.4.4 and all iLife/iWork 06 apps are
universal binaries - native code for both G5 and Yonah chips. No emulation
needed, crazy fast.
Posted at 01:20 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:14 amFirst Yonah-based dual core iMacs are here.
Built-in A/V including iSight camera and video inputs and A/V remote. Same
sizes - 17 and 20 inch. Same price. But 3 times faster than the previous
one.
Posted at 01:16 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:08 amA quickie here - iWork 06 has reflections and 3D
objects for Keynote, new themes, new templates, no demo, Steve says go to the
web site and check it out yourself. He has bigger fish to fry ...
Posted at 01:11 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:06 amEnd if iLife 06 demo. Available now. Bundled on
all new macs.
Posted at 01:07 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 10:04 amLong demo of iWeb. Jobs does a blog to support
his demo podcast from 20 minutes earlier ("Super Secret Apple Rumours" ... heh)
and publishes both to web.
Posted at 01:06 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:54 amScore 2 for me ... iWeb makes it's debut to pull
all of the iLife apps into an on-line presence. Share your photos, movies,
podcasts, music, blogs. Very pretty app ... centred around a "media browser"
that puts all of your content at your fingertips for integrating, publishing,
editing subscriptons. One click publishing by item, library, or user-defined
scheme. Browser independent, geared towards RSS readers.
Posted at 12:58 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:50 amNew podcast "studio". Podcast artwork track now
supported. 200 free audio effects and liners. Integrates with iChat for remote
interviews / collaboration.
Posted at 12:52 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:45 amThe new iDVD features pre-definable themes.
Create or load theme, drop in clips or photos or both, click the "magic" button
and DVD is created and authored. All defaults are now widescreen.
Posted at 12:50 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:41 amiMovie now has real time video effects thanks to
coregraphics. Automatic creation of video podcasts. iPod
integration.
Posted at 12:43 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:34 amRSS feeds from user-selected albums in
iPhoto.
Posted at 12:36 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:32 amiPhoto update. New element - photo podcasts out
of iPhoto Pick an album, push a button, photo slideshows are streamed as
'casts. Also new one-click editing scripts and effects. Faster speed, full
screen editing.
Posted at 12:34 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:30 amScore one for me. New iLife is all about sharing
your digital lifestyle. Music, movies, photos, podcasts, blogs. Huge update,
all components completely revamped.
Posted at 12:32 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:25 amNew widgets included with 10.4.4 update - Google,
new address book, new calendar, ESPN content (conveniently tied to ITMS video
sales).
Posted at 12:29 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:20 amSelf-congratulation is done early this time (only
20 minutes) and onto the real meat. Official reveal and demo of
Apeture
which is to digital photography what
Final Cut
Pro is to video. Consider it a Photoshop
variant that is hyper-optimized for photographers. Only product on market
optimized for RAW file format. I can vouch that this product is
very
nice.
Posted at 12:26 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:17 amNew item - external FM tuner for existing and
future iPods. iPod screen displays tuning functions. 49 bucks. That should
shut up the Microsoft brigade.
Posted at 12:19 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:12 amITMS selling 3 million songs and 500k tv shows a
day. 83% market share.
Posted at 12:18 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:11 am14 million iPods sold at xmas 2005. 100 sold
every minute in Q4.
Posted at 12:15 PM Read More MacWorld Keynote Update - 9:09 amApple Stores had first ever $1 billion quarter in
Q4 2005. This does not include "authorized retailers" or the web, just the 135
corporate stores.
Posted at 12:13 PM Read More MacWorld KeynoteToday's the day, and as you can see,
everyone
is all agog over the mysteries of Steve's
keynote:
 So - without further ado, at T minus 7 hours and counting, here are the latest bits of semi-educated guesses and wild stabs in the dark: Smaller iPod nano: No, not smaller in size, you would lose the damn thing. Smaller hard drive, with the potential to replace the Shuffle in both general price point and storage capacity. I'm still hanging on to this as the best possibility of a rumour-come-true. Debut of the first "Yonah" PowerBooks: Call this one a sorta-maybe. The PowerBooks traditionally get a little goose at MacWorld, and they are logically the first ones to get the new Yonah processors as Apple moves to an "all-portable" market strategy. But there are enough bugs to work out at this point that Jobs may not want to risk pulling a "Bill" and having his hardware fail on stage. iLife 06: The "digital lifestyle" suite that ships with every Mac (and is available for dirt cheap if you already have one) will be revamped with a built-in blogging/podcasing/web presence package called iWeb. This one is a slam-dunk at this point - essentially 100% probability. Apple PVR: This seems pretty much off the table now - originally thought to be part of the iLife package, it seems dead in the water unless it just happens to show up in .... Big-ass Plasma Flat Screen Macs: This is the wild card, and the crazy rumour that was making the rounds at Apple Canada yesterday. Either a 50" Apple-branded plasma HD display, or a 42" plasma display with an integrated Mac that would be the centre of your media suite with built-in PVR and satellite/streaming audio interfaces. The computer would nominally be controlled by a 12-button remote with a built in LCD navigation display, but you could also plug in a keyboard and mouse (wired or Bluetooth) for email, web surfing, programming, etc. Far-fetched? Very. But - we all know how much Steve loves things that are insanely cool ... and this would definitely count. Stay tuned ... Posted at 07:27 AM Read More Mon - January 9, 2006Giant Televisions Of DoomThe "bigger is better" mantra is out of control
at CES, and the television size wars go from "startling" to
"ludicrous". And to think that some of you mopes laughed last week
when I used a 105-inch TV as a reference point for the new "iBud". I'm just
ahead of the curve is all.
Posted at 02:50 PM Read More Press Play - Stand BackOne of the big centrepiece attractions at CES is
the firing of the opening salvo in the hi-def DVD wars. If you haven't been
following along, there are two emerging standards in hi-def DVD, meaning that we
are on the verge of another "VHS .vs. Beta" format war. And, must like those
days of yore we have a demonstrably superior product (Blu-Ray) that costs more,
and a ghetto product (HD DVD) that has crappy quality but costs a lot less.
Now the smart money (given the state of North American consumer mores) would bet on the loser format winning out - just as VHS did despite looking like vomit on your screen - simply because of the price difference. But there is a big wild card this time around ... the announced adoption of the Blu-Ray system by Sony for the Playstation 3. The marketing inertia that can be brought to bear by the PS3 juggernaut is far from trivial. Countering this, of course, is the fact that Microsoft has jumped on with the HD DVD crowd - a natural fit, considering the fact that it is a second-rate product. Of course, being in bed with Microsoft has it's own set of catches and caveats, not the least of which is the potential of the Microsoft DRM software failing and leaving you with a dead box in the biggest possible live demonstration of your shiny new product. You may have to excuse me while I laugh uproariously at this point in time. Posted at 08:54 AM Read More Sat - January 7, 2006Google VideoSo the big centrepiece of Larry Page's talk at
the CES bash was the birth of Google
Video, an on-line broadcast video store with
content deals in place with CBS, Sony/BMG, and the NBA. This obviously births
out of the insanely successful video sales of first-run TV shows over on iTunes,
and is interesting in that - unlike iTunes where Steve strongarms the providers
into forking over content on
his
terms - the rights holders are free to set their own limitations on playback,
ownership, and windows of opportunity. So the NBA will make games available for
sale and unlimited viewing 24 hours after the final buzzer for about five bucks,
but Charlie Rose will have his show available for immediate free streaming as of
the broadcast date and for sale the next day at 99
cents.
Meanwhile Sony is talking about a "download-to-rent" option complete with the same sort of evil "digital rights management" software that they tried to use on their CDs ... what will be interesting here is that the marketplace will get a chance to "vote" on these concepts with their download dollars. If users buy a lot of the iTunes-style shows (download for a fair price and own it forever) and eschew the lame schemes like Sony's "we still own it, you bastards, and you can only watch when we say so" deal, someone might actually get a clue and stop trying to shaft consumers with heavy-handed DRM bullshit. But, as we like to say on these pages, don't hold your breath. UPDATE: Some mainstream coverage just trickled onto the web here, with more details. Posted at 06:47 AM Read More Fri - January 6, 2006Thu - January 5, 2006Gadget Action From CESHey - silicone wristbands are everywhere! Hey -
USB flash drives are everywhere! Hey - hot off the floor at CES, it's the
silicone wristband USB flash drive!
Actually, this is a pretty cool idea - nothing is more of a pisser than losing your USB drive. These babies will be in Target stores as an exclusive release in the states this month ... I just hope they get that little porn problem fixed up first. The usual Canadian retailers of Imation products (Best Buy, Costco) should have them within 2 or 3 weeks of the U.S. launch. Posted at 09:10 AM Read More Tue - January 3, 2006Rumour Mill RundownTwo of the bigger geek events of the season are
hard upon us ... the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, and
MacWorld in San Francisco next week. Both are major drool-fests for all sorts
of tech and gadget freaks, and as such are also a happy hunting ground for wild
rumours and general crap-mongering. As we head into this delicious 10 days of
fun, here are the biggies that have tongues
a-wagging:
CES: Google co-founder Larry Page will be giving the keynote address in Las Vegas on Friday, and the breathless word is that he will announce a Google-PC with a proprietary (ie: not Windoze) operating system. No licensing fees to Redmond would make for a seriously reduced cost of sale, in the $200 range. It is a known fact that Google is talks with Wal-Mart now to retail some sort of device in 2006. This is probably bogus because: A Google-OS would mean an inability to run current windoze software, something the unwashed Wal-Mart masses tend to want. This could possibly be true because: Most people just use their box for web, chat and email - something that can be provided by open-source (and already in bed with Google) products like Firefox and Thunderbird - pre-configured to use Google web products, of course. Possibility of fruition: 20% Mitigating factor: If Google has a web-based word processor and spreadsheet package secretly ready to go, people might be willing to give this a shot. In that case, raise the number to 45%. And on the other side of the valley ... MacWorld: The scuttlebutt is that the iPod Shuffle (which many saw as a stopgap device) will be discontinued and that spot in the lineup will be taken by a super-cheap 1GB nano. We'll know after Steve Jobs' keynote next week. This is probably bogus because: Apple never likes to downgrade specs - a beefed up Shuffle is a better bet. This could possibly be true because: Apple has secured a huge supply of the nano-sized screens, more than they need even with the insane level of xmas nano sales. Possibility of fruition: 40% Mitigating factor: If the previously-rumoured wireless iPod turns out to be true, it will appear in both nano and 6G forms. In that case, expect the Shuffle to remain unchanged and the sole inhabitant of the low-price marketplace, and lower the chances on this to zero. Posted at 03:44 PM Read More Blackberry Security WoesA lot of network and computing professionals have
long held serious reservations about the security of the Blackberry email
system. This stems partly from RIM's traditional reluctance to reveal the guts
of the transaction system, and mostly from the fact that blackberry servers -
both internet and enterprise - run on a Windoze architecture. These
reservations are now outright fears as a number of security holes have been found in the
Blackberry communications strategy and in the Blackberry server
dataflow.
The main upshot of the problem is that the Blackberry encryption keys for every registered device on a network are stored as plaintext in a Microsoft SQL database. As has been well documented, Microsoft SQL is has 100% non-existent security, and the keys can be easily be retrieved by sending messages to Blackberry users that have a specially-corrupted image file attached. More disturbingly, the corrupted images can also be used to parse code on the Blackberry server and provide and entranceway to either pull data, intercept email, or corrupt the local network from this staging point. Interestingly (or shockingly, depending on your mindset) the folks at RIM are dealing with this in their usual misinformation-based manner and are referring to this attack as resulting in a "possible disruption of blackberry service" ... no mention at all of a major security breach. I can understand their uber-secretive ways when it comes to dealing with the fact that the Blackberry may be based on someone else's patented technology, but in a case like this some basic consideration for their user base should come into play and the issue should be addressed with full and complete disclosure. As the saying goes, though ... don't hold your breath. Posted at 01:01 PM Read More Fri - December 30, 2005DS WPA UpdateVersion 0.20 of the DS WPA patch is available on
the other
page. Have fun, and remember, whatever happens to your DS is not my
fault.
Posted at 10:12 AM Read More Thu - December 29, 2005Random Animal Crossing Letter #2Are you coming home for the
holidays?
Don't worry, we found the hamster and gave it a proper burial. Your dad cried. Love, Mom Hamster? WTF? Posted at 01:45 PM Read More Completely not news.Blah blah blah Windoze trojan blah blah use
Windoze and Explorer and your system will be fucked blah blah same old not even really news.
Posted at 09:48 AM Read More Fri - December 16, 2005Katamari CoutureThere are two types of people in this world:
Those who love Katamari Damacy, and those who are complete fucking morons. If
you are looking to pick up an unbearably cool gift for the former group, try these actual
official honest-to-little-prince KD t-shirts. The phrase that comes
to mind is "insanely awesome" and the best - and most surprising - part is that
they were actually designed by Katamari design god Keita Takahashi himself,
which accounts for the fact that they are (like his game) subtle and
refined.
Better, if you click on each shirt on the web site you get both alternative and close-up views and a critique of each shirt by the Great Man himself. And yes, he is his own toughest critic. Posted at 06:40 PM Read More Tick TockDigital watches are pretty lame, and unless you
happen to be an athlete who needs the heart-rate and stop watch functions,
wearing one makes you look like a leftover from the 70s, a feeb, or
both.
But GIANT DIGIAL CLOCKS OF DOOM are far from lame, and are in fact totally freaking awesome. This puppy weights less than 2 kilos, and is three millimeters thick. Slap it anywhere. Be the envy of geeks everywhere. Just the words "electronic ink" are enough to entice some heavy breathing. The best part, of course, is that this is an obvious precursor to giant flat character displays and eventually giant flat video displays. Posted at 06:26 PM Read More Xbox 3600It appears that the industrial designers attached
to the Xbox 360 team are somewhat proud of their work ... any 360 that comes
with a hard drive (as opposed to the budget model that doesn't actually play any
games) has a pre-loaded "Designing The Xbox" video feature on board.
Yeah, well, those guys suck. The real genius is in taking a shiny new 360 and cramming it into a spare Atari 2600 VGS case. Forget emulators - this is retro gaming taken to a whole new level. And remember - despite those notes on the doors at your local Besy Buy ("Worldwide shortage! Yow!") there will be plenty for all on the shelves come Tuesday morning. Shhhhh .... Posted at 06:15 PM Read More Wed - December 14, 2005More Xbox FolliesA couple of weeks ago in These Very Pages it was postulated that the Xbox
360 shortage was pretty much a fabrication, the result of a collusion between
Microsoft and the bigger retailers to hold back supplies until the week before
Christmas in an effort to generate some mainstream media buzz and make the
somewhat flawed system seem artificially
attractive.
You can now add some more weight to that theory - a recently acquired copy of an internal newsletter from Best Buy appears to confirm that there are a fair number of Xboxen out there, held back until the magic Tuesday release date on December 20th. Better yet, this baby also seems to confirm that stores both sold units out from under the feet of people who had pre-ordered and that stores (despite the heated denials of Best Buy) gave units to customers who had bigger upsells instead of on a first-come first-served basis. Click on the image to get a full-size copy of the scan. You're welcome. 
Posted at 04:35 AM Read More Tue - December 13, 2005The View From AboveThe
best way
to enjoy Google Maps is with the awesome little
Google
Earth application. Sadly, Google has been a
little slow off the mark with an OSX version of the package, much to the
universal grumbling of Mac owners. That little oversight
seemed
to be well on the way to being taken care of earlier this week when a beta
version of Google
Earth appeared for download. It turns out,
however, that this version was not supposed to be for public release and the
Googlemeisters had it taken down
forthwith.
Fortunately, the page you are reading right now is not Google. Enjoy. Posted at 11:25 AM Read More |
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