fscklog

SamstagsMac0rama

Heute unter anderem:
• Ein weiterer 12" iBook G4 Bericht
• Microsoft Manager mögen auch den iPod
• Apple gewinnt Preise im High Performance Computing
• nichts Neues vom iTMS für Europa
• Gerüchte zu iPod Werbung in Europa
• iSight Review
• Windows Viren
Die Details bekommt man beim Weiterlesen...

Ein weiterer mit enormer Mühe erstellter User-Bericht vom 12" iBook G4 bei xlr8yourmac.com:

"The biggest difference between the two is really the keyboard, which is far better on the iBook G4, thanks to a metal backplate and a more solid, powerbooky feel. A definite improvement over the old one.
Battery life, while already excellent on the iBook G3, has been further improved and easily reaches between 4 and 5 hours of actual use, with Airport running. Far beyond any PC laptop I have ever seen.
Talking about Airport: Reception is again, excellent. I shared an internet connection from my MDD G4 over Airport and went for a walk in the garden with the iBook. Despite the PowerMac being in the house and behind aluminium window covers, I easily reached an approximate 50-60 meters before losing the signal completely. I don't have any means of testing Airport Extreme range (802.11g), but I expect it also to be great.

Overall, the iBook feels very fast compared to the older model. Panther is a big improvement for the G3 too, but no match for the iBook G4 with it's faster frontside bus, processor and RAM, not forgetting the graphics chip, which is about a zillion times faster."
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Auch der MS CTO weiß was gut ist:

"Microsoft's chief technology officer this week eulogised over the Blackberry email device and Apple iPod in front of an audience of IT directors and developers. In addition to owning a Blackberry and loving the iPod, David Vaskevitch said he always carries a digital camera, but he didn't mention using one of Microsoft's own Pocket PC devices."
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Nichts Neues vom iTMS außerhalb der USA:

"An Apple official said the company is “fully committed” to opening up its iTunes online music store to rest of the world, but would not provide a date. 
Darren Sng, software product marketing manager for Apple Asia Pacific, said his company is currently in negotiations with music companies to enable worldwide sales of music via the online store, but he would not comment further."
(bei TechCentral)
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Apple sahnt mal wieder ab, allerdings nicht die schon mehr als gewohnten Design-Preise, sondern diesmal im HPCwire Journal ('The global publication of record for High Performance Computing') in folgenden Kategorien:

Storage technology vendor delivering the greatest price performance solution for 2003
Readers Choice: Apple

Hardware vendor delivering the most innovative overall HPC technology for 2003
Editors Choice: Apple

Cluster vendor delivering the greatest price performance solution for 2003
Editors Choice: Apple

Der Virginia-Super-Cluster scheint sich wirklich auszuzahlen.
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Gerüchte zu iPod Werbung in Europa bei macosXrumors:

"Sources indicated me that Apple is starting a large TV-ad campaign in Europe this week with the same iPod TV ads as those aired in the USA. Apple probably wants to boost iPod sales for the holidays period. The iPod has already been advertised a lot this year in Europe but not with TV-ads yet."
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Tom Yager in der Infoworld:

"People who prefer OS X don’t say they have a specific admiration for alpha-blended shadows and anti-aliased text. I doubt most users can name the individual elements that draw them to the Apple GUI. Instead, users say they say they like the Mac. They like Apple for making it for them, and it does feel as if it's made just for them. You know you’re using the right software when, night after night, you have that 'oh crap, I was supposed to be home an hour ago' moment. OS X engages me that way without obviously working at it, just by respecting the fact that humans use their software," Yager writes. "Microsoft’s Longhorn and Sun’s Java Desktop System are clearly aiming at the same target. If these efforts are rooted in a real empathy for users putting in long hours, I’ll enjoy being comfortable and productive in more than one environment. I genuinely hope they nail it."
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iSight Review bei codepoetry:
"Yes, I know, this is a little late for a review of the iSight, but as you’ll see, it’s the perfect timing for it. When you review a product that just came out you inevitably run into a lack of use for the item because there are no software solutions for it just yet. Now that people have taken the iSight’s QuickTime integration and run with it we’ll see just what you can do with it."
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Neuer Virus ist unterwegs, siehe auch The Register:
"A new computer virus targets PayPal users in an attempt to dupe consumers into divulging sensitive credit card details. Mimail-I, the latest in a series of security-threatening worms, has spread widely since its first appearance yesterday."

"Mimail-I is a Windows-only menace - Linux, Mac, OS/2 and Unix users are immune, as usual."
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Außerdem (Halb-)Wissenswertes aus dem Terminal - heute:
11/15 Niagara Falls power plant startup, 1896
(So einfach ist das).

Offiziell: Big Mac drittschnellster Supercomputer

Es war ja bereits erwartet worden, nun macht Wired es offiziell: Der Virginia-Super-Cluster ist tatsächlich der weltweit drittschnellste Supercomputer und zusätzlich vergleichsweise spottbillig.

"Virginia Tech's "Big Mac" supercomputer is officially the world's third-fastest supercomputer.
As previously reported, preliminary numbers suggested Big Mac would be ranked that high, but now it's official.
Big Mac -- the first supercomputer made of Macs -- trails only Japan's Earth Simulator and Los Alamos National Laboratory's ASCI Q in theTop500, a list of the world's 500 fastest machines.

The ranking will be unveiled Sunday at the opening of the Supercomputer Conference in Phoenix.

The machine, strung together from 1,100 dual-processor Power Mac G5s, is the first supercomputer made from Macs. It is also one of the cheapest supercomputers ever made, costing a relatively modest $5.2 million. The Earth Simulator cost an estimated $350 million to $400 million."

Die Top 500 Liste lässt sich natürlich auch online einsehen.

iPod Akkuaustausch Details

Ich hatte bereits im FreitagsMac0rama heute mittag verlinkt, dass wohl auch Apple selbst Austauschakkus für den iPod anbieten würde. Inzwischen gibt es nähere Informationen dazu.
So ist auf einer Apple Support Seite nachzulesen:

"If your iPod fails to hold a charge and it's more than a year old,
you may need a new battery. Click Continue to order iPod battery
service for $99 USD. This program is not available in Europe at this time.
NOTE: iPod equipment that is sent in for battery service or service requiring other repairs will be replaced with functionally equivalent new, used, or refurbished iPod equipment. You will not receive the same iPod that was sent in for service."

Mal ganz abgesehen davon, dass der Service (noch) nicht in Europa verfügbar ist, wer will denn bitte einen x-beliebigen iPod als Ersatz für den eigenen bekommen?

(via MacRumors)

Es gibt durchaus Akku-Alternativen, aufgezählt bei ipodlounge.com, leider allerdings auch nicht in Europa verfügbar.

iPod rocks

Unter ipodrocks.com hat Apple eine reine iPod Bewerbeseite eingerichtet, die offensichtlich an Teenager gerichtet ist und so interessante Punkte umfasst wie 'Convince your parents' und gleich auch eine Anleitung zu 'subliminal advertising' für Anfänger mitliefert...
(via MacRumors)

FreitagsMac0rama

Heute unter anderem:
• neuer iPod Spot
• Austauschakkus für den iPod
• der überfällige Xserve G5
• Fred Anderson hält Vorlesungen
• Belkin iPod MediaReader Review
• 14" iBook G4 Review
• iDisk Einführung
Die Details per Weiterleisen...

Es gibt einen neuen iPod Spot.
Die Liste mit Titel/Interpret aller bis jetzt verwendeten Lieder für die Spots hat MacRumors.
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MacRumors berichtet außerdem, dass auch Apple ab demnächst selbst Austauschakkus für den iPod anbieten will.
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eWeek.com setzt sich mit dem relativ überfälligen Xserve G5 auseinander:
"One question concerns potential changes to its form factor. Each G5 chip within Apple's desktop systems consumes 97 watts of power, while a G4 chip consumes about 20 watts of heat. This could impact the size of its enclosure.
"The biggest thing will be form factor," RiskWise's Moog said. "In its current state, a 1U G5 Xserve would be difficult but not impossible. I think customers would also accept a 2U or 3U server. It's a reasonable trade against a 1U system, as the density would be comparable."
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"Apple products may seem popular now, but a few years ago, the company was in a seemingly disastrous situation. Fred Anderson, Apple’s chief financial officer, explained the story of the company’s returned success to an audience in Hale Auditorium yesterday, focusing on popular innovations in the digital lifestyle, particularly in music.
“People thought we were in a death spiral — they didn’t think we’d make it,” said Anderson, who joined the company in 1996. He served as the premiere speaker in a year-long series sponsored by the Business School’s High-Tech Club. In his speech, which was geared toward business students, he helped explain how a company can reinvent itself and turn profits around, despite many pessimistic predictions from experts." The Michigan Daily.
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Review des Belkin iPod MediaReader bei netwarriors.org:
"I’ve commented on the speed, incoming. Outgoing (that is, offloading the images onto the harddisk), the thing is nice and fast (as should be expected from a Firewire HD). Now for the power-hunger. Like every good photographer with big … uh … cards, I carry a number of batteries with me, all the time. Three Gigs on one charge is about what you will get from a Media Wallet, too, give or take a Gig, and carrying some rechargeable batteries with you is a must in any case, and be it just to power the ring flash, the speedlite, the remote, and other gadgets."
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Think Secret meldet, dass die Entwicklung von Xcode vorangeht:
"The seed, designated "Update 1.1" and marked build 7K104, includes several feature enhancements, Apple told developers in a seed note. The update also ties in bug fixes that Apple addressed as a result from input from developers as well as testing."
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Erste Eindrücke vom 14" iBook G4 bei lowendmac.com:
"After three weeks of nail biting, nightmares, thousands of reloads on Apple's tracking page, and finally eight excruciating hours when I found out that the thing was finally out for delivery on the streets of London, it arrived yesterday night. My friend Ivor, who was nice enough to drop it off at my place (it was of course delivered at the office on the one day I was off sick) hung around to witness the unpacking and fill the room with envious grunts."
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Einführung für Einstieger in die iDisk unter Panther bei dotmac.info .
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Außerdem (Halb-)Wissenswertes aus dem Terminal - heute:
11/14 Quarter Pounder price raised from $0.53 to $0.55 in violation of Nixon
(So einfach ist das).

Deluxe Apple Hacker

Da fällt mir gerade ein, ix hat heute seinen ersten macosxhint platzieren können...

Derweil wurde die eWeek mit etwas Verspätung auch noch bluejacked...

(Mehr zur Sicherheitsproblematik des bluejacking bei heise und bluestumbler.org)

Apropos bluejacked: Der Windows XP MediaCenter Edition Spot, der im Werbeblock vor Matrix Revolutions lief, war erheblich spannender als der Hauptfilm (aber: der Erheiterungfaktor war ungefähr derselbe).

Apropos Windows, Steve Ballmer im Interview bei AlwaysOn:
McNamee: What do you think about what's going on at Apple?
Ballmer: Apple's doing some good, innovative work, and it's focused enough that they're getting full value with their customer base out of the innovation that they are doing and can afford. I don't see their basic position in the market changing radically.

DonnerstagsMac0rama Teil II

Dabei unter anderem:
• Ein Panther Server Bericht
• Die iTunes Sharing-Studenten
• Ein DualSwitch
• WalMart vs. iTMS
• EU vs. MS
• Strahlenangst
Die Details beim Weiterlesen...

Schöner Einstieg in einen sich noch über die nächsten Wochen erstreckenden Panther Server Bericht bei Computerworld.com:

"Much has been written about the recently released desktop version of Apple Computer's newest operating system, Mac OS X 10.3, or Panther. I'm one of the many who think the Panther client software is rock-solid, has tremendous speed and utility advantages over its predecessor and is generally a better operating system than Windows XP".
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"When International Studies Residential College resident Ben Rottman announced to his fellow dormmates almost four weeks ago that he thought everyone should download Apple's iTunes software, he was sharing a revelation that has swept the nation," Wes Meltzer and Rosalind Yang for The Daily Northwestern. "Two days after Apple's release of its iTunes software for Windows on Oct. 17, Rottman said, 10 residents were already plugged into the dorm's music network. By Sunday, that number had jumped to 28. They were swapping music files. Legally." So schreibt The Daily Northwestern.
(via macdailynews)

Man beachte hierzu die Gefahr durch Playlistismus!
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The Times stiftete einen langjährigen Mac-User dazu an, mit einem ebenso langjährigen Windows-Anwender die Rechner eine Woche lang zu tauschen, heraus kamen folgende Aussagen:

"After a week with a Windows machine I get the feeling that this system is designed by people who know a lot about computers. Macs, on the other hand, seem to be designed by people who know a lot about people," he concluded.

Three hours into using the Mac, PC user Miles admits, "I started to wonder if I should have made the change years ago".

Auch bei den MacGuardians kommentiert.
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Weitere Konkurrenz für den iTMS, der vielleicht die Preise etwas beleben wird:

"Citing sources close to the company, The Wall Street Journal said Wal-Mart will launch an online music store as soon as next week with prices that are expected to be lower than competitors'." TheWMURChannel.com .
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Bei Silicon.com kommentiert man das G5 Werbeverbot in England:

"The broadcasting watchdog had received complaints. How could Apple say what it was saying given how hard it really is to measure performance, combinations of hardware and software for different purposes and the speed at which new products come out? That's what some concerned viewers asked, apparently. We can only guess if they work for Wintel rivals.

But for the business-oriented spiel - and a high-end Mac isn't just for your casual surfer - a bit of funky music and well-crafted tag line isn't quite enough.
It's perhaps the most enduring request we make to advertisers - interest us but don't lie to us. And Apple is not alone in having to tread that line carefully."
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Im IT Manager's Journal glaubet man:
"The EU commission wants Microsoft to unbundle the media player from windows. And who would benefit from that? Everything I'm reading about this indicates they'll do what it looks like the DoJ can't or won't do. So, it looks likely that the EU forces the unbundling of Windows Media 9 (WM9) and levies a fine on Microsoft. RealNetworks and Apple are main beneficiaries. The EU hearing is over the next few days, with the decision likely to be January 2004. But the EU will probably leak prior to that date."
(via macdailynews)

Laut Forbes.com greift MS in diesem Zusammenhang bereits zu Drohungen:
"Microsoft Corp said it would be forced to offer European consumers a substandard version of Windows if the European Union makes it re-write its operating system, sources close to the case said on Thursday."
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Nichts Neues, dafür aber griffig betitelt:
Angst vor Handyantennen schädlicher als Strahlung.

DonnerstagsMac0rama

Heute unter anderem:
• iPod im Virgin Megastore
• Taktiken bei Bugreports
• Änderungen in Panther unter der Lupe
• Miniaturisierung und das leichteste Notebook des Welt
• Wünsche für den iTMS
• MyTunes hackt iTunes
Die Details wie gewohnt beim Weiterlesen...

Der iPod ist in England jetzt auch per Virgin Megastore und Virgin Xpress erhältlich:
"We're thrilled to be working with Virgin Retail to bring the iPod to even more customers," said Mark Rogers, Apple's sales director and general manager for the UK and Ireland."
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Brennt Simmons, Entwickler des unverzichtbaren NetNewsWire, erzählt sehr unterhaltsam von den 'Taktiken' mit denen Bugreports bei ihm eingehen, dabei unter anderem:
"It would be more Mac-like if...— It’s the trump card of user interface discussion. (Its brother is “it would be more intuitive if...”) The problem is, when an app gets as much feedback as NetNewsWire, you get mutually exclusive feedback. Persons A, B, and C don’t agree on what the Mac-like solution is for a given user interface problem."
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Ted Landau schreibt bei MacFixIt über die zahlreichen kleinen Änderungen in Panther:
"But, because of my troubleshooting interests, when I look at a new OS, my attention inevitably turns to the less publicized underneath-the-surface changes to the OS. Some of these changes are so "small" that Apple has yet to document them. You only discover them when you happen to trip over them in your meanderings around the OS. Others are bigger but still not among the first things you will trip over when exploring the OS."
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Bei Sunspot.net wird über eine weitere Miniaturisierung im Computerbereich berichtet:
"As so often happens, Apple Computer was the first to seize on this opportunity, producing computers in eye-catching new shapes and sizes.
It has taken far too long for the rest of the computer industry to catch on. The boring beige box remains the standard desktop configuration. Mercifully, that's beginning to change.
Prompted by yet another round of miniaturization, computer makers finally seem willing to rethink what PCs can look like. The result could be a revolution not just in style but in convenience."

Sony hat gerade sein weltweit leichtestes Notebook vorgestellt, 768g sind wirklich recht beeindruckend (allerdings kein Wi-Fi und ein 10.4" Display).
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Chuck Toporek listet bei O'Reilly seine Wünsche für den iTMS auf:
"Now that I'm a remote editor for O'Reilly, I have the pleasure of being able to listen to my collection of music without fear of annoying anyone other than my wife or cat."
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Auch nur eine Frage der Zeit, nachzulesen bei MacCentral :
"Bill Zeller, a 20-year-old Trinity College student, wrote and released MyTunes just 10 days after the official release of iTunes for Windows. His Web site claims that the application is intended to enable users "to save music from other computers to your hard drive."
MyTunes doesn't break the digital rights management that Apple has placed in all of its purchased music, but it does allow users to download and play music imported from CDs. Zeller's Web site also states that he is fairly certain that MyTunes cannot be detected on a network, which means someone could be downloading shared music without the source person's knowledge."
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Außerdem (Halb-)Wissenswertes aus dem Terminal - heute:
11/13 Robert Louis Stevenson born, 1850
(So einfach ist das).

Rumors: 2,5 GHz Dual G5 und ein Apple Store Event

Endlich mal wieder richtige Gerüchteküche.

AppleInsider:
Apple is preparing to deploy the first set of Power Mac G5 revisions by the end of January, sources tell AppleInsider. The company's development labs are reportedly testing a Power Mac model sporting dual 2.5GHz PowerPC G5 chips, as well as a single processor 2.0GHz configuration.
PowerPC G5 chips operating at frequencies up to 2.5GHz have been in sampling since as early as March, IBM sources said. Earlier this year Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, promised consumers that the PowerPC G5 would hit the 3GHz mark by the end of next summer.
Meanwhile, Apple appears to be wrapping up the development of the iMac G5, which we first reported last month."

MacRumors Seite 2:
"Apple is rumored to make a significant announcement over the next week and host a Music related in-store event at their Apple Stores after Thanksgiving (Nov 28th)."

Brushed iPod (Update)

Wer schon den Anblick des Finder in X.3 für eine reine Zumutung hält, sollte sich die Bilder des Brushed iPod erst gar nicht anschauen...

(via iPodlounge)

Update:
Angeblich hat solch eine Handlung keine Auswirkungen auf die Garantie...

Auch andere kamen wohl schon auf diese Idee und haben sich ebenso die Mühe einer Anleitung gemacht.