News - page 2357

Spymac has brief but insightful interview with writer Tony Bove, author of Just Say No to Microsoft:

“The Mac over the last 20 years has been an innovation in what some people today call “personal media aggregation” or “digital lifestyle aggregation”. Slowly but surely, the Mac became the control center for my life — all aspects of my life, including work, hobbies, socializing, family activities, travel… There is no part of my life that is not in some way coordinated by email, posted on a calendar, described in documents, shown in photos, visualized in graphics, demonstrated by video, and accompanied by sound… on my Mac. This evolution of personal computing is still led by Apple as the company introduces media players and home systems.”

The iGoatse iPod case:

“The new iGoatse is the definitive skin for your iPod.
There are no words to describe it.
And you know why.”

(Via Gizmodo)

The old missus and I went to see Elvis Costello at San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall a couple of nights ago. It was an odd performance.

In the first half, the Symphony performed Costello’s first full-length orchestral work, Il Sogno, while Costello sat listening in the audience.

In the second half, Costello took the stage to sing a selection of downbeat, brainy tunes, mixing classical with jazz and not much pop. Backed by the San Francisco symphony, Costello’s loungey songs were dour, yet he was very droll between. He’s obviously a musical genius, but it’s like reading late Anthony Burgess — a lot of work and not much fun.

I’ve never been a Costello fan, and towards the end I was willing it to be over, but his last piece came so close to being one of the greatest concert moments I’ve ever experienced, it nearly salvaged what came before. But the audience ruined it.

For the last song, Costello dispensed with his microphone, and the effect of his unamplified voice in that large auditorium was astonishing and magical. Everyone craned forward to hear, and the hushed atmosphere raised the hairs on my neck. As the song reached its climax, Costello tried to get the audience to join him singing the last bars, a “hum, de hum” refrain repeated three or four times.

The first time the audience hesitated, and the second time it almost caught. It was a fantastic moment — hundreds of people so nearly raising the roof with a lovely vocal. But unfortunately it faltered, and after a third failed attempt Costello gave up, turning instead to the orchestra to raise a rumpus.

It was a great shame, and a little depressing. He came so close, but the stuffy old octogenarians wrecked it. I wonder if he had better luck at other venues?

Costello’s orchestral tour continues. See his website for details:

Honolulu, Hawaii, March 31 and April 01; Austin, Texas, April 11; Houston, Texas, April 13; Chicago, April 18; North Bethesda, April 20; Baltimore, April 21 and 22; Boston, May 10; Brooklyn, May 12; Atlanta, May 13; Tokyo, June 02; Manchester, TN, June 16; Los Angeles, June 18, 2006.

I’m in the process of updating my Cult of Mac book for a paperback edition, to be published in the fall.

Some of the graphics are looking a bit dated, epecially the mockups of future Apple products, like those submitted to Engadget’s recent WWJD competition.

Trouble is, I’m having a hard time tracking down mockup makers. So I’m putting out the call.

If anyone has high-resolution, print-ready mockups, and they’d like them included in a new edition of the book , please contact me at mockups -AT- cultofmac -DOT- com.

Photo courtesy of Engadget.

Later tonight I’ll be moving the Cult of Mac blog to WordPress, which means there’ll be less outages, less spam and less squinting at the teeny weeny type.

The blog is currently run on b2evolution, which has some nice features and has been pretty straightforward to use, but unfortunately has a serious spam problem. B2evolution is not much good managing comments and attracts a ton of spam. It’s the number one problem b2evo users complain about, and maddeningly, there’s no easy fix.

In addition, the b2evo developer community is small and there’s not many plugins and extras keeping it current. It’s also a hackers’ system. If you’re happy tinkering with code, this system’s for you. But I’m not, and it isn’t.

WordPress, on the other hand, seems to be a very slick. It’s mature and flexible and it’s going places. It’s 20-times more popular than b2evo, and already I’ve benefetted from a fantastic B2evo-to-WP import script, and a lot of easy-to-follow setup tutorials — the kind of stuff that popularity brings.

The big problem is the old RSS feed, which will no longer work.

The new RSS WordPress feed can be found here, though it may be an hour or two before it’s working:

https://cultofmac.com/?feed=rss2

The Blueye is a clever iPod/PSP accessory that turns your earbuds into a cell phone headset.

Pair the Bluetooth device with your cell phone and plug it in between your iPod and your earbuds.

When a call comes in, the Blueye mutes the music, and a built-in microphone transmits your voice. The Blueye has voice recognition — answer a call with a voice command.
When the call’s done, the music resumes.

It has standard 3.5mm audio jacks and is compatible with most music players, the company says. It’s available from the UK for about $60 ($100) — the company says it ships overseas.

Tomi from PodBrix writes:

“We are releasing a new apparel product tomorrow (1/17) at 9:00pm EST and I wanted to give you some information about it.

The product is called the Wozwear 6502 and is a custom made shirt featuring an image of our previous Woz minifig holding a 6502 processor chip. The interesting aspect is that we use an actual 6502 processor chip and attach it to the shirt with a magnetic clasp. See the attached image to get a better idea of the product. As I’m sure you will recall this is the chip used in the classic Apple II line of computers. With Apple’s recent switch to Intel processors I thought it would be interesting to offer a product capturing the nostalgia of the old Apple II processor.

The 6502 chip attached to the Wozwear is purely cosmetic, but it is in working condition and if plugged into an old Apple machine it would function properly. You can easily remove the chip from the Wozwear shirt to launder it.

As is standard for PodBrix products, the Wozwear 6502 is a signed limited edition of 300 units. The Wozwear shirt is available in five sizes (S, M, L, XL, XXL) and is individually screen printed to order to ensure everyone can receive the desired size without exceeding the 300 unit limited edition.

The Wozwear 6502 is available for $34.99 each and will go on sale tomorrow night (01/17/06) at 9:00pm EST. International orders are welcome.”

Happy Holidays one and all!

In thanks for reading this rubbish all year, I give you the gift of music.

Here’s the best holiday song ever: Walking in the Air, sung by 11-year-old Declan Galbraith, who’s blessed with an extraordinary set of pipes.

Of course, the song isn’t available anywhere on iTunes, or I’d buy it in a second (nothing I want ever is).

I did find this though: an excellent version of Carol of the Bells by MystiQuintet from the Christmas Re-Grooved album.

(Via Robotwisdom)

Underwear with an iPod pocket: the iBoxer — only $22 apiece.

The Play iBox Solid Boxer is an ideal knit boxer for trendy, gadget-savvy music lovers. Made from a cotton/spandex blend, this button fly boxer has a discrete front pocket which is perfect for holding your iPod, other mp3 players or your cell phone. This Play iBox Boxer is available in solid fashion colors and the solid waistband features a racing stripe and the Play logos. If you buy 2 pairs of the Play iBox Boxer, you’ll receive 3 free iTunes. iPod not included with purchase.

(Thanks Chris Uriarte)

What a great phrase “Money for old rope” is. And as writer/editor Giles Turnbull notes, half the new shows on the iTMS are exactly that — dreadful old crap with little but nostalgia value. And they’ll probably sell like crazy.

“The cost of licencing and converting old TV shows to a suitable digital format is a fraction of the cost of making new shows, or licencing the rights to use shows that are broadcast in peak time right now.

This is money for old rope. The iPod generation is being wooed into spending money on old content it has already seen and in many cases already paid for. Just as we bought CD copies of albums we’d already bought on tape or vinyl, and in some cases then bought the same tracks again on the iTMS. The same thing, purchased three times! That sort of brand loyalty makes record and TV company executives smile.

There’s a perceived value in nostalgia. People of my generation get a warm feeling when they hear those late 70s / early 80s new wave hits. And the same applies to some TV shows…”

This case for the iPod nano is swedish and designed by Johan von Konow.

It’s very thin – only 0.3 mm – which feels like a high priority for a case that surrounds a nano. Four colors to choose from, the three seen above and one transparent.

A smart feature is the holder for the earbud cable on the back of the case. Only available in Sweden right now, unfortunately.

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched an illustrated podcast showcasing art in its paintings collection.

The podcasts feature reproductions of the art with commentary from curators and other art experts. The first episode tells “all about Botticelli and his wombats.” The V&A claims it’s the first podcast published by a UK museum or gallery.

“There are often audio guides for special exhibitions, but there tends to be a paucity of guides for existing collections, so this is a way to bring them to life,” Susan McFarland, editor of the V&A’s PR website, told 24 Hour Museum.

(Via MacWorld UK)

Nitrozak and Snaggy, the lovely people behind the Geek Culture website and the Joy of Tech comic, are giving away three of copies of Cult of iPod — as well as Geek Culture beanies, t-shirts and books.

Cult of iPod contains several JoT cartoons, like the iPod madness comic above. (Click the link for the full cartoon).

Entering the contest is easy — simply post a reply in the forum thread. The contest closes Friday November 18th at 8PM Pacific. Winners will be chosen at random.

Cult of iPod by Leander Kahney

The Best of The Joy of Tech by Nitrozak and Snaggy

For future reference, TUAW has some sage advice for selling a used Mac:

Sell it as soon as you can! The longer that Mac sits unused, the lower its price will be when you finally sell it. I’ve personally made that mistake several times, sitting on a used Mac for months (or even years) before finally getting around to listing it. It’s not a pleasant realization that your procrastination lost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Photo pinched from Ben Bardill.

As seen on Flickr, the San Francisco Gate finds a clever use for image “alt” tags.

Over at Low End Mac, Belgian Koen Bogaert tells how his two pet chickens are being watched the world over via webcam for signs of bird flu.

Bogaert has a Mac-powered webcam inside the henhouse where his two chickens, Thelma and Louise, are currently quarantined.

“Since Europe is under the threat of the bird flu, Thelma & Louise became the symbol of the fight against the forced quarantine and massacre of domestic birds,” he writes. “Newspapers, radio, and television are all bringing Thelma & Louise into the picture, and thousands of visitors are watching these funky chicks daily.”

Here’s the Thelma & Louise webcam.

Via Fscklog, a slow-loading video of the world’s longest startup sound. The anticitpation is funnier than the payoff, but worth a look.

There’s a new fish plaque in town: the Flying Sphagetti Monster.

Luxpro, the Taiwanese company that knocked off the iPod shuffle, has a new product: the Pico.

Sell your old iPhone 15 Pro to Cult of Mac. We buy back iPhone 15 Pro. Get immediate cash. Save your old iPhone 15 Pro from landfill.

via GIPHY

https://giphy.com/gifs/AppleTV-apple-tv-app-3WCNY2RhcmnwGbKbCi

A picture at Mac Essentials shows the perils of children and markers.

New to me: collectors of Mac boxes.

SpyMac recently posted a picture of one of its members’ extensive collections, which led me to discover dozens more:

Here’s a few of the box collectors on SpyMac.

you sure do keep boxes for a long time

Most of my mac boxs

What does “throw away” mean?

iPod Boxes

Mac Boxes

My boxes

Director Kevin Smith objects to his portrayal as a moody loner in this Wired News story about celebrity behavior at Apple’s Los Angeles stores.

The story says: “Director Kevin Smith is also a regular, but tends to head for the Genius Bar because his wife’s PowerBook is on the blink. ‘He rarely has anything to say, but always looks pissed off when he is forced to wait at the bar just like everyone else,’ said the associate.”

Smith responds:

“I rarely have anything to say… unless I’m spoken to. I mean, isn’t that the way of the world? And whenever an associate has said something to me in that store, I’ve always then chatted them up… The way I was raised, I’m a pretty polite motherfucker – which is why this shit bugs me so much. I mean, if you’re not a fan of my flicks, just say it; don’t make up lies about me, and paint a portrait of some curmudgeon.

… If I looked pissed, it’s only because I don’t burst into a room, a’la Robin fucking Williams, trying to make everybody laugh. What the fuck is this shit? Now, if you’re not wearing a grin all the time, you’re pissed?”