Cult of Mac

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

The Mac Compact Belgium website claims to showcase “the most important collection of Belgium.”

“You could grow this collection!” says the mysterious collector. “Phone me 0472 26 39 90”

Here’s a bigger picture.

(Via LinkMachineGo)

A trial version of the CherryOS Mac emulator is once again available for download from the Maui X-Stream website.

The $50 Windows software purportedly emulates a G4 processor, allowing a Windows XP machine to run Mac OS X.

The CherryOS was a source of some controversy last year.

It’s initial release last October was greeted with a mixture of excitement and skepticism, given the claims of its supposed developer, programmer Arben Kryeziu.

Kryeziu claimed to have written the complex application from scratch in just four months, and that it performed almost as fast as the host processor — two pretty unlikely claims.

Then programmers discovered CherryOS contained unacknowledged code from a similar open source project, PearPC. Under the rules of PearPC’s license, any borrowed code should be acknowledged.

Kryeziu denied using PearPC code and promised the software would be rereleased in Q1 2005. It seems he kept his promise — at least part of it.

The CherryOS still contains PearPC code, according to a report at BetaNews:

“CherryOS boots up in the exact same manner as PearPC, and its error messages and source files are nearly identical. The emulator also includes MacOnLinuxVideo, which is the same driver used by PearPC to speed up graphics. The CherryOS configuration file also closely mirrors that used by PearPC.

According to tests by BetaNews, CherryOS launches a second process and covers the window within its own display. Thus, when CherryOS is running, a second taskbar entry appears without icon.”

From the Middle East section of the “iPods Around the World” gallery at the iPodLounge.

There are several striking images in the gallery, like this shot of an iPod in the gun barrel of a tank, and this iPod and a refueling jet fighter.

Nanaca Crash is the oddest Flash game I’ve seen in a long while.

Created in Flash, the object is to smash as many human ninepins as possible with a human bowling ball — all set in motion by a girl riding a mountain bike.

The game seems to have originated in Japan (some details here) but is currently being hosted by Roland Saekow on his .Mac site. Roland is asking players to e-mail him screenshots of high scores, which is judged in distance.

Current high score: 13169.43m by alex3305.

(Via Ffwd Linklog)

President Bush listens to a lot of country music on his iPod, according to the L.A. Times. But surprisingly, he also likes the furious, blue-collar rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival. I wonder if he likes the band’s anti-Vietnam anthem Fortunate Son, which goes like this:

“Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they’re red, white and blue.
And when the band plays “Hail to the chief”,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no,

Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no.

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, “How much should we give?”
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, son.
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, one.

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son, no no no.”

There are some interesting facts and anecdotes about the song here. The band’s lead singer, John Fogerty, has a new album out: Deja Vu All Over Again, which as the title suggests, compares the current mess to the old one.

The new ShuffleArt website offers several custom vinyl stickers for the iPod Shuffle. The stickers are for sale, though the ‘pre-order now’ button doesn’t seem to be working.

The site joins PodSkinz, which provides some really stunning iPod sticker art from dozens of artists and designers. (No Shuffle stickers, though).

And then there’s Japan’s Shuffle Sticker Uploader, a BBS boasting dozens of home-brew designs and a downloadable template.

Hit the “Next 5 posts” button at the bottom of each page to see all the designs. There are dozens of pages — I ran out of patience before seeing them all. Because of the site’s huge bandwidth, older designs are stored at the Shuffle Art Archive, where there are more than 200 Shuffle sticker designs.

(Via Cool Hunting)

Marking Steve Jobs’ 50th birthday today, artist Tomi has created a Lego version of the Apple CEO delivering a keynote speech.

The limited-edition Lego Jobs is portrayed onstage clutching an iPod and an iPod shuffle. His image is projected on a backdrop behind him — just like a real Macworld Expo keynote

The figure is limited to 300, and will go on sale at midnight tonight (ET) for $17. See the PodBrix site.

Tomi’s last figure — a silhouette from the iPod ads — sold out in 10 hours, according to the site.

Variety: Costume designer Jennifer Rade won an award Saturday night at the Costume Designers Guild Awards for the clothes used in Apple’s silhouette iPod ads — even though the clothes can’t be seen.

“Only fellow costume designers could appreciate how difficult a job that was,” Rade said.

(Via Fscklog)

Spotted in the car park at Apple HQ.

Says the photographer: “Great car, right attitude — this driver’s got class!”

Update: In the interest of preserving the driver’s privacy, I removed the link to the original picture which clearly shows the license number. Thanks Davinder.

Oddly, a BBSpot satire from last September skewering Apple almost perfectly predicted the iPod Shuffle.

Apple: Next-Generation iPods Will Have No User Interface, Controls

Cupertino, CA – Close on the heels of a recent redesign to its popular iPod line of digital music players, Apple CEO Steve Jobs confirmed today that the next-generation devices will have no interface, ports or controls of any kind.

“With each successive refresh to iPod, we’ve made the design simpler and cleaner,” said Jobs at a rare sneak-peek press conference Thursday. “It’s time to take it to the next level.”

He then drew back a velvet curtain to reveal reference designs for the new devices. Onlookers gasped, then stood and applauded vigorously.

“Brilliant!” said one.

“Genius!” said another.

“Editors’ Choice 2006! Why even test it?” shrieked one reporter as spittle flew from his mouth.

When asked how users will load, navigate or listen to music on the device, Jobs replied, “Uh, wait and see,” his eyes darting nervously about him. He then mumbled something about MacWorld before melting into the crowd.

In the wake of the event, Apple-related chat rooms were filled with speculation on the means by which the device works. Many think the new iPods will come pre-loaded with music you will like, recognize what you want to hear, when and at what volume, and play it via some sort of wireless neural link, possibly using Bluetooth-enabled nanomachines. One blogger believed the device is nothing more than a hard drive in a sleek plastic case and has no practical function, but was quick to add he would buy one regardless.”

Designer and photographer Bernard Belanger builds fun mods out of old Macs.

Ze Cube is a 10-inch clear plastic cuboid made from the guts of an old Mac Classic II.

Ze PowerSuitcase is an upgraded Mac Quadra 700 in a metal Smith-Corona typewriter case. Bernard hooked it to a projector for creating visuals at a concert in Quebec City.

And the SE/30-TV is a Mac SE/30 in a homemade wooden TV cabinet. It appears to be installed in a bar and displays QuickTime movies in a loop. What bar and what movies, Bernard doesn’t say.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates discussed iPods at Microsoft with news anchor Peter Jennings of ABC News.

From the transcript:

JENNINGS: On the subject of music, I read somewhere that about 80 percent of Microsoft employees who have a music playing instrument or a music playing device use an iPod.

GATES: Well, I doubt that’s the case. Certainly, the iPod’s a great success.

JENNINGS: Do you have one?

GATES: No, I’m not an iPod user. I use the Creative Zen which is a fantastic product. That’s another space where, even what we have today, whether it’s iPod or the other things are only the start of what we’re gonna have in a few years. People are gonna want choices. These things are going to be smaller or better, cheaper. So, music has changed. The age of the CD is really coming to an end.

JENNINGS: The public likes this tension between you and the others as I’m sure you know. So people want to know do you have an iPod. You say you don’t have. Did iPod beat you in this issue?

GATES: Oh the iPod did a great job, but what Apple’s done there is typically what they do. It’s their, only their one music store, only their device. What we’re doing is providing choices. So it’s like the Apple computer versus the PC. With the PC you can buy from many companies so you get cheaper prices, you get more variety and here with music devices we’re coming in with the same. But they’re a strong leader in the space and I think as we gain share, people will be surprised.

Presumably, Mule Design’s Cephal-iPod, a $20 felt iPod case, is inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s tentacled overlord, the Cthulhu, but I’ve never read the books.

The site says:

“Your iPod’s glaring whiteness is relaying signals back to the humans. Protect yourself from harmful rays in style with this hand-crafted hip cozy made of (possibly) organic felt.

…and don’t forget to dress it up with a Welcome Squid Overlords shirt.”

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?”