Parallels Desktop 3 hasn't impressed everyone...

Or as one user so eloquently put it:

It is a f@#king useless, steaming freshly laid turd of a program with more bugs than a congolese jungle.

I've decided to hold off upgrading for the moment

Burning DVDs from AirDisk

To put it bluntly, think carefully before you try this. Yes, the AirDisk appears to be a normal network drive. However I just burnt a 4.2GB DVD full of jpegs (each approximately 2 - 3 MB) and it took over 6 hours! Throughout that period my Airport throughput meter (courtesy of the indispensable MenuMeters) fluctuated between 50 and 300KB/s transfer from the AirDisk to my MacBook Pro. I don't know why the AirDisk transferred data so slowly - normally I can achieve around 3MB/s for large files and half that for small ones.

Microsoft Zune search results

Giant iPod found on Google Maps

We've seen Jesus, now we have giant MP3 players. Is there no end to the things people find with Google Maps err Google Local?

This week's sign that the US patent office has lost their minds

One unknown California web-design firm has been granted a patent which covers, among other things, Flash, AJAX and Java. Talk about completely fucking insane.

More on MacBook To Buy Or Not To Buy

This story from TUAW makes me glad I waited a few more days before brandishing the plastic. Hissing CPUs and bandy screens are most definitely not acceptable in a circa-£1500 laptop. In the meantime I shall continue to monitor the situation, and cross my fingers for the speedy introduction of a Rev-B model. I shudder to think what will happen to Apple stock if it turns out that every single MacBook has this hissing problem, and unfortunately for Apple it appears that this is very likely (at least according to TUAW's admittedly-anecdotal evidence and reader comments on the same).

Apple's MagSafe power connector - perhaps not such a bad idea after all

Isn't that bloody typical? Last month I wrote about the new MacBook and mentioned its highly touted MagSafe connector. The connector is designed to easily detach in the event of any sharp tugs on the power cord. At the time I said:

Apple are making a big deal of the new MagSafe power connector, which is a magnetized power connector which easily pops out if someone tugs (or trips over) the power cord. Whilst I've never had my PowerBook fly off my lap due to someone tripping over the power cable, it's a thoughtful design touch which embodies Apple's attention to the little details.

I should have just kept my mouth shut. My Powerbook's power cord had survived unscathed for over three years, yet within a week of writing the above passage I somehow managed to trip over it! The results? See for yourself: As is always the case when disaster strikes, this happened on a Friday evening, the worst possible time. I promptly ordered a new adapter (courtesy of these fine folks) but had to wait until Monday before the order was processed and Thursday for the adapter to actually arrive. Note to anyone else in the same boat: not all Powerbook adapters are the same wattage so make sure you buy the correct one for your model.

Yet more Virtual PC news

Some fairly good news: It looks like Microsoft have tentatively agreed to port Virtual PC to the new Intel Macs. MacNN have a posted an article quoting Roz Ho - the GM of Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit - as saying "Virtual PC 7 remains the top emulation software for Mac PowerPC users. However, applications like Virtual PC that are highly dependent on the OS will not run under Rosetta."

Unforunately Roz would not however commit to even an approximate release date. "We’ll have a better idea once we have the new machines and can accurately evaluate just what is required to transition the product," was all he had to say.

Well, what can I say? It's better than nothing, but we're talking many months here before we see Virtual PC on Intel Macs. Without the benefit of near-native speed Windows apps, the idea of switching to an Intel Mac has lost some of its appeal. Sure, the computers are two or three times faster than their predecessors, but it was the orders-of-magnitude speed increase in Windows applications that should have been the 'killer' feature. It seems I'm not the only one who is less than impressed with the situation - Insanely Great Mac has posted a cutting analysis of the announcement.

Don't chuck out Virtual PC yet, the MacBook doesn't do Windows

Once again, Ars Technica dishes the dirt. It seems the lack of a BIOS on the MacBook means that it will never be able to run any current version of Windows. The MacBook uses Intel's far more capable Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) instead of a BIOS, but the only current versions of Windows which support EFI are the Itanium and 64 bit versions, neither of which will run on the 32 bit Core Duo processor. So, it's Windows Vista or nothing, and Vista won't be out until late this year at the very earliest.

In the article Ars also casually note that once Microsoft recompiles Virtual PC for the MacBook users will be able to run Windows apps at near-native speeds. However I have to ask how likely is it that MS will make the effort in a timely fashion? And how will Microsoft's hardware partners feel about the decision? Would they see it as unwanted competition for their PC systems? Or will MS place greater weight on the extra revenue and greater market share that will result if Mac users start buying copies of Windows? So many questions, when all I want is to be able to test designs in WinIE without enduring Virtual PC's geologic response time.

Max OS X tablet for sale

An enterprising outfit named ThePlaceforitAll.com is selling these modified-to-order OS X tablet PCs on eBay. The tablets are based on a 1.33GHz G4 iBook with 512MB RAM and a 40GB hard disk. They swap the original screen for a touch-sensitive screen and stylus, although sadly the screen they use is not compatible with OS X handwriting recognition software Inkwell. They do suggest a couple of third party software solutions, but you'd think for a starting price of US$1500 they'd throw both of 'em in! It's also worth noting that the screen does not appear to rotate but is instead fixed in place. Via The Register.

Juvenile behaviour on World of Warcraft? No shit, sherlock.

Boing Boing are reporting on a San Antonio university course where students are required to observe interactions in the online role playing game World of Warcraft. One bright spark boldly embarked on an investigation into sexism, and was inexplicably surprised when she got plenty of juvenile responses ("show us yer t*ts!!!") on the WoW discussion forums. Hello? It's a GAME - with a commensurate number of children playing. Juvenile behaviour is the norm.

Mail.app nightmare over

Back in April, I posted a rant about Mail.app's handling of inline images. The gist of my tirade was that Mail.app insisted (nothing's changed - it still does) on displaying images inline, rather than as attachments. The problem here is that messages with inline images or PDF documents take an age to open. This glacial response time is infinitely more aggravating when there are several such emails to open in succession (for instance when searching for one particular image out of dozens emailed to you). Mail.app does offer you the ability to right-click an image and choose 'display as icon', but close and re-open the email and you'll find that Mail.app will blithely continue to display the image as if you'd never told it otherwise. Even worse, there is no global preference to alter this behaviour.

This glaring tidbit of user-interface idiocy is particularly frustrating for me since I was a long-time Eudora user prior to the arrival of Mail.app and Eudora has always, for at least a decade, clearly distinguished between inline images and attachment images. Those of you who have never used any email client other than Mail.app may wonder what I am blithering on about. The basic explanation is that 'inline' should mean that the image is displayed along with the text of your email, whereas an 'attachment' should properly be an image (or other file) that is sent with the email as a file attachment but is not displayed with the text of your email.

The 'official' description of the difference between 'inline' and 'attachment' can be found in this RFC document, the relevant part of which is:

2.9 Content-Disposition and Multipart

If a Content-Disposition header is used on a multipart body part, it applies to the multipart as a whole, not the individual subparts. The disposition types of the subparts do not need to be consulted until the multipart itself is presented. When the multipart is displayed, then the dispositions of the subparts should be respected.

If the `inline' disposition is used, the multipart should be displayed as normal; however, an `attachment' subpart should require action from the user to display.

If the `attachment' disposition is used, presentation of the multipart should not proceed without explicit user action. Once the user has chosen to display the multipart, the individual subpart dispositions should be consulted to determine how to present the subparts.

Thus concludes Mac History 101.

"So", I hear you ask, "why are you moaning about this again?". Despair not dear reader - there is a solution! I have recently discovered that I am not alone in my Mail.app nightmare. Adam Nohejl of Czech outfit Loki Software must have been a fellow resident of inline-hell, but unlike yours truly he actually did something about it, writing a wonderful piece of $6 shareware named Mail Attachment Iconizer. This program does one thing only, and by God does it well. Simply fire up the installer and Mail Attachment Iconizer will modify your copy of Mail.app and forever turn those inline images into image icons. Double click 'em and they expand into images or PDFs; double-click a second time and they revert to icons. Apple - are you watching? This is the way it should have been done from the start.

For those of you wondering why I switched from Eudora in the first place if it was so damned wonderful, the answer is that Eudora at the time did not make the transition to OS X very well and wasn't updated for at least two years. It also didn't have Mail.app's tight integration with Address Book and the iLife apps. Not to mention the fact that Mail.app is free, whereas Eudora requires an annual (annual!) payment for the ad-free version.

$80 keyboard skimps on letters

Xoxide's Das Keyboard is an all-black geek-chic keyboard featuring 104 keys, all of which are blank. The idea is that the keyboard is for "ÜberGeeks" who don't need to read no stinkin' keys anyway. Seriously, the idea is that without letters printed on the keys, your brain will adapt by doing a better job at memorizing the keys' locations, thus making you type faster and more accurately. The keys also have variable force-feedback so that keys you would use your weaker fingers on require less pressure to depress.

The manufacturers say:

If you are an elite programmer who can write sophisticated code under tight deadlines, someone who makes impossible projects possible, or a Silver Web Surfer your colleagues turn to when they need IT advice, this keyboard is for you. Shouldn't your keyboard reflect your status as one of the elite? We think so!

Das Keyboard is an enhanced 104-key USB PC keyboard equipped with 100% blank keys mounted on precision and individually weighted key switches. Since there is no key to look at when typing, your brain will quickly adapt and memorize the key positions and you will find yourself typing a lot faster with more accuracy in no time. It is amazing how slow typers almost double their speed and quick typers become blazing fast!

Most keyboards use a standard 55 grams of force required to register every key, Das Keyboard has 5 different levels of force. The keys are divided into groups and their feedback springs are weighted differently; from 35 grams to 80 grams, which correspond to the strength of the finger that touches the keys. The result is more comfort for your hands.

PimpRig have a hands-on review where they conclude:

Xoxide put it best on their site... ÜberGeeks Only. Only an Übergeek will fully appreciate this keyboard. When I first saw the $79.99 price tag of the Das Keyboard I originally thought, "yeah right! $79.99 for an old IBM keyboard with the letters scratched off?!" Now that I have had 6 weeks up close and personal with it I can say that this keyboard is worth that cash if, and only if, you are a solid typist already and you do a lot of typing. Anyone else will be too frustrated to thoroughly appreciate the subtle tweaks of the Das Keyboard. There is also the matter of "props" you immediately get when someone sees this keyboard on your desk or at a lanparty. It simply screams, "I am a 1337 typist!" Another added benefit is that of security against n00b users. No more will the family PC killer (my father springs to mind) want to use your PC.

iWood nano, love Bill

While the recent launch of the iWood nano - a wooden iPod nano case - isn't particularly noteworthy, poking fun at the world's richest man certainly is! Via Infinite Loop.

Apple cracking down on 'Mac' adwords?

TidBits are reporting on a strange crackdown by Apple on the use of Apple trademarks in Google Adsense ads which target the EU. Why us Europeans are being deprived is unclear, but it looks like the end for all those MacLingerie™, MacWartRemover™ and MacShampoo™ ads I've been seeing.

On a more serious note, how will anyone know that a product is Mac-oriented if the vendors aren't allowed to advertise the fact? Just imagine: "Deal of the week - 15% off annual subscriptions for a magazine dedicated to a fruity-Cupertino-based-computer-vendor!

Mail.app single keystroke insta-quit

A headline in MacFixit's RSS feed caught my eye today. They report that pressing the control-T key combination in Mail.app's compose window (with your cursor in the message box) causes an immediate quit without any confirmation. I confirmed this on my PowerBook.

Update: MacFixit have posted a workaround

Airport Express 6.2.0 firmware update = no more internet

While adjusting some settings in Airport Admin Utility today I was prompted to update my Airport Express firmware to version 6.2.0. I knew that this firmware update was included with the OS X Airport 4.2 update from back in July 2005, but although I had updated my Mac's Airport software at the time I had never got around to applying the included update to the Airport Express's firmware. "What the hell", I thought, "perhaps it'll solve the occasional freezes I get" (every few weeks my connection seems to lock up, and resetting my D-Link modem fixes it).

Updating the Airport Express firmware was, as it turned out, a god-awful idea. After the update my internet connection immediately stopped working. I could see the Airport network and connect to it but nothing else worked. Internet Connect reported that I was connected to the internet. Network Diagnostics reported that my connection made it as far as my ISP but not to the internet itself. Several resets of the modem and Airport Express did nothing. Nor did a reboot of my Mac.

Eventually I fired up my trusty old dial-up modem and connected to the net to begin searching for clues. In the UK NASCR are a convenient source of dial-up services - no monthly charges and you just pay local-call rates on your phone bill. Having an account with them has saved me more than once!

After some slow-as-hell web browsing, I eventually found the solution. This comment on Versiontracker led me to discover many useful threads on the Apple discussion forums. Several people suggested that the Airport Express 6.2.0 firmware update breaks PPPoE on DSL connections, and reverting to 6.1.1 would fix it. I don't actually use PPPoE to connect, but I still thought that reverting was worth a try. Sure enough, after downloading and installing the Airport Express 6.1.1 updater, my Mac miraculously had an internet connection again!

Comment
This is ridiculous. This firmware update was released over 2 months ago, but I found several recent references to this connection problem in just 5 minutes of browsing of Apple's forums (at a snail's pace, mind you!). If this is such a common problem why hasn't there been a fix? It's hardly as if DSL connections are uncommon.

As an aside, surfing the net via dial-up modem was an edifying experience. For one thing I discovered that my very own website loads extremely slowly on dial-up! I used to pride myself on small fast webpages suitable for dial-up connections - evidently a few years of broadband has desensitized me to the needs of my dial-up brethren! I shall rectify that, but the whole episode also makes me appreciate my 2 megabit connection more than ever!

Mac news schizophrenia

Same day, same news outlet, two wildly contradictory stories - here's one, here's another.

Plague (honestly!) on World of Warcraft

A report on Ars Technica today discusses a virtual plague spreading across World of Warcraft servers. Essentially a new high-level area was introduced in which a new in-game magic spell can infect players with a 'disease'. This disease can spread from infected players to nearby players. However when infected players returned to the population centers the disease started spreading like wildfire. Unfortunately since the disease was meant to do moderate damage to high-level players it started indiscriminately wiping out low-level players. Even computer-controlled characters in the cities have caught it - but they regenerate fast enough to not die from it, thereby perpetuating the disease.

Ars cite a discussion on ShackNews as the source:

Heres the skinny: Blizzard adds in a new instance, Zul'Gurub. Inside is the god of blood, Hakkar. Well, when you fight him he has a debuff called Corrputed Blood. It does like 250-350 damage to palyers and affects nearby players. The amazing thing is SOME PLAYERS have brought this disease (and it is a disease) back to the towns, outside of the instance. It starts spreading amongst the genral population including npcs, who can out generate the damage. Some servers have gotten so bad that you can't go into the major cities without getting the plague (and anyone less than like level 50 nearly immediately die).

Funnily enough most World of Warcraft players are fairly blasé about the whole epidemic, regarding it as not merely a programming foul up, but as a hazard of virtual life and something to celebrate! Rightly so, in my opinion! This is fantastic stuff, how can anyone not love it?

Update: Someone made a video.

Disassembled Nano

It was announced a matter of hours ago, and someone has already taken it apart (English translation here). Via TUAW.

Another stupid patent, do we need 'em?

Techdirt are reporting that Microsoft have been granted a patent on Kazaa-style music playlists. The relevant US Patent Office document weighs in at a hefty 43 pages, but one essential paragraph caught my eye - it is a series of example playlists that will be possible with this "invention":

• "My favs—All 4 and 5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Sort: UserRating
• "My favs—64 Mb worth of 4+5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, LimitFilter=64 MB Sort: UserRating
• "My favs—128 Mb worth of 4+5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, LimitFilter=128 MB Sort: UserRating
• "My favs—One CD-R worth of 4+5 star rated songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, LimitFilter=630 MB Sort: UserRating
• "My favs, that I've not heard of recent"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Sort: UserLastPlayedTime
• "Workday 100—Favorite Weekend songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Limit items to 100 Sort: UserPlaycountWeekend
• "Weekend 100—Favorite Weekdays songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Limit items to 100 Sort: UserPlaycountWeekday
• "Caffinated 100—Favorite Late Evening songs"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating>70, Limit items to 100 Sort: UserPlaycountNight
• "Recently Aquired Music"Filter: Type=audio, UserLastPlayedTime=
• "Recently Aquired Music (Yet to be rated)"Filter: Type=audio, AquisitionDate=
• "Songs I've not heard of recent"Filter: Type=audio Sort: User Rating, then UserLastPlayedTime (strongest sort)
• "Songs not yet rated"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating=
• "Sucky music—Songs I dislike and should delete"Filter: Type=audio, UserRating=<10 Sort: Album, then Artist (strongest sort)
• "Songs with digital rights management"Filter: Type=audio, Protected=Yes Sort: Album, then Artist (strongest sort)
• "Songs other users like"Filter: Type=audio, ServiceRating>70 Sort: UserRating
• "My Kazaa Music—All of it"Filter: Type=audio, PathFilter Contains "Kazaa"Sort: Album, then Artist (strongest sort)
• "My Kazaa Music—Recently Aquired"Filter: Type=audio, PathFilter Contains "Kazaa", AquisitionDate=
• "Hi-Res video clips"Filter: VIDEO_VIDEO_WIDTH>300 Sort: Title

Just hang on a second there. Even glossing over the fact that these playlists were implemented in Kazaa at least as far back as September 2002, and this Microsoft patent originated in September 2003, several of these playlists, including the very first one, are identical to iTunes smart playlists. Even if one argued that Kazaa wasn't very widespread (and thus somehow unworthy as 'prior art') you can hardly make the same comment about iTunes. Granted, some of the other playlists listed in the patent are not possible in iTunes, but surely there should be some acknowledgment that significant parts of this "invention" are already in common usage. It's akin to someone coming along and patenting the idea of using arrow keys on a wireless controller to change TV channels.

Comment
There really should be a rule about patenting ideas that have been already implemented in commercially available products (Apple's idiotic and futile 1988 GUI lawsuit against Microsoft comes to mind). Seemingly ignorant decisions like this one by the US Patent Office are what drive some Europeans to question the usefulness of software patents. I'd even go so far as to say that if a company cannot keep an idea secret long enough to patent it and bring it to market, then the idea is clearly so bleedin' obvious that it shouldn't be patentable. Does anyone agree?

eWeek embarrasses themselves

The venerable eWeek, normally a fairly reputable online news outlet, embarrasses themselves with an apparently serious comparison of Apple's OS X Tiger and Microsoft's Windows Vista. What's that I hear you say? What sense does it make to compare Tiger, which has been available for 6 months, with Vista, which will be available in 18 months? That's a very good question, and one to which I know no answer.

HP no longer in the iPod business

It was bound to happen. HP and Apple both confirm the end of HP's iPod reseller deal. Yet again, Rob Enderle must be feeling pretty stupid.

OS X anti virus

Although there are famously no viruses on OS X other than artificial "proof-of-concept" examples, OS X Guide have posted a tutorial on how to use the open-source Clam anti-virus. Apparently the main reason is so that you don't inadvertently pass on Windows viruses. All very well-intentioned, but surely by the same rationale we should be scanning for OS 9, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Linux viruses...

Every pub should have one

Via Gizmodo.

One angry young man

Had an interesting comment on this site today, from someone identifying himself as 'El Mexicano' with the email address of chico@chipala.com. This fellow posted this comment from the 207.248.240.119 IP address, which resolves to a Mexican IP address governed by LACNIC, the Latin American and Caribbean IP address Regional Registry. The address is dynamic, but I have noted the IP address, the date and time in case I need to report him.

"Why report him?", I hear you say. Well, that's a long story. It began about ten hours earlier when this character started an automated script to flood this site with trackbacks advertising online poker. The first hit was at six o'clock this morning :
There is then a lull for several hours, then a new wave of attacks started. Notice the identical IP and the constantly changing User Agent and entry IDs:
At about two o'clock in the afternoon this angry young fella started to probe this site, apparently looking for an administrator login screen. He tried to access directories at /upload/, /test/ and /tim/admin/. At least he's read enough of this site to find out my name!

He then returns to the automated script attack (does he not get the hint?):
But wait! He's not done. Mr Angry now starts trying from several different IP addresses. If I was using MTBlackList this might be a problem. But I'm not, I'm using something else so he's outta luck:
Here's another IP: And another: And another: And another: And another: And another: And here's anoth... no, wait - he's already tried this IP: I've gotta hand it to him for persistence: This continues for another 15 minutes or so. In total Mr Spamtastic makes 74 attempts.

Here is the moment when he finally gives up, and posts his comment manually: I have since deleted his comment, but here's a sample:

Do you think he's a little annoyed? The poor fella took the time to post 77,148 (yes, seventy seven thousand) smilies!

Interestingly enough, this evening I received 7 unsolicited emails asking me to confirm my subscription to random mailing lists. Obviously I deleted them rather than confirm anything, but I'd bet my last dollar that this is the work of the same angry young man. He really must be peeved off about his inability to spam this site to go to all this effort! Bless his cotton socks.

Sasser virus author sentenced, informants collect $250K

A teenager creates two of the bigger viruses of recent times, Sasser and NetSky, and gets off with 21 months probation, 30 hours community service, and a job. Meanwhile two of his mates collect $250,000 from Microsoft for turning him in. Does anyone else think that these three friends have done pretty well out of this?

Nvu WYSIWYG web editor

I noticed on MacNN today a new "website creation suite" named Nvu. The application started life as Composer, the web-editing portion of the Netscape Communicator suite, but along with the rest of Communicator has since gone open-source (resulting in, among other things, Firefox). However when MacNN say "suite" it appears that they simply mean a WYSIWYG editor with FTP built in. Pffft.

Downloading the 11.7MB disk image and opening it displays the Nvu app and a text file named MUST_README_FIRST.txt, which contains this rather gloomy text:

Nvu 1.0 IMPORTANT WARNING
=================
Do **not** run Nvu directly from the disk image (the *.dmg file you just opened) or you will experience a never-ending loop. Please copy the Nvu icon in that disk image to your /Applications directory and run Nvu from there. Thanks.

Can we all say 'a sense of foreboding'?

Moving the app to my Applications folder and launching it resulted in a fairly slow start-up where the icon bounces a few times before disappearing - twice! - before finally launching. My next step was to open up one of this site's pages. Whoops - you cannot drag .php pages onto the dock icon. No problem, use the 'Open' menu item. Uhhhhh. Attempting to open a .php file using Nvu's open dialog box causes the file to open in Dreamweaver! Despite further efforts I was unable to open any .php documents in Nvu.

Thus endeth what was supposed to be a slightly longer mini-review

How to beat the competition

Buy up your competitors' product suppliers, and then axe those products which your competitors relied on. Sounds unlikely you say? Not if you are Microsoft. Further discussion on Slashdot.

It's cold here in hell

The big news of today occured at 10.28am at the WWDC in San Francisco when Apple's announced that Macs will start using Intel CPUs in 2006 (don't miss Steve's interview on CNBC afterward). Microsoft and Adobe were quick to declare support. MacNN have live coverage of the WWDC.

Comment: yet again the rumours are proved true. Strangely enough no lawsuit this time ... could it be that suing a public company like CNet is less appealing than suing a minnow like ThinkSecret?

Update: I was reading more reactions to this news over at TUAW, where reader Michael Ströck points out that the BIG news here is that Macs in 2006/2007 will be able to run Windows natively! Now that would be, to paraphrase Steve Jobs, "insanely great" - imagine all the elegance and security of OS X with the ability to run Windows programs when necessary ... at full speed.

Widget weakness

The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a reference to an interesting article on stephan.com on virus-like activity via Dashboard Widgets. The danger exists if you are running Tiger and have Safari's Open "safe" files after downloading option checked. See the stephan.com page for a (harmless) example.

Safari annoyance eliminated, finally

They've finally fixed my Safari bugbear!

Mail.app inline image annoyance

I've noticed for a while that Mail.app seems to insist on displaying image attachments inline. This is fine for small web-optimised images, but becomes intensely annoying when you are trying to read several emails in succession, all of which have one or more large (1MB+) image attachments, because Mail takes several seconds to open each email due to the huge image that it insists on displaying inline.

I had always intended to figure out a solution, but today when I actually sat down and looked for one, I had nasty surprise. There is no solution. Apple really needs to sort this out, it's enough to make me consider ditching Mail.app.

That's Not a Picture, it's a work of art!

Utterly useless, but great fun! Even the webpage is amusing! Reading the comments on VersionTracker and MacUpdate is also entertaining.

Heinlein estate - evil moneygrubbers or benevolent patrons?

I read this Boing Boing article today with mixed feelings. On the one hand I have been a huge fan of late Robert Heinlein for over 20 years and have read and enjoyed every one of his books. On the other hand I think since his wife Virginia died there have been some questionable decisions motived by nothing more than a quick buck. Anyone who's seen Starship Troopers 2 will attest to that!

Back to the point - it appears that a relatively small publisher (their biggest names appear to be George R R Martin and Janny Wurts) is printing a 46 title collection of Heinlein's work entitled "The Virginia Collection". The price for this gem? A mere US$2,500. With a limited print run of 5000 we're looking at gross sales of US$12,500,000.

So ... is someone making money hand over fist here? Or is there something else going on? The obvious question is "where is the money going?" It appears to be (and I fervently hope it is) funding The Heinlein Prize - a trust fund that is dedicated to advancing "commercial space activity" (in light of Heinlein's sympathies this likely means 'non-governmental space activity' rather than 'for-profit space activity'). The trust has announced a US$500,000 prize to the first winner, but somewhat suspiciously there are as yet no nominees. Have the trustees not heard of SpaceShipOne's success in the X-Prize?

I will accordingly reserve judgment until they do actually hand out some money, although it does look authentic - there is even a Russian version of the site which makes sense if you have read any of Heinlein's non-fiction.

Intel demos Mac mini lookalike

Hey! That looks familiar!

Goodbye ServuStats

ServuStats are one of the many free website statistics trackers who offer free services in return for a small javascript-generated button (seen to the left) on your site. Like many other people, I used to use ServuStats to keep track of my site's statistics. But as of today someone in the organisation has had the bright idea of replacing the small button with a gigantic banner ad, without notifying anyone.

This is what the banner looks like:

Needless to say, I will removing the ServuStats code as soon as I have a free moment.

Update: I have now clicked through the banner ad, and discovered that it takes me to my ServuStats page, and then redirects me to engineseeker.com. This rake-it-in-now attitude makes me think that ServuStats have been hacked, rather it being a misguided marketing ploy. I have sent them an email, we'll see what they have to say for themselves.

Pirated software erases your PocketPC

Geek News Central are reporting that the developer of an app named Pocket Mechanic has introduced a 'feature' which forces a hard-reset (thus erasing your data) if the user inputs a pirated serial number. Sounds like the Echelon fiasco all over again.

Unique Mac mini review

This is really worth a read. It seems clear that plenty of Mac fans will get their knickers in a twist about it, but c'mon - this has GOT to be a joke. It can't possibly be anything else. How likely is it that a single individual could make SO many uninformed statements?

Update: It's starting to look like the entire DivisionTwo site is a joke. This article discusses replacing an 89-year-old granny's Mac 7.5 System with an easy-to-use Linux system. For word processing the author was kind enough to recommend emacs. 'Nuff said.

Further update: It's definitely a joke. If you read all the articles it becomes apparent entire site is an attempt at satirical humour. Sadly most it isn't very funny.

That sounds better on my suitcase

This week's sign that the Apocalypse is nigh: Boom Bags.

I love this bit:

In addition, the bags include a microphone input with separate volume control. Anyone doing presentations can use their suitcase to provide speakers and amplification for a multimedia program, and for live narration at the same time.

I can see it now - we'll all be taking our empty suitcases to presentations .

Official: iMac G5s dangerous in California

Want more traffic to your website? Easy solution - publish a silly article criticising Apple! Rob Enderle (yes, that guy) has a piece in DesignTechnica last week which said, among other foolishness, that

"I live in California, earthquake country, and the old iMac was one of the most stable products in its class, the new one [iMac G5] places the weight too high and relies on a base that is too narrow making it likely that it would fall.  Falling glass can be a huge hazard in a home late at night when you are trying to get the kids and family to safety during an earthquake."

MacDailyNews heaps scorn on Mr Enderle here. MacMischief has it's own pop here.

Stop iphoto from importing images

After spending more time using my new Dimage X50, the major annoyance is rapidly becoming iPhoto launching itself and glacially preparing to import images every time I connect the camera. After a fruitless visit to iPhoto's preference window, I resorted to Google and found this. The option to launch iPhoto when you connect a camera is controlled in the preferences of the Image Capture application. Obviously.

Safari interface annoyances

One of Safari's more annoying user-interface decisions is the "Safari can't find server" error message.

If you open a link in a new page or a new tab and encounter this error, when you switch to the page or tab in question, you cannot close or refresh the page or tab until you dismiss the error message. This is simply terrible interface design, and not worthy of Apple. Whoever is responsible for Safari's UI, please do something about this! The error message should appear in the title bar, or address bar, or simply as a webpage saying "Server not found", not as a drop-down sheet that has to be dismissed.

Windows evangelist twists truth

The amusing rantings of rabid anti-Apple evangelist Paul Thurrott at his tabloid-style site occasionally make the news, but today he's managed to exceed his usual level of selective truth-telling.

The article in question is entitled MSN Toolbar Suite Preview and starts by laying this groundwork:

At the Professional Developers Conference 2003 in Los Angeles last year (see my exhaustive coverage of that show), Microsoft chairman Bill Gates touted the searching innovations that would go into Longhorn, the next generation Windows version that's now due in mid-2006. In a way, by detailing the new desktop search features Microsoft was working on so early, Gates had thrown down the gauntlet. In today's PC world, desktop search is a miserable, slow affair, and as Microsoft executives are fond of pointing out, it shouldn't take longer to find a file you know is on your hard drive than it takes to perform a Web search.

At least he's got the "miserable, slow affair" part correct. Anyone who's ever tried a simple search to locate a specific file on both Mac and Windows systems will know that one platform is vastly superior. I'll give you a hint, it isn't Windows.

But wait, Thurrott has more to say. This is the bombshell:

However, Gates was also giving his competitors a leg up on Microsoft. And since announcing its Longhorn desktop search intentions, Microsoft's worst fears were realized. Other companies began copying the Microsoft desktop search strategy, knowing that the never-ending Longhorn delays would help them get to market sooner and appear to be nimbler and even more innovative, though it's sort of astonishing how transparent that latter claim is. Chief among these competitors are Apple and Google.

I'm not even going to attempt to analyze this. Apple and Google stole the idea of indexed searching from Microsoft. You read it here first! It is so patently false that anyone with the slightest amount of computer experience should realise it. One more time, in case you missed it ... he's accusing Apple and Google (Google!!!) of stealing search technology from Microsoft!

PS You may be interested to know that LaunchBar 3 was released in August 2001. Draw your own conclusions.

Max Headroom

Anyone who grew up in the 80s and was interested in science fiction might remember a visionary TV show called Max Headroom. However, if you do remember it, don't bother trying to order it on DVD - it doesn't exist. Warner Brothers, who own the copyright, have decided in their infinite wisdom that it's not worth the effort. There is an online submission form here where you can petition for a DVD release (Warner Brothers titles only). Don't wait - do it now!

Cheaper-than-normal iPod

Gizmodo are reporting on a David Hasslehoff-signed 20GB iPod on eBay (click through for a little movie from the man himself). The current eBay price after 6 bids is £102.01. A brand new 20GB iPod from Apple costs £212. Go figure - evidently the Hoff's signature immediately strips £100 off the iPod's value. I wonder if the signature can be buffed off?

20GB Digital Mind

One of my preferred Mac news sources, MacMinute, today reported on Digital Mind's DMC 8270 20GB audio jukebox.

I'm not too sure why this particular digital music player gets featured on a Mac news site in preference to countless other players, but let's just say the name caught my eye .

But wait ... just take a look at that thing! Is it just me or is that possibly the ugliest digital music player you've ever seen? There are enlarged images here and here. The specifications sound okay - the ogg support is noteworthy, and the voice recording and decent battery life might attract some people. The price is also pretty good. But ... please! Take another look at that thing! Perhaps it's just a really bad mock-up, but this thing looks suspiciously like it was made in someone's garage. The screen isn't even in line with the its body!

Missing AIM account, further information

A few days ago I wrote about AOL suspending my AIM account after one day of use. It seems that I wasn't the only one - AOL have now admitted to accidentally removing some active AIM accounts during a routine removal of dormant accounts.

AOL suspends AIM account for no reason at all

My AIM account, which I have used for a grand total of one day, has been suspended by AIM. There was no explanation, no email, no nothing. To date, I have sent about 20 IMs with the AIM service, and I have attempted but failed to have a video conference using iChat. Perhaps they've suspended me for that, I don't know.

What I do know is that attempting to log on produces this error message:

Unknown Authorization error when connecting to AIM, error = 17 More information | OK

Clicking on 'More information' leads me to this generic webpage:

Your Screen Name is blocked from signing in to the AIM service.   Your Screen Name is blocked from signing in to the AIM service. There are several reasons why you may have received this message: 1. Screen Names that were previously used on AOL but have been cancelled or suspended, can no longer be used on AIM. This includes both master accounts and sub-accounts. In order to continue using this Screen Name on AIM, please reactivate the account on AOL.

2. AOL Screen Names that have one or more of the following Parental Controls set will no longer able to use AIM, even if they have previously been able to do so:
- Instant Messages are Blocked.
- Kid's Only age category.

To access AIM, the Master Screen Name on the AOL account must go to AOL Keyword: Parental Controls and change the above settings for this Screen Name. In addition, your Screen Name must also be set to one of the following age categories: Young Teen, Mature Teen, or General (18+).

3. Users who identify themselves as a child under the age of 13 may not use this service at this time. If you are an adult and have entered your birth date incorrectly, you may use a credit card to complete our age verification process now, or anytime within 30 days of the date when you identified yourself as a child. You will not be charged for this credit card verification.

Click here to sign in to our age verification form to reactivate your Screen Name.

4. An account may be terminated for violations of the terms of service.

Pretty useless huh? I don't know why I expected more from AOL after the iChat-AIM team-up, but I shouldn't have. Evidently their level of competence is pretty much what it's always been. I've heard horror stories about their UK broadband service too.

I wouldn't even mind so much if there was some way of contacting AOL. But they deliberate make it impossible to do so. The only help you get is the inscrutable page shown above, or a ridiculous FAQ page with one entry.

iMac G5 voltage warning

BoingBoing had an interesting link today to an International Herald Tribune report. Apparently the new iMac G5s being sold in the US are 100-110 volt only (as opposed to being 100-240 volt). This is in contrast to every other Mac on the market except the eMac. Apparently this is to protect foreign sales since the US dollar is currently so weak - a British buyer could save £197 by buying one in the States.

Damn you Apple, stop deleting old forum posts

Not a single other forum I've ever visited does it, so why does Apple? A whole host of troubleshooting information is being deleted for no reason at all. I can't even count the number of times I've been directed to the Apple discussion boards for a solution to some problem or other, only to find that the thread is too old and has been deleted.

Ripping a DVD, defined

I noticed in my RSS feed today this CultOfMac entry about Shepmaster's 'Ripping a DVD' tutorial. CultOfMac have also posted a rebuttal by one Alexander Malov.

The cause of this misunderstanding is a misuse of terms. 'Ripping' a DVD is merely copying a DVD to your harddisk - something you cannot do via drag and drop due to the CSS encryption on the DVD. As well as decrypting CSS, a good ripper should also remove any