Friday, May 9, 2003
Top Stories
Testing iTunes Music Quality: They Just Don't Get It
It's clear from the description that Gary Krakow of MSNBC doesn't really understand how to properly check for sound quality.
News
iTunes-Service Euro Talks 'Imminent'
Apple Europe is moving to establish the iTunes Music Service across Europe, claims UK music-industry bible, Music Week.
Opinion
Is TiVO NeXT?
Everyone who has TiVo loves TiVo; it is to television what Macintosh was to computing — a revelation. Which is exactly why Apple should buy the beleaguered personal video recorder company and once again redefine the intersection of culture and technology.
The Real Megahertz Myth: Is Apple The Real Slim Shady?
Many seem to be in some kind of denial about the woeful state of performance of OS X on G4s.
The Dark Side Of Software Upgrades
Backwards compatibility and ease of use are two important things software companies all seem to forget in this age of "more dialogue boxes must mean better software."
Can Quality Boost Apple's Market Share?
Apple has two important advantages that may put it ahead of the PC pack, and that's reliability and the quality of its technical support.
The Second Coming Of The Mac OS X Innovators Contest
Generally speaking, the rules are the same with one notable exception: we now have an International category for participants who reside outside the U.S.
Could iTunes 4 Force Music Artists To Create Better Albums?
Even if their paychecks do not change significantly, which they probably won't, we still have a way to get exactly what we want with iTunes 4.
Review
Can The eMac Fill The Classic iMac's Shoes?
On paper, the eMac is certainly a bargain by historical Apple standards, especially if you don?t mind, or even prefer, a CRT Monitor, and if Apple has, hopefully, been able to effectively address the video reliability problems that plagued the first generation of the eMacs introduced a year ago and released to the consumer market last June.
Logitech MX700 Cordless Optical Mouse
This little beastie is definitely recommended.
iGriffin iTrip
It looks good and sounds great, and reminds me of our friend the iPod.
World War 2 Online Blitzkrieg
This game is most recommended for WW2 hobbyists, serious gamers, and those who like simulation games, but it may still be attractive to arcade gamers.
Mighty Mouse 1.1
Mighty Mouse 1.1 lets Mac OS X users do things with their cursors that they likely hadn't imagined, without sacrificing stability. Mighty Mouse is rock solid for an initial release.
More Buttons Better When Upgrading Mouse
While the Microsoft mouse is nice, and I use one with my PowerBook when I'm on the road, I'm a button junkie, so my input device at home is a Kensington Turbo Mouse Pro trackball.
Extensis Intellihance 4.1
If you wish that this program will let you bypass the challenging nature of some of Photoshop's enhancement capabilities, forget it. Spend time learning Intellihance Pro or spend time learning Photoshop.
Sidetrack
A POWERBOOK AND AN iMAC : So, I've gotten my PowerBook back from repair, and I still have the iMac sitting on my desk. So, what do you think I'm going to do?
Rendezvous iTunes, of course!
My plan is to connect my not-very-portable Firewire hard disk, which contain all my MP3s, to my iMac. Then, using the new Rendezvous streaming capability of iTunes 4 to stream the music to my PowerBook, which I can bring all over the house.
Setting up that is a piece of cake. Everything just works! My iMac has turned into a music server. Cool!
Except for one thing. I've set the iMac's screen to turn off after 1 minute of inactivity. But everytime a song finishes and a new song stream over from the iMac, the iMac's screen springs back into life.
Annoying, and I'm sure it will decrease the lifetime of the iMac, wouldn't it?
Anybody have a fix?
REALITY BITES : Dori Smith is "going to stick to reading The Onion, where the news makes just a little more sense."
REALITY BITES II : Allan Karl on Dell Computer changing its name to Dell. "What have they earned? Perhaps status as one of the only brands that successfully built its franchise on price. But no brand can last forever with price as its primary attribute. Sure, it can live up to ugly and poorly designed hardware and a difficult to navigate and understand online store. Hey. But its computers are cheap. And that's a brand promise Dell will always live up to — name change or not."
Wintel
From Xbox To Music Box: Game Console Expands Its Repertoire
Microsoft's Mixer software allows people to play songs from their PCs on their TVs.
Microsoft Chief Certain Of Acceptable EU Outcome
Steve Ballmer expressed certainty on Thursday that an investigation by the European Commission into possible anti-competitive practices would come up with a 'workable' solution.
Earth To Bill Gates: Thank You
Yes, Microsoft is a bullying monopoly. But the software king may go down in history as the single individual who did the most to help the world's neediest people.
South Korean Group Sues Microsoft Over Slammer
In a sign of users' increasing frustration with the security shortcomings of many software applications, a civic group in South Korea has made good on their threat to file a lawsuit against Microsoft Corp.'s Korean subsidiary, a Korean ISP and the country's Information Ministry.
The Long Arm Of Longhorn
No one, not even Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates, seems to know whether Microsoft's next operating system will be a blessing or a curse.
Passport Problems Could Cost Microsoft
Microsoft faces a possible investigation and significant fines for a security lapse that could have exposed the personal information of millions of consumers.
$2 Trillion Fine For Microsoft Security Snafu?
Microsoft's latest security lapse with its Passport information service could trigger a $2.2 trillion fine on the company courtesy of the US government.