:: Thursday, March 28, 2002 ::

Consider yourself lucky to even have a computer

Cuba bans the sale of computers to consumers :: Is this what they consider to be a Utopian communist society? In another blow for repression on that wayward island just to our south, the Cuban government has banned the sale of computers to consumers, according to Wired News. According to the new policy, which became effective in January: "The sale of computers, offset printer equipment, mimeographs, photocopiers, and any other mass printing medium, as well as their parts, pieces and accessories, is prohibited to associations, foundations, civic and nonprofit societies, and natural born citizens. In cases where the acquisition of this equipment or parts, pieces and accessories is indispensable, the authorization of the Ministry of Internal Commerce must be solicited."

We all know what's going on here: the Cuban government, and Castro, fear the far-reaching freedom of communication that the World Wide Web affords. It's the same old story as it was before: ban them from congregating in large groups, ban them from communicating through telephone lines, ban them from communicating at all about how unjust their society really is.

Is that kind of control really that far away from the United States? :: Not as far as you might think. A bill by Sen. Fritz Hollings, D-South Carolina, would require all new hardware and software products to have copy protections in them to limit how you watch and listen to your digital files. This is preposterous, and the reasoning escapes me, really. It's like having copy protection on a book that you bought from Border's. Imagine this, you take James Patterson's new novel, "2nd Chance," to the Xerox machine to copy part of a chapter for a term paper you're working on about thriller novels (OK, so it's an obscure example, but it could happen) and the machine says: "You cannot copy this. You have already made three copies of this chapter. Please buy a new license."

The recording and movie industries need to find new ways to adjust to the new Tech economy, instead of trying to mold the new economy to their old standards of how they distribute their materials.

But that's just my 2 cents...
:: Steve 7:07 AM [+] ::

How old do you have to be to be a developer?

This really makes me feel old :: The link to an opinion piece by a 15-year-old named Finlay Dobbie recently came across in an e-mail from one of the Mac lists I belong to. Interesting situation. You've heard of "script kiddies," I'm sure, but Finlay apparently is the Doogie Houser of computer programmers ("I have been an avid Mac evangelist since 1993" -- Wow! That would make him 6 or 7 when he started?). Apparently, he's helped with some bug fixes on Darwin, Mac OS X's open-source kernel based on BSD Linux. But Apple decided to cut off his developer account because he was under 18 and couldn't legally sign the non-disclosure agreement. I suggest you read what he has to say. He many only be 15, but he seems well-spoken for his age and his reasoning is solid. Apple apparently cut him off without a word or an explanation and he had to make calls and send e-mails to find out what was going on. I can understand the basis of law behind their decision, but there's got to be something they can do for this kid, rather than shun him and push him away from the platform at such an early age? Contact Apple's Developer Connection and let them know how you feel about the decision.
:: Steve 5:01 PM [+] ::

And I thought my Mac was old :: Yes, that's a Mac SE you see to the right, running OS X if you can believe it. Wired News reports on a store in Tokyo that takes old Macs and modernizes them with new hard drives and mother boards. This machine actually has the mother board and innards of a 233 Mhz iMac. And it costs $1,700, nearly as much as a new iMac.

I think I'll probably stick with my dream of owning one of the new iMacs, but enthusiasts who love to see old Macs remaining useful beyond their time should be proud -- and maybe take notes.
:: Steve 5:30 AM [+] ::

Reaching out to PC users

Apple wants to know what they are thinking :: Yup, I'm back from vacation, and as soon as I get back, I see Apple doing something encouraging: reaching out to PC users. A page on Apple's site is asking x86 users to write if they are "a PC user who's eyeing a Mac" or "a PC user who's recently bought a Mac." I hope they share some of these thoughts, but I think they probably will not. It would be nice to hear some of the issues affecting the defectors.

I wish this happened when I was in school :: "`This is so awesome,' the seventh-grader said from his desk in Alan Burgess' social studies class at Boothbay Region Elementary School." And how! Maine's iBook program is finally off the ground. Nine schools started the program last week, as part of Maine's initiative to put a new iBook in the hands of every seventh and eighth grader. Hopefully, Maine will have a better experience than the administrators who put a similar plan in place last year in a Virginia school district.

I can almost see Tokyo through those 23 inches :: By Apple's standards, MacWorld Tokyo seems to have been a bit of a snooze. The company introduced a 23-inch cinema display (only 1 inch larger than the old one, but I still wouldn't mind owning it) and a 10 gigabyte model of the iPod that can also serve as a synch for your personal contacts. The most interesting development is the upcoming availability of Bluetooth for the Mac, which enables you to wirelessly connect your PDAs, cell phones and other peripherals.
:: Steve 5:11 AM [+] ::

Just another pretty mug?

Is *this* as cute as the new iMac? :: Alright, I'm definitely on vacation now and I'm hitting the road this morning (Saturday). But as I was doing some surfing this morning, I came across a reference to the newest iMac ad. I just couldn't leave without pointing it out to you!

Yup, the ad is cute. It has cute music and, once again, shows the iMac dancing. But here's some advice for Apple: this new machine is probably the most powerful consumer Mac you've ever made (even if no consumers can actually get their hands on them). Why not show what the computer can do in the next ad? Just a thought. If Apple did that, it might actually kick the pants out of some more Pee-Cee companies in sales, and I'm all for that.

I'm really off this time, although I should warn you. FrankenMac II is coming with me, so if I find a good portal to the 'Net (see: phone connection), I might still be updating this week. Just a warning...
:: Steve 5:40 AM [+] ::

Apple's "digital hub" on steroids

All-in-one Apple kit includes iBook digital camera and video camera :: Steve and Co. have been talking for quite awhile about this "digital hub" concept. For about a year, actually. And he's right -- with iPhoto, iTunes, and all of the rest of the "i" apps, a new Mac can connect users to their digital devices easier than any other platform. But Apple's taken it one step further. Apple UK is offering a "Portable Digital Media Lab" targeted primarily at the education market. You get an iBook, a DV camcorder and a regular digital camera, and it all comes in a suitcase like case, complete with firewire cable to connect it together. I couldn't find out how much it sells for because the Web site only would allow students or "authorised purchasers" (it is the UK site) to get through to the online store. No word on whether the company is also offering the package in the good old U.S. of A.

Resist the Dark Side, Luke :: Think Secret is reporting that Microsoft's Mac Business Unit is resisting the push from the company's heads to move over to M$'s .NET strategy. This is a good thing, if it's true, and it just goes to highlight how the Microsoft fellows who focus on Macs actually do "Think Different" from their other colleagues in Redmond. Office v.X for Mac is so much more of a pleasure to use than any of its Windows counterparts, and has extra features the Windows versions don't -- like the ability to use Quartz's transparency effects in graphs made in Excel. The folks at the Mac Business Unit know that the Mac community would never let Microsoft store their personal information on its servers, and would be right to struggle against any directive to do so in Mac software.

I'd like Unix stability and digital audio, please :: This is particularly exciting to me, since I'm a musician who dabbles in audio projects on my Mac. Steinberg has announced Cubase SX with OS X compatability, which will ship later this year. There still isn't a decent multi-track audio application for OS X, and to hear that one of the best will be the first to port is good news.

Last update for a bit :: I'm heading out for vacation starting tomorrow (much needed!), so there will not be any updates for a little while. Go outside and enjoy the approaching spring!

:: Steve 6:23 AM [+] ::

Busy times!

Be back soon! :: Sorry about the lack of updates over the weekend -- and today. But as Winnie the Pooh would say: "I've been attacked by several days at once!" To keep you going until then, check out one of my favorite geek comics, Zap the PRAM, and other Placebos. I'll be back when I can...




:: Steve 3:31 AM [+] ::

There's room for us all :: And finally, O'Reilly Networks today publishes a story by Derrick Story on the changing Mac community. It's an interesting read because he talks about the issues Mac OS X has raised among traditional Mac users and the new Unix-heads migrating toward the platform. Traditional users look at things like the Terminal and think, "Hey, wasn't I trying to get away from stuff like that?" The Unix geeks go, "Wow, now I can use my favorite shell and have a pretty graphical user interface!"

According to Story: "So now we're all sitting around the table staring at one another. `Is it OK to launch the Terminal?' one is thinking. `Do I dare double-click?' ponders another."

I say enough of this. One of the best things about OS X is that there is room for both of us at this table.


:: Steve 10:06 AM [+] ::

iTunes, iPod, iPhoto, iMovie -- iWakeUp?

Turn your OS X-running Mac into a $1,000 alarm clock :: Some crazy developers who had a tough time getting up in the mornings after staying up staring at code until 4 a.m. had a breakthrough recently: iAlarm, which turns that useless Mac into a high-powered Unix alarm clock. From their site: "iAlarm allows users to control how they wake up in the morning by leveraging the power of OS X. iAlarm provides 5 basic alert types for users; play iTunes, speak the local weather, speak the headline news, speak a custom message and of course a standard beep. Advanced users can create their own custom AppleScript to be executed by iAlarm or select text files to be spoken."

For broadband users: The funniest part of the site is the 23 mb iMovie commerical they made for the app, which features testimonials from dedicated iAlarm users.

Harry Connick Jr., the inventor :: Harry Connick Jr. has gotten a patent for inventing a way for Macs to be used to read music for orchestras. No more flapping pages, or the little annoying lamps. Instead, orchestra members can now bathe in the warm glow of CRTs (or LCDs). Apparently, he went to Apple to ask for help in developing his system, but they said no. Note to Apple: You should have said yes. Would have been good PR.

OT: Have you got the Bawls? :: I'm hopping off the walls and having a hard time focusing right now -- just drank this high-powered caffeine drink called Bawls. If you see it in your neighborhood Wawa store and are looking to take a rocket to the moon, give it a shot.

Apple tidbit :: Just a note to Mac fans who may not have ever seen this site, but if you get a chance, check out As the Apple Turns regularly. It tells the continuing saga of the Cupertino gang in soap opera fashion. From a recent post on apple being behind on shipping new iMacs: "For the first time in ages, it appeared that Apple had actually failed to meet a shipping deadline that had issued forth directly from Steve's Mighty Lips. We picture scads of crestfallen Apple employees staring shamefacedly at their shoes, morale in the ranks at an all-time low, the screams of a couple of scapegoats echoing through the halls as cattle prods meet naked flesh, etc. In short, nothing good."

Miscellaneous notes, some OT :: I was in Comp USA the other day and couldn't help but play more with the new iMac. I was playing Otto-Matic, the new game that ships with the system, when a 13-year-old boy walked up beside me and watched. "Those are cool computers," he said. "Yeah," I said and smiled. Before I knew it, his Mom had pulled up beside him and dragged him by the arm off to the PC section. Maybe there is hope in the young people? ... I have this odor-eraser spray called "Erase," I don't remember when or where I bought it, but I was looking at the label today and it says: "Warning: Combustible -- contains isopropyl solution. Keep away from flame." Then, right after that, it has the company's name: Burning Solutions, Inc.


:: Steve 9:49 AM [+] ::

Have you hugged your iPhoto yet?

Your webmaster broke down and bought a digital camera :: Well, I'm going on vacation later this month, so I figured it's been too long since I've taken photos of anything I do -- so I broke down and bought a digital camera (and now I'm broke, too). I got a Fujifilm FinePix A101 on sale over KMart (figured it was a good place to find something cheap since they are in the midst of a bankruptcy). It's only 1.3 megapixels (for those who don't know, that's the resolution; many of the better camers are anywhere from 2 to 5 megapixels), but it's more than adequate for my needs, producing great photos at a much higher resolution than I thought it would.

And I actually did my homework before I got it -- it was on the list of fully-compatible cameras for Apple's new image-organization software, iPhoto, which for the basic digital photographer is like the second coming. PC users, check it out: When I took some test shots with my new camera, I plugged it in using the USB cable they gave me, and then turned it on. Now, mind you, I hadn't installed any software at this point. iPhoto started up immediately and aske me if I wanted to import my photos. Huh? Sure, I thought and hit the "import" button. Within seconds, all of my photos were there on the screen, waiting to be edited, cropped, and exported! Talk about painless. And check out my ugly mug here to the left. This one of the first tests. Exciting, huh?

It's tools were easy to use -- you can crop, correct for "red eye" and convert to black and white. For sharing, you can automatically create a Web page, export to a slide show or buy prints from Apple's site. The only thing is, as you can see from this shot of my faithful companion, Bud, to the right, it doesn't correct for a new variation of image that I seem to have discovered: "white eye." If you want to know more about how iPhoto works and see it action, you can check out a QuickTime clip at MacWorld's Web site. Just a warning: the movie is 10 megabytes, so you may want to have broadband.

Now all I need is something good to take pictures of.

We all love our Macs, but sheesh! :: Like many Mac owners, my computer actually has a name (FrankenMac II; FrankenMac I was a PowerMac 7100 that I sold last fall), and we've all read the "You know you're a Mac Addict when..." column in MacAddict Magazine. But when it comes to fanaticism, there's a new breed taking the cake. Check out this article over at Wired about people holding parties when they unpack their new flat-panel iMacs. Here's a tast: "There are at least a half-dozen webpages documenting every stage of the unpacking and setting up of a new iMac. ... The pictures, like amateurish porn, are badly lit and blurry. And they follow a predictable sequence: the unopened box, the opened box, unpacking the mouse. And they always end with the same money shot: the new iMac sitting on someone's desk. In a recent forum thread at MacNN, one poster admitted he'd rather look at pictures of a partially unpacked iBook than pictures of partially unclothed women." Suddenly, I feel much better about myself.

Alert for all privacy conscious Mac-Citizens :: This really scares me. A new bill in Congress would enable the government to put special anti-pirating software on all personal computers and digital devices. This goes a little bit beyond the tag you're not supposed to remove from mattresses and pillows. Stop over at StopPoliceware.Org and sign their petition against this proposal.



:: Steve 10:15 PM [+] ::

Steal this software

They obviously didn't have an Apple employee working there :: Wired News is reporting on an incident where someone with an iPod used its "blazingly fast" firewire connection to pirate M$'s Office v.X in a Comp USA store. They spun the article almost as "iPod: the new dangerous software stealing device." I've got another spin: Obviously the Comp USA employees were asleep at the wheel, and they must not have had an actual Cupertino-soldier there. If you're wondering what I mean, we've previously reported how Apple is actually training its own employees to staff certain Comp USA Mac departments (dream job -- if it paid enough, of course; gotta afford the Mac habit). If one of them had been in this Texas store, I doubt this would have happened, as the employees who were there probably didn't even watch the Mac department. Another thing: What is a registered copy of Office v.X doing on a store demo, anyway? I've never seen that. Hmmm.

Got a great idea for software? :: Do us all a favor, and help out The Amazing Llama, a bored student programmer in need of an idea. From a post on an e-mail list I belong to: "What's the silly little shareware program you always wanted, but never actually found or wrote? What would make you happy to see on VersionTracker? What would you love to have to show off to your Windows-using friends? Think Applications. Think amazing. Think different. :)"

Security app for Comp USA demo iMacs being pilfered by Firewire iPods, maybe?

Report your bugs! :: Dont' forget, if you experience something strange or troubling while using OS X to report your bugs to Apple at www.apple.com/macosx/feedback. The mother ship's caffeine-slurping programmers need our help to find those quirks they couldn't.


:: Steve 9:48 AM [+] ::