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Written by Chris Tangora
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Saturday, 03 May 2008 |
 MacMod's Big-O, the JoshMeister, and Antonio are covering Maker Faire this year. They will be uploading video and audio coverage as they go, but you can check out their Twitter pages as they will be sending updates throughout the day.
Big-O's Twitter Page
the JoshMeister's Twitter Page
Maker Faire Info
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Mac BU releases Messenger 7 |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
 Microsoft's Mac Business Unit (Mac BU) released Messenger 7 today for both personal and corporate use. Both versions take advantage of Bonjour, but the corporate version now incorporates a video option.
The Mac BU said that it is working on a the video features for the personal side, and "The Mac BU will have more details to share in the coming months for timing on A/V support for personal use." That's right, in a few months they'll let us know when they are going to support it for personal users. Not that it will be available then, but they'll know when it will be supported by then.
If you use Messenger now it looks like it will be a good upgrade (21MB from the Microsoft Website), but I still prefer Adium, even iChat over Messenger.
Download it from Microsoft.com
The differences between the personal and corportate editions
Adium Download Page
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
So, something about the Psystar video that is going around is bugging
me. I couldn't put my finger on it until our JoshMeister made the
comment "assuming, of course, that someone didn't just buy a similar
case and install their own copy of OS X on it". That got me thinking.
Is this video a hoax? From a company that screams "foul" from every viewpoint this just shouts it louder for two reasons.
1) No logo. If you are going to be a start-up business and you don't
brand your products, you're loosing out on valuable free
advertisement. There is no reference to Psystar anywhere on the case.
It could be that Psystar didn't plan for the branding of the computer,
but seems unlikely.
2) Patrick (aka Whiskeyfrown) is one reallly lucky guy. Of all the
orders placed so far he is the only one to get a delivery. It didn't
go to any major media outlet or Mac website (which I'm sure there are a
few that ordered them). No, it went to Whiskeyfrown. Not likely.
My opinion, Psystar is still shady.
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Dell claims "greenest" PC |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Thursday, 24 April 2008 |
 On Earth Day 2008 Dell came out and introduced announced the world's greenest PC. This is Dell trying to grab some spotlight, and when you look at what they actually said, it's pretty much fluff. The Mac Mini and everex's MyMiniPC have been publicly praised for their "greenity". What Dell did today was say "we're going to do that also". The Dell product doesn't even have a name yet, let alone a price or specs. This could be because Intel or AMD hasn't released the chip for it yet, but in reality it is probably because isn't fully designed yet. Dell might also have some insider info (that's my opinion).
If Dell knows that Steve is going to release a new MacMini at the World Wide Developer's Conference in June (WWDC 08), then Dell will want to get their product out before Apple does. Problem is that it isn't ready yet. By all logic reasoning the new Mac Mini would be even more "green" than it's current form, and will probably be more green than Dell's unnamed mini. So what does Dell do? Announce their "green" machine before Apple announces theirs.
Just for the record, I'm for the green movement. It's a necessity. But Dell using Earth Day to promote a product that isn't even made or named yet is just not 'Earthy" to me.
Dell's Earth Day PR
One or Two blogs about the Dell (not much to say as it has no specs)
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Safari safe from paypal, for now. |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Tuesday, 22 April 2008 |
 Paypal says Safari is safe, for now.
PayPal had said they will no longer accept outdated browsers that do not sport an anti-phishing features. Many people (including some of us here at MacMod) took that to mean the current versions of Safari. Apple's web browser Safari does not have a built-in anti-phishing feature, even though it did have it while it was in it's beta versions.
Paypal was contacted by 9to5Mac about the browser question and they told them that they would continue to support Safari,"We have absolutely no intention of blocking current versions of any browsers, including Apple’s Safari, from our website". Paypal is focusing on blocking older versions of browsers, like computers running Windows 98 and browsing on IE 4. Really? That's where paypal is going to focus on? If you're running Windows 98 and surfing with Internet Explorer 4, you have other problems beside your security on paypal.
From 9to5Mac via MacWorld
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Don't buy the Psystar Clone, yet. |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Thursday, 17 April 2008 |
If you are thinking about getting one of the Mac clones from Psystar, hold off. According to The Guardian in Miami, Psystar may not be a real company. Calls and emails to their office come back with no response. The Better Business Bureau and Chamber of Commerce have never heard of it, and the business registration was just transfered from a three bedroom house in the suburbs to a packaging company, who also never heard of Psystar.
This is starting to sound a bit fishy. I would highly suggest holding off for 3 months before buying this. Remember the Medison Celebrity? The $150 Linux laptop that had similar fishiness surrounding it and was never delivered. After the first order gets completed, then buy it. Until then, don't be in the group that gets suckered.
From The Guardian via Mac NN
The Medison Celbrity Wiki Page (for those who don't remember)
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Friday, 11 April 2008 |
 NVIDIA held a Financial Analyst Day on Thursday, April 10th. Usually not much of a news story, the company goes up and says how great they are and how great they are going to be. But this one was different. CEO of NVIDIA Jen Sun Huang apparently had to many red bulls before going on stage as he was quoted saying he was ready to "open a can of wup-ass" on Intel. Sweet. I want more CEO's like Huang.
Unfortunately to me it seems a little sad. Not because he said 'can of whoop ass' though. Public Relations and politics are essentially the same thing. And what do you see the politicians do as soon as they start falling to far behind? Dirty mud attacks of their opponents. To me it seems like this is what NVIDIA is doing. Coming out slamming Intel for it's CPU-GPU ideas and their not yet materialized graphics division (code name Larrabee) because they are afraid it might be successful.
Only time will tell if Intel's Larrabee project takes off or not, or if Intel's CPU-GPU fusion will be able to compete with dedicated GPU's. So let's all sit back and watch, and hopefully soon we'll be amazed.
From HotHardWare, found by Marco.
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Intel's Atom Processor is released |
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Written by Chris Tangora
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Friday, 04 April 2008 |
 Intel has officially released their Atom processor. The Atom processor is Intel's latest chip for mobile and ultra-portable devices. 5 models were released ranging from 1.1 to 1.86 GHz. The consume about 2 to 2.4 watts of power. Compare that to the Core 2 chips that use 35 watts of power and you start to see why this is big news.
Perhaps the even bigger news is the fifth model of the Atom. It is a lightweight version of the Atom, running at only 800MHz. But don't let that number scare you, here's why it's the big news. It uses 0.65 watts of power. This is the chip that I see Apple using to make the devices Steve wants to make.
The question is, what will it be used in, and when will it be out? MacMini and iMac supplies are dwindling faster and faster each day. The chip is out and available. Apple likes to be the first to use a new chip in their products, and they got beat to the punch last time. All the stars are alligning for a new model release in the near future.
From AppleInsider
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