|
Wednesday, 27 February 2008 |
 CanWest 2008 has it's contest laid out this year. It's official. Apple vs. Linux vs. Microsoft. All three OS's will be highlighted in the contest to see who can gain access to the computer. All OS' will be fully patched at contest time and running common applications (Web browsing, IM and e-mail). The Mac will be a MacBook Air (on Leopard), the Microsoft laptop will be a Fujitsu U810 running Vista (no word yet on which flavor), and the Ubuntu machine will be a Sony VAIO VGN-TZ37CNB (which apparently has a really poorly placed power switch).
This contest will be a good one. Winner gets the laptop they break into. The question is who is going to go after what? Will people try to break into a specific OS because of the prize, lack of secuirty, or for notoriety of breaking what is considered a strong OS? Either way I feel that one will break fast (Microsoft), Ubuntu will go toward the end of the week, and the Mac OS will fall in the last two days.
Good Luck Leopard!
CanSecWest Conference
Wll Hack for Hardware
 Comments (9)
|
|
|
Lenovo challenges MBA in weight |
|
Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
 Lenovo released today their ThinkPad X300 laptop to be in directo competition with Apple's MacBook Air. It comes with a few extra features (3 USB ports, lower power consumption & DVD burner), but it also comes with a slower processor (75% slower than the low end MacBook Air), and if you add in the DVD burner it loses in the weight to the Mac Book Air.
Some basic specs for the ThinkPad X300 in comparison to the MacBook Air. RAM : X300 has 1GB, MBA has 2GB. Weight : X300 can weigh from 2.93 lbs to 3.13 lbs (depending on DVD drive), the MBA comes in at an even 3 lbs. USB: X300 has three, MBA has one. Processor : X300 uses 12W of power but only has a 1.2 GHz CPU, while the MBA uses 20W and packs a 1.6 or 1.8 GHz CPU. Storage : the X300 only comes with a 64GB solid state hard drive, the MBA comes with either a traditional HD or a 64GB SSD. Price : the X300 starts at $3006 with no DVD or $3111 with a DVD. The MBA starts at $1799 and goes up to $3098 for the SSD model. The exteranl DVD burner for the MBA cost an additional $99. And last, but not least the size. The MBA wins out here as it measures between .16 and .76 inches, while the X300 measures between .73 and .92.
For the price you are paying, I'm not sure if is worth it. Lenovo going with only SSD is a little bold, but I'm not sure how many people would rather have a "Lenovo" over a Mac.
Lenovo's X300 homepage
MacBook Air spec page
PC World review
Comments (1) |
|
|
Tuesday, 26 February 2008 |
 Adobe's AIR ( Adobe Integreated Runtime ) is supposed to revolutionize mobile devices. Okay, is it me or does that line only work when Steve delivers it. CNet correspondent Charles Cooper was at Adobe's press conference on Monday convering the AIR release. (insert our own pun here about releasing AIR if you must)
The big news of this is the support for Mac immediately (as seen in AOL's XDrive Desktop Lite) and for Linux support in the near future. This could be a great boost to Linux. The sad part is that nothing really stood out about it yet. But it is in its' infancy so who knows, there might be a must have app in the works, just nobody's heard about it yet.
Blogging about AIR
Be first to comment this article |
|
|
RIAA cleared on charges, for now. |
|
Thursday, 21 February 2008 |
 The RIAA was in court the other day, but this time as a defendent. Tanya Andersen was suing the RIAA & MediaSentry for malicious prosection. Tanya is a single disabled mother who was sued by the RIAA in February 2005. That case ended with her getting her attorney's fees paid for. and led to this suit.
For now the RIAA is cleared, the judge dropped the charges. However, Tanya has 30 days to refile, if she can have physical proof to back her charges. So what the heck is malicious prosecution and what did the RIAA do? Tanya claims in the lawsuit that the RIAA invaded her privacy, conducted libel and slander against her, and practiced deceptive business practices.
As far as what the heck malicious prosecution is, I'll let a lawyer explain that one.
More info about the judge dropping her lawsuit.
Props to Antonio for submitting this lead.
Be first to comment this article |
|
|
Will doubleTwist encourage piracy? |
|
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
 DoubleTwist is DVD John's DRM removal tool, just announced for Windows and planned for the Mac in the second quarter of 2008. I'm 150% for the removal of the DRM so you can listen to your music you paid for in any fashion you want to. I'm even for a universal approach to content management "across platforms and devices". Great! Sounds good, right? Yes, but doubleTwist takes it a step too far.
What bugs me is the other part of doubleTwist, the sharing. According to the press release from doubleTwist, it is going to do alot more than just remove the DRM. Their "Twist Me" feature is a "social network application that allows users to share media directly from their profile pages". Imageine facebook, but you can download their entire music album. Not listen to or sample, but download and add to your own. See the problem? One person can buy the album and all their friends can have it as soon as it has been loaded to the profile page.
Removing the DRM from the media that you paid for legally, great. I love that idea. Taking that music and giving it away for free, illegal. I'm concerned that doubleTwist might be building the pirate ship for the pirates.
doubleTwist homepage
Comments (2) |
|
|
Dell puts Penryn in before Apple |
|
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
 Dell has beaten Apple at rolling out Intel's new Penryn processors into laptops. For several months now, Industry analysts have been expecting Apple to update the MacBook Pro line. The current model, which has been getting a little long in the tooth, hasn't been updated since mid 2007 but Apple so far hasn't provided any real guidance on a release date. Dell, who also happens to be late to the Penryn party, beat Apple to market with the new processors. Dell's Inspiron 1420 and 1720 now offer the Intel Penryn processor as part of their standard build.
The Penryn processor is the latest mobile processor from Intel. It offers a cooler and faster chip on a 45nm architecture. The chips can be recognized by being inside the Intel Core 2 T5000 or the T7000 family.
Dell's Inspiron 1420.
Comments (2) |
|
|
ASUS makes poor Mini clone |
|
Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
 Apple innovates, others immitate. You've seen it before, we'll see it again (Dell "air" laptop in September). But what we see today is yet another Mini rip off, er... immitation. Is there a good way of saying, "Hey, we're using your design for our own product"?
ASUS now has P22 personal computer. The interesting thing about it is how much it looks like the MacMini in form and function ( internal parts ). We are finally able to compare Apple's to PC's directly. Taking out the "touch" and the "hi-fi" speakers (really, you have hi-fi speakers inside that?) it is more expensive and less powerful than the Mac Mini.
A PC manufacturer finally tried matching Apple directly, and the result was not good. Even against a machine that hasn't been updated for over 6 months.
ASUS P22 and P20 Mini Clones
The Mac Mini Specs
Comments (4) |
|
|
Sorry Leopard, no Director for you |
|
Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
 Adobe announced today the launch of Director 11. The multi-media authoring hub of the new Adobe/Macromedia. The one thing missing is, well, Leopard. According to the press release from Adobe only Tiger will be supported. So why the not Leopard? Is this a ploy by Adobe to strike back at Apple for not embracing the Flash "standard" on the iPhone?
Even more interesting is when you start digging into what Adobe does support. It looks like they will support Windows Vista for Director 11 (but not Director 2004), but will not support Leopard for any modern Director software! Taken from Adobe's site in reference to it's support for Director 2004 and Leopard, "Adobe Technical Support will provide troubleshooting suggestions unless it is determined to be a problem with the operating system". i have a feeling that Adobe is going to leave Mac users high and dry again with the same response to Director 11.
Adobe is a requirement for the majority of Apple's professional users, but it seems like Adobe is consistently closing the door to Apple ports. Maybe it's time to stir up the old Apple buying Adobe scenario, now that Apple has some moola to spend (I bet that would drive it's stock price up!).
Comments (4) |
|
|
