Apr 23, 2008 Apr 25, 2008 Thursday April 24, 2008
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★ Stopped Clock
There’s a streak of incredulity in the old inbox regarding this item wherein I agreed with Jim Cramer’s take on Apple, which (the incredulity) stems from the fact that Cramer can be a bit of a buffoon, and/or because as recently as 29 January he was recommending selling Apple, which was at the time selling for like $131 a share and which at this writing is at $169. But, (a) that 29 January piece was about the tech sector as a whole, not Apple in particular, and most of the stocks Cramer warned about in that piece (e.g. Dell, Garmin, Google, Microsoft, Texas Instruments, and VMware) are in fact down or flat since then; and (b) even if Cramer is often or even usually wrong about Apple, it doesn’t mean he isn’t right this time. I didn’t say “Jim Cramer is always right”, just that he’s exactly right on this one particular point: that young people — by which let’s say we mean college-aged and younger — are buying Apple products in both remarkable numbers and with remarkable devotion. Apple’s strength in this market is both wide and deep, and it includes both iPods and Macs. (I suspect students are a big reason why Apple’s laptop sales are growing so much faster than their desktop sales.1) And, investor-strategy-wise, I also think Cramer’s right that this particular point (Apple’s popularity and iconic status in the youth market) is one that most Apple analysts are overlooking or underestimating. It’s a potential gold mine. The younger one is, the more disproportionately one tends to care about what’s cool.2 Apple’s kit is very cool, and their competitors’ kit ranges from “not cool” to “totally lame”. When you’re old and everyone around you is doing or buying something you don’t understand, you think they’re assholes; when you’re young, you do it/buy one, too. They don’t have preconceptions (or misconceptions) about Macs dating from the ’90s or ’80s because anything pre-iPod is prehistoric from their perspective. For the just-released-yesterday Q2 2008, Apple’s Mac sales were up 51% over the same quarter a year ago. But desktops (iMacs, Mac Minis, and Mac Pros) were up “just” 37%, compared to 61% for laptops. (Source.) ↩ Or as the kids themselves are saying, “dyson”. ↩
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Steve Yegge Goes Deep on Focus-Follows-Mouse and Mac OS X
Steve Yegge, frustrated by Mac OS X’s lack of support for Unix-style focus-follows-mouse, tries to implement it himself, and explains in great detail why he couldn’t quite get it to work. It’s a great read. (You can tell Yegge’s a recent switcher, though, by the way he spells “OS X” as “OS/X”, which, as John Siracusa quips, is like toilet paper stuck to a shoe.) ★
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Apple updates Boot Camp while MacUpdate unleashes Parallels Desktop
Apple has updated Boot Camp to version 2.1 and is offering updates in three Windows flavors: Windows Vista 64 Windows Vista 32 Windows XP Yes, three flavors but only one explanation: This update addresses issues and improves compatibility with Microsoft Windows XP and Microsoft Windows Vista running on a Mac computer using Boot Camp. It is highly recommended for all Boot Camp users.... [read more at MacMerc.com]
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VMware updates Fusion
The company on Wednesday evening announced a free update, Fusion 1.1.2, which adds support for Time Machine backup of virtual machines as well as Windows XP SP3 Boot Camp partitions.
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News: iPod shuffle poll ends, Videos on your iPod poll opens
Interrupted during our transition to the updated iLounge web site, the last iLounge Poll, “How will Apple's new $49/$69 iPod shuffles affect you?” has just ended. Though a 47% response rate to the option “I don't care; I wouldn't buy one” would suggest a general lack of interest in this iPod model, that number left 53% of responding readers as either shuffle owners or interested in some way in the shuffle…
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When Apple and Art Come Together
Filed under: iPod Family, Multimedia, iTunes, iPhoneArtists, photographers, writers, musicians and other creative types use Apple products every day as tools and inspiration to help them fulfill their creative desires and aspirations. So it should come as no surprise when some of those creative aspirations turn out to actually feature one of the tools that helps enable their creativity. Case in point: Over at LAist, editor Zach Behrens has posted a piece on artist Nick Rodrigues' mixed-media installation known as the "Porta Party." What exactly is the "Porta-Party" you may wonder? Well, its a giant-sized iPod-like box where you go inside, bring your own iPod or iPhone, and groove to your favorite music. Or, as the man who created it sums up in his artist's statement about the "Porta-Party": "If you walk around with a party going on inside your head and your just too shy to bust a move in public. Or if you like partying but hate people. Your prayers have been answered."It's great when Apple can help empower artists and users to reach their full potential -- especially when that full potential involves dancing. And yes, in case you were wondering, the "Porta-Party" is available for your next event.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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TAB Weekly: April 24, 2008
It's the third TAB Weekly Podcast! We're covering previous TAB articles as well as Apple Q1 results, Salesforce.com Mac switch, Motorola market share, and more! As usual, I'm joined by Brian Warren. You can listen to the podcast here in the player below or subscribe to the feed in iTunes. You can also subscribe directly to the our podcast feed. We'd love to get your feedback on what you'd like to hear and if you have anything you'd like us to talk about or questions you'd like answered, we'll be glad to put them in the show. Download audio file (tabweekly-04242008.mp3)
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Inside Steve’s Brain: The Leander Kahney interview
Our full interview with Leander Kahney covers his new book, the future of Apple, and why writing about Steve Jobs is “worse than writing about the CIA.�
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Bootcamp updated for Windows XP and Vista
Filed under: Software Update, AppleBootcamp 2.1 has just been released in three Windowslicious flavors: Windows XP, Vista 32 bit, and Vista 64 bit. All three updates 'address issues and improve compatibility,' which is always a welcome thing.Bootcamp, in case you aren't in the know, is Apple's utility that allows you to dual boot your Mac: one partition boots OS X and another boots Windows (it is a little creepy, but very cool).Windows XP users take note: Bootcamp 2.1 should be installed before you apply Windows XP Service Pack 3.Thanks, ben.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Boot Camp 2.1 update lets users upgrade to Windows XP SP3
Apple released an update to Boot Camp today (finally out of beta, now that Leopard is officially out) that allows Windows XP users to upgrade to SP3. The update also affects Windows Vista users, improving on compatibility.Read More...
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Marware announces the Sportfolio Duo for MacBook Air
Posted by Dennis SellersMarware has released the Sportfolio Duo for the MacBook Air a form-fitting sleeve that's available in four reversible color combinations. According to the folks at Macware, it fits snugly, has no zippers, and “is great for hand-carrying your MacBook Air, or as an added layer of protection inside a backpack,...
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Apple / P.A. Semi Deal May Hit Defense-Work Snag
Apple’s (AAPL) planned acquisition of chipmaker P.A. Semi could hit a possible snag: The company’s processors are apparently widely used in military applications, and customers are raising concerns the impact of the pending deal, according to EE Times. In a story published yesterday, EE Times reported that P.A. Semi’s PWRfiecient processor is designed into programs in every major branch of the armed services - and that Apple is expected to stop making the part.
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Starbucks refines entertainment strategy
Posted by Dennis SellersStarbucks has announced it's restructuring its entertainment business to focus on digital strategy and core content with music and books.
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Updated iMacs coming next week?
Filed under: Desktops We're not ones to peer too deeply into the Apple crystal ball, but Geeksugar says that spec-bumped iMacs are due on Tuesday, and the timing seems about right. Nothing major, apparently, just a speed bump and some bigger hard drives, but prices should stay the same. It's still just a rumor, of course, but Geeksugar was right on the money about that MacBook / MacBook Pro bump last time around, apart from saying that multitouch trackpads would hit all of Apple portables. So, any Best Buy / Future Shop employees out there want to take a peek in the database and let us know what's up?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Sharper Image up for sale -- amazing mall store offers weightless, ionic iPod-compatible massage
Filed under: Misc. GadgetsSure, The Sharper Image is bankrupt, but that's no reason to avoid this once in a lifetime opportunity to buy the company as it goes under. As you're undoubtedly already aware, The Sharper Image invented the idea of ions with the semi-functional Ionic Breeze air purifier, but did you know that it also led the movement to call anything with a stereo minijack "iPod-compatible?" That's history, folks. And now that the board of directors has put the company on the block with the share price down to 23 cents and the goal of selling by the end of next month, you could conceivably be America's next massage-chair kingpin for just $3.6M -- what's to lose? We'll even throw in the disgraced executive team, a $25 value! Operators are standing by!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Mmmm, Delicious Library 2 Looks About Ready
I - along with much of the rest of the Mac-using world - have been waiting for Delicious Library 2 for quite a while. Seems like we've been hearing about how awesomer the second incarnation of the media tracking application will be, for years. I know it's not that extreme, but anticipation makes everything seem to take longer, so don't go calling Vaporware! Weldon points out that Wil Shipley Twittered the closing bell on the application's readiness a couple days ago. I hope Weldon's assumption is correct - it'll be pretty sweet to re-catalog all my stuff prior to packing it up for a move… Thanks for the tip Weldon - you'd better be right!
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Apple Gazette Daily 254 - Apple lawsuit, 2nd Quarter Financial and more!
podcast sponsor link:Click Here to check out Audible! Click the link above to get your free audio book from Audible, and help support Apple Gazette at the same time! Today's Show: Apple lawsuit, 2nd Quarter financials, streaming TV on iPhone and more! You can subscribe via iTunes, or by RSS feed, or… you can listen to the episode right here: In addition to that, you can also download the Apple Gazette Daily Widget and listen to every episode of the show right on your Dashboard. Click Here to download.
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'MacFixIt': Psystar Mac clones don't support Leopard re-installation
Posted by Dennis SellersA MacFixIt reader says he received an email from Psystar's support team that said the company doesn't support Mac OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”) reinstallation on its Open Computing Systems. (Read more here).
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Rules for journalists/bloggers/witnesses? A Guardian debate
Here's a debate that just went up at CommentIsFree (please go comment there; the discussion's already underway): me vs. Michael Tomasky, the Guardian's man in Washington, over whether, as he has said, bloggers should operate under the rules of journalism….. Editor's note: Earlier this month Barack Obama's election campaign was shaken by a report that Obama had described rural, white voters as “bitter”. The news was broken by a “citizen journalist”, Mayhill Fowler, and was carried on the Huffington Post's politics blog, Off The Bus. Last week Guardian America editor Michael Tomasky argued on CiF that Fowler's reporting raised serious ethical questions and argued that blogging, like journalism, needed rules. CiF commentator Jeff Jarvis responded on his blog Buzzmachine that openness, not rules, was demanded in the era of the internet. The answer? Bring the two men together to thrash it out, right here. Jeff Jarvis to Michael Tomasky: I believe the rules you long to carry into the new world are inherently corrupting for journalism: We journalists have long traded in the currencies of access and exclusivity with the powerful. But the price we pay is complicity in a system of secrecy. That's what off-the-record talks and unnamed sources add up to: secrets. As journalists we should be allergic to the idea of helping public officials hide anything from the public. And as journalists, I'd have thought we'd be rejoicing in the idea that witnesses can now share what they hear from public figures. Openness is our cause, transparency our goal, no? Yes, we may lose some exclusives - but exclusives now have the half-life of a click. With more openness and more reporting - by all - we will end up with more stories, the public will get more information, and politicians will learn that anything and everything they say and do can (and should) be reported. You want transparency from the citizen journalists. I agree, but I'd expand that: I want transparency from all journalists, and not just about donations but also about influences, especially in the US, where claims of objectivity have lately become a cloak for partisanship. That's the simplest rule: openness for all. I think we should be applauding and supporting Mayhill Fowler. Her reporting of Obama's “bitter” remarks - in spite of her support of his candidacy - is an impressive act of intellectual honesty. She knew those remarks would be newsworthy. She knew they could hurt him. But she opted for openness, directly to the public, around campaign spin as well as press filters: the witness reports. I'd say she showed veteran journalists how to operate under new rules of her own that, in this case, were superior to the old rules of conspiratorial secrecy. Michael to Jeff: Well, sometimes the rules I “long” for (what a word!) are inherently corrupting and result in secrets being kept from the public. But sometimes, indeed more often, it's just the opposite. Sometimes, only the protection of anonymity will ensure that a source with important information about powerful people comes forward. In this way, the public has learned about a million things, from the Pentagon Papers to the less alarmist intelligence assessments about Iraq before the war. You know that. And very few journalists I know would favour “[hiding] anything from the public.” They would, however, favour not publishing something until it's verified. That's scarcely complicity in secret-keeping. That's just being responsible. I'll tell you what. Let's go ask Alan Rusbridger the following: One of his reporters hears from one source (unwilling to go on the record) that David Cameron praised Oswald Mosley in a private talk. Should the Guardian publish on the basis of that alone? I'm guessing that Alan would prove himself to be “old-fashioned” on this point, and properly so. But none of this has to do with what Fowler did. To recap: She got in the door because she donated money to Obama's campaign. This is something no beat reporter would or could do. Then she was able to take advantage of that situation. She “showed veteran journalists” nothing, because “veteran journalists” would not have been allowed in that meeting! You write as if these “veteran journalists” would have heard Obama's remarks and kept them secret. But the point is that veteran journalists would never have gotten through the door in the first place. So fine; call them “witnesses” and drop the whole conceit that they're journalists. And I'm glad you agree about listing witnesses' donations. Will you take that message to Arianna Huffington and Jay Rosen [the co-sponsors of the Off The Bus citizen journalists' blog]? Jeff to Michael: Well, I think you're mixing apples and kumquats into a bit of a rhetorical fruit salad. There's quite a difference between hearing a tip from a whistleblower and recording a presidential candidate speaking at a forum. There's also a difference between verifying such a tip with reporting - which we'll all agree is necessary - and playing that tape-recording, which itself was the verification anyone needed. Obama's words and voice spoke for themselves. So I don't see the connection you make between keeping something off the record and verifying it; the former does nothing in the interest of the latter in this matter. To make your hypothetical case consistent with the discussion at hand, if the witness who heard David Cameron praise Oswald Mosley put a video of it on YouTube for all to see, I imagine that you and the Guardian would deal with it at face value. You would, as reporters did in the Obama case, report further - you'd put an oyster around the pearl. But these witnesses are the ones who now start the story. Now let me extend your hypothetical: let's say that a reporter did get in the room with Obama and had made a pledge to keep it off the record. But a donor - any old donor, with or without a blog - had recorded the session (as Fowler says many did) and put that on YouTube. Does it now matter that there was a journalist there? Who is serving the public better? I say the journalist should be delighted that word got out and that demanding such off-the-record pledges is now fruitless. This is a crucial element in a new architecture of news: when witnesses share what they see publicly we need to figure out how to integrate that into our journalism. It will become even more complicated when they share what they see live with their camera-phones, as technology allows today. Veteran journalists may be nowhere near that news - because, as journalists, they had not been allowed in the door or merely because they had not arrived yet - but they will depend on such reporting or witnessing, call it what you will. It will still add up to journalism in the end. As for your challenge on disclosure, I've done more: I reveal my politics on my blog's disclosure page, including my vote for Hillary Clinton in the primaries. I've blogged my expectation to see similar behaviour from bloggers and journalists alike. I went so far as to ask my readers recently whether, having revealed my preferences anyway, I should put my money where my mouth is and donate to Clinton's campaign. Their view (like mine) was mixed. But it's worth asking: if I'm going to be a citizen journalist, shouldn't I act like a citizen? Michael to Jeff: You make a fair point in the bulk of your third and fourth paragraphs, but then you end, for me, on a false note. I suppose Fowler served the public interest in the sense that, sure, those remarks of Obama's were revealing of something or other. But I still say it's a little sneaky and sleazy to be a citizen for the purposes of making a donation, and then getting to be a journalist for the purposes of writing it up. There is a certain duplicity there, Jeff. Let citizens or witnesses videotape and audiotape to their hearts' contents. But no, it doesn't add up to journalism. It adds up to recording, or transcribing. As I said in my original CiF column, I overwhelmingly embrace the blogosphere, and I like most of what I've read under the Off The Bus rubric. (I felt you didn't acknowledge this in your original Buzzmachine post, which practically made it sound like I have a Linotype machine in my basement to which I pay secret ritualistic obeisance.) But I admit that I'm a little less persuaded that it's such a great and necessary thing that we know every single word public people utter. People say dumb things and things they don't really mean. They misspeak. Whether constant recording of such missteps, and the inevitable intense fixation on them, will over time serve the public interest and help voters make more “informed” decisions is not yet settled in my view. That it will lead to more “gotcha!” moments on the campaign trail as candidates are caught saying naughty things isn't a particularly stellar claim to make for the blogosphere, which actually does far more important work in the areas of media-monitoring and community-building. What I like about the blogosphere is that, at its best, it elevates the debate. Mainstream journalists would think I'm out of my mind to say that, but it's true - there are, for example, all manner of policy experts with blogs who shed real light on substantive questions, or bloggers with the intellectual chops to make really interesting and important observations about something happening in the news. Or look at what FireDogLake did during the Scooter Libby trail, which was awesome. All those things are great. Catching pols putting their feet in their mouths may make news, but it's not exactly why John Peter Zenger went to jail. Jeff to Michael: I don't think this is really about bloggers. It's almost coincidental that Fowler had a platform at Huffington Post. If she hadn't, she'd still have found the way to tell her story, if only on YouTube. This weekend, at an open house for students at the City University of New York graduate school of journalism, where I teach, I spoke with a potential student who has been volunteering in the Clinton campaign and she has a great story to tell about the reaction she has gotten, as an African-American woman, from Obama volunteers. Now the fact that she's a volunteer is not just something to be disclosed, it's at the heart of the story. Hers is a great story that is revealing about the campaigns and, more so, the country and the times. I urged her to start writing and said she should pitch it to a magazine. Or better yet, wouldn't the Guardian like to see it? I think this discussion is balancing on what will add up to journalism and who all does that adding. I believe that coverage of stories and topics will, more and more, become molecules that attract all different sorts of atoms: a bit of reporting - and, yes, it's reporting - from witnesses; reporters' work adding balance, depth, vetting, answers to questions; editors packaging and adding links to background and source material; readers and bloggers adding - as you indeed point out - corrections and context; sources having the chance, at last, to respond in kind. Journalism becomes less of a product and more of a process. When I was at the Guardian a few weeks ago to talk about its new newsroom, this notion was at the centre of the discussion. What you're really talking about, I think, is not rules but is a new organizing principle of journalism. I'm glad that Fowler had her recorder and shared what she heard. That, I believe, is the seed for journalism and we in the business and in the society will benefit. And so, in the long run, will politicians, once they learn the benefits of living and working more transparently. Will we have silly gotcha moments? Sadly, yes. But sadly, we had those long before bloggers were born. Was what Fowler reported a gotcha moment or a revealing one? Well, that's where our perspectives - and our transparency about them - come into play. I thought it was revealing, but I'm a Hillary voter and you'd be within your rights to judge what I say accordingly. You have been laudably open about your preference and so it's right for you and your readers to wonder what impact that might have. This becomes one more ingredient in what it turning into a bigger and bigger pot of journalism stew. Michael to Jeff: Regarding your last paragraph, I already said that Fowler served the public interest. I think the quote was revealing of something; at the least, the fact that Obama has comparatively little direct experience dealing with and talking to white, rural working-class people and not enough familiarity with their way of life. So that's a fair knock. It's just that these things do get blown out of proportion, and it gets comical (or sometimes worse) watching millionaire pundits natter on about “elitism.” I'll just end where I started. I still say she came by the quote at best surreptitiously because she got in the door as a citizen (via her donation) and then became a journalist when that was handy, a contention you haven't seriously refuted except to say (1) that's the way it is these days, and (2) okay, then, let's drop the word journalist from our description of Fowler et al and just call them witnesses. That's my claim, and you haven't said anything to dissuade me from sticking to it. On all this other meta stuff, we don't especially disagree.
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iQuarantine X cures minor Leopard annoyance
Filed under: Software, LeopardiQuarantine X is reported to be able to remove the "are you sure you want to open it?" warning from your Leopard system. The quarantine feature of Leopard (which alerts you the first time you run a downloaded program) isn't a big enough annoyance to me to dish out the $5 for the program, so I haven't tested it out. But reports from readers are that it does exactly what it says: no background scripts or launchd processes, just some lean code to make the annoying warnings disappear. Given that a free demo of such a program would kind of defeat the purpose of charging, you have to pay the $5 charge to download iQuarantine X. If the quarantine feature bugs you more than giving up a few cups of coffee, have at it. Thanks Bobtentpeg!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Boston Retirement Board to Steve Jobs: you're being served
The Boston Retirement Board claims that it has found evidence that supports a lawsuit over Apple's options backdating scandal. Summons have been served to Steve Jobs and other current and former board members.Read More...
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MIT researcher aims to understand language with Human Speechome Project
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets It's far from the first time a researcher has enlisted the help of his own family or kids, but MIT's Deb Roy's latest endeavor looks to be a bit more ambitious than most, as he's aiming to do nothing short of understand how children learn language. To do that, Roy and his wife installed 11 video cameras and 14 microphones throughout their house to record just about every moment of their son's first three years. That, obviously, also required a good deal of computing power, which came in the form of a temperature-controlled data-storage room consisting of five Apple Xserves and a 4.4TB Xserve RAID (you can guess why Apple's profiling 'em), along with an array of backup tape drives and robotic tape changes (and an amply supply of other Macs, of course). While the project is obviously still a work in progress, they have apparently already developed some new methods for audio and video pattern recognition, among other things, and it seems they'll have plenty of work to sift through for years to come, with the project expected to churn out some 1.4 petabytes of data by the end of year three.[Thanks, Jeff] Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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News: Mix: 3G iPhone concern, Apple patent, iPod slowdown, Bandwidth hog
The Chicago Tribune's RedEye is expressing concern over buying iPhone accessories before the launch of the 3G model, expected later this year. “I can't buy those headphones because I have no way of being 100 percent sure that the plug will fit into the next iPhone,” RedEye's Scott Kleinberg writes. “And this problem isn't just with these headphones, of course. I can't see myself purchasing an iPod speaker…
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Why Market Share and Revenue Are Bullshit
Motorola’s quarterly results: 27.4 million phones sold and $7.45 billion in revenue. But the bottom line? A $194 million loss. What matters is profit; market share and revenue only matter insofar as they lead to making money. Motorola sold 16 times more phones than Apple for at least 8 times more revenue — but is there a person on the planet who would trade Apple’s phone business for Motorola’s? ★
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Mac software updates for April 24
Posted by Dennis SellersAtelier Software has released Fanurio 1.10, an update of the time tracking and billing application designed for freelancers. The upgrade adds more project reports, better Mac integration and improved billing.
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'Macsimum Recommended Reading' for April 24
Posted by Dennis Sellers “Why Did Apple Buy PA Semi?”—RoughlyDrafted Magazine
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Apple releases Common Criteria Tools for 10.5
Posted by Dennis SellersApple has released Common Criteria Tools for 10.5. They're an internationally approved set of security standards that provides “a clear and reliable evaluation of the security capabilities of Information Technology products,” according to Apple.
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Video: James Cramer on Apple
He’s bullish on Apple because they’re completely dominating the mindshare of teenagers and young adults. I think he’s right — both that this is a tremendous strength for Apple, and that it’s being overlooked by many analysts. ★
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Q2 2008 Results, New iPhone SDK Beta, and the Stock Options Case That Wouldn't Die
Strong Mac and iPhone sales lead to Apple's best March quarter, like, ever. And more of today's headlines, including your next favorite pair of high-tech jeans.
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Noted for Future Gloating
Douglas A. McIntyre, in an oddly typo-ridden piece regarding Apple’s quarterly results: Most analysts thought that the good news out of Apple was that Mac sales were up 51% to 2,289,000. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is very difficult to suss any sense out of his argument, but it seems to be that 51 percent year-over-year growth in Mac unit sales (and 54 percent revenue growth) is bad news because they can’t grow any more because corporations still aren’t buying them in bulk. The Mac has hit its glass ceiling. Apple investors may be hoping that the machine can make it out of the consumer market to keep the rapid growth going, but that is not in the cards. Noted. ★
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Mac Sales Give Apple Juicy Q2
Sizzling sales of Macintosh computers fueled a 36 percent increase in profit for Apple in the second fiscal quarter. Apple, which one day earlier confirmed it acquired Santa Clara, Calif.-based fabless semiconductor company P.A. Semi, earned $1.05 billion, or $1.16 per share, in the second quarter ending March 29. During the same period a year ago, Apple earned $770 million, or 87 cents per share. The company's revenue, meanwhile, leapt 43 percent in the quarter, to $7.51 billion. Analysts had forecast sales of $6.96 billion.
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Jobs back in the hot seat over options
Given no time to bathe in the excellent earnings announced yesterday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is again coming under fire for his receipt of backdated stock options. According to Wikipedia: Options backdating is the practice of granting an employee stock option that is dated prior to the date that the company actually granted the option. This practice [...]
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Motorola's Loss is Apple's Gain
Razr anyone? Motorola can’t even give those things away anymore. The once-proud company reported horrible earnings today, with sales down 21 percent and a net loss of $194 million. But the big takeaway was the 39 percent collapse in its mobile phone business. Mobile device revenues in the quarter dropped $2.1 billion compared to last year. Coincidentally enough, that is almost exactly how much Apple made last quarter on iPhone sales. The figure came to $2.3 billion (including lumped-in sales of Apple TVs, which likely made up less than $100 million of that total). During yesterday’s earnings call, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer spelled this out:
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Hints of Apple’s new strategies in its Q3 financial call
Setting aside the news of a very strong quarter — stronger than predicted and accomplished in a consumer market worried over the emerging economic slowdown (aka recession) — Apple revealed renewed strength in some key segments and geographies. At the same time, executives gave a hint of Apple's vision of new product and market directions.
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First Looks: Sony MDR-EX75 Stereo Headphones
As the sequel to Sony's popular MDR-EX70 and -EX71 earphones, the brand new MDR-EX75 ($50) has been designed to strike a happy medium in performance and style between the company's lower-cost -EX50 and higher-priced -EX80 and -EX90 earphone families. With metal and glossy plastic body styling similar in materials to the MDR-EX85 we've recently reviewed, but an in-canal form factor more like the MDR-EX55, this new model comes with a hard plastic carrying…
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James Randi on Clarke, Kubrick, and Jobs
Sure-fire DF material: James Randi talks about his friend Arthur C. Clarke, including an aside comparing Stanley Kubrick to Steve Jobs. (Thanks to Andy Herbert.) ★
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Thursday's Options Outlook: AAPL, TASR, IVN, ZMH, AMR, ABB, VIX
Apple Inc. (AAPL) – There had been some fears for sales of iPhones, Mac notepads and iPods heading into last night’s earnings from the company. As such, implied options volatility was high at 59%. The relief, while it hasn’t done much for Apple shares, which are up 2.7% at $167.29, is most noticeable in the 30% slide in volatility to 40%. That happens to be bang in line with the historical volatility reading on the share price. Looking at the closing price of the May 160 strike straddle ahead of earnings, investors were braced for a 20.20 shift in the share price. Today the loss of implied volatility has broken the back of that same straddle as a veil of uncertainty is lifted from the consumer outlook thanks to Apple’s revelations of full steam ahead for the consumer. The straddle today costs 14.30 indicating a likely range for the shares into expiration next month between $146.70 to $174.30.
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Afloat 2.0 brings transparency, window-management features
Wish you had more control over your windows and the ability to make them disappear? Afloat's got you covered.Read More...
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Another Apple shareholder files backdating lawsuit
Filed under: Misc. GadgetsAfter the SEC more or less cleared Apple of those pesky backdating charges and a California court dismissed a shareholder class-action lawsuit accusing the company of improper accounting procedures, it looked like the good times were over, but fear not: another institutional investor has filed suit against Apple alleging the company cooked the books. The Boston Retirement Board filed suit in the Santa Clara County Superior Court, saying that it has investigated the matter and turned up even more evidence, which it can't reveal until the court decides how to handle confidential information. All it will say is that it has proof that "all of Apple's directors were aware of and participated in the backdating scheme," which isn't really new news -- and we're wondering what new information could have turned up that the SEC didn't find in its lengthy, much-watched investigation. Still, it looks like this is the story that won't go away -- anyone ready for some hot accounting nights?Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Apple earnings get big lift from Mac sales
Apple Inc. said second-quarter profit rose 36% from a year ago as revenue climbed above $7 billion on strong sales of Macintosh PCs and iPhones.
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More Apple patents involve portable devices, touch screens
Posted by Dennis SellersA plethora of Apple patents involving portable multifunction devices and touch screens have popped up at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office.
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Blitzkrieg game added to Deliver2Mac download service
Posted by Dennis SellersVirtual Programming's digital download service, Deliver2Mac, recently added Blitzkrieg to its list of downloadable titles, reports Inside Mac Games. The World War II real time strategy title allows players to control a variety of units, weapons, and vehicles in campaigns spanning more than 80 missions.
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Analysts keen on the Mac, iPhone
Posted by Dennis Sellers Following Apple's record-setting quarter report on Wednesday, report on Wednesday, Needham & Company Analyst Charles Wolf says the big news is the 51 percent growth in Mac sales.
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Tip: Save QuickTime 7 movies to disk without a Pro key
macosxhints.com describes a handy way to save downloaded QuickTime 7 movies without a Pro key. It works by exploiting in combination two trivial bugs in QuickTime Player: Bug #1: Cut remains enabled in the contextual menu even without a Pro key The Cut feature, the one that lets you cut a portion of the movie to the clipboard, is disabled in the main menu when you don't have a Pro key, but it remains enabled in the contextual menu. Press Command-X to cut and you'll see the you need to upgrade to QuickTime Pro dialog, but control-click to choose Cut from the contextual menu and everything works fine: no dialog, and the current selection gets cut from the movie onto the clipboard. This sets the stage for the second bug. Bug #2: Closing a modified movie displays a Save As dialog even without a Pro key The Save command is disabled in the File menu if you don't have a Pro key, so Command-S won't work. But when you're closing a modified movie, you'll still see the Save As dialog. And there's the connection: since the first bug let you modify the movie—you cut a frame—the second bug displays the Save As… dialog when you attempt to close the window. This combination lets you successfully save the movie. Humorous, and perhaps embarrassing for some Apple engineer, at least until Apple gets around to fixing it. But that tip was posted on macosxhints.com two years ago and the bugs still haven't been fixed.
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Leopard mauls podcaster (updated)
For weeks I’ve been bedeviled by an audio bug on my MacBook Pro. The symptoms include poor audio quality by recipients of a Skype call using a USB microphone. While that may sound like an obscure bug, it affects one particular vertical market the hardest – podcasters. Skype is the de facto standard software for podcasters [...]
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Incase Hardshell Case
Between A Mac and A Hard Case
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dvGarage releases dpMatte greenscreen keyer for Aperture 2.1
Posted by Dennis SellersdvGarage has released dpMatte,” a greenscreen keyer for Apple's Aperture 2.1. Based on technology used in dvGarage's existing keyer, dvMatte, the new background replacement tool is the first plug-in to be released using Aperture's new software development kit (SDK).
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Hercules DJ Console Rmx available
Posted by Dennis SellersHercules, a DJ entertainment specialist, has released the Hercules DJ Console Rmx, a digital audio console designed for mobile and advanced DJs. The audio console, supplied with a carrying bag, retails for $349.
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Eudora 'clone and successor' coming May 12
Posted by Dennis SellersSince Qualcomm has stopped development of Eudora and made it open source, Data Systems is writing Odysseus, “the true Eudora clone and successor.”
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Department of Defense unhappy with Apple's acquisition of PA Semi?
Posted by Dennis SellersApple may have irked the U.S. Department of Defense following its announced acquisition of PA Semi, according to the EETimes.
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Note from the Flack family posted at 'MacMinute'
Posted by Dennis SellersThere's a letter from Julie McKenna, the sister of the late Stan Flack, at MacMinute about her brother and the future of the site.
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Tech Stocks: Apple gains lead tech turnaround
Technology stocks find their footing as gains from Apple Inc. and LSI Corp. lead the sector north and the earnings focus turns toward Microsoft Corp.
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Get widgets for your iPhone from Widgetbox
Filed under: iPod Family, iPhoneMy name is Lisa and I'm a widget junkie. I love having widgets of all kinds on my iMac -- even things like the Ski Report (I live in Florida), ESPN (it's not football season), and Flight Tracker (I rarely fly). I even have similar ones (though Apple calls them webapps) on my iPod Touch. Since I've exhausted all the webapps for the touch that I'm interested in, I was glad to hear Widgetbox announced a gallery of widgets just for iPhone and the iPod touch users. Check it out via any browser, or right from your iPhone.Now, most widgets are Flash-based, but these aren't and therefore don't use Apple's SDK, but they're cool and work well nevertheless. Among my favorites are the Yahoo! News RSS feeds, Random Quote Generator, and the Flickr slideshow.While there's not a ton of widgets available just yet, there are around 32,000 developers in the Widgetbox community so I suspect the gallery will be populated pretty quickly. There's even a short video tutorial on how to make the iPhone widgets, in case you're curious -- or motivated.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Richie Ramone's lawsuit against Apple, others dismissed
Ex-Ramones drummer Richard Reinhardt filed a lawsuit against Apple and several others for copyright infringement last year, but the suit has now been dismissed because the retailers did, in fact, have distribution rights.Read More...
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iPhone battery life redialed
See how the iPhone’s battery life might not be what you expect—at least under one set of unusual circumstances.
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iPhone battery life redialed
See how the iPhone’s battery life might not be what you expect—at least under one set of unusual circumstances.
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Boston Retirement Board files lawsuit against Apple
Posted by Dennis SellersAnother Apple shareholder has filed a lawsuit in California seeking to prove that the company's directors wasted more than US$105 million on the extra value of backdated stock options granted to CEO Steve Jobs, reports FindLaw.
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Jobs, Apple Brass Summoned to Testify in Backdating Suit
The Boston Retirement Board is pursuing a stock option backdating lawsuit against Apple, and has issued summons to testify to CEO Steve Jobs as well as several other current and former board members from the company. The suit alleges that the company's accounting practices cost over $105 million in extra value for backdated stock options issued to Jobs. Along with Jobs, William Campbell, Millard Drexler, Arthur Levinson, Jerome York, Gareth Chang, Edgar Wollard, Fred Anderson and Nancy Heinen have all been summoned to testify in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara.
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Hawking Tech rolls out Mac compatible wireless networking adapter
Posted by Dennis SellersHawking Technologies has announced the US$109.99 HWDN1A Hi-Gain USB Wireless-300N Adapter, a Mac compatible wireless networking adapter. It purportedly extends your wireless network six times and boosts your data throughput 12 times.
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MySpace web app on the iPhone
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Multimedia, Software, Developer, iPhoneJake Marsh sent along this neat screencast of an iPhone web app for MySpace that he's working on. Facebook basically seems to be the gold standard of social networking web apps these days, and this looks basically just like that one. It is cool that you can look up people right away, but the real improvements are on MySpace's Music pages -- not only can you subscribe directly from the profile, but he's also got it working to play all the music there (usually trapped in Flash, though there is a less easy way around it already). He also says that it might eventually be possible, for songs that are available for download, to get them with one click into the iPhone's iPod library.Yes, it looks just like Facebook (in fact, it looks like a rip of the mobile site), but why fix something that's not broken? Unfortunately, Marsh is just showing off -- he says that it's just for him right now and he's aiming for an open beta in August. He should probably aim for a little sooner than that: after June, we might all be saying "what web apps?"Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Common Criteria Tools help Leopard meet security standards
Common Criteria is an important, internationally-approved IT security standard. Apple has now released the tools to help admins make sure Leopard conforms to those standards.Read More...
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Apple Earnings Sweet in Sour Economic Times
Mac, iPod and iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) reported a very strong quarter for the 3 months which ended in March. The sheer numbers were staggering: $1.16/share in profit on $7.5Billion in revenue. This compares with analyst expectations of $1.06/share profits on $6.9Billion in revenue. Apple beat on both the top and bottom line but investors aren't yet sure where to go given guidance and a wavering US economy. Apple showed its ability to grow in tougher economic times due to their innovative products, brand value and successful retail integration. A year ago Apple earned $0.87, which represents 33% growth on an EPS basis. The big deal here is over 50% growth in Mac sales to almost 2.3Million units in the quarter. The quarter also included flat iPod unit sales of 10.6Million and very good iPhone sales of 1.7Million units. Margins were good for the company, as memory prices continued to hit lows. The company guided for earnings of $1.00/share for the next quarter amid steady guidance as component costs will continue to be favorable, according to the company. News on the iPhone front? All those shortages we've been hearing about that led to speculation of an upcoming 3G model? Seemed to be just that, shortages due to higher than expected demand. Of course unlocking is a big deal and while the company is using the unlocking argument to peg worldwide demand, the sheer percentage of iPhones being bought to be unlocked has to be very high. Although no numbers are given by the company, some outside analysts and reports have pegged unlocked devices as high as 30% of units. The focus for analysts for this quarter was on Macs and iPhones and according to management, growth rates for both revenue streams are very high. Mac sales of almost 2.3Million units are very strong, coming very close to the record sales number posted by the company for the previous holiday quarter. Sales growth rates in all regions are strong and once again sales of Macs in Apple's retail stores, 50% of the time, went to first time Mac buyers. That old faithful Halo Effect is at work once again. On the iPhone front, the company has added some complications to revenue going forward due to accounting issues. The company will not recognize any revenue from iPhone sales from after the iPhone 2.0 Software upgrade announcement until the software is delivered. Essentially meaning next quarter numbers for the company will include ZERO dollars in iPhone revenue since the company expects to release the software near the end of June. This will put pressure on margins and the top line numbers when doing comparisons, but will add an additional bump to the following several quarters. The company will recognize this window on an adjusted basis for the full 2 years as with normal iPhone purchases. The company reiterated its internal goal of selling 10Million units in 2008 and their strategy of being in Asia this year. On the retail side, Apple continues to be the best revenue per square foot retailer in the world. The company plans to open several high profile stores in the remainder of the year, and its "Store within a Store" concept and increased presence at Best Buy (BBY) stores has grown to 400 stores. When all is said and done, it is another fantastic quarter for the electronics maker. Analysts and traders who are still trying to figure out where to go from here consider that Apple's stock has grown from $120 to $160 in the past few weeks. However, without a shadow of a doubt, this company is continuing to grow, has some very exciting events and products in the pipeline, and has the potential to drastically expand market share in the computer and cellphone business segments. All sign can be used to justify further share price gains throughout the year. The company added about $1Billion in sheer cash, putting its war chest at about $19.5Billion. Not too shabby a rainy day fund I'd say. Disclosure: Author owns AAPL
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MythTV now interfacing with iPhone, no jailbreak required
Have a MythTV box and an iPhone? Now you can stream your shows to the iPhone using a handy PHP backend, and you don't even have to jailbreak your iPhone in order to use it.Read More...
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Stream TV to your iPhone with MythTV iPhone FrontEnd
MythTV is great Linux-based, Tivo-like, software that allows you to build your own DVR. It has a great community online building a variety of plug-ins, themes, and other features. The latest of which, is an iPhone FrontEnd. Users have the ability to browse recorded shows, view program information, and stream videos to their iPhone. You can watch a demonstration video below: If you're a MythTV user, you can click here to download the iPhone software for your MythTV box. If not, you can get started with MythTV on their official site, right here.
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Backstage: MacBook Air Sales, Decoded: “Successful,” Not “Thrilling,” Means…
Those accustomed to hearing Apple executives discuss sales performance of new products are familiar with certain restrictions: the company rarely breaks out model-by-model sales for individual new releases, instead issuing only broad sales figures for categories such as “Mac desktops,” “Mac portables,” “iPods,” and “iPhones.” Then, in quarterly conference calls with financial analysts, its executives…
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VMware Fusion 1.1.2 adds Time Machine support
Filed under: Software, SwitchersOver on the blog for VMware Fusion, they've announced the release of version 1.1.2 which adds support for Time Machine backups of your virtual machines. Apparently 10.5.2 fixed some problem that prevented virtual machines from being backed up properly and they have now enabled it. They warn, however, that since Time Machine backs up anything that changes, and virtual machines tend to be rather large, you may want to exclude certain virtual machines to avoid losing too much space on your backup drive. The new version also adds support for the MacBook Air (fixing a problem with the virtual drive), Windows XP SP3 Boot Camp partitions, and simplified Chinese, as well as quashing various bugs.VMware Fusion 1.1.2 is a free update for registered users and $79.99 otherwise.Thanks to everyone who sent this in!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Resolve a ssh public key connectivity issue
Last night, I was setting up password-free SSH connections (using, basically, the information in this ancient hint) between my machines here in the house -- at some point during all the 10.5 upgrading, I'd broken it between a couple of the boxes. Everything worked fine on the mini and the MacBook Pro, and when connecting from the Mac Pro to the other machines. Connecting to the Mac Pro, however, still required entering my password. I double and triple checked everything with the key files, tried RSA and DSA keys, and ran ssh in triple-debug (-vvv) mode. Nothing was any help at all. Turning to Google, I (ironically) found the solution right here on our own forum site -- in a thread that had been updated with the solution only a couple days ago. In a nutshell, the problem was that the permissions on my user'...
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Watch YouTube videos with QuickTime embedded player
Many (but not yet all) YouTube videos are available in higher-quality QuickTime versions, and many sites have published methods of downloading those higher quality versions. However, this blog post contains a slick bookmarklet that actually replaces the YouTube Flash video player with the embedded QuickTime player, then plays the high quality video in the QuickTime player. [robg adds: To use the bookmarklet, just drag it from the linked page to your bookmarks toolbar. Load a video in YouTube, then click the link in your toolbar. The page will then reload with the QuickTime player in place of the Flash player. (If you see the QuickTime logo with a question mark, this means that video isn't available in a high quality version.) The linked blog post has an easy-to-use drag-to-the-toolbar...
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10.5: Change the RSS refresh interval in Mail.app
You can change the interval that Mail.app waits before it refreshes RSS Feeds. In order to do this, open up a Finder window and go to /Applications » Mail. Control-click on Mail and pick Show Package Contents from the pop-up menu, then navigate into Content » Resources » English.lproj. Make a backup copy of the RSSPreferences.nib file you see there -- if something goes wrong, you'll want to have that copy to get things back to normal. Double-click on the RSSPreferences.nib file (you'll need to have the Developer Tools installed); this will open the file in Interface Builder. Double-click on the Check for Updates item, and select one of the drop-down menu items. Make a duplicate of this menu item from the Edit menu, then click on one of the duplicates. Go to the top and hit Tools and make sure the Item Attributes window is in your workspace. When the duplicat...
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Erase free disk space from the command line
It is possible to use Disk Utility to erase the free space on a disk. However, I had difficulty finding a command, such as hdiutil, to do it from the command line. One advantage of doing it from the command line is that it is easier to use cron or launchd to automate the process. It turns out the solution is relatively straightforward: cat /dev/zero > /private/tmp/junk; rm /private/tmp/junk The first part of the command will keep enlarging a file with zeros until disk space runs out. After an error, the second part will delete the empty file. Lather, rinse, repeat for extra security (7-pass, 35-pass Guttman). [robg adds: I haven't tested this one...however, I'd be somewhat cautious about using it on your boot drive. Running out of space on the boot drive -- even briefly -- may cause issues. If you know more about that possibility than I do, please comment!]
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Visual Ajax Studio comes to Mac thanks to new 3.2 release
WaveMaker has released version 3.2 of its free Visual Ajax Studio web development environment, which makes it now available for Macs running Leopard.Read More...
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Options Trader: Thursday Outlook
We’ve been testing the same levels all week. 12,700 has held up on the Dow, 1,375 in the S&P, 2,375 on the Nasdaq, 700 on the Russell and 372 on the SOX. These are all just the levels I said on Monday that we NEED to hold, so let’s not get excited but, as usual, Thursday is a rough day. This time we have a disappointing report from AMZN, who beat but lowered guidance, as did Apple (AAPL), who we couldn’t be happier with.
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Poll: what will be your next iPod purchase?
Posted by Dennis SellersIn our new Macsimum Poll, we want to know what will be the next iPod you purchase. The poll can be found on our home page, on the right side under the Macsimum Opinion column.
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Is Dell planning to buy RadioShack?
Posted by Dennis SellersThere are rumors that Dell plans to acquire Fort Worth-based RadioShack, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
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T-Mobile, AT&T—feel the love
Posted by Dennis SellersNice to see how T-Mobile and AT&T are working together during the hotspot change-over. This graphic is what you get when you go into Starbucks and use the WiFi.
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Apple releases fourth beta build of iPhone SDK
Posted by Dennis SellersApple has released a new beta build of the iPhone software development kit to registered developers—the fourth one, if you're counting.
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Apple releases 4th iPhone SDK and beta 2.0 firmware
Build 9M2165 of the iPhone SDK was released last night via Apple's iPhone DevCenter. OpenGL ES is now supported by the iPhone Simulator and a host of other improvements are included.Read More...
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New version of iPhone SDK adds Open GL ES support
The fourth beta version of the iPhone SDK was released yesterday. The update adds OpenGL ES support to the iPhone Simulator, which allows you to quickly build and test mobile applications and handheld games using OpenGL ES. It can be downloaded from the iPhone Dev Center now.
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Apple Shines on Earnings, Still Two Steps Ahead
Better than the result, is the "not crazy" reaction like a bunch of rabid coyotes, either up or down after hours. As expected Mac sales were simply ridiculous and the iPod and iPhone were good enough so people do not cry and sell the stock off 20%. Guidance was set low (AGAIN) but this is the Apple game. Whatever they say for guidance, they beat by 20-25 cents of late. Case in point, I wrote 3 months ago when they gave $0.94 EPS as their guidance Again, people may obsess over this, but this is the Wall Street game - under promise, over deliver. They say $0.94... which means $1.10 or so in dog years. So the stock will tank. We'll look back in 3 months and see they squashed the $0.94 estimate just like they squashed their $1.42 estimate 3 months ago. But none of that matters now of course as in a nervous market, people will find any excuse to call for End of Days.And what did they report? $1.16. So much for my $1.10... Yet the stock dropped 30-40% due to this "guidance" last time around (we took a big hit). Again, this shows you, you can be intellectually correct, nail a call, but still get destroyed short term by owning a stock and having the herd run over you. So now they have guided for $1.00 next quarter - in Apple speak that means $1.22 or so. At least the lemmings are taking it better this time around, since this "guidance" is below analysts estimates of $1.10. I liked everything about this report except for the gross margin degradation, down from both last quarter's 34.7% and last year's 35.1%% - no specific reason given in the earnings report so we'll have to listen to the conference call to find out. Everything else was quite spectacular for a company of this size. Whatever the spin is today, tomorrow or the next day (or where the stock goes) - this company is becoming the de facto entertainment (slash) fashion accessory company for the next generation. They are 2 steps ahead of everyone else. Period.
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Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News
Markets, economists predict Fed cut and pause. The Fed will most likely cut its target short-term rate by 0.25% to 2% next week, although it is also considering no change, Fed watcher Greg Ip says. A rate cut may also be accompanied by a signal of a pause as the Fed stands back and observes whether they've done enough to spur a second-half recovery, or perhaps too much. Futures markets anticipate a 0.25% cut and a pause. Colleges go to bat for students. Students have $6.7B less to borrow this year after student-lenders were hit by a credit crunch and a cut in loan subsidies. Schools are turning to the Education Department's Direct Loan Program. Foreclosure rescue plan moves forward. A House panel approved a $15B foreclosure package that will enable local governments to purchase foreclosed homes. Something's cooking at Wendy's. Sources say Wendy's (WEN) will announce a deal with activist investor Nelson Peltz today, the nature and price-tag of which remain a mystery. Peltz has been pressuring Wendy's to sell itself for a year, but the subsequent liquidity dry-up made it impossible to find a reasonable bid. Starbucks warns, shares slide. Starbucks (SBUX) lowered its Q2 and 2008 guidance, sending shares plunging 10.7% in AH trading. Starbucks now sees Q2 EPS of $0.15 vs. a consensus of $0.21, and a midsingle-digit percentage decline in U.S. comparable-store sales due to falling traffic. Given its YTD results and expectations of continued U.S. consumer weakness, it now expects 2008 EPS to be somewhat lower than the $0.87 it earned in 2007; consensus had been $0.97. CEO Howard Schultz's comeback plan has been the subject of some criticism. "Outside of maybe closing underperforming stores, a lot of the stuff he talked about was kind of touchy-feely stuff, like bringing back the spirit of Starbucks. A lot of that stuff is hard to drop to the bottom line," one analyst said. Toyota (TM) posted a 3% global sales gain in Q1, but fell 6% in the U.S. Through March, Toyota sold 2.41M vehicles to GM's (GM) 2.25M. GE scoops up debt at discount. General Electric's (GE) Real Estate unit bought a €1.22B ($2.5B) European commercial property loan portfolio at a discount from Capmark Europe. The discount is said to be about 8%. Shanghai soars. Shanghai jumped 9.29% after Beijing cut taxes on stock transactions. "My estimation is that investors may save about 120 billion yuan in stamp duties in the coming 12 months. Some of this money will slosh in the markets instead, pushing up prices," an analyst said. Second-half bounce? David McCormick, the Treasury's Under Secretary for International Affairs, said Thursday the U.S. may improve slightly in the second half due to the $150B fiscal stimulus program which will help create 500,000 new jobs. Earnings Apple (AAPL): FQ2 EPS of $1.16 beats consensus of $1.07. Revenue of $7.51B vs. consensus of $6.96B. Apple sees Q3 EPS of about $1.00, less than consensus of $1.10, and revenue of about $7.2B, in line. Gross margin fell to 32.9% from 35.1% Y/Y. Mac shipments soared 51% from a year ago, and now account for 47% of AAPL's total revenue. It sold 1.7M iPhones, in line with estimates. iPod sales were up just 1% to 10.6M. Shares are down 0.8% in pre-market trading. "The Mac business is on fire," Piper Jaffray's Gene Muster said. But "investors wanted more of the phenomenal revenue flowing through to the bottom line." Aetna (AET): Q1 EPS of $0.92 in line. Revenue of $7.74B in line. Sees 2008 EPS of about $4.00 in line. Allstate (ALL): Q1 EPS of $1.33 misses consensus of $1.63. Revenue $8.09B vs. consensus of $8.87B. Amazon.com (AMZN): Q1 EPS of $0.34 beats consensus of $0.32. Revenue of $4.13B vs. consensus of $4.08B. Sees Q2 sales $3.875-4.075M, better than consensus of $3.84B. AstraZeneca (AZN): Q1 EPS of $1.28 beats consensus of $1.19. Revenue of $7.67B vs. consensus of $7.55B. Sees 2008 EPS of $4.45-$4.75, better than consensus of $4.28. Black & Decker (BDK): Q1 EPS of $1.09 falls short of consensus of $1.14. Revenue of $1.49B was in line. Sees 2008 EPS of $5.25-5.65, short of consensus of $5.53. Bristol-Myers (BMY): Q1 EPS of $0.42 beats by a penny. Revenue of $5.18B in line. Reaffirms 2008 EPS guidance of $1.60-1.70 vs. consensus of $1.70. Canon (CAJ): Q1 profit fell 18.7% due to a slowing global economy and a stronger yen to ¥106.64B ($1.03B). Revenue was ¥1T ($9.77B). Canon lowered its full-year profit forecast to ¥500B from ¥520B, but still projects record earnings. Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG): Q1 EPS of $0.52 beats consensus of $0.48. Revenue of $305.3M vs. consensus of $298.4M. Expects 2008 comparable restaurant sales growth in the mid-single-digits. Citrix Systems (CTXS): Q1 EPS $0.35 just ahead of consensus of $0.34. Revenue of $377M vs. consensus of $372M. Sees Q2 EPS of $0.35-$0.38 and revenue of $380-390M, below consensus of $0.38 and $393M. Sees 2008 EPS of $1.54-$1.64 and revenue of $1.6-1.645B, way below consensus of $2.02. Credit Suisse (CS): Q1 net loss of CHF 2.15B after taking a CHF 5.3B ($5.2B) writedown on CDOs, LBO debt and mortgage-backed securities. Net revenue was CHF 3.02B, down 72%. "The number of times people have seen the light at the end of the tunnel it turned out to be a train coming down the tracks," CEO Brady Dougan said. CDO and leveraged-loan exposure was down considerably. "The fact that they have trimmed their exposure so dramatically is good, and to me means this is the last unprofitable quarter," Landsbanki Kepler analyst Dirk Becker said. Shares were up 2.1% in pre-market trading. Ford (F): Q1 EPS of $0.05, far better than the consensus of -$0.16. Revenue of $39.4B vs. consensus of $38.46B. CEO Alan Mulally said the remainder of year will be a challenge, but that he's cautiously optimistic. Dow Chemical (DOW): Q1 EPS of $0.99 beats consensus of $0.94. Revenue of $14.8B (+19%) vs. $13.61B consensus. Fortune Brands (FO): Q1 EPS of $0.75 misses consensus of $0.78. Revenue of $1.81B in line. Hertz Global (HTZ): Q1 EPS of $0.02 beats consensus of $0. Revenue of $2.04B vs. consensus of $1.94B. Sees 2008 EPS of $1.38-1.44 vs. consensus of $1.41, and revenue of $8.9-$9B vs. consensus of $8.94B L-3 (LLL): Q1 EPS of $1.54 beats consensus of $1.51. Revenue of $3.51B in line. Raises 2008 EPS outlook to $6.56-6.70 from $6.48-6.62; consensus was $6.58. Raised full-year revenue view to $14.5-14.7B from $14.2-14.4B; consensus was $14.45B. LSI Corp. (LSI): Q1 EPS of $0.10 beats consensus of $0.07. Revenue of $661M vs. consensus of $636M. Sees Q2 EPS of $0.08-0.12 and revenue of $650M-$680M, higher than consensus of $0.07 and $634.6M. 3M (MMM): Q1 EPS of $1.38 beats consensus of $1.35. Revenue of $6.5B vs. consensus $6.34B. Motorola (MOT): Q1 loss of $0.09/share, worse than consensus of $0.07. Revenue of $7.45B vs. consensus of $7.75B. Sees Q2 EPS of -$0.02-0.04 vs. consensus of $0.01. Newell Rubbermaid (NWL): Q1 EPS of $0.27 in line. Revenue of $1.43B in line. Newfield Exploration (NFX): Q1 EPS of $0.87 beats consensus of $0.73. Revenue of $515M vs. consensus of $442.66M. Nintendo (NTDOY): Full-year net profit increased 48% to ¥257.3B ($2.49B). Sales rose 73% to ¥1.67T. Nintendo has sold 24.5M Wiis vs. about 13M PlayStation 3s for Sony (SNE); it expects to sell another 25M in the coming year, but sees more modest growth (+26%) in net profit to ¥325B, an 8% increase in sales to ¥1.8T, and a 9% rise in operating profit to ¥530B. Nintendo is struggling with the yen's appreciation. Noble (NE): Q1 EPS of $1.43 beats consensus of $1.31. Revenue of $861M vs. consensus of $843M. NutriSystem (NTRI): Q1 EPS of $0.42 beats by $0.01. Revenue of $216.5M in line. Sees Q2 revenue of $180M-$190M in line. Sees 2008 revenue of $700M-$720M vs. consensus of $718.89M. PepsiCo (PEP): Q1 EPS of $0.70 was in line. Revenue of $8.33B vs. consensus $7.97B. Pepsi expects 3-5% volume growth in 2008. Potash (POT): Q1 EPS of $1.74 beats consensus of $1.52. Revenue of $1.8B vs. consensus of $1.67B. Sees Q2 EPS of $2.20-2.50, better than consensus of $2.27. Potash raised its 2008 EPS forecast to $9.50-10.50 from $6.25-$7.25, vs. consensus of $8.62. Shares are up 3.9% in the pre-market. Pulte Homes (PHM): Q1 EPS of -$2.75, worse than consensus of -$0.77. Revenue of $1.4B in line. Pulte took a $664M charge related to inventory impairments and other land-related charges. Raytheon (RTN): Q1 EPS of $0.92 beat consensus of $0.84. Revenue of $5.35M vs. consensus of $5.12B. Sees 2008 EPS of $3.65-3.80, below consensus of $3.89, and revenue of $22.4-$22.9B vs. consensus of $22.82B. QUALCOMM (QCOM): FQ2 EPS of $0.54 beats consensus of $0.52. Revenue of $2.61B vs. consensus of $2.5B. Sees Q3 EPS of $0.50-0.52, in line, and revenue of $2.5-$2.7B vs. consensus of $2.47B. Starwood Hotels (HOT): Q1 EPS of $0.42 beats consensus of $0.25. Revenue of $1.46B vs. consensus $1.24B. Sees 2008 EPS of $2.40-2.58 vs. consensus of $2.42. Taser (TASR): Q1 EPS of $0.02, short of consensus of $0.05. Revenue of $22.5M vs. consensus of $26M. Whirlpool (WHR): Q1 EPS of $1.22 falls short of consensus of $1.57. Revenue of $4.61B vs. consensus of $4.46B. Sees 2008 EPS of $7.00-$7.50, well below consensus of $8.58. Today's Markets In Asia Thursday, Shanghai soared 9.29% to 3,583. Things were otherwise tame: Hang Seng +1.55%. Nikkei -0.28%. BSE Sensex +0.14%. In Europe, markets are down sharply at midday. FTSE -1.97% to 5,963. CAC -1.41% to 4,875. DAX -0.87% to 6,736. U.S. index futures are lower at 7:40 AM. Dow -0.38% to 12,700. S&P -0.45% to 1,373. Nasdaq -0.52% to 1,895. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only seconds to sign up.
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Let Them Eat Toast
I have written a lot about the Apple TV. I've written about updates, I've pointed to stories and reviews, and I've discussed the compression issues related to getting HD content into the customer's Apple TV via the Internet. All along the way, I've resisted buying one for several reasons. I didn't think much of the content selection, I was trying to avoid another "buy the box then pay for the content" syndrome, and finally, I was using an iPod nano 3G to physically move content from my Mac to my HD TV system's A/V receiver input, and that seemed good enough.
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Movers & Shakers: Thursday's biggest gaining and declining stocks
Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Thursday’s session are Amazon, Apple, Chipotle, CNH, Dow Chemical Insight, Lam Research, Nash Finch, Newell Rubbermaid, Ryland, Starbucks, Terex and Whirlpool.
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Mac OS Ken: 04.24.2008
It's all about the earnings baby! Apple reports its best March quarter in the its history. And that's it. Well, that and punch lines to dirty jokes part 2.
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News: Apple releases fourth iPhone SDK beta, adds OpenGL ES support
Apple has released its fourth update to the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK) beta, which adds OpenGL ES support to the iPhone Simulator application, amongst other improvements. The new release, which is available as a free download for registered iPhone developers from the iPhone Dev Center, is a 1.15GB download, and is listed as build 9M2165, beta 4. Apple has posted complete release notes here. We will update this story with any new information…
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Indications: U.S. stock futures lower after Amazon, Starbucks results
U.S. stock futures headed lower on Thursday before another wave of earnings reports, with worries about earnings growth for Amazon.com, Apple and Starbucks denting sentiment.