Archive for December, 2007
Warner Music Group Go DRM Free With Amazon Online Store
In a surprise move Warner Music Group have announced that they are going to be selling DRM free music tracks through a deal with Amazons Online Music store. AppleInsider have the following coverage of the announcment.
Walt Mossberg Reviews Dell One PC
Over at All Things Digital Walt Mossberg has a review of Dells new all in one PC called the One. Surprisingly he gives this new Vista based PC a reasonable review comparing it directly to Apples iMac range. Ultimately the One doesn’t quite match up to Apples offering however, missing out in the areas of bundled software, security and cost. Still it is the first Windows based all in one machine that comes even close to the iMac.
Xcode 3 Tutorials Still Based On Xcode 2
Once upon a time, a long while ago, I was a programmer… Coding was once my favourite pastime and was something I spent most of my time doing, then promotions came along and gradually took me away from the thing I enjoyed doing most and into IT management. As I say that was a long time ago, and over recent years I have found myself wanting to renew my passion and have a play around with the latest development tools.
Since owning a Mac I have been meaning to have a look at Xcode, and this week finally got around to loading Xcode 3 onto my Leopard based iMac. Installing Xcode is straightfoward, either download it from Apple ( you need to join the Apple Developer Connection at http://developer.apple.com first, but this is free ) or install it from your original OS X install DVD. I decided to have a go at loading Xcode 3 although I could also have downloaded and installed Xcode 2.5. Once installed launching Xcode takes you through a very simple setup after which you are greeted with a Welcome to Xcode window that contains links to Getting Started Guides, Documentation, Mailing Lists and more.
Shocking News
I just found out that a guy I was at school with is currently serving life in prison for murdering his flat mate ! Gary was apparently an alcoholic and killed his friend and fellow alcoholic during a drunken altercation in January 2005. This has really shocked me, Gary was a real nice bloke and my thoughts go out to him. Another example of the damage that alcohol has on people on a daily basis.
Things – The Latest Mac GTD App
Things is the latest in a long line of GTD apps for Mac for organising tasks and projects and getting your “things” out of your head and into a trusted system. This app is very definitely a Mac app, clean, slick and entirely appropriate for the task it is designed for, no more no less.
Things is still in alpha stage and access to the download page is still by invite only, however unlike in a number of recent new Mac products you can register to be part of the alpha/beta testing and do not need to beg for invites on forums from those who have been lucky enough to receive an invite already.
Leopard Tips : Showing More Info In Airport Menu
Leopard introduced a change to the default Airport Menu which indicates whether networks are encrypted or not by showing a small padlock next to the network name. It now has an option that shows additional information for the currently connected wireless network. To access this press and hold the Option key ( alt ) while clicking on the Airport icon in the Menu Bar. You should see a menu that looks a bit like the one below. This shows the channel used, MAC address of access point connected to signal noise and transmit rate.
McDonald’s Offers Free WiFi In The UK ?
Now I am not sure if this is just me and I somehow missed the big announcement but who else knew that McDonalds restaurants in England now have FREE WiFi ?
This one really slipped by my radar. I knew that a lot of McD’s had BT Openzone Hot spots, but not being interested in spending £6 per hour for Internet access I had not really considered that McDonalds would be positioning themselves ahead of the game in the “WiFi while you eat” market place. It appears I was wrong and in many outlets The Cloud now offers free WiFi to customers, all that is required to get access is that you fill out a form with name, post code and email address ( presumably for customer stats ) and you are away.
iChat and PhotoBooth Effects Site
QuartzFX.com is a new site which has a small number of add on effects for iChat and PhotoBooth in OS X Leopard. The Invisible effect is pretty nice. Worth a look
Zune 8 Vs iPod Nano Comparison
Posted by Scott in Asides, Microsoft, iPod/iTunes on December 6, 2007
Roughly Drafted have an excellent blow by blow comparison of the new Zune 8 and the iPod Nano, including an in depth look at the Zune software in comparison with iTunes. Well worth a read.
Get Your iPod Touch Microphone Now !
Posted by Scott in Apple, iPod/iTunes on December 6, 2007
It appears that VoIP apps just took a step closer to being a reality for iPod Touch owners. Over at iPod Touch Mods a bunch of hackers have been beavering away trying to produce a plugin dock microphone that will bring voice recording to the Touch and it appears from this article that they have got a working product now.
The article is short on precise details of cost or how to order but does include an email address to contact. I have been in touch already and received a very prompt reply.
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