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 | £1,999.00
(£1,701.28 ex VAT)
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| MacBook Pro At a Glance
• 15.4- or 17-inch widescreen display
• Up to 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo
• 667MHz frontside bus and main memory
• PCI Express architecture
• Up to 120GB Serial ATA hard drive
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 with up to 256MB memory on 16-lane PCI Express
• ExpressCard/34 slot
• Dual-link DVI, VGA adaptor included
• FireWire 400, FireWire 800 (17-inch only) and USB 2.0 ports
• Optical digital and analogue audio I/O, built-in microphone and stereo speakers
• Slot-loading SuperDrive
• Illuminated keyboard, Scrolling TrackPad
• Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11g), Bluetooth 2.0+EDR and Gigabit Ethernet
• Mac OS X Tiger with iLife ’06 featuring iWeb, iWork ’06 trial and more
• MagSafe Power Adaptor
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 | Steve Ballmer talks Apple.
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| Steve Ballmer was interviewed by German newspaper "Die WELT" and answered questions about Apple and his thoughts about running Windows on a Mac. After asking Steve if he has a "Apple Computer", he says that he does not have a Mac nor a iPod. " Of course, I have to know the devices. We have to know what the competitors do".
Die WELT: But couldn't you just buy a Mac without hesitation since Apple opened up their machines for Windows?
Ballmer: No, we prefer real PCs.
Die WELT: Was it a satisfaction that Apple had to give in?
Ballmer: Honestly, I don't think that it is that important. Actually, it is relatively expensive if a user gets a separate Windows OS for his Mac. Not a lot of people will do this.
Die WELT: Apple is leading in the Music business as well. Does this bother you?
Ballmer: No question, it would have been better if the iPod would have been a Microsoft invention. The device is really popular. Apple didn't invent anything new. They just combined existing technologies in a smart way. They succeeded to create a nice package which bundles Music services, devices and software.
Die WELT: Is Apple's success reason enough to copy them?
Ballmer: This wasn't the last word in this competition. Over the next years, a lot of things will happen in the market of portable devices. Who wants to carry different devices to listen to Music, to play games, to take pictures or to communicate with others? A small, integrated device will master many functions. We won't be simply watching this development.
Die WELT: Could your company create such a do-it-all device?
Ballmer: We are open when it comes to build hardware if it is necessary to sell software. A good example is the Xbox. So far we thougth the Xbox is rather the exception than the rule. But we became more open for the exceptions.
Die WELT: Is Apple unbeatable?
Ballmer: Which company would be able to compete with Apple at these days? It can only be Microsoft or Apple stays without any serious competitor. I think, everybody deserves some competition.
Die WELT: Wouldn't it be smarter to team up with established hardware manufacturers?
Ballmer: While we do one thing, we shouldn't prevent something else. We will continue to work with manufacturers for cell phones, PDAs and also PCs. But every now and then, where it makes sense, Microsoft could build its own devices. We will let you know what they will look like when the time is ready.
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| Apple new patents:
1. Wireless iPods and TVs
A patent originally filed with the United States Patent and Trademark office on Oct. 25, 2004 and published on Thursday describes a wireless network in which data and images can be transfered wirelessly from a digital music player to a TV or from a host machine to a digital music player.
In the filing, titled "Image scaling arrangement," Apple describes the invention as "methods and system for transferring images between devices is disclosed. For example, differently scaled images by a host device may automatically and/or selectively be transferred to a media player for display. In turn, appropriately scaled images may be transferred automatically and/or selectively to another display device for example a TV, camera or printer. The selectivity may occur either at the host level or at the player level."
2. iChat whiteboard
Last week, a patent filing credited to Apple Computer and titled "Method and apparatus for establishing communication between two teleconferencing endpoints" turned up at the European Patent Office.
The filing is being discussed heavily on the Internet as it includes diagrams that suggest Apple could be working on a virtual whiteboard technology that may eventually make its way into applications such as iChat.
In addition to chat and video conferencing windows, figures in the filing appear to show a live communication window in which the residing media content can be manipulated in real-time by parties on both ends of the communication spectrum.
"Such applications sometimes also include data sharing wherein various types of data such as documents, spreadsheets, graphic data, or other types of data, can be shared and manipulated by all participants in the teleconference," Apple software engineers explained in the "Background" to the filing.
3. Integrated sensing display
Another Apple patent filing -- originally overlooked by the media -- has alos suddenly garnered attention from various online outlets. The filing, titled "Integrated sensing display," was first filed on Jun. 21, 2004 and later published on Jan. 12, 2006.
In the filing, Apple engineers describe a new kind of computer display that can simultaneously take photos while displaying media on the screen.
The idea behind the invention is to wedge thousands of microscopic image sensors between the LCD cells that make up the display. Each sensor would be responsible for capturing a piece of the overall photo. These pieces would then almost instantly be pieced together by software to form a complete image.
4. Virtual keys of a touch-screen virtual keyboard
Yet another recent patent filing -- credited to familiar Apple fellows Bas Ording and Andre Bartley -- is titled "Activating virtual keys of a touch-screen virtual keyboard."
The invention in the Sept. 16, 2005 filing is described as "a method of operating a touch screen to activate one of a plurality of virtual keys is provided. A touch location is determined based on location data pertaining to touch input on the touch screen, wherein the touch input is intended to activate one of the plurality of virtual keys. Each of the plurality of virtual keys has a set of at least one key location corresponding to it. For each of the virtual keys, a parameter (such as physical distance) is determined for that virtual key that relates the touch location and the set of at least one key location corresponding to that virtual key. The determined parameters are processed to determine one of the virtual keys. For example, the determined one virtual key may be the virtual key with a key location (or more than one key location, on average) being closest to the touch location. A signal is generated indicating activation of the determined one of the virtual keys."
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| Extra Leopard rumours
1. Completely revamped Finder. We’re learning that not only is Leopard’s Finder entirely redesigned, but most of the Finder is being rewritten. Additions to the Finder include Smart Folders where the content of a folder is viewable at a glance by control-(right) clicking on the folder to reveal a hierarchical tree (directory) of the contents. Significant speed improvements are also being made to the Finder, particularly in resizing windows. There is also information we gathered that the windows will be resizable from any side by dragging that side. If true, this would be a first for Macintosh and a page from Microsoft’s Windows operating system.
2. Prefetching. This is a process in which the operating system loads key pieces of data and code from disk into memory before it's actually needed. Rumors have been circulating that Apple may introduce a flash-based laptop which would take advantage of prefetching. Of note, Windows XP already takes advantage of prefetching and is being implemented into Windows Vista.
3. Improvements are being made to Voice Recognition, Speech, Optical Character Recognition, and Inkwell, Apple’s handwriting recognition software. This is part of an overall push to promote a more handicap-friendly Macintosh in Leopard.
4. Telephony Application. Strong information coming in suggests that Apple is developing a new telephony application into Leopard. Features include on-screen Caller ID, desktop dialing, speakerphone, and voicemail. Users will be able to access numbers from their Address Book, cellphone (iPhone) via Bluetooth, among others. The application is said to be simple, visual, and similar to iChat, if notintegrated into iChat.
5. Tight integration of Spotlight into the Finder. Shown in the patent above, Spotlight will see an overhaul and gel better with the Finder rather than act as a separate application. Results will be far easier to sort and searches will be stored in the history. New information also points to the Spotlight preference pane including an internet feature which would allow users to perform a search on the web without launching a browser. Speed is also said to be 2 - 3x faster than the current offering.
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| Jobs Not Interested in Joining Walt Disney
CUPERTINO, CALIF. — Apple Computer Inc. CEO Steve Jobs said Thursday he had no interest in becoming an executive at The Walt Disney Co., which will soon complete its acquisition of Jobs' other company, Pixar Animation Studios Inc.
In fact, Jobs told shareholders he plans to spend more time at Apple after he relinquishes his chief executive job at Pixar when the studio's merger with Disney closes in two weeks.
Disney's upcoming, $7.4 billion purchase of Pixar will land Jobs a seat on the Disney board and make him the company's largest shareholder.
The pending union has generated speculation about whether Jobs would want ever want to lead Disney given his growing influence in digital media with Pixar's blockbuster movie successes and Apple's iconic iPod media player and iTunes Music Store franchises.
A shareholder at the annual meeting at Apple's headquarters asked Jobs if he had any interest in becoming the Michael Eisner of Disney, referring to the company's former longtime CEO, and Jobs quipped he did not want to be Eisner.
A feud between the two executives nearly threatened the profitable relationship between Pixar and Disney before Jobs hammered out the Disney-Pixar acquisition deal in January with Eisner's replacement, Robert Iger.
Taking a more serious tone, Job said of the merger: "It's not because I want to be a senior manager at Disney. I don't want to do that." Jobs added that he thought Iger "is the best person to run Disney."
Jobs said he understood concerns that he would soon be spending more time at Disney, but "that couldn't be further from the truth," he said. "It'll require less of my time than Pixar did."
While Jobs publicly dismissed any notion of becoming a Disney executive, it remains unclear whether he could become Disney's chairman. Current Chairman George Mitchell is likely to retire next year when his term expires.
In January, Jobs said he does not see himself becoming Disney's chairman, although he did not explicitly rule it out.
"I think there are people that can do a better job at that than me," Jobs told The Associated Press on the day the Disney-Pixar acquisition was announced. "My interest is really just being on the board and helping Bob make this combination super successful and helping him in any other way he asks me to."
Jobs' remarks Thursday were good news to George Caldwell, owner of a llama ranch in Sonora, Calif. and a longtime Apple shareholder.
"It was reassuring to hear that he was going to spend more time at Apple," Caldwell said. "I'm issuing a buy order to my friends now."
Also Thursday, Apple said a preliminary tally of votes showed that its shareholders re-elected the company's seven board members and rejected a proposal by environmental advocates to study how Apple could improve its recycling program.
Shares of Apple rose $1.21, or 1.8 percent, to close at $69.36 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
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| BBC launch new disability Podcast.
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"You're so special we've made a podcast for you"
• Get listening NOW!
Actor Mat Fraser and comedian Liz Carr are back with the second edition of our monthly disability talk show. Listen on your computer, listen online, or download it onto your iPod or MP3 player and listen to it on the move. But whatever you do - just listen to it!
On this month's podcast:
• Mat and Liz shoot the breeze about blagging stuff for free (shock, horror), and about how poor disabled folk are put on this Earth in order to teach others how to love (bless).
• An interview with Liam O'Carroll, a blind waiter from the new London restaurant Dans le Noir. Just what are the customers getting up to in the dark as they experience what it's like to 'eat blind'?
• Another outing for our fiendishly unpleasant quiz, Vegetable, Vegetable or Vegetable. Can Mat and Liz guess 'what's up with' a genuinely disablified member of the public on the end of the phone?
• Plus, music from the 1st Chancers, a rap group made up of people with learning difficulties based at Hammersmith & Fulham Action on Disability (HAFAD).
What they're saying about The Ouch Podcast:
"I don't know whether John Reith, the founding director of the BBC, quite had that in mind when he first poured over the Royal Charter" - Gareth Mitchell, the presenter of Digital Planet on the BBC World Service.
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| Mention next week's "Mac Users with a disability" special.
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| Steve Jobs Fires Someone In His Sleep.
According to sources in Apple’s product marketing division, analyst Hugh Kogan has received the most unusual honor of having been fired by a sleeping CEO Steve Jobs.
Kogan claims that as both he and Jobs slept on Tuesday night, their dreams crossed over and Jobs conducted his firing transcendentally.
“It was wild,” Kogan said. “Steve was in my dream and I was in Steve’s dream. We were in Grand Central Station, which is kind of funny because I’ve never been there… hmm… But maybe Steve has…
“Anyway, he beckoned to me from across the empty, cavernous main hall and as I approached him I noticed he had white earbuds in his ears. The other end of them was plugged into a block of cheddar cheese Steve was holding in his outstretched palms. I could hear Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water playing.
“That’s when he fired me.”
Since it was still just a dream, Kogan was uncertain whether or not the firing was also in effect on this plane of existence. The next day he stuck his head into Jobs’ office to confirm.
“Am I…?” Kogan began to ask.
“Totally,” Jobs replied, cutting him off without looking up from the plans for the 21-inch tablet device and media center that will run on OS X “lite”.
“And for the record,” Jobs continued, “that was muenster and it was Iron Butterfly’s In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida.”
Suddenly, Yoda appeared in a corner of Jobs’ office, looked at Kogan disapprovingly and said “That… is why you fail.”
“Wha…?” said a startled Kogan. “Oh, hey, this is a dream again!”
Looking up, Jobs said “What? Oh. No. That’s an animatronic Yoda George Lucas gave me. It says that all the time. You’re still fired.”
“Oh,” a disappointed Kogan said.
Kogan’s resumé is on line for prospective employers without astral projection powers.
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| Hi Will,
Just found a very useful thing in iTunes, If you have any audio books
(I have the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy 1970's radio series) you
can tell them not to play as part of a party shuffle. I have iTunes
playing a 1970's party shuffle at the moment ;)
So if you don't want Douglas Adams interupting your Pink Floyd then get
info on the track you would like to exclude and click on "options>skip
when shuffling"
Apple really do think of everything ;) Suitable for an Uncle Mac tip?
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| MacWorld Interview with Destineer
In a time when many game publishers and studios are taking a wait and see approach to Mac games since Apple's Boot Camp software was released, Destineer has announced that it has secured USD$12 Million in private-equity investment, which will help enable the gamemaker and publisher to continue development of Macintosh-native games.
In an interview with Macworld's Peter Cohen, Destineer's president Peter Tamte explains how they are in a unique position to make profit since they are both game developer and publisher.
In a traditional game industry setup, the developer creates the game and gives away a huge chunk of revenue to the publisher in order to get their game on store shelves — publishers often keep 80 percent of the revenue...
Destineer also re-affirmed that the Mac remains a pillar of their business, and gamers can expect them to continue to not only bring the latest hits from the PC world to Mac, but also bring more original releases to market.
"The MacSoft business has been a pillar of our organization since we incorporated in 2001,” said Tamte. “It has provided us with stable and growing profits. And we’ve turned that cash into product development for our core technologies — that’s being used now to create games for a whole bunch of platforms, including simultaneous Mac releases.”
This doesn’t mean that MacSoft will stop porting high-profile Mac games, said Tamte, but he said that gamers will see a shift in Destineer’s portfolio from licensed titles to original titles.
Destineer is the parent company of MacSoft and Bold, which have brought hit titles such as Halo: Combat Evolved and Zoo Tycoon 2 to Mac. Destineer has also recently developed an original title, Close Combat: First to Fight, which saw a simultaneous release for PC and Mac.
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| Second Life Review
Michael Bradbrook
20th April 2006
What's Second Lfe?
After listening to a couple of podcasts discussing Second Life, I thought I'd investigate what all the fuss is about.
I've seen my wife spend hours creating virtual people and buildings on her PC game The Sims 2. Second Life is very much like that, except everyone in the virtual world is being controlled by a human and every object in the virtual world has been built by them.
As stated by the developers, Linden Lab,
“Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents [....]
* From the moment you enter the World you’ll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you’ve explored a bit, perhaps you’ll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.
* You’ll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.
* The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world currency, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online currency exchanges”.
Starting Second Life
You have to register an account at secondlife.com which includes giving credit card details. However, this is only for verification purposes and your first virtual person is free. If you want more than one virtual person or to build a house or buy objects, you will have to start paying.
Once registered, you install the Second Life application on your computer and then log into the virtual world. Warning: you need a broadband speed connection speed to run the program and a relatively fast machine. I tried it on a G4 Mac Mini with 1 GB of RAM and it is playable but I wouldn't want to use that machine all the time. I tried the program on my wife's Pentium 4 Windows laptop, and that was a much better experience.
When you enter the virtual world, you get the otption to go through a brief tutorial which guides you on how to move around, pick up objects, talk to people and change your appearance. Once completed, you can visit other lands in Second Life and even have someone show you around as a virtual guide.
Inside the Virtual World
When running the game, by pressing the Find button, you can look for popular places and events or search for people.
There are some nice places to visit, such as amusement parks, music concerts and discos where you can meet some really nice people who may give you free stuff such as T-shirts, music, maps and other tools useful to your stay in Second Life. You can “chat” to these people by typing messages and those around your character will be able to read what you type and respond. The difficulty I found was keeping up with conversations while still trying to do things such as accept gifs or look around. It definitely helps being able to type quicky!
You can also visit locations and get hints and tips. For example, people are there to help with real world computer issues or even teach you languages. There are also free seminars run by experienced users on how to build your own virtual business in Second Life.
However, just like the real world, there is a more seedy side...
Some of the most popular places are gambling and sex locations. You may see virtual posters advertising sex acts and my wife stumbled across an S&M party going on in the middle of a park. Not good when it was her first hour of playing the game and she hadn't gone looking for such a thing (i.e. it wasn't classified as an adult-only area!).
Is it Worth Visiting?
As I am not a fan of games such as the Sims, I won't be taking up a paid membership to Second Life. However, for those not afraid to spend hours of their real life in a virtual world, Second Life is worth a visit, especially as it costs nothing to check it out. Just like the real world, it has its nice people and some not so nice; it also has some places you wouldn't be willing to let your parents or children see.
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| John
Just to let you know that St John Ambulance released a version of “I First aid” I believe Before sussex ambulance
http://www.sja.org.uk/firstaid/info/
Any more info on it just ask J
Thanks
John
SJA COTY Cheshire
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| Joseph
I was woundering if you or any of the listeners had any comments on Applecare - i've rescently been on the phone a lot to them about a common whine noise coming from my MacBook Pro. They were singulary non-helpful - they 'repaired' it for a week then sent it back and the noise was still there for example.
It's not all bad news from the once brilliant apple service front - I spoke to a real PERSON at the apple store who seemed to be genuanlly sorry about the problem and sympathetic. She sorted out a replacement which I'm gonna go collect shortly...
Anyway apple service is just an interesting area - it used to be one of their best features I always thought.
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| James
Hello there, Will.
I've been listening to your podcast for the last few episodes, because I'm planning to make my first tentative steps into the Mac world. (I would say 'Apple world' but my younger brother had an Apple II when I was a teenager, and we enjoyed programming poor quality basic.. which probably gives an idea of how ancient I am!)
Anyway, my decision was prompted by the fact that there are Macs being used at work (mostly running Pro-Tools), and I like to make sure I have at least some knowledge of the kit if I've got to support it. And I know absolutely nothing about 'em!
I'm also really pleased that Macs run on a Linux (incidentally, it's pronounced Lii-nux, or - anglicised - Linn-ux. I've been told off before that OSX is pronounced "Oh Ess Ten" and not "Oss Ex" so I thought I'd be pedantic!) back end, because I have a fair idea what I'm doing with that.
So - when I finally buy that yummy dual core Mac Mini, I'm going to be faced with two challenges.. first, getting to know how to use the thing (only one mouse button?) and second, migrating my website to it...
Perhaps you or your listeners might be able to help me with the first problem - is there a decent on-line tutorial that I can use to acclimatise myself and my family to the new GUI? Is it worth looking for the features of the Mac in terms of "how does it do the things we can do on Windows?" or is there a better way?
I enjoy the podcast, and I'll keep listening, as I embark into the life as a Mac user soon!
Cheers
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| British Mac Mystery Winner
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| A close second Rob Hancox
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| Answer...
1. Sherlock
2. Watson
3. Sibelius
4. Pages
5. Quark
6. iCal
7. Stickies
8. Photoshop
9. If Monk's Had Mac's
10. Comic Life
11. Delicious Library
12. Quick Silver
13. Hyper Card
14. Mac The Ripper
15. Quick Time
16. Light Room
17. Keychain
18. Garage Band
19. Mail
20. iWork
Anagram Jef Raskin
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