British Mac Show Notes

Episode BritishMac035

				NEWS

				Headlines (virtually all from MacWorld - thanks chaps!)

				Apple ships Core 2 Duo MacBooks Jonny Evans (from www.macworld.co.uk) Apple has today upgraded its range of MacBooks with Intel Core 2 Duo processors, the upgraded configurations are immediately available across all sales channels. The new chips mean the latest MacBooks are "up to 25 per cent faster" than the preceeding generation, the company claims. They continue to offer all the features that made first-gen models so attractive, including built-in iSight cameras, the MagSafe power adaptor and iLife '06. "MacBook has helped drive Apple's notebook market share to over 10 per cent in US retail, and the new MacBooks will be among this holiday season's most exciting new products," said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. Prices remain more or less the same, the entry-level model costs £749, while the mid-range price has fallen slightly, to £879 (from £899) and the most expensive black model has seen its premium on colour fall £30 to £999, with a hard drive that's 40GB larger than that of the mid-range model it is otherwise identical to. The range includes three models: white 1.83GHz and 2.0GHz MacBooks and the 2.0GHz black model. Apple has at last beefed up the amount of memory it ships as standard in these Macs, with 1GB of memory shipping as standard in all models bar the entry-level configuration, which still ships with 512MB. The included SuperDrive (available in the mid-range and black model) has also been souped up, a double-layer optical drive now shipping as standard. (Entry-level offers a combo drive). MacBooks also feature glossy screens, Apple's Sudden Motion Sensor, Scrolling TrackPad, built-in AirPort Extreme and Bluetooth 2.0+EDR networking, 10/100/1000 BASE-T Gigabit Ethernet, two USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 400 port, combination analogue and optical digital audio input and output ports and a mini-DVI video output to connect up to a 23-inch Apple Cinema HD Display. The 1.83GHz, 13-inch white MacBook (£749) includes: - 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor - 667 MHz front-side bus - 512MB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB - 60GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400 rpm - Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 - One audio line in and one audio line out port - Infrared Apple Remote The 2.0GHz, 13-inch white MacBook (£879) includes: - 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor - 667 MHz front-side bus - 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB - 80GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400 rpm - A slot-load 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support - Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 - One audio line in and one audio line out port - Infrared Apple Remote The 2.0 GHz, 13-inch black MacBook (£999), includes: - 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor - 667 MHz front-side bus - 1GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM, expandable to 2GB - 120GB Serial ATA hard drive running at 5,400 rpm - A slot-load 6x SuperDrive with double-layer support - Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 - One audio line in and one audio line out port - Infrared Apple Remote Build-to-order options include the ability to upgrade to up to a 200GB 4,200rpm drive, an Apple USB Modem, Apple Mini-DVI to DVI adaptor, Apple Mini-DVI to VGA adaptor, Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter and the AppleCare Protection Plan. All prices include VAT.

				Apple drops the 'Mac guy' Macworld staff Apple will soon film a new series of 'Get A Mac' ads - but these won't feature current 'Mac guy', Justin Long. A Radar Online report claims other names will be bought in to replace Long, including Phil Morrison and John Hodgman. The report states that it's possible Long has been dropped from the campaign because audiences warmed to John Hodgman (the 'PC guy') but found Long a little "smug". Comment: I heard that it was because he wanted to pursue a film career rather than an Ad career. Besides, Mac's have a right to be smug!

				Mac virus author admits coding difficulties The proof of concept Mac OS X virus, which was discovered late last week and dubbed Macarena, includes comments in the code that indicate the author had a difficult time creating the malware. According to antivirus firm Symantec, Macarena was discovered last Thursday and has infected fewer than 50 machines. Macarena has a very poor replication mechanism and is unlikely to cause problems for the majority of Mac users. Peter Ferrie, senior security response engineer at Symantec, explained in his blog that the virus does not cause any serious problems and is unlikely to spread very far. "There is no payload in this virus -- it simply replicates. However, it won't replicate very well, because it is restricted to the current directory," said Ferrie. Paul Ducklin, head of technology for Sophos Asia Pacific, said that the virus was "not important or significant" but he was concerned that the author had distributed the source code, which could "not only explain how you might write a virus but give someone direct tools to create one even if they have no skills of their own". However, in the source code, Ducklin said the author had expressed what appears to be frustration at trying to make the virus effective on Apple's platform. "In the source code, which is a mish-mash of stuff, there is a comment where the author says 'so many problems for so little code'," he said. "So it does look as though virus writers, fortunately, still have a way to go before they are able to write Mac viruses with the proficiency and fluidity that they can for Windows." "It doesn't have any of the characteristics of a modern effective or dangerous Windows worm or Trojan, it is a simple appending parasitic infector," Ducklin told ZDNet Australia. He also revealed that Macarena will only affect Intel-based Macs. "This is an Intel specific thing -- not Power PC," Ducklin said. However, Ducklin warned the Apple community to not be complacent because although writing malware for the Mac is more difficult than it is for Windows, the users' common sense can be a weak point. "There are things that are done in OS X that make it less likely you will get a virus but very little can head off a determined and ill-informed user," he said. "If you are determined to run a program against common sense then you can get yourself into trouble and that may cause trouble for the next guy."

				All download sales to count for UK chart position Jonny Evans The UK Official Charts Company - the company behind the charts - has revealed plans to make all download track sales count toward inclusion in the charts, beginning 1 January. Until now, digital downloads have only qualified for inclusion in the charts from one week before a physical single is released. The company explained that any download registering sufficient sales to record a chart position will be eligible for the Combined Singles Chart from the moment it is made available for purchase by consumers. The move clearly underlines the growing importance of digital sales in the UK charts.

				Quick but dull

				PC World FM transmitter ad banned Macworld staff A PC World ad campaign that featured FM transmitters for iPods has been banned by the advertising regulator. The national press adds promoted one such device, and warned potential customers that use of the device remains illegal under antiquated UK laws.

				And finally

				VisiCalc co-creator speaks on change Jonny Evans While many may forget, the VisiCalc application revolutionised computing when it appeared in the late 1970s. The application launched the whole notion of business computing, and helped kick-start the personal computer industry we know today. LowEndMac has published an extensive interview with VisiCalc's co-developer, Dan Bricklin. The report covers the developer's early background, and the situation he faced when he helped create the application. "The idea that there would be a computer on every work desk was something we all knew should happen - but given the slow acceptance of computers for everyday use in the office over the years, we knew such penetration had many barriers," Bricklin explains. The report carries on to look at the history and surrounding events that affected development of the industry, and explains the tech industry innovator is now working on an online and Open Source spreadsheet application, to be called 'WikiCalc'.

				Uncle Mac's Mac Moment

				Inverse your world! Try this now if you're infront of your Mac - it's great! Hold down Control - Option & Apple (the 3 next to each other) than press 8. See what happens! Press 8 again to return to normal. Wonderful! Heinz Bake Beans and colour

				St. British Mac

				Mac Security - the final part

				Franken Widget

				Christmas Countdown Widget About Christmas Countdown This widget counts down the number of days to Christmas. Starting at the end of November, each day the tree will be more and more decorated until Christmas arrives.

				The Zoltar Widget extrodaniary league of Gentlemen team!

				Ye Olde Mac & Mouse

				Frappr Hellos

				Paul Eva - live from MacExpo

				Trade-up or not to trade-up - that is the question! Rob Hancox

				Simon Pierce - West Mids/Shropshire MUG idea - please contact me if you're interested. I've got a venue in Ironbridge above the haunted Tontine pub opposite the Ironbridge.

				Mike Bradbrook tip Got a tip re iTunes for you though. I deleted some TV Shows from my iTunes but their titles did not delete from Front Row. To fix this, I created a Smart Playlist with the rule: "Movie Kind" is "TV Show" and then selected the relevant shows I no longer wanted appearing in Front Row, held down Option and then pressed Delete. You then confirm you want these files removed and voila, they will no longer appear in Front Row.

				Dave in Oz

				Plug for The Sunday Papers!

				British Icon

				Armistice Day

				Black Adder goes Fourth

				Actress Diana Coupland dies at 74 - Bless this House along side Sid James. Next week's Icon