ipod reset

Podcasts used for uni recruitment

2008-10-13T07:40:00.013-07:00

Podcasts used for uni recruitment
OXFORD - What's playing on your iPod? If you're an aspiring university student, Oxford and Cambridge hope it's them. Britain's elite universities uploaded more than 350 hours of podcasts and video podcasts to a new iTunes website...

GBTV #0369 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-13T07:40:00.011-07:00

GBTV #0369 (small) | GeekBrief.TV
Asus is pretty good with the cute names. Their new tiny desktop PC will run Linux or XP and they're calling it the Eee Box B202. It'll be available in the States in July.

Western Digital has a new WD Scorpio Black 2.5 inch SATA hard drive for notebooks that's 7200 RPM. It's supposed to be available today, but we couldn't find it anywhere.

JBL's Control NOW speakers are specially shaped to be mounted at 90 degree intersections like corners and ceilings.

The iClooly is a little desktop stand that makes an iPod Touch look like a tiny little iMac.

SawStop is billed as "The World's Safest Table Saw" and based on the Weenie video they use as a demo, I think they're right.

MacBreak 101: Macworld 2008: MetroNap.com

2008-10-13T07:40:00.009-07:00

MacBreak 101: Macworld 2008: MetroNap.com
Justine Ezarik explores the MetroNap.com booth at Macworld.

Panasonic, Renesas team to mass produce 32nm chips

2008-10-13T07:40:00.007-07:00

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

We've seen some big names working on 32nm chips, and now we can add two more to the mix. According to Nikkei, Panasonic and Renesas have recently developed technology necessary to mass produce the little guys, using metal oxide film (instead of a silicon material) for the insulating layer and titanium nitride for the conducting layer. This has allowed the chips to consume less power, so the 32nm chips operate comparably to their 45nm siblings. Look for a street date sometime in 2011 -- but considering that Toshiba, IBM and others have set a target date of 2010 for their 32nm chips, and Samsung and Intel are aiming at 2009, Panny might be showing up to this party a little late.

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RIM's BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 gets photographed, previewed

2008-10-13T07:40:00.005-07:00

Filed under: Cellphones

While many of you may be waiting for some other handset to launch on T-Mobile, BlackBerry addicts may very well be counting down the hours 'til this one lands on the aforesaid carrier. If we just rang your bell, chances are you'll be extremely interested in this here preview, which delivers a whole gaggle of photographs, a decidedly ho hum video (hosted after the break) of the Pearl Flip 8220 in action and a lengthy writeup explaining the ins and outs of RIM's first flip phone. As for highlights, this thing turns into a real monster (read: it's big) when opened, but when closed, it's a real looker. For more on the aesthetics (not to mention some shots beside a few other BlackBerry siblings -- Bold included), head on down to the read link and dig in.

Continue reading RIM's BlackBerry Pearl Flip 8220 gets photographed, previewed

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GBTV #0411 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-13T07:40:00.003-07:00

GBTV #0411 (small) | GeekBrief.TV
GBTV Innovation Week continues and Brief 411 is all about HID. Human Interface Design is all about improving how people interact with machines.

Mice and keyboards have been useful Human Interface Devices, but there seems to be a common longing for something more natural. When we saw Tom Cruise moving images around with gestures in the movie Minority Report, lots of us wanted to be able to do the same thing. At the TED conference in 2006, Jeff Han showed us we could. Multi-touch is now accessible in iPhones and kind of accessible, depending on where you live, in the Microsoft Surface.

We want electronic devices to understand speech. It's a massive challenge and researchers have moved us a long way, but not nearly close enough. Dealing with speech recognition engines via customer service 800 numbers works a lot of the time, but it's the frustrating times that stand out in my memory.

Air touch is my term for multi-touch-like navigation that uses cameras or sensors to monitor gestures rather than contact with a screen. HRP.com wowed us a while back with a Web site that uses a visitor's Web cam for navigation. It isn't perfect, but it's a start.

Cam Trax Technologies is writing software to take advantage of Web cams for navigation in games and other applications.

The ultimate goal in Human Interface Design has to be brain control. We want to be able to think something and watch it happen on the screen. The first company that will bring a mass-market way to do it is Emotiv. Their Emotiv EPOC headset reads brain waves and translates them into action on a computer. The headset will sell for under $300.

7 Firefox Quick Searches You Should Set Up

2008-10-13T07:40:00.001-07:00

7 Firefox Quick Searches You Should Set Up
A Firefox Quick Search is one of the coolest Firefox features and at the same time the least known one. Using Quick Search feature you can search a website of your choice directly from the Firefox address bar. So instead of say going to www.youtube.com and then searching for standup comedy, you can set up a [...]

A Firefox Quick Search is one of the coolest Firefox features and at the same time the least known one. Using Quick Search feature you can search a website of your choice directly from the Firefox address bar.

So instead of say going to www.youtube.com and then searching for standup comedy, you can set up a Firefox Quick Search for Youtube and then type in the address bar y standup comedy. Hit enter and you will be taken straight to the search results on Youtube.com.

Let me illustrate how this actually works by setting up a quick search for MakeUseOf.com. And the best thing about this feature is that it takes only about 10 seconds to set up. So, follow me! Once we’re done you will be able to do this for any other website as well.

How To Create Quick Search for MakeUseOf.com

Add a Keyword for this Search …

(2) Next, you should see a small window like the one below. Here basically you need to enter a name for that Quick Search (I usually use the name of the website here) and the keyword that you want to use for it. You might want to use something short and easy to remember for the keyword. For instance, for MakeUseOf it can be muo, for Youtube y or yt or you, etc.

(3) Once it’s been added to your bookmarks you will be able to search the website right from the address bar. For instance, as can be seen above when creating Quick Search for MakeUseOf.com we used the keyword muo.

Now let’s say I want to search MakeUseOf.com for some reverse phone number lookup website. To do that I can simply type muo reverse phone number lookup website into the address bar and hit enter.

And here is where it takes me … directly to the search results.

So as you can see, quick searches can be major time savers. Instead of going to the website and searching from there you’re able to search directly from the Firefox address bar.

I highly recommend you setup Quick Searches for the websites you frequent. Here are some of the essential sites I have on my quick searches.

MakeUseOf

Youtube - I guess it’s fair to assume that for many of us Youtube became the to go place for videos. It’s the only video sharing site I visit. I use keyword you for it.

IMDB - I am a major movie addict and frequently use IMDB (Internet Movie Database) to check reviews and ratings before watching the movie. A quick address bar entry imdb some_movie_title takes me straight to the needed page on IMDB.com.

Wikipedia - The Wikipedia search is already included among default Firefox search engines, nonetheless it’s still a lot faster to search it directly from the address bar. My keyword for Wikipedia search is wik.

Del.icio.us - Believe it or not but I use del.icio.us as much as Google these days. Since you’re searching through people’s bookmarks it can be quite effective when it comes to finding the right website for the task.

PriceGrabber - This lets quickly lookup the price of a product across different retailers. No need to digg through eBay or Amazon listings, simply type in the keyword and product you want to check inside the address bar and hit enter.

ThePirateBay - If you frequently download torrents then setting up a keyword search for your favorite torrent search website might be a good idea as well. I prefer to use ThePirateBay, you may use something else.

What are you favorite Quick Searches? Let me know in comments.

(By) Aibek, the guy behind MakeUseOf.com

New subscriber? Get your freebies at MakeUseOf Downloads. Enjoy!

Tags:browser tips, firefox tips, productivity, shortcuts

Newer MBPs may contain faulty NVIDIA chips

2008-10-10T19:15:00.003-07:00

Newer MBPs may contain faulty NVIDIA chips

Filed under: Troubleshooting, Macbook Pro

Not a surprise for those who have suffered from the issue, but a welcome admission nonetheless: Apple has now acknowledged that some recent MacBook Pro models contain faulty GeForce 8600M GT chips that cause video display problems. Dell and HP have already told customers similar stories.

In a support document posted yesterday, Apple testily admitted that while NVIDIA assured Apple that Mac computers were not affected, an internal investigation revealed three models of MacBook Pro indeed had problems.

Our own Cory Bohon wrote about his experience with (what he now believes to be) the same issue back in August.

The models affected were all manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008:

MacBook Pro (17-Inch, 2.4GHz)
MacBook Pro (15-Inch, 2.4/2.2GHz)
MacBook Pro (Early 2008)

If your MacBook Pro is displaying distorted or scrambled video on the screen, or no video at all, you can take your computer to an Apple Authorized Service provider to have it repaired, free of charge. If you've already had your computer serviced for this issue, Apple may issue you a refund for the cost of the service. Free service is available to owners who bought their computer less than two years ago, even if the computer is out of warranty.

The problem is likely to cost NVIDIA up to $200 million to fix; this does not include the likely fallout from shareholder lawsuits alleging that the video-card manufacturer deliberately withheld information on the scope of the chip flaws.

[Via AppleInsider.]

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Wireless freeloaders and how to deal to them

2008-10-10T19:15:00.001-07:00

Wireless freeloaders and how to deal to them
Wireless networks - what's not to like? Personally I'm a huge fan of anything that frees me from the stuffy confines of a dark computer room and lets me vege in the lounge or lax out on the lawn with my laptop. Unfortunately, as I...

GL Golf Lite introduced for iPhone, iPod touch

2008-10-09T12:41:00.001-07:00

Nuclear Nova Software has introduced GL Golf Lite, a free version of its 3D golfing game for the iPhone and iPod touch. The game includes obstacles such as water, sand traps, trees and bushes, with an aim towards providing challenges similar to the real game. The Lite version offers four ad-supported courses, though these can still be played an unlimited number of times. In the full version, up to...

ezGear introduces ezView Leather Case for iPhone 3G

2008-10-09T12:40:00.005-07:00

ezGear has released the ezView Leather Case for the iPhone 3G. The case features a velcro band that can be used not only to seal the case shut, but to double as a support for landscape viewing. The case protects the entirety of the device, but still leaves access to all important controls, including the touchscreen, sleep/wake button and volume controls....

'Brick' MacBook Pro leaked in up-close spy shot?

2008-10-09T12:40:00.003-07:00

'Brick' MacBook Pro leaked in up-close spy shot?

Filed under: Laptops

Since we heard those "Brick" rumors the other day, the mill has been all but silent... until now. It's hard to tell exactly what we're looking at here, but damned if this doesn't look like some fancy new MacBook Pro carved out of a single piece of metal (except for those sides, so, there goes that theory). We'll let you make your own decisions after giving this the once over, but if this is what Apple has in store for us, our curiosity is definitely piqued.

Update: MacRumors reports that the photo originates from this Chinese site.

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Icons: It’s Still Orange

2008-10-09T12:40:00.001-07:00

I am glad to see that we can maintain some level of RSS icon standards between Mozilla and Microsoft. Wouldn’t be great if this level of cooperation could continue? My last post shared some of our conceptual designs of the feed icon and expressed some of the criteria that we are using to select the right [...]

I am glad to see that we can maintain some level of RSS icon standards between Mozilla and Microsoft. Wouldn’t be great if this level of cooperation could continue?

My last post shared some of our conceptual designs of the feed icon and expressed some of the criteria that we are using to select the right icon. Several of the comments liked icon #4 simply because it looked liked the Firefox icon, and many (like this one) suggested that we work with the Firefox team to standardize on an icon.

This seemed like a very good idea, so in November, Amar and I took a visit down to Silicon Valley to meet with John Lilly and Chris Beard from Mozilla to get their thoughts on it. We all agreed that it’s in the user’s best interest to have one common icon to represent RSS and RSS-related features in a browser. And the winner is… [Source: Microsoft Team RSS Blog]

Suspect wanted in fraud of Apple, Fry's stores

2008-10-09T12:39:00.011-07:00

A suspect is on the loose in the case of a fraud targeting Apple and Fry's Electronics stores, according to reports. The San Jose Police Department and the US Secret Service are said to be after Ernesto Ignacio Madrigal, a man accused of obtaining over $75,000 worth of electronics through the use of dubious credit cards from France and Germany. The crime spree is said to have occurred throughout...

MacBreak 20: Automator Media Browser

2008-10-09T12:39:00.009-07:00

Leo Laporte and guest Sal Soghoian show you how to use Automator to more easily browse the media on your Mac. Read More

Audi confirms pure electric car, will likely be based on VW Up! concept

2008-10-09T12:39:00.007-07:00

Filed under: Transportation

With an electric MINI Cooper just around the bend, a Twin Drive hybrid Volkswagen landing in 2010 and Chevrolet's Volt rolling into showrooms in a matter of months, Audi's ten-year plan is looking a little awkward. Though we've yet to hear that it's actually speeding things up, Peter Schwarzenbauer, who sits on the management board at Ingolstadt, recently confirmed that the company would be offering "a pure electric car" sometime in the future. Additionally, rumors of it being based on the A1 were dashed, opening the door for speculation that it will instead be built around the VW Up! (Lupo) concept. Here's hoping we find our prior to 2018.

[Via Autoblog]

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AlertMe warns of energy vampires, kills them remotely

2008-10-09T12:39:00.005-07:00

Filed under: Household

In-home power consumption monitors are trendy pieces of kit lately, with a new one popping up every few months. But, while they're all happy to just kick back and tell you what a wasteful pig you're being, a new service from UK security company AlertMe could actually make you more efficient. Subscribers to the company's monitoring plans, which start at about $260 plus another $17.50/month, will be able to purchase Smart Plugs for $43 each that can communicate wirelessly to an AlertMe Heating Controller. From there subscribers can monitor their energy usage online via computer or phone. That's all standard stuff, but the service also includes keyfobs that will automatically turn down the heat and deactivate devices when you leave, and allows users to manually control the plugs and the thermostat by text message, meaning you'd never be more than a few thumb-presses (and a 20 cent service charge) away from a warm and inviting home.

[Via SmartPlanet]

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New-look Google Reader Is Stunning!

2008-10-09T12:39:00.003-07:00

New-look Google Reader Is Stunning!
A Google based RSS reader. Sounds sort of strange to me, but then most of the stuff Google is doing these days generally is. Google Reader, Google’s web-based RSS Aggregator, has had a re-design and I am impressed. It now has a look n’ feel very much like Gmail, which I believe is a pointer to [...]

A Google based RSS reader. Sounds sort of strange to me, but then most of the stuff Google is doing these days generally is.

Google Reader, Google’s web-based RSS Aggregator, has had a re-design and I am impressed. It now has a look n’ feel very much like Gmail, which I believe is a pointer to this product being prepped for mainstream promotion - and/or merged with Gmail. Probably a bit of both, as a standalone RSS Reader is always going to be needed. You’ll recall that the new Yahoo Mail Beta has RSS integrated into its email experience - and the reason for that is quite simply to reach the 250 Million odd people that have a Yahoo Mail account. What better way to make RSS a mainstream experience than to integrate it into the web email platform. So I expect Google to follow suit…. Source: readwriteweb.com

Cool Websites and Tools (edition #183)

2008-10-09T12:39:00.001-07:00

Check out some of the latest makeuseof discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For even more app reviews subscribe to makeuseof directory. Want to submit your application to MakeUseOf directory ? See how here. (1) Bitstrips - Fun tool which would work great [...]

Check out some of the latest makeuseof discoveries. All listed websites are FREE (or come with a decent free account option). No trials or buy-to-use craplets. For even more app reviews subscribe to makeuseof directory. Want to submit your application to MakeUseOf directory ? See how here.

(1) Bitstrips - Fun tool which would work great for those who love to read comics, because this tool will give them a chance to star themselves in a self-created online comics. Read more: BitStrips - Easily Create Cool Comic Strips Online.

(2) BlueTunes - Online storage box for your MP3 files. BlueTunes lets you store your music online and access it from any web enabled PC. Read more …

(3) Hoaxcall - An online tool that pranksters were waiting for. It lets you make prank calls to any number in the US, Canada or UK. Read more: HoaxCall - Have Fun Making Prank Calls From Your Computer.

(4) In Quotes - New app by Google Labs which searches news and gathers various quotes by the politicians and lets you compare their quotes by hot keywords. Check what Obama and McCain have to say about oil, Iraq, and a variety of other topics. Read more: In Quotes - Compare Politicians’ Quotes By Keywords.

(5) KeyVault - Send text information using the same secure system that is employed during online credit card transactions. Read more: KeyVault - Securely Send Important Info.

(6) Muspy - This handy website can track your favorite bands and artists for new releases and notifiy you via email as soon as there a new album. Read more: Muspy - Get Notified on Album Release Dates.

(7) Pective - This website provides you with pictures of various items (CD case, credit card, soda can, AA battery etc.) in their actual size. You can use these pictures as a point of reference for comparison. Read more: Pective- Find Out The Actual Size of Stuff.

(8) Prohmote - Create an event invitation and send it across to your friends. It doesn’t require creating an account or any kind of registration. Read more: Prohmote - Quickly Create And Promote Events.

(9) Remounce - Set up reminders and announcements through text messages. It is a free service and by looking at the phone carrier list, it appears that people from the US could make the most of it. Read more: Remounce - Easily Set Up Reminders & Announcements.

(10) Skydeck - Free companion for your mobile phone. Manage call history, track available balance, search SMS messages, search call history and several other features. Read more: Skydeck - Track Your Call History and SMS Messages Online.

These are just half of the applications that were added to our directory in the last 3-4 days. To keep up-to-date on all directory additions subscribe to MakeUseOf Directory here. To subscribe via email click here.

(By) Aibek, the guy behind MakeUseOf.

New subscriber? Get your freebies at MakeUseOf Downloads. Enjoy!

Tags:Cool Websites

QuickerTek releases new MacBook battery/charger

2008-10-07T10:11:00.009-07:00

QuickerTek has announced a new external battery/charger for the MacBook and 15-inch MacBook Pro. The battery provides users between 8 and 10 extra hours of usage, on top of what a MacBook's internal battery already provides. The casing appears to be brushed aluminum, allowing it to blend in with other Apple products, and features an LED charging status indicator....

MacBreak 131: Macbreak Studio: Color

2008-10-07T10:11:00.007-07:00

MacBreak 131: Macbreak Studio: Color
Alex invites Steve Martin to show the basics of color correction using Apple's Color.

MacBreak 54 Macworld 2007: Bare Bones Software

2008-10-07T10:11:00.005-07:00

Merlin chats with the kind folk at Bare Bones Software, makers of BBEdit and Yojimbo. Read More

PIE United cranks out HD-0310 1080p Digital Photo Viewer

2008-10-07T10:11:00.003-07:00

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Home Entertainment

If you don't have quite enough set-tops sitting underneath your HDTV, we've got one more to fill that tiny gap over there on the right. PIE United has introduced a rather quizzical device aimed at folks who love to show off photos of their journeys around the world on the big screen. The HD-0310 1080p Digital Photo Viewer connects up via HDMI and supports 12 types of flash cards along with USB drives; in addition to photos, it'll play back video clips and MP3 files. Oh, and just in case you're fresh out of HDMI ports, this thing packs a single input in order to connect another HDMI device and switch between the two. Not too sure how much this will run the layman, but outfits looking to buy in bulk should be able to land a killer deal.

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This is your iPod on drugs, any questions?

2008-10-07T10:11:00.001-07:00

Filed under: iPod Family, Odds and ends

If this is what Russian artists Aristarkh Chernyshev & Alexei Shulgin see when they look at their iPods every day, I would suggest a medication adjustment at the earliest opportunity. The sculpture version of a giant, warped iPod is fully functional, although you'd have to be relatively immune to eyestrain and vertigo if you wanted to use it on a regular basis.

Do you have a favorite iPod or Mac-themed work of art? Drop a link in the comments or add the 'tuaw' tag to a Flickr photo and we'll check it out.

Thanks Aaron!

[via MAKEblog]

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Who is snooping on Skype?

2008-10-07T10:10:00.009-07:00

Who is snooping on Skype?
NEW YORK - A Canadian researcher has discovered that a Chinese version of eBay's Skype communications software snoops on text chats that contain certain keywords, including "democracy." The revelation is not only of interest...

MacBreak 21: Renamer4Mac

2008-10-07T10:10:00.007-07:00

Emery Wells and guest Kenji Kato show you how to easily rename large groups of files using Renamer4Mac. Read More

PalaeoGraphics Apple reseller opens Melbourne store

2008-10-07T10:10:00.005-07:00

PalaeoGraphics, an Australian authorized Apple reseller, has recently opened a new store in Melbourne. Apple also has opened a Melbourne location earlier in September in the Chadstone Shopping Center. Both the manufacturer and resellers have been expanding locations in Australia this year. Analyst firm Gartner reported earlier this year that the Mac platform has achieved a 52 percent gain in marke...

Adobe CS4 - full of clever new tricks

2008-10-07T10:10:00.003-07:00

Adobe CS4 - full of clever new tricks
I went to an Adobe launch the other day, for Creative Suite 4. It was set in a dark underground (literally) bar in Auckland. Once upon a time Adobe reps used to tote PC and Apple laptops everywhere for different software, but already...

Sneak peek at RIM's BlackBerry Application Center

2008-10-07T10:10:00.001-07:00

Sneak peek at RIM's BlackBerry Application Center

Filed under: Cellphones

At this point, you're probably wondering what section of the Storm's UI you haven't seen. Enter a few new sneak peeks, this time showcasing the purported BlackBerry Application Center. Granted, these shots are from the Vodafone edition, but we don't suspect the Verizon version will look much different. Reportedly, the Application Center will be available on v4.7 Storm devices, and carriers themselves will be responsible for hosting the data and sending updates; additionally, the download / installation will be handled by the browser in the first release, meaning that the software cannot restart the app or download intelligently. Give the read link a look for a few more tidbits / pictures.

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GBTV #439 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-06T09:11:00.005-07:00

I've got three reviews for you on today's Brief. I start off with the Mophie Juice Pack. It's a battery pack that doubles the battery life of the 1st gen iPhone and the iPod Touch. A version for the iPhone 3G is coming October 30th.

Sometimes WiFi isn't enough. Not every device that wants to be connected to the Internet has WiFi built in. When you don't want to lay a new Cat 5, there's the Netgear Powerline.

A couple weeks ago, I tweeted about NeatReceipts. It's a small, portable scanner that does way more than just scan. It uses text recognition software to "read" your receipts and help you organize them and succesfully get ready for tax season way before tax season arrives. I'm loving this thing! I show you the PC version. They also announced the Mac version yesterday. If you deal with a massive amount of paperwork and receipts, check out the NeatDesk. Read More

MacBreak 60 : iTheater Video Glasses

2008-10-06T09:11:00.003-07:00

MacBreak 60 : iTheater Video Glasses
Leo and Kendra discuss the iTheater Video Glasses for use with your iPod video.

MLB updates At-Bat iPhone app for post-season

2008-10-06T09:11:00.001-07:00

MLB.com has updated its At-Bat iPhone/iPod touch app to include post-season schedules. The software should allow fans to track each post-season game live, with a pitch-by-pitch view through Gameday. Users also have access to video clips including previews and highlights, for which the app automatically detects connected networks, and plays video tailored to EDGE, 3G or Wi-Fi bitrates. At-Bat also...

iTunes 8.0.1 improves Genius, spoken menus, more

2008-10-06T09:10:00.003-07:00

Apple on Thursday released iTunes 8.0.1, an update for the company's media player that adds a number of bug fixes, performance enhancements, and functionality. The update advertises seamless playing of a current track when generating Genius playlists, as well as improved spoken menu synching for the new iPod nano. Also resolved was an issue related to in-progress HD TV downloads mysteriously delet...

Amazon Kindle 2 leaked to the web

2008-10-06T09:10:00.001-07:00

Amazon's second-generation Kindle reader has already surfaced in a new leak to BGR this evening and promises to solve many of the first-run issues with the e-book device, which was nicknamed the "iPod of reading" in its first generation. The new model appears to have a similarly sized, high visibility e-paper screen as the original but has the promised rounder styling, albeit in a slightly larger...

Feed Aggregation Made Easy by Google Reader API

2008-10-06T09:09:00.009-07:00

Niall Kennedy has documented an API for Google Reader, beating Google to a public release of how developers can build their own feed-reading applications atop Google's engine. An update to Niall's original post reveals that the product manager of Google Reader confirmed the accuracy of Niall's work, and asserted that Google built the API first, then contstructed Google Reader as just one example of what could be done. The implication here is that Google might well develop new feed-reading applications--something to look forward to. Further, Google plans to release an official API before long, opening the doors to third-party applications.

Permalink�|�Email this�|�Linking�Blogs�|�Comments

MUO Podcast #22: Appdonkey

2008-10-06T09:09:00.007-07:00

This week, we’re going to start experimenting with the podcast format again. Several people have suggested shorter podcasts, more frequently throughout the week and so that’s what we’re going to do, at least for a while. I’d love to know what you think of the idea. Since these will be shorter, I’ll be looking at only [...]

Since these will be shorter, I’ll be looking at only one, or at most two items (websites, apps etc.) I’ll also take a look at something in the news every once in a while and an occasional Geeky Fun item.

If you are subscribed to the feed, nothing should change. You will receive the two, three or four podcasts a week in the same way you received the single Sunday show. If you are not subscribed to the feed (what’s stopping you?) then you’ll need to check back in several times a week. I’ll try to keep a regular schedule: Sunday, Wednesday & Friday.

The podcast is available through iTunes so don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast if you have an iPod, or in another podcatcher if you have a different MP3 player.

Today, I take a look at a website that lets Mac users browse freeware and download the apps all at once. It’s called App Donkey. Do you know of a site that works the same way, but for Windows? How about a better one for Mac?

(By) Jason Mayoff is a dad, a tech geek and a Canadian radio broadcaster (CJAD 800). You can also find Jason at his brand new website, Tech Screencasts.

New subscriber? Get your freebies at MakeUseOf Downloads. Enjoy!

Tags:downloads, Mac, Podcast

GBTV #0398 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-06T09:09:00.005-07:00

I can't do shownotes because it would give away the joke, but this episode is Max at Mac News Weekly fault. Read More

ATI to ship DirectX 11 GPUs in 2009, more

2008-10-06T09:09:00.003-07:00

ATI to ship DirectX 11 GPUs in 2009, more
At a press conference at the CEATEC show currently held in Japan, ATI graphics department senior vice president and general manager Rick Bergman announced the company�s products will support DirectX 11 in 2009, hinting at a new range of graphics processing units (GPUs), among other news. Along with support for the new programming interfaces, the update will bring with it more advanced OpenGL 2.x ...

Citizen journalist fakes Steve Jobs heart attack

2008-10-06T09:09:00.001-07:00

SEATTLE - A CNN-owned website called iReport.com , which publishes reports written by ordinary citizens, said it will give federal regulators information about the author of an item that claimed Apple CE Read More

Spies take war on terror into cyberspace

2008-10-06T08:48:00.007-07:00

Spies take war on terror into cyberspace
Britain's security agencies are fighting a covert war in cyberspace against extremist Islamist internet sites as part of a new anti-terrorist strategy, senior Whitehall officials have revealed. As well running its own sites,...

MacBreak 166: MacBreak: Tubemogul

2008-10-06T08:48:00.005-07:00

Alex explains the advantages of using Tubemogul to upload and track your online media. Read More

BlackBerry Storm gets copy/paste, app store

2008-10-06T08:48:00.003-07:00

RIM's BlackBerry Storm will try to better the interface of the iPhone as well as emulate it, a pair of leaks show. A BGR scoop shows that the cellphone maker's first touch device will still include a copy-and-paste function despite the absence of typical controls; a multi-touch input lets users tap the ends of text to highlight the relevant sections; users can then refine where the text starts an...

Yahoo! Partners with Six Apart to Distribute Movable Type

2008-10-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

Yahoo! has agreed to provide Movable Type as the default blogging solution in its extensive small-business suite of services. The other hand will get washed as parent company Six Apart directs small-business traffic to Yahoo! for a complete ISP/merchant/blogging package. There's nothing new about Web-hosting accounts with Movable Type pre-installed; the Movable Type site has a recommendation page for such services, to which Yahoo! has not been added.

When I first glanced at the e-mail press release about this announcement, I expected to read that Yahoo! had acquired Six Apart-that would be an appropriate complement to Google's ownership of Blogger.com. Of course, Yahoo! provides a newbie-friendly blogging experience with Yahoo! 360, which could possibly be interpreted as competition to the much more established (and feature-rich) Blogger. But Six Apart's three platform levels (Movable Type, TypePad, and Live Journal) cover all the bases and could vault Yahoo! into a whole new position in the blogging wars.

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MSI Wind U100 coming to "major retailer," Wind 2 coming this quarter

2008-10-06T08:47:00.005-07:00

MSI Wind U100 coming to "major retailer," Wind 2 coming this quarter

Filed under: Laptops

Slowly but surely, MSI is following in the laughable footsteps of ASUS. At first, the Wind was simply the Wind. Now, we've a smattering of variants to keep up with, and according to a recent interview with director of US sales Andy Tung, that trend isn't about to stop. Starting next week, the Wind U100 will be available at an undisclosed "large national retailer," with the 3-cell / WinXP version going for $399. Additionally, Tung gave us all a reason to hold off on making that very purchase by revealing that the business-minded Wind U120 (or Wind 2, as he called it) will be landing on US soil in late November or early December. Said machine will boast "a whole new look," new HDD / SSD options and inbuilt 3.5G WWAN connectivity for under $600. Also of note, MSI's internal research has found that Linux-infused netbooks get returned four times as often as units with Windows XP; we can't say we're shocked that people don't feel like learning a new OS, but we're deeply, deeply saddened that reading comprehension levels (particularly on specification labels) in this nation are so obviously low.

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MacBreak 134: NAB: Lensbabies: Video

2008-10-06T08:47:00.003-07:00

MacBreak 134: NAB: Lensbabies: Video
Alex checks out Lensbabies for Video.

Kid Rock snubs iTunes, turns to Rhapsody

2008-10-06T08:47:00.001-07:00

Popular rap-rocker Kid Rock has chosen Rhapsody as the exclusive online sales venue for his music, the owner of latter party has announced. Real notes that Kid Rock's albums have not been available online in any legal manner in the past, whether for download or streaming; as of today, the artist's entire collection should be available for purchase or streaming through the subscription version of ...

The Engadget Podcast now supports AAC and Ogg feeds!

2008-10-06T08:46:00.005-07:00

The Engadget Podcast now supports AAC and Ogg feeds!
Well now, it appears that the Engadget Podcast has been given its own version of 2.o0 status in a sense. Take a look for yourself… Hurrah hurrah! To all our Engadget Podcast listeners who’ve suffered through the months without an AAC or Ogg feed, we thank you — and we’ve heard your complaints. As we mentioned [...]

Well now, it appears that the Engadget Podcast has been given its own version of 2.o0 status in a sense. Take a look for yourself…

Hurrah hurrah! To all our Engadget Podcast listeners who’ve suffered through the months without an AAC or Ogg feed, we thank you — and we’ve heard your complaints. As we mentioned earlier this week, we’ve got our feeds sorted for the three major audio formats, so you can now have our show dropped in via RSS in your choice of MP3, enhanced AAC, or Ogg Vorbis. iTunes subscribers’ feeds will automatically be switched over to enhanced AAC (or you can subscribe to the AAC feed directly if you don’t want to use iTunes but want our enhanced AAC podcasts).

So, as soon as our feeds are re-cached and re-crawled by RSS, we’ll throw up our latest podcast for today and get the show on the road. In the mean time, we apologize if for some reason your shows start re-downloading as we’re retooling our feeds. Thanks for listening, everybody…. Source: Engadget

MacBreak 12: Quicksilver

2008-10-06T08:46:00.003-07:00

Leo Laporte and Merlin Mann show you how to turbocharge your interactions with your data and applications using Quicksilver. Read More

Apple TV update 2.2 brings out the "Brick"

2008-10-06T08:46:00.001-07:00

Filed under: Software Update, Apple TV

So, that was like a really bad, mean, and cruel joke. But it does seem that the recent Apple TV update is bricking some Apple TVs. According to the Apple Discussion board, some users cannot get past the boot video. If the update bricks your Apple TV, it's not the end of the world (well, it is if you cannot do the following steps).

One discussion board reader reports that doing a restore of your Apple TV will help resolve the situation. To restore your Apple TV, try the following steps:

Hold down the Menu and Menu down/scroll (-) buttons on the remote for approximately 3 to 5 seconds, until the LED on Apple TV flashes yellow.
After Apple TV restarts, a screen appears asking you to pick a language. Select the language you wish to use.
After the Apple TV Recovery screen appears, select "Factory Restore"

Please note that restoring the factory settings will completely remove any and all data on the Apple TV. In most cases, your Apple TV software will be reset to version 1.0 (if you bought your ATV prior to the 2.0 update). For more information on the diagnostic tools, read Apple's support note.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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BuildMate 1.0 automates REALbasic build process

2008-10-04T13:37:00.005-07:00

BuildMate 1.0 automates REALbasic build process
Ekim Software is shipping BuildMate 1.0, a cross-platform build process automation tool for REALBasic. It allows users to set properties and constants, with static and dynamic values, in a project, moving the resulting application build to a builds directory. BuildMate 1.0 helps users with scheduling nightly builds and simplifying the build process into one command. The software can build multiple...

Robot rabbit reads RSS feeds out loud

2008-10-04T13:37:00.003-07:00

Truly, who can say no to a talking rabbit that not only undestands RSS, but shares it aloud with others? The Nabaztag Smart Rabbit wants to multiply in the U.S. The new device, introduced in June to the U.S. market, uses a Wi-Fi connection and text-to-speech software to read things like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, e-mails [...]

Truly, who can say no to a talking rabbit that not only undestands RSS, but shares it aloud with others?

The Nabaztag Smart Rabbit wants to multiply in the U.S.

The new device, introduced in June to the U.S. market, uses a Wi-Fi connection and text-to-speech software to read things like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, e-mails and weather reports out loud.

The creator of the plastic rabbit, Violet, seems to have taken the idea of the Ambient Orb and run with it. Instead of just changing colors in relation to the data fed into it, as the Orb does, the Nabaztag rabbit actually talks to you, becoming a verbal companion to your personalized Internet.

“We started three years ago…with a Wi-Fi lamp, but people seemed more interested in verbal information,” Olivier Mével, co-founder of Violet, said in an interview. “It meant for us this new kind of object connected to the Internet–not only an object that could display information, but also objects used to communicate with SMS (Short Message Service), phone and chat. It was also an emotional messenger. You can send love messages or whatever to whomever you want.”… Source: CNET

Revised PocketSurfer2 gets unlimited lifetime surfing in UK, old one gets cheaper here

2008-10-04T13:37:00.001-07:00

Filed under: Handhelds

DataWind's PocketSurfer2 hasn't exactly made a huge impact here in the US, where it was unceremoniously re-dubbed the PC Edge prior to being released to the back cabinets of electronics retailers next to piles of unwanted Shifts. It's seen more success in Europe, where surfers on the go can now buy a nicely upgraded model, the PocketSurfer2R. It shares the prior device's basic layout and 640 x 240 screen, but contains a GPS receiver inside and a small touchpad to the upper-right of the keypad. More notable, though, is the new "Immortality Plan," which won't guarantee that you'll still be rocking out when your grandkids retire, but, for a one-time fee of £60 (a little over $100), offers unlimited surfing over the lifetime of the device. Given we're stuck paying $25/month here, we'd call that a bargain. This new model won't be coming stateside, at least not yet, but the older one has received a $100 price drop to $199.

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Icons: It’s Still Orange

2008-10-02T17:12:00.007-07:00

Icons: It’s Still Orange
I am glad to see that we can maintain some level of RSS icon standards between Mozilla and Microsoft. Wouldn’t be great if this level of cooperation could continue? My last post shared some of our conceptual designs of the feed icon and expressed some of the criteria that we are using to select the right [...]

I am glad to see that we can maintain some level of RSS icon standards between Mozilla and Microsoft. Wouldn’t be great if this level of cooperation could continue?

My last post shared some of our conceptual designs of the feed icon and expressed some of the criteria that we are using to select the right icon. Several of the comments liked icon #4 simply because it looked liked the Firefox icon, and many (like this one) suggested that we work with the Firefox team to standardize on an icon.

This seemed like a very good idea, so in November, Amar and I took a visit down to Silicon Valley to meet with John Lilly and Chris Beard from Mozilla to get their thoughts on it. We all agreed that it’s in the user’s best interest to have one common icon to represent RSS and RSS-related features in a browser. And the winner is… [Source: Microsoft Team RSS Blog]

Dialling home with good news

2008-10-02T17:12:00.005-07:00

Vodafone New Zealand has sent a $631 million dividend back to its parent company in London. The dividend for three years marks its dominance of the mobile market as Telecom has fallen behind through delays in adopting 3G technology.... Read More

Track Your Short URL Links With tr.im

2008-10-02T17:12:00.003-07:00

Track Your Short URL Links With tr.im
It’s incredible how many different URL shortening services have cropped up in the last few years. With the rise of microblogging, any way to save characters really makes a difference. In fact, without services like TinyURL, there wouldn’t be any way to put most URL’s in a single tweet, let alone add text to [...]

It’s incredible how many different URL shortening services have cropped up in the last few years. With the rise of microblogging, any way to save characters really makes a difference. In fact, without services like TinyURL, there wouldn’t be any way to put most URL’s in a single tweet, let alone add text to describe the link.

Despite the diversity of URL shorteners out there, none of them are quite like tr.im. The easiest way to explain tr.im is to walk you through the process of shortening a URL with it. First of all, take any URL you like. For my example I’m going to use the front page of MakeUseOf.

Obviously if you want to send your link to a friend or post it on Twitter, you’re going to need to condense it into a smaller package. Heading over to tr.im will present you with a text box for your URL.

Notice at the bottom there is a check box for whether you want tr.im to compose this link into a Twitter post. This is because tr.im allows you to either make a separate tr.im account or simply use your pre-existing Twitter account. If you choose the latter, you’ll have all the same user benefits of having an account, but tr.im will also send your links on to Twitter, per your preferences. Tr.im also accepts Identi.ca accounts as well.

When you’ve put in your URL, there is a little box available to you for extra options. You can try to select a unique identifier for your tr.im link. For ours I went with “MUO.” Fortunately it was available. Next you can select a privacy code. I couldn’t figure out what that was supposed to be for the life of me, but it completely disabled the first demo I tried to use it with. The instructions fail to come up when clicked, so no help there. Lastly, you can add some search terms to your link, but this is another mystery option.

Finally, when you click the “tr.im!” button, your link will be trimmed according to your selections and from there you can post it wherever. The story doesn’t end there, though. As I mentioned before, the link can then be made into a tweet for Twitter or Identi.ca. There are several sets of preferences that allow you to adjust how that works. Also, you can choose whether the link will go directly to the target address or go to an intermediary page so your friends can be sure it’s not a dangerous link.

The last and most interesting feature of tr.im is the stats tracking for each link. As you can see, each of my tr.im links has been clicked a different number of times and has a date attached to it for easy categorization. It looks like the link that has been clicked the most is http://tr.im/3ii, a link for contributing to the two charities I am trying to raise funds for. I love the ability to track the links you make because largely when you make a link you actually want people to click it (whereas many links are just for reference). Tr.im also includes a handy pie chart to display where the clicks are coming from.

Overall I plan on using tr.im in a limited capacity. All the microblogging tools I use already include link shortening, so that characteristic isn’t lacking in my digital life. The main thing I want from tr.im is the link tracking. Often I put up a link on Twitter and I want to know how many people actually clicked through to see what it was. Not only does this help me structure my teasers on Twitter more effectively the next time, but it is yet another metric to see where my traffic is coming from.

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(By) Jimmy Rogers is a biology major at George Mason University and an avid freelance tech blogger. Check out his blog, Mason Tech Beat.

New subscriber? Get your freebies at MakeUseOf Downloads. Enjoy!

Tags:link tracking, stats, Twitter, URL, url shortening

GBTV #434 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-02T17:12:00.001-07:00

If we ever have kids, I really want the Origami Stroller. It automatically folds or unfolds at the touch of a button. It's powered by a generator that charges a battery when the stroller is being pushed.

Vincent Laforet had the chance to use the Canon 5D Mark II camera I told you about last week. He shot a short film with a $5,000 budget and thinks the camera is fantastic. He says it's so good, it will change everything. Definitely take a few minutes to read about his experience. SmugMug stepped in to provide the bandwidth so we can see Laforet's film. It will be up sometime tonight

Pentax released a DSLR for beginners. If you're making the jump from point and shoot to DSLR, take a look at the K-m (also known as the K2000 in the US).

You can save money on domain name registrations and renewals from GoDaddy.com with discount codes GB1, GB2 and GB3. For an explanation of each code, click here.

Cali's Shirt Courtesy of Thinker Clothing, "Knowledge as Your Style"
I'm wearing the Roboticus Carpalium

Read More

MacBreak 147: NAB: Mogul

2008-10-02T17:11:00.011-07:00

MacBreak 147: NAB: Mogul
Alex stops by Imagineer Systems to check out their new product Mogul.

Joystiq's live from Nintendo's fall media summit

2008-10-02T17:11:00.009-07:00

Joystiq's live from Nintendo's fall media summit

Filed under: Gaming

Yeah, we got all the sordid details from Japan last night, but in case you have a partiality to getting your news in English and US-centric, Joystiq is liveblogging the Nintendo fall media summit from San Francisco. Head on over to get your fix.

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GBTV #417 (small) | CEDIA Expo #1 repost

2008-10-02T17:11:00.007-07:00

GBTV #417 (small) | CEDIA Expo #1 repost
CEDIA Update #1 covers the Triad InWall Silver/4 Omni Sconce Loudspeaker. It's a speaker system and LED light source in one.

You can save money on domain name registrations and renewals from GoDaddy.com with discount codes GB1, GB2 and GB3. For an explanation of each code, click here.

Blog feeds may carry security risk

2008-10-02T17:11:00.005-07:00

Blog feeds may carry security risk
Even our friend RSS, is not without it’s challenges, folks. Security people, nothing is immune. LAS VEGAS–Reading blogs via popular RSS or Atom feeds may expose computer users to hacker attacks, a security expert warns. Attackers could insert malicious JavaScript in content that is transferred to subscribers of data feeds that use the popular RSS (Really Simple [...]

Even our friend RSS, is not without it’s challenges, folks. Security people, nothing is immune.

LAS VEGAS–Reading blogs via popular RSS or Atom feeds may expose computer users to hacker attacks, a security expert warns.

Attackers could insert malicious JavaScript in content that is transferred to subscribers of data feeds that use the popular RSS (Really Simple Syndication) or Atom formats, Bob Auger, a security engineer with Web security company SPI Dynamics, said Thursday in a presentation at the Black Hat security event here.

The problem doesn’t affect only blogs–any kind of information feed using any kind of format could potentially be used to transmit malicious content to a subscriber, Auger said. People, for example, subscribe to mailing lists and news Web sites via RSS, he said, noting “this is about the entire concept of Web feeds.”

SPI Dynamics examined a number of online and offline applications used to read RSS and Atom feeds. In many cases, any JavaScript code delivered on the feed would run on the user’s PC, meaning it could be vulnerable to attack, Auger said. JavaScript is a scripting language that experts say is increasingly causing security concerns. … Source: News.com

RSS mashup: Amazon, eBay, Yahoo! product results

2008-10-02T17:11:00.003-07:00

A new RSS mashup site acts as a meta search engine reaching into Amazon, Google, eBay, Yahoo!, Flickr, YouTube, and Technorati. You cannot mash all the search results into one feed, but you can merge Amazon, eBay, and Yahoo! Shopping into a single product feed, which is damn convenient. The site is weak on design, but it works. Used to be called Longtail, but (according to a posted explanation) that term has been trademarked by its popularizer, Chris Anderson. The mashup site is now called BaeBo, and is operated by Fancis Shanahan. (BaeBo is the language spoken in the Solomon islands ... perhaps it has other meanings, too.)

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GBTV #424 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-02T17:11:00.001-07:00

GBTV #424 (small) | GeekBrief.TV
Scientists at CERN have been working on the Large Hadron Collider. It's a 17 mile ring with the initial intention to test the theory of how mass happens. Some scientists are worried that the experiment will cause the world to end. I'm not worried. We'll be live on Ustream, watching the CERN webcam while the experiment takes place. Join us if you can!

When: Wednesday the 10th CERN Webcam: http://webcast.cern.ch Our Live Stream: Ustream.tv Times: 7:00 AM UTC 3:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time 2:00 AM Central Daylight Time 1:00 AM Mountain Daylight Time 12:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time

Tomorrow there's an Apple event called "Let's Rock". Kevin Rose says we'll see this Nano announced, and iTunes 8.0. I'm skeptical about the nano. I'm reading how Apple develops hardware, and I can't see this version getting through. We'll be live on Ustream.tv during the event.

When: Tuesday the 9th Where: Ustream.tv Time: 10 AM Pacific (5 PM GMT)

Plastic Logic is introducing their electronic reading device today. It's the size of an 8.5x11" piece of paper. The goal is provide publishers with more flexibility for business documents. It'll go on sale next year.

RealDVDis a new Windows DVD ripping application that will copy the entire contents of your DVD...special features and DRM included. It's similar to my favorite Mac DVD ripping application called Drive-in. Drive-in is now available for purchase from Flip4Mac. RealDVD will be released soon.

. These applications are legal due to a precident setting case involving Kleidescape. The judge in that case said "Nothing in the agreement prevents you from making copies of DVDs. Nothing requires that a DVD be present during playback." We'll see how this develops in the future!

GBTV #0366 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-01T09:05:00.009-07:00

Amazon lowered the price of the Kindle by $40. I get asked on a regular basis if I would recommend it. Yes! It has hardware design flaws, but the reading experience is addictive.

The TelePrompTer company I've used since the first year of GeekBrief.TV, just released a new version, the ProPrompter HD.

LaptopMag.com had an interesting interview with Mary Lou Jepsen. She gave a bit of insight into what they're working on for the OLPC v2. Looks like they're integrating haptic technology.

I'm excited about the possibilities of an application called AnswerOil. It's an interactive tool to help narrow down shopping choices quickly. They're licensing the technology to online stores, so we don't get to really use it unless companies adopt it. You can experience the demo here.

DimP is an experimental video player that allows viewers to scrub through video by dragging moving objects on the screen You can download a DimP player for Windows here.

For a limited time, we have a new Go Daddy promo code. It's GB100 and it'll get you $25 off your order of $100 or more. The offer expires June 15th. Our other GoDaddy discount codes, GB1, GB2 and GB3, are always good. For more information, click here. Read More

iTaskX 2.5 improves Leopard support

2008-10-01T09:05:00.007-07:00

iTaskX 2.5 improves Leopard support
A new version of iTaskX has been released by Techno-Grafik and Zisser Software. iTaskx is a project management application, meant to organize schedules and tasks in an efficient order. It supports exchanging calendars and resources, as well as more than 60 task fields. Version 2.5 has been programmed as a Universal Binary, and features improved support for Mac OS X 10.5....

GBTV #0407 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-10-01T09:05:00.005-07:00

A UK Web site called Mobilefun is selling an iPhone case with a solar panel built in. It also works with the iPod Touch.

I got a DearCali.com question about backing up Firefox bookmarks. We use a plug-in called Foxmarks that synchronizes bookmarks for any computer you add it to.

The Chaos Computer Club created a tool for reporters and athletes traveling to China. It's a USB drive with applications that allow travelers to override Chinese blocks.

The CamBall is a video camera and recorder packed into a black plastic sphere about the size of a ping pong ball. I kind of want one, but they're only available in Korea. Cue the photo of the remote controlled cow.

This episode was produced and edited by Max Murphy from MacNewsWeekly.com. Max is on a 3000 mile road trip with his dad and brother. Our apartment marks the halfway point. They're headed to New Orleans, Atlanta and then back to New York. You can follow Max on Twitter at Twitter.com/MacNewsWeekly Read More

Sharp's AQUOS LC-65XS1U-S and LC-52XS1U-S HDTVs get priced

2008-10-01T09:05:00.003-07:00

Sharp's AQUOS LC-65XS1U-S and LC-52XS1U-S HDTVs get priced

Filed under: Displays, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for. Pricing for Sharp's sexiest, freshest and altogether loveliest HDTVs has arrived. As stated at CEATEC in Japan, the 65-inch LC-65XS1U-S will sell for a whopping ¥1.28 million ($12,225), while the 52-inch LC-52XS1U-S goes for ¥980,000 ($9,243). We'd expect those figures to be a touch lower whenever they come stateside, but rest assured, you'll be breaking into the piggy bank if either of these is to be your next set.

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TDK claims HDD recording density record

2008-10-01T09:05:00.001-07:00

At the CEATEC show kicking off today in Japan, TDK announced it has achieved a new milestone in surface recording density for hard disk drives thanks to its prototype TMR head. The company achieved the world�s highest surface recording density at 803GB/inch2, which could result in a typical single 1.8-inch double-sided disk having the capacity of 260GB. The TMR head is the same one as introduced i...

MacBreak 154: MacBreak Studio: The Job Chain

2008-10-01T09:04:00.007-07:00

Alex brings back Brian Gary to show us how we can save time by linking jobs in Compressor. Read More

Say Hello to the new TUAW

2008-10-01T09:04:00.005-07:00

Say Hello to the new TUAW

Filed under: TUAW Business

Almost four years ago, tuaw.com went live with a flurry of posts by future superblogger extraordinaire Barb Dybwad. Sporting our "default" theme at the time, The Unofficial Apple Weblog's design evolved into what you see today: a Mac-inspired theme with an upbeat, colorful logo. In the interim we've seen Apple bust out a few new product categories and drop the "computer" from the company moniker. It wasn't that long ago that the rainbow logo went out, and the sleeker monochrome logo came in.

As Apple evolves, so does TUAW. I'm proud to announce something we've been working on (along with the iPhone-tuned i.tuaw.com) for a while now: the new TUAW.com design and logo.

We hope this helps you, as readers, find what you're looking for quickly. Big stories will appear up top, plus our popular categories such as Mac 101 and our ongoing App Store coverage. There's even the no-~~iPhone~~ page, where you may read TUAW 99%-free of any iPhone coverage, if that's the way you choose to roll. We've added breaking stories and featured stories to the right, so when releases appear in Software Update or we review new stuff, you'll see it after it moves off the front page. Our handy Tip of the Day keeps you informed, and our AAPL stock widget keeps you happily up-to-date with the markets (or sadly up-to-date, depending).

Other features include our TUAW videos from WWDC and Macworld, courtesy of the Truveo widget (the videos are also reachable via the iPhone/iPod touch Truveo search app). Our TUAW Flickr pool is back, so tag any Apple-related posts "TUAW" (no quotes) to have them magically appear. We hope you enjoy our improved comment UI for iPhone use, and the re-appearance of our tag cloud and comment stats.

Thanks for reading TUAW! We have no idea what the next four years hold in store for Apple, but we'll be among the first to report, analyze and dissect it.

UPDATE: Former TUAWian Laurie Duncan points out TUAW's punk rock roots back when we were apple.weblogsinc.com. Indeed, thank you Laurie!

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Netflix API to launch, iPhone app possible

2008-10-01T09:04:00.003-07:00

Movie rental site Netflix is set to release an Application Programming Interface (API) that will allow developers to integrate content into applications, according to ReadWriteWeb. The API will open up access to 100,000 movie titles and TV episodes on DVD and allow users to access their Netflix accounts. Developers will initially be able to access data through REST API, JavaScript API, and ATOM fe...

MacBreak 95: Image Editor Roundup

2008-10-01T09:04:00.001-07:00

Leo Laporte and Alex Lindsay explore the features of image editors for your Mac. Read More

Yahoo! Partners with Six Apart to Distribute Movable Type

2008-09-29T10:09:00.007-07:00

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Apple sells unlocked iPhone 3G in Hong Kong

2008-09-29T10:09:00.005-07:00

HONG KONG - Apple has begun selling unlocked iPhones in Hong Kong that can be used with any cell phone carrier. The move appears to depart from the company's previous strategy of selling the popular device capable of working with... Read More

Mac 101: Where'd my send button go?

2008-09-29T10:09:00.003-07:00

Mac 101: Where'd my send button go?

Filed under: Mac 101

More Mac 101, TUAW's series for beginners. My mom called me up last week with this question about Mail: "Where did my send button go?"

Turns out she had mistakenly clicked the white chiclet (pictured) in the upper-right hand corner of her message's compose window, hiding her toolbar. When she clicked it once, Mail remembered her settings and hid the toolbar for other message windows, too.

So, just clicking that chiclet showed the toolbar again, and brought her send button back. Magic.

Also, you can hold down command and click the same chiclet to show and hide icons and text labels in the toolbar. Repeatedly clicking with the command key held down cycles through all your options.

Now that my mom is happily sending emails again, I can sleep well knowing all about the new Bob's Big Boy and the local woman who was on Survivor.

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Internet scammers target Kiwibank

2008-09-29T10:09:00.001-07:00

Kiwibank customers have become the latest New Zealanders targeted by internet scammers trying to get their account information. A fake email has been sent out claiming $20,000 dollars has been deposited into a Kiwibank account. The... Read More

Feed Aggregation Made Easy by Google Reader API

2008-09-29T10:08:00.001-07:00

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RSS and the academic library

2008-09-28T22:46:00.009-07:00

Boy, it seems like there is a growing number of institutions working to implement RSS these days. Long-time readers will know all about my long-time admiration for UBC’s librarians. Yesterday was a notable new chapter in the saga, as 35 of our university’s finest information specialists (with more on a waiting list) packed into a lab [...]

Boy, it seems like there is a growing number of institutions working to implement RSS these days.

Long-time readers will know all about my long-time admiration for UBC’s librarians. Yesterday was a notable new chapter in the saga, as 35 of our university’s finest information specialists (with more on a waiting list) packed into a lab for a three hour workshop on RSS and academic libraries.

Much of the time was spent on the basics, though about half the attendees had at least set up a newsreader already. But the preparation for the more advanced and context-specific elements unearthed some useful and powerful resources that I thought I would pass on…

Electronic Journals and RSS - Librarians at my old school in Saskatchewan maintain a couple of valuable lists — electronic journals with an RSS feed and publishers and sources for academic RSS. The number of Table of Content updates through this means is still too small, but blogging librarians such as Steven Cohen are keeping up the pressure for more… I was pleasantly surprised to learn that ProQuest has begun to offer this service…. Source: Abject Learning

MacBreak 09: Photoshop CS2 RAW

2008-09-28T22:46:00.007-07:00

Leo and guest Mikkel Aaland discuss the advantages of shooting photos�in the RAW format and manipulating RAW images in Photoshop CS2. Read More

SmartQ TAO sports a swanky screen

2008-09-28T22:46:00.005-07:00

SmartQ TAO sports a swanky screen

Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

We're pleased to see some improvements in SmartQ's latest PMP. Screen size and resolution for the TAO weigh in at a staunchly 3.3-inches 480x320 HVGA with 262,000 colors. It hosts a decent lineup of multi-codec niceties like MP3, OGG, WMA, FLAC, APE, AAC, WAV (PCM, ADPCM), along with a 500mhz Blackfin processor -- not too shabby for soaking up video. Xvid and Divx AVI res hit 720x480 with RMVB topping that, and FLV, WMV, ASF, 3GP, MPEG, DAT, MP4 formats are also supported. If you're jetting over to China any time soon, you should be able to pick up a 4GB model for around 699RMB ($102.)

[Thanks, Nick]

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RSS and the academic library

2008-09-28T22:46:00.003-07:00

Boy, it seems like there is a growing number of institutions working to implement RSS these days.

Long-time readers will know all about my long-time admiration for UBC’s librarians. Yesterday was a notable new chapter in the saga, as 35 of our university’s finest information specialists (with more on a waiting list) packed into a lab for a three hour workshop on RSS and academic libraries.

Much of the time was spent on the basics, though about half the attendees had at least set up a newsreader already. But the preparation for the more advanced and context-specific elements unearthed some useful and powerful resources that I thought I would pass on…

Electronic Journals and RSS - Librarians at my old school in Saskatchewan maintain a couple of valuable lists — electronic journals with an RSS feed and publishers and sources for academic RSS. The number of Table of Content updates through this means is still too small, but blogging librarians such as Steven Cohen are keeping up the pressure for more… I was pleasantly surprised to learn that ProQuest has begun to offer this service…. Source: Abject Learning

RSS 2 PDF for Flickr Users

2008-09-28T22:46:00.001-07:00

RSS 2 PDF for Flickr Users
Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF. It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter [...]

Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF.

It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter Tags separated by commas.

You can also leave the user fields blank and just enter keyword(s) in the Tag field to create a PDF from popular Flickr Tags !

The resulting PDFs are limited to 10 photos because the Flickr Newsfeeds themselves contain only ten photos. You can also visit any webpage on�Flickr.com offering a Newsfeed and use one of our RSS2PDF Bookmarklets…. Source: RSS 2 PDF

MacBreak 160: MacBreak: Foldit

2008-09-26T19:00:00.005-07:00

iJustine and Dr. Kiki fold proteins and aim for the nobel prize with Foldit. Read More

Kiwi know-how, Microsoft muscle

2008-09-26T19:00:00.003-07:00

Small Hamilton-based IT company NetValue expects a huge boost in international sales as a result of Microsoft taking an interest in its specialist high-performance search technology. After seeing NetValue's ground-breaking technology... Read More

Toshiba rolls out 256GB laptop SSD, 32GB flash modules for netbooks

2008-09-26T19:00:00.001-07:00

Toshiba rolls out 256GB laptop SSD, 32GB flash modules for netbooks

Filed under: Storage

Get your flash here, red hot flash memory. Toshiba is now sampling its new 256GB SSD with a 120MB max read and 70MBps write via 3.0Gbps SATA interface -- not the fastest consumer SSD but not not bad. This 2.5-inch slab measures just 3.0-mm thick and targets laptops looking to shed the 9.5-mm constraint presented by standard hard disks. Like Samsung, Tosh also announced new 8GB, 16GB and 32GB SATA flash modules aimed directly at the booming netbook market with speeds topping-out at 80MBps for reads and 50MBps for writes. All the drives feature MLC-based NAND which accounts for the less-than blazing SSD speeds. On the other hand, that should help keep the costs low when these things ship in quantity later this year.

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O2 denies rumors of special MacBook deal

2008-09-26T18:59:00.013-07:00

UK telecom company O2 has denied rumors of a special MacBook bundle, according to a new report. An industry magazine, Mobile, had suggested that the company wanted to exploit its partnership with Apple, which originated with the first-generation iPhone. O2 was allegedly in discussions to begin selling MacBooks bundled with some form of Internet access, whether fixed or cellular; the notebooks wo...

MIT gurus dream up self-sustaining sensor network for preventing forest fires

2008-09-26T18:59:00.011-07:00

MIT gurus dream up self-sustaining sensor network for preventing forest fires

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Thanks, MIT. Why don't you just make the rest of the world feel a little more useless. Every week or so, we're forced to stare at yet another amazing invention coming from your doors; to be frank, it's just downright unfair. All childish angst aside, the latest idea to come from the institution is one that could certainly be put to good use: a self-sustaining sensor network that taps into trees for power in order to continuously monitor forests for threats of fire. Moreover, the concept could be applied in other scenarios as well -- to detect potential threats such as smuggled contraband along a nation's borders, perhaps. Testing of the wireless sensor network (developed by the appropriately named Voltree Power) is scheduled to begin next spring, and we're hearing that pot-sniffing turtles may even be brought in to create a completely natural self-policing environment.

[Via Inhabitat]

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OnScreen DNA gets price reduced by $30

2008-09-26T18:59:00.009-07:00

OnScreen Science has announced that OnScreen DNA will now be sold at a $30 price reduction. OnScreen DNA is designed to make the structure and workings of DNA accessible to students; this includes details which may be difficult to find in two-dimensional animations commonly found on the Internet. The software uses a 3D model to demonstrate DNA, including its double-helix geometry, as well as chemi...

GBTV #0389 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-09-26T18:59:00.007-07:00

GBTV #0389 (small) | GeekBrief.TV
On Brief #374, I put out a call to action for an affordable live switching application that would work with services like Ustream.tv and Stickam. After that, we began working with Mike Versteeg, the developer of Vidblaster. Vidblaster has actually been around for two years, but in the past couple weeks, Mike has been working hard (and amazingly fast!) at making it accomplish what we were looking for. There's a growing need in the market for this application, and Mike is now offering it at an affordable price so churches, community groups, schools, and individuals can have access to software that gives us all a live TV studio at our fingertips.

Tech.Life.Blogged - Send me voice mail for free and how to get yours

2008-09-26T18:59:00.005-07:00

So since when did Odeo decide to branch out from the RSS syndication business and into the voicemail racket? It must of been pretty recently because this is the first that I have heard of it. I’ve added a new link to the template (upper right) that lets you send me a voice mail. All you [...]

So since when did Odeo decide to branch out from the RSS syndication business and into the voicemail racket? It must of been pretty recently because this is the first that I have heard of it.

I’ve added a new link to the template (upper right) that lets you send me a voice mail. All you need is a microphone on your pc and the standard flash plug-in for your browser.
The service is provided through Odeo.When you leave a message I’ll get an email that lets me know there is new audio in my Odeo account and I can go retrieve it. Or I can subscribe to my Odeo in-box via RSS and find it that way.
If you are interested in this for your blog/website go to: Get you own voice mail on Odeo and they will walk you through what you need to do. Source: Scott Kingery/Tech.Life.Blogged

Ads in RSS: Obnoxious Works

2008-09-26T18:59:00.003-07:00

Don't get me wrong; I'm all for ads in RSS, and have said so for months. I have intuitively felt that inconspicuous ads would probably work best, if only because they would piss off readers less than big, loud ads. However, a study from Pheedo indicates the reverse is true, and it's two layers of bad news. First, ads run as separate RSS feed items are far more successful (generating about eight times the clickthroughs) as ads embedded in RSS items. Then, it turns out that blitzing the feed with ads in every other item is the most successful tactic of all. Of course, you might lose most of your readers, but the remaining ones will be clicking your ads.

Permalink�|�Email this�|�Linking�Blogs�|�Comments

MacBreak 131: Macbreak Studio: Color

2008-09-26T18:59:00.001-07:00

MacBreak 131: Macbreak Studio: Color
Alex invites Steve Martin to show the basics of color correction using Apple's Color.

Geek Brief Radio | Copy and Paste for iPhone

2008-09-25T14:19:00.011-07:00

Interview with Zac White about bringing Copy and Paste to the iPhone via OpenClip.org Read More

MacBreak 05: There is a Need for Panic

2008-09-25T14:19:00.009-07:00

MacBreak 05: There is a Need for Panic
Leo and Emery show you how to use Transmit, the award-winning FTP software from Panic Software.

RSS 2 PDF for Flickr Users

2008-09-25T14:19:00.007-07:00

Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF. It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter [...]

Needing to convert RSS to PDF? Then I may have one good option for you. Check out RSS 2 PDF.

It’s a Flickr requirement that your photos must be made PUBLIC. To return a PDF based on a Flickr Newsfeed, enter information for a particular user on Flickr (such as yourself) AND / OR optionally enter Tags separated by commas.

You can also leave the user fields blank and just enter keyword(s) in the Tag field to create a PDF from popular Flickr Tags !

The resulting PDFs are limited to 10 photos because the Flickr Newsfeeds themselves contain only ten photos. You can also visit any webpage on�Flickr.com offering a Newsfeed and use one of our RSS2PDF Bookmarklets…. Source: RSS 2 PDF

Robot rabbit reads RSS feeds out loud

2008-09-25T14:19:00.005-07:00

Robot rabbit reads RSS feeds out loud
Truly, who can say no to a talking rabbit that not only undestands RSS, but shares it aloud with others? The Nabaztag Smart Rabbit wants to multiply in the U.S. The new device, introduced in June to the U.S. market, uses a Wi-Fi connection and text-to-speech software to read things like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, e-mails [...]

Truly, who can say no to a talking rabbit that not only undestands RSS, but shares it aloud with others?

The Nabaztag Smart Rabbit wants to multiply in the U.S.

The new device, introduced in June to the U.S. market, uses a Wi-Fi connection and text-to-speech software to read things like RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds, e-mails and weather reports out loud.

The creator of the plastic rabbit, Violet, seems to have taken the idea of the Ambient Orb and run with it. Instead of just changing colors in relation to the data fed into it, as the Orb does, the Nabaztag rabbit actually talks to you, becoming a verbal companion to your personalized Internet.

“We started three years ago…with a Wi-Fi lamp, but people seemed more interested in verbal information,” Olivier Mével, co-founder of Violet, said in an interview. “It meant for us this new kind of object connected to the Internet–not only an object that could display information, but also objects used to communicate with SMS (Short Message Service), phone and chat. It was also an emotional messenger. You can send love messages or whatever to whomever you want.”… Source: CNET

GBTV #418 (small) | CEDIA Expo #2

2008-09-25T14:19:00.003-07:00

CEDIA Update #2 covers the CLO Systems T2:Tilt wall mount. It automatically tilts your TV down when you're ready to watch it so you don't get a glare. When you're done watching, it will automatically move back into an upright position. Read More

Big Bang on the backburner as LHC repairs drag

2008-09-25T14:19:00.001-07:00

GENEVA - Scientists will have to wait until next year to use the world's largest particle collider for groundbreaking research because previously announced repairs will run into the normal winter shutdown, the operators said. Experts... Read More

Two Canadian Apple Stores set to open

2008-09-24T23:25:00.015-07:00

Two Canadian Apple Stores set to open

Filed under: Retail, Apple

Rejoice, Apple-loving Canadians. Apple will open two new retail stores this weekend. One in Calgary, Alberta and the other in Toronto, Ontario.

Apple Store Market Mall will be the 2nd store in Alberta when it opens at 9:30 AM on Saturday, 27th. It's located between 32nd Avenue NW and 40th Avenue NW on the West side of Shaganappi Trail NW. You can find full travel directions here.

At the same time, Apple Store Fairview will open in Toronto at 1800 Sheppard Avenue East. Here are your travel directions. These will be the 8th and 9th stores to open in Canada. If you visit either location, please share your stories and photos. Have fun!

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

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Stone of Destiny; hidden-object gaming for iPhone

2008-09-24T23:25:00.013-07:00

Voodoo Dimention has released an iPhone and iPod touch port of it's hidden-object game, The Stone of Destiny. In the game, players must use only a map, a book and a list of objects to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of their uncle. The Stone of Destiny takes players around the world searching for artifacts and magical runes that may reveal clues about their uncles whereabouts....

GBTV #0354 (small) | GeekBrief.TV

2008-09-24T23:25:00.011-07:00

Monday night, I thought gmail was down so I tweeted. I got plenty of responses from other gmail users that lead me to think I was the only single person on the interwebs having and issue. @quecojones shot me a link that I immediately bookmarked. The site, downforeveryoneorjustme.com, answers that very important question: Is [insert the name of a Web site here] having a major problem or am I delusional?

Page2rss.com is another recently bookmarked Web site that turns a non-RSS enabled Web page in to RSS enabled content. I tried it with a T-Shirt company I like. If it works, I should see an update in my feed reader when they add new shirts.

In prep for William the former Geek Brief Intern's 21st birthday, we were searching for Wii news and we came across MiiSculptures.com. You can upload a picture of your Mii and they'll turn it into a little sculpture for $75.

Wireless HDMI technology will soon be available in the Sharp X-Series of HDTVs. Japan will get them first. The rest of the world will have to wait.

Viewzi is a visual search engine that is really fun to use. The invitation code, "geekbrief" will get a couple hundred of us into the semi-public beta. I really like Viewzi, except for the Video x3 feature. I'd like to know what you think. Read More

ipod reset

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