Apple Grrl

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE MOD YOUR MAC CONTEST!!! LAST CHANCE!!Finally! The videos are starting to be posted online for the vicarious enjoyment of all of us who were not at All Things D to see Jobs and Gates on stage together. Enjoy (shown after the break)! (more…)

Macworld has live coverage on their site from the historic dual stage presentation of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. You can read the coverage on their site by clicking here. Some highlights:

“We made this bet that this paradigm shift would happen, to graphical interfaces, and that the Mac would be the one to do it,” said Gates. “The big bet wasn’t Mac versus Windows, it was character-mode versus graphics interface.”

(more…)

There are plenty of tips and tricks for using your Mac more efficiently. Today’s tip lets you find all recently modified files. This is a handy feature of you spend as much time on your Mac as I do.

I’ve been using this to find recently modified documents and spreadsheets because I spend so much time writing. Think of the other applications for this tip: finding files that may have been modified without your knowledge. this is an excellent tool to monitor potential hackers and other ne’erdowells. (more…)

We have now received the first entries in the Mod Your Mac contest! They look lovely! Keep them coming in people!

Original contest post here.

Questions Post here.

Reminder post here.

My MacBook mod here.

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER! DEADLINE MAY 31, 2007.

[tags]mod your mac contest, apple contest, win ipod speakers, win itunes gift card, apple mod contest, apple reporter contest, mac contest[/tags]

Who has the industry clout to bring Steve Jobs and Bill Gates together for an appearance on stage in what is an industry first? The Wall Street Journal, apparently. Their columnist, Walt Mossberg, has achieved the impossible: bringing Jobs and Gates together on stage at the Wall Street Journal’s D5: All Things Digital conference. What I would give to be in attendance there!

This is an historic moment in the technoverse. Two industry titans, normally at odds, playing nice for a day? Unheard of.

The tech titans from Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. didn’t even appear together when they announced a partnership that helped Jobs save Apple at Macworld in Boston 10 years ago. (Gates teleconferenced in remotely, appearing on a screen looming over Jobs.) It could be the first time they’ve been together in such a setting since Jobs famously interviewed Gates as a possible suitor for Apple’s new computer in an onstage version of the “Macintosh Dating Game” back in 1984.

So when is the big day? Wednesday at D5 is when computer junkies everywhere will get this rare treat. And what will be the big topic for the day? That is a hotly contested secret. Chic geeks everywhere are hoping for a true dialog on operating systems, the future of computing, the possibilty of bridging the Microsoft / Apple gap, future plans for each company, and so much more. Whether or not they delve that deeply into their 20+ year rivalry and look that closely at their respective futures remains to be seen.

I’ll update this post with links to transcripts and video of the historic meeting when they start appearing online after Wednesday’s momentous occasion.

Source Slashdot | Gates and Jobs to Share A Stage

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE MOD YOUR MAC CONTEST! CLICK HERE!

[tags]D5 All Things Digital, The D, Wall Street Journal, Walt Mossberg, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Jobs and Gates, Conference[/tags]

Weekend Nugget:

Some linky goodness for your weekend can be found here, in PC World’s 100 Best Products: Mac Related Choices. You can also read the MacWorld summary here.

Enjoy!

From the folks at CNET:

In New York City, you can go to the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in midtown 24 hours a day, seven days a week and browse the Web from the Macs on display. But due to a new Apple regulation, you can no longer access MySpace.com.

ThinkSecret first broke the rumor that Apple was blocking MySpace from it’s stores, and Apple’s representatives have now confirmed it, saying:

“Nearly 2 million people visit Apple stores every week,” the statement read. “We want to provide everyone a chance to test-drive a Mac, so we are no longer offering access to MySpace in our stores.” According to an Apple representative, the News Corp.-owned MySpace is the only site that has been blocked.

The reason for the ban? With Macs in Apple stores hooked up to broadband and available for users to test drive, MySpace users were coming in and hogging all of the machine time. This was keeping other potential Mac buyers from being able to hop on a Mac and see what it could do.

An employee from one of the Apple Stores had this to say:

“MySpace is a big issue for the Apple stores because people come in, Photobooth themselves (using Macs’ built-in webcams), then stick their picture up on their MySpace account and loiter at machines for hours,” the source said in an e-mail. “It is especially troublesome at the flagships and high-volume stores, and for a while there was no official word on how to deal with it.”

The impetus for the ban were flagship stores, like the one on Fifth Avenue in New York, that are open longer hours and have a high traffic volume (New York’s Fifth Avenue Apple Store is open 24 hours, 7 days a week). The upcoming release of the iPhone is expected to increase traffic even more, and Apple wants to be prepared.

[tags]Apple, Apple Store, Genius Bar, MySpace, Safari, iPhone, iMac, MacBook, Mac Pro, Mac Mini, New York’s Fifth Avenue[/tags]

As promised, photos of my very simple, not nearly as complex as the NecroMac and others, 13″ MacBook Mod. I used zCover, MacStyles, WeLoveMacs Trackpadz, and DecalGirl‘s Custom Laptop Skin for my mods. All of the skins and covers were exceptionally easy to apply except DecalGirl’s lightening skin. That one was a pain in the behind, and if you use her skins I HIGHLY recommend having a couple of friends to help you or the skin will rip. Also, DecalGirl does not send an applicator tool. Happily, MacStyles does, and I was able to use that to get rid of air bubbles and creases. I cut the glowing Apple logo out myself with an Xacto knife (also a pain in the behind). (more…)

If you don’t know what Slingbox is, you’ve been missing out. Think television that works with your computer, DVR, internet connection and more and travels with you wherever you go that has a computer connection. It’s a pretty slick set up, especially for the determined office slacker with high speed internet.

Get your Slingbox connection here.

This means that, after buying and installing the Slingbox, Mac users can ‘sling’ their home cable and satellite signals to themselves at the airport, or in a café hotspot, or over their office computers.

[tags]Slingbox, TV On The Go, Stream TV, TV On Computer, Slacker, Office, Apple[/tags]

Another snack treat found online this past weekend. This one tells you how to use Safari to download any file, from any web site, right from the browser. It’s a pretty cool feature for the Mac users out there. The source article states it is a tool for Safari, but I tested it, and you can you this tip with any web browser on your Mac, including FireFox. this is because the tool is actually a program already on your Mac called the “Activity Monitor”.

Just open your Activity Monitor. This will show you all of the files being used by both your computer and the web sties you are on. (Activity Monitor is also a great way to see which programs are sucking your RAM dry, by the way) Once Activity Monitor is open, double click on the web browser you are using, then on the “files and folders” tab. All you have to do is scroll down the list for the file you want and double click it. Seriously. It’s that easy. Thanks to the original article, found here, for calling this to our attention.

[tags]Mac Short Cuts, Mac shortcuts, Apple cheats, Mac Hacks, Activity Monitor, Safari, FireFox, download any file[/tags]

Online data backup services for Macs have been scarce these last few years (ok, ever), but Mozy heard the call and came to the rescue (I realize .Mac and iDisk do this. for those of us with boucoups information for clients, an advanced internet use capability and a serious iTunes addiction, .Mac and iDisk don’t offer enough security or space). (more…)

This is a little snack I found on Digg’s RSS feed for your Sunday viewing pleasure, from Google:

A timeline view of the history of Apple.

Enjoy!

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE MOD YOUR MAC CONTEST!

[tags]timeline, history of apple computer[/tags]

Please take this Twiigs poll regarding the Endgadget / Apple fiasco from earlier this week. Get some preliminary background first by reading these:

The original breaking news on MacWorld is here.

Follow stories are here and here.

The Poll (Courtesy of Twiigs Poll Creator):

DON’T FORGET TO ENTER THE MOD YOUR MAC CONTEST!!

[tags]Poll, Apple Stock, Endgadget[/tags]

Amazon announced today that it was finally opening its long-rumored DRM free music store. You an look for it to open later this year. With a full catalog of DRM free music and 12000 choices so far, is this a threat to iTunes? Not really. Apple continues to be at the forefront of the DRM free fight with the remaining three record labels (EMI being the only major label who has already signed on with both Amazon and Apple). Steve Jobs continues to use his heavy hitting industry clout to bend the last hold outs to his will, er, make them sign a DRM free agreement for his customers. (more…)

I don’t focus on the Apple “breaking rumors” style of blogging. I get emails about it, asking me why not. A large part of the reason is that a ton of other bloggers, like Think Secret and MacRumors, do focus on it. They not only focus on it, they have been focusing on it for years. They are good at it. It’s their niche. (more…)

Apparently, it’s all in the design, and in the design process. Technology Review takes the time to walk us through the Apple design process, revealing why Macs really do “just feel right”. Most of the meat of the design reveal is in the end of the article but it is worth a read all the way through. Some highlights:  (more…)

After much anticipation, Apple rolled out it’s new MacBook line today. I have to say I personally found the rollout to be a bit anticlimactic. I was hoping they would take the opportunity to add Santa Rosa capability and a better graphics card to the line, but instead they concentrated on speed, memory and hard drives. (more…)

According to a report by Forrester (read the full report here with extensive source data, interviews and stats for $775 USD), iTunes video downloads sales will take a huge hit from the up and coming ad based “free” video downloads. I beg to differ. Just as I pay my monthly DVR subscription to avoid any and all television ads, I will continue to pay iTunes their reasonable fee for ad free video content. I think the masses will agree with me when I say that I am tired of being sold to, and it is worth it to me to have a service (or services) that let me escape the constant marketing machine. (more…)

Macs are solid, easy to use computers. Even so, there is always room for improvement, and plenty of people online willing to share the ways they have hacked their Mac to make it better. Lucky us, as some of these Mac hacks have become essential tools in our technological life. I’ve combed the web for you, compiling a list of some of the best hacks out there. I’ve tried to give credit where credit is due, since these people have worked hard to create these tools for you. If you see a hack that is yours and you want credit, let me know so I can link to you and share the love. (more…)

LifeHacker wrote a top ten about the ten best Mac utilities. It is such a useful little list I thought I’d bring you all the linky goodness for your weekend. You can find the full article by clicking here.

I don’t use many of the tools on the list, but I may check a few out, especially MacFuse for working remotely. Not everyone needs this, but those who do need a seamless interface.

Author: Leslie Poston, © 2007, All Rights Reserved