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Wed, 05 Sep 2007 13:31:25 GMT

Word Processing on iWork 08: The Bear has made the transition to the clean Blank Page of Apple's "Pages" word processor. It's purity and simplicity is enchanting, and yet it's a talented container for all other media, including spreadsheet tables, drawings, bitmap images, movies and audio. "Pages feels right." [Various and Sundry via MyAppleMenu]

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 17:10:10 GMT

Is Everyone Buying A Mac?: Steve Borsch thinks so, and writes about what he's seeing, including this telling bit from his daughter: "My 18 year old daughter works at a local Apple Store and we talk often about how busy the place is all the time... She's indicated that this back-to-school season is 'awesome' with sales." Especially worth reading the comments (following the story) from switchers who agree their new Macs make their work more productive, fun and hassle-free. [Connect the Dots via MyAppleMenu]

Tue, 15 May 2007 12:52:09 GMT

How Apple TV Changes the Economics Of TV: Not only will niche content change the economics of television, but long before that happens many viewers will drop their cable TV service and instead use Apple TV to buy their TV shows and movies a la carte from iTunes -- all for less than the cost of their monthly cable bill. [Micropersuasion via MyAppleMenu]

Tue, 15 May 2007 12:25:49 GMT

Vulnerabilities Don't Equal Attacks: Security pros say Apple's Mac OS X is not a high-risk operating system and is more secure than Microsoft's Windows XP. [Information Week via MyAppleMenu]

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 12:00:19 GMT

Apple of Our Eye - Macs Save Money: According to this viewpoint, there's been a distinct sea change in the way people think about Apple Inc. in the last few weeks. People have been saying the strangest things about Apple and Macintosh computers; everything is topsy-turvy. Pundits aren't trotting out the old conventional wisdoms any more. They're saying odd stuff, like Macs are good for business; Macs can save money; and that Apple's stock -- at $90 a share -- is a bargain. As a long-time Mac user, The Bear was convinced many years ago of the benefits of Macintosh computers -- especially regarding price. You see, my time is valuable. Therefore when I pay a bit more for a Mac (and mind you it's never been a lot more), the time I save in wasted days not spent in useless troubleshooting has always been a huge benefit. Macs just work, period. My current laptop has been in service for over six years, and it just works. And as for Apple's stock price, well, as an Apple shareholder I can tell you the increase in share price over the past several years has more than paid for all the Apple toys I care to buy. [Wired News]

Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:37:39 GMT

Why Apple's 'Consumer' Macs Are Enterprise-Worthy: If the IT decision-makers can get over their prejudice against equipment that's traditionally been aimed at consumers, Apple's lineup is ready and waiting for deployment. The low-end models compare favorably with most of the middle-to-upper model PCs. And with cameras built-in to all models, teleconferencing is now available on every desktop. [Computer World via MyAppleMenu]

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:44:05 GMT

75 Percent of Vista Reviewers Compare Mac OS X: Sample quotes from a dozen different reviews demonstrate how favorable comparisons with the more mature Mac OS X operating system are irresistable. More reviewers are acknowleging features of Vista have been in Mac OS X for years. [Ars Technica via MyAppleMenu]

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:30:59 GMT

Windows Defections: Scott Lowe speculates about why, when Vista is now available, the Windows power users -- experts who have championed the Windows platform for years --are switching to Mac OS X. [Scott Lowe via MyAppleMenu]

Tue, 20 Feb 2007 12:13:08 GMT

Broadband Passes Halfway Mark in U.S.: Residential high-speed (broadband) internet access is expected to hit about 55 percent by end of 2007. That's 60 million U.S. households. [CNET News]

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 13:00:57 GMT

U.S. Servers Suck More Power Than Mississippi: Power-hungry servers consumed 45 million kilowatt-hours of power in 2005 - twice the power usage of 2000. One obvious solution: solar powered servers. [CNET News.com]

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:13:03 GMT

Jim Allchin to Microsoft: I Would Buy a Mac Today: The top Operating Systems exec at Microsoft retired a week ago, the day after Windows Vista was officially launched. Presumably now he can buy a Mac. An email Allchin addressed to his bosses Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer nearly three years ago suggests Windows users have a better option in Apple Macintosh computers, because "in my view we lost our way." Read the whole email (PDF) for insight into a very troubled Microsoft. [MyAppleMenu]

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:05:25 GMT

How Soon are You Moving to Vista?: The results of a Cnet poll of over 13,000 readers provides this telling statistic... slightly more than half of the respondents indicate they are "Sticking with the Mac -- or moving there soon". [Cnet Polls]

Fri, 19 Jan 2007 12:56:13 GMT

Why Apple Makes Me Cry: Now that all the hype and hubbub about Apple's new iPhone has simmered down a bit, here comes a Momus commentary that teases out the emotional content of Apple's creations... "This company understands the importance of beauty, managing to set the right balance between desire and spirituality, complexity and simplicity, form and function, software and hardware." [Wired News]

Sat, 19 Aug 2006 11:25:56 GMT

Mac Hack Demo Rigged: All laptop owners were put on notice recently when presenters at the Black Hat security conference used a new MacBook Pro to demo a WiFi-related vulnerability. The presenters said the vulnerability was present on Windows OS computers, but that they demonstrated it on a Mac because of the broad perception that "Macs are more secure." Well, Mac users get the last laugh this time, as the presenters are now admitting they modified the MacBook Pro prior to the demo because the driver the computer comes with isn't actually vulnerable to the attack. [VAR Business via Techdirt]

Fri, 11 Aug 2006 19:31:08 GMT

Apple Thrashes Dell on Mac Pro Pricing: Apple is clearly bent on busting the long-standing myth that Macs cost more than Windows boxes. A well-reasoned price shopping comparison conducted just days after the release of the new high-end Intel-based Mac Pro demonstrates how some configurations can save buyers as much as $462 over an equivalent Windows system from Dell. (And while the Mac can also run the Windows OS and any Windows apps, the Dell will never be able to run Mac OS X!) [The Inquirer via Insanely Great]

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 12:25:51 GMT

Key To "An Inconvenient Truth": Apple's "Keynote" is the presentation workhorse behind Al Gore's highly acclaimed documentary on global climate change. Keynote's ability to import, sequence, and transition extremely high resolution images and video clips for display on a 15x45 foot screen is what made it so appealing and useful for this film project. [Apple Hot News via MyAppleMenu]

Tue, 30 May 2006 16:10:38 GMT

ImageBurner 2.0: An update of the graphical front end app for hdutil, the command-line utility for burning disk images to CD or DVD. ImageBurner is a free Universal Binary for Mac OS v10.4. [ADG Software via Macintouch]

Sat, 27 May 2006 04:54:34 GMT

Solar Powered: In this followup to last year's "Preparing for Solar" episode, the Bear interviews webmaster Peter Oakley to learn more about the solar electric power system that was installed at his home office this Spring. Pete describes how solar panels work, the components of the system, interconnection with the electric utility grid, battery backup, environmental reasons for going solar, total cost and payback. A very informative episode for everyone interested in reducing their ecological footprint. [TameBear Radio 2006]

Thu, 18 May 2006 12:20:53 GMT

Apple Ads: Communicating a product's value is not easy. In their new "Get A Mac" TV ad campaign, Apple has taken one of the most recognizable metaphors -- interaction between two people -- and communicated something very big in a small way. What I find compelling is that both people/computers are likeable, though obviously different. Apple makes its points effectively without unforgivably slamming the competition. [Microsoft Monitor]

Sun, 12 Feb 2006 13:11:57 GMT

A Low-End Xeon You Can Love:The Intel "Clovertown" four-core processor can be used in four- or eight-processor configurations. Consider what a powerhouse an Apple Xserve would be with a couple of these inside!. [The Register]

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 00:01:11 GMT

Apple Servers Drive New EU Supercomputer: A startup on tuesday unveiled plans at last week's Apple Expo in Paris to build a distributed supercomputer cluster that could use thousands of Apple's Xserves. [E Week via MyAppleMenu]

Tue, 13 Sep 2005 15:12:22 GMT

Sad Tales After a School System Switch from Macs To Dells: The results are in after a two-year phase out of Macintosh computers to all-Windows at one school. IT support calls tripled; the IT dept had to hire another full-time tech; cost of the systems was UP after factoring in the expense for virus and spyware protection; money to combat a virus infestation in the first week of use was pulled from the software budget, postponing plans for new apps; and no money left for professional development. How wonderful. [Macsimum News via MyAppleMenu]

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:57:49 GMT

CNN Begins iChat AV Experiment In a new CNN news show, "Situation Room" aims to mix traditional reporting with new online technologies. They're using iChat AV, the high-quality teleconferencing software built into Mac OS X, to conduct their face-to-face interviews. [Macworld Daily News via MyAppleMenu]

Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:51:19 GMT

World's Smallest Ice Cream Truck: It's a "Mini Combo" -- a Mini Cooper, an iPod Mini, and a Mac Mini head out on a ten-city tour to promote Edy's new Dibs bite-sized icream treats. [Yahoo Finance via The Unofficial Apple Weblog via MyAppleMenu]

Sun, 26 Jun 2005 12:40:54 GMT

Can Apple Afford To License OS X?: Dell's recent expression of interest in licensing Apple's Mac OS X is gist for some very interesting speculation by David Kirkpatrick and his reader-commentators. [Fortune via MyAppleMenu]

Wed, 22 Jun 2005 13:15:50 GMT

Microsoft Looks to Extinguish LAMP: The combination of Apache, MySQL, and PHP (AMP) on Linux (L) or Mac (M), with the robust development and rigorous testing of open source, and a price point (practically free!) that's hard for other companies to beat, all makes for a killer app. And because it doesn't wear the name Microsoft, the software behemoth is marking it for extinction? Fat chance. [CNET News.com]

Fri, 03 Jun 2005 10:55:44 GMT

Zombies Zombies Everywhere: Europe is reportedly the #1 source of junk email (followed closely by the US and China) originating from "zombie" PCs that have been surreptitiously coerced into sending an onslaught of spam on the Internet. What nearly always goes unreported is that virtually all of these zombies are running the Microsoft Windows operating system. A worldwide effort among ISPs may move to quarantine these zombie computers in an effort to combat the problem. One commentator observes: "The first step is admitting that you have a problem, and that because of that problem your life has become unmanageable. Most people never make it to that first step..." [Silicon.com via Insanely Great]

Sun, 29 May 2005 12:48:18 GMT

Podcash: Follow the Money: Christopher Breen reads the tea leaves in Apple's latest demo -- podcasts via iTunes -- and shows the way to making money with podcasting in the near future. [MyAppleMenu]

Sat, 28 May 2005 18:32:48 GMT

Ground Rules For The Windows-Macintosh War: There will always be Macintosh computers and there will always be Windows computers. Along with that comes the hardcore warriors that take sides and play for keeps. (The Bear has been accused of such poor behavior, and may at times be guilty.) David Pogue shares five "rules of war" that go along way to make the ongoing debate more civil, generating more light, and less heat. [New York Times via MyAppleMenu]

Mon, 23 May 2005 11:43:33 GMT

Web Visitors Tossing Cookies: More and more often, Web surfers are blocking cookies, preventing some web sites -- especially e-commerce sites -- from functioning correctly. [CNET News.com]

Tue, 17 May 2005 12:00:38 GMT

Hey Google, Map This: Inventive web developers are building new services on top of Google's JavaScript-based online map service, layering in house sales and apartment rentals, real-time traffic stats and Flickr photo tags. [Wired News]

Thu, 14 Apr 2005 11:50:57 GMT

Installing Webmin and Usermin on Mac OS X: Webmin v1.20 provides web-based Unix system administration, including setting up user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing, and more. This release fixes bugs, updates the Bandwidth Monitoring module, enhances options for Clusters, and extends monitoring of cron jobs, among other things. Webmin is free and is compatible with Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server, as well as many other Unix systems. [Macintouch]

Wed, 13 Apr 2005 11:50:42 GMT

Xserve, Like No Other: As a server administrator there is no system on the planet easier to manage. [Travis Bell via MyAppleMenu]

Sun, 06 Mar 2005 21:43:53 GMT

Inescapable Doom: Oil production is going to peak within the next year or two (perhaps it already has -- we'll know for sure when the inexhorable decline really sets in). For over half a century U.S. oil consumption has been climbing. Domestic oil production has been unable to meet our increasing demand for over three decades, forcing us into a near-total dependence on foreign oil.

Now world consumption of oil is poised to shoot past world production of oil. When that happens, the brutal reality of Peak Oil will be upon us. We will be in a terrifying race to find enough new sources of energy to sustain a planet of 6.5 billion people. Solar power, wind power, wave and water power, geothermal, heat recovery... it will take a "war effort" of our biggest ideas in high tech innovation to invent ourselves out of this looming crisis. And as we do, the old non-renewable fuels needed to research, develop and manufacture any hopeful alternative power sources will be rapidly depleted.

"Peak Oil - Life After the Crash" is essential reading. It is a long article. Read it completely. Understand it. Take it to heart. Everyone on Planet Earth needs to know that the biggest challenge we've ever faced as a species is just a few years away. How we frame the public debate and how we act as nations and a global society -- to make the great last-chance leap to renewable power -- will make the difference between surviving... or inescapable doom. [Tame Bear]

Mon, 14 Feb 2005 13:14:06 GMT

Apache And AppleScript: Mac OS X has brought together the world's most popular web server -- Apache -- with a high-level scripting language -- AppleScript -- which makes possible some kinds of user-interface automation that could never be accomplished by a Perl script running from the command line. [Mac Dev Center via MyAppleMenu]

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 16:55:32 GMT

Dramatic Growth in Voice Over Wi-Fi: The business of voice phone calls over wireless local area networks is expected to grow rapidly over the next four years. It would be nice if there was a way for wireless home networks to participate and receive some revenue from this. [VNUNET News]

Wed, 09 Feb 2005 13:23:21 GMT

DSL Beating Cable in Broadband Battle: In a recent survey consumers prefer DSL over Cable internet access everywhere except in the United States. [VNUNET News]

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 12:45:47 GMT

The Vaporware Top Ten List: Microsoft holds the #3 spot for further delays of its vaunted Longhorn OS (originally scheduled for 2004 launch) followed near the back of the pack by Apple at #8 for continuing lack of any Mac clocking in at 3GHz. [Wired News]

Fri, 07 Jan 2005 12:35:57 GMT

Apple Upgrades Xserve, Drops Cinema Display Prices: Gizmodo asks, "What would make Apple announce an upgraded Xserve G5 just a week before MacWorld? Could it be that they're so crammed full of new product announcements that they're actually pushing stuff out early?" The new 2.3GHz Dual G5 rackmounted Xserve offers up to 1.2 terabytes of storage. [Gizmodo]

Thu, 06 Jan 2005 23:55:35 GMT

Built-in Windows Emulation: MacMischief argues that Apple is well positioned to begin marketing the "OS X" operating system as the smart alternative to Windows. For some time now OS X has been winning accolades for being a more stable OS, a robust server platform for home/office/enterprise, historically easier to use, demonstrably faster in standardized benchmark testing, and completely virus-free. AppleWorks has been a longstanding and capable MS Office replacement, and a new version is expected to be announced next week. The last hurdle then, which is likely to unleash the dam of Windows-to-Mac switchers is... built-in Windows emulation to run all those "gotta have it" PC apps that never bothered to develop a Mac version. [Mac Mischief]