The word “clueless comes to mind. Fuck you Bill!

Microsoft slams Apple iPhone as ‘irrelevant’

Apple’s soon-to-be-launched iPhone will be irrelevant to business users because it is a “closed device” and does not support Microsoft Office, a senior executive with the software giant said this week.

Apple… picked up market share in the United States, growing to 5 percent, from 4 percent, as its shipments increased 30 percent, according to Gartner. Apple grew faster than any other PC maker in the United States, Gartner said.

Apple Pugs Security Holes

Apple Inc. on Thursday plugged over two dozen security exploits within the client and server versions of its Mac OS X 10.3 “Panther” and Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” operating systems that could potentially expose Mac users to a variety of malicious attacks.

Dell’s personal computer sales decline

Dell’s personal computer sales continued to decline in the first quarter in the United States and across the world, according to analyses of PC sales made public yesterday by IDC and Gartner, two major consulting and market analysis firms.

It was a particularly sharp decline given that the overall market grew 10.9 percent.

Dell is bringing XP back.

Amid significant customer demand, the computer maker said on Thursday that it has returned to offering the older Windows version as an option on some of its consumer PCs. …Dell switched nearly entirely to Vista-based systems following Microsoft’s mainstream launch of the operating system in January… “We heard you loud and clear on bringing the Windows XP option back to our Dell consumer PC offerings,”

Microsoft to pay out $180 million to Iowa individuals and businesses

Microsoft agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit in Iowa yesterday, which will involve a payout of up to $180 million. Individuals in Iowa who bought Microsoft software from as early as 1994 through 2006 will be able to make claims for cash, and companies with multiple copies of Microsoft software will be able to receive vouchers.

The suit was originally filed in 2000 and alleged that Microsoft’s anticompetitive and monopolistic practices cost Iowans money by forcing them to buy Microsoft products instead of those from the competition. “Microsoft used its illegal monopoly power to raise prices to supra-competitive levels,” reads the original complaint. “As indirect purchasers of the relevant Microsoft software, Plaintiffs and Class members are therefore entitled to recover damages for the difference between a competitive price for the relevant software and monopoly price that they paid for Microsoft’s products and for their injury from the lack of free choice and the denial of benefits of software innovation and for damages for breaches of security by reason of Microsoft’s illegal conduct.”

Whilst Microsoft was bragging about the sales number of their latest OS Windows Vista, few would actually know that they have only managed to sell 244 copies in the whole of China in the first 2 weeks. You heard that right, and that’s the number quoted from the headquarters of the Windows Vista chief (90% national volume) distributor in Beijing.

What’s that word… oh yeah: greedy!

The Vista Backups That You Can’t Have

…Even though the Home Basic and Home Premium versions of Vista are backing up all files including user data files, users can’t access the backups of their own data. Want proof that the backups are there? Use Microsoft’s Windows Anytime Upgrade feature to upgrade from Home to Ultimate. When we did that, the Previous Versions tab appeared and revealed changes to data files that were made before the upgrade occurred.

Previous Versions has other problematic behaviors. Vista grabs 15 percent of each drive to archive the combination of user data and system files, with just a cryptic command line interface to change the number. There is no way to selectively add or remove a file or folder from the backup; someone could easily find an old version of a file that you thought you had removed for good. Unfortunately, it’s a package deal; you must take it all or nothing at all. Disabling Previous Versions removes user data backups, but it also disables System Restore and deletes all restore points.

Vista users may have to live with these design tradeoffs, but Microsoft’s decision to intentionally hide backups of user data is just plain wrong. If Vista keeps backups of user data, the user is entitled to see, use, and remove them. Users shouldn’t need an expensive upgrade to Vista Ultimate just to rescue their data backups.

Link and laugh

Plug it in, fire it up, Mr. President

The Detroit News

Credit Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally with saving the leader of the free world from self-immolation.

Mulally told journalists at the New York auto show that he intervened to prevent President Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of Ford’s hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid at the White House last week. Ford wanted to give the Commander-in-Chief an actual demonstration of the innovative vehicle, so the automaker arranged for an electrical outlet to be installed on the South Lawn and ran a charging cord to the hybrid. However, as Mulally followed Bush out to the car, he noticed someone had left the cord lying at the rear of the vehicle, near the fuel tank.

“I just thought, ‘Oh my goodness!’ So, I started walking faster, and the President walked faster and he got to the cord before I did. I violated all the protocols. I touched the President. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front,” Mulally said. “I wanted the president to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the hydrogen This is all off the record, right?”

“Microsoft says DRM-free music soon to be available to all 14 Zune owners. Steve Jobs to announce Microsoft’s next move shortly.”

We’ll be back at the board later today though and if the creek don’t rise
there will be a MacHelp from Maui podcast #91 up later today. If the metaphor does get higher, it’ll be up after I get all those damn animals out of my ark.

Scott

And the phone stuff appears to be in the category of “Radio.” Remember radio? Now the word for an entire industry has collapsed into an embedded feature in a thing you will keep in your pocket.

It’s also interesting that the device runs on an updated version of the Newton’s chip, making it even more realistic to call the iPhone Newton II.

Then there is this “Scribd” service where the leaked Apple document is displayed. I like the interface and the concept. Scribd deserves a closer look.
 

“Johnny C” - as he is known in the troll escort business - is an otherwise intelligent curmudgeon and tech-journalist who has most recently unfortunately declared that “Apple should pull the plug on the iPhone.”

Now there’s a really stupid idea, and it’s not the first one he’s secreted, but he’ll get all this attention Mac lovers will spray it all over him until something else such as a troop surge gets our attention. Just a few years ago he suggested that Apple drop OSX and switch to Windows!

I hate to quote him too much - you can go read the rest for yourself.

“The problem here is that while Apple can play the fashion game as well as any company, there is no evidence that it can play it fast enough. These phones go in and out of style so fast that unless Apple has half a dozen variants in the pipeline, its phone, even if immediately successful, will be passé within 3 months.

There is no likelihood that Apple can be successful in a business this competitive. Even in the business where it is a clear pioneer, the personal computer, it had to compete with Microsoft and can only sustain a 5% market share.

And its survival in the computer business relies on good margins. Those margins cannot exist in the mobile handset business for more than 15 minutes.”

In fact, Apple can move faster than any company in the world. They probably DO have a dozen variants in the pipeline.  In three months the price may drop and they will sell even more. Microsoft became the market leader through evil business practices and because Apple gave it to them in the 90s.

Ok, now get ready for this one:

Even Microsoft itself has troubles with its attempts to get into a small sub segment of the handset business with its operating system.

OOh Microsoft couldn’t do it so NO ONE CAN!
(I’m going to be sick)

Enough! Someone get this man a clue or better yet - ignore him.

But something very interesting has happened to this device in the few short weeks since it began shipping - geeks have hacked it. There are a pile of DIGG links to stories of folks who have been running LINUX on it, or have downloaded the “OSxLite” operating system.

Here’s an example:

“Far from being a hack, but useful nonetheless, is confirmation that Apple TV does indeed work with non-HDTVs. All you need is a TV with component inputs.”

This means there is a very real possibility of the AppleTV becoming a $300 computer, or at the very least a very powerful media center PC with greater capabilities than the the original product. Someone even replaced the paltry 40gig drive with a 120gig monster. And there is still a USB 2.0 socket where yet another drive can be hung.

My question is whether anyone has tried to plug in a keyboard and mouse. That would nail down the last plank.

LINKS:

• Boot Apple TV from an External USB Drive [Get USB Info]
• Get Apple TV to Run XviD Files [Gizmodo]
• Up Apple TV’s Hard Drive [Gizmodo]
• Make FrontRow Look Like Apple TV [Winnopeg]
• Get Apple TV to Work on Your Old Boob Tube [Apple TV Hacks]

Their latest, to be found here, exposes plans to upgrade the venerable FlatMac iMac design and bring laptops to a new low in size and weight. Both are good ideas. The one-piece iMac case that houses their new Intel-based computers is no more than a hack of the PowerMac container. It’s even less elegant - the power button is no longer right behind the power light and the easy to get at one-piece back was replaced by a tiny door on the bottom. So news of a more sveltish, more elegant design is welcome.

And look, just like I said, there may be a teeny flash-based laptop in our futures! Imagine the battery life of a laptop with  no moving parts. If it runs Second Life, I may even get one.

AppleInsider has learned that Apple’s popular line of iMac personal computers are about to undergo a substantial facelift that will showcase striking new industrial designs aimed at leaving both competitors and onlookers smitten.

People familiar with the matter say the Cupertino-based Mac maker has called upon its award-winning design chief Jonathan Ive and his team to cut the fat from the the current iMac line and outfit a pair of new Core 2 Duo-based models in a form factor that will be both slimmer and sleeker than today’s offerings…

…As part of an industry-wide shift away from desktops and towards high-powered portables, Apple’s industrial design prowess in 2006 was largely reserved for its notebook lines, which saw cutting-edge design revisions replace aging form factors at both the consumer and professional ends. In turn, those designs and compelling Intel-based underpinnings helped the firm sell nearly 3 million MacBook and MacBook Pros during the 2006 fiscal year, boosting its share of the U.S. notebook market to over 10 percent.

Apple has no plans to relent in its assault on the notebook sector in 2007 and has arranged to boost it 15-inch MacBook Pro models with more vivid L.E.D.-backlit display panels later this Spring and followup with a tiny flash-enabled ultra portable model sometime thereafter. But while 2006 was clearly the year of notebooks for the Mac maker, the electronics firm now has its sights set on high-definition digital media and plans to bring the iMac along for the ride.

The administration knows what would happen if the started up the draft again, so instead of doing what’s necessary at the cost of perhaps losing the next election, they are willing to risk the lives of wounded soldiers who have already made the penultimate sacrifice.

The Army is ordering injured troops to go to Iraq

Mar. 11, 2007 | “This is not right,” said Master Sgt. Ronald Jenkins, who has been ordered to Iraq even though he has a spine problem that doctors say would be damaged further by heavy Army protective gear. “This whole thing is about taking care of soldiers,” he said angrily. “If you are fit to fight you are fit to fight. If you are not fit to fight, then you are not fit to fight.”

As the military scrambles to pour more soldiers into Iraq, a unit of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga., is deploying troops with serious injuries and other medical problems, including GIs who doctors have said are medically unfit for battle. Some are too injured to wear their body armor, according to medical records.

On Feb. 15, Master Sgt. Jenkins and 74 other soldiers with medical conditions from the 3rd Division’s 3rd Brigade were summoned to a meeting with the division surgeon and brigade surgeon. These are the men responsible for handling each soldier’s “physical profile,” an Army document that lists for commanders an injured soldier’s physical limitations because of medical problems — from being unable to fire a weapon to the inability to move and dive in three-to-five-second increments to avoid enemy fire. Jenkins and other soldiers claim that the division and brigade surgeons summarily downgraded soldiers’ profiles, without even a medical exam, in order to deploy them to Iraq. It is a claim division officials deny…

Oh, there’s more: LINK

The Great Apple Video Encoder Attack of 2007:
Cupertino plans to add H.264 hardware support to its entire line.

Now comes the rumor I have heard, that I believe to be a fact, that has simply yet to be confirmed. I have heard that Apple plans to add hardware video decoding to ALL of its new computers beginning fairly soon, certainly this year…

…This will change everything. Soon even the lowliest Mac will be able
to effortlessly record in background one or more video signals while
the user runs TurboTax on the screen. Macs will become superb DVR
machines with TiVo-like functionality yet smaller file sizes than any
TiVo box could ever produce. In a YouTube world, the new Macs will be a
boon to user-produced video, which will, in turn, promote the H.264
standard. By being able to encode in real time, the new Macs will have
that American Idol clip up and running faster than could be done on
almost any other machine. Add in Slingbox-like capability to throw your
home cable signal around the world and it gets even better. Add faster
video performance to the already best-of-league iChat audio/video chat
client, and every new Mac becomes a webcam or a video phone.

Much more at: THIS LINK

Miami developer arrested after using official funds to buy watermelon statue

Fri Mar 2, 5:16 PM ET

A prominent Miami developer was arrested Friday for allegedly skimming official funds to buy himself a 150,000-dollar sculpture of a giant watermelon slice.

Raul Masvidal turned himself in to authorities after he was charged with organized fraud and grand theft.

Masvidal had obtained millions of dollars from the Miami-Dade county to build new offices for the Housing Agency, but used part of the money to buy the sculpture by artist Julio Larraz, according to an affidavit filed in court.

The sculpture, called “Mars”, portrays a huge watermelon slice that has been bitten. To hide the purchase, he allegedly asked an art broker to write a fake invoice that listed only a sculpture of stacked cups that was to grace the new building, but charged for both artworks.

The Cuban-born Masvidal had gained prominence in Miami as a political advisor, philanthropist and businessman.

“What a great disappointment,” said State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “He turned on his community. He turned on his friends.”

So, he tried to hide this fetish by disguising it as a sculpture of “stacked cups!” See when happens when you get addicted to figurative realism - before long you start craving huge fruits and eventually human body parts the size of office buildings. Where will it end. This must be stopped!

RINK

Mac Display Eater kills home files

PR disaster waiting to happen

A MAKER of Mac software has uncovered a “scary” anti-piracy measure in a bit of code called Display Eater.

Display Eater records motion video on your screen which you can then convert to a Quicktime movie.

However writing in his bog here, Karsten Kusche, who works for another Apple software maker Briksoftware, says that if you try to use a pirated serial number with Display Eater, the software will delete your home file, which in Mac land is the same as killing your computer.

Kusche said that while it is not right to pirate software it is a bit drastic to kill a mac user’s home file.

He said that the would be pirates might even buy a licence one day if they like the software or at least talk kindly about it. However if it is the same software that killed their computer they are less likely to say nice things about it. We would have thought they would have sued. µ

LINK

The facts:

The developer did this as a “Scare Tactic” to prevent people from stealing his app, but it backfired on him. Either way, it was a very bad idea and he will pay for it.

Public Letter:
I hope the public will read this entire letter.
There has been alot of confusion regarding the copy protection of the program called Display Eater.

It is described here in:

There exists two illegal cd-keys that can be used to register the program without paying for it. When Display Eater detects these keys, it would delete your home directory.

However, this is not the case in reality. The whole purpose was to create a scare campaign. You can download, the file linked from the main page, which is now down(the link is still intact here), and check it for yourself. It has been this way since 2/7/07.

It was my hope that by creating a scare campaign, I could stop wasting time writing copy protection routines to be broken over and over. But, I was wrong, it backfired.
People started buying multiple keys, which I never intended, and in the beginning when the protection was in place, people who did not even know they had committed piracy or what piracy was were left in the dark. Legitimate users started fearing the program, which I never imagined.

A reporter called me today, and suggested that I make it free, and then have users pay for support. Or open source the program. I will consider all of these. -Reza

LINK

MacSnoop and a few other rumor sites are quoting each other and unnamed sources on the inevitability of new Macs as soon as next month. In addition to inside leaks a case is being made that the Mini, MacBook and MacPro haven’t had a face life since the Paleozoic and those beautiful, flat Apple displays don’t even have like, cameras or anything.

It’s only logical that the elves in cupertino are working nights to come up with new ways to re-ignite lust in the gear-sluts among us who have yet to put an Intel on our payables.

There also seems to be a very real possibility that iLife and iWork ‘07 will finally hit the shelves by tax time.  

So save your box-tops and pennies, Steve is after your hard-earned and your heart.

BTW: Microsoft plans to complete the upgrade of Office by the end of the year - we assume they mean this year - but who cares!

LINKY