April 2005 Archives

Well folks, it is finally that day! With so much anticipation and hoopla surrounding this launch, I thought we'd never get here. The wait is finally over. All around the globe, people are jumping with joy at the sight of their Fedex or UPS guy. And tonight, many, many more will make their way to the holy temple of Apple (the Apple Store) to wait in line with the other minions as the doors swing open to the masses of Apple fanatics known as the Cult of Mac.

Over the past few days, many of the greatest developers out there have released their OS X "Tiger" ready versions of their warez, prepping for the onslaught about to hit their servers tonight. I must say, many of the apps that have been broken, for the most part, now work magnificently. There are just some apps, such as Delicious Library, which must be experienced in person. Some other notables that are working beautifully are Daylite, Transmit, Candy Bar, StickyBrain, Little Snitch, Apple Remote Desktop, and many more. A more extensive list can be found at MacWorld.

So what other goodies could there possibly be for the day? Well plenty I tell ya. For one, Apple released their upgraded .Mac service. Some of the upgraded features include a much tighter integration with the OS. You can now sync passwords from your Keychain and Mac OS X Mail preferences...including accounts, rules, signatures and the new Spotlight-driven Smart Mailboxes...Mac-to-Mac. A new shared address book is now available. Turn on sharing in your Tiger Address Book's Preferences, then add other .Mac members and choose whether to allow them to edit contacts. Any changes made are reflected in all of the accounts. VERY cool if you ask me. Soon there will be a member-only section for widgets. And you can now finally access your email aliases right from within Apple Mail. All very worthy upgrades which in my opinion, makes having .Mac mandatory in order to get the true Apple experience of integration with your OS and web services. This is the future folks, and Microshaft Longcrap won't have it.

So speaking of widgets. This is definitely one of the absolute COOLEST features of Tiger. And as you would expect, Apple has released the Dashboard page to the public. Talk about some wicked new toys. Better grab em now before the servers get slammed tonight! There have been some insanely busy developers out there and they have delivered in a BIG way. Make sure you visit the Widget Wonderland, you won't want to miss this one!

Other places you won't want to miss are the Automater Actions page, and Spotlight Plugins. More very essential resources for things that will make you go Oooooohhhhhhh, Ahhhhhhhhhh and have you sayin "Hot Damn! Now THAT is T-I-T-E "TIGHT"!!!

There is just waaaay too much goodness here for anyone to absorb in one day. If you haven't already ordered your copy, I highly recommend you pick up a copy TONIGHT at your local Apple store. If you happen to be in the Miami area, I will be live and in person at the Apple store in the Falls helping out as part of the Apple Tiger Launch Team (and no I don't work there, I am just part of the Apple team helping for the launch. I'll be the goon in the "Apple Education" shirt and most likely keeping you overly excited peeps from storming the front door before 6pm. If you work in K-12, I will be your go-to guy. See you there!!!

[via MacMinute]

Apple takes top spot on Wired 40 list | MacMinute News:

April 26, 2005 - 11:05 EDT Apple was given the No. 1 spot on this year's Wired 40, Wired magazine's annual list of the 40 companies leading in technology and innovation. Apple ranked third on the list last year. From the May 2005 issue (not yet online): "As the world moves toward open standards, the last ture believer in closed systems refuses to capitulate. Funny thing: No one is asking Apple to change. That's because the computermaker turned consumer electronics powerhouse has made a virtue of proprietary control, consistently delivering quality and flair. The company sold 8.2 million iPods in 2004, and iTunes accounted for 70 percent of legal music downloads, leading to exceptional revenue and profit in Q4. With such a foothold in music, can an assault on TV be far behind?"

Now THIS is what I call bandwidth! Bring it on Bellsouth!!!

[via Broadbandreports.com]

broadband �� News �� BellSouth DSL Upgrades This Year - 4-6Mbps later this year:

BellSouth DSL Upgrades This Year

4-6Mbps later this year...

BellSouth shareholders aren't pleased with the news that BellSouth profits last quarter fell by nearly thirty-three percent. At a shareholders meeting this morning, BellSouth is telling those investors not to worry, in part because they have DSL upgrades planned for the second half of this year. However while BellSouth insists they'll offer 12Mbps of bandwidth over a single copper line, or 24MBps over a line-bonded pair, they also say they'll only at first offer speeds between 4-6Mbps.

[via TUAW]

OS X Security Tips from the NSA:

Filed under: OS

The National Security Agency knows a thing or two about security in general, and it seems that Macs have infiltrated the Agency. Why else would the Systems and Network Attack Center (SNAC to you) compose a 109 page document entitled, 'Apple Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther" Security Configuration Guide?' Plus this is Guide Version 1.1 so not only was it penned in the first pace, but it has seen been revised.

The guide is thorough, and contains some good information even for those of you who aren't spies.

ReadPermalink

[via assortedgeekery.com]

This blog posting contains 50 brief observations of changes made in 10.4 which weren't reported elsewhere or advertised by Apple as new "features".

bisonium.com Tiger observations:

I've been testing Tiger for a while now and have noticed a few gremlins in the 8a428 GM build. Some broken apps you may want to watch out for are as follows:

- Apple Remote Desktop 2 (which was upgraded to 2.2 with Tiger) fails to launch.
- Transmit FTP has major issues using the SFTP protocol.
- Panic's Candy Bar is broken.
- Little Snitch 1.1.1 aint snitchin.
- Apple Motion took a dump and required a re-installation.
- Maya went bunk.
- Modo got fried.
- Virtual PC required a re-install.
- Sticky Brain won't launch.
- Reason wants you to re-insert and authorize all CD's.

I'm sure I will find some more as time goes on, but these were the biggest ones off the top of my head. Gonna be an interesting week!

If you listen to some of the more popular podcasts like Adam Curry's "Daily Source Code", then you no doubt have heard the rants and raves about Skype - the next generation phone company. I have so far resisted the VoIP craze due to the technical limitations of what would make VoIP feasible for my needs. But I must admit, the constant jabbering about Skype has tweaked my curiosity to the point of having to finally install the damn thing.

So far, it looks like a pretty slick service. I have literally just installed it and have yet to make a call using the service, but something tells me this is going to be cool....WAY cool. I gave up on using MSN IM a long time ago since 98% of my friends use AIM. The other deciding factor was that I didn't want to be running a million IM clients and quite honestly, nothing matched the convenience and integration of iChat on my Mac.

I can probably say that I am about to make an exception to my rule. Skype not only allows you to call other Skype users, but via their optional (and incredibly inexpensive options), you can have an inbound phone # (up to 3) in the area code of your choice (though limited at the moment), as well as call outbound to any land line phone number. This has GOT to be driving the telco's insane. The one thing I see missing at the moment is toll-free options for phone #'s. I am sure that will come with time.

In addition to the insane pricing and options you get with Skype, you can also have a multi-party conference and can chat with other users just as you can with iChat. Another killer feature is the ability to send LARGE file xfers to your buddies without the connection crapping out as it does so many times through AIM. This gives a whole new meaning to P2P file sharing if you get my drift.

Overall, the benefits far outweigh any negative comments I have heard so far. As with any new technologies, there are going to be hiccups along the road to success. Even the almighty Apple Computer didn't get it right with the GM version of Tiger. It still has quite a few gremlins, especially in iChat AV with the video quality during multi-party video chats. I am sure that this service is going to get better by the minute over the coming year. I won't be able to give it 2 thumbs up until I have had a chance to really play with it, but I think we have a winner. If you want to test it out, give me a ring...you can find me under Frank Bisono (frankbisono) on the Skype user listings.

Could corporate America finally be getting a reality check? This is definitely encouraging news...

[via the Register]

Big boys turn backs on offshoring | The Register:

Many of the world's largest organisations are turning their backs on outsourcing and one in four are actively bringing services back in-house.

A survey from Deloitte Consulting reveals that 70 per cent of respondents have had significant negative experiences with outsourced projects. Just under half, 44 per cent, did not see outsourcing contracts achieving significant cost savings.

Rocketboom.com has a great vlog for today on Mac vs PC. Chec out the post!

CNA is what the federal government now refers to as a Computer Network Attack. Our boys in the Pentagon have created a group known as the Joint Functional Component Command for Network Warfare. Network Warfare? Holy crap...this is some serious beef. "In simple terms and sans any military parlance, the unit could best be described as the world's most formidable hacker posse. Ever." For the full story, check out WIRED Magazine...

Our dearest Adobe Systems Inc. announced this morning that it has agreed to buy "Web King" Macromedia, Inc. in a deal worth $3.4 BILLION in stock.

[So who can guess the new name? Acromedia? Adomedia? Macrobe? Macrodobe?]

The deal values Macromedia���s share at $41.86, 25% higher than Friday���s closing price of $33.45. Adobe also plans to buy back $1 billion of stock after the purchase. Adobe Systems��� CEO, Bruce Chizen, will retain his position, while Macromedia���s Stephen Elop will become president of worldwide field operations, Adobe announced.

"The primary motivation for the two companies' joining is to continue to expand and grow our business into new markets,''

[I bet! Talk about a monopoly! I am not sure if this is a good thing or not yet. My guess is, NOT.]

"While we anticipate the integration team will identify opportunities for cost savings by the time the acquisition closes, the primary motivation for the two companies' joining is to continue to expand and grow our business into new markets," Mr. Chizen said.

Adobe said it expects the transaction to be "break- even to slightly accretive to earnings" in the first 12 months. It expects the deal to close in the fall of this year.

The deal still requires shareholder and regulatory approval.

[Hang on folks...gonna be a wild ride this year!]

Big news for the day os Apple's new line of Pro Apps. Some big announcements were made today at NAB. Highlights include:

Final Cut Pro Studio Suite:

Apple's new Pro Studio Suite includes updates toFinal Cut Pro 5, Soundtrack Pro, Motion 2, and DVD Studio Pro 4.

Final Cut Pro 5 features include:

�Ģ Real-time, native HDV editing
�Ģ Multicamera editing
�Ģ Dynamic RT

Soundtrack Pro features include:

�Ģ Waveform editor with Action layers
�Ģ Intelligent Find-and-Fix
�Ģ Over 50 effect plug-ins and Audio Unit support

Motion 2 features include:

�Ģ GPU-Accelerated 32-bit float rendering
�Ģ Replicator for animating waves of repeating graphics or movies along user-defined grids.
�Ģ FxPlug, which ushers in a new breed of third-party filter effects using full 32-bit processing.

DVD Studio Pro 4 features include:

�Ģ HD DVD
�Ģ Distributed encoding
�Ģ Dolby Digital Professional encoder

Final Cut Studio will be available in May for $1,299. Registered users from any previous version of Final Cut Pro can upgrade for $699, while Production Suite customers can upgrade for $499. Final Cut Pro 5 ($999), Soundtrack Pro ($299), Motion 2 ($299) and DVD Studio Pro 4 ($499) will also be sold separately.

Also announced at NAB today was Shake 4.

"Shake 4 is the only compositing software with a complete toolset for both single artists and visual effects facilities. With 3D multi-plane compositing, 32-bit Keylight and Primatte keying, cutting edge Optical Flow image processing, Final Cut Pro 5 integration and an open, extensible scripting language, Shake 4 delivers all the tools required for sophisticated film and television visual effects."

Shake 4 for Mac OS X with unlimited render licenses will be available in June for $2,999. The cross-platform (Mac and Linux) version of Shake 4 will be available for $4,999. The Shake 4 upgrade is $999.

Apple has updated the certifications for Tiger. Gone are the 1 test takes it all certs, now it is more like getting a medical board certification. You now have to earn credits towards your cert by taking multiple exams. Looks like just another way for Apple to squeeze more money out of us than they already do. Not exactly easier and more flexible like they advertise. They upped the ante by making sure your new cert expires in 2 years. It's all good though. If you can pass the ACSA, you deserve to be paid top dollar. THAT is one damn hard exam...

I know I know...WHERE THE HELL HAVE I BEEN? I have gotten a bunch of emails asking if I was still alive and I can assure you, that I am very much alive indeed. Been a silly last couple of weeks lemme tell you. Every single nanosecond of my spare time has been spent migrating our hosting customers onto new servers and making sure that everything went smooth as silk. That meant lots of late nights and weekends were nonexistent. Thankfully all has gone well and now we are just left with cleanup and minor tweaks on the server. Next phase is the total redesign of the site and provisioning system. THAT is gonna be loads of fun. So for now, I will get back to a somewhat regular posting schedule as time permits. I won't bother recapping too much of the news from the past week as I am sure there won't be much you haven't heard about already. Yeah, Tiger is coming on the 29th....that is the biggie. The next few posts may be out of wack on dats, but if they are important enough and something I think might e obscure enough you might have missed, I will post it. Cya!

Been a long process migrating to this new server, but we are finally live again! If you are reading this, that means life is good in the land of bisonium.com and the upgrade and migration to the new server was a success. Let the posting resume...

Thank God that there is a judge and jury with some common sense on this planet! I hope this is a new trend we will see more of. These spammers need to be taught a lesson and this looks like it might finally get the point across. WE DON'T WANT YOUR SPAM!

[via Slashdot]

Spammer Sentenced to 9 Years in Jail:

Iphtashu Fitz writes "Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, NC now has the dubious honor of being the first spammer sentenced to jail for the felony of spamming. Virginia judge Thomas Horne sentenced Jaynes to 9 years in prison based on a jury recommendation after he was convicted of sending out 10 million e-mails a day. Jaynes, who sent out much of his spam using the name "Gaven Stubberfield", has held a position on the SpamHaus Registry of Known Spam Operations for a long time. Unfortunately the sentence has been postponed while the case is being appealed." Commentary on the sentence available at Forbes as well.

Kudos to Gizmodo for finding this article. Yet another example of the kind of ludicrous SHIT that we have to put up with from MORONS in management. Best Buy and Comp USA have got to have the worst management in the history of retail. I honestly can't tell you which one of these companies is worse, because they BOTH suck. It amazes me that people this stupid can be walking the face of the earth, much less be employed in a management capacity. Come to think of it...the level of stupidity in corporate America in general is pretty amazing. Lately it seems like you have to be an incompetent idiot to be a manager in any decent sized company. Gotta love it....

Best Buy Has Customer Arrested For Using $2 Bills:

A Baltimore man tried to pay for a Best Buy car stereo installation with $2 bills—and was arrested. Apparently the man was already upset with the Best Buy's service, so thought he'd stage a minor protest by using the uncommon currency:

"I'm just here to pay the bill," Bolesta says he told a cashier. "She looked at the $2 bills and told me, 'I don't have to take these if I don't want to.' I said, 'If you don't, I'm leaving. I've tried to pay my bill twice. You don't want these bills, you can sue me.' So she took the money. Like she's doing me a favor."



He remembers the cashier marking each bill with a pen. Then other store personnel began to gather, a few of them asking, "Are these real?"

(Thanks, C0bra!)

More proof that Best Buy is actually "Worst Buy": Man arrested for paying in $2 bills [Anandtech]

If you haven't used this yet, you have GOT to try this out. You aren't going to get NSA level detail on the maps, but the level of detail is pretty amazing. You can also grab the image and scroll with your mouse rather than using the navigation buttons. This is some really wicked stuff folks. Check out the story for the details and don't forget to check out the site!

[via eWeek]

Google Takes to the Sky with Map Service:

Google integrates satellite and aerial images from its Keyhole acquisition into its online mapping service.

Wow, This is pretty lightweight, but that price tag is a heavy weight contender! I like IBM, don't get me wrong, but I will take a 12" PowerBook G4 over this any day. What gives IBM? Let it never be said that Mac's are more expensive than PC's!!!

[via Engadget]

IBM busts out featherweight ThinkPad X41:

IBM knows we like ‘em light. We’ll take 2.7 pounds, and we’ll take it frequently. IBM’s PC wing — which will soon get swallowed by Lenovo — is kicking out a decent swan song in the ThinkPad X41, which sports a 1.5 GHz Pentium M 758 processor and 12.1-inch screen and includes a fingerprint reader like its cousin, the ThinkPad T43. When this starts shipping at $1999, they’ll keep selling the ThinkPad X40 (retailing for about $1500 to start) for another year.

Thanks to Major Nelson for the heads up on this...

There is a new Fan Site (http://www.forzacentral.com) dedicated to the upcoming Forza Motorsport game on XBOX. This game looks wicked cool. THe graphics and selection of cars is insane. Check out the screen shots on the site!

Scott Kelby and his group are on the move again and have outgrown the "Mac Design" title for their monthly magazine. Reasons cited for the change in name are that the magazine covers much more than just design. Although they cover digital photography in-depth, most photographers just wouldn't grab a magazine with the word "Design" on the cover and expect to find information they were interested in. The magazine also shifts focus to an entirely Adobe based content. The Final Cut Pro and Dreamweaver columns will now appear online only. The magazine will still have plenty of Apple coverage for us Mac freaks, but as any organization grows, it has to spread its wings and do what is right for the business. You can get the full version of the story by visiting the new LAYERS magazine website. I have enjoyed reading Mac Design magazine for years (since its launch) and consider it a must-have magazine for anyone in the creative field. Great job Scott, keep up the great work!

Yesterday Adobe and Six Apart announced that GoLive would have built-in support for creating and editing the templates used in Movable Type. This is some really interesting news for anyone that is running a MT blog (such as this one). We have been asking Six Apart for an easier way to edit and design MT templates for quite some time, and it looks like they were listening. My only question is if they will also offer this support in Dreamweaver anytime soon. For now, this is a great step in the right direction. Thanks Six Apart!

[via MacMerc.com]

InCopy CS2 and GoLive CS2 round out Adobe's big announcements of the day:

Adobe announced today Adobe GoLive CS2, a powerful authoring tool for Web and mobile content, and Adobe InCopy CS2, a professional writing and editing program that integrates tightly with Adobe InDesign CS2.

[via MacMerc.com]

Look out Quark, here comes Adobe InDesign CS2:

Adobe announced today the latest version of its layout and design program, Adobe InDesign CS2. This new version improves the speed and efficiency of designers in a variety of workflows from text-intensive book, magazine, and newspaper production to high-end XML-based cross-media workflows. Designers can increase productivity and create more consistent designs by saving graphic, text, and frame-level attributes as Object Styles, which are easy to apply and globally update. Exporting objects with the new InDesign snippets features enables users to easily share or repurpose live InDesign content and layouts from part of a page.

[via MacMerc.com]

Adobe Illustrator CS2 announced:

As part of a barrage of announcements detailing the full Creative Suite, Adobe presents Illustrator CS2. Illustrator CS2 adds features such as Live Trace and Live Paint, an enhanced user interface and expanded support for a variety of file formats, including Scalable Vector Graphics Tiny (SVG-t) for output to mobile platforms.

As predicted in my previous post... [via MacMerc.com]

Adobe debuts Photoshop CS2 as part of the Adobe Creative Suite 2:

Adobe today announced Adobe Photoshop CS2, the long awaited upgrade to the professional industry standard for digital image editing and creation. As before, Photoshop CS2 will be available as a stand-alone application or as a key component of Adobe Creative Suite 2, also announced today.