Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Thursday, December 4, 2008
MacBook Pro Screens Flicker/Blink
Apple Pulls 'Old' Antivirus Software Warning
Apple Anti-virus Advice Was Nothing New
Apple Virus Warning Page Is Gone, But The Idea Lives On
Apple's iPod Problem
Apple's Unexpected iPod Shortage Spreading
VirginiaTech System G: A Mac Pro-based Green Supercomputer
Year-End Review: Apple's Best Of 2008
Logitech Makes One Billionth Mouse
Video: Apple LED Display for MacBook
Living With Apple's MacBook Air: CPU Undervoltages And Fan OverRPMs
Mozilla-Based Itunes Rival "Songbird" Takes Flight
Should Apple Worry About Songbird 1.0?
Scientists Ask: Is Technology Rewiring Our Brains?
IDC sees decline in US PC market next year
Appletops May Get Juice Pump
PC Mag: Adobe InDesign CS4: Positioning Graphics in Text Columns
PC Mag: The Best Free Photo Software
PC Mag: Croatia Investigates Facebook Activist Detentions
MacBook Pro Screens Flicker/Blink
MacFixIt reports:
Some owners of unibody (Late 2008) MacBook Pros have experienced an issue in which the laptop's screen will suddenly start blinking.....
This problem seems to be relatively random, although, for some users, it seems to have started after a period of heavy workload. It may occur only once or twice, but for some users, the blinking happens rapidly. This is clearly an issue with the MacBook Pro only, and has something to do with the graphics drivers trying to manage the dual GPU setup.....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20081202225803851
Apple Pulls 'Old' Antivirus Software Warning
NewsFactor's Patricia Resende reports:
The latest commercial for Apple's I'm a Mac, I'm a PC campaign against Microsoft has been tarnished. Just days after Apple posted an article telling Mac users to run antivirus software on Mac OS X, the company pulled the article, saying it was old.
"We have removed the knowledge base article because it was old and inaccurate," said Monica Sarkar, an Apple spokesperson. "Mac is designed with built-in technologies to provide protection against malicious software and security threats right out of the box. Since no system can be 100 percent immune from every threat, running antivirus software may offer additional protection."
For the full report visit here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20081203/bs_nf/63386
Apple Anti-virus Advice Was Nothing New
The Register's John Leyden reports:
One of the more famous Get a Mac ads boasted that Apple systems, unlike Windows boxes, didn't need anti-virus software. So when an article on an Apple support site encouraged the use of anti-virus software on Macs it seemed like news. In truth the article reiterated long-standing, though little publicised, advice from Apple.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/03/apple_av_advice/
Apple Virus Warning Page Is Gone, But The Idea Lives On
ZNet's Adrian Kingsley-Hughes reports:
The knowledge base article on Apple's support site which encouraged the widespread use of antivirus software on Mac systems has been removed, but the idea that Mac users might still benefit from protection still lives on....
The page was edited on November 21st and December 2nd before being pulled down later in the day on the 2nd. Apple say that the page was removed "because it was old and inaccurate."
So, does this mean that Mac users can uninstall antivirus and live a carefree existence? Well, maybe not.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=3114
Apple's iPod Problem
BusinessWeek's Arik Hesseldahl says:
With fewer iPod users upgrading, the days of explosive growth are over. And that leaves iPhones and Macs picking up the slack
Strange as it may sound, Apple may have an iPod problem. The iconic music player cemented the company's reputation for innovation and fueled its financial success in recent years. But those days appear to be over. Legions of iPod owners see little reason to upgrade, especially with the rocky economy. As a result, some analysts believe this will be the first quarter since the iPod was introduced in 2001 that sales will decline from the year-earlier quarter.....
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5vktwz
Apple's Unexpected iPod Shortage Spreading
Appleinsider's Katie Marsal reports:
Although Macs and iPhones were seen as Apple's ticket to a healthy holiday quarter, the electronics maker has reportedly been struck by surprising demand for iPods and is now scurrying to restock some of its reseller channels.....
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/634p5s
VirginiaTech System G: A Mac Pro-based Green Supercomputer
HardMac's Lionel reports:
Couple of years ago, Apple and VirginiaTech collaborated to build the most powerful supercomputer based on hundreds of G5 Xserve (named System X). Following the Intel switch, Apple did not pursue too intensively the server market, even though Xeon-based Xserve were released.
However, VirginiaTech did not give up on the idea of Mac hardware-based supercomputer, and just finished connecting 325 Mac Pro together, each one powered by 2 Quad-Core Xeon clocked at 2.8 GHz. Named System G, this supercomputer delivers 22.8 TFlops, and is twice as fast as its predecessor.....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.hardmac.com/news/2008-12-03/#9246
Year-End Review: Apple's Best Of 2008
Apple 2.0's Philip Elmer-DeWitt says:
"30 Rock," "The Wire" and "Battlestar Galactica" are among the TV shows honored in iTunes 2008, Apple's comprehensive - and surprisingly opinionated - year-end review.
Available through what used to be called the iTunes Music Store, iTunes 2008 covers all the media the online venue now serves up: movies, TV, audiobooks, podcasts, iPhone apps and music in genres ranging from Alternative to World.
Most categories are represented by software-generated lists of top sellers - often a good way to find out what your kids are listening to or what you might be missing. The lists of free and paid iPhone Apps are particularly useful - and have been getting the most attention in the blogosphere....
In several categories, however, Apple has gone beyond simply publishing top-10 lists and started making judgments about which books or shows are not just popular, but worthy of our attention....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/59fzw8
Logitech Makes One Billionth Mouse
The BBC's Maggie Shiels reports:
Logitech says its factory in Suzhou, in western China, has produced the firm's billionth computer mouse. Video courtesy of Logitech.
A Silicon Valley company has hailed as a major landmark the production of their one billionth computer mouse.
Logitech's description comes at a time when analysts claim the days of the mouse are numbered.
"It's rare in human history that a billionth of anything has been shipped by one company," said Logitech's general manager Rory Dooley.
"Look at any other industry and it has never happened. This is a significant milestone," he told the BBC.
But sounding the death knell for the device is Gartner analyst Steve Prentice who said "the mouse will no longer be mainstream in three to five years."....
For the full report visit here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7751627.stm
Video: Apple LED Display for MacBook
T3.com has posted an exclusive look at the first display screen designed for MacBook:
We had an exclusive first hands-on with the Apple LED Cinema Display, which measures up at 24-inches with a screen resolution of 1900 x 1200 pretty pixels.
Its sleek design mimics the new MacBooks with one piece of glass reaching to the furthest corners of the screen, and an aluminium unibody casing for synchronised sex-appeal.
You can check it out at:
http://tinyurl.com/687p8h
Living With Apple's MacBook Air: CPU Undervoltages And Fan OverRPMs
EDN.com reports:
Now that I've migrated from a first-generation MacBook to a first-generation MacBook Air as my primary day-to-day system.....
A weird system glitch that I periodically encounter involves the Samsung HS081HA 80GB 1.8" hard drive. It'll randomly emit an odd noise, which I believe occurs when the platter spins down and the head parks, and which another MacBook Air owner captured on video (and audio):
....One day last week while I was busily cleaning up old emails and RSS feed posts in Outlook 2000 running under VMware Fusion, my Windows XP virtual machine abruptly became molasses-slow. At first I thought I had a Fusion-specific problem, but everything else I had running was crawling, too... I launched Activity Monitor and noticed that process kernel_task was consuming more than an entire core's worth of resources (i.e. >100% CPU, since Activity Monitor assumes a single-core CPU).
A bit more Googling informed me that I was encountering a well-documented CPU overheating issue with this system....
For the full report visit here:
http://www.edn.com/blog/400000040/post/1890037389.html
Mozilla-Based Itunes Rival "Songbird" Takes Flight
Appleinsider's Katie Marsal reports:
A multi-year effort to deliver an open-source and customizable iTunes rival came to fruition this week with the release of Songbird 1.0, but whether it will sway some users from the Apple jukebox software remains to be seen.
The cross-platform player is available as a free download for Intel-based Macs, Windows and Linux. It's based on the same Gecko rendering engine that drives Mozilla's Firefox browser but comes wrapped in an extensible user interface that could easily be mistaken for iTunes.
Unlike the Apple media software, whose features are governed by the iPod maker and its licensing agreements, Songbird prides itself on extensibility through add-ons that allow you to customize the media player experience through collapsable panels and gain new functionality.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/59etrj
Should Apple Worry About Songbird 1.0?
ZNet's Dana Blankenhorn reports:
Songbird, an open source iTunes replacement (or music browser) has hit its 1.0 release, and now everyone will start asking whether Apple should be worried.
It has some nifty features, like integration with the Last.fm recommendation engine and mashTape, which links Web content to what you're listening to. It's dubbed a browser because it is based on the Mozilla eingine.
For the full report visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3148
Scientists Ask: Is Technology Rewiring Our Brains?
The Associated Press's Malcolm Ritter reports:
What does a teenage brain on Google look like? Do all those hours spent online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better to emoticons than to real people?
These sound like concerns from worried parents. But they're coming from brain scientists.
While violent video games have received a lot of public attention, some current concerns go well beyond that. Some scientists think the wired world may be changing the way we read, learn and interact with each other.....
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/6rfoql
IDC sees decline in US PC market next year
The Associated Press reports:
U.S. shipments of personal computers are expected to drop nearly 3 percent next year, while demand in much of the rest of the world will slow down quickly as the financial crisis spreads, research firm IDC said Wednesday.
IDC, which said last month it expects global technology spending to slow significantly next year, now forecasts worldwide 2009 PC shipment growth of 3.8 percent, with the value of those shipments falling by 5.3 percent. This is down considerably from IDC's earlier projection, made during the second quarter, of a 13.7 percent growth in units shipped and 4.5 percent increase in PC revenue.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5zn2of
Appletops May Get Juice Pump
The Register's Rik Myslewski reports:
The latest Apple patent to surface points out that the upcoming mobile round of Intel's Nehalem chips may require more cooling mojo than the current Penryn line.
On November 27, the United States Patent and Trademark Office published patent application number 20080291629, originally filed by Apple on May 22 of last year and entitled "Liquid-cooled portable computer."
The application's abstract describes a "computer system" that "includes a power source that is coupled to a heat pipe, where the power source includes an integrated circuit" and in which a "pump...coupled to the heat pipe is configured to circulate the liquid coolant through the heat pipe."
For the full report visit here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/12/03/liquid_cooled_laptop_patent/
PC Mag: Adobe InDesign CS4: Positioning Graphics in Text Columns
Text and graphics layout can be hard for mere mortals. Here's how you can use InDesign to ease the process.
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335812,00.asp
PC Mag: The Best Free Photo Software
Make the most of your point-and shooter's output with these great tools for editing, managing, and sharing your digital images. (includes iPhoto)
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335830,00.asp
PC Mag: Croatia Investigates Facebook Activist Detentions
Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader asked his interior ministry Wednesday to investigate any possible abuse of police authority after a number of Web activists were detained.
In the last few days officers have held and questioned several Internet activists who were criticizing or ridiculing the government, local media reported.
To read more, go to:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2335845,00.asp
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