Debate as to the fate of the Mac mini has circulated for months, but now it appears the product is to get a well-deserved revamp as Apple sees the sense in offering a lower cost computer.

Apple has assigned an engineering team to overhaul the machine, planning to equip it with a faster (from 2.1GHz) 45-nanometre Core 2 Duo chip (Penryn), with improved system bandwidth and a better graphics processor.

Britain's real life Secret Intelligence Service, aka MI6, the agency served by Ian Fleming's James Bond, Len Deighton's Bernard Samson, and a host of other fictional cold warriors of the spy-novel world, is in the hunt for a Mac-savvy operative skilled in the use of QuarkXPress and Adobe CS.

The job recruitment advertisement notes:

"In many ways, this is an artworking job like any other. But you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that the ultimate purpose of everything you do is to protect the UK. You'll also benefit from very high-quality training in your specialist skills.

"We're sure you'll understand that as an organisation that collects secret intelligence, we can't tell you a great deal about what you'll be doing. However, we can tell you you'll use the skills you've developed to produce computer generated artwork for print, web and media. You'll also have the chance to rapidly develop your knowledge of pre-press and printing techniques in a fascinating work environment, within our friendly Design and Print team.

"Articulate, customer-focused and helpful, you'll be the ideal addition - particularly if you've worked in a Mac-based environment using Adobe CS and Quark XPress."

While pundits have been lamenting the fact that Apple's "software update" program on Windows is now pushing Safari 3.1 to users, we thought we'd check out Safari 3.1 to find out if Apple has made any real progress on the Windows version of this browser. After all, it's about the software, right?

We put the Safari 3 beta on Windows through the wringer last summer, and we weren't too terribly impressed. The problems were significant, such that we'd have a hard time recommending the browser to any Windows user. As of last summer, Firefox was still the Windows browser of choice here at Ars. Have things improved for Safari? Wow, have they.

Going through airport security isn't normally one of life's more enjoyable experiences (no frisking jokes, please), so I would imagine that missing your flight due to your new, $3000 MacBook Air would be even less pleasant. The firsthand account of one flyer's Air-induced delay was quickly posted on the TSA's Evolution of Security blog, and Blogger Bob was on the case. To see what all the fuss was about, Bob got his hands on a MacBook Air, ran it through the X-ray machine, and even posted video of the test.

Criticised heavily in recent times for selling what some believe to be an overpriced and outdated product with a lack of customer support, Quark is at pains to affirm that it has finally got its house in order.

ZDNet.co.uk spoke to Quark chief executive and president Ray Schiavone to examine the company's claim that it is revolutionising publishing — again — with its "new" architectural approach to dynamic publishing across multiple media formats.

Seagate CEO Bill Watkins has said that if the current rash of notebooks using Solid State Drives (SSD) catches the imagination and the credit cards of the laptop-buying public, his legal department may well have to get involved.

Big Tech Bog reports that Watkins thinks Seagate holds patents which could leave the likes of Samsung, Apple and Intel in a spot of bother.....

First, the bad stuff. Sadly, there are 1 or 2 dead pixels on the glossy wide-screen, but a quick look around the Internet and I've realized there's not a lot of point taking it back because low end TFTs can suffer from dead pixels. It's only when you pay more for a "pixel-perfect" display that there is a return policy on dead pixels. Oh well.

That aside, it has all the trade marks of a classic Apple product. The packaging was superb, and minimal....

Once out the box, the MacBook looks simply stunning.....

The first noticeable thing is how bright the 13.3 inch display is compared to my old 12 inch Powerbook. I can see me having to turn the brightness down to avoid headaches. The keyboard, which I was worried about, turns out to be almost as usable as a standard keyboard, with lovely positive feedback. Again, a definite improvement over my Powerbook.

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