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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 177. New Apple Store to open in Florida this weekend. Potential iPhone touchscreen lawsuit. Apple and Cisco reach iPhone settlement. Apple releases WWAN Update 1.0 for Mobile Networks. More Apple updates, mostly fixes for Daylight Savings Time (DST). Interesting new Apple dock patent. Apple may return to the sub-notebook market. Possible to hack 802.11n into a MacBook Core Duo. Follow-up on MBP C2D Airport issues. Listener review of iFlash. My rocky experience replacing my iBook HD. Review Newertech USB 2.0 Universal Drive Adapter. Drag and Drop not working in the Finder for one listener, help? Changing Photo metadata and EXIF data. Powering USB powered portable drives. Creating a 2nd “mobile” iTunes Library. Maccast Loop (LIVE) pilot episode airs this Sunday 2/25 at 10:00 AM PST on Talkshoe.com.

New music, Wide Awake by Canon (iTunes).

Promo for the Earmuff Awards

You are one wise Caucasian, Vic. – Shaft (1971)

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I just saw this cool little app over on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) and tried it out. Desky is a little application that makes it super easy to change your Mac’s desktop in the Finder. All without having to take the usual route of going into the System Preferences. I love simple little apps like this, especially when they work unobtrusively, and Desky does. What makes Desky “click” for me is that you have the choice to place it in the Dock, Finder sidebar, or the Finder toolbar (which is how I have it set up). Then it sits there ready and waiting for you to want to change your desktop background. Once that mood finally strikes, simple drag an image file onto Desky and presto-changeo, you have a new desktop beaming back at you. Sweet! Well worth the asking price, which is free.

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

This episode is inspired by a question from a reader regarding problems they experienced applying transitions to clips in a sequence. As it turns out, the problem wasn’t with the transitions themselves, but with the lack of handle material in the clips. So let’s talk about handle material.

Handle Material consists of the frames of video that sit outside the In and Out points set to define the portion of a video clip to be edited into a sequence. Handle material is created in Final Cut Pro and Final Cut Express whenever In and Out points are set in a video clip loaded into the Viewer. Handle material can also be created during a batch capture from a video tape in Final Cut Pro. Figure 1 shows a video clip without handles and Figure 2 shows a clip with handles.

Figure 1

Figure 2

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Just in case you haven’t noticed, Maccast.com is feeling the pressure of some heavy activity from DIGG. This is awesome, but obviously unexpected. I have ordered some more processing power and memory, but it won’t be added until early tomorrow morning. This is just heads up to let you know that until then the site performance may be a bit spotty and you may even see the occasional error. Of course, there will also be a brief outage around 10:00 AM PST tomorrow while we upgrade the server. Sorry for the trouble.

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I had a chance this week to hang out with Tim and Chad over at the MyMac Podcast. We had a great time chatting about some of the latest things going on in the world of Apple. If you would like to take a listen the show is up and available for download here, or better yet, simply subscribe to their podcast (iTunes).

When Adam says something looks like it’s going to be cool, it probably will be. The SendStation Dock Extender is no exception.

According to SendStation, “The Dock Extender enables iPod & iPhone users to dock and connect their device with iPod speaker systems and docking stations, as well as FM transmitters and voice recorders, without prior removal of its protective case.”

For ages I have been annoyed because I have to take out my iPod from it’s case thus exposing it’s precious body to the elements whenever I wanted to dock it. No more with the SendStation Dock Extender. From the pictures (see above), it looks like a little dongle that hitches to your iPod’s dock port. Once attached, your iPod, case and all, can then dock with your favorite iPod dock connector accessories using the included Universal Dock insert. According to SendStation the Dock Extender will work with any iPod case that has dock connector opening. I take that to mean any case that accepts the connector from the sync cable included with your iPod. The Dock Extender is due out in March and no matter how much it costs (suggested retail price is to be determined), I bet I will be getting one.

If you’re a cyclist, runner, or hiker and own a Garmin Edge 305 or 205, or a Garmin Forerunner 305 or 205, then you may be interested in a new GPs training application from Montebello Software. Ascent will let you download and analyze GPS data using text based and graphical views. The program also offers an “Animation” feature that offers real-time playback of your activity. This feature offers a heads-up display, giving you the ability to review values like speed, gradient, heart rate, and cadence. In addition, Ascent includes GPS location, altitude, time in heart rate zones, activity type, equipment, effort, disposition, and weather data. The program can import .tcx and .hst files exported from the Garmin Training Center application and can also import and export files encoded in the standard GPS Exchange Format (.gpx). Assent sells for USD$35.00 and is available for download on the Montebello Software web site.

The Apple Store Bentall Centre, Kingston-upon-Thames opened today, Saturday 17th February at 9.00am. I am happy to say I was there to soak up the atmosphere, with exclusive shots from inside the Apple Store before they opened. In the photo gallery that follows you will see photographs of the whole store, including the astounding applause for the first customer, who had been in the queue since 4am.

Here are some photos that I took whilst there, to view the full gallery click here, or visit the Geekanoids home page.

The staff at the store clapped and welcomed the first 1,000 customers, with the queue still going strong at 10am. The staff and visitors enthusiasm was superb and things soon sprang into action with advice and sales meeting with so many smiles. The sales were ultra smooth too, using the scanner technology that Apple introduced late last year, customers do not have to get into line to pay. If they have something in their hand, they can have it scanned where they are standing, pay by card and they’re good to go. You can see a picture of the Fujitsu scanner in the full gallery too.

Also prominent in the store was the “We are better than Vista Campaign”, with the new slogan “Go Beyond Vista… It’s time to get a Mac” on coloured banner displays and some staff t-shirts (see the full gallery for more on this too).

I was also pleased to see how happy everyone was, and from all walks of life too. There were many silver haired heads to be seen, right down to enthusiastic youngsters using the display machines with big grins all round.

So enjoy the photos, I hope they help you soak up some of the atmosphere that was happening today, and if you are in the Kingston-upon-Thames area be sure to visit the Apple Store… full gallery of photos by clicking here>>

Like many others, I use Skype and Call Recorder to record my podcast, Uncontrolled Airspace. They’ve been working great together for months now. I highly recommend both.

But this past week I did a stupid thing, and this morning it bit me in the butt.

Simply put, if you upgrade to Skype 2.5, make sure you’re also using the latest version of Call Recorder: 1.0.7. If you’re still using 1.0.6, like I was, then only one side of the conversation will get recorded. And you don’t want that.

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A podcast about all things Macintosh. For Mac geeks, by Mac geeks. Show 176. Lionsgate adds to films on iTunes. Beatles not exclusive to Apple? Stock option woes continue for Jobs. Apple TV still shipping this month. EMI considers offering DRM free music. Apple Store Bentall Centre opens this weekend in UK. Follow-up on replacing the MacBook Hard Drive (videos). Evangelizing the Mac against Vista. Tip: Use toolbar title to reveal your path. Tee Morris’ review of H2O Audio products. Followup on sending email using Quicksilver. MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo Airport issues. Mac Flash Card app, iFlash.

New music, Graduation Day by AdriAnne Lenker (iTunes)

Good Morning! Welcome to another day of higher education! — Pretty in Pink (1986)

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