Living up to it’s promise that the Ped2 from Thoughtout.biz will be the ” Device Pedestal for Now and the Future”, the company plans to offer a simple “Nano kit” so you can upgrade your existing Ped2 stand to accomadate the newest member of the iPod family.

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MC20050921.mp3 [22.2mb 48:31 64kbps]

A podcast about Macs done by a Mac geek for Mac geeks. Show 90. Apple Expo yields no new hardware, Jobs says record labels are getting “greedy”, more quotes from Apple Expo, Apple on track for Intels mid-2006, Apple updates .Mac, adds .Mac Groups and releases Backup 3, MacWorld Boston officially cancelled, WIRED reports on Apple legal vs. iPod domains, patent surfaces showing ideas for Mac laptops with integrated video, 3 new Apple retails store to open in the US this weekend, iTunes 5.0.1 update released, fixes bugs. Using Apple Chapter Tool to fit more than 100 songs on your ROKR iTunes phone, issues with new .Mac Groups, my initial impressions of Backup 3 a quick demo, tip on keyboard access to Safari Bookmark Bar, recommended software KeyCue, a virtual keyboard shortcut cheat sheet, follow-up on missing Bluetooth module, possible issues with lower memory slot on 15″ Powerbooks, how to unleash your inner artist with GarageBand, what to do if your Mac Mini SuperDrive fails. New music, Coastal Cities by The Secret Handshake. Promos.

I’m very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany.

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A Brief and Warped History of the Mac, part 9 (WozCast)

Taking a break from the Mac itself, this week the column is going to focus on something that may have been the PodCasting of its day.

By his own admission, Steve Wozniak – Apple’s cofounder and original engineer was a phone fanatic. Back when answering machines were relatively new and had to be rented from the phone company, he set up a ‘dial-a-joke’ service.

The idea of this service was that Woz would record a joke onto his answering machine every day and then distribute the number to anyone who may want to listen to it. People could then phone his number to listen to the recording.

Continue Reading »

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MC20050916.mp3 [18.2mb 39:44 64kbps]

A podcast about Macs done by a Mac geek for Mac geeks. Show 89. The debate over iPod Nano sales numbers, Apple files for “iPodcast” trademark, Windows users cry foul with iTunes update, possible PowerMac G5 revisions coming? “Hidden” video icons in iTunes 5 fuels speculation, new JAVA Updates available. Kensington Pocket Mouse review. As expected Motorola E398 hacked to work with iTunes, listener is missing templates in DVD Studio Pro 4.0, more phone device syncing options, tip for find by “anything” using Spotlight, more dialog box keyboard controls, DivX Fusion Beta works in Tiger, still even more hotkey tricks, listeners bluetooth modules goes missing and I announce the Motion VFX contest winner. Thanks for staying subscribed. New music, Broken by Buddahead. And more promos.

Napoleon, don’t be jealous that I’ve been chatting online with babes all day.

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Well looks like TWiT and John (I get no spam) Dvorak are reporting that already the Motorola E398 has been hacked to sync with iTunes. As we thought that didn’t take long.

[View entry on Dvorak/blog]

Update
Apparently this hack existed BEFORE the iTunes ROKR phone release.

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MC20050913.mp3 [20.7mb 45:16 64kbps]

A podcast about Macs done by a Mac geek for Mac geeks. Show 88. iPod Nano stuff, iTunes 5 stuff, ROKR iTunes phone stuff, new Tiger updates and Developer Transition Kits updates seeded. Will there finally be an Itunes Music Store Australia? Create and view iPod digital flip books at iPodScrubs.com. Followup on keys to activate Save dialog buttons, question about cell phones with Mac syncing support. JogTunes iTunes to workout by. Quicktime 7 is currently incompatible with Divx. How to convert AAC to MP3 and promo for the North Coast Macintosh Users Group Expo. New music, Sound Scientist by bill.

I just know, before this is over, I’m gonna need a whole lot of serious therapy.

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Several listeners have pointed out the fact the the Motorola E1 ROKR phone looks almost identical to the Motorola E398 (see picture). The obvious difference is the ROKR is white and adds the iTunes button, but considering the E398 has MP3 and MPEG4 support I think it is easy to tell that Motorola probably didn’t have to do much engineering on this phone. Some are already speculating on E398 hacks to add iTunes support. I still say it’s too bad Apple didn’t insist Motorola adapt the way slicker and cooler RAZR design especially in light of the Nano. I hate convergence as you know, but at least if you do it make it look cool.

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MC20050908.mp3 [20.2mb 44:01 64kbps]

A podcast about Macs done by a Mac geek for Mac geeks. Show 87. Apple’s big music announcements, Motorola iTunes phone, iPod Nano, new iTunes 5, QuickTime 7.0.2 update released, Steve Jobs will not keynote at Apple Expo and Sony and Apple in licensing talks for Japan iTunes Music Store. Listener reaction to Apple announcements, hurricane relief PSA, listeners iMac G5 power supply issue, yet another mac browser, Shiira. If you have audio issues check the MIDI Setup, how to cancel the save dialog from the keyboard, a review of SuperDuper and eMacCast Artwork Contest Winners, new motion|VFX contest. New music, In a Long Time by 46 Bliss. Bonus podcast promos.

Even a poisonous snake isn’t bad. You just have to keep away from the sharp end.

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Craig Patchett from the Behind the Scenes podcast sent the following email about Roxio’s new “upgrade” option or lack there of for Toast 7. Seems like they may be learning some upgrade pricing tricks from Apple.

I won’t be upgrading to Roxio Toast 7, even though I’m a registered user of Toast 6. Why? Because apparently Roxio couldn’t care less about its registered and loyal owners. The cost to upgrade to the latest version? The same as it is for anyone else to buy a copy. Technically, actually, it’s more. Any user of OS X qualifies for a $20 discount off Toast 7, which you can purchase from Buy.com with tax and shipping for $85. Net cost: $65 after rebate. Registered owners qualify for a whopping $30 discount, but only if they buy directly from Roxio for $99.95 + $11 shipping (the discount only applies to the CD version) + tax. Net cost: $80.95 + tax after rebate. So basically Roxio wants to reward those who are buying Toast for the first time and punish those who were foolish enough to purchase previous versions.

This approach to upgrade to upgrades is disgusting and is nothing more than a blatant example of corporate greed. Roxio should be publicly shamed by its existing customer base for choosing such tactics.

So the big announcements:

iTunes 5.0
iTunes 5.0 is available for download from Apple.com. New features include a redesigned look with the ability to organize playlists into folders. An improved shuffle feature called “smart shuffle”. You can now control the frequency of how you hear songs from the same artist of album. There are also now parental controls. The biggest new feature for Windows is users is the ability to sync their Outlook calendars and address book with the iPod.

“Motorola ROKR” iTunes phone
Works like an iPod Shuffle built into your phone. Connects via a USB cable and holds about 100 songs. Service in the US will be carried by Cingular

iPod Nano
New iPod will replace the existing iPod Mini. The iPod Nano uses flash memory and has a 14-hour rechargeable battery. The Nano will connect via a USB 2.0 cable and uses the standard 30-pin iPod docking connector so it is compatible with all existing iPod accessories. It features a color screen, is half as thick as the iPod Mini, comes in two colors (Black or White) and is available in 2 sizes 2GB and 4GB at $199.00 (USAD) and $249.00 (USD) respectively