Remember how I mentioned that they were doing construction across the street from my house? Well it turns out there is a lot of granite over there and they needed to do some blasting. I caught the last round on video and thought I’d share. I know it’s not Mac related, but it is kinda cool. If you watch after the dust clears there is about a 10-15 ft. high mound of dirt, rock and debris that was extracted by the explosion. All of this is happening about 200 yards from the MacCast studio. Crazy.
CodeWeavers has recently released a public beta of it’s CrossOver software to allow owners of Intel Macs to run certain Windows applications without needing to install Windows. I just downloaded a copy and while it certainly is not ready for prime time, it does seem very promising. The application is based on the work of the WINE project which is attempting to bring Windows 32 libraries over to UNIX. As such, there are only a limited number of Windows applications currently on the CrossOver compatibility list which are known to work at this time. Continue Reading »
Well I was just listening to the latest creation from the Leo Lapotre TWiT machine, Mac Break Weekly, and I heard them mention this little application for putting YouTube videos on your iPod. Since how to convert YouTube video seems to be something I am getting asked about more and more frequently these days, I decided to check it out. The app is called TubeSock (I know, great name) and appears to be the first creation from StinkBot. What makes TubeSock so great is the same thing that makes many of my favorite Mac apps great, simplicity. It does one task and does it well. There are other ways to save and convert YouTube videos, like through the use Firefox plugins, but TubeSock makes it a pleasure vs. a pain. All you have to do is launch TubeSock, copy the URL of the video you want to convert and hit a button. From there TubeSock takes over, downloads the FLV file (Flash Video File), converts it into a video iPod compatible H.264 video and drops it right into iTunes. Sync your iPod and go. Now that alone would be enough, but Tube Sock also lets you choose other output options. It has settings for PSP, audio MP3, Mac H.264 and you can even save the raw FLV file if you want. It will also let you choose different locations to save the converted video. TubeSock can drop the converted video into your Movies folder for easy viewing in Frontrow or you can choose to place it anywhere else on your Mac. Add to that the option to add a link to your Safari bookmark bar that lets you send videos directly to Tube Sock and you have by far the easiest way to make your favorite YouTube videos available when and where you want to watch them.
The lovable Mac and PC duo are back in 3 new Apple ads aired during the Primetime Emmy Awards Sunday night. Apple has posted the new ads and they are currently available for viewing in the Get a Mac area of Apple’s web site. The new ads are titled “Accident” which focuses on the new MagSafe power connector, “Angel/Devil” which highlights iPhoto books and “Trust Mac” which points out OS Xs current (PC neigh-sayers note I said “current”) lack of spyware. I realize all these ads, past and present, use a lot of marketing spin to make their points, but boy they sure are fun. Enjoy.
If you saw the WWDC keynote the you saw the “PC Guy” from the Apple ads deliver a special message to the developers. In case you missed it Apple has now posted the video here. There is even an HD version available.
OK. So the new MacPros are awesome of course and I really want one (no I won’t get one, but I still WANT one). Of course like all good Mac geeks I quickly hit the store and started playing with configurations. You can get a pretty nice new set-up, without an Apple display of course (display prices are lower though), for around USD$2,500.00. One bit of good news is that Apple is now including 1GB of RAM standard (all Macs should ship this way), but why and the heck do they think it is still OK to make AirPort and Bluetooth add ons. These are Pro systems, right? All the other models have AirPort and Bluetooth standard. Yes, the “upgrade” is only USD$79.00, but what is Apples cost? USD$20.00 in parts? Come on.
Just for fun I played with maxing out options (see graphic on the right). I opted not to get the Fibre channel card or the modem, but still checkout the price? Wow, at least I don’t have to fill it with gas to make it run. ;)
As happens every time during these things the Apple online store is down, sure to be updated after the keynote will all the new sugary sweet Apple products. Yummy.
I think it may be down for a little more than an hour though.
Shooby showed this to me last night and I just saw it again on The Unofficial Apple Weblog, Flickr Find: Seen at WWDC 2006 – “Introducing Vista 2.0” banner. These images are from Mac Geek Gernot Poetsch. He is posting WWDC banner images from Moscone hall to his Flickr account. This one has a quote that looks like it says, ‘Introducing Vista 2.0’. One thing is for sure, Apple has a great sense of humor when it comes to poking fun at their rival.
There is another, not so visible image on Gernot’s Flickr account called Hasta la Vista. Vista. While these images are funny and look genuine, you have to wonder why Gernot didn’t position himself to get some better shots. I hope not, but this could turn out to be just some nice Photoshop work. It’s funny regardless.
Well the big event is on in just a few hours. Unfortunately there is no live video stream of the event (but I am sure you can expect a delayed QuickTime stream to show up on Apple.com a few hours after the keynote). So that’s the bad news. The good news is there will be many blogs and sites offering near real-time “text” based coverage of the event. Below you’ll find a list of several sites that should be delivering all the WWDC goodness about as fast as they can auto-refresh it (please don’t flood the servers). I myself will be blogging my reactions and impressions along with some other Mac Geeks over at http://wwdclive.wordpress.com/. Also if you would like to get in on some reral-time chat with other MacCasters, then fire up iChat (AIM) and go to the chat room ‘maccast’.
I just saw this post over on ArsTechnica and was a bit taken back. Seems like Josh Aas of the Mozilla group was out browsing for music and discovered the Wu-Tang album “Think Differently Music – Wu-Tang Meets the Indie Culture” and after buying a CD single noticed something familiar about the image of the full album featured on the back of the single (see image on right). Well it turns out this is not just a new album, but a whole new record label formed by members of Wu-Tang called Think Differently Music Group. There is no word yet on whether Apple has any connection to the project, but I would think it is highly unlikely. The article notes that Apple still owns the trademark on “Think Different” and that the Wu-Tang page has a ® next to “Think Differently Music Group”. I see some trouble brewing here. After all the hoopla from Apple Records over Apple and the iTunes Music Store, can you imagine what kind of trademark questions this is going to raise? The Wu-Tang lawyers may need to start sharpening their pencils and their tongues. That or the Wu-Tang should be getting their pens out and preparing to write some fat checks. If your interested the album is available on iTunes.
CodeWeavers has recently released a public beta of it’s 
Well I was just listening to the latest creation from the Leo Lapotre 
OK. So the new MacPros are awesome of course and I really want one (no I won’t get one, but I still WANT one). Of course like all good Mac geeks I quickly hit the store and started playing with configurations. You can get a pretty nice new set-up, without an Apple display of course (display prices are lower though), for around USD$2,500.00. One bit of good news is that Apple is now including 1GB of RAM standard (all Macs should ship this way), but why and the heck do they think it is still OK to make AirPort and Bluetooth add ons. These are Pro systems, right? All the other models have AirPort and Bluetooth standard. Yes, the “upgrade” is only USD$79.00, but what is Apples cost? USD$20.00 in parts? Come on.
Well the big event is on in just a few hours. Unfortunately there is no live video stream of the event (but I am sure you can expect a delayed QuickTime stream to show up on Apple.com a few hours after the keynote). So that’s the bad news. The good news is there will be many blogs and sites offering near real-time “text” based coverage of the event. Below you’ll find a list of several sites that should be delivering all the WWDC goodness about as fast as they can auto-refresh it (please don’t flood the servers). I myself will be blogging my reactions and impressions along with some other Mac Geeks over at 
