Woo hoo! Sorry I just need to be a little ego-centric today. I just made it into the featured technology section on the main iTunes podcasting page. I want to thank all of you, because without all the support from the greatest listeners in Podcasting I would not have been able to get here. Thank you.

A Brief and Warped History of the Mac, part 4 (in which the Mac readies a come-back)

Welcome back to my column – and if you’ve followed the story this far then you are truly a Mac Geek. Last week, under the control of Michael Spindler, Apple had not managed to do anything to improve it’s aging operating system and were bleeding money.

With the arrival of Gil Amelio, Apple entered its make or break era. In his short reign Amelio presided over some of the things that have made Apple what it is today. But this part of the story starts not with Amelio, but with catching up with Apple founder Steve Jobs.

I know you were all waiting for his comeback, so I’ll get on with it. After being ousted from Apple, Jobs had been busy. In 1986, he bought the computer division of George Lucas’s Lucas Film. This company cost $10 million and became Pixar. Pixar are still the leading company in computer rendering graphics and technology as well as producing 5 blockbuster movies with Disney.

Jobs also set up another computer company. His new vision was to create a computer that was elegent inside and out in every way. Everything from the motherboard design to the interface was created to make designers cry with joy. The company was called NeXT.
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JoT Coffee Widget – Chad Rebel (Free)
This review will be small, mainly because the application i’m reviewing isn’t very big itself. In fact, it’s a widget. Day by day goes by with me working behind my desk and falling into a routine of PC applications one after the other. I rarely open the emails in my inbox that have the subject line starting with the phrase “Fw:”, because I rarely find a forwarded joke funny or short enough not to bore me. Don’t get me wrong, humor is a big part of my life. For example, I enjoy the times that I remember to head over to the Geek Culture’s “Joy of Tech” website to catch their latest comic . They are usually short, funny, and not vulgar, but still meant for adults usually carrying a Mac theme. There are two widgets to choose from right now listed on their site to help you remember to stay on top of the funny. Out of the two, I recommend the JoT Coffee Widget.
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A Brief and Warped History of the Mac, part 3 (in which the Mac sucks)

Welcome back to my column – I am surprised you’re still reading this given last weeks warning. Read on, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. In last week’s column, Apple had unveiled the Mac which was rapidly becoming a huge success in the design and graphics industry.

Following Steve Jobs resignation from Apple, John Sculley took on complete control of the company, and hoped to get the most possible from the Mac. He oversaw the Mac product line grow from the original Mac to a whole family – the all-in-one Macs such as the Mac SE/30 that improved on the orignal Mac with a more powerful MC68030 processor and had a built-in hard disk – and also the Mac II series of machines that came in large boxes with separate monitors. The SE/30 was the most powerful of all the all-in-one Macs and I actually have one. My SE/30 hasn’t worked since a month after I bought it in 1998 for £20 from my college Maths tutor, the problem is that no-one fixes Macs that old these days.
Anyone who’s ever had a beige Mac will know the SCSI port, ADB port and Apple serial port used for printing and networking – these were pioneered in the Mac Plus in 1986. The most innovative member of the new Mac family was the Mac portable – the world’s first, um… not really a laptop. In 1989, this machine was released – it was big and bulky and not much lighter than the all-in-one Mac. It did pioneer the use of an active matrix LCD screen on a Mac though.
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It’s here. Please subscribe so I can move up in the ranks. More later, now I am going to bed. Good night.

Update:There is also a new update available for your iPod too. Thanks Craig. Get everything via Software Update on the Mac. Windows users head to http://www.apple.com/itunes

[ View The MacCast in iTunes 4.9! Click Here! ]

PixelNews – Pixelated Software ($25.00 USD)
I have to admit that when I heard about the new version of Safari coming with built-in RSS technology, my thoughts were “So what?”. Well now I view RSS feeds about as commonly as I open iPodder with my figers crossed that i’ll see that progress bar start up showing that a new episode of The MacCast is available. RSS has become a part of my normal day as skipping breakfast or complaining about gas prices. Somehow though, I felt that while Safari has gotten me hooked on this new fancy information train, it was still lacking in providing news in a way that I was satisfied.
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Think Secret has posted information and pictures of the Apple Development Platform, ADP2,1, which is Apple’s official name for the Intel based PowerMac systems they are now shipping to developers. [ Link ]

Tone Heaven Vol. 1 – MacSongTools ($19.99)
Imagine having instant access to hundreds of the most recognizable guitar tones in the world at your fingertips. This is the promise of Tone Heaven Vol. 1, a series of 450 guitar presets for GarageBand and Logic from MacSongTools.com. Whether you want to rock like AC/DC or pretend for just a moment that you have captured the fabled tone of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Tone Heaven provides more variety than you might expect for under $20.
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If you are looking for free and simple ways of putting your photos on the web, here are a few tools that might come in handy. Let me start by saying I’m no expert in web design or coding pages. I’m really just past the beginner stage. I found the following programs a great way to start getting my photos online, they’re relatively easy to use and are all freeware.

If you have your own internet storage space already, Galerie is a fairly simple free program for creating photo galleries online. It works well and once you get the hang of it, you can create an online gallery, with thumbnail index, fairly quickly.
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A Brief and Warped History of the Mac, part 2 (in which the Mac is born)

Welcome back to my column, where last week I left you all hanging in the story of the Mac. Appologies to anyone who felt cheated that we didn’t get as far as the Mac last time don’t worry, we’re getting straight there this time.

We left the story in 1981, when IBM introduced its PC and threatens the market share of the Apple II. The PC was open to many manufacturers to improve with an architecture that allowed the computer to get faster as new chips were produced. Apple needed to step up its game with a new machine that would offer more.

Apple was already on the case, proposing three new systems in 1979. Two of these systems would be a successor to the Apple II and a new high-end work machine.

The third new system was to be a games machine and was given to Jef Raskin for development. Raskin, however was far more ambitious and started developing ideas for a low-cost, general purpose home computer. Raskin’s favourite variety of Apple was a Macintosh.
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