Steve Jobs personally calls stabbing victims family

Steve Jobs has personally called the family of a 15-year-old New York resident who died during a fight over an iPod

Steve spoke with Errol Rose, the victims father, and asked how Rose was doing and conveyed his sympathies.

IBM's new PowerPC Chip

The PowerPC 970MP (running up to 2.5GHZ) is a dual-core version of the PowerPC 970FX, which is commonly found in Macintosh computers running G5 processors.

Apple declined to comment on whether the company would use the PowerPC 970MP in any of its products.

Each of the two 64-bit cores has its own dedicated 1MB of level-two cache memory. That means that either side of the chip can be powered down to a state IBM calls "doze" while the other core continues to work. Helps save power and extends the life of the computer.

Also announced a new low-power 970FX PowerPC G5 processor.

A 1.2GHz version and a 1.4GHz version believed to be cool enough to operate inside a PowerBook enclosure with an advanced cooling system.

Forbes speculates on Apple becoming a wireless carrier

Since Disney announced they are entering the wireless game, why can't Apple

Becoming a "mobile virtual network operator," or MVNO. They use other cel networks, like Sprint to offer custom targeted services. Like iTunes.

July 7th Apple event did happen in France

Very few details, but there was an Apple iPod event held on a boat in France and attended by a majority of the Apple France management team.

Apple lowers iPod replacement battery cost

Apple has quietly lowered the price of its iPod Battery Replacement Program from $99 to $59.

Apple has released DVD Playback Update 4.6.1

The update for Apple's OS X built-in DVD Player "addresses a disc validation issue some users may encounter when attempting to play a disc for the first time with DVD Player 4.6."

Followup on Mac journal software

Steve looking for journal software with audio capabilities

A number of people recommened Journaler from Phildow.net

Journaler - Phildow.net

NoteTaker from Aquaminds

NoteTaker - Aquaminds

NoteBook from CircusPonies

NoteBook - Cirus Ponies

Using Mics with your Mac

Marklab having trouble using a headset or computer mic with a PowerBook G4.

You Macs port is a line in port and requires a preamplifier to work.

Can use a Griffin iMic to connect via USB

Getting caught up in the next great thing

An email from Richard made me feel philosophical about the topic of waiting for the next great Apple product.

The laws of technology say that every 3-6 months there is a new upgrade coming, but if your always looking to the future your going to miss the present.

Unable to create user account after Tiger upgrade

Play question from Jonatan

Boot from OS X DVD and run repair permissions from Disk Utility

Thread on Apple.com

Slow motion Aqua tricks

Listener Richard pointed out an old easter egg that works with almost all of OS X's cool visual effects

Holding the shift key will put all effects into slow motion. Expose, Finder, Dashboard, etc.

Automating folders with AppleScript

Play question from Lance

Folder Actions

Example script to auto compress files placed in a folder

Example: Auto compress

Creating compatible DVDs

From the forum, Serpico:

I had to use MagicISO to create an ISO from the IMG file iDVD created. Then opened NERO and tried to burn it. I used a small file first on a CD-R, then a DVD-R. It played on the PC notebook using WinDVD, but not on the Mac Mini or any of the home dvd players I own. I really need to complete a project and this would be very helpful. I really like iDVD.