Apple will not appeal case against rumor sites

Apple has decided not to take the case against O'Grady's PowerPage and AppleInsider to the California Supreme Court

The deadline for the appeal passed

In May the State appeals court denied Apple's request to subpoena records and archived e-mail from the two site in an attempt to determine the sources who leaked info about the Asteroid Firewire audio interface.

This is a huge win for bloggers and online sites as it set a precedence for their rights to protect sources, just like journalists in other forms of media.

Microsofts "iPod Killer" becoming a reality

The Microsoft "Zune" player

Based on the X-Box brand

Will have proprietary connector and proprietary wi-fi (like Apple, the Nike+iPod Sport Kit uses an Apple-developed version of 802.11)

One image shows a prototype with a vertical 4:3 aspect ratio display, and could be 3, even 3.5-inches wide. Looks like it has a "thumbpad" round controller?

Apple's new iPod may or may not include wi-fi with the possibility for iPod music sharing.

Wi-fi would seriously effect battery life.

idea: tag shared music to a "shopping cart" playlist on your iPod.

Nike+iPod Kit launches

The product which features a transmitter for your iPod (USD$30) and special Nike shoes with a pocket in the sole (USD$80-$100) was available for sale starting Thursday

Niketown locations in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles hosted launch events.

Female iPod use tripled in 2006

According to a Solutions Research Group study iPod use among women almost tripled in 2006, from 8 percent in 2005 to 27 percent in 2006.

Men iPod use also went up but only from 18 to 28 percent.

45 percent of Americans report downloading music via online stores or P2P. And those who actually bought a song online increased dramatically from 8 percent in 2005 to 23 percent in 2006.

New iPod Nanos may return to Mini roots

Rumors that new models would have anodized aluminum cases and be available in different colors

One report suggests a magnesium case.

New cases would offer better scratch protection and be more rugged.

Still believed new models would be 8GB and 4GB and maintain current pricing. Available Q4.

Apple quietly pulls new Edu iMac from online store

Apple took the new Macs off it's educational on-line store

Some reports speculate that they want to reserve units for sales directly to institutions and avoid losing sales on the higher priced units which are available directly to students, teachers and administrators via the on-line store

New version of BootCamp Beta available

Apple posted BootCamp Beta 1.02b

www.apple.com—bootcamp

There was no information as to what was changed.

No "virtualization" in 10.5 Leopard

According to a MacWorld report, Needham and Company analyst Charles Wolf asked Apple VP Phil Schiller about Apple's plans for incorporating "virtualization" software in the next version of Mac OS X.

He said, "absolutely not" claiming the R&D would be prohibitive and their solution is dual boot.

I still say Apple could jump start virtualization and purchase Parallels.

Speculation grows over new 'Mac Pro' chips

AppleInsider claims to have information that Apple has chosen Intels new "Woodcrest" dual-core Xenon server chips over the Intel Core 2 Duo (Crusoe) chips

The major difference between the two designs is the Xenons use a different physical socket design. Instead of traditional pins, the new Land Grid Array (LGA) 771 socket uses pads of bare gold-plated copper that touch pins on the motherboard.

The other difference is the Xeon supports multiple processor configurations. Meaning Apple will be able to keep it's "Quad" core model in the new Intel Mac Pro line.

Now other sites like ThinkSecret still feel Apple will use the Core 2 Duo chips, so I guess the jury is out until WWDC.

A recent report on Tom's Hardware shows both the Core 2 Duo and Core 2 Duo Extreme beating out the AMD Athlon 64 FX chips.

MacCast One Minute Tip #18 - Tracking iTunes Purchases

Play One Minute Tip

www.oneminutetip.com

Macs randomly shutting off since 10.4.7 update

Reports from several listeners.

Damian points to this thread on MacBooks in the Apple discussion boards

MacBook ShutDowns

I have had reports of other model too, including one of a PowerBook

Most cases seem to be related to overheating where shut off happens at a set temp.

Possible Apple added code to 10.4.7 to help identify units with cooling defects. Contact AppleCare and get your unit in for repair. Older models without AppleCare may be an issue. Appears to be now warranty extension program yet.

Review: Plantronics DSP-400

Play review from Bob

Plantronics DSP-400

Noise canceling mics need to be close to your mouth for best results.

Recommendations for backing up large files

Listener Joel needs to backup iMovie and iDVD Projects which are huge

These contain all of your raw imported footage. Finished exports are smaller, but you need the project file if you want to re-edit.

Can use .Mac Backup and other backup software to split projects across multiple DVDs (4 GB ea)

External Hard drives are getting cheaper, but still can be costly and may not be reliable long term. 2 copies, one to store off site

JungleDisk, affordable on-line storage

Play comment from Brian

JungleDisk web site

JungleDisk

Does have a 5GB per upload (file) limit.

Mounts like an iDisk, so you can backup to the mounted JungleDisk from .Mac Backup

Use Disk Utility to create an encrypted disk image

File --> New --> Blank Disk Image....

Pick the size you need. Set encryption to AES-128. Set format to read/write.

When prompted enter a password. You can use the password assistant (key icon) to help you create a strong password. Remember the password (use KeyChain secure note trick)

Buy another external drive and store it off site. Not as cheap, but how much is your data worth to you?

Easy way to get iTunes/iPhoto separated for backup

From listener Ross

Use Smart Albums and Playlists

Set the up for files added after the current date.

Now the smart list will start to fill up with the newer files. Once it get to a set size, say 650 MB for CD or 4 GB for DVD. Do you backup.

Now reset the date criteria to the date you made the backup and start over.

How to rearrange your menu-bar icons

From listener Christian

Hold down the command key and then you can change the order of any of the items, including the date/time. You can't move the Spotlight icon.