Apple says Steve is healthy, stop worrying

Many felt Steve was looking "thin" and "sickly" at WWDC, plus had more help than in past keynotes.

Apple spokesman said Steve is health is "robust" and he is healthy.

He had pancreatic cancer surgery two years ago, but fully recovered.

Stock options scandal may have taken a stress toll leading up to WWDC?

Nasdaq has recently been threatening de-listing because Apple is having to delay its quarterly 10-Q filing. Apple said it will need to restate certain historical financial statements because of irregularities related to the issuance of stock-option grants.

Seagate promises 120GB "iPod ready" dives by the end of the year

The CEO, William Watkins said the company will have 60GB and 120GB 1.8-inch drives ready before the end of the year.

Could be needed for that true video iPod, especially if it will do higher resolution video.

Mac Pro RAM confusion causing issues

Article on ArsTechnica about issues with MacPro RAM from Crucial

Mac Pro RAM issues?

There seems to be inconsistencies and confusion on which RAM meets Apples specs and if not exactly right then the RAM (1 GB sticks) doesn't seem to work properly

The new RAM has "heat spreaders". Apple says that it is using the heat sinks to "ensure that the fans run at the proper speed to maintain the optimal temperature and ensure acoustic performance." FB-DIMMs with conventionally sized heat-sinks will work in the Mac Pro, although Apple recommends Apple-approved heat-sinks "for optimum performance and acoustics."

Apple secretly updating MacBook Pro logic boards?

MacNN is reporting that some MacBook Pro are coming back from service with a new logic bard that requires an OS update to run properly.

Apple sent a note to it's service partners saying the new Main logic board has the same functionality as the original one, but requires at least 10.4.6 to run properly.

If the owner does not have a copy of a 10.4.6 install DVD the service providers are being instructed to pass a copy along to the owner.

Apple claiming ownership of all things POD

Apple had already gone after companies using iPod or derivations of iPod for iPod related products.

Now they have registered "POD" in Europe with a application pending in the US.

Apple legal is sending out cease and desist letters to companies with POD in their product names even if the product has nothing to do with an iPod.

Latest Apple rumor roundup

Digitimes (historically inaccurate) is re-circulation Wi-fi iPod rumors. Saying Apple will add the new features to compete with the Microsoft ZUNE.

Think Secret says Apple is prepping a new wireless card for the MacPro that will be called AirportExpress.

will be powered by Broadcom's BCM4311 chip, which offers 802.11 a/g support.

"a" can run at a 5.8GHz band to avoid interference in the crowded 2.4 GHz space.

I have problems with the Express name and the "A" support. Why not "n"?

Airport Extreme cards did see a price prop recently down to USD$49.00 (from USD$79.00).

Apple updates Boot Camp to 1.1, adds new features

The new features include:

Boot Camp BETA 1.1

Support for the latest Intel-based Macintosh computers

Easier partitioning using presets for popular sizes

Ability to install Windows XP on any internal disk

iSight camera support and support for built-in microphones

Right-click when pressing the right-hand Apple key on Apple keyboards

Improved Apple keyboard support including Delete, PrintScreen, NumLock, and ScrollLock keys

If you have already installed Boot Camp the update does not require re-partitioning, but you should install the new set-up assistant and create a new Windows driver CD. Instruction for updating can be found in the "Boot Camp Beta 1.1 Installation & Setup Guide" included with the update (202MB).

OS X Intel kernel released as Open Source

There was a lot of controversy over the unavailability of the Intel version of Darwin kernel earlier this year. The core of OS X, without all the nice Aqua GUI stuff among other things.

Apple has finally released it to the community.

MacCast One Minute Tip #20 - System Preferences

Play MacCast One Minute Tip

www.oneminutetip.com

Update on D-Link DSM-G600 NAS Mac compatibility

Listener Jeff ran into an issue with this unit after hearing about it on the MacCast

Trying to connect from the Mac OS X 10.4.7, I got an error message "Error -36."

The DSM-G600 does not understand encrypted passwords, a feature that was added to 10.4.

Can use a tech article from Apple to reset your SMB/CIFS passwords to be clear (possible security risk?)

Clear SMB/CIFS Passwords

My thoughts and impressions on seeing the MacPro

Say at the Apple store after seeing "Accepted" with Justin Long.

Inside is a work of art.

Some Apple stores will have other configurations, so ask.

At my store they will also install the Bluetooth and Airport, but they don't sell a kit for self install. The price USD$79.00 for both or USD$49 Airport and $29.00 BT does include install.

Loss of sound in some multimedia files

Call from listener Will having this issue with his iMac G5

There is an Apple tech article on this very issue

Loss of OS X Sound

This can happen on Macs that support high sample rates (higher than 48000 Hz), including the iMac G5

Some third-party audio applications may change your computer's audio output setting and this will often happen every time you use this app.

You can see the change by looking at Applications-->Utilities-->Audio MIDI Setup.

1. Open Audio MIDI Setup (/Applications/Utilities/), then check the Audio Output setting.

2. Change the Audio Output setting to 44100.0 Hz.

3. Quit Audio MIDI Setup

Another quick fix is to open Garageband and then quit GarageBand

How to change the default application for a file

Play question from Andy

Use Get Info...

Select the File in the Finder and choose File-->Get Info (Apple+I) from the File Menu

If it's not already, expand the "Open with:" section.

Now you can change the preferred application for this one file. If you want to change it for all files of this type then click the "Change all..." button.

Access the "Open with..." on the fly to open with a different app

Control+Click or Right+Click the file and choose Open with...

Now you will see a list of recommend apps for that file type.

You can also choose "Other.." to select an app that is not listed

Use the Enabled drop down to view only Recommend applications or all applications.

To make the change permanent check the "Always open with" checkbox in this dialog

Other issues... Wrong app opening, double apps in the open with menu, etc.

Problem with your LaunchServices database

Can find other instruction on-line, varies for each OS.

X-Lab: Reset LaunchServices

I rebuild with a tool like Cocktail

Cocktail OS X

Intel processors and Macs

Current models of iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook and Mac Book Pros all use some flavor of the Intel Core processors. Core Solo or Core Duo

Designed as a notebook processor. Low power high performance per watt.

New Mac Pro goes to the extreme other end with the new Intel server processor

The Intel 64-bit Dual Core Xeon 5150, "Woodcrest"

Low power, low heat high performance. 20. 2.66 and 3.0 GHZ

Can support multiple processors on a single motherboard. OS X can current support up to 8 processors

Core 2 Duo Desktop processors, "Conroe"

Many thought these might be used in Mac Pros

Could the show up in revs of iMac (Maybe) and/or the Mac Mini (not likely)

Core 2 Duo Mobile processors, "Merom"

Revision of MacBook Pro and MacBook?

The future...

Quad core on a single chip, "Cloverton" server processor and "Kentsfield" for high end desktops.

Bathe quads are expected by the end of the year.

THe aggressive schedule is going to have us guessing for a while and is a BIG change from the slow pace that we had with IBM and the PowerPC.

What about those names?

Currently many are geographical landmarks close to intel processor manufacturing plants. Conroe is in Texas and Merom an archeological site in Isreal

Intel began naming chips after geographical locations with the release of the Pentium 2 in 1997.

What are all these extra "dot" files on my non-Mac volumes?

Listener Johannes recently bought a non-iPod MP3 player which transfers files via the Finder, but ends up with .DS_Store files that stop playback.

DS_Store files are invisible on Mac volumes and are used to store extra data like the positions of icons, the size of the respective Finder window, the window's background, File comments and many more view options.

Resource fork (._XXXXX) file or AppleDouble file, created when an application adds a resource fork to a file on a volume whose format doesn't natively support resource forks (SMB, UFS and NTFS).

.Trashes on external volumes are used to store file that have been placed in the trash, but not been emptied.

There are 3rd party utilities like BlueHarvest that can prevent the creation of these files (actually it automatically removes the files after they are created). There are also command lines you can run to prevent the creation of .DS_Store files on remote volumes.

Blue Harvest

.Spotlight-v100 file, the spotlight index file. Can stop it from being created by placing the volume in the Spotlight "privacy" list. System Preferences-->Spotlight, click on privacy tab, click the "+" and add the volume to the list.

Fixing issues with Quicktime streaming

Many listeners reported issues with streaming the keynote

Make sure UDP ports 554 and 7070 are open on your network. Check you firewall and NAT routers

Otherwise Quicktime will default back to HTTP port 80.