New iTunes and Updated Apple TV

A new version of iTunes has been made available (7.2) to the public. The new iTunes support the new iTunes Music Store with DRM free music files. Some sites found out that the DRM-free music does contain your iTunes account info (username and full name). Probably to make sure that you won't share you purchased music on P2P networks... More good news from Apple is the upcoming update on the Apple TV. The Apple TV will be made available with a bigger hard drive (160GB instead of 40GB). And a upcoming software updates allows the user to watch YouTube videos om the Apple TV. Now we only need native DivX/XviD support on the Apple TV.....

Posted on May 30, 2007 by Willem and filed under Apple, Hardware, Software.

iTunes Album Art

I've been using iTunes for a couple of years now. It took getting used to in the beginning. Recently, iTunes offers the ability to get the album art from the iTunes music store (you do need an account there). In the old days, I got the covers from Amazon.com, but hey, when it's automated, who am I to complain.... till now The downloaded ablum art from the iTunes store doesn't show up on the iPod... Why? Now I still have to get the album covers from Amazon (or another source), if I want the pictures to show up on my iPod. The probabe cause might be that the album art I manual download and attach to songs is actually added to the mp3, while the iTunes automated-album-art-getter is only a reference to a image on the hard drive. Well, at least I've got something to do tomorrow when it's raining.

Posted on May 27, 2007 by Willem and filed under Annoying, Apple, Software.

Getting 'Punished' for Using Pirated Software

Steganos has a piece of software which allows you to create encrypted containers. The Stagenos software is 'freely' available on the P2P networks. just download it and use a key found somewhere on the Internet. This won't help you though.....

You simply install a copy of Steganos Safe 8 but not the new security suite and when doing this you turn "OFF" the update feature temporarily and use a fake serial code you get off the net. Simply mount anyones .SLE file encrypted drive into the software and it will ask you for their password but won't let you in because it's encrypted. From this point you want to turn the "update" feature back on and force steganos to update by right clicking it in your system tray or restarting the software. From this point it will detect you had used a fake or known serial after the update and it will now PUNISH you by resetting your encrypted drives passwords to "123" until you buy a registered copy. [SecurityFocus]

This means that ANYONE is able to open your encrypted content stored in the container. Just use pirated software to open the containers. Thankfully, Truecrypt is still freeware :-) . Too bad it still isn't available for OSX :cry: .

Posted on April 11, 2007 by Willem and filed under Security, Software.

Apple Adds Vista Support To Boot Camp

Apple has update their public beta of Boot Camp with support for the 32bit edition of Microsoft Windows Vista. This 'proves' that the rumors about the possible delay of Leopard due to lack of Vista support are not true.

Boot Camp 1.2 beta includes:

Support for Windows Vista (32-bit)

Updated drivers, including but not limited to trackpad, AppleTime (synch), audio, graphics, modem, iSight camera

Support the Apple Remote (works with iTunes and Windows Media Player)

A Windows system tray icon for easy access to Boot Camp information and actions

.....

So a release of Leopard in Spring 2007 is still possible :-)

Posted on March 29, 2007 by Willem and filed under Apple, News, Operating Systems, Software.

Mac OSX update 10.4.9

Apple had released a couple of updates these last couple of days. The first was an update for the Airport Extreme, and a couple of days after that they released an update to OSX Tiger 10.4.9. Also iPhoto got an update to version 6.0.6. The Airport Extreme update was more than welcome for me since I had trouble connecting to WPA(2) wireless networks. Only the WEP protected networks were working for me. This update seems to have solved the problem (so far). The update to OSX 10.4.9. contains the following improvements:

- RAW camera support - Handling of large or malformed images that could cause crashes - Image capture performance - Mouse scrolling and keyboard shortcuts - Font handling - Playback quality, and bookmarks in DVD Player - USB video conferencing cameras for use with iChat - Bluetooth devices - Browsing AFP servers - Apple USB Modem - Windows-created digital certificates - Open and Print dialogs in applications that use Rosetta on Intel-based Macs - Time zone and daylight saving for 2006 and 2007 - Security update

While the iPhoto 6.0.6 update deals with EXIF and Photocasting issues.

Posted on March 14, 2007 by Willem and filed under Apple, Software.

Macrovision Responds to Steve Jobs' Open Letter

A couple of days ago, Steve Jobs posted an open letter regarding DRM. Since then several others have responded to the letter. Some against it (RIAA of course :neutral: ), others in favor of it. Today, I ran into an open letter by MacroVision. These are the guys that made it impossible (euh.. well... a bit harder actually) to copy the old VHS tapes. They can't agree with Steve, cause that would put them out of business. So they came up with some bery intelligent (NOT) reasons why DRM is good for the consumer: DRM is broader than music Sure, for them. Just put the bloody stuff on everything. Music, Video, Software. If they have the chance they'll probably put it on a sandwich. DRM increases not decreases consumer value With DRM, I can't put my purchase music or movies on another player or play it under Linux. If I want to do that, I have to BUY it several times. And that puts more money into their pockets. The funniest line in that paragraph is probably: "Abandoning DRM now will unnecessarily doom all consumers to a "one size fits all" situation that will increase costs for many of them." [sarcasm]Indeed going for plain-old mp3's, or mpg's/avi's cripples me to hell and back. Can't play it on anything these days.[/sarcasm] DRM will increase electronic distribution I don't get this one. It is well known that people don't want protected stuff. They want to play the things they bought on players they choose, and not just the players the RIAA and others decide. So removing DRM would mean that more people are able to play the content on their devices of choice. It would also open the entire Linux market (they are left out with all the DRM protected stuff). More prospect customers means more transactions, or at least the number of customers / transactions would be the same. But if they stay the same, you get a bigger margin on sales, because you don't have to pay for the DRM licensing. DRM needs to be interoperable and open Can't argue with this one, but it means that they have to open the sourcecode, so that the Linux communitie can also use the technology. And we all know what that means... It means that all DRM will be cracked/circumvented within days, so that's not gonna happen ever.

Posted on February 16, 2007 by Willem and filed under Annoying, General, Software.

Google SketchUp

In time, my good old Sony Wega CRT TV will be replaced by a state-of-the-art flat screen. When this happens, I need a new (television) cupboard in my living room. The current one isn't large enough to host a mega TFT panel. Since these things don't come cheap, and are never right (cause it also needs to hold the receiver/amplifier and stuff), I decided to 'draw' one myself. Drawing on a piece of paper is for those who can't use computer, and the computer has this great option called UNDO :smile: . Next thing on the agenda was to find an easy to use 3D drawing program. Well Google SketchUp is just perfectly suited for these things. It's a bit getting used to the controls and functions (took me about an hour), but after that... the sky is the limit (or so they say). Anyway, I (kinda) finished my new cupboard. All I need now is someone who wants to put it together :cry: .

I'm a bit hesitative about the width of the middle section. Don't know if I should make it wider to support future ultra wide TFT (or plasma) screens.......

Posted on February 16, 2007 by Willem and filed under Software.

Leopard and everything '07

Rumors are that Apple OSX Leopard might be shipping as early as March this year. The same goes for the new iLife '07, and iWork '07. I can't wait to get my hands on Leopard, and iWork '07. iWorkr is rumored to have a spreadsheet-like program called Numbers. Finally an 'alternative' for Microsoft Excel. iWork's Numbers will probably still be overkill, but it beats the rosetta version of Microsoft with the gazillion features and tools I never seem to use. No idea what iLife '07 will bring (haven't had the urge to find out, since '06 still works fine). I guess I'll download a trail ;-) , and decide then if I really need it. Leopard and iWork will definitely be purchased by me (if it has the spreadsheet program).

Posted on February 10, 2007 by Willem and filed under Apple, Operating Systems, Software.

iStat nano

I'm not that much into widgets and all that stuff. But today I found one which is realy cool. it's called iStat nano. It displays the following things on your Dashboard:

Fan speed
CPU, Chasis, GPU and ambient temperature
Network connection (throughput, bytes sent and received)
Memory overview
Current processes
etc.

The developper has several other nice widgets and programs which are all system related.

Posted on February 8, 2007 by Willem and filed under Apple, Software.

Vista OEM versus Retail

Arstechnica has an article explaining OEM (mainly the difference between the Microsoft Vista OEM and retail versions) Buying OEM versions of Windows Vista: the facts It seems that anyone who can install software is eligible to purchase a Vista OEM copy, without extra hardware.

Can I buy OEM? Yes, you can. Microsoft licenses OEM software to "system builders," which the license defines as "an original equipment manufacturer, or an assembler, reassembler, or installer of software on computer systems" (emphasis added). You can install software on computers, right? When asked, Microsoft says that OEM software is not intended to be installed by end users. Off the record, Microsoft spokespeople have told me that the big concern in Redmond is for Joe Newbie. They don't want inexperienced users buying OEM software, but the fact of the matter is that anyone can buy OEM versions of Windows. Truth be told, Microsoft is not opposed to the practice. Rather, the company says that people who purchase OEM software will simply be expected to abide by the terms of the licensing agreements.

Posted on January 31, 2007 by Willem and filed under Microsoft, Operating Systems, Software.