Apple's Revised All Their iPods
Stop by Apple's site in a bit to see all the new models. They changed the Nano so it could display video too; new colors for the Shuffle, rebranded the generation 5 iPod the "iPod Classic," and at the top of the line, made a full-screen model that looks and works like the iPhone. Also visit Macintouch and The Mac Observer for up-to-the-minute reports. The Classic isn't quite like the original iPod Video; it now requires USB 2.0 which means it won't work in any G4 or older Mac.
iPod Nano Video
I did get one of these new little gems. The video was so clear and sharp that it sold itself immediately. There are some gotchas, though. None of the available iPod-to-TV cables would work! Instead of $20 for the existing cable, I must pay $49 for a special cable which wasn't available for weeks. The cable has a plug that uses the standard docking port (instead of the headphone port) and also includes a wall plug for the USB charger along with standard Video, Left Audio and Right Audio RCA jacks. Works great and looks pretty good on any TV.
I wanted it so I could carry my favorite video shorts to show other people, right through their TVs. I never buy from the ITMS so I need to find a codec that will convert the more common .avi (XviD) formats into H.264 that iTunes uses. I'll let you know how that goes.
Where Are Your CDs?
Way too often I am at a client's and need to reinstall something - printer drivers, application they purchased a year or two before, Apple installer disks - and they can't find them.
Where do you keep yours? In the original boxes on a shelf? Scattered loose in a desk drawer? On a table next to the computer with a bunch of magazines, papers, old bills and uneaten donuts? Or have you carefully filed each disc away in a CD holder or book that keeps them all in one place? All of the above? Time to get organized.
You install the software and think you will never need the CD again. You don't keep the disk in its original sleeve because you didn't notice that your serial number, needed if you ever want to reinstall, is on a label stuck to that sleeve. Oops.
It really doesn't matter where you keep them, as long as you keep all of them in the same place. Desk drawer too full? Remove everything that isn't Mac-related. Original box on a shelf? Good, but wastes space and not really necessary unless you have something you can sell later on Ebay.
To start with, protect those serial numbers. If the program came with a manual, write the serial and/or CD key number inside the book cover. Make sure you write clearly and carefully using caps and lower-case where appropriate. Do your Ns look like Rs? Don't write the number, carefully DRAW it so there is no mistake. If you keep the box, write it on the box as well. Finally, use a Sharpie pen and write it on the label side of the CD itself. If you lose everything else, at least you will have that number. It's okay if you store the manuals (manuals - what are those?) separately from the CD as long as you have the number. Some times you can download an installer for the program, but you will still need your number to reinstall.
It also wouldn't hurt to type the name and serial number of all your programs into a document and store it in the Documents folder with the name "Serial Numbers." Or use a Note Pad utility like NotePadX, one of many to choose from on VersionTracker.
Did you register the program when you installed it? Always register. It may not matter with refrigerators and vacuum cleaners, but if the publisher has you on record, you will have a chance of getting your lost serial number back.
If you are not a neatnik in any other way, please make an exception here. No matter how ugly the drawer full of CDs is, you are safe if you know for a certainty that what you need is in there.
Finally, clear it out occasionally. You don't need the System 7.5.1 CDs for the old Quadra you junked in 1997, and no one else will, either. But keep for future sale those OS9 CDs. It's getting harder to find them, and anyone with a pre-Intel Mac is a potential customer.
Macs In Enterprise
The July 16 Computerworld magazine had two articles about people switching from Windows. One was a columnist giving lessons and recommendations to other switchers, but the most notable piece was a cover story about Tacoma-based Auto Warehousing Company switching their entire enterprise to Macs. AWC is the largest full-service auto processing company in North America, with 23 sites across the US and Canada.
They started with a quiet replacement of all of their Windows-based servers to Apple's Xserve RAID machines. While their main client/server software, VIPS (Vehicle Inventory Processing System) will continue to run on Microsoft SQL Server, AWC will rewrite all of the VIPS client software in Java 6.0 or higher so it can run the front end on Macs. They are currently running client software on XP boxes, which they will not be upgrading to Vista. During the 12 to 18 months necessary to rewrite the front end, they will be running the MS version on Macs under Parallels.
Among the motivations for the switch included the ever-rising costs of Windows and security vulnerabilities requiring massive amounts of time to protect, but most important was the phone-home capabilities of site-licensed Microsoft software. When purchased under an open license agreement, the software contains a built-in trigger that shuts down if a user is out of compliance. States CIO Dale Frantz, "If all of a sudden all of the computers directing traffic for our jobs went down because the computers couldn't talk to Redmond, that's just terrifying. I don't want Microsoft to have that degree of control over my business."
Robert Mullen, senior programmer/analyst had experimented with Linux but commented that the "Linux community would love to work with us, but wanted to know how many man-hours of development we could put toward the overall Linux project. That didn't give me much confidence about Linux as the production environment for what we wanted to do." Frantz presented Mullen with a MacBook Pro with this simple directive: "Play with it for 30 days and if you don't like it, bring it back to me." "I never went back," Mullen said, "And then I started begging for an Apple desktop."
To read the entire article, visit Computerworld and search for Mac Attack! if the above link has expired. It was there as of mid-October. The magazine also discusses iLife 2008, the new iMac, antispam software and a host of other Mac issues.
iPhone Hackity Hack
Apple and AT&T strongly desire that you meekly pay your money and use the device in the manner suggested. Sorry, didn't happen. Every day I read of new hacks & cracks that favor the user against the company.
Now you can buy an iPhone that has already been cracked (check Ebay) and can run on T-Mobile using your existing SIM card; you can install non-Apple programs; you can run it with a prepaid account instead of a two-year commitment, and even deactivate the phone and use it as a video iPod. Of course you can install your own ringtones too.
Visit the iPod Lounge and the Unofficial Apple Weblog for stories on these and other hacks, or simply google "iPhone Hacks" and enjoy your surfing.
Apple fights back, of course, with iPhone Updates through iTunes; 1.1.2 is available now. They tout them as "bug fixes," but they deactivate hacks as soon as they can be found.
Concast "Unlimited" Bandwidth
ConsumerAffairs.com comments on Concast's tendency to cut off heavy Internet users without defining what "heavy" actually is. Frank Carreiro of West Jordan, Utah got cut off by the secret limit and started a blog about the dispute. My recommendation (which you can infer by the fact I always refer to them as CONcast) is to always prefer DSL if you have a choice, and investigate Verizon's cellular Internet service if you don't. I have exactly one user of that among my client base and he is happy with the service. In his neighborhood, it's his only choice.
NeoOffice Updated
NeoOffice, the free alternative to Microsoft, recently updated to version 2.2.1. Unlike older versions, this does not require you to install and run the decidedly un-Mac-like X11 environment (included on your Panther and Tiger installer disk). It can open, edit and save most Microsoft Office 2007 Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, as well as older versions. If you want to experiment, it's free from NeoOffice.org.
AllOfMP3.com To Return
On August 15 a district court in Moscow ruled that AllOfMP3.com operated within the bounds of Russian law and will resume in the foreseeable future. In the interim a clone site, www.mp3sparks.com, appeared and even migrated all existing accounts from allofmp3.
Whether you want to actually use a service that is considered a pirate site by the RIAA and never pays royalties to the artists, let alone the record companies (many of whom also dodge paying royalties to the artists) is up to you and your own sense of ethics. Me, I use it as a subststute for tediously converting my vinyl albums to MP3 and also cheaply sampling unknown works. If I like someone, I go get the CD because I'm old fashioned and like having CDs.
Legal Streaming Service from France
Deezer is a free music streaming service that lets you create playlists of your favorite music. While they don't have everything, or even as much as allofmp3, they do have a lot of Europop you won't hear anywhere outside of bbc.co.uk's own radio service, also a site worth exploring.
Hard Drive Lesson 2
A recent column referred you to "myharddrivedied.com" to see videos about how a drive works and how data recovery works. Now they have posted a new series, starting with Advanced Hard Drive Data Recovery Part 1 on YouTube with parts 2-5 right there on the Related list.
The problem with choppy video turned out to be caused by the guy who transcribed the movies I saw last month; the ones on the site are not choppy at all unless you play them faster than your broadband connection can stand, in which case you just pause for a while so the cache can build up.
G5 Coolant Leaks
I suggested in a recent column that a used G5 tower would be a good and economical buy, as long as you avoided the liquid-cooled models. Well, the Aug. 29 MacFixIt reported on an ever-increasing number of G5 failures due to just this problem. In one lab with 17 Dual 2.7Ghz models, all of them started leaking at once. Don't get the coolant on your skin or eyes, either - there are some toxic effects but at least it doesn't cause cancer!
Apple is being fairly unresponsive in fixing or replacing them, most of which are out of warranty. There are people organizing a public campaign demanding Apple put these on extended warranty, but I would advise users to put your still-working model up for sale, especially if it has any AppleCare time remaining. Let someone else deal with the potential problem; if you sell now you can honestly state that you are having no problems with it. The MacPro towers do not use liquid cooling.
If you have an air-cooled model, don't worry; Outside of dying power supplies (replaceable) no problems have appeared with those.
No Microsoft products were used in the production of this column.
email mp at moonmac dot com. (I took out the mailto link because that's how the spammers find me.)