OK, this is almost definitely unsanctioned by Apple, but the prominent Torrent Web site Demonoid has posted the software for Apple Store's Concierge.

Any visitor to the Genius Bar in recent months will recognize its familiar interface as they waited a half-hour to have their iPod reset. It's an elegant appointment-making solution, and now you can do it in your own home.

Granted, the value of this is a bit limited -- why not use a Web browser to make that appointment? -- but I say, there's no point to being a Mac user if you can't use semi-bootleg software with absurdly nice interfaces to do things anyone else would cruise to a Web site for!

ifoAppleStore, which brought this to my attention, advises that DesktopButtons, the app behind Concierge, is secretly the $4 wonder Docktop. So check it out. 

Via TUAW. 

So Microsoft's mildly hyped iPod challenger, Zune, is ready to hit the market. One of its most-talked-about features is wireless song sharing through WiFi.

For the sake of argument, yes, that feature could make Zune stand out from the iPod. I think Leander did a great job of explaining why it isn't quite the killer app it's assumed to be in his column yesterday, but there's another aspect to WiFi sharing that is a potential hazard: Malware.

What features exist to verify that a file that looks like a legit mp3 or wma file is in fact a wma file? The Zune is built on existing Toshiba platform, and some folks out there know how to write software for it, some of which could be malicious.

I don't think this is paranoia. A co-worker with a Treo caught a wireless virus at the airport awhile back (It's like living in the future!), and it would have then moved onto his computer and replicated across the Internet if our IT guy hadn't caught it. Think about a file advertising itself as a leaked recording by a popular artist that actually is an audio file on a Zune, but when you sync it to your computer, it launches a wizard disguised as a software update, you click OK and all hell breaks loose.

Does anyone know how good MS's verification on shared files are and what privileges to be transferred locally are? Am I crazy?

*Pets iPod*

(Zune photo from Zunelicious.) 

Via Digg. 

Well, the rumblings around allegations of stock "back-dating" at Apple has officially become a scandal. Former Chief Financial Officer Fred Anderson, who served from 1996-2004, has resigned form the company's board of directors, reports The Street. He served from the time of his retirement in June 2004.

"I apologize to Apple's shareholders and employees for these problems, which happened on my watch. They are completely out of character for Apple," Jobs said in a statement. "We will now work to resolve the remaining issues as quickly as possible and to put the proper remedial measures in place to ensure that this never happens again."

The announcement came at the end of an internal investigation by Apple concluded stock options were back-dated on 15 occasions between 1997-2002, a truly critical era in Steve Jobs's second tenure leading the company, beginning before the introduction of the iMac and concluding after the first iPods hit the street. Jobs has acknowledged he knew of the practice, but claims not to have understood its implications. Which wouldn't be surprising -- all of his business education has come through experience, not through any kind of formal program, but it's still troubling.

This is actually a really big deal, and Apple will likely have to restate its earnings at almost every step. The good news, if there is any, is that the current leadership team has been cleared of wrong-doing by the investigation. For now. The article is a little wonky, as it says something about late Thursday. I'll assume it's a typo until a fuller report is released.

This is a rough time for computer-makers. HP's spying scandal, Apple and others with option back-dating, everyone with exploding laptop batteries... Keep your noses clean, all right?

(Via Digg. Fred Anderson photo via Macgadget.de.) 

In just today, you guys raised $1,000 toward our ultimate goal of $15,000 to buy Macs and other Apple products at underprivileged public schools across the country. We're closest on the Computers For Harlem Students in Special Education project, sitting at 80 percent right now. I believe in your ability to get the rest of the way there soon.

I wanted to talk a bit more about why this project, why Claire Danes, and why now. I'll start last: It took a bit longer to set this up than we anticipated, which is why the school year has already begun.

Why this challenge? I believe in Donors Choose very much. It's an organization with a very low overhead -- 15 percent of all donations go to operations. In an era where many charitable organizations trend toward 50 percent, that's really something. Contributions go directly toward funding the projects for which there is no money at most public schools. As funding has been slashed further and further, there isn't the money for music programs, computer education or sports in many districts. This allows teachers to express their real needs and us to meet them.

As for Claire Danes? She's working with Donors Choose on a broad level and decided to pool her resources to help get some kids some Macs. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks for listening. You guys are the best. 

Well, the good people of Albuquerque, New Mexico will soon be able to experience the joys of having a local Apple Store themselves. Though Apple didn't mean to let anyone know just yet. It should hit November 1st.

The new store will apparently be part of this development, described as a "unique urban development." I'm kind of a dork for mixed-use complexes, and this one looks really nice, if a bit too much like San Jose's Santana Row. Hopefully it's better integrated into the city than that thing is.

Anyway, Apple is not listed in the tenant directory, but if you click on the PDF link on the same page, the company's logo is shown for a nice spot on an eastern building in the development. Oops.

Congrats, my New Mexican Mac-head friends. Given recent events, can you believe Oklahoma got a store before you?

Thanks, Anonymous Tipster! 

The current trend of Web sites criticizing Apple's policies by copying the company's site in a satirical manner continues to gain speed, as I was directed today to WewantAppleGreece.com, which pretty much is what it says it is. Though its design doesn't match Apple's quite as much as Greenpeace did.

Basically, Greece, unlike most of the rest of Europe, is served by a series of small support and distribution companies instead of an actual extension of Apple itself. As a result, support is rather lacking in critical areas, including OS X localization, prices and much more. The site is a spin-out/tribute to WewantApplePoland.com, which confronts many of the same issues. They want support from an actual corporate Apple body. Given that they're EU members, that doesn't seem too outrageous.

It's a worthy request, and I learned a lot from both sites. Check out both -- you really don't want to forget Poland.

(Thanks, Dimitris!)

Reader Jonathan Birge brought it to my attention in a quite delightfully ranty e-mail. He puts it well:

While Windows boxes have had such for a while now, the Mac still doesn't support stereo headphones connected via bluetooth. This is a pretty sorry state of affairs for the "most advanced operating system in the world."

I completely agree. There's no reason not to build in this functionality at the system level. Every Mac has offered Bluetooth support for some time now, and it's a natural design solution significantly more aesthetically pleasing than corded earphones.

Now, it's a simplification to say that Apple doesn't support Bluetooth stereo audio. As I learned doing some reading just now, what Apple lacks is something called an Advanced Audio Distribution Profile or A2DP, for those who can't properly create an acronym. That means that the audio through Apple's built-in Bluetooth sounds terrible, and you'll need a Bluetooth audio dongle (I always giggle when I type that word) to get decent sound.

So how 'bout it Apple? I'm buying if you're selling.

(Image via Geekzone.)

Some places are definitely more Mac-friendly than others. In the Bay Area, Macs are almost as common place as PCs. Others are outright hostile.

Paul Moshay, a Mac owner from L.A. claims he found out the hard way that Oklahoma is no friend to Macs, so he's decided to keep all of his future sales of Macs on eBay Oklahoma-free.  From a current auction:

>>>>  NO OKLAHOMA BUYERS <<<<
 >>>>  NO OKLAHOMA BUYERS <<<< 

eBay doesn't have a provision for not selling to a specific state, but I've had two recent Mac hardware buyers that returned items they claimed were DOA, YET when I refunded their money and accepted the return both machines WORKED PERFECTLY.  no problems whatsoever.  Both winning bidders were in OKLAHOMA.  So from this point forward, and I'm serious OKLA., bidders, Please purchase WINTEL Boxes. They are good enough for you.  i may get some *carp* for this but i just don't care.

 >>>>  NO OKLAHOMA BUYERS <<<< 
 >>>>  NO OKLAHOMA BUYERS <<<<  

Yow! But this is what happens when you burn a Mac owner.  Any Oklahoma Mac owners care to defend or decry the current environment toward non-PC hardware in the state?

(Thanks, Paul!) 

Want more evidence that iTunes is the industry standard for downloadable music?  Its copy protection scheme has been rebuilt by the guy who took down DVD encryption.

Jon "DVD Jon" Lech Johanson, the world-famous hacker who, as a teenager, figured out how to decrypt the copy protection on DVDs, has announced he will license a home-brew version of Apple's FairPlay encryption software to people who want to sell iPod-compatible content through non-iTunes channels.

Head over to GigaOM for the rest of the story, which hints that Apple might be quietly pleased with the plan, if only because it will further entrench the iPod as the top media player on the market.

Apple, always having its cake and eating it, too, right?

Via iLounge. 

(Picture by Irina Slutsky)

First, I have to give tremendous shout outs to the 38 donors we've had so far on the First Annual Claire Danes/Apple/Cult of Mac Back to School Computer Challenge over with the good folks at Donors Choose. (I'm talking about the FACD/A/CoMBTSCC, in case you were wondering). As of this post, we have raised a total of $10,949.35 (73 percent), which is pretty astounding.

If you're reading this, haven't donated and are concerned about the purge of Macs from education that continues to happen as bean-counters and IT people who want to make sure they never turn obsolete urge the purchase of cheaper and cheaper PC knock-offs, please click on the thermometer to make a real difference in the lives of children across the country. We're most of the way on each of our challenges, but we're not going to get there without your help.

Thanks for listening to me on my soapbox, and keep your head up.

Follow the money.  What did the iCEO know, and when did he know it? The conspiracy theory wormhole just keeps going deeper in the Apple WiFi "hijack" saga, begun at August's Black Hat event.

The two security experts who started the accusations of Apple wireless security flaws, David Maynor and Jon Ellch were supposed to speak at San Diego's ToorCon hacker event yesterday, but Maynor, an employee of Secureworks was asked to stay home by his employer. Since Secureworks is currently working with Apple, some might see a connection.

Count Ellch in that crowd. He still addressed the conference and had a lot to share.

"I can not give this talk without Dave," Ellch said. "Dave very much wanted to be here. The fact that SecureWorks and Apple managed to compel him not to, means that they must have had something very compelling to stop him."

Apple has claimed that the wireless security fix issued last week was not a patch for the hole Maynor and Ellch claimed they found two months ago. A Secureworks acknowledgement of its current relationship with Apple is enough for Ellch to see conspiracy.

This one's got a lot of angles. Click through for CNet's full coverage of the story. 

Via Digg. 

The 10.4.8 Update is recommended for all users and includes general operating system fixes, as well as specific fixes for the following applications and technologies:

- connecting to wireless networks using the EAP-FAST protocol
- Apple USB modem reliability
- using OpenType fonts in Microsoft Word
- compatibility with 3rd party USB hubs
- scanner performance
- RAW camera support
- printing documents with Asian language names
- performance of the Translation widget
- broadband network performance
- security updates

Get it here or get it in your Mac OS X software update.

There is still $4400 of funding left to ensure that each of the great projects we're contributing towards gets funded. I'm getting paid on Saturday and will be making a contribution toward this project, which is about creating a read-aloud section for kids with the use of Garage Band and iPod Shuffles.

My mom is a recently retired elementary school librarian (and Mac-head, of course!), and I spent many summers helping her get the reading software installed on the world's most hodge-podge collection of Macs.  This project sounds better than a lot of the existing solutions. 

But I can't make it happen alone. Only you guys can. 

That Colbert interview of Woz was something, huh? It's posted up to Comedy Central's Web site in two parts now, and while the first is a little dull and incoherent, the second reaches wonderful heights of comedy as Colbert accuses Woz of pranking him, asking "Are you sure you invented the personal computer?"

Woz proceeds to talk about the pranks he's doing these days, beginning with the alarming statement "I carry my own knife to cut steak on airplanes." Colbert's eyes get pretty wide, and then Woz explains that he uses his business cards, made of thin, sharp metal. "It cuts the steak like marble."

Colbert than refers to Woz as an enemy combatant on "the list."

"I want to be on the list -- they never put me on it," Woz concludes. It's must-see video. 

Stupid West Coast. Steve Wozniak was just on the Colbert Report, and I haven't seen it yet because it's 24 minutes to air-time here. When the interview has wrapped up out here, it'll be available for viewing here.

I'll report in more fully when I've had the chance to watch it.

(Thanks, Tommy!)

Well, Microsoft has brought its A-Game with its digital media player. How can I tell? They're planning to lose money on it.

Yes, as Reuters reports, Microsoft plans to offer the player for the same price as the 30g iPod -- even though that isn't profitable!

"We had to look at what was in the market and offer a competitive price," said Scott Erickson, Microsoft's senior director of product marketing for Zune. "We're not going to be profitable this holiday but the Zune project is a multiyear strategy."

Sure it is! A multiyear strategy of bleeding revenue while offering a product that has, at best, minor advantages over the market leader and big disadvantages in others! Like every other non-iTunes offering, the Zune Marketplace will offer $15 monthly subscriptions for full access to their music library.

They'll also sell individual songs for a price slightly better than the 99-cent standard at Apple. How much better? How does one quarter cent sound to you? MS is using a system it calls MS Points, which sell for 80 to the dollar for no discernable reason. For just 79 of those bad boys, equivalent to 98.75 cents, a song can be yours!

Whoa. Apple's really in trouble now!

(Thanks, Andrew.)

Building on a scathing report issued earlier this year, Greenpeace has no launched Green Apple, a Web site parodying Apple's home page and criticizing the company's environmental record. 

Their heart is in the right place, the site is well-designed, but a few of the criticisms of Apple miss the mark quite a bit, particularly the actual headline, "I love my iPod but can we ditch the iWaste?" Well, yeah. There are takeback programs for all iPods, including an incentive to do so. Plus, iPods sell well on ebay. That's one way to stay out of the waste stream.

The only other comment I have is that the subhead "fringe benefits," which claims Apple's only forward movement in environmental areas has been a fringe benefit of its commitment to great design. Speaking as someone who works for a design firm with a social mission, that's ridiculous. Great design, when properly defined, should inherently lead to greener and more efficient solutions. That might be the only green push Apple has going, but it's not insignificant.

(Thanks, Jonathan!)

For years, journalism has been one of the few blessed fields where it was safe to be a Mac user. Unfortunately, Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, one of the leading institutions in the country (and my alma mater, I'm ashamed to say), ditched all of its Macs over the summer.

Read all about it. The move was initiated as part of the "Medill 2020" plan, an initiated by new dean John Levine to make sure the next generation of Medill students graduate with the skills and know-how to be Kevin Sites clones, travelling the world with a laptop and a digital camera and getting the real stories inside the world's hot spots. Sites is a Mac user, Levine. You can look it up.

I've had a lot of concerns about Medill 2020 in the months since it was announced, most notably that a brochure unveiling the program claimed that its faculty would be trained to write the news for many platforms, including SMS and the vPod. O RLY? The actual vPod made my Vapple?

But I haven't been moved to write an angry letter threatening to withhold my $10 a year contribution to Medill this year until now (they'll be feeling the pain, boy!). Especially because the school isn't even using good excuses for why they've switched:

"Overall, PCs are cheaper," Senior Associate Dean Richard Roth told Daily Northwestern columnist Janess Goldbeck. "Although," he later added, "I just bought a Mac for my mom because, you know, they're easier to use."

But will they teach you how to write text messages? So frustrating. Nothing says the future like Windows XP. Anyone else's colleges making the switch to the dark side?

Seriously, this is why the work we're doing with Donors Choose is so important. We're giving kids the Macs they need to really create great work at a time when the march of the institutional PC has never been stronger. 

(Thanks, K.)