Cult of Mac

Get Apple Store Concierge on Your Desktop

Fri, 6 Oct 2006 08:31:47 -0800

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.

Is Zune Vulnerable to Viruses?

Thu, 5 Oct 2006 09:56:31 -0800

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.)

Close-Up of Woz's Magical Steak-Cutting Business Card

Thu, 5 Oct 2006 09:38:31 -0800

Remember the creepy exchange between Apple co-founder Steve "Woz" Wozniak and Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central last week where the congenial geek talked using his razor-sharp metal business cards to cut steaks on airplanes? Well, feast your eyes. And handle it with care.

Via Digg.

Former CFO Resigns From Board Over Stock Backdating Scandal

Wed, 4 Oct 2006 14:57:46 -0800

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.)

Thanks for the Surge Today, Guys!

Tue, 3 Oct 2006 21:36:08 -0800

No, not that kind of Surge -- a funding surge for the First Annual Claire Danes/Apple/Cult of Mac Back to School Computer Challenge at Donors Choose (around these here parts, we call the FACD/A/CoMBtSCC).

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.

Albuquerque Apple Store Inadvertantly Revealed

Tue, 3 Oct 2006 21:23:35 -0800

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!

They Want Apple Greece! Me too.

Wed, 4 Oct 2006 14:33:53 -0800

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!)

Why Doesn't Mac OS X Support Bluetooth Headphones?

Mon, 2 Oct 2006 21:20:16 -0800

You know, for all the attention given to the prospect of a next-gen iPod that natively supports wireless Bluetooth stereo headphones, I hadn't even considered that this is a feature Apple doesn't yet support on its computers.

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.)

No Macs for Oklahoma!

Mon, 2 Oct 2006 15:15:40 -0800

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!)

DeCSS Creator Sets Sights on Fairplay

Mon, 2 Oct 2006 11:29:21 -0800

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)