C.K. Sample, III
Articles by C.K. Sample, III
iMac Core Duo quirks
No, this isn't a pic of our rig of the day. It's my rig. I've had my iMac Core Duo for a few weeks now, so I thought I'd provide some more impressions for those of you still on the PowerPC side of the processor divide. Monitor spanning works nicely, especially with a nice screen like the 24-inch Dell (featuring the same a similar LCD as Apple's 23-inch Cinema display, but with an extra inch of visibility, better resolutioncontrast, and a slew of extra USB ports and a built in memory card reader). I'm still only running the default 512MBs of RAM, but I only really feel the lack of RAM when I launch one of the media-heavy iLife apps (especially iPhoto), when I have a lot of apps open, or when I run apps in Rosetta. For the most part, the new iMac is still blazingly fast.I have noticed a few oddities with Rosetta. I cannot always drag documents to Word in the Dock or pictures to Photoshop in the Dock to launch the program and open the document / picture, as I can with native apps. I can launch the program this way, but it will often not open the file after launch. If the app is already running, then this sporadic inability to open files doesn't seem to occur. Also, Rosetta apps have crashed on me from time to time. Native apps run fine.Another issue: where is X11? I cannot find it installed on the machine and cannot seem to find an installer that works online. I downloaded the Intel-savvy ports of OOo and the Gimp, but neither will run since there doesn't appear to be any installation of X11 on the iMac. If somebody knows where I can find X11 let me know. UPDATE: Found an "Install Optional Installs" app on the disk that came with the iMac and X11 would appear to be the only of the apps listed that wasn't installed by default. Odd.The processor is fast. I know I keep saying that, but yesterday I used the free Universal Binary version of iSquint to batch process about 10 movies into iPod format in just a few hours. Much faster than either my old G4 PowerBook or my old G5 PowerMac. Overall, I'm loving the new iMac, but I am noticing little spots of bugginess here and there, and I'm hoping that recent Core Duo problems in Windows land don't end up being issues with our Macs.
Norway Ombudsman looks at iTunes TOS and cries foul
You know why DRM sucks? Because it makes it possible for Apple to do naughty things like change the ways you can use your iTunes Music Store tunes after you've purchased the songs / videos. If you didn't know about it, you should really take a long read of the iTMS Terms of Service. It looks like someone in Norway has noticed and found it to be supremely problematic: "The Consumer Council of Norway find the terms to be unbalanced and highly in favour of iTunes as one party in the entered agreement. . . . The consumer is granted few or no rights while iTunes provides itself with several unfair rights according to Waterhouse."So now, the TOS is up for review. I'd like to think Norway will slap iTunes down and it will lead to a loosening of the TOS across the globe, but considering how Apple's current poor support of Europe lags behind support in the U.S., I seriously doubt that Steve Jobs is very concerned by this review.
One way to fix a Mac that won't login
So the other night, while covering Sundance Film Festival for Blogging Sundance and Cinematical, we had a problem with Jason Calacanis's Powerbook G4. It would boot and run through the loading Mac OS X screen very quickly, but at the point where it was supposed to load the login screen, we were greeted by the default blue OS X background and the mouse pointer arrow and nothing else. And it just stayed there.We tried rebooting, we tried zapping the PRAM, and we both booted into single user mode and booted the computer in target disk mode, attached to my laptop, and performed a disk check on the computer. No problems with the disk. The machine just wasn't booting.After throwing up my hands and proclaiming there to be some odd hardware failure, it suddenly hit me: maybe the login window preferences were borked. We booted into single user mode again (reboot and hold down the command s button). I ran all the commands that you have to run in order to write to the disk (/sbin/fsck -y followed by /sbin/mount -wu /). Then I ran:cd Librarycd Preferencesmv com.apple.loginwindow.plist BACKUPcomappleloginwindowplistThis makes a backup copy of the preference file associated with the login window and erases the original file in the process. After I was done, I typed reboot at the prompt and hit the return key. OS X rebooted and was forced to create a new preference file for the login window, thus fixing the problem. Huzzah!
Credits intentionally clipped in iTunes TV Episodes?
Remember how that one episode of the Office downloaded sans credits? Well, today, I finally received an email reply from the iTMS support team: "Dear C.K., Thank you for contacting the iTunes Music Store. We sincerely apologize for the delay regarding this issue. The iTunes Music Store team has researched the issue you described in your email message. We have confirmed with the artist that the video you received is as it was intended. The credits are not included as intended."So, it wasn't an iTunes Music Store screw up, but an NBC screw up. Odd.Let us know if you've noticed any similar malformed TV episodes in the comments and tell us about any replies you may have received from the iTMS support team.
Mix Master Mac
If you've been following all the good news about Sundance Film Festival over at Blogging Sundance and Cinematical, then you've probably already spotted the news that Mix Master Mike was ripping up some cool tunes at last night's party for The Beastie Boys' film that James Rocchi reviewed for Cinematical.James went to the party last night, and shot the picture accompanying this post with his camera. Check it out: Mix Master Mike, cutting with a PowerBook. Nice. James said the cuts were off the hook, and I was very jealous that he got the pass to go to the party, but didn't get a plus one for yours truly. Fortunately, James is an awesome guy and hooked me up with some nice Beastie Boys schwag that he scored at the party, as well as the picture and title for this post.ps—Beasties rule!
TUAW Video Podcast: iMac Core Duo, Part 2
Here's part two of my video podcast on the new iMac, and this one is super-sized. It is both the longest and largest video podcast we've ever done, weighing in at close to 20 minutes and 109.7MBs in size. Here's a direct link to the file [ctrl click and save to disk] or you can grab it in the iTMS here. In the first two minutes, I boot the iMac, then I race it against my wife's PowerBook. Next up, I launch a variety of programs to show you the speed of the iMac when launching Intel-ready programs. I next launch a few Rosetta programs to give you a feel of the difference. I log into World of Warcraft and have a quick look around to show you what it's like. I then take you through a mini-tour of Front Row, and end by launching a whole slew of programs simultaneously to see how the iMac holds up.I did discover a few bugs along the way, though. When I launch iMovie HD and first try to preview yesterday's video podcast fullscreen, it plays with no picture and only audio. I stop and then replay it and it works. Also, while navigating to an episode of Lost in Front Row, Front Row totally froze on me. I had to option Apple esc to force it to quit. Additionally, while editing the video podcast in iMovie, I noticed that certain transitions caused audio to jump over from the beginning of the project, so I ultimately went sans transitions. Needless to say, there are some slight quirks. Check it out.
Photoshop seems to run fine in Rosetta
I'm not doing any high-end Photoshopping here, and I'm also only running Adobe Photoshop CS, rather than the latest and greatest, but so far, Photoshop is running fine in Rosetta. It's like running it on a G4. No big hiccups. I'm running it off of an external image of my old laptop's drive, and it's chugging along nicely. I did the graphic for the TV Squad Lost Podcast (which will be live later today) in Photoshop and have attached that image to this post.Side note: we also recorded the entire podcast using Gizmo Project running via Rosetta for the audio and I simply used Quicktime with the MPEG-2 plug-in to play the episode of Lost that I grabbed off of my ReplayTV using mReplay (another program running in Rosetta). As we chatted and played the video, so that we'd be synced up with the show, I recorded all the audio in via my iMac's built in Mic, directly into Garageband. I'm editing it now and adding more screenshots that I am Photoshopping into the podcast for enhanced goodness. Check back mid afternoon for the podcast over at TV Squad to see how such a "Made on a Mac with Intel Inside" workflow sounds. Update: Here's a link to the TV Squad podcast post.
TUAW Video Podcast: iMac Core Duo, Part 1
That's right! It's here: the first part of my video podcast report on the new iMac Core Duo. What's amazing about this video podcast is that you don't actually see the iMac at all (except for the remote). Instead, I recorded the entire thing with me yammering on about the iMac with the iMac itself. I used the built-in iSight and iMovie HD to record my ramblings and it worked quite nicely. My only complaint has to do with the lighting in my apartment, and the way the iSight, unlike the normal 10lbs added by TV cameras, actually adds on about 35lbs... All right. Who am I kidding? I'm fat. And also something weird was going on with my hair.Here's a direct link to the file [16.2MBs; Control Click and Save the 3:37 video], which you should also find enclosed in our feed and available via the iTMS. If the file comes down as a text file, just remove the .txt extension from the end and it will work like a charm. MIME types confuse the Internets at times.Check back tomorrow for an actual video of the iMac, complete with it booting by itself, booting next to my wife's 12-inch Powerbook, and launching different programs. Does the excitement ever stop? Does it?!
Disney to release Oscar shorts via iTunes
According to the great cartoon and animation blog, Cartoon Brew, Disney, following in the footsteps of Pixar, has plans to release all of its Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated shorts on the iTunes Music Store for portable playability on iPods everywhere this summer. Evidently, this information was "leaked" while Amid and Jerry of Cartoon Brew were hanging out with Roy Disney, Don Hahn, David Stainton, and Leonard Maltin at a preview screening of The Little Match Girl, another Disney short. Jerry notes, "Starting this summer, Disney will be making all its Oscar-winning (and Oscar-nominated) shorts available on itunes - for Internet downloading to iPods and the like. Yes, Der Fuehrer's Face will be available to carry around in your hand - along with The Three Little Pigs and Destino. "When it comes to media on the iPod, I'm of the opinion that the more animation, the better.
Why isn't Photo Booth free?
I inevitably ended up playing around with Photo Booth for a while. As much as I wanted to hate it as a frivolous bit of code on my new iMac, I have to agree with Scott. It's a cool little app.I also have to ask... why doesn't Apple release this for everyone? I mean, it's not a part of iLife (nor is Front Row). Why is Apple only offering these programs with new hardware? I'd think giving them away for free would be good karma for Apple.
Open source .Mac alternative?
This is pretty cool. Ubuntu, in case you haven't heard of it, is a flavor of Linux whose tagline is: "Linux for Human Beings." In other words, it is meant to be easy to use by everybody. Some Ubuntu members are planning on building a .Mac-Like service for Ubuntu that would offer Webmail, Calendar, Address Book, News Reader, Public Homepage, and Blogging services along with a slew of other features for free. This project has hardly started, but if it succeeds nicely in Linux land, it probably wouldn't be that difficult to adapt to OS X, thanks to the open source underpinnings of both platforms. A free version of .Mac that is scalable and usable by all? Sounds like heaven. [via Digg]
New Core Duo iMac: First Impressions
So, yesterday, I decided to be conservative, save some money, and purchase the 17-inch Dual Core iMac, which was in stock at the Palisades Apple Store, rather than wait for the more expensive 20-inch to arrive. After all, I've already ordered a fully-loaded, top of the line MacBook Pro, so I may as well be conservative with the iMac. Also, someone at the Apple Store screwed up, because when I got the iMac home and unpacked it, I had a free upgrade to a wireless keyboard and mouse. Nice! I need to order more RAM and the monitor adapter (wish they'd included it...), so I can plug in another monitor and try the monitor spanning trick.As soon as I opened the box, I lost the iMac remote. It turned back up about 25 minutes later, and now I am keeping it stuck to the side of the iMac.So far, I have to say, this machine is very fast. Even with only the default 512MBs of RAM, this baby launches programs fast. Safari and iTunes are instantaneous in nearly everything (with only a slight load screen when visiting the iTMS). Universal binary programs are all super fast, and most of the programs running in Rosetta still function very well, as long as they aren't graphics intensive. Unfortunately, World of Warcraft is quite laggy with frame-rates fluctuating from 7-20 per second. I hope the universal binary version comes out soon. iPhoto is fast and cool, but would seem to need some more RAM to really zip through my 12K photos. I'll report more details later today, and hopefully have a nice video podcast of the new machine for you sometime today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.I was disappointed to find that GraphicConverter is no longer bundled with the new Macs, but there is a universal binary version of the application already available. For a full list of apps included with the new iMac, check after the break.
TUAW Podcast, The Seventh
We haven't done a straight up audio podcast in forever, so we slapped a quick and dirty one together using the Gizmo Project the other day. Scott McNulty, Jan Kabili, and Fabienne Serriere joined me in a chat about all the exciting events of Macworld.Here's a direct link to the 13.7MB file of us rambling on and off topic for a good half hour. Sit back and enjoy. The next one will be more polished. We promise.
Testing the iMac G5 vs. Intel video
An enterprising person over at Digg decided to time starting up his own iMac G5 alongside the video that I pointed to earlier, and while he found the Core Duo iMac to be the fastest, he didn't have as much of a gap as the clearly ailing G5 in that video: "The difference in boot times is such that one gets impression that Intel chipped iMac blows the G5 away. Not so, I%u2019m afraid. Whatever the guys did with the G5 it slowed it down considerably. And Intel iMac is actually hardly any faster than G5. How come? Simple, I used stopwatch, that video and then my iMac." Check it out
160GB hard drive in the next MacBook Pro?
According to Macworld, Seagate is shipping a 160GB laptop drive. Does this mean the 120GB hard drive I asked to be squeezed into the MacBook Pro I ordered will soon be replaced by another drive with an extra 40GBs of space? I have no idea. This is total speculation, but it would be cool.If you grab one and hack it into your MacBook Pro, PowerBook, or iBook, let us know.Sometimes I dream of the day when we'll have 300GB hard drives in our portable computers, but the dream quickly turns to nightmare when I realize that by the time that happens the System folder will most likely take up a good 100GBs of that 300...
Apple Matters' first look at iWeb
James R. Stoup over at Apple Matters has a first-look review of iWeb that is probably worth checking out if you are curious about the product, but not yet willing to shell out the dough for the new iLife '06. I particularly like the "What iWeb isn't" section: "iWeb is NOT a general purpose website creation application. Do not make the mistake of thinking it is a scaled down version of Dreamweaver, as it most definitely is not. This application is designed to publish personal websites either to .Mac or to a folder to be used via another hosting service. It does nothing else."Check it out.
MacBook Pro Value Proposition
NotebookReview.com has an interesting article on the new MacBook Pro that at once takes a preview look at the Powerbook replacement (albeit a non-hands on preview) and compares it to other PC laptops running the same Intel chipset. It's interesting because it is the first time that Apple laptops have been so easily comparable to PC laptops due to the shared technologies between the two devices. No more special magical algorithms to determine the proper PPC to Intel Mhz conversion. The article is basically tackling the age old question—are Macs overpriced?—and seems to be asking a lot of the right questions. If you're considering getting a MacBook Pro, it's definitely worth a read. Check it out.
The Retail Apple Store's voice recording lies
So, I've been eagerly banking on running out to my local Apple Store and grabbing a new Intel-based 20" iMac today, because every time I have called one of the stores over the past week, there has been this recording that is still up: "For information and product availability regarding announcements at Macworld 2006 press 9." I press 9 and then it says: "Apple made several exciting announcements at this year's Macworld 2006. The all new Intel Core Duo based imac will be available to view and purchase in stores beginning January 17th."Well, since it is the 17th, I just called the Westchester Apple Store and the Palisades Apple Store, and asked if they had the new iMacs in stock. The gentleman at the Westchester curtly said "No," and when I asked if there would be any shipments arriving later in the day, he again rather curtly, and perhaps even a bit rudely, said "No. No shipments today." This is completely different from what another sales representative from the same store told me yesterday. That person said, "We could get them in at any time, so check back regularly." Both of these statements are entirely different from what I was told last week.In any case, I called the Palisades Apple Store next, and a very nice woman answered the phone and said "Let me check." Then said, "No, but we should be getting them soon." I then asked if soon meant later on today or later on this week. She then said, "Most likely later on this week. They want to make sure the warehouses are full before we get them."What?!?! I wanted this thing today, and I'm none too pleased with the iMac not being around on the day they said it would be around. If I knew it wouldn't be available today, then I would have gone ahead and ordered it online. Grrr... Bad Apple.
Video race between iMac G5 and Core Duo iMac booting
I found this cool video on YouTube via Digg this morning. They simultaneously boot an iMac G5 and a new Core Duo iMac to see which is faster at booting. The Core Duo, of course, leaves the G5 flailing in the dust, but I, along with many of the commenters on Digg, am suspicious of the state of that iMac G5. It really shouldn't hang on boot for as long as it does. During the video, one of the guys says that the iMac G5 had been through its initial boot and then was immediately shut down, so I wonder if they forced it to shut down and some of the disk check processes are running and slowing things up. In any case, despite all these academic arguments, if you watch the video and you've ever seen an iMac G5 boot before, you're still going to realize that the Core Duo is absolutely smokingly fast.
New WebKit Web Inspector
Check out the new HUD on the Safari WebKit: the Web Inspector. According to Surfin' Safari, "The Web Inspector lets you browse the live DOM hierarchy in a compact HUD style window, catering to the needs of web developers and WebKit hackers alike."It looks pretty cool, but you'll have to update your tree or download the nightly build to use it, and if you don't know what any of that means, perhaps you should just run along and play with the other kids on the Internets, mmm-kay?