UGN Info Manager UGN Info Manager
In an article with the above title, RCR Wireless tells the professional wireless world that Apple has added wireless video standards including those from 3GPP and 3GPP2 standards bodies. This means that QT will now support: Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), Adaptive Multi-Rate (AMR) and Qualcomm Code Excited Linear Predictive (QCELP) audio codecs, MPEG-4 and H.263 video codecs, 3G Timed Text, native .3GP and .3G2 file formats, as well as support for Movie Fragments.
I don't know what all those mean, but it sounds impressive and would appear to meant that Apple is getting very aggressive in the wireless community. Full story at: rcrnews.com
Real, has once again sued Microsoft over the way it is competing in the multi-media market. Real won a lawsuit several years ago, after they were dumb enough to try to "share" technology secrets with MS and then got told by them that they had learned enough and didn't need Real any more. (A simplification, but we have seen in happen a number of times, most recently with Kodak helping Microsoft setup an Internet digital image printing center. Some day someone will not be willing to work with MS in that matter. Full Real story at: computerworld.com
This appeared on MacCentral's web site back before Christmas. I thought it was really great that REALbasic is now getting its own show. That demonstrates how powerful and usable that software package is. REAL World will be held March 24th - 26th in Austin at the Convention Center. It is a cross platform development package, so it won't be a Mac only program. But I bet there are more Mac users on it than PC. Full story at: Maccentral
Don't remember where I got this, but I couldn't wait to pass it on. The International Federation of Competitive Eating has a list of their records at: ifoce.com
The Christian Science Monitor has a really good article on this topic. It says that America is getting unplugged very quickly. They speculate that the cellphone may soon be over taken by Wi-Fi networks. I always enjoy reading speculations of what the future may bring. Read this story at: csmonitor.com
According to the San Jose Mercury News the Norwegian man, Jon Lech Johansen, who was accused of piracy because he released a program four years ago that could crack DVD codes has twice been acquitted and the police will not appeal again. That is certainly a setback for the movie industry. I wonder if they will learn to play in the digital age better than the music folks. Full story at: Mercury News
Apple has reposted the 1984 advertisement and sneaked an iPod into the act. Really did it well too. See it at Apple's ads department
There was a heated discussion on the InfiniteLoop mailing list about the new iPod Mini. That $50 more would get you so much more. One of the responders put out this quote and pretty much stopped the wining: "Overpriced eh? Check this fabulous piece of machinery out then! (Note the claim of being shown during the Steve Job's keynote has been removed.) ... it's a RIO
Got this list from InfiniteLoop as well: Find them at:
* http://ranger.befunk.com/blog/
* http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/
* http://www.bsdmall.com/officeapps2.html
* http://www.thinkfree.com/products/pd_office20.jsp
* http://www.gnu-darwin.org/packages.shtml
There are reasons to use and not to use each one. What's your favorite?
Also got this list. However most of these are limited to earlier Mac OS. Certainly not X.
* http://www.emulators.com/softmac.htm
* http://www.ardi.com/
* http://www.uni-mainz.de/~bauec002/B2Main.html
* http://leb.net/vmac/
* http://www.macwindows.com/emulator.html What's your favorite?
The Seattle Times ran this story about how Bluetooth and other wireless technologies have been touted for the past 6 years as being the in technology for that year. This year may do it, since BlueTooth is finally being put in a lot of different devices from automobiles to cell phones. Finally there is a reason to look for Bluetooth in a device. Interesting read. It is at the Seattle Times
In an effort to jump start home networking for entertainment, Intel has put aside $200 million for funding startups. Read about it at computerworld.com
According to AOL, these are the topics that spammers send most. It wouldn't be hard to filter them out and reduce the count by 50% or more. They are:
* Viagra and other drugs, such as Xanax, Valium and Celebrex
* Online pharmacy
* Get out of debt
* Sexual enhancement
* Online degree or diploma
* Low mortgage rates
* Low insurance rates
* Work from home/be your own boss
* "Hot XXX action" and lots of porn variants
* "As seen on Oprah"
Full story at eWeek.
This article at Trendwatch.com states that more stations and cable systems are now using Macs as their primary workstation. That is now 26% of stations are doing so. WOW! I know that local stations have used Macs for years, even in the 680x0 days. But I doubt that the percentage was ever so high. Read the full article at Trend Watch.
This is really big news. The first place I saw the story was on Forbes via one of my many e-mail alerts, but it also has appear in numerous other locations since. Apparently Apple is going to produce an iPod in HP Blue and ship it to HP. HP will start putting iTunes on the desktop of their computers and that will drive sales of both. Of course, this might mean that Apple will actually start to make money on the iTunes store. Hopefully there will be more license deals in the works. Full story at:
http://www.forbes.com/home/newswire/2004/01/08/rtr1203409.html
and http://news.com.com/2100-7354-5137473.html
or the official Apple press release.
Presenting detailed coverage of the Expression Language (EL) incorporated into JSP 2.0, the JSTL 1.1 tag libraries and the new function library. The new tag file format that enables custom tag library development without Java code, and more. (Books) JavaServer Pages
If you aren't new to .mac, this might not be useful, but even so you probably will learn something. Get the manual and read it. It is at: Mac.com's Learning Center
A huge collection of iMovie plug -ins to do just about anything you can think of with iMovie, from titles to effects to PIP -- but the installation and operation is still a little tricky. (Review from MaMugs) Stupendous Bundle
Panther users will be glad to know that David Pogue has come through once again with "Mac OS X: The Missing Manual, Panther Edition" written with humor and technical insight characteristic of the series ... Mac OS X: The Missing Manual
Nik MM offers this suite of digital photo filtering tools for most major photo manipulation applications. Adjust tone, sky effects and, my favorite, a polarizing effect are among the filters offered in this complete package. (Software) Efex Pro
As soon as Steve Jobs's keynote wrapped, O'Reilly staffers started handing out a 47-page booklet excerpted from David Pogue's "iLife '04: The Missing Manual." Hot off the press (No kidding--the printer delivered it to the show this morning), it's the exclusive "first-strike" documentation on the new version of iLife .... read more.
Even the geekiest geeks get frustrated and frazzled by technology now and then or, even worse, discover that their cynicism is starting to wane. Anyone who faces a computer on a regular basis (or knows someone who does) really needs "The Best of the Joy of Tech"
Good storage solution external hard drive for cross platform use (should you need both) with a complete software suite and blazing performance in a small package. Reviewed by Dan East
explores and expounds the language from the ground up. Unlike many books on AppleScript, Neuburg's book focuses on the language in a clear and rigorous manner. With Mac OS X, all that has changed and AppleScript is now perhaps entering a kind of Golden Age.
Dan East says: "I was so impressed by the demo version of this program that I ran through a few demos of others and came back to it." in his review of this easy drag and drop application. Reviewed by Dan East
"Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet sheds on the heel that crushed it."
Mark Twain
"What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?"
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
"Advice is seldom welcome; and those who want it the most always like it the least."
Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield
"Kites rise highest against the wind -- not with it."
- Sir Winston Churchill
Have a great week...
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