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Monday
Nov152010

99% Chance iTunes Streaming Service Will be Announced Tomorrow

It doesn't take a soothsayer to figure out what Apple is up to with their day "you'll never forget" announcement tomorrow.  It is obvious they'll inform us of their new iTunes Streaming service.  Here's why:

  1. Several months ago, Apple bought Lala.com, a music streaming service.
  2. Last week, Apple's new 500,000 sq. ft. datacenter in North Carolina came on-line.
  3. Today I found this in the new iTunes 10.1 info.plist file:

I looked in the same .plist file in the 10.0 version of iTunes and it wasn't there.

I'm so certain, if Apple doesn't reveal a streaming service tomorrow I'LL EAT A BUG! (but not this one)

 

Thursday
Nov112010

Make AirPrint Work in OS X 10.6.5

Apple released OS X 10.6.5 yesterday.  It included some bug fixes, but mainly added compatibility with iOS 4.2.  I downloaded the 500+ MB update anxious to get AirPrint working on my iPad.  Guess what?  Apple removed the features!  According to developers it was in the "gold master" beta version released last week, but for some reason it didn't make the final cut.
Fortunately, some kindly developers have made a fix available and it's fairly simple if you're not afraid to copy three files using Terminal.  Once you've done that, you'll need to restart your Mac, delete any printers you want to share via AirPrint and add them back in System Preferences.  I've put a copy of the files...

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Thursday
Oct282010

Is Netflix Having Trouble?

I’m starting to see a sprinkling of complaints about Netflix’s streaming reliability.  There’s been half a dozen occasions in the past month when my Apple TV wouldn’t connect to the service at all, even when all the other internet services worked just fine.  I’m relatively new to the service so maybe I’m just beginning to notice.  I’ve been streaming Neflix content like crazy since I got an Apple TV.  Before that, my streaming was limited to an occasional half-hour TV show on my iMac.  A couple of days ago, I got this e-mail notice:


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Thursday
Oct282010

iLife 11...Why the Hell Not?

For many Mac users, iLife is all the software they’ll ever need.  By including iPhoto, iMovie, Garage Band, iWeb and iDVD with every new Mac, Apple provides users with an “out of the box” experience unrivaled by any computer manufacturer.  In fact, most other computer companies load their machines with stripped-down versions of various and sundry software titles in an attempt to ship something useful to their customers.  In reality, most of these software titles are so crippled or annoy users with upgrade “nag screens” to the extent they’ve earned the nickname “crapplications”.  The real irony: companies like Sony and HP charge you extra (as much as $50) to ship your new computer without these programs...

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Tuesday
Oct052010

Apple TV: Right Tech, Right Price

The other day, the FedEx man delivered a tiny box containing my new Apple TV.  Although I'd seen the pictures and press conference, I was taken aback by how small the device actually is.  I've heard it described as a hockey puck.  Now that I've seen it, I can't think of a better analogy.  Along with the "hockey puck", the only things in the diminutive box are a power cord and an Apple remote.  Noticeably absent are any cables for hooking the device up.  More on that later.
The back of the Apple TV reveals five connection ports, one each for power, HDMI, optical audio, Ethernet and a micro USB.  Their uses are...

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