'Tis the Season...

For many of us, 2010 has been a challenging year.  Starting a new enterprise like this one has certainly come with its share of "opportunities".  While Ken and I have a lot of fun with this site and our podcast, this time of year reminds us of what is really important.  We spend a lot of time and effort discussing and reporting what’s going on in Cupertino, but I want to take this opportunity to remind myself and everyone else to keep it in its proper perspective.  After all, while we are continually amazed and sometimes mesmerized by the never ending stream of Apple products, they are just that. And while we can sometimes be tricked into believing they are almost magical, the real magic resides in the people who created them.  None of the toys they create will ever bring us the lasting joy that comes from family and loved ones.

What’s under the Christmas tree isn’t nearly as important as what’s on top.

Merry Christmas.

MacTexan Podcast #20 Show Notes

News

• A Federal Office to Guide Online Privacy Is Urged - NYTimes.com
• Net Neutrality Rules Are Imminent From the F.C.C. - NYTimes.com
• Apple owns 66% of online music market, Amazon second at 13% - ARS
• Sales of New Apple TV to Hit One Million Units This Week - Mac Rumors
• Apple TV doubles Roku sales - TUAW
• WikiLeaks App removed from Apple Store - THINQ.co.uk
• Apple Killing Mac Download Listing, Moving to App Store - Mac Rumors

How-To 

• Use New AirPlay Enabled Apps to Send Video to or from ANY Mac 

Software Pick

• Word Lens translates text with your iPhone camera

Opera 11 for OS X Hits the Street

Opera just released Opera 11 for Mac OSX, the newest competitor in the browser wars.  I have to admit that I was never really an Opera user, but that may be changing with this version.  It's loaded with lots of new features and is extremely user friendly.  The new features include tab stacking, extensions, a safer address field, a mail panel and visual mouse gestures.  My use with 11 is limited because I just got it, but I do find it more appealing than Google's Chrome.

MacTexan Podcast #19 Show Notes

News

·      Apple Reportedly Bidding to Purchase Nortel Patent Assets - Mac Rumors
·      Apple and Google Tell the DOD “NO SECURITY API FOR YOU!” - Network World
·      iPhone jailbreaker set to bring Cydia to Mac OS X – ArsTechnica
·      Gawker hack analysis reveals incredibly weak passwords – Macworld

How-To

·      Password “Best Practices”

Software Picks

MacUpdate December 2010 Bundle - $500+ of Great Mac Apps for $49.99

The Indie Mac Gift Pack $270 worth of top shelf titles for 60 bucks!

This show sponsored by Kelley Data.

Another Great Software Bundle

You can really tell Christmas is near.  In less than a week, a second great software bundle has surfaced and I think this one is at least as good as (if not better than) the one at MacUpdate.  This one is offered by a co-op of great independent Mac developers.  Here's what's in the bundle:

Delicious Library , Acorn 2, MarsEdit 3, Radioshift, SousChef and Sound Studio 4.

Of these six titles, I use three: Delicious Library for home inventory, SousChef for helping in the kitchen and my favorite, Acorn, for drawing and editing images.  I highly recommend...

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