Skip to main content

Blogs

The Expo has to grow

Wed, 17 Mar 2010

It was the day before Macworld Expo 2010 opened and I was at the media registration desk to pick up my press badge. Naturally, I bumped into several people I knew. We all went way, way back. In some cases, I’d been bumping into these people at Macworlds every year for over a decade. Which was a good thing, because every time I heard someone say, “It’s too bad this will be the last year for the show, isn’t it?” I wanted to punch them. Luckily, friends tend to pick themselves off the ground instead of calling the cops. 

For Heaven’s sake. The doors hadn’t even officially opened yet. Was this really the right time to start predicting the end of a signature event on the Mac calendar, a show that is nearly as old as the Mac itself? No, of course not. I was determined not to say anything negative until at least the second day. There’s such a thing as decorum, after all.

Andy Ihnatko | Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Kyle T. Webster - From illustrator to iPhone developer

Wed, 10 Mar 2010

Renowned illustrator Kyle T. Webster has worked for most major publications in the United States, and his artwork has appeared on beer bottles, music posters, billboards, apparel, buildings, banners, doughnut boxes, magnets and buttons, menu boards, wine bottles and wine glasses, people's skin, book covers, and even in the form of a giant corn maze.

A seemingly endless client list includes The New Yorker, TIME, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, ESPN, Scholastic, IDEO, The Wall Street Journal, UTNE, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


Simon Cowell: How do you use an iPod?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010

Pop svengali Simon Cowell has revealed he has no idea how to use an iPod.

The multi-milllionaire X-Factor judge was speaking to showbiz chum Piers Morgan on ITV1 at the weekend.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


GelaSkins offers Marvel Comics Masterworks for iPod, iPhone

Wed, 03 Mar 2010

Want Spider-Man, Iron Man, the X-Men, Wolverine, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Daredevil, the Punisher, Ghost Rider, Doctor Strange and many others on your iPod or iPhone? Now you can.

The good people at GelaSkins are now offering Marvel Comics skins for a range of portable devices with classic artwork from Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and many more.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


Film critic Roger Ebert speaks again thanks to a MacBook

Tue, 02 Mar 2010

Here's famed film critic Roger Ebert speaking again after thyroid cancer robbed him of his voice and TV work as a much respected pundit.

The clip appeared on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' in the US today to show off his new improved computer voice that is closer to his old self than HAL 9000 from 2001.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


Leo Laporte now on Justin.TV

Sat, 27 Feb 2010

This may be old news to some, but but US tech journalist Leo Laporte is now on Justin.TV and can be seen in the UK at weekends thanks to the live feed.

Previously, listening to his radio show, The Tech Guy, which airs every weekend in over 60 US cities and on XM Satellite Radio, required some effort, including at one time having to change your IP address.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


Felicity had iPads in 1999

Fri, 26 Feb 2010

It seems the term iPad was used as far back as 1999 in an episode of US TV show 'Felicity' previously shown on ITV2 in the UK.

Here's the YouTube clip via the excellent TV Squad website.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


HP updates StorageWorks SANs

Fri, 26 Feb 2010

Hewlett-Packard upgraded to its entry-level modular storage array, and added network failover features to its midrange array via its SAN/iQ SAN clustering software.

The upgraded HP StorageWorks MSA P2000 G3 storage area network (SAN) products offer twice the number of drives, twice the performance, four times the number of snapshots as the previous version of the array line. The upgraded entry level products also add support for 2.5-in. small form factor drives.

Storage World | Lucas Mearian | Read more...


IBM offers de-duplication for mainframes

Fri, 26 Feb 2010

IBM announced that it's bringing data de-duplication to its mainframes through an upgraded gateway appliance that has the ability to compress up to 25TB of tape application data into 1TB of disk space.

IBM said its System Storage TS7680 ProtecTIER Deduplication Gateway for System z, a data protection platform for z/OS environments, is available immediately.

Storage World | Lucas Mearian | Read more...


Virtualisation saves credit company £500k a year

Fri, 26 Feb 2010

CMA (Credit Market Analysis), the credit information company, is making annual savings of more than £500,000 after virtualising its storage and server infrastructure with Compellent.

By implementing Compellent’s Fluid Data storage and server virtualisation technology from VMware, the company has made the savings by cutting power and management costs.

Storage World | Anh Nguyen | Read more...


Protect data with encrypted hard drives

Fri, 26 Feb 2010

If you want to encrypt the contents of an external hard drive to protect its data in case of loss or theft, you’ve got a lot of options. You can create an encrypted disk image using Apple’s Disk Utility. You can use any of several third-party encryption programs, such as TaoEffect’s Espionage, Northern Software’s FileWard, or Smith Micro’s StuffIt Deluxe, to encrypt individual files or folders. Alternatively, if you’re using the drive exclusively for backups, you may be able to make use of encryption capabilities in your backup software.

All these methods are fine, but in some situations conventional software encryption isn’t adequate. For example, if you want to use Time Machine but also keep your backups encrypted, you’ll have to jump through extra, complicated hoops because Time Machine lacks an encryption feature. Similarly, if you want to use a program like Bombich Software’s Carbon Copy Cloner (payment requested) or Shirt Pocket Software’s SuperDuper) to create a duplicate of your startup disk that’s both bootable and encrypted, regular software encryption won’t do the trick. Ditto if you want to be able to use an encrypted external drive on any computer (Mac or PC) without needing special software.

Storage World | Joe Kissell | Read more...


One way to end a stuck Time Machine backup

Fri, 26 Feb 2010

Have you ever had Time Machine get stuck—really stuck—on a backup? So stuck that clicking Stop Backing Up does nothing, so stuck that moving the On/Off slider in the Time Machine System Preferences panel to Off does nothing? If so, then this hint may help you get out of that “stucky” situation.

Open Terminal, and run these two commands:

Storage World | Macworld Staff | Read more...


Simultaneously save files to iDisk

Fri, 26 Feb 2010

Reader Recutecu seeks a way to easily save files to his iDisk. He writes:

Is there some way to save files to your hard disk and iDisk at the same time?

Storage World | Christopher Breen | Read more...


iPhone makes appearance in Simpsons couch gag

Tue, 23 Feb 2010

Apple's iPhone, rather the MyPhone from Mapple, founded by Steve Mobs makes an apperance during The Simpsons opening credits couch gag shown in the US recently.

As part of 'Million Dollar Maybe,' the eleventh episode of The Simpsons' twenty-first season, Homer is seen selecting the 'Couch Gag' app before an unexpected call from boss Mr. Burns forces Homer to think fast for once and swallow the phone.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


Apple Data Center Maiden NC: The view from above

Mon, 22 Feb 2010

Here's the impressive sight of the Apple Data Center Maiden NC, North Carolina.

Apple announced last year the company would invest more than $1 billion over nine years in a data center campus in North Carolina. The site covers 500,000 square feet of floor space, over four times the area available in the company's server farm in Newark, California.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


The new Samsung Michael Jackson Gold 500GB External HDD

Sun, 21 Feb 2010

Here's the new Samsung Michael Jackson: This Is It Limited Edition 2.5" Gold 500GB External HDD S2 Portable (S-Line) hard drive currently doing the rounds on blogs.

For fans of the late Michael Jackson, the hard drive comes with Michael Jackson's This Is It, a rare, behind-the-scenes look at the performer as he developed, created and rehearsed for his sold-out concerts at London's O2 Arena pre-loaded. The film is ready to play with included voucher code activation.

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...


How the iPad is like the Moon landing

Fri, 19 Feb 2010

And now it’s the iPad. All other Apple platforms please scoot over one space to make room for the new arrival: iPhone, MacBook, iMac, iPod, Mac Pro...

Oh, dear. No room left on the bench. Well, I really don’t care and I can’t be bothered to choose. Apple TV? Mac mini? You two just sort it out between yourselves and I’ll see one of you when I return in the morning.

Andy Ihnatko | Andy Ihnatko | Read more...


Is Apple Aperture 3 sucking up memory?

Thu, 18 Feb 2010

Ahhh, new software. It's just like Christmas! You excitedly unwrap the box, pop the install disk into your machine, get everything set up, have the entirety of your computer's free space sucked away and your system grind to a halt -

Wait, that can't be right.

Macworld Team | Serenity Caldwell | Read more...


iPad: the third revolution

Tue, 16 Feb 2010

I was but a wee lad of four when Apple introduced the Macintosh in 1984 and first brought a graphical user interface to the masses. “Look,” Apple said, “computers are powerful, useful tools, but they’re clumsy and inelegant. Let us show you a better way.” There was no shortage of resistance, especially from those who were comfortable typing their instructions at the blinking cursor.

Of course, the Mac was derided as a toy and not a tool for serious work. While the Mac’s market share stayed small for years, the impact of its revolutionary interface was felt throughout the world – because every subsequent personal computer operating system followed the Mac’s example.

Macworld Team | Dan Moren | Read more...


iMac on fire

Mon, 15 Feb 2010

Anders Norman from Sweden suffered the horror of a house fire last week. Surviving the tragedy was his Apple iMac, which despite first impressions (below), still works.

"Unfortunately, the whole house and all things in there completely destroyed, so even the iMac. What's funny is that it is still in operation. While damaged from smoke and dust and partially melted, but yet, however in operation," Norman writes (translated from Swedish).

Nick Spence | Nick Spence | Read more...