January 2006 - apple-list - University of Manitoba Mailing Lists

INTEREST: "iTunes U" for lectures/more; Watch video iPod on 25" virtual screen
by billing 30 Jan '06

30 Jan '06

...from http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/01/24/itunesu/index.php/? lsrc=mwweek-0130 Apple's iTunes U puts school lectures and more online By Peter Cohen Apple has expanded its iTunes U program, which allows colleges and universities to post audio and video educational content online using a content management system based on iTunes. iTunes U is a hosted content management system that provides a way for colleges and universities to make both audio and video content from lectures, interviews, audio books and more available to students online. Students can download the content to their Macs and PCs, or take it with them using the iPod. The system has been set up to allow instructors to post and change content themselves, so iTunes U won’t impact local IT staff. Students can also upload their own content to share with teachers and staff. Apple’s already tested the waters for iTunes U with pilot programs at Stanford, Duke, the University of Michigan and other schools. The technology that powers iTunes U is based on what drives the iTunes Music Store — in fact, students can also connect to the store to purchase and download music (Apple also makes available a “Volume Songs Program” for schools that ant to purchase songs at a discount on behalf of their students). In addition to their own content, schools can customize their iTunes U with school colors, logos and photography. --------------------------------------------- ...from: http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/01/30/myvu/index.php Watch video iPod on 25" virtual image By Peter Cohen So you’ve invested in a video iPod, and it’s great to download television shows and rip videos and convert them to the iPod yourself. But it’s also a pain — literally — to hold your hand up a few inches from your face and watch the iPod’s display for an hour or two. The MicroOptical Corp. has developed a solution — the $269 Myvu, which debuted at Macworld Expo in San Francisco this January. [...] Display Format Binocular Display Type AMLCD Video Signal NTSC/PAL (auto selecting) Resolution 320 x 240 Aspect Ratio 4:3 Focus Image Location 1 meter Field of View Approximately 13.5o horizontal, 16.8o diagonal Image Size 25" image (virtual screen) @ 2 meters Refresh Rate 60 frames/sec. Color Depth 24 bit Optical System SolidOptexTMtechnology Audio Integrated stereo sound via earbuds Viewer Weight 68 grams Nose Pad Adjustable Prescription Lens Snap-on option (integrated with nose pad) Power Supply 3 AAA batteries Power Consumption < 400 mW, <150 mW if integrated* Power Saver Auto shut off Battery Life Approximately 6 hours Operating Temperature 0 to 40oC Control Box Function Power on/off button Control Box Dimensions 56 mm x 90 mm x 19 mm SolidOptexTMassemblies comprise a patented optical system in which the optical path is inside a refractive optical polymer instead of free space. By being in a rigid form, alignment of the componentsurfaces is maintained, the intrusion of dust and moisture is prevented, and the optical path length is folded to move the displayand back light away from the eyes. The result is the thinnest, lightest and sturdiest viewer possible. *The myvu controls can be integrated into a video source with an OEM program. ---------------------------

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INTEREST: Question and Answer look into the new Intel-based Macintosh releases
by billing 30 Jan '06

30 Jan '06

...from: http://www.macworld.com/2006/01/features/intelfaq2006/index.php [...] So there’s an Intel chip in a Mac. Why should I care? If you’re a casual Mac user, you shouldn't care. If you sit down at an Intel-based Mac, it’ll still feel exactly like a Mac. However, the transition to Intel chips will affect many Mac users, especially those who rely on older software that hasn’t yet been updated for Intel-based Macs. And the Intel transition will have a long-term impact on the Mac world, affecting the design and speed of new Macs for years to come. [...] Okay, so… Core Duo. Is there also a Core Solo? You’ve been peeking. Indeed, there is—Intel’s got a lower-power, lower-heat sibling to the Core Duo called the Core Solo. When we asked Apple about its choice of the Core Duo for the iMac and MacBook Pro, company representatives said that “using dual-core processors for these products was exactly the right thing to do.” Of course, when Apple makes statements, you’ve got to parse them carefully. What we took out of this statement is that you might see a Core Solo processor in some other Macs in the future—ones that don’t need the power of a dual-core chip. For example, future Mac minis, iBooks, or even ultra-light notebooks might be candidates for such a chip. But that’s sheer speculation on our part. Intel’s got lots of chips. Apple will use some of them [...] Will Classic mode run under Rosetta? No, Classic mode won’t run on Intel Macs at all. If you still rely on Classic applications, Intel-based Macs aren’t going to work for you. This would probably be a good time to begin investigating OS X-native alternatives to the Classic programs you’re currently using. [...] Now that the first new Intel Macs have come out, should I go buy one? It depends. Our lab tests indicate that an iMac Core Duo does run native applications 1.1 to 1.3 times as fast as an iMac G5, and performs even better with applications that take advantage of multiple processors. And if you've gone a few years between iMac upgrades, you’re likely not to even notice the performance hit when running applications with Rosetta. For more on whether this is the right iMac for you, check out Henry Norr's review of the new models. [...] Can these Intel-based Macs run Windows? Ask people from Apple this question, and they’ll do one of two things: shrug, or plug their ears and pretend they can’t hear you. Basically, Apple’s official policy is that if someone wants to figure out how to run Windows on a Mac, they can go ahead and do it, but Apple doesn’t want to know about it. One interesting quirk of these new Intel-based Macs is that, unlike the developer test systems released last summer, these systems use Intel’s Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) instead of the tried-and- true BIOS that classic PCs use. Windows XP doesn’t actually support EFI, although the forthcoming Windows Vista will. So the question is, how will people get Windows to run on the Mac? We’re sure someone much smarter than us will figure it out. Whether you’ll be able to re-boot into Windows or run it in some sort of compatibility box—hello, Virtual PC!—remains to be seen.

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Apple MultipleScan 15av Display
by Andre Worms 26 Jan '06

26 Jan '06

Hello all, I've got an Apple MultipleScan 15av Display that I don't need anymore. If anybody wants it (for free) let me know. Andre Worms Information Technologist Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation Studies University of Manitoba 474-7171 wormsad(a)cc.umanitoba.ca

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INTEREST: Disney to buy PIXAR, US Homeland Security to fund open-source testing
by billing 25 Jan '06

25 Jan '06

...from: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/business/media/20pixar.html?th&emc=th Tomorrowland: Apple Chief Set for Disney Role E-Mail This Printer-Friendly Single-Page Reprints Save Article By LAURA M. HOLSON and JOHN MARKOFF Published: January 20, 2006 LOS ANGELES, Jan. 19 - Steven P. Jobs could be considered the Walt Disney of his era, breathing new life into animated movies with hits like "The Incredibles" and "Toy Story," and reinventing Apple Computer as a media darling with its popular iPod. Skip to next paragraph Enlarge This Image Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar, via Associated Press Pixar, the creator of "Finding Nemo," teamed up with the Walt Disney Company, which distributed the animated movie. Now Mr. Jobs is in negotiations to join forces with the Walt Disney Company itself. A deal would involve the sale of Mr. Jobs's Pixar Animation Studios for more than $6.8 billion to Disney, according to three people apprised of the negotiations. The sale, whose terms are still being negotiated, would make Mr. Jobs a major shareholder and director at Disney, which has been trying to find its footing in the changing world of animation. [...] ...from: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6025579.html?tag=nl.e622 Homeland Security helps secure open-source code By Joris Evers, CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: January 10, 2006, 5:05 PM PT • Forward in • EMAIL • Format for • PRINT • ZDNet Tags: Open source Security Federal government Software engineering/development Symantec Corp The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is extending the scope of its protection to open-source software. Through its Science and Technology Directorate, the department has given $1.24 million in funding to Stanford University, Coverity and Symantec to hunt for security bugs in open-source software and to improve Coverity's commercial tool for source code analysis, representatives for the three grant recipients told CNET News.com. The Homeland Security Department grant will be paid over a three-year period, with $841,276 going to Stanford, $297,000 to Coverity and $100,000 to Symantec, according to San Francisco-based technology provider Coverity, which plans to announce the award publicly on Wednesday. [...] The list of open-source projects that Stanford and Coverity plan to check for security bugs includes Apache, BIND, Ethereal, KDE, Linux, Firefox, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OpenSSL and MySQL, Coverity said. [...]

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Design a Steve Jobs Movie Poster
by Gerald Beyak 20 Jan '06

20 Jan '06

Need a good chuckle to end the week? Check out the entries in the Design a Steve Jobs Movie Poster Contest <http://www.mikeindustries.com/blog/archive/2005/12/ipod-giveaway-7-steve-jo bs#comments>! -- Gerald

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FYI: New Intel-based Macintosh information
by billing 18 Jan '06

18 Jan '06

As most of you probably know, Apple announced their Intel-"Core Duo"- based computers last week. There were two models: - iMac starting at 1.83 GHz CoreDuo processor, 2MB on chip L2 cache at processor speed, 667 MHz system bus, 512 MB RAM, 160 GB hard drive, 8x SuperDrive, Bluetooth, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, wireless support of 802.11g, 17" LCD, ATI Radeon 1600 graphics, built-in iSight camera, Apple Remote control for media - MacBook Pro: starting at 1.67 GHz CoreDuo processor, 2MB on chip L2 cache at processor speed, 667 MHz system bus, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB hard drive, 4x SuperDrive, Bluetooth, 10/100/1000 Ethernet, wireless support of 802.11g, 15.4" LCD, ATI Radeon 1600 graphics, built-in iSight camera, Apple Remote control for media In conjunction with these announcements, Apple's "Universal Binary" initiative allows for applications that can support both older PowerPC Macintosh and new CoreDuo Macintosh machines. Software shipping with this logo will work with either platform out of the box. "Rosetta" is the environment provided with each CoreDuo Macintosh that allows OS X "non-Universal" applications to be run on those machines. Double-click the application icon and, behind the scenes, Rosetta dynamically translates most of your PowerPC-based applications to work with your Intel-based Mac. More CoreDuo information can be found at: http://www.apple.com/imac/intelcoreduo. More "Universal binary" information can be found at: http://www.apple.com/universal/ More "Rosetta" information can be found at: http://www.apple.com/rosetta/ Wayne

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