Filed under: Freeware, iTunes

Potion Factory brainiac Andy Kim has just unleashed a new free app on the world - I Love Stars.

This little app does two things very well. First, it displays your iTunes rating (from zero to five stars) in the menu bar for the song that is currently playing, and second, I Love Stars lets you change the rating. All this is done without having to flip between programs. Just glance at the menu bar to see the current rating, or drag across the stars to change your rating.

While Alton Brown may frown upon tools that don't perform a multitude of functions, this is one little app that any iTunes fan could love.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Tips and tricks, Odds and ends, Troubleshooting, Leopard, Books

Take Control Books, the digital delivery brainchild of long-time Mac authors Adam and Tonya Engst, has announced the publication of two new ebooks in their Take Control series.

Author Joe Kissell has written a 95-page tome titled Take Control of Apple Mail in Leopard that describes the 14 new features in the latest version of Apple Mail, details how to use its hidden power, and provides troubleshooting tips in case things don't work just the way they should. Joe's companion ebook, Take Control of Spam with Apple Mail, helps you to keep the wave of ED pharmaceutical ads in your inbox to a minimum.

The ebooks are $10 each and are downloaded immediately for your reading pleasure.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have authored two Take Control eBooks -- not this particular pair, though.
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Filed under: Features, Troubleshooting, Ask TUAW

In this riveting episode of Ask TUAW we're catching up a bit on the backlog, so we'll be looking at a couple of problems generated by Microsoft products (Hotmail and Photo Story), charging an iPhone from a sleeping Mac, syncing personal data between two user accounts, using a Mac mini as a backup server, and more.

As always your suggestions are most welcome, and questions for next week should be left in the comments. When asking a question please include which machine you're running and which version of OS X, as certain answers will vary between different Macs and Tiger vs. Leopard, etc. (we'll assume you're running Leopard if you don't specify). And now, on to the questions!

Continue reading Ask TUAW: Microsoft compatibility problems, iPhone charging, Mail bouncing, syncing, and more

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Filed under: Gaming, Humor, iPod Family, Cult of Mac

Hot on the heals of the GTA IV iFruit parody comes another console gaming nod to Cupertino, though this time with considerably less snark. The upcoming PS3 presumptive blockbuster Metal Gear Solid 4 will apparently feature some interesting equipment to augment Solid Snake's already impressive arsenal: a 5th generation 30GB iPod. The French video game site JEUXFRANCE has high resolutions images (front and back). It now remains to be seen if Snake can execute his signature stealth kills with an iPod headset garrote.

[via iLounge]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Odds and ends

It sounds like the plot of a Roger Corman film, I know, but as reported on our sister blog, apparently swaths of Texas are being overrun by "Crazy Rasberry Ants," named for their discoverer (and exterminator) Tom Rasberry, not for the tasty fruit.

The ants, for some reason, are attracted to electrical equipment, including your Mac. A friendly chat with an AppleCare representative revealed that AppleCare policies do not cover insect infestation. Instead, the rep helpfully suggested that your renter's or homeowner's policy might cover the computer instead.

The ants arrived in the U.S. via a shipping container. They reproduce quickly, and are very difficult to kill. Might be worth it to keep an eye out. Apparently, they've been spotted near Johnson Space Center, and who knows what secrets they could be after.

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Filed under: WWDC, Developer

Apple has posted the complete conference schedule for the upcoming 2008 Worldwide Developers Conference. With a very slick web-based interface all the sessions and labs are broken down by topic (iPhone, Mac, iPhone and Mac, and IT) for each morning and afternoon of the conference (though, Apple, where are the iCal calendars?).

By the looks of it, Apple seems pretty serious about this whole two bridges thing. In any case, if you're lucky enough to be headed to San Francisco you can fine tune your plan of attack and agonize over your choices at the schedule website.

Thanks Chris!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Software

The long and sometimes rocky history of the America Online client for the Macintosh -- a saga stretching back to the original AppleLink Personal Edition service, with a detour through a place called eWorld -- has now moved on to a new generation with the 1.0 release of AOL Desktop for Mac last week. We noted the test version (Cheshire) and the beta last year. For users of the online service, the rebuilt-from-the-ground-up client is worth a look.

New features include a revised AIM client that includes some of the bells and whistles long familiar to Windows users (Expressions), a Webkit-based tabbed browser, and a revamped Mail tool that strongly resembles the existing AOL webmail interface. Users of the older client can transfer AOL Favorites and AOL Mail from their local datastore with ease. AOL/AIM is free for BYO-broadband users and charges a monthly fee for customers who use AOL as their internet service provider.

The new version of the client requires a G4 or Intel machine and Mac OS X 10.4.8 or higher. If you prefer the "classic" client you can still download it from AOL, but it may look kinda clunky next to the new version. More screenshots and details at the AOL Mac blog, and see the continuation of the post for a video preview of the client.

AOL is the parent company of Weblogs, Inc. and TUAW.

Continue reading AOL Desktop 1.0 now shipping for Mac users

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Filed under: Software

There are lots of great FTP clients out there for Mac OS X, but my favorite is Cyberduck (if only because the icon is so darned cute). Recently Cyberduck 3.0 was released, and it brings with it a bunch of neat new features, including:

• Support for WebDAV
• Support for Amazon S3 (that's Amazon storage cloud service)
• Bookmark searching
• Quick Look for files in the Cyberduck browser (this is pretty cool)

The UI has also gotten a lift, and I must say it is pretty snazzy. Overall, this is a great update to a very good app.

Cyberduck is free, but donations are encouraged.

Update: The previous picture was of version 2.x. Sorry about that!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Hardware, Flickr Find

What you're looking at is actually nine computers: five Macs, three PCs and one Linux machine. (Check out the Flickr page, to see what's what.) According to its owner, it's all driven with one keyboard and mouse, and switches seamlessly between machines. Incredible.

Thinking about the cable management for this thing makes my head hurt.

[Via Twitter]

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Rumors, iPhone

Was it a slip of the tongue? ZDNet.de reports that Intel Germany CEO Hannes Schwaderer, speaking at an Intel 40th anniversary event at Munich's BMW World, confirmed that there is an iPhone that will be using Intel's new Atom processor. The new device is "slightly larger" than the current iPhone, raising speculation that this new member of the iPhone family may be the long-rumored Apple mini-tablet with a 720 x 480 display.

Schwaderer also mentioned that an upgraded version of the current iPhone with the same form factor would be a 3G model. With iPhones out of stock in the US and UK, and Steve Jobs scheduled to give the keynote at WWDC 08, new iPhones and the mini-tablet might be right around the corner.

What do YOU think about Herr Schwaderer's comments and the rumored mini-tablet? Take our poll! A big thank-you hug to Erica Sadun for the poll answers!

View Poll

Update: If you had "Intel disavows knowledge of future iPhone products" for $200, you win.

[via ZDNet.de, MacRumors]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Multimedia, Video, Features, TUAW Interview

As we recently showcased here at TUAW, filmmaker Dennis Liu's Mac-inspired video for the group The Bird And The Bee combines his love of music, filmmaking and the Mac to create a very entertaining and innovative piece of work. In fact, we liked it so much here at TUAW, that we decided we wanted to know a bit more about Dennis and his creative process.

I spent some time talking with the filmmaker recently and got some info on how he made the video, why he made it, what he hopes to gain from it and what's next for this very talented guy.

CHRIS ULLRICH: Tell me a bit about how you came up with the idea for the video? What inspired you to do it?

digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Interview_with_OS_X_music_video_guy_Dennis_Liu'; DENNIS LIU: I'm a 23 year old college grad trying to become a full-time director/creative. Right now, I'm a producer at an ad agency, but I've always had some ideas for Apple commercials and always wanted to shoot one. Apple has some of the world's finest advertising, and I wanted to play at their level.

The film industry is so competitive these days, that you really need to do something innovative and different to stand out, and I wanted to really make something that would get some attention from my peers. So the result was this viral video for my reel, Apple, and one of my favorite musicians - The Bird & the Bee.

For Apple, I figured it was a cool idea that shows the beauty, style, and most importantly - the function of Apple computers. People think they're really cool looking, and I totally agree, but they are also wickedly powerful machines.

So the video combines style and function.

Continue reading TUAW Interview: Filmmaker Dennis Liu

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Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Odds and ends, Apple, iPhone

Obama and Lindsay Lohan are far from the only people rocking the iPhone lately -- a new site called "Coolspotters" claims to track brands and the celebrities that use them, and the iPhone is pretty cool lately. 32 celebrities have been spotted -- everyone from Mike Tyson to Heidi Klum to Rose McGowan (pictured, though that really could be anyone, couldn't it?). In fact, the Apple iPhone is actually the most popular product on the site right now -- one spot above something called the Omnipeace t-shirt (yes, but does it have a multitouch screen?), and two spots above the MacBook Air.

Because everyone knows you need a site to tell you that what you own is cool, right? Of course, they are cheating a little bit -- I don't think the fact that Steve Jobs is using something necessarily makes it cool. Otherwise, we'd all have seen celebs toting around Newtons.

Still, if seeing celebs use the same product you have is your thing, the iPhone's got you covered there, too. Can't say it influenced my purchase much, but good to see that the rich and famous are catching on to what's been TUAW's favorite tech-cessory for a while.

[via Kottke]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Desktops, Open Source

It's a big day for the Psystar Open Computer -- the quasi-Mac clone based on PC hardware and a cracked version of Mac OS X. ZDNet today published their comparison of the Open Computer with a Mac mini, and all three flavors of MacBook.

The results? The Open Computer fares pretty well against all of its Mac cousins. It scored nearly 147 with Xbench 1.3.

It beats the Mac mini, its closest price competitor, by nearly 50 percent. The Open Computer outperforms even a MacBook Pro (with a 2.4GHz Penryn processor) by 10 points. Not too shabby at all, if you can stand the sound of a jet airplane on your desk (Just kidding. Apparently the noise isn't too bad).

ZDNet promises results using GeekBench soon.

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Filed under: Desktops, Open Source

It's a big day for the Psystar Open Computer -- the quasi-Mac clone based on PC hardware and a cracked version of Mac OS X. ZDNet today published their comparison of the Open Computer with a Mac mini, and all three flavors of MacBook.

The results? The Open Computer fares pretty well against all of its Mac cousins. It scored nearly 147 with Xbench 1.3.

It beats the Mac mini, its closest price competitor, by nearly 50 percent. The Open Computer outperforms even a MacBook Pro (with a 2.4GHz Penryn processor) by 10 points. Not too shabby at all, if you can stand the sound of a jet airplane on your desk (Just kidding. Apparently the noise isn't too bad).

ZDNet promises results using GeekBench soon.

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Filed under: iPhone

While the Inuit people of Alaska and Canada probably don't have more than a dozen words for snow (rather than the hundreds attributed to their language), it seems to me that we're well into the century mark for different ways of saying "the iPhone 3G is right around the corner." Today's example of iPhonius FirstGenerationic Obsoletum comes from Boy Genius Report, which reprints an urgent email to AT&T Retail staffers: no more than 1 iPhone per customer, please.

If availability constraints around the globe, the reappearance of refurb devices and the steady drumbeat of rumors wasn't enough for you, well, here you go. Those who were planning to pick up a bushelful of iPhones at firesale prices will now have to go in disguise.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: iPhone

While the Inuit people of Alaska and Canada probably don't have more than a dozen words for snow (rather than the hundreds attributed to their language), it seems to me that we're well into the century mark for different ways of saying "the iPhone 3G is right around the corner." Today's example of iPhonius FirstGenerationic Obsoletum comes from Boy Genius Report, which reprints an urgent email to AT&T Retail staffers: no more than 1 iPhone per customer, please.

If availability constraints around the globe, the reappearance of refurb devices and the steady drumbeat of rumors wasn't enough for you, well, here you go. Those who were planning to pick up a bushelful of iPhones at firesale prices will now have to go in disguise.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Enterprise, OS, iTunes, Leopard

Here's something for all you IT pros out there. Apple has released a video podcast that offers a quick tour of Mac OS X Leopard Server [iTunes link].

There are two episodes available now; "Setup and Administration" and "Managing Your Server." Each features a screencast walk-through of some basic tasks, as well as as a monotone and articulate host in the standard issue black mock turtleneck.

Seasoned Mac OS X Server administrators will find the content pretty basic, but still enjoyable. If you're considering Leopard Server for your work group or small business, these videos are a nice introduction. When you're ready to join the ranks of Mac OS X Server pros, swing by afp548.com and macenterprise.org for additional webcasts and training resources.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Enterprise, OS, iTunes, Leopard

Here's something for all you IT pros out there. Apple has released a video podcast that offers a quick tour of Mac OS X Leopard Server [iTunes link].

There are two episodes available now; "Setup and Administration" and "Managing Your Server." Each features a screencast walk-through of some basic tasks, as well as as a monotone and articulate host in the standard issue black mock turtleneck.

Seasoned Mac OS X Server administrators will find the content pretty basic, but still enjoyable. If you're considering Leopard Server for your work group or small business, these videos are a nice introduction. When you're ready to join the ranks of Mac OS X Server pros, swing by afp548.com and macenterprise.org for additional webcasts and training resources.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: Enterprise, OS, iTunes, Leopard

Here's something for all you IT pros out there. Apple has released a video podcast that offers a quick tour of Mac OS X Leopard Server [iTunes link].

There are two episodes available now; "Setup and Administration" and "Managing Your Server." Each features a screencast walk-through of some basic tasks, as well as as a monotone and articulate host in the standard issue black mock turtleneck.

Seasoned Mac OS X Server administrators will find the content pretty basic, but still enjoyable. If you're considering Leopard Server for your work group or small business, these videos are a nice introduction. When you're ready to join the ranks of Mac OS X Server pros, swing by afp548.com and macenterprise.org for additional webcasts and training resources.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Filed under: WWDC, Apple, Developer

With apologies to Carole King: "Now it's too late, bayyybeee, now it's too late, though we really did try to make it..."

If you were waiting until the last minute to get your reservations in for Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, aka WWDC 2008, you're out of luck. All available spaces at Apple's annual developer love-fest have been taken, so you'll have to wait until next year's event to get your fix of sessions and labs.

That also means you're going to miss out on the Steve Jobs keynote address, which you'll hear about within minutes of it happening anyway. Don't procrastinate for WWDC 2009!

Thanks to Chris C. for the tip!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments