In case you missed it, there is a new in-game trailer for Halo Reach, the inevitable blockbuster is looking good already:
I was going to install Boot Camp on my Mac so I could play this insane PC/Console RPG; a game like this must be played with a mouse and keyboard.
Anyway, I don’t need to bother with Boot Camp because Dragon Age Origins is coming out on Mac, this December 21st! Sweet.
The brand new Mac beta for Google’s web browser Chrome is really smooth and fast. I mean really really smooth and fast… when it doesn’t crash. It’s a beta, things will improve.
Here’s a reader tech question from Robbyn:
Writing with a technical question, using my MacBook Pro I’ve been trying to copy a 4.93 GB .mov file to an external hard drive. Every time I try to do this I get an error message that reads: “Sorry, the operation could not be completed because an unexpected error occurred. (Error code 0)” I’ve tried zipping the file, but still have the same problem. I’m also not sure how to split up the file without having to convert it to another format which I’d rather not do since I’m sending it to someone to edit and I’d like to have it in the raw format so as not to lose any quality.
Well Robbyn, it sounds like an issue with the file system type on your external hard drive. Now I know you are wondering what that means so let me give you a quick overview:
Windows likes to format their partitions using one of their file systems, and Macs like to use their own. Unfortunately, they really don’t get along all that well. The only file system type that really works well on both Windows machines and Macs is FAT32. However, FAT32 has a bunch of issues including being pretty poor compared to other the newer formats, and more importantly, not supporting files over 4gb in size.
Unfortunately, you are trying to copy a big file, and big files not supported.. that’s probably the problem right there. Simple solution – check if it is formatted in FAT32 and reformat to HFS+ “non-case sensitive” because you that’s really unnecessary, and “non-journaled” because it tends to be more compatible, albeit slightly less secure in cases of drive failure. This will have some repercussions though, including all files will be deleted during the reformatting process and, as you might have guessed, HFS+ drives are not supported in Windows.
Now the other issue – the drive might be formatted using the NTFS file system, which is the one Microsoft currently employs for most Windows XP machines and all later operating systems. And the issue with NTFS, it cannot inherently be written to by Macs. Solution – same as above. For big files, you need to use HFS+ for make your Mac fully support NTFS using some downloads from the Internet. I would suggest, unless you need to be able to use your drive on both a Windows and a Mac, use HFS+.
In order to do all of this on a Mac, you can follow the following steps:
Please ask for clarification if you need any further guidance. Best of luck.
Don’t watch this at work…
Thanks to Pete S. for sharing.
I’m exhausted beyond the point of original thought – Here’s a funny one yanked from Wired.com (However, I did edit a small typo. They misspelled aficionado).
10. “No real programmer would ever use PHP.” – This won’t work for every geek, of course, but for those it works on, it should work really well.
9. “Comic books are just for kids!” – I’m sure you’ve heard this one before—I know I certainly heard it often enough in high school, and even though it’s even less true now than it was then, I’m sure comic book aficionados still hear it today.
8. “Role-playing games are just for people who can’t deal with real life.” – There are, sadly, still a lot of people who think anyone who plays D&D must live in his parents’ basement and bathe once a month. Such people must be put straight, and immediately!
7. “The Pirates of the Caribbean movies are so realistic!” – I doubt many people actually believe this, but there are an awful lot of misconceptions about pirates out there, so you never know.
6. “Yeah, I got an Xbox 360 so my daughter could play Hello Kitty games. Is it really good for anything else?” – We’ve hit the ones that are hard for me even to type, now…
5. “Mac, Windows, or Linux? Does it really make a difference?” – An argument so old its original form was probably first written down in hieroglyphs, I know, but I don’t know a single geek it wouldn’t work on—myself included.
4. “The Ewoks were the best thing about the original Star Wars trilogy.” / “Greedo shot first!” - I couldn’t decide between the two. If one doesn’t work, I’ll bet the other one would.
3. “Tolkien? Ehhh, I prefer Terry Brooks!” – I almost feel like I should argue with myself just for writing that. I’m going to let the top two stand for themselves.
2. “Joss Whedon is a hack!”
1. “I don’t see what’s so bad about DRM!”
Nine out of ten of these statements would drive me nuts. Any guesses which one wouldn’t?
Check back tomorrow when I reveal the shocking answer (And post something sensible).
The answer is #8. State the other nine at your own peril!
Apple has revealed a number new improvements and adjustments to their products at WWDC, here’s the rundown.
I was going to write a summation of Apple’s announcements regarding the new operating system updates, but a great one already exists (and I’m very tired). Check with Gizmodo to learn all of the nifty upgrades Snow Leopard will give you for a mere $29.00 come September 2009. Nothing is Earth-moving, but it’s all good stuff.
The new browser has been spotted in the wild with a new look, and boasting the title of “fastest browser on the web.” That is until Google Chrome leapfrogs them again in a few months – isn’t competition great?
I’m not sure ExpressCard slots were ready for retirement, and I’m not crazy about the non-removable batteries – this just seems like an unnecessary hassle for users. Otherwise, the refreshed machines look good – Skynet will be pleased.
For a complete rundown of the MacBook changes check with Engadget.
I am by no means an authority on iPhones. So if you care to learn more about the new incarnations of the popular device, you may have a gander here.
Apple, Amp manufacturer Line 6, and general musical gadget brand Planet Waves are teaming up to offer an iPhone app that will allow you to control your guitar and amp’s sound. More on this as better details arise.
The PC vs. Mac ad war continues to rage.
A few weeks ago I wrote about the first of what has become a series of PC “Laptop Hunters” ads. I’m continuing to stand being my original analysis of the “Lauren” ad. The two subsequent PC Hunters ads weren’t quite the train wreck that Lauren was, but I still found the people in the ads obnoxious and ill-informed; shouting off random computer parts and claiming to be tech savvy doesn’t appeal to me at all.
The biggest problem with these ads is that they completely ignore the user experience. Microsoft doesn’t sell Blu-ray drives, monitors, or graphics cards. They sell software. They sell a user experience, and that experience is lacking but it isn’t unsellable. These ads were pretty damn good:
These two ads are simple and elegant. They address the user experience in a clear and friendly manner. Plus, how can you get have a problem with those little girls? They seem far more intelligent than the tools that appear in the PC Hunters ads. The four year-old came across as more authoritative and likable than Lauren, Giampalolo, Lisa, or Jackson.
In response, Apple is using the same old formula to continue point out the flawed Windows user experience, and why not? These ads have been working wonders. Here are two of the new ones:
Another problem that Microsoft has is that Apple has had an active and preachy community for decades. There wasn’t a completely devoted community of PC users in the same way that there was a Mac community. Tight knit communities form around minority views. Additionally, many of the devoted PC users of the past (like myself) jumped ship to Apple over the past few years.
If Microsoft want’s to plug the holes, the answer isn’t poking holes at Apple; Microsoft doesn’t have the credibility to pull it off. They need to prop up their product and make it as cute, pretty, and above all, as likable as possible. They need to highlight the virtues of their own user experience, even if there aren’t many of them.
It's the user experience stupid!
Apple announced that iTunes would be going through some changes at Macworld 2009 in early January.
Well folks, those changes have happened. Near as I can tell, iTunes is now DRM free! This is good because it lifts a lot of the crazy restrictions that Apple was placing on legally purchased music – It’s nice when companies stop punishing people who purchase things legally.
They have also implemented a new price structure by adding $0.69 and $1.29 price tiers to the existing $0.99 tier. The pricing is up to the record-labels or owners of the tracks.
Needless to say, there aren’t many $0.69 tracks. I couldn’t actually find any during my perusal of the iTunes store. That being said, I honestly didn’t see a ton of $1.29 tracks among the music that I like to listen to. It’s clear that they have only priced popular songs at $1.29.
If you are like me and don’t particularly excited for trendy or modern popular music (because I’m cool like that), you shouldn’t notice much of a difference in the pricing structure.
Another thing that you might notice is that some of the same recordings are priced differently based on the album they are from (See Sweet Home Alabama in the image above). I’m not sure if that will stay the same, but it is the case for the moment.
There is a new latest and greatest version of the free (and awesome) VLC media player is officially available.
It works on PC, Mac, and Linux and can play damn near anything.
You may download it here.
Happy viewing.
Last month I wrote about reports of defective MacBook Air hinges. Here is my followup and advice for other people dealing with the same issue:
The hinge on my MacBook Air has been a little wobbly for a few months. After reading reports of the defect and Apple’s general unwillingness to repair the damage under the factory warranty I became a little perturbed.
I decided that while my MacBook Air is still under warranty I wanted documentation of the defect in my laptop. I booked an appointment with the Genius Bar and went last week.
I showed the tech my laptop, the wobble, and the slight bowing in the hinge. I also highlighted the pristine condition of my year-old computer to to nullify the “consumer misuse” argument. He took it into the back-room of mystery and emerged a few minutes later to tell me that no one in that store has ever heard of the factory defect but they were willing to admit that there was wobble and bowing in my hinges.
The tech wanted to compare the wobble and bowing in my computer with the floor model. They had nearly identical wobble and bow. He viewed this as evidence that there wasn’t a problem… I saw it as confirmation that there is a design flaw. Regardless of interpretation, all I asked for was written confirmation that I did complain about the problem before my warranty expired – which he gave me.
If the hinge malfunctions I will use it for leverage to make Apple fix it under my warranty.
If you are having the same problem I recommend that you get some documentation as well. Be friendly and polite, but stand your ground.
This past week the new Microsoft ad, “Lauren Get’s an HP Pavilion” has consistently come up in conversation.
Is the ad telling the truth?
Yes! It absolutely is true. PCs are much cheaper than comparable Macs under almost all circumstances.
The question of truth unfortunately isn’t the important part of the ad. Sadly for Microsoft it is an excruciatingly shortsighted and ill-conceived TV spot. Let’s parse out this ad’s message:
By kicking off the ad with Lauren trying to buy an Apple it states very clearly that a Mac was her first choice. She went to get a PC when she couldn’t afford her first choice.
Flash forward to the Best Buy-ish store.
Lauren shouts out some easily digestible specs that she wants, and the PCs can meet he expectations for well under her budget of $1000… in fact, she bought if for $699.99 – This section of the ad has two BIG problems.
First, Microsoft sells software and a user-experience, not necessarily a good one, but a user-experience nonetheless. They don’t sell hardware. In spite whatever Microsoft believes, the biggest draw of an Apple is the user-experience, not the pretty hardware (there are some very pretty PCs out there). As Lauren points out, they have comparable hardware. The ad never deals with Windows Vista’s inferior user-experience. At least the Mojave Experiment ads did that!
The second problem with this section of the ad is the price-point. Microsoft doesn’t sell PCs but their partners do. The profit margin on a $700 laptop isn’t usually amazing. They set Lauren’s budget at $1000, why not have her spend $950? or $990? The ad lowers the expectation for what consumers will expect to pay. If Lauren could get a “great” computer for $699.99 then that’s what a PC should cost.
This ad also degrades the value of a PC. Apple is now officially the gold-standard… Microsoft said so in its own ad. Microsoft has made Apple the BMW of computer makers (if they weren’t considered that already there is no debate now). PCs are the computer you buy when times are rough… like now. But in the future, the economy won’t be in the dumps (hopefully sooner than later). Then people will have money again. When they replace the cheap POS of a PC they bought during the recession, they are going to want to replace it with something better. Something top of the line… and now we all know that PCs are the cheap computer.
Bad move Microsoft.
A friend of mine just lost all of her data during a freak hardware malfunction.
Just because your computer is working today doesn’t mean that it will tomorrow (that goes for Mac users too). If it breaks you will be so relieved to have backups of your data.
Computers are replaceable. Your work and photos are not.
Please practice safe computing.
If you think that Microsoft is going to die sometime soon, just remember that they have some crazy market-share - “In February, 88.4% of users who connected to the Web sites monitored by Net Applications Inc. did so from systems powered by Windows… (Keizer).“
So, if you aren’t using a Mac but you feel like everyone else on Earth is… you really aren’t alone.
Not going away anytime soon.
Engadget is reporting about a defect in the hinges of many MacBook Airs.
Basically, what happens is that over time and normal, non-abusive use the hinges on many MacBook Airs will loosen until one day the hinge catches and cracks.
That's the dream.
It seems that Apple doesn’t like fixing these hinges unless you pay a meager $800.00, even when the computer is still on warranty. They call it “accidental” damage.
I will tell you this, I have never dropped or mishandled my MacBook Air and the hinges have been a little wobbly for the last few months. If they cracks I will politely make the good folks at Apple completely miserable if they do not fix them. The MacBook Air is a premium product and I expect them to stand behind it.
If an Apple Genius* tells you that you need to pay $800.00 to fix the hinges on your MacBook Air tell them, “No thank you, I think I will go out and buy a netbook for half that.” There is no plane of existence where that price is anything short of insulting.
Not everything Apple makes is perfect and they need to do right by their customers.
Do you have a burning desire to “one up” everyone with an iPod? I know I don’t.
If you are the kind of person who wants to get a Motorola Aura, this might appeal to you.
Elton has released a line of Swarovski crystal encrusted iPods… and yes, they are fabulous.
I should also point out that there are no bad intentions here (even if I can’t help but make fun of this item). Proceeds from the sale of these iPods go to the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
If you want one for whatever reason, you can get one here. They are available in nine different colors.
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