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CNET:

The Princeton researchers that have done much of the work deconstructing SonyBMG’s recent controversial copy protection software have found an interesting new tidbit. According to their new findings, the Sony software had a hidden component that could convert songs from the CD, or other ordinary MP3s, into a file compatible with Apple’s copy protected FairPlay format.

That would mean that the songs could be played on iPods, which hasn’t been the case with copy protected CDs in the past. It apparently accomplishes this by using open-source, yet copyrighted code, a practice deemed a no-no in programming circles.

It’s not yet clear how this came about. Record labels have hoped to establish compatibility with the iPod for their copy protected CDs for some time, and EMI Music has even said that its CDs are close to reaching that point. Apple, for its part, denied EMI’s contention.

What’s the most expensive Mac money can buy?

According to Gadget Madness, it’s a “2.5Ghz Quad-core PowerPC G5 with 16GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, Quadro FX 4500 graphics card with 512MB of memory, 16X dual-layer Superdrive, and two 30″ Apple Cinema HD displays.”

Cost — a cool $24,000 — but shipping is free.

Here’s a cheap way to boost the range of your Airport Express Wi-Fi base station: stick it inside a steel wire-basket ladle.

This idea is to put the Airport Express in the middle of the parabolic kitchenware. In other words to make a kind of a passive wifi antenna enhancer. Et voila!

… Positioning this area of the AE in the focal point of the parabola with some sticky tape can even marginally improve the range extension. You could also use a bigger chinese kitchenware.

(Via MacBidouille)

Apple’s mega Cinema Display is to about get some competition: Dell is prepping its own 30-inch flat panel, according to a post on the NeoWin forums.

I’ve no idea how reliable the post is, but it says the monster monitor will ship four days before Christmas, have WQXGA resolution (2560 x 1600), two DVI-D links and one HDCP port.

The big question though is price — will it be a lot less than the $2,500 Apple charges?

Unlike Sony, which is using fake graffiti to promote the PSP, this iPod graf from New Zealand appears genuine.

Tomorrow afternoon, I’ll be giving the first of three short talks in the Bay Area about my new book, Cult of iPod.

The talk will be a brief intro to the book and what it’s about: fast-growing iPod culture.

The other appearances will be at the Stanford Bookstore in Palo Alto on Dec. 8 at 2pm — where there’ll be a raffle of an iPod Shuffle — and Borders San Rafael on Dec. 10 at 7pm.

Here’s the details of Saturday’s event:

LOCATION/TIME
Borders Books (Stonestown) Details and MAP
415.731.2025
255 Winston Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94132

Sat 12/03/05 (4:00pm)

Hope to see you there.

Skwat is a Belgian T-Shirt designer who sells a range of Apple-themed “Wear Different” t-shirts featuring Japanese anime-style characters.

The shirts depict chibi iPod users giving the thumbs up, and Steve Jobs holding an iMac. There’s even Jobs and Steve Wozniak holding an early Mac.

The site (Flash — eugh) allows you to send some of the images as e-cards.

(Thanks Michael Agustin)

This bed from New Zealand has a built-in iPod dock. It’s billed as “the world’s first iPod compatible bed.”

Of all the attributes of a bed, iPod compatibility is about the last thing you’d look for, I’d think. But it’s actually quite handy if you use the iPod’s sleep timer and alarm.

Most of all it illustrates the iPod’s incredible impact on audio — the bed is now another iPod accessory!

Says the website:

“Optional accessories include a minimalist side lamp and aluminium tray, but perhaps the most exciting feature is how the shelves can seamlessly accommodate an iPod and Bose speaker system.”

(Via MacFeber)

If you’re worried about iPods selling out over the holidays, consider the alternative: a fantastic book about iPods and iPod culture — Cult of iPod.

And if you order it here, I’ll autograph the book and write a personal inscription to its lucky recipient. Just fill out the “Your Inscription Here” box on the Paypal order page.

Author Jim Heid has just posted a very nice review.

Earlier this week marked 20 years since the premiere of Windows 1.0.

Microsoft has been surprisingly quiet about the anniversary, except for a couple of things in Japan.

Over at Download Squad, there’s a list of 20 things you didn’t know about Windows 1.0.

One of the things on the list is that Bill Gates wanted to call the operating system “Interface Manager,” but was persuaded by marketing exec Rowland Hanson that Windows was the way to go.

(Via Maximac.se)

Coverbuddy is a program that lets you navigate your iTunes library via album artwork rather than lists of songs or artists. It’s nice, but pretty useless.

But now a new version of the software allows iTunes to be accessed via any web browser, including the browser on the Sony PSP, which turns the little game machine into a remote for iTunes.

The FluffPod is now available for the iPod nano, its NYC manufacturer announced:

Slip into something more comfortable.

Fluffpod nano comes in two silky bright colors, a fabulous white and luscious pink. Both feature super silky soft satin lining and a poofy soft fur top.

If you don’t get an iPod this Christmas because they’re all sold out, download and print out this gorgeous paperPod.

This Japanese site also has a charming classic Mac.

Microsoft’s MSN site suggests websurfers using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer for the Mac switch to another browser!

Fire up that dusty old copy of Explorer and — if you haven’t changed the default homepage — you’ll be greeted by a message at MSN that says:

“If you are using Internet Explorer for Mac, we recommend that you use another browser to have an optimal experience of MSN.”

Of course, Microsoft stopped updating Explorer in 2003, shortly after Apple released Safari.

It looks like Microsoft’s done an Apple with the XBox 360. Of all things, the standout feature in early reviews is not the graphics, but the user interface.

That’s surprising, given Microsoft’s reputation for astonishingly crappy interfaces.

In a discussion of the UI, BusinessWeek concluded: “Microsoft certainly seems to have done just about everything right.”

Wired News said: “What’s impressed me most thus far about the 360 is how it streamlines and refines the user interface.”

And Columnist John Dvorak said: “The Xbox 360 explores new menu structures with a unique and pleasant GUI… I have not seen a hardware/software system this well thought out for a decade or more.”

According to a press release, the UI was developed by a UK consultancy, Akqa, and was perfected using good-old usability testing:

To arrive at the new Xbox 360 player interface, Microsoft and AKQA formed a multidisciplinary team of user experience, interaction design, user insight and behavior specialists, who built several functioning prototypes, working hand-in-hand with the Xbox 360 industrial design team. In-depth testing of the prototypes followed, with immersive workshops, usability sessions and interviews with customers taking place worldwide. The prototypes were then refined and re-tested.

BetaNews has a bunch of screenshots, and it does look surprisingly clean and uncluttered.

This is a new player for Windows called Songbird. Recognize the layout?

It seems that they copied iTunes — and there are even links to music stores like Amazon in the player. A wild guess is that it works, and is intended for players other than the iPod.

Songbird.

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum has launched an illustrated podcast showcasing art in its paintings collection.

The podcasts feature reproductions of the art with commentary from curators and other art experts. The first episode tells “all about Botticelli and his wombats.” The V&A claims it’s the first podcast published by a UK museum or gallery.

“There are often audio guides for special exhibitions, but there tends to be a paucity of guides for existing collections, so this is a way to bring them to life,” Susan McFarland, editor of the V&A’s PR website, told 24 Hour Museum.

(Via MacWorld UK)

On Kroll’s Blog:

While I was at the Apple Store last night with my girlfriend getting my nano, some guy brought his old Mac in because he thought it was time to “upgrade”. He had been doing his banking on that machine since he got it, using quicken or something. This mac classic came out in 1990, had 1meg of RAM, and a 8mhz processor!

The machine appears to be a Mac SE, which came out in 1987 — making it almost two decades old. That’s a long time to be using the same computer.

When I was in New York a few years ago, I spent an afternoon at Tekserve, a big Mac repair shop in Chelsea.

While there, a couple of people bought in classic Macs for repair, and there were several on the shelves waiting to be picked up. I was surprised there were so many. Tekserve’s owner said they belonged to the many writers in the neighborhood, who considered them perfectly functional for scribbling on.

Philip Torrone has some friends who own a $20,000 laser-engraving machine. So he gave them his PowerBook and a 19-Century etching of a nocturnal creature (from a book by O’Reilly, who Torrone works for).

The result is this amazingly-detailed etching.

In one of the episodes of Futurama there was a parody of the classic Apple commercial “1984”.

For those who missed it, or wants to see it again, mac TV has published a short clip of it. Enjoy!
live.watchmactv.com/featured/futurama

It’s pretty common that people buy a Mac mini and connects it to their big plasma screens and use the mini as a media center.

But where to put the mini?

Put it on the wall! Of course! Maybe easiest with a mount like the one to the right. “Mini mount” is the name and you stick it to the wall with two screws. Something nice for the cords and you are game.

50 dollars, 70 if you want it with backlighting. But you don’t want that.

Reports the Religion News Service:

A leading Catholic cardinal is warning Catholic parents to be careful when buying iPods and other wireless devices as Christmas gifts because they could be used by minors to access pornography.

Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore, who co-chairs the Religious Alliance Against Pornography, said iPods, PDAs and video cell phones can easily send and receive pornography, much of it unsolicited.

“Sadly, unwanted pornography often leads to wanted pornography,” Keeler told members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on Tuesday.

(Via MyAppleMenu)

PodDater.com is a new dating service that allows members to download videos of potential dates to their video iPod.

Members create video profiles, search for matches, and synchronize the ones they’re interested in to watch later.

The free service, launched on Wednesday, has about 130 registered users so far. Predictably, few are women.

Potential mates can be sorted by “tags,” which include “mac,” “sports” and “beer.”

Wired News has a profile of one of podcasting’s first stars — an obscene, gay drag act from Chicago called Madge Weinstein.

A performance artist and one-time aspiring filmmaker who lives in Chicago, Bluestein appears to have successfully traded his former job in tech support at a local hospital for a life of spouting off on air.

He sees himself as one of those people for whom the new medium of podcasting has created opportunities where none existed. He had sporadically posted video blogs online and had performed as Madge around Chicago since 2000. Then, last November, stuck in a funk over President Bush’s 2004 re-election, Bluestein stumbled over (ex-MTV VJ Adam) Curry’s show and became obsessed with podcasting. Soon thereafter, Yeast Radio was born as an outlet for performing as Madge and for obscenity-laden political venting.

Curry, the ex-MTV VJ turned self-styled “podfather,” says he thinks Bluestein’s act is a scream and hired him in September as a member of Curry’s PodSquad stable of talent. Yeast Radio has been heavily promoted on Curry’s programs and Madge has subbed for Curry on his Sirius radio program from time to time.

…

“Richard is just the sweetest guy and he’s really spearheading this qPodder community with over 150 gay and lesbian podcasters (on the site), which is remarkable,” Curry said. “I mean, come on. Is this some big secret in advertising, that gays and lesbians are a good market? I don’t think so. If that’s not a market, let me go eat my shoe.”

Here’s one way to resolve the spat between Lugz footwear and Apple over the copycat Eminem iPod ad — combine them.

iPodz is a seamless mashup that advertises two products in one ad – the iPod and urban streetwear. It’s actually not a bad idea. The products and target audience are complementary.

(Via Fscklog)