Can a $99 second-gen Apple TV operate under heavy load as a web server? With the death of the venerable XServ line, one hosting company is going to try to find out.

San Francisco-based Cult of Mac staff and any others of our far-flug correspondent crew as can get here look forward to meeting readers and WWDC attendees at a cocktail reception on Thursday, June 9 from 6pm – 9pm during Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference.

Think recent reports that Mac malware is a very real threat are just another example of security researchers crying wolf? Think again.

An AppleCare support representative says that not only are call centers being inundated with reports about the MacDefender malware, but that Apple employees who help customers remove it from their computer can be fired.

We start out another day of deals with more iPod bargains, followed by interesting video eyewear for your iPhone and a new case for your favorite handset. First up is an 8GB iPod touch (current generation) for $160. Next is the Vuzix Wrap 230 Video Eyewear bundled with the Vuzix iWear Composite Adapter for iPod or iPhone. The glasses provide dual 320×240 LCD displays. Finally, how about a ballistic case for your iPhone 4?

Along the way, we’ll also check out an iPod classic, more iPhone cases and software for your Mac. As usual, details on these and many other items can be found at CoM’s “Daily Deals” page right after the jump.

Do you get feverish and sweaty when you even think of a new Apple product? You might start experiencing bleeding palms and other stigmata next, according to a new study. The exact same part of your brain is lighting up when you think about Apple products as when you have a religious experience.

iPods and marathon runners are still on shaky ground. Kelly McClure had a good run at the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon on Sunday, coming in unexpectedly in fifth place. Instead of basking in the achievement and the $500 prize, McClure was disqualified for wearing an iPod.

https://www.cultofmac.com/95875/which-smart-cover-to-get-get-a-polyurethane-one-heres-why/

The Smart Cover is a beautiful invention, but pour a couple of beers and accidentally extinguish a couple of cigarettes on one, and it’s clear that some Smart Covers are better than others. So which one should you buy?

It is increasingly looking like the huge event Apple has in store for May 22nd isn’t a new product launch, but instead the unveiling of what is being christened Apple Store 2.0… an all new and improved retail experience which could also debut NFC-based payments, and possibly a surprise from Square.

Lodsys seems to be hell-bent on ruining things not just for application developers but for Apple as well, and it seems owing to its new-found skill in patent trolling for the odd buck, the App Store’s approval process for in-app purchases has now been frozen.

Tablets are the new must-have device for the cubicle crowd. Trouble is, once that shiny iPad is in their hands, most suits treat tablets like oversized smartphones.

A new iPad app lets you put your hands all over some of Italy’s most stunning art works.

Company Centrica puts hi-res images of  Florence museum the Uffizi, including Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus” and Michelangelo’s Tondo Doni, into an app called UffiziTouch.

A new job listing on Apple’s website reveals the company is in search of a media engine guru who may help the company kickstart its cloud-based media streaming service dubbed iCloud.

Sit-ins are so twentieth-century. Protesters Wednesday ‘planked’ outside a Foxconn shareholders meeting in objection to the Apple manufacturer’s long history of worker suicides.

Faced with the ongoing PR crisis of suicides and alleged human rights violations of its Chinese contractors, it’s looking increasingly like Apple might shift a sizable portion of their iPad production to Brazil. To prepare, Brazil’s president lowered taxes on producing and purchasing tablets in the South American country.

Have you ever had the desire to change how your applications look your Mac? Perhaps you want them to look like the icons found in iOS, as seen in the picture above? Although fairly unknown, it is possible in Mac OS X. All you’ll need to get started is img2icns. While there is no plain and obvious way to go about it, it’s actually fairly simple once you know what to do, as demonstrated in this video.

Despite talk of a coming onslaught of Android alternatives, almost all consumer tablet conversations begin and end with Apple’s iPad.

One of the best things about being a student – apart from all the parties, the freedom, and more free time that you know what to do with – is Apple’s back to school promotions, which typically see the company offer a free or discounted iOS device to students buying a Mac. Those waiting to get a free iPod touch before they purchase their next MacBook may not have to wait much longer, as this year’s promotion could be just around the corner.

Dreams of getting our mucky mitts on a super speedy LTE-enabled iPhone in 2011 have just been quashed by a new report which claims Apple’s plans to release an ‘iPhone 4S’ later this year have gone down the pan.

Apple’s mission to trademark and patent pretty much everything it can like an overactive canine marking its territory continues, with a new trademark filing that reveals the Cupertino company has protected the word ‘Noteworthy’, classifying it under the category of computer software.

Of course, I’m sure that in reality yesterday’s review had nothing to do with this whatsoever, but right off the back of me slagging off the Dragon’s Den game for iOS, an update has arrived to address some of its issues – and it no longer sucks quite as much as it did.

A new iPhone application called Web Browser for Apple TV aims to… well… bring a web browser to your Apple TV.

Apple’s latest lineup of MacBook Airs are incredible, and since their launch they’ve been lavished with attention from just about everyone – from the tech world’s greatest reviewers to the hooded youths that gather around them in the Apple Store. But a recent refresh to the MacBook Pro family is beginning to steal their limelight – boasting features like Sandy Bridge processors and Thunderbolt ports – and the Airs want it back with their share of new components. They may only have to wait a little while longer, however, as one report suggests a refresh within the coming months.

The paper-based comic book has been, for at least a decade, an absurdity. Each 32-page issue takes up a significant amount of space without delivering very much story. And the idea of taking a fat stack of them on vacation or a plane ride is as bad an idea as it appears on its face. Even more so than the novel, comics and electronic readers are a natural match. And the Mac now has a signature way to read comics in the form of ComicNerd, a new app from A Nice Cut of Tea and a Sit Down LLC. As the owner of a huge comics collection, much of it digitized at this point, I can state unequivocally that this is pretty much exactly what I’ve been looking for. And it’s hard to imagine anyone doing it better.

On Tuesday this week Square started passing out invitations to the companies first special event. The event will take place at Square’s headquarters in San Francisco on May 23rd at 10:00 AM PDT. Some “exciting news” will be announced.