Cult of Mac

Geting creative with a slow news day, NPR convinced classical music expert Miles Hoffman to create an iPod playlist for Honest Abe in honor of President’s Day.

Hoffman’s picks include:

Friedrich von Flotow: “Ach so fromm” from Martha, a love song from an opera that Lincoln liked.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk: The Union, a Fantasy on Patriotic Airs,

Traditional Scottish: “Annie Laurie”

“I Wish I Was in Dixie’s Land” (Bob ‘n’ John Minstrels)

If “Dixie” comes as a surprise, Hoffman says it shouldn’t: “It had already been a popular song before the Civil War and came from a minstrel show.”

Lincoln had been quoted as saying, ‘I have always thought “Dixie” one of the best tunes I have ever heard.’ ”

“After the war,” Hoffman adds, “Lincoln is reported to have said, ‘That tune is now federal property, and it is good to show the rebels that, with us in power, they will be free to hear it again.’ ”

Check out the podcast to hear them all.

Via NPR

Despite the economic downturn, data plans are not among the items consumers can apparently do without, a new study indicates.

The survey found U.S. and European smartphone owners plan to increase their mobile phone data plan usage over the next two years, according to Reuters.

The question was posed in November at the height of the global economic mess.

Casinos in Nevada were warned by gambling regulators to keep an eye out for a card-counting program that runs on the iPhone and iPod Touch that illegally helps players beat the house in blackjack.

Card counting itself is not illegal under Nevada gambling laws, but getting electronic help to count cards is a felony.

In blackjack, card counting techniques help players determine when they are likely to win a hand and adjust their bets accordingly.
Casinos were warned last week by the Nevada Gaming Control Board in a memo (pdf). Nevada learned of the program from gambling regulators in California, where officials at an Indian casino found customers using it and tipped state authorities.

The memo says the app is called Blackjack Card Counting program and describes how it works: “The program calculates the “True Count” and does it significantly more accurately. The card counting program uses a choice
of four (4) card counting strategies. For each strategy the user presses the button that contains the face cards as they are drawn from the deck. Depending on the strategy and on the value of the card the button will
either add or subtract 1 or 2 from the “Running Count.” It can also be used in “stealth mode.”

A quick search of  the iTunes store for “card count,”  showed several card counting apps, it’s not clear which one the casinos were warned about.

It looks like to live the 21 story, you don’t even have to be a card-counting geek…

Image used with Creative Commons license, thanks to nataliehg on flickr.

Via AP

The technology allowing iPhone users to skim through screens and Web sites is at the heart of a new lawsuit. Picsel Technologies, a mobile software developer, said Apple’s handset and iPod touch infringe its graphics acceleration technology.

The lawsuit, filed in Delaware U.S. District Court, asks Picsel Technologies be awarded treble damages based on the number of iPhones sold.

Unlike many patent trolls, the Picsel lawsuit includes a number of high-profile licensees. The company named iPhone rivals Palm and Motorola among the 250 companies using the graphics acceleration patent.

This mixed media work by South African artist Nicholas Hlobo has iPod earbuds stitched on to what looks like a series of knotty scars.  It’s on show at London’s Tate Modern until March 1, 2009.

Called “Phulaphulani,” or ‘to listen,’ the title of the work derives from the root phula, ‘to break.’ Hlobo says “to listen is to break down or process multiple sounds so that meaning can be understood and in turn passed on.” The work combines ribbon, rubber, thread, fabric and iPod earphones on Fabriano paper.

The friend who told me about it says the work comes together live much more than in a photo… Hlobo explains the work in a video here, also take a gander at the background image on the Tate site.

If you check it out, let me know what you think.

Image courtesy Tate Modern © Nicholas Hlobo. Photo: Mario Todeschini

iFart Mobile, maker of a wildly popular app for iPhone and iPod Touch, asked a court on Friday to rule that it can use the term “pull my finger” without risking trademark infringement claims by another iPhone fart app named, …wait for it, Pull My Finger.

InfoMedia, which developed iFart Mobile, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment in Colorado District Court naming rival Air-O-Matic as defendant after a lawyer from Air-O-Matic demanded $50,000 from InfoMedia for its use of the phrase, according to an InfoMedia blog post.

Apparently, Air-O-Matic first approached Apple with complaints that InfoMedia was guilty of unfair business practices and trademark infringement because it used the term “pull my finger” in a news release and YouTube promo video. Air-O-Matic also asked that iFart Mobile be removed from the iPhone App Store, but Apple told the companies to work it out among themselves, according to a report at Cnet.

Early this year, iFart Mobile was one of the more popular titles on the AppStore, where there are currently over 75 fart-themed titles on offer. The bloom may be off the rose, however, as only iFart (99¢) Mobile and the free app Atomic Fart are in the top 100 downloads of either category.

Apple has filed a response to an Electronic Frontier Foundation request that the US Copyright Office exempt from the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch which violate certain term of Apple’s SDK, describing the very act of “jailbreaking” an iPhone a crime.

The EFF wants the Copyright Office to officially exempt “computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute lawfully obtained software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications with computer programs on the telephone handset.”

The non-profit consumer advocacy organization believes Apple’s efforts to control the software that runs on iPhone is “corporate paternalism” and described them as comparable to an automaker welding shut the hood of its cars to only allow servicing to be done by authorized dealers.

Apple’s extensive response to EFF’s request (available as a PDF) cites, among other things, danger to the device from unauthorized software and increased support costs that result from problems caused by jailbreaking the phone, and asserts that jailbreaking fails all four “nonexclusive statutory fair use factors prescribed in § 107 of the copyright statute,” essentially calling jailbreaking a crime.

The Copyright Office is not expected to rule on EFF’s request until October.

If you’re interested in a detailed rehash of the legal brickbats flying between Apple and EFF over the matter, AppleInsider has a very good discussion of the arguments raised by both sides.

iPhone developer Ralf Ackermann has achieved a working device-to-device Bluetooth solution, according to a report at ArsTechnica.

Building on work developed by Matthias Ringwald, who has put together a user space bluetooth stack, Ackerman has built external adapters that plug into the iPhone’s connector port, accessing the phone’s bluetooth stack in a way that could possibly even comply with the standard iPhone SDK, according to developer/blogger Erica Sadun.

With such capability developers could theoretically build games and utilities that allow phones to transfer data without having to be on the same WiFi network or connect to a server as an intermediary. Users could transfer photos, play chess against each other, shoot over a vcard, and more, using software that could be sold on App Store.

While the iPhone ships with Bluetooth capabilities, they are a limited subset of its normal features. You cannot, for example, connect your Mac to your iPhone and transfer data files.

Don’t hold your breath for Apple to take Ackerman’s lead in this arena, but this, as Sadun notes, is pretty big news and a great step forward for the effort to make iPhones communicate directly with each other.

Via ArsTechnica

Future Audio Workshop has developed a groundbreaking application for iPhone and iPod Touch that may point a way to the future of global music distribution, making other portable formats look like wax cylinders by comparison.

Deadmau5 Remix is a $3 app that lets anyone with a mobile Apple device running iPhone 2.2 (or higher) firmware, regardless of their level of experience, mix and remix every song on a 10 track album by one of the hottest stars in the electronica firmament.

Users can change BPM, control up to four concurrent effects, skip to the next phrase or back to the last one, loop a phrase, and cross fade between the two tracks, or from one to the next.

And since the tool is so easy to use, it lets anyone DJ a dance party by plugging their device into a stereo and getting a groove on.

This app could lead to a wholesale change in the way music is consumed, according to Wired blogger Eliot Van Buskirk, who points out that, because an iPhone app can contain audio, video, images, software, lyrics, web links and games — all of which are updatable from the server side — an $18 CD starts to look fairly ridiculous.

As other mobile phone platforms embrace the app store model, cellphone makers are sure to enable installing apps like this on millions of devices. When that happens, as Van Buskirk writes, a plain old MP3 could seem just that: plain and old.

Via Wired Blog Network

Mike Pinkerton, who has been building web browsers since before you were on the internet at all, is something of a hero of mine. He’s worked on all sorts of Mozilla and Mozilla-offshoot code, and was one of the key people behind my daily browser of choice, Camino. This man knows how to build browsers, kids.

These days he works for Google on the team that is building a Mac version of Chrome, Google’s browser of choice for the next few years.

And he’s just posted this little announcement:

“This week, everything came together and we can now load web pages in the renderer processes and display them in tabs.”

(There’s also a screenshot at the other end of that link, which is worth seeing.)

There’s still a pile of work to do, but the news is that one of the most important aspects of Chrome – that a tab can crash without taking down the whole app – is working as expected.

Partly because I’m impressed by what I’ve seen of Chrome on Windows so far, and partly because I’ll happily install anything that Mike Pinkerton’s worked on, I’m very excited about this. Chrome for Mac might – just might – be the browser I’d be prepared to leave Camino for.

Tweaking for the iPod was blamed by the sound engineer for ruining their last album, but Metallica are about to release their complete discography on iTunes.

From their official website, they announce you can “Fill Up Your iPod With Metallica”
from March 31,  when   “The Complete Metallica,” a 163-track collection launches on iTunes.

In addition to studio albums that came out when Walkmans were the thing (and didn’t distort their music into meaningless clatter)  the collection includes a double live album, a double covers album and bonus live tracks.

No price information yet.

Via EarthTimes

19-year-old Shawn McKenzie has been found guilty of first-degree murder for the stabbing death of Michael Oatway over an iPod.

Oatway, 23, refused to give the iPod he’d borrowed from his girlfriend to McKenzie while the two were on an Ottawa bus in September 2006. McKenzie stabbed him once in the heart, then fled.  He was arrested the next day.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Robert Maranger sentenced McKenzie to life in prison. The judge tried the 19-year-old as an adult, finding that a youth sentence would not be sufficient to hold him accountable for his actions. He will not be eligible for parole for 10 years.

Via National Post

Score one for Ashton Kutcher. Tired of being baited by paparazzi, Kutcher used his jailbroken iPhone 3G with live video streaming service Qik to immortalize the nastiness he and wife Demi Moore endure as they try to get through the airport.

You can see Kutcher’s video here, about 36 seconds into the rough, on-the-fly account, a cameraman calls Moore a “crazy little bitch.”

Zune software and hardware efforts are going separate paths, with Zune services expected to appear on non-Microsoft devices later this year, reports said Friday.

The Media Center/Mediaroom unit will take charge of the Zune services while Windows Mobile will direct Zune hardware.

Enrique Rodriguez, who heads the new Zune software efforts, told CNET his goal is to “make sure the service comes into every device.”

We start this week with The Belgian Constitution.

Yes, the *actual Belgian Constitution*. As in, the Constitution of the nation of Belgium. Not a joke app. The real thing. Look:

“One of the most important changes was the introduction of the Court of Arbitration whose competencies were expanded by a special law of 2003, to include Title II (Articles 8 to 32), and the Articles 170, 172 and 191 of the Constitution. The Court therefore developed into a constitutional court and in May 2007 it was formally redesignated Constitutional Court.”

See?

I think this goes some way to proving that Rule 34 applies not just to the internet, but to the App Store: if you can imagine it, there is (or there will be) an app for it.

Moving on.

More than a year ago, I was visiting my cousin in Sunnyvale. It just so happens she works at Apple, but that fact is not germane to this story, though I mention it for the sake of serendipity.

She had a little gadget called Perfect Guy or Perfect Man (I forget which) that, when you pressed a button, produced a computerized voice that said things like, “how about if we just cuddle tonight” and “we might be lost, i’ll ask for directions” and “i don’t know how to fix it” – that sort of thing.

I thought it was cute; my six year-old son couldn’t get enough of mashing the button.

Now, just in time for Valentine’s Day, iPhone developer Michael Hill has released Perfect Girl, an app premised on similar lines, available now in the AppStore for 99¢.

Follow after the jump for what you can expect to hear from the Perfect Girl.

Via Gizmodo

I don’t generally put up posts on every single thing that might compete with Apple products in the market place. After all, when you’re number one, everyone is always gunning for you.

But Samsung is a major player in the global mobile phone market and when the company floats an idea such as the Blue Earth Solar Powered phone, I have to sit up and take notice.

Designed to symbolize a “flat and well rounded shiny pebble,” according to the marketing material, Blue Earth features a full touchscreen front and charges up via a solar panel on the back of the phone, purportedly generating enough electronic power to make a call anytime.

What’s more, the case is made from recycled plastic water bottles and the thing has a built-in pedometer that calculates how many CO2 emissions you’ve reduced (and therefore how many trees have been saved) by walking as opposed to taking the car.

The handset and its charger are both free from harmful substances such as Brominated Flame Retardants, Beryllium and Phthalate. Screen brightness, backlight duration and Bluetooth can all be adjusted in an energy-efficient mode called “Eco mode”.

It would be pure speculation on my part to say whether this phone will pose a serious challenge to iPhone’s preeminence in the touchscreen smartphone market, especially as there’s no word yet on its OS and, as everyone knows, the iPhone’s hardware design is elegant and all, but it’s the OS that sets it apart from all others. So, until we know more, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Blue Earth is supposed to be available in the UK in the second half of this year; no pricing or full tech specs available at press time.

As the guys at SlipperyBrick put it, “this is a serious eco-hippie phone.” And even though I’m not a serious eco-hippie, I’m going to go pour myself a bowl of granola and ponder Blue Earth.

Via SlipperyBrick, via PocketLint

Somebody at the hospital was bored. In a good way, though. Since 2007, the Radiology Art project has been putting everyday objects under a CT scan, then turning them into art with the help of an iMac.

Here’s an iPhone. (You’re invited to contact them if you can help identify the components).

and an iPod.

What you see in the iPod:  “The LCD screen is in pink. Behind the screen and to the most cephalic extreme of the body, a gray battery pack can be seen. Various other electronic components can be visualized including the control sensor array which is arranged in a circle below the LCD screen. Note the headphone jack in the upper right part of the image proximal to the battery pack.”
How do they do it?

After using GE CT scanner,  they process the images in Osirix software on an iMac. Colors are assigned based on the varying densities of materials present in the object. Depending on the spread of densities within a particular subject, black or white backgrounds are chosen.

There’s a gallery of all the objects scanned so far, some of them can be bought as prints, the toys are especially cool.

Here’s an iPhone concept sent in by an anonymous Cult reader overnight. Looks pretty fly to me, but then I’m still on a PowerBook G4 and an original iPhone.

What say you, dear reader?

Two stories in the iPhone developers ecosystem Thursday illustrate the challenges of navigating the path to fame and fortune on the back of a cleverly written app and its AppStore sales.

First comes news from AppCubby, whose experiment with 99¢ pricing we reported on a few weeks ago, saying, indeed, selling apps for 99¢ and depending on voluntary donations to cover the gap between success and failure is, for AppCubby anyhow, unsustainable.

Blogger/developer Erica Sadun relates how Apple’s own Department of AppStore Security is quashing some innovative developer marketing efforts and refusing to approve any app that advertises a contest or promises prizes or awards in the app itself or in its AppStore description.

Sadun uses the example of iFartMobile’s currently selling app, which advertises a $5000 prize to one lucky user for submitting a winning video of the app in action, saying Apple’s lawyers want no part of being named in potential suits against developers who may fail to deliver on contest prizes advertised through the AppStore. Developers are now being told no app using contest or sweepstakes marketing will be approved.

With the news this week there are now more than 20,000 apps on iTunes, it’s clear a lot of people out there are hoping to strike it rich panning for AppStore gold.

One can hardly blame Apple for trying to police the panhandlers, though, as Sadun points out, it can be frustrating for developers when the policing lacks transparency.

In a bid to attract PC “switchers,” Apple has begun redesigning its retail locations to focus more on Mac OS X and iPhone applications, according to a report Thursday.

The retail facelift is part of Apple’s “Why You’ll Love a Mac” theme, complete with images designed to highlight the differences between Macs and PCs, according to the IfoAppleStore site.

Among the changes will be greater concentration on Apple’s iLife and iWork software packages. Stores will offer iPhone 3Gs and iPod touchs loaded with applications available for customers to try.

After several rounds of fruitless talks with China’s largest carrier, Apple may ink an iPhone agreement with another carrier May 17, reports said Thursday.

China Unicom, the nation’s second-largest mobile carrier, confirmed it and Cupertino were discussing iPhone distribution.

“Yes, we are in talks with Apple Inc.,” a China Unicom executive told China Business News. The talks have been ongoing since October, according to the report.

Apple executives voiced confidence in iPhone sales for the second quarter ending in March, according to an analyst Thursday.

Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi told investors Apple’s top executives “appeared confident” after speaking with operations chief Tim Cook, chief finance officer Peter Oppenheimer and product head Phil Schiller earlier this week.

Apple’s confidence ahead of its second quarter guidance is bolstered by news Mac inventory is “below target level,” action that could increase Mac growth, according to Sacconaghi.

The iPhone was also a reason for Cupertino to be happy. The executives were “most bullish” about its handset business and the possibility of increasing market share.

Ted Nugent wants to put a little “Love Grenade” into your iPod on Valentine’s day. There are three of his tracks on the V-day list, along with a little obligatory Otis.

The Motor City madman says: “Picking the right mood songs and placing them in proper order could change your destiny, and set your ship of life sailing on that stormy sea known as matrimony.”

Here’s The Nuge’s V-Day Playlist:

1. “Wang Dan Doodle” — Howlin’ Wolf
2. “The Flame” — Cheap Trick
3. “Whole Lotta Rosie” — AC/DC
4. “Wango Tango” — Ted Nugent
5. “When A Man Loves A Woman” — Percy Sledge
6. “I’ve Been Lovin’ You Too Long” — Otis Redding
7. “Feels Like The First Time” — Foreigner
8. “My Love Is Like A Tire Iron” — Ted Nugent
9. “Brown Sugar” — The Rolling Stones
10. “Wang Dang Sweet Poontang” — Ted Nugent

There are relationships where saying “Wang dang, what a sweet poontang a shakin’ my thang as a rang-a-dang-dang in the bell” says it all…

Nugent is also promoting a “Valentine’s Couple Hunt” where you and your sweetheart can spend February 14 stalking wild boar or exotic rams “using guns or the preferred method of the god of love.”

Via Idolator

I’m one of those freaks who much prefers listening to radio than watching TV. Consequently, I like to have radios around me. I have one in my office, one in the kitchen, and one in the bedroom. I really need to get hold of one for the bathroom.

FStream and the BBC Streams web site have jointly come to my aid.