“Back to the Mac”

Apparently, Apple has called a press conference for next week to discuss something Mac OS related. Apple: Back to the Mac? October 20 It’s a mark of where we are that most of the buzz around this is: Will it be called “Lion”? Will it include FaceTime integration? *sigh*. My take: “Back to the Mac” … Continue reading ““Back to the Mac””

Apparently, Apple has called a press conference for next week to discuss something Mac OS related.

Apple: Back to the Mac? October 20

It’s a mark of where we are that most of the buzz around this is:

  1. Will it be called “Lion”?
  2. Will it include FaceTime integration?

*sigh*.

My take: “Back to the Mac” sounds too much like “Back to my Mac” for it not to be cloud focused — particularly since they are just finishing up their massive new data center in NC. 😉

Brazil copyright law significantly better than Canada

I saw this link this morning, and I though I’d pass it on: Brazil’s copyright law forbids using DRM to block fair use To me, the critical point is that (as it says in the article title) they do not allow “digital locks” to block your fair use rights. Just so everyone is aware, this … Continue reading “Brazil copyright law significantly better than Canada”

I saw this link this morning, and I though I’d pass it on:

Brazil’s copyright law forbids using DRM to block fair use

To me, the critical point is that (as it says in the article title) they do not allow “digital locks” to block your fair use rights. Just so everyone is aware, this is not true for the new Canadian copyright law that is currently being introduced.

(I know this is the kind of thing that we tweet, in this modern age, but I wanted to keep the link around for future reference (and I still like the “link of the day” concept).)

How to read any document on your iPad

MacFixit has a nice little workflow for simplifying the task of getting a document onto your iPad for offline reading. It’s not surprising what’s going on — you just create a PDF and then copy it to iTunes to make it available in iBooks — but did you know it was trivial to add a … Continue reading “How to read any document on your iPad”

MacFixit has a nice little workflow for simplifying the task of getting a document onto your iPad for offline reading. It’s not surprising what’s going on — you just create a PDF and then copy it to iTunes to make it available in iBooks — but did you know it was trivial to add a “Save PDF to iTunes” menu item in the standard print dialog?

Easily save Web pages, documents in iTunes for use with iOS devices

Classic arcade games aren’t.

At CES, Microsoft announced “Game Room for XBOX 360”, which is purported to “recreate the old school arcade experience for you (and your avatar)”. (Image courtesy Engadget) For Pete’s sake people, can we please stop finding yet another way to re-deliver games that we got bored of twenty years ago. If we ever want the … Continue reading “Classic arcade games aren’t.”

At CES, Microsoft announced “Game Room for XBOX 360”, which is purported to “recreate the old school arcade experience for you (and your avatar)”.

Game Room presentation
(Image courtesy Engadget)

For Pete’s sake people, can we please stop finding yet another way to re-deliver games that we got bored of twenty years ago. If we ever want the world at large to treat games like a valid art form, we’ve got to stop glorifying trivial gameplay and graphics so stupid-ugly that they can be implemented by emulating the whole bloody machine in JavaScript.

E-book Readers

Here’s a quick link-of-the-day with MacWorld’s take on an a number of the currently available e-book readers: Review roundup: E-book readers Personally, I’ve tried all of the Sony’s, the Kindle 2, and a couple of other e-ink based ones. In all cases, I found the screen flash on page turns quite frustrating. Ken tells me … Continue reading “E-book Readers”

Here’s a quick link-of-the-day with MacWorld’s take on an a number of the currently available e-book readers:

Review roundup: E-book readers

Personally, I’ve tried all of the Sony’s, the Kindle 2, and a couple of other e-ink based ones. In all cases, I found the screen flash on page turns quite frustrating. Ken tells me that you get used to it, but for me the iPhone still bests all of the other devices, as long as you aren’t trying to read PDFs. (And that’s not just because I’ve always got it with me.)

What I really want is an Apple tablet with a Pixel Qi-like display.

Swine Flu

I hope we’ve all been taking this seriously, but in case you haven’t… Swine Flu is in Ontario, we just haven’t gotten the tests back yet: Ontario probes suspected swine flu cases amid pandemic fears It’s not under control in Nova Scotia: Swine flu symptoms spreading beyond Windsor, N.S., campus And for good measure, here’s … Continue reading “Swine Flu”

I hope we’ve all been taking this seriously, but in case you haven’t…

Swine Flu is in Ontario, we just haven’t gotten the tests back yet:

Ontario probes suspected swine flu cases amid pandemic fears

It’s not under control in Nova Scotia:

Swine flu symptoms spreading beyond Windsor, N.S., campus

And for good measure, here’s a US link:

Swine Flu: What You Need to Know

And just so you know, if the Mexico stats hold, it’s killing about 6.5% of the people who get it. So, wash your hands with soap and hot water, stay away from people who are coughing and sneezing, avoid crowds, and look around you: 1 out of every 20 people you know who catch it is going to die.