Apple today released Security Update 2004-05-03
In addition to the enhancements made in the 2004-04-05 release, today’s release included updates to these services:
AFP Server
CoreFoundation
IPSec
Hit the update button now!
Yoda And the Youngling
There comes a time in every kids life when he gets introduced to Star Wars
Granted, Kael’s already seen episodes I and II a few times (He has to wait till September to see the original trilogy.. I don’t want our VCR to munch my tapes.. and since its a Wal-Mart special.. it probably would). The other day, Kael apparently realized, he’s not alone in his bedroom….
But really, I’m not sure if trying to pull on a Jedi Master’s ear is the best way to introduce yourself to him…
iTunes 4.5
I’ve had a little time to play with it now..
And I think it was a good update. One of my complaints about ‘smart’ playlists in the previous versions of iTunes, was that you couldn’t specify a playlist as the ‘source’ of the ‘smart’ playlist. So, for example, if you had a playlist and you wanted to create a smart playlist that only played songs off that list that you hadn’t heard in like 3 days , you couldn’t do it (unless that ‘source’ list was a unique genre, same artist, etc..). With 4.5, you can now specify a playlist as one of the criteria for the smart list.
Party shuffle – this is similar to the ‘shuffle’ feature in earlier version (and thats still there), except, you can now see what the next songs are going to be, and re-arrange them as you see fit. A click of the refresh button, re-randomizes the list.
Free music – Ok..technically, this isn’t a feature of iTunes 4.5…but.. I like it.. granted, I don’t normally listen to any of the Artists who have had ‘free’ songs so far this week (one a day for 8 days, then it goes to 1 a week). But, its a chance to hear a song from someone you might not normally listen to at no expense to yourself.
If you haven’t updated yet… go get it!
Interesting News Stories
Another round of interesting news articles out there today…
To start with… here’s a good quote from New York’s Mayor:
“It’s just unacceptable that somebody can walk down the street and get electrocuted … We’ve got to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
Apparently Con-Ed has a few shorts in their wiring, and its electrifying manhole covers/grates/etc.. in parts of the Big Apple. Who knew that walking your dog in NYC could be lethal! Full story here.
A couple of Miami DJs are in trouble with the Federal Censorship Committee for prank calling Fidel Castro… so, to get back at the FCC, the DJs are planning on paying their fine in person, in cash – well.. in pennies to be precise… here’s their story. And now would probably be a good time to mention www.stopfcc.com again, if you haven’t already done so.. go sign the petition, and follow the link to the ACLU’s fax your senator thingie…
iTunes Music Store turns 1
iToday was the 1 year birthday of the iTunes Music Store. To celebrate, Apple hosted a conference call for industry analysts and the media, to talk about how the store is doing…
All in all… I’d have to say the store is doing pretty good. The hoped for goal of 100 million songs downloaded in the first year, didn’t quite happen (apparently, no-one drinks Pepsi…that contest didn’t result in as high a number of redeemed songs as expected… not that I can blame anyone.. I don’t drink Pepsi either…—- on that note, if you still have any unredeemed caps, you’ve got a little more then 48 hours to redeem ’em)
Here’s the numbers:
more than 70 million songs downloaded in the past year.
70% market share (Number 1) of legal downloads for both singles and albums
Listeners are buying songs at the rate of 2.7 MILLION songs per week – on track for about 140 million songs in the next year.
Over 700,000 songs from the big 5 labels, and over 450 independent labels.
As if that wasn’t enough…. As a birthday present to the listeners.. Apple will be giving away free tracks each week – an easy way to increase your library. The current track is ‘My Hero’ by the Foo Fighters… but there is a note on one of the iTunes web pages that states there will be a new track on 4/29.
Also today:
iTunes 4.5 – Lossless encoding, convert WMA to AAC, Publish your playlist to the iTMS, Print CD inserts, Party Shuffle, purchased music now authorizable on 5 machines instead of 3, watch movie trailers via iTunes —– I haven’t had a chance to play with it yet.. I’ll let you know after I play around a bit.
Quicktime 6.5.1 — Goes with iTunes 4.5 – Lossless encoding is the biggie here.
iMovie 4.0.1 – Performance improvements for large projects
iPod update – updated all iPods to allow playback of lossless encoded music.
New Laptops and Software
This morning, in an unusual release date (Apple doesn’t normally release new stuff on Monday) Apple introduced revised Powerbooks and iBooks
So, as of today.. Apple is not making a machine that clocks out at less then 1Ghz. Full specs are available here . All in all a good update to the laptop line… Airport extreme now standard on High end iBook and all the Powerbooks.
This release comes on the heels of announcing new versions of Final Cut Pro, DVD Studio Pro, a new title called Motion, another new one called xSan at NAB yesterday…
Apple also released an updated version of the Airport software, and a new Airport management utility this morning. Apple product release gnomes have been very busy the last 48 hours…
And You though your job was rough
It could be worse… you could be the leader of the terrorist group Hamas
Definitely not a job for anyone who plans on living long enough to retire… they’ve gone through 2 leaders in a months time. Apparently, whoever decides to run this particular terrorist organization has a habit of getting blown up by missiles. Wonder what kind of benefits Hamas offers to make up for the “your replacing the guy who got blown up last week… we expect you to be blown up by the end of next month… want the job?” job offer they have to make (Free Latte at Starbucks?)
Don’t get me wrong.. I’m thrilled that terrorist leaders are getting blown into little itty bitty pieces.. I just think it’d be hilarious to hear the job offer they make….
Hamas has apparently picked a new leader… and their keeping it a secret who it is this time… so I bet this guy lasts 2 months…
First Words… Kinda
Super K’s babbling has started to sound like real words..
Kael has been babbling for awhile now. But for the last week or so, it really sounds like he’s talking. For example, Sunday when we were dying Easter eggs. Janice and I were talking to him, and telling him what we were going to do. We said something along the lines of “Are you having fun?” and his response sounded like he said “I’m done”. Last night, I was talking to Janice on the phone, and Kael was babbling in the background. She handed the phone to him, and he said “Hi Dad”.
Granted.. we know he’s just making noise and putting sounds together…and he’s not really talking yet….but.. its funny how much his babbling sounds like real conversation and how much it sounds like he’s answering or talking correctly for whatevers going on!
New eMacs
This morning, Apple introduced the latest revision to their eMac line of computers.
Both of the models feature 1.25Ghz G4 processors. The RAM has been upgraded to DDR RAM, which is faster then older SDRAM. The combo drive version starts at $799, with the superdrive version coming in at $999. So you can now make your own DVDs for less then a grand… all in all, a very solid update for the ‘low’ end of the Mac lineup. Full specs are here.
1st Easter!
Yesterday was Easter…and it was Kael’s first one
He got a basketful of goodies, along with a few toys. His face broke into a huge grin when he saw his pile of goodies. The pictures we took are available here . One of our favorite pictures from the day is this one:
Bunnicula!
All in all Super-K seems to have enjoyed his first Easter!