Apple added a feature called Sudden Motion Sensor (SMS) to the PowerBook line in early 2005. The sensor attempts to prevent data loss by parking the heads of an active disk drive after detecting a “sudden motion”, which could be due to strong vibrations or a fall. The SMS is also called the Mobile Motion Module, The Mac OS X kernel refers to it as “AMS,” for Apple Motion Sensor, so we’ll adopt the term “AMS” to refer to both the hardware and its software abstraction. Read More…

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The International Herald Tribune is reporting that President Bush has had an iPod since July 2004. Read More for W’s playlist…

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Another feature that I’ve been requesting at Google Maps (saved locations) is now available. The only issue is that it isn’t provided by Google. Read More…

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According to a story on The Register, the US is the source for more than 35% of all spam, world-wide, with South Korea second at 25%, and China third at just under 10% (all this according to Sophos).
Here’s the interesting quote in the article:

Sophos researchers say that an unprotected Windows XP computer (without any firewall, patches or anti-virus protection) stands a 50 per cent chance of infection by an internet worm after just nine minutes plugged onto the net. After 40 minutes there is a 90 per cent chance of infection.

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Backdrifter.com notes that Robert Scoble, a prominent Microsoft blogger whose official title at the company is “Technical Evangelist,” is using a PowerBook.

Playing with a Macintosh on the Red Couch
As penance for my pro-Microsoft sins I’m using a 17″ Macintosh Powerbook on my Red Couch. My brother-in-law is visiting and brought it along. I gotta tell ya, that huge screen just calls to me. Says “don’t you want me?” Yes, I do! Yes, I do!

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Sven Kissner wrote an article about his experiences with his new PowerBook, Mac OS X and Linux.

First impressions
I’m playing with my PowerBook for about two days now and even though not being too tolerant when it comes to operating systems, I have to admit that OS X itself is pretty appealing. It has that Just Works-touch I sometimes miss with GNU/Linux. I’m afraid there’s probably not too much to write about, it?s nearly too simple and I found my way around pretty fast.

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While we’re looking at cool interfaces and video hardware this week, we can’t miss Pioneer‘s DVJ-X1 digital video turntable. The DVJ-X1 has been out for about a year, but in case you missed it, this amazing virtual turntable spins high-quality video and audio simultaneously. DJ Eldorado got his hands on it at the Winter Music Conference — and watched the pros show it off. Click read more for the whole story. -PK

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