BareFeats just ran Doom 3, Quake 4 and UT2004 tests on a 2GHz MacBook 13″ and compared those results to the MacBook Pro, PowerBook and iBook. As expected the MacBook 13″ was a real “slouch,” even being beat by the iBook.
The PowerPage and I got a big win today in the Apple vs. Does case. Our petition in O’Grady, et al. v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County (Case: H028579, 6th District) was granted.
All discussion of the Apple case are being posted on my ZDNet blog. Abstracts are posted here for interested readers.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.
It’s not clear how widespread this issue is, but at least one user has dicovered that a thin plastic film was covering the exhaust vent of his new MacBook and prevented it from cooling properly:
Just as many other MacBooks, mine got really hot and that got me a bit concerned. This is my first Apple laptop and I take a lot of pleasure in discovering new things about it. After playing around with it I found that the vent under the screen is covered with a piece of laminate. I briefly checked the manual and it doesn’t mention anything about it. It’s very hard to get to it as the gap between the screen and the base is very tight. However, I was able to remove it and surprise… my fans went quiet. The laminate covers the whole vent so no air gets out at all.
G-Stahl.com: MacBook’s vent blocked
technorati tags: macbook, overheating
The folks over at Griffin Technology have released a new set of lanyard earbuds for the iPod nano – TuneBuds (US$35). They snap on to the dock connector port on the nano and have the earbuds creatively wired through the lanyard avoiding the “spaghetti factor” of tangled wires.
TuneBuds are based on Griffin’s EarThump earphones (US$20) and come in back and white to match any nano. TuneBuds feature a noise isolating design, neodymium dynamic micro-drivers and ship with three different-sized silicone inserts to fit any size ears. Bonus: they’re US$15 cheaper than Apple’s version.
Since last year the Netherlands has been infested with Apple Centres. About 18 Apple retail shops have opened with a layout similar to the Apple Stores all over the U.S. They are located mostly in the big cities, with Amsterdam and Rotterdam having three or four stores. Utrecht even has two within spitting distance of each other. Apple Netherlands has always supported the shops.
Last week all 18 Centres were notified that they have to change their names to ‘Apple Premium Reseller’ for legal reasons. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it?
(Picture courtesy: IFOAppleStore.com)
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.
This you’ve just got to see:
I usually keep two 20" screens side by side on my desk, so I can code on one and test on the other. I find I can work much faster if I can just make a change in Eclipse, and by the time I turn my head to the other screen, the tests have already run. My new laptop, however, has a 15" screen, which feels a bit cramped when I’m working away from the office. I’ve been using the fancy Desktop Manager by Richard Wareham, which is a very nice utility to let you keep several virtual desktops, and change between them easily.
Of course, if you’re using something like Emacs or Butler, all your keys will be taken already, so you’ll need to use some sort of Command-Ctrl-Shift-4 keystroke for the actual desktop switching.
Turns out, the laptop has a built-in motion sensor. Nominally, it’s there to protect the internal hard drive. The basic idea is this: If the accelerometer suddenly notices that the gravitational pull of earth is no longer present, the most likely explanation is that the laptop, sensor and all, is currently accelerating at 9.81 m/s² towards said earth. In that case, it will (wisely) try to turn the hard drive off in preparation for impact.
Medallia Blog: SmackBook Pro Archives
