After Hitting the Wall in Mac System 7 development, Apple desperately needed a plan for the future. The isolationist, proprietary development style that had formerly differentiated Apple’s products now stood in the way of the company’s very survival. The same situation applies to Microsoft today.
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Contributed by: Daniel Eran, RDM

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If you like SoundSpectrum’s G-Force visualizer for iTunes (and who deosn’t?) then you should check out their latest effort, SoftSkies.
Designed to be more soothing than intense, SoftSkies fills your screen with serene cloud imagary that moves to the beat of your music. It’s perfect for connecting to a flat-panel display during your Thanksgiving and holiday entertaining. The basic version is free, Gold and Platinum will cost you.
SoftSkies Gold (US$20) includes:
- An extensive set of designer skies especially created for Gold
- Several dozen Living Images showcasing Scenic Castles, Swiss Structure, and Utah Landscapes
- Configurable album cover art support
SoftSkies Platinum (US$30) includes:
- SoftSkies Screen Saver
- SoftSkies Standalone
- Multi-Player Support

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Five primary factors will determine the winner in the new generation of consoles. Here ’s a look at the obvious differentiators between Sony’s PlayStation 3, Microsoft’s Xbox 360, and Nintento’s Wii, and how each company plays out a unique strategy in the bid to sell the most consoles
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Contributed by: Daniel Eran, RDM

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Shareware author Magnus Lundholm has updated his program, CoolBook, a $10 application which allows the user to adjust the clock speed and voltage of Intel Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors.
A bug which was discovered and has been corrected in the latest version of the program, prevents the CPU from running at the user-configured performance mode when the laptop is running solely from a power adapter without a battery installed.
Lundholm also suggests that CoolBook users can quit the installer once it’s finished its task, then open CoolBook and enter preferred settings for the battery and power adapter modes before restarting.
Although the Intel Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors are renowned for running at much cooler temperatures than their G4 predecessors, Lundholm’s published benchmarks have recorded temperature decreases by as much as 14°C (25.2° F).

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In another recent article I said it would be nice if Apple would put a “supercharger” in the 13″ MacBook — sort of like the JCW Tuning Kit for a MINI Cooper that turns it into a “pocket rocket” — for those of us who like little things that go wicked fast. Then the Core 2 Duo version of the MacBook is announced.

So inquiring minds want to know if it provides enough “punch” over the Core Duo version to deem the MacBook as an “S” model. Or is that integrated GPU going to ruin all the fun?

13″ MacBook Core 2 Duo versus others

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I took some temperature benchmarks comparing the MacBook Pro (Core Duo) and MacBook Pro (Core 2 Duo). The results substantiate what I uncovered in a previous post about the Core 2 Duo running significantly cooler than the Core Duo.
For this test I took both a Core Duo MBP (2.0GHz) and a Core 2 Duo MBP (2.33GHz) and booted them into a clean OS X account at the same time. Both were connected to power and Energy Saver settings were optimized for high performance.
I let both machines running the Nature Patterns screen saver for an hour then took 12 temperature readings from the top and 12 readings from the bottom and compared them. Readings were taken using a MasterCool 52224 infrared thermometer gun.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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A number of users have reported difficulties with their laptops after downloading and installing the MacBook 13″ Firmware Update 1.1.
Problems have ranged from increased fan noise to increased operating temperatures to problems recognizing certain devices that had been seen before.
The firmware update, which was released yesterday, focused on fixing problems with the MacBook’s temperature sensors and random shutdowns.
In some cases, downloading and reinstalling the most recent Mac OS X combo updater (for both the Intel and PowerPC hardware architectures) can resolve these issues. In other cases, utilities such as Cocktail or Tiger Cache Cleaner can help clear the system cache and resolve these issues.
In cases where the user is having significant problems, a firmware downgrade disc can be created, although this is applicable only to situation where the firmware update failed during installation. For instructions as to how to create the firmware downgrade disc, click here.

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I’ve always been into cool t-shirts and designed and printed them all through college to make some extra cash. Recently I stumbled across Insanely Great Tees. Their designs are geek chic without hitting you over the head and (most of all) they’re printed on super soft American Apparel t-shirts. I opted for the PowerPage orange bomb design, and of course, the Apple heart. US$17 each.

Your closet should be jam-packed with so many awesome t-shirts that you never have to worry about doing the laundry!

Truly amazing shirt facts!

• Printed on Space-Age Super Tees (They’re made by American Apparel, for ultra softness and the perfect fit every time)

• Designed by Geeks, for Geeks (Be proud of your geekish heritage! You’ll look so great, even your enemies will be impressed)

• Shipped to you from New York City! (All cool things come from NYC, including movies, pizza, tall buildings and King Kong)

Insanely Great Tees

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I thought you’d like to take a look at a cool retro concept — a computerless printer. The company is Presto, and Clearstone, Kleiner Perkins and Vanguard have backed it.
HP makes a specialized US$150 device which is essentially a printer with a modem. The user simply loads paper and an ink cartridge, and plugs it into the wall and phone lines. It does not require a special phone line. The printer has its own email address using a service run by Presto that costs US$9.95 per month or US$99 per year.
In a typical scenario, the device will be given as a gift to someone who is not comfortable using a computer by someone who wants to send him/her emails and photos. The giver goes to the Presto website and specifies which email addresses are authorized to send stuff to the device, so there is no possibility of spam.
The service has a ton of nice features. For example, the font size can be made large on all emails, no matter what font size was used in the original. Photos and other attachments are formatted and automatically printed. Beautiful templates, seasonal greetings and calendars can be generated. And customized content can be delivered, such as horoscopes, Sudoko, news articles of interest, etc.
The device even knows its own ink levels and paper status, and this can be reported via email to the giver, or used for automatic ink replenishment shipments.
More details at www.presto.com — also on Amazon, Hammacher Schlemmer, Buy.com and other Web sites.

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The Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii both jumped into the game console ring to compete against Microsoft’s Xbox 360. Who is going to win? A half decade ago, many analysts projected a close race between the PS2, Xbox, and GameCube, but they were wrong. Here’s how things turned out, and what’s changed.
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Contributed by: Daniel Eran, RDM

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