PowerPage Server Move: Historical Stories Imported
28 October 2005 10:13 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
We finished the import of all the historical stories from the previous PowerPage back end database. There are now over 8,000 stories in the database dating back to 1999 for your searching pleasure. The GUI for the search pages is still incomplete, so pardon the dust there for a while longer.
Thank you to Habi Jilani who wrote the converter from our Web Objects format to Movable Type.
We are in the process of searching for and importing the stories from the PowerPage lost years (1995-1999) and hope to have them imported an online to celebrate our tenth year anniversary of publishing in December.
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More Laptops With EVDO Built-in
29 September 2005 09:55 EST
First it was the Panasonic Toughbook, then HP and Dell jumped on the bandwagon, now IBM/Lenovo have launched the new Z60t widescreen Z-Series ThinkPad - with a built-in EVDO modem (Verizon 1xEV-DO WWAN).
According to EVDO Wikipedia EVDO is:
"a wireless radio broadband data protocol being adopted by many CDMA mobile phone providers in Brazil, Japan, Korea, Israel, the United States, Australia and Canada as part of the cdma2000 standard. 1xEVDO is pronounced "One Ex-E:- Vee-Dee-Oh." It is commonly referred in the industry as DO (Dee-Oh).Apple should be paying attention to this trend and needs to make sure that a broadband chipset (EVDO, GPRS or EDGE) is embedded on the new PowerBook motherboard. Don't be the last vendor to include this functionality!Compared to 1xRTT networks currently being used by operators, or the GPRS and EDGE networks employed by their GSM competitors, 1xEV-DO is significantly faster, providing access terminals with download speeds of up to 2.4 Mbit/s. Only terminals with 1xEV-DO chipsets can take advantage of the higher speeds.
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Well-Round Mobile Devices for Emergency Situations-UPDATED
23 September 2005 12:38 EST
With impending disasters raging alone the coastal regions and the always possibility of power outages. One sometimes re-thinks what one has in case of a situation like such. I quickly did a search and found some nice items. Please Note: This list is no way exhaustive (I'm sure with more time, one could find even better stuff).
Click the headline to read more...
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Kyocera KR1 EVDO Router - First Look
23 September 2005 12:33 EST
The Kyocera KR1 Router is almost available. This US$200 EVDO router will allow iBooks, PowerBook 12 and any desktop computer to hook up to wireless broadband using Verizon or Sprint. Click on the headline to read more...
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Dell, HP To Sell Laptops With Verizon Wireless Data Services
19 September 2005 03:00 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Computerworld is reporting that Dell and HP will offer laptops early next year that will include embedded radios for accessing Verizon's EVDO wireless data network. Readers of this site know that Apple has been experimenting with a tri-radio (WiFi, Bluetooth, GSM/GPRS) PowerBook for some time now and may finally release it in 2006.
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The Television as a Hub?
19 September 2005 07:32 EST
In the past, we had television. Then there were computers. Then there was cable TV. Then there was a cable modem for the computer. Does anyone see a basic connection here and then a disconnect? For at least two years now I've been trying to get Apple (or anybody I can get to listen), to finally tie the two technologies together. The silence has been deafening. Read More...
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Some SMS Voyeurism for the Weekend?
16 September 2005 10:36 EST
"Slogging," the practice of sending your SMS to a public SMS log, and of reading people?s personal, private, and distinctly odd messages, is becoming rather popular. Read more...
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Entourage's iSync Compatibility Pushed to 2006
09 September 2005 11:56 EST
Microsoft state that they expect Entourage to be made compatible with iSync sometime during the first half of 2006, despite statements made at MacWorld in January 2005 that the update was almost ready.
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TiVo Owners: Got Macrovision?
09 September 2005 04:48 EST
Have you noticed that when you "update" a product these days, you have to be on your guard lest the vendor slip in a "downgrade"? Like when Apple "updated" iTunes to reduce the number of burns you could make from the music you bought from the iTunes Music Store?
Well, here's another reminder of how "updates" can hurt you. As reported in the PVRBlog, the latest TiVo OS "update" causes some TiVos to start popping up red copyright warning flags on certain saved programs (including the Simpsons), threatening to automatically erase programs after a certain number of days. These restrictions are part of TiVo's move, as reported last year, to lockdown and auto-erase content that is marked by broadcasters with Macrovision (a technology originally intended to befuddle analog VCRs, but now also being used as a flag to mark analog video for copy restrictions).
Click through for the rest of the story and links from the EFF...
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TuneBox Speaker System for iPod shuffle
30 August 2005 06:10 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
I'm a big fan of iPod boom boxes, they're great for the beach, boat, garage, whatever. Most of them are designed for the white iPod though, what's a punk with an iPod shuffle to do? Griffin Technology has got your answer bunky - the TuneBox.
Griffin's US$39.99 TuneBox is a small boombox for the iPod shuffle that also charges your shuffle's battery while it's playing. At less than 4 square inches, TuneBox delivers impressive sound for such a small package.
TuneBox's micro drivers and efficient amplified speakers generate a powerful, dynamic sound, with unexpected clarity and great highs and lows.My only complaint is that I wish that TuneBox had a battery option, but then again, I'm usually not far from a power outlet - with the exception of Burningman, that is!TuneBox keeps the shuffle's clickwheel controls up front within easy reach. Though it's designed to visually complement the iPod shuffle, TuneBox delivers great sound from any MP3 player or other audio device that uses the standard 3.5mm stereo jack.
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PowerPage Burningman Meetup; Vacation
26 August 2005 12:01 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
You're invited to attend the PowerPage meetup at Burningman 2005 in Black Rock City, Nevada. If you're heading out to the desert this weekend for the annual arts festival, drop me a line for the details. We'll most likely be meeting at the Astral Headwash theme camp, which is located at 4:20 and Ego. Planned meeting time is around 7pm 'playa time' at Astral on Thursday, September 1. If you can't make that, stop by Astral any time after Wednesday and ask for Eldorado. If you don't know what Burningman is, you can read up about it on their Web site and If you've never attended, do yourself a favor and c'mon out!
While your editor is at Burningman we won't be updating the site as often, although our staff of associate editors will be posting important PowerBook news as it comes up. I'll be away from Next Wednesday (August 31) and will be back in the saddle on Monday September 19 - just in time for the new iPod and PowerBook announcements at Apple Expo Paris!
In the meanwhile you'll be in the able hands of Peter, Emory, Rob, Bob, Neal, Vic, Ole and Ammad. They'll be watching the PowerPage Newswire for your submissions, so if you see an important mobile technology story - POST IT!
See you on the Playa.
-Jason
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Is That an iPod in Your Pocket? Apple Event Scheduled for 07 September
26 August 2005 04:13 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Macworld is reporting that the press has been summoned to a special event hosted by Apple to launch a new iPod of some sort. The email invitation contains thinly veiled references to the original iPod's slogan.
Apple on Monday sent out invitations to select media and VIPs for a "special event" planned on September 7, 2005 at 10:00 AM Pacific Time, at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco, Calif. The e-mailed invitation shows a pair of denim jeans. At the top of the image reads a caption, "1000 songs in your pocket changed everything. Here we go again."The company may use the event to launch the new flash-based color iPod mini, originally planned for Apple Expo Paris on 20 September. Conventional wisdom is that Apple will use the event to launch the iTunes phone, which is so over-hyped that it's already lame.
Engadget is reporting that the iPhone will only hold 100 songs and that the phone ads will be "music-based spots with people calmly walking down the street on the phone with their shadows and reflections dancing wildly beside them." Yawn.
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Burning Music, Man
25 August 2005 11:17 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
I've previously mentioned that I'm off to (cough) "cover" the BurningMan Festival in Black Rock City, NV for the PowerPage (translation: vacation). Leave it to Peter Kirn over at CreateDigitalMusic.com to actually cover the event. CDM's got a really cool story about Eric Singer's Max/MSP-controlled pyrophone at Burningman, which your humble editor spent a good hour or two playing around with at last year's event. The thing is cool.
I'll try to take some notes about the PowerBook and audio scene at )^( this year (pictures for sure) but I'm not promising anything, ok?
For some of the most bizarre and unusual music-sound installation art, look no further than Burning Man. Burning, indeed: this desert-based event has in the past featured Eric Singer's Max/MSP-controlled pyrophone, a propane-powered flaming sound organ. (And, incidentally, that installation is making a repeat appearance this year.)Jump over to CDM for the whole story, and if you're attending BM this year, consider yourself invited to the PowerPage meetup tomorrow night.And what better activity when in the middle of the desert than tweaking knobs and producing strange electronic grooves? That's the idea behind improbable orchestra, an interactive table full o' knobs for collaborative soundmaking. Build one yourself: check out the copious design notes. Basic specs: the free Pure Data graphical multimedia development environment is running sounds, gutted Pentium PC with custom power supply, custom circuit board connecting the knobs and fiddly bits thorough a Parallax basic stamp board. (Lots more specs on their site, missing only details of the Pd patch.)
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Animations for Your Color iPod
25 August 2005 05:47 EST
Tian at Kisky recently put a site together dedicated to sharing animations and other sequential ephemera for your color iPod. Click through for the link...
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HOW TO Make a PowerBook in to a Wi-Fi Access Point
24 August 2005 07:37 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
MAKEZine has posted a tutotial on how to turn your PowerBook into a WiFi access point.
if you have a Mac Powerbook with PC card slot and a EVDO card you can make the same thing, broadcasting free Wi-Fi for anyone around! Here's how...
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iPod Video... Details?
23 August 2005 02:22 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
SmashWorld: Apple is in a rush to gather content for a portable video solution. I spoke on the phone with a contact working at Apple and uncovered some pretty interesting stuff!
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New Notebook Clock Devices Cut Power Consumption in Half
23 August 2005 11:17 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Macsimum News has the juice on new notebook clock devices that promise to reduce power consumption dramatically in notebooks.
IDT (Integrated Device Technology), a communications IC company, has introduced new notebook clock devices that purportedly reduce power consumption by up to half that of previous generation products.Read on for more details and links...The new low-power PC clock devices support Intel Centrino mobile technology-based laptops, which are built upon the Intel ?Napa? platform and will also support Intel?s next-generation computing architecture. Since Macs are moving to Intel chips, it seems likely that future Apple laptops will utilize the IDT technology. And power consumption in portables has been one of the company?s biggest concerns.
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High-Definition Audio Coming to a PowerBook Near You?
23 August 2005 10:59 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Macsimum News is reporting that new Hi-Def audio codecs could find their way into future Apple portables. Digital microphones offering high-definition audio input in laptops would improve voice quality for applications such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), voice instant messaging (IM) and speech recognition according to the article.
SigmaTel, which makes mixed-signal integrated circuits for the portable consumer electronics and computing markets, has introduced a new family of high-fidelity high-definition (HD) audio codecs. Ron Edgerton, president and CEO of SigmaTel, says the new codecs will allow for digital microphone capabilities and the ability to implement audio and modem functionality directly on the computer motherboard.Read more...
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Kyocera KPC650 EVDO Card Fully Supported on PowerBooks
22 August 2005 11:09 EST
The Mac EVDO Experts at EVDOinfo.com who in the past have shown us how to make every Verizon BroadbandAccess card work on the PowerBook, is now reporting that software is available that brings full support of the Kyocera KPC650 to PowerBooks. Click through for the link...
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HOW TO: Replace Lost PowerBook G4 Feet on the Cheap
18 August 2005 09:18 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
MAKE Blog: has a tip for you if your PowerBook suffers from podiatry issues.
One of the complaints about the first-generation PowerBook G4 is that the rubber feet easily wear down/tear off leaving the owner with a very hot machine that sits directly on the table. Not good for the table, not good for the machine. Here's a HOW TO on replacing them, cheaply...Jump over to MAKE Blog for the link.
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Apple on PowerBook Care and Feeding
17 August 2005 08:32 EST
Apple has a page on their support Web site detailing how to properly care for a PowerBook that is required reading for all PowerBook owners - because most people never even touch the manuals. It's mostly obvious stuff like "Avoid getting moisture in any openings" and "Do not spray liquid directly on the screen," etc. but there are a couple of gems in there, like "Always leave space around your power adapter. Do not use this equipment in a location where airflow around the power adapter or computer is confined." This is spot on. My 65 watt AC adapter got solar hot recently when it was wedged between the pillows on my couch for about an hour.
One they forgot to add: "PowerBooks don't like coffee."
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Using the Linux Framebuffer for Mac Media Player
15 August 2005 01:35 EST
Use the Linux kernel framebuffer to display graphics -- and discover the alarming truth behind the framebuffer's so-called "standard" mode. This article shows you how to make efficient, direct use of the framebuffer to display JPEG files. Read More...
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TechRestore Announces Free Overnight Pickup Service
09 August 2005 07:30 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
TechRestore (a PowerPage sponsor) announced a free overnight pickup service for PowerBook and iBook repairs. Part of TechRestore's PowerBookRestore overnight repair and upgrade program the new service offers PowerBook and iBook owners in the continental United States a "no cost" solution to have their machines delivered to TechRestore for repair. You can choose from a priority 24-hour turnaround service for US$79 or 48-hour turnaround service for US$49. Completed repairs are shipped back via overnight delivery for free.
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Judge Blocks Cobb County iBook Plan
01 August 2005 09:02 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
According to the Associated Press Judge S. Lark Ingram has blocked a laptop computer program in Cobb County because "school officials did not tell voters they what they wanted to do with a special sales tax approved by voters."
The original plan included US$76 million for technology and school officials estimated they would spend US$32 million on 30,000 computers for students and tens of millions more to "refresh" equipment, such as printers and servers. Part of the tax money was to be used to buy every teacher in the school system a computer.
After voters approved the tax, the school system came up with a new plan that could have eventually distributed 63,000 Apple iBook laptops to all teachers and all students in grades six through 12.
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Privacy Friday: Microsoft's Lockware Strategy
29 July 2005 10:33 EST
Recent headlines blare that Microsoft has forged a new "alliance" with Hollywood, but what does that mean for people who use or create software and hardware that works with Microsoft products?
Seth Schoen, EFF's staff technologist and resident expert on "trusted computing," attended this year's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC) to find out. In a four-part series of updates on Microsoft's security and lockware strategy for Windows, Schoen explores the implications of the latest developments on your ability to control your own computer, create or use interoperable products, exercise your fair-use rights, protect your privacy, and maintain computer security. (Source: EFF)
Read More:
Part 1: "Microsoft Trusted Computing Updates"
Part 2: "The Dangers of Device Authentication"
Part 3: "Protected Media Path, Component Revocation, Windows Driver Lockdown"
Part 4: "Microsoft Sells Out the Public on CGMS-A"
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Privacy Friday: Is Your Printer Spying On You?
29 July 2005 10:30 EST
Imagine that every time you printed a document, it automatically included a secret code that could be used to identify the printer - and potentially, the person who used it. Sounds like something from an episode of "Alias," right?
Unfortunately, the scenario isn't fictional. In an effort to identify counterfeiters, the US government has succeeded in persuading some color laser printer manufacturers to encode each page with identifying information. That means that without your knowledge or consent, an act you assume is private could become public. A communication tool you're using in everyday life could become a tool for government surveillance. And what's worse, there are no laws to prevent abuse. (EFF paper: "Investigating Machine Identification Code Technology in Color Laser Printers")
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Better Daytime Viewing Technology
26 July 2005 12:43 EST
An article in Home Theatre Magazine "Brighten Your Daytime Viewing" goes into detail on a new technology that promises to offer up ten times higher contrast in front-projection televisions in daylight and ambient light...
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Yahoo! Acquires Konfabulator, Makes it Free
25 July 2005 04:25 EST
Jason D. O'Grady
Yahoo! Inc. has acquired Konfabulator, a Mac and Windows application that allows you to run small programs (affectionately dubbed "Widgets") on your desktop. The best part is that Konfabulator is now FREE, whereas yesterday it was US$19.99. I've used and advocated this useful application for years and wish them all the best in their new home.
It should be noted that Konfabulator is a great alternative to users of Mac OS 10.3.x (Panther) that like to use desktop widgets but don't want to spend US$129 on Mac OS 10.4 just to get Apple's Dashboard look alike app. Apple took a lot of criticism for the similarities when they announced their Dashboard application that ships for free with Mac OS 10.4 Tiger.
To celebrate the announcement, download a copy of Konfabulator (ahem, Yahoo Widgets) and force Apple to keep innovating Dashboard.
My current favorite widgets are:
- The Weather
- Stock Ticker
- Maps (Doppler radar for your area)
- BBC News RSS
- myFark Newsreader
- Philly Traffic
- Simpsons Quoter (Homer: Operator! Give me the number for 911!)
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Boston's Logan Airport Tries to Halt Wi-Fi Access
25 July 2005 11:18 EST
ComputerWorld: Massport, the state agency that runs Boston's Logan Airport, is telling Continental Airlines to shut down the free Wi-Fi service it offers customers. The airline now wants the FCC to weigh in on the matter...
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