A MacRumors forum post by Rokem details a hack for the MacBook Pro fans that can significantly reduce its operating temperature.

Now my processor is 40-50˚F cooler… battery life is maybe 5 minutes shorter, and the fans are not all that much louder.

(Clarification: Reader Michael Booth notes that Rokem appears to have looked up the temperature conversion in terms of absolute values… 40-50˚F is actually 22-28 °C.)
Rokem achieved the temperature reduction by modifying the plist files in AppleBlower.ktext and AppleFan.ktext. Essentially, he edited the speed values for both fans so they kick on a little sooner and run a bit faster.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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All this chatter about Apple’s admission of stock options backdating and CFO Anderson’s resulting resignation is kind of lame coverage for a weekend so I instead wanted to focus on something cooler: bluetooth gadgets.
If your mobile phone has Bluetooth then you owe it to yourself to grab a really nice Bluetooth headset (you are using a headset with your handy, aren’t you?). Headsets are important for safety and are required while driving in many states but it’s the convenience that really makes them essential. Most Bluetooth headsets cost less than US$100 and once you have one it’s hard to go back.
Enter the JX10 Bluetooth headset from Jabra…
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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CNet News.com’s Candace Lombardi reports that Sony is planning to announce a massive battery recall. Sony manufactures the rechargeable Lithium Ion batteries cells found in almost every major notebook computer sold today.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC):
The recall will encompass all possibly defective batteries, including those previously announced by manufacturers for specific notebook computers.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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This picture cropped up from a MacBook user claiming that it’s thermal grease that leaked onto his RAM strips.

…the thermal grease applied to the internal components has leached into the RAM slots on my motherboard and have ‘soiled’ the DIMM’s with thermal grease.

Apple notebook users get anxious over pictures like this because of the whole thermal grease over-application fiasco that plagued the MacBook Pro back in May 2006.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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On 23 January, 2006 CNet reporters Dawn Kawamoto and Tom Krazit published a story (“HP outlines long-term strategy”) that detailed HP’s plans to improve the technology the company uses to manage its direct sales, its commercial printing efforts and acquisitions of software companies. The story was attributed to “a source with the company.”
The Smoking Gun has posted an 18-page internal HP report detailing the hunt for the corporate leaker behind the story. The document was released by the House of Representatives committee examining the company’s search, which included obtaining the private phone records for board members and journalists.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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Instead of a planned presentation WiFi hacker Johnny Ellch delivered only a prepared statement at ToorCon, San Diego’s annual security conference on Saturday.
I reported last week that Maynor and Ellch were scheduled to speak at ToorCon, where the inflammatory duo’s “complete story” of their infamous MacBook WiFi hack was to be told. The talk was supposed to “offer analysis and commentary of public responses while at the same time giving anyone who has a question a chance to have it answered” according to the hyperbole on the conference Web site.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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AppleInsider is reporting that Intel plans to incorporate NAND flash memory into its next-generation notebook platform. This would enable Intel’s clients (like Apple) “to develop systems that are twice as fast in some operations yet sustain longer battery life.” At the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) in March Intel mentioned that they plan to add flash memory support to their Santa Rosa notebook platform which is due in the first half of 2007.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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As you’d expect with all the problems reported with iTunes 7, Apple today released an iTunes 7.0.1 update (25MB) for Mac and Windows users that is supposed to fix a number of problems with the popular music player. The software update doesn’t give an indication about what the update fixes:
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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Three veterans of Apple Computer have joined together to form a startup that acquired Newport Beach, CA-based Jazz Semiconductor, Inc.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, former Chairman and CEO Gil Amelio and former CTO Ellen Hancock got together to form Acquicor Technology, Inc. (AMEX:AQR) and their first move was to acquire Jazz Semi in an all-cash transaction valued at $260 million.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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About six months ago I switched from iPhoto to Aperture and the switch has not been painless. I originally switched to Aperture when I purchased a new Canon Rebel XT DSLR camera because I wanted to use some of Aperture’s advanced features. Once I got used to the Aperture interface (not a trivial task) I found it to be an excellent piece of software. The problem is that it’s not very forgiving for amateur users and many of the niceties I was used to in iPhoto were missing.
Read the rest of the story on my ZDNet Blog: The Apple Core.

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