In A Strike Of Pure Genius, Ungeni.us Is Born

post from Mac Geekery - Get your geek on. on 28 April 2006 10:31:32 AM. © Mac Geekery - Get your geek on.

I've had a lot of fun writing Pure Genius, but we came to a quandry. The PG content doesn't quite fit with Mac Geekery's other content. Thusly, ungeni.us is born. Have a peak.

The latest installment in The Series Formerly Known As Pure Genius is Getting Good Service and covers how to get the most out of your Genius Bar appointment.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.macgeekery.com/site_news/in_a_strike_of_pure_genius_ungeni_us_is_born

Digg this

Mac Gaming News - Army Drops Mac Version of
America's Army

post from "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed on 28 April 2006 09:53:00 AM. © "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed

americas_army This week, Mac gaming programmer Ryan Gordon confirmed in his blog that the Army has dropped the Mac and Linux versions of its first-person shooter America's Army, which was created in 2003 to help military recruitment. While the Army officially ended development of everything but the Windows version at least a year ago, Mr. Gordon acknowledged that he had been allowed to keep working on the Mac and Linux versions on his own time.

He said, however, that the Army currently only pays him to maintain the Linux server for the game, with the Mac and Linux versions cancelled "several versions ago. Let's say it happened when GameSpy jacked their prices, but the port wasn't actually cancelled because of the GameSpy fiasco; while it definitely didn't help, the two events just happened to coincide."

GameSpy's licensing costs increase forced Mr. Gordon to pull that code out of the Mac version and create a workaround. "Sometimes the project is more important than the paycheck," he said of his pro bono programming work. At this point, however, he doesn't have the time to keep his America's Army work going, given the number of paying jobs he has.

"The Army, I think, probably sees these freebie ports as a nuisance, since they're almost always late, and all they see are complaints from the Mac and Linux users about delays in a project they thought they axed several releases ago," Mr. Gordon wrote. At this point, version 2.6 of America's Army "might still make it out the door; 2.7 probably won't."

However, he made it clear that Apple's release of Boot Camp had nothing to do with his decision, as some people on an America's Army forum thread thought. The Mac Observer is currently waiting to hear back from America's Army representatives regarding the decision to axe the Mac and Linux versions of the game, but responses to questions likely won't happen until next week. At that time, we will post their responses.

My Take
You know what the real reason for this is... IMHO? The fact that Windows users are the only people stupid enough to actually fall for this type of propagandist recruitment campaign. After all... if you're stupid enough to continue using Windows, you're certainly stupid enough to go sign up for the Army based a "really cool video game" you found. I believe that since Mac and Linux users tend to be smarter than their Windows using counterparts, the Army decided to pull development of their game for these platforms because they simply weren't getting the response they expected.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.my-mac.org/files/767e68183cae25c731c22a7acb3762c5-216.html#unique-entr
y-id-216

Digg this

MacBook Pro Pricing Doesn't Add Up

post from "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed on 28 April 2006 09:04:00 AM. © "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed

When Apple introduced the 17-inch MacBook Pro on Monday, some observers scratched their heads over the pricing when compared to the 15-inch model. For example, the 15-inch MacBook Pro sells for US$2,499, and upgrading its processor to the 2.16GHz Core Duo one used in the $2,799 17-inch version adds $300, making the cost equal with its sibling but without the larger hard drive, 8X Dual Layer SuperDrive, FireWire 800 port, and other amenities.

Gizmodo was one of several Web sites pointing out the disparity on Tuesday. Some believe the issue could lead to Apple slicing prices or making changes to the 15-inch MacBook Pro. "No doubt that portends an upcoming price reduction or processor enhancement for the original model, but it does seem strange right now," Gene Steinberg wrote on his Web site, The Mac Night Owl.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.my-mac.org/files/286ba3a5b6d502d8322ea052fcb54984-215.html#unique-entr
y-id-215

Digg this

Apple Dominates Woot.com's Propaganda Remake
Contest

post from "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed on 28 April 2006 08:53:00 AM. © "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed

Woot.com recently asked its readers to remake classic propaganda posters (or invent new ones) into posters with a position in today's pro and anti-Microsoft debate. The site then published its 11 favorites, and posters about Apple -- not surprisingly -- dominated those results with eight selections.

Many of those submissions borrowed from classic Communist propaganda posters, while others dipped back into World War I and World War II imagery. One submission tapped into Apple's now-famous iPod visualizations.

First place in the contest paid US$100, with second place offering a $50 purse. Third place paid $20. All three were pro-Apple posters.

thumb1

Visit Woot.com's site for all of the entries.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.my-mac.org/files/9f8e6e277acf4824fc040f06749836c1-214.html#unique-entr
y-id-214

Digg this

Apple introduces 17-inch MacBook Pro

post from "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed on 28 April 2006 08:48:00 AM. © "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed

Apple Computer at the NAB Conference on Monday unveiled its flagship 17-inch MacBook Pro notebook computer featuring the Intel Core Duo processor and an all new system architecture that delivers up to five times the performance of the PowerBook G4.

? 17-inch_mbp4 The new 17-inch MacBook Pro features an aluminum enclosure just one inch thin, weighs 6.8 pounds, includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing on-the-go, Front Row and Apple Remote. It also features a MagSafe Power Adapter, invented by Apple especially for mobile users.

??“The 17-inch MacBook Pro delivers the speed and screen area of a professional desktop system in the world’s best notebook design,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With Intel’s state of the art dual-core processor, the new 17-inch MacBook Pro delivers unrivaled performance in an innovative, sleek, one-inch thin design."

??As expected , the new 17-inch MacBook Pro includes a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo processor that delivers dual-core performance in a power-efficient design. Also true to reports, Apple held out for the 8X SuperDrive with dual layer support.

??Along with its Core Duo processor, the 17-inch MacBook Pro offers an all new system architecture including a 667 MHz front-side bus that is four times as fast as the PowerBook G4 and 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM memory expandable to 2GB that is twice as fast as the PowerBook G4. Overall, Apple claims the notebook is up to five times faster than the 17-inch PowerBook G4, running industry standard benchmarks.

??Designed with business and creative professionals in mind, the new 17-inch MacBook Pro uses a 36 percent brighter display and an ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 PCI Express graphics with 256MB of dedicated GDDR3 graphics memory for demanding applications. It also includes a Scrolling TrackPad, a FireWire 800 port, a FireWire 400 port, three USB 2.0 ports, optical and digital audio input and output, built-in Bluetooth 2.0+EDR (Enhanced Data Rate), and integrated AirPort Extreme 54 Mbps 802.11g WiFi wireless networking.

Full story here.

Read The Full Article:
http://www.my-mac.org/files/7e96c3b1b946a78f43c82f0982fb2f98-213.html#unique-entr
y-id-213

Digg this

Apple underclocking MacBook Pro graphics cards

post from "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed on 28 April 2006 08:44:00 AM. © "My Mac Blog" RSS Feed

Apple is trading graphics performance for battery life with its new line of Intel-based MacBook Pro notebooks.

? ati The ATI Radeon X1600 graphics card inside each MacBook Pro is capable of running both its graphics processing unit and memory at about 470MHz, but avid computer users have discovered the cards are underclocked to 310MHz (GPU) and 278MHz (RAM).

??The modifications cripple the speed of the graphics processor by about 34 percent and the memory by 41 percent.

??Users discovered the change after installing Microsoft's Windows XP (with the help of Apple's Boot Camp software) and running a third party application called ATITool (0.25).

??By sacrificing graphics performance, Apple was able to improve the MacBook Pro's battery life and keep the units near-silent.

??Some daring MacBook Pro users successfully used the third party ATITool software to uncap the full potential of the ATI chip. They found it reduced the battery life of their MacBook Pro by about 30 minutes, but did not over heat the notebooks or cause any other side effects such as display artifacts.

??However, one user said the uncapping "took only couple of seconds" to cause the system's cooling system fan to spin at a speed he "never experienced before."

Read The Full Article:
http://www.my-mac.org/files/61e7fccd23fd5d663999552a7f55d44e-212.html#unique-entr
y-id-212

Digg this

Mac-PSP Synchronization

I have a PSP and I love it, but when using it with my Powerbook to transfer Videos, podcasts, music, pictures, what have you; there just aren’t as many options out there for it as there are for Windows. Now you can always just manually put all the files you want onto the PSP’s memory [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheAppleBlog?m=176

Digg this