Apple TV update to software 2.4

Talk about releasing this one relatively unannounced.  Released on Tuesday/Wednesday the update is to help the new functions programmed into the iPhone/iPod Touch app Remote for Apple TV and Front Row.
See beneath
Apple TV Software Update 2.4 features:
Feature Summary

1. Remote app directional control Control your Apple TV with simple finger gestures via the Remote app. This feature requires Remote 1.3 running on an iPhone or iPod touch with iPhone OS 3.0.

2. Flickr Search Search Flickr photo tags to find recently updated photos of interest. Save searches to quickly find new photos or use as a screen saver for Apple TV.

3. New view options View movies By Genre, By Movie, or Unwatched. View TV Shows and Podcasts By Date, By Show, or Unwatched.

4. Updated transport and chapter modes During video playback, click right or left to fast forward or rewind. Additional clicks increase the speed. Click down to show chapter markers.


The Update adds new functionality and also speeds up the operation noticeably, like most Apple OS updates.
Though one is still given the feeling this is still Apple's Hobby project, as there is still no sign of the rumored Apps or the possibility of an ported version of Safari to allow basic armchair surfing, as seen in the Boxee Apple TV Hack.

I Know this is the iPod for the Living-room, but it would be nice since you can use the iPhone/iPod Touch as a remote control, to have the comfort of using Safari from the Sofa.  Keyboard functionality being provided by the Remote App, so that one could call up the Info on a film you are or about to watch on IMDB.COM

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The XXbox

The Colbert Report shows the X X-box, have fun.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bears & Balls - Tobacco, Project Natal & Graveyard Bids
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

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The XXbox

The Colbert Report shows the X X-box, have fun.

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Bears & Balls - Tobacco, Project Natal & Graveyard Bids
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Stephen Colbert in Iraq

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Cats not all are self centered.

Check out the Video of Cats yes Cats performing in a Russian circus. Cats well known for being self centered, don't so much as have owners but more like Personnel, and finally can not be trained.  Well at least you can scrub the last one, each cat can do at least on trick.


Thanks to John C. Dvorak for discovering this clip. http://www.dvorak.org/blog/

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For those who were 80's Children.

Funny Videos | Funny Cartoons | More Video Clips

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iPhone 3.0 Software.

After much unpublicized delay, the 3.0 soft ware finally arrived at 19:39 hours Central European Time.
I had watched iTunes from Midnight CET on the 17th, and Nothing.  Then Surfed the web for info. Nothing was to be found, absolutely nothing.  Then checking the US Apple website I came across this little disclaimer under the 3.0 software page, and it was in small print!!! iPhone 3.0 software not available for 1st Generation iPod Touch.  I was blown away, how come the first gen.  iPhone get the update but not me with my 1st Gen. iPod Touch, infuriated I wrote an e-mail to Apple customer services Europe, to which as of yet I have no reply to.  How could they let one of the most important updates slide for the 1st Gen Touch, no Landscape mode for all programs, no cut copy and paste, no shake to shuffle and no (over wifi) in App purchases.   This spoiled my plans completely, to use the Touch instead of a of buying netbook.  With Cut Copy and Paste it would mean I would not have to resort to using or buying a netbook.
But things got a little more confused, as the guys from Engadget, http://www.engadget.com/ announced that the 3.0 software had been delayed, and worked out from the time given and date, when it should arrive.  Singapore had posted to it's customers that the 3.0 software would be available on the 18th at 01:00 hours and that would mean 19:00 hours CET. 
So I decided to give it a shot, 19:00 Hours, Nothing, ok I thought give it time.  And so finally at 19:39 Hours CET the update went live.  My shock came as iTunes allowed me to purchase 3.0, knowing full well that my Touch was a first Gen. model.  Now something got in my way, WORK, I work permanent nights and due to the dreadfully slow nature of the download (40kb/s yes only 40kb/s) iTunes said it would be another 2 HOURS !!!! before the software was ready to install.  So hoping for the best that all would be well when I got back, I left for work.
And then I came home.  iTunes showed not only had the update taken place but also that, the following sync had too, which is good because I have so many Comics from iVerse Media through the App Store.  And now the panic was over, it all worked !!!!  Why did then the US Apple website say that the 1st Gen. Touch could not be updated ?  I can only presume it meant that you could not update from software 1.1.3 to 3.0, but I'm still waiting for clarification on that.

Anyway the Software surpassed my expectations, and all I can say is iPhone users are so fortunate to get this update free, but I paid for it gladly, €7.99 against €349 for a netbook is a big difference, and to top it all of my Touch is working really quick now, a noticeable difference.  Just got to wait for a couple of my Apps to be updated to I can use the Landscape mode to type.

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New Torchwood trailer

This is the Trailer from the Australian Channel UKTV for the new series 5 part special of torch wood. Enjoy.

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Newsfire rss Reader.

There are many news readers on the market, but not very many for Apple Mac.  Which is quite astonishing, considering How many news agencies use Mac's in the workplace. well this tip came thanks to Jemima Kiss from the UK Guardian newspaper, over her twitter feed http://twitter.com/jemimakiss.
It is for a program called Newsfire http://www.newsfirerss.com/ and as long as there's a RSS feed you can read the website content. 
For somebody like me this is a godsend, for the simple reason, I've got too many bookmarks on Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/products/.  So now I have one window and get to see all the relevant news on one window.  Refreshes can be individually set for each feed, for example, because you know a particular only gets one refresh a day.
To add a feed you just go to a website with RSS either copy the Address directly out of the Address window, which when you use the plus at the bottom of the feed window, is automatically fed into the search window.  Or you can right click on the RSS symbol and use "copy this link" option from the pop down menu.
Like I said there are not many RSS readers, and the bonus is this one is easy to use.
And while on the subject of easy to use.  Safari 4, has some quirks which make it anything but easy to use. my to pet peeves are, it is supposed to be crash proof, but just trying to visit the Apple online store, causes a crash.  And secondly why is it with my Bookmark Taskbar must I always click the next column of bookmarks to see it.  It is very jerky and Untypical Apple that it should be like that.  In Firefox I click one column and move my mouse over the rest when I wish to see them.  Instead of Safari's click one column, unclick it then click the next, this flows about as much as a sudden stop, or driving straight into a brick wall, and does after a while of trying to surf bookmarks quickly become EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING !!!!  I hope that Apple will sort this out to get the fluidity back, which is what one expects from them.

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The Idiots of the world.

In the day to day of or world there are many people who quite simply Idiots. These are the people who makes us want to rip our hair out or, risk that trip to court by punching them silly, as a good beating in the end might actually teach these people something. I'm not condoning violence, but sometimes one is physically driven to do so by the mental torture that these people put us under. And the worst of it, these people don't even notice, but I suppose that's why we call them Idiots. The UK Daily Telegraph published an piece about such idiots in holiday, please read it to the end, it's funny but you just get the feeling of wanting to bang your head against the wall because of them.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/5005019/20-ridiculous-complaints-made-by-holidaymakers.html

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Apple WWDC futher news

So because I concentrated more on the Software, here's a P.S. to the whole shabang from the Apple WWDC 2009 Keynote.

As most people had feared as soon as Apple stand in CEO started talking about the Mac books we new here it comes.  Like the 17" Mac Book Pro now all Unibody Macbook's have a built in, not changable by user Battery.  The 13" Macbook is now called 13" Macbook Pro, the only Macbook that remains unchanged is the old white plastic Macbook and it is the only one that is called Macbook. 

Secondly to the unchangable Battery comes a SD Card reader, which replaces on the 15" and 17" the slot where the PCI Express card sat.  Most people will like this as it means for most that the SD card in thier camera, can be read with out the need for a seperate card reader.

Thirdly ALL unibody Mac's now have backlit keyboards.

So for now that's it.

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WWDC Apple 2009

So in short, OS X 10.6 comes out Sept this year. As a $/£/€ 29 upgrade. By this action it means that Apple really want you to upgrade. I wonder if Microsoft will follow suit with Windows 7 for Vista victims, but I doubt it.
iPhone Software update 3.0 comes out next week on the 17th. Free for iPhone users, and $9.99 for iPod touch users.
iPhone 3GS is released next week om the 19th in 16 And 32 GB variants. The current iPhone 3G will carry on but at a $99 price.
That's all for now.

WWDC it's that time of year again folks!

So with only an hour or so until WWDC starts the rumour mill is grinding at full speed.

I can only hope that two items are released, or at least the release dates are given.

The first is iPhone software 3.0, which will turn my iPod touch into the machine I really want, with cut and paste, plus landscape mode for everything and not just if the developer had thought about it.

With this I will not require to get a netbook because, then the iPod Touch and the iPhone itself will be on par. It would be nice though if Apple themselves could do three apps, or one complete one. iWork for the iPhone would improve things tremendously. If not one app is not a possibility, or if they just want to make money, then the three apps separately would be just as good. With this there will be no need for a "Netbook Mac" It would be all through the iPhone software possible.

The Second item is OS X 10.6 Snow leopard, which for somebody like me who has just a Mac Mini, will come as a blessing, just for Grand Central alone. Grand Central is a built in load balancing program/service which will see a better spread of load across the processors, and also use the GPU. This in theory should improve things dramatically on the lower powered Mac's and turn the top end machines into super top end machines, when one thinks about the amount of cores in the Mac Pro.

So in a couple of hours all will be revealed, though as I watch the podcast Tomorrow of today's Keynote, I know I'll have a big daft grin right across my face.

Vote It's Your Right.

So I've just got back from the polling station, and had a pleasant surprise.

I was going to vote for the Liberal Party (German FDP) before I got to the polling station, then I got a big surprise. An emphasis on the word big has to be used because that is exactly what the ballot paper was. Big, Huge, Enormous, but above all very, very, very, long, about a Meters worth of paper.

That's where it all went wrong for the Liberals. I had a choice I had not reckoned with, so many parties and not just the Four usual candidate parties.

And then I spotted it, I thought it was a joke, but there they were on A GERMAN BALLOT PAPER!!!!. The Pirate party, led by a Doctor of Physics and a Doctor of Mathematics. knowing what they stand for, seeing the Pirate Party on a ballot paper changed my mind very quickly and the poor Liberals as much as I like what they are, and what they stand for, lost my vote.

The Problem is, I can understand that creative folk want to protect their work and get paid for it, but in doing so they are also stomping around on my rights. Not the right to steal, because there isn't one. But my right to purchase their work and pay a FAIR price for it. And I mean FAIR.

Here's my manifesto, to help the beleaguered, tired and not least totally outdated Music, Television, Film and software makers.

1. Make your product available, I know this seems simple enough, but it's the first sticking point, and most do not grasp it.

2. Don't restrict your product, this means use of and where it's available. That as an example, Doctor Who is available in the UK as of Broadcast is obvious, but the DVD release so the rest of the world can see it , takes quite literally years, and I mean years. In the UK season 4 is available, and even the Easter special. But in Germany we've only just received season 2. Now don't give me all that rubbish about licencing, if you want the sales then do it. Whether on DVD through iTunes or whatever. We live in a Digital not Analogue age.

3. Monitizeation. Don't restrict yourself to one form of payment, maybe you are getting money from credit card firms for their use but, you are they by limiting your sales. Not everybody has a credit card, but most people have a bank account, and can do world wide transactions. Or Pay Pal or one of the myriad of other pay services that have let us the people, buy products, without a credit card.

Three simple points.

So what does this all mean and what does it have to do with the Pirate party? well they are there to stand up for my rights, that my rights are not stomped into the ground because some huge corporation, has the Pound/Dollar/Euro sign in their eyes. I am the consumer, I buy the products, I keep them in the money. We all do. The Corporate body's forget that. and if they want to live through this Depression they need to think about what customers, Consumers want and not their big money filled pockets. Because those pockets start to empty as soon as the money stops flowing in.

Go vote when you have the chance, have your say and don't let your rights be turned into nothing more than lip service.

Leo laporte the Nice Guy Explodes on Air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsV-lgnAjps&feature=player_embedded

The above link is the moment as the TWIT (This Week In Tech) head honcho, and normally all around nice guy explodes on air. The catalyst for the whole thing was the Palm Pre, as Leo had received an seven day review model. A guest on his show Mike Arrington, who by all accounts had landed on a B list, was some how extremely jealous at this treatment, and decided let his frustrations out on Leo. Now Leo is known for being an easy going, easy to get along with nice guy. So the old saying is true, like myself don't push the nice guy too far, he will explode and you will not like the results. Respect to Leo for his reaction, and OK it will either mean no TWIT Gilmour Gang podcast or a very short one but, as far as I'm concerned respect must come first, and Mike Arrington needs to learn some fast, if he intends to continue in his chosen field. Being unfriendly, and down right impossible to work with, will mean that no one will want to work with him let alone know him.
Like I said full respect to Leo, for the handling of the situation, somethings just have to be done on the spur of the moment, and this was one of them.

What's up with Apple

As I got back from a well earned rest, and started iTunes to download my favourite podcasts. The software update asked me if I would like to update to iTunes 8.2.
Luckly I run a Mac and so the ensuming frustration did not take as long as if I was using Windows. Major updates, including quicktime and Garageband were also in the to do list.
Now I have a bad habit of multitasking my Mac. Software update, iTunes downloads and Mail all at the same time. It should not really pose a problem, but it did. Alias's forgotton, and then refuseal to shut progammes down; Led to a hard restart. So once I had overcome this little hirdle, and I had installed the update's, and then agreed to the new start.
I came across the problem I had, had with the 446 mb 10.5.7 update. The Mac just sat there after install and did nothing. And so I had to do another hardreset.
If the operating system had been Windows, I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but this is Apple, a Mac I'm not sure what problems are, that are happening in Apple at the moment. But I hope they are over soon.
Because it's a good way to lose buisness,with such software faults, as Microsoft has found out since the launch of Vista.