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- A handful of Halloween for your iPhone or iPod touch
Filed under: iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Ready for Halloween on your iPhone? The App Store provides a quick fix for trick-or-treaters, and the offerings provide a little of each category. I happened to grab a random assortment of freebies (several were temporarily free) themed around Halloween. Here's a quick review of each. Hit the gallery for sample screens. All app names are iTunes links.
Bust-a-spook
A simple tap-and-score game using some gradient-heavy backgrounds and simplistic artwork to keep you entertained. The audio, like most of the Halloween-themed apps, is appropriately annoying. I found this one to be too hard and pointless to play with it long. When ghosts, pumpkins or bats are "busted" they grow larger and fade away. That's really about it, except for choosing levels of difficulty. Price: $.99
Carve3D
Clever way to carve a 3D pumpkin on the iPhone. You swap between "rotate" and "carve" modes and carve into the pumpkin by tapping corners. A final tap near the first point closes the loop and carves a hole in the geometry. As an interesting touch, the light actually shines through the geometry, so you can project the face you carve, though getting the camera in a good spot is tough. Price: $.99
Crazy Pumpkin
eZone has a slew of nifty, gimmicky apps (they remind me of the Johnson Smith Co. products). Around Halloween several went free, including Crazy Pumpkin. It's a very simple app: swap the eyes, nose and mouth of a virtual jack-o-lantern. I like the pulsing colors and the audio is well-done. Kids love this one. Price: Free.
Crazy Metal Head
Essentially a ventriloquist's dummy in the form of a chrome skull with fire in its mouth. You can toggle metal music on or off. The head bounces around, like a bobblehead. That's about all it does, but it still is fun if you do crazy voices and have no shame. Price: $.99
Crazy Skeleton
Another freebie from eZone, this time a skeleton with eyes that bounce around. You can control the mouth (like Metal Head), but shaking the device makes a random video play, animating the skeleton. There are maybe a dozen cute performances here, and my kids found this one the most entertaining. $1.99
More apps, keep reading...Continue reading A handful of Halloween for your iPhone or iPod touch
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Переслать - Installing Ubuntu 8.10 on a Mac
Filed under: Software, Features, How-tos, Productivity, Open Source
When it comes to virtualization on the Mac, it's mostly discussed in the context of running a variant of Microsoft Windows. This makes sense; the ease of getting Windows to run within OS X (on Intel hardware) is one of the key reasons many first-time Mac buyers are migrating to Apple. However, Windows is hardly the only game in town.Although the annual proclamations of "the year of the Linux desktop" haven't really panned out, thanks to distributions like Ubuntu, more and more individuals are at least giving Linux a try. Today, Canonical made both the server and desktop versions of Ubuntu 8.10 (codenamed 'Intrepid Ibex') available for download.
Even before the Intel switch, PPC users could effectively run Linux distros on their machines, but virtualization coupled with Intel hardware has made running a VM of Ubuntu -- or any Linux distribution -- fairly painless. Using commercial software like VMware Fusion 2.0 or Parallels Desktop, or open source and free solutions like VirtualBox, you can set up an Ubuntu virtual machine much like you would with Windows.
If you have ever installed a Windows virtual machine, using Parallels, Fusion or VirtualBox, the process for installing Ubuntu is almost exactly the same. Download the Ubuntu 8.10 ISO image (a slow process today with the demand for the new release; it should speed up next week, and there are Bittorrent seeds for faster service) and then select that image for the virtual CD drive when creating your VM. The process, depending on your system, should take under 20 minutes from beginning to end.
Today, I set up a virtual machine of Ubuntu 8.10 in both VMware Fusion 2.0 and VirtualBox 2.04. Parallels Desktop works with Ubuntu, but I had problems trying to get Ubuntu 8.04 installed and am still reading reports of problems with 8.10. Parallels might work just fine with Ubuntu 8.10, but keep in mind that it might be kludgy.
Read on for more install options.
Continue reading Installing Ubuntu 8.10 on a Mac
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - City of Heroes coming to Mac under Transgaming's Cider
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, Hardware, Software
Yet another MMO on the Mac -- EVE Online and World of Warcraft are already there, of course, and now NCSoft has announced that City of Heroes is coming to the Mac. Unfortunately, they're using Transgaming's Cider software to port the game, and as we've said before, the software isn't only unreliable, but it's got the dreaded SecuROM DRM attached, as well. Not to mention that even the MacBook can basically run any game through BootCamp now, making a separate Mac version unnecessary in many cases.
But there is one thing we really like about this release, and that's that NCSoft is actually releasing the game on the Mac as a "special edition": players who buy the Mac expansion (which apparently will be a digital-only release) will pick up a free ingame teleporter item, as well as a special "Valkyrie" costume set usable on their superhero character. So if you do go for Transgaming's software, at least you can pick up some free ingame stuff for it. We're not so much for the DRM-laden emulation, but the free stuff we do like.
There's no set release date yet (they say it'll launch with the game's upcoming "Issue 13" update), but they're taking applications right now for an open beta, so if you're interested, sign on up.
[via Massively]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Microsoft releases Office 2008 update to fix Entourage issue
Filed under: Software, Bugs/Recalls
How long is two weeks? If you're vacationing someplace warm and sunny, it might seem to pass in a flash; if you're in bed with the flu, it probably seems like a lifetime. For Office 2008 users who got bit by a bug in the recent 12.1.3 update, chances are the latter assessment is more on target. Those who ran the 12.1.3 update and met a particular set of criteria (Entourage users connected to Exchange + a secondary POP or IMAP account for personal email) found themselves unable to send calendar invitations or reply to meeting requests. The most straightforward fix was a rollback to the 12.1.2 version; otherwise, using a webmail client or Outlook was the best way to manage calendars. Not fun.
Two weeks, though, is what it took for the Mac Business Unit to get a tested patch out the door that resolves this problem. Today, Product Manager Andy Ruff announced on the Mactopia support forum that Office 2008 12.1.4 is now available for download (16 MB, requires 12.1.3 installed), billed as follows:
This update fixes a calendar issue in versions of Microsoft Entourage that were updated with the Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.3 Update. The issue prevents Exchange accounts in Entourage from sending meeting invitations and responses. This issue can occur when an Entourage identity is configured with more than one mail account. We strongly recommend that all Entourage users who installed Office 2008 for Mac 12.1.3 Update install this update.
While this particular fortnight may have been difficult for Entourage users, I will say that this is definitely the fastest response to an Office bug that I have ever seen from the Mac BU; in terms of the development cycle on a suite as large as Office 2008, it's an eyeblink. Kudos to the MBU for its quick action; now, the next prudent PR step is a little bit of transparency about why this bug -- which should have been fairly obvious to anyone who tested with both Exchange and POP accounts configured in the same identity -- managed to make it through to the release.
Update: Wow, talk about your rapid response... Andy has posted an explanation of the issue and the testing circumstances at the Mac Mojo blog. The missing piece of the puzzle, apparently, was account creation order: if the Exchange account was added to Entourage after the POP or IMAP setup, the problem got triggered -- a condition that never made it onto the testing radar. Points for transparency: awarded.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Audacity 1.3.6 Beta for Mac released
Filed under: Multimedia, Software, Freeware, Open Source, Podcasting, Beta Beat
Our buddies over at sister blog Download Squad gave us a heads-up this morning about a new release of Audacity, the open source, cross-platform audio recording / editing application.
Audacity 1.3.6 (Beta) for Mac has new features added by students during the Google Summer of Code 2008:
- Support of WMA, M4A, and AC3 file formats
- Import of audio from video files
- On-demand loading of uncompressed files, eliminating the wait before files can be edited
- Linked audio and label tracks, so labels move with their corresponding audio when cutting, pasting, or changing speed or tempo
- A hierarchical plug-in grouping for built-in plugins
- Sound activated recording
- MIDI file import, edit, and export
Переслать - Better late than never: Apple details late-Sept. MobileMe updates
Filed under: MobileMe
Yesterday, Apple released a support document detailing changes that were made to the MobileMe web services to improve stability and browser compatibility.The article noted that since "server-side updates are a bit more innocuous than a standard software update to Mac OS X or Microsoft Windows, it's easy not to notice that updates are occurring. Usually the only hint of these updates is that things just 'work better.'"
Several improvements to Mail, Account services, Calendar, Contacts and Gallery are mentioned in the document, including better support for Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3.
What's interesting is the timing of the document: The support article was posted nearly a month after the improvements apparently took place. Apple's culture of "reluctant transparency" could be coming into play here, with information about MobileMe updates arriving several weeks after implementation.
Alternatively, Apple could be getting itself in the routine of releasing information about MobileMe updates on the 29th of the month. The question then becomes: Why isn't the information timely? The only other example we have is information about an update during the middle of September was posted on the 29th of that month. I suppose we'll find out in November: two is a coincidence, three is a trend.
[Via MacRumors.]
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Gameboy theme for iPhone
We love mods, and this one is on our short list. iGameboy is a theme mod for jailbroken iPhones running springboard. There's both a button and a full-screen version (I'm partial to the button theme myself). As of this writing, the author, Rob Sheridan, has produced 45 icons to accompany the theme, so chances are your apps are included.
The full download even includes instructions and basic files for making your own icons. Nice work, Rob! We love it.
While we're on the topic, here are some other iPhone mods we liked.
Finally, how to jailbreak your iPhone.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - LaCie to provide one year online storage free with every drive sold
Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends
TUAW readers know that to keep their data safe, they need to perform regular backups. Since Time Machine hit the scene last year, most Mac users have used the OS X application and an external hard drive to perform automated backups. For some Mac users, the thought of losing both the Mac's hard drive and the external hard drive to a fire or theft is enough to keep them awake at night.
Longtime Mac peripheral maker LaCie has come up with a solution to that nightmare scenario. Beginning in November, 2008, all consumer hard disk drives sold by the company will come with a one-year unlimited online backup account using Carbonite services. Carbonite is currently in the process of beta-testing Mac software for their popular online backup service.
The Carbonite software automatically backs up the LaCie drive, finding new and modified files, encrypting them twice, and then uploading them to a secure data center. The information remains encrypted while at the data center to maintain user privacy. Backups are done only during idle cycles on the Mac, so the process should not affect performance.
How do you keep your backups backed up? DVDs in the safe-deposit box? Leave us a comment below.
[via Macworld UK]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Vote Report helps poll the polls on Election Day
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Cool tools, Odds and ends, Internet, Internet Tools, App Store
I love this idea -- if there's one thing our voting system here in the US could use, it's a little more transparency, both in how the votes are counted and weighed, and in how the polling itself takes place. And now there's an iPhone app aimed at making sure that on next month's Election Day, we get exactly that.
Vote Report is currently submitted to the App Store -- all you do is download the app, punch in your Twitter information (although the site says you don't have to, but I'm not sure how it makes the report otherwise), and then when you're done voting, you can fill out a quick form that will send information on how it went straight to Twitter itself (you can see all the reports collected on this page as well).
Of course, the Internet (including Twitter) will be awash with reports from polling places on November 4th, but if you're bringing your iPhone along, this will be a quick and easy way to get the word out if something went right or wrong. And Vote Report has teamed up with Election Protection, so if something does go really wrong at the polls, they'll hopefully be standing by to get the word out.
If you are in the US, no matter what your political leaning or affiliation, do make sure to vote on November 4th -- the wheels of democracy only turn when we all get out and push. Let's exercise those rights while we've got them.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Apple opens registration for 2008 Insomnia Film Festival
If you are a high school or college student, then you can now register a team for Apple's 2008 Insomnia Film Festival. The idea behind the festival is simple. Apple will post a list of elements you can use in your film, you pick three of them, and then take 24 hours to make a 3 minute movie.
If you are the lucky grand prize winner, your team will receive: 5 MacBook Pro notebook computers, 5 Final Cut Studio 2 box sets, 5 copies of Shake, 5 Logic Studio box sets, and 5 One to One personal training cards. That sure is a nice set up!
If you want to get in on the action, check out Apple's Insomnia Film Festival website, and register your team today! All the fun will start on November 15th at 9:00 a.m. EST. And if you like the Insomnia logo, Apple has posted wallpaper for both Mac and iPhone/iPod touch on the site.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Psystar offers Blu-ray option for Mac clones
Filed under: Hardware, Multimedia
Macworld's Jim Dalrymple reports that Psystar, the makers of legally-contested Mac clones, are offering Blu-ray drives for its products. Two Blu-ray burners can be added to Psystar's Open and OpenPro line of computers, a $310 6x Blu-ray burner, and a $350 6x Blu-ray burner that includes a 16x DVD±RW DL drive. It appears that both can be added to a single system.
Apple has not added Blu-ray to any of its products, and Steve Jobs called the licensing terms for the technology a "big bag of hurt," though Apple is on the board of directors of the Blu-ray Disc Association trade group. Aftermarket, external Blu-ray burners are available for Mac around $450, and internal burners for Mac Pro start around $370. External players start around $270.
Psystar is in the midst of litigation with Apple surrounding its inclusion of Mac OS X with its line of clones.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - SplashID for iPhone gets some update love
Filed under: Software, iPhone, iPod touch
SplashData, Inc. has announced a major update to SplashID for iPhone and iPod touch. SplashID, which first shipped in July, is a secure information manager application that has been available on other handheld platforms for years.
Version 4.5 is up to 2 times faster for power users who have a number of records in their SplashID databases. Other enhancements include:
- Enhanced user interface with simplified navigation
- Improved search and look-up functions
- Landscape view
- Number pad login
- New browser window to make log-in to websites on the iPhone easier
- Updated Mac and PC desktop software
A full review of SplashID 4.5 is coming soon to a TUAW blog near you. In the meantime, what's your favorite secure information manager for non-jailbroken iPhones? Leave a comment below.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - THQ's Pass the Pigs in the App Store
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Gaming, iPhone, App Store
Our friends at THQ have sent word that their latest iPhone game, Pass the Pigs, is in the App Store right now. You may have already played this one (and if you haven't, there's an online version to check out for free). Apparently you toss pigs in the air, and get points for however they land, like a strange porcine form of two card poker.
Can't say it appeals much to me, but as a game to distract the kids while waiting somewhere with only an iPhone to entertain, it might do the trick. There's even a "Pig's Life" story mode, where you can earn extra disguises for your pigs, and hey, it might even be worth the $4.99 just to see how they tacked a story on to a game of throwing plastic pigs around.
Then again, it probably isn't. But apparently the soundtrack is pretty good.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - LANrev 5.0 adds power management to workstation admin tools
Filed under: Enterprise, Education
Managing the power consumption of your Macs just got a little easier with the latest version of the LANrev cross-platform client management tool. In the new 5.0 build, the headline feature is bright green: you can assign power saving preferences to machines, including toggles based on whether a user is logged in and new reporting fields to monitor energy savings. For government users, the new FDCC SCAP component helps Windows clients meet Federal Desktop Core Configuration standards for 300-odd security settings on XP and Vista (yee-ikes).
LANrev's sometimes-confusing UI has been simplified, bringing many of the server-oriented functions (software distribution, license monitoring, etc.) under a single window; machines can now be categorized for ease of searching and organization. Software deployment has been jazzed up with new metapackage/multi-payload options and Adobe Creative Suite CS3 direct deployment for installers and updaters (no word yet on CS4 support). LANrev still offers one-click Mac reimaging without setting up a Netboot server, which is a big plus in large deployments.
Pricing for LANrev starts at about $50 per seat for corporate buyers ($40 for education markets) with tiered discounts for larger installations.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - LogMeIn Ignition promises remote screen sharing from iPhone
Filed under: Enterprise, Internet Tools, Beta Beat, iPhone
If you've got a far-flung assortment of computers to manage, there are some great zero-config paid and install-a-client-first free options out there -- including the cross-platform hosted approach of LogMeIn. The LogMeIn Free client runs fine on Mac OS X, and the web-based control UI is capable; but how delightful would it be to take that same capability and stick it in your pocket? Very delightful.
LogMeIn has begun accepting applications for the private beta of LogMeIn Ignition for iPhone/iPod touch, the mobile client version of the remote control platform. With a final release planned for the end of the year, the client will allow full remote control of any computer in your list, including screen blanking and zoom/pan options.
While there are great IT admin tools for other mobile platforms (and some promising but never-completed iPhone tools), the iPhone admin explosion hasn't quite arrived yet. LogMeIn is definitely an industrial-strength player and the presence of the client will help to legitimize the iPhone and iPod touch as an enterprise device.
Thanks Shannon
[via MacTech]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Apple among "10 most overrated brands"
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, Apple
Boston.com has produced a list of the 10 Most Overrated Brands. Apple is at number nine. How so? According to Boston.com, it's the hype that sustains us.
"...while Apple has made its name combining sharp design with great technology, the brand's true appeal comes from the fact that consumers are hooked on the hype."
Us? Succumb to the hype? It's not like we post pictures of empty boxes, sleep on the street or buy Steve Jobs Lego figures. I agree that the fanatical devotion of what Boston.com calls "the iCult" gets way out hand. Is any phone worth three nights on a New York City street? Of course not. But ask those folks why they're there, and they'll tell you it's the fun of hanging out with like-minded Mac geeks.
While Apple hypes their products, it's often the fanboys who push it over the edge. For me, that doesn't detract from the fact that they deliver great products.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - In Pictures: Street View, Safari for iPhone 2.2
Following up on our report yesterday, a new tipster sent us screenshots of the Maps and Safari applications, highlighting changes on the way in iPhone firmware 2.2.
Apple looks like they're maximizing the income they make from offering a Google search option by cramming a search box in next to the address field. In the current firmware, the search field only appears when the address field is tapped.
As we mentioned yesterday, Google and Apple have also worked out a way to include Google Street View. It doesn't work quite the way I thought, but is much like Android's implementation nevertheless: Tapping on an icon of a human torso (according to our tipster) rotates the screen and displays Street View. Then, you can pan around the scene with your finger, in a 360-degree panorama. Our tipster says "the entire experience feels snappier than 2.1, very very fast in general."
Soon to be available in Maps is a new "Share Location" button that drafts an email with a clickable link. Handy for when you want to find friends after you've split up.
As always, if you have screenshots or tips you'd like to send in, please do!
Update: Because there was some confusion as to what we meant by "torso," a new image showing the icon has been added to the gallery below.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - iPhone customers report AT&T sending WiFi SMS reminder
Several readers are reporting that they've gotten SMS messages from AT&T reminding them of the long-awaited "free wireless at Starbucks" plan. First announced in February with a target launch of 'spring 2008,' the service has been quietly running on and off since April, including two hours of daily access at any Starbucks store or AT&T hotspot. T-Mobile users who have existing hotspot accounts are supposed to have ongoing access to the network in Starbucks stores.
Although the service has been available on a spotty basis, an official "yes it's working" announcement has been long in coming. Have you gotten a reminder from AT&T? Is WiFi working at your local Starbucks? Let us know in the comments.
Thanks to everyone who sent this inRead | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Use Rock Band drum controller with GarageBand
Filed under: Audio, Gaming, iLife
Here's a fun tip from Mac | Life that describes how to use the Rock Band drum controller with GarageBand.
In fact, they describe two set-ups; one cheap and one less so. The cheap setup requires GarageBand, the Rock Band USB drum kit and either the GamePad Companion, JunXion (trial) or the Xbox 360 Controller Driver if you've got the Xbox kit.
The pricier rig requires a paid version of JunXion ($95). After some simple configuration, you'll have a fully functional electronic drum kit with virtually no lag. Very cool indeed.
If you set this up, let us know how it goes.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать - Does Morgan have a Zune? One guess.
Filed under: Humor, Video, Odds and ends, Found Footage
Any fan of NBC's geek-centric espionage comedy Chuck knows that there's a healthy helping of Apple tech all over the show, going back to the very first episode. Despite the heavy product placement volume, relatively few Apple fanboy lines make it into the scripts; after all, these folks work at BestBuyMore, which probably sells a lot of HP and Dell gear.
This week, however, a not-so-subtle dig at Microsoft's music playerfound its way into the episode's closing scenes. Chuck's sidekick Morgan -- not the coolest cat in the junkyard -- jokes that he has a Zune, and then goes off to get his iPod to help Chuck save the world. Nice work if you can get it. The segment is viewable to US residents via this Hulu link.
If you notice other ficitional characters praising Apple and dissing the competition, be sure to let us know via our tips page or Twitter replies. You can also grab screenshots of your favorite Apple gear product placement moments and tag them for our appleontv Flickr pool.
Thanks Mike
[hat tip to When Will Apple for multiple versions of the video clip]Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsПереслать
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