Wednesday, August 1, 2007

The Apple Blog (7 сообщений)

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The Apple Blog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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  • Shuffle Earbuds Come Up Short

    I’ve got two iPods, an 80GB 5G and a 1GB 2G Shuffle. When I’m really crankin’, I’ll walk around my office with my 5G while I grab coffee, water or my lunch.

    But today as I made my coffee run with the 5G in my pocket, my earbuds tugged at my head, like the cord was too short. For a second I thought my jeans had deeper pockets or I was much more tired than I had originally thought, but then realized that I must have switched the sets of earbuds. A quick side by side comparison confirmed my suspicion:

    earbuds_length.jpg After a rough measure, I found out that the Shuffle cord was about 8 inches shorter. Of course it makes perfect sense given the potential placement of the Shuffle on someone’s clothing, but it’s interesting to know that 8 was the magic number. Holding the two side by side doesn’t seem like it would make that great a difference, but it does.

    Taller folks considering a Shuffle should take note - if you’re waistline iPod wearer like me (I can’t stand to wear it anywhere else), you’re probably going to want to use the earbuds from another iPod, or something 3rd party. I’m 6 foot 4, and it seems that the Shuffle earbuds aren’t going to work for me.

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  • Tetris Showdown Ending Tonight!

    Just a quick reminder that our first monthly Game Showdown: Tetris is ending tonight around midnight!

    You’ve still got time to win the $25 Amazon.com gift certificate!

    Full details…

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  • Samba Bug Leaves OS X Vulnerable

    Crunchgear points out PCWorld’s article stating that a bug in Samba may open OS X up to hackers. Samba is the open source file and print sharing software that OS X employs to make those tasks easier for users to setup. Most notably found in the Sharing section of the System Preferences as “Windows File Sharing”, it is recommended to keep that unchecked (as far as you’re not using it) until Apple patches the potential threat. (10.4.11 anyone!?)

    Just personal opinion here, but I keep that thing (as well as ‘Personal File Sharing’) unchecked at all times, and only turn them on for the few minutes I need them. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but that’s just me. Now it seems like it wasn’t such a bad idea, eh?

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  • Steve Jobs: #3 Most Influential Business Leader

    Steve Jobs Steve Jobs is on the cover of USA Today with the text “Most influential business leaders” over his shoulder. USA Today ranked the “25 Most noteworthy in business” and Steve Jobs ranked third, only beaten by Bill Gates at first and Alan Greenspan in the number two spot. The list goes covers the past 25 years since it is USA Today’s 25th anniversary. As with any list that ranks anything, there’s bound to be plenty of discussion of who should really be ranked number one. Should Steve Jobs be ahead of Bill Gates since the Mac OS clearly influenced Windows?

    Steve Jobs is in some elite company as even Mac fans must admit that Bill Gates has greatly influenced the world with Windows PCs dominating homes and the workplace. Alan Greenspan can sneeze and have an effect on interest rates. Also notable are the founders of Google in the fourth spot. Is Steve Jobs more influential than the creators of the search engine that everyone and their mother uses?

    I think it is a toss up. Google does not necessarily cause changes in its field. Let’s face it, Google pretty much killed its competition in the search engine business and is so far ahead that everyone else is playing catch up. But then again, Google shapes the way people see the world. If a site does not show up in a Google search, it might as well not even exist. Other businesses must optimize their web sites such that they will show up on the first page of a Google search. However, this is a list about the business leaders and not necessarily the technologies that were created. After all, how many other business leaders have their own Reality Distortion Field?

    Apple under Steve Jobs has influenced many other companies. Arguably, all PC laptops would still be beige, gray or black with little style. Apple’s dedication to stylish products has easily changed how all PC makers design their products. Apple has even pulled companies into new markets. Would Microsoft have gone into the music player market without Apple’s incredible success with the iPod?

    Oh and by the way, for all those who still hold a grudge against Michael Dell for that whole “Apple should close up shop” thing, he’s ranked seventeen.

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  • Original Mac Rumors Site Goes Dark

    Though the site in later years turned into a mockery of itself, at one time MacOSRumors, authored by Ryan Meader, was the go-to site for Apple gossip and innuendo. (Wikipedia) In the late 1990s, Meader’s site led the way in leaks around Oracle’s Larry Ellison’s potentially leading a shareholder coup against Gil Amelio, updates on the rise and fall of Mac clones like PowerComputing, the battle for the next generation Macs, between BeOS and NeXT, updates to Mac OS 8 and the G4 line, and speculation around what would eventually become the iBook.

    MacOSRumors, along with more established publications that dabbled in rumors, like MacWeek, was soon joined by a proverbial wellspring of Apple rumors sites, including AppleInsider, the short-lived MacInsider (See shutdown notice), ThinkSecret, SpyMac, and now, the more respected MacRumors, who largely summarizes other sites’ predictions.

    (Note: Many of these links are to Archive.org to show a point in time snapshot)

    But as the other rumors sites rose, MacOSRumors simply imploded, as Meader claimed health issues prevented him from updating the site, and others posting soon lost credibility. MacOSRumors went from being a pioneer in the field of Mac tips to a site best laid to rest. And as of last week, it looks like that’s what’s happened. Head to www.macosrumors.com now, and instead of the latest version of the site, it looks like Network Solutions is saying the domain’s registration has expired, as of July 16th. Does that mean it will remain dark forever? Who knows. Maybe Meader and team will pay their dues and turn the lights back on, but at this point… it’s probably best to leave past glory behind.

    (Also see: AppleInsider forum on MacOSRumors closure)

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  • Apple Pro Keyboard Repair

    I had a broken Apple Pro keyboard to deal with at work today, and so, in accordance with one of my favorite mottoes - when in doubt, take something apart - I took it apart. This turned out to be a bit harder than I expected, so I took pictures and thought I would post a how-to guide here.

    A quick introduction: This is the keyboard that shipped with the G5 Mac Pros, and in terms of everything but color, is identical to the keyboard from G4-era Macs as well. I was doing this repair because the keyboard was full of food and gunge, relic of a past user, and there was no way that I could issue this to anyone else in the condition it was in. Unfortunately, it was also the only keyboard that I had with the handy little shortcut-reminder stickers that used to come in boxes of Final Cut Pro, and the user wanted those. It was clean it out or nothing. So, without further ado…

    How to Take an Apple Pro Keyboard Apart

    First, tools. This keyboard has four different types of screws: two different sizes of hex-heads, long and short, and two different sizes of Phillips-head, larger and smaller. I used the smallest Torx I could find, a T5, and my usual tiny Phillips. I would also strongly recommend a flathead, for reasons that I will explain. You may also want a butter knife, although I used my fingernails for more butter-knife-y things.

    If you’re cleaning it out, you’re going to need paper towels and a toothbrush. I also found it faster to simply throw the keys in the sink with some dish detergent. A can of compressed air didn’t cut it in this case - or most involving food or drink, in my opinion - but it tends to be an industry favorite. The screws are also the usual Apple tiny ones, so whatever your usual not-losing-the-screws precautions, they apply.

    Before This is the keyboard before I started to clean it, about half-disassembled. Yuck.

    Opening it up

    The two clear shells are held together by some screws and a series of snaps. First, unscrew the two screws on the bottom, one at either side, with the T5. Next, pop off the key caps of the semicolon, caps lock, and the number pad’s six. Under these three keys are three more tiny screws, Phillips ones. Watch out for these; they’re incredibly easy to pop the heads off of, and the ones in my keyboard were on abominably tight.

    To remove the keys, insert the flat head screwdriver, nail file, or whatever other flat, flexible object you picked under the key cap. Using a neighboring key or the edge of the shell as a fulcrum, lever the key off. I learned the hard way that it would probably be smart to hold onto the key while you pop it off - I had to go looking for more than one, and thy snap off hard enough to give you a good poke in the eye.

    There is also one more screw that you’ll have to remove - under the Apple Pro label on the bottom, right next to the cord. (This one is ridiculously hard to find - I got lucky and noticed it from a strange angle.) There are two ways I can think of to get at this screw. The easier one is to feel around until you know where the hole is, then simply poke a Phillips screwdriver through the label. A magnetic screwdriver can then pull the screw right out, or you can shake the keyboard until it falls out. Alternatively, you can peel the label off using a knife. I chose not to do so on this keyboard, but the label is one of the stiff plastic ones that Apple seems to favor, and I have found a butter knife to work well in the past.

    Now that all the screws are out, next are the snaps. There are seven or so along the front, two on each side, and four in the back. Stick a thin, flat object into the crack in the corner and start gently wedging them apart. Once I got one, I was able to get my fingernails in and slide the rest apart.

    The top clear cover will come off cleanly, leaving you a tray of keys in a shallow, clear plastic shell.

    Accessing the keys

    Next, you need to remove the little piece of clear plastic that prevents cord strain, which also serves to attach the plastic piece the keys clip to to the lower shell. There are two Phillips screws holding this in place; if you’re careful, you can shift the key support up and forward a little to reach them without disturbing anything.

    cord strain prevention

    You can now lift the keys out of the bottom shell. The keys are attached to a plastic sheet that holds the key caps. Under this is the actual membrane and the circuitry, with a thin piece of metal beneath for protection. All of this is attached to a small printed circuit board.
    If you need to clean liquids out - fortunately, I didn’t - you will need to separate all these pieces. There are two screws on the PCB that need to come off, and then you can use something thin and flexible to get the plastic, the membrane, and the metal sheet apart. The photo to the right is taken from the bottom, so that you can see the PCB and one of the screws on it. The clear plastic bit secures the cable, and the metal just to its right is actually how it attaches to the keyboard.

    Cleaning

    I pulled all the keys off the plastic clips and threw them in the sink. (My coworkers thought this was hysterical, and quite strange.) The only exceptions to this were the long keys - the tab, caps lock, shift, space bar, enter, return, and control - as these have a metal pivot bracket underneath.

    metal key support

    They’re still pretty easy to get off, but there is some sort of clearish lubricant on the metal bits. If you need to clean this off - hair and food will, quite evidently, get stuck in it - a little vaseline makes a fine replacement.

    I then used water and paper towels to get all the gunge off the shells and the white piece under the keys. If you have one to spare, I’d recommend a toothbrush for this; it would have made my life a lot easier. Windex worked a wonder on the clear shells. While you’re cleaning it out, be careful not to dislodge or lose the clips that hold the bottom support bar in place. If you do, these little C-shaped pieces of plastic are fairly easy to reunite with the bar, but it’s worth a second or two to mention that they are actually separate from the bottom shell.

    Putting it all back together

    Basically, it all goes back together in the reverse of the way it came out. The one hard part to this is getting the screws on the strain-relief bit back in place. However, if you tip the keyboard slightly up and forward, you can get access to the screws again. I put the keys back on almost last, with just the shell left to go, so that I had access to all of them as long as possible.

    For putting the keys back on, you might want to find another keyboard of the same vintage - I was looking at mine, one of the new Bluetooth ones, and it threw me for a loop until I realized that only one of them had an F16 key. Fortunately, the keys are easy to move. There are some interesting side notes, as well. The shift keys are two different sizes. The arrow keys are subtly curved and uniquely shaped; the up arrow is the only one of the four that is concave. It might be wise to mark the other three on the bottom somehow. Also, it is possible to distinguish the number pad keys from the top row numbers by the fact that the number pad is blank except for the numbers.

    Those keys with metal pivots slide into place from one side before they snap down. Due to the size and the fact that they must be inserted from an angle, I would recommend putting them on first. (They make useful landmarks, too.)

    Final Impressions

    keyless Altogether, this took me about four and a half hours to figure out and do, although a lot of that was spent searching for screws, screwdrivers, and the H key, which flipped under my desk. It really impressed me with the solid design of these keyboards - I think it would have been much, much harder to do this with many of the ‘IBM-compatible’ keyboards I’ve worked with over the years. It was notably easy to take this all to pieces; even the keys popped off easily, with a noise very reminiscent of Legos.

    Also, the little design details were very impressive. The curvature of the arrow keys, for instance, or the enter key on the number pad, were subtle differences that really distinguished the keyboard from much less classy looking rivals.

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  • Of iPhones and Hearing aids…

    Yes, I realize I brought up this topic before, but I wanted to revisit it, now that the beloved iPhone has landed. My hope is that some people can answer a couple of questions I have:

    1. M3/M4 Hearing-aid compatibility?

    - This is a quick one: how well does iPhone play with hearing aids? In the past, GSM phones have been known for their terrible interference with hearing aids when in a “telephone/telecoil” mode. My Verizon-based Treo is okay with my ‘aids, but my dad’s Cingular-backed Blackberry (fairly recent model) is terrible. If I remember correctly, the U.S. has some sort of law now in effect that most cell phones be compatible with hearing aids, so this might not be a problem.

    2. Better headphones?

    - Apple’s been including the white earbuds with iPods since day one, so this may not change, but I’m not a big fan of them, as my ears are already too crowded. There are some that agree with me, but for different reasons. Indeed, these earbuds don’t fit too well in smaller or differently-shaped ear canals. I’m a frequent user of the around-the-ear (”studio-style”) headphones, which often provide better bass, and keep out outside noise better than Apple’s earbuds. I take the Metra train on my commute into Chicago, and most people on the trains use something other than earbuds because of the noise.

    This will especially be an issue with the iPhone, as you can’t answer any calls with your average set of headphones… if you can even get the plug to fit without an extra bulky adapter. Are there any 3rd party headphones coming for the iPhone that will allow for answering calls?

    Sadly, due to the lack of advanced Bluetooth in the iPhone, we’re unable to use stereo Bluetooth headsets. Here’s something funny, though: Bluetooth often causes interference with telecoils in the form of a “click… click… click…” sound, but my Motorola Bluetooth headset works fine for me. Are they improving the Bluetooth spec?

    3. Volume?

    Even if I don’t use the “telecoil” mode to use the iPhone, will it be as loud as my Treo? I was unable to really test the volume, as the times when I was testing the iPhone, it was in noisier areas. My Treo 650 is great for volume… how does the iPhone compare when you put it up to your ear to make a call?

    Note: The M3/M4 compatibility may not be as much of an issue on second thought: the two primary sources of interference with the telecoil of most hearing aids are the Bluetooth/GSM chipsets (CDMA is not quite as severe) and electrical interference from the display screen backlight on some phones. Older Motorola phones were especially bad, giving off a horrible “bzzttt” while the backlight was on. If the iPhone turns off its display, then that may be fine. Hopefully, they’ve worked out the radio interference issues. Some of this same interference is the reason that we’re asked to turn off our phones when getting ready to fly.

    If any of you current iPhone owners out there are familiar with what I’m talking about, and have answers for these questions, please drop me a note in the comments slot below. Thanks!

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