Day: August 8, 2005

Categories
Gear and Gadgets TechNews Bytes

First Look: Apple’s (Mostly) Mighty Mouse

If you hadn’t been able to tell from the array of podcasts this week and from a whole assortment of other tech news, some small part of hell just froze over because Friday Apple announced that it was releasing a mouse with -gasp- more than one button. But then again, leave it to Apple to release a mouse with multiple buttons that actually doesn’t have any..well..buttons. Don’t believe me? Well, meet the Mighty Mouse [ http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/ ] and here he comes to save the day! (I know, I know, I couldn’t resist)

Seriously though, as soon as Apple released the thing, geeks like me rolled our eyes and breathed a collective “about time” and “oh for crying out loud” sigh, namely because it’s been way overdue since Mac OS 9 introduced multi-button support, and it’s natively handled in OS X (all versions, for that matter). Essentially this means that Mac users for the past 5 years at least have bought their macs, ditched the Apple mice that came with them, and immediately ran out and picked up a cheap Microsoft or Logitech to make use of the multibutton support. So Apple finally wisened up. Good news. But look at it-the little trackball in the center, and the fact that it looks like it only has one button (and can be configured to only have one button) and the little squeeze-clicking by squeezing the sides? Oh come on. I have to admit, even I, an Apple die-hard, rolled my eyes. And yet, they still flew off the shelves! I haven’t gotten my hands on one to play with yet, but PCWorld has, and here’s their First Look:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122072,tk,wb080805x,00.asp ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts TWIT Archive

This Week In Tech [TWIT] // Episode 17

Another TWiT, ready to go – this week’s hosts are Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, Roger Chang, Robert Heron, Steve Gibson, and John C. Dvorak. Whew! There’s a lot of TWiTs on this week’s show, but it’s not confusing-I actually like the episodes where there are plenty of people chatting about a whole variety of topics. This week Leo reveals unintentionally when talking about laptops and gaming that he plays World of Warcraft [ http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/ ] (what server, Leo?), everyone comments on Apple’s big announcement this past week-what else? The release of the Mighty Mouse, details of the TechTV meetup in Toronto on August 11, suggestions on a new cellphone, Kevin sharing my love for Dell LCD displays, and a whole messload of listener submitted questions! Definitely a good TWiT if I do say so myself.

This Week In Tech [TWIT] Episode 17 // August 8, 2005 – [ episode notes | download ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

Command-N // Episode 6

This week’s Command-N is up and ready to download, and while this week is no blooper reel, it’s definitely amusing. This week Amber and Mikey have an exclusive interview with Ray S. from iPodderX [ http://www.ipodderx.com/ ], tips on how to put linux on your iPod, the weekly web picks, chat about Yahoo’s acquisition of Konfabulator and subsequent free release, and Apple’s release of the Mighty Mouse. As always, the video is a treat to watch, and Amber and Mikey have the most interesting dynamic to watch. Head on over and watch:

Command-N Episode 6 // August 8, 2005 – [ episode notes and download links ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

Weezy and The Swish // Episode 8

They were a little late last week, but I didn’t mean to completely forget the release of their most recent podcast! Looks like they’re a little behind now, but that’s okay-I’m glad to get my hands on the hilarity at all. Episode 8 is up and ready to download; this week the discussion centers around why the podcast was late, everyone’s weekly activities, and all the usual tidbits that you’re all but accustomed to. I haven’t listened to it yet so I don’t have any more details, but as usual I’m sure you won’t be dissapointed.

Weexy and The Swish Episode 8 // August 3, 2005 – [ episode notes | download ]

Categories
Programming and Podcasts

DiggNation // Episode 6

A brand new DiggNation is up and ready to go, and it looks promising! This week’s DiggNation lists off the best 5 torrent sites, the ugliness that is the new AOL Instant Messanger Beta (which apparently has ads all over the place), Harrison Ford is going to go ahead and be Indiana Jones in the new movie (awesome), Apple’s Mighty Mouse [ http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/ ], and much, much more. It’s looking awesome, and I can’t wait. Check it out:

DiggNation Episode 6 // August 5, 2005 – [ episode notes | download ]

Categories
TechNews Bytes

First Family of Windows Vista Viruses Unleashed

Uh oh! Looks like no sooner than Windows Vista Beta 1 go live over MSDN and to developers and other beta testers did it wind up available on the p2p circuit, and as soon as it was available on the p2p circuit the viruses appeared. Not that this is really significant news, because I’m sure many of the security holes and problems that are present in the current beta of Vista will be plugged and patched up between now and the final release, but it’s still amusing to see how quickly the exploits and viruses have come across for Microsoft’s new operating system. Read the details:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122125,tk,dn080505X,00.asp ]

UPDATE: 5:23PM EST //
Looks like Microsoft has decided to pull the scripting shell, code named “Monad,” that led to the ease with which these viruses were created and used. It’s kind of amusing that, rather than make a more secure product, or lock down their scripting environment, they instead choose to pull yet another feature from Vista. I’m thinking this definitely makes the list of features pulled from the new OS longer than the list of new features that’ll be in it. Anyway, PC World has the updated scoop:

[ http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,122145,tk,dn080805X,00.asp ]