The Inquisitr » mac

Cities XL on a Mac: Here’s How

Duncan Riley — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 06:17:49 +0000

I’ve long been a fan of the Sim Cities series of games, so when I saw that a French company was bringing out its own take on the genre called Cities XL naturally I took a look.

Cities XL could have been Sim City 5 if it had come from Maxis, because like the Sim Cities before it is a natural progression in the genre, complete with graphics fitting 2009.

Sadly though they haven’t developed a Mac version of the game, and at the time of writing don’t intend on creating one. You could set up a bootcamp partition and run Cities XL via Windows, but well…I’d rather not have to boot out of OS X to play the game.

Several hours later I have Cities XL running on my 13″ Macbook Pro without using bootcamp or running something like Parallels. Here’s how.

Downloads

I should note that I purchased the download via Steam because the Cities XL site’s purchasing section wasn’t working at the time. These instructions should work fine with a standard install.

You’ll also need to download the latest version of Darwine here.

Installation

Install Darwine as would any normal program.

From the dropdown menu in Darwine (top right hand side of the screen) select Winetricks. In Winetricks install Direct X 9, MS .NET 2.0 and MS Visual C++ 2008 libraries. If Direct X 9 doesn’t install, don’t worry too much because the game will attempt to install it when it is setting itself up. If you have ongoing problems though, grab Direct X 9 from Microsoft direct and try running it.

Install Cities XL.

I had a problem with graphics, although being on a low end Macbook Pro might have had more to do with it. If you get a popup about failure to deal with screen resolution (or similar) the way around it is to change the settings in Wine to “emulate a virtual desktop” (Wine Configuration/ Graphics.) You will need to restart Wine + X11 for the change to take place.

And that’s all there is to it, and so far I haven’t seen any bugs or issues with the game play.

The game itself: not bad, although the online component is over priced and underwhelming so far.

Which OS is right for you?

Kim LaCapria — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 21:44:55 +0000

GraphJam has compiled a handy venn diagram to help you select the operating system that suits your needs.

Seen in the comments: Linux is user friendly… it’s just very selective about who its friends are.

iSteamMac: the steampunked Mac

Steven Hodson — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:53:22 +0000

This might not appeal to all Mac fans but I am sure more than a few would love to have something like this.

Kevin Tong – taking inspiration for people like H.G. Wells and da Vinci – has created the iSteamMac. Unfortunately it is only available as a graphic on your choice of a t-shirt or poster. The t-shirt version is on an America Apparel Cream colored tee and will cost you $20.00 (plus shipping).

The screen printed poster is two-color on 100lb. acid-free French Speckletone paper – 24 inches x 18 inches – but there is only a limited edition of 300. The poster will cost you $15 (plus shipping) but you gotta admit it would look pretty cool framed and hanging on your wall.

Snow Leopard ships with malware blocker (Wha??)

Steven Hodson — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:21:41 +0000

After years of lording over Windows the fact that Mac OS X doesn’t, or couldn’t get attacked by malware Apple’s next version of OS X, Snow Leopard, is being shipped with as malware blocker. Back in December of last year I got some flack over a post about OS X and how its days of not being a target for viruses, trojans, or other types of malware where numbered.

How things can change in almost a year eh. As many have always maintained Apple’s real security against these baddies was that the user base size of OS X didn’t make it worth malware developer’s time. Something must have changed if Apple has gotten to the point that they have incorporated a malware scanning engine as a part of Snow Leopard.

Ryan Narine at cnet Zero Day has this to say about the discovery

It is not yet clear how Apple is handling the package scans for signs of malicious software.

I have confirmed that Apple is not using the open-source ClamAV engine to handle these scans so it’s likely the company has entered into an agreement with a commercial anti-virus company.

This isn’t the first official acknowledgment from Apple that the Mac operating system may be susceptible to malware. This Web page on Mac OS X security actually recommends the use of third-party anti-virus software to get “additional protection.”

All I have to say is

Malware served up based on operating system

Steven Hodson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:10:00 +0000

While the stick yer head segment of Mac users will almost certainly find some reason to spout their typical rhetoric about Mac’s being impervious to viruses, trojans and other such evil goodies that isn’t stopping the malware writers from improving their odds of getting you to install their crap. One of the newest tricks apparently is for the website you are visiting to detect which operating system you are running and then serve you up a nasty package for that OS.

Ivan Macalintal from Trend Micro recently came across a new variant of the DNS changer trojan that checks for which operating system is behind the browser and then will offer up the appropriate Windows or Mac installer.

This follows a similar finding last month by McAfee, which spotted the same tactic being used at sites that try to trick the user into installing a browser plug-in supposedly needed to view online videos: The bogus plug-in was offered as a ".exe" file for Windows visitors, and a ".dmg" installer file for those who browsed the site with a Mac.

Meanwhile, Symantec warned last week that it had detected several blogs that were advertising free, streaming online copies of movies that were just released in the theaters. The lure is once again a fake video plug-in, followed by either a Mac- or Windows-based version of the DNS Changer Trojan.

Source: Security Fix :: Malware Writers: Will That Be OS X, or W?

Most of these new and more dangerous delivery systems are coming at us via blogs and websites that pander to those looking for video and software that they would normally have to pay for.

The reason for this is that by making the visitor think they need some new type of codec to view some questionable video it makes them more willing to install whatever is offered up to them. This is just taking the whole social engineering up a level or two.

image courtesy of Security Fix

[VIDEO] New Rage trailer massages your eyes

Chris Greenhough — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:31:26 +0000

Is Rage the best-looking game in development today? It blimmin’ well should be, because it’s supported by id Software’s new fancy-pants graphics engine, otherwise known as id Tech 5. If anybody knows about pushing the graphics envelope, it’s the makers of Doom and Quake.

And so it proves in the latest trailer. Frankly, Rage looks like the cat’s pajamas, the bee’s knees, and the kipper’s knickers, making it some sort of buzzing feline … fish … thing. I lost track of where I was going there. Anyway, it also looks a lot more interesting than previous id graphical powerhouses, like the yawnsome Doom 4.

Yes, it’s another slice of post-apocalyptica, but I’m not complaining. I have a strange fascination with disaster and the collapse of civilization, and last year’s excellent (not to mention chilling) Fallout 3 has really whet my appetite for more of the same. At first glance, Rage appears to be Fallout 3 Mk. II, with less RPG and more dune buggy racing. That suits me fine.

Now point your eyes here:

[GameTrailers, via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Taking a bite out of Apple

Paul Short — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:52:18 +0000

2 years ago, I would have given my left testicle for a 17″ MacBook Pro, but I always exercised restraint and stayed a PC user. The cost of the hardware was always my excuse for not drinking the Apple juice. “I could buy 3 PCs for the price of one MacBook Pro” was my reasoning. I never did go Mac, and now I’m kind of happy with my decision to remain a PC user.

Jason Calacanis published a post to his email list and blog recently that got my attention and made me more aware of Apple’s busines practices and how they treat their customers. Jason has spent a considerable amount of money and exercised a lot of loyalty to Apple products over the past few years, but he’s no longer happy with showing his support to the brand, or the man behind it.

My big takeaways from Jason’s post are:

1. Apple sells expensive (but quality so you’d expect to pay more) hardware, whether it be iPods, computers or phones, and then makes it impossible (and even illegal) for their customers to have a choice in how they use that hardware.

2. Apple seems to have such a blind following of rabidly loyal customers that they can’t see their choice is being limited solely for the benefit of the company.

3. If another company employed the same ultra-rigid and anti-competitive business practices, they’d have government regulatory bodies leaning on them so hard they’d be finished, or at least be forced to submit and become more open.

4. (And this is my own personal observation) The most rabid Apple fans and devout evangilists remind me of a religious cult – touting Apple and their supreme leader, Steve Jobs, as being superior in every way, while ignoring Apple’s negative points and downtrodding all other products and the people who use them. They have an agenda.

All of the above for me are a huge turnoff.

A computer is a tool for me. That tool must perform a task for it to have value and as long as that task is done correctly and efficiently, whether the tool cost $500 or $3,500 it’s still accomplished the same thing. Just because the $3,500 would make you appear to look or feel better performing that task, does that add any real value?

Enough about price. I’m a tinkerer. I love modding stuff to suit my needs so I want to be able to flip my computer upside down, take a screwdriver and pop in extra RAM or a bigger hard drive without having to bring it in to some kid at a genius bar who’s going to take my old hardware. I want to have the freedom to install whatever software I like. Like, youknow, some obscure flavor of Linux.

I’d love to be able to buy OS X for a couple hundred bucks and install it on my Toshiba laptop. Problem is, I’m not allowed. I can buy the disc, but I’d have to buy an Apple computer to install the software on.

There are just too many things I’m not allowed to do with an Apple product. Why, then, would I go out and buy one?

I’ve spent the first part of this post being negative towards Apple products, so let’s look at some positives.

Apple products are design materpieces when it comes to look, feel and the image they portray. No doubt about that.

Apple has spent their entire existance refining, optimizing and streamlining both their hardware and software and how they co-exist and perform together. They’ve built an ‘Operating System’ that comes with a collection of productivity and entertainment software built for the hardware and OS, so it’s more stable, slicker, “it just works”.

Whereas Microsoft has built more of a ‘Platform’ than an Operating System – a platform that has to run 10’s of 1,000’s of applications and programs because of their open system, so there are disadvantages.

Am I a Microsoft fan? NO. I’m a Microsoft software user. There’s a big difference.

I’m a fan of hardware and software that’s more open and tinkerable.

When I was a kid I liked Lego more than jigsaw puzzles. I could do almost anything I wanted with Lego and it was a different experience every time. A jigsaw puzzle ends up being one thing once it’s built.

So now that I’ve straddled the fence while leaning towards the PC garden, I’d only buy an Apple laptop, or Mac mini, if I was buying it from a person who was replacing their’s with a PC because they’re crossing the floor to the more open side. So…

P.S. Jason, I’ll be in SFO in a few weeks if you wanna unload one of those Laptops for a good price

Are operating systems too expensive at any price?

Steven Hodson — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:10:01 +0000

Now before the penguin brigade jumps in with their typical Linux is free crap let me just say this – STFU. This post as should be obvious from the headline is about those two popular operating systems that people pay money for. So swim back to your icebergs and leave me alone.

With that necessary disclaimer out of the way let’s get to the serious discussion. This summer and fall is going to see the wide spread release of both OS X Snow Leopard and Windows 7. Discounting the obvious fanboy beating of the chest about whose operating system is better than the other I am more interested in the price being paid by the consumer. Or rather if we are approaching a period where there is a break point where the price being charged is too much.

The realistic approach of OS X

As much as Window fans might like to point to the fact that Apple holds a hammerlock on it’s hardware and software which in some ways gives it an unfair advantage when it comes to pricing its operating system the fact is that Apple really just see the OS as an ends to a means. As such it has always priced its OS at a level that would make any Windows user drool.

Yes much of Apple’s profits originate from its hardware sales with the OS being a necessity in order to get their customers to buy their other products which are more realistically priced. The one thing to keep in mind though is that this OS pricing due to the hardware/software lock is only possible because unlike Windows, Apple doesn’t have to expend large development costs in supporting the same depth of hardware.

As a result it is easy to understand how Apple is able to provide Snow Leopard for $29 an upgrade or $129 for the full install. One has to wonder though that while the upgrade price is a real sweet spot, why is there such a difference between it and the full install version. Is there really that much difference to justify the $100 difference?

The hair pulling approach of Windows

Windows has always gotten flack for its pricing of the operating system, as well as for the insanity of the different versions of the same software. After all as it is pointed out in all the discussion that is starting about Windows 7 pricing it is basically the same DVD being sold for all versions. While this might make it nice and easy for upgrading between the various flavors of the OS it definitely makes one scratch one’s head as to why they even need so many versions.

Microsoft has always been known for trying to milk its OS sales for every cent they can. So having as many different versions of Windows has been to their advantage. The only problem is that when they tried this with Windows Vista it came back to bite them hard on the ass. I think that is one of the reasons why Vista failed in the marketplace – people didn’t have a clue as to which version to upgrade to. So since XP was still a rock solid OS why worry about it.

So I think when it came to Windows 7 there was some serious rethinking about this mistake and which is why we are back to seeing three versions being pushed into the pipeline. While this is a good thing to see the same attitude of change hasn’t really been seen when it comes to the pricing. they might be touting an 8% price drop from Vista as a great consumer oriented deal but the fact is Windows is still price heavy.

For example these are the current proposed prices expected when Windows 7 goes live

Upgrade Path:

Home Premium – $119.00 US / $129.95 Cdn
Professional – $199.00 US / $249.95 Cdn
Ultimate – $219.00 US / $279. 95 Cdn

Full Install Path:

Home Premium – $199.00 US / $224.95 Cdn
Professional – $299.00 US / $329.95 Cdn
Ultimate – $319.00 US / $349.95 Cdn

Source: Ars Technica / Canadian prices courtesy of Kris Abel’s Tech Life

As I pointed out in the section about Apple is that Microsoft has an incredible myriad of hardware to support which will obviously add to the cost of developing the OS. That doesn’t mean though that as we more to more of a digital download world that the prices being asked for the Windows OS is entirely justified.

Right off the bat the idea of an Ultimate version makes absolutely no sense in a general, or power user, consumer market. When Vista came out with that I wrote about how it was a waste of money and my opinion hasn’t changed with the Windows 7 version of it either. Once you take that out of the equation you are left with Home Premium and Professional. At what point does the consumer market switch from a premium user to a professional one?

Even though Microsoft might like to point to some minor price drop as their way of making the OS more affordable the fact is it isn’t. Beside confusing consumers as to what version of Windows 7 is best for them the idea that an OS is worth the prices they want to charge is ludicrous especially considering the large majority of their sales will be at the lower OEM prices. We also need to take into consideration the reality that we are very quickly moving into a downloadable distribution channel which means Microsoft’s delivery costs would be miniscule compared to the current retail sales channel.

The changing landscape of consumer usage

While Apple’s pricing of OS X might be more consumer friendly that Windows multi-tier pricing they are both ignoring how the consumer use of computers has changed. Where their prices might be applicable and to a point understandable when most homes, or individuals only had one computer that in a growing number is no longer the case.

Whether they be laptops, media centers, gaming rigs, laptops or even the new netbooks it is no longer uncommon to see multiple computers within one home. In the case of a family chances are that each member has some form computer they are using. Even on an individual level people stand a good chance of having more than one machine.

So instead of only having to purchase one license people are having to buy multiple licenses and there is no denying the expense regardless of OS. Take myself: I have my main desktop, a media machine in the process of being rebuilt, my wife’s laptop and plans for a laptop of my own. That’s for licenses for Windows 7 that I am going to need 4 of which means a cost of $899.80 for the Home Premium or $1,319.80 for the Professional version. Even if I was an Apple user and all those were Macs I would still be looking at $387.00 USD.

And really what is the difference between 1 licensed version and 4?

The serial number is the only difference. So in effect we are paying in excess of anywhere from $500.00 to $1,000 for three sets of numbers.

As much as we bitch about old media being stuck in the mindset of outmoded business models the fact is even supposedly modern tech businesses are stuck in the same mindset.

And they wonder why stuff gets pirated.

Can your PC do this?

Duncan Riley — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:00:30 +0000

Here’s a video for the Mac vs PC debate: can your PC do this? Wait until the 30 second mark for the best bits.

(via The NextWeb)

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Psystar begins circling drain, Apple lawyers exchange high-fives

Steven Hodson — Tue, 26 May 2009 17:49:29 +0000

Ah poor plucky little Psystar, how I had hopes that you would succeed if only by a little bit but it seems that is not to be. For those of you who might know of the Psystar story it is one of a small company willing to take on the might of Apple and their well fed lawyers by selling off the rack computers that came with Mac OS X installed.

It was a little over a year ago when Psystar first made headlines in the tech blogosphere by releasing their Mac clones and everyone waited with baited breath for Apple to hit them and hit hard. Interestingly enough apple’s response lacked any or the real ferociousness that Apple, and its lawyers, is known for. While the company was eventually sued by Apple they seem to take a more casual approach to the whole thing.

In return to Apple suing them Psystar caught most of the tech pundit off-guard by turning around and suing Apple. However as it seems in most cases when it comes to battling Apple, might wins over right and Psystar has finally filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The one interesting thing to come out of this is that we will finally be able to see who has been bankrolling Psystar as that information is revealed as a part of the court hearing on June 5.

Even though they might be in trouble money and legal wise this hasn’t stopped Psystar from continuing to sell their Mac clones on their site. As the MacObserver blog notes though it really is only a matter of time before Psystar will be a footnote in Apple history

Even if Psystar has plans of continuing its battle against Apple to sell PCs with Mac OS X installed, it isn’t in a strong position to move forward once the Judge overseeing its bankruptcy lifts the automatic stay since it doesn’t likely have money to pay for its legal defense. Without the cash to pay its legal team, Psystar probably won’t have anyone to represent it in court, and won’t be in a position to defend itself against Apple.

Spiderman does Mac

Steven Hodson — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 01:56:16 +0000

Take a moment and have a really good look at the graphic … go ahead I’ll wait …

So did you figure it out?

I have to admit at my first glance I didn’t figure out what the heck it was other than possible just a silly Spiderman comic panel. Then I looked closer and though – damn that’s pretty cool and you can thank Zack Shackleton and Lifehacker for spreading the word.

What Zack did with some handy dandy diagnostic tools and some editing tools including GeekTool and Magnifique. He used them to pull a bunch of system information from the computer and created a dynamic package that displays the system info as word balloons.

There’s only one problem – it only works on a Mac

[hat tip to Crave]

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Psystar wins one against Apple

Steven Hodson — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:36:24 +0000

For those of you not familiar with the back story to this David vs. Goliath story here’s the short version. Psystar setup shop last year marketing what basically boiled down to a Mac clone. Apple at first didn’t do anything but near the end of the year they finally slapped Psystar with a lawsuit to which the scrappy little company slapped Apple back with a lawsuit of their own.

At which point Apple put forward a motion to have Psystar’s countersuit thrown out. Well the judge in the case has ruled that Psystar’s lawsuit can go ahead. In addition US District Court Judge William Alsop suggested that "Psystar may well have a legitimate interest in establishing misuse [of copyright] independent of Apple’s claims against it — for example, to clarify the risks it confronts by marketing the products at issue in this case or others it may wish to develop,"

Alsup also said that if Psystar proves that Apple abused copyright laws, some of Apple’s charges against the company would be moot. He also seemed to say that that others would then be free to follow in Psystar’s footsteps. "Moreover, if established, misuse would bar enforcement (for the period of misuse) not only as to defendants who are actually party to the challenged license but also as to potential defendants not themselves injured by the misuse who may have similar interests," said Alsup in his ruling.

Source: ComputerWorld

I can’t help it but I’m rooting for Psystar here. It would be nice to see Apple; and its legal team, get their comeuppance finally.

Glims Makes Safari a Whole Lot Better

Duncan Riley — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:27:26 +0000

I love using Safari on my Mac for the stability and speed, but I keep coming back to Firefox for the features. Safari plugin Glims though narrows the features gap.

The completely free package (Mac only) adds the following features to Safari

* Adds thumbnails to Google.com search results
* Adds thumbnails to Yahoo.com search results
* Adds full-screen browsing capability
* Adds Favicons to tab labels
* Adds keyword search from address bar
* Undo “Close Tab” (cmd-z)
* Re-opens last session when Safari starts
* Focus last selected tab
* Type-ahead support (auto cmd-f)
* Forms autocomplete always on
* Dated download folders

Best still: they’re not an all or nothing proposition, and each feature can be turned on/ off to suit individual tastes. My particular favorites:undo close tab, re-open last session, and favicons on tabs. It doesn’t deliver everything I’d want, but with it I’m more likely to use Safari more often.

You can grab Glims here.

(via LifeHacker)

3D desktop in the future for Macheads?

Steven Hodson — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:31:58 +0000

It seems that for some reason that computer OS have this silly fixation about developing a 3D desktop. It turns out that Apple has something in their labs worthy of patenting. In the multidimensional desktop it appears that they want to take the familar parts of the OS X desktop and add depth, allowing you to stack documents or folders behind application icons on the floor of your desktop.

As Tom Krazit at cnet News noted many time these patented ideas never see the light of day but they are great for bloggers to write about and purists to complain about. Okay he didn’t quite say that but the idea is the same.

[image courtesy of MacRumors]

No more making fun of Windows security for Mac users

Steven Hodson — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:11:06 +0000

If there has always been one constant in the on-going my operating system is better than yours head butting that happens between Windows and Mac users it has been over the issue of security. Mac users have loved being able to lord over us poor ol’ Windows users how they don’t need to worry about things like malware and viruses. This obnoxious attitude hasn’t been helped either by Cupertino running ads pointing out how Mac users don’t need to worry about such silly things as viruses. As Brian Krebs says in a post about this today

Just under three months ago, I asked an employee at our local Apple store whether I needed anti-virus for my MacBook, and was told not to bother, that it was not necessary. I wonder if this means Apple will stop running television ads saying Mac users don’t have to worry about malicious software?

This of course is in total contrast to a technical note that Apple has added to its support site where they say the following

“Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple anti-virus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.”

The support advisory even goes on to recommend some possible anti-virus utilities for the Mac faithful to install on their oh so secure machines

Here are some available anti-virus utilities:

· Intego VirusBarrier X5, available from the Apple Online Store
License: commercial

· Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh, available from the Apple Online Store
License: commercial

· McAfee VirusScan for Mac
License: commercial

For years Windows users have had to suffer the better than thou abuse from Mac users and now; as more than a few Windows users have said – myself included, the tables have indeed turned. So all you Windows users out there bookmark that Apple advisory. Then the next time some Mactard starts making fun of you because of things like viruses and how they don’t have to worry about such mundane things – slap them with that link.

Neener Neener – it looks good on them.

Oh you poor poor Mac users

Steven Hodson — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:17:37 +0000

For the longest time Windows users have been the brunt of many a joke about haw we are so locked in to Microsoft and their deals cut with the entertainment industry. We have to suffer through things like DRM and whatever other draconian measures Microsoft wraps around their software to ward off piracy. Well we are no longer alone as Mac users will soon discover when they start buying new hardware – especially monitor.

It appears that new Apple hardware is shipping out with “HDCP” anti-copying technology that will prevent the showing of some videos on non-compliant monitors. As the team at TUAW point out

In this case, ‘compliant’ means HDMI or recent-vintage DVI, but even monitors or TVs that support HDCP may not properly negotiate with the DisplayPort connector to give iTunes and QuickTime the all-clear signal (if so, quitting and relaunching iTunes once the display is hooked up may clear the playback hold). Equally annoying: HDCP is only supposed to apply to ‘high-value’ digital streams, meaning standard-def purchases and rentals on the iTunes store should be out of scope… but some reports indicate that both the HD and SD instances are flagged, blocking playback on anything but the laptop’s internal display or a straight-thru HDMI connection. Argh!

As Cory Doctorow pointed out on Boing Boing this doesn’t have anything to do with copyright law per se

Best part: the list of “compliant” monitors will change over time: the monitor you buy today can be “revoked” tomorrow and stop working.

Slashdot says that Apple’s added “copyright protection” to its video. But copyright law isn’t violated when you watch a movie on an “unapproved” monitor. This isn’t about enforcing copyright law, it’s about giving a small handful of movie companies a veto over hardware designs.

Sorry but you get no sympathy from me on this and the next time you start making fun of Windows users I’ll just point you to this post and suggest you STFU.

No related posts.

Mac users make me chuckle

Steven Hodson — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 18:53:20 +0000

Mac users are a snobby bunch - especially when it comes to security. It’s not that their sense of security isn’t well found given its niche user base in years gone past. However that will change as more and more of the Windows horde begin to experiment with the dark side (as we call it).

The saving grace for both Mac and Linux has been twofold with the first being it was never a real marketplace target for virus writers who want as much bang for their buck as they can get. The second is that due to the nature of its Unix base it requires a lot more savvy and social engineering skills to infect Mac’s than the majority of virus writers are willing to invest.

But I always get a kick out of reading posts like the one I read today from Chris Pirillo where he dived into his FriendFeed fanbase to find out their thoughts on things like their favourite antivirus, spyware and malware tools (ya gotta admit it’s an easy way to come up with a post at the drop of a hat as well). It is no surprise that within the first few reply to his question out comes the Mac fandom proclaiming that using the Mac was the best security solution. Out of the 23 replies 4 touted the Mac as the best defense, 5 gave their Windows line of defense and the rest was pretty well the usual bickering that will always happen (and get your question/post a lot of attention) when a subject like this comes up.

As much as a chuckle as I might get from watching this type of expected conversation the reality is that Mac users can rest easy if they want in the belief that they are invulnerable to the same type of attacks that have plagued Windows users but that will change. The further the Mac moves away from its niche market and into the general computing populace the higher its profile will become in the marketplace and at that point you will see things change. The higher the profile the more of a target it will become for the serious virus and trojan writers and they don’t screw around like the script kiddies.

In the meantime I’ll just keep looking for these types of conversations when I need a good laugh to brighten up my day.

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Latest Mac Ads Get Seinfeldian On Microsoft

JR — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:48:57 +0000

In a fitting twist, Apple’s latest ads bring a Seinfeldian element of self-awareness to the campaign against Microsoft.

The new spots, released today, strike me as being quite akin to the “Seinfeld” show’s season four plot line in which Jerry and George create a show about nothing for NBC. In Apple’s case, the company has created a commercial about a commercial that was about their commercials. Still with me?

Maybe it’d be easier just to watch. The first spot directly takes on the cash spent in Microsoft’s Seinfeld-started $300 million campaign:

The second makes light of the lack of “Vista” references in the latest Windows ads:

The irony, of course, is that outside of the initial “I’m a Mac” line, both spots largely avoided any actual Mac references themselves. One also wonders how much money Apple is paying for its own advertising efforts, since it’s bringing the subject up.

Ah, the art of negative campaigning. You can turn off the political coverage, but you can’t escape it. Will the slamming tactic work for Apple, or will it deliver a negative response such as what we often see within the political arena? The commercials are comical, no doubt, but let’s see how much of an impact they actually make.

Touching Tributes to Bernie Mac Revealed

Meieli Sawyer — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:09:13 +0000

What started out as a rumor is true: Bernie Mac has passed away from complications with a severe case of pneumonia, with his rep confirming the sad news:

“Actor/ comedian Bernie Mac passed away this morning from complications due to pneumonia in a Chicago area hospital. No other details are available at this time. We ask that his family’s privacy continues to be respected.”

In a touching tribute to the hilarious family man, actors-slash-comedians spoke out regarding Bernie’s early, untimely, and frankly pretty surprising death (considering that his rep had just told us yesterday that he was “make a full recovery.”

Tributes from Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Chris Rock After the Jump!

From Brad Pitt: “”I lament the loss of a ferociously funny and hardcore family man. My thoughts are with [his wife] Rhonda and their family. Bernie Mac, you are already missed.”

From George Clooney: “The world just got a little less funny. He will be dearly missed.”

From Chris Rock
: “Bernie Mac was one of the best and funniest comedians to ever live but that was the second best thing he did. Bernie was one of the greatest friends a person could have. Losing him is like losing 12 people because he absolutely filled up any room he was in. I’m gonna miss the Mac Man.”

Image: WireImage

1996 Windows vs Mac

Duncan Riley — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:33:21 +0000

Both are scary.

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