transfixed but not dead! » Apple

Films arrive on iTunes UK

draegtun — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 08:26:58 +0000

“Films” have finally arrived at iTunes UK

To buy is £6.99 for library & £10.99 for new releases (both a bit hefty methinks).

To rent is £2.49 for library & £3.49 for new releases (thats not too bad)

NB. HD only available for Apple TV and costs an extra £1 on the above prices.

iTunes TV programmes in UK

draegtun — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 19:05:52 +0000

It’s a start but the current quality & quantity isn’t good. No British TV progs & also no movies ;-(

See BBC article.

BBC to make iPlayer service available on the Mac

draegtun — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 12:29:49 +0000

Good news… http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6568163.stm

Shows what a bit of complaining can do… http://www.straw-dogs.co.uk/blog/02/01/advise-the-bbc-to-use-open-standards

It’s an iPhone but not as you know it?!

draegtun — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 09:04:58 +0000

After all the speculation about the arrival of an iPhone it’s finally “appeared”…. but not from Apple! It’s from LinkSys (Cisco)

Actually I’m glad because I think if Apple did produce a product called the “iPhone” it would diminish the iPod brand name. So to me this doesn’t make good marketing sense (not that I’m an expert in marketing!).

I’m all for the iPod having phone capabilities and so should be a future optional feature. But first I would prefer the iPod to have better PDA functionality and bigger screen for better video playback.

PS. How did everyone miss the fact that the iPhone trademark was held by Cisco! Very strange? However perhaps this won’t stop Apple anyway!?

Using an UPS with Apple iMac

draegtun — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:02:41 +0000

Always used an Unlimited Power Supply (UPS) with the Linux servers/workstations I’ve had so it was a no-brainer to continue this practise with my Mac.

I’ve always stuck with APC when it comes to an UPS and they’ve never let me down. Needed one with a USB connection so went with a Back UPS ES 500.

I was expecting to continue to use PowerChute to manage the controlled shutdowns. However I noticed some chatter and such which mentioned that MacOSX Tiger had UPS functionality already embedded.

So plugged in the UPS and switched on the iMac and hey presto the battery icon automagically appeared!….

So no need to have Tiger server and no need to muck around with core services. A dropdown appeared under “Energy Saver” providing a UPS option….

And only did a few changes to the defaults……

And we were good to go….

My workspace… with my shiny new Apple iMac

draegtun — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 11:02:26 +0000

Below is a pic of my brand spanking new iMac sitting on my desk.

I went for a 2.16Ghz (Intel Core 2 Duo) model because didn’t think the 2.33Ghz would really provide much of speed increase for the extra expense. However I did go for more memory and upgraded the vid card to Nvidia GeForce 7600 (256mb) because this should provide some extra umpf. Would have liked to have gone for 3gb memory upgrade but that was just too expensive… so upgraded to 2gb.

The cost saved on getting this iMac compared to the MacPro allowed me to also buy two external hard disks & a 80gb iPod and still have change left in my pocket

This Mac flies and leaves my Powerbook G4 for dead. It even feels much faster than my Linux workstation (two AMD CPU 2.0Ghz with 1gb memory).

Now to start tailoring my iMac to fit into my daily work & home needs.