MacNewsBlog

Well here we are! I'm still setting things up and it'll probably take a while to get a new layout/look going so this one will have to do for now.

I'll be compiling a bunch of hints and tips about using Macs and Mac OSX Server in the real world as well as some info on what I find useful on an almost daily basis. I'm really creating this site as a repository for all of my scattered info so I always know where to find things as well as the people I work with or come across.

Feel free to read along and contribute! I'm always open to new stuff.

Security Update 2006-003 for Mac OS X 10.3.9 and Mac OS X 10.4.6 incorporates Security Update 2006-002 and addresses a bunch of additional vulnerabilities, including:

• AppKit
• ImageIO
• BOM
• CFNetwork
• ClamAV
• CoreFoundation
• CoreGraphics
• Finder
• FTPServer
• Flash Player
• ImageIO
• Keychain
• LaunchServices
• libcurl
• Mail
• MySQL Manager
• Preview
• QuickDraw
• QuickTime Streaming Server
• Ruby
• Safari

Quicktime 7.1 has some bug fixes and improvements as well as nine security patches!

FrontRow 1.2.2 addresses the following:

• Addresses bugs that prevented song shuffling within playlists


• Front row no longer says the server was not found when its waiting for a large movie trailer or long shared video to load


• Corrects bugs that prevented authorized Audible Audiobooks from playing


• Fixes a variety of DVD compatibility issues


• Purchased movies located in the Movies folder are now correctly recognized


• Includes a variety of fixes for VoiceOver accessibility


• Fixes a bug that prevented Front Row from reconnecting to shared video libraries after wake from sleep

I haven't updated yet but as a rule of thumb, I usually download these updates directly instead of relying on the Software Update download mechanism built into OSX. AND I always make a backup of my entire system using a utility like SuperDuper first just in case something in the update messes up. It pays to backup your stuff!

I've been slowly moving my data from my trusty 12" Powerbook to a brandspanking new MacBook Pro. Usually I'd just move everything in one sitting but I'm taking my time on this one simply because I wanted to make sure that whatever I was using on my Powerbook would still work on the MacBook.

Yes I've been using an Intel iMac at work but since this is going to be my "production" machine, I wanted to be extra careful before saying goodbye to my beloved 12" PB. Turns out that everything runs just as it should, bar Toast 7 which seems to have a problem with verifying after burning. I'm not quite sure if this is a Toast 7 problem or a MBP problem and I'm investigating it now. As of this moment it seems like Toast 7 enjoys making coasters off and on of my DVD-R discs.

I've been reading the MBP Apple Forums as it always seems to be a good place to see what kinds of issues others have been having. I've heard of whining, and mooing of the processor, but the big issue recently has been heat. There are users on both sides of this issue surrounding the fact that it seems that Apple's MBP manufacturers put too much thermal grease on the processors. This leads to added heat build up as the processor cannot transfer the heat to a cooling tube in order for the fans to kick in. The end result for some is a MacBookPro that can cook eggs and pancakes from what I've read from some.

Apple claims that the heat being generated for most MBP is within spec, while some users claim its just too hot and have taken it upon themselves to open up their MBP to remedy the overdone thermal grease, potentially voiding their MBP's warranty. While I do not condone voiding your warranty, to each their own. I've owned a lot of Powerbooks through the years and each one has gotten hotter, not cooler as each has had a newer and faster processor as its heart. Faster usually equals more heat and or more cooling.

This weekend I decided to start backing up to DVD a lot of my junk on my external drives with my new MacBook Pro which is finally pretty much set up to be my main production machine. Problem is that I've been getting verification errors on what seems like 4 out of 5 burns. The disc will burn fine but the verification process almost always fails. It doesn't seem to be media related as i've been using TDK media for a whie with good results.

At first I thought it was Toast 7.0.2 but when I tried to burn media using MacOSX it had the same type of verification error. I don't think the drive is defective as it can read and it sometimes burns disks that pass verifcation just fine. However there are strange messages in the system.log file that make me think this is OSX related. I posted the problem on Apple's forums and it seems there are a few others who are having the same problem.

I went back to burning stuff on my Powerbook 12" and I have yet to make a coaster after 5 successful burns. Poor MBP! What a bad rap you're getting with the whining, mooing, heat issues and now maybe even potential problems burning media!

UPDATE: I got to work today and removed the 3rd party RAM just to be sure that it wasn't a factor in the bad verified burns I was having last night. Burned 2 full 4gig DVD's without a hitch. I then put the RAM back in and burned 3 more DVD's full of stuff with no problems at all. The only difference between yesterday and today is the DVD brand: Memorex. I've been using TDK DVD-R with no problems for the last 2 years so perhaps the drive in my MBP doesn't like TDK for some reason? How odd....

Apple has finally announced the MacBook today. Wait a minute... didn't they already do that a while ago you ask? No no, that was the MacBook Pro, today's announcement is all about the MacBook which is Apple's semi-replacement for the iBook. I say semi-replacement because the iBook is still available for sale at the Apple Online store. Before i get into a brief listing of specs on the new MacBook, I noticed that Apple got rid of the 12" Powerbook as well as the 17" Powerbook. The only PowerPC Macs left are the G5 tower and the iBook. Apple also quietly upped the specs of the MacBook Pro 15" from 1.8 GHZ to 2 GHZ and 2 GHZ model to 2.16 GHZ for the same price.

Let's cut to the chase: what are the main differences between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro 15"?

• Size: 13.3-inch (diagonal) glossy widescreen TFT vs. 15.4-inch (diagonal) widescreen TFT; glossy display option


• Resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels vs. 1440 x 900 pixels


• Graphics Card: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 vs. ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 (PCI Express)
• 
  
• Video Memory: 64MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory (2) vs. 128MB GDDR3 SDRAM or 256MB GDDR3 SDRAM


• DVI: While the new MacBook 13" supports DVI, Mini-DVI to DVI adapter required - sold separately vs. Dual-link DVI built-into the 15" MacBook Pro


• External display usage: MacBook max display - 1920 x 1200 pixels vs. MacBook Pro 15" max display - 2560 x 1600 pixels. MacBook 13" cannot support 30in. Cinema Display!


• Video Mirroring Mode: MacBook 13" - Supported (built-in display plus an external display up to 1280 x 800 pixels) vs. MacBook Pro 15" Supported (built-in display plus an external display up to 1440 x 960 pixels)


• Extended Desktop Mode: MacBook 13" - Supported (built-in display plus an external display up to 1920 x 1200 pixels) vs. MacBook Pro 15" - Supported (built-in display plus an external display up to 2560 x 1600 pixels)


• No Express Card/34 slot on the MacBook 13"


• 5.2 lbs vs. 5.6 lbs


• No illuminated keyboard


• 6 hours of battery life compared to the MacBook Pro's 4.5 hours battery life


• Lower wattage 60W MagSafe Power Adapter


• Most importantly: IT COMES IN BLACK (the high end model anyway)

So you want to start blogging like yours truly but don't wanna fork out the cash for MacOSX Server? Well compadre, you don't have to shell out a dime because Mac OSX has almost everything you need to get started.

The instructions below are my notes from an actual install onto a MacMini G4 with OSX 10.4.6 installed. Things vary from system to system but overall this should get you up and running. I won't get into how to use Movable Type or how to configure it for all intents and purposes as this is out of the scope of this article. You could probably also take portions of this and use it to install other blogging software such as WordPress. We'll be installing Movable Type 3.2 and MySQL5 and using the terminal a bit so hang tight!

Skill Level: 4 out of 5. You will need to understand how to download and install software on your mac, use the terminal and understand how a web server operates to do this tutorial.

Did Apple's Security Update 2006-003 hose your Mac to the point where all you see is a spinning beach ball of doom (also known as the pizza of doom)? Well you're not alone. Fortunately theres an easy fix for this.

1. Reboot your Mac.
2. Hold down the shift key to boot OSX into "safe mode". This stops all startup items from launching.
3. Once you're in OSX go to: HardDisk > Library > StartupItems. This is NOT the same as your user directory. Be sure to start from your Hard disk first then traverse to your Library and StartupItems folder.
4. Most likely you'll have Adobe Version Cue installed if you have any Adobe products installed on your Mac. Move this out of your StartupItems folder and onto the Desktop. If you don't see Adobe Version Cue then there is most likely something else in your StartupItems folder causing the problem. Remove the items one by one and reboot to figure out which is causing it.

Not sure if Adobe will fix this soon or not so I guess no Version Cue for now!

Found this on AppleInsider.com

It reminds me of my Color Timex/Sinclair 2000 back in the day. AI also reports that the Hard Drive is user upgradable in the MacBook as well!

With the introduction of the MacBook, Apple Computer Inc. removed the last of the PowerBooks from their site. My favorite: the PowerBook 12" model.

I've owned PowerBooks since they came out back in 1991 with the Sony manufactured PowerBook 100. I've owned a PB 160, 180, 145, 2400 (still one of my favorites), BlackBird, Lombard, Titanium and Aluminum 15" and 2 different 12" ones. With such a long lineage of great machines, I only see good things for the new kids in town.

So long PowerBook... we'll miss you.

The news and updates don't stop today do they?

Apple just released the SMC Firmware Update for the MacBook Pro. Not exactly sure what it does but heres a link to some instructions.

I'll wait a while before installing this one.

Hopping around the net, I've been reading about how a few MacBook Pro owners are upset that Apple's new MacBook is so close in spec to their MacBook Pro. Angry owners proclaim theres no difference between the MacBook and the MacBook Pro aside from the graphics card and price. Many feel ripped off and claim they paid too much for something they could have gotten cheaper with the same performance. Still there are other MacBook Pro owners that are scheming to return their 2.0 GHz version in attempts to get the newer one with 2.16 GHz.

Well to be honest I don't feel ripped off in the slightest. I knew what I was getting into when I bought the MacBook Pro as I've been buying Apple products for years. I absolutely knew they would come out with the MacBook eventually to replace the iBooks and that they would fall relatively close in performance to the MacBook Pro. Steve Jobs even stated that this year would see the entire Mac line move to Intel. It was probably the biggest story of 2005 so I'm not sure how anyone could have missed that.

The MacBook Pro has the Pro moniker for a reason. It was designed with the working pro in mind. Graphics professionals will lean towards the MacBook Pro rather than the MacBook simply because the Pro version has a separate graphics card, as well as Express Card slot and a larger screen. The seperate graphics RAM is important simply because it leaves more actual RAM for other things. The MacBook has integrated video that will tap into the systems main RAM and hence leave less for everything else. Will it affect performance remains to be seen. The screen real estate alone is worth the extra price when you're doing graphics layout or video editing on the road and 23" monitor is no where to be found.

As for the other issue of people griping because Apple quietly upped the specs of the MacBook Pro, well that happens all the time too. Expect Apple to do this. OFTEN. They even did this when the MacBook Pro first came out! In my opinion the extra .16 GHz is negligible and I have my doubts whether or not it would make any significant difference. Perhaps just bragging rights that I have the fastest, latest greatest CoreDuo MacBook Pro out but nothing more... and that will change in a few months anyway.

Those of you griping about it... don't feel too bad. You could have bought an iBook G4 2 weeks ago only to see the MacBook come out. Get used to it. This is Apple. This is the tech industry and things constantly change.

What do you do with a brand spankin' new MacBook? Why take it apart and take a ton of pictures! At least thats what this website did. It seems that in these pics the thermal grease is missing? Or maybe it was properly applied.. and the Hard Drive is indeed easily removed. Check it out here.

Seems that Apple has decided to lock down its kernel to prevent pirates from hacking the Intel version of OSX. Read all more about this here.

While I don't do anything that low level, maybe you do. What's your take on this?

Last night we played with a MacBook over at the Apple Store and discovered something interesting: while placing two fingers on the track pad you are able to do a "right-click" by pressing the trackpad button. This is a user configurable feature that can be turned off and on. I quickly tried this on the MacBook Pro 15" but it didn't work and there was nothing to turn it on in System Preferences. Oddly enough, the Macbook Pro 17" was able to do this. Perhaps this is something just for the Apple's latest models for now? Hopefully a software update will bring this feature to the MacBook Pro 15" sometime soon. I haven't seen anyone talk about this "feature" at all!

"Apple’s Todd Benjamin, director of portables worldwide product marketing, took a few minutes out of his hectic schedule to speak with Macworld UK Wednesday."

Benjamin sings praises to the MacBook for its wonderful glossy screen, "We say glossy because when you look at the screens you’ll see a glossy appearance. It means colors are much richer; they look great" and even tells customers to use AppleCare if you have a problem.

Full story here. Via CIO.

Bear Stearns analyst Andy Neff sent a note to his clients after having a metting with Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer and VP of Product Marketing for iPod Greg Joswiak.

Of note:

• they are optimistic about the outlook for a refresh of the iPod with a "True" Video iPod and other new products.


• Next gen iPod is coming to compete with other companies offerings


• Refresh will happen ahead of the Holiday season


• True video iPod will be a complimentary product to iPods


• An iPod Phone is in the works, although timing remains uncertain

Theres a lot more in this article over at SeekingAlpha.

Wow! I didn't think that the story I sent to DIGG would make it to the front page but wow! It did! Digg effect didn't kill the server but my bandwidth is what really put things to a stop! Everything seems to be back to normal now that its not on the front page anymore...

Thanks to everyone who came to look and hope you stop by again!

GimpShop 2.2.11 was released as a Universal Binary today. This means that Intel Macs can take advatage of a fully native version of GimpShop. I haven't downloaded it yet as I'm on the road right now and my connection is kinda flakey but I will when i get home to a faster connection.

People compare this to an open source Photoshop but I'm sure there are people who would disagree with that statement. It's FREE so I'm not complaining! Free is GOOD!

You can download away from the website or a mirror.

If you're currently an Apple Care Customer and want the latest bootable version of Tech Tool Deluxe, Apple has made this easier than ever to do. Simply go to this page and enter the serial number of your Mac.

This doesn't seem to work yet for the Intel Macs but this is a treat for PowerPC Mac owners and people like me who fix Mac's all day long!

Just a few quick news items this morning:

• One of the first Express Cards ships today! 2-Port NitroAV FireWire800/1394b Professional Express Card (34mm) Interface Adapter (MacBookPro) is available here for $89.


• Apple announced Final Cut Express HD 3.5 today. Universal Binary priced at $99 for current owner or $299 new


• SuperDuper 2.1.1 is out and features disk duplication, creation of bootable copies, creation of restorable images compatible with ASR, Safety Clones, Smart Update, AppleScript support, and more. This release adds the ability to automatically mount and unmount backup volumes during scheduled operations, along with other improvements and bug fixes.


• Onyx 1.7 for Mac OSX 10.4 was updated today. Onyx is a great tool for maintenance and optimizing and its FREE! Donations accepted.


• Macintouch has some interesting Cinebench stats of their MacBook. Of note is the higher OpenGL Software score probably due to optimization of OSX 10.4.6


• From Digitimes: In line with the latest launch of Apple Computer’s Intel Core Duo-based MacBook, Asustek Computer has camped out its design team specializing in Apple products at the company’s manufacturing facilities in Suzhou in preparation for volume production, according to sources at Taiwan notebook makers.


• From Information Week: Apple Fixes Firmware, Leaves Users Confused - Although Apple said that the update was to System Management Control (SMC) firmware, it was up to MacBook Pro users to figure out that SMC is the specialized controller that manages thermal and power conditions, and is in charge of running the portable computer's fans.


• From News.com Blogs: It appears that one casualty of Apple Computer's move to Intel chips could be its open-source Darwin core. According to InfoWorld magazine (free registration required), Apple won't release code for the Intel version of Darwin, the open-source Unix core that forms the base layer for Mac OS X.

More a little later in the day!

Now that Apple's Front row is available on every new Intel-Mac you may eventually start to have some problems if there are others using the Apple Remote in the same space as your Mac. Well therese an easy way to solve this: follow these instructions to pair your remote with your mac. Via TUAW.

Parallels released the RC (release candidate) of their Parallels Desktop software. I've been using Parallels during this beta period and will plunk down my $39 for this bad boy. In my opinion, this is better than BootCamp simply because I don't ever have to leave OSX.

What's new in Parallels Desktop for Mac RC?

• New look and feel


• Improved performance and stability


• Better and broader USB support


• Improved Shared Folder functionality


• Improved networking


• Better sound support


• Better fullscreen operation


• Resolved Suspend/Resume issues


• Uninstaller introduced


• National keyboards mapping issues have been fixed


• Red “Power Off” button now always acts like Power Off


• Blue “Pause” button now always acts like Suspend


• The “Pause” button was moved to the VM menu
  

Known issues:

• Some USB devices are still unstable


• FreeBSD 5.4 installation sometimes hangs

Check it out!

Parallels Desktop RC

We just added email notification via FeedBurner to MacNewsBlog. If you want to be notified whenever we update the site just add your email addess and you'll get updates! Thanks for reading!

They even have Shuffles, Nanos, Apple iPods with Video Capability, and if you miss the iPod mini... they've even got those @ $139!

Apple Certified Refurbished products are pre-owned Apple products that undergo Apple's stringent refurbishment process prior to being offered for sale. All Apple Certified Refurbished products are covered by Apple's One-Year Limited Warranty. You can also get Apple Care with any of these items. Fries with that sir?

Just a few things today:

• Ars Technica Reviews Apples new MacBook - turns out they love the MacBook Pro, but don't like the heat, glossy screen and non existant seperate graphics card. Read it here.
• Everyone's talking about Steve's Giant Glass Cube in NY. See some cool pics from this flickr gallery. And someone also got some cool pics of Steve Jobs visiting the new Apple Store location as well! Via TUAW. Have any of you visited the new store? Send us some deets and email us!
• Apple has filed a counter suit against Creative
• A few Scotish teachers are seaking a to put a ban on iPods and other gadgets at school.

More news as it happens!

Interesting observation on the InCrew.com forums! A user reported that taking the battery out of the MacBook Pro lowered the temperature of the unit. An InCrew moderator further commented that removing the memory cover lowers the temperature even more due to the wattage on the 667Mhz DIMMS used by the MacBooks . Interesting stuff.

Read more at this post: No battery = much lower temp?????.

The folks at InCrew have posted screen shots of their upcoming fix for MacBook Pro heat as well as the whinning issue. We'll most likely get our hands on this nifty preference panel sometime by Monday!
Until then rest your weary eyes on some eye candy and get put those hot palms in the air to cool them off. Have at it here.

The Register has a story today about a chip start-up called PA-Semi that was in talks with Apple to port its software over to their chips set. Somewhere during those talks and some engineering time Apple decided to go with Intel and the rest is history. Now you can read the untold story of how Apple almost went with another chip manufacturer in this exclusive story.

I feel badly for PA-Semi but things are looking way up for Apple and in the long run the switch to Intel really does make a lot of sense.

Steve's Glass Cube is on display over at the Apple Website. Go check it out. It really is a sight to see!

Steve Jobs gets interviewed on CNBC on the debut of Apple's new store.
Jobs had some interesting things to say, and when asked about an iPhone he used the age old "Apple doesn't talk about unreleased products" line. Ah it was music to our ears.

So what're ya waiting for? Go check it out on YouTube.

Apparently so according to BareFeats.com which just tested a MacBook Pro 17" compared to a 15" version. During CPU intensive tasks the MacBook Pro 17" showed a difference of about 8-10% which is in line with the 8% higher clock.

The MacBook Pro 17" really showed it's teeth during intensive GPU tasks where it outperformed the 15" by up to 43%!

"We were puzzled but pleased with the results, but after receiving a tip from Michael Bean of AMUG, we rechecked the 17" MacBook Pro's X1600 GPU's core and memory speeds before, during and after running 3D Games using Graphiccelerator's "Show ATI Frequencies" function. Before starting a series of runs, the core measured 311MHz frequency. When we ran 3D games, it jumped to 423MHz. After sitting idle a few minutes, it fell back to 311MHz. We measured a similar jump in the GPU's memory clock from 297MHz to 450MHz. Now we know why the 17" MacBook Pro performed as well as the Intel iMac on the 3D Game tests."

Watch out Apple Forums... yer gonna get an earfull once 15" owners catch wind of this... Let the angry MBP 15" owners ranting and raving begin now! Check the story out for yourself at BareFeats.

Here we go again! The press has news of supposed potential vulnerabilities that don't exist out in the wild at all. Although chip-level attacks are rare, McAfee has claimed in a recent white paper that they are a potential problem now that Apple has moved to the Intel platform. Just in case you'd like to read up on this unlikely form of attack, i've included it here. It's a slow news morning so far.

Via Vnunet.com.

Apple's knowledge base says:
"The integrated graphics processor in the MacBook does not permit float processing in Motion and will result in degraded performance and other issues in Motion and other Final Cut Studio applications. "

It won't stop you from installing it though... So rock on if you've really gotta use Final Cut Studio on yer MacBook!

iFixit, which hosts a slew of Mac disassembly guides has updated their site with a MacBook disassembly guide as well. The guide aids in repair and part replacement and includes high-res photos of each step.

I've personally used their step by step guides and would recommend this site to anyone who repairs Macs or has to take one apart for repair or diagnostics. They also sell some nifty replacement parts!

Ah! See what slowness gets me? I was writing an article on all of the various Mac Processes that show up in my can't live without tool the Activity Monitor but someone beat me to the punch!

Gordon Davisson has compiled a list of background processes and daemons on Mac OSX. Although not all processes are listed, the most frequently seen ones are on this list. Thanks for saving me the trouble Gordon!

On Apple's Open Source Mailing list, Ernest N. Prabhakar, Ph.D., Product Manager, Open Source & Open Standards; Mac OS X Product Marketing sets the record straight on speculation that Apple is not going to release Darwin sources for Intel:

Just to be clear, Tom Yager was *speculating* about why we have -- so far -- not released the source code of the kernel for Intel-based Macintoshes. We continue to release *all* the Darwin sources for our PowerPC systems, and so far has released all the non-kernel Darwin sources for Intel.

Nothing has been announced, so he (and everyone else) certainly has the right to speculate. But please don't confuse "speculation" with "fact."

Now everyone's getting into the "What's on your iPod" thread including Hillary Clinton. Hillary reveals her mix includes Aretha Franklin's "Respect," the Beatles' "Hey Jude" and "Take it to the Limit" by The Eagles. If you're interested in this kind of info you can read a little more about Hillary and her iPod here.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster anticipates a slower third quarter from Apple in a recent report.

"While it is way too early to make a call on June quarter iPod results, we have analyzed the first month of NPD data (April) for the quarter and found that it suggests iPod units of around 8 million."

Full story here.

In the grander scheme of things, I can't imagine selling 8 million of everything every month! Perhaps things are slowing down because an update is on the way? We'll have to wait and see.

I guess this should be classified as news but I'm not sure what to make of it. It seems like some Nike shoes will be able to communicate with Apple's iPod using a new wireless system called the Nike+iPod SportsKit.

From The Washington Post:
"Expected to retail for about $29, consumers will be able to access distance, time, pace and calories burned on the screen of a nano version of the iPod via a sensor inside the shoes that communicates with the digital music player."

I guess Nike has finally caught iPod fever too. I'm sure their clothing line will be upgraded in design to hold iPod in the future.

Just as I'm finishing up part 2 on installing Movable Type, Apple has released XCode 2.3 today. Theres a whole slew of changes that you can read about here.

This version is for PPC and Intel!

A forum posting on OSx86.com featured a workaround for getting 15" MacBook Pro models to right click while 2 fingers are on the trackpad just as the MacBook Pro 17" and MacBook Pro can do. This nifty hack can be had here. I haven't had a chance to install and use this yet so... use at your own risk or just read the thread for details!

A Digg reader found what he calls a curious application in his copy of Developers Tools. Dashcode seems to be an application for creating Dashboard Widgets. He claims he found it under /Developer/Applications after installing from the included DevTools. This is not on the current Xcode 2.3. MacBook Pro owners take a look at your Dev Tools install and see if you have this nifty app!

Note: If you are just joining us, part one of this tutorial is located here.

Now that you've completed downloading Movable Type 3.2, MySQL and ImageMagick, it's time to install them. Installing most of these is a breeze but there will be times you will have to use the Terminal application in order to complete a few things. Fear not. All steps in using the Terminal are documented here.

No, this isn't about that Battlestar Galactica guy, but rather the first spawn of the now merged Adobe and Macromedia.

From PDFZone - "Let the countdown begin for Apollo, one of the first fruits of the Adobe-Macromedia merger. The technology will be integrated into Flash Player and Adobe Reader, and will give developers the tools to create run-time apps that can be used offline without a browser, yet with the lower costs associated with Web development tools that require browsers."

It will be interesting to see how this develops. All I want is native versions of Photoshop and Fireworks...

There's speculation that the folks at InCrew have been duping everyone about their SpeedIt V0.5 speed stepping application which supposedly fixes heat and whining issues in Apple's MacBook Pro. Originally set for release 2 weeks ago but held back by it's creator because of issues with releasing the application under GPL, SpeedIt has been promised to be released many times since. Instead, interested users have only seen screenshots of the highly anticipated application and that they could sign up for notification via email of the release date.

Apparently many were told via a private email this week that today, Friday, May 26 would be the release day for this application. Currently there has been no word from InCrew about when the highly anticipated software would be posted.

InCrew's forum has had it share of nay sayers and doubters but today may be the breaking point for some. A forum user named zigzag fired off the opening salvo:
"I've been following the SpeedIt drama out of interest and I'm sorry to say that my conclusion is that I don't believe InCrew even has a working version that is able to control the noise/heat issues. They are using this and the current version of SpeedIt to attract attention from the wishful-thinking Mac users and to get exposure to their company (that I have never even heard of)."

A few others followed zigzag's lead and we're sure more will follow if the SpeedIt app does not appear on InCrews website soon.

What does MacNewsBlog make of all of this? Well, we never like to jump to conclusions but will recall a certain software company based in Rome a number of years back that duped the whole Macintosh community into thinking they had a running replacement for the MacOS which name escapes us at the time (we're getting old!). During the days of MacOS9, everyone was looking for something with protected memory and true multi-tasking and supposedly this group of small developers had the solution. Well they kept promising a test demo download of the software but it never materialized. Weeks and months went by and people began screaming for this vaporware but nothing ever appeared.

We're not saying that InCrew is doing the same thing, but the lesson we've learned from the afformentioneed situation was to expect nothing when nothing has ever been relased. WHEN and IF SpeedStep is ever released we'll have something to talk about. Until then, theres no need to mope and whine on the forums nor is there a need to demand something that may or may not be coming. Shouting doesn't necessarily make anything come faster. Perhaps InCrew will come through today and release SpeedIt but don't hold your breath for it to happen... okay? Just sit back, and enjoy the weekend!

SecuObs.com is reporting on a vulnerability in Apple XCode versions prior to 2.3.

"The vulnerability is caused due to missing access restrictions on the WebObjects Xcode plug-in network service. This can be exploited to gain access to and modify WebObjects projects on the system via the network service without requiring authentication."

The solution is to update to XCode 2.3 located here.

Looks like Apple was unsuccessful in unmasking the information leak to Macintosh rumor website AppleInsider. Many journalist and bloggers are claiming this as a victory. Read more here.

Apple has launched a new section of their website dedicated to professionals that use the Macintosh. Showcasing pros in design, music, photography, motion graphics and interactive conent the website has tips, interviews and portfolios.

Welcome to Apple Pro.

AppleInsider claims that they have the scoops on the soon to be released (2nd half of 2006) eMac replacement. Ever since the eMac disappeared from the market a few months back there has been a lot of speculation as to what Apple would be bringing out to replace it.

"In keeping true to its roots of designing educational Macs as plug-and-play solutions, people familiar with Apple's product roadmap say the company is building the new Mac around an all-in-one enclosure. Though unlike the eMac, which employed cumbersome CRT-based displays, the new educational computer will follow a design pattern similar to the company's LCD-based iMac Core Duo desktops, these people say."

read more here.

Well it seems to be a slow news time for now. I guess with all the excitement of the past weeks... MacBook Pro 17", MacBook, Apple's NY store you can't really ask for more? Currently other sites are reporting about customers being trapped in the elevator of Apple's NY Store and the fact that they lost in court to bloggers. I'll start working on the final installment of Setting up Movable Type for Tiger and some other cool stuff. Stay tuned!

Is the replacement for the venerable G5 to be an Intel Conroe chip? If Hexus.net has their way the answer is yes. Hexus is speculating that the replacement for the G5 will be Intel's next crop of Core 2 Duo (Conroe). They even go as far to speculate that Apple will upgrade their current fleet of Intel Macs with the faster Core 2 Duo Merom chip when it becomes available later in the year.

Like reading this kind of speculative lit? Hurry on down the road and check it out here.

Apple has released Superdrive firmware Update 2.0 which fixes burning speeds when writing to certain recordable DVD media. It requires MacOSX 10.3.9 or Panther 10.4.6 and seems to only fix Powerbook G4, iMac G5 and MacMini G4.

Get it here.

I've been using Parallels since it came out and it looks like it's just getting better and better. With this release Parallels Desktop has integrated another Parallels product: Parallels Compressor Server Edition technology which is said to improve performance and conserve physical hard disk space if you’re using Windows 2000, XP or 2003.

If you were smart and pre-ordered Parallels you'll be getting the whole package for that low price of $39.99 instead of $79.99.

Go get it here.

So JC over at mac geekery decided to throw his dead 4G iPod off of his balcony to test an iFrogz case. The said iPod was dead due to what has been termed by some as the evil click o' death where the harddrive decides to die followed by a clicking noise and needs to be reset.

Well it seems that the fall from the balcony cured his ailing iPod of it's click and allowed it to play music for about an hour before having to reset it again. Why did it work again he wondered. After taking apart the now working iPod to figure out why it worked he discovered that reseating the harddrive was the solution. No more click o' death!

So if you've got a 4G iPod thats suffering from clicks and a dead HD, don't throw it off the roof of your house. Be brave, screw your warranty (if you even have one) and take it apart to see if your hard disk needs to be reseated properly!

Read the full story here.