Episode 48 URLs & Notes (MP3) (AAC)
Hello all!
I’m finally able to sit down tonight and start post-production on episode #48. I’ll most likely get the audio editing and mixing done tonight, but I probably won’t start on the enhanced podcast & show notes until tomorrow evening.
Anyways, some of topics we discussed: many updates, including virtualization and the Optimus keyboard, new voicemail from George in New Zealand about the Charles web development tool, listener David Summer’s article in Dr. Dobb’s Journal, DRM and Vista hacking and yet another use for the motion sensor in laptops.
Look for the podcast in the feed tomorrow (Thursday) evening.
Digg now indexes podcasts! Of course, Diggnation and TWIT are at the top of their list. However, the cool thing is that can digg/bury and discuss individual episodes in a podcast.
A ton of other design and function changes happened on Digg this morning as well. Including moving the ads around a little bit so that the site is *much* more usable, IMO.
The Week of the Independent Mac Developer, and in an effort to spread the word about these hidden gems, we’ve put together a collection of some of the best darn software available on the Mac for a steeply discounted $49.
Retail value on this package is just over $350. I bought into it really early on, before NewsFire and TextMate were “unlocked”. I thought it was a great deal then, but I think it’s an awesome deal now. TextMate alone is $50.
What’s also really interesting is the approach that Macheist has been taking to software lately. You may remember them from the “MyDreamApp” competition. This week, they’ve been selling this deeply discounted software bundle and they’re giving 25% of all sales to charity. If nothing else, they’re shaking up the way people think about the products that small developers put out.
Third Stargate series in development
Prepare to step through the gate all over again! A third television series in the hit Stargate franchise is now in development, GateWorld has learned.
A production source informs GateWorld that the new series is in the concept phase, and is being actively worked on by the Vancouver creatives behind Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis. No concept for the show has yet been revealed.
Good news! I was pretty upset when I heard Stargate SG-1 was being canceled after so many years, but if the same writers/directors/producers are working on a third ‘gate’ series, it should be a good show. Well, let me take that back, there’s a potential for suckiness, but much less potential than a lot of other shows.
eMusic crosses 100M mark – The Digital Music Weblog
Thumbs up to eMusic, who’ve managed to pass the 100 Million download mark (all without DRM!) and congratulations to Michael Brennan, the lucky customer who downloaded that milestone track.
As promised earlier, the Barenaked Ladies will write and record a track all about Michael Brennan, which will then be packaged as a bonus track for the upcoming album, “Barenaked Ladies Are Men.” The track will also be available as a free download for a period in January as part of eMusic’s celebration.
Okay, so they’re nowhere near iTunes’ numbers, but still, not bad at all and there is some proof here that no-DRM music makes sense. If nothing else, Travis should be happy.
I’m very curious as to what a song about a dude who bought a song is going to sound like.
Welcome to the new Geek Muse blog!
We’re done with Simple PHP Blog, although it has served us well over the last year and half. We’re now using WordPress via DreamHost. Things should be much faster and there will hopefully be less blog spam. I’ve moved over a bunch of the old entries; however, comments did not transfer. Speaking of comments, you must now get an account with the Geek Muse blog before you can post comments. It’s fairly painless and will help us keep down on spam.
I’m looking forward to working with the new blog (as I can now use Ecto and other blogging tools) and I hope that our little blog will get a little more use out of us, as well as all of our listeners.
Where are the broadband price wars? (Ars Technica)
What is clear is that US broadband isn’t so hot when compared to what’s available in other countries. In Japan, symmetrical 100Mbps connections can be had for under $35 per month, while South Koreans can get fast fiber optic connections for $32. Burstein notes that in France, “twice the speed, 60 channels of TV, and free international calls have settled at about €30, or $40. The French package was closer to $30 when introduced—half the American price without TV, and less than a third of the U.S. ‘triple play’ price.”
I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. I just “upgraded” my DSL services from 1.5Mb down/1.0Mb up to 3.0Mb down/640k up. So far, I’m pretty unhappy. I’m paying more for something that seems worse (or at least near equal) to me so far. The thing is, somebody else in my area may be paying the same amount and be getting 7.0Mb down and 900k up. WTF? If my line can’t handle that speed they should either charge me less or upgrade my line. I’m most likely going to be giving my provider a call tomorrow!
Even so, I’m not getting anywhere near 100Mbps for my $40+/month. Something seriously needs to happen in the U.S. to address DSL service.
From http://www.notmacchallenge.com/ :
Since Apple decided to start charging for dotMac, I’ve spent $495 to keep some useful files remotely accessible on my iDisk and sync my bookmarks, address book and calendar between computers. While I find these features incredibly useful and convenient, I have no need for any of dotMac’s web-based services, and as a result, I don’t think I’ve been getting a good value from Apple. I know that workarounds exist that allow one to take advantage of dotMac’s services without a dotMac account, but they require a level of technical proficiency that I just don’t have. I’ve no doubt there are a lot of people like me.
I wish them the best of luck, however, the requirements are a bit weird. Mainly, it appears that this is to work in conjunction with .Mac, not replace it, which is a far easier and more laudable goal, IMO.
Episode 47 URLs & Notes (MP3) (AAC)
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