Here's something for all you IT pros out there. Apple has released a video podcast that offers a quick tour of Mac OS X Leopard Server [iTunes link].
There are two episodes available now; "Setup and Administration" and "Managing Your Server." Each features a screencast walk-through of some basic tasks, as well as as a monotone and articulate host in the standard issue black mock turtleneck.
Seasoned Mac OS X Server administrators will find the content pretty basic, but still enjoyable. If you're considering Leopard Server for your work group or small business, these videos are a nice introduction. When you're ready to join the ranks of Mac OS X Server pros, swing by afp548.com and macenterprise.org for additional webcasts and training resources.
This is my favorite story of the week. Major League Baseball fans probably remember the New York construction worker who buried a David Oritz jersey underneath the New York Yankees stadium in an attempt to jinx the team. It seems he unwittingly started a trend.
Back in April, Michael Oh (Tech Superpowers founder and president) crossed the street to the Apple Store's construction site with a shovel and one of his company's T-Shirts. A short time later, the shirt was buried underneath the concrete, where it remains today. Since the story of the Ortiz jersey was breaking at the time, the members of the construction crew thought the idea was funny, and let him do his thing.
Oh points out that he isn't trying to jinx the store, but create a connection between the two retailers.
"We're doing it with a wink ... We are in business because of the great things Apple has done ... This T-shirt in the sidewalk is a symbol that there's a connection between the two sides of the alley." It was Oh who set up the Boston Apple Store Webcam at ifoAppleStore to share the construction process with Apple fans everywhere.
We can only imagine what's next
Burger King buries a cardboard crown under each new McDonald's
Dunkin Donuts leaves a bag of French Vanilla under each new Starbucks
So when you visit the store this weekend, tread lightly. You might be standing on a buried treasure.
Time Machine is the backup software built into Mac OS X Leopard that people either love or hate. It already saved my backside on the night before a report was due, so I'm a hands-down fan.
For now, the available options are limited. According to AppleInsider, that's going to change with the release of Mac OS 10.5.3. It seems that the latest OS build seeded to developers (9D29) features a version of Time Machine which lets laptop owners suspend backups while running on battery power.
This is good for two reasons. It eliminates a power draw on the battery, and prevents incomplete backups (should your battery die before a backups session finished).
Our only question is ... May we have 10.5.3 now?!?
I'm not a trackpad fan, but I will admit that gestures are cool. Ivan at Creative Bits has identified the gestures available in Photoshop, including
Alt (Option) key + double finger track to zoom and out within a document
Hold the Apple (Cmd) key to zoom the whole screen
There's more, of course, and you can read the full list here. We recently wrote about some fun you can have using trackpad gestures to zoom and pan images in a Quick Look window.
Ivan also wishes for user-defined gestures, something that only seems logical for Apple to implement.
You want to open a file on the desktop from within a given application. Let's say Microsoft Word (it could happen). So, you select "Open" from the File menu. However, it selects the directory you last accessed with this method - the Documents folder. Don't reach for that mouse! A simpler solution is to hit Command-D to jump to the Desktop's files. Note that this works in Save dialog windows, too.
"How long does it take for me to move to and from the mouse?" you ask. The answer is just a second or two. But those seconds add up over the course of a day, a week, a year.
Recently, several of you tipped us on this video of US Senator Barak Obama quickly checking something on his iPhone (it happens around the 1:00 mark). It got us thinking of our favorite celebrity Apple product sightings.
Back in July of 2006, it was reported that Pope Benedict XVI had received an iPod nano from employees of Vatican Radio. The phrase "To His Holiness, Benedict XVI" was engraved on the back.
Britain's Queen Elizabeth II purchased an iPod mini back in July of '05.
U.S. Presidential adviser Karl Rove was seen using his iPhone in August of last year.
Actress, singer and all-around role model Lindsay Lohan whipped out her iPhone shortly after they were first released in the U.S.
So welcome to the club, Senator! You're in good company. We think.
Canadian owners of first-, second- or third-generation iPods may want to keep an eye on their email boxes (provided that they purchased said iPod(s) before June 24th, 2004). The Montreal Gazette is reporting that up to 80,000 Canadians (including 11,310 Québécois) could be eligible for a $45 credit from Apple as the result of two class action lawsuits. The suit involved the iPod battery's dramatic decrease in capacity after two years of use.
Though the deal is still tentative, it is expected to be finalized by a Montreal court on May 26th.
While there still hasn't been an official announcement from Apple (as of this writing), Fortune has reported that Steve Jobs will don the black shirt and blue jeans to deliver a keynote address on June 9, kicking off WWDC '08.
It's not a surprise, of course, as Steve typically talks during the show. Also expected is the announcement of a 3G iPhone, as well as plans for international distribution, as rumors have been at their usual pre-event levels for a couple of weeks.
In June of last year, we wrote about the Apple Store that has been planned for Munich, Germany. At the time, rumors identified an opening date of "...the 2nd half of 2008."
Today, Apple has posted several retail job openings for Munich, from concierge up to store manager; eleven in total. If they've begun looking for employees, the store must be near completion.
The iPhone was made available to Germans in November of last year, and a June store opening would coincide nicely with the rumored 3G iPhone release.
If you're a TUAW reader in Munich, head down to 1 Rosenstrasse (formerly home to Sport Schuster sporting goods) and let us know what you find! The time has almost come for Germany's first Apple Store! Thanks, Chris!
Likewise, France Telecom stated their intention to extend coverage to "...more than just two countries" via their CFO Gervais Pellissier. As the largest European countries that still lack a carrier, Poland and Spain are obviously attractive to France Telecom.
In related news, French iPhone customers can expect no immediate changes, as France Telecom intends to remain the country's exclusive carrier for the next two years.
To all the TUAW readers in Switzerland, Spain and Poland ... we've got our fingers crossed for you! Let us know if you hear anything from your local news outlets.
Last year, we wrote about the Moody beta. This week, the folks at Crayon Room made version 1.0 available. The idea is to sort music by mood, rather than artist, album or genre.
The first step is to tag your music as sad or happy; calm or intense (fortunately, you can tag many tracks at once). As you do, the Moody track information is stored in the "Composer" field.
Once that's done, you can keep the tiny Moody window open and click the color-coded button that represents your current mood. Other goodies include Twitter integration, support for uploading and downloading tags and the color editor for customizing those buttons.
It's a great idea; I often listen to music by "mood." Moody is donation ware ($9US is suggested) and requires Mac OS 10.4 or better.
All indications point to a large, international distribution of the iPhone that's just waiting for to launch. Earlier in the week, Vodafone announced their intention to carry the iPhone in ten countries, and The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Vodafone, Telstra and Optus will carry the iPhone in Australia.
Today, Reuters is reporting that America Movil will carry the iPhone across Latin America. They're in 16 Latin American countries, plus the Caribbean and the United States. As of March 2008, America Movil held more than 159 million mobile subscribers.
Of course, they were tight-lipped about the details of the arrangement, like exclusivity or plan specifics. We'll see soon enough. Thanks, Rodrigo!
Here's a quick and unobtrusive way to grab some information about your machine. As you may know, you can select "About this Mac" from the Apple Menu to produce a small window which lists your version of the Mac OS, your processor type and speed plus the amount of memory installed. You could click "More Info..." to launch System Profiler and gain more information, or try this.
Click the version number field and it changes to the OS X build number. Click it again, and your machine's serial number is displayed.
But the fun doesn't stop there! You can gain even more information from the login window (accessible when you first start your machine or after logging out). Clicking the field under "Mac OS X" there reveals
Your computer's name
The OS version
Build number
Serial number
IP address
Any available network accounts
Date and time
Don't you just love Finder tricks and OS easter eggs?
We tested this under Mac OS 10.5.2, so if your experience is different, let us know what version of the OS you're using as well as what you found.
Who among us didn't want to start a career in illegal computer hacking after watching the movie Wargames (and who actually did)? You can fulfill your cyber crime fantasies with Uplink, Ambrosia Software's corporate hacking game.
You play as a covert agent hired to gain information from rival companies' computers. As you go, you earn money to upgrade your own equipment, gain deeper access and more.
I only played briefly, but I had fun. Ambrosia released verison 1.6.0 earlier this week, which is a Universal Binary. Other changes include
Updated game content
Toggle fullscreen and change resolutions in-game without restarting Uplink
Various bug fixes and enhancements
If you like DEFCON, another Ambrosia title (we took a look at DEFCON here), you'll probably enjoy Uplink. A single license costs $25US. Uplink requires Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later.
A little birdie flew into TUAW Headquarters (read: Scott's Philadelphia apartment) this morning. In fact, he flew all the way from Australia to tell us that Vodafone will not be the exclusive carrier in Australia.
"What's that, little bird?" we asked. He said that Aussie carriers will have their own plans and deals, and that unlocked iPhones will be sold at Apple Stores.
Now, we can't substantiate the bird's accuracy (though he did say "G'Day" and "mate" several times), but considering the announcement that Italy will have two carriers, we aren't dismissing it out-of-pocket, either.
Here's something for all you IT pros out there. Apple has released a video podcast that offers a quick tour of Mac OS X Leopard Server [iTunes link]. 
This is my favorite story of the week. Major League Baseball fans probably remember the New York construction worker who 
I'm not a trackpad fan, but I will admit that gestures are cool. Ivan at Creative Bits has 
You want to open a file on the desktop from within a given application. Let's say Microsoft Word (it could happen). So, you select "Open" from the File menu. However, it selects the directory you last accessed with this method - the Documents folder. Don't reach for that mouse! A simpler solution is to hit Command-D to jump to the Desktop's files. Note that this works in Save dialog windows, too. 
Recently, several of you tipped us on 
Canadian owners of first-, second- or third-generation iPods may want to keep an eye on their email boxes (provided that they purchased said iPod(s) before June 24th, 2004). 
While there still hasn't been an official announcement from Apple (as of this writing), 
In June of last year, 
Here's some good news for people in Switzerland, Spain, Poland who are awaiting iPhones. 
Last year, 
All indications point to a large, international distribution of the iPhone that's just waiting for to launch. Earlier in the week, Vodafone 
Here's a quick and unobtrusive way to grab some information about your machine. As you may know, you can select "About this Mac" from the Apple Menu to produce a small window which lists your version of the Mac OS, your processor type and speed plus the amount of memory installed. You could click "More Info..." to launch System Profiler and gain more information, or try this.
Who among us didn't want to start a career in illegal computer hacking after watching the movie Wargames (and who actually did)? You can fulfill your cyber crime fantasies with 
A little birdie flew into TUAW Headquarters (read: Scott's Philadelphia apartment) this morning. In fact, he flew all the way from Australia to tell us that Vodafone will not be the exclusive carrier in Australia.
