TUAW is participating in this year's Blog Action Day on 10/15, an annual event in which bloggers around the world aim to spark discussion and awareness of serious and important issues. This year's topic is climate change, and fortunately, just like last year, we in the Apple community are in a pretty good place -- the company makes it a point to stay as green as possible, they have Al Gore on their board, and they make it safe and easy to dispose of their products in an environmentally friendly way. But there's always more we can do, from person to person -- making the earth a better place to live is going to take all of us working together.

And so, here's five iPhone and iPod touch apps you can use to find out what you can do to take action on climate change. Some are paid, some are free, but all of them will give you fun and useful ways to help find approaches to dealing with climate change in your own behavior and life.

Macworld has spotted a new page over on Apple's website highlighting their dedication to making their products as environmentally healthy as possible. We've seen this pitch from Apple within the past few years -- they've recently slimmed down their packaging and started using recyclable materials in making their computers. It's pretty interesting to see them making such a push on this issue, but then again it not only helps them sell computers (assuming they don't have to raise prices too high due to the new policies), but of course helps the culture and the Earth at large in terms of making sure our environmental footprints are as small as possible.

The new site includes information about the impact of Apple's products both during manufacture and during usage, as well as reports on product performance, as well as a blog on what they're doing lately. They also have a link to their recycling program so that when you're done with whatever Apple products you're using, you can make sure that those recyclable products are actually recycled.

Pretty good deal all around, and good for Apple to make it clear how committed they are to this issue and acting on it.

RescueCom is a company that provides tech support and help from a 1-800 number, and they've released the latest version of their computer reliability report. This thing is actually pretty well done -- it examines just which brands and makes of computers are getting the most support calls, and then compares it to the average US market share for each brand. For example, if XYZ brand computers are getting a lot of calls, but they're also selling like hotcakes, it won't rate quite as high as ABC brand, which is only selling a few computers, almost all of which are breaking down.

There's bad news, however, for Apple, in this quarter's report: they've fallen to spot number two. For the overall year of 2008, Apple reigned supreme in terms of reliability. But in the first quarter of this year, Asus and IBM's Lenovo have had their numbers rise above -- both of their shares of the US market are smaller than Apple's 6%, according to this report, but Apple's 2% of calls to RescueCom still means Asus and IBM/Lenovo have them beat in overall reliability. Unfortunately, they don't show us the fun side of the chart: HP/Compaq end up in the fifth spot, but their 17.9% of all the calls to RescueCom is only the fifth most reliable, not the worst.

Apple still probably doesn't have too much to worry about -- as Wired notes, these are only quarterly scores, and don't forget that this is the quarter in which many people were still learning how to use their iPhones, iPod touches, and the App Store. But this might be an early sign that as Apple grows, it'll be tougher for them to guarantee reliability in their products.

E-Commerce News asks what has one letter done to gadgetry? Adding an "i" to the start of your product name instantly identifies it as being intended for, or associated with, the iPod. Howard Kim of iLuv deliberately added an i to his company's product line while Tim V. Kolton of V-Moda headphones i-avoided. He didn't want to get lost in the crowd. Seems to me that if a single letter sends a powerful sales message to potential customers you'd be silly not to i your product. What do you think?

It's been over a year since we've seen a redesign of Apple's support site, so the company must have felt it was about time to redecorate. TUAW reader Cameron Drysdale noticed that the site has received a major redesign, bringing it a bit more in line stylistically with the new layout at the Downloads page we mentioned. I don't have any screenshots of the now old 'n busted support site, but it feels like this layout is a bit wider and and easier to navigate. On the left is a main navigation area that acts as a springboard to getting support for a few choice Apple products, with a drop down menu containing an alphabetical list of all the other products, right down to Apple Studio Displays and iWeb. This should help customers get to where they're going a lot faster than the previous design. Also more prominent in the bottom section of the site is a box for entering any Apple product's serial number to gain instant information about the support coverage it might have, as well as links to sections like AppleCare, Repair and Replacement parts and Exchange and Extension programs which all feature links to recent events, such as the MacBook/Pro battery update we just mentioned and the iMac G5 Power Supply exchange program.

All in all it's a nice redesign, with a few tasteful gradients to score some points with recent trends and a much improved, more navigable layout. Anyone know who handles Apple's site design?

It's always nice to see Apple parodies, especially when they: a) have nothing to do with an existing product, or specifically: the iPod, and b) are from the mid-90's. This is a decent SNL spoof that quickly rose up the digg ranks yesterday evening, parodying a fictitious Apple product that's a bit too much disposable overkill for its own good. Enjoy.

[via digg]

If you're a TWiT fan (or a listener of almost any of Leo's other 200 podcasts), you might have heard in the past couple of weeks that he's pushing to change the term 'podcast' to 'netcast.' He's even gone so far as to start using it in his lingo on the shows (at least on the few of his shows I can keep up with), and is looking to trademark the term. Now before you run off and flame TWiT's forums, just hear the man out - because I think he has a good idea.

Leo has a couple of reasons for hoping to move the mountain that is now podcasting. The first is Apple's recent bullish attitude towards the terms 'pod' and 'podcast,' as they've been filing their own trademarks and sending nastygrams to companies who get even just a little too close to using these words in their names or products. For a term that was born out of the grassroots web broadcasting movement and coined out of love for Apple's little music player, this understandably felt like a slap in the face to many - including even Leo, who was recently dubbed podcaster of the year. Of course, on the flip side of that coin, I can also understand Apple's interest in protecting their product likeness and the word 'pod.' After all - when else has such a goofy, nerdy word become such an icon? Oh what a twisted web of vocabulary and intellectual property we weave.

Leo's second reason, and one that I feel is a bit more significant, is the implication of the deep roots the term 'podcasting' itself has grown, in light of its relationship to the iPod as a word and a product. Leo laments that to so many of podcasting's new target demographic (i.e. - all the non-early adopters who aren't listening to them, yet), the term 'podcast' itself implies that one needs an iPod to download and listen to them. Of course, it's pretty obvious to us nerds that this assumption couldn't be farther from the truth, but that is exactly Leo's point - he wants to change the term to drop that stigma for 'the other half;' the people who might or might not have heard of podcasting, but ultimately don't know much about it. Podcasting is all about leveling the playing field so anyone with some talent can share it with the world - but in this context, the term 'podcasting' is a bit counterproductive to the effort of breaking down the walls for one and all.

Let's face it - there are a lot of other DAPs out there, and a ton of other products on which one can listen to music. The 'song' wasn't renamed to 'pong' or 'iPong' - maybe it would be better, and more accessible, to adopt a generic term like 'netcast,' so more listeners can join the party.

Some are upset at The Scobleizer, as his predictions of a 'dizzying' amount of post-WWDC Apple products and wish for an Apple Store sleepover didn't exactly come true. Scoble even went so far as to apologize on his blog Tuesday, offering a theory as to why our credit cards aren't getting maxed on a fleet of new Apple gadgets: he proposes that Apple didn't bring the goods because they didn't want to screw up their back-to-school sales. If Apple dropped something huge now, they might not have been able to supply enough product in time for all those young whipper-snappers to go back to school. It sounds plausible enough, but I propose a different theory.

This is the World Wide Developer Conference, not the World Wide Consumer Gadgets Conference. This is an event first and foremost for the developers, so Apple can get them (and also the press) excited about what's coming down the pipeline in terms of developer-related OS improvements, innovations and new tools, as well as pro hardware like the Mac Pro. Events like January's Macworld and out-of-the-blue, invite-only media blitzes are where Apple drops their crazy new products for the masses.

So I don't think the Scobleizer was wrong, I just think his predictions were shooting a little early. Don't worry, y'all will get your shot at an Apple Store sleepover yet.

Thanks Jonas!

As I write this, I'm still contemplating the implications of getting Apple tips from a former Microsoft evangelizer's blog, but check this out as I philosophize for the afternoon: The Scobleizer (yea, the one and only), dropped a huge (yet unfortunately vague) hint of what Apple has up their sleeve: "Speaking of Apple, they are readying a dizzying amount of new products. I wish I could camp out at an Apple store during the World Wide Developer Conference on August 7th". Apparently (we're trusting you on this Ron!), Mr. Scoble's brother actually works for Apple, which is why he also goes on to decline commenting any further for fear of the Wrath of Jobs™.

Hey, Mr. Scoble, you can spill some juicy tidbits. Apple gave up on that case for ousting that other blogger; why not give it a shot?

Thanks Chris G.

We're receiving tips that the Apple Store UK is down, with the infamous 'We'll be back' sticky note at center stage. There hasn't been much buzz about new products lately, and given the time of day (or night, in the UK's case), we're willing to bet this won't be anything major. Still, it's worth noting nonetheless.

Gundeep Hora at CoolTechZone has taken a critical eye to what some consider are Apple's recent and rocky 1st generation product launches. The article utilizes two examples - the iPod nano scratch issue and MacBook heat complaints - to illustrate what Gundeep argues is Apple's faulty process of releasing products and then reacting to serious flaws when the public outcry spreads across enough blogs and petition sites.

Whether you're already hastily typing a comment to flame Gundeep or you have one of those aforementioned petitions already open in a separate tab, Gundeep has written an interesting piece that I think could strike a deeper chord if he used a find/replace command to swap the word 'Apple' with 'the computing industry as a whole'. Similar criticism of Apple's 1st generation production quality crops up on the web every couple of months like clockwork, and I think it's because there is an unusually high level of expectation surrounding their products. I'm not saying Gundeep's criticism is misplaced; quite the contrary: my first Mac ever was the 1st generation of 12" PowerBooks (867 MHz baby!) and I had to go through four of them to get one that didn't overheat or have a hard drive that choked itself to death within hours of bringing it home. To make matters worse, the Apple Store, including its snotty manager, treated me only slightly better than that sticky stuff you try to scrape off the bottom of your shoe. My next Mac experience was the 1st gen 15" Aluminum PowerBook that was a part of the 'white spots' debacle - case in point: I feel Gundeep's pain, but Apple isn't the only computer and electronics company to exhibit these kinds of mass production complications. Other computer makers have had to recall batteries and entire batches of one computer model or another. Dell recently had to replace some faulty displays, and I can't remember which mobile phone company's batteries are exploding this week.

To wrap this all up: Apple sets the bar high with their unique design and flashy marketing, and because of that, I think their customers and the media at large simply hop on board for the honeymoon each and every time the company whips out a shiny new toy. Criticism like Gundeep's seems to appear when the fantasy inevitably hits speed-bumps that are simple facts of life and mass production. In the end Apple is a company, like any other, that is susceptible to hardware defects, firmware botches and software hiccups. Then the conversation turns to products, quality and accountability of the industry as a whole - but I think that discussion might be better suited for a different post. Granted, none of these issues are any fun when you're the one stuck with the bad apple (yes, a pun), but sensationalizing the situation isn't going to solve anything. Keeping a level head, however, and understanding that 1st gen hardware can sometimes be a gamble - no matter who it's from - just might save a few headaches, and perhaps then you won't need to sign that petition after all.

The Omni Group has begun hinting at a new product on their blog by offering clues on their blog as to what it is not. In posts like A trickling of inklings, they have let us know things like the product's sub-$20 price, that it is not a replacement for Mail and that it has nothing to do with the iPod. They also have plainly stated that they have other new products and updates for existing products planned for 2006. This should be good news for those of you who (like me) are fans of their excellent offerings like OmniGiraffe OmniGraffle and OmniOutliner. Here's hoping they don't keep us in suspense for too long.

Steve Jobs told shareholders this week that, in light of Disney's acquisition of Pixar, he would actually be spending more time at Apple, in part because he'll be relinquishing his CEO position at Pixar in a couple of weeks once the merger finishes. Many have been speculating that Mr. Jobs would be spending more time at Disney, but he publicly responded "that couldn't be further from the truth... It'll require less of my time than Pixar did."

This should be good news for anyone concerned about Mr. Jobs' continued involvement with Apple.

[via Wired]

This is more of a public service announcement and reminder than anything, inspired by TUAW reader Jer's comment on my .Mac syncing UI silliness post. Jer asked whether we were submitting feedback to Apple concerning gripes like the one I blogged, and the answer is 'most definitely yes.' This brief dialog inspired me to take the opportunity to urge all Mac users everywhere to do the same.

If you have a complaint, a feature request, or maybe you just found a bug in Mac OS X, or another piece of Apple's software, apple.com/feedback is a great place to go and tell them about it. Most of Apple's apps are categorized there, and it's a simple process for submitting your comment. While I don't believe it's in their policy to reply to anything submitted there, you can rest assured that it's one of the best places Apple uses to collect the information they use to keep tabs on how we like their software, especially when it comes to creating all those official bug reports you'll find sprinkled throughout their support and knowledgebase articles (besides, who wants to take bets that their engineers have TUAW in their newsreader?).

So remember boys and girls, when it comes to feature requests, UI gripes and bug squashing: ask not what Apple can do for you... but submit some feedback so the world's best operating system can get even better.

Michael Greeson has written an article for Designtechnica purporting to see Apple's future in digital home media simply by analyzing their famously minimal 6-button Front Row remote and the new Mac minis. While it might sound like quite the leap, he's written a great article that gives some serious credit where credit is due in terms of the remote's wild departure from the accepted design norm. Dubbing a philosophy of "sophisticated simplicity," Michael believes many of Apple's careful design choices in products like the Mac mini, the iPod and this remote are finally striking the right chord with consumers who are tired of products with so many buttons and features that they're nearly indiscernible from an airline pilot's control panel.

The article is a nice homage to Apple's design ideals, and I for one am glad to see someone appreciating Apple for what the company and their products are really worth, above and beyond the typical "hey there's no viruses" or "wow this iPod's great." Check it out.