Last week's talkcast was a lively evening's chat, as Dave, Erica and I diverted from Mac geekery into Trekker nerd bingo (yes, that's not a $6 cab ride away, so no big surprise). Download the show from Talkshoe, play it from the Flash player in the continuation of this post, if you like, or pick it up on iTunes.
Tonight we'll be welcoming at least a couple of our newest team members to the Sunday night festivities, along with your veteran favorites, so do drop by and join us for all the fun at 10pm ET / 7 pm PT. Bring your Mac and iPod/iPhone questions along (no, we don't know when the 3G phone is shipping -- yes, we will be talking about the availability constraints) and we'll do our best to tackle them live on the show.
Peter Cohen over at Macworld continues his sideline analysis of Apple's gaming chances with a post about how the brand new faster iMacs are indeed faster, but still not fast enough for gamers. And to a certain extent, he's right -- gaming on the Mac is like that old beat-up, "someday I'll fix it up" convertible your father's had in the garage covered with a tarp since you were a kid. Getting it out and putting a new engine in it might help it run better, but it's still not going to turn it into a car that anyone wants to drive around.
But (and we talked about this extensively on the Talkcast a few weeks ago with Brian Akaka from Freeverse) it's a step. A faster video card, even if it isn't blazing, will run games better than before, and it'll do a little to bring not only gaming customers but developers back to the Mac. Cohen is right -- that old convertible needs an actual mechanic to take a look at it, and it needs the seats to be reupholstered, and sooner or later it's going to need a new can of paint (not that, like your Dad's actual convertible, these things aren't ever going to happen -- we continue to hear rumblings that Apple is aiming for gamers).
But something is something -- the very fact that Apple is offering faster video cards is a sign that they're interested. And, other than simple profiles of games on their website and cameos by game execs at keynotes, that's more than we've had in a while.
We're back tonight at 10 pm on TalkShoe for the weekly talkcast; it's news of the week and general conversation tonight with the usual suspects, so put down your barbeque fork and your malt beverage and tune in if you can. Got specific questions or concerns? You can slide them into the comments below or send us an @tuaw on Twitter pre-show.
As we noted a few weeks back in the Mac Parenting show, we did have a few questions to follow up on for listeners and readers:
One caller had questions about locking down the Dock to avoid inadvertent removal of application shortcuts. While we strongly encourage setting up limited accounts for your kids and having them work in those accounts exclusively, it is possible to lock the Dock plist file and have it reset to your permanent config on each login/logout.
In a similar vein, another caller wanted to know about controlling the iChat conversations that kids can have -- specifically, who they can or can't chat with. In Leopard, there's a parental control for notification on new chatter requests so that you'll get an approval email when the kids try to chat with someone unfamiliar.
I suggested that Apple's Workgroup Manager administration tool could provide more detailed control than the Parental Control system preference, which was a source of some amusement for a few listeners. You can learn more about WGM from TUAW, macenterprise.org or this tutorial series.
Some other products and websites mentioned in the show:
Well, it's Sunday, and as always TUAW will be starting the week off with our weekly live talkcast, thanks to the cool guys at TalkShoe. Michael Rose is on the road, but may still have a chance to call in and chat. I'll be taking over hosting duties for the night; we'll be taking calls and discussing the big Apple news (and Apple rumors) of the week. We'll also be giving away some schwag and software in what may possibly be our first "Movie Based Mac Trivia Challenge."
This Sunday night at 10 PM EST, Michael Rose, our consumate Talkcast host, will once agin be out of town, so I'll be taking his place. Hopefully, we won't run into any of the technical difficulties we ran into last week.
We'll be taking open calls and discussing the top stories of the week, attempting to answer any of your questions, talking about Apple rumors...oh yeah, and we'll be giving away schwag (including some software) for correct trivia answers.
To join the conversation and try your hand at winning, just log onto TalkShoe, either with or without an account, by using the shiny new browser-only client (no downloading required and no registration needed). Just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. You can also listen in on the Talkshoe page or call in on regular phone or VOIP lines: dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID: 45077.
Yes, the world famous TUAW Talkcast is back on the virtual air this evening kicking off at 10pm EST over on the Talkshoe site. Mike Rose is out of the hosting chair this week, but worry not -- I, Mike Schramm will be sitting in said chair running hosting duties as well as I can. And since I'm in charge this week, we'll of course be talking about server virtualization and security options for large scale enterprises. No, I'm kidding -- we'll be talking about games, and gaming on the Mac and iPhone.
Brian Akaka of Mac gaming giants and all-around good guys Freeverse will be on the show to chat not only about gaming on the Mac (and why it's not as big as it could be), but also what it's like to design games for the iPhone, and what kinds of things we might see coming out of Freeverse and other developer come June and the App Store. Dave Caolo and some other friendly voices from TUAW should be on as well. And of course we'll have the cast of thousandshundreds whoever joins us on the conference call, and they're very nice folks, too.
Be there at 10pm EST this evening for a talkcast to remember. Pertinent technical and sign-in info after the break. We'll see you there!
Mac-loving moms and dads, unite -- you have nothing to lose but your sanity... oh, yeah, probably too late for that. Dave Caolo and I + some special guests will be discussing Macs and child-rearing at 10 pm on TalkShoe. If you're wondering how to introduce your tots to computers or whether content filtering/parental controls really work as advertised, call in and we'll talk.
We had a fun time on the ol' TUAW talkcast last Sunday, with panelists Christina Warren, Dave Caolo, Erica Sadun and reader Brett Peters (yes, the broken iPhone guy). Brett had a sad saga of MacBook Air performance woes to tell -- his machine refused to run on two cores under moderate load, apparently a thermal management feature run amuck, and it's going back to the mothership now (read the details here). We also ran through the iPhone 3G rumors with a coarse-toothed comb. You can download direct, listen in your browser or subscribe to the TalkShoe feed in iTunes.
For this coming Sunday's show (4/13), we're going to be talking about parents, kids and the Mac with Dave Caolo and hopefully some special guests. We'd love to get your suggestions and recommendations for the best educational software, kid-friendly peripherals and utilities, art and music tools for tots, and more. If you'd like to contribute your picks and pans, you can comment below or use our handy PBwiki page (you'll need a login, so just comment that you want to help out and I'll send you an invite). If you're wondering how to introduce your tots to computers or whether content filtering/parental controls really work as advertised, call in and we'll talk.
One topic that came up on the previous show: some of our readers are having trouble reading the site from their iPhones or iPod touch handhelds, with Mobile Safari sometimes locking up or causing the entire device to reset -- not at all cool. We're trying to sort out the exact issues and come up with a permanent solution, but in the meantime iPhone users can bookmark the lean mobile version of the site at m.tuaw.com to avoid problems.
Join us again for tonight's talkcast featuring Christina Warren and Dave Caolo as we get the lowdown on their WordPress 2.5 upgrades and consider the prospect of a 3G iPhone. Are you holding off on iPhone purchases while you wait for the new version, or moving ahead as planned? Tune in and let us know.
Join us for tonight's talkcast as we hit the intertubes once again for a discussion of the week's top Apple stories via the fine folks at TalkShoe -- we had a few glitches two weeks ago but since then it's been pretty smooth sailing.
We are live tonight (Sunday 3/16) for this week's talkcast, 10 pm ET, with an open agenda and a willing spirit -- now all we need is you. Join me, Dave Caolo and Christina Warren (who's just back from SxSW with an update on Apple and the power geek crowd) as we take your calls and answer your questions.
For those of you eagerly waiting for last week's iPhone SDK show to hit the feeds... we appreciate your patience. Unfortunately we are trying to sort out the letter of the law on Apple's confidentiality clause for iPhone developers, and until we have some clarity on what our panelists can say publicly we have to hold onto the tape. I hope to have guidance shortly and get the show sanitized for release this week.
Speaking of iPhone... We are live tonight (Sunday 3/9) for this week's talkcast, 10 pm ET, talking about iPhone for enterprise and the SDK -- featuring a taped segment with Erica Sadun and Apollo IM developer Alex Schaefer, who couldn't make the regular Sunday night show but felt they had to say something after 72+ hours deep in the SDK.
Join me, Scott, Dave and Mike Schramm tonight for the social. Bring your own ice cream!
Sunday night's talkcast was a delightful discussion, as we were joined by the personable and knowledgeable duo of Craig Hockenberry and Gedeon Maheux from Iconfactory. Ged and Craig gave us the lowdown on the history of the company, the origins of Twitterrific (it's amazing what inspiration comes to you in the shower), the coevolution of Twitter with the now-dominant Mac client, and the promise of the upcoming iPhone development explosion.
We even gave away a few copies of Frenzic to our lucky listeners, courtesy of our guests. Great questions and contributions from Brett, Christina, Dave, Cory, and last-minute contributor Erica rounded out an extra-long (1:15!) show. Download direct, listen in your browser or subscribe to the TalkShoe feed in iTunes.
Join us again on Sunday night for our next live show, 10 pm ET, where we'll be reviewing Thursday's press event and the upcoming roadmap for iPhone development. Assuming that UPS gets its act together, I should be able to offer some impressions of the new MacBook Pro as well.
The shiny goodness that is the Iconfactory's Twitterrific has been officially revved to version 3.1, adding new features and bugfixes to the $14.95/ad-supported freeware Twitter client for the Mac. The new version has added 'teh snappy' to improve performance and reduce user kvetching, always an important design goal.
If you've got comments or questions about Twitterrific, or indeed any of the Iconfactory's projects or products, then you'll be happy to know about this Sunday's talkcast -- IF dudes Gedeon Maheux and Craig Hockenberry will be our special guests, live at 10 pm ET March 2nd on Talkshoe. For everyone who wants to know the secrets of icon design, iPhone development or how to make things pretty, this is an opportunity not to be missed. Register at our TalkShoe page for updates and notifications (or just follow @tuaw on Twitter!).
New features in Twitterrific v. 3.1 include:
Growl notifications are now sorted correctly and summarized
New keyboard shortcuts and action menu on tweets
Changing logins on Leopard will no longer hang
Status message updates now work correctly with Adium 1.2
Plugged memory leaks that slowed Twitterrific down over time
In honor of the birthday of a certain iCEO, tonight's Sunday night talkcast will have a special feature: a brief Steve Jobs trivia quiz at the end of the show, with giveaways for the top SPJ knowledge-holders. Tonight's prizes are courtesy of our friends at Freeverse Software -- Periscope, Hordes of Orcs, and a limited-edition Freeverse Macworld 2008 t-shirt. Tune in and try your luck!
This evening's show will feature Mat Lu and yours truly taking a break from the Oscars telecast to take your questions, gripes and wishlist items for Mac OS X. Got display problems or wireless issues? We want to hear about it. Everything running smooth as silk? We want to hear about that too, but be warned that the people with problems may be very annoyed with you. See last night's post for full talkcast instructions; note that you must be connected to Talkshoe via the web client or the Java client to participate in the trivia quiz.
Last week's talkcast was a lively evening's chat, as Dave, Erica and I diverted from Mac geekery into Trekker nerd bingo (yes, that's not a $6 cab ride away, so no big surprise). Download the show from Talkshoe, play it from the Flash player in the continuation of this post, if you like, or pick it up on iTunes.
Peter Cohen over at Macworld continues his 
We're back tonight 
Yes, the world famous TUAW Talkcast is back on the virtual air this evening kicking off at 10pm EST 
The shiny goodness that is the Iconfactory's 
In honor of the 
