FireWire’s MacBook absence—inconvenience or fatal flaw?

Hate to admit I missed this on initial inspection. I was too busy plahying with the new glass trackpad sans button and admiring the beauty of this new machine. For this editor, the lack of Firewire is a deal breaker. (Sigh) - Tim Godby

FireWire’s MacBook absence—inconvenience or fatal flaw?: "The most-talked about feature in Apple’s new MacBook may be something that’s not there—FireWire ports. Peter Cohen weighs in on Apple’s decision.

(Via Macworld.)

DisplayPort: What you need to know

DisplayPort: What you need to know: "When it introduced its new laptops this week, Apple also introduced a new term to the vocabulary of Mac users—DisplayPort. Peter Cohen takes a closer look at this emerging industry standard and how it could benefit Mac users.

(Via Macworld.)

Microsoft pushes for Silverlight on G1 and iPhone

Microsoft pushes for Silverlight on G1 and iPhone: "Microsoft reportedly wants to push Silverlight onto the iPhone, PC World reports.

(Via Macworld.)

OpenOffice 3.0 released, for Mac

I use the OpenOffice Suite on my office PC. It is more than adequate for the majority of tasks. Where it fails most is in comparison to PowerPoint. I'll be curious to see what if any improvement the Macinotsh version makes in that regard. - Tim Godby

OpenOffice 3.0 released, for Mac: "OpenOffice.org 3.0, the first Mac-native version of the free office productivity suite, is now available.

(Via Macworld.)

Perian 1.1 just released

This is an absolute MUST HAVE piece of software. Like everything Macintosh, it just works! Download it. Now. - Tim Godby

Perian 1.1 just released: "

Filed under: Software

Perian, the ultimate QuickTime plug-in, was just updated to version 1.1.1. Some of the changes in this version include:

• H.264 in AVI fixed


• Some anamorphic AVI files are now supported


• Performance problems due to PIC fixed with Xcode 3.1


• Incorrect frame skipping on H.264 intra frames fixed


• Better character set detection


• The update checker is now much more polite


• Several parsing and rendering bugs with subtitles fixed


• Player freezing while loading subtitles with embedded fonts fixed


• Audio fixed for some older MKV files with AAC/FLAC


• Strange values in MKV chapters or video sizes are handled better


• Initial support for SAMI subtitles added


• Worked around a QuickTime bug (#5770288) causing frames to be lost during export


• New codecs: DosBox ZMBV, VP6+Alpha, Nellymoser ASAO

FFmpeg:

• Crashing on PPC G3 fixed


• Fraps decoding artifacts fixed

You can view the full change log on the support website. Perian is a free System Preference pane that can be downloaded from the Perian project website.

Thanks, Chris!

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

Install Boxee or XBMC on an Apple TV

The Apple TV is definitely on my wish list. This software hack is one of the most intriguing I've seen. - Tim Godby

Install Boxee or XBMC on an Apple TV: "

Filed under: Multimedia, Hacks, Apple TV

Please read the article from The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

Microsoft Adds More Perks to Live Search

Imagine having to pay people to use one's search engine? - Tim Godby

Microsoft Adds More Perks to Live Search: "Microsoft has gotten some flack for the perks it has offered via Live Search to gain ground in the search advertising market, but that isn't stopping the company from launching another search-rewards offer for the distant third most popular search engine.

Wired.com

(Via Top Stories.)