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TidBITS#878/07-May-07

The personal blog of Steve Jobs – that would be Apple’s Web site – saw its second entry last week, an open letter about the company’s environmental practices that appears to be a response to a Greenpeace campaign. Adam examines what Jobs wrote and the role that PR spin can play when it comes to environmental protection. He also contemplates audio-enhanced swim training with the SwimMan waterproof iPod shuffle, and looks at an egregious case of patent insanity whose solution might lie in the depths of Mac history. Elsewhere in this issue, Glenn Fleishman sees a promising future in connecting to public wireless hotspots thanks to Devicescape, and we note the releases of QuickTime 7.1.6, AirPort Extreme Update 2007-003, and Security Update 2007-004 v1.1.

Adam Engst No comments

SwimMan Waterproofs the iPod shuffle

Although I run regularly and enjoy splashing around in our pond, I'm a thoroughly mediocre swimmer. The summer after my freshman year of Cornell, when I was 18, I did lap swimming several times a week with a friend who worked with my mother

Adam Engst No comments

Steve Jobs Talks Green

Steve Jobs has done it again, posting an open letter on the Apple Web site. The previous "Thoughts on Music" letter generated much discussion and coverage of Apple (see "Steve Jobs Blasts DRM," 2007-02-12), and foreshadowed the Apple/EMI deal to drop DRM that followed shortly afterwards (which we covered in "Apple and EMI Offer DRM-Free Music via iTunes," 2007-04-02)

Glenn Fleishman No comments

Devicescape Aims to Ease Wi-Fi Hot Spot Connection Pain

I tire of hitting gateway pages at Wi-Fi hot spots that ask me to enter account information I've already set up. Shouldn't there be a simpler way than what feels like a 1995 interface - you know, maybe some software that makes the connection easier? Devicescape has my number: Their eponymous Devicescape software and ecosystem lets your Mac connect with less tedium to Wi-Fi networks at which you have accounts

Adam Engst No comments

Busting the Disc Link CD-ROM Patent

As the last president of the now-extinct Info-Mac Network, I have several times in the last few years received requests from lawyers or their staffs for certain CD-ROMs, originally produced by a company called Pacific HiTech, containing snapshot copies of the Info-Mac Archive at various points in its history

Adam Engst No comments

Take Control News/07-May-07

Learn Smart Ways to Buy Cheap Airline Tickets -- If you're like us, nearly every airplane trip involves hours spent searching the Web to find a good deal, only to end up paying more than you wanted or feeling that the money you saved wasn't worth the time and aggravation