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Link Archive

Glenn Fleishman No comments

Text Message Limits Devised by Clever Committee Head

A German at a typewriter in 1985 figured out the 160-character limit of SMS for GSM networks with no market research. He looked at telexes and postcards, too.

Doug McLean No comments

MobileMe Gains 24/7 Chat Support

Apple has added around-the-clock text chat support for MobileMe, the sometimes-disgruntling collection of Internet services that replaced .Mac. To start a support chat, you must first choose a specific topic under the Get Help with Mobile Me section, after which a Chat Now button appears; clicking it starts a chat with an Apple tech support person.

Adam Engst No comments

NYC Apple Store Ranks Among Most Photographed Places

A research project at Cornell University has evaluated nearly 35 million photos from Flickr in an effort to automatically organize, label, and summarize large-scale collections of digital images. One interesting finding: the glass-cube Apple Store in New York City is the 5th-most photographed place in New York City, and the 28th-most photographed spot in the world.

Doug McLean No comments

WWDC 2009: Sold Out

Ars Technica is reporting that Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) has already sold out. This year's conference, to be held 08-Jun-09 to 12-Jun-09 at San Francisco's Moscone West Hall, is only the second WWDC ever to have sold out in advance (the 2008 conference having been the first). Sessions from WWDC 2009, which is expected to focus on the iPhone 3.0 software and Snow Leopard, will be available as videos in the iTunes Store after the conference is over for those unable to attend.

Doug McLean No comments

Forbes Publishes PDF of Jobs’s Deposition

Steve Jobs's full deposition to the Securities and Exchange Commission on 18-Mar-08 is now available as a PDF from Forbes.com. The 119-page document reveals, largely uncensored, Jobs's responses to questions regarding the backdating of Apple stock-options (an illegal action if not properly accounted for and reported), and the fabrication of minutes for a nonexistent Board of Directors meeting by Apple's general counsel at the time, Nancy Heinen. The transcript provides a rare glimpse into the organization and activities of Apple's upper echelons, and surprisingly candid comments from Jobs himself.

Jeff Carlson No comments

Esquire Cover Shot with RED Video Camera

Many still cameras can shoot video, and video cameras capture stills, but until now there's always been a quality tradeoff. Esquire is touting its latest issue as the first major-market magazine to use a cover image captured by a video camera, the high end RedONE, which shoots at 4K resolution (roughly four times better than HD).

Jeff Carlson No comments

Billionth App Prizes Go to 13-Year-Old

Apple passed its 1 billionth download from the App Store on 23-Apr-09, but it hadn't yet revealed who crossed the mark and won the company's prize. Well, now we know who to envy. Connor Mulcahey, age 13, of Weston, CT is now the happy owner of not only a downloaded app, but also a $10,000 iTunes gift card, an iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and a MacBook Pro. Congratulations Connor!

Adam Engst No comments

Adam Talks about Apple’s Q2 2009 Earnings on MacNotables

For additional thoughts on Apple's stellar earnings report, and just why Apple is bucking the downward trend in the economy as a whole, listen in on the discussion between Adam and Chuck Joiner in this MacNotables podcast.

Doug McLean No comments

Earth to Apple

In honor of Earth Day, Jeff Bertolucci reflects on Apple's true, err, green, colors. In this three-part series on Macworld about Apple's position towards the environment, he takes a look at the company's supply chain, recycling program, and corporate motivations for environmental change.

Adam Engst No comments

Spam’s Role in Environmental Damage

You can quibble with particular numbers or with the fact that this report (PDF link) was sponsored by McAfee, a company that sells spam filtering software. But its basic conclusion - that spam has a significant and deleterious effect on the environment - is entirely valid. Just another reason that spam is evil. Happy Earth Day.

Adam Engst No comments

Rich Mogull to Discuss Evaluating Security Stories on Your Mac Life

Tune in to Your Mac Life on Wednesday night at 5:30 PM Pacific to hear TidBITS Security Editor Rich Mogull discuss his article on how to evaluate Mac security stories. The live audio stream will remain available through 29-Apr-09.

Adam Engst No comments

The Evolution of Apple Design, in One Image

Want to see how Apple's industrial design has evolved over the years? Edible Apple has a graphic that shows every Apple product released (computers, iPods, displays, mice, and keyboards), in chronological order. Someone should make a poster.

Adam Engst No comments

Bob “Dr. Mac” LeVitus Says Nice Things about TidBITS

Thanks to the estimable Bob LeVitus for his kind words about our efforts to provide original, thoughtful content in TidBITS!

Adam Engst No comments

Copy and Paste Locations in iPhoto ’09

Derrick Story has found yet another hidden feature in iPhoto '09 8.0.2. You can Control-click a photo with geotags attached, choose Copy, then Control-click another photo (or selection of photos) and choose the new command Paste Location. Sneaky, but useful!

Adam Engst No comments

Rich Mogull Discusses Mac Malware on MacVoices

TidBITS Security Editor Rich Mogull talked with MacVoices host Chuck Joiner about the facts and fictions surrounding Macintosh viruses and the recent "botnet" fuss. Listen to this MacVoices podcast episode for real-world advice about both avoiding malware and evaluating security stories in the media.