Big Trousers, Web, Design, Photography and new media.

Well I finally took delivery of a shiny new MacPro quad core Xeon. I have to say it was a decision made for me by the continuing requirements of current software. When the new iMovie failed to load that was the straw that broke the camels back. I put if off for long enough but [...]

Pat B. from the Briagolong school of Fine art just received her new iMac and writes: We are delighted with the new set up. I was nervous about tackling a new computer being correctly described as a technophobe, but I am able immediatly to do all the things I need to do, no pain at [...]

Well we along with everyone else tipped this but the new brushed aluminium iMac is here. What is cool is just how thin it is, up to 4.0 GIG RAM, Up to 1 TB HD, up to 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme processor, ATI Radeon HD graphics card, and a brand new keyboard. This photo from [...]

We write an experimental web page for the Apple iPhone Safari browser. Based on some very smart CSS and a javascrift file, this page is designed to make the PhotoGeek podcast look like an iPhone list of menu options. This allows an iPhone to play the complete set of podcasts using the touch screen interface [...]

Apple today released Safari 3 for both Mac and Windows. The first thing that struck me was Safaris’ ability to render text properly, at least a hell of a lot better than IE or Firefox. The big difference however is speed. Safari is twice as fast as IE and certainly faster than Firefox. Get Safari [...]

Engadget has posted a short piece on this photo of Al Gore’s triple 30 inch Apple cinema display. Do we all want a set up like this? Not so messy perhaps? Last line was a good one. ( thanks for the link-Ajay ) “P.S. -Yeah, fine, we’re creepy gadget stalkers, what of it?”

Just released the Elgato H.264 hardware encoder. Make Apple TV ready content from Elgato recorded HD Free to Air TV in a flash. No more waiting for video to re-encode as 720p for iTunes playback. This makes the AppleTV a much more useful device for managing Free To Air TV on your widescreen TV. Read [...]

From an article by Daniel Turner from Technology Review about Apple and the pursuit of great industrial design. The process employed and the reasoning for this as a productive investment for those who use their products. I have to say I have never thought of Apple products in this way but it is interesting to [...]

Having read about the details regarding Apple Final Cut Studio 2 and looking at some of the video online I have to say it was a surprise that this suite has moved so quickly to embrace new controls and new formats. The impressive videos including the Cohen brothers talk about “Color” shows the new color [...]

Jen Hawley of Siren music rang the other day after having inadvertently deleted a piece recored through Logic Pro on her MacBook. It was a classical piano piece recorded some weeks ago and when it was not found on the Firewire back up she wondered if it was still on the local drive. It turned [...]

After many years as the token Windows geek in a medium sized firm of Electrical component manufacturers my brother has taken delivery of a new MacBook. For very good reasons Relay Monitoring Systems has run on a network of PC’s kept in secure harmony under the gaze of my little brother. AutoCad and advanced networking [...]

So it looks like there are 4 processor options now. Dual quad core “Clovertown” Xeon, Quad 2.0 GHz, Quad 2.66 GHz, Quad 3.0 GHz all “Woodcrest” Xeon. Standard feature is the 2.66 GHz Quad, the 8 core adds a whopping $2400 to the price and the 3.0 GHz Quad adds $1300. Start adding multiple 750 [...]

Finally the worst kept secret is out. When there is a box to check online for this puppy it will have my name on it. They are currently online in Australia but not in the online store. Opt for the 8-core Mac Pro and you get the power of two Quad-Core Intel Xeon “Clovertown” processors [...]

Turns out the deal includes a higher price download free of DRM but at twice the quality encoding (265 kbs AAC). Also Apple will offer all albums at this new quality but offer both the new and the old for single downloads. I think that EMI are assuming that the higher quality and subsequent larger [...]

It looks like EMI have come to the conclusion that Digital Rights management is getting in the way of their long term profitability. About time too I say. From the Wall Street Journal In a major break with the music industry’s longstanding antipiracy strategy, EMI Group PLC is set to announce today that it plans [...]