My new PowerBook laptop from Apple arrived today! You can check it out at the link above. Also on the right, below the categories and search section, is a Flickr box which shows several pictures from my Flickr gallery.
Today I turned 22 years old! A big thanks to those that sent their best through emails, instant messages, e-cards, flowers, and birthday cards. I feel special!
Slashdot | Google’s New Personalized Homepage
Citing user requests to coalesce it’s disparate services, Google today released its new personalized homepage service. It allows you to arrange your Gmail, Google News, Google Maps
driving directions, weather and a few select news services (including
Slashdot) on a single page. Future plans include Universal RSS support.
Clearly a shot at existing services like My Yahoo.
ABC News: ‘Star Wars’ Grosses $16.5M in Midnight Run
LOS ANGELES May 19, 2005 – Moviegoers flocked to the dark side in droves, giving the final installment of George Lucas’ “Star Wars” tale a record-breaking midnight run.
“Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith” raked in an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings Thursday, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
That’s double what the Oscar-winning film “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” took in during its midnight showings in 2003. The third film from director Peter Jackson’s trilogy rang up about $8 million domestically from 2,100 midnight shows.
“This is extremely impressive,” said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. “It just says so much about how excited people are to see this film that they lined up at midnight and just got on board and went along for the ride.”
Tickets for “Revenge of the Sith” went on sale last month. Soon after, legions of fans began lining up at theaters across the country, many dressed in full “Star Wars” regalia and sporting Jedi light sabers.
The final chapter in Lucas’ six-film saga chronicles Anakin Skywalker’s transformation from hero to villain Darth Vader. The film may be the darkest chapter in the “Star Wars” story, featuring more violence and a story line showing how a democratic government turns into a despotic regime.
“Revenge of the Sith” is the first “Star Wars” film to earn a PG-13 rating. The first five films were rated PG.
A side by side comparison of XviD and Quicktime 7’s new h.264 format. Notice the encoding times for the same amount of video resulting in the same file size- 27 minutes for the new h.264 format and just 6 minutes for XviD, both on a 4 minute clip.
Mac Rumors: Mac OS X 10.4.1 Now Available
The first update to Tiger is now available in Software Update:
The 10.4.1 Update delivers overall improved reliability for Mac OS X v10.4 and is recommended for all users. It includes improvements for:
- file sharing using AFP and SMB/CIFS network file services
- using DHCP in wireless networks
- user login when accessing LDAP and Active Directory servers
- core graphics including updated ATI and NVIDIA graphics drivers
- synchronization with .Mac
- Address Book, iCal, Font Book, Mail, and Preview applications
- Dashboard widgets: Address Book, Flight Tracker, Phone Book, and World Clock
- creating and burning disk images using Disk Utility
- compatibility with third party applications and devices
More details on this update can be found at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301517.
AppleInsider | Tiger update to patch Dashboard vulnerability
A forthcoming update to Apple’s Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” operating system will reportedly plug a hole in the company’s new Dashboard application that allows potentially malicious widgets to auto-install on a user’s system.
The fix is believed to be one of over three dozen expected in Apple’s Mac OS X 10.4.1 Update. According to rumors, the update, code-named “Atlanta,” could see a release as early as the end of the week.
After installing the update, sources say users of the Tiger operating system will be prompted before a widget is downloaded to their hard drive. Currently, Tiger possess a vulnerability where potentially dangerous or annoying widgets can be downloaded onto a hard drive and installed without the user’s knowledge or consent.
It has also been rumored that Mac OS X 10.4.1 will correct minor issues with at least four of the default widgets included with the retail version of Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger.”
BetaNews | AOL to Introduce 2GB Web Mail with AIM
Thursday, America Online will introduce a beta version of AOL Instant Messenger Mail, a free Web mail service for all AIM users. The service will be integrated into the second beta of a maintenance release of AIM 5.9 that will be the last of its pedigree before AOL migrates to its next generation “Triton” client software.
Like rival Google’s Gmail, AIM Mail provides 2GB of storage space accompanied by new search tools to more easily locate messages.
The AIM Mail service is tightly integrated with AIM and uses Screen Names as the prefix for members’ e-mail addresses. Moreover, Screen Names are used as a single sign-on for both services.
AppleInsider | More than half of Amazon’s top selling computers are Macs
Macs account for 6 out of the 10 top selling computers at online mega-retailer Amazon.com this month, a sign that Apple continues to hold a significant computer market presence, says one Wall Street analyst.
Apple’s computer sales also remain strong down the line, with 10 models in the top 20. Meanwhile, the company’s new Tiger operating system continues to hold the top spot on a list spanning all of the retailer’s electronics goods.
Gene Munster, a senior research analyst for investment and research firm PiperJaffray, has been tracking the presence of Apple products amongst Amazon’s top seller lists in order to better weigh in on the demand for the company’s offerings.
In a research note released to clients on Tuesday and obtained by AppleInsider, he noted that various versions of Apple’s iPod digital music player are also dominating the retailer’s MP3 player top seller list, occupying 8 of the top 10 spots and 11 of the top 20.
These numbers are up sharply from a couple of weeks ago when Apple’s iPod players account for only 4 of the top 10 and 6 of the top 20 players. “We believe this exhibits Apple’s dominance in the portable MP3 market and shows that the initial exploratory phase of other MP3 players has lightened,” Munster wrote in the report.
PiperJaffray believes that Apple is improving production efficiency as evidenced by the fact that most products are being shipped on the same day they are ordered. “This is critical to the Apple story as Apple products continue to experience strong demand,” the firm said.
AppleInsider | iTunes Music Store now bundling music videos
Following yesterday’s release of iTunes 4.8, Apple has begun bundling videos with some of the music albums available through its iTunes Music Store. As noted yesterday, Apple’s iTunes 4.8 digital music jukebox software adds support for video cataloging and playback. So far, the videos on the iTunes store appear to be marketing incentives offered along with the albums. However, tipsters point out that Thivery Corporation’sThe Warning Shots video is being sold along with the tune for a $0.99 premium (combined the tune and video cost $1.98). Meanwhile, the store lists Dave Matthew’s Stand Up, which bundles 14 songs, 1 video and 1 Digital Booklet in PDF for $11.99. Unlike the songs, the videos do not contain DRM restrictions and can be transfered to non-authorized computers for playback.
Hello! My name is Katie, I'm 26 and from Houston, TX. I am a hardworking and passionate freelance web designer with a degree in eBusiness Web Development who creates clean and professional looking websites of the highest quality. I specialize in standards-based XHTML and CSS web development. The sites I develop are built to be search engine friendly!
You can find me on Twitter at @pibby for my latest updates. I am an avid computer user and my OS of choice is Mac OS X. I am most happy at home with my loving fiance', Drew, and our two loud but adorable dogs, Toby and Shelby.
Phone: (281) 374-4780
Email: KatieDixon [at] gmail · com