Have you ever bought singles from an album and then decided to buy the album outright, only for iTunes to not give you access to all the tunes that you paid for because you already own a different version of some of the tracks? That's what has happened here...
What a pain in the backside this is.
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Apple. Show all posts
Thursday, 16 January 2014
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
Ministry of Sound sues Spotify over user-curated playlists
 |
| Source: Atatiwa, CC |
The first of which is by Stuart Dredge who reports that the some time night club and record label, Ministry of Sound, is seeking damages against Spotify for allowing its users to create their own playlists which ape the ordering of tracks that appear on their releases, and which may also include the name 'Ministry of Sound' in the title. This last point is significant as Spotify users can now search the service for such a term and easily locate these user-compiled playlists. The label's argument appears to be that these playlists are an infringement on their intellectual property.
It's worth noting that Ministry of Sound does not licence its releases to Spotify as the streaming service's business model seeks to remunerate the copyright owners of musical recordings, whereas compilations compiled and curated by Ministry of Sound would not benefit the label in question as many of the featured tracks are owned by other labels (which Ministry of Sound has had to pay a sum in order to licence for their
Ministry of Sound launched proceedings in the UK High Court on Monday, and is seeking an injunction requiring Spotify to remove these playlists and to permanently block other playlists that copy its compilations. The company is also seeking damages and costs.Chief executive Lohan Presencer claims that his company has been asking Spotify to remove the playlists – some of which include "Ministry of Sound" in their titles – since 2012
So let's be clear here:
- Spotify has agreements in place with the relevant owners of tracks that have also been used by the Ministry of Sound in a series of compilation albums.
- Ministry of Sound and Spotify have no licensing agreements
- Users of Spotify have sourced licensed tracks and complied them in playlists using 'Ministry of Sound' as an identifiable search term
- These user playlists may feature tracks in the same order as the Ministry of Sound releases
- There's no guarantee that the tracks in these playlists are the exact same tracks (ie same track length, same remix, etc) that feature on the compilations.
The second article worth looking at is a blog post written by Lohan Presencer, written to accompany the announcement to sue Spotify. The article itself is riddled with errors or disingenuous claims:
iTunes is now the largest music retailer in the world with 575 million customers and annual sales of $23bn. It is the main source of income for every record company on earth. Not only that, Apple built its hardware business on an iTunes foundation – iPods, iPads, iPhones. Not a penny of the sales of which were shared with record companies.
Forgive me for being pedantic here but this claim needs qualifying. Apple did not build its hardware business on an iTunes foundation - at least not exclusively. iTunes did precede the iPod by about 8 months (released in the US in 2001), however in its original inception it was a tool for moving files from one device to another. The iTunes Store was not created for some time after that, coming to the US in April 2003 and to the UK in June 2004. Granted, sales in the iPod began to grow rapidly after 2004 with the 4th generation of devices capable of storing up to 40GB of music - enough to carry most people's music collections.
It was hardware iteration that was key to the success here. It seems bizarre that Presencer should claim otherwise whilst also going on to note that this hardware success was not shared with record companies. Should Denon or Technics share their hardware revenue with record companies because they facilitate the consumer in being able to play their CDs or vinyls? Similarly, the success of the iPhone and the iPad have very little to do with music and more to do with devices' multiple functionality (internet access, telecoms, applications, photography, etc).
Presencer goes on to critique Spotify for failing to make a profit despite being heralded as the 'ultimate counter attack to piracy'. Perhaps the company can be forgiven for struggling to make a profit 5 years after launch given the costs of launching a new business in 24 countries, with all the various regional licencing and legal costs associated with such a venture. Spotify claims to pay out 70% of all its revenue to rights holders. Given how notoriously difficult it has been for newcomers to enter the hermeneutically sealed world of the music industry, it's no surprise that profitability is an issue. Only time will tell as to whether or not the 24 million active customers can be converted to paying customers.
Presencer then goes on to critique Spotify for its PR strategy:
Spotify is addicted to PR, its oxygen of growth. Favourable comparisons to Apple and positive reports of industry data showing exponential growth of streaming revenue are its lifeline. Yet what the believers fail to tell you is that published streaming figures include advertising revenue from YouTube, the great hidden free music streaming service.What is the purpose of this comparison to YouTube? Are they also to be criticised for under paying artists for streams? There's very little stopping users of YouTube from creating Ministry of Sound playlists on YouTube and inserting the brand 'Minsitry of Sound' into the title, for example:
The final point worth examining relates to how much Spotify contributes to the musical economy of the UK:
According to BPI annual figures, UK record company revenues in 2011 were £795m. Total paying UK Spotify customers at that point could be reasonably estimated to be no more than 250,000. At £10 a month that's total net income of £25m. About 55% of this is paid through to record companies, £13.75m - less than 2% of total industry incomeIgnoring the envelope math here (is it 55% or 70% paid to labels) and the outdated figures (Spotify had only been in the UK for 2 years at this point so was a niche player), Presencer seems to have an issue with a young company generating 2% of the total UK music industry's revenue! This beggars belief. Would he be happier if this was revenue lost to piracy? Given that attitude and behaviour change tends to develop quite slowly, Spotify and services like it should be held in slightly higher regard for their attempts to provide a better (for the industry if not the artists) alternative to piracy against a background wherein it is very easy to access music without paying for it.
A solution?
Presencer's gripe seems to be more to do with the fact that compilation curators like Ministry of Sound do not benefit from streaming services because they don't fit the business model that seeks to reward the owners of the music. The simple solution is sue and hope for success so that a service like user generated playlists in Spotify has to removed, thus making the product inferior. Or at least, nuke the ability to search for use playlists. If this does happen, then it might damage the usefulness of Spotify and subsequently, its ability to generate revenue for an ailing industry. I hope this doesn't happen as creating and sharing playlists is part of what makes Spotify a service I'm willing to pay for.
A more complex solution would be to ensure that the Ministry of Sound has to be remunerated and they could do this by ensuring that their compilations featuring tracks that they own the rights to thus making it impossible for Spotify playlists to ever be exactly like the official release (not that this is guaranteed anyway - see #5 above). Ministry of Sound used to produce tracks - I know because I bought them in the 1990s when the brand was building on its 'super club' status. It's often said of the tech industry that companies become more conservative as they age, become less willing to take risks and are more likely to sue than to innovate. Companies in this industry need to be agile and innovative if they want to stay ahead. Maybe Ministry of Sound can go back to innovating.
Saturday, 24 December 2011
Merry Christmas Music Industry
It's been a while since I last posted (work has been intense!), but I thought I'd get a festive post in before the new year. As the year ends there have been many things related to music and the copyright industry for people to get their teeth into: the MegaUpload video controversy; the safe harbours provision debate for Grooveshark; the ongoing arguments around SOPA and the threat to Domain Name Servers accused of hosting content protected by copyright...
On top of this though, there are some positive steps being taken by the music industry to give internet users what they want when they want it (competing with piracy?). I found myself becoming a fully paid up subscriber to Spotify Premium this year (£9.99 per month) and am now enjoying it on my Macbook, iPhone and Tivo box. I'm also waiting for Apple's iTunes Match (£21.99 annually) to filter the first 25,000 tracks in my library before seeing if I can add the other 15,000. Then there's Google Music, but I guess I'll wait and see what the UK provision is like before committing myself to another digital service.
That I've paid for these services may not be a surprise to anyone who read my series of posts in which I tracked my expenditure on music products and services for a year. However, I have found myself being a little conflicted about the value of these services - £10 per month is the same price you can pay for a seedbox and VPN package by which you can download, store and access all manner of torrented materials.
Guilty relief?
Nevertheless, I've come to think of these subscriptions as a form of mild guilt-relief for any form of consumption that might be viewed by others as not strictly legal. I'm not sure I get the full £9.99 per month use out of my Spotify subscription as there are many artists that I love that are missing from the service. Similarly in the filmic consumption space, my £14.99 per month subscription to CineWorld's Unlimited Card hasn't been great value for money when I go less than twice per month as they don't usually get the more obscure weekly releases. I also pay for Virgin Media's most expensive TV package (£24.50 per month) despite never watching any live TV.
I've found myself spending more money this month on second-hand vinyl albums including the spinning wheel version of Led Zeppelin's III album (£25!) than I have on digital services. I guess I should feel guilty in this consumption too, as none of that cash will find it's way back to the struggling artists - at least this is the rhetoric of the games industry about resales. However, I don't. I shall never feel guilty about purchasing tangible objects, even if they are old Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground or Crosby, Stills and Nash records (I feel older than I am!).
In the brave digital future physical music might be dead but at least, for now, I can hang it on my wall.
Merry Christmas music industry!
On top of this though, there are some positive steps being taken by the music industry to give internet users what they want when they want it (competing with piracy?). I found myself becoming a fully paid up subscriber to Spotify Premium this year (£9.99 per month) and am now enjoying it on my Macbook, iPhone and Tivo box. I'm also waiting for Apple's iTunes Match (£21.99 annually) to filter the first 25,000 tracks in my library before seeing if I can add the other 15,000. Then there's Google Music, but I guess I'll wait and see what the UK provision is like before committing myself to another digital service.
That I've paid for these services may not be a surprise to anyone who read my series of posts in which I tracked my expenditure on music products and services for a year. However, I have found myself being a little conflicted about the value of these services - £10 per month is the same price you can pay for a seedbox and VPN package by which you can download, store and access all manner of torrented materials.
Guilty relief?
Nevertheless, I've come to think of these subscriptions as a form of mild guilt-relief for any form of consumption that might be viewed by others as not strictly legal. I'm not sure I get the full £9.99 per month use out of my Spotify subscription as there are many artists that I love that are missing from the service. Similarly in the filmic consumption space, my £14.99 per month subscription to CineWorld's Unlimited Card hasn't been great value for money when I go less than twice per month as they don't usually get the more obscure weekly releases. I also pay for Virgin Media's most expensive TV package (£24.50 per month) despite never watching any live TV.
I've found myself spending more money this month on second-hand vinyl albums including the spinning wheel version of Led Zeppelin's III album (£25!) than I have on digital services. I guess I should feel guilty in this consumption too, as none of that cash will find it's way back to the struggling artists - at least this is the rhetoric of the games industry about resales. However, I don't. I shall never feel guilty about purchasing tangible objects, even if they are old Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground or Crosby, Stills and Nash records (I feel older than I am!).
In the brave digital future physical music might be dead but at least, for now, I can hang it on my wall.
Merry Christmas music industry!
Monday, 25 July 2011
How to back-up OSX Lion to USB tutorial [video]
In an earlier tutorial I showed how to make a bootable version of OSX Lion (10.7) on DVD for fresh installs. It's also possible to do this via a USB drive for those machines that don't have an optical drive (the Macbook Air and the most recent Mac Mini). It's a little more laboured than burning to disk. You can find the video tutorial below:
How to back-up OSX Lion to DVD tutorial [video]
Much of the discussions surrounding the most recent Apple software upgrade (OS X 10.7) refers to the fact that Apple are no longer shipping their product on physical media. Well, that's not strictly true - they will be producing a $70 USB version sometime in August. Most people will access the software after having purchased it from the App Store and downloading more than 3.5 GB of data. This is great in that it makes for a smaller environmental footprint as there'll be less packaging and less fuel-related costs but it does have it's downsides in that you can't reformat or install without an Internet connection.
Never fear, as there is a way to make a backup copy of the software without having to upgrade from OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard) first. In the video below I show you how to make a bootable backup up copy of OSX Lion via DVD. It's quite easy. Click through to YouTube for the HD video.
Never fear, as there is a way to make a backup copy of the software without having to upgrade from OSX 10.6 (Snow Leopard) first. In the video below I show you how to make a bootable backup up copy of OSX Lion via DVD. It's quite easy. Click through to YouTube for the HD video.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Note to self #471
When jailbreaking your iPhone be sure to remember where to find the firmware:
~(home)/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates
The amount of times I forget this...
~(home)/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates
The amount of times I forget this...
Monday, 28 February 2011
How To: Virgin Media Super Hub + Apple Time Capsule
I've recently upgraded my broadband with my cable provider Virgin Media, from 20 to 30 meg. As part of this process I was advised that my existing modem would be incompatible with the upgrade so I was going to be sent their wonderful Super Hub (a custom Netgear box). The problem was that this Super Hub is a wireless router and that it wasn't quite compatible with my existing home network: an Apple Time Capsule and an Airport Express. If I was to connect the Time Capsule to the Super Hub I'd run into the dreaded double NAT problem whereby each of the routers would try to allocate all the devices on my network IP addresses, causing all manner of conflicts.
Ideally, all the Super Hub needs is a kill switch to make it act like a modem and nothing else. But it doesn't. This is a much maligned piece of kit that many customers have been grumbling about. However, it can be tweaked.
I couldn't find any instructions for doing this, but I managed to piece together the relevant processes from posts on the Apple Discussion forums as well as the Virgin Media site (kudos to Seph). What I'm going to do in this post is show you how I managed to disable the wireless capabilities of the Super Hub so that my Time Capsule can act as it should. The same should apply to anyone using an Airport Extreme (the Time Capsule include this hardware) router too.
Before I started I jotted down the MAC address (aka Airport ID) of the wireless devices I was using (my MacBook Pro and the Time Capsule). On a Mac you get to these by navigating to the following:
The Airport ID should be at the bottom of the dialogue box.
How To:
1 - Plug the Time Capsule router’s WAN port into any of the LAN ports on the Super Hub.
2 - Plug the computer/laptop into any Super Hub LAN port and access the management page by typing http://192.168.0.1 into the address bar. Login with the details from the back of the Super Hub and click the Advanced link
3 - In the left-hand navigation column, under Advanced, select the LAN IP option. Examine the DHCP Client Lease Info field; you should see your computer and the Time Capsule (plus any other connected devices if you have them). If you haven't already, make a note of the MAC address from the Time Capsule and add it to the DHCP reservation section. After that, give the Time Capsule an IP address like 192.168.0.10
4 - Next step, navigate to the DMZ host page on the Super Hub from the left hand column and enter the same IP address (e.g. 192.168.0.10) in the appropriate field. This means that the Super Hub will pass all traffic to the second router without any checks or filters. The Time Capsule will be in the same subnet as the router side of the Hub.
5 - Turn off or disconnect the Time Capsule and connect your computer to it with a network cable. Reboot it. At this point launch Airport Utility - the Time Capsule will be reporting an error. It needs to be put into Bridge Mode (either via the method below or by using the diagnostic tool):
6 - At this point you are almost ready to go. All we need to do is disable the wireless functions on the Super Hub. Login to the router again http://192.168.0.1 but don't go into the Advanced mode yet. Simply select Wireless Network Settings and change the Wireless mode to Off then hit Save.
7 - Log back in to the Advanced mode on the Super Hub http://192.168.0. Navigate to the Services tab under the Content Filtering option in the left hand column. Once there deselect the Firewall Features and IP Flood Detection and hit Apply.
You should be good to go now. Your original wifi network will be functioning as normal and the Time Capsule will be taking care of business. I did a quick ISP speed test and it looks like I'm getting the full 30 meg speed. Nice.
Ideally, all the Super Hub needs is a kill switch to make it act like a modem and nothing else. But it doesn't. This is a much maligned piece of kit that many customers have been grumbling about. However, it can be tweaked.
I couldn't find any instructions for doing this, but I managed to piece together the relevant processes from posts on the Apple Discussion forums as well as the Virgin Media site (kudos to Seph). What I'm going to do in this post is show you how I managed to disable the wireless capabilities of the Super Hub so that my Time Capsule can act as it should. The same should apply to anyone using an Airport Extreme (the Time Capsule include this hardware) router too.
Before I started I jotted down the MAC address (aka Airport ID) of the wireless devices I was using (my MacBook Pro and the Time Capsule). On a Mac you get to these by navigating to the following:
System Preferences >> Network >> Advanced >> Airport
How To:
1 - Plug the Time Capsule router’s WAN port into any of the LAN ports on the Super Hub.
2 - Plug the computer/laptop into any Super Hub LAN port and access the management page by typing http://192.168.0.1 into the address bar. Login with the details from the back of the Super Hub and click the Advanced link
 |
| Click to expand |
3 - In the left-hand navigation column, under Advanced, select the LAN IP option. Examine the DHCP Client Lease Info field; you should see your computer and the Time Capsule (plus any other connected devices if you have them). If you haven't already, make a note of the MAC address from the Time Capsule and add it to the DHCP reservation section. After that, give the Time Capsule an IP address like 192.168.0.10
 |
| Click to expand |
 |
| Click to expand |
5 - Turn off or disconnect the Time Capsule and connect your computer to it with a network cable. Reboot it. At this point launch Airport Utility - the Time Capsule will be reporting an error. It needs to be put into Bridge Mode (either via the method below or by using the diagnostic tool):
Manual Setup >> Internet >> Internet Connection >> Connection Sharing >> Off (Bridge Mode)
 |
| Click to expand |
7 - Log back in to the Advanced mode on the Super Hub http://192.168.0. Navigate to the Services tab under the Content Filtering option in the left hand column. Once there deselect the Firewall Features and IP Flood Detection and hit Apply.
 |
| Click to expand |
You should be good to go now. Your original wifi network will be functioning as normal and the Time Capsule will be taking care of business. I did a quick ISP speed test and it looks like I'm getting the full 30 meg speed. Nice.
NB: Virgin Media are planning on upgrading the Super Hub's firmware and testing it around April time
Thursday, 21 October 2010
What will Apple do with that $50 billion?
File this one under 'thinking allowed'....
Image courtesy of Ben Stanfield, 2007, Flickr
Yesterday Apple had their 'Back to the Mac' event in which they unveiled a new series of MacBook Airs and updates to the iLife suite of software, as well as Face Time for Macs. They also made some impressive sales announcements regarding the success of iPhone 4, despite falling a little short of the iPad sales they were hoping for.You can watch the full event by clicking this link.
However, yesterday's event was all about the Mac computer range. The US market share of the Mac is 20.7% and the machine makes up 33% of Apple's revenue. 13.7m Macs sold in the 2010 financial year, bringing its revenue to more than $20 billion. There have been 7 billion downloads from the app store to date and they to launch a similar store for Mac software.
These reveals all came on the back of an earlier report which claimed its quarterly profits leapt by 70% to $4.31 billion and its revenues increased by 66% to $20.34 billon as it sold 14.1m iPhones, up 91%, and 4.19m iPads (they had expected to shift 5 million iPads). So much for 'antenna-gate' harming sales. Their last quarter revealed turnover of $20 billion and they are sitting on a cash reserve in excesses of $50 billion. Based on their market valuation, Apple are set to overtake the oil company Exxon within a year (after already having overtaken Microsoft's value).
Money from Apples
What I'm really interested in is what Apple are going to do with that $50 billion. Steve Jobs has hinted that there may be some big acquisitions in future. What could Apple realistically buy? It seems unlikely that they are going to go for a shares dividend and their real success in the last decade has come in the guise of harmonising hardware and software, so it wouldn't make sense for them to buy a certain troubled search engine would it? This seems doubtful as that would pit them against one of the other tech behemoths with whom it is already fighting on the software front, namely Google (Android vs iOS4). There were rumours back in April that Apple were interested in ARM for their CPU business, but that no longer seems likely given the success of their own A4 chip.
It would seem logical that Apple would build on their strengths (hardware+software integration), design principles (usability+simplicity), and their recent successes in the gaming sphere (iPad+iPod Touch+iPhone+Steam for Mac+Game Centre) and enter the next-generation gaming market place. Both Sony and Microsoft have announced that they expect their current generation of systems to last another 5 years before being replaced which would give Apple ample time to design and build a system that would be ready for launch in time for the next console cycle - they might even be able to steal a march over their rivals...
Apple are a savvy organisation and Jobs has a keen eye for market opportunities. They've had great success with their portable gaming devices and must be acutely aware of the rapid domination of the gaming sector when it comes to home entertainment. They already have infrastructure success when it comes to direct selling of entertainment direct to consumers (iTunes and the App Store), and the industry is currently awash with talk of cloud-based gaming services. How long will it be before Apple realise that they can take a bite out of this sector?
This idea isn't new; games analyst, Michael Patcher, predicted something similar back in March this year, however, Apple have never been in a stronger position.
Image courtesy of Ben Stanfield, 2007, Flickr
Yesterday Apple had their 'Back to the Mac' event in which they unveiled a new series of MacBook Airs and updates to the iLife suite of software, as well as Face Time for Macs. They also made some impressive sales announcements regarding the success of iPhone 4, despite falling a little short of the iPad sales they were hoping for.
However, yesterday's event was all about the Mac computer range. The US market share of the Mac is 20.7% and the machine makes up 33% of Apple's revenue. 13.7m Macs sold in the 2010 financial year, bringing its revenue to more than $20 billion. There have been 7 billion downloads from the app store to date and they to launch a similar store for Mac software.
These reveals all came on the back of an earlier report which claimed its quarterly profits leapt by 70% to $4.31 billion and its revenues increased by 66% to $20.34 billon as it sold 14.1m iPhones, up 91%, and 4.19m iPads (they had expected to shift 5 million iPads). So much for 'antenna-gate' harming sales. Their last quarter revealed turnover of $20 billion and they are sitting on a cash reserve in excesses of $50 billion. Based on their market valuation, Apple are set to overtake the oil company Exxon within a year (after already having overtaken Microsoft's value).
Money from Apples
What I'm really interested in is what Apple are going to do with that $50 billion. Steve Jobs has hinted that there may be some big acquisitions in future. What could Apple realistically buy? It seems unlikely that they are going to go for a shares dividend and their real success in the last decade has come in the guise of harmonising hardware and software, so it wouldn't make sense for them to buy a certain troubled search engine would it? This seems doubtful as that would pit them against one of the other tech behemoths with whom it is already fighting on the software front, namely Google (Android vs iOS4). There were rumours back in April that Apple were interested in ARM for their CPU business, but that no longer seems likely given the success of their own A4 chip.
It would seem logical that Apple would build on their strengths (hardware+software integration), design principles (usability+simplicity), and their recent successes in the gaming sphere (iPad+iPod Touch+iPhone+Steam for Mac+Game Centre) and enter the next-generation gaming market place. Both Sony and Microsoft have announced that they expect their current generation of systems to last another 5 years before being replaced which would give Apple ample time to design and build a system that would be ready for launch in time for the next console cycle - they might even be able to steal a march over their rivals...
Apple are a savvy organisation and Jobs has a keen eye for market opportunities. They've had great success with their portable gaming devices and must be acutely aware of the rapid domination of the gaming sector when it comes to home entertainment. They already have infrastructure success when it comes to direct selling of entertainment direct to consumers (iTunes and the App Store), and the industry is currently awash with talk of cloud-based gaming services. How long will it be before Apple realise that they can take a bite out of this sector?
This idea isn't new; games analyst, Michael Patcher, predicted something similar back in March this year, however, Apple have never been in a stronger position.
Sunday, 15 August 2010
Google Reader™ Mac OS X Snow Leopard + Delicious
A quick post to recommend a new Safari extension for any Mac owners (PC too, I suppose) out there who also use Google Reader as their RSS feed reader of choice. The Google Reader™ Mac OS X Snow Leopard + Delicious extension is truly something to behold. It transforms the lacklustre interface of Google Reader into something more fitting the stylings of OSX. Try it. You might like it.
Friday, 30 July 2010
Panographs of the Media Centre
I've been playing around with a cheap little photography app for the iPhone 4 called 'You Gotta See This' (yes, a truly awful name) by Boinx Software that allows you to make quick and easy panographs. A panograph is a collage of still images that, when taken as a whole, create a larger image. I took the pictures below this morning outside the David Puttnam Media Centre:
The app only works on the iPhone 4 (not the 3G or 3GS) due to the utilisation of the inbuilt gyroscope feature. It's an affordable toy at $1.99 (iTunes link) or £1.19 (iTunes link) but the images do appear a little compressed in my example. As you can see in the slides above there are a number of default themes bundled in the app which you can't turn off which is a shame. It would be great if you could access a large image without having the borders that appear on each of the themed templates.
The app isn't perfect but it does enable anyone to create their own unique panographs easily. Here's a quick tutorial video explaining how the application works:
I'm sure this is one the first of many apps that will take advantage of the new hardware improvements in the iPhone 4.
The app only works on the iPhone 4 (not the 3G or 3GS) due to the utilisation of the inbuilt gyroscope feature. It's an affordable toy at $1.99 (iTunes link) or £1.19 (iTunes link) but the images do appear a little compressed in my example. As you can see in the slides above there are a number of default themes bundled in the app which you can't turn off which is a shame. It would be great if you could access a large image without having the borders that appear on each of the themed templates.
The app isn't perfect but it does enable anyone to create their own unique panographs easily. Here's a quick tutorial video explaining how the application works:
I'm sure this is one the first of many apps that will take advantage of the new hardware improvements in the iPhone 4.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
MacBook Pro Wifi Fail
This is bugging me - over the course of the last 24 hours my relatively new (ie < 6 months old) Macbook Pro has started to drop its wireless signal. I can be sitting with both the new Macbook Pro and an old Macbook (circa 2006) both connected to my network via Time Capsule with both of them working fine, only for the Macbook Pro to suddenly seize up and lose the wireless signal. Hours later it works again, as if by magic!
The strange thing is the Menu bar shows that I am connected to my network, but Airport Utility cannot see either the Time Capsule or the Airport Express on my network Does anyone know of any diagnostic tools or terminal commands/logs I can use to try an pinpoint what or where the problem is? Any advice gratefully received.
I intend on taking this Macbook in for servicing but I'd like some evidence first otherwise I'll look like a bigger bozo. Currently, all I have as evidence are the screengrabs in this online album.
The strange thing is the Menu bar shows that I am connected to my network, but Airport Utility cannot see either the Time Capsule or the Airport Express on my network Does anyone know of any diagnostic tools or terminal commands/logs I can use to try an pinpoint what or where the problem is? Any advice gratefully received.
I intend on taking this Macbook in for servicing but I'd like some evidence first otherwise I'll look like a bigger bozo. Currently, all I have as evidence are the screengrabs in this online album.
Tuesday, 6 July 2010
New iPhone Wallpaper
I was a little bored today so I knocked up a quick iPhone wallpaper that may be of interest to some of you. The resolution is 640 x 960 especially for the iPhone 4, but it works fine on the 3GS too. Click on the image below to get the wallpaper from my Flickr account in various sizes.
You can get the full .psd file here (2.5 mb)
You can get the full .psd file here (2.5 mb)
Saturday, 1 August 2009
Reviving an old PowerMac G4 Sawtooth
I've got myself a little project on the go after inheriting a 2000 model G4 PowerMac (AGP Sawtooth). I've only been a Mac computer user since the days of Intel so my knowledge of and familiarity with the PowerPC architecture is fairly limited. Initially, I though that this would be a side-project that might be easily upgradeable at relatively little or no cost, but I may have been wrong.
It's been testing my patience a little as all I got was the tower and no boot/install discs and the damn thing is temperamental at startup. The previous owner asked me to format the hard drive too. I will do that once I can get the damn thing to boot from the install discs that I already own when the original hard drive is connected. This has been a problem in itself.
Anyway, this is the spec (as far as I can tell):
HDD
I've got a spare 80 GB IDE ATA/133 hard drive that the G4 just wont install to. It can see the drive when I connect it as the Master and boot up with OSX 10.3 install discs (hold C on bootup). I suspect that I need to install a new PCI IDE card in order for the drive to be recognised. Currently, the only option I've found in this regard is the Sonnet Tempo HD. It retails around $60 so is not a cheap solution to the problem. I might just attempt to reformat the original drive, although the G4 is a bit temperamental when deciding whether or not to boot up at all.
ACARD also offer an alternative solution in the guise of the AEC-6280M at around $70. Once again, not cheap, and also not so easy to source in the UK for import tax purposes. I've heard that SIIG used to offer a solution but they seem to be PC focused today.
CPU
I've also noticed a few companies that offer CPU upgrades for these old G4's. I've seen dual 1.6 and 1.8 GHz CPU upgrade options by companies like Sonnet. These retail at around the $300 mark. This is expensive enough to make you consider a second-hand G5.
RAM
RAM memory is dirt cheap. The G4 takes up to 2 GB of PC133 in 4 banks, available for a very reasonable price. Crucial will max the G4 out for around £43 which is at the expensive end of this upgrade path. Some eBay bargains can see you pick up 1 GB for about £10 a pair of sticks.
UK-based stores
There are a few decent places to go shopping for parts in the UK:
The problems
I can boot the system as it is but all I get to is what looks like an OSX 10.4 user login page. If I reboot with OSX 10.3 in the CD/DVD drive and hold down C I get nothing. A blank screen with no disc activity. This is a significant problems as this would be the most obvious way to get around the problem of needing to erase the drive and do a fresh install.
If I swap the original HDD out for the one I mentioned above (ATA/133) then the machine auto boots the OSX 10.3 boot disc as it cannot read the 133 drive as the IDE interface maxes out at 100. I can get as far as installing to the drive only to be told it isn't suitable.
If I plug both drives in, one as master and the other as slave (with appropriate jumper settings) the G4 refuses to boot at all. If I swap them drive orders around, the G4 refuses to boot at all.
I've also tried hacking the admin account but the [CMD+S] option doesn't respond so I can't bypass the GUI.
It's been testing my patience a little as all I got was the tower and no boot/install discs and the damn thing is temperamental at startup. The previous owner asked me to format the hard drive too. I will do that once I can get the damn thing to boot from the install discs that I already own when the original hard drive is connected. This has been a problem in itself.
Anyway, this is the spec (as far as I can tell):
- CPU: 400 MHz PowerPC
- HDD: 40 GB ATA/100 drive
- RAM: 512 MB
- OS: OS X 10.3 or 10.4 (?)
HDD
I've got a spare 80 GB IDE ATA/133 hard drive that the G4 just wont install to. It can see the drive when I connect it as the Master and boot up with OSX 10.3 install discs (hold C on bootup). I suspect that I need to install a new PCI IDE card in order for the drive to be recognised. Currently, the only option I've found in this regard is the Sonnet Tempo HD. It retails around $60 so is not a cheap solution to the problem. I might just attempt to reformat the original drive, although the G4 is a bit temperamental when deciding whether or not to boot up at all.
ACARD also offer an alternative solution in the guise of the AEC-6280M at around $70. Once again, not cheap, and also not so easy to source in the UK for import tax purposes. I've heard that SIIG used to offer a solution but they seem to be PC focused today.
CPU
I've also noticed a few companies that offer CPU upgrades for these old G4's. I've seen dual 1.6 and 1.8 GHz CPU upgrade options by companies like Sonnet. These retail at around the $300 mark. This is expensive enough to make you consider a second-hand G5.
RAM
RAM memory is dirt cheap. The G4 takes up to 2 GB of PC133 in 4 banks, available for a very reasonable price. Crucial will max the G4 out for around £43 which is at the expensive end of this upgrade path. Some eBay bargains can see you pick up 1 GB for about £10 a pair of sticks.
UK-based stores
There are a few decent places to go shopping for parts in the UK:
- 2ndchancePCs - these folks are Sonnet resellers. They have the 1.6 GHz CPU upgrade listed at £313 after tax with the 1.8 GHz coming in way above that!
- MacUpgrades - these guys have useful info on the various G4 models. They also list the Sonnet Tempo card at under £63
- VIS Ltd - these people stock a variety of spare parts
- There's always eBay for spares but it's not always great for this kind of thing
The problems
I can boot the system as it is but all I get to is what looks like an OSX 10.4 user login page. If I reboot with OSX 10.3 in the CD/DVD drive and hold down C I get nothing. A blank screen with no disc activity. This is a significant problems as this would be the most obvious way to get around the problem of needing to erase the drive and do a fresh install.
If I swap the original HDD out for the one I mentioned above (ATA/133) then the machine auto boots the OSX 10.3 boot disc as it cannot read the 133 drive as the IDE interface maxes out at 100. I can get as far as installing to the drive only to be told it isn't suitable.
If I plug both drives in, one as master and the other as slave (with appropriate jumper settings) the G4 refuses to boot at all. If I swap them drive orders around, the G4 refuses to boot at all.
I've also tried hacking the admin account but the [CMD+S] option doesn't respond so I can't bypass the GUI.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)