• AMP'd Mobile - http://get.ampd.com/
• New Worm to start deleting files on Feb 3rd - Ars Technica article
• Remember the Mac OS 9 virus that targetted JPEG files?
• Bubble, a movie by Stephen Soderbergh to be released in theatres, on DVD, and on-demand TV all at the same time
• The MPAA makes illegal copies of a movie, breaking its own rules - Ars Technical article
• Never create a Flash only web site?
• Review of Flash web site: http://speedwave.elanskis.com
• ZeroLogik featured on edel*flash awards site (http://www.edelflash.ch)
• Edward Ross sends voice comment about our review of the Worst Site Ever and turns out he tried to make it bad to win a contest, which he did. Here's the contest link for more.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 9:28 PM | Permalink

Recently a friend told me that he has pre-ordered one of the brand-new MacBook Pro laptops from Apple that feature the latest Duo chip from Intel. Right away I was jealous, but then after giving it some thought I came up with some advice that may be of use to someone else out there. Are you considering rushing out to get one of these new machines? You may want to think about that first...

As with any sexy new announcement from Apple, the laptop's features and improvements are exciting and alluring. However, this is brand new hardware and has never been tested in the field (so to speak).

Here's a pretty long video review of the MacBook when it debuted at Macworld. In this video, you hear the representative from Apple admit that the machine's running extremely hot, but he plays it down by saying it's been up for 3 days straight and it's pre-production equipment.

You might think this means that Apple is going to be making last-minute changes to the hardware to fix any heat issues. I say they won't. They announced this thing in Jan and it's coming out in Feb. That's not enough time to make any significant hardware changes, test those changes, and retool the production line to account for them.

Also notice how Jobs said nothing about the new laptop's battery performance. You think he'd leave that out if it was improved over prior models? Nope.

This move to Intel is a major hardware shift for Apple and there are bound to be problems. Look at the crap they went through when the new iMacs first came out. People were getting logic board replacements left and right.

My advice is to wait until they have been in customers' hands for at least a couple months. Mac users are vocal and if there are issues, you'll be able to read about them. If the issues are minimal and normal "then" go out and buy one.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm still going to drool all over my buddy's laptop when he gets it. Especially since I'm starting to notice the sluggishness of this old PowerBook G4 even when compared to my iMac G5. Gosh, I'm ready for that MacBook!

Posted by ZeroLogik at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

The cost of broadband connectivity in the United States is a joke. DSL runs between $25 and $35 on average for a 1.5/512 connection and Cable typically runs $42 (with Cable service) for a 3.0/386 connection. I know that in the US we're made to believe those deals are good, but they're not.

In Asia and much of Europe people are paying $22 for 6MBs down and 3MBs up. When all's said and done, it seems everyone else is getting at least 4 times the value we are.

So enough of that - let me tell you my story about my recent switch from Comcast Cable to SBC/AT&T Yahoo! DSL.

First let me tell you the reason for the switch. Comcast runs me $42 a month and is reliant on me having their basic cable service which I'm not sure I want anymore. And while I get incredible download speeds (3mbps) - the upload could be better. Right now it's only 384kbps and I do a lot of uploading of video/audio files that are huge.

Then I came across SBC's site that offers 1.5 to 3.0 mbps down and 512kbps up for only $21.99 for the first 6 months. On top of that you get 3 months for free if you switch from cable. The savings are adding up in my head. Now after the 6 months rate, the price is $35.99 a month, so it's still cheaper than cable. All's well.

I opted for the self-installation pack because that's cheapest. Having a technician come out is $200 (absurdly overpriced). The package arrives, I open it up and plug in the DSL modem. I've done this many times before, so I was not intimidated... yet.

I set it all up and plug my laptop into the modem to log on. Nope, doesn't work. I look to the instructions to see if I missed something. The only instruction in the booklet is to install their software on the CD they give you. No, I'm not putting a bunch of SBC software on my Mac. I look for the alternative setup for those who have routers (as I do) or just don't want to deal with the software. There's NOTHING.

I look in the Troubleshooting section where it mentions a little about connection issues and says to configure your modem using your web browser. No problem, done this before too. Asks for user ID and password - I use the one I have for my phone account online (only one I've ever been given). Doesn't work.

I call tech support. They assume I have a PC right off...

Okay, go ahead and open Internet Explorer by going to Start > All Programs

I tell him I'm on a Mac. We continue and he gives me this special default login for the modem, then I go to a registration page and here's where it gets ugly. Next is an overview of the conversation I had with this guy...

Shane: Um, I got to a page that seems to be frozen on this registration site. Nothing's submitting.

SBC: Okay, go ahead and open up Internet Explorer and go back to the--

Shane: I'm on a Mac, I don't have IE

SBC: Well, you need to download it cause that's the only browser that can work with our registration site

Shane: But Microsoft doesn't even offer IE anymore and it's super outdated. So Safari or Firefox won't work?

SBC: No, cause we use ActiveX controls in our registration form

Shane: But ActiveX is only sparsely supported on Mac IE. You guys don't have a Mac version of your registration that will work on all browsers?

SBC: No. Do you have Opera? Cause that will work too.

Shane: Wait, Opera will work? But Opera doesn't support ActiveX even on Windows without an additional plug-in to emulate and even that's buggy and Windows only.

SBC: No, Opera can do ActiveX

Shane: Okay, well no, I don't have that and I'm not installing more software just to register, so can I go on without registering?

SBC: Yeah, of course.

Shane: Done, thank you.

SBC: Thank you, and is there anything else I--

Shane: (Click)

Is this just a case of bad tech support? Maybe, but I think it's silly that their self-installation instructions don't have an alternate method of setting up the service that doesn't include relying on the bundled software. For people with routers you'd almost always have to call in because there's no way to know about this secret special login you have to start with.

That's my rant anyway.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 3:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Clive Owen talks slow
• Why is the Flash player on Mac slower than the one for Windows?
• The new Intel Macs and what we think of them
• The Linux Flash player
• The Flash player on the Intel Macs
• Scott ordered a new MacBook Pro
• Shane makes up a new word "Fantastical"
• Government demands that Google turn over search data
• We like the Diggnation podcast
• A little about Windows vs Mac... again
• 330 mpg hybrid car

Posted by ZeroLogik at 7:41 AM | Permalink

There seems to be a clear divide between those who love .Mac accounts and what they offer and those who hate them and feel they're pointless. I happen to be one of the lovers. For $99 a year you get the following...

• 1 GB of server space for you to use how you want
• Reliable email with effective spam filtering built in (I get almost no spam on my account)
• Backup - a Mac app from Apple that allows you to backup your hard disk and files
• A place to publish slideshows, videos, blogs, and more with just a couple clicks

So to me it's worth it. The problem I run into that I consider annoying and not very user-friendly if you don't know computers well is this... Let's say you go to iDisk on your Mac and you want to transfer a video up to your iDisk area on your .Mac account. It's as easy as drag and drop just like with any other folder on your computer.

The problem is if the file is huge (let's say 50MB) it's not so obvious that it's being transferred. Here's what I mean... Today I wanted to upload a big video to share with my family. I drag the video to my iDisk and it shows it copying, then it shows this dialogue screen:

It wouldn't be so bad if this just flashed for a second at the end while closing the file as it says, but instead the box changes to this almost immediately and sits on this dialogue with no progress shown for about 30 minutes until the file is completely uploaded.

That's not exactly accurate feedback for what's going on. I don't know why it's so difficult for Apple to show an accurate progress bar for the transfer much like you'd see when uploading via FTP.

Ultimately the issue is not significant as the file still gets there, but you have no idea how long it'll take and if you're a novice you'll probably think the operation has failed and it's hanging. Come on guys, you just launched 10.4.4 - you can at least address something as simple as this!

Posted by ZeroLogik at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Special guest Robert Reinhardt joined us yesterday on the ZeroLogik radio show to talk in depth about Flash 8. For those of you interested in the topic or just want to enjoy another wonderful episode of the show, take a listen.

You can find ZeroLogik on the iTunes music store (under Podcasts or by searching) and of course all episodes are available along with show notes at www.zerologik.com.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since we skipped a week and didn't deliver our normal ZeroLogik episode and we had special guest Robert Reinhardt to talk about Flash, we thought we'd make this show twice as long to play a little catch up. We get into depth with Robert about Flash and some other topics too.

So be prepared cause this one's an 1:20 of yummy goodness! Here's some of what we covered.

• Macworld announcements, MacBook Pro and Intel iMac
• Spyaxe.com and spyware installing on a protected Windows machine
• Verizon FIOS - News.com Article - Verizon's Feature Page
• Talking Flash 8 with Robert
• Key new features for developers and users
• Flash video, how it compares to other formats (Quicktime, Real, Windows Media)
• Scott falls asleep during the show... twice
• Player penetration
• Flash installer, Adobe's takeover of Macromedia
• CSS/DHTML vs Flash?

These are links to some of the sites we discussed in the episode:

KissThisGuy.com Archive of Misheard Lyrics LA Flash Video Workshop Flash Video workshop in Los Angeles, January 27-28, 2006. Use discount code "ROBERT" for reduced price. FlashSupport.com Home for the Flash Bible series, including the forthcoming Flash 8 Bible Community MX articles Index of content Robert's written for Community MX, including the articles "Pushing Flash Player 8 Technology" and "FAQ: Flash Video". Schematic

Posted by ZeroLogik at 11:36 AM | Permalink

This is a moment I've been waiting for ever since it was announced almost a year ago. Apple has finally (actually ahead of schedule) released its first computer products based on the new Intel chips.

At Macrworld in San Francisco this morning, Steve Jobs announced an all new iMac and MacBook Pro (formerly PowerBook) in his keynote address. He announced other things too, but I didn't care all that much in comparison.

The new MacBook Pro is dual-core, has a slew of new features like a built-in camera, ATI X1600 Radeon video card with 256MB of VRAM, and much more.

Detailed specs: MacBook Pro, Intel iMac

Despite all the excitement, I will say that I expected a little more. I don't mean the features are a let down. They are amazing and what I expected. There are 2 let downs so far though. First, there's no Firewire 800 port on this laptop. Only a single Firewire 400 and two USB 2.0 ports. Why? Not good for video professionals who rely on their external Firewire 800 hard drives. That extra speed is huge!

The second issue I have is with the price. Yes, the price points are the same as with the older models, but they shouldn't be. Acer just released a laptop very similar in specs and it's selling for $1500. True, you get better stuff in the MacBook such as higher resolution screen and better video card, but is that enough to justify a $499 price difference?

Also, look at the new 15" MacBook Pro's price... $2499. That's the same as the current 17" PowerBook and that comes with 120GB HD which you can't even get with the MacBook at this time. I just thought the distinction would be much more clear cut than this. Right now it looks like tradeoffs in deciding between them instead of the MacBook replacing the old Powerbook completely as I think it should.

I'll have to wait and see what the full specs of the Acer are before passing final judgement, but from a non-comparative point of view, I really just thought the intel products would be cheaper. Maybe price drops are to come after the products have been out longer. Who knows?

Posted by ZeroLogik at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We have taken our time with Episode 4 for a few reasons. First off, we obviously can't rush perfection. Second, the holidays has made it difficult to schedule the show so far. Now that things have settled down, we are able to make arrangements with Robert Reinhardt (our guest) and coordinate a time to sit down with him.

You'll definitely get Episode 4 delivered to you by early next week. We appreciate all of your kind comments asking about where the fucking show is. Very sweet.

Hopefully this update will tide you over for a few more days. If you have any Flash related questions for Robert, please send them in soon so we can incorporate them.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 7:14 PM | Permalink

It was about two months ago that my laptop hard drive started making those noises that we all fear. You know the ones. The little grinding hums you hear just before the hard drive dies forever.

Fortunately I had the extended warranty, so I took it in and they replaced it. It was inconvenient because they had to ship out the computer and it took 6 days to get it back, but it was free and seemed to work.

Now last week a similar noise was heard again. Right off I was pretty pissed because I felt Apple may have put in a refurbished hard drive as a replacement (a practice they deny entirely). When I took it back in again the problem was less frequent and almost impossible to reproduce. It would crash about once a day "if" I left it on or worked on it all day long.

Despite this, they took it for repair and had it back to me... the next day! How about that? I was shocked.

A detail that may be of note: My original and first replacement drives were both Toshiba drives. This time I got a Hitachi. I've heard stories about the Toshiba drives being failure prone and from what I've seen I believe it.

The bottom line is Apple did a great job and handled the case in a friendly, fast, and professional manner. This is why people are loyal to Apple in my opinion.

Posted by ZeroLogik at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)