Tarek

For burning, I'm partial to Simply Burns, here:

http://simplyburns.berlios.de/

(GPL, nice interface)

"iTunes 7.5 adds the ability to activate an iPhone where ever it is available"

What does this even mean? I thought activation happened on the iPhone, not from iTunes...

Why would you constrain the two sets of accelerometers (one in the wiimote and the other in the nunchuck) together?

As far as I can tell, you lose six degrees of freedom (three twist and three linear) with this arrangement, cuz the nunchuck and the wiimote will be registering pretty much the same on their respective accelerometers.

(And yeah, I know the accelerometers won't be seeing _exactly_ the same acceleration, but they're still constrained to the same 6 DOF as each other...)

Re: sleeping your MacBook

My old PowerBook used to go straight to sleep when I shut it, so I was able to do exactly what you describe above - shutting it and then sticking it into my backpack. Unfortunately, when I got a MacBook Pro, that was no longer the case, as SafeSleep (which writes the contents of your RAM to disk before sleeping) was on by default. This kept my data safe, but meant I had to wait upwards of a minute while my 2GB of RAM was written out, or I'd forget to wait and open my bag up later to find a toasty laptop with no battery left.

To remedy the situation, I followed the directions here (not for the shell-shy)

http://db.tidbits.com/article/9115

(Basically, every 10 minutes you check the battery level. If it's less than 15%, turn SafeSleep on, otherwise turn it off.)

@Aron Trimble

Oh, right, thanks for the correction!

Whups, weblogs.com no likeee "a" tags. Here's the CNET review referenced in the above post:

http://reviews.cnet.com/Apple_Mac_Mini_Core_Duo_1_67GHz/4505-3118_7-31762058.html

I've got a question tangentially related to the video encoding q above, to whit:

Does the Apple DVD Player.app support 3:2 pulldown, or are there options that do? I'm pretty sure the answer is no, but I've heard the DVD player is getting something of an overhaul in Tiger, so are they adding pulldown? Also, does the DVD Player do upscaling to 1080p, or are there other options that might?

I'm considering getting a Mac Mini to drive my TV, and 3:2 pulldown is a pretty important feature for a DVD player. This CNET review says it doesn't have pulldown, but there are several factual errors in that review, (claiming the Mini's Core Duo is dual proc, for instance), so I'm not that inclined to trust it.

Dinraj: If Apple can ship twice the iPods in the same space, that means it cuts the fuel needed to ship those iPods in half. Considering that a large portion of the ecological footprint of a product is in its transport, this is not an insignificant reduction.

akijikan: The lower fuel costs are exactly the same reason that this means cheaper prices. You think Wal-Mart is doing this out of the goodness of their hearts? Nope. They operate their own trucking fleet, so any savings on shipping fuel feed directly into their bottom line, and to lower prices. Also, more products per foot of shelf space means less overhead per item, which translates to lower costs or increased profitability.

PilotWings 64 FTW!


And I can't wait for PilotWiings, if and when heads are taken out of asses to make it.

Erm... MIT's in Cambridge, not Boston.