Comcast has revealed a 250GB-per-month download cap on residential users' Internet connections as of October 1st, as part of an effort to combat illegal peer-to-peer exchanges of software and rich media. According to Ars Technica, Comcast is offering the "extremely large amount of data" to users, and would actively warn top downloaders who exceed the limit to cut back. While 250GB should be plenty for most users, active Netflix or iTunes video rental customers could chew through their cap fairly quickly. Comcast has not mentioned if there are charges for going over the 250GB limit. For more information, read Comcast's FAQ.

Reports of Steve's demise are greatly exaggerated! Ars Technica reports that yesterday afternoon, Bloomberg accidentally published an obituary for Steve Jobs. Investors were naturally spooked. Steve is not dead, and Bloomberg has since retracted its obituary with the following statement:

Story Referencing Apple Was Sent in Error by Bloomberg News — Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) — An incomplete story referencing Apple Inc. was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27 p.m. New York time today. The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted.

The BBC reports that "a computer virus is alive and well" on the International Space Station (ISS). NASA has confirmed that laptops carried to the ISS in July were infected. The infected laptops were used to run nutritional programs and let the astronauts periodically send e-mail back to Earth. Apparently no command or control systems of the ISS were at risk from the malicious program. Hmm....maybe NASA needs to send up some Macs?

(Insert Harold Faltermeyer's theme from Fletch here). Formerly with WebProNews, SecurityProNews and other tech business news sites, David Utter is now a freelance reporter with his own site. David was recently featured on NPR, as mentioned on our blog. David has always been on the cutting edge of tech, security and small business news, and we look forward to following him as his writing career continues. Best wishes David!

TV comedian Jerry Seinfeld will appear as a pitchman in an upcoming $300 million Microsoft ad campaign, according to a report in today's Wall Street Journal. Seinfeld will receive $10 million for his participation in the effort, which will also star Bill Gates, the WSJ reported.

Editor's note: What? We realize that Mr. Seinfeld has bills to pay, but really now, who will take this seriously? Every self-respecting geek remembers that scenes from Seinfeld's NY apartment featured a Mac conspicuously displayed on his desk by the window. Diehard Apple fans will remember that Seinfeld even starred in one of Apple's famous Think Different ads.

Just got this email from the Mobile Me team:

MobileMe Update--We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make. To recognize our users' patience, we are giving every MobileMe subscriber as of today a free 60 day extension. This is in addition to the one month extension most subscribers have already received. We are working very hard to make MobileMe a great service we can all be proud of. We know that MobileMe's launch has not been our finest hour, and we truly appreciate your patience as we turn this around. Read this article for more details. --The MobileMe Team

The San Jose Mercury News reports that there was a fire at at Apple's headquaters. The blaze that damaged a building on the tech giant's Cupertino campus Tuesday evening may have sparked quite a commotion, but no firefighters or Mac-savvy employees were injured. The fire, which started about 10 p.m., caused significant damage to a 120,000-square-foot building located at 20705 Valley Green Drive. CNet News interviewed Deputy Chief Hal Rooney is this video posted on YouTube.

The transition from Dot Mac to the push-based Mobile Me has been a little rocky. Apple's Mobile Me team sent an email to all subscribers this past Wednesday, with a status update, and apology, and a 30-extension on all accounts:

...Another snag we have run into is our use of the word "push" in describing everything under the MobileMe umbrella. While all email, contact or calendar changes on the iPhone and the web apps are immediately synced to and from the MobileMe "cloud," changes made on a PC or Mac take up to 15 minutes to sync with the cloud and your other devices. So even though things are indeed instantly pushed to and from your iPhone and the web apps today, we are going to stop using the word "push" until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too.We want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge. Your extension will be reflected in your account settings within the next few weeks...

Editors Note: I spent several hours trying to get calendars and mail to "push" and was unsuccessful. Calendars kept showing up with blank data, extra calendars I did not create, and an email send at noon did not arrive until 4:00pm. I have not given up yet! It could have been another server glitch, no ISP is immune. Mobile Me push is attractive not only for the "push," , but also because of SSL support, for more secure email communications on publish networks. SSL capability is often an added cost with many other ISP's email setups.

David Pogue, tech columnist for the New York Times, posts this week on the iPhone App Store.

"You’re probably as sick of reading about the iPhone this week as I am of writing about it. But we’re not quite done. The App Store–oh, man, the App Store. It’s a candy store, dude. It’s 550 free or cheap add-on programs that make the iPhone (or the iPod Touch) do absolutely amazing things…stunts a cellphone has no right to perform."

Walter Mossberg, tech columnist for the Wall Street Journal, has posted on his blog the results of his overview of the new iPhone Apps Store. According to Mr. Mossberg,

"These first applications range from serious programs for doctors and pilots to silly parlor tricks that take advantage of the iPhone’s motion sensors. One, called PhoneSaber, merely displays an image of a Star Wars-like light saber and makes varying light saber noises as you wave the phone in the air."

Editors note: I am enjoying the new PhoneSaber toy, as well as the Facebook and AIM apps. I also plan to check out the voice recorder optioning and other available business apps.

The "Mobile Me" subscription-based service from Apple is now official. Push email and calendar sync with iPhones are now available and we gain additional online storage, but there are some things that have been taken away. Such as, no more iCards, no more webspace. Is this a big deal? Probably not, but time will tell....Check it out for yourself at http://www.apple.com/mobileme/.

MacWorld reports that crowds, activation delays hit iPhone launch, as demand for the phone with 3G internet speeds, MS Exchange Support and GPS capability reaches a fever-pitch.

MacWorld reports that Apple has officially released the iPhone OS 2.0 software update. The file weighs in at 225MB and is available as a free download via iTunes for owners of the original iPhone; it also comes pre-loaded on the new iPhone 3G. iPod touch users can also download the iPhone OS 2.0 update via the iTunes Store at a cost of $9.95, which also brings with it the features added in the iPod touch software update in January.

Today Apple announced a new Internet service called MobileMe - taking the best of .Mac and adding a host of new features. Current .Mac members' accounts will be automatically upgraded to MobileMe in July. For a closer look, watch the MobileMe Guided Tour and read below for an overview of this new service.

Mac integration you know and love.
With MobileMe, you'll continue to enjoy features that take advantage of seamless integration with Mac OS X and iLife - Back to My Mac; access to your iDisk in the Finder; Mac-to-Mac syncing of Dock items, preferences, and more; iWeb site publishing; and photo and movie sharing directly from iPhoto '08 and iMovie '08.

New web applications for when you're away from your Mac.
MobileMe features a suite of web applications at www.me.com that have the familiar look and feel of the applications on your Mac. Because these web applications stay in sync with your Mac and other devices, you'll have the same information wherever you go. Here's what you'll find at me.com:

• Mail, the anchor of the new suite, is even better with a refined interface.
• Contacts has a new three-pane interface, contact groups, maps integration, search, and photo support.
• Calendar is a brand-new web application that feels just like iCal, featuring multiple calendars, click-and-drag event creation, and more.
• Gallery lets you manage your collection of shared photos and movies from anywhere. You can now upload photos, rearrange their order, and set sharing preferences, all from a browser.
• iDisk now has the familiar look of the Mac OS X Finder. It features drag-and-drop filing and an easy new way to share large documents, by sending an email with a link for downloading the file.
• Account lets you manage settings such as storage allocation.
• To use the new web applications, make sure you have one of these browsers: Safari 3, Internet Explorer 7, or Firefox 2 or later.

Push email. Push contacts. Push calendar.
In addition to Mac-to-Mac syncing, MobileMe now keeps your iPhone, your iPod touch, and even a PC in sync. MobileMe pushes new contacts, calendar items, and bookmarks to your Mac or PC, and over the air to your iPhone or iPod touch. For example, if you add a calendar event on the web, the change will automatically be pushed to your Mac and iPhone. New email will be pushed to your iPhone in seconds, eliminating the need to check for messages manually.

Keep your Dot Mac Email address.
As a MobileMe subscriber, you can continue to use your mac.com address for email. You will also be issued a me.com address with the same user name that you can use if you prefer. The choice is yours.

Double the online storage.
To give you plenty of space for your email, photos, and other files, MobileMe doubles your storage from 10GB to 20GB for an individual subscription.

Apple is promising to update us when the new service goes live. In the meantime, if there are any questions about the upcoming transition from .Mac to MobileMe, please visit the MobileMe FAQ.

Introducing MobileMe. A new service for your iPhone, iPod touch, Mac, and PC. "The simple way to keep everything up to date." As one blogger put it, this is "Exchange for the rest of us."

Apple's World Wide Developer Conference kicked off today at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Steve Jobs gave the keynote presentation and discussed the iPhone 2.0 SDK (software development kit), new third party apps for iPhone, enterprise "push mail" and "push calendar" capabilities, and the new iPhone 3G, featuring GPS and faster internet speeds.

The following is from a press release on Delaware-based Hostmysite.com's website. This information was also sent to all Hostmysite customers. We host our website with Hostmysite.com and we have recommended this company to our clients in the past. We view this as a positive move and will continue to recommend Hostmysite.com.

Newark, Delaware, June 3, 2008 - Wachovia Capital Partners (WCP) announced today that it has acquired HostMySite, Inc. . Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. HostMySite.com is a leading hosting provider, delivering highly scalable hosting solutions including managed hosting, dedicated hosting, virtual private servers, and shared hosting. Wachovia Capital Partners partnered with experienced industry executives Art Zeile and Joel Daly earlier this year with a goal of acquiring and building a leading managed hosting company. With this acquisition, the executives will assume the roles of CEO and COO of the company.

Lou Honick and Neil Heuer founded HostMySite.com in 1997. With over 250 employees, 4,000 servers and state of the art datacenter facilities, the founders have built a highly successful business with a strong service culture. Following the transaction, Lou Honick will become the Chief Strategy Officer.

“With greater access to financial capital, HostMySite.com will continue as a leader in our industry. We believe that we have great prospects for growth and can further expand our reputation for quality of service, deep expertise, and solid execution,” said Mr. Honick. “We value the breadth of industry experience that Wachovia Capital Partners brings to the table having invested in hosting services companies for over a decade. We believe in this market and our opportunities are significantly enhanced with the backing of a strong financial partner."

WDEL.com reports that hackers took over and defaced Comcast Corp.'s web portal for several hours overnight. They left a cryptic message on the site that the company's 14.1 million subscribers use to access e-mail, news and technical support. According to postings at BroadbandReports.com, the front page of Comcast.net went down shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday and was replaced with a note saying the hackers had "RoXed" Comcast. Comcast spokeswoman Jennifer Khoury says the hijacking has been reversed, but some users on Thursday morning were still unable to access Comcast.net and Web-based e-mail. Comcast says there is no indication that e-mail or other private information was compromised by the attack. Khoury says Comcast has alerted law enforcement authorities and is working with them.

MacObserver reports on a recent ruling by a U.S. Court that allows border patrol agents to inspect and search a notebook computer or other digital device without limitation. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), travelers and their employers are increasingly concerned that Custom and Border Protection agents could compromise sensitive information, trade secrets and private attorney-client communications. Currently, travelers have several options. They can leave their computers at home. Or they could travel with a sanitized computer intended to only create content that is later encrypted and transmitted back to their employer's offices. Another tactic is security through obscurity -- hope that the border agents aren't too curious. However, if they do become curious, the CBP has the authority to detain the traveler or seize property. A federal court has ruled that the password doesn't have to be divulged, but declining to provide that information could mean confiscation of the computer.

The BBC reports that spam - the scourge of every e-mail inbox - celebrates its 30th anniversary this weekend. The first recognizable e-mail marketing message was sent on May 3, 1978 to 400 people on behalf of DEC - a now-defunct computer-maker. The message was sent via Arpanet - the internet's forerunner - and won its sender much criticism from recipients. The sender of the first junk e-mail message was Gary Thuerk and it was sent to advertise new additions to DEC's family of System-20 minicomputers. Despite Mr Thuerk's pioneering spam it took many years for unsolicited commercial e-mail to become a nuisance. It was 1993 before it won the name of spam - a name bestowed on it by Joel Furr - an administrator on the Usenet chat system. Mr Furr reputedly got his inspiration for the name from a Monty Python sketch set in a restaurant whose menu heavily featured the processed meat.

MacObserver reports that Stan Flack, the founder of both MacCentral and MacMinute, passed away Monday. According to Macworld, which purchased MacCentral in 1999, Mr. Flack died of natural causes -- from complications to a pre-existing condition -- in his home in Prince Edward Island, Canada.
As the founder of MacCentral, which launched in 1994, Mr. Flack was an influential founding member of what eventually went on to be known as the Mac Web. Two years after selling MacCentral to Macworld magazine, Mr. Flack started the Mac news site MacMinute.

MacNN is reporting that Research firm Piper Jaffray reports that Apple's worldwide computer marketshare expanded from 2.4 percent in 2006 to 2.9 percent in 2007. Notably, enterprise sales represented 70 percent of the growth in 2007. Consumer marketshare is especially impressive, now at 10 percent worldwide, and 21 percent in the United States. This is in face of fierce competition from PC makers such as Dell and HP, and a myriad of smaller companies such as Acer and ASUS. Apple must also fight the popular perception that Macs are 20 to 30 percent more expensive, when the difference is only 16 percent for desktops and 9 percent for notebooks.

His work inspired two movies, the names of some spacecraft, an asteroid and even a species of dinosaur. Read More...

History changed on October 4, 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. It was a pivotal moment, the kind of event that -- five decades later -- still has people asking, "Do you remember where you were when …?"
The world's first artificial satellite was about the size of a beach ball (58 cm.or 22.8 in.), weighed only 83.6 kg. or 183.9 pounds, and took about 98 minutes to orbit the Earth on its elliptical path. That launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments. While the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race.

Nasa's Sputnik Site
Wired.com
BBC.com
Russia Today
Listen to Sputnik's telemetry (Quicktime Required).

MacNN reports that in London, Apple CEO Steve Jobs early Tuesday announced that mobile carrier O2 would begin selling the immensely popular iPhone in the UK starting November 9th, confirming circulating reports about signed Europe deals. The device will be available for £269 without any rebates or subsidy and will be offered with three separate plans: £35, £45 and £55 per month. Each of the three plans will offer free data traffic along with access to a network of 7,500 WiFi hotspots, while users will billed for their calls and messages. "We are coming to the UK and wanted to pick the best carrier and that is O2," Apple's Jobs said at the news conference. Other reports indicate that T-mobile will sell the device in Germany and Orange will sell the device in France.

Apple today made its $100 credit available to early iPhone adopters who paid the full introductory price for the device less than three months prior to its hefty cost reduction earlier this month. The $100 credit is available only to iPhone owners who have activated the device with AT&T. Owners aiming to collect the credit must identify the phone by entering the phone number as well as the iPhone serial number, and enter an access code sent via SMS text message for confirmation. Following those steps, eligible iPhone owners will receive a $100 electronic store credit redeemable at any Apple Store location as well as the Apple Online Store. For more information, refer to Apple's iPhone Store Credit link.

Electronista reports that Palm's shareholders today greenlighted its recent plan for partial buyout of the company by private equity firm Elevation Partners, giving the company a 25 percent stake in the smartphone maker for about $325 million. Palm in return would pay about $9 per share, or $940 million, to shareholders to compensate for their reduced influence on the company. The deal would sharpen the company's performance through "renewed innovation and focused execution," according to Palm chief Ed Colligan. The company has recently been struggling to upgrade its lineup under current conditions, having just canceled the Foleo smartphone companion and running all of its non-Windows smartphones on aging PalmOS 5 software.

The move also brings two former Apple executives into the company's business. Jon Rubinstein, the former head of Apple's iPod division, has confirmed his place as executive chairman of the company's Board of Directors. Rubinstein will offer his own advice and help attract a fresh round of designers and engineers to "change the dynamics of the company," according to Colligan. Rubinstein is also known for leading the team that ultimately created the original iMac, which reversed Apple's sagging fortunes in the late 1990s.

Another Apple member will join the Board through Elevation Partners, the company noted. The Mac maker's former chief financial officer, Fred Anderson, will join Bay Area investor Roger McNamee as part of Palm's directing team and influence the company's financial direction. Anderson left Apple in late 2006 amidst an SEC investigation which questioned the company's approach to backdating stock options and which ultimately led to Anderson agreeing to a monetary settlement for his alleged role.

source: Electronista

There has been an outpouring of criticism over the iPhone price drop. Jefferson Consulting has also affected by this price drop: 8GB model is now cheaper than the now-discontinued 4GB model I purchased only 60 days ago. Indeed there is a premium to pay when being an early-adopter. Initially I was shocked, but came to my senses early this morning. I hold no grudges, and agree with Steve Jobs' assessment that the technology road is bumpy; but the flurry of press and blog posts on this subject have had their affect on Apple stock. AAPL shares dropped down 5.1% according to this morning's Wall Street Journal. To address concerns, Apple has late this afternoon announced an apology and a $100 credit for the early adopters. Cool. Thanks Steve, for doing the right thing.

Steve Jobs made another batch of hot announcements today at a special event in San Francisco. Apple has posted a Quicktime stream of the keynote address.

Announcement highlights:

Lower Price on iPhone
To make iPhone affordable for even more customers this holiday season, Apple today lowered the price of the 8GB iPhone—its most popular iPhone model—from $599 to just $399. The 4GB model of iPhone will remain available while supplies last ($299 on Apple's Clearance Page). Apple also announced that it is on track to sell its one-millionth iPhone before the end of September.

New iPod touch
The new iPod touch introduced today features built-in Wi-Fi networking and a revolutionary multi-touch user interface—first introduced on iPhone—that makes it easy to find all of your music, video, and other digital content and enjoy it on the gorgeous widescreen display on iPod touch. The multi-touch interface uses pioneering new software to present the perfect user interface for Safari, Apple’s YouTube application, and the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store. An unbelievable 8mm thin, iPod touch features up to 22 hours of audio playback and up to five hours of video playback. Available later this month, iPod touch comes in 8GB and 16GB models for $299 and $399, respectively.

New iPod Nano with Video Playback, and New iPod Shuffle
The all new iPod nano brings video playback, an enhanced user interface featuring Cover Flow, and an incredible new design to the world’s most popular music player. Featuring a larger two-inch display with 204 pixels per inch, the new iPod nano lets you watch your favorite movies, TV shows, and music videos in the same resolution available on the current video iPod. iPod nano comes with three enjoyable games (iQuiz, Vortex, and Klondike), and you can purchase and download other games from the iTunes Store. Encased in a beautiful new all-metal design, iPod nano comes in five new colors—silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition. Available today, iPod nano comes in 4GB and 8GB models, selling for just $149 and $199, respectively. The new iPod shuffle, introduced today, comes in four new colors—including the new (PRODUCT) RED Special Edition iPod shuffle—and the original silver. Featuring 1GB of storage, iPod shuffle lets you wear up to 240 songs on your sleeve. Or belt. Or lapel.

iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and Ringtones
Starting today, you can enter the new iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store; wirelessly browse, search, preview, purchase, and download songs or albums to your iPhone or iPod touch; then immediately listen to your new music after it downloads. Once you get back to your Mac or PC, iTunes automatically recognizes the new music and syncs it with your existing library. iTunes will even complete the download of any partially downloaded songs or albums. Using the new built-in ringtone maker in iTunes, you’ll soon be able to create custom ringtones by selecting a segment, up to 30-seconds long, from any of the more than one million participating songs. Ringtones will cost 99¢ each to download.

Macminute reports on a story in The New York Times today notes, that NBC will pulling its TV shows from iTunes, notes CNNMoney.com. "But because NBC's current deal lasts through December 2007, the shows will remain available on the iTunes store at least until then," according to the piece. "Many media companies are unhappy with their deals with the iTunes store because they have so little control over the pricing of songs and videos, said the Times. NBC had wanted Apple to implement better piracy controls and allow it to bundle shows together to increase sales, said a person familiar with the matter, according to the report. Spokesmen for NBC Universal and Apple both declined to comment on the decision, said the report."

Alright you guys...time to download all those episodes of The Office, Heroes and Battlestar Galactica before they go away!

Wow...lots of great announcements today. The new iMac is beautiful, and finally we have a spreadsheet app in iWork! Shhhhhweeet! You can watch this Apple Special Event on Quicktime here.

Announcement highlights:

Apple Unveils New iMac
Apple today unveiled an all new all-in-one iMac line featuring gorgeous 20- and 24-inch widescreen displays encased in elegant and professional aluminum and glass enclosures. The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing and iLife ’08, making it the ultimate digital lifestyle desktop computer for both consumers and professionals.

Apple Introduces iLife ’08
Apple today introduced iLife ’08, the most significant upgrade ever to Apple’s award-winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version of iPhoto and a completely reinvented iMovie. iPhoto ’08 automatically organizes photo libraries into Events that let users more easily manage their growing photo collections, and iMovie ’08 introduces an entirely new way for users to quickly make movies and share them online. Both iPhoto and iMovie integrate seamlessly with the new .Mac Web Gallery, Apple’s new service for .Mac members to instantly create and host stunning online websites for their photos and videos.

Apple Enhances .Mac
Apple today announced significant enhancements to its .Mac online service, highlighted by the debut of .Mac Web Gallery, a new feature for sharing photos and movies on the Internet. .Mac Web Gallery lets members easily share photos and movies directly from iLife ’08 with anyone on a Mac, PC or iPhone in stunning quality. In addition, .Mac Web Gallery visitors can download high quality images for printing and even contribute photos using a standard web browser or email.

Apple Introduces iWork ’08
Apple today introduced iWork ’08, a significant upgrade to Apple’s productivity software suite featuring new versions of Pages and Keynote word processing and presentation applications, and introducing an innovative new spreadsheet application called “Numbers.” Numbers introduces the concept of intelligent tables on a flexible canvas, a new approach that makes it easy to organize information, create calculations, analyze results and make spreadsheets look as great as they work.

The Macintosh, over time, has proven to have the best total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to other operating systems, according to CIO Magazine. In fact, there are eight financial components that suggest why corporations should be using Mac OS X. The debate regarding the total cost of ownership has been around for a long time. It started about 15 years ago when the Gartner Group launched the concept. Since then, many studies have been done. Recently, computer security expert Winn Schwartau created a well known tool to assist companies measure their own TCO of Macs versus Windows PCs. What's emerged from the study is something that's been suspected all along, namely that the security issues surrounding Windows is a significant part of the TCO and makes it twice as great as the Mac's. There are altogether eight major components that corporations should look at in the TCO calculation.

1. Macs cost about the same as PCs, but they are more scalable.
2. Mac servers don't have Microsoft's Client Access License (CALs) fees.
3. Macs generate fewer calls to the help desk.
4. Mac users are more productive.
5. Macs last longer.
6. Macs are more secure.
7. Macs are easier to administer.
8. Macs allow retention of investment in other OSes via virtualization.

What sets this article apart from others that discuss similar topics is the research behind it. Each of the eight components of the Mac TCO is backed up by contributions from experts who have industry experience. The fact that it was was published in CIO Magazine gives it even more credibility, and Mac IT managers may be bookmarking and referring to this article by Jacqueline Emigh for some time to come.
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source: MacObserver

MacNN reports that Apple today released an iPhone firmware update via its iTunes software, which it says brings several bug fixes. Apple has provided the update to all customers who sync their iPhone with iTunes, offering the ability to download the software or download and install the software. The update, only available via iTunes, takes several minutes and users are greeted with the standard white Apple logo and white progress bar on the iPhone as well as a progress bar on their desktop while the updated is being applied to the device. Apple's security website notes indicate that the update fixes a critical Safari bug that allowed malicious users to take control of an iPhone (updates for Mac OS X Tiger/Panther and Safari 3.03 beta for Windows are also available).
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source: MacNN

The Register reports that the computer virus turns 25 this month. Long-suffering computer users would be forgiven for thinking that the first computer virus appeared in the mid-to-late 1980s, but the first virus actually predates the arrival of the first IBM-compatible PC. Elk Cloner, which spread between Apple II computers via infected floppy disks, has the dubious distinction of the first computer virus to spread in the wild. The "malware" is thought to be the work of a 15-year-old high school student from Pittsburgh, who released it in July 1982.

The payload of Elk Cloner was largely benign, merely a verse or two of poetry, harking back to an earlier more innocent age. Some computer historians reckon the Creeper Virus, which was detected on ARPANET, ought to be considered the first computer virus. The majority, however, date the first computer virus back to Elk Cloner, the first to affect personal computers.

Apple has posted additional info to it's iPhone site, pushing live a new 20-minute guided tour video and offering easier access to previously posted information. The new video is hosted live and includes demonstrations of device functionality, as well as diagrammed shots of the iPhone's physical controls.

AT&T has published a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Web page that aims to answer most of the common questions consumers may have who are looking to purchase Apple's iPhone when the device hits shelves this coming Friday.

The Wall Street Journal's Walter Mossberg calls the iPhone "a beautiful and breakthrough handheld computer," that "sets a new bar for the smart-phone industry."

Newsweek's Stephen Levy reviews the iPhone and is critical on some points. But he says the "iPhone is a significant leap. It’s a superbly engineered, cleverly designed and imaginatively implemented approach to a problem that no one has cracked to date: merging a phone handset, an Internet navigator and a media player in a package where every component shines, and the features are welcoming rather than foreboding."

The New York Times' David Pogue also weighs in; loves the email and internet features, but points out that making a call can take up to six steps.

Jefferson Consulting has decided to take a "wait and see approach" regarding the iPhone. We have a significant investment in the Palm Treo technology and MarkSpace's Missing Sync. We want evaluate the iPhone's internet performance on AT&T's wireless network before making the switch from Verizon. We don't love our Treos, but we don't hate them enough to drop $500+ per phone on untried hardware and an untried network. The iPhone offers some interesting capabilities and we are impressed by the latest information. Once the crowds dissipate, we'll check it out.

A version of Mac OS X 10.5 is now in the hands of developers attending Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco this week. Steve Jobs used his WWDC keynote to reveal the latest details about the Leopard upgrade coming in October, including its $129 price tag and its overhauled Finder and Desktop. Also during the keynote, Jobs announced that Apple would develop a new version of Safari for Windows that would match the features found in the Leopard version of the Web browser.
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source: MacWorld
Playing on iTunes: ''Panama'', by Van Halen
The delayed stock quote for AAPL is: 120.19

Toyota will push its iPod Integration Kit, which is slated for availability this summer. The campaign will back Toyata's kit across 35 European countries, with the strapline of "Coming soon to a glove box near you." Toyota's iPod Integration Kit enables users to plug an iPod into a vehicle's glove box and use the steering wheel or standard audio system to control Apple's portable player.
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Source: MacNN
Currently on iTunes: ''Over It'', by Katharine McPhee
The delayed stock quote for AAPL is: 113.62

MacNN reports that Apple notebook retail sales in the month of March reached 9.9 percent in the U.S. even as the company's desktop Mac retail sales ranked fifth overall with 7.7 percent of sales, according to Bloomberg. The Cupertino-based company likely increased sales via its "Get a Mac" ad campaign alongside new Intel-based Macs that can run Microsoft Windows via Boot Camp beta software. Apple reported during its quarterly financial results in April that half of customers who purchase Macs from its retail stores had not previously owned a Mac, and that its retail efforts were much more lucrative than anticipated. Apple's retail laptop share beat out Compaq (which garnered 8.5 percent of sales in March) but still trails Gateway, which accounted for 13 percent of notebooks sold.
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Source: MacNN

Apple today announced that EMI Music’s entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes Store worldwide in May. DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song. iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available.
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source: Apple Press Release

According to MacNN.com, tAnalysts have reported an unpatched vulnerability in Safari that could result in remote code execution. Malicious users could exploit the flaw, which stems from an integer overflow error in the "ffs_mountfs()" function when handling UFS filesystem disc images, to cause a heap-based buffer overflow from a specially crafted UFS DMG image. Secunia notes that successful exploitation of the vulnerability could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code. The firm adds that the flaw is only remotely exploitable via Apple's Safari Web browser, and only when the "Open safe files after downloading" option is enabled. The vulnerability is known to affect Mac OS X 10.4.8, but may afflict other versions of Mac OS X as well. Users can prevent exploitation by disabling the "Open safe files after downloading" option, and by granting system access only to trusted users.

source: MacNN
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currently on iTunes: ''Cullen Anderson'', by The Rogues

MarketWatch.com reports that Cisco Systems Inc. on Wednesday sued Apple Inc., claiming that the maker of computers and media players doesn't have permission to name its newest device the iPhone. Cisco has owned the trademark for "iPhone" since 2000, the result of its purchase of InfoGear, which owned the trademark previously. Since December, Cisco's wireless division, Linksys, has been shipping a family of cordless and wireless phones under the iPhone brand.

"We think Cisco's trademark lawsuit is silly," said Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman. Several companies already use the name "iPhone" for Voice-over-Internet products, Kerris said." Apple is the first company to ever use the 'iPhone' name for a cell phone," she said. "We believe that Cisco's trademark registration is tenuous at best." Kerris added: "If Cisco wants to challenge us on it, we are very confident we would prevail."

Late Wednesday, Cisco asked a U.S. district judge for Northern California to order Apple not to use the name for a device that it introduced on Tuesday during an annual trade show. Apple intends to begin selling its iPhone sometime in June, which provides a five-month cushion for both sides to reach some kind of settlement. Should that not happen, the suit could impact sales of the device.

source: MarketWatch.com

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currently on iTunes: ''You Dropped A Bomb On Me'', by The Gap Band

MacNN.com reports that Apple is a new company with a new mission as it enters the living rooms of consumers, according to Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster. "As evidenced by the fact that Apple officially removed the word 'computer' from its name and has added mobile devices and the digital living room to the two existing product categories of computers and digital music, Apple is clearly becoming a consumer digital lifestyle company vs. just a computer and music device company," the analyst said. "Ironically, however, these added non-Mac products should only further accelerate the halo effect and increase Mac market share as well." Industry watchers expected the Cupertino-based company to officially unveil its iTV -- renamed Apple TV -- while some watched for an iPhone announcement, but Munster believes the general consensus of Wall Street fell short of Apple's deliverance on January 9th, 2007. "We believe the form factor and features of the iPhone are more favorable than general Street thinking," said Munster. "At the risk of playing into the hype of the iPhone, seeing is believing with this device."

source: MacNN
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currently on iTunes: ''A Horse With No Name'', by America

MacNN.com reports that Apple has confirmed that there will be no live stream of the Macworld SF Expo keynote by Steve Jobs, but said it would provide a replay of event on the Web shortly after the event ends. Although this decision has surely bummed out some hard-core fans, it is probably a good move...think of the internet traffic jam that could result otherwise... source: MacNN

Apple's iPhone will almost certainly enter a production phase of 12 million units within the next 2-6 months, and the company will likely launch its iTV wireless media streaming device at Macworld with some improvements over the September debut, according to Piper Jaffray senior analyst Gene Munster in a recent MacNN article. "Despite all of the talk regarding new product announcements, or lack thereof, at Macworld, we continue to believe that the announcement of an iPhone would be positive for Apple shares and no sign of this product would be a negative," Munster said.

Along with the "iPhone," Apple's home entertainment product "iTV" is also expected to be announced at MacWorld. Of course, this is all rumor until Steve makes the announcement at the keynote address January 10 at 9AM Pacific, the the Moscose Center in SF. One thing is almost certain, the two most anticipated products will mostly likely NOT be named iPhone and iTV. "iTV" is Apple's R&D codename, but iTV is also the name of the UK's biggest commercial TV network (which was news to us because we thought the BBC controlled all that). "iPhone" is a VOIP internet phone company, and also the name of VOIP handset from Cisco. It will be interesting to see how this is handled, with creative alternative product naming, or by writing a very big check...

source: MacNN

The San Jose Mercury News reports that the "fleecing at the Apple corporate store continued Monday with the theft of two more iPods and 10 software packages from the employee store inside the headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop in Cupertino. The total estimated value of the latest theft was approximately $4,688, on top of the 11 music players previously reported stolen from the company's Cupertino offices." The report says that nine black 80GB iPods -- worth just over $3,000 -- were reported stolen from the Apple employee store over the weekend as well and that two iPod nanos were reported missing in a shipment from Elk Grove that arrived at the company's headquarters on Oct. 17. There are no suspects in the case.

Sure officer, I was there but I swear, all I did was buy a T-shirt!

Google today confirmed previous rumors by announcing that it has agreed to acquire online video provider YouTube for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. The new deal gives Google an effective monopoly over Web-based video, and could bear serious consequences for Apple as it provides Google CEO Eric Schmidt -- who sits on Apple's board of directors -- a strong influence over Apple's recent movie initiative.

MacNN reports that The elevator at Apple's new Fifth Avenue Store in New York last week malfunctioned, trapping five passengers inside beneath the large glass cube. Visitors on a school trip boarded the elevator to ascend to street level after visiting the store, only to find themselves stranded after one passenger exited the lift. "When we got to the street level I got out of the elevator, and the door closed behind me," wrote the passenger who managed to exit the elevator. "The exterior [door] wouldn't open but the inner door kept on opening and closing." Some of the passengers were reportedly dancing as Apple employees searched for a means to free them. Water bottles were handed down from the roof of the tube through the malfunctioning doors to the occupants, and after a brief period the New York Police Department showed up to help free the visitors.

Wow! And to think I was only a few blocks away! I would have gone and mingled with the masses but my train left at 7:30pm Friday night, and I would have missed riding the train with CBS news anchor Bob Schieffer! So when I realized who I was standing next to in the cafe car, I smiled, nodded and asked "So...what's news?" We exchanged pleasantries and then returned to our seats and cell phones to check messages. He was on his way back to Washington and I was on my way back to Wilmington. It was pretty cool to see Bob. I've been watching him on TV since I was a wee lad. It was people like Bob Schieffer, Barbara Walters, Roger Mudd and Walter "That's the way it is" Cronkite, who got me interested in journalism and politics at a young age.

So what am I doing in specialized information technology with a political science degree? Well.....this is more fun and I make a my own impact on the U.S. economy without getting grilled on Face the Nation! Think globally, act locally, right? The way I look at it, Jefferson Consulting Associates LLC is doing it's part to help keep America strong by helping you keep your business strong!

Where was I...oh yes...this Apple Store is truly amazing, and the first with the big glass cube thingy! The Apple Store-Fifth Avenue will be open 24 hours a day/365 days a year. In the city that never sleeps, neither does this store,” said Ron Johnson, Apple’s senior vice president of retail operations.

The store's website features web-cam time-lapse video from the street in front. The video covers the last 24 hours in front of the store, and it is reported a marriage proposal was captured on the first day!

My recommendation to the Apple Store at Christiana Mall: take over the old Lord & Taylor space, and put one of those big glass thingys out in front! No but seriously...you guys are cool...no glass thingy required!

Davis

Apple today announced an expansion of its successful recycling program, offering free computer take-back and recycling with the purchase of a new Macintosh® system beginning in June. US customers who buy a new Mac through the Apple Store (www.apple.com) or Apple’s retail stores will receive free shipping and environmentally friendly disposal of their old computer as part of the Apple Recycling program. Equipment received by the program in the US is recycled domestically and no hazardous material is shipped overseas. Apple's free take-back program will extend Apple's existing US recycling program, which has recycled more than 90 percent of electronic equipment collected since 2001. Apple also operates a free drop-off recycling location at its headquarters in Cupertino for used computer systems and selected home electronics. Apple also announced that the fifth generation iPod, iPod nano and iPod shuffle are 100 percent compliant with the upcoming restrictions of hazardous substances (RoHS) in California and Europe, which are recognized as the new global standard for environmental regulation. iPod’s RoHS compliance comes months ahead of the July 1 deadline set by the European Union, and most of the materials covered by the RoHS directive, including mercury, cadmium, chromium VI and brominated flame retardants, were voluntarily eliminated from all Apple products years ago.

Information on Apple’s recycling programs and industry-leading environmental policies is available online at apple.com/environment.

Happy Birthday Apple! Apple Computer, Inc. and the first Apple, the Apple I were born in 1976. Apple didn't invent the computer, but with the Apple II, which went on sale in April 1977, the company "ignited the personal computer revolution" and introduced a machine people actually wanted to use. Even as the Apple II was still a star, Apple was hard at work on a pair of follow-ups, the business-oriented Lisa and its consumer sibling, the Macintosh. When the limited-editon 20th Anniversary Mac was announced in late 1996, it's breakthrough design was a foreshadowing of the iMac as we know it today. These units sold for $10,000 or more. Later, as inventory levels and consumer desire dwindled, they were blown out at $2000. Today it is a collector's item. This 30th anniversary has come without a commemorative product or any significant statement from the Mothership. Apple seems to have taken a low-key approach, possibly waiting until the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) or MacWorld Expo to make an announcement. So we here at Jefferson Consulting are taking a low key approach, too. We'll just say "Happy Birthday" and "Keep up the Good Work." And we will mention this excellent article at CNet.

BTW, For an historical perspective, be sure to check out CNet's Timeline: Three Decades of Apple Innovation. Now make a wish and blow out those candles...

The iMac Gets a Brain Transplant
By Walter S. Mossberg and Katherine Boehret "Just a couple of months ago, in this column, we proclaimed that Apple Computer's iMac G5, then the company's flagship Macintosh desktop computer for consumers, was the best consumer desktop PC on the market. In fact, we called it the "gold standard" of desktop PCs and said no desktop from the major makers of Windows-based computers could match it.
Last week, in a surprise move, Apple gave the iMac a brain transplant. It chose the iMac as the first Macintosh model to be converted to work on the same Intel processors used by makers of Windows PCs, rather than the PowerPC processors from IBM that have powered Macs for many years. This was serious surgery to perform on the company's star product and... "

Read more at: http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20060118.html.

MacNN.com reports that Apple has posted a QuickTime 7-based replay webcast of Steve Jobs' Expo keynote from this morning, where he debuted the first Intel-based Macs, including the iMac Core Duo (shipping now) and MacBook Pro, replacing the PowerBook line (due in February). The keynote features the Intel-based Mac commercial as well as the debut of iLife '06 with iWeb and and updated iWork '06 suite and Apple's new FM tuner/remote for the iPod. It also features several performance comparisons, showing the performance and performance-per-watt superiority of the new Intel Core CPUs. Both Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Microsoft Mac BU's Roz Ho were also invited on stage to talk about the company's partership and efforts to bring new Intel-Macs and Universal Binary applications to the platform. MacNN has published an overview of the keynote with a photo gallery as well as full notes from the keynote.