Apple releases Broadband Tuner 1.0 this week. It allows you “to take full advantage of very high speed Internet connections that have a high latency (5 Mbps or greater). This is especially good for Mac users on Verizon’s FiOS Internet that may be experiencing slower speeds than FiOS allows.

The Broadband Tuner allows you to take full advantage of very high speed Verizon FiOS based Internet connections that have a high latency. The installer tweaks some system parameters.

There is an optional uninstaller that can be used to restore the settings that were in effect at the time just before the system parameters were changed.
Continue reading Apple Releases Broadband Tuner for FiOS Users…

It still amazes me that Apple has not decided to sell their Front Row software application bundled with a USB IR receiver and the available Apple Remote control. They instead have decided to only include it with the new iMac G5 that comes with the built in iSight camera. My guess, Apple has figured this will help sell more new iMac G5s for the holiday season.

In my opinion this was not such a great decision. Many faithful Mac users would have happily “forked over” at least $100 or more for Front Row software with a bundled Apple Remote. Not offering it without buying a new iMac, just seemed to anger many Mac users. This has lead to several “hacks” to add Front Row software to people’s existing Macs. This is especially popular with the Mac mini because of its form factor being so nice for a living room. Of course, this is not at all supported by Apple. But this has not stopped many from doing this. In fact, with Apple’s release of Front Row 1.01 updater, this practice just got easier.

Andrew Escobar’s weblog posts detailed instructions for installing Front Row 1.0.1 (the updated version Apple recently made available for download), using Pacifist (a shareware app that installs and extracts files from an OS X package), and his own Front Row Enable 1.0.1 (which patches a couple of OS X files). It works on Mac minis, PowerBooks, iBooks, and various other Macs running Tiger 10.4.3. Escobar’s method gives you full control over Front Row sound preferences and keyboard shortcuts and takes only about ten minutes to install.
Continue reading Apple Front Row For Your Mac…

Continue reading iPod Tip #15: Video Playlists Without Video…

Sony, once a great product company has given us yet another reason not to buy music CDs anymore. These days Sony seems to be a struggling company spread too thin and having no direction. Sony in recent years has slipped, especially in consumer electronics development. Sony has had to watch Samsung and LG pass them by in this vital area. Seems one bad decision after another has plagued this once great company.

Well to get to my point of this post, you may have heard by now Sony has created a PR mess that will lead to lawsuits, consumer mistrust, and a recall of millions of CDs by playing around with Digital Rights Management (DRM) on music CDs. There are some 52 CDs in the Sony/BMG catalog that are affected. This may be a side effect of a desperate company no longer feeling like they can compete with iTunes/iPod and other devices.
Continue reading Sony, Lots of Baloney…

Continue reading iTunes Tip #11: Quick Way to Zoom Video Window…