Macgasm

In this episode, Grant discusses the hiatus of the podcast, and he reads highlights from two of his posts from today.

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Apple announced that their fix for the over-hyped antennagate would be shipping out free bumpers to people who’ve purchased an iPhone 4 through to the end of September. But, no one knew exactly how the refund process would happen.  It seems like Apple has already started sending out refunds, letting people know via email that they’re also being refunded for the VAT and shipping charges that consumers incurred from the purchase of a bumper.

From the emails, “As of today, we have automatically processed your refund. You have also been refunded for any Shipping or VAT charges that may have been applied to your order.” There’s been no mention of when the free bumper program would be up online, or how they intend to meet the demand for the cases and bumpers. We’d expect to hear from Apple in short order regarding their bumper program. If refunds are already being sent to customers, the bumper giveaway can’t be far around the corner.

Article Via Information Week
Tweet Via RazorianFly

All these cases for your iPad that make your device look like a book, or a moleskin, or some other device that hangs out on a bookshelf are going to have me going broke — fast.  I’ve delayed pulling the trigger on a Dodocase because they take four to six weeks to deliver, being hand crafted and all. Moleskin has yet to announce an official version of their e-reader series (here’s the Kindle DX version), so I’m left craving a book for my iPad.

Etsy to the rescue!

These Hard Cover Jackets for the iPad are a little bit cheaper than some of the others, at $60.00 and $50.00, respectively. You can be certain that no thief on a bike is going to be running you down for your book any time soon. Unless of course, it’s someone like me, who knows full well that this book houses a shiny iPad. But don’t worry, I won’t be leaving Canada for a while.

Article Via AppleGazett

Telltale Games is currently holding a large sale to celebrate Comic-Con. The first two seasons of Sam & Max are available for only $9.95 USD each. Season three is all the way down to $24.95 USD.

If those are a little too intense on your wallet, perhaps you’d like to check out the freshly released Puzzle Agent for only $8.95 USD. Hands down, the best deal of all is that Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People is available for a paltry $4.95 USD. Remember, these prices only last until Sunday, so don’t wait too long to get your adventure game fix.

It’s worth noting that season one of Sam & Max and Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People aren’t available for Mac OS X just yet, but they are in the works. If you buy them for Windows now, you’ll have access to the eventual Mac versions for no additional charge.

Also, you might notice that I cover Telltale Games a lot here at Macgasm. You might be suspicious, but I assure you that there is no under-the-table dealing here. They haven’t even responded to me when I contacted them for press reasons. I’ve dropped my own money on almost every game they’ve made, and I believe they are worth your time and attention. I believe in transparent Journalism/Reviewing/Blogging/Whatever you would like to call it. We trade on our reputation, so it is important that you know that we’re above the board. I don’t hide anything (Much to my chagrin at times), and you’d be the first to know if we were actually advertising for Telltale Games. We just don’t do infomercials in disguise on this site.

Image Credit: Telltale Games

Jeremiah Grossman, an expert in web security, wrote a blog post detailing how Safari’s AutoFill feature can be exploited to reveal information without the consent of the end user.

Unfortunately, Apple has known about this issue for a while, but they have yet to comment on it. If you want to be safe, you can press CMD + , to bring up Safari’s preference pane. From there, go to the AutoFill tab. Now make sure to uncheck the box labeled “Using info from my Address Book card.”

On the other had, let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. Security and convenience are always at odds with each other. We don’t want to be sloppy with our personal information, but we shouldn’t freak out like Ray Liotta at the end of Goodfellas. Take some precautions here and there, and you’ll be fine.

Are you worried about fraud and identity theft on the web? What, specifically, worries you the most? Sound off in the comment section to let us know what you’d like to see us cover more on the site.

Article Via 9 to 5 Mac

I know a lot of people who prefer to listen to audio podcasts in mono (We know we need to get back on our daily podcasts). Some people even prefer to have the option available to them when they’re listening to music. I’m not one of those people. Personally I think stereo audio tracks are created for a reason and we should use them when we can, including in podcasts.

It seems like Apple’s heard the cries for mono control on the iPod, so they’ve been working on a solution that would let a user switch between audio and mono playback options. Kids on the playground are probably rejoicing right now. If you can remember the days of rocking a walkman or cd player during recess, you probably remember being stuck with the crappy ear bud with bass and drum beats and a faint lyric track. Man did I hate that. Hell, I still hate that at concerts. Anyway, Apple’s filed the paperwork for a patent on their algorithm and hopefully this nifty little feature makes it into the iPod lineup. Kids everywhere will be thankful.

Article Via Patently Apple

Out of all the computers in Apple’s linup, the MacBook Air has been the most neglected, and it’s seriously starting to get outdated. It’s been over four-hundred days since the last update, putting it squarely in the don’t buy category until the product gets updated. Year after year updates seem to be the norm from Apple throughout their product lines, so the MacBook Air is more than ready for an overhaul.

This time though, the device is being rumoured for a major overhaul. Currently the MacBook Air has a 13.3 inch screen, 2GB of memory and a 120GB SATA drive on the entry level model. According to DigiTimes, Apple might be getting ready to unleash an 11.6 inch model, with an i-Core chip, which would feature a slimmer and more light-weight design. Pundits would argue that an 11.6 inch screen would place the MacBook Air directly in the netbook category, despite Apple’s claims that they’re planning on avoiding the niche.

Patently Apple is speculating that the device could be the traditional tablet that everyone’s been talking about since the iPhone and iPad updates. If you remember, there were a lot of rumours swirling that Apple would be releasing both the iPad and a Tablet computer, and the latter would run a full OS X variant. I’m not ready to go all in on this iteration of the MacBook Air, but the concept is pretty enticing none the less.

The first Mac I personally purchased was a 12 inch G4 iBook. I bought it solely for the form factor, so I’m pretty intrigued by the smaller machines that Apple’s put out. If the 13 inch MacBook Pro would have been available during my last update period, I would have walked out of the store with one of those instead of the 15 inch model that I left with. A thin, slim, and powerful machine is something I covet.

What do you think? Is the MacBook Air in need of a major overhaul, and would Apple risk lagging sales if they just gave it a internal update? Do you think there’s a place for a full-fledged OS X Tablet in Apple’s lineup?

We’d love to know.

Article Via Patently Apple

Image Credit: Nik Fletcher

So you step outside of a building with your iPhone to make a call, and some moron comes flying down the street on a bike, yanks the phone from your hands, and heads off down the road faster than you can realize what the hell just happened. True story.

Some idiot thief thought he’d seize the opportunity and jack an iPhone from a Covia Labs employee, who was in the middle of demonstrating a GPS live tracking app. I’m sure you can all guess how this one unravelled.

Well played thief. You not only made yourself an easy target, but you just gave Covia Labs a ton of free publicity. If I was handing out Darwin awards, I’d probably make you the leading candidate in the dumbass thief award category.

So how’d it play out? They called the cops, and the cops arrested the guy just over a half mile away with iPhone in hand. I’m glad that Covia Labs got a little publicity out of the event, but this better not turn into a paid PR stunt. I’d be seriously disappointed.

So here’s our PSA to you: Don’t walk around town flashing your iPhone all about for people to see. Someone, somewhere might be contemplating jacking it.  It happened to our own Simon Wicks, but luckily for him, a simple “Fuck Off!” sent the thief on his way.  You might not be so lucky though.  Keep it in a case, keep it in your pocket, and keep the device for another day.

Article Via SF Gate

Image Credit: Casey Pugh