Filed under: Software, iTunes, Ask TUAW, Leopard

Once again, it’s time for another edition of Ask TUAW: the place where we try to answer all of your Mac and Apple-related questions. This week we’re taking questions about tracking your total iTunes purchases, forcing processes to quit, doing a clean install of OSX and more.

As always, we welcome your suggestions for this week and questions for next time. Please leave your contributions in the comments for this post. When asking questions, please include which Mac and which version of OS X you’re running. If you don’t specify, we’ll assume you’re running Leopard on an Intel Mac.

Dima asks:

I would like a way to require a password when the computer wakes from sleep, but not to require a password for just the screensaver. Is there a way for me to accomplish this?

The only way I know of to accomplish this would be to modify the plist file for the screensaver via the Terminal. However, unless this is really important to you, I would not advise doing it. If you want to do it, proceed at your own risk.

Either way, here’s the command to enter in the Terminal if you want to try it.

defaults -currentHost write com.apple.screensaver askForPassword -int 0

This will set it so the computer only asks for a password after waking from sleep and not after the screensaver.

Frank asks:

In my finder window, next to my drive’s name, there’s a number in parentheses. it used to be a (2), but recently it changed to a (3). What does this number mean?

Continue reading Ask TUAW: tracking your iTunes purchases, quitting processes, doing a clean OSX install and more

TUAWAsk TUAW: tracking your iTunes purchases, quitting processes, doing a clean OSX install and more originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve got Aliph’s new Jawbone Prime in hand, and while it’s not much different to look at compared to its predecessor, there’s enough new on the noise reduction and ergonomics front to warrant a quick look. Follow along after the break.

Continue reading Aliph Jawbone Prime hands-on and unboxing

Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables

Aliph Jawbone Prime hands-on and unboxing originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been almost a year since Aliph last graced the Bluetooth headset world with its presence, and now it’s back with the Jawbone Prime to reclaim the throne. The Jawbone Prime is only a minor update — on the surface, anyways — to its predecessor, and in fact the only visible change is a slightly different surface pattern and a minor indentation to denote one of the headset’s two invisible buttons. Other than the quite welcome addition of Bluetooth 2.1+ EDR, almost all the improvements under the hood have to do with the algorithm tweaks of NoiseAssassin 2.0 to improve noise reduction. It’s really too bad the original isn’t firmware-upgradable (we asked). The Prime will be replacing existing Jawbones at retail for the same old 0 pricetag, and comes in Blah Blah Black, Coffee Talk and Going Platinum, while an “EARCANDY” edition is available in Frankly SCARLET, ‘YELLO!, Drop Me A LIME and LILAC You Mean It. Both will be available at retail on May 2nd.

Filed under: Cellphones, Peripherals, Wearables

Aliph Jawbone Prime arrives to coddle your ears, raid your wallet originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Apple Corporate, Apple Financial

Today was a landmark day for the good ol’ boys (and girls) at 1 Infinite Loop as they again posted record-breaking quarterly results. Profit was a svelte .21 billion for a grand total of .16 billion in revenue; or, as the guys in Wallstreet see it: .33 per diluted share. All of this is apparently good news as after-hours trading has shares of AAPL up about 4 points from the days close of 1.51. If you haven’t already, you can check out some of our highlights of what drove those numbers as well as the full press release from Apple here. Also, MacJournals did a fantastic job covering the call via their Twitter feed, which can be found here.

One continuing theme through the course of the call was the economy’s overall effect on Apple’s numbers. One noticeable effect was that professional and education sales were down during the March quarter. Even with the release of an entirely refreshed line of Mac desktops, the quarter saw an overall decrease in Mac marketshare. It wasn’t all bad for Apple, however, as iPod sales (particularly the iPod Touch) were up enough to seemingly offset the bulk of the lagging Mac sales.

While the results themselves are always nice to hear, the most interesting section of the quarterly call is the question and answer section that follows. The answers, while somewhat scripted, give the listeners a chance to hear Apple execs think and speak on their feet regarding Apple’s results and plans for the future.

One of the more notable topics during this discussion was Apple’s opinion on the netbook market. Tim Cook took the question and in an answer that was truly Apple said, that netbooks are “junky … not a consumer experience that we would put the Mac brand on,” while quickly following-up with a good, old-fashioned “If we can find a way to deliver an innovative product … then we’ll do that.” If you remember the days before the video iPod, then this conversation should be very familiar to you. For a good overview of the Q&A check out MacRumors’ excellent post on the subject.

If you don’t care about the financial results and have grown tired of hearing Apple dance around whether they’re going to release a netbook, then there is at least one bright spot in all of this. According Peter Oppenheimer, Apple is pleasantly awaiting the joyous return of Steve Jobs in June (we miss you Steve). I don’t think anyone was really expecting any more or less information than that, but here’s to hoping Stevie J. returns and brings with him all-new iPhones, netbooks, and pots of gold.

Overall, the results were very positive for a company that deals in “luxury” products given the current economic climate. I hope that in the future Apple continues to succeed and that this is the last quarter we hear of in which Apple loses marketshare to anyone.

[Via Engadget, MacRumors, and MacJournals]

TUAWApple Q2′09 results round-up originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We reported a little while back that Skyfire was testing a version of their web browser made for the BlackBerry with a “small friends and family” group of alpha testers. Well, apparently they weren’t that close because one of our ninjas just blessed us with a bunch of shots. (We asked Skyfire to be part of the alpha test under NDA of course, and they declined. Oh well!). Besides Skyfire not realizing we’d be on this like CrackBerry.com and a extended BlackBerry battery sale, we actually have good news to report. Our ninja described the very early alpha software as “already being the best BlackBerry browser ever.” Nice, right? Sites load fast and effortless supposedly, with streaming flash video also working without a hiccup. But hey, we could talk all day, it’s the screenshots you want to see.

Click on over to our Skyfire for BlackBerry gallery!

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Googlers around the world are celebrating Earth Day today by participating in events from green-themed film screenings in Singapore and Hyderabad, to a local food event in Kirkland, WA and Bike to Work Day in London. At our Mountain View campus, we’re holding an environmental fair and hosting talks all week long as part of our Green@Google speaker series.

We’re also giving employees in most of our offices around the world next-generation, super-efficient LED light bulbs to encourage energy efficiency. (LEDs use up to 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs and 50% less energy than a CFL.) In the average U.S. home, lighting accounts for about 20% of the electricity bill. If every Googler changes out one incandescent light bulb for one of these LEDs, the combined impact would be the equivalent of taking over 4,000 cars off the road for one year!

Of course, installing efficient light bulbs is just one way to cut down on energy consumption and costs. Just in time for Earth Day, the Climate Savers Computing Initiative’s Power Down for the Planet pledge campaign aimed at colleges and universities wrapped up last week. More than 17,000 students took the pledge to support more efficient computing. The University of Maine at Farmington won the challenge, beating out 18 other schools with more than 24% of their campus community taking the pledge. You too can help save energy by enabling power management on your computer and buying more efficient computers.

As you take a moment today to think about how you can make our lovely patch of blue and green a little more healthy, we encourage you to explore a special gallery of Google Earth layers we compiled to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth’s environment. With the power of Google Earth, we have the ability to visualize geo-spatial information and help us better understand the true impact humankind has on the planet. For example, you can visualize the changes in glaciers over the years, rising sea levels and climatic change and rising temperature from the feature KMLs in our Gallery.

Like others have said before us, we like to think that every day is Earth Day. But on this 39th anniversary of the official Earth Day, we’re showing Mother Earth a little extra love and care, and hope that you’ll be doing the same.

Posted by Lacy Caruthers, Green Business and Operations Strategy

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If you’ve been getting bored of your Versa’s QWERTY module, boy, have we got some splendid news for you: as promised, the snap-on game pad is now available. It slides along the back of the phone’s body for storage (unlike the QWERTY, which requires that polarizingly-designed brown pleather wallet) and features an 8-way directional pad, four dedicated SNES-style gaming buttons, and the envy of absolutely everyone you’ve ever known. Grab it now for .99 — you wouldn’t want to be that one chump Versa owner who doesn’t buy it, would you?

[Thanks, Daniel]

Filed under: Cellphones, Gaming

LG Versa game pad module now available originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Apr 2009 21:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s the email that Jonathan Miller, News Corp.’s CEO Digital Medial, sent to all Fox Interactive employees about the departure of MySpace cofounder and CEO Chris DeWolfe. DeWolfe is gone. Cofounder Tom Anderson will apparently stay on but not as President and will no longer control product.

The press release went out an hour ago, and given that internal emails inevitably leak, there’s little additional information here. But at least Miller is giving DeWolfe as graceful an exit as he can.

To FIM Employees:

Best regards,
Jonathan Miller

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No more speculation or leaks, it’s official. As we wrote yesterday, MySpace cofounder Chris DeWolfe will shortly be leaving the company. He’ll remain on board as a strategic advisor. The press release is below.

News Corp. is also signaling that cofounder Tom Anderson is staying on board, albeit in a new role – even last night we heard that he was a goner.

Whoever the new CEO is, we’ll know soon. News Corp. PR is leaking to their subsidiary press outlets that Owen Van Natta is the prime candidate, but at least a couple of other people are still supposedly in the running. If Van Natta, a former Facebook exec, takes over, the investors that backed him at Playlist are going to want an explanation. He took over the CEO role there less than six months ago.

Chris DeWolfe to Step Down as CEO of MySpace

Will serve as strategic advisor to Company

Los Angeles, CA, April 22, 2009 – MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and News Corporation’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller, announced today that, by mutual agreement, Mr. DeWolfe will not be renewing his contract and will be stepping down in the near future. Mr. DeWolfe will continue to serve on the board of MySpace China and will be a strategic advisor to the Company.

Additionally, Mr. Miller announced that he was in discussions with Tom Anderson, MySpace’s president, about Mr. Anderson assuming a new role in the organization.

“Chris and Tom are true pioneers and we greatly value the tremendous job they’ve done in growing MySpace into what it is today,” said Mr. Miller. “Thanks largely to their vision, MySpace has become a vibrant creative community with 130 million passionate followers worldwide. It is an enormously successful property and we look forward to building on its achievements with a new management structure we’ll announce in the near future.”

“In a little under six years we’ve grown MySpace from a small operation with seven people to a very profitable business with over 1,600 employees,” said Mr. DeWolfe. “It’s been one of the best experiences of my life and we’re proud of, and grateful to, the team of talented people who helped us along the way. We thank them, as well as the MySpace community for making our vision a reality.”

“From the very beginning, our driving passion has been simple – to create and foster a platform where people across the globe can not only meet and interact, but share music, videos, thoughts and ideas,” said Mr. Anderson. I look forward to working with Jon. I love this business, and look forward to its next chapter.”

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