“Is there a word for someone who blocks themselves from accessing everything work-related, leaving them only with Twitter?” That’s the question I asked shortly after blocking myself from everything Ars in an attempt to test out SelfControl, a simplistic (if not strict) distraction-blocking app for the Mac. Created by developer Steve Lambert for free under the GPL, SelfControl blocks a list of domains for a specified period of time in order to help you focus—presumably on work. The app works with websites, e-mail servers, and, as I discovered, even IRC servers and the like.
If you’ve been waiting for a way to connect your Mini DisplayPort-equipped Mac to an HDTV via HDMI, Monoprice has got you covered. The company has begun taking orders for its $14 Mini Display Port to HDMI Adapter, which are expected to begin shipping this Friday.
On Monday, Western Digital announced it had acquired SiliconSystems Inc. in a $65 million cash deal. The new deal will give WD the means with which to form its own solid
March 31 2009
Analyst: New iPhones coming, but growth won’t explode
As rumors and circumstantial evidence mount in favor of Apple announcing some kind of new iPhone at WWDC 2009, analysts have begun picking their sides. Mike Abramsky of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) thinks that some sort of “iPhone 3G Pro” is indeed on its way this summer, but he doesn’t see any iPhone-3G-like explosion of attention or growth like Apple enjoyed last year.
March 31 2009
MySpace embraces Windows Mobile and Silverlight
MySpace, which already has more than 20 million worldwide mobile users, has partnered with Microsoft to support the Silverlight and Windows Mobile platforms. Aber Whitcomb, chief technology officer of MySpace, gave the following statement regarding the announcement: “We are pleased to bring MySpace users the benefits and flexibility of Microsoft’s platforms. Our relationship enables app developers to use Silverlight to create engaging MySpace apps and allows Windows Mobile users to have a more personal MySpace experience on their phone.”
March 30 2009
Virtualization: let’s talk about your mistakes
One of the pleasures of reading the The Server Room is taking part in various threads on the theme of “lessons learned.” So when we hit upon the idea of distilling the collective wisdom of the Ars forums into an article on virtualization for a broader audience, the first thing we thought of was, “let’s ask everyone to share their biggest virtualization deployment mistakes.” The results so far are worth checking out for anyone who’s about to make the jump to a virtualized server room.
March 30 2009
Software sleuths unearth details on recent iLife updates
As usual, last week’s iLife updates gave little information about the fixes included. Thanks to our friends at TidBITS and TUAW, however, we have some details on the what the updates bring to iMovie an iPhoto.
March 30 2009
Microsoft and TomTom settle patent dispute
Navigation device-maker TomTom has settled its patent dispute with Microsoft, putting an end to the current round of litigation between the two companies. The terms of the settlement, which were announced by Microsoft on Monday, are said to be fully compliant with GNU’s General Public License (GPL).
As we come out of our winter hibernation and look forward to the summer, news about upcoming updates to Mac OS X and the iPhone continues to ramp up. Read on to catch up on the top Apple news from this week.
