I can think of a few friends who might be interested in the answer. See this YouTube video for details.

With several folks – including pundits and friends – expecting that a release of Beatles music on the iTunes Store is imminent, can a Gaelic version of these hits be far behind?

Alright, yes, I guess even if so, they definitely could be…

With the addition of an Apple TV to the entertainment center, I’m all-of-a-sudden more interested in having more content available to me – in a form I can really use. I’ve fought the desire to rip all my DVDs to this point, however, due to 1) Quality issues, and 2) Usability concerns. For the former, since the Apple TV can handle full-HD quality media content, that’s a bit lessened (although I’d still have to have a separate file for iPod sync’ing, since these max out at 640×480).

For the latter, it’s always bugged me how much I “lose” by ripping to a single movie file on disk. Not only are the extras (interviews, deleted scenes, etc.) gone – which, arguably, are one of the primary reasons I would buy a physical DVD versus a download – but also you end up with no easy navigation within that huge file. No chapter marks, etc.

Turns out there is an easy way around this latter (er, of the latter) concern: There are methods of scanning the VIDEO_TS contents as you rip to MPEG4, retaining each chapter mark – see this Mac OS X Hints entry for some details.

Also, note that the newly-merged HandBrake MediaFork HandBrake can handle this as well – see its (very slow-loading) homepage for specifics.

The end result is that you can playback to your Apple TV and navigate through the tracks, just as if you were playing a DVD. Still no extras, but at least one of the usability concerns is alleviated. Now to just get that 500 GB drive online and fleshed out with content…

UPDATE: Some extra details on optimal settings for ripping those DVDS:
– http://appletvhacker.blogspot.com/2007/03/mikes-hands-on-report-step-by-step-how.html (great site, BTW)
– http://metroxing.blogspot.com/2006/10/handbrake-mpeg4-or-h264.html

Just ran across a link to a video of artist Denny Dent, apparently from the 1968 documentary “Monterey Pop“.

I remember seeing Denny paint on campus at the University of Missouri – Columbia (my Alma Mater – Go Tigers!) when I was there. It was just a random event one day in the central common area of campus, where this great showman would blast awesome music, and perform his “Two-fisted Art Attack” on huge canvases, in front of the collected crowd. The results were these absolutely incredible paintings done in just a few minutes, of several popular music artists – such as Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Billy Idol, Elton John, etc.

I blew off quite a few classes that day, enjoying the spectacle, and watching these wonderful pieces of artwork come to life within a span of a few songs. And, I almost bought the image of John Lennon he did that day (final song was “A Day in the Life“), but – being a starving student at the time – couldn’t afford to. Kinda wish I had, though, since seeing this latest video brought back some wonderful memories.

Update: (Durrr, Brian…) A simple search yielded DennyDent.com, which includes several details on his work – be sure to check out the “Story” page. Denny passed away in 2004 – but will be remembered as an incredible artist, and simply a very creative individual. He will be missed.

Update 2: IIRC, Denny actually painted the Jimi Hendrix image upside-down. It was one of the latter images he did that day, and while we all recognized the music, and had appreciated the prior paintings, kinda thought he had lost his abilities during this one, as the image wasn’t recognizable at all. Of course, when he was nearly done, he rotated the canvas 180 degrees, and just blew us away. Here’s a link to a similar example. Wow. Just … Wow.

Just saw this post on TUAW regarding a new buyer of a MessagePad 120, and what he might be able to do with it.

Whadaya think, folks? Is this platform truly dead, in deference to smartphones, more-capable-yet-ever-tinier devices, etc. Or, is there still some life left in the old dog?

Before you answer, be sure to check out the Newton Video Guides which are available as free podcasts from iTunes. There’s still a lot of support for/interest in this decade-old platform yet, it appears…

And I can now come up for air again…

I’ve just completed yet another release of an iPod utility today – this time the “iPod Reset Utility” (no “shuffle” in the name this time), which has now gone live on the AppleCare support site:

• http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305204

I doubt this one will be quite as popular as the previous release (see my previous post regarding it), since most shuffle users have already used the prior release to successfully recover their units. Nonetheless, there already seems to be some discussions across teh intarweb regarding it:

• http://www.powerpage.org/2007/03/apple_releases_ipod_reset_utility_10.html
• http://www.tuaw.com/2007/03/15/ipod-reset-utility-now-supports-2nd-gen-shuffles/

I’ll even admit that I can understand MacFixIt’s confusion regarding the new utility:

• http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20070315151152708

…since it does just support different models of iPod shuffle at this point. But, suffice to say (per ClassicUser’s response there), this wasn’t the original plan.

Interpret that as you will…

After transitioning to the iPod Software team here at Apple just a few weeks ago, I’ve now completed my first project – by releasing the new “iPod shuffle Reset Utility” for both Mac and Windows. This has been a HEAVILY-requested update by users of our original iPod shuffles, which is now documented in an Apple KBase article:

• http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303979

Several websites and discussion boards picked up on this release pretty quickly – and from the comments associated with several of these posts, it appears we now have many very happy users:

• http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/apple-releases-update-to-fix-ailing-ipod-shuffles/8877
• http://playlistmag.com/news/2006/10/26/shuffle/index.php?lsrc=mwrss
• http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=707113&tstart=0

AND, to celebrate my first project, Patricia decided to produce an incredibly-creative take on the icon for this utility, in both cake and cookie form:

• http://web.mac.com/latimer/iWeb/Site/iPod%20shuffle%20Reset%20Utility.html

It was great to pursue this through to completion, but we’ll have to see if upcoming projects are as … shall we say, “interesting” … as this one was, or not.

So… on this day of rememberance, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my life, and the lives of those around me. One aspect which I’ve greatly valued is the ability of keeping up-to-date with others via the web, especially via weblogs such as this.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve posted anything to my blog, however, and I have several excuses as to “why”. In all honesty, though, it boils down to: “The desire to maintain this website hasn’t been enough of a priority of mine”. Perhaps not a good reason, per se, but there it is.

However, I’m currently going through several transitions, which have made me re-evaluate many areas of my home life, as well as my work life. The upside is that I’ve made a commitment to myself (as well as several of my friends) to do a much better job in posting about my life going forward.

Watch this space for more … very soon.

Quite cool, IMHO:

http://www.freemacblog.com/applestores/

A great way of viewing where the Apple retail locations are around the country. We need an equivalent for the International locations, but this is a great start, IMHO.

You can focus on only a given state; zoom in/out to view other levels of detail; or click on an Apple logo to view the name of the store, its address, and a link to the actual store’s page on Apple’s retail site. Again, very cool…

And, be sure to check out http://www.ifoapplestore.com/ for details on upcoming stores, as well.

…otherwise known as “Optical Illusions”. Check it out:

http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/index.html

I’ve seen many of these before, but really enjoyed finding so many in one place. The Lilac Chaser and Stepping Feet illusions are particularly interesting, IMHO.

I can’t believe I’ve never run across this site before…

Be sure to check out GUIdebook: Graphical User Interface gallery. As its name indicates, it contains TONS of information on GUIs throughout history – screenshots, videos, usage details, etc. The subjects run from the Amiga OS, to GNOME, to Magic Cap and the Newton OS. Heck, I’m just happy they feature the GUIs of my beloved Apple II – long live GS/OS!!!

(Oh, and the “Interface Element Obituary Poster” area is rather interesting… ;-)

They also just posted a great interview with John Gruber posted. John is the author of a rather interesting site, Daring Fireball. I may not always agree with his opinion on everything, but do believe he takes a unique position in critiquing user interface elements and design considerations which you and I probably never consider (has anyone ever read Tog’s take on Fitt’s Law?)