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Apple Online Stores Currently Offline – New MacBooks May be Released Later Today

More evidence that those rumors about Apple updating their line of consumer-level laptops today are true: as of this writing (Tuesday, May 15th, 8:35 a.m. EDT) online Apple stores worldwide are displaying a banner that reads “We are busy updating the store for you and will be back shortly”, shown below:

Banner from Apple Store site: “We are busy updating the store for you and will be back shortly.”

Here’s what Think Secret speculates the updates to the MacBook line may be:

  • These might be the first of the MacBooks to feature Intel’s Santa Rosa chipset.
  • The Santa Rosa chipset can be configured with the Core 2 Duo processors to run at 1.8, 2.0, 2.2 and 2.4 GHz — they expect that the MacBooks will run at the lower speeds in this range while the MacBook Pros will run at the higher speeds.
  • The MacBooks may incorporate the Intel GMA 3000 graphics processor, which should yield faster graphics performance.
  • They say ”
    The MacBook will not employ newer LED backlight displays; that upgrade will need to wait until the next revision.”
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Headin’ to RailsConf!

Headin’ to RailsConf!

The second annual RailsConf — the premier conference for Ruby on Rails developers — starts this Thursday, May 17th, with a full day devoted to tutorial sessions; the main conference starts on Friday, May 18th and runs to Sunday, May 20th and features three days of keynotes, sessions and gatherings of all sorts (here are the Friday, Saturday and Sunday schedules).

I will be among the 1,200 people attending this year’s conference (that’s three times the number of people who attended last year’s, which took place in Chicago), and I’ll be taking copious notes, photos, videos and podcast recordings as well as entertaining and/or annoying conferencers with the accordion. Watch this blog all this week for Rails and RailsConf-related posts!

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Web 2 Point Legit-to-Quit

In honor of Hammer’s inclusion as one of the experts at the upcoming TechCrunch20 Conference, we proudly present the truely unforgettable intro to the truely unforgettable animated series Hammerman:

If Arrington could just land Vanilla Ice and Gerardo, TechCrunch20 would have the perfect storm.

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HBO CTO BS: “Don’t Call it Digital Rights Management, Call it DIGITAL CONSUMER ENABLEMENT.”

“Mr. Burns” from “The Simpsons”In the Simpsons episode where the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant nearly undergoes a meltdown, there’s a cute little euphemism that Mr. Burns uses in a TV news interview:

Oh, meltdown. It’s one of those annoying buzzwords. We prefer to call it an unrequested fission surplus.

Ed “Freedom to Tinker” Felten writes that HBO Chief Technology Officer Bob Zitter might have beaten ol’ Burnsie at the euphemism-coining game:

People have had lots of objections to Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology — centering mainly on its clumsiness and the futility of its anti-infringement rationale — but until recently nobody had complained that the term “Digital Rights Management” was insufficiently Orwellian.

That changed on Tuesday, when HBO’s Chief Technology Officer, Bob Zitter, suggested at an industry conference that DRM needs a name change. Zitter’s suggested name: Digital Consumer Enablement, or DCE.

(If that’s “enablement”, I’d hate to see what he calls “disabled”.)

Here’s what Broadcasting & Cable reported:

Speaking at a panel session at the NCTA show in Las Vegas Tuesday, Zitter suggested that “DCE,” or Digital Consumer Enablement, would more accurately describe technology that allows consumers “to use content in ways they haven’t before,” such as enjoying TV shows and movies on portable video players like iPods.

“I don’t want to use the term DRM any longer,” said Zitter, who added that content-protection technology could enable various new applications for cable operators. One example could be “burn-to-own DVDs,” where a consumer would use a set-top box with a built-in DVD burner to record a movie onto an optical disc, thus eliminating the costly current process of pressing DVDs and distributing them physically at retail. Another possibility, says Zitter, is “early window exhibition,” either in the form of making a movie available through video-on-demand (VOD) the same day as the home video release or allowing home theater users to pay extra to see a high-definition version of a theatrical release in the comfort of their home.

Wired’s Epicenter blog makes a good point:

Yet while it’s easy to joke, Zitter’s comments at the industry event are revelatory into the disconnect between content consumers and producers. Instead of addressing the problems its customers have with DRM, HBO’s tech chief wants to call it by another name. It shows a fundamental distrust of the customer base. Some of Zitter’s ideas are great–burn to own DVDs that would let customers download and burn their own movies on demand, or “early window exhibition” that would make HD versions of movies available the same day as their video or theatrical release. Yet these things are being held up, apparently, by an industry that’s fearful of its inability to control where its content goes after it’s released to consumers.

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Chris Messina’s “State of Mozilla and the Open Web” Rant

Still image from Chris Messina’s video about Mozilla
A still from Chris Messina’s video, given a little LOLcat treatment.

It’s been getting some buzz in “The Swarm” (a Skype chat where the TorCamp crowd hang out to talk about anything and everything — sometimes even tech!): Chris “Factory City” Messina has posted a 50-minute video polemic about the state of Mozilla, Firefox and the future of the Open Web in light of the challenges being presented by offerings such as Adobe’s Apollo, Microsoft’s Silverlight and the most newly-announced platform for web apps on the desktop, Sun’s JavaFX.

I’ve only managed to catch the first 15 minutes of the video (it’s been a busy day), but TorCamp regular Mark Kuznicki and Web Worker Daily editor Anne Zelenka have already thrown in their two cents. I’ll throw in mine, but I need to carve out some time first.

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70 CSS Coding Tips and Tricks

CSS coding, like most UI coding, is at least part voodoo, what with browser incompatibilities and the fact that a good number of developers have avoided it until every became Ajax-ified.

If you’re looking to learn CSS or refine your CSS chops, make sure you check out Smashing Magazine’s 70 Expert Ideas for CSS Coding. It provides tips of all kinds, from the general (such as workflow) to the esoteric (such as dealing with Internet Explorer).

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Funny Linksys Dialog Box

Many people, myself included, have a Linksys WRT54GS quietly performing yeoman service in their homes, offices and home offices. I’ve never had any trouble upgrading its firmware, but other people have, and they’ve been greeted with this All Your Base-esque message:

Linksys “Upgrade are failed” message

Here’s a close-up:

“Upgrade are failed” dialog box

[Images courtesy of my friend, Miss Fipi Lele.]