TidBITS#698/22-Sep-03
=====================
The Mac community let out a collective "Finally!" last week when
Apple introduced aluminum 15-inch PowerBooks - and began shipping
them, too! Apple also refreshed the 12- and 17-inch PowerBooks,
and released a Bluetooth wireless mouse and keyboard. On the
software front, StuffIt Deluxe 8.0 debuts today, and we note
the releases of SpamSieve 2.0.1 and Office X 10.1.5. Also, Alex
Hoffman reviews one of our favorite devices, the TiVo Series2 DVR.
Topics:
MailBITS/22-Sep-03
New PowerBooks Announced in Paris
Apple Releases Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
What's New in StuffIt Deluxe 8.0
TiVo Series2 Improves on Original
Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/22-Sep-03
<http://www.tidbits.com/tb-issues/TidBITS-698.html>
<ftp://ftp.tidbits.com/issues/2003/TidBITS#698_22-Sep-03.etx>
Copyright 2003 TidBITS Electronic Publishing. All rights reserved.
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MailBITS/22-Sep-03
------------------
**SpamSieve 2.0.1 Improves Accuracy** -- Michael Tsai has released
SpamSieve 2.0.1, a major upgrade to his helpful Bayesian
filtering-based anti-spam tool (see "Tools We Use: SpamSieve"
in TidBITS-667_ for a review). SpamSieve 2.0.1 now integrates
with Eudora 6.0 as a plug-in under both Paid and Sponsored modes
(Eudora's own SpamWatch works only in Paid mode), which makes
SpamSieve 2.0.1 significantly easier to use within Eudora than
earlier versions. Michael also added an automatically maintained
blocklist (the addresses of senders of mail marked as spam) and
whitelist (the addresses of senders of mail marked as good);
keeping these inside SpamSieve's database eliminates the need
to clutter address books with unnecessary addresses. A number of
tweaks should improve SpamSieve's accuracy: it now extracts more
information from each message, parses HTML better, understands
common plain text obfuscations, marks messages with Habeas headers
as good, and uses a new method of calculating word probabilities.
One final nice touch: SpamSieve now displays the number of good
messages from the last mail check on its Dock icon. SpamSieve
2.0.1 requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later with Emailer, Entourage,
Eudora 5.2 or later, Mailsmith, or PowerMail. The upgrade is free
for registered users; new copies cost $25. It's available as a 2
MB download that works in trial mode for 30 days or 20 launches.
(The 2.0.1 release fixes a few bugs that revealed themselves a
few days after version 2.0's recent appearance.)
<http://www.c-command.com/spamsieve/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07076>
One tip from my testing with Eudora. To train SpamSieve from
an existing collection of spam and good messages (and Michael
recommends resetting your corpus to take full advantage of
SpamSieve's new capabilities), follow these steps after installing
SpamSieve 2.0.1. Select Eudora in the Finder and choose Get Info
from the File menu. Turn on the Esoteric Settings 6.0 plug-in
in the Plug-ins section of the window, then close the window and
launch Eudora. Choose Preferences from the Eudora menu, scroll
down to the Junk Extra settings panel, and check "Always enable
Junk/Not Junk menu items." Then you can select some spam messages
and mark them as Junk (beware that Eudora defaults to moving
them to your Junk mailbox when you do this) and select some
good messages and mark them as Not Junk. [ACE]
**Microsoft Office X 10.1.5 Released** -- Microsoft earlier this
month released Microsoft Office X 10.1.5, an update to the
business suite which tackles stability issues with PowerPoint,
Excel, and Visual Basic for Applications. Before updating,
be sure you've installed the Office X 10.1.2 Update and the
Office X 10.1.4 Update. The update is a free 6.3 MB download.
[JLC]
<http://www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.aspx>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07291>
New PowerBooks Announced in Paris
---------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
At Apple Expo in Paris last week, Steve Jobs at long last unveiled
the long-awaited update to the Titanium PowerBook G4. The new
aluminum-clad 15-inch PowerBook G4 offers two configurations with
a choice of a 1 GHz or 1.25 GHz PowerPC G4 processor (both with
512K of on-chip level 2 cache, which, according to Apple, makes
up for the lack of a level 3 cache that was present in some earlier
PowerBook G4s), Combo drive (CD-RW/DVD-ROM) or SuperDrive (CD-
RW/DVD-R), 60 GB or 80 GB hard drive, and an AirPort Extreme card
(hopefully with better range than the abysmal Titanium PowerBook
G4). Also optional for $70 is the neat backlit keyboard technology
from the 17-inch PowerBook; the backlighting is standard on the
higher-end configuration.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/sep/16pb.html>
<http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index15.html>
Standard features include a 15.2 inch LCD display running at
1280 by 854, 56K V.92 modem, built-in Bluetooth networking,
the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM, built-in
stereo speakers with a midrange-enhancing third speaker, keyboard,
trackpad, and a 46 watt battery that provides up to 4.5 hours of
battery life (the 15-inch PowerBooks use the same 65 watt power
adapter as the 17-inch PowerBook, not the 45 watt adapter used
by the first-generation 12-inch PowerBook). Ports include one
PC Card/CardBus slot, built-in 10/100/1000Base-T Ethernet, one
FireWire 400 port, one FireWire 800 port, a pair of USB 2.0
ports, DVI video output port (with an included DVI-to-VGA
adapter), S-video output port (with an included S-video-to-
composite adapter), audio line in, and a headphone jack.
All this comes in a 5.6 pound (2.5 kg) package 1.1 inches (2.8 cm)
high, 13.7 inches (34.8 cm) wide, 9.5 inches (24.1 cm) deep,
putting it smack between the 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks in
size and weight. For you number crunchers, those measurements make
the new model slightly thicker (by 0.1 inches, 0.3 cm), wider
(0.4 inches, 1.0 cm), and heavier (0.3 pound, 0.1 kg) than
the Titanium model. Although those numbers aren't drastically
different, some Titanium PowerBook G4 owners may need to look
into buying laptop sleeves and cases redesigned for the new
dimensions.
A stripped-down model costs $2,000; the loaded model comes in at
$2,700. Both models are listed as "Available Now" at the online
Apple Store, and many Apple retail stores had the configurations
in stock at the time of last week's announcement.
We can only speculate why Apple chose to keep the Titanium
PowerBook G4 in its lame duck position in the PowerBook lineup
for nine long months after introducing the 12-inch and 17-inch
PowerBooks (we suspect Apple was trying to sell off as many
existing units as possible before introducing new ones), but
the release of the 15-inch PowerBook G4 should spur laptop sales.
For many people, the 12-inch PowerBook was just too small and
underpowered, whereas the 17-inch PowerBook was just too large
and expensive. Much as Mama Bear's oatmeal, chair, and bed were
just right for Goldilocks, the 15-inch PowerBook should meet the
needs of many Mac users, thanks to its large display, excellent
performance, and complete set of features at prices starting
$1,000 below the 17-inch PowerBook.
**12-inch and 17-inch PowerBooks** -- Along with the new 15-inch
PowerBook G4, Apple made some small but welcome changes to the
existing 12-inch and 17-inch PowerBook G4s. The 12-inch PowerBook
G4 replaces its 867 MHz CPU with a 1 GHz PowerPC G4 CPU plus 512K
of level 2 cache, double the previous amount. Another welcome
change is the addition of a mini-DVI port and a pair of adapters
for connecting DVI- and VGA-based monitors. Lastly, the Nvidia
GeForce FX Go5200 graphics processor with 32 MB of DDR SDRAM
replaces the GeForce4 420 Go. Pricing remains the same.
<http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index12.html>
The 17-inch PowerBook G4 upgrades its 1 GHz CPU to a 1.33 GHz
PowerPC G4 with 512K of level 2 cache (twice as much as before),
trades in its 60 GB hard drive for an 80 GB model, and swaps its
Nvidia GeForce4 440 Go graphics processor with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM
for the ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 64 MB of DDR SDRAM. Along
with these improvements, the 17-inch PowerBook's price drops
$300, so models start at $3,000.
<http://www.apple.com/powerbook/index17.html>
**Bank Notes for Keynote** -- Finally, if you need still more
incentive to consider purchasing a PowerBook (or any new Mac),
Apple is offering an instant $50 rebate if you include the
Keynote presentation software in the same purchase. The rebate
is good through 27-Dec-03.
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/sep/16keynote.html>
<http://www.apple.com/promo/keynote/>
Apple Releases Wireless Keyboard and Mouse
------------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
At last week's Apple Expo in Paris, Apple introduced the Apple
Wireless Keyboard and Apple Wireless Mouse, a pair of Bluetooth-
based wireless input devices for Macs running Mac OS X 10.2.6 or
later with Bluetooth capabilities (either built in or provided by
an external adapter). Both work within 30 feet (9.1 m) of the Mac.
The keyboard relies on four AA batteries and comes with Energizer
e2 alkaline batteries that promise up to nine months of use, while
the mouse uses a pair of AA batteries and should get up to three
months of use with its Energizer e2 lithium batteries. Both switch
into low power mode automatically and provide on/off switches for
times when you know the computer won't be in use (handy for
PowerBook users who want a no-clutter traveling mouse).
<http://www.apple.com/keyboard/>
<http://www.apple.com/mouse/>
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/sep/16keyboardmouse.html>
Aside from cutting the desktop cords, the most interesting aspect
of these products is how they implement Bluetooth. To prevent
snoopers from watching keyboard traffic, both devices offer
128-bit encryption of the Bluetooth signals. Also, Apple claims
the devices are the first to use Adaptive Frequency Hopping
software to eliminate interference between Bluetooth devices
and other wireless uses in the 2.4 GHz band (such as Wi-Fi
networks and cordless phones). This feature, which will appear
in an upcoming Bluetooth 1.2 specification, takes advantage of
an FCC ruling last year that provides flexibility for frequency
hopping devices using 1 MHz per channel; formerly, devices had
to hop among at least 75 channels, but they can now hop among
just 15.
<http://www.bluetooth.com/>
A firmware upgrade is expected to be released for all previous
Bluetooth hardware offered by Apple, except for the first version
of the D-Link USB Bluetooth adapter, to support adaptive hopping.
Retail cost is $70 for each device, and they should be available
within two to three weeks from the usual sources. Also, both
devices require Mac OS X 10.2.6 or higher. Apple's press release
said nothing about the new keyboard and mouse becoming standard
equipment on future Macs, but given Steve Jobs's legendary desire
for sleek, uncluttered design, we wouldn't be surprised.
What's New in StuffIt Deluxe 8.0
--------------------------------
by Adam C. Engst <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Aladdin Systems today released StuffIt Deluxe 8.0, the latest
release of one of the oldest continuously developed Macintosh
programs. It's safe to say that almost every Mac user has seen
some facet of StuffIt over the years, thanks to the ubiquity of
the free StuffIt Expander, which Apple ships with every Macintosh.
For those that haven't seen the full StuffIt Deluxe, though, it
provides a suite of tools that enable you to compress, archive,
encrypt, and expand files in a wide variety of compression,
archiving, and transmission formats. If you are new to StuffIt
Deluxe, be sure to read the "What's Included in StuffIt Deluxe"
section of the QuickStart file for a full list of components,
many of which haven't changed, and which I won't discuss here.
This major upgrade to StuffIt Deluxe 8.0 brings to Mac OS X
an extremely useful feature from the Mac OS 9 versions of the
program - Archive Via Rename. It also adds a new StuffIt Archive
Assistant for certain types of backups, integrates with three
popular applications, enhances DropStuff, builds HTML help into
the applications, and more.
<http://www.stuffit.com/mac/deluxe/>
StuffIt Deluxe 8.0 requires Mac OS X 10.1.5 or later, with Mac OS
X 10.2 recommended. StuffIt Deluxe 7.0.3 remains available for
Mac OS 8.6 through 9.2.
**Archive Via Rename** -- I'll confess. I would upgrade to StuffIt
Deluxe 8.0 for this feature alone. In Mac OS 9, StuffIt Deluxe
long provided a system extension that noticed when you added or
removed specific extensions from a file or folder name, performing
the appropriate action when you completed the rename action. If
you added .sit to a filename, StuffIt Deluxe promptly compressed
the file. If you removed .sit from the filename, it was instantly
expanded. Since the StuffIt files I use are generally coming
from or going to the Internet, managing them by naming them
appropriately felt more immediate and direct than using StuffIt
Deluxe itself, DropStuff or StuffIt Expander, or even the
contextual menus that StuffIt has long provided.
In the brave new world of Mac OS X, however, Aladdin was unable
to duplicate the Archive Via Rename feature... until now. It works
fine in my minimal testing so far, although Apple's over-reliance
on filename extensions (as opposed to the hidden metadata of
classic type and creator codes) in Mac OS X means you must confirm
rename actions that affect the filename extension. For those of
us accustomed (or addicted) to Archive Via Rename from before,
the extra dialog is annoying, but for those new to the feature
it's actually a helpful confirmation.
That's because Archive Via Rename, unlike every other component
of StuffIt Deluxe, acts directly on the file or folder you're
renaming. So, if you compress a file using Archive Via Rename, the
original file is replaced by the StuffIt archive of that file. And
similarly, if you expand an archive in this manner, the original
archive disappears, to be replaced by its contents. That's often
what you want, but for those times you want to keep your original
and archive separate, use another approach in StuffIt Deluxe.
Two final notes. You can turn Archive Via Rename on and off via a
new StuffIt AVR preferences pane in System Preferences. The manual
says StuffIt AVR will be off by default, but that wasn't true for
me. It's also necessary to adjust the Finder preferences to select
"Always show file extensions" for Archive Via Rename to work.
Theoretically, StuffIt AVR does this for you, but I had to select
that option manually.
**StuffIt Archive Assistant** -- The new StuffIt Archive Assistant
is designed to give people a simple backup utility that takes
advantage of StuffIt's tight compression. It can store backup
archives on any mounted volume (including your iDisk), on
recordable CD or DVD, or on an FTP site, and you can schedule
it to run on specific days of the week at particular times.
Unfortunately, StuffIt Archive Assistant isn't particularly good
for real backups. You can back up only your home folder, or one
or more of the default folders inside it, but not any arbitrary
folder, much less the entire Mac. Each time you run a backup task,
it creates a new StuffIt archive containing all the files in the
source folder, rather than adding just files that have changed.
It can either create a new time-stamped archive on each run or
replace the previous archive (useful for saving space on an iDisk,
but potentially dangerous otherwise).
The real utility of StuffIt Archive Assistant comes in burning an
archive to recordable CD or DVD, automatically creating segments
for archives that span discs. You could use it to create a set of
archive discs several times each year to supplement a regular
backup strategy. Or, you might use it to back up particularly
important files to a remote FTP site (being able to encrypt
archives would be helpful in such a scenario) as a secondary
offsite backup.
**Other New Features** -- Aladdin also enhanced StuffIt Deluxe in
smaller ways, including faster compression. All the StuffIt tools
now support .cab (Cabinet archives) used by Windows installers
and .yenc (yEncode) files often used for binaries in Usenet
newsgroups. Many of StuffIt Deluxe's components now offer HTML
help as well.
If you use Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, or Adobe Illustrator,
Aladdin now includes plug-ins for those programs that give them
direct access to StuffIt's capabilities. For instance, once you
install the Word plug-in (check the manual for instructions),
you can save the current document as a StuffIt archive, open an
archived document, or stuff and mail the current document. This
integration should help some users avoid multiple-step tasks when
sharing large files via the Internet. Aladdin plans to add support
for other applications in the future.
**DropStuff Improvements** -- DropStuff 8.0 features two helpful
changes. First, if you launch DropStuff itself, its window
provides a checkbox that lets you encrypt archives created by
dropping files or folders on the window. Also new in that window
is a pop-up menu that lets you choose between StuffIt's two main
compression formats.
Even more useful, if you hold down Control and Option when
dropping a folder on DropStuff, it presents a Find File-like
interface for selecting precisely which files should be added
to the archive. This feature isn't available in DropZip or
DropTar, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Aladdin add it later.
**Upgrading** -- Some of the components in the StuffIt Deluxe
package are available separately, making for a somewhat complex
purchase and upgrade scenario. The StuffIt Deluxe 8.0 package
contains everything; new copies cost $80, with upgrades from
previous versions of either StuffIt Deluxe or StuffIt Standard
Edition at $30. StuffIt Standard Edition 8.0, which should appear
soon, includes the latest versions of DropStuff, DropZip, and
DropTar; pricing hasn't yet been set. The free StuffIt Expander
8.0 will also appear soon (it only adds support for .cab and .yenc
files); in the past you download it with StuffIt Standard Edition.
<http://www.stuffit.com/mac/>
PayBITS: Did Adam's coverage of StuffIt Deluxe help you better
manage your files? Consider sending him a few bucks via PayBITS!
<https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=ace%40tidbits.com>
Read more about PayBITS: <http://www.tidbits.com/paybits/>
TiVo Series2 Improves on Original
---------------------------------
by Alex Hoffman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
I've been carrying around a dirty secret for a couple of years
now. When I wrote a TidBITS article about Netflix, the DVD rental
service I had used and loved for years, I had already stopped
using it. (See "Worthy Web Sites: Get Your Kicks with Netflix" in
TidBITS-604_). Netflix is great, but TiVo is better. Shortly after
getting a TiVo DVR (Digital Video Recorder), my wife and I stopped
needing to rent DVDs. Essentially, everything you've heard about
TiVo is true (see "Dominate Your TV" in TidBITS-594_ for more on
TiVo). It _is_ that good. So good, in fact, that when we moved
this spring to a bigger place, we bought a new TiVo Series2 model,
which features a degree of integration between it and our Macs.
Buying a second TiVo also enabled us to have one on each
television in our house.
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06622>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbser=1204>
**The Appeal of TiVo** -- To summarize quickly, a DVR records
television shows like a well programmed VCR, but onto a large
hard disk instead of onto removable tapes. You can program it
to record particular channels at specific times or to record
every occurrence of a show. You can even instruct it to record
a show, but to skip reruns so your disk doesn't fill up with
multiple copies of syndicated episodes. It keeps all of these
recordings until you delete them, or until the disk space fills
up, at which point the TiVo deletes the oldest ones. You also
can pause live TV, or rewind or fast-forward through live or
recorded shows. To borrow a tagline from a classic show, the
TiVo Series2 is better than it was before. Better. Stronger.
Faster.
<http://www.tivo.com/>
Our new TiVo 2 Series DVR looks rather different than our old one.
It's almost a third smaller in size than the old one, but to my
eyes it looks even smaller; the new case is 2 inches (5.1 cm)
narrower, 2.5 inches (6.4 cm) shallower, and 0.5 inch (1.3 cm)
shorter than the old one. The Series2 has a rectangular IR sensor
instead of the HAL-like eye at the center of the old TiVo. The
remote control signal feedback LED now sits just below the power
indicator.
The Series2's new remote is a little longer and includes a few
more buttons that control other television set features (input
source, for example). The Info, Live TV, and Guide functions,
previously controlled by the one Live TV button on the old remote,
now have their own dedicated buttons. The new remote also can be
set up to control two separate DVRs, with a switch to select which
unit is being controlled. If you feel you need the new remote for
your existing TiVo, it costs $30 online in the Accessories section
of the TiVo Store.
<http://store.tivo.com/>
The Series2 also gains a speed boost by way of a PowerPC processor
inside that runs at 50 MHz instead of 27 MHz. This does not make
recording or playback faster, but it does make the TiVo interface
a little zippier (MPEG encoding and decoding are handled by
specialized chips just for those purposes). I noticed that the
TiVo is more responsive to commands from the remote and doesn't
suffer from the noticeable lags that can result when many programs
are recorded. The faster processor probably comes in most handy
after the nightly television schedule updates are downloaded
and incorporated, or when season pass priorities are changed.
However, the most important hardware change is also the most
interesting for Mac users: the addition of two USB ports. While
you wouldn't want to attach a printer to a TiVo, the USB ports
enable you to network your device using a Series2 network adapter.
The TiVo Store sells both conventional 10/100 Ethernet adapters
and wireless (AirPort, or 802.11b) adapters for $45 and $65,
respectively. For me, wireless was definitely the way to go. It
allows the TiVo to use our AirPort network for its daily calls
in place of requiring me to install a phone jack near my TiVo.
Be warned, however, that the TiVo still needs a phone line for
the Guided Setup, both initially and for any subsequent cable
provider changes.
To take full advantage of networking your TiVo, you can purchase
the Home Media Option for a one-time fee of $100. With this
software upgrade, you can schedule programs remotely, view
programs in multiple rooms without recording the shows on each
TiVo, view digital photos, and listen to digital music stored
on your Mac.
**Remote Scheduling** -- Have you had someone at work tell you
about their favorite show, but forget to add it to the TiVo's
To Do schedule when you get home? Now you can queue the show
from the office.
This feature doesn't quite fulfill the ideal of accessing your
TiVo over the Web as if you were sitting in front of your
television, but it's a step in that direction. You can log into
TiVo's Web site and add programs to your TiVo's To Do list. The
next time the TiVo makes its daily call for program updates, the
instruction you made online is transferred to the device. However,
that call might not happen until tomorrow, so you had better take
care of this way ahead of time. If you use a network adapter, you
can set the daily call to happen a few times an hour instead of
once daily, making it a more useful feature - but just barely.
When online, you cannot see what is already scheduled on your
TiVo, so you can only choose to make the new request either the
highest or the lowest priority. You also have no way to see what
other programs you might be overriding. For this reason, and
because I rarely decide so late to record something when I am
not at home, I've only used this function when I was testing it.
**Multi-Room Viewing** -- If you have multiple TiVo Series2 DVRs,
each with the additional Home Media Option, all registered to one
household, you can share recording between units. This means that
a program recorded on one unit can be watched on another unit. It
sounds pretty good, but there are a couple of caveats.
I've already mentioned the first one: sharing works only with new
Series2 units. There is no way to interoperate with an old TiVo,
so unfortunately I can't try it out. And although my neighbor has
a new Series2, it is registered to his household, so we couldn't
try it out. It really is limited.
But if you do have multiple Series2 devices, and have the Home
Media Option on at least two of them, you can share programs.
Yet it _still_ is not as simple would be ideal. Programs must be
copied from one unit to another in order to be watched. Even with
100Base-T Ethernet, this takes time. And if the program is deleted
on the first unit before the copying is completed, you are out of
luck.
<http://www.tivo.com/4.9.7.1.asp>
Clearly, TiVo needs to work the kinks out of this feature (a task
no doubt complicated by the spectre of movie industry lawyers).
Like remote scheduling, it is just not as useful as it might seem.
**Music & Photos** -- However there is a good use of the Home
Media Option, which I'm using right now: the Series2 can stream
music and photos using the iTunes 4 and iPhoto 2 databases on your
Mac. In order to do this, you must install the free TiVo Desktop
software on your computer.
<http://www.tivo.com/4.9.4.1.asp>
The TiVo displays the playlists and albums that you've already
created on your Mac. You cannot create new playlists or search
for photos or songs on the TiVo, but you can take advantage of
the better group seating of your living room. If you have a
decent sound system connected to your television, you can use
the TiVo as a music jukebox.
The main TiVo menu includes a new entry labeled Music & Photos.
Selecting it brings you to a screen which lists every computer
sharing music and/or photos with the TiVo Desktop software. The
Home Media Option software uses Apple's Rendezvous technology
to locate shared computers on the network.
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/jaguar/rendezvous.html>
<http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/jan/07rendezvous.html>
Once you select a computer for music, you can go through an
alphabetical list of artists, albums or genres, but for me, even
scrolling down to Cream takes way too many Page Down presses on
the remote. The only practical approach is to search through
existing iTunes playlists.
In addition to the music and photos shared from your own
computers, the TiVo lists two additional categories: Photos from
TiVo and Music from TiVo. The content of these seem to be updated
regularly; Photos from TiVo currently includes things like Vintage
Ads, Animals, Seasons, and Space. Music from TiVo includes songs
from The Wallflowers, 50 Cent and No Doubt, among others. One
assumes that this feature is supplying TiVo Inc. with another
revenue stream. Everything I have bought from the company has been
at a flat fee, and they need revenue streams to stay in business.
**TiVo Desktop** -- Perhaps the coolest thing about all of this is
how easy it is to use with a Mac. The TiVo Desktop for Windows
software is a 7.8 MB download, while the Mac version (Mac OS X
only) is only 177K. Since Rendezvous is built in to Mac OS X, and
since iTunes and iPhoto handle most of the user interaction, all
that is left is a TiVo Desktop preferences pane. A start/stop
button turns the service on and off, and you can decide yourself
whether to share music and photos. You can also choose to share
your entire library or just selected playlists and/or albums.
<http://customersupport.tivo.com/tivoknowbase/root/public/tv1159.htm>
By contrast, the Windows version of the TiVo Desktop is much more
complicated. There, you can select folders or individual MP3 or
JPEG files. Rather than playlists, it shares folders. At a time
when too many companies refuse to investigate Macintosh versions
of their software/drivers, TiVo has done an amazing job of
leveraging Apple's work to give their own Macintosh customers
a better experience than their Windows customers.
<http://customersupport.tivo.com/tivoknowbase/root/public/tv2031.htm>
**Wishing for Groups** -- Other than networking and the Home Media
Option, there aren't many differences between the older TiVo
models and the newer Series2. My wife, Devjani, wants folders in
the Now Playing list. Rather than a list of individual recordings,
all programs of a given title could be grouped together. All of
our Six Feet Under episodes would be grouped together, regardless
of when they were recorded. All of my America's Test Kitchen
episodes would appear in one folder, even though they'd be
recorded from two different Season Passes (because they are from
two different channels). TiVo Suggestions could even appear in
their own folder at the end of the list - however, if any of those
match any recordings that we set up intentionally, they would
appear in a folder together. These folders would also appear in
the chronological list at the point of the most recent recording,
meaning that the Six Feet Under folder appears at the beginning of
June, the date of the season finale. This could be a handy little
feature. (Did you know that the original Mac OS didn't have real
folders? TiVo has always been Mac-like, and now we have support
for Rendezvous, AirPort, iTunes, and iPhoto. How long until it
becomes iTiVo?)
<http://customersupport.tivo.com/tivoknowbase/root/public/tv2001.htm?>
<http://developer.apple.com/documentation/macos8/Legacy/OpenDoc/opendoc.html>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06765>
**The Bottom Line** -- Now we have a TiVo Series2 DVR in the
living room which does everything the old TiVo did and also plays
MP3s from our Macs, exactly as we wanted it to. However, it isn't
cheap. A new TiVo Series2 costs $200 for a 40-hour model or $300
for an 80 hour unit. A service subscription (required to access
the channel programming data) costs either $13 per month or as a
one-time fee of $300 that covers the product's lifetime. Add to
that $100 for the Home Media Option and $45 or $65 for a network
adapter. If you want to upgrade the hard drive, add a few hundred
more dollars for a new drive and the miscellaneous hardware you'll
need from a company like Weaknees (see "Upgrading the TiVo" in
TidBITS-644_ for more information). That said, we found the
upgrade to be worth it - now our TiVo can store 150 hours of
programming.
<http://www.weaknees.com/>
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=06918>
But despite the cost, believe everything you have heard about how
great TiVo is. We have gotten more out of it than we would have
gotten out of a new computer. Or two new computers. Whether you
love movies (catch them to record even when you don't know that
they're on), episodic television (never miss a show) or sports
(watch replays when you want to, and then catch up by fast-
forwarding through the commercials), TiVo changes the way that
you watch television, and the Home Media Option is the best way
I've seen to play MP3s on your living room's sound system.
So, we are pretty much set, until a forthcoming HDTiVo arrives...
[Alex Hoffman is currently a high school English teacher in the
New York City public schools. It's a tough job, but somebody's
got to do it.]
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Hot Topics in TidBITS Talk/22-Sep-03
------------------------------------
by TidBITS Staff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
**Boring headers for Eudora** -- For those who want to eliminate
unnecessary headers in Eudora, here's a thread for suggesting
specific headers to hide. (11 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2067>
**Asante FR1004AL can share a non-PS printer** -- Some non-
Postscript printers can be shared by the Asante wireless router
mentioned in Adam's article. (1 message)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2068>
**Eudora Filter Priority** -- Eudora's filter feature remains
creaky, but here are some tips for working with them. (4 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2064>
**Updating Linksys gateways from a Mac** -- Readers suggest
alternate methods of updating Linksys gateway firmware without
using a Windows PC. (4 messages)
<http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tlkthrd=2069>
$$
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