RMG135-iBooks -- Road Kill in Virginia

Warning Will Robinson. Cisco has announced that their current Mac OS X VPN client will NOT work with Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

From the Mac's in School department, theHenrico Virginia school board has decided not to renew it's 4 year contract with Apple and instead has ordered 15,000 Dell Windows XP laptops to distribute to students. This is more than balanced by a report that the (registration required) Cobb County (Georgia) School Board has singned a contract with Apple that will include up to 65,000 iBooks for teachers and students in that district.

Software updates out today include QuickTime 7 and Quicktime 7 Pro, and Apple Remote Desktop 2.2.

Todays music selections include Road Kill Stew by Local Yokel and Da Backyards Boys, and Traveling On by the Nathan Sheppard Band.

Radio MacGuys is sponsored in part by Austin Michael Internet Solutions.

RMG134-Waiting for Tiger

Thanks to the nice folks at Austin Michael Internet Solutions who help bring our daily podcast to you.

Today, while waiting for Tiger to arrive, we took a look at a Plantronics DSP-500 USB headset. Our evaluation was positive and we recommend this device, especially for people using Skpe or other VOIP systems. It's available directly from Plantronics for $109, or from Amazon.com for $54.99.

Getting ready to install Mac OS 10.4, Tiger, we recommend that you first back up anything that's important to you.

News sites are reporting that online computer parts reseller, Tiger Direct has announced that they are suing Apple Computer for a tradmark violation over the use of the word "Tiger" to market the new version of Mac OS. There were no reports of similar actions from other tiger branded organizations such as Tiger Beer.

Our podcast for today ends with a beautiful song from singer/songwriter Kelcy Mae who hails from New Orleans in the US. Her song is called "A Select Few".

RMG133-Booting from an external drive.

Thanks to a listener who Skyped us a question. He asked if it is possible to boot his new dual processor G5 from an external FireWire drive. The answer is yes and today's podcast explains how. If you have a question, drop us an email (macguys@mac.com) or catch us on Skype. Our Skype ID is "MacGuys" of course.

Another user wrote asking for details on how to reset an iPod. The andwer depends on which version of the iPod you have. You can do a reset, or can restore the iPod to it's original (before you added tunes or other files) by follwing the directions in this Apple Tech Note.

A lot of smaller software developers today announced Mac OS 10.4/Tiger versions of their products today. Among them were the folks who build Cocktail, a very useful utility suite for Mac OS X. The company have two versions out; one which works with systems up to 10.3.8, and one that works with 10.4. Unfortunately, those of us who are running 10.3.9 seem to be out in the cold for the time being.

TextSoap, a wonderful application for cleaning up text moved from one environment to another, has also announced an upgrade for Tiger compatibility.

CNN is reporting on an incident where a flight from NYC to San Francisco was diverted to Chicago when one passenger noticed another doing something suspicious with a small white and sliver electronic device of some sort. When the authorities boarded the plane in Chicago, they discovered that the "suspicious passenger" was simply listening to music on his iPod.

Of course today's big news are the new PowerMac G5 models released today by Apple computer. The new machines feature faster processors, more memory, and a new dual layer DVD recorder. In addition, Apple announced large price cuts on two of it's Cinema Displays.

The podcast ends with a really nice tune from Austin Texas singer/songwriter named Nick Brown. The song is called "I Want Mine."

RMG132-Recycling Apple

Thanks to everyone who extended kindness to me during my recent trip to Louisiana. I heard some amazing music and hope to share some of it on this podcast very soon.

The San Jose Mercury News has an article about the new unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs. According to the Mercury News, Apple has pulled all the books from the publisher (John Wiley and Sons) from the Apple stores in response to the publication of the book. While the book has not been released, you can preorder iCon Steve Jobs : The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business from Amazon.com.

Amazon has another new item available for preordering. In what is most likely a big error, Amazon has a Apple Power Mac G5 Desktop Dual 2.7ghz listed on it's website for preordering. Apple has not yet announced this product.

Be sure to check out SMSMac, a new piece of software that provides a way for sending SMS messages from a Mac to any cellphone.

The CodingMonkeys have released a new version of SubEthaEdit, a great application that allows a group to edit a document at the same time. Between now and Friday, they are offering a 2 licenses for the price of one deal.

Our tune of the day is by the lovely Laura Garcia from Argentina.