March 2006 Entries
Looks like neither mplayer nor xine could play .smil playlist. Apple way of converting .smil to .mov by adding SMILtext and saving as .mov is a hack. And .qtl could be used to playout supported content in full screen despite Apples efforts to collect money for the priviledge...
So far Apple kept their Podcast Chapter Tool private and only available of OSX. Trying to hack it out have been unsuccessful so far. My guess is that is because editing .mp4 is supported in QT 7.x and QuickTime for Java is QT 6.x. Anyhow, the easiest way to edit .mov (and .mp4?) is using quicktime.std.movies of QuickTime for Java. Here are examples Part 1 and Part 2 or this. Still, not very clear how to create .mov refferencing external movies? Is it as simple as creating Movie and saving it without...
Amazon started selling Intel based Mac Mini. Mac Mini 1.5GHz Solo is at $599.99 and Mac Mini 1.66GHz Duo is at $799.99 or both are at MSRP. Amazon runs $25 mail in rebate on both until 03/21/06. Mac Mini review by arstechnica pointed out that MacMini CPU is socketed and thus MacMinis are upgradable, but at least for now it is quite expensive $300 to go to Core Duo 1.83GHz and $400+ for Core Duo 2GHz. Still, it makes MacMini very cheap Yonah entry-level box that could have longer life with CPU upgrades....
First, there was xbox in Rover running Linux and freevo. Then there was Jeepintosh. And now there is Mac Prius.... well, almost. On a Prius note... Prius is not only 50mpg car but also a portable electricity generator and UPS...
So Apple released Intel based MacMini with their stinky old remote. At $799 Core Duo version is competative with lower end Pentium D boxes starting at $700+, alas Gateways and such offer more raw power and disk space (2.8GHz, 2x1MB L2, 800 MHz, 1GB RAM, 250GB HD vs. 1.66GHz, 2x1MB L2, 667MHz, 512 MB RAM, 80GB HD), but lack extras like 1G ethernet, bluetooth and built in wireless. Oh did I forgot remote? Anyhow, looks like for the first time ever Apple appears if not cheap, but at least as a good...