[Apple News] "...AND THE BEAT GOES ON, THE BEAT GOES ON."

Spring is here and Leeds play Chelsea tomorrow and Ringo and John
and George and Paul are alive and well and full of hope.
The world is still spinning and so are we and so are you.
When the spinning stops — that'll be the time to worry, not before.
Until then, the Beatles are alive and well and the beat goes on, the beat goes on.
— Final Beatles press release, April 10, 1970

I know that growing up, my life was filled with the Beatles. They were long gone before I could appreciate their music, but because of my father's love of them, I grew to love them too. Their music inspired a generation to dream and succeed...and in turn helped inspire me through all of my life. Their music has been with me through my ups ("When I'm sixty-four") and my downs ("For No One"), but most of all helped to teach me to get over a speech impediment when I was young. Their music was easy to learn the words to, and sing along with...and through them, I conquered that issue. When I'm frustrated even now, I still turn to their music to calm me down.

Why all of the reminiscing about a band that's come and gone? Why, because for people like me, what looks like will be announced next week on September 5th by Apple is related. Related? Oh yes, my friends, yes it is related. When Apple sent out their invitations to the press for this event on September 5th, it was a really nice piece of art showing the coverflow look that we all know from iTunes. But the statement on the form "The Beat Goes On"...it stuck in my craw...I couldn't get my head around it...where had I heard it before? Then, at 4am on Tuesday morning this week, I woke up and said to myself, "That was the last thing the Beatles said before they broke up!"

What does that mean? Well, true believers, to me that says that while we may be getting some cool new iPods next week...and those are all well and good...I believe that the Beatles are finally coming to iTunes. It was nice to know that others made the same jump that I did, and I wish I had the time to post it when I thought of it...but alas it had to wait til today. With Apple's recently settled issues with Apple Corps, I honestly feel as this will be part of the announcements on the 5th. With John, Paul, George and Ringo's solo careers all over iTunes now, it only could have been a short time until this happened. While many of you know that I'm still a CD kind of guy...I guarantee I'll be buying the whole catalog from Apple this go around. Heck, I hope it's even DRM-free...I think John could have appreciated that.

So while now people speculate about what cool new things on the iPod we'll see...whether it be OS X, coverflow, touch screens, hi-def movies and movie rentals...I think what the coolest new thing for me will be...to bounce along on my way to and fro, everyday, listening to the band that made music what it truly is. It's a great gift...one that I hope even newer generations can appreciate.

-Mike Leader

[Tech/Mod] IF NEW PROCESSOR, THEN UPDATE FIRMWARE?

As many of you can understand, one of the more popular items we sell here at YourMacStore is are many different processor upgrades. Of the people that purchase them, there are rare problems here and there...but nearly anything can be fixed. However, in many of the reported that come in to us, the error is something that the average user who wants to upgrade doesn’t know about…updating their firmware. Now not everyone needs to update their firmware with a processor upgrade, but for those of you who are looking to purchase a 7447 or 7448 CPU upgrade, then that is something you will need to do. (Those of you interested in a 7455 CPU upgrade, you won’t need to upgrade your firmware.)

While updating your processor isn’t for your newbie computer user, anyone can do it, they just need proper direction. It isn’t simply a matter of pulling out the old one and jamming the new one in there, there is actually a dance that has to go on to prepare your computer to have the part of it that works so hard yanked out and replaced. What you do to install the firmware depends on what company produced that processor, and I’ll try to detail that for you here as best as possible.

For Powerlogix and Newer Tech processors:

1) Make sure your computer is powered on, the OS X desktop is up and no other programs are running.
2) Insert the firmware disc into the dvd/cd-rom drive.
3) Shutdown your computer.
4) Hold down the programmer button, and press the power button. Hold the programmer button in until after the special long tone sounds.
5) Hold down “C” and boot from the CD.
6) This opens a special Firmware area. Just select from the list presented “Apply All Patches” and let that run.
7) Exit the special Firmware area. Once you see the “Completed Successfully” message, you can shutdown your computer and physically install the new processor.

For GigaDesigns processors:

1) Make sure your computer is powered on, the OS X desktop is up and no other programs are running.
2) Insert the firmware disc into the dvd/cd-rom drive.
3) Open the installer file on the disc and run the installer file.
4) Shutdown the computer
5) Hold down the programmer button, and press the power button. Hold the programmer button in until after the special long tone sounds.
6) Make sure all patches are applied.
7) Reboot the computer.
8) Shutdown the computer and physically install the new processor.

For Sonnet processors:

1) Make sure your computer is powered on, the OS X desktop is up and no other programs are running.
2) Insert the firmware disc into the dvd/cd-rom drive.
3) Open the installer file on the disc and run the installer file.
4) Shutdown the computer
5) Hold down the programmer button, and press the power button. Hold the programmer button in until after the special long tone sounds.
6) Make sure all patches are applied.
7) Reboot the computer.
8) Shutdown the computer and physically install the new processor.

It is our hope that these reminders will help all of you who are upgrading their processors for the first time. While not always the easiest upgrade, it can be worthwhile and allow you to keep your older computer around a bit longer than it was designed to.

-Mike Leader

[Apple Harware] The NEW Keyboard

As some of you know, I had an expressed interest in going down to the local Apple store and trying out the new Apple keyboard that premiered with the brand new iMacs. However, real life intruded (as it always does), and by Monday of this week, I hadn’t made it down to the local store. Monday started and I was going through my standard routine here at the offices, when our owner, Hideki, came in and handed me one of the new keyboards! While it wasn’t mine to have, I was allowed to use it for a day to see what I thought about it.

The new Apple keyboard that was first shown with the brand new iMacs is, in all honesty, a thing of beauty. Thin and light, it felt like no other keyboard I had used. Excited to try it out, I flung my standard keyboard off to the side, and quickly set it up.

The Pros:

Quiet: Talk about quiet! It made the office a very creepy environment (my coworker I share my office with uses a laptop, so it’s quiet) without any typing sounds. I can see the benefit of this in an office environment…but other than that, it was just interesting.

Ease of Typing: I found that typing was not as difficult as I thought it might be. In fact, using my pinky to type became dramatically easier! Stretching it and reaching a key usually requires a bit of effort…not with this keyboard!

Construction: Very lightweight and seemingly durable, the keyboard did hold up to my “meathooks” and the banging on the keyboard I normally do throughout the day.

Feel: I was worried that the keyboard would feel like rubber keys. Nice to know I was wrong, and that it felt solid and supportive of my fingers, without being too stiff or too rubbery.

The Cons:

Pain: My wrists and forearms ached after using it for several hours of work. The angle did not feel right while typing, and I was reminded of my former bouts with carpal tunnel.

Feel: The overall feel of the keyboard seemed a bit off. It was like typing on a laptop, and that confused my poor brain, which knew I didn’t use a laptop when at the office. It made it hard to get used to…but that could be overlooked.

Typing errors: I’m a good typist, and my error count is usually pretty low. However, I was on a bad roll when I started to use this new keyboard. Because the keys were easy to press, my meathook fingers kept slamming into multiple keys. I felt like fat Homer Simpson trying to dial the phone…I needed a dialing wand.


Overall, it’s a great keyboard, and I’m sure that if I continued to use it, I could get used to the minor issues I was having with it.

-Mike Leader

[Apple News] APPLE'S NEWEST REVEAL: part 2

Back again, true believers! :)

Ok, on with this. The second rumor that was answered true, was an update to the .Mac site. Many people have been saying for ages that the $99 a year was a waste for the space (or lack of) that was provided. Well, our friends at Apple took the available space per account from 1GB to 10GB, and have now integrated .Mac and iPhoto to where putting your photos online is a breeze. Not only can you share them at .Mac, but even your friends on their PCs can link to them without a real issue. So it's still up to you, Apple users, if you're willing to shell out that kind of money for .Mac. Some claim it's worth it, others claim it's not. I'd say that for the features they're now offering (and the 60 day trial being offered at Apple.com), it is something to be considered.

Next up were iLife & iWork updates, and while they were minor updates to iLife in general, the coolest thing there was the new spreadsheet program for iWork, Numbers. I have one word so far...NICE. I've long been a user of Excel, and I think that while this will not break Excel's Cobra Clutch on the spreadsheet market, it does offer a nice breath of fresh air as an alternative. Besides, now it's a spreadsheet program that looks like it is made by Apple for Macs...and not by Microsoft for people they don't really care too much about. I would expect plenty of support and goodness for Numbers in the months to come. (Did I not mention it can save as and read Excel files? :D)

All in all, once again this was a great update from the folks at Apple. The new iMacs are something to write home about... .Mac is looking much better...and I can't wait to get my hands on the new iLife! Woo! What a good week this is shaping up to be!!!

Alrighty folks, have a great rest of your week, and I'll be posting to y'all soon. :)

-Mike Leader

[Apple News] APPLE'S NEWEST REVEAL

(AKA how keyboards have come to scare me)

On Tuesday morning, August 7, all of the apple-ites' eyes were on Cupertino, CA as Apple was going to make some new product announcements...Well? Did you watch it? I know I did!

There were many rumors flying about, the most predominant ones being new iMacs, a new video iPhone-like iPod, to new Mac minis...etc etc. Well rumors are rumors but it looked that that in many cases a lot of them were true (sorry iPod users, no go for y'all)

Well brand new iMacs, and wow are they cool...and decently priced! The 20" iMac for $1199 is a bargain for what you're purchasing, and should be very easy to upgrade if you're that kind of person. In fact, from what I've heard, you just need to remove one screw to add memory in...how cool is that? :) Personally, I am not terribly keen on the aluminum & black look, but it seems to be something that one could get used to. However, what I am not happy with (and quite a few others I've spoken with) are the new keyboards. The whole new layout gets the hackles up on the "grumpy old man" inside me who doesn't like change. The lack of a number pad on the little bluetooth one likely strikes that one out for me, and changing the keys we've known for years doesn't make me too happy with the larger, wired keyboard. However, that is just the look of the keyboard...I plan on making a trip down to the local Apple store this weekend to see what they feel like to type on. That is the most important thing. If they feel right to type on, then I could let go of the changes in style.

I'll post this for now...look for part 2 this afternoon. :)

-M. Leader

[News] YOURMACSTORE & APPLE UPDATE!

Hi there folks!

Well it's been awhile, and with all that's been going on, time to blog has been a little lacking, but I wanted to make sure that I had time today to discuss a couple of things with you all. The first thing I have to ask is, what do you think of the new website? Is this meeting all of your purchasing needs? Are the colors good? Do your eyes hurt while looking at it? We would like to hear your feedback on it...and while we know sometimes it has issues (what new software doesn't?), we know it is a vast improvement over our previous website and system. Post a comment or email us with your thoughts!

Next up, something we know every mac-lover out there is talking about...the possible new hardware announcement coming next week. While nothing has been said about what it will be about the "Mac Focused Presentation" (besides Macs), there of course is a ton of speculation. Apple has become one of the best companies that I know of when it comes to creating anticipation for new products with events like these. No information going in...but the entire world is watching...ok not the whole world, but you get the idea. ;) Some believe it is new touch screen iPods (ooooh fun)...or the new iMac desktops (ooooh shiny)...and there are a myriad of other ideas. Personally, I'd like to see new iPods, even though mine is not ready to be shelved (2.2 yrs and counting).

Lastly in further Mac-related news, Microsoft announced a delay for the release of Office 2008 for Mac. It was originally scheduled to release in the middle of 2007, but citing quality evaluations and that they want to ship it in December so it will be ready to go in January during Macworld. So, all of you Office-heads are going to have to wait another 5 months to get your fix...sorry!

Well that's all for this week...yes, it's Thursday for all of you, but Friday for me! Well, I'm off to a wedding for the weekend, and I'll catch y'all next week! :)

-Mike Leader