So, what are you trying to say here?

The latest press release from Apple, touting Apple's 1 million iPhone weekend, featured a rather prominent quote from Steve Jobs.

Now, I'd have to go back and check the last few press releases, but I think this is the first release I've seen quoting Steve in months.

Which leads me to suspect that Jobs is back to work.

Update: Now Cult of Mac is saying that CNBC is reporting Steve might have come back today. Makes sense to me. So, when do we see that tablet announcement...?

Podiobooks: What a remarkable concept

I was listening to This Week in Media a few days ago, and they had as a guest Scott Sigler, a well-known horror author. He mentioned that he had just written a Sci-fi book called The Rookie, and it was available for free on his website.

So I, being the geek that I am, went to check it out, and discovered that it was available as an audiobook via iTunes, and were being put out through a company called Podiobooks.

Wow. What a great idea. I have only started listening to The Rookie, and haven't checked out any other books, but just from a conceptual point of view, I'm sold already.

While Scott's a good reader, he isn't on par with the readers from audible, but that's okay, it's still a great idea.

I'll give you more feedback once I've explored a little more, but at first glance, I'm so all over this.

How Green was my Apple

So, if you haven't noticed, Apple and Dell have been involved in a rather pointless pissing match. Dell's been accusing Apple of false advertising, going so far as to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

Well, yesterday the BBB agreed with Dell, saying that Apple's advertising might be a bit misleading. But Apple says that they offer the greenest "Family" of notebooks, and on that, the BBB agreed with Apple.

Sure there are greener notebook models out there than any one notebook Apple produces, but they have made a commitment to green for all their notebooks, not just one flagship green model, while making the rest of their notebooks with arsenic and sealskin.

Of course, Green is a relative concept and much maligned and abused to the point of meaninglessnesss (this is a green blog; no trees were harmed in the making of this post). So take all this chest thumping with a grain of salt.

Steve Jobs had a liver transplant. It must be true, it was in the WSJ

So, the interweb is all abuzz with the rumour that Steve Jobs had a liver transplant.

Based on a story with no sources in the Wall Street Journal.

Okay, so it is the journal, that bastion of truth and all that's right with the media.

Still. They say Steve had a liver transplant, but offer no real sources to back it up. Which is a little odd. Knowing Steve Jobs, though, it could have been Steve himself who called the journal and told them to run the story, after insulting the reporter a few times for good measure, under the condition that no mention was made of the call, no references to a source, no nothing. Why? Cuz that's just the way Steve rolls.

The timing is perfect to have it be an deliberate plant by Apple. This sort of thing will get lost in the news cycle, buried by the iPhone launch. In a week, everyone'll say "oh, yeah, that's old news, but Steve's doing great and will be returning to Apple in a week or two."

The stock takes no hit, the investors are happy and everything is as it should be.

Or, it could just be complete and utter speculation. That's for Steve and his doctors to know and us to find out slowly and in sometimes contradictory pieces over the next few years.

Score! Rogers allows iPhone tethering at current rates...at least for now

Yes, it's true. While AT&T is dragging its heels and becoming the weakest link in the whole iPhone service chain, Rogers has done something surprisingly proactive and user friendly, by including tethering with their data plans.

This will last until at least the end of the year, at which point in time presumably they reserve the right to gouge you. Sorry, did I say that out loud. I mean to charge you a fair price for tethering.

Sorry, I think you added a one in there

From Rogers' iPhone announcement:

• 16GB iPhone 3G: NOW $179 (while supplies last) with a 3-year voice plan greater then $30/month.
• 8GB iPhone 3G: $199 with a 3-year voice plan greater then $30/month.

Um.

Alright. That 8GB 3G for $199? That's the one that's selling down in the states for $99. And it is the same up-front price as a 16GB 3Gs. Either there's a typo there, or they're really trying to drive people to the 3Gs.

The whole point of keeping the 3G around at a lower price point is to open up a whole new market. People who were unwilling to buy a $200 phone will have no such trouble with a $99 phone. If the price on the 3G is EXACTLY THE SAME as for a 3Gs... well, it's not opening up the market. It's not bringing in new customers. It's not really helping sales.

iPod Touch Update: Is it worth it

While everyone is going off about the new iPhone software, it should be noted that the new software is available for the iPod Touch, too. But unlike the iPhone, which has subscription fees to cover updates, us Touch users have to fork over $9.99

I've got a first gen iPod Touch, and a lot of the updates don't work for it. So, is it worth it to upgrade? Let's look.

Buy Movies, TV Shows and Audiobooks via WiFi.

Internet speeds here are lucky to hit 512 kb. It takes the better part of a day to download a movie. Thanks, but I'll stick to using my computer.

Bluetooth Stereo Headphones

Only 2nd Gen

Peer to Peer Gaming

Only Second Gen

Cut/Copy/Paste

I might be the only one, but I never noticed the lack of cut and paste. Sorry.

Landscape Keyboard

Okay, this is a big one for me. The extra real estate would be pretty cool. But I'm waiting for a keyboard dongle. Now that is a killer device for me.

Spotlight Search

Um. Hmm. Nope. Can't say that I've ever needed to search my iPod. Not enough productivity apps, I suppose.

Shake to shuffle

Cool, but not worth an investment

New Languages

I barely sprechen my mother tongue.

Push Notification

Cool, but again, not something I need.

Parental Controls

Um, in a few years, maybe

Automatic Wi-Fi Log-in

Doesn't it do this already? I've never had any touble

iTunes Store Account Creation

Already have one, thanks.

Wow. I was pretty stoked about the update, but so much of what happened is for the Phone or the second gen touch. I dig the landscape keyboard, but is it enough to upgrade over?

I'll sit and agonize over this for a few days. I'll let you know what I decide to do.

Wherefore art thou, ZFS?

After years of teasing us with the dream of ZFS, Sun's better than thou File system, ZFS is once again notably absent from Snow Leopard. In fact, as pointed out over at Slashdot, Apple has struck all but two references to ZFS from their website.
Alas, it held so much promise, but proved to be so problematic. Why? I have no idea. This is, after all, Apple we're talking about. Maybe the technological hurdles were too high, but it seems to me that if you can write face recognition features into your entry level photo app, you'd be able to figure out how to get from one file system to the other without completely borking everyone's system.

Passcode?

Interesting.

I just went to sync my iPod for the first time since updating to iTunes 8.2, and it told me that I couldn't because the iPod had a passcode. Is this new? Is this just a first-time with the new iTunes issue, or is this going to be doing this from here on in? I hope it's just a first-time with new iTunes thing, because that could get annoying kinda fast.

Has this been there before and I just never noticed it?

Yes, but can you find my iPod Touch?

I don't think so. Fail. Well, win for everyone else in the world, fail for me. Stupid backwater CDMA-loving hick town....

Sixteen BEEL-ion Dollars!

Want some new RAM for your new computer? How much? How about 16 Billion GB. Yes, Snow Leopard will allow you to install four BILLION TIMES more RAM than the previous version.

Crucial.com, here I come....