Scott Yang's Playground

Apple Computer, founded on 1st of April 1976, has turned 30 today. A lot of change for a company in 30 years, wasn’t it? Especially for a technology company that leads the world in style and usability. One of my first few computing experience was Apple ][ at my uncle’s place when I was 8-9, [...]

MacRumours reports a Mac OS X box hacked in 30 minutes in a competition. Sounds like a local exploit to me, as hackers are free to create shell accounts on the box, although it tells nothing about how remotely-exploitable Mac OS X is. However (1) a local exploit with privileged escalation is still an exploit [...]

Conversation on ICQ this morning: Tim: new mac mini and ipod stereo! Scott: very sweet. was looking at it a few minutes ago. Tim: ho man… this ipod stereo is more affordable than the boss version… Tim: it connects to an airtune…. and control using computer… Scott: together with the new mac mini and a [...]

Camino 1.0 has been released. Best browser on a Mac — at least for those of us who stuck in older version of Mac OS X. And yeah, there is one more thing that Camino, the Gecko-based browser, kicks Safari 2.0′s ass — XUL.

MacSlash: Why Apple Really Ditched PowerPC. Because Intel can provide what Motorola/IBM cannot provide to Apple? It tells me nothing more than “Why I should no longer read MacSlash editorial”. And what stops Intel from also staling from its desktop CPU development? Better question to ask is — who will be the next chip maker [...]

What has been predicted is now here. iPod Nano now has a new member in the family — the junior 1Gb version that sells for AUD219 here in Australia. With 1,000 megabytes of storage that is capable of only storing 140 songs, the obvious question is why bother, when the cheaper iPod Shuffle 1Gb has [...]

TUAW: Common mistakes made by new Mac users, and I have seen #1 way too many times: they close an application’s windows thinking the program has quit. The same also applies to the “maximise” button, as it rarely go full-screen. My personal mistake #1 is, hitting Enter on Finder thinking that it is going to [...]

Google has announced Google Earth for Macintosh. Google Earth has to be one of the most interesting desktop application (read “time wasting”). Unfortunately it requires Mac OS X 10.4 (I only have Panther). Check my “geo.position” in this blog to see where I live!

There are a few annual events that are really influential in the tech world. MacWorld is one of them. Every year Steve Job’s Reality Distortion Field rocks Mac geeks, and this year is no exception. Here is the coverage. Software wise there are Mac OS X 10.4.4, iLife and iWork ’06. They bring in new [...]

Jason O’Grady of ZDNet exercised his foretelling ability on the up-coming MacWorld 2006. #3 — 1Gb iPod Nano (to replace the sold-out 1Gb Shuttle), #2 — Intel Mac Mini (another step to conquere the living room) #1 — Widescreen Intel iBook (13.3″ and dual-core Yonah). I would love to have the latest dual core Pentium [...]

Via MacSlash, Apple’s recent SEC filing stated that they felt being challenge by Linux and pirates. Not that the Penguins are pirates, of course, but it suggests that without Linux, Apple would be in a better position today. So what will happen next? Mac moved onto x86 platform? Almost done. Apple teams up with Microsoft [...]

Via Simon, iTunes Music Store might finally be available on 25 or 31 October for the Aussies, and tracks will range from 99cents to AUD$1.69. That is quite competible with other online music stores like BigPond or HMV. There has been quite a few false alarms before (Q1 2004, Q4 2004), and hopefully (finger crossed) [...]

Via MacRumors, Apple has just updated their iPod — which should probably be referred to as the “iPod Biggy” to distinguish between its smaller cousins (Nano and Shuffle). The new iPods can now play videos — that’s right. Why anyone would want to watch videos on that tiny 2.5 inch in 320×240 resolution is beyond [...]

Apple just released the new iPod Nano — solid state with 2/4Gb, measuring merely 24.8cm3, colour LCD, click wheel, and again very hip. Yeah! Just another thing that I want but would never need. $299 or $359 and it replaces the old aluminium-shielded iPod Mini. Now shall I wait for the iPod Pico? Here are [...]

No, it is not that mouse in superman suite, but a new pointing device released by Apple. What is different about the new Apple Mighty Mouse is its complexity hidden inside its simplicity. It is a complex pointing device. First of all, the most revolutionary from Apple, is that it has Two Buttons and a [...]