Last night I wrote a rather length report on the Apple WWDC Preview
that was held in Brisbane. Unfortunately, when I clicked the submit
button ... at the same time, I lost my net connection (good ole
Telstra) and then couldn't go back without losing what I'd just typed.

Well I decided to make the site live this morning - so here it is. This
is the new site switched from Nucleus (Kubrick Theme) to Mambo
(Kubrick-ported Theme with Sikosis customizations). Whilst, I'm finding
Mambo pretty strange to get around, I'm still finding it pretty
customizable. It's just PHP and MySQL after all, but I find the loading
of components to be a complete pain in the ass.



As you'll see there is currently no News Archive, as there is no
component to do this in Mambo, pretty slack eh ? I found quite a few
people asking for the feature, with no responses, so I'll be working on
something that does the job soon. I'm also working on a component
maker, so that it make things easier when creating components, as I'll know doubt have to
create lots of them over the course of this year.

ColorWare has announced that starting March 14 it will sell colored Mac minis
as well as offer to add color to customers' existing computers. The
service will be US$99 whether it's added to a computer purchased from
ColorWare or performed on a computer sent to the company.




ColorWare will offer 20 shades to choose from and will service both the
1.25GHz and 1.42GHz versions of the Mac mini. The company already sells
colored iPods, iMac G5s, PowerBooks and iBooks and can add pigments to
existing MP3 players and computers. It describes its process as "a
hybrid between the manufacturing and automotive painting industry."

I've been looking at these new accessories from XtremeMac for the iPod shuffle, in particular, the Wrapz.
I think whilst it both adds colour to the shuffle, it also adds full
protection and helps to solve the lanyard issue, whereby anyone could
just rip the shuffle from around your neck. And I must say the AirPlay FM Transmitter for the shuffle is also looking very nice. Perfect if you need to take the shuffle in the car.



I've contacted the Australian reseller, Techlynx, but so far no response. (Updated 28/3: Still no response. Sheesh - still I've got the Airplay on order from Streetwise.)

Andrew Sullivan of the Times Online
writes "There were little white wires hanging down from their ears, or
tucked into pockets, purses or jackets. The eyes were a little vacant.
Each was in his or her own musical world, walking to their soundtrack,
stars in their own music video, almost oblivious to the world around
them. These are the iPod people."



"But what are we missing? That hilarious shard of an overheard
conversation that stays with you all day; the child whose chatter on
the pavement takes you back to your early memories; birdsong; weather;
accents; the laughter of others. And those thoughts that come not by
filling your head with selected diversion, but by allowing your mind to
wander aimlessly through the regular background noise of human and
mechanical life."



That's EXACTLY why I listen to choons, to drown out everyone else on
the train. I don't want to be at work thinking about the conversation
that a couple of school kids had ... and don't get me started on mobile
phone ringtones ...