Apple retail stores coming to Canada

"The next round of Apple's international retail store experiment is set to touchdown in Canada, according to sources with ties to the company's retail division," Katie Marsal reports for AppleInsider.

Marsal reports, "Plans to launch at least two stores in the Toronto, Ontario area are said to be underway, with Apple representatives actively seeking additional locations in and outside of the province."

Apple posts iPod mini Software 1.0

Apple has released iPod mini Software 1.0, a utility for "Updating" or "Restoring" software on the iPod mini

REALbasic 5.5 adds Linux, enhances Mac support

REAL Software Inc. on Wednesday released REALbasic 5.5, the latest version of their cross-platform development environment. The addition of Linux to the list of supported platforms is a major addition in this release but is by no means the only change, according to company president and CEO Geoff Perlman.
The news release boost over 100 new or improuved functions.

Apple due in London court to contest Beatles lawsuit

It's a litigious week for Apple and the music industry -- first Eminem, now the Beatles. Bloomberg reports that Apple is expected back in London's High Court on Wednesday to contest a lawsuit brought forth by Apple Corps Ltd., the company owned by the four members of the Beatles and their families.

Latest Mydoom variant deletes files

The latest variant of the Windows Mydoom virus, discovered Friday, is still spreading and actively deleting files from victims' computers, security researchers warned Wednesday. The variant, dubbed Mydoom.F, not only tries to perform a distributed denial-of-service attack on the Web sites of Microsoft Corp. and the Recording Industry Association of America, but has a destructive payload that deletes document and picture files, according to researchers at Helsinki's F-Secure Corp.

Stone Design Ships TrueBlue 2.0

Stone Design, veteran Macintosh OS X software house and makers of Stone Studio(tm), today announced immediate availability of TrueBlue(tm) 2.0. TrueBlue is a free application to quickly convert TrueType and OpenType fonts to PostScript(tm) fonts and install them into Stone Design's PStill(tm). PStill is Stone's PostScript to PDF (Portable Document Format) distillery which converts PS/EPS/any image format into PDF, as well as repurposing PDF, tiling posters, chaining documents or flattening PS.

TrueBlue installs TrueType and PS-flavored OpenType fonts into PStill as well as providing an expert interface for detailed font conversion. Stone Design's founder and CEO, Andrew Stone, notes, "TrueBlue lets users take full advantage of PStill, even if they don't have any PostScript Type 1 fonts. Continuing our tradition of offering utility programs for free, the application costs you nothing, and adds great value to the Stone Studio."

TrueBlue can convert most TrueType fonts, such as the ones provided by Apple in Mac OS X's /System/Library/Fonts folder or in Mac OS 9's System Folder/Fonts folder. The TrueBlue engine is based on ttf2pt by Mark Heath, ttf2pfa by Andrew Weeks, with special tweaks by Frank M. Siegert and fixes from Sergey Babkin and Thomas Henlich. Better support for dfonts comes from fondu by George Williams, and the ability to read OpenType fonts from Eddie Kohler's ccttot1. See "About TrueBlue" for complete information on the engine.

According to company spokesperson, Katie Graunke, "TrueBlue was originally code named 'TrueBlue' - and since we couldn't think of a better name, it stuck! TrueBlue gives PStill users an even greater range of document conversion options, with more accurate font conversions."

TrueBlue 2.0 is available as a free download:
http://homepage.mac.com/stone_design/.cv/stone_design/Public/TrueBlue-2004-02-24.dmg-link.dmg

For more information, please visit the TrueBlue home page:
http://www.stone.com/TrueBlue/

iTunes-Pepsi promo hacked

News.com reports that iTunes users have "hacked" a high-profile Pepsi promotion aimed at giving away 100 million songs through special codes marked on the underside of bottle caps. "It is not only possible to pick out winning bottles in advance; careful scrutiny can reveal the full 10-digit redemption code, meaning no purchase is required to get a free iTunes single courtesy of Pepsi.

Apple PowerBook G5 to debut no 'later than July or August

Motorola on Monday announced a faster PowerPC chip that could be used in speedier Apple Computer laptops," Ina Fried reports for CNET News.com. "Motorola said it is now producing samples of a 1.42GHz PowerPC processor, a chip analysts say might soon find its way into the PowerBook, Apple's high-end laptop. Motorola said the chip has a typical power consumption of less than 20 watts, a level that makes it suitable for laptops. The chip also contains multimedia instructions.

Toon Boom Studio 2.5 beta due Feb. 25

Toon Boom Studio 2.5 beta due Feb. 25

Toon Boom Technologies will release a public beta of Toon Boom Studio 2.5 for the Mac on Feb.25

Apple releases iSight 1.0.2 update

Apple last week released an update to the software that powers its iSight video camera. The new version is available for download from the Software Update system preference pane.

Tokyo museum begins iPod audio guide service

Tokyo's Mori Art Museum has begun an audio guide service using Apple Inc.'s iPod digital audio players. Visitors to the museum can borrow for no charge one of 20 iPods and listen to an audio guide of a current exhibition, which includes interviews with the creators and artists behind some of the pieces of art on display, said Michiko Nakatani, a spokeswoman for Apple Japan.

Apple releases Security Update 2004-02-23

Apple on Monday offered Security Update 2004-02-23, the latest update to Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther." The new update can be downloaded and installed using the Software Update System Preferences pane.