The Mac Observer

You'll get your Mac news here from now on.

Skip navigational links

Mac Observer Columns, Editorials & Opinions
We are proud to present to you the best editorial staff in the Mac community. Our columnists and contributing editors come from a variety of backgrounds and offer you a wide spectrum of perspectives.

Column Report for Year 2005

 

[Dec 07, 2005] Just a Peek - Grammar & Spelling, Part II: Grammarian Pro X - THE Writer's Tool
[Dec 02, 2005] Just a Thought - PC Stuff That should Be Mac Stuff
[Dec 02, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Warlords and iSquint
[Dec 02, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Who Kneads Spill Chicken?
[Dec 02, 2005] Just A Peek - Blackberry 7100g: The Adult Cell Phone
[Nov 30, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Nancy's (Alternate) Holiday Gift Guide
[Nov 28, 2005] Monday's Mac Gadget - Want to Use Gmail as a Disk? Try gDisk!
[Nov 23, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Improving on a Classic: Forgotten Hope
[Nov 18, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Teaching 400(+) People to Use a Mac
[Nov 18, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Order From Chaos: Delicious Library
[Nov 18, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Up Close & Personal with the New iMac G5
[Nov 11, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Enigma and Gypsy Mod
[Nov 07, 2005] Just a Thought - The Light Fantastic
[Nov 04, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Three System Preference Panes I'd Hate to Be Without
[Oct 31, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Review: iRemember Digital Scrapbooking
[Oct 31, 2005] Just a Peek - Scare Your Way to a Haunting with Ghost Master
[Oct 28, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Dope Wars and Battlefield Pirates
[Oct 21, 2005] Ted Landau's User Friendly View - Who'd Have Thunk It?
[Oct 21, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - What I Like About Microsoft Word...
[Oct 21, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - TeamSpeex and ScummVM
[Oct 20, 2005] Just a Thought - Conversations With Steve: 2 Minutes To Curtain...
[Oct 14, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Nancy's Guide to iChat (and Adium)
[Oct 14, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Desert Combat and Wesnoth
[Oct 13, 2005] Just a Thought - Apple's Seed
[Oct 13, 2005] Ihnatko - So: It's A Video iPod. Sweet!
[Oct 13, 2005] Ihnatko - How to Stuff a Wild iPod
[Oct 12, 2005] The Back Page - Bryan's Notes from the "One More Thing..." Media Event
[Oct 11, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Glider & Frag Ops
[Sep 30, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - The Letter Bag
[Sep 30, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Mods, Freebies and Meaningful Wastes of Time
[Sep 30, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Put a Tiger (Woods) in Your Mac
[Sep 27, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Mac OS X & the Intel Universe
[Sep 27, 2005] Just a Thought - The Continuing Curse Of Crud-Mail
[Sep 23, 2005] Ted Landau's User Friendly View - Navigating the Digital Keyboard Maze: Part II
[Sep 23, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - More OS X System Preferences
[Sep 21, 2005] Just a Thought - More Stores! Should We Worry?
[Sep 20, 2005] The Back Page - Apple Death Knell #47: Longhorn Will Spell Apple's Doom
[Sep 19, 2005] Just a Thought - No Boston? OK!
[Sep 16, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - World War II Online
[Sep 13, 2005] Just a Thought - Conversations With Steve: No, No Nano
[Sep 09, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Freeciv
[Sep 07, 2005] Just a Thought - Summer Pix
[Sep 06, 2005] Just a Thought - Random Giants
[Sep 02, 2005] Just a Peek - Life With The LifeDrive
[Sep 02, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Descent 2 Soars Again
[Aug 30, 2005] Just a Peek - Fun Four From Feral (Part IV): "Total Immersion Racing"
[Aug 29, 2005] Monday's Mac Gadget - Control Your OS X Applications with App Stop!
[Aug 26, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Avoiding Phishing Scams!
[Aug 26, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Myth Lives on through Project Magma
[Aug 24, 2005] Ted Landau's User Friendly View - Navigating the Digital Keyboard Maze: Part I
[Aug 19, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Marathon Redux
[Aug 19, 2005] Just a Thought - Keeping the Apple Smelling Sweet
[Aug 19, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Weekend Update(s): PlayDock MP3 & Isolator Earphones
[Aug 12, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Tiger System Preferences
[Aug 12, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - CTMod: A World of Warcraft Mod
[Aug 12, 2005] Just a Thought - It's Good to be Human
[Aug 05, 2005] Just a Thought - TPM? Get A Grip!
[Aug 05, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Lazy Summer Days
[Aug 05, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Hands on with Mighty Mouse
[Jul 29, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Keep Frequently Used Disks Organized with Disk-it
[Jul 29, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - Upgrades, Filial Combat and Everything In Between
[Jul 29, 2005] Just a Peek - Fun Four From Feral (Part III): "Rayman 3"
[Jul 28, 2005] Just a Thought - I like Podcasts, Honest!
[Jul 27, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Playing Dominoes On Your Mac
[Jul 22, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Two New Products That Make GarageBand Even Better
[Jul 22, 2005] The Slacker's Guide - The Slacker's Guide to Shareware Gaming
[Jul 18, 2005] Ted Landau's User Friendly View - Apple's $440 Piece of Plastic
[Jul 08, 2005] Just a Peek - Fun Four From Feral (Part II): "XIII"
[Jul 07, 2005] Just a Peek - Fun Four From Feral (Part I): Worms 3D
[Jul 01, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - A Crossword Game for your Mac
[Jul 01, 2005] Just a Thought - The Last Flight Of the Star Raider? (Part II)
[Jul 01, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Ears to You: Five Sets of Earphones/Headphones Compared
[Jun 24, 2005] Frameline - The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly Duckling: Pro Export FCP & Avid
[Jun 24, 2005] Just a Thought - The Last Flight Of the Star Raider? (Part I)
[Jun 22, 2005] Just a Thought - Pondering Apple Portmanteaus
[Jun 22, 2005] Simon Says - Why Intel? Why Now?
[Jun 21, 2005] Just a Thought - Ch-Ch-Changes
[Jun 20, 2005] Frameline - New Wireless A/V Devices Save Time & Money
[Jun 17, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Ultimate Gift Guide for Dads & Grads 2005
[Jun 14, 2005] Ted Landau's User Friendly View - Road Trips with your iPod
[Jun 10, 2005] The Devil's Advocate - Mac Punditry: Deranged and Dumb on any Processor
[Jun 10, 2005] Just a Thought - Warming Up To Cold Fusion
[Jun 07, 2005] Just a Thought - Just a Thought - Decisions, Decisions...
[Jun 06, 2005] The Devil's Advocate - Steve Meets Osborne, Again!
[Jun 06, 2005] The Back Page - Pre-Keynote Thoughts on Apple Moving to Intel
[Jun 03, 2005] Frameline - Film Is Dead at the Hands of the Sith
[May 31, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Nancy's Tiger Thoughts for the Bifocal Crowd
[May 31, 2005] Just a Thought - Scan of the Beholder
[May 27, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - Get Out and Vote (for products you want me to review)
[May 26, 2005] Just a Thought - Good Apple: Bad Apple
[May 24, 2005] iPontificate - My Favorite Things About Tiger
[May 20, 2005] Frameline - First Hand Look at Final Cut Studio New Features & Demo
[May 17, 2005] This Week in Apple History - Apple III & AppleLink introduced, iPod Division Created
[May 11, 2005] The Back Page - Apple Death Knell #46: Folly Will Be Apple's Demise
[May 09, 2005] This Week in Apple History - Lisa Canceled, Exponential Closes, OS X Born
[May 06, 2005] Frameline - 10 Basic Film Production Terms & Definitions
[May 06, 2005] Just a Thought - Tale of Two Tigers
[May 06, 2005] iPontificate - Sue You, Sue Me Blues
[May 04, 2005] User Friendly View - Tiger: Because It's Worth It
[Apr 29, 2005] Tiger on TMO - Dr. Mac's Tiger Install Tips & Cool Widgets
[Apr 29, 2005] Tiger on TMO - Ihnatko's Tiger Report: Safari
[Apr 29, 2005] Tiger on TMO - Ihnatko's Tiger Report: iChat 3
[Apr 29, 2005] Tiger on TMO - Ihnatko's Tiger Report: Dashboard
[Apr 29, 2005] Tiger on TMO - Ihnatko's Tiger Report: Automator
[Apr 29, 2005] Tiger on TMO - Ihnatko's Tiger Report: Spotlight
[Apr 29, 2005] Tiger on TMO - Ihnatko's Tiger Report: Introductions
[Apr 29, 2005] Just a Thought - Advertise, Please!
[Apr 28, 2005] Just a Thought - Confused Over Tiger And Tiger Direct? So Am I
[Apr 27, 2005] The Back Page - Paul Thurrott Re-raises Specter of Apple Switching to Intel
[Apr 25, 2005] The Back Page - Microsoft VP on Longhorn: "It Just Works"
[Apr 25, 2005] This Week in Apple History - HP Frees Woz, Lisa Discontinued, iTMS Launched
[Apr 22, 2005] Just a Thought - The Chip of Life
[Apr 22, 2005] Frameline - Editor Pet Peeves for Indy Filmmakers
[Apr 19, 2005] This Week in Apple History - Apple IIc Beats Mac, Mission: Impossible, & 5 Million iMacs
[Apr 04, 2005] This Week in Apple History - April 1 - 10: Apple Founded, John Sculley Chooses Change, Irony
[Mar 29, 2005] Just a Thought - Is Apple Fostering The Criminal Element?
[Mar 24, 2005] Frameline - A Power Mac G5 at Ground Zero of Austin Art Blaze
[Mar 18, 2005] Just a Thought - Leeches
[Mar 18, 2005] Computing with Bifocals - Four Cool Web Sites
[Mar 16, 2005] The Back Page - Dvorak: Apple Lawsuits are Threat to Free Press
[Mar 14, 2005] The Back Page - Death Knell #45: Apple Will Dump Macs in Five Years
[Mar 11, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - (More) Texas Hold 'Em Anyone?
[Mar 11, 2005] Frameline - Harvest Of Redemption Gets The da Vinci Treatment
[Mar 08, 2005] Just a Thought - Blackberry and Bluetooth
[Feb 25, 2005] Just a Thought - Is Dell Dissing Its Customers?
[Feb 24, 2005] Frameline - Filmmaker Gives Sundance Wrap Up Of "Oh My God"
[Feb 24, 2005] Just a Thought - So Ends The PDA Fad
[Feb 11, 2005] Just A Thought - The IBM/SCO Range War
[Jan 28, 2005] This Week In Apple History - January 20-31: Mr. Spindler Goes To Cupertino, Pixar Disney Spat
[Jan 28, 2005] Just a Thought - Mac Backer
[Jan 26, 2005] Just a Thought - Many Ways To Ditch Your PC
[Jan 21, 2005] Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves - What's New in GarageBand 2
[Jan 21, 2005] The Devil's Advocate - Apple Patents Exposé & iTMS UI: Part Patent, Part Speculation
[Jan 21, 2005] iPontificate - Hello, New iMac Over Here!
[Jan 20, 2005] Just a Thought - The iPod "Fad"
[Jan 14, 2005] Ihnatko - Mac minis, Airport Stories, & a Top 10 List
[Jan 14, 2005] Just a Thought - Conversations With Steve
[Jan 12, 2005] The Back Page - Motley Fool: Apple Is *Still* Rotten, So There!
[Jan 12, 2005] Ihnatko - Thoughts on the Keynote
[Jan 07, 2005] Just a Thought - Econo-Mac Revisited
[Jan 03, 2005] This Week In Apple History - January 1-10: eWorld, Cloning Begins, Gil Puts 'Em To Sleep, & iPod mini
[Jan 03, 2005] The Back Page - IBM: The NeXT Mac Cloner?
 
Reports for Other Years: 2005  2004  2003  2002  2001  2000  1999  

TMO's Regular Columns

Dr. Mac: Rants & Raves
Bob "Dr. Mac" LeVitus has been a Macintosh user for a long, long time and has written 47 computer books including Mac OS X For Dummies, Panther Edition.

Contact


Ihnatko
Andy Ihnatko digs the Mac, and has been writing about the Mac for longer than most of us could tell the difference between a bite of Apple Sauce from a byte of Apple code. You can read his monthly column at Macworld magazine, and his blog at the Colossal Waste of Bandwidth.

Contact


Ted Landau's User Friendly View
Ted Landau is the founder of MacFixit, and the author of Mac OS X Help Line, Tiger Edition and other Mac help books. In his column, Ted looks for the user-friendly approach to making the most of your Mac and iPod.

Contact


The title of this column, "The Devil's Advocate", really says it all. John Kheit is an attorney, and he often takes a critical (some might say an overly critical) look at the issues. Also, John has unearthed some rather interesting developments from Apple and Microsoft alike.

Contact


Just A Thought is Vern Seward's editorial cyber-home. Vern is an IT guy, though his columns run the gamut from spam, to Steve Jobs, to Biofuel Cells, to the iTMS, to just how much AppleWorks sucks (and everything in between)

Contact


The Back Page is the space that Bryan Chaffin carved out for his own thoughts. He suffers from the delusion that there are folks out there who care what he has to say. Topics include just about anything related to the Mac market.

Contact


iPontificate marks the kick-butt return of Gary Randazzo to the pages of The Mac Observer. One of TMO's earliest columnists, along with his writing partner Randy Soare in Wasting Time with the Idiots, Gary turns his attention in his new column to the latest news and events in the Mac community.

Contact


Frameline is written by professional film maker Mike Washlesky, and follows trends, news, and other issues important to the Digital Video market

Contact


This Week in Apple History looks back at more than 30 years of history relating to Apple and the Mac industry. Cowritten by Owen Linzamyer, the author of Apple Confirdential 2.0, and Bryan Chaffin, this series sinks itself deep into the roots of the phenomenon known as Apple.

Contact
Contact


Computing With Bifocals is aimed at the generation that remembers what the world was like before there was color, Nancy Carroll Gravley covers issues for people who don't care how their computer works, but rather what their computer and the internet can do for them.

Contact


Reality Check is TMO's political-style cartoon taking a critical look at the tech industry. Created by Cory Harrison (art and ideas) and Bryan Chaffin (ideas), this cartoon pokes fun at the things that need poking.

Contact

Contact


Past TMO Columns

Additional Perspectives

Recent Headlines - Updated Saturday, December 10th, 2005

Sat., 11:15 AM
TMO To Go Podcast - Weekly Roundup: Dec. 9th, 2005
Fri., 7:55 PM
iPod Drives Global Chip Sales Up
7:00 PM
Google Earth beta for Mac OS X leaked
2:00 PM
Review - PowerBlock
1:15 PM
Apple Hot Deals Update For ClubMac, MacMall, PowerMax
12:00 PM
Mac Gaming News - Gamepedia: Mac Game Database
10:50 AM
nGenuity Pledges Apple Safari, Firefox Support
10:10 AM
Apple/Sirius Deal Unlikely
9:10 AM
Analysts: 5G iPod Matching nano Sales
7:50 AM
OmniGraffle 4.1 Adds Intel Support
12:00 AM
System Utility iPulse Adds Support for Intel Processors
 
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Ramjet Ramjet Memory: Sale! PowerMac G5 DDR2 - 1Gig for $99, 2Gigs for $199! PowerBook G4 DDR2 - 512mb for $59, 1Gig for $99!
  • Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
  • Memory To Go Special: New G5 DDR2 2GB Kit $172 1GB Kit $90.00 | New P. Book DDR2 1GB $87 512mb $47.00 | G5 DDR400 2GBKit $192 1GB kit $96 | Power Book G4 / iBook G4: 1GB $128, 512mb $52 | Mac Mini / Imac G5: 1GB $96 512mb $48 | G4 PC133: 512mb $74 256mb $32 | Flat Imac / Titanium: 512mb $96 256mb $39 | Hard Drives AVAILABLE
  • Other World Computing: The Right Memory for your Mac backed by OWC's LifeTime Advance Replacement Warranty! PowerMac G4 PC100,133 256MB $32 512MB $79.99; PowerMac & iMac G5: 1GB $109 2GB $249; PowerBook & iBook G4 512MB $49.99; 1GB from $129
  • New G5/ iMac DDR2 1GB $89.00/ 2GB KIT $169.00 New P.B. DDR2 SO DIMM 1GB $85 / 512MB $45.00 G5 DDR400 2/4GB KIT $179 / 359 P.B./iBook DDR 333 1GB SO Dimm $125 MacMini 1GB $89.00/ iMac G5 $89.00 P.B/iBook Cooling Fan $29.00 Hitachi 80 GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache $175.00 - Click to Maximize your Macs...
  • MacPoker101 - Play poker on your Mac. The definitive guide to Mac poker. Your gateway to the best Mac-friendly poker rooms. Click 2 join the action!