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October 24th through 31st Archives

Thursday, October 31st 2002 09:43 CST

Titanium Paint Alternative

Reader Dave sent in a cheaper alternative to buying from a site like TiPaint.com:

Regarding the TiPaint controversy: Has anyone considered just walking into their nearest hardware/hobby/department/dime store and picking out a little bottle of appropriately colored model paint? These run maybe two or three bucks, come in a wide selection of metallic colors and shades, and will do the job as well as any 'specialty' product -- maybe better. One can even get paint 'markers'.

For those who must buy via the web (though it seems the best solution would be to carry the powerbook into the store and compare the color directly), I just picked this one using Google: http://www.testors.com/Categories.asp?cat%5fid=37&act%5fID=4&exp%5fid=

Another idea would be to check the automotive section for car touch-up paints.

More Mac Sightings

Eagle-eyed readers continue to spot Macs around:

Regarding Mac sightings, I hope by now someone has mentioned Martha Stewart. Her show is 'littered' with top end Mac stuff from iMacs to Ti G4 PowerBooks. My wife said she saw Martha herself using a Pismo(?) PowerBook (at least that is what it looked like to her). The magazine "Martha Stewart Living" ALWAYS carries either an Apple 2-page spread ad in the front few pages, or a single back cover ad. Prime placement. It is very obvious Martha & Co. support Mac, ..and that's a good thing! (It sure helps to have a PowerBook-savvy wife with a sharp eye!)

Ikea dumped all Mac presence not only from the 2003 catalogue, but also from its store here in Toronto. Yes, I would say it safe to assume that HP paid big-time for that product placement. Oh, that stuff is so ugly!

Just thought you may like to know...for what it's worth! 

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I was wondering (as I've never noticed it in the zone) if anyone has noted the comic column "Non Sequitur" often features Apple products. (Of note, good and decent characters -or the lovable, though not so nice- tend to have Macs, where unscrupulous CEO types tend to have beige boxes.)

http://www.non-sequitur.com

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On the inner sleeve of the Coldplay album the band is sitting around a Ti book jamming or recording.

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On the Howard Stern radio show this morning, Howard asked Tim Allen of "Home Improvement" about any of his indulgences. Tim said he was a computer geek who buys every new Apple computer for his office. His Web site, www.timallen.com, doesn't mention Macs specifically (the "About the Site" page is coming soon), but he does have a section about his passion for design (see Inside Tim's Head | Passion | Design).

Dell to Become Latest iPod Reseller

Hot on the heels of chains Best Buy and Target, Dell has emerged as the latest reseller of Apple's iPod MP3 player. It's a little odd, but News.com confirms Apple's biggest brand-name rival is selling Windows versions of the iPod on its phone ordering system in addition to right here.on its website.

Apple's going to turn into a MP3 player company that sells computers on th side with the success of the iPod.

Tuesday, October 29th 2002 10:39 CST

Editorial Note

A reader sent the following concern:

Would you mind either putting a note about the Bali bombing giving more info about what happened, or removing that post entirely? There were almost 200 people killed that night, including 10 members from my rugby club, 3 players that I knew directly. It doesn't seem appropriate that the incident be the source of a Mac sighting story without a mention of the people who lost their lives.

We assumed that because the reader's email yesterday began with "The explosions in Bali, Indonesia, were widely reported in all print and broadcast media around Australia..." that that was enough explanation of the context of the situation. Regardless, we've posted the above email to make sure everyone understands the gravity of the situation.

Not all Mac "sightings" are on some meaningless TV show. As we all know too well, Macs are serious tools. The "sighting" yesterday illustrates that Macs are used in the most serious of situations because they're reliable and powerful.

TiPaint.com

In the past, we've linked to TiPaint.com as an outlet to buy "touch up" paint for the Titanium G4. However, we received the following (somewhat hard to read) email a week or so ago:

I finally decided to order the TiPaint touch-up kit (combo) for my new PowerBook G4 from tipaint.com after the recommendation of an Apple employee at my local Apple Store (since Apple does not offer such a product in their stores, even though most PowerBook G4's paint chip after a while you like it or not) and after reading about this product in this web site (a while ago). BAD IDEA !!!!! I ordered this item 10 days ago and selected the expedited shipping option for an additional charge. But guess what ??? No package has been received and I strongly believe that no package was sent either. I also sent 2 emails to both email addresses listed in that web site (support & sales) with no response for over a week now. No phone number is listed either. My last email, 5 days ago, warned that God make it a business that if I did not hear from their Customer Support or received my order within 2-3 days I was going to report them for starters to my Credit Card's Fraud department as well to different web sites (pbzone, powerpage, etc). Here we go then. If that web site/business is not "mambo-jumbo", then they have by far the worst customer service (no response to 2 emails for over a week) and shipping process (no package either in 10 days) that I have ever experience. BEWARE !!!!! Has anybody else had a similar problems with TiPaint.com

Then I suggest that you take a look at the following link :

http://www.macintouch.com/pbg4reader13.html#oct10

Then you can ss for yourself that I am not the only one with the problem.

I have been having a problem with TiPaint, and a google search took me to an older archive of yours (http://www.pbzone.com/archive/0402_16thru23.shtml) ... Have you heard of others having a problem with them? They charged my credit card but never shipped the paint and refuse to reply to emails, and they have no phone listing at the address listed on their web site. Any advice?

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I got tipaint from this website about 2 months - very sketchy. I received no notification that my order had been placed and after about two to three weeks I wrote to them. They never responded so after about 3 days I wrote to them again, still no response. Finally, after about a week of no response I figured it was a scam and they had already charged my credit card. So, I wrote to them again with a serious email explaining that I now realize they are a scam website and was going to report them to the net police / authorities and they better pack their bags. I got a response that same day, saying that they are legitimate and were sited in mac addict as "a useful tool" (ok?). So, I wrote back and told them about my order, that I havn't received and havn't even gotten a confirmation. No one responded! So, the next day I wrote back again saying that I can't be fooled and that now I'm certain that it's a scam, and vuala, they reponded again and said they would be sure and ship my order out today and were very sorry for the delay. I received it a week later. Final thought? They are questionably legitimate, the touch up paint is really not very good and VERY noticeable with real toothpick applicators, and if you want to get a response from them you better write to them like your the cops and the gig is up! I DO NOT RECOMMEND.

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i got it, but was very disappointed with the stuff... i wouldn't recommend it!

If you've already ordered and have not received your product after a substantial period, challenge the charge with your credit card. If you have received your product, you can attempt to return it, but we doubt you'd be successful in recovering any money.

Monday, October 28th 2002 14:58 CST

iBook Sighting in Bali

Reader Michael sent in this interesting Mac sighting:

The explosions in Bali, Indonesia, were widely reported in all print and broadcast media around Australia.

The Australian Federal Police (AFP - an FBI equivalent) are jointly doing the crime-scene and forensic investigation with Indonesian national police under a bilateral treaty, signed explicitly for this investigation. This is a quite unusual transnational boundary cooperative effort.

Last week an evening TV news broadcast on the main public network (ABC - our Australian Broadcasting Corporation, similar to PBS) showed members of the AFP in their hotel suite which had been turned into an operations and investigation headquarters.

Alongside microscopes and electronic whiteboards covered with notes and flowcharts there were portable PCs.

Amongst which there were at least three IceBooks.

Accelerate Your Mac! Covers Dual Display iBook Modification

Accelerate Your Mac! has a page with information on a reader-supplied modification that allows dual display support on ATI Radeon Mobility-equipped iBooks. Check it out here. If you're interested in performing this modification, we suggest reading the page thoroughly and making sure you have one of the iBooks capable of benefiting from the mod.

TiPaint.com Info Request

If you've ordered touch up paint from TiPaint.com and have successfully received your order in the last month, we'd like to know about it. Please send a short note that you've placed a successful order there to info@pbzone.com.

Friday, October 25th 2002 09:08 CDT

Hess Party List, Other MW Comments By Ilene

Ilene Hoffman's bi-annual Macworld party list is in the works for San Francisco. Here's the details:

The Hess Macworld Events List for San Francisco 2003 is being prepared. It should be up in the next two weeks. Please send user events, parties, press events and any other listings as soon as you can to events@ilenesmachine.com. Banner ad opportunities are also available.

http://www.ilenesmachine.com/partylist.shtml - Macworld Events List

There is a Macworld Expo discussion item on MacFixIt.com Forums on the IDG vs Apple mess concerning Macworld Boston! (http://www.macfixitforums.com/php/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=macworld)

The number of vendors has dropped by half since the show moved to New York, so a move to the cheaper and friendlier Boston makes a lot of sense. This allows me to host my debriefing barbeque after the show as I did the last two Boston shows too! Remember, I also offer free housing to people who need it for Boston.

You can hear my interview on Online Tonight about Macworld Boston, just go to: http://www.online-tonight.com/index.html and click on October 21st on the calendar to access the archives. Windows Media Player required... ugh.)

Un-Mac Sightings

Reader Tod sends in a unique non-sighting:

I noticed that Macs are almost completely missing from the 2003 IKEA catalog. In the past iMacs and PowerBooks have been sprinkled liberally throughout the catalog, which made sense since the slick designs go well with IKEA's merchandise.

But now almost all those Macs have been replaced by really ugly and awkward-looking HPs. The worst offense is on a new page showing all the computer desks in a single spread. It looks like an ad for HP. I suspect that the one or two pages still showing Macs must have been old photos.

I think HP must have paid for this, since no one would think that those ugly things could make the IKEA furniture look better.

Apple to Sell iPod at Target

According to this News.com article, Apple's bringing the iPod even closer to the masses by dealing with Target. Apparently some of the Target stores already have the MP3 player on hand. The article further speculates that Apple may be able to sell "half a million" of the devices this quarter.