When the infamous MacBook Pro was released to the masses back at the start of the year, it was housed in a very fetching aluminium case, gained somewhat from its predecessor. When the MacBook was released recently, that too supported a 'newish' case, which gained popularity thanks to its slimline appearance, and its choice of white and black. We have now learned that the new release of the PowerMac will be housed within a newly designed case.

The new case will be different enough to allow instant distinction between the PowerPC and Intel Core Duo variants. Together with the cases, there will be a few choices on which processors to adopt. The new Intel Core Duo will be available for the PowerMac with 2 chips, A.K.A. Quad-core platform. It is not known whether the PowerMac will adopt the soon-to-be released Core Duo 2 chip, codenamed Conroe. The mobile variant is not expected till Fall.

The MacBook Pro will also have a new case for its range. However rumour has it that this will not be released till the system adopts the Intel Core Duo 2 chip, codenamed Merom. We would hope that issues are fixed in the new case release including heat expulsion.

Tech guy Tom Ierna is the proud owner of an Apple eMac. When he found out that his beloved eMac's analog board was in need of replacement, and that a new one would cost a whopping $500 (and, in addition, that his machine couldn't qualify for Apple's warranty repair extension), he began to consider drastic measures.

Ierna spotted a Samsung 17" flatscreen monitor and came up with the bright idea of replacing the eMac's problematic old CRT with an LCD, which would allow him to bypass that faulty analog board and give his eMac a new lease on life. And his hard work paid off! His modded eMac's a beaut!

He's posted an illustrated procedure on his blog, which I've condensed and summarized for your viewing pleasure.

We all have them - files on our shared Mac that is, frankly, nobody's business. Maybe it's sensitive financial data, or some proprietary information. Perhaps it's your new novel or screenplay. Or...'fess up, you downloaded some (*ahem*) "erotic" materials...no big deal, right? That is, until a friend, co-worker, boss or significant other runs across it...

"That's what 'permissions' are for," you're saying. Sometimes. The problem is, when your user is compromised and someone else is on your computer - or you just loaned your MacBook to a co-worker to view her webmail - "permissions" would have to lock you out of the folder in order to work properly.

Here are some tips to help keep your private files private:

• Create a New User for the purpose of hiding your private files. This will put a new password in place and a new home directory hierarchy for data storage. Hide the User, and no-one's the wiser...and enabling Fast User Switching allows one to go back and forth as you like. You can also make a "Guest Account" for other users and flip over to that before handing over your Mac.

• Create "Dot" Folders. Files that start with a dot (".") are hidden by default in Unix-based OS X.  There are many ways for someone to discover these, of course, but they would have to go to some lengths to find them. The procedure: in Terminal, create a folder with a name that starts with a dot (like .MySecretStuff). In the finder, select Go>Go to Folder...enter ~/.MySecretStuff, and voilá! Put your secret files in the folder, close the window, and your secrets are safe. CAVEAT: The Finder remembers your last entry in the "Go To Folder..." window, so when you're finished, you'll need to open it again and tell it to go to your home folder by entering "~ Return" (without the quotes).

• Encrypt Your Disk Images: This hides your files from Spotlight searches and prying eyes, and encrypts the data on-disk in such a way that "data recovery monkeys" cannot recover it. Just make sure you have good back-ups. If you're running Panther or later, you can create an alias to reference inside disk images. Put your secret data in an encrypted disk image, make an alias outside of it, then start the associated application with the alias. You'll get the password first.

• Package Files. Put your sensitive data inside a large file package like iDVD.  Make sure its in a Contents folder, then stuff your DMG inside the Resourced folder. Make sure you set the locked flag on the folder/DMG afterwards so updates error out upon removal. When it comes to the Documents folder, you can create an RTFD with false data using TextEdit, then save it in your Documents folder with an innocuous name like "kung-pao chicken recipe," then close it. Open its package, then drop in the files you want to hide. Make sure you lock the file so its not accidentally deleted.

• Use Remote File Share. The best place to hide sensitive data is not on your own computer, but some other place to which only you have access. (Don't use iDisk - too risky.) If you have access to another machine and connect over AFP as "Guest," you can access everyone's Public folder. If you are Authenticated, you have the full home.  Drop in your files; the data is no longer on your machine, and no-one will have access to it unless you forget and leave Sharing on. A variation of this is to stash it on your iPod using "Disk Mode."

If all else fails, remember that humans tend to see what they expect to see. Sometimes the best hiding place is right out in the open, in plain sight. Particularly in most work places, people tend to "zone out" and go on auto-pilot. They log on to your computer, see the usual mundane titles in the Document folders, ignore them and move on. Put your sensitive files inside several nested folders, like AAPL2006Q2/Raw_Data/SecretStash.dmg. Throw in a few dummy Excel and CSV files into the root folder, and most busybodies won't give it a second glance. While it's fun to be less obvious by being less obvious, however, don't get careless. Drop your folder in the System/Library somewhere. Spotlight doesn't index items in the System folder.

The latest advice to all you college-bound freshmen: if you have any choice in the matter, go with an Apple.  According to a recent article in BusinessWeek magazine, both laptop and desktop models combine the best features while offering exceptional user-friendliness, all at a reasonable cost. The best reason - Apple constantly works to improve their operating system and bundled software, while the Windows OS seems to be spinning its wheels.

Recently, I became frustrated with the Mac because, as I began doing more work on the Web, I discovered - as many did under OS9 and below - that the Internet was not a particularly Mac-friendly place. Crashes and freezes were all-too-frequent,  whereas the Windows OS could take you almost anywhere online.

Apple's latest operating system, OSX, has addressed many of those issues. At worst, if one application crashes, it no longer brings down the entire machine. Additionally, new Intel-based Apple hardware has allowed it to perform on a par with HP and Dell machines, while the new Boot Camp application allows one to boot up their Mac from Windows.

Now, if budget is a serious consideration, it is true that a high-end Windows system can be purchased for less than the cheapest Apple system - and if you're a hard-core gamer, you'll definitely want to go in that direction. However, if you're looking for a quality, high-end computing system that will handle a wide range of academic and artistic applications  for the length for your college career, give the Mac a serious look.

Accommodating users of its Office Software for the Macintosh, Microsoft last Tuesday unveiled their Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac. Included in this desktop set is a high definition laser mouse that lets you work tangle free, along with a Magnifier, that works just like a magnifying glass that is held up to your computer screen. With a simple press and hold motion, the Magnifier enlarges the area of your screen that fits inside the lens.

Your hands and wrist rest naturally on the Comfort Curve keyboard that was customized with Mac-specific keys and easily programmable hot keys. Also, zoom in quickly and accurately with the intuitive Zoom Slider, useful when touching up small details in photos like red eye, then zoom out to view the entire imageÂ?without taking your hand off the keyboard.

Additional Features:

• Customizable Buttons
• Sophisticated Finish
• 4-Way Scrolling
• Unique Style
• Cutting-Edge Design
• 4-Way Scrolling

The Redmond, Wash., company said it is street-pricing its Wireless Laser Desktop for Mac at $99.95 and it will be available this summer.

We may not be seeing cheap Apple laptops in this lifetime, but we'll surely get a new low-cost Mac computer before the year ends. Apple has been working feverishly on the design of a new computer that will serve as a replacement for the now defunct eMac line. Believe it or not, the low-cost Mac might just see the light of day in time for the educational buying season. With this move, Apple hopes to strengthen its position in the education sector.

People who are familiar with Apple's product roadmap believe that the new educational computer will follow the design pattern similar to the LCD-based iMac Core Duo desktops. So it seems we'll be seeing more Intel-based Macs in Apple's arsenal.

Apple's educational channels sales have shown a 16% increase in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2005, but the company continues to lag behind several competitors in the educational sector.

Apple will save on freight and packaging costs by using the new iMac design as a blueprint for the eMac replacement. It's also believed that the Mac will borrow industry standard components already used by Mac Mini and MacBook line of consumer PCs.

Om Malik started another meme recently.  This time it's something I feel like jumping at - 10 Mac apps.  I feel like a great application is one that you forget is third party software - it just blends into the background.  Here are 10 apps I can't live without on my Mac - and they definitely feel like a part of the operating system.

(In no particular order)
Super Duper! - Backups are a necessary evil.  Super Duper! makes backing up your system simple and easy. 
Desktop Manager - Hands down, my favorite virtual desktop app.  The development support is virtually dead, but it remains better than the rest of the pack - at least in my opinion.
Quicksilver - If I were stranded on an island, Quicksilver would be the one thing I could bring with me.  Seriously.  It's that great.
Sidenote - Record quick notes for yourself in a simple, roll-away note window.
AdiumX - A multi chat account client.  Tons of customizable options.  Very solid.  A pleasure to use if you IM a lot.
Sidetrack - [This is a bonus thrown in for the iBook and PowerBook users.]  Setup vertical and side scrolling.  Assign trackpad tap as  "right click", assign tappable corners, etc.  It's the two finger  scroll that newer PowerBooks offer, on steroids.
Snapz Pro X - OS X has some great screen capture options built in, but if you want to take it to the next level, try Snapz Pro X.  You'll also get the ability to create movies of your desktop use.
Transmit - There are free ftp apps out there for the mac - I've used them all.  But Transmit is definitely the most polished and complete.  Gotta love any ftp program that sports tabs.
Audio Hijack Pro - Hijacks and records any audio that comes from your Mac.  Great for recording music, movie clips, or backing up old tape or vinyl too.
Forty-TwoDVD-VXPlus - Yeah, the name is a mouthful.  But the encoding capabilities, along with a nice itunes-like interface make this a powerhouse of an application.  Converts movies to iPod, PSP, and SD formats too.  Nice.
Textmate - This is the text editor to use.  If you're a coder, you'll heart Textmate.  If you just want a good text editor, the price may be a bit steep, but once you see some of the capabilities, you'll understand the magic.

While this is off topic, we have an article up on our new Gadgets blog that is really stinkin' cool. A friend of QJ.NET invited us to help him mount twelve 30-inch Dell flatscreen monitors to his wall, and it was a blast. Above you can see an image of the finished product, and man is it sweet! Powered by 6 top-of-the-line video cards, and three 1000 watt power supplies, this thing is a beast. Click on the Read link below for the full article and step-by-step.

EDIT: Here is a link to an update that we made to the article, where we answer many of the users' questions and have a video. Check it out!

OK, first a little background on the Merom processor from Intel. The Merom is a mobile 64-bit processor. It is said to offer 20% more performance than the current Core Duo at the same battery life. It will reportedly come with 4MB L2 Cache (up from 2MB on Yonah), and it's supposed to be released in late 2006.

Now for the great news. The same guy who had revealed earlier that the Mac mini could be processor upgraded simply by swapping out the socketed Intel processor, now reports that the unreleased Merom 64-bit mobile processor is also similarly compatible.

"It is possible to drop in Merom into Mini, one hell of an upgrade path. confirming this is a working combo, just drop the chip in."

More details aren't available. Blame it on those pesky NDAs. This time, the backward compatibility has been advertised by Intel themselves .

"During a separate briefing, Intel's Mooly Eden showed a benchmark pitting a Dell Core Duo system against the same system with a Merom processor (Eden literally swapped out the Core Duo CPU and stuck in a Merom processor, partly to showcase its backwards comptability). The benchmark was a custom Quake 4 timedemo, with the Core Duo system scoring 106.6 fps while the Merom system scored 134 fps: advantage Merom by just over 25%. We don't know any of the specifics of the settings on the systems, other than they were claimed to be identical."

It's great times for Apple fans these days, after Windows XP booting on it, and later bootcamp. Clearly, Apple is on a roll these days. That ought to shut-up the critics who were up in arms after Apple announced their partnership with Intel.

Were you one of those people who felt let down by Apple's lack of expressionism in their products? Did you feel lost without your iPod Video not suiting your older silver iPod Mini? Well since about the year 2000 a company based in Winona, MN called ColorwarePC have decided to take it upon them to push the art of professional and clean customization to the max. Their result? A fine range of products mainly involving Apple, which can be coloured to suit your needs and your preferences.

This comes at a cost; for their most popular products, most likely a 60GB iPod Video, customization costs a further $95. However the line doesn't just end at iPod Video and Nano's, no my friends, you can now get your Intel Laboured iMac's and Mac Mini's changed, as well as your iBook and PowerMac. These services once expanded further, including consoles, but they have since ceased this opportunity.

As a product, I think this is a very unique opportunity in that you can own a piece of modern life, safely in the knowledge that no one around you will be able to dazzle you, but instead you can woo the crowds with a special item. Get this too, the company also color codes all your accessories, now that's just amazing! I'm thinking about one of the iPod Video's, but only as soon as I can foot the bill for shipping to the UK, but still, those in the US can get a much cheaper incentive.