We are all well aware of James' marriage proposal to Uschi Lang in front of the Apple store in Manhattan hours before it opened. The romantic move was part of a time lapse video that Apple set up to capture every moment leading to the store's opening.

But really, what is a proposal compared to a heart stopping, adrenaline pumping, race of garden snails? Windell, over at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, took advantage of a Gawker to give us a 30 second clip of these snails in action. Gawker is an application for Mac OS X that creates time-lapse movies using a webcam. Images from your camera can be shared, allowing other users to record your image stream. Streams can also be combined to create a time-lapse movie with up to four locations side-by-side.

The garden snails race is just for appetizers. We have now arrived to the main course. Focaccia is a flat bread topped with spices and other products, which is related to modern pizza. The ingredients are irrelevant, what's more important is how does it come from being flat to being a scrumptious delight. Here's how.

Now all I'm waiting for is a time lapse from Jonathan 'Wolf' Rentzsch, from his MacBook inside the fridge to find out if the light really does turn off.

Download: [Gawker 0.8]

TiVo owners have been able to play their recorded videos on their gadgets for a long time now. So what makes this new update which was released by TiVo themselves, any different? Here's what we've all been waiting for.

Now it allows you to upload your videos and convert them at the same time - no need for third party software! Video conversion with free programs can be tedious at best and this update, which will cost TiVo subscribers an extra $25, allows you to directly move your TiVo'd videos straight from your unit to your TiVo Desktop and convert them to be played on the PSP, Treo, and iPod in one straight step.

The update, version 2.3, will also feature 'TiVoToGo' which will allow users to schedule TiVo to PC transfers. Now get out there and get your favorite episodes of Gilmore Girls Ultimate Fighting Championship on your gadget of choice!

On the right, a hip, rebellious-looking young man in jeans and a T-shirt announces, "Hello, I'm a Mac," while on the left, buttoned-down older man next to him, clad in nerdish-looking glasses and a bad-fitting suit with an ugly tie says, "And I'm a PC..."

This is followed by a discussion on the many advantages of the Apple computer over the PC. Both come to the conclusion that Macs are "better" than PC's.

Being one who winds up using both platforms for different purposes,  I find this particular ad offensive on a number of levels - mainly the stereotype of "stodgy middle-aged men." It is quite apparent that the target demographic is the young urban hipster - which is ironic, since in today's America, a vast majority of the 20-30 age group are struggling for mere economic survival, and are probably not thinking about the purchase of a new Mac - which tend to be far more expensive than a comparable PC - anytime soon.

In any event, every "young hipster" is (barring illness or accident) going to wind up being middle aged at some point. In fact, with a falling birthrate, the U.S. - like Canada - is rapidly going "gray." Within the next fifteen years, persons aged 50 and older will make up a majority of the U.S. population. Apple (and other corporations) would do well not to alienate this particular demographic, who are wielding increasing amounts of economic and political power.

This said, it's actually not bad, as far as the "art" of advertising goes. It doesn't necessarily make me want to rush out and buy a Mac, however. But - perhaps it will do it for you. Check out the ad for yourself at the Apple Website.

Aside from the iPod, I have endured pains of staying away from Apple's products - it was a pain because the white MacBook looked uber yummy and being a sucker for beautiful things, I was highly tempted. But maybe I was too dependent on Windows that I was able to resist the MacBook temptation.

Then I chanced upon this video by Norman1977. Recording his 2 GHz, 2 GB RAM, 100 GB HDD MacBook in action, he shows just how fast the built-in applications in Apple's laptop are...and the MacBook temptation is back again, this time much stronger than before. To all doubting thomases, click on the video and see if Norman1977 can convince you to move over to the Apple camp as well.

ESPN's Soccernet reflected Apple's new Mac advertisements, which were later on replaced. The three ads discuss the benefits of owning a Mac, banking on the Mac-PC duo, which is the center of the "Get A Mac" campaign. The new ads are as follows:

• Work vs. Home - Tells us that Macs are not just a work must-have but are also capable of doing "fun stuff".
• Out of the Box - Talks about how easy it is to use a Mac.
• Touch?span> - This one highlights the Mac-PC duo.

Those who've seen the ads - which features the same two guys, one in a suit representing a PC and the other younger guy in casual clothing to represent a Mac - say that the ads are pretty funny. If you missed them, don't be too bummed about it, the ads are now up in Apple's site. Or better yet, download them right here at QJ and see if they are good enough to convince you to "Get A Mac".

Download: [New 'Get A Mac' Ads]

E3 has come and gone but it doesn't necessarily mean it's forgotten. For all the Xbox 360 lovers out there, I'm sure you still can't get over everything that Microsoft showcased in their Xbox press briefing - from the new Xbox 360 add-ons, new games, to Peter Moore's 'other' tattoo (although we really didn't need to know about the last one).

Now you can relieve these highlights (plus more) and catch up on whatever you missed during E3 week. Major Nelson is offering a 1hr, 22min. video (344 MB) of Microsoft's E3 Press Briefing that is "designed to fit on to your video iPod or PSP". Click the 'Read' link below for access to the download.

If you don't have the appropriate player but still want a piece of E3 history, then we hope the audio MP3 version below is enough. Click download and relive Microsoft's E3 offering all over again.

Download [Audio MP3 of Microsoft's E3 Press Briefing]

If you're a hard-core geek - or just love the way computers have made many tasks faster and easier - you've probably also discovered that one machine does not fit all situations. Eventually, we're forced to "swing both ways." Last year, when I started making more of my living on-line, I (a loyal Mac user since the dinosaur days of the Apple II) had to break down and get a Windows PC, since the Web is not always Mac-friendly.

On the other hand, while I shoot machinema films and do all my web-work on PC, I still do 3d modeling, artwork and compose music on my trusty G4 - a bit of a pain, since the two machines are located on different floors.

Had I but waited a bit, I could have had the best of both worlds. The latest G5 Macs use the Intel processor, and now, thanks to the new "Boot Camp" software, one can switch from OSX to WinXP "with a simple keystroke; simply hold down the Option key at startup, and choose your OS.

System requirements:

Â?An Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X Tiger v10.4.6
Â?The latest Firmware
Â?10 gigabytes of free hard disk space
Â?A blank recordable CD
Â?Microsoft Windows XP, Service Pack 2, Home or Professional Installation Disk

According to those who have tried it, the XP runs just as fast as OSX.

There is also an interesting video that suggests there is a way to switch operating systems "on the fly." Is it for real, or not? Take a look at the screenshot above and notice the Windows Taskbar at the bottom, then check out this video.

Earlier we posted an article on the newly designed MacBook that features the easy-to-replace HD. In fact, MacBook owners are supposed to do it themselves. Not convinced? Here's a video that proves it can be done by anyone with an opposable thumb and the right screw driver!

If you've been holding off installing Apple's Front Row on your Mac because you simply don't know how, here's a user-friendly step-by-step guide from Andrew Escobar.  After you've gone through the process, you can enjoy music, photos and videos with Front Row and Apple Remote. On with the show!

First off, your Mac should be running on Mac OS X v10.4.5 or later. To enable sharing over Bonjour, make sure you have iTunes 6.0.4 and iPhoto 6.0.2 (or later) installed. If this is this your first time to install Front Row, then you'll just have to follow the step-by-step procedure. If you have previously installed Front Row using Enabler and are simply upgrading, Enabler has already patched to two system files needed. They do not need to be patched again. After completing step 2 (installing Front Row and restart) you should have an updated copy of Front Row with support for Bonjour.

If you've got an iSight camera for your Mac, you may be interested in trying the open source project, Gawker.  It allows you to create time-lapse movies of whatever the camera is pointed at.  You can even grab 'feeds' from other iSights on your network, using Apple's Bonjour networking.  Combine various feeds to do a multi-view time lapse from two angles, etc.  Seems like a fun thing to try - though I don't know how useful it is.  I'll have to test it out and see.  If you've tried it and have some thoughts, please share!  Course if your iSight is built in - as it is with the new Intel Macs - we probably won't care to see time lapse of you coding or something.  Check out the project website for some example movies - the one of ice melting is pretty cool actually.