iTunes brings you music, movies, TV shows, apps, podcasts, audiobooks, and more. And with iTunes Ping, you can follow your favourite artists and friends. Find out what music they’re listening to, talking about, and downloading. With hundreds of millions of people using iTunes every day, it’s about to become the largest community of music fans in the world. And now you can rent your favourite HD TV shows for just 99¢ per episode. iTunes is home to everything that entertains you.

• iTunes Ping. Artist and friend profiles. Recent Activity. Concerts and events near you. Now your music is more social.
• HD TV show rentals. Now your favourite TV shows are available to rent—commercial free and in HD.
• AirPlay. Play music wirelessly with AirPlay-enabled speakers and accessories.
• Improved syncing. Now you have more ways to feed your iPod, iPhone, or iPad and see how much space you have left in real time.

iTunes 10 is available as a free download from Apple at http://www.apple.com/itunes/

From http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3351

——–

Symptoms

Some Time Capsules sold between approximately February 2008 and June 2008 may not power on or may shut down unexpectedly after starting up.

Resolution
Affected Time Capsule models

Some Time Capsules with serial numbers in the following range may be affected:
XX807XXXXXX – XX814XXXXXX

How to find the serial number on your Time Capsule.

If your Time Capsule falls within serial number range above and it does not power on or shuts down unexpectedly after starting up, it may be eligible for repair or replacement.

Contact the Apple representative most convenient for you:

• Apple Authorized Service Provider. Find one here.
• Apple Retail Store. Set up an appointment with a Genius (available in some countries only).
• Apple Contact Center. Find the phone number for your region.

If Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider confirms that your Time Capsule is affected, Apple will repair or replace it free of charge.

Note: If you need to retain the data that is on your affected Time Capsule, Apple provides options depending upon where you live.

If you live in the U.S. or Japan and want to retain the data on the affected Time Capsule, contact Apple to arrange for mail-in service. Turnaround time for mail-in service will be 3 to 5 days.

In all other countries, an Apple Retail Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider (AASP) can transfer your data from the affected Time Capsule to a replacement Time Capsule if desired. Your Retail or AASP representative can provide specific turnaround times for this service.

If you believe that you paid for a repair or replacement Time Capsule due to this issue, contact Apple regarding a refund.

As always, Apple recommends that you back up your data. Learn more about other back up options while you are without your Time Capsule. Apple is not responsible for data loss.

This program covers affected Time Capsule models for 3 years from their original date of purchase. Apple will continue to evaluate the service data and will provide further updates to the program if needed.

It’s an unfortunate fact that hard drives fail. And because it’s impossible to know whether it might happen within the first 6 months, after 5 years, or well after the useful life of the computer has ended, it’s vital that you have a solid backup method for your information. Work documents, school projects, home finances, and family photos are just some of the irreplaceable items that can be lost if your hard drive fails.

Soho offers all the available solutions for protecting your data including Time Capsule, external hard drives, MobileMe subscriptions, CDs and DVDs.

Backup instructions for each of these methods are outlined below:

From Apple – http://www.apple.com/support/backup/

—–

Backup options for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

• Time Machine – Learn how to set up Time Machine to perform backups to external hard drives, Time Capsule and more.
• Time Capsule – Learn more about backing up your data with Time Capsule.
• External hard drive – There are several ways you can back up your computer’s hard drive to an external hard drive.
• MobileMe – If you are a MobileMe user, you can use MobileMe’s iDisk.
• Disk Utility – If you need to back up more files than can fit on a single CD or DVD, you can use Disk Utility to create a compressed disk image of the files.

Backup options for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

• Time Machine – Learn how to set up Time Machine to perform backups to external hard drives, Time Capsule and more.
• Time Capsule – Learn more about backing up your data with Time Capsule.
• External hard drive – There are several ways you can back up your computer’s hard drive to an external hard drive.
• MobileMe – If you are a MobileMe user, you can use MobileMe’s iDisk.
• Disk Utility – If you need to back up more files than can fit on a single CD or DVD, you can use Disk Utility to create a compressed disk image of the files.

Backup options for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

• MobileMe – If you are a MobileMe user, you can use MobileMe’s iDisk.
• Disk Utility – If you need to back up more files than can fit on a single CD or DVD, you can use Disk Utility to create a compressed disk image of the files.
• Other backup options – You can burn files to a disc with OS X v10.4.

From http://www.apple.com/support/macbook/hd/repairextension/

——-

Apple has determined that a very small percentage of hard drives that were used in MacBook systems, sold between approximately May 2006 and December 2007, may fail under certain conditions.

If your MacBook was purchased in the date range listed above and shows a flashing question mark on the screen, please take it to Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider and they will examine the hard drive to confirm if it is eligible for a replacement, free of charge, under this program.

Note: If your MacBook is not experiencing the symptom listed above, you do not have to contact Apple or any Apple Authorized Service Provider. As always, Apple recommends that you back up your data. Learn more.

Identifying Affected MacBook Systems

Symptom
A flashing question mark appears on screen when the MacBook is turned on. [Soho note: By the time you see the flashing questions mark, in general you drive has failed and the contents have been lost. Please make sure you back up your hard drive on a regular basis.]

Affected MacBook models

13-inch black and white MacBook models with the following processor speeds and hard drive capacities:

• Processor speed – 1.83GHz, 2GHz, or 2.16GHz
• Hard drive capacity – 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB, or 160GB

Next Steps

If your MacBook exhibits the flashing question mark symptom and matches the affected model descriptions above, the hard drive needs to be examined.

Please take your MacBook to the Apple representative most convenient for you:

• Apple Authorized Service Provider – Find one here.
• Apple Retail Store – Set up an appointment with a Genius.

If Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider confirms that your hard drive is affected, Apple will replace it with a new hard drive. Once the drive is replaced, you will be responsible for installing any additional software and restoring your data.

If you need assistance finding the best service option in your area, you may contact Apple Technical Support for more information.

Additional Information

Some customers may have paid for out of warranty repairs that qualify under this program. Apple will contact affected customers (where contact information is available) with details on the reimbursement process. If you believe that you paid for a repair covered by this program and you have not been contacted, you may contact Apple Technical Support.

This worldwide Apple program does not extend the standard warranty coverage of the MacBook

This program covers affected MacBook models for 3 years from their original date of purchase or until August 15, 2010 whichever provides longer coverage. Apple will continue to evaluate the repair data and will provide further repair extensions if needed.

First of all, if you’re still not quite sure what a web browser is or how it’s different from your Operating System you’re not alone. With the Internet becoming increasingly entwined with everything we do on our computers it is easy to be more than a little confused about what exactly the web browser part is. If you’re one of the many many web surfers out there that wouldn’t mind a little clarification on the issue I recommend this brilliant website called “What Browser?” Watch the video below to get from that site to get started, and visit www.whatbrowser.org/en/ to learn more.

Read the rest of this entry »

You might be familiar with Google Earth, even if you’ve never used it, but perhaps less well know is Google Street View in Google Maps. Last fall you may have heard some news about a strange car that was driving around Victoria from with a 360 degree camera mounted on top of it. Using this car and camera the brains at Google have created an incredible street level map of not only Victoria but hundreds of cities around the world. But since street view isn’t one of those things that you can really explain I’ve posted some of my favourite spots below. Click on any of the images and drag to rotate, double click on the ground when you see the circle appear to jump forward anywhere, or use the forward and back arrows along the yellow line to navigate through the cities and find your own favourite spots!

Read the rest of this entry »

In June I posted about an email I’d received that was a virus disguised as a Hallmark e-card. At the time I thought it was a great example of how the bad guys were disguising viruses and malicious software as content from trusted sources in the hope of infecting your computer and doing everything from having it perform web attacks for them to stealing all your most personal information. While there will always be people trying find holes an exploits in the operating system, and software manufacturers like Apple will always have to issue security updates to patch those potential holes and exploits, the vast majority of viruses and hacks are performed by tricking or trapping users into performing the action that unleashes the code.

Read the rest of this entry »

Apple issued a notice for a special extended warranty coverage of all MacBook Pros containing theGeForce 8400M and 8600M graphics processors manufactured between May 2007 and September 2008. The coverage is to repair a problem that is inherent in these two nVidia processors issued with these machines, but is limited to a very specific type of video distortion or failure. A diagnostic test must be run by Apple authorized technicians to determine the coverage status of any MacBook Pro exhibiting video distortion of failure issues. If your MacBook Pro experiences video distortions or failures you should bring it in to the Soho Service Department for immediate testing regardless of it’s warranty status.

Read the rest of this entry »

If you haven’t explored Google Earth I would strongly recommend you check it out because not only can you explore an incredible number important and amazing locations on Earth, you can now also take that step out into space! Explore the Moon in incredible detail, and including videos and photos from the various lunar missions and more! All of this is particularly interesting now at the commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. If you’re ambitious enough perhaps this will spark you to join the Google’s Lunar X Prize competition of sending a private lander to the moon!

Read the rest of this entry »