By Graham K. Rogers

Opening Gambit:

Apple Stuff

On those problems, have a look at the article by Topher Kessler who has some suggestions. I suggest downloading the combo and installing it over the top. Some problems show as application crashes with the letters CUI appearing. This is weird as the testing done before a release is extensive and involves even ordinary users like me, so why this had not appeared before is a mystery right now.

I did not get a chance to look at the new digital camera support, but fortunately Stephen Shankland did and he comments on how this update confirms the shift from DSLR to the newer compact interchangeable lens format.

Oh, my word. Donald Trump has weighed in on Apple and Foxconn. Only two weeks ago he announced that he intended to build lots of hotels outside the US (Nadja Brandt, Bloomberg), and now has the gall to demand Apple create jobs inside the US. In an item by Brooke Crothers, he is quoted as saying, "We can do great things in this country...wouldn't it be great if Apple actually made these products in the United States". Perhaps it would but who would buy the expensive and out of date iPhones that the US worker would produce. Trump is very good at making money, but not much else (I am trying not to write anything about that awful haircut) and the comments by Stevejack on MacDaily News are worth taking into consideration. What Trump also omits is the criticisms of other US companies who similarly make use of the Asian manufacturing muscle and skills. More on Trump, Apple and what Tim Cook should "decree" in a report by Brooke Crothers.

But, Great Scott, I agree with Rush Limbaugh. I guess it had to happen sometime. MacDaily News has a transcript of his criticism of the NYTimes article and the comment that is most intriguing (for its plausibility) is "It's also 'cause Jobs isn't there anymore. They wouldn't do this with Jobs there. I'll guarantee you." That may well have a lot to do with it as some do not see Tim Cook for the strong person he is proving to be. An additonal note on Cook and his different style came in a note from Daniel Eran Dilger on AppleInsider who reports on a Town Hall meeting at Cupertino at which the CEO spoke of the philanthropy Apple had been practising for years, but just didn't brag about. Even that had been criticised. No one had ever mentioned the Project (Red) effort of course.

Confirming this is more criticism of Cook in the decision to appoint ex-Dixons man John Browett as the new Senior Vice President of Retail. Josh Ong on AppleInsider reports that Cook comments, "His role isn't to bring Dixons to Apple, [it's] to bring Apple to an even higher level of customer service and satisfaction.""

He is not the only exec recruited of late as Apple has hired -- dare one say poached -- Robin Burrowes an executive from Microsoft's Xbox division, we are told by MacNN. This and other appointments may suggest a stronger move into games.

As I wrote before, some of this excess comment on Apple's relationship with Foxconn, comes from that pile of money that Cupertino sits on and that those who think they have something to say cannot stand. Another, Apple do something comment, comes from John P. Mello Jr. on MacNewsWorld, who makes several suggestions as to what Apple could do with the money, but wisely makes no prediction apart from business as usual.

This has not stopped some do-gooders launching online petitions about the "abuse" at the factories we read on iPodNN. I might sign if the petitions were not emotive and looked at all manufacturers and alleged abuses, not singling out Apple and not totally ignoring Apple's online information that indicates they are doing something.

The release of iBooks Author was slightly disappointing in regard to the number of templates available, but now Leanna Lofte reports on iMore about the release of Book Palette for Mac with 10 more.

Also battling it ou with Apple is Avid which has been a real rival to Final Cut. Now, Chris Oldroyd reports, there is a version of this for the iPad and it is expected to be a serious competitor for iMovie. Lots of details in the article by Chris. If this is a competitor to an Apple product, why didn't Apple just ban it? Think about that (but don't think too hard).

Here's a nice little potential trivia question for you. How many free ads did iPhone users download in December? 6 million (per day) according to Lance Whitney. A massive rise from earlier norms.

Nothing like a good rumour to set us up for the weekend. How about a new iPod nano with a camera? That would be nice. According to iPodNN there are photographs of the case of the alleged new product online.

Another rumour concerns that mythical Apple TV that is coming soon we expect. Steven Musil reports that Apple is allegedly scouting for components. Maybe they should try Sharp (see below) who could do with a boost right now.

And a final undefined rumour is about a sort of unspecified special event (this is so vague) that might be held in February before an event to launch the iPad 3 in March Josh Ong reports on AppleInsider. We look forward to any and all Apple events, strange, undefined or not. Indeed, the stranger the better. However, Jim Dalrymple on The Loop tells us this rumour has no legs.

Half and Half

Other Matters

Not unexpected, but Sony has finished with its experiment of having a non-Japanese as its CEO and they have dropped the pilot, Welshman Howard Stringer. Don Reisinger examines the case for the appointment of Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment as CEO of the whole of Sony. An indication of the fracturing of the company is the title of Kazuo Hirai's old job. The separate units of the corporation do not talk to each other unlike the round table at Apple. The new CEO is however taking an Apple-like approach from the get-go and Electronista report that he has already axed three iPad rivals. Three? Oh, and Sony report a $1.2 billion loss for the quarter (Reuters on Huffington Post). Part of that loss was reported in Huffington Post to be down to weak TV sales, a strong Yen and the Thai floods. Don't they understand about redundant systems, or only redundant CEOs?

Also not faring so well is Sharp, who are forecasting a loss of $3.8 billion according to James Topham in a Reuters' report on Huffington Post. This might make it a prime target for a takeover for a company interested in monitors and TVs.

We carried a report -- there were several actually -- that alleged Zynga had been copying from another developer's ideas. Now Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga has replied and in an item by Jamie Keen on The Verge, alleges that it is not Zynga copying, but that those alleging this should "pull the lens back" and notice the similarities between their games and some of Zynga's other products. He also cites the similarity between Tiny Tower, Dream Heights and SimTower that I played a long time ago. A Thai kid I taught -- now a developer in the US -- got the hang of these sorts of games right away, and the key to that was elevator control. A pity the developers of the Condo I live in now did not play this game.

The fallout from Thailand's floods is still ongoing, and several manufacturers, in a number of industries, are still not up and running fully here. Seagate is one of those affected, although perhaps not as badly as Western Digital has been. We read in an item by Nathan Ingraham on The Verge, that in its Q2 2012 results, Seagate is predicting shortages throughout the year and that they are still several million down on shipments.

Could I just refer you back for a moment to the discussion on Apple's cash reserves as it applies to the supply-chain and availability of components for Apple products, for example (say) hard disks? . . .

We see that in the Republican primaries campaign, another Republican has fallen foul of copyright. Mitt Romney used a song called Wavin' Flag and the composer (K'Naan) is not happy: no permission and would not have been granted if they had asked, according to a report on Huffington Post.

This seems to follow a pattern among the Party's members who think they can use any work they want and to hell with copyright, but when it comes to things like SOPA are all gung-ho for protecting the rights of the companies who support them.

Something that local users may want to think about is contained in a report by Dara Kerr concerning the richest man in the world. No, not Bill Gates, not Warren Buffet, but Carlos Slim, the head of the Mexican carrier monopoly that is alleged to overcharge to the tune of $13.4 billion every year, which has a knock-on effect on the country's economy. Slim has held a press conference to deny the allegations. Well, he would, wouldn't he?

And another thought or two are carried in a BBC report concerning corruption in India where the Supreme Court has cancelled 122 telecommunications licences awarded to companies in 2008, in a corruption scandal that has allegedly cost the country about $40 billion.

Totally not IT, but perhaps of interest to a number of people, with family who are ageing (or even those of us getting older), is the news that the transmission method for Alzheimer's Disease has been found and it is not a virus or bacteria as had been suggested, but a "distorted protein known as tau." This has the effect of a cell to cell transmission, we are told by Gina Kolata on Huffington Post, so it may be possible to halt the spread: an end to the problem, perhaps.

Late News

And as a late note, the Facebook IPO that has others in a frenzy has left me cold. There are plenty of other sites to read about this. Let's see how FB and Zuckerberg play this out over the next few months.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.