Posted Thursday, August 05, 2004

Hazmat Teams, AirPort Express, iPhoto 4.0.2, and More

I hope your week is progressing better than mine.

On Monday, we were evacuated from our home due to hazardous materials spill that occurred near us: a big rig carrying a load of chlorine and other nasties slipped off of California's narrow Highway 1, killing the driver and spilling some chlorine, creating a dangerous situation for our heroic local volunteer fire department, whose chief captured the grim scene with his digital camera.

Anyway, the toxic spill turned out to be very minimal, and we were allowed back in our home on Tuesday. And I've been playing catch up ever since.

So today, just a few notes and links of interest.

AirPort Express tidbits. Over at MacCentral, my fellow Macworld columnist Chris Breen has been posting some great stuff about the AirPort Express, as has Macworld editor-in-chief Jason Snell.

iPhoto 4.0.2. It's here! No, wait -- it isn't. Why not? Who knows?

If Apple's CEO can be so admirably forthcoming about something as deeply personal as illness, Apple's product managers can be more forthcoming about the specific changes made in a maintenance release -- and about why that release is no longer available.

Customers appreciate candor, and Steve Jobs always exhibits it. But when it comes time to describe software updates, candor devolves into meaningless phrases like "addresses minor issues." It's time Apple stopped patting us on the head and saying, "There, there -- it's all better now." Specifics never hurt anybody.

UPDATE, 5 pm PDT. Apple has posted an iPhoto 4.0.3 update, with the following description: "This update addresses several issues with using multiple text rules in Smart Albums and it also eliminates some problems with creating iPhoto books in the German and Dutch languages. Additionally, 4.0.3 keeps users informed about new version of iPhoto that have become available."

The grammar needs a little work, but the details aren't bad. I'm guessing the update fixes this bug, among others. I'm downloading it now.

My visit to the Digital Village. I had a great time as a guest on KPFK's Digital Village program last Saturday, and the MP3 archive is now available for your listening pleasure.

Drive carefully, everyone!