The Apple Store website capped just now, three hours before the keynote.

And just in time. Literally, hours before the keynote.

Our blog network got borked server-side and we’ve been down for a week. Everyone. I’ve been in a Mac-A-Doodle posting withdrawal nightware and been in a fetal position for most of the week dealing with my Macworld anxiety all by myself.

But better late than never.

See you on the other side of the keynote.

Heeeeeeeere we go!

The folk from ModMyiPhone are alerting iPhone users about a malicious install that might mess up your units.

Apparently if you have jmwiki.com in your list of sources in Installer, an app called “113 prep” that purports to be an update of Erica Sadun’s utilities and implies that it prepares your unit for the 1.1.3 firmware is actually malware. When installed, the app will just say “shoes”, and when you uninstall it it takes with it important files from the /bin directory, and breaks other working apps like utilities from Ms. Sadun, and apps like sendfile.

Please do not install 113 prep and remove the JMCO source jmwiki.com from Installer.

(Via MMi)

It seems a bit ironic that last year’s winner of Best of Show at Macworld 2007 wasn’t able to ship until Macworld 2008, but the thing is so cool it was worth the wait.

Axiotron’s Modbook is a Mac you’ve never seen before - the first Mac tablet, and endorsed by Apple at that! It’s that dream combo of the Mac ease of use coupled with a touch sensitive screen (in the Wacom sense at least; a multi-touch screen Mac is yet to come - but I think it’d be the height of cruelty if that one came out this year, and somehow I wouldn’t put it past Apple to pull the stunt).

It’s basically a ruggedized state-of-the-art Macbook as the base, fitted with the touchscreen, and with built-in GPS thrown in for good measure. You can rest your hand on the screen and not mess the interface, unlike a typical touchscreen, because only the pen gets any love. The whole thing looks like they ripped off the Mac’s screen and melded it on top of the keyboard.

It’ll be showcased at Macworld in a couple of weeks, complete with demos and other events, and will ship within the month at about US$2300 to US$2500. Let’s hope Apple won’t ruin it for Axiotron.

More details about the Modbook on the Axiotron site.

FYI: folk travelling by air to or within the United States will not be allowed to carry lithium batteries, whether loose or in battery packs for equipment like laptops or cameras, in their checked-in luggage for safety reasons beginning January 1, 2008, by order of the US Department of Transportation.

Lithium batteries will have to be inserted into the hardware they’re meant for and be handcarried to pass. If loose they’ll have to be enclosed in a ziplock plastic bag or remain sealed in their original packaging, and stowed in your carry-on luggage, with a limit of two lithium batteries to a passenger.  (Do they differentiate between single batteries and battery packs? Do coin-shaped lithium batteries count? Are computer batteries and camera batteries counted together or separately? Hmmm.)

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, if lithium batteries catch fire in the cargo hold, current built-in extinguishing and safety measures won’t be able to deal with it. This sort of situation is widely speculated as the cause of a fire at an airport in Philadelphia in 2006.

Bummer for us road warriors who like to carry extras.

(Via The New York Times)