On certain models, mainly MacBook Pros, this seems to be the case. I’ve been having trouble staying online recently, mostly on my home network. Connections are maintained, but it’s increasingly hard to create new ones. DNS lookups can be painfully slow, and Google Talk conversation (through Adium) die midstream, with nary an error message in sight. My problems date to around the time of the 10.4.10 Update, although they’ve been getting much worse in the past week as I spend more time on my home WiFi connection. Some users are reporting frequent kernel panics, others are having stability if outlet power is used instead of battery. In my case, it’s just very frequent poor connectivity.

I’ve just installed the fix recommended by user IamNobody in the Apple forums. Let’s hope it works. Look for the post dated Jun 30, 2007 5:01 AM.

Update: looks like I’m late to the party. Apple released a fix within minutes of this post. Yay?

One of my favourite ways to get introduced to new music, and to introduce others, is through a simple game called “revolving DJ”. It can be played at parties, in your office, or anywhere you can hook an iPod up to a set of speakers. The rules are simple: each participant plays a 3 song set in turn until the party ends and everyone goes home. By trying to choose music you think everyone else will enjoy, or is unfamiliar with, you pick up all kinds of new influences.

It was during a lazy Friday afternoon of Revolving DJ and beer than an idea was sparked in my head, regarding the iPhone and the lack of 3rd party native applications. It doesn’t take too many songs before you long for a method to effortlessly transfer tracks directly from one iPod to the next. A few moments later, someone will inevitably realize “hmmm, the Zune could actually do that“. Unfortunately, it’s implementation was so hopelessly crippled by the marketdroids and RIAA-fearing managers at Microsoft that the device was essentially stillborn.

Apple has also built an iPod with WiFi — it’s called the iPhone, and while most people are rightfully focusing on the new features of the device (phone, web browser, email client), it’s also considered one of the best iPods ever built (ignoring the anemic storage for now). The device runs a version of OS X, meaning the only preventing a mobile p2p application that can share music with friends or strangers is a smart programmer and a way to load the application onto the iPhone — conveniently left out. The Zune crippled it’s WiFi in firmware, but an open SDK on the iPhone would mean anyone could easily install such an app on their phone. Even better, if you didn’t already have the p2p app, you could easily jump on the web and download it the moment you needed it. It’s the viral-social, the dream application for music-heads everywhere, and Apple can’t stop it without throwing the baby out with the bathwater, which is pretty much what they did by not shipping an SDK for the phone.

I suspect that for most fans of electronic music, there was a trigger song, band or album. It’s not like you hear this stuff on the radio — certainly not where I grew up in Calgary. College radio played hard-core techno on Friday nights, but to me it was (and remains) totally inaccessible.

My song was Orbital’s “Halcyon + On + On” from the Hackers soundtrack (at least, that’s where I heard it). I’d listened to a bit of other stuff, but that track blew my mind. I promptly went out and bought In Sides, and never looked back. Over the years, I collected every other Orbital album as well. Long before I dreamt of being a DJ, I imagined building new sounds out of “I Wish I Had a Duck”, from Snivilization. Layer upon layer of electro-squish and samples, Orbital created an imaginary world in the confines of that song.

Years later, I found myself searching for an opening track to complement Layo & Bushwacka!’s brilliant “Saudade”, and I reached for “I Wish I Had a Duck”. Orbital’s best work still resonates, and in a way this mix brings me full circle.

Sidenote: if you’re an Orbital fan, be sure to check out Paul Hartnoll’s solo album, “Ideal Condition”. Justifiably moving away from the core Orbital sound, he manages to find some brilliance in cinematic work and pop collaborations.

Tracklist:

1. I Wish I Had A Duck - Orbital
2. Saudade (Remix) - Layo & Bushwacka!
3. Rej (A Hundred Birds Remix) - Ame
4. When I Listen 2 This Sound, feat. ZM (Alex Celler Mix) - Nikola Gala
5. Builder (Kris Menace Re-Edit) - Eva
6. Anime (Sequential Remix) - Hernan Cattaneo, John Tonks
7. North American Scum (Kris Menace Remix) - LCD Soundsystem
8. Affectation (Dousk Dub Electro) - Chris Nemmo & Andree Eskay
9. One & Only - Jimmy van M & Nick Warren
10. Tornado - Habersham
11. Discopolis (A Hundred Birds Remix) - Lifelike & Kris Menace
12. Tease - James Harcourt
13. One Day (Spiritchaser Terrace Mix) - The Craftsmen

 

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