Apple shakes its Boot; Sony’s meager loot

Editor’s note: The management would like to announce that the next major rev of Notes From the Field (to be called A Vista From the Pasture) will not be ready for publication later this year as scheduled. However, future issues of InfoWorld will sport a “Cringely Capable” sticker, so that when it becomes available, readers may be able to install it into the magazine or Web site. In the interim, we bring you the more of the usual crapola.

Das Boot: Now that Apple has released its “Boot Camp” beta, AppleHeads who like to live dangerously can install Windows XP on their Intel-based Macs. Which is a little like playing “Turkey in the Straw” on a Stradivarius. The dual-boot beta will only work for a limited time, until the next version of OS X (aka “Leopard”) arrives or people come to their senses — whichever comes first. No word yet on whether Apple will be shipping iMacs with “Windows Vista Capable” stickers on them at Christmas.

Rust Sometimes Sleeps: Anxiously awaiting that $7.50 settlement from Sony BMG? Cool your jets. The rootkit-installing record company hired a firm called Rust Consulting  to administer class action settlements relating to its copy protection scheme. It took Rust only two months to respond to an e-mail I sent regarding the settlement (or roughly how long it takes for 1 ounce of iron to oxidize). I might take my payout in tunes instead; Sony’s list of downloads includes Robert Downey Jr.’s “The Futurist” and “The House of Fatty Koo.” Rock me baby, all night long.

We’ll Pass Over: That One Hawkers of a right-wing manifesto on Israel pulled a double whammy last week. After someone abused Amazon’s “Tell a friend” feature to lure would-be reviewers to the book’s landing page, the group promoting the book blamed the spam attack on “anti-Semitic hackers” trying to drum up negative publicity. (Right, and I’m Golda Meir.) Amazon deleted all the reviews of the book (mostly angry complaints) and banished the spammers. Apparently these gonifs haven’t figured out spam is not kosher.

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