MacCentral reader Jørn Aune has sent us several Mac sightings from the Netherlands.
In a popular “reality TV” series called “Big Brother,” the inhabitants of the house are often seen using new Titanium PowerBooks. (“Big Brother,” which has been “cloned” for American TV, is a concept where people live in a house monitored by TV-cameras. The viewers vote on who should leave the house. The last one to leave is the winner.)
Plus, the National Office of Building technology and Administration runs their Web site completely on Macs, and also uses FileMaker for database applications. The Web server is a Cube/450, and two iMacs are used for database Web serving, Aune said. They are connected to a central database server, which is a Power Mac G4 500/DP.
Terry Herchester just finished reading Christian Cook’s “Broken Eggshells” and said if ever there was a “think different” manual, then this is it. Even before the odd Mac cropped up in the plot, he had his suspicions that the writer was a Mac man.
The plot is about 10 people who become so disillusioned with how futile the world has become that they become terrorists. Instead of the usual campaign, they fight futility with futility and start blowing up deserted places like Siberia, the Sahara etc.
“The tone of the whole book is very ‘think different,'” Herchester said. “At the back of the book I came across what I had suspected: ‘Broken Eggshells was typed on an iMac.’ If anyone out there is looking for a different book with a very different plot, then this is a must have.”
There are Mac users among astronauts. Check out the “Expedition One Ship’s Logs” Web site. Download them and you’ll see that, on page 12, it mentions that William “Shep” Shepard got one of the Windows based computers networked. It then says that this was a “major accomplishment for a Mac-guy.” (Thanks to Jon Thompson for sending this item our way.)
Speaking of flying, Mark Hartman recently flew on Continental Airlines from L.A. to Houston. The airline used a video for the safety demonstration, and in the part where they talk about “turning off and stowing portable electronic devices,” the computer that they “sleep and stow” is definitely a PowerBook, he said.
“The after-takeoff video also shows a PowerBook, plus a couple of close-ups of a Mac screen,” Hartman added.
The latest Remax Realty ad on television — which shows a training facility for future Remax agents — has a fleeting glimpse of a babysitter at a Titanium G4 PowerBook. Y
“You have to look quickly to notice the Apple logo on the cover, but the color and thinness give it away,” said Steve Fenton
Mark Austin bought the new Gary Moore CD, and noticed that the back cover is a Purple iMac Slot DVD with an image of Jimi Hendrix as the desktop picture.
Speaking of musicians, Janet Jackson uses a PowerBook G4 Titanium to watch DVDs on airplanes. At least, that was what she said in the Swedish talk show “Sen kväll med Luuk,” according to Daniel Jonsson.
In the latest “Net Force” novel from Tom Clancy, there’s a small tidbit where a hacker breaks into the Web sites of several church home pages. When the FBI’s Net Force finds him, they discover that it is a 16-year old boy running a six-year old iMac, reported Sohail Mamdani. (The novel is set in the 2010s).
Check out this week’s “Time” magazine, and you’ll see that the tech column features a Windows XP and Mac OS X comparison, said William Bonde.
On the April 8 episode of “The X-files,” the unmistakable backside/top of a White/Ice iMac could be seen sitting prominently on Agent John Doggett desk in his home. Unfortunately, later, during the Lone Gunmen’s scene assisting Agent Fox Mulder, they showed a Panasonic (or some PC-based) notebook — and, of course, standard government agencies apparently only use Wintel systems, as well.
(If you’ve sent us an item for our Famous People column, please be patient. It will appear, but we’ve been swamped with entries. If you know of a famous person using the Mac, send it to Yours Truly at dsellers@maccentral.com. If you want credit for your “Mac spotting,” be sure to include your full name.)