Our good friends at Freeverse are having a 30% off sale, one of their biggest lately, this week on almost everything in their catalog, from the tower defense game Horde of Orcs to the award-winning Lineform. The sale lasts through October 7th, and to get the discount, just put "MONTYMAIL" in as a coupon code during checkout. If you've been thinking about picking up one of their apps or games, now's the time.

Unfortunately, none of the discounts work for any of their iPhone apps, but they did just drop the price on MotoChaser, one of the best accelerometer racing games available (and featured in the commercial above, on the "funnest" iPod ever), down to $4.99. It's too bad that there's no demo available, but I can tell you that as these accelerometer racers go, it's a good time.

It's many bricks, technically: Lego Bricks. Students at the San Francisco Art Institute used 2,588 bricks to build an enormous Mac Pro case.

The design wasn't without its problems -- partway through the movie, three "Lego engineering catastrophes" forced the addition of a support beam under the middle of the case, presumably to support the weight of the hardware inside.

The exterior design isn't the only thing impressive about it: On the inside, it's a Mac Mini that's FireWire-linked to a PC Hackintosh. Nice.

The case was submitted for the 2008 MacMod Challenge.

Apple has designed some beautiful stuff over the years, from the ][e (hey, I think it looks good) to the iPod, but you can take the new OfficialApple YouTube channel off that list -- it's hideous. The glaringly huge sidebar ads got squished and crunched, and managed to make even the new nanos and iPod touches look ugly.

On the plus side, the channel offers lots of Apple videos in the YouTube player, from tutorials to tours to TV ads, so that's nice -- what YouTube videos lack in quality they make up for in ease of use and playability. Sure, the comments aren't much to read (unless you're a glutton for punishment), but at least the videos work.

But what did they do to those icons?! I'm tempted just to report the background with the link at the bottom of the page -- not because it's offensive or crude, but just because it's so badly done.

Update: The evil, unpleasant background is gone. Most commenters, justifiably, are quite skeptical that this is an actual Apple effort (could it be the 'ca' Canadian prefix?) -- we'll ask Apple.

In one of those improbable stories that sounds like a Hollywood script, a Burbank, CA elementary school teacher won an Emmy Award for his first attempt at filmmaking.

Larry Newman (photo at right), a band director at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Burbank, won the award for a film called "Children's Music Workshop: 2007 All Schools Honor Orchestra," in the category of Outstanding Achievement in Children/Youth and Music Programming.

Newman had no previous filmmaking experience, and said that he "just purchased a high-definition camera and went to the Apple store for weekly lessons on Final Cut Pro." The film focused on the annual concert at UCLA of 130 students who are enrolled in Newman's Children's Music Workshop program, and particularly on nine students in the Burbank Unified School District.

Our congratulations to Mr. Newman for his Emmy, and to that unknown Apple employee who provided the Final Cut Pro lessons.

Thanks to Scott for the tip!

Good news, everyone! TuneCore has finally introduced a video distribution option for iTunes.

If you're a wedding videographer, a school play coordinator, or a computer tutorial specialist, you can now package up your video for a flat fee (60 minutes costs $550, 90 minutes costs $770, other lengths vary in pricing according to TuneCore). Here are some points you'll want to know.

• The approval process for iTunes usually takes about two weeks and must meet the iTunes store terms and conditions.
• iTunes store customers can either buy or rent your video.
• All proceeds go directly to you after Apple takes its cut. The flat fee covers all of TuneCore's take.
• You retain all rights and the agreement is non-exclusive.

Want more information? Fire off an email to movies@tunecore.com or visit their webpage.

Here's the final humiliation for NBC in the whole contest between it and Apple -- while one of NBC's execs claimed that Apple made some concessions to the network to get Peacock content back in the iTunes store (after it was unceremoniously pulled last year over pricing arguments), Apple just plain says that's not true -- there were no concessions, and NBC crawled back on its own.

Sure, it's a little high school of Apple to call NBC out like that, but it's not like NBC has been gracefully handling the whole thing either -- execs have whined and moaned the whole time that they don't like the iTunes model, and even threatened to go to Amazon for good. But in the end, making Apple's money won out over making no money at all. Even though NBC brass are still convinced that Apple is giving them ground on pricing (and on the pricing of DVD movies), Apple says that's not the case -- the pricing structure has been the same all along.

At any rate, it's the consumer that wins -- no matter what Apple's prices are, at least NBC content is back in the iTunes store for those willing to pay for it.

[via Daring Fireball]

Steve Jobs just announced at the "Let's Rock" event in San Francisco that not only was NBC content returning to the iTunes store, but that Apple would start selling HD content on the store, playable both through the new iTunes 8, as well as AppleTV. Shows like Battlestar Galactica and The Office will be available in HD to watch anywhere you'd like.

HD shows will cost $2.99 each, while SD television shows will keep their price of $1.99. Stay tuned to TUAW for more from the event, and you can see news up-to-date in our ongoing liveblog.

A while back we noted that Amazon was planning to bring its video on demand service to the Mac. Well, it looks like they've finally flipped the switch because the service is now live.

Much like iTunes, they're selling TV shows as well as offering movies for purchase and rent. Unlike iTunes, it's a streaming rather than a download service. Fortunately, they've got a number of free videos which will give you a sense of the quality of the service (which requires Flash).

Frankly, I'm a big fan of Amazon MP3, so it's good to see Amazon getting into the video business as well to put a little more competitive pressure on iTunes. I'm doubtful, however, that it will really affect the iTunes juggernaut.

[via electronista]

Final Cut Express owners, check Software Update because FCE 4 has just been updated to 4.0.1. The detailed (and I'm serious, for Apple especially, these are detailed) release notes go over what is new and what has been added, but here are the highlights:

• Permission issues resolved - There was an issue on Leopard systems where FCE 4 would not open a project if it contained media that the user didn't have permission to access. This has been fixed.
• Tons of AVCHD improvements - There are now Easy Setup options for the AVCHD format/codec and better support for AVCHD cameras.
• Improved plugin support and stability

You can download the update from Software Update.

Not to be outdone by Qik, Flixwagon started offering their live streaming client for the iPhone 3G/2G this week. Flixwagon offers streaming video over WiFi or over the cellular data connection. In addition, the application offers 12 frames-per-second video. The company claims that they have very fast signup right from the iPhone, and the ability to change titles/details while broadcasting.

The last time we mentioned Flixwagon, it was still in beta, but they have finally opened up the service to anyone who has a jailbroken iPhone with either Cydia or Installer 4. The application weighs in at only 98 KB. For more information about this video streaming service, visit the Flixwagon blog.

A while back, Qik announced that they would be creating a video broadcast client for the iPhone. When they first announced it, Qik was only available in a limited beta to jailbroken phones. However, Qik has announced that all jailbroken 1.1.4 iPhones will be able to get the client through Installer.app. Since Apple hasn't yet allowed streaming video using the iPhone's camera, jailbreaking is the only way to use Qik.

Qik, as you may already know, is a way to broadcast live, streaming video from a mobile device. While they are not offering an App Store version of their client, you can download it via Installer.app by adding "http://qik.com/iphone1" to your sources list. If you are using iPhone 2.0 software, you might be able to downgrade to 1.1.4, however, the risks outweigh any advantages you might get.

There seems to be a growing field of jailbreak applications as Apple continues to disallow some SDK-built apps. Even though we have the official SDK, there are still too many limitations for some apps and their users.

[via TechCrunch]

Back in 2006 we covered the launch of the Amazon Unbox video service which was then being pitched as the best alternative to the iTunes Store. There was one big problem: it didn't support Macs. Now, finally, Amazon is starting to rectify the situation with their new Amazon Video on Demand Service. PC Magazine has a First Look at the Service and, sure enough, it now supports Macs.

It appears that the new service will be similar to Netflix's streaming (which does not support the Mac, though they have promised it a long time ago) in that you'll be able to watch 40,000 movies and television shows in your browser. Unlike Netflix, however, the content will be priced individually with no subscription options. The video will be streamed with Flash 9.

Unfortunately, the program is still in beta and Amazon apparently has enough testers at the moment. However, you can sign up for their beta mailing list if you want to get in the next time they issue invitations.

I have officially managed to finish sorting and editing all of the footage from WWDC. The last video in our series is a chat with Charlie Wood from Spanning Sync. He managed to make it to an early appointment at my hotel on the morning I was leaving, despite having made the most of a large-scale bash the evening before.

If you're not familiar with Spanning Sync, it's an application that provides synchronization between Google Calendar and iCal. The upcoming release, currently in beta, will be adding contact sync as well. Charlie provides a demo in the video, highlighting the contact photo aspect of the feature.

Justin Williams recently posted a guide to using Spanning Sync with his own application, Today. If you're a Today user who's interested in integrating Google Calendar, have a look. And check out my chat with Charlie after the jump.

[Viddler link|Quicktime version]

Users of iTunes U, the free educational content channel inside iTunes, will have a lot more elementary education material to choose from -- the states of Arizona, Florida, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Utah have all added some of their K-12 material to the mix, and a number of school districts and museums from those states have also contributed videos and audio recordings.

The content is being uploaded by the SETDA, or the State Educational Technology Directors Association, which has been working with educators in member states to make more use of educational technology. This is definitely a great idea -- not only does it make this material much more accessible to educators and students alike, but anyone on iTunes can view and check out these resources through Apple's program.

Plus, it's a great way to distribute student work to a much larger audience. You can find most of the new content under the "K-12" tab on the iTunes U homepage within iTunes.

[via Macworld]

Yesterday, I was reading through our sister site TV Squad and saw this post about Broadcast Flags that prevent PCs from recording shows. Broadcast flags, which are signals sent in a digital TV data stream, indicate whether shows should or should not be recorded by third party equipment such as PVRs. Curious, I shot off an email to Nick Freeman of Elgato to see whether my Mac-based EyeTV would block flagged recordings.

Turns out that my Macintosh is a libertarian. I can continue recording any shows I receive. Phew.

Not only did Nick get right back to me, he put up this handy info page about Elgato's position on broadcast flags: EyeTV doesn't restrict recording. EyeTV (and Elgato's software in general) ignores voluntary DRM, the kind that asks you to shoot yourself in your own foot if you don't mind thankyouverymuch.

I was blissfully ignorant of these flags until yesterday. In a world of product placement and in-screen logos, does it really make sense to keep people away from watching your shows? It's not as though I don't get the concept -- a return to appointment television where people go to the bathroom during commercial breaks instead of fast forwarding -- but it just struck me as so incredibly brain-dead in its execution.

What a pity that Microsoft chose to support this silliness with Media Center. And bravo to Elgato for deciding not to. What kinds of voluntary DRM can you think up? Let us know in the comments. Mine is broadcast-approved earplugs. Stick them in whenever you encounter sounds that might be copyright.