Foxconn doubles size of Chinese factory to produce more Apple iPhones MacDailyNews, 12/27/11. Apple, how about "onshoring" some of those new production jobs? You can't afford it? Another recent article reported that labor costs are only 2% of the cost of a new iPhone or other device. You make a 30% profit off the backs (hands) of those wage slaves in China. Apple, you CAN afford it.

Thoughts on Using Older Macs as Work Machines Charles Moore, Low End Mac, 12/7/11. Charles deals with the question that faces all owners of PowerPC Macs: How long do you struggle to keep that old machine working before you break down and buy a new one?

OS X 10.5 Leopard may lose Firefox in 2012 Topher Kessler, CNET, 12/1/11. Thankfully for PowerPC Mac users, Mozilla's TenFourFox is up-to-date and works just fine with Tiger and Leopard.

The Religion of Mac Called Into Question Gwen Orel, Baristanet, 11/28/11. "There’s a moment where a Chinese worker sees an iPad turned on for the first time. 'It’s like magic,' he breathes. The worker is crippled through repetitive movements on a factory line." Keep that old Mac working instead of hiring some wage slave in China to make the latest gadget for you. Don't give in to that Cyber Monday urge.

The Sketchbook of Susan Kare Slashdot, 11/24/11. After creating the original Mac icons, Susan followed Steve Jobs to Next, and later worked for Microsoft creating Windows icons that are in use today.

Interview with Alexander Clauss, iCab's Creator Sebastian Patting, Low End Mac, 11/22/11. iCab is one of those rare apps that has maintained support for PPC Macs while still staying current with non-proprietary standards. I hope this will continue. Update: It won't.

The trials and tribulations of HTML video in the post-Flash era Ryan Paul, Ars Technica, 11/20/11. This transition could be a real boon for developers of PowerPC browsers like TenFourFox and Classilla. No longer will they have to do work-arounds for non-current Adobe PPC Flash plug-ins as the web eventually moves toward open-source technologies and non-proprietary standards like HTML 5.

Apple Veterans Plotted to Kill PowerPC Long Before Jobs' Return Jason Mick, Daily Tech, 11/14/11. A good read on Apple's shift from PPC to Intel. Too bad they didn't continue supporting PPC kit like they did 68K Macs back in the 90s.

Apple's Jony Ive: Inform, Illuminate, Inspire Carmine Gallo, Forbes, 11/7/11. Ive is a brilliant designer with great people skills, an unusual combination. I hope he takes over where Steve Jobs left off in the "one more thing" department. Jony, give us Macs that we'll keep and want to use forever because they are works of art.

The sods must be crazy: OLPC to drop tablets from helicopters to isolated villages Ryan Paul, Ars Technica, 11/3/11. We don't need no stinkin' schools or teachers. Just dump a bunch of these Linux-based tablets (or iPads, for that matter) onto your town and your kids will just teach themselves. It's what education for the unwashed masses is coming down to, and is far more profitable than continuing to support the older computers used in school districts.

Why it could be the end of the line for the Mac Pro Darrell Etherington, GigaOM, 11/1/11. Apple's evolution from a computer company into a consumer products company led them to abandon education and enterprise. Now they might ditch professional users, too? As Steve Jobs once said, "Oh, wow... Oh, wow!"