The new iTunes store is great, and I'd like to thank Apple for minimizing the DRM. Of course, you can strip the DRM by writing a track to an audio CD and re-ripping it. That much even Apple will tell you. But there are two more hacks beyond this:
Phase 1: Turning an m4p file into an AIFF. Quicktime (pro) won't do this for you, but it appears that maybe iMovie can. Open a new iMovie project, add an m4p file, then use the Finder and go into the Media folder of the project. You'll find an AIFF ready to use.
Phase 2: Turning an m4p file directly into an m4a without re-encoding it. That is, stripping the DRM completely out of the file. This remains the holy grail. It is likely that some actual software would have to be written to accomplish this feat. Whoever writes it can, of course, look forward to lots of DMCA based heat the minute they achieve this.
Apple released another AirPort software update this evening. This one contains v3.0.4 of AppleAirPort2.kext, but then so did 10.2.5. I guess they recompiled it without changing the version number. Oops. The PERL script has been updated to reflect the new $patchloc (which is 0x4e8ac). After re-applying the patch, the driver works just like it always has.
Enjoy.
I'm using this entry to keep a sort of log of differences I find with the brand new (since 10.2.5 came out) 3.0.4 version of the AirPort Extreme driver.
Already, I've been able to put my access point back into G-only mode, so it appears that they've fixed that.
It also looks like I can disable SSID broadcasts on the access point (meaning you need to know the network name as well as the WEP key to associate).
More as I discover more...
Update! Even more good news! My preliminary fiddling suggests that a lot of the panics relating to removing CardBus cards with the driver active may be fixed. If you have the signal strength icon in the menu bar you may need to open up Internet Connect and toggle the checkbox if it gets stuck in the "X" (hardware missing) state, but apart from that it appears that you can stop and remove the card without blowing anything up.
While I was at work this afternoon, aparently Apple released 10.2.5. Todd Heidesch (look near the bottom) reports that 10.2.5 has updated the AirPort Extreme kext. When I get home, confirm the report and update the script, I'll update this entry.
In the mean time, good work, Todd!
Update: Sure enough, 10.2.5 comes with AppleAirPort2.kext 3.0.4, and changing the $patchloc variable is all that's necessary to fix it.
So here's how you update to 10.2.5:
1. Start a terminal and sudo tcsh. Just let that sit there.
2. Start softwareupdate. Update to 10.2.5 normally. DO NOT reboot or shut down when it's done.
3. Go back to the terminal. cd /System/Library/Extensions/AppleAirPort2.kext/Contents and rm Info.plist.orig Macos/AppleAirPort2_patched. Now you've got a 'virgin' 10.2.5 AppleAirPort2.kext.
4. Modify the $patchloc in the perl script. You'll find the correct one commented out.
5. Run the perl script. It should say 'finished' as always.
6. Reboot.
Found an interesting entry on MacSlash. It describes Sizzle, an alternative piece of DVD authoring software. It's rev 0.1, and it's in no way as visually sophisticated as iDVD or Final Cut, but it's not crippled to only work with Apple hardware either.