iPods Don't Run OS X

Redrum writes "Everyone thinks that Apple's iPod runs an OS called Pixo, and that the iPhone ushered in a brand new epoch based on OS X. That myth has been busted: the iPod runs Apple's own Mach/BSD kernel, and Pixo is only used as a graphics layer. Daniel Eran outlines the story behind Pixo and what OS X means for Apple. It's no joke; the story was confirmed by Tim Monroe, a member of Apple's QuickTime engineering team, as is easy to verify yourself." Update: 07/15 19:48 GMT by KD : Turns out to be an April Fools joke.

Comments

actually..

[jimbug]

my iPod runs linux.

Old April Fool's Joke

[billatq]

This is an April Fool's Joke, and an old one too: http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/dev eloping-quicktime-apps-for-ipod/

Re:Old April Fool's Joke

[MoxFulder]

Granted, you do get some good jokes, but most of the time people who are not remotely funny spend the day playing unfunny jokes on each other. But you're not allowed to complain, because then you get accused of having no sense of humour. Not to mention the fact that it's freakin' July!

OS X != Darwin

[argent]

Oh dear, it turns out the iPod is running Mac OS X--with a Mach kernel and a Unix userland--and has been for years.

Nonsense.

What this listing shows is not an iPod running "Mac OS X". It shows an iPod that may be running "a Mach-based version of UNIX", presumably a variant of Darwin. Darwin is not OS X. This would be like finding a copy of "vmlinuz" in an embedded device and claiming it's running Ubuntu.

Re:PLEASE HELP

[technos]

You know how the CIA uses reverse-engineered alien technology to scan your brain, right? Spread frequency directional RF in the low 8GHz range at between 1400 and 1750w. When exposed to the field, your neurons phase-lock to some minor harmonic when they fire. Then they just sit back and listen to all your remaining brain cells chirp away.

How the FBI 'hacks' your computer isn't much different, but it's a lot easier, and shares some of the same gear. Instead of using the RF field to modulate your neurons, they use it to induce a weak localized EM field in the computer and then read back the disturbances in that field from the harmonic corresponding to the sub-gigahertz bus of the machine into a low-cost simulator.

The great news is you don't really have to do anything out of the ordinary to counter the attack. You already have plenty of tin-foil on hand from making your hat. (They wouldn't be scanning your machine if they could scan your brain directly, after all.)

What you need to do is enclose your computer, peripherals, and cables with two layers of foil, shiny side out. (It increases the relative capacitance of the foil layer.) Be especially sure to cover any openings in the case, like fans and vent holes. I recommend a little Super Glue here and there in trouble areas such as the keyboard, where typing through the layer of foil tends to deform it.

The monitor is best dealt with by making a hood out of cardboard, furring strip and foil. Glue a couple of furring strips 8-10 inches longer than your head is away from the monitor to the top of it, and then build a cardboard box around both the monitor and your head, using the furring strips as support. Some people have reported better results ridding themselves of the van parked across the street by cladding both sides of the cardboard with two sheets of tin-foil. The reasoning is that the induced EM field in the monitor tends to be stronger. I'm doubtful of the claim, but it can't hurt!

The hole at the bottom for your head can be left comfortably large to fit your skull through supposedly. I typically build a little 'skirt' out of strips of foil long enough to cover down past my shoulders and then staple them to the bottom of the hood just to be sure though.

offtopic

[Pharmboy]

Funny gets you no karma, Informative does, so some mods will mod informative to give the post a boost in ranking AND karma to the poster.

The logic in "funny" not giving karma is based on the idea that it is easier to be funny than to be smart, and they want to promote "smart" more than "funny", which makes sense.

Technically, you can write a post, get it modded +5 Funny and lose karma points. Example: your post gets modded up and down as funny and offtopic. 8 mods Funny, 3 mods Offtopic = -3 Karma. Modding Insightful, Interesting, etc. offsets that.

You should read the faq. All of it. That is where you will learn how a post can technically be modded as +5 Flamebait. (I have seen it) -1 Flamebait and +6 Underrated = +5 Flamebait.