[Eriamjh]

Probably not, but Al Jazeera has chosen Apple.

Al Jazeera International chooses Apple Technology | Arab Business Machine (ABM)

Al Jazeera International chooses Apple Technology

Al Jazeera International, the English version of leading news broadcaster, Al Jazeera, announced the selection of a wide range of Apple products to deliver a comprehensive, end-to-end solution for the media organization.

Catering to a wide range of media requirements, the Apple-based technology project is set to deliver a total solution ranging from editing to storage needs. With a reputation for using cutting-edge technology, Al Jazeera plans to use the latest from Apple's portfolio of solutions to revolutionize the functioning of the TV station's video network.

Al Jazeera International is 24-hour English language news and current affairs channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. A subsidiary of Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera International is the world's first English language news channel to be headquartered in the Middle East. The channel has more than 30 bureaus and dozens of correspondents covering the world, giving global audiences the right information on international happenings.

Focusing on bringing the truth to the masses in time, Al Jazeera has signed up with Arab Business Machine's (Apple IMC Middle East) Reseller, PRO TECHnology to implement a comprehensive, turn-key media solution for the channel's growing infrastructure.

Partnering with Apple's Independent Marketing Company for the Middle East, Arab Business Machine Ltd, in deploying Apple storage solutions in the Middle East, PRO TECHnology specializes in the implementation of client/server network infrastructure and peer-to-peer network requirements. With a certified and experienced team of engineers and consultants, PRO TECHnology has the right resources and expertise to deploy an enterprise solution at Al Jazeera International.

Al Jazeera chose cutting edge technology which includes 41 MacBook Pro and Final Cut Studio for journalists, a 70 TB Apple storage solution using 10 Apple Xserve 7 TB XRAID and 14 Apple Xsan Software Licenses, plus 12 PowerMac G5 Quad, 2 PowerMac G5 Dual Core and 19 Apple Cinema HD Display 23' for editing and design.

'We are excited that we were given this opportunity.' said Ghassan Bendali, Deputy General Manager of Arab Business Machine Limited. 'Al Jazeera International is definitely a big name in the region today, and is anticipated to become one of the worlds' biggest broadcasters in coming years. We are absolutely delighted that they have chosen to be powered by Apple technology, and we are confident that they will soon reap rich benefits through the implementation of Apple's leading range of solutions from the MacBook Pro to the XSan.'

Journalists will also greatly benefit from the usage of Apple tools as the Final Cut Studio allows professional editors to elevate production values with powerful editing tools, revolutionary sound design, real-time motion graphics and next generation DVD authoring from the field, while the MacBook Pro is the first Mac notebook built on the Intel Core Duo processor, which delivers the power of two processors on a single chip - for blistering performance with high-end creative applications.

'The solution will focus on Apple's high-performance solutions which facilitate the editing of video, film and audio, in addition to the creation of effects and motion graphics, all from inception to completion. Our detailed solution for Al Jazeera will set the benchmark for all major television stations across the region.' concluded Bendali.

[lpkmckenna]

Wrong forum.

[Eriamjh]

Actually, I figured this was too silly to go in the political forum.

[Tuoder]

Interesting. I wonder why they picked Apple.

[lpkmckenna]

Spend enough time there, and you'll find almost everything in the PL is silly.

[aristotles]

The CIA also like to use Macs. What's your point?

[Spliffdaddy]

Probably because Steve Jobs and Al Jazeera share a similar love of propaganda.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Tuoder 

Interesting. I wonder why they picked Apple.

Because they're less crap than the alternatives?

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by aristotles 

The CIA also like to use Macs. What's your point?

Do you have a link? The only thing I have heard is that the NSA eats Crays for breakfast.

Originally Posted by Spliffdaddy 

Probably because Steve Jobs and Al Jazeera share a similar love of propaganda.

Perhaps they are getting the Reality Distorion Field beta?

Originally Posted by Doofy 

Because they're less crap than the alternatives?

In the server space? debateable.

[Ganesha]

I've seen them used on FOXnews and CNN too... But not MSNBC...

[CharlesS]

Originally Posted by Tuoder 

Interesting. I wonder why they picked Apple.

For the same reason that anyone else chooses Apple - because they make nice stuff?

No, silly me, it must be due to some kind of vast conspiracy. What was I thinking?

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by CharlesS 

For the same reason that anyone else chooses Apple - because they make nice stuff?

No, silly me, it must be due to some kind of vast conspiracy. What was I thinking?

Well, I mean OS X is rock solid, and TCO is better than linux (no I don't have a source). But they are not a very common choice. It makes me think they had a techie who uses a Mac.

[imitchellg5]

Terrorists in Turkey use Dells.

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Terrorists in Turkey use Dells.

Republicans use Packard-Bells. Typewriters, that is.

[chris v]

Originally Posted by Eriamjh 

Actually, I figured this was too silly to go in the political forum.

Nothing's too silly for Pol/War, by my recollection, anyway.

I couldn't tell you, but I bet there's at least 3 threads titled something like "Tom Cruise & Al Jazeera hatch Liberal Plot to Abduct Bush in Martian Saucer!"

[chris v]

Originally Posted by Spliffdaddy 

Probably because Steve Jobs and Al Jazeera share a similar love of propaganda.

God forbid ther Turrsts ever learn to properly wield the RDF. *shudder*

Al Jazeera is a TV network, like CNN. Why does the title mention terrorists?

FYI for anyone who thinks Al Jazeera is siding with terrorists, keep in mind terrorists think Al Jazeera sides with the USA.

[vmarks]

I wonder if they'll have any internal conflict when they discover that the Intel processors are designed in Israel and named for Israeli bodies of water.

The last time this happened (a few years ago,) Arabs made a terrible fuss over the fact that Apple machines were equipped with PRAM batteries made by the Israeli company Tadiran.

[mduell]

Why are they buying G5s now?

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by mduell 

Why are they buying G5s now?

Cost?

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Tuoder 

Interesting. I wonder why they picked Apple.

Umm, because Apple offer the best end-to-end solution for video capture, editing, and production. Apple offers MacBook pros for in-the-field reporters, Mac Pro towers for studio work, and an excellent server infrastructure (Xserve/XSAN) for media storage and delivery. If you **really** think about TCO in a 24/7 media operation you need to have your operators always functioning at 100%. And down-time with Apple hardware is SO MUCH LESS than with comparable PC hardware. Oh, did I mention Final Cut Pro? That application alone is justification for many media shops to buy and use Apple hardware. It is so much better than Premiere or Avid that its single-platofrm limitation--only running on Apple computers--can be over-looked because of the feature-set and eas-of-use it offers the media content creator.


<sarcsm>
Or, it could just be Steve Jobs Syrian roots coming out and he is trying to capture the terrorist computer market. Which, if you think about it, is a major growth industry right now.
</sarcasm>

[Tuoder]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy 

Umm, because Apple offer the best end-to-end solution for video capture, editing, and production. Apple offers MacBook pros for in-the-field reporters, Mac Pro towers for studio work, and an excellent server infrastructure (Xserve/XSAN) for media storage and delivery. If you **really** think about TCO in a 24/7 media operation you need to have your operators always functioning at 100%. And down-time with Apple hardware is SO MUCH LESS than with comparable PC hardware. Oh, did I mention Final Cut Pro? That application alone is justification for many media shops to buy and use Apple hardware. It is so much better than Premiere or Avid that its single-platofrm limitation--only running on Apple computers--can be over-looked because of the feature-set and eas-of-use it offers the media content creator.


<sarcsm>
Or, it could just be Steve Jobs Syrian roots coming out and he is trying to capture the terrorist computer market. Which, if you think about it, is a major growth industry right now.
</sarcasm>

You could have just called me a moron. It's true you know.

[aristotles]

Originally Posted by Tuoder 

Do you have a link? The only thing I have heard is that the NSA eats Crays for breakfast.

Sorry, I could only find a link for the FBI using OS X at their head office:
A Visit from the FBI

But you may recall that OS X ships with built in support for Common Access Card or CAC for short Authentication.
Apple - IT Pro - Federal

In the server space? debateable.

The DoD in the US saw fit to purchase a number of PPC Xserves a while back for signal processing within their sub fleet because of the low power requirements relative to their Floating point and Vector math performance.

I'm not sure what the situation is now with the Xeon Xserves but I heard they were price competitive with Dell servers.

[Doofy]

I seem to remember some article on The Register which said the CIA, FBI and NSA were all using Macs because it's harder to crack the encryption on a Mac due to the filing system. Or something like that.

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by vmarks 

I wonder if they'll have any internal conflict when they discover that the Intel processors are designed in Israel and named for Israeli bodies of water.

What? I thought the Santa Rosa chip was named after my home town.

[dcmacdaddy]

I know for a fact that the US Secret Service uses Apple Xserve clusters in their financial crimes division. I attended a presentation at Apple Computer's Federal Region Sales Office where they were pitching the whole Apple Server/Storage line to federal government agencies. One of their case stories, presented by the Apple Sales rep with comments from a Secret Service IT manager who was in attendance, was how they used a small--I think it was 50-node--Xserver cluster to catch perpetrators of credit card fraud--People who stole credit card numbers and then used them to make purchases or obtain cash.

The *really* interesting part of the presentation was that they were using the clusters to crack encrypted data files from Windows PCs. According to the sales rep, and confirmed by the SS guy, their Apple cluster could crack any Windows encrypted data file in uder 30 seconds (which presumably would be holding the records of the stolen credit cards). They were intent on pointing out that this involved just regular security/encryption provided by the Windows OS. For Windows files encrypted with an after-market security product the SS had other methods--Can you say, NSA--for deaing with these files. But, it's interesting to know that Windows encryption could be cracked by an Apple cluster.

At this sales presentation Apple was also featuring work they did for analytical (i.e.: scientific computing) in other federal agencies as well as mentioning briefly their use in web- and graphic-content design all across the government.

[vmarks]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

What? I thought the Santa Rosa chip was named after my home town.

Merom Lacus, lake in the Hulah Valley of Israel
Yonah is a variant transliteration for Jonah (יונה) in Hebrew
Conroe comes from Texas, USA.

[bstone]

Originally Posted by lpkmckenna 

Wrong forum.

I think it may be noteworthy to state that I was banned for a week by saying such comments. Instead, as I have been cautioned by some of the mods, you should say that "perhaps this is the wrong forum for such a discussion, but perhaps the political lounge is the better place for this to be discussed as this seems like it's a political discussion more than a discussion about computers or technology".

There ya go.

[OreoCookie]

AFAIK Bush 2 and Clinton are also using Macs … what does it say about them?






Answer: I guess they have (had) enough on their hands to deal with a windows installation

[Eriamjh]

Originally Posted by hayesk 

Al Jazeera is a TV network, like CNN. Why does the title mention terrorists?

FYI for anyone who thinks Al Jazeera is siding with terrorists, keep in mind terrorists think Al Jazeera sides with the USA.

To be honest, I did that to draw attention to the thread. I think it worked.

Al Jazeera is considered by some to be be spreading the word of the terrorists simply by reporting what they do, broadcasting their videos, messages, etc. They are no less biased than Fox or CNN with regards to what they report, I'm sure.

Actually, I wonder why it was even reported, but felt compelled to post it here since it is about our favorite computer company. It probably occured weeks ago (or even months). Sometimes the internet picks up the dumbest news items.

What's next, that Osama uses Linux? Whoopee-flipping-doo!

[The Godfather]

Rush Limbaugh uses Apple computers too.

[BlueSky]

Originally Posted by The Godfather 

Rush Limbaugh uses Apple computers too.

As does (or did?) Ann Coulter, according to an old interview which featured a pic of her with a bondi blue iMac on her desk.

[Eug]

The RCMP loves Macs.



So does the Impossible Mission Force.

[tooki]

This thread title is totally inappropriate and misleading, and the ensuing discussion is PL fodder. Ka-chink.

tooki