New and Noteworthy: Are you an iPod widow?; G5 smokes Intel for CAD; more

Are you an iPod widow? A Macworld UK piece discusses the phenomenon of "iPod widows"- spouses now distant from their iPod obsessed partners. "[...] the thousands of women who bought their husbands and boyfriends an iPod for Christmas are beginning to regret it as their partners become 'increasingly fanatical Poddies, spending whole evenings and weekends with this small object of desire, their partners have been rendered iPod widows.'" More.

G5 smokes Intel for CAD Architosh has a combined interview/benchmark piece regarding the Power Mac G5's performance in CAD-based operations, concluding "I don't think we've seen a performance jump like this since the PowerPC replaced the Motorola 68040 chip." More.

Virginia Tech to switch supercomputer to xServes Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University will upgrade its supercomputer that uses PowerMac G5 computers with Apple's recently introduced Xserve G5 servers that have two chips in each box, the university said on Tuesday. "By moving to the thinner servers, the supercomputer will consume less power and generate less heat, said Srinidhi Varadarajan, assistant professor of computer science, college of engineering, at Virginia Tech." More.

Mac OS X lawsuit deal gets final nod CNET reports that a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Monday gave final approval for a class-action settlement that will allow some Mac owners to receive a refund for their Mac OS X purchase. "Under the terms of the deal, owners of certain older Macs can get a refund if they return their copy of Mac OS X or, if they want to keep Mac OS X, they can obtain a coupon for $25 off a $99 purchase at the Apple Store. Apple also agreed to pay $350,000 in legal costs to King & Ferlauto, the law firm that brought the suit." More.

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