While in the middle of bringing you breaking Apple news, staffers at TMO’s Northern Virginia office were interrupted this morning by an unexpected visitor. The Space Shuttle Discovery, on a final tour before she’s decommissioned at the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center, buzzed our office on the back of a NASA 747.

When OS X Lion shipped, Apple used an image of the M31 galaxy in the constellation Andromeda as the default desktop image.  Then, when Mountain Lion was announced, the default image changed to a galaxy no one could identify immediately. Now, a reader has tipped us off.

Andrew Taylor is leaving Nuance, the company he sold MacSpeech to. Just exactly what’s in store, he doesn’t yet know, but he’s decided it’s time to move on.

Despite its busy schedule with Psystar in U.S. District Court in Northern California, Apple still managed to file a motion to dismiss the PC maker's case in Florida on Tuesday.

Psystar reasserted its claims that Leopard and Snow Leopard copyright-related issues should be dealt with in court independently in its response to Apple's motion to dismiss the unauthorized Mac clone maker's recent case filing in Florida. Apple and Psystar have been battling in U.S. District Court in California over whether or not the PC maker can build and sell Mac clones for months, but the clone maker added a new wrinkle to the case when it started the legal process over again with a new filing in Florida.

Unauthorized Mac clone maker Psystar was slapped with a US$5,000 fine for discovery abuse, indicating the company's "guns blazin'" legal strategy may have misfired. The ruling came as part of Apple's case against the company for selling PCs with Mac OS X pre-installed.

Apple's lawsuit against Psystar took an interesting turn on Tuesday when Apple was granted a motion to file its discovery brief and exhibits under seal, meaning the documents and information will remain confidential and out of the public eye. The move indicates the two companies are likely embroiled in a major discovery dispute.

Psystar, the company Apple is suing for allegedly building and selling Mac clones without authorization, has been granted its motion to dismiss its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case in Florida. The Judge overseeing the case, however, included the stipulation that if Psystar files for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection Apple's case against the company in California will not be subject to an automatic stay.

Unauthorized Mac clone maker, Psystar, filed a motion to dismiss its bankruptcy case in Florida on Thursday claiming it couldn't afford to simultaneously deal with that filing along with Apple's copyright infringement case in California.

Apple filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Miami on Friday requesting a modification of the stay that is preventing it from moving forward with its case against Psystar in the Northern District Court in California. Apple's case against Psystar for selling PCs with Mac OS X preinstalled has been on hold ever since the PC maker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection at the end of May.