The Pink Mac

My New Blackberry 9930!

2011-11-16T12:11:00.006-05:00

This post is actually far overdue and has been a while in the making. I bought my new Blackberry back in August but have continuously been putting off a post about it despite the fact that I really believe its a great phone and I am extremely happy with it! So, here it is in all it's glory!

There really isn't much to say about the new Blackberry except that this is point blank the best Blackberry out on the market. It is so sleek it blows other BBs as well as other smart phones out of the water. It has a wide full qwerty keyboard which is a breeze to use compared to my old BB Tour's keyboard which had smaller keys. It has a touch pad which I realize isn't a new feature of Blackberry's but it is new to me and I enjoy not having a trackball get stuck as I am trying to search for an app or a website. The feature that distinguishes this phone the most is probably the touch screen which in conjunction with the full keyboard and non-slider brick form is a first for RIM. In this day and age of touch screens, its really great to have a smartphone with a touchscreen so you can tap icons or pinch to zoom in webpages or images. The screen is large enough that you really get a lot of information packed in and catching up on your favorite website is totally possible with this phone!

Really, the best thing about the new Blackberry is really its speed. It is snappy and for the first time, I have been able to really use the internet browser on a smartphone. Websites load fast, and the search is quick. Maps and navigation are quick to use and other 3rd party applications run smoothly. Overall, I am very impressed with the new phone and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a new Blackberry.

I have included a few links below with reviews on the phone in case you would like some more detail on the specs and such.

Via Blackberry Blog

Via Engadget

The Missing Links 11.5.11

2011-11-05T08:11:00.003-04:00

Since I have already announced that I am partaking in NaNoWriMo again this year, I thought that I would put together a post full of links for other Mac users who are also participating. Whether this is your first year or not, and whether you are writing from a Mac, iPad or iPhone, these links are for you to find something new to help keep your word count at its maximum all month long!

Macworld has put together their annual collection of nanowrimo tips and tricks.
For those writing via iPad, Macgasm has collected an indispensable toolkit for November.
Need to find that perfect iPad software to keep you writing for 30 days, find it here.
Looking for the perfect OSX software to keep you on track, I love Scrivener!
Whether your using OSX or iOS, MacLife knows Mac users are nano-winners with this gear!

Happy Novel Writing my wonderful Mac Users!

{Image via Flickr}

NaNoWriMo 2011 has begun!

2011-11-01T14:26:00.002-04:00

It’s November, and for me that means back to noveling as part of National Novel Writing Month. Not only am I taking on this 50,000 word challenge, but I have also volunteered to be the Municipal Liaison for my county. So, I am not only responsible for writing my own novel, but I am also responsible for an entire region of writers and helping them to achieve the goal as well! It was a little daunting at first, but after our Kick Off Party and meeting some of my regions participants I know that there is nothing to fear because I am in with a great group!

I am already ahead of the game with my word count, which makes me very happy, and my home office setup is perfect and includes the following:

  Hardware: 

13" Macbook (circa 2006) connected to a 15" Apple Studio Display

 13" Macbook Pro (2009)

 16gb iPad (1st Gen) 

Apple Pro Mouse 

Apple Bluetooth Keyboard  

Software: 

Scrivener for Mac

 Notebooks for iPad 

Dropbox

 Loads of iPad games like Splodes and Osmos HD  

Misc: 

Bowers & Wilkins P5 Headphones

 Large Squared Moleskine 

The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on audiobook (I can't write to music, only spoken word)

I have been trying to recreate that home office pictured above as it seems nice and cozy especially with the extreme weather we are getting on the east coast-- it looks like we may have a snowy November ahead. This year I am very lucky because my fiance is also participating in the event, so we have built a novel writing schedule for ourselves to keep each other on track. I know its only day one, but I am feeling really good about this year’s novel, so I hope I have more positive updates to give you in the weeks to come.

“Be a yardstick of quality.”

2011-11-01T14:19:00.002-04:00

An unfortunate thing has happened since I last posted on this blog, and as you probably already know, Steve Jobs passed away on October 5th from complications associated with the pancreatic cancer he had been fighting for years. I know I didn’t know him, but I certainly felt connected to him through the numerous products of his that I brought into my life. I know that may some crazy to some people, but I believe objects can connect people (not just through the internet) and I believe Steve felt the same way.

Since Steve’s passing there have been so many publications focusing on his life, a biography, numerous magazine articles, and countless news and opinion pieces. I feel like I have been inundated by information regarding this man I never knew, yet who had such a big influence in my life. I saw a quote the other day from him that goes “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.” You know, the funny thing about this quote is that I think the world considered Steve to be so revolutionary because he was living this way in a world that had forgotten the value of quality. So, lets all start living this way, expecting more from ourselves and others, because in the end that quality matters!

Why I am canceling my Netflix DVD service

2011-09-19T10:43:00.004-04:00

This morning, like many others, I woke to find an apologetic email from Netflix CEO Reed Hastings explaining yet another change to my Netflix service. As you may already be aware, this email discussed the further dismemberment of Netflix services by explaining that Netflix DVD service is now re-branded as Qwikster, a service that will replicate the current Netflix DVD service, but will ultimately be a separate entity from Netflix and a separate website.

When I first joined Netflix in 2009, I was lured in by the convenience of having an instant library of movies that could stream to my computer as well as the flexibility of receiving DVDs by mail when my movie or TV show of choice was not available in streaming. It was like having access to a complete library of movies and shows practically 24/7 and it couldn't have been any more convenient. On top of that, the prices for the plans were unbeatable. So much so, that I did not and, still do not, have expanded cable. Netflix was saving me and plenty of others probably about $100 a month!
But then of course, earlier this year, they announced the change in their plan pricing that doubled the price of my plan. Although many were unhappy enough to leave Netflix behind, I understood the reasons Netflix was forced to take up pricing as even that was still a good price for the convenience and excellent service Netflix provided. So, I continued my same service, DVDs and streaming at the new increased price.

This new change, rather, separation, of the services has pushed me over the line. The major reason for this is that now, instead of having one website where I can go to browse movies, I will now need to browse two. The Netflix site was great because you could view movies by your taste and if you found something you liked you could add it to either one of your queues. Now, if you can't find a movie in streaming, you will need to look for it on Qwikster and then manage that queue. I don't want to seem lazy, but I am a consumer after all and I want things streamlined. I don't want to jump from list to list, site to site to put my entertainment in order. Now, since I do use a majority streaming, I don't want to loose that. I only use about 1-2 DVDs a month and the movies are usually things I can get on demand from Comcast my cable provider. So instead of paying Qwikster $8 a month to give me two DVDs, I will just rent the new movies from Comcast for a few bucks each. For the price of the service, its just not worth it to do double duty for something I rarely use.

I am sure I am not going to be the only one that feels this way, but if you have an opinion on the matter, please feel free to comment to add to the discussion.

As always, thanks for reading!

How Do You Carry Your iPad?

2011-09-11T09:47:00.002-04:00

I came across this image a while back and I wanted to share it! I think with the array of iPad accessories in existence that each of these scenarios is entirely possible! The party tote is my personal favorite, what about you?

An Immaculate Desk

2011-09-11T09:33:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week I posted a video of my Office Tour that I hope everyone enjoyed. Since I now have my own office space in my new apartment, I am really excited over the idea of having an immaculate desk space. I think when you have a home office that you use for personal use, its very important for that space to be a place you want to be sitting and working at especially after a full work day at your actual office. For me, I really need a creative space to inspire my writing and I hope I am very close to achieving the balance I need to keep me focused and to keep me in my chair writing.

I found these images of other immaculate desks, as I like to call them, and I thought I would share them with you! These are taken from the Who What Wear offices. WWW is a fashion website, which would explain the awe inspiring decor, that reminds me of the set of The Devil Wears Prada. Now, I'm certainly not running a fashion empire from my little office space but I would certainly like to set a good mood for my space and these images are just the inspiration I need and I hope you also get a little inspiration for your own desk space. Enjoy!

In Search of the Perfect iPad Case

2011-09-08T21:49:00.003-04:00

So many to choose from.

As it has been well documented for us at The Pink Mac, we love iPad cases. Love them, obsessed with them, and yes, hoard them. Each of our cases have specific uses for specific times. For example my cheap $5 rubber case is for around house when I have little risk of putting my iPad in harms way in of the big wide world. Then there is my display case, perfect for different viewing angles which makes watching movies or showing off pictures a lot easier. But my most used is my rugged travel case. Thick padding and a cover fully protect my iPad while I take it out with me to school.

However, I have had this traveling case for some time, it is starting to wear down, and frankly I would like a change. So I need your help. I will describe everything I am looking for in an iPad case and if you have any ideas of what would fit my needs, please leave a comment below with a link to the case. If I like it and it is within my price range I will pick it up, use it, and even review it for the website!

1. Needs to fit an iPad 1
2. Needs to have a folio cover.
3. Have some padding for protection, but not so much that it is too bulky
4. Has a good method to hold the iPad in place, but does not cover too much of the sides around the screen.
5. Needs to have some form of a strap to connect the folio cover to the back while the case is open. I hate having a cover flap around and move while holding it.
6. It would be nice if there was a strap to put your hand through so you can hold the iPad with one hand.

Help me Pink Mac readers, your my only hope!

Back to the Blog: Office Tour

2011-09-07T10:03:00.004-04:00

I know it has been a few months since my last post, but I am finally back to blogging after my eventful summer! I moved at the end of July and have been busy putting together my new apartment. I decided that I should give you guys a peek of my new office since I am pretty much done furnishing and decorating it. Enjoy and keep your eyes out for more new content coming soon!

Getting Things Done with my iPad and Apps

2011-06-29T11:08:00.005-04:00

For the past week, I have been utterly obsessed with trying to implement The GTD system! I don't have the book, but there is a plethora of information on the Internet. I recently purchased this awesome fake snakeskin case from Target for just $16! I really like it because it is folio style with a zip around closure, multiple pockets and a pen/stylus holder. Only negative is that the elastic straps block parts of the corners of the iPad. Overall, however, I find that the case has been great for keeping me organized and on top of my work.

Now, if you too are interested in GTD and getting your work and your life organized I have a few links I found useful listed below.

GTD FAQ

GTD Clear out your inbox

{Happy GTDing}

The Missing Links 6.20.11

2011-06-20T17:35:00.004-04:00

This week I believe I have gathered a great group of links to share with you! They range from fashionable tech accessories to newly released applications, and from Apple news to meditation. So, without further ado here are this weeks Missing Links!

If you're one of the many Apple fans who were unimpressed with WWDC read this.
Are you a student looking for a new Mac? Read about Apples new Back to School Deal!
Wish your iPhone could get you a date? Well, there is some good news for you!
Are you interested in some new fashionable accessories? Click here Apple Fangirls and Fanboys.
The 5th Avenue Apple Store is getting a facelift, read about the cost of all that glass here!
Stuck in a mental rut and need to get the creative juices flowing, try meditating on this one.
I think this is a very interesting bag solution for the modern male.
Wacom introduces some Paper to go with their new iPad stylus.
Feel like your iPad Facebook experience has been lacking? Perhaps you won't for long!

Happy Reading!

{Image via here}

The Missing Links 6.13.11

2011-06-13T17:44:00.006-04:00

I have decided to start a new series of posts weekly on The Pink Mac called The Missing Links! Each week I am going to post links to some interesting articles I read in the previous week that I thought would be good to share. Obviously, with the WWDC Keynote from Steve Jobs last week, many of these will be related to the Apple updates, but in the future I am going to try to provide more of a mix of topics. So, without further ado, here are The Missing Links for 6.13.11.

{Happy Reading}

iPad therefore I am.

2011-06-13T17:43:00.002-04:00

As a fan of sketch notes, I have always appreciated the work of others, but very rarely attempt to do the same on my own. Yesterday I wasn't feeling very well so I lay in bed sketching for a bit. This is what resulted. I know Apple didn't create the iPad to be used in conjunction with a stylus, but it really does help to use one if you plan to take full advantage of the sensitivity of the screen. Although the iPad is mainly a touch input device, I was reading an article from CultofMac.com that I thought I would share about how the iPad really is a great pen based tablet.

On that same note, I have been reading about various stylus' to perhaps find one that would better suite my needs as I am finding that all styli are not created equal. I read a great review of 12 stylus' from Macworld that I thought you may also find interesting if you, like me, are looking for a new stylus to use with your iPad.

{Image above was created using Penultimate for iPad and the BoxWave capacitive iPad Stylus}

Incipio Premium Kickstand Review

2011-06-07T01:44:00.003-04:00

This is a quick review of my newest iPad case acquisition- the Incipio Premium Kickstand in sand/beige ($30). Made of durable ripstop nylon, this is a great case that quickly and easily converts to some great viewing angles and also into perfect typing position! Click the video above to see this case in action.

How to make your iPad 1 feel like an iPad 2

2011-06-06T11:06:00.003-04:00

So, it's the beginning of June, and all around you people are carrying around the newest iteration of the iPad while you are still toting the ever so clunky first generation model. Yes, you may be using last years hardware, and yes, your beginning to develop back pain from the extra weight of the iPad 1, but alas, you don't have the extra cash to upgrade to that ever so slim sliver of aluminum and your medical insurance does not consider the upgrade a medical expense even though the .2 lb difference would mean worlds of relief for your sciatica. What to do, what to do?

Well, first of all, realize that you are not the only one in this situation, and actually, you may be ahead of the game in ways you'd never expect. After all, since you were thrifty and didn't splurge on iPad 2, you can justify the expense of iPad 3 at next years launch! Okay, not making you feel any better? Luckily there are a few things you can do now to save yourself the money of an upgrade while also making your iPad feel shiny and new.

1. Wash your iPad head to home button

Maybe your screen is a bit dingy, or your aluminum has lost it's sheen, but many of the superficial ailments your iPad is susceptible to can be cured with a good cleaning. Make sure to use iPad compatible cleaning solutions and cloths and also check with Apple support on proper cleaning methods before undertaking this task.

2. Give your iPad a facelift with a new case

One of the benefits of having a previous generation device is that the cases and accessories for it are usually deeply discounted. Take advantage of that fact and perk up your iPad with some new swag. Make sure to check popular sites like EBay and Amazon for even better deals as 3rd party retailers will usually give bigger discounts on last generation items to get rid of back stock. A new case and a fresh screen protector can make a big difference on an old iPad.

3. Refresh your iPad with some new content

Although you may not be able to change the physical appearance of your iPad 1 to that of an iPad 2, one thing you can change is your user experience. Splurging on a few new games, apps, books, and movies will make your iPad seem fresh and new. Find yourself some interesting new images to use as your background and lock screen to give your iPad a new look. Rearrange your apps and create a new filing system with folders to clean up your home screen. Only use your iPad for web surfing or reading? Try utilizing one of your iPad's many other features to maximize your iPad experience.

Using any one or all of these tips will certainly add a little pep back to your old iPad, and remember, since it is an Apple device, it still has years ahead of it, so you will have to decide for yourself which price you would rather pay; the upgrade to the newest generation or the stigma of carrying around an old device.

Happy iPad-ing everyone!

{Image via Flickr}

Case In Point

2011-05-23T16:13:00.007-04:00

Miss Trenchcoat and I love iPad cases... and by love I mean we are obsessed. At last count, we have eight cases and two body sleeves for our grand total of two iPads in the household. It is a little excessive, we know, but our cases are used for a plethora of reasons. Some are folio cases with covers to protect the screen which are perfect for when we travel, some are cases with built in stands for watching movies together, and some are minimalist back cases to keep the sleek feel of the iPad intact.

Lately I have found myself using one of those sleek cases for the past few weeks and I am loving it. But this case is special and very very different then any of the other cases we have. While The Pink Mac regularly features cases that we love, most of those cases range from the $50 - $70 range. Now these cases are amazing and have a great level of craftsmanship, however it is obviously a lot of money to invest in a case. This case I am using is different because it cost me a grand total of five dollars (tax not included). I got this case on a whim, it had a nice design, nice feel, and Miss Trenchcoat was getting a pink one so I wanted to match! It really impressed me with the simple design and how it protects the iPad. The rubber feels perfect for gripping and holding, and it surrounds the iPad totally from the back to around the front edge, so it is very hard for dirt and dust to get under the skin of the case. It doesn't protect the front at all, but with a screen shield on I feel moderately safe leaving the iPad around on a desk or in a drawer. The upside to having no front protection is the iPad is still super thin as intended.

But the point of this article isn't to review the case, but to remind everyone that those cheap-looking knock-off cases you find in dollar stores may actually turn out to be perfect for your needs. You don't need to go out spending over $50 for some designer case that you spent hours online researching product reviews of - sometimes it is good to be spontaneous and give the $5 case a shot, because who knows you might end up liking it after all. And at the end of the day, the reason you buy a case for you iPad should be first and foremost: protection. So if it does the same job for less, why not give it a try?

Like New

2011-05-22T12:18:00.005-04:00

For the last few weeks, my iPad has been acting a bit sluggish. Page turns delayed, apps were slow to open, and the touch screen was hesitant to react to my touch. I have also been having problems with syncing my iPad apps in iTunes. Trying to remove an unused app or trying to sync back on an app I had removed earlier resulted in random apps being removed and added from my iPad. My itunes and my iPad's settings were both reporting that my ipad was close to full, no matter how many apps I removed from the device. So, this morning, I decided I should try restoring my iPad to see if that helped. I read through the process on Apple's support site, made sure to backup the documents and images that were saved on my iPad in various programs via dropbox or if necessary, through email. Then I made sure to back up my iPad one last time before taking the plunge and restoring.

The process of restoring and updating took about half an hour in total, and once my iPad was up and running, despite the general disarray of my apps on the desktop, I found everything were it had been before the restore. All my documents were still in place, along with pictures, notes, sketches, etc. The best part was that my iPad and iTunes we're now reporting that only half of my storage was used, where it has before claimed my iPad was at nearly full capacity.

Overall, I was very impressed with how easy it was to restore my device without loosing a bit of my stored data. I realize that whenever you undertake a restore on any device, there is a risk of loosing information, but in the case of my beloved iPad, I didn't have to transfer back any of the files I stored in case of emergency. Now, of course, my iPad is running like new again, which is a great feeling!

Image via Flickr

Moleskine New 2011 Collection

2011-05-22T08:31:00.007-04:00

About a week ago, Moleskine released it's new collection of goods which included not only new versions of their popular journals, but also a travel collection consisting of laptop/work bags, a writing collection consisting of notebook attachable pens and pencils, and a reading collection featuring reading glasses and a book/ereader stand. Their new collection, geared towards the "modern day nomad" blends the elegant styling of the Moleskine brand with the digital vs analog dichotomy faced by the creative and intellectual journalist. As an avid Moleskine enthusiast, I was eager to try out a few items from the new collection and immediately ordered myself the classic rollerball pen and refill, as well as the book/ereader stand.

The Classic Rollerball Pen ($15) is a bit more expensive for it's quality than I expected. From the images online I would have thought the pen to be a sturdy or solid feeling pen, however, it is very lightweight and feels a bit cheap. It writes effortlessly, which is a plus, but the real reason the pen may be worth its high cost is the custom metal cap that holds the pen to the hard cover of a Moleskine journal. I denote hard cover here because this pen does not seem to be meant for the thin cover of the soft Moleskine collection. However, the pen does sit very nicely on the Moleskine when attached to the hard cover, and is the length of a pocket sized Moleskine. The pen attaches nicely on both the pocket and large sized journals and stays put via rubber lining on the metal clip. Overall, the pen is a bit expensive, but I believe worth it for the convenience of having a well designed pen always attached to my Moleskine.

The E-Reader Stand ($18) is much more of a disappointment to me than the pen. It isn't that the stand feels cheaply made, on the contrary it feels sturdy in the hand, made from a thick molded plastic with a textured finish that aims to mimic the exterior of a Moleskine. My problem with the stand is that its design is overly simplistic. When it comes to using my iPad with this stand, which is what this was clearly designed for as evident in the stock photos of the product, its very hard to do so with certain cases on the iPad. Now, the iPad in the photos are without a case, but I think that it is a bit unrealistic to create a stand without taking iPad cases into consideration. The only cases that really work with this stand are very simple hard shell type cases, and as someone who prefers the use of folio cases, I was very disappointed. The only one of my folio cases I could get to work with this stand was ironically my Moleskine inspired Portenzo case. Now, iPad cases aside, their is one other gripe I have with this stand and it is that it is also being marketed as a book stand, and in the photos Moleskine shows the stand holding up a large sized hard cover journal. I tried to get the stand to hold up my large sized journal, but it just did not work the way you see it in the pictures. Instead of holding the journal at a nice angle for reading, the journal seemed to slip through the stand. However, when I tried this trick with a pocket journal the stand did hold it up properly, and when I tested some other books, things were either hit or miss, but mostly a miss. Overall, I am very disappointed with the functionality of this stand. I purchased it because I liked the idea of a dual iPad and journal stand for work, but it is not living up to the reputation of a Moleskine product.

Gaming For Under $1 - Collision Effect

2011-04-03T23:14:00.001-04:00

Basics: The goal of any level is to bring all the orbs of the same color together, without any hitting each other while on their way! You tap one of the colored orbs and all the orbs of the same color fly towards the one you touched. There are two modes, Action and Puzzle each with their own difficulties. In Action, colored orbs come in from off screen and you must quickly tap an orb before any hit each other. You have to be careful of the paths all orbs take since are all moving and no orb but the ones you touch remain stationary. In Puzzle mode the atmosphere is more calm as all the orbs aren't moving, but the challenge lies in a more complex arrangement of the colored orbs mixed around.

Gameplay: Either fast paced or slow and steady depending on your game mode. In Action, the orbs come in from off the screen and you have to survive wave after wave of managing when to have them combine. Gets very hectic very fast and panic will rush many times as you see two orbs come within pixels of hitting. In Puzzle, it is much more calm but much more difficult to solve. Complex weaves of orbs blocking other paths cause you to have to think and experiment for a while before you finally get it right.

Controls: You see an orb. You touch an orb. It literally couldn't be more basic. Working the menu system is more complex then the controls.

Graphics and Sound: Graphics are beautiful with vivid and bright colors and nice particle effects. The sounds and music are very space-themed and remind me ALOT of any Bejeweled game you might play

Overall: This is a steal for .99 cents. I cannot stop playing this even after reviewing it. Whether you want to play it for five seconds or spend half an hour trying to figure puzzles out, you'll never be bored. With the choice of a mindless, fast paced Action game or the mindboggling, time consuming challenges of the Puzzle mode, you can play Collision Effect for whatever mood your in. Buy it now before the developers realize the goldmine they are sitting on and raise the price!

Cousy's Grade: A+

Email Jail

2011-03-20T10:36:00.003-04:00

Like most bloggers, I have a separate email address for my blog correspondences. This would be my Miss.Trenchcoat at yahoo address that I keep listed on my blog and use for all sorts of websites, etc. Well, because I throw this email around all the time, it has become a sort of repository for tons of junk email, so I have gotten into the habit of just never checking it anymore for fear that it will one day explode. This morning, however, I actually went in to see the status of my inbox, flooded with spam and such, but also I discovered that I had a ton of emails from people who had written to ask me questions about my blog and videos, etc. So, I spent the morning cleaning out the inbox and replying to some very old messages that dated back to September. I just wanted to apologize to anyone who reads that may have emailed me a question and never received a response until today. I am going to make an effort to check that email more frequently to clean it out and reply to my readers questions in a timely manner. I did want to put out one idea, however, and that is, if you have a question about a blog post, for the benefit of others, perhaps it would be better to post a comment on my blog, because I always reply to those, and it would be good for others to see the question and my answer in case they were wondering the same thing. Thanks everyone!

Incase Origami Workstation for iPad

2011-03-16T20:49:00.004-04:00

I think I have found the perfect solution for writing on the go. The Incase Origami Workstation for iPad is a simple but unique Apple Bluetooth keyboard case that folds into a stand for the iPad. Not only does it lock your keyboard in place for a secure fit, but it also allows you to use your iPad while it is in another case. I am really enjoying the simple factor about this, and also the fact that it does double duty as a case for my bluetooth keyboard. All in all, this case is a great option for those who want to turn their iPad into a mobile workstation with the help of a case/keyboard/stand solution, and for only $30, it may be one of the better deals on the market right now! (Keyboard not included!)

Gaming For Under $1 - Solipskier

2011-03-15T20:55:00.007-04:00

Basics: Solipskier is a fast paced skiing game where you draw the slopes to pick up speed and do jumps. Paint your own cliffs, do tricks and slalom through games to get huge scores. Currently 66% off for a limited time only.

Gameplay: You place your finger on the screen and draw a line for your skier to ride along. Every hill, dip, jump, and gap is created with your hand movements. Along the way you build up speed and make jumps to build up your score. You can go through gates to increase your speed and can go through a tunnel of gates to get your speed WAY up. You have to watch out for red gates which will kill your skier and jumps where for a moment you are not allowed to draw a path. Keep going fast and jumping high to set your own high score for each run you try. There are no levels, no achievements (That really needs to be added), and no real goals - just go as long as you can and rack up as much points as possible.

Controls: Amazingly simple - you just place a finger of your right hand on the screen and start going up and down to draw out the path for your skier to go along. Think of Line Rider, but your rider is moving while you draw. One way to build up speed other than the speed gates is to make a short up and down motion to create constant rolling hills. When you do make a jump, take your finger off the screen and your skier will automatically do tricks to boost your score, just watch out for his height indicator so you can make a landing for him! You have to be careful with your path too, since if you make too sharp of an angle upward or somehow create a wall, your skier will crash into the ground. Alerts come up on the right side of the screen with a distance indicating what is coming up, such as a gate or a jump. A bit tough at first to see some of them if your hand is blocking that part of the screen, but with some time you develop your own way to notice them and the little cues they give.

Graphics and Sound: The graphics are good for this game with crisp lines and nice colors. The skier is just a white stick-man and the graphics are rather cartoony, but it works well for the game. One thing I love is when you build up speed, a very stylized rainbow shoots out your back to give you the feel of speeding along the ground. The most noticeable thing of this game is the music! A heavy guitar rock solo plays which just pumps you up to go fast and pull of big tricks. It is very cool! In addition, the music playing after you inevitably crash and die is such a somber piano solo that I felt sad for my little guy every time he passed away.

Overall: This is an awesome game! It is a perfect time waster for when you have nothing to do for 5 or 10 minutes. It's controls are great, music is amazing, and the concept is simple and pulled off well. Get this game while it is on sale and you wont regret it. Even if you are viewing this post later and it is back at the normal sale price is $2.99, it still maybe worth it to buy this game. Although a bit of research shows me it's been on sale "for a limited time" since December 21st, 2010 - so you may not have to worry too much of a price increase.

Cousy's Grade: A-

Gaming For Under $1 - Tiny Planet

2011-03-13T17:21:00.004-04:00

Hello folks, I wanted to let you all know I am launching a (hopefully!) regular article highlighting new games for the iPad! Best of all, for those on a budget, all of these games will be .99 cents! For this first installment of Gaming For Under $1, I will review 'Tiny Planet'

Basics:
This is your basic defend the tower game, however instead of a tower - you are faced with alien invaders swarming down, trying to attack your very own planet. You rotate your player around the outside of the planet, shooting the whole way and repealing the baddies and keeping your skies clear.

Gameplay:
Pretty basic - you spin your player around and he shoots the invaders. As time goes by minor upgrades will pop up, and later you can unlock different and more powerful upgrades. Also more and more invaders will come and come, until your planet is too damaged (3 hits, and your dead but you can regain health through power-ups). There are no levels, completions, anything - just survive for however long you can.

Controls:
I have a problem with most iPad games, since the controller will inevitably take up and cover much of the screen where the action is happening, and that problem plagued this game. You are supposed to use two thumbs to rotate your player around, (I found myself abandoning that for one finger) and because you finger(s) are covering parts of the screen and invaders come from all corners, you often miss a few until they are seconds away from crashing into your planet. Also, as the player rotates, he shoots automatically and to be honest randomly, with no real way for me to control. I would just put him in position under an invader and just waited for a shot to go off. It was pretty fast to shoot, but still out of my control.

Graphics and Sound:
The graphics for this game are cartoony style, but it does it well. It is hard to do any graphics on an iPad badly, so I have no complaints for the cartoon style chosen and any "realistic" graphics would not have fit the feel the game was intended to have. The game has a very nice and simple melody going on while you play, and it will be muted if you have your music playing. Invaders make a very satisfying squash sound when you hit them, and as your health decreases, a heartbeat sound gets louder and louder - both for indicating your health and to induce a panic in the player.

Overall:
A simple game with no ground-breaking gameplay elements. I would hope further updates increase the amount of upgrades to make the gameplay a bit more diverse, and hopefully the cost to unlock those upgrades goes down. (After one game I got 12 stars to use to unlock upgrades, however the cost of the upgrades were 15 stars, 100, 150, 200, 300, and finally 400 stars, so it is going to take awhile to get them all) If you want a game to pass 5 minutes, then by all means spend the money on it, but if you are looking for a more long term game to get invested in, then maybe pass this one up.

Cousy's Grade - C+

Why I won't be buying the iPad 2 but why now is the time to buy if you are still holding out

2011-03-10T19:00:00.003-05:00

As you probably already know, tomorrow Apple begins selling their new, slimmer, sleeker, faster, dual core, dual camera iPad 2! I, like most Apple fanatics, was in awe of the new model as I watched the event online, but as an owner of a first generation iPad, I had to think long and hard about whether I wanted to shell out another $500 for the newest model, or sell my original iPad to offset the difference. Inevitably, however, I decided that the new iPad 2 was not for me because there was nothing new being offered that I would actually use.

The cameras, while a great addition, are not something I need in my tablet. I have a digital camera that also does great HD video, and a MacBook Pro with iMovie for video editing and Photo Booth for self portrait taking. What I love about my current iPad is that it does everything I need it to do when I am on the go, which means web surfing, emailing, reading, writing, and app use. I can't say that I have been in a situation yet where I thought to myself, I could really use a camera in this iPad. That doesn't mean others haven't been in that situation, but it just isn't one of my needs and it certainly doesn't warrant me spending another half a grand at least on a new model.

My opinion of the iPad has always been thus: the device will become what you need it to become, if your willing to open your mind to it. The tremendous success of the iPad has come from the fact that various individuals have been able to use the machine to do a variety of tasks that it was probably never originally expected to do. Since I am already beyond thrilled with the tasks I am able to accomplish with my iPad, I have no use for a new model with a few extra features, and that is that!

Now, to the second part of this post, why I think anyone holding out on the iPad should take the plunge on the iPad 2. Simply put, this new model is the best its going to get in terms of features. Now that the iPad has two cameras and an even faster processor (on top of the fact that the first iPad is still pretty darn fast) there isn't much more anyone would need that would realistically be put in future models. It's not like next year Apple is going to install a DVD drive in the machine, thats not the direction tablets are going in. Maybe, just maybe the iPad will get a retina display, but the quality of the current screens is nothing to complain about. The iPad probably won't get an SD card slot, because it's not a device centered around expandable memory, but rather 'in the cloud' memory.

There is a laundry list of features people think they want in the iPad, but honestly, I don't see Apple expanding much more. So for anyone who is holding out, all I have to say is to go for the iPad now, and to buy a model with the specs you may need in the future. Max out on internal memory if you think you may need it, and go for then 3G if you can afford it, because their is nothing worse than regretting your purchase and forcing yourself to upgrade sooner than you need. Apple may wish all it's customers would upgrade their devices every year, but in reality those apple fanatics are few and far between.

Now to go back to something I mentioned earlier, my opinion of the iPad is that it is what you make of it. If you know you want an iPad or think it may be useful to you in some way or another, my best advice is to go with the iPad 2 and begin using and enjoying the device sooner rather than later. I bet you will surprise yourself with the use you get out of it once you have it in your life. It has been such a great device for myself and for so many people that I think it is worth the risk to go for it now!

Phillips Fidelio Portable Speaker Dock

2011-02-21T12:55:00.003-05:00

If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you have probably figured out that it can sometimes take me a long time to pick between multiple options of a device or accessory that I need. In particular, I had been searching for a great iPod speaker with charging capabilities for over two years when I finally found a speaker that suited all my needs only a few months ago. I had originally wanted a Bose Sound Dock Portable Speaker, but I found the hefty price tag of $399 to be much to high for an item I knew I would not be using on a daily frequency. I wanted something cheaper, but still with a Bose like quality of sound. I also wanted something small and slim that would fit nearly anywhere I needed to put it, another issue I had with the Bose speaker as it was a bit larger than I desired.

I know there are plenty of iPod speaker docks out on the market, but sifting through the designs and reviews I never found a quality item that suited my exact needs. Plenty of docks worked well enough but incorporated some design element I did not want, like an alarm clock or a radio feature, both of which I was desperately trying to avoid. I just wanted a small dedicated iPod speaker and finally, I found my precise match in the Phillips Fidelio DS7550 Portable Speaker Dock. At $129.95, the Fidelio was highly rated with an excellent sound quality that has been compared to that of a Bose system time after time. It's portable slim frame, rechargeable battery, and charging dock capabilities were exactly what I wanted and look excellent paired with my first generation iPod touch that remains permanently docked to the unit. To make matters even better, the Fidelio line of products has a free dedicated App to help manage your playlists which I have downloaded to my iTouch and find very useful.

My overall opinion of this speaker is that is an unbelievable deal at nearly 1/3rd the price of the Bose portable dock, but with a full array of functionality, superb sound quality, and a great volume range that fills my entire apartment. Although it took me years to find it, it was certainly worth the wait!

BookBook for 13" Macbook (Pro)

2011-02-21T12:06:00.004-05:00

It's been some time since I have seriously blogged here and since I have the day off and nothing to do, I decided that today was as good a day as any to catch you up on my tech acquisitions from the past few months. One of which is the Twelve South BookBook for the 13" Macbook (Pro). This very unique laptop case has been the primary home of my white 13" Macbook since I was given it as a present last summer. I had been struggling for some time with the idea of hiding my unused Macbook in plain sight until this nifty case came into my life.

As you can see from these pictures, the BookBook has a beautiful antique suede exterior that truly looks like an antique book, but is strong and sturdy, providing great protection for the laptop inside. In contrast, the interior is a beautiful bright red fleece like material that acts as a soft cradle for your laptop, protecting it from scuffs and scratches. One great feature of this case that I like is how it enables you to use your Macbook while it is still completely encased and protected. Now, one comment I feel I must make is that you may notice that on Twelve South's website that they suggest this case only for the aluminum Macbooks and Pro's, because they suggest that the red interior may discolor a white Macbook. I, however, decided to disregard this warning and still used the case to protect my Macbook. It has been over 6 months since I began using this case on my Macbook and still it seems that the interior of the case has not discolored the white casing of my Mac. This does not mean that another case may not discolor your white Macbook, as Twelve South probably has good cause for making this suggestion, but in my experience with the case there has been no problem!

Overall, this is a very nice case for those who either enjoy the look and feel of old books, or perhaps need a case that can hide the Macbook in plain sight. It is a bit pricey, starting at $79.99, but at least for me, the price has been worth the quality of protection.

What's in my bag 2.21.11

2011-02-21T11:58:00.005-05:00

Since I am home from work today for the President's Day Holiday in the U.S., I decided that I should refresh my flickr feed with a new "what in your bag" picture. Since I bought the iPad early last summer, it has pretty much completely replaced my Macbook Pro in day to day use. Since I no longer carry around a full out tech bag, I recently purchased a new spring tote for my lighter tech load. It took me a long time to find a bag that was both fashionable and practical for carrying my expensive toys, but ultimately I ended up choosing this Gia Milani large tote from Target. It was a complete bargain for just $36 and it has a nice sized center zippered compartment that fits my iPad perfectly and makes an inconspicuous hiding spot for it.

Contents (Left to Right, Top to Bottom):

3G iPod in it's silver business card case

Silver Zebra camera case

Bronze oversized wallet

Bowers & Wilkins P5 Headphones with pillowed carrying case

Blackberry Tour

Baggu in Peacock

Large Ruled Moleskine

16gb Wifi Apple iPad in SGP Argos case

Its about time!

2011-01-11T13:52:00.007-05:00

On 1/11/11 @ 11am (this had Steve Jobs written on it from the beginning), Verizon's CEO and President announced that they had finally partnered with Apple and are bringing the iPhone to Verizon customers. Since the iPhone was released in 2007, people have wanted this amazing product to be on the Verizon network which is, lets be honest, better in every way than AT&T. Here are my initial thoughts:

Hallelujah.
Should I run to the Verzion store now and set up a tent?
Do I still have enough money from Christmas left over to buy one?
Woot.

Quick tech talk - reports on information on the phone are a little thin right now but here is what we know:

Release date - 2/10/11 (current Verizon customers can pre-order on the 3rd)
Same price as before $199 16GB, $299 32GB with 2 year contract
It is not a 4G phone
A BIG difference is CDMA = No calling and surfing the web (honestly though, talk to the person, stop checking Facebook)
The antenna is slightly altered but it was probably to fit the CDMA guts and not to correct antennagate.
And probably the coolest thing - it will act as a mobile hotspot for up to 5 devices.

Now what strikes me as odd is that people are ALREADY complaining about the announcement today. Because it is coming out in February it will not be a 4G phone. People are outraged that Verizon rushed this to market, because it's not like we've been begging for this for years, and are calling the whole thing stupid and to just wait until the next iPhone. Ahh greed, you're always present aren't you?

As for me? If I will get an iPhone I would get one now. I don't need a 4G phone since I don't use the web that much on my phone, and when I do I don't need to download a vast majority of content. When the next upgrade is announced in June, sure there will be some upgrades - but guess what? June 2012's upgrades are going to be even better than that! Will you wait for then? Of course not. This starts a huge debate of when it's time to settle down with the current lineup and wait out two years of better devices then the ones you own. But for me it boils down to this - I want an iPhone for Verizon + Verizon has the iPhone = me happy no matter what :)

For any additional information check out the Verizon store's FAQ on the iPhone.

NaNoWriMo Victory 2010!

2010-12-02T09:54:00.004-05:00

Good news everyone! On Tuesday I finally completed NaNoWriMo, hitting the 50k word mark making 2010 another NaNo success for me! I know I was away from the blog for the whole month of November, but I actually found this NaNoWriMo a little more difficult than last years. The novel I wrote this year required so much more research than my prior year's novel and it ended up taking up much of my time just figuring out all the specifics I needed to get my story rolling in certain parts.

This NaNoWriMo, however, was not a complete success for me :( I actually ended up giving up on attempting to write the novel on my iPad a few days into the project. It really wasn't the iPad's fault fully. I was having no trouble with the data input, but the issue I had was that I love Scrivener and I wanted to continuously update my novel to a Scrivener file I had created for it and the going back and forth teased me with all the great functions Scrivener has to offer and I ended up forgoing the iPad so that I could write my novel with the Scrivener app. I actually fully attribute my two NaNoWriMo wins to Scrivener because it makes it so easy to write and keep track of your text and your research that it seems silly not to use the program. I really wish that Scrivener would develop an app for the iPad, but I believe Literature & Latte has already come out saying they have no plans to create such an app. Pity, because I have been looking for an Scrivener like substitute to write on my iPad on the go, but nothing seems to be as functional as the true Scrivener application so I have been disappointed each time.

In defense of the iPad as a writing tool, I did find it very useful when I was writing and during my off time when I was researching because it was like having a second computer screen that I could pull up information in. I would frequently find myself sitting with my iPad and my moleskine notebook writing down details for the book that I found online. I also started using the application DropBox for syncing of documents between my iPad and Macbook Pro. My DropBox account served as a backup system for my Scrivener file for the book which was great because I could pull up the document on the iPad and review sections when I wasn't writing or at my Macbook.

Overall, although this NaNoWriMo was more of a challenge for me, I ended up learning alot and finding some great little tricks for my iPad. I still believe the iPad is a great aid for writers on both short and long form projects, but until the right applications are created that cater to it's strong points I will have to stick to Scrivener on my Macbook, but I'm okay with that :-)

NaNoWriMo 2010 and the Quest for the iPad Novel

2010-10-12T19:19:00.003-04:00

Well, it's about mid October now and you know what that means? November and NaNoWriMo are right around the corner. In a few short weeks I will once again embark on a quest to write a 50k+ word novel within the month of November, but this year I have added a bit of a caveat in the mix. I plan to write the novel on my iPad.

Why, you may be asking yourself? Well, because one of my major goals for the iPad (yes, I have goals for my electronics) is that it become a super portable writers desk of sorts. So, the best way to put my goal into motion is to actually attempt to write something substantial on it, and NaNoWriMo is the perfect opportunity. I have been mentally psyched for NaNo '10 since I finished my last novel in late November 2009 so I think that excitement and energy will help me tremendously with the slightly daunting task of writing a complete novel on an iPad. Obviously, the iPad is a decent word processor, so it's not an impossible feat, but I believe that the lack of a physical keyboard and even the use of the bluetooth Apple keyboard at times will be a major test of not only what the iPad is capable of in terms of extended writing sessions, but also how it can fare as a tool to keep a writer on track through the use of brainstorming apps, note taking, and reference.

Currently, I am researching useful applications for the task; software that will help me keep my ideas flowing but also give me the ability to quickly multi task when necessary. {Any suggestions on apps would be helpful and appreciated!} Of course I will be attempting to chronicle my NaNoWriMo + iPad adventure here on The Pink Mac- you guys will keep me motivated and accountable! It will be an attempt because, lets face it, it's difficult enough to write 50k+ words in a month without adding blogging into the mix, but since this is a subject near and dear to me, I am going to try very hard to get both done!

So, in the meantime, before NaNoWriMo begins, I will give you guys some updates on apps for writers and my general progress preparing for my November challenge! So Stay Tuned!

{Image via here}

Moleskine Cases for iPad and iPhone to come!

2010-10-03T18:06:00.003-04:00

I was so excited when I first saw this yesterday! As you may already know, Moleskine recently released a case line for the Kindle and Kindle DX, but now they are adding to their line iPads and iPhones! This will be the perfect hybrid of Moleskine and iPad and I cannot wait for them to be released. Prices haven't been announced yet, but since the price of the Kindle DX case is coming in at around $60, I will assume that the iPad case could be no more than $75 dollars. That is quite a hefty price to pay, however, I am sure the die hard Moleskine fans out their will not hesitate to order them once they become available!

I will keep you updated as to my order status!

Portenzo Case for Apple iPad.

2010-10-03T18:01:00.002-04:00

Above is the video review I recently made for my new Portenzo iPad case, but I have also included a written review with some extra information.

Now, I know there has been a lot of buzz around the Dodo case since it first came out, and I saw it and like most other Moleskine enthusiasts, loved it! However, there were always a few things that kept me from actually purchasing a Dodo case. First of all, I did not like the red interior of the Dodo case. I would have much rather preferred the interior to be something less bright and flashy like a simple black or a tan or beige interior. The second issue I had was with the Dodo bamboo seat and the way the iPad is fastened into place. The four corner tabs that hold the iPad in have been reportedly having issues which cause the iPad to fall out of place. So, for a case that already offers minimal shock absorption, the last thing I wanted was for my iPad to be unsecure inside it.

So, enter the Portenzo case. This guy has the same styling of the Dodo and reportedly the same homemade in the USA stamp of approval, however, those few issues that kept me from purchasing the Dodo case are elevated in the Portenzo.

First of all, this case has a black interior. Portenzo gives you an option. Since they are handmade one by one, you can pick to have a red or black interior. So, I chose black and I am happy with it! The second element of the Portenzo case that drew me to it was the “Sure Grip” corners in their bamboo seat. Instead of protruding from the top of the case the way the Dodo corners do, these corners sit inside the bamboo casing and to me seemed like a safer option.

So that is an overview of why I Purchased this case, but there are also a few other reasons this case is a unique option.

For one, you can select the exterior leather of the case, either a black morocco (which is similar to the exterior of a moleskine) or a black Levant leather which has more of a grain to it. Portenzo also makes an ostrich leather casing as well as a red exterior notebook case.

Now, something new with Portenzo that was not an option when I made my purchase is a stylus loop with a space cut out from the bamboo so that you can keep a stylus in your notebook. A cute and useful idea for anyone who regularly uses a stylus with their iPad. I for one am not one of those people, but it's nice to get the option.

So, let's discuss the quality of this case as a protection option for the iPad. As you can see, this case is comprised of a hardcover and a bamboo seat to hold the device in place. Nowhere is their padding and nowhere is their plastic or waterproof materials. This case is as delicate as a book, and therefore this is NOT the case to let your toddler interact with the iPad through, and for that matter, if you yourself are a klutzy or device dropper, this is also not the case for you. This case and others like it will not survive a fall unless your dropping it on a mattress. Bamboo splits, leather rips and your ipad could very well end up in pieces if you do not show this case as much care as you would a naked iPad. But, that being said, if you are an adult or young adult who is careful and respectful of your devices, this case offers plenty of iPad protection and may very well be the case for you.

So, what sort of protection does this case offer if it's not padded or waterproof? Well, since this is a book style case, you clearly have screen protection, and speaking for the Portenzo case alone here, this is some decent screen protection, perhaps among the best you will find out there. Short of keeping your iPad in a titanium shell, your screen will not see better protection from any other mainstream iPad case currently manufactured. Next, you have nearly full body scratch protection. Something that differs between the Portenzo and Dodo case is that the Portenzo case covers around most of your ipad so that only the ports and switches are visible. The dodo case’s seat exposes more of the iPad’s aluminum body which could result in scratching. Finally, the “Sure Grip” corners are exactly what you’d expect. These corners keep the iPad in place, no matter how much I flip the case over or shake it, the iPad is not falling out. It is actually quite a tricky process to even remove the iPad from this case, but once you figure it out you see that the iPad is just soo secure that you know you will not be suffering any accidental detachments of your iPad from the case. The final element of protection that I want to mention is the elastic strap. I couldn’t imagine owning a flip style case for any device that did not incorporate an enclosure to keep the front flap closed, however, I have seen flip cases without such methods. For me, I think, what is the point of a flip cover if you can’t keep it closed? Well, there is no point to that, which is why I love the elastic closure of the Portenzo case. Not only does it keep the front cover down while the ipad is not in use, but you can flip the cover back and use the elastic to hold the cover down while you are enjoying your iPad.

So, what are the other features of this case? There aren’t many other features, but there are one or two I will mention. You can flip the front flap back while resting your ipad on a surface and it will create a slight angle that is useful for typing. You can also stand your ipad in landscape or portrait mode on its own for watching movies or reading, however, if you are using the ipad in landscape and placing it on a slick surface you will want to put something behind the flap of the case to keep the case from slipping down.

So, that is the Portenzo Notebook case for the iPad! If you have any questions, please let me know and I will try to address as many as I can. This case retails for $59.99 with a special offer of free shipping for a limited time.

Kin You Believe it?

2010-10-03T14:09:00.002-04:00

In the past few years we have seen, on an almost regular basis, company CEO's getting paid huge bonuses for failed management, policies, and performance. This is not the case for Microsoft. Steve Ballmer was supposed to take home a bonus of 200% of his base salary for the 2010 fiscal year. However with a dismal breakthrough into the smart phone world, (SEE: Kin, you know, that phone that got pulled after 79 days on the market) Microsoft felt like he didn't fully deserve it. So Ballmer's bonus was reduced by 50%. Now granted he did still earn $1.34 million, but it is still nice to see a company owning up to its mistakes and holding people accountable.

Why I Give Up on Rumors

2010-09-14T13:42:00.005-04:00

For a long time, like many others I was excited to hear all the new Apple rumors about the next big thing or the newest update or the list of adjectives Steve Jobs would use in his next exciting and revolutionary Keynote. But after many many many disappointments I am about to give up. The iPhone 4G, HD, or whatever other name it it is rumored to be will not be coming to Verizon this summer, or this fall, or possibly ever despite the nearly 10 million search results for a CDMA enabled iPhone. The iPad did not have a camera and multitasking at launch and the list of Apple rumors goes on.

The only time a 'rumor' was ever confirmed was earlier this year when Gizmodo got their hands on an actual iPhone 4 hidden within the casing of an iPhone 3G. Although we learned alot about the new iPhone's body style and potential cameras, the biggest thing we learned from the inoperable device is that Apple does not "do" leaks and will stop at nothing to squash anyone who talks about an actual Apple device before it's release.

(Getting your house raided isn't a strong incentive to screw around with Apple)

But this newest rumor I have just heard takes the cake. Despite being released a mere six months ago, the iPad 2 is supposedly going to be released by Apple.... this Christmas. This AppleInsider article does what the rumors always do - cite "someone close" on the inside of Apple with a supposed leak of the inner workings at 1 Infinite Loop. No. Not happening. It doesn't take an Apple Genius to realize that Apple has a set release cycle. Just a few days ago Apple held its music-fest where every year in September they update their iTunes and iPod line up. Soon we will have the iMac and MacBook event, and next summer we will have the iPhone event. Eac event is huge for Apple, not just to show off their shiny new objects but also to boost their stock. Yes, nothing makes more money for Apple having seeing Steve Jobs talk for 2 hours at an annually anticilated event. Not to mention it gets Apple in the news and talked about like no other tech company in the world!

So in order for the iPad 2 to get an early release date, Apple would need to completely change their yearly update cycle. The iPad is a device between a smart phone and a laptop, so Apple clearly can't show it off with laptops in October, so it would need its own event. Not to mention Apple has to remember the issue it caused by lowering prices on the original iPhone only a few months after it released. Remember the outrage? Try having a few million Macheads freaking out that their 6 month old device is out of date.

(Just in time - the new iTorch!)

So that does it for me because this is just too ridiculous of an idea. No more falling for these teaser and hushed whispers from the depths of Cupertino. I'll just wait for Steve to put on his jeans and a black turtleneck and say "one more thing."

Now I'm a believer

2010-09-02T14:45:00.003-04:00

I never thought I would see the day but it is here. I have converted, changed sides, done a complete 180 on my views on the iPad. Why? Well getting one for free helps.

See while my girlfriend The Pink Mac already has an iPad, that didn't stop her from submitting to a contest for a free one... And she won. So lucky for me, I was bestowed this great gift to love and enjoy. But to be honest I didn't think I would because since the iPad was announced all I did was say what a stupid, pointless, and idiotic device it is. Why would I need this when I have a laptop that can do it all and more!? Well, I want to apologize to you Steve Jobs for doubting your genius.

In one day the ipad has replaced my laptop for over 90% of my daily use. I bring it to school now since all I used my laptop for was web surfing anyway. And let's be honest, at school if it was to get stolen I'd rather lose a $500 device than a $1300 one! At home I used to surf the web in bed always, and the ipad is a lighter more lap friendly device to use. And when I hear people buying separate netbooks for bed instead of their laptops, the idea of using an iPad in bed isn't too crazy. Most of all it's just fun! The use of a touch interface seems too perfect and it baffles my mind why more companies haven used this input since it is the most natural way to compute. And let's not forget about all the apps that a laptop can't run....

So I love my iPad now. Would I have paid $500 for this on my own? Probrably not. But this gift has changed my mind about the device completely, so if your on the fence on if you should buy one all I can say is this - BUY IT!!!

Sent from my iPad.

BookBook for iPad

2010-08-16T14:54:00.003-04:00

I have been waiting for a couple of months for the BookBook for iPad to arrive, and finally, this morning, I recieved an email from TwelveSouth revealing their newest case solution. As someone who owns a BookBook for the 13" Macbook, I was interested in seeing what this case would look like for an iPad, and as I had guessed, it is a smaller version of their Macbook cases. At $69.99, this case is actually very reasonably priced when you consider the materials and the craftsmanship that went into making it. In fact, I think many people are going to be drawn to this case because it fulfills multiple roles. For one, it provides a pretty high level of protection to the iPad with the thick leather exterior and the zipper enclosure, ensuring that your device is going to be safe through the wear and tear of day to day use. The case is also great for masking the iPad. We know that iPad users are targets of theft because of the high visibility of the device, but a case like this really does a great job of hiding the iPad in plain sight. Finally, this case also solves the problem of how to hold the iPad, which for each person is different, but with a case like this, their is a good chance that the user will find a comfortable position when using the device.

Now, as much as I believe this case has a number of positive points, I have a feeling it has a few negatives as well. From my experience with the BookBook for Macbook, I know that the leather materials, while they are very durable and luxurious, are also very heavy. So, this case is going to add weight to the iPad. How much? I am not quite sure and I can't seem to find a weight on the website, but I am thinking the device may double in weight with this case. The second problem I see with this case is that the method for securing the iPad in place is more complex then it needs to be. As you can tell in the images of this case, the bottom corners of the iPad are held in place by what seem to be very sturdy holsters, however, the top of the iPad is secured only by a thin strap of elastic. Now, I would feel much better if the design of the holster was more uniform and just used those four corner stirrups, instead of a mixed approach. Not only does it make the case look cheaply or hastily made, but the elastic on the top looks like it could get in the way of using the device as it will stop your finger from scrolling across the screen rather abruptly. The final drawback to this case is that the outer materials, as far as I can tell, are not weather/ wear and tear resistant. The exterior leather, while thick and luxurious, is delicate, showing scratches and scuffs easily, so this case is definitely one that would require a delicate lifestyle in order to keep up its beauty. My BookBook for Macbook is actually used as more of a showpiece and hiding spot for my 13" Macbook that gets very little use since I upgraded to a Macbook Pro last year. I would certainly not want to use the case too often outside of the house, or as a day to day case because I don't want to diminish it's quality. Of course, with an iPad sized case, you may be able to better protect the case itself while you are out and about, since you could hold it, or tuck it away in a bag or under a jacket if it began to rain, ect.

Overall, I am very excited about this new iPad case. Despite the few drawbacks I mentioned, I am sure it is going to become a very popular case. The style certainly draws upon the nature of the iPad as an eReader, but is also timeless enough to be used by non book lovers as well. Not to mention, I think we all like a good digital vs analog paradox. So, let me know what you think? Is this a case you are interested in for your iPad, or perhaps you see other drawbacks to this case that I haven't realized? Let me know!

Clear iSpot in Action

2010-08-09T15:19:00.003-04:00

Using my new Clear iSpot at work today with my iPad. It is actually pretty fast here, despite having only a mid level signal. Although I don't get good reception with it at my apartment, this will really come in handy at work and while I am out and about. Stay tuned for a full review of the product coming soon!

Back to School Tech Tips

2010-08-08T23:12:00.004-04:00

With the end of summer nearly upon us, these next few weeks of August will see college and high school students on their way back to the daily grind of classes and coursework. If you are one of the many students heading back to the classroom, you may be in the market for some new tech gear. The start of a new school year has always been ceremoniously entangled with the concept of the "new," and the prospect of new gadgets can always make for an exciting start. However, if you are one of the many students who will be dragging around an old laptop or iPod, don't worry, because I have some tips for making your old tech feel new again to get you pumped for your upcoming semester.

Add a little spring to your gadget's step

Although your laptop may be well equipped with a fast processor and a large hard drive, it may not be as snappy as it once was. This is a common issue with computers in general, but luckily it is an easy issue to fix as it is most likely related to a clogged hard drive. Months or years of accumulating files and viewing web pages can cause your computer to run significantly slower, so to fix the problem, you will need to start cleaning out your files.

1. Start by going through your documents, pictures, music and movie files and getting rid of any files you no longer need. For files you don't use but need to keep record of, move those to an external hard drive to free up space.

2. Next, try clearing your web browser's cache. This will take care of old web page information that is stored on your computer and eating up memory. To do this, go to your browser's preferences or settings and look for the option.

3. Finally, delete unused applications. To do this on a Mac, you simply need to drag the application to the trash can, however, to insure you have removed all the sub files of the application from your hard drive, I suggest downloading an application such as AppCleaner or AppDelete to help you remove all associated files. On a PC, use the application uninstaller in your Control Panel found in 'Add or Remove Programs'.

4. For an iPod that is beginning to lag, I suggest that you do a factory reset of your device, then, make sure you have the most up to date firmware installed, before restocking your device with new tunes and videos for the school year. Although iPods tend to have a shorter lifespan than laptops, with proper care and maintenance, you can keep yours up and running for a long time. (I still have an iPod Mini from early 2005 in good working condition.)

Give your gear a bath

Although they are electronic devices, computers and mp3 players still need proper cleaning from time to time to keep them not only looking good, but also working well. When dirt or dust gets inside a gadget, it can start causing issues like overheating and lagging that shorten the life of the device. So, a regular cleaning is always a good idea.

1. The first thing to remember before you begin to clean any electronic device is that you must turn the device off. Skipping this step could cause major harm to yourself or the device. So, power down and unplug all wires.

2. I tend to begin cleaning my laptops keyboard area first. This is usually a source of much dust and dirt that should be cleared out of the way first. Use a can of compressed air, or, if you know how to remove your keys individually, do so slowly and carefully. I like to use q tips to get into the nooks and crannies of the keyboard, myself.

3. Next, clean off the casing. Depending on the outer material of your laptop, either plastic or metal, you may want to use a dedicated electronics cleaner like iKlear, but I find that soap and water or antibacterial wipes do a universally good job. If you are using soap and water, just make sure that you only slightly dampen the towel you are using to make sure you don't get liquid into the delicate parts of your computer.

4. Finally, clean the screen of your computer with an appropriate cleanser. To be prudent, I would check with the manufacture of the computer to see what solvents are safe to use on the computers screen. Although Windex is always a safe bet, you may prefer to use electronic screen wipes or another popular brand of computer screen cleaner if your screen has any sort of sensitive coating.

5. Follow a similar method to clean an iPod or mp3 player, making sure to also clean your earbuds with a q tip or cotton ball slightly moistened with alcohol to remove bacteria.

Update your electronic wardrobe

You're not the only one who could benefit from a wardrobe upgrade for the new school year. A great way to make your old tech feel new again is with some upgraded cases, covers, and skins. There are a wide variety of retailers that sell these items, most specified to the specific device you own, so I will not list them here, but I will say that a new sleeve for your laptop, or a new case for your iPod can be an inexpensive way to add excitement and interest back to your gear. Not to mention upgrading the protection will extend the life of your device!

Feeling Blue*

2010-08-05T15:00:00.011-04:00

Recently my old Speck clear hardshell case wasn't in too good shape. I didn't clean it as regularly as I should have, scuffs were scattered on the surface, and most importantly the bottom was falling off. Somehow the bottom clips that hold the bottom of the case on had fallen off one by one until nothing was supporting it. I had to decide on another case and did a lot of research of all the cases out there, but in the end Speck won me back. This time though, with a flare of color.

Out of all the cases out there, Speck was the one that fit my needs perfectly. I needed a strong, durable case to keep my Macbook Pro protected from daily use and I needed a case with a smooth finish because I hate the feeling of the bare aluminum unibody Macbook. It feels too fragile and rough to the touch. Speck hardshell cases give me a smooth plastic finish that I like. Now while this hard-shell will be more prone to showing scratches and scuff then Speck's satin cases, it is a sacrifice I am okay with because in the end those scratches are on a plastic case, not my Macbook Pro which is still spotless after nearly a year of use.
Now sadly Speck no long carries the blue case in their lineup. But you can still get a few of Amazon or MyGearStore but be sure you are getting a case for the exact model your laptop is since they cases will vary for each one. And one point about the blue cases is in the pictures online the case appears to be a baby blue, but in person its much darker and even teal. It is an amazing and unique color perfect for women and men.

The only downsides to the Speck case are every now an again tiny particle or dirt, dust, ect can gen in between the case and the laptop. This is especially true with the bottom as it has openings for cooling. And if you don't take off the case every week or two and clean this out you can get tiny tiny black marks which I assume are scratches. I have a few of these on my laptop and they are hardly noticeable so I'm not too worried. Also, since I've had this happen to me, I wish the bottom was secured by more or bigger clasps as they seem a little on the small side. Hopefully with a little more TLC this case will stay on better than the last. Still despite these two downfalls if your in the market for a rock solid case that has a smooth hardshell finish, Speck is the way to go hands down.

iPad Cases in Review and a GIVEAWAY!

2010-07-31T08:31:00.003-04:00

Having the iPad for over 2 weeks now, I have already acquired a number of case and protection solutions for my iPad. In these two videos, I discuss some of these cases and announce a giveaway for one of them (in the 2nd video) that ends Monday August 16th @ 12am! The case I am giving away is the Speck Fitted in Classic Pink and Grey Plaid along with one Speck Screen Shield, and to enter to win those, all you have to do is be subscribed to me and leave a comment in the iPad Cases Part 2 video that begins with Speck- "your comment." Enjoy!

^Cases in this video include the SGP Argos and Targus Crave.

^This second video has the GIVEAWAY. Click on the video to follow it back to YouTube where you can subscribe and comment to enter the giveaway!

Philadelphia Apple Store Grand Opening!

2010-07-30T17:13:00.003-04:00

A new Apple Store has just opened 1.3 miles away from my apartment. Yay! So of course the bf and I are here. I'm so impressed with the turnout- the line goes down the block and around the corner!

Ladies, Win an iPad!

2010-07-21T10:58:00.002-04:00

I just received my weekly newsletter from Sephora, and in it was the Buxom It's in the Bag Sweepstakes information. Basically, if you enter, you have a chance at winning one of four designer bags filled with goodies, including round trip Virgin American plane tickets and one of the bags includes an iPad! So, I thought I would share. More infomation can be found here.

SGP Argos Images

2010-07-18T12:48:00.003-04:00

My iPad Case: SGP Argos

2010-07-18T12:06:00.006-04:00

As soon as I placed my order for the iPad, I realized the hunt had begun to find the perfect case for it. I had seen a lot of what the major brands had to offer, and although I initially settled on a few different choices from the usual selection of Apple case makers, I wasn't entirely pleased, until I found the SGP Argos. In all fairness I owe it to my wonderful boyfriend, who occasionally contributes to this blog, for the find. He found in 5 minutes, what I was unable to locate for weeks.

I had a set of criteria for what I wanted in a case. I knew it had to be a folio style, opening like a book. I knew I wanted a case that was hard like a shell for support and protection, as opposed to a completely cloth case which would lack a rigid form and offer less protection to the precious screen. Finally, I knew I wanted a case with a holster style seat for the iPad- something I would pop the iPad into that would not cover any portion of the screen itself but still hold it steady in place. Many of the cases I found initially had one or two of these elements but none that I could find had all three, with the exception of one case manufacturer. My old favorite, Vaja, made a case that was exactly what I was looking for, however, I simply could not swallow the $280 price tag. It's just like me to have expensive taste, but this was one luxury case I would not indulge in.

So, in walks the SGP Argos. It's a folio, its a hard shell wrapped in leather, and it has a holster seat. On top of all that, it has a unique inscription on the inner flap from the fabled Emerald Tablet of Hermes, as well as some stylized patterned inscriptions on the seat itself, and it is handmade- all for under $70. I fell in love, and I have been using the case since day 1 with the iPad and I have no complaints. The iPad stays firmly in place, the dual hard shell/padded exterior is tough (and I mean tough!) I'm not afraid of anything dropping on it and breaking the screen, I am not afraid of my dog walking on it and scratching up the leather (he did walk on it and the leather was unaffected-- FYI, this is only a 10 lb dog we are talking about), and I am not afraid of dropping my iPad and everything bursting out into a million little pieces. I have complete confidence in this case protecting the device so long as the top cover is closed.

Now, how does the top cover close, you might be wondering? It has a lip that curls around the side of the iPad (similar to the way the Vaja cases close, if you are more familiar with those) and it is a nice tight fit. I actually have to give it a good push to open it up, and although it touches directly to the iPad's exterior, the padding of the leather prevents the lip from scratching the aluminum. So, you see, as I said before, I am not worried about damaging the iPad while it is in this case and the cover is closed- it really is like a slim little tank! So, I will be posting some pictures of the case for your enjoyment and I should be making a video review for it within a few days so you can get a better idea of that way it works and the texture. Let me know if you have the case and your thoughts, or if you have any questions about it! Enjoy!

5 Reasons Why the iPad is a Magical and Revolutionary Device.

2010-07-18T11:31:00.003-04:00

1. Battery Life
When Apple said the iPad could go 10 hours on a charge, they weren't kidding. In a world were so many of our wireless devices can only go a few hours before requiring an outlet, its mind blowing to have a device that you can use heavily for a matter of days without needing to refuel its energy supply. I have surfed the web for hours, watched a movie, read ebooks and played with multiple apps, all without having to stop and recharge. Its funny because I will frequently find myself looking up at the battery indicator, sure that its time to plug in, but find I still have plenty of life left on the device.

2. 9.7 inch back-lit multitouch display=WOW
The screen is the life of any device, and although we have gotten used to our small touch screens in our phones and iPod touches, there is nothing to compare to the iPads screen. It may not be high def, but it certainly seems that way. I have been keeping the screens brightness at about 33% because the screen is just so vivid and honestly, my eyes are just not used to soo much bright color. The multitouch is amazing, similar to its smaller siblings, but soo much more sensitive with the 360 degree rotation, the device is simply speedy. It makes games that much more enjoyable, browsing a breeze and reading more relaxing.

3. Virtual Keyboard
Although there is a bit of a learning curve with the virtual keyboard, it truly sets the device apart from the iPhone/iPod Touch lines. Where once the virtual keyboard was an element useful only for short messages, texts, and tweets, the full size version on the iPad is a productivity tool. Although it lacks the tactile touch sensations we are all used to with a full sized computer, once you get used to the adjusted layout and begin to trust yourself and the amazing auto-correct, you will be on your way to getting things done with your iPad.

4. Portability
The iPad is certainly the most portable computing device I have ever owned. It may not cover 100% of my needs and replace a laptop or desktop computer, but it does cover a good 90% of them. It certainly covers everything I use my laptop for when I am taking it out of the house. Word processing, internet browsing, organization, entertainment, and then some, all in a lightweight, slim package that fits even in my smaller purses- and thats a place my 13" Macbook Pro could never go.

5. Apps, Apps and More Apps
Its no secret that the key to your computing experience is in the applications you use, whether you be using an iPad, smartphone, laptop, or desktop computer, Mac, PC, or Linux, your device can only take you as far as your application will permit. Right now, I have 82 items in my applications folder on my Macbook Pro, of those items, I use about 10-15 of them on a regular basis. My iPad in comparison has maybe 50 applications that I have downloaded for it since I purchased the iPad, and I use most of them everyday. On top of that, there are a plethora of applications out their for the iPad that I haven't even seen yet, and God knows how many more applications will be added to the App Store by the end of this year, let alone the rest of this month! There is no hiding the fact that the apps make the device, and when the sky is the limit to what developers will create for the iPad, the sky is the limit for what the iPad can become. To me, that feels like magic!

{Oh, and if those weren't enough reasons... I blogged this from my iPad.}

For those who enjoy Twitter.

2010-07-11T07:54:00.003-04:00

I just read this quasi-insightful article entitled "Twitter Made Me Hate You," which pretty much sums up the reason I never got big into Twitter: people would be annoying. More so than that fact, the article illustrates how many people use Twitter as a means of promoting and satisfying their egos, which is infinitely more annoying than just reading a constant string of thoughts, or rather thoughtlessness.

Guess I can't complain though, as I use Twitter to republish my blog posts which is just another way of self promotion. Ugh, the cycle never ends!

SwitchEasy Nude for iPad.

2010-07-05T19:37:00.003-04:00

So, I finally broke down and ordered an iPad last week-- which means only about 2 short weeks left until the thing actually arrives :( In the meantime, I am trying to assemble products to review for the iPad that I find interesting and worth the money for them. So many cases out there are overpriced or just underwhelming and I need to sort through those to find you some real deals out there to protect not only my iPad, but also yours! In this video, I review the SwitchEasy Nude, a case I consider to be a great deal for only $29 because of all the accessories that come along with it. I hope you enjoy the video and if you have any suggestions for interesting iPad cases, please let me know!

Can you hear me now?

2010-07-02T12:21:00.011-04:00

Funny story is making its way around the web today about Apple's colossal FAIL over the iPhone 4's antenna. I'm sure we have all seen the videos of people holding their iPhones in the "Death Grip" and watching their full 5 bars plummet down to a No Service. Well Apple has heard the complaints and has figured the solution to it: they were giving you too many bars of reception to begin with!!!

That's right, when your iPhone says 5 bars, it actually doesn't have that much reception! Apple's calculations for reception display have been off this whole time. It showed too many bars when you really don't have that much, so your spotty AT&T service seems to have just gotten worse. In an upcoming free software update they will fix the illusion of more bars and show you what you are really getting. Why is this being done? So the big drop of bars when holding the phone in the Death Grip doesn't appear that dramatic. So now your reaction of: "5 bars to nothing holding it like this? What???" Will now, according to Apple's dreams, will be like: "3 bars to nothing holding it like this? Oh that's understandable.... maybe I should buy some iTunes gift cards"

Oh and in an attempt to trick you into thinking you have good reception they are making the 1, 2, and 3 bars bigger, "so they are easier to see". Sure.

What home phone?

2010-07-01T23:47:00.004-04:00

It seems now more than ever that old technologies from not too long ago are being pushed completely out of the way. One dying technology I am interested in is that of the home phone. Only 10 years ago it was the only way for personal communication with anyone instantly in the world. But then cell phones became smaller, and the internet took off, so did e-mailing, Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, texting, and I guess now- FaceTime. So many forms of instant communication we are now a forever connected society always on the go. It seems like everyone over the age of 8 now has their own cell phone and multiple social networking pages they check every minute so why bother with being tied down with a home phone?

I myself do not have a phone in my house that cannot fit in my pocket. When people ask me for a number to reach me at, I never worry that I don't have a home phone for them to reach me at because I have a cell phone with me 24/7. Why even pay X dollars more a month for a home phone from your service provider? Is there any benefit to having a cell phone and a home phone? Just the cell phone works just fine, it has everything a home phone has - it can make and receive calls and record a voicemail. Done.

So the question we have to ask - is the home phone dead seems pretty obvious. Sure it will hold out for maybe a few more decades but eventually just as the last Pinto is rolled out, the last Cassette Tape is recorded, and the last VHS is boxed, the home phone will die out soon enough.

(Unless this is the home phone of the future - in which case, that'd be awesome.
Wait, Steve Jobs... did you travel Back to the Future to come up with FaceTime?)

In Defense of Phone Books.

2010-06-20T08:21:00.004-04:00

The above image has been surfing its way around the internet, and I just thought I would say a few words in defense of the big yellow book that arrives on our doorsteps. Although I agree that the world be a much better place if there weren't so many phone books sitting around without use, they do have a time and a place.

One day, about 2 years ago, I had moved into a new apartment in a new city. Like most people in the middle of a move, I needed some take out as I was not about to try to cook with a kitchen full of boxes. I walk over to my laptop, open safari, and "Webpage not found" appears. I didn't have internet installed at the new place yet and these were the days before my blackberry and the ability to tether my phone to the computer. I sat discouraged for a long time, wondering how did people find phone numbers to take out places before the internet? Then it hit me. The PHONE BOOK!

So you see, there are still times when the use of such analog methods is still required. Not to mention, old people still need phone books, and sometimes they come in handy as step stools or doorstops!

Cousy's Vid of the Week 6/18

2010-06-18T15:56:00.003-04:00

As most of you that spend more than 3 seconds on the internet know, the web is a great place to find cool and funny videos of whatever your heart desires. The web as provided a great breeding ground for artists and comedians to share their work with the entire world. That's why the Pink Mac wants to share with you some of our personal favorite videos we have found on the interwebs in the past 7 days.

I just realized that I missed a Vid of the Week post a few weeks ago! I don't know how this happened as it is my favorite thing to blog about. Sorry if anyone's lives were crushed about this and to make it up I bring you a record THREE videos for this week! Enjoy.

As a nerd who plays World of Warcraft this video made me crack up. Perfect parody of Run This Town by Jay-Z. To all the citizens of Azeroth: get pumped, grab your Mountain Dew, headset, and get ready to kill Arthas with this playing - this song is for you.

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Bonus Video of the Week!

OkGo is a popular band know not so much for their great songs, but rather their amazingly mind blowing music videos. From the Youtube viral hit - Here it Goes Again (The Treadmill Video), WTF, and both videos for This Too Shall Pass (2nd one here) OkGo has done new and exciting things with each song. So it's no surprise that the video for the new song End Love is fantastic. Try not to make a big mess when your mind is blown.

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Bonus - Bonus Video of the Week!

I am a big fan of the Fully Sick Rapper and was pleased to see him share this video of a fellow sick rapper. Josh Sundquist lost his leg to cancer but that hasn't slowed him down or stopped him from making a hilarious rap video.

iPad Economics.

2010-06-18T11:44:00.002-04:00

This morning as I was driving into work, a thought suddenly hit me. Does the success of the iPad mean the recession is truly over?

After all, we are talking about a product that has sold over 2 million units in its first 60 days of life; 1 every 3 seconds as Jobs himself told us at D8 and WWDC. Now, if you factor in the 2 iPad a person limit, at the minimum, we have 1+ million individuals purchasing a machine that costs at least $500 a unit in just 2 months, and demand for the product is only rising. Apple itself cannot produce iPads quick enough to satiate consumer demand, so I beg the question, are we out of the recession yet? I think we must be at this point. It's either that or Apple has some secret recipe for success even in bad economic times. I guess both are possible. What do you think?

No iPad for me!

2010-06-13T16:55:00.005-04:00

So, I'm currently sitting on a Bolt Bus on the way home from NYC, totally devistated because there were no ipads at the 5th Avenue Apple store. I have concluded that I will just never get an ipad at this point, that is, until the 2nd gen model comes out and I preorder it like a sane person would!

Cousy's Vid of the Week 6/11

2010-06-11T15:05:00.002-04:00

Balmer Bad for Microsoft?

2010-06-10T17:24:00.001-04:00

Some think so.

Google Bans Microsoft Windows.

2010-06-02T09:53:00.002-04:00

In a shocking blow for Microsoft, yesterday it was revealed that Google is now banning the use of Windows on office computers for security purposes. Apparently, Google believes that hackers in China were able to gain access to email accounts due to flaws in Windows security, and to prevent this from happening in the future have approved the use of Apple's OS X and Linux OS only. Now, I realise this is only one company taking a drastic measure, but I have a feeling that this might cause a slight wave of change for some other tech companies as well. Google, after all, is a giant and if they have taken this step, to me the question is not who else will follow, but how soon?

{Image via Flickr}

Cousy's Vid of the Week 5/28

2010-05-28T23:35:00.000-04:00

Its a sad day in the Mac advertising world. The popular "Get a Mac" commecials, featuring John Hodges as the bumbling PC and Justin Long as the suave Mac, have finally ended. No longer will we hear the familiar "Hello, I'm a Mac" on our TV's and computers as Apple has decided to move on. The ads have even been removed from Apple's website. So this video is a tribute to some of the great laughs and lines this little mini-series has given us. Enjoy.

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Bonus Video of the Week!

In honor of both the end of the "Get a Mac" series and the end of the trip for the Pink Mac staff to Europe, I wanted to share with you all the British version of the "Get a Mac" series. That's right, Justin Long and John Hodges were not the ones seen around the globe. In England the stars of the ads were from the comedy duo Mitchell and Webb. David Mitchell plays the failing PC and Robert Webb is the ever cool Mac. Most of the commercials were used with the exact same scripts for the US and UK versions, just different actors. However, some were changed to fit in with some of the local lingo and sayings - as extremely evident in this commercial. Again, enjoy!

European Vacation!

2010-05-25T18:28:00.008-04:00

As I said in my Vid of the Week post last Saturday, half of the Pink Mac staff has left the office for a week-long stay in Europe! I was not in that half unfortunately and I am currently still state-side. Its okay though... Anyway, turns out that this Friday, May 28th the iPad is being release in Europe! And how perfect is it that on Friday the Pink Mac will be in London! Perhaps we could see a post, pictures, or even a video from the launch event! No promises on that yet, because they are on vacation so it isn't a top priority but lets hope they find the time to find an Apple store! Still they were nice enough to send us some photos they took around Europe of the ads Apple has placed in the cities. Very cool.

London (left) and Paris (right) ads for the May 28th launch of the iPad

Want a free iPod?

2010-05-25T14:49:00.009-04:00

Every year Apple releases a promotion around this time to get college student's to buy a Mac. This year is no different because I just received an e-mail from Apple announcing the return of the summer offer to students. Starting today, May 25th until September 7th if you buy any Mac computer you can receive any iPod product for free after a mail-in rebate.

Now the ad says iPod Touch but upon reading the terms and conditions it states rebates apply for iPod Touches, Classics, Nanos, and Shuffles. The only difference is the price of the rebate which will match the model you buy. Now while I would recommend getting the better $199 device for free as opposed to the $79 shuffle, its your call and either one will work for the rebate! Also, it turns out you don't have to be a college student to get this offer. Here is how who is eligible breaks it down:

If you are an employee of a public or private K–12 institution in the United States. Also school board members who are currently serving as elected or appointed members, PTA or PTO executives currently serving as elected or appointed are eligible.
With higher education - faculty, staff, and students attending, or accepted into a higher education institution are eligible.
And even parents purchasing on behalf of their child, who is a student currently attending or accepted into a public or private higher education institution in the United States, are eligible.

So there are a lot of ways for anyone to get this offer, just be smart and bring some proof with you to the Apple store so they believe you. I know first hand as a college student myself that a simple College ID will work. For the rest of the info go here to the Apple Back to School site to find out all the additional information. Also if there are any questions on the right side of the page under the 1 2 3 steps, there is a link to the Terms and Conditions. Happy shopping!

00:00:00

2010-05-24T22:54:00.000-04:00

The following takes place between 10:54pm and 10:56pm

This isn't so much a post as it is a comment I feel compelled to type out right now. For the past 5 years my favorite show on TV has been 24. The thrilling show about a man fighting terrorism, corruption, and evil to make to world a better place. That show ended tonight after 8 seasons and it is sad to see it go. It was time though, no doubt about that. Ratings were dipping down a bit, the flow of Emmys stopped, and the story lines were starting to repeat every now and again (seriously how many moles did CTU have?). No, it's time for 24 to go out while on top then slowly die out.

Tonight's episode did not go the way I had predicted, and don't worry there are no spoilers in this post! It seemed to perfectly encompass all the show has done and stood for for the past 9 years. From cheering people's demise and fall, to crying over the emotions and feelings shown by true friends, this week's episode was perfect. Every week the show has been a roller coaster of emotions throwing you down to crying back up to cheering in less then one hour. And in the show was a message that no matter what, good always one and honesty, integrity, and valor were the true good forces in the world and in ourselves that we all must strive to improve and participate in. I will truly miss it and I while I doubt anyone from the show would read this post - I must put it out there and thank all those who made this show possible. It was a masterpiece and I will miss it very much.

Now, all that's left to do is wait for the 24 movie to come out. Until then I'll be filling my Netflix queue with seasons 1-8 to see it again, and a few I missed along the way.

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Cousy's Vid of the Week 5/22

2010-05-22T13:31:00.003-04:00

Okay yes, this post is one day late so it should really be the past 8 days. Sorry for the delay, but it's been a little hectic around the Pink Mac Office with half of the staff going to Europe for the week. I hope when they get back they have some good post ideas for you all on Euro-tech. We'll see. As for this week as per usual my attempts to post a video tech-related will probably fall flat on its face. (There is a Macbook in the video... does that count?) This video is from the web-sketch-series-show-thing The Key of Awesome! The Key of Awesome is a part of Barely Political, famous for Obama Girl and Auto-Tune the News. The Key of Awesome, now on its 20th episode (not including behind the scenes) brings us fun and creative parodies of songs, movies, and artists. Whether they are making fun of Lady Gaga, Ke$ha, or Batman, The Key of Awesome does an amazing job being creative, original, and down right funny. This week they parodied Owl City's song "Fireflies". Hope you enjoy and please visit their Youtube page to see more awesome videos!

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Bonus Video of the Week!

Okay yes, like every week has a bonus video and the post should be called "Cousy's Vids of the Week". I'll try to cut it down from now on. This week though I wanted to give you guys a song that I love and can't stop listening to... and it relates to the video above. I love the Postal Service song "Such Great Heights" and was really impressed by the cover of the song by Iron & Wine. I think the Iron & Wine version is a little better in fact. So here is a fan made video using the movie "The Garden State", which I the song is in (but I've yet to see that movie so please correct me if I am wrong). This guy's video really captures the feeling of the Iron & Wine version and puts it perfectly with the imagery of the movie. Unfortunately the video ends for some reason at then end of the song - nothing really is cut off but it is missing a little. Here is a link of the full song with lyrics. But please enjoy this video too!

Google-Man

2010-05-21T14:40:00.005-04:00

Google always has impressed me with the wide variety of logos they could make for their homepage. For the first day of summer, Halloween, or some obscure holiday, there is always something interesting spelling out G-O-O-G-L-E. A while back Google put a new twist on the logo for Issac Newton's birthday. Google introduced their first animated logo with an apple falling from a tree and it was fun to see them do something different. Today's logo does everything completely different and blows and every other logo away with how awesome it is.

Today is the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man, so to celebrate the game you get to play it. Google made a Pac-Man map to spell out Google, but if that wasn't cool enough you can actually start the game and play it like a normal Pac-Man game. So okay, its a little buggy (ghosts seem to avoid me rather than attack me and I walked right into the Pink one and didn't die) but it is still amazing that they did this. So please if you have a spare moment, get your self to Google.com and play today! Because it will only last a few more hours!!!

Oh and a little Easter Egg - Hit insert coin twice to add a second player with Mrs. Pac-Man!

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And if you missed it here is a video of a person playing the game. Oh and the left button says - Google Search - like always, but the right one says instead - Insert Coin

No Apple Gift Cards for the iPad.

2010-05-19T14:41:00.004-04:00

Today, I received some disappointing news related to the iPad. I had heard on the news that a woman had gone into an Apple Store planning to purchase an iPad with cash and was turned down. According to Apple's iPad policy, only credit or debit cards can be used to purchase the product in order to help them track their 2 iPad per person limit. Now, we know why they have this limit in place- people have been purchasing iPads and distributing them overseas for higher costs and Apple doesn't support this illegal trading of it's products. I get that, but then why not put a system into place where a cash customer can show ID and their name and address can be used to track them so that they do not purchase more than the limit.

Now, what was doubly disappointing was that in the news broadcast, the reporter said that gift cards to are a no no for iPad purchases, which made me raise an eyebrow. They didn't mean Apple Gift cards, did they? I have a $100 Apple Gift card that I received for my birthday this year, which I was planning to use to buy the iPad, in the event that I decided to purchase one. I have been saving it for just this purpose, and now it's usability was being called into question. So, I decided to ask an Apple Expert via the Live Chat feature on the Apple website. This was the conversation, my messages are in pink.

As you can read in the conversation, apparently Apple Gift cards cannot be used to purchase the iPad either, unless you are doing so online. Again, I am disappointed that Apple doesn't have a better method in place for situations like these, especially since my $100 Apple Gift card would not be the sole payment method for an in-store transaction- I would use my credit card to cover the difference. This makes me not want to buy an iPad!

Cousy's Vid of the Week 5/14

2010-05-14T16:30:00.003-04:00

This week I am proud to show you a music video by The Guild - an online webshow that is the recipent of many awards and fanfare. The Guild follows the lives of a group of online gamers in an MMO similar to World of Warcraft. Every season they make one extra video, usually a musical number. This was last seasons and it was and still is amazing. The Guild has recently been picked up for a 4th season and will be online sometime later this year. If you haven't seen the show yet head over to WatchtheGuild.com and catch up on all three hilarious seasons!

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Bonus Video of the Week!

With the release of Valve on Mac this week, I couldn't pass up this fan-made parody of the day in the life of a character in the game Portal. Don't forget, you can download the Valve software game database for free and you can get Portal for FREE until May 24th! Check out our post: This is a Triumph - on it for all the info.

Note: If you haven't played Portal, this video won't be as funny to you. So... go play Portal!!!

This is a triumph

2010-05-12T18:49:00.005-04:00

I'm making a note here: HUGE success!

Today Valve along with Steam released their software for the Mac! Finally after years of Macs being substandard in the gaming department we are given access to a gaming engine with over 1,000 brand new exciting games! Well, not at first anyway. All 1,000+ are not available for the Mac yet on launch day. Today the section for Mac games contains a total of 64 since not all older games have made the conversion. But, with time, more will be playable on Macs and most important of all is that any new games released by Valve will be playable on both PCs and Macs. The first game that Valve will release for both will be Portal 2, the highly anticipated squeal to Portal. Portal is a first-person puzzle game that revolutionized the genre and swept the gaming nation by storm. Oh never played it before? Seems likely since it wasn't available on Macs in the past. Well like so many Mac gamers I wanted to have this game on my Mac when I stumbled across this...

No. Way. That's right, from now until MAY 24th ONLY, you can download Portal for FREE. Download the Steam software, go to their store, and download this game for free. They are giving away for 12 days one of the greatest computer games ever made. How good is it? Here are a few of the awards it won:

Game Developers Choice Awards - "Game of the Year", "Innovation Award", "Best Game Design"
IGN.com - "Best Puzzle Game" for PC/Xbox, "Most Innovative Design" for PC, "Best End Credit Song" for Xbox 360, overall - "Best Puzzle Game" and overall - "Most Innovative Design"
GameSpot - "Best Puzzle Game", "Best New Character(s)", "Funniest Game", and "Best Original Game Mechanic".
Penny Arcade - "Best Soundtrack", "Best Writing", and "Best New Game Mechanic"
Eurogamer - Won first place in the Top 50 Games of 2007.

... it is a REALLY good game. I highly recommend you get the game while you can. And if you don't like it, at least it was free. So go on over to Valve and follow the steps until your playing this amazing game. And remember to think with portals!

Perfect Guy Case.

2010-05-10T18:34:00.002-04:00

I have sort of fallen in love with this Hard Graft sling sleeve and extras case (125 euros) and have decided that it is the perfect guy laptop accessory. Made of felt and leather, there is something luxurious yet masculine about the cross bands that hold laptop and accessories together in one secure bundle. I think it reminds me of British schoolboys or something; very old world parochial. Alas, I am so tempted to get it for my boyfriend, but he doesn't find it practical. Why is it that guys and girls can never see eye to eye on accessories?

Cousy's Vid of the Week 5/7

2010-05-07T00:26:00.006-04:00

As most of you that spend more than 3 seconds on the internet know, the web is a great place to find cool and funny videos of whatever your heart desires. The web as provided a great breeding ground for artists and comedians to share their work with the entire world. That's why the Pink Mac wants to share with you some of our personal favorite videos we have found on the interwebs in the past 7 days.

This week we are featuring a "commercial" that Ellen DeGeneres showed during her talk show. She got in a bit of trouble for ripping on Apple for this one though because it makes it seem like the iPhone is hard to use. But I get what she was going for. She wasn't making fun of the product but rather the incompent person behind the camera that doesn't understand technology. Watch it and judge for yourself.

So what do you think? Was this a spoof of the iPhone or the user? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!!

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Bonus video of the week!

I just couldn't pass this one up. A personal favorite of mine are videos by a person named Christiaan Van Vuuren... better known as The Fully Sick Rapper. Quick back story: Christiaan is from Australia and he took a vacation to South America, where he contracted Tuberculosis. For the past FOUR months he has been stuck in a hospital quarantine room. To pass the time from going insane he has been making comedy rap videos. I love his stuff and if you like this one check out his Youtube page to see more. (Oh and the fashion show thing up right now is too weird to try to explain, just skip those ones for now lol)

The Million Dollar Winner

2010-05-06T11:44:00.003-04:00

UPDATE! A few months ago I posted my first article on the Pink Mac about how a video game, MLB 2K10, would give away a million dollars to anyone that could pitch a perfect game. (If you haven't read it yet, shame! Here's a link to read it: The Million Dollar Game)

Well as it turns out after weeks of practicing, a man down in Alabama actually did it. He pitched a perfect game and won a million dollars for it. 24-year-old Wade McGilberry, of Alabama played the game so well and got so good at it he was able to be the first person to pitch a perfect game. Of course he had his wife's consent to play so much. In fact she even suggested he leave his job so he could focus on playing more. Despite that proposal, Wade kept his job and in his spare time played enough to where he could win. In an interview Wade said that with the money they are going to pay off the house and now start a family. Aww, see what video games can do ladies? Congratulations Wade, and enjoy your reward!

Here's the interview Wade game to the CBS Early Show:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Cousy's Vid of the Week 4/30

2010-04-30T15:08:00.008-04:00

As most of you that spend more than 3 seconds on the internet know, the web is a great place to find cool and funny videos of whatever your heart desires. Whether it's seeing a cat playing piano, a cat acting like a person, a cat napping... okay there are a lot of kitten videos out there. But besides that the web as provided a great breeding ground for artists and comedians to share their work with the entire world. That's why the Pink Mac is announcing a new series, where each week we share with you some of our personal favorite videos we have found on the interwebs in the past 7 days.

Here's our first video, hope you enjoy!

Please leave a comment on if you enjoyed this and let us know what other types of videos you would like to see!

Hands on with the Nook Elves.

2010-04-25T10:05:00.005-04:00

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that yesterday I went to Best Buy to check out the Nook, which is now being sold in there stores. I thought this would give me a good opportunity to compare the functions of the eReader, which has recently piqued my interest due to the addition of a web browser and games to the nook software. Without a doubt, the Nook is light, sleek and slim. Out of all the eBook readers out there, this one takes the cake for form factor. Once I awoke the Nook from its sleep mode, however, I discovered something odd. When the screen changes (because of page turning or application switching etc), instead of a seamless pixel change, it looks like little Nook elves are drawing an Etch a Sketch of the page for you. The images and text slowly come together in a grainy mix until the page is fully loaded. Now, I wasn't sure if this was normal, or some sort of error on this device, so I went over to the Sony eReader display and found the same issue over there. Now, I realize I am a little behind on this eReader thing and perhaps some of you knew that the page rendering on these devices is reminiscent of 1980's displays, but I wasn't, and furthermore I am a little shocked that these devices are doing so well when they look so low tech. I suppose it's the eInk display that causes this. I know the displays use less energy and make it easier to read for long periods of time in any lighting but when you compare them to even a cellphone or iPod touch display, they seem soo outdated. I don't mind that the display is black and white, although a touch of color wouldn't be bad, but I am bothered that the rendering of the screen is so rough.

With that being said and all things being equal on behalf of the screen rendering of eBook readers, I did enjoy the 'mouse pad-like' touch screen at the bottom of the device, although I did find myself trying to touch the actual eInk screen in an attempt to move the page or select something (totally embarrassing lol)! The web browser was nice, a little slow, but I always find the Wifi in Best Buy stores to be slow. It was a full web browser too, no flash of course, but still full pages with images, ads and text. The other thing I was disappointed about was that there are only two games for the nook, Sudoku and Chess, but this is an android based operating system so I suppose more games will be coming. Overall, I think this could be the most functional eReader, mostly because of the addition of the games and the Wifi for web browsing. I didn't get a chance to test the mp3 player but I am sure that works fine as mp3 players seem to be in every device these days. If you have the Nook, let me know how you feel about it. I would love to get the opinion of an actual day to day user of this device!

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T12:25:00.005-04:00

If you couldn't guess from the title of this post, today is Earth Day! Perhaps some of you will let this day pass without notice, but to the few of you who may actually be interested in the planet and would like to make a small difference in your day to day lives I have something for you! Today, and today only (until Midnight) you can get FREE SHIPPING on your order from Baggu! I took advantage of this today, and it equates to $4 off your purchase ($4 is the standard flat rate delivery from the USPS). Just use the code earth10 at checkout!

Now, if you have never heard of Baggu before, you are in for a treat. Baggu is a line of handmade, reusable shopping bags made from 100% ripstop nylon and each regular sized Baggu is the equivalent of 2-3 plastic bags from the grocery store. I LOVE these bags, and actually, I am sort of obsessed with them because they are so useful in so many ways. The philosophy behind the bags is to use products that have more than one use, so you can 'own less stuff' as they say in their literature, and these bags do just that. I own a few sizes of the Baggu including the backpack- not only are these products well made and durable, they do function in multiple ways. I keep a Baggu with me whenever I leave the house and they are great for not only grocery shopping (where I get 2 cents off my purchase per bag I use and the bags each hold up to 25lbs so I no longer worry about them breaking on my walk home) but I have used them to carry wet clothing and shoes in my luggage, to cover my head during a rainstorm, to store linens in, as a laundry bag, as a lunch bag, and probably a few more ways I can't remember right now. They are washable and come in a nice little carry bag that is made from the scraps of fabric left over when they make the bag itself- so these bags are really well thought out and well designed. They also come in an array of colors so I am sure you will find one you like.

Like I said, I'm obsessed, but I think this is a good obsession. These Baggu's have taught me to look for multipurpose products helping me to reduce my consumption and, happily, my spending. For someone who lives in a tiny apartment, owning less is a philosophy I can get behind! So, seriously, check out the website. I know this isn't a tech gadget, but I think that Baggu is a company with products that embody the promise of technology: to enlighten and simplify our lives.

On this Earth Day, go and do something good for yourself and your planet, even if it doesn't involve online shopping!

Incase for iPad.

2010-04-15T14:42:00.004-04:00

I just saw the new Incase collection for iPad and although I can't say I am in love with this iPad travel kit idea, I love the ad. Notice the large Moleskine peaking out from the pocket. I love it, lol!

iPaw'd

2010-04-15T14:37:00.001-04:00

This video was just too cute not to share. Enjoy!

Steve Jobs is a Jedi

2010-04-10T15:41:00.008-04:00

Now it should be no secret that I hate the iPad. I can ramble on and on about how stupid it is, but at this point you should all know that. I for the life of me could not figure out what the point of this device is. Steve Jobs said at the keynote address that the iPad would fill the void between a smart phone and a laptop. I'm sorry I didn't know there was a void, gap, or even a crack of space between the needs of the two. If i need to check something on the go like e-mail or play a game, I'll pull out my iPhone. If I want to go online and do all the functions of a computer... I'll pull out my laptop. And guess what, despite being a little big a laptop is portable too! This rational logic has led to me hating the iPad and thinking it is a big waste of money. I don't get the point of having this over sized iPhone.

(What the iPad should have been... and can be)

I just really wish it had an operating system so you can do more than just live off apps. Then I found a video on Youtube of a person using this app called Remote Desktop. My mind was blown. Remote Desktop is an app that allows you to access your computer from anywhere, granted your main computer is on and no one will mess with it. You basically control your computer from anywhere and see it on your mobile device. Now Remote Desktop is available for the iPhone but since the screen is so small, it hasn't been too useful. Until now. Remote Desktop will work for your iPad and has thus turned this once useless device into a full touch screen, easily portable, app using - computer. And it will use Flash. And as much as I've hated and bashed this device so much, over and over again... I kinda want one now. So damn you Steve Jobs and your Jedi mind tricks that make us want this devices.

A Real Apple Tablet.

2010-04-07T19:41:00.004-04:00

Unsurprisingly, in the last few days since the iPad has been introduced, the media coverage of the new device has gone from mostly positive, to mostly negative. Now that the iPad is under the microscope, we can see it for what it is and for all it's faults. Many people have been having issues with their iPad connecting to WiFi, over heating, taking a long time to charge, and I can't say I'm that surprised. It is a first generation device after all, and Apple's first gens do have a way of disappointing. I was thinking about it today, and understood that I am mostly disappointed because I wanted the iPad to be more like this...

If you are not familiar, this is the Axiotron Modbook, a real life full fledged Mac Tablet, and it has been available for years. Inside is a real working Macbook that has been manipulated into tablet form. This is what I was hoping Apple would create, albeit in a slimmer, more visually pleasing form.

Now, the Modbook isn't perfect, it isn't a touch screen like the iPad. Instead you can use a pen to write on the screen of the tablet. But not for long. Axiotron has also announced a new device they are working on call the Modbook Pro, which is a modified Macbook Pro with a dual touch and pen sensitive screen.

Although these modified Macs are pricey, they are exactly what many Mac users want from a tablet. A device like this is perfect for professionals in the art and design world who want to use their Macs to sketch and edit by hand but without the hassle of external devices. It is also perfect for business professionals who are always on the go, when carrying a laptop from meeting to meeting is too cumbersome. Finally, it is also perfect for the wired consumer who wants the convenience of mobile computing without having to stop to find a table to sit out just to whip out their laptop to compete a few tasks that aren't possible via their smartphone.

I definitely think tablet computers are the wave of the future and a far more functional portable computing platform than netbooks, but instead of dumbing them down to do a few key things well, they should be able to do everything necessary to keep a mobile life, well, mobile.

Hands on with the iPad.

2010-04-03T23:05:00.005-04:00

Today was the big day! The official launch of the iPad (WiFi edition only) in Apple and Best Buy stores around the country. I, of course, did my due diligence and went to visit the iPad, excited to be seeing the device in person and half expecting to leave the store with one. Sadly, however, I was underwhelmed by the device. Underwhelmed isn't even the right word for it, devastated is probably more appropriate. There was no doubt that the device was very pretty, but from the moment I picked it up I found problem after problem.

First of all, the thing is a heavy hunk of metal. Now, I know, it is thin and small and light in comparison to a laptop, but this isn't a laptop, it doesn't go on your lap or on a desk even. It is meant to be held in the hands, and really one hand, but as the gentleman sitting next to me at the Best Buy store said "after a few minutes holding it, I found myself switching hands." Now, I have never held a Kindle, or any eReader in my hands, but from what I know of their weight, they are considerably lighter than the iPad, which really throws a hard blow at the iPad as an eReader. Another problem with the iPad as eReader concept is the glossy screen. Sure, the text looked great on screen and was more than readable, but it was hard to ignore the glare of the lights around me reflected by the glossy screen.

The next problem I found with the iPad was that the speaker seems to be located in the back of the device and caused a vibration in your hand as you held it to watch a video. With a smooth metal backing, it was disconcerting to be holding such a heavy device as it vibrated in your hand- I almost felt like after a while I might just drop it! Speaking of the speakers, they were also pretty low. I know we were in a loud store, but the speakers were just so muted even on the highest setting.

The final major problem I found with the iPad was that it had an issue with apps failing to launch as you can see for yourself in my YouTube video below. This fact was a big disappointment as it really pointed out the fact that this device is a glorified iPod Touch. It's operating system is that of an iPod touch or iPhone and therefore it is subject to the same annoying issues, such as failure of applications to launch. I have to say, the operating system part of the device must be the thing I am finding it hardest to swallow. If this is supposed to be a device that fills the gap between laptop and smartphone, why is it a sub-notebook size, but running a smartphone operating system? Why not something slightly more advanced, and less prone to the daily defects of smartphones. I'm not saying the iPad should have a fully functional OSX operating system (although it wouldn't be a bad idea in my opinion) but it should have something that is more blended and less one sided.

Well, I know I wasn't the only person to take a look at an iPad today, so if you did or do check one out, let me know what you think. And if you have one, let me know if you agree or disagree with my observations.

Thanks Verizon and BlackBerry!

2010-04-02T21:47:00.003-04:00

I have great news for you all! Finally, after nearly 8 months of using a third party application to connect my BlackBerry to my Mac as a modem to power an internet connection, BlackBerry has put out the 5.0 software update for the Tour (which I have just spent nearly 5 hours downloading) that works with the updated VZAccess Manager! I am now connected to the internet via my BlackBerry and just in time for my trip home for Easter weekend!

I will update later- I need to test out how well this connection works over Bluetooth. I might finally be able to take my Mac to work now and use it during my breaks!

The eReader that could change everything...

2010-04-02T20:08:00.005-04:00

I want an eReader. I will admit that I was not initially a fan of eReaders because, to me, they seemed like a glorified waste of money. I say glorified because it seems to me that people frequently believe, or would like to believe, that they read, when in fact they don't. Plenty of people like the idea of reading, but many of those same people usually end up watching American Idol instead of entertaining themselves with a book. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that there is anything wrong with watching American Idol instead of reading a book, but I think spending $250 on an eReader when AI is your preference is wrong. There is this whole market for eReaders that to me felt like a waste of money. Think of all the things $250 could buy you that would be so much more useful! But I digress. The point of the matter is that since the inception of eReaders to the literary market, the price has been to high for too little. That is, until now. May I now have the pleasure of introducing to you, the Kobo. The Kobo is an up and coming eReader (taking pre-orders online) with the simple yet clean style of a Nook, and the utility of a Kindle, but at almost half the price. Both the Nook and Kindle retail at $259, while the Kobo is priced at $149! Even the sub-eReader Sony Pocket costs more at $199.

How can this be? Why such a dramatic price difference? Well, it seems to me that the Kobo's features are simplified. First, there is no 3G connection, just USB and Bluetooth to get your books on the device. Bluetooth maybe a new term associated with eReaders, but the Kobo solves the problem of syncing books on the go by connecting to a mobile phone (also equipped with the Kobo software). The Kobo also slims down on size. The screen is the same 6" diagonal the Nook and Kindle share, but, the Kobo is thinner and lighter. It also slims down on random functions, for example, instead of the 6 font sizes available on the Kindle, the Kobo has 5; and instead of a grey scale level of 16 like the Nook and Kindle, the Kobo has 8. To me, all these little details are trivial. Who cares how many different colors of grey are used to read the black and white electronic pages, you can read just as well with 8 as you can with 16. The Kobo also reads more formats than the Kindle, although still less than the Nook, but it uses one of the most popular, ePub, as well as PDF's and Adobe DRM.

The Kobo seems to have started something. It has slimmed down on superfluous features and drilled down on the few things it needs to be a useful eReader. For a dedicated device, I think this fact is a crucial one. Why pay over $100 more for features you might never use, or wouldn't even miss? I wouldn't, which is why the Kobo has finally opened me up to the idea of an eReader. Until I make my final decision, however, I will have to stick to reading eBooks on my Mac.

Please, let this be true!

2010-03-30T13:01:00.003-04:00

I just read this article from The Wall Street Journal about Apple creating a new iPhone for Verizon. I WANT THIS TO BE TRUE!

I know, I know, we have been hearing these rumours forever, but look what happened with the iPad! Maybe geek dreams can come true, and perhaps this summer, the iPh0ne will come to Verizon, hopefully looking like the above mythical model. Now I can stop thinking about the iPad and start dreaming of the Verizon iPhone instead!

Three Years Too Late

2010-03-24T15:53:00.006-04:00

With the iPad coming out soon, a lot of people are lining up to get this revolutionary device that they have not touched, seen, or tested in person. Steve Jobs will do that to you. He says what an amazing and advanced product something is and people flock to go out and get it for themselves. I won't be following you all. See, unlike all the Mac fan boys and girls I just cannot wrap my head around what the big deal is with this iPad. I cannot see myself spending over $500 dollars on a device that only kinda does what my other devices already fully do. Sure it would be easier to have an iPad on my lap while I'm in bed surfing the web... but what's the point of surfing the web when half the content isn't available because you don't have Flash? Yes, it could be an amazing eReader, but if I wanted to read a book I'll spend the $10 bucks at a store for a real actual book. And yes, the games on it could be amazing, with more surface area to swipe and tap it could lead to a wave of new and exciting games, but there is no way I'm spending $500 for a gaming system when I can get an Xbox or PS3 for under $300.

At this point my ramblings aren't going to change your mind, because you have most likely already decided if the iPad is something you need in your life. But what fascinates me is to wonder just what would have happened if the keynote at Macworld on Jan 9th, 2007 was about the iPad instead of the iPhone. The newness of all the touch capabilities in a tablet computer would have rocked every tech geek to the core. "Whoa, did you see that thing! He is surfing the web with just his finger tips, and whoa look at that game! I've never seen anything like that!!!" The euphoria that would have come with seeing this whole new device would have been mind boggling and changed the way we thought of computing. Then, in January of 2010, instead of the iPad being announced, Steve comes out and gives us what looks like a mini iPad that can fit in your pocket and make phone calls!!??? You've got to be kidding me! Steve Jobs is a genius!

But alas, that didn't happen. Shame too because I honestly feel that if the events had been different Apple would have had two killer procuts instead of one killer and one okay-maybe. But don't worry Steve, when you invent a time machine (iTime?) you can go back and redo that one... or at least decide to let the iPad support Flash. I mean seriously, come on.

Could I use an iPad?

2010-03-24T15:16:00.005-04:00

As a proudly proclaimed Apple Fangirl, I admit that I willingly allow Steve Jobs to convince me that the latest and greatest Apple product is the thing I can’t believe I have been living my life without. You may think it foolish of me, but my blind faith in Apple products is something I like to endulge because I am fortunate enough to do so and I have yet to be disappointed. However, the iPad has been a conundrum to me; I can’t decide whether or not I actually want one. Usually, when Apple releases a new product I rejoice and immediately begin working out the math for financing the purchase, but with the iPad I haven’t had any of those thoughts or feelings.

For a long time, I didn’t believe there would be an iPad. I had gone through the motion of too many false starts at various Apple events where the tablet was said to be announced. Then, when the news was finally true, I was under whelmed. Do I want a device that is larger than a phone but smaller than a laptop? Certainly. Do I want to navigate said device with the swipe of a finger? Sure. So, I sat down and set to work thinking about all the things I could use the iPad for if I were to own one.

Surfing the web (in bed or on the go…)

As much as I love my Macbook Pro, I do end up contorting myself into the oddest positions while attempting to surf the web in bed. The iPad would be a relief to my neck and back in this department, as well as a great travel companion for quick trips, or to bring to work in lieu of my laptop.

Collecting inspiration from the internet

Most of my online time is spent reading websites and looking at pictures for inspiration and ideas that can be incorporated into my life, home, and blog. So, the ability of the iPad to copy and paste pieces of webpages and images for me to collect along the way is a major necessity.

Reading eBooks

Although I once shuttered at the idea of dedicated ebook readers like the Kindle or Nook for their limited abilities and large price tags, I think that I could enjoy ebooks on the iPad. Although an electronic device is probably the furthest experience to paper and ink in your hands imaginable, I think the pure fact that I could read one handed in bed without losing the tactile motion of page turning could be appealing.

Playing games

One of my greatest secret desires it to own a handheld gaming device such as the Nintendo DS or other similar handset. I haven’t done so thus far because I try to avoid dedicated devices as much as possible and because I am not a fan of carrying game cartridges around on my person. I do use my iPod Touch to play a few games, but eventually give up on them because the touch is too small to act as a screen and the control panel, in my opinion. The larger size of the iPad remedies this issue however, as there is more space for seeing and swiping simultaneously.

Administrative tasks

Despite the fact that I have owned an iPod Touch for a few years now, it has been a much longer time since I have used a PDA device on a regular basis. In high school I used various models of Palm or Handspring PDA’s to handle my finances, to-do’s and calendar appointments, but I have since lost the habit. If I could get myself back into the habit, I think the iPad would be a wonderful aid in organizing my personal and work life with its good size and array of applications.

{Well, I guess now I should do the math and work out my finances to see if an iPad purchase is even feasible for me this quarter. The answer to that could be a make it or break it for my internal thought process!}

I like my life in 2D

2010-03-22T21:29:00.007-04:00

3D, the wave of the future and the next generation of how we view television. Now I like so many have gone to a few 3D movies, watched those Superbowl commercials in 3D, and even gone to a few amusement park shows that had a 3D portion. So obviously it was only a matter of time before it was time for 3D to come to your living room. But the big question I have to ask myself is "Why?"

With many television companies trying to develop and market the new 3D TV'S, will they be the wave of the future? Will it revolutionize the way we watch CSI or American Idol? My guess is no. I don't see everyone going out and replacing their flat screens for TV's that support 3D shows. And wait, there is a bigger problem... what shows will broadcast in 3D? We have standard channels, HD channels, DVD's, and Blu-Ray disks and now we will have to have new 3D channels and 3D movie DVD's?? The cost of re-broadcasting a show or producing a movie for this new format seems too high and with too few of a return of customers buying them.

But beyond the novelty of seeing a tomato fly right out at your face, what else is the point? Every time I have seen a 3D show the constant thought of "is this in 3D? Oh I guess that flew out at me... What does it look like without the glasses?" and so on. 3D is a fun thing to watch as a spectacle, but not for everyday life. Sorry TV companies, I'll pass on your new product.

Not to mention that since I wear glasses, having to put on another pair of glasses is a little hard to do.

My Favorite 5 Free Sites!

2010-03-15T21:37:00.002-04:00

Want to simplify your finances? What about get in shape with your own trainer? This video covers my 5 favorite free websites that have really changed my life for the better. They include...

www.dailylit.com

http://itunes.stanford.edu/

www.trainerpack.com

www.instyle.com

www.mint.com

BlackBerry Purse Update.

2010-03-08T21:01:00.003-05:00

Remember a few months back when I was practically obsessed with this Violet May BlackBerry Purse? Well, you may also remember that I was searching for a similar and cheaper alternative, and I actually did! Below is my houndstooth Merona clutch wallet from Target ($15) that is not only a similar tri-fold style but also fits my BlackBerry, cards, money, change and checkbook! It might not be the hyper stylish silver python, but it is pretty cute for nearly $250 less!

By the way...

2010-03-08T20:32:00.004-05:00

You have probably noticed over the past few weeks that instead of reading posts by me, you have been graced by a few of my boyfriend's tech posts. As I assumed, things became a little busy for me with the move and promotion and life in general, so Cousy stepped in to make sure I didn't loose my loyal readership (plus, lets be honest, he loves discussing tech as much as I do!) I never formally introduced him as a new contributor or anything, but he will be posting from now on to take some pressure off of me. So, let's welcome him now with a nice round of applause and a big thank you for keeping the pink mac alive, and for adding a little blue (aka male perspective) to the mix!

Thanks honey and welcome!

{Yes, that is his 15" Unibody Macbook Pro in the picture above. Save the whales!}

iPhone's Dilemma

2010-02-26T22:00:00.007-05:00

Post brought to you by Cousy the Boyfriend.

Well it didn't take long but Apple rumors are swarming the internet all over again. After months of iPad fever it was nice to have a little break of the constant barrage of theories. But like all good things, it must come to an end and new rumors have started again. So what is the buzz on the internet now? Well it turns out people are gravitating their focus towards the iPhone. Part of the fever is because the iPhone 4G could be coming out.... soon...sometime...maybe. A lot of features are being speculated like it will be made of titanium, have a removable battery, have GPS, and will cook you bacon anytime you want (a guy can dream). Let's be honest, like all Apple rumors most of them will probably be dead wrong so I'm not trying to get my hopes up too much. But what fascinates me is what people think will "solve" all of the iPhone's problems. And what I find odd is that many are saying that it is all about the Benjamin's baby. Yes people are saying that the $99 price point is just too great of a commitment to make and is the big turnoff for them. In face a recent survey by Morgan Stanley Research says that people are focused on this most of all.

But I have to wonder about this, since to me $99 isn't a horrible price to pay for a phone with a camera, internet service, and games. Sure the prices of the phone, plan, and contract length aren't the best things in the world for the iPhone... but why is the service provider ranked as 6th on the chart? People are more concerned by a battery than the service? No offense to AT&T, but their service hasn't been getting a lot of great reviews both for quality and price, and I'm not switching from my very good carrier to that just for a phone. If Apple really wants to expand their market they need to not renew their exclusivity contract with AT&T and let more carriers in. Besides if they did that that might bring down the 2nd and 4th items on the list with more options for service plan costs and lengths.

I know this plea that the iPhone should open up to more carriers has been said a hundred times before and will be said a hundred more times, but to claim that the price is a bigger problem than the carrier just seems stupid to me. So what about you? What do you think is the biggest problem for the iPhone that needs to be solved? Leave a comment below and let us know!

The Million Dollar Video Game

2010-02-24T19:33:00.002-05:00

(A post, brought to you by Cousy the boyfriend)

Ladies, as a man, I like so many face the difficult position of trying to balance pleasing and spending time with my girlfriend with going for a triple kill in the latest online game versus kids half my age. Now I am aware that the girlfriends of the world would much rather have us men doing better things with our time; massaging your back, doing the dishes, or applying for grad school. But ladies next time you see your man playing some dumb game you might want to cut him some slack, because it could be worth one million dollars.

MLB 2K is a popular baseball title for the major video game systems (PS3 and the Xbox 360) and it has issued an unprecedented challenge. In the past an achievement of something a player does in game has usually been rewarded with a pop-up message followed by some badge or mark signifying that yes, you did in fact beat this game on hard mode with out using any first aid kits, or winning the race by ten full laps. Usually this was just for “bragging” rights that really did not mean much unless you were a 13-year-old boy on a message board you loved to troll. In some more extreme cases a contest would be set up where the winner of a tournament would win a few thousand dollars.

But with the release, 2K Sports is spouting their new “realistic” pitching simulator where the player has even more control of the ball then ever before. Because of this MLB 2K series has launched a challenge for its newest release MLB 2K10. What’s the challenge? Pitch a perfect game.

A perfect game in baseball is when a pitcher wins a game that lasts a minimum of nine innings and no opposing player reaches base. The pitcher cannot allow any hits, walks, hit a player and let them take their base, or any opposing player to reach base safely for any other reason. Basically it is when 27 people of the opposing team get up to bat and never reach 1st base for any reason at all, whatsoever, no if's and's or but's. So why is this worth a million dollars? In the entire history of the MLB there have only been officially 18 perfect games. That’s 18 in over 134 years and the first two in 1880 came within 5 days of each other. There is a perfect game once every 11,000 games. More people have gone around the moon than pitched a perfect game. Sinking in yet how rare of a feat this is?

So the theory behind MLB 2K10 is that the new pitching simulator that was created will be so exact to the real thing that pitching a perfect game will be impossible for the average Joe to do. In addition to the mere fact a perfect game is tough enough to achieve the contest only runs for two months, you have to live in the US but not in Arizona, Connecticut, Maryland, North Dakota or Vermont, you must be signed in online over your PS3 or Xbox 360, play with the up-to-date rosters, be playing in All-Star mode, and have a video camera recording your whole game which the tape will get reviewed by Twin Galaxies International which also handles Guinness Book of Records entries. Okay pretty daunting isn’t it?

But the point of all of this here is you didn’t know video games could pay you a million dollars just for playing did you? So ladies, the next time you catch your man playing some game all night instead of walking the dog, he might just be trying to win some money for a dog walker for life, personal masseuse on hand, and a shopping spree at Manolo Blahnik.

http://www.2ksports.com/perfectgame

Moving and such.

2010-02-07T09:48:00.006-05:00

I know I've been missing for a week or so since January ended, but I have a very good excuse. The last few weeks have been crazy time for me because I was (1) promoted and (2) transferred for work! So, in said time frame of me being absent, I have been (a) looking for apartments, (b) buying obscene amounts of furniture, and (c) moving during one of the biggest snowstorms to hit the Northeast in years! Finally, just yesterday I was able to set up the Airport Express in my apartment so that I could get wifi and not have to sit at the edge of my bed attached to a chord if I wanted to surf the web. Actually, I have been doing a good amount of NOT surfing the web in the last few weeks, aside from when I was at work while I had nothing to do because my impending transfer caused restrictions on my workload.

Tomorrow I start my new job in this new city in which I now reside (clue in picture above). So I thought I would take this time to warn you that I could possibly go missing for a week or so again, but I will try my hardest not to!

By the way, since this is a technology blog I should probably say something related in this post, so I will just mention how much I love my Airport Express! It is small and easy to set up- I just used Airport Utility on my Macbook Pro and it was set up in like 2 minutes! I also like that it is compact (since it was meant to be portable) and the range is perfect in my little apartment! I actually used it at home a few times and the range is really awesome for this little guy- I had it set up downstairs and I still had a full signal from upstairs (and this is in a home that is about 3,000 square feet I would say- so it covered the range of the linksys router at home).

Moral of the story: Apple's Airport Express= Awesome + I love WiFi!

{Picture via my boyfriend, taken on a snowy walk yesterday}

Could Content Redeem the iPad?

2010-01-29T09:55:00.007-05:00

I read this article the other day, writen by the notable tech writer Andy Ihnatko that got me thinking about the practical nature of the iPad, which I had previously deemed impratical. Okay, so as I have already said, this thing is a big iPod Touch- I wouldn't say it's an iPhone necessarily because thus far it is not a phone, although with a Skype application this could indeed make voice chatting and even calling a feature, but that is a conversation for another post.

Never the less, the iPad's greatest asset is its screen real estate, which is arguably larger than a majority of netbooks out in the market (if anything 10 inches is the max for netbooks), but unlike said netbooks, the iPad comes with a multitude of content, some you may have to pay for, some you may not, and of course I am referring to iTunes. See, for someone who already has an iPod(s) full of content (movies, music, apps, ect) you are already pretty well set up if you were to buy an iPad, which is certainly not the case if you were to buy a netbook or a tablet of another brand.

Now the big A-HA moment I had while reading the Ihnatko article was that, I, and I am sure a nice slice of the consumer market, have an interest in ebook readers, and so the ibookstore available to iPad users (question; is this ibookstore going to be available to iPhone or touch users??) gives me (and you!) the ability to fullfill ebook desires and make use of my iPod content at the same time. Of course the math of this decision would be more than simply...

ereader= $250

netbook= $300

total= $550

$550>$499 (iPad)

iPad Wins!

You have to take into consideration the fact that the iPad would be a means to spend even more money on content that you now need to own because you have a screen larger than a cell phones to work with. Apple is running a business after all and they will try to seduce you into their ever growing content market one way or another.

For me, I think it is time to refocus my thoughts in a new area. I know I want a tablet, and in light of the availability of content for the iPad perhaps it could be the tablet for me. I certainly have a good amount of time to think about it, but I fear my anticipation for the device may cause me to purchase too soon, something I ended up regretting with my iPod touch. Remember, longing makes the heart grow fonder!

It's a Big iPod Touch.

2010-01-27T16:27:00.005-05:00

Over the last few hours since the announcement of the iPad, I have been thinking about it's features and lack of features to decide if this is something I would even bother owning. Let's discuss these features.

The iPad has a few things I am very excited about. Not only does it do web, video, music, email, documents, calendar, contacts, and a wide variety of apps, it is a nice sized ebook reader as well. My favorite feature, however, is the 3G connectivity that comes at a decent rate without a contract. This means you can take all this fun with you when you leave the house or wifi enabled areas.

When it comes down to it though, this thing is just a big ipod touch that can (if you buy the 3g enabled model) constantly access the internet. The only difference will be that the apps developed for the iPad specifically will probably make the device feel more like a Mac. That being said, it is a far cry from a Macbook. One of the biggest problems with the iPad is that it, like an iPod touch or iPhone, can only run one application at a time it seems and I am definitely someone who has multiple applications running on my Macbook at a time, so why can't I do this on the iPad?

This also brings up a few connectivity issues I have been thinking about in regard to the iPad. I am a little disappointed that there is not an SD card port for importing photo's. Since this is such a portable device, I would think they would include one so that you can add photo's to the device while you are away from your computer. There is always importing from email or the web, but if you wanted to take this on a family vacation for instance, and you just took a bunch of photos you want to email to friends and family, you won't be able to. The lack of flash built in to the device also concerns me especially with viewing webpages, you think Apple would have been able to build this in somehow by now. Also, there is no video output which I think is odd since this is a media device. {I know Apple is making a whole variety of cables you can buy to do some of these things, but that seriously takes away from the fact that this is supposed to be a very wireless device.}

So, those are my main complaints for now. I am thinking that perhaps maybe this device isn't for me. Although that could change as I begin to see all the amazing apps that are sure to be developed for this thing that would perhaps make living with the few issues I have worth it.

Welcome iPad!

2010-01-27T13:16:00.003-05:00

I am completely flabbergasted! Apple has finally done it, they have just announced the iPad, the not so mythical tablet mac! Here are some quick pictures from the live blogs, and I will have to get back to you more later, but basically this thing is a giant ipod touch. It appears to be running a more advanced version of iphone software and is about 10 inches. It is pretty much everything we have been hearing and seeing from the rumor mill.

Apple Event Live Blogs!

2010-01-27T10:54:00.003-05:00

The day is finally come! At 10 am pacific time, Apple will begin it's live media event in San Fransisco. If you are like me and would like to follow the progression of the event, you can do so at Gizmodo and Engadget- both are live blogging!

See you all after the event- I'm sure I will have something to say about it!

My Life in Gadgets: Laptops.

2010-01-24T09:21:00.008-05:00

The progression of gadgets and electronics has been something I have been thinking about a lot for the last few days. In the next few days, Apple could possibly announce a life changing device to the market- but what is life changing anyway? When I think about it, nearly every gadget I have owned has been life changing, even within the scope of similar devices. As generations of them progress, they become more featured and intuitive, suiting the needs of the user to a greater degree.

Consequently, all this deep thought on electronics forced me to recall all the gadgets I have owned, so I thought I would share with you the laptops I have owned throughout the years.

My first laptop was given to me in 1996 at age 10. I can't recall the brand of the computer, but it looked very similar to this photo above. It was grey and thick and ran Windows 95, and what I thought was very interesting about it was that it had a trackball for a mouse. It was heavy and had a small screen, but it could connect to the internet via a phone line and so I loved it!

The next laptop I owned was a Compaq Presario 1200 series which I received in 1999. Coming from that old clunky early 90's laptop, this thing was light and fast and had a much more attractive form factor, not to mention it had a floppy and CD-Rom drive. It also ran 'the new operating system' Windows 98. At the age of 13 when I was given this machine I had no clue about operating systems, but the jump from Windows 95 to 98 opened my eyes to a new world of computing I never understood before. I have since become an OS junkie.

In 2003, the year before I went to college, I bought this even more modern Compaq Presario 2500 series. This had the largest screen of any laptop I had owned, or have owned since. It also had a DVD drive, so this was also the time I converted from VHS to DVD- a little late, I know! This machine also ran, what to me at the time, was a revolutionary new operating system- Windows XP! Everything about this laptop seemed more vibrant and refreshed, and I remember having the distinct feeling when I bought this that I had entered the future.

As we all know, college is a crazy time in a persons life. They learn new things, they experiment- some of it good, some of it bad. As an Art History major in college I was surrounded by these new machines I had very little knowledge of before this time. I mean, as a PC user for all of my life until that point, I had been conditioned to think of Macs as the enemy and an inferior computer to the PC, but I was never really taught why. So, in college I dabbled, and unsurprisingly, I liked it. So, in 2006 after my PC died on me in the middle of Maymester (May semester), I started researching Macs. Coincidentally, this was also nearly the exact same time that the intel based white Macbooks were announced and so I took it as a sign to convert.

By 2009 when I upgraded to a 13 inch Macbook Pro, I was already indoctrinated into the Macintosh lifestyle and haven't looked back. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for me technologically, as looking back from that very first laptop over 10 years ago, I have made such a substantial jump in my fluency with computers that I wonder how much further it will all progress in the next 10!

Creative Writing.

2010-01-21T10:43:00.005-05:00

If Apple does not announce a tablet-like device next week, we seriously need to rethink the integrity of journalism.

Why? Well, I just read through this Wall Street Journal article that outlines specifics of the impending tablet device learned by the authors through "people familiar with the situation," "people familiar with the matter," and "other people briefed on the device." So, what exactly is the 'situation' anyway? Well, they certainly aren't referring to characters on the Jersey Shore, so lets take a look at the credible information the authors of this highly specific work of journalism have gathered. Apparently, this Apple Tablet will be a true Jack of all trades, functioning as an e-reader for books, text-books, magazines, and other written content; a Television (if you sign up for what I can only assume would be an optional subscription fee); a music player (of course); a video gaming system; and finally, a web browser that you can navigate through the use of a virtual keyboard (squashing any rumours that this device might be a touch screen laptop).

So, back to my original statement- if this turns out false next week, then what in the world is going on with the state of journalism today where a highly detailed article can be published by a major national newspaper and use incredibly vague sources? It's one thing to publish an article like this and give the name of specific employees or officers of the company that were spoken too, or even refer to the position of the source like 'a member of the marketing team,' but to just flat out say nothing better than 'says a source who knows' is ridiculous and discrediting in my opinion. I know when it comes to a topic which has been so controversial or kept under wraps for so long it's hard to get people to go on record when they could potentially be putting their job on the line to disclose information they most likely are supposed to keep secret, but the editors that let this go to print have better have received some very reliable backup if they were to put out a story like this. This says so much about the state of our media today- that a hot story can sell for more than the price of one's integrity, but as long as a profit is turned journalistic accountability dissolves.

Conceptual Design.

2010-01-20T10:25:00.005-05:00

In the spirit of the Apple Tablet that may or may not be introduced at next weeks Apple event, here are a few of my favorite touch screen/ tablet mac concepts. There are tons of these all over the internet, but I am sure that if a tablet does come out next week, it will look like one of these. Apple should hire some of these people to design their actual products btw!

By Invitation Only.

2010-01-20T08:31:00.007-05:00

As you may have already heard, one week from today (January 27th) Apple will be hosting a product event in San Francisco, to which it distributed via email the above invitation to "Come see our latest creation." Although many blogs have been talking about what could be coming next week, mainly discussing the possibility of an Apple Tablet, I think that this invitation, although cryptic, is a clear confirmation of all the tablet rumours.

Learning from the past.

Apple is a notorious creature of habit. They very frequently hold similar events at the same times each year to refresh or introduce a product. For example, around October/November, Apple usually refreshes their iMacs, in September their iPods, and in January/February their Macbooks. Now, I realize there have been exceptions to this rule, as we have seen mid year updates on Macbooks/Macbook Pros, but for the past few years this has generally been their pattern. So now, this January we have confirmation from the company that they will be unveiling something new.

Evaluating the evidence.

Since we have established the Apple pattern for product launching, lets turn to the actual evidence- the invitation. We can tell from the tag line that this is not just going to be a product refresh, they have clearly created something new, or at least new-ish. What I mean by new-ish is that the concept or body of the device they are unveiling could be something we have never seen from Apple before, but it could deep down inside be similar to something they already make. This certainly leaves room for an Apple tablet, as the concept of a tablet Mac is certainly different in design and form than what Apple currently has in their Macbook line, however, deep down inside it is a computer. Now, this could also mean that they have created something non tablet as well. But lets continue to evaluate the evidence before we jump to any conclusions.

There is more to the tag line than just revealing that Apple has something new up it's sleeve. I firmly believe that Apple always eludes to their product in the tag line directly. A good example of this would be last falls iPod event that was tagged "It's only rock and roll, but we like it." That tag line eluded to both the musical aspect of the event and the 'roll' was a double entendre also describing the video aspect of the new nanos (i.e. camera's rolling). But back to next weeks event and the line "Come see our latest creation" which I believe is full of meaning, particularly in the word 'see'. Now, although this could be taken directly on one level as the invitation to watch the unveiling, I think we have another double entendre situation and that this is to be taken as a clue that the device is going to be very visually oriented, maybe incorporating the aspects of an e-reader, touch screen or just faster graphics. So what sorts of Apple products are visually oriented? Well, Apple made a big fuss over perfecting the screen of their iMacs, and the Macbook line has great graphics and ever increasing screen quality. More so than any other product of Apple's, their Mac line is very visually oriented. Whatever they are releasing is clearly going to be a part of Apple's long tradition to enhance user experience through an ever expanding notion of the graphic user interface. The last few times we saw Apple move in this direction the iPhone's graphic touch interface was developed, the Mac line was given a major graphics boost and finally, the screens of all of their products went full glass. Perhaps someone else could look at this chain of events and say they have nothing to do with next Wednesday's event, but I think Apple has been in the business of expanding the visual interface of computers since the very beginning and when they say 'see' they really mean 'see.'

The final piece of evidence we have about this event is the invitation graphic. I know some believe it to be inconclusive, but I believe it is giving us a great visual clue as to what is going to be coming next week out of Cupertino. To me, this image has the silhouette of a macbook and out of a multi colored background (eluding to the visuals of the device again) comes a glowing Apple. What does the multi colored background have to do with anything, you might be thinking? Well, Apple likes to use those paint splashes when it is alluding to device colors, as we have seen with the 4th generation Nano line which was represented by dripping paint, so perhaps this device incorporates a portable audio, but what I think they are hinting at with this image is touch screen capabilities. Why? Think finger painting. I know it seems puerile, but from the standpoint of Apple and the font of irony which is their marketing, what would be more ironic than a touch screen or tablet computer being compared to a child finger painting. I mean, technically, you could do so with a touch screen Mac and because it is digital it would be mess free!

Jumping to conclusions.

Honestly, I think that this visual evidence from their invitation paired with what we know Apple likes to do historically, there is a good chance this event is going to reveal a touch based computer. Will it be a tablet? Perhaps. If we listen to the rumor mill we might get our expectations crushed come next week just like we have for the past two years since all these rumors have become a business in and of themselves. So I am just going to make the safe bet right now and say Apple will be introducing a touch screen device. Whether it be a Macbook with a touch screen, or a tablet Mac or even an enlarged iPod touch, I think all the signs point to touch screen with some great graphics. Stay tuned to find out!

Wii Watch Netflix.

2010-01-19T13:57:00.004-05:00

I was beyond excited when I heard the news that this Spring Netflix will finally come to the Wii! I personally cannot wait for this because I am a subscriber to Netflix, which I mainly use to stream movies to my Mac, but now I will be able to stream videos to my TV, which I currently only use to play Wii with! So this is really a win win situation myself and my TV as we will be spending much more time together very soon!

Apparently, this will be achieved by using a special Netflix DVD that you can request from Netflix, which will download the necessary software to the console, allowing you to stream content from your wifi internet connection. Although other console video game systems already have the ability to stream content through the web and this is long over due, I am glad to finally see Nintendo catching up with the rest of their competitors in this aspect!

Currently Obsessed.

2010-01-09T22:12:00.003-05:00

With Dune.

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion,

It is by the juice of Sapho that thoughts acquire speed, lips acquire stains, stains become a warning,

It is by will alone I set my mind in motion.

2010: Year of the Tablet

2010-01-05T21:47:00.003-05:00

With CES 2010 right around the corner, Macworld following that and then the alleged Apple event at the end of the month, I suppose it's time for me to make my prediction for what we will be seeing tech-wise in 2010. If 2009 was the year of the netbook, I foresee that 2010 will be the year of the tablet. Not just the Apple tablet, mind you, but I think starting with CES and onward this year we will be seeing a vast increase in computer manufacturers announcing tablet style computers. We have already begun to see a touch of this consumer interest in tablet computers with the Entourage Edge and similar devices, but I think in the new year the market for such machines is going to skyrocket. Whether they be dual screened, touched screen or just incredibly portable, we will be seeing much more of them in many shapes, sizes and colors this year!

I'm on a Mac!

2010-01-03T10:18:00.000-05:00

Are you on a Mac?