Ploafmaster General

Here's a summary of what Jobs unveiled (for those three or four readers of mine who aren't nerdy enough to follow the whole thing in real time):

1. Time Capsule - a full-fledged Airport base station with built in hard drive. Nice! I wish I hadn't bought that blasted LaCie!

2. Update to iPhone software, stuff that doesn't affect most of the folks I know (since we're all too poor to own one!).

3. iTunes Movie Rentals - as expected. 3 bucks for library titles, 4 for new releases, 5 for HD titles. You have 30 days to start watching the movie, and after you start, you have 24 hours to finish. You can also transfer it to any Apple device - iPhone, iPod, Apple TV...and speaking of that...

4. New version of Apple TV software to handle this hot new video goodness. This includes a more robust video browsing interface to support the movie rentals. The hardware price dropped as well.

5. MacBook Air. Super thin, like, ranging from 0.16" to 0.76" - that's right, barely more than 3/4 of an inch...AT IT'S THICKEST. Dang. Magnetic latch and 13.3" LED-back-lit screen, built-in iSight, ambient light sensor for the keyboard (like my MBP)...MULTI-TOUCH TRACK PAD. And you can even order one with a 64 Gig flash disk if you want to pony up the dough. Battery life? Try FIVE HOURS. There's no optical drive (to save space and battery power), but you can wirelessly share another computer's optical drive, even reading a Mac disc on a Windows computer's disc drive! It starts at 1800 clams, and that sounds fair to me considering what they crammed into such a small form factor.

Everybody was counting on a more portable laptop, but man - I don't think anybody expected a full-spec computer this size.

And that's it, really. Gaze and enjoy:

So today I wait, with baited breath, for Steve Jobs to deliver his keynote address at 9 am Pacific (noon over here).

I already blocked off 1.5 hours on my Outlook calendar for "lunch" and I don't expect to get anything done during the talk. Everybody has their predictions, including Gruber, and Apple stock has been fluctuating wildly in the run up (and will continue today, I'm sure). I just can't wait to see what's up. Surprises would be nice :-)

Every once in a while, the boys in Redmond come up with some idea that actually makes sense. Today, Engadget's Paul Miller tells us about Microsoft's forthcoming tech-enabled shopping cart.

Using RFID tags on the merchandise and smart shopping carts, it looks like such a concept could actually save shoppers time (and possibly money if they see a running total on the screen).

Here's hoping they don't screw the pooch in the execution.

Preface: I love Netflix - their shipping is fast, their selection is great, and their recommendation system (especially since I've rated over 1100 movies) is excellent and marvelously prescient. Last year, they decided to become even more awesome by introducing online viewing for subscribers to their existing DVD service. Members could, in addition to their regular DVDs, view as many hours of streaming video as they paid in dollars every month. This means that I could watch about 15 hours of video every month based on my plan. Netflix topped itself, though, by announcing recently an end to that cap of online video watching time - a move seen to preempt the expected announcement by Apple to start providing digital movie rentals. Pretty nice, huh?

Preface over.

You see, it's not actually nice. Because I don't have a computer at work or home that can play this online Netflix video. Their current system requirements indicate that I need Windows XP or Vista to use the online viewing service. At work? Stuck on some vintage Windows 2000. At home? I chose an Apple computer that has OS X, so no dice for me.

So while I'm excited that Netflix is allowing for unlimited online movie watching (from the 6000+ available titles), I can't get to pumped because it does me no good. As soon as they code a freaking Mac tool for viewing, then I'll be jumping for joy.

According to Engadget, UPS has been using software to reduce the number of left turns in a driver's route. This is part of the shipping company's general plan to boost efficiency. Quirky, but effective.

YouTube find of the day (so far):

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5H-wi8wmQA&rel=1&w=425&h=355]

The BBC reports today about an suicidal Italian tourist treated with vodka in an Australian hospital when the medicinal alcohol ran out.

I'd like to go out drinking with those doctors.

Here's a treat for the day, and make sure you read it right before you grab a bite to eat.

I guess that technically counts as a sarcastic warning :-)

Apple announced this morning that it sold it's one millionth iPhone over the weekend. That's just crazy astounding, especially considering the sales were essentially limited to the US market. I'm sure the ever imminent European deals will expand sales even further, and the sure-to-come next versions (and likely cheaper versions) will push the sales figures higher even than Apple's goal.

Either way, it's rather difficult for the anti-Apple set to call this device a failure anymore :-)

AAAARRRGGGH. Apple's making it tougher for me :-)

The iPhone price was just dropped by $200 today on the 8 Gb model. Still not enough storage for my needs, but dang. I'm confident in a year or so they'll have what I'm looking for to replace my clunky HTC Wizard.

I have a Cingular (The new AT&T!!!) 8125 smart phone. This thing runs Windows Mobile 5, however, so the intelligence of the handset is pretty debatable.

You see, I work in an office. I don't want my co-workers to hear my phone blasting That Song by Big Wreck every time somebody calls me, so I keep it on vibrate during the day. Nothing special about that, right? Well if I had the ringer turned on, the low battery indicator would issue a short beep. Push a few electrons through the speaker so you know the phone needs charging, but don't use too much of that precious battery power to tell me, mkay?

What happens when the batter is low and the phone is on vibrate? Well what happens if somebody calls you and the phone is on vibrate? The phone doesn't make a sound - it activates a small motor inside the phone and spins an intentionally off-balance weight at high speed to cause the vibration. This is exactly what happens when the battery is low, too. However, incomprehensibly, the phone vibrates for a full five seconds! What better way to conserve battery power than to spin a weight inside the device just to tell me that the power is running out!

Maybe other phones do this, too, but most other phones are running very simplified operating systems compared to Windows Mobile. There should be no reason to expend the dwindling stored energy in my phone on a buzzing, spinning weight other than an incoming phone call, and no matter which platform is on the phone, surely it's only a software problem to kill the motor when the battery is low.

I've been a little tired of my phone for a few months now, but this is one of those things that annoys the crap out of me ever time it happens.

So I'm curious - do any other phones behave this way? Does the iPhone? Does Windows Mobile 6?

Have you ever noticed that some CDs are way quieter than others? Even when you rip them to your computer the levels can vary widely, much to the detriment of your ears. For a perfect example, check out my music (ploafmaster on SimplifyMedia) and first listen to the song "I Hate It Too" by Hum, and right in the middle of that song, switch to "The Sun Also Rises" by Brave Saint Saturn.

Did the difference in volume startle you?

You see, it turns out many recording/mastering engineers compress the audio in order to increase the average decibel level of the music. I just read a fascinating, insightful, and surprisingly down-to-earth article in the IEEE's Spectrum publication about the commercial reasons behind the use of audio compression and it's serious drawbacks.

I think I'll be using Sound Check in iTunes and on my iPod from now on.

I know this thing is already making the rounds in Interweb land, but I figured it was ingenious enough to embed here, too:
http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=266383&server=vimeo.com&fullscreen=1&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=1&color=00ADEF

iPhone Copy and Paste from lonelysandwich and Vimeo.

One of the funniest editorial cartoons I've seen in quite some time:

Just my luck. Scientists at Oxford may have discovered the gene that causes left-handedness, but it may also be responsible for an increased likelihood of going bonkers!

Okay, so the risk isn't actually that high, and more than this one gene is responsible for mental illness, but still - do we lefties really need more stigma? :-)

Great googly moogly!

If you haven't heard of Simplify Media's software (named after the company), you should hit up their download page and grab the joint.

Got it now? Good. Well here's what it does...

Well a lot of folks may not be aware the iTunes allows you to share your music over a local area network. If you're at work, and several folks have iTunes, you can listen to each others' tunes. Pretty slick, eh? Well with Simplify Media's software running in the background, it allows you to share music across the entire internet. All you have to do is add your friends to your list, and then you can see each others' music as if you were on the same local area network.

Let that sink in for a moment...

Do you realize what this means? That means that if I'm in Paris and my buddy Patrick grabs the latest album from his fave underground indie hip-hopper, I can still listen to it as if it was on my own computer. Yeah, for real. The sound quality is excellent, but you can't actually save the tracks on your computer so it's not piracy. It's simply extending existing iTunes functionality.

Currently, the software only works with iTunes, but on both Windows and OS X. They're working on adding support for Winamp and Windows Media Player in the future, but considering the broad reach of iTunes, I'm sure plenty of you out there can use this.

Thanks to Fake Steve Jobs for pointing out this hilarious parody:
[youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y4dF3EGSCI&w=425&h=350])

So it's crazy how much hype there is around the iPhone - and even the word, "hype" seems to be a buzzword around the media these days.

Of course Apple is advertising, but sheesh, it's certainly more the media building this launch up and doing most of Apple's advertising for them, gratis.

I think the word, "hype," however, is a but understating given the sheer saturation of iPhone stories this week. It feels more like a palpable mania. Every little nugget of details that releases sends the media in to a tizzy and Apple, Inc.'s stock price into wild fluctuations. Just wait until the first official reviews come out around 9 pm this evening...oof.

Yes, I'm an Apple fan now.

No, I'm not getting a first generation iPhone.

I AM, however, planning on heading down to the Apple Store in Short Pump on Friday, 6/29, around 6 pm. I may even survey a few AT&T stores, just to get an idea of the mania. Word is, AT&T has hired loads of extra staff and security for the launch...we'll see what it's like down by the Short Pump Town Center mall, though - could be pretty chaotic :-)

Check it.

After watching these three ads, I had to renew my efforts to resist. I just keep telling myself, "Wait 'till it has a higher storage capacity."

As if my angst wasn't excuse enough to write less frequently, yesterday I purchased a Nintendo Wii. I think I'll be sufficiently distracted for the next who knows how long.

But don't worry, you two or three regulars (semi-regulars?) - I'm not abandoning this space for a long term hiatus. I'll probably have plenty more to say about my new video game system as I use it more and play new games.

Oh yeah, and I'll still write about other stuff, too :-)

Just read an interesting article on Wired's Gadget Lab about lip-reading software for the UK's millions of CCTV cameras.

And the British worry that they're "sleep-walking into a surveillance society."

And you thought eating spicy food could lead to hot times on the porcelain bus...

Peep Engadget's story on the Head from Hades.

A couple of months ago I joined up with the Central Virginia Ruby Enthusiasts Group - CVREG for short. This is a small but excited group of fellas who seem genuinely to want the use of the Ruby programming language to advance in the Richmond area.

Last night I went to my second meeting - a "code jam" - aimed at getting newer users involved. I'd have to say it was quite excellent. There was camaraderie, good work time, effective networking between IT professionals, and plenty of helpfulness from the experts in the room. These were not th "RTFM" crowd. These guys, rather, are the type who prefer to see questions answered, even if somebody else asked them.

While I suppose it may be a little too early to call it more than a club, I certainly plan on continued participation in the future.