*-)- welcome aboard *-)-
just me. my current interests and stories for the interwebs.
If there is one memory card to get, it's the SanDisk Extreme 16GB 45MB/s SDHC Class 10 card. It's touted on many other blogs out there and I love my cards. Personally, I opted for two 32GB cards but I'm leaning towards picking up another pair of 16s due to the speed and time it takes to dump them onto my networked drive. Right now, both the 16GB and 32GB are around $1.00 a GB on Amazon. Check them out and always remember to use my links! Thanks!
My Re-Ply chair has arrived and it's newest and youngest fan is my daughter Norah Renée! It's an awesome chair and quite the conversation starter too. Watch the Kickstarter video by it's creator Dan Goldstein. http://instagram.com/p/aMPwKuu4Sh/ http://instagram.com/p/aMO8Hfu4RB/
The Re-Ply Chair from The Re-Ply Chair on Vimeo.
Love it. - Herman Miller
We love new phones but hide them in cases. We love nice cars but some of us are so infatuated with them that we only drive them to church (or on special occasions). Both are utilities that are made to be used and I could not agree more.
The iPhone, however, prefers not to play by these rules. Though exquisite in design, it was not born as art to be put on display. It belongs in our pockets. It is a tool. A utility. A gadget of gadgets.
The iPhone is here to work.
via Shawn Blanc
Marco Arment, from Instapaper & tumblr fame, has released a new subscription-based app on iOS simply called,"The Magazine". It's a different approach on technology related articles and their delivery. I'm already looking forward to the next issue after finishing #1. I want this to succeed and hopefully I can be insightful enough to be included some day!
Instead of the traditional labor-intensive magazine layout and expensive multimedia production, The Magazine’s article format is similar to Instapaper’s: one clean, adjustable, reader-friendly template with HTML, occasional images, and some small conveniences. It loads quickly, integrates well with sharing and system conventions (including text selection and VoiceOver), occupies minimal storage space, and shows the utmost respect for your time and attention.
The Magazine is leaving behind a lot of what magazines “need”. And many magazines really do need them. But I don’t think this does.
All of this is a bit crazy, and it’s not guaranteed to succeed. But I bet it will.
Looks like my unsubscribed The Daily app is going to have some companionship on my Newsstand.
When Amazon first debuted the new Kindle Paperwhite, I wasn't so sure about the name. Silly I know, but at $119, there's not too much to complain about except for the lack of audio out for text to speech and the reduced size of available memory (4GB down to 2GB). Nonetheless, even Barnes and Nobles had to lower the price of their lighted black and white e-reader. It's just that good. Not to mention the amazing ecosystem especially their Lending Llibrary available to those that subscribe to Amazon Prime.
When it comes down to it, Amazon at least has the naming scheme down; Kindle Paperwhite vs. Nook Simple Touch with Glowlight. TKO Amazon!
Here are a couple of grabs from reviews posted throughout the blog circuit.
It's the stealth bomber version of the Kindle you know. - Gizmodo
I found myself turning on the light regularly, at various levels of brightness, not just at night. It just makes the Kindle that much more usable and convenient: On a dim subway or in a badly lit room, you can read comfortably. - GigaOM
Joshua Topolsky posted a thorough review on The Verge. Here are a few quotes I came away with.
The device is incredibly comfortable in hand.
It may be the most comfortable e-reader I've ever used.
In my opinion, it's one of the best E Ink displays on the market, and might possibly be the best thanks to that new lighting.
And here's CNN on the Paperwhite:
Kindle Paperwhite is king of e-readers
The one thing I won't be doing on it though is reading comic books. I'm eagerly waiting for mine being delivered this morning and will have an unboxing and review of my own later this week!
After guiding a good friend through his iPhone 5 activation, I told him that it would make for a good story. Here is Manoj Osuri's first 48 hours with his iPhone 5. My initial iPhone 5 experience has been less than ideal, to say the least. It's not that I think it's a bad phone…it's actually pretty awesome, now that I've gotten it working. But it was the "getting it working" part that really tainted the experience.
So one of the things I love about iPhones (and my limited experience with Apple products in general) is how quick and easy it normally is to go from opening the box to enjoying the new device without skipping a beat. I pre-ordered phones for my wife and myself. When they arrived over a week earlier than we initially expected, it felt like Christmas came early.
We both turn our phones on, see that it prompts us to sync it with our iTunes, and run straight to our computers. My wife has an HP running Windows 7, and I have an early 2008 MacBook Pro. Within a couple of minutes, my wife has her phone up and running without any problems. I, on the other hand, get a message saying that my phone cannot sync to any iTunes lower than 10.7. I don't think this is more than just a minor annoyance, but when I try to install it, I find out it won't run on my operating system. I do realize that my OS is old (OS X 10.5... I have no idea what animal that corresponds to in Apple's feline nomenclature), but I kept up with all the available updates, and I don't think it's right that I would be forced to buy a new OS in order to use my phone. A big reason why I spent about 4 times as much money on a laptop 4 years ago was because I was put under the impression that my computer would not go obsolete in a few years. I assumed that paying for new operating systems every couple of years would not be involved in keeping my computer relevant. Luckily, since I'm pretty close to being computer illiterate, Elijah was able to help me get OS X 10.6 installed on my computer, but the process took up my entire afternoon and early evening. While all of that was happening, I had my old phone backing itself up on iCloud (which in hindsight is probably something I should have done before). It took nearly as long, but at least I was able to get my phone working that evening. And because the activation of my new phone had technically started, I had no usable phone the whole time.
After going through all of this, I definitely lost most of my excitement over my new iPhone. Getting this phone was not nearly as awesome of an experience as when I got the 3G or the 4. I guess it really left a bad taste in my mouth that, compared to my wife's setup process, I felt like having an Apple computer made things way harder on me than if I had had a PC. And to make things worse, my story still isn't over….
Now this part is definitely not a knock on Apple, but rather a terrible experience with AT&T. That night, my wife and I went to an AT&T store to combine our separate accounts into a family plan. As I expected, I had to change my number since she has a North Carolina number, and I have a Maryland number. Since NC is considered to be in same regional market as Georgia (we live in Atlanta) it made more sense for me to change my number to an Atlanta area code, and have her keep her old number. (Not to mention that she had to deal with enough hassles with changing her name after we got married, so it was my turn to take one for the team!) So after combining our accounts, I started texting my friends and family my new number. I realized something was wrong when every group-text failed to deliver. (Yes, I checked my settings to make sure it was enabled). So having to text all of my contacts my new number individually added to my annoyance with my new phone. The following day, when I left our condo (and our wifi) I saw that my phone would not connect to the internet. I could still call and text (as long as it wasn't a group text), but no internet. At first I thought it was another phone issue, but after investigating a bit further, I start to think that my data plan never got reactivated after getting the new number. That was confirmed when I called AT&T. The person who helped us at the AT&T store the night before somehow missed that step. But in a way, it was a blessing in disguise, because not only did she forget to reactivate my data plan, but she never actually set up our family plan. She just put both of our individual accounts on the same bill. I probably wouldn't have caught that for a while since I use auto-pay, and we would have ended up paying a lot more than we were supposed to. And I'm not 100% sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if having no active data plan was the reason why I couldn't send group-texts. So most of another afternoon was wasted setting up my new iPhone 5.
All that said, I am happy with my new phone... it's pretty awesome. And while I wasn't really expecting to be blown away by it, I did expect to at least have a fun and exciting experience when I got it. And thanks to all the issues I had, the "new iPhone experience" definitely wasn't fun or exciting.
Over the last few years, many geeks, myself included, become glued to their computers & smartphones following a live blog of the Apple Event. It comes around twice a year, sometimes three and today is the day! The iPhone 5 is set to be announced in just under 15 minutes and here are the two blogs that I love!
Ryan Block for gdgt.com does an amazing job of coverage. He has become synonymous with live journaling and if this was the only feed you could pull, I'd recommend it.
You can also count on Joshua Topolsky from The Verge to do a wonderful job.
I follow these two streams for varying angles and pictures throughout the event. Text wise, they both have their moments of colorful commentary and are fun to follow. Hopefully I'll get to be at one of these events someday!
During the last decade, Apple has led the way in optimizing the personal computer being the first to delete legacy equipment and replace them with new technologies or simply minimalize. On some occasions, their choice to adopt was either strategically delayed waiting for broad acceptance or in some cases never implemented e.g. Blu-ray. On the opposite extreme, they have also led the way in the proliferation of FireWire; Apple's own design and technology implemented in 1999 and found in Apple Computers since.
With the inclusion of the latest USB 3.0 ports, we can finally celebrate the new dawn of faster data transfers. Rumored to also be is a new Dock Connector that I'm guessing will take full advantage of these blazing new bus speeds. Introduced back in 2008 and the first consumer products released in 2009, it's been a long time coming with Intel releasing their first integrated chipsets earlier this year. I truly believe that we will look back and thank Apple for this as the adoption rate and proliferation of USB 3.0 peripherals will most likely sky rocket. This in part being that it costs less than the Thunderbolt equivalent and is backward compatible with USB 2.0. Consumers love the term "backwards" compatibility. Where the PC world has failed in the introduction of USB 3.0, Apple will be heralded as the usurpuer. From those million iOS users stuck syncing for hours, thank you and finally! Yes, we can say that wireless syncing is where it's at, but only because we don't have access to quick syncs and backups. The cloud is great nonetheless, but USB 3.0 will be where it's at.
The success of WWDC '12 and not to mention the intro of the MacBook Pro with Retina display, the yet-to-be-announced Fall '12 iPod / iPhone / iPad maybe iMac event couldn't come fast enough. I love Thunderbolt technology but how many hard drives and peripherals do you see out there support it compared to USB 3.0?
When I asked a couple of friends through Facebook or Twitter on their opinions on a specific camera choice, I got an overwhelmingly response. They all gave great insights coupled with personal experiences and I just wanted to post my experience and my gratitude. First the twitter story.
Now a post from a great friend from High School.
I'm actually shooting with an Olympus Pen EP-3 (with misc panasonic/ oly/ third party Micro-Four Thirds lenses)
The NEX-7 is a nice camera, but Sony's native lens selection is kind of lacking. It's worthy of praise because you can use old manual lenses that benefit from Sony's focus peaking. Also, due to the large APS-C sensor size and flang mount in relation to a streamlined body, the NEX lenses are designed to be inherently big. It feels like handling a smart-phone with a soda-can attached. Kind of defeats the purpose of a smaller form factor when there's little to no native compact pancake lenses available. Plus, they try to bury every feature in the menu screen, requiring a proprietary learning curve... if only it worked like an apple product.
The OM-D EM-5 is pretty much an evolution of the EP-3. A compact Micro-four thirds camera with some "raise-the-bar" type features like the 5-axis stabilization, weatherproofing, fast rate viewfinder etc... The stabilization provided some extra stops for low-light hand-held shots. (Great for non-flash shots when your child is an infant, and better hand-held when the little one takes off running) In the flesh, this thing is pretty small. It's about the same size as my EP-3 sans the view-finder hump. I'd say MFT cameras had a lot of catching up to do in the last couple of years, but the current generation MFT cameras are the shit.
As for the full-frame 5D's: No one will argue against the Mark III as the current industry standard. (And some confess: most of the time it's just to appease the clients). As a matter of fact, I was introduced to the smaller MFT cameras from a bunch of guys who have to lug around 5D's for a living. From a practical standpoint, the Mark III is a big investment on just a body when most of us don't get paid to do this. Not to mention, once you get the essential full-frame lenses you'll be lugging around a lot of equipment, averaging the cost of a Hyundai under the baby stroller. Try to chase your toddler around with all that.
To conclude, you should base your decision on what you like to shoot and the overall system. The body is pretty much dated in a year or two since the consumer camera industry is as, if not more fickle than the computer industry.
^Being a gear-head, I'm sure you already know all this but I figured I'd share my thoughts anyway. Good luck with the camera shopping man, there's a lot great choices. Just make sure you do it soon so you'll have a handle on the hardware before the baby starts to grow up quick.
Let me know what you go with and if u have any questions on the MFT side of things. And read up...we're all biased in some way.
BTW- Congrats to you and Adelle.
Friends rock! Thanks everyone!
Even without using the device, I can already feel Jeff Bezos squirming in his chair at Amazon. I wonder what Apple's play will be this fall now that the new price point is $199! Because of Google Now, I'm even intrigued to give it a shot. Joshua Topolsky on The Verge
"The Nexus 7 delivers way more functionality than I expected, and it delivers it in a package that’s sleek, smart, and affordably priced. Believe it or not, the last time I was surprised by a product with those same qualities, it was called the iPad."
Yes, I have upgraded my MacBook Pro 5,1 (late '08 unibody) by increasing the RAM and changing out the hard drive. I did that about one and half years into ownership because I could. Have I ever wanted to upgrade the memory on my iPhone or iPad? Yes, but instead I select the device that I feel will max out my experience for the given life. Am I sad that I can't upgrade the new MacBook Pro with Retina display? Maybe just a tad because I cannot purchase a model with 16GB at the store unless I select the highest model. I can't just buy the one with 8GB and upgrade it myself but boo who, I'll just spec it out myself online and be at peace. Rafe pretty much sums its up beautifully.
"...I was very pleased to be able to take it apart and replace that hard drive myself. That being said, I’d rather have one of the new MacBook Pros with Retina Display than that old MacBook any day of the week." -Rafe Colburn
via rc3.org
Here's a great video review of Apple's latest MacBook Pro with Retina display by Ross Miller at The Verge. It's short and sweet and gets right to the point. You can drool over the beautifully written review too! It's been over three and half years since I bought a laptop, the first unibody 5,1 MacBook Pro, and I definitely think it's time to upgrade. If you ask me, I'm all for choosing the higher tiered model at $2,799 then upgrading to the faster 2.7GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7 because of the higher cache on chip = 8MB L3, and then going with 16GB RAM. Yes, it's an extra $450, but worth it since you can't upgrade later on. Spec it out now and be happy for the next couple of years. And no, I don't think that upgrading the hard drive to the 768 SSD is particularly worth another extra $500 as you can get a Thunderbolt drive for that kind of price. Spec it out!
"It is the most expensive MacBook Pro out there, one of the most expensive laptops out there, but… if budget is not an issue, this is the best laptop you can buy right now." - Ross Miller, The Verge
Here's picture of the Retina display up close. AMAZING!
I wish I was worthy to receive a review unit!
As of 2100 EDT on the 14th of March, the media embargo from Apple was lifted and the reviews are in. Everyone LOVES the Retina Display and LTE. I might as well reiterate it again; EVERYONE LOVES THE RETINA DISPLAY!!!
Truth also be told, I'm glad I went with the 32GB Verizon model and can't wait to pick mine up on Friday. Some have already asked and yes, I might end up asking if I can up it to the 64GB version being that applications are coming in weighing at at least 1.5 times the size and some even up to 5 times larger! Here are a couple of snippets from the sources that I believe run true to the way that I analyze new hardware, tech and software.
"...it just looks otherworldly; like a glowing piece of paper." - Joshua Topolsky; The Verge
" The new iPad is the most functional, usable, and beautiful tablet that any company has ever produced." - Joshua Topolsky; The Verge
"It has the most spectacular display I have ever seen in a mobile device. ... Using the new display is like getting a new eyeglasses prescription — you suddenly realize what you thought looked sharp before wasn’t nearly as sharp as it could be." - Walt Mossberg; WSJ: All Things D
"Since it launched in 2010, the iPad has been the best tablet on the planet. With the new, third-generation model, it still holds that crown." - Walt Mossberg; WSJ: All Things D
"Reading on the big retina display is pure joy." - Jon Gruber; Daring Fireball
Check it out:
Props out to Tapbots for hurrying up the development of Tweetbot for iPad and getting it rushed out into the Apple App Store Ecosystem! SWAG! (you'll be getting my donation in first thing on Friday!)
Here's another close up from The Verge on the difference in screens of non-Retina vs. Retina.
Update 1: One of the newest and one of my personal favorite sites, The Wirecutter, also just posted their tablet recommendation. I've also included The Loop's review as well.
"This is the tablet you want." - Brian X. Chen; The Wirecutter
"The bottom line is that it's the best tablet and everyone who reviews one agrees. And even people who love Android phones kind of can't say much about how Android tablets stack up against the iPad. And unlike with computers or stereos or cameras, you don't really need my help, or anyone else's help, to understand that. So, I will end here." - Brian X. Chen; The Wirecutter
"So, what did I like about the iPad? Simple — the experience. Nobody in the market today can touch the Apple experience." - Jim Dalrymple; The Loop