Mar
06
2008
I just knew this was going to happen. I rented Gross Point Blank from the Apple iTunes Store a month ago thinking, “hey this would be great to watch on the way back from LA.” Unfortunately I had to work on the flight and I never got a chance to watch the movie. No problem I thought .. I still have another 29 days. But .. what I failed to consider was how fast 29 days can pass.
So yesterday when I checked my email after I boarded a flight from Boston back to NYC, my iPhone reminded me I only have 2 days left to watch this movie before it will be deleted. My big presentation behind me I kicked back and started watching the movie. Which for anyone who has an iPhone or iTouch knows .. is a really enjoyable experience. Unfortunately, the flight was only 45 minutes so I only got up to the part where John Cussack goes back to his home town only to discover that his parent’s house is gone and replaced with a convenience store. I figured .. I’ll watch the rest of it tomorrow. ERRRRRRRR! Wrong answer. I let 24 hours pass and the movie was gone.
I am sooooo .. not so happy. I understand the need to set a time limit on movie rentals but would it have killed the movie studios to let Apple set the expiration time to 48 hours vs 24? I mean really? Would it have hurt?
BTW .. if anyone can tell me what happens at the end of the movie I’d really appreciate it.
Jun
25
2007
Edwin Tofslie has created a very simple image that visually illustrates the evolution of Apple’s products from the Apple I to the newly announced iPhone. Viewing all the images I find myself saying, “I owned that, used that, owned that … “.
You can check out the image at Tolfslie.com
Feb
15
2007
The following Macs have 802.11n hardware built-in but not activated:
- MacBook Pro with Intel Core 2 Duo
- MacBook with Intel Core 2 Duo
- Mac Pro with AirPort Extreme option
- iMac with Intel Core 2 Duo (except the 17-inch, 1.83GHz iMac)
To enable it, you need the Apple Extreme 802.11n Enabler software that Apple includes with the new Airport Extreme base station or purchase the software separately for $1.99 from the Apple Online Store. I recently purchased the new base station, installed the configuration software and had the new unit operational in minutes. I could not however tell if the 802.11n support was enabled. The software installation gave no indication of the hardware change. Fortunately, Apple does provide a quick and easy way to see if the software is installed and operating.
To verify that your Mac’s Airport card is configured to use 802.11n you need to run the “Network Utility” program (located in the Application\Utilities folder). Select “Network Interface (en1)” from the network interface selector pull-down option. At the bottom of the dialog box you should see, “Model Wireless Network Adapter (802.11 a/b/g/n)” (as shown in the screen-shot below).
You can read the Apple article on the Apple Support page.
Nov
27
2005
William Bright, Design Director for Nerve.com, has developed a series of free downloadable transportation system maps that are viewable on iPod that supports photos. From his website, iPodSubwayMaps.com you can download maps from over 22 countries. Each map is segmented into a series of Jpeg images that can be viewed easily on an iPod’s color display. While you may not want to plan an entire trip to a new city using these maps, they are a great thing to have when you are traveling and need to consult a map quickly.
Although I live in NYC, I often travel to Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. I have found these maps a helpful travel companion when traveling. I often use mass transit to keep travel costs to a minimum and bypass commuter congestion.
While Mr. Bright has experienced some push back from both the NYC and San Francisco transit authorities regarding what they consider their proprietary content, he is now looking into developing his own versions of those maps. It is unfortunate that those transit organizations do not recognize how Mr. Bright’s efforts will help increase public use of mass transit. Hopefully in time they will recognize the need to support the efforts of someone like Mr. Bright vs. impeding them.
Oct
12
2005
I have been using iTunes on my Mac and PC for years but it was not until this past week that I actually contributed back to the iTunes community by creating and uploading my own iMix to iTunes.
iTunes allows you to organize, share and listen to music on your computer. The iTunes program is downloadable for free from Apple Computer. Once installed, you can use iTunes to puchase downloadble music and audiobooks from Apple’s iTunes store as well as convert audio CDs to music files that you can store on your PC. Once you have music files (i.e., MP3 files) on your PC you can organize them into playlists. What is great about using a computer to manage your music collection is that you can create numerous playlists that meet your needs. Once you have created a playlist, you can share them with other iTunes users by exporting your song list up to the iTunes store. Once uploaded, any iTunes user browsing the iMix section of the iTunes store can view my iMix and opt to purchase one or more of the songs I have listed in the mix.
The iMix I created is called Enjoyable Background Tunes and it is viewable in the iTunes store.
