iPod Recycling Speaker
The Bird-Electron EZ17-B iPod Recycling Speaker is a clever little speaker system that uses the plastic packaging your iPod came in as the enclosure for the speaker. What a great way to reuse something that would more than likely end up in the trash.
“Bird-Electron presents this one and only Recycling Speaker for iPod. The dimension is exactly the same as the plastic package for iPod Nano (1st & 2nd Gen.) and iPod Shuffle (2nd & 3rd Gen.). Simply just place the speaker panel on top of the open box, and plug it into the iPod and play. Bird-Electron’s recycling speaker does not require any power source. You can also customize your own recycling speaker with any small container like a water bottle. Easy to install. Available only from Bird-Electron.”
via Geek Alerts
MacHeads: The Movie
Yes, it’s a real movie. The site is experiencing some technical difficulties at the moment, so I don’t have an estimated release date.
via Geekologie
Life After People
Life After People is a mini-series starting tonight on The History Channel. The show asks the question, What would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? It looks very interesting. Check your local listings for exact time and channel.
Emeryville Ikea will recycle your electronics for free on Jan. 19th and 20th
I meant to write about this earlier but it totally snuck up on me.
If you live in the San Francisco Bay Area and you have some electronics you’ve been meaning to get rid of, here’s your chance to do it responsibly. This weekend (January 19th and 20th, 2008) the Ikea store in Emeryville will be taking in electronic waste and recycling it for free…
“Bring your Electronic Waste to IKEA Emeryville on January 19th & 20th from 9am - 3pm and Recycle it for FREE!
Don’t let these items clutter up your home or end up in the land fill…
Televisions Monitors, Computer systems, Copy machines, Fax Machines, Printers, MP3 Players, Scanners, Video Game Consoles, Video Games, Cellular Phones (batteries can be included), Household phones, Stereo Equipment, Miscellaneous wiring, CD’s (players and discs), DVD’s (players and discs), Computer components ( i.e. keyboards, mice, internet devices etc.)”
If you live near an Ikea you should check to see if your store is doing the same thing.
Over $400 in Mac Software for $49
If you follow many of the Apple sites out there you’ve probably already heard of the MacHeist Software Bundle. If you haven’t, it’s an awesome set of 12 Mac applications that you can get for just $49. To buy the apps individually you would pay $428.65. It really is an amazing deal.
Even if you only want one or two of the applications, the bundle can totally save you some cash. For instance, the app I wanted the most was Snapz Pro. It normally sells for $69. So, even if I don’t use any of the other apps I’ve saved $20.
The promotion is for a limited time. As of the time of this post it’s only going for another 5 days and 10 hours. If my math is correct, that would mean they’ll stop selling it sometime next Wednesday (1.23.08).
For any of these applications that you either already own or just don’t need, the MacHeist people give you the ability to “gift” the applications. At the time of purchase you can register each app to yourself, or to someone else, by entering their name and email address. I already own a few of these, so this was a great option for me.
One other awesome thing about MacHeist is they give 25% of what they make to charity. They’ve already raised over $200,000. They have a list you can choose from when you buy the bundle, or you can have them automatically split it between all the charities. You can see the list on the bottom right of the home page.
I think MacHeist is awesome, and I was going to help promote it no matter what, but as it turns out they’ve introduced a referral program. If you use my link to buy the bundle, they’ll send a couple more apps my way for free. So, if you’re planning on buying the bundle, please use the links in this post. :)
UPDATE (1.22.08): The bundle is now up to 14 Mac apps, bringing the value to just shy of $500. The promotion ends tomorrow so don’t miss out!
Macworld 2008 followup: Where’s my Freakin ToDos?
I’ve been pretty swamped this week but I thought it was about time I got to a followup post to my Macworld predictions. I didn’t do so well this year. Most of my predictions were actually wrong. And, in all honesty, what was announced left me slightly disappointed.
Macbook Air (aka Rich Guy Toy)
As we all know by now, the big announcement this year was Apple’s new ultra-slim laptop, the Macbook Air. The new Macbook Air is, in a word, stunning. It’s also an engineering marvel, and we should all praise Apple (and Intel) for this accomplishment. But, as cool as the Macbook Air is, I honestly can’t see myself buying one anytime soon.
In my opinion, the Macbook Air is totally inappropriate as a primary machine. And, with a price tag ranging from $1799 to $3098 for the base models, it’s an extremely expensive secondary machine. The technical specs on this computer by no means justify its price tag. You’re really just paying for the wow factor. On a side-note to this, I think it’s kind of sad that the largest hard drive available for the Macbook Air has LESS capacity than what’s available in the iPod (Classic).
I was all for Apple moving into the sub-notebook market, but unfortunately they chose to enter through a route that will be out of reach for most people, myself included. Apple’s clearly targeting consumers that require very little form their computer, and are willing to pay top dollar for it.
iPhone
Apple made some significant usability improvements to the Google Maps application. I was really glad to see that. If you haven’t seen these features, there’s a guided tour available on the Apple site.
Apple also gave us the ability to add web-clippings to the home screen, and rearrange the home screen icons. I find this moderately useful.
I just have one question for Apple regarding the iPhone… Where’s my freakin ToDos? The ability to sync iCal ToDos should have been part of iPhone software 1.0. After 3 updates they still haven’t added this feature. What the hell? I don’t understand why this is so difficult. Can you tell I’m pissed about this? Please, Apple… give us ToDos!
Time Capsule
Time Capsule is Apple’s new hardware companion for Leopard’s built-in backup feature, Time Machine. It’s basically an Airport Extreme base station with a built-in hard drive, allowing you to wirelessly backup all of the Macs on your local network. They come in 500GB ($299) and 1TB ($499) capacities. For what you get, these prices aren’t bad. In fact, it’s more than likely that I’ll be buying one of these… partially because I was planning on buying a new Airport Extreme anyway to replace my aging NetGear router that has become a little flakey.
Apple now offers 3 Airport base stations… Airport Express, Airport Extreme, and Time Capsule. If you’ve been considering buying one, but you’re not sure what the difference between them is, Apple’s broken it down on this comparison chart.
iTunes Movie Rentals
Not much to say about this. It is what it sounds like. You can now rent movies through iTunes. They cost $2.99 for library titles, $3.99 for new releases, and $4.99 for HD. Initial selections are a bit small (especially for HD), but all major studios are on board.
Apple TV Take 2
Well, Apple didn’t come out with an actual television like I predicted, but they did make some significant updates to their Apple TV set-top box. The biggest news is you no longer require a computer to use it for viewing iTunes store content. The Apple TV can now access the store directly. You can also access Podcasts, photos on .Mac and Flickr, and YouTube videos. Apple also lowered the price to $299 for the 40GB model and $329 for the 160GB model.
No New Displays?
The one thing that really stunned me this year was no new Cinema Displays. I would have bet money on this one. At very least I expected built-in iSights. After all, it’s been quite a while since they quietly stopped selling the stand-alone versions.
One interesting side-note about this is if you go to the Apple site, and click on the store, Displays aren’t even pictured. They’re listed under accessories. It’s as if they’ve become second class products.
AirMail: Manilla Folder Sleeve for the Macbook Air
If you watched the Macworld 2008 Keynote, you know that Steve Jobs introduced the Macbook Air, Apple’s super-slim new laptop, by taking it out of a manilla envelope… to illustrate just how thin it really is.
Immediately after watching the keynote, Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans came up with the idea for the perfect sleeve for the new device… the AirMail.
“The AirMail laptop sleeve is handmade out of durable upholstery-grade vinyl, and lined with fuzzy, soft fleece. All AirMail sleeves have the same dimensions as standard interoffice manila envelopes, which will serve to remind you — and everyone around you — that your new MacBook Air really is the thinnest laptop in the world!”
I personally think this is awesome. What began as a simple publicity stunt by Apple, turned into an idea for a clever new product by a couple of industrious quick-thinking people who were willing to run with it. Well done Jona and Clair!
The Airmail is available for pre-order for $29.95. The duo says it will be available by the time your new Macbook Air arrives.
via Cool Hunting
90 Minute Macworld Keynote in 60 Seconds
Not all of us can spare the time (or have the interest) to watch the full 90 minute Macworld 2008 Keynote by Steve Jobs. Luckily, Mahalo Daily has compressed the entire thing down to 60 seconds. It’s surprisingly accurate.
Of course, if you do want to watch the entire thing, Apple has made it available here.
I’ll be posting my impressions on what was announced as soon as I can get to it.
Mahalo Daily Link | via Laughing Squid
The Author
Quickies
# Intego warns against MacGuard malware
Apparently, Macintosh antivirus software, MacGuard, is actually malware. Don't install it! Read more at Macworld.com.
# 3G iPhone USB Power Adapter Recall
Apple has found a defect in the new ultra-compact USB power adapter that ships with 3G iPhones. They're offering free exchanges starting 10/10/2008. LINK
# Free Macworld SF 2009 Expo Passes
Macworld San Francisco 2009 will be held on January 5th-9th. You can get free Exhibit-Only passes when registering if you use promo code, MKA31884, before 9/26/2008.
# Adobe Releases Lightroom 2
Yay! Adobe released Lightroom 2 this morning. I'm a big fan of Lightroom and this version offers some welcome enhancements. An upgrade will cost you $99. Regular price is still $299.
If you want a guided tour, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has produced a whole series of videos outlining the new features. You can see them here.
# Get the most out of your Macbook battery
Apple has posted a Quick Tip video on optimizing battery performance of your Macbook or Macbook Pro.
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