tech dump

I still don’t care abou the Apple T.V…

Blake — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:58:55 +0000

So I said I don’t care about the Apple T.V., and I’m sticking to my word. I don’t see why it’s necessary to spend that much money on a device that doesn’t provide a high level of functionality. To be more specific, a functionality that you cant recreate through any number of other means. However, I am somewhat turned on by recent development that Joost can be run through the Apple T.V. For those who aren’t in the know, as I am, Joost is a on-line T.V. service currently still in the beta stage of development. I’m actually more interested in Joost than anything else, but the idea that cable subscription services may become obsolete is somewhat comforting.

The first wave of DRM-free music on iTunes

Blake — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:48:02 +0000

So this is exciting. EMI Has announced that it will be offering its entire music library (that which is already on iTunes) DRM free. Its good to see the record industry respond to consumer/retailers advice and do whats good for them. It looks like it is going to cost you 30 cents more per song, but between a few friends that’s nothing. Happy music sharing.

Oh, and for those who care, this doesn’t include the Beatles catalog, yet.

The Apple TV is shipping and I don’t care

Blake — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:40:29 +0000

The Apple TV is shipping today. At long last, everyone I know with a plasma t.v. and surround sound in their living room can watch their grainy ass pirated copies of Fragle Rock in the luxury. Thank God.

I don’t get it. Even if the Apple TV provides some functionality that you’re really jonesing for, there are plenty of other options available.

New iMacs make me feel stupid

Blake — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 15:00:13 +0000

This article from AppleInsider outlines a rumored redesign of Apple’s iMac line of computers. I’d be excited if I hadn’t purchased and iMac in the last six months. Instead I just feel stupid and worthless.

Quicksilver

Blake — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:41:49 +0000

I’ve been using Quicksilver for quite some time now, and it has become an integral part of my setup. On the surface, Quicksilver seems like a very simple application, but when you get to exploring its many capabilities, you quickly realize how useful/powerful it actually is. The purpose of the program is to allow you to perform your most basic computing tasks without taking our hands off the keyboard, thus cutting down the time it takes to perform those mundane tasks. It all starts with the most basic actions, like opening and closing programs, but before you know it, you’re navigating iTunes and writing emails without opening any other programs. Here’s a link to a really good run down of Quicksilver and getting started with it. I strongly support doing so.

P.S. – For more information and more sophisticated uses for Quicksilver, see 43folders.com. Merlin Mann has a real jones for the program.

Hipsters are stupid

Blake — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 22:33:53 +0000

I just ran across this article from Merlin Mann’s website 43folders.com. Very funny.

Intelligent design

Blake — Sun, 18 Mar 2007 06:24:51 +0000

Not that I’ve been looking too hard, but I’ve often wondered why no one had put out a third party Apple remote. I just assumed that there would be a whole slew of more functional of not more jazzy remotes released to capitalize on the ever growing market for Apple accessories. Nevertheless, the first of my knowledge is here, and I lust say it is pretty neat. It’s called Rex, and is produced by the company Sik. As this TUAW post explains, it has all the same functions of the regular remote, but slides into the express card slot on the MacBook Pros, making it easy to carry around. I find this to be especially practical as the Pros lack the space for the regular remote to magnetize to the computer, a feature that you find on the MacBooks.

tech+food=tood…or fech…

Blake — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 18:04:28 +0000

Or fucking amazing. CookWare Deluxe is a program that allows you to archive a seemingly infinite number of your favorite recipes on your computer. It’s produced by a company called DigitalFriedChicken, who aside from this gem, have number of food related pieces of software available for purchase. Yes, I said purchase. Don’t be cheap.

Free t.v. for everyone!

Blake — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 18:25:32 +0000

I am often surprised at how many of the people I know haven’t caught on to the many wonders of bit torrent. For the most part, those more tech savvy of my friends have been at it for a while, but for those who spend a little less time surfing the interweb, its still a bit of a foreign concept. Which is rather unfortunate, considering how simple it is to get up and running. Nevertheless, I would like to offer some sources of free t.v. that bit torrent people and non bit torrent people can use and enjoy alike (even though I think all non-bit torrent people are worthless).

For those who torrent:
A site I recently came upon that I really like is eztv. It looks to be one of the best torrent sites that I’ve come across strictly for t.v. It has a shit-ton of of popular t.v. shows, and for the most part they all are pretty active. My roommate seems to like it, so it has to be good.

Another site I’ve used for a while is isohunt.com. Its a general torrent site, so it doesn’t specialize in any one form of content, but even still manages to be a good source for more popular listings.

For those who don’t (a-holes):

Here is a really great site for free on-line t.v. It’s pretty self explanatory once you poke around on the site for a little while. Whats really nice is that they have all of the series categorized by season , making navigating their lists pretty effortless.

Lastly, the iTunes music store fairly regularly updates its selection of free music offerings. Unfortunately for us however, they don’t list all of the freebies in one place, making it difficult to capitalize on the freeness. But alas, one of my favorite blogs, TUAW, puts together a weekly roundup of all the free music and videos Apple has to offer. It’s usually a bunch of trash, but free trash at that. Here’s a link to their most recent roundup.

So hopefully this provides a bit of an in into the myriad of free on-line television watching opportunities. As more sources come up, I’ll be sure to post them.

Who needs a $1,200 keyboard?

Blake — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 16:15:27 +0000

As some may know, the Optimus keyboard that everyone has been talking about for so long, has officially been priced at $1,200 (follow this link for obligatory tirade). But wait, before you do something crazy, consider a more affordable alternative. Aside from it’s sleek design, the most appealing feature of the Optimus, for me at least, was it’s functionality for those users of high-end photo/video/audio software. However, if you still want the convenience of software-specific key labels, without spending what very well may have been the cost of your computer, consider the z cover keyboard covers. They make them for most of the major titles (Adobe, Photoshop, Avid), and at $50 a piece are still a lot cheaper than the Optimus key-suck. Get it?

Update: Correction, the Optimus now costs over $1,400. What the hell?