Prelude To Innovations in Motion

Amazon.com's response to my letter on the pricing of my Lost, Season 2 DVD Set

September 10, 2006

It seems that I have won! (note: I removed bits from the letter that were irrelevant to my victory.)

Thank you for writing to Amazon.com.

Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused.

The discounts we offer for items on our web site do vary from time to
time. I've checked your order, and found that we recently offered a
greater discount on "Lost - The Complete Second Season" than at the
time you placed your order.

Since this item was shipped so recently, I have requested a refund of
$2.88 to your credit card. This amount reflects the difference
between the price you were charged and the discounted price. The
refund should be processed in the next few days and will appear as a
credit on your next billing statement.

I hope this solution is satisfactory. Thank you for shopping at
Amazon.com--we hope you will visit us again soon.

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept
incoming e-mail.

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section
of our web site.

Best regards,

Pradeep V.
Amazon.com Customer Service
http://www.amazon.com

My letter to Amazon.com on the pricing of my Lost, Season 2 DVD Set

September 09, 2006

"Hi, I paid $38.87 for this DVD set, and now the product page is showing a price of $35.99 . I find this completely and extremely unfair, and would like the difference back, please. I know it is a small amount, but it is the principle of the matter. I have never had a poor customer service experience with Amazon.com, and I would hate for it to start now. "

How To Get HDTV over Comcast into the Mac.

September 03, 2006

Objective: To get HDTV on my Mac.
Hurdles: Over The Air reception in Ann Arbor is bad, so cable is needed. Not to disrupt my roommate's cable (internet and television).
Ingredients: EyeTV Box, Coaxial Cable, Two-Way Cable Splitter, Comcast Digital Television subscription with $5.00/month HDTV add-on.

So, this is where I was having problems. When I came back to University this year, I tried putting back the set up I had last year which enabled me to get HDTV over Comcast. Much to my dismay, I was not getting all the channels. (One important note: the cable has to come from the wall, and not the cable box). I soon discovered that I was getting a signal that was coming from a four way splitter that was coming from a two way splitter.

Some background first, a cable splitter works by diverting the signal into two directions, and thereby each signal loses strength. In a two-way splitter, typically -3db. In a four splitter, -7db. I was losing 10db of signal, enough to not let me watch my HDTV.

As soon as I fixed the problem (The cable comes from the wall, goes through a two-way splitter. One of the lines comes directly to me, the other goes to the rest of the house for internet, television, and everyone else who may want TV in their room) I was able to Auto-Tune the EyeTV software, and get my channels. The one thing I had to do next was figure out which channel was which, assign them, and then update the schedule.

Now everything works perfectly!

One More Thing After talking about this, I found out that the EyeTV 500 doesn't exist anymore, but the TVMini HD works well.

Heat Up my pillow via computer

June 10, 2006

Last night i walked into my cabin, and it was freezing. On top of that, my pillow was freezing too. So, I thought of a nifty little trick:

Open up my MacBook Pro, lay it on the pillow, and start it playing some HD content. Soon enough, the pillow is nice and toasty.

The Anti-Spoiler Plugin

May 23, 2006

So, in fear of reading information about television shows on the web, I am in hopes of having a Anti-Spoiler Plug-in (something that I talked about before). You could select shows and the choose to censor information from an array of options. For instance, you could have it so it blocks ALL information about episodes you haven't seen yet and future episodes.

How would it do this? It could look for words like "season," "finale," along with the name of the show, or maybe the name of the episode, and then some intelligent programing to display a dialog like: "The following page has information about the show Lost that you have optioned not to view."

Also, the Spoiler plug-in could be extended to include other things, such as protecting against spoielers of Apple announcements.

First Day of "Workshop for good"

May 20, 2006

Today was the first of two days of Workshop For Good, which is a "cheap" Ruby on Rails workshop with a few big names in the Rails community that is basically a multi-thousand dollar fund raiser for a school in DC (not a real public school, but a charter school, so I guess it is all in the same system, so I can live with that). After a bewildering morning getting there, frustration of trying to navigate through my city, I finally made it there an embarrassing twenty minutes late.

I got there, and it felt really nice to be iin a small setting learning about this stuff. I had read through a book about it, done the test things, even made a mostly-workable web app, but I didn't really have any foundation, context, or principles to go by with it. I didn't really know Ruby, however I was using to create web apps. I wanted to learn about new things that I would have to sort through many different articles to find a concrete answer.

It was informal with teacher Jeff starting off with a great opening monologue, explaining why we were here, what he does, how he got into Rails, and junk like that. Then Amy Hoy got up and talked about Rails somemore. Then Ezra talked and typed at the same time about Ruby and Rails. And then, around 2, maybe, we finally started doing some coding. And that was great, I was not looking for the same blog tutorial I have done a few times. I wanted to get a more rounded idea of what Rails was. And the first day definitally did that for me.

I got a free copy of Agile Web Development with Rails : A Pragmatic Guide (The Facets of Ruby Series) (my second, but this copy has never been to the bathroom, yet) which is awesome. Maybe I will win something tomorrow, like a t-shirt!

My New Fat Baby is Here

May 09, 2006

Well, not fat really, but large. I mean, it has a 17" inch screen. I love it though, for it is my baby.

I am in HD heaven, personally. I have had this EyeTV 500 for the past year, and not been able to record or watch video without dropping frames and stuttering. Tonight, watching Veronica Mars finale, was an amazing revelation.

Dashboard is now really convenient in loading instantly and getting rid of it instantly. I opened Photoshop and it ran as slow as it ever has, but I was not expecting anything great to occur, I figured it would just be like it was.... slow. Safari is the fastest improvement, I feel, by far from upgrading from the PowerBook.

Watch the 1 MB Quicktime of me unpacking it.

MBPRO 17/2.16 CTO

May 06, 2006

My MacBook Pro is coming soon! It shipped today! I am happy! I thought it would be coming in 11 days, but instead it is arriving on Wednesday! Which is not 11 days!

Processor 0656275 2.16GHz Intel Core Duo Memory 0656271 2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM 2x1GB Hard Drive 0656268 100GB Serial ATA Drive@7200rpm Optical Drive 0656266 SuperDrive 8x Modem 0656201 None Apple Software Solutions 0656200 None Keyboard/Mac OS Language 0656273 BkLit Keyboard/Mac OS Country Kit/AEX 0656272 Airport Extreme Card andBT

A Day Without Internet

May 05, 2006

Today the internet was down, and one could not explain it, why was it wrong. Damn Earthlink... wait, Dad, you changed the password and didn't tell anyone... ah geez man

internet restored.

Computer Dreams

April 24, 2006

So, for the second time this week, I have had a dream about computers. This one was about bronze-exteriorized MacBooks. I think the first one was about a 17" MacBook Pro, which does not exist yet as of this writing which just came out.

When Apple comes out with new Hardware, it is a very good feeling. Sort of like rebirth, and a new cycle. What does it mean that I am having Computer Dreams? I am a huge geek.

Workshop For Good, I Hope

April 21, 2006

So, I was browsing the Ruby on Rails weblog, my number one web framework weblog for the web framework I am currently adored with and planning on using on at least two projects, and I saw a link to Workshop for Good. I saw it was in DC! Then I saw it was in DC for the short time I would be home in May before I go to Camp! Then I saw there is a student discount that I could pay for with the money from my job!

I was hooked, and signed-up. I received an e-mail with instructions for paying, and I replied back asking for details on getting the student discount (there is always a student discount, take advantage while you're young).

Hey Danny,

If you could send me a scan/picture of a current student ID or report card/enrollment sheet from this semester or last semester that would be great.

Thanks,
Jeff

So, I still had the scanned ID from when I was applying for the WWDC 2005 student scholarship, I sent that along, and now I am playing the waiting game... It is a fun game of intrigue and suspense, for the most part, I guess. You know, it is a nice thing to see that it supports the César Chávez Public Charter Schools, but too bad Wilson don't get no love.

The Second Apple Campus

April 20, 2006

Yesterday, at the Cupertino City Council meeting, Steve Jobs (impressive man)revealed his plans to build a second campus in the Californian city of Cuptertino. This is big news, and good news. It means Apple is comfortable enough to expand, rather than rent.

Maybe one day I will end up in the big Apple HQ web coding or something like that.

I think it was pretty funny that he was went there just to share the information. There was something he wanted to emphasize by going to the Cuptertino City Council first rather than releasing a Press Release. There was a desire to show his company's desire to stay close to themselves and Cupertino, and hopefully get a little help in the approval of whatever needed to be built.

Advertising Impact

April 17, 2006

I was originally going to write this post about how Zeldman is bashing Kottke in his Most recent post about kottke joing the Deck, until I finished the post and it was really about advertising on the web. It seems like they have hit a smart place with the Deck. They limit the number of advertisers to companies that they really trust, and that can only strength the ad saying "these are the products that we use, so they are good enough for you lowly people."
It is a one ad per page kind of thing, nothing fancy, with a simple PHP rotating script. Really kind of simple stuff. The images tend to stick out a lot on sites. The only foreign component becomes more obvious, even if , as on the A List Apart site, the ad is far away from the actual content.

Facebook Mobile, or The Demise of Society

April 13, 2006

So, the Facebook, the college student's prefered social networking site ( Cooler than Friendster, not as business oriented as Linkedin, and not as VD-ridden as MySpace), just did some Facebook Mobile stuff, and allowed students to set their "status."

Now, first of all, the Status thing. they let you update it from your cell phone or from the facebook website itself. But, there is no way to do it from your desktop, and that is annoying and a reason I won't use it for true reasons. Maybe if they integrated it with your class schedule, so it could switch status automatically, or just get it from your AIM away message, but right now it seems like too much trouble to be worth it.

Secondly, the whole Facebook Mobile works entirely through TXT messages. (I don't even know how the facebook website would look on a cell phone web browser, but probably not that great beacuse it still uses tables and not entirely CSS, but I don't know and can't make a comment on that) Now, cell phone carriers love this because they make money off those TXT messages. Facebook loves it because it is more traffic (although sans ads, but they can still use that to show how much traffic they get and say that people shold pay more for ads). Students love this because it is now another distraction in class.

The distraction in class is going to be HUGE HUGE HUGE. Now kids don't even need to bring their laptops to waste time. Just spend time sending around TXT messages instead of paying attention. Just bad news all around.... The facebook is a Website, it is not a stock quote or a sports score. Those are little bits of information that cannot be sent around on mobile pieces the same way.

[why is one of the facebook CSS stylesheets named facebookpro.css? I think there is some foulplay afoot]

I hate the Cell phone

April 13, 2006

I would just like to know why I cannot get all my voice mail, call histories, and text messages on a nice simple web site? Why must I go through that stupid annoying phone interface on that flimsy device. Every other electronic device I use feels solid (except for the remote, but I wouldn't except it to). But the cell phone just feels horrible.

I just want to be able to access my voicemail online, please, just save them out as low quality MP3s. is that so hard? Make text messages appear in the same place... Verizon, you could have it so people use your site as their homepage!

Mac Mini Downstairs

April 04, 2006

Finally, thanks to Sammy bringing me my remote from home this past weekend, I was able to hook up my Mac Mini to the TV downstairs and now we enjoy state of the art home-networked entertainment of music, photos, and the such.

Also, considering the EyeTV is no longer plugged into the Mac Mini, i put it into the PowerBook, and to my surpirse I suddenly found myself with some HD channels on QAM digital cable! that is what i am talking about. Two nice tech things in one day, plus some 10.4.6 update... nice.

Danny on Ruby on Rails

March 01, 2006

So, I am in love with Ruby on Rails. It is a web programming language that, in effect, allows you to create a working blog (sans authenticaion) in fifteen minutes.

It is so amazing, I bought a book from Amazon about it so I could learn more. However, i am waiting for the Ruby Recipes book because the best way to learn something new , at least my method, is looking at a complete listing of code options, such as the w3c provides for HTML and CSS, and looking at examples.

That is how I learned to code web, and currently learning more about javascript, is by looking at the source code of web pages and referncing pages. So, that is how I will learn Ruby on Rails to add to my repertoire of web development.

Thankful I have no yet ordered a MacBook Pro

February 18, 2006

So, unless you are, like, a complete loser, you know that Apple has made some amazoing new laptops called MacBook Pros. I want one, need one, demand one, however am not going crazy over one. The main reason is that they were announced about a monfth ago, and since then no one has been able to get their hands on one. I would rather wait until a second or third revision and they are in stock everywhere. I just hate ordering something and waiting for it.

So, I am waiting to get on the bandwagon....

My LOST Podcast

January 14, 2006

So, I have started a Lost Podcast named Turniphead. We have done three episodes so far and have a growing audience. Listen to it.

MWSF 2006 Predicitions

January 09, 2006

Alright, so , here I go with my Prediction Matrix.

Product	Odds
Update to iLife	100%	Yes
Update to iWork	100%	Yes
FOX Television Shows on iTunes	75%	No
Update to iPod Shuffle	75%	No
Intel Mac	35%	Yes - Two!
Wireless Mighty Mouse	40%	No
Plasma Mac Super TV Thing	40%	No
Intel PowerMac	0%	No

The Keynotes of Jobs

January 08, 2006

So, on Tuesday, Steve Jobs, technology demigod, will stand up and declare what is amazing and cool and necessary for me to own. I have been to two Stevenotes in the past. One at at the now-defunct MWNY 2001 and this past summer at WWDC 2005. The energy he emits is incredible and watching Jobs talk about Apple and the new products is electrifying. However, I don't know if all the time I have spent is worth it.

I know, blasphemy, waking up at 6 AM to see a guy the size of your fist walk across a stage and look at a screen to really see stuff up close is worth it if it is Steve Jobs. But, really, I think that unless you are in the very front section, like the press section, it might not be worth it. I have watched more Stevenotes on my computer screen than in person, and I don't think I am missing much. In fact, in the privacy of my own room, I am able to screech and faint as much as I want without risking a geek faux pas [mistake, blunder, gaffe, indiscretion, impropriety, solecism, barbarism]. Also, at the trade shows, people in the back of the Stevenote room can watch the big projectors to get a better view from all the way back there, but really they can get out sooner and play will at the new fun stuff at the Apple Booth.

Therefore, I might have to say. I am no longer going to wake up early, if given the chance, to see Steve live in action. Watching a screen is fine enough for me if I am not going to get the chance to see him closer than having to look over people. It just isn't worth it, I feel....

I want to start doing everything in Dashboard

December 20, 2005

I want to start doing in everything in Apple's widget layer Dashboard. I have a mini iCal, mini iTunes, mini Bit Torrent client. I can get a mini Web browser and build a mini Text Editor. All I need is a mini IM client and i could live in Dashboard. Never need to go into the heavy part of Mac OS X.

I want to live in Dashboard. But, I can't.... as of now.

Nifty Dialog Box Today

December 19, 2005

It just struck me that my computer is so very smart. It will disable it until I decide to fix it or disable it forever!

I turned off comments

December 08, 2005

I have temporarily turned off comments. I got tired of having to go through and delete all the spam ones, and it was just getting really really annoying.

I beat Wind Waker

November 15, 2005

Tonight, amidst the pouring rain, I battled Ganondorf and won The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Now I get to play through it again, but not wearing my green clothes, but my cool surfing outfit! The last time I played it before I bought it on Sunday was May 22nd, 2005, and I was in the last stage... didn't take me long. Now to do it again!

My First Widget

November 06, 2005

This afternoon, I found a very helpful piece of sample code on the Apple Developer site that has helped me to finish my Threadless.com widget Only for Mac OS X 10.4 and higher users.

UPDATE - It is now at the official Apple widget site.

My new Video iPod

October 19, 2005

today, after a midterm, after I cashed a check, and got a hot dog, I came home to see the FedEx man had left me a package of my new 60GB iPod. I opened it up, connected the cord to the back of my display, and launched things up. It probably took 30 minutes to copy all my music, videos, and photos to it...

..., but the most startling part of this new iPod is the new shape. My previous iPod had been a 3G, and this is a 5G. The 3G was the one with the four buttons in a row above the wheel, it also was all smooth around with no sharp edges. The 5G takes it bad old school to have the metallic part smooth but once we hit the front edge, it is an edge. Also, the screen is color, bigger, and very sharp. It looks so funny because the screen is larger and it sort of looks overwhelming large.

Watching videos on it is surprisingly sharp and just fun to do.... I mean, they really did it right. The screen is so damn sharp and big, but it is smaller than the previous generations.... Apple did it right.

As I was setting up my new iPod, I kept in the back of my mind that there was an Apple Event in New York today about "pro releases," which was at 1.

Well, turns out it was at 12, so I checked my mac news sites mid Apple event and saw all these new posts about new products, and I just started to go nuts, as I had previously with the iPod nano event, and last week's iTunes 6+video iPod announcements.

Today, Apple came out with faster PowerBooks, Quad processor Power Mac G5 (Two dual-core chips), and a new photo program called Aperture. Aperture, simply put, is what Final Cut Pro is to iMovie. It is a Pro version of what iPhoto does. Going through some of the quick tour videos just shows you how truly impressive it is and how much attention Apple paid to the small things that help create a better grand product. sweeet.

The Lost Season 1 DVD Commentaries

October 18, 2005

So, today, I was watching the LOST Season 1 DVD Disc 1 commentaries. And it was standard fare, until one of the creators said "Can we stop film?" And they stopped the episode, and went to another clip on the DVD. I exclaimed out loud of how cool it was they they expanded on the whole idea of DVD commentaries. It always seems like the people always have more to say than the time they are allowed. Hopefully more DVD productions will do this, and give more! People like the commentaries more than one thinks.

Something Big is Happening...

October 17, 2005

So, if we take a look at the iTunes Music Store's top video downloads, we see that there is one music video, one Pixar short, and three episodes of LOST . What?

Now, let's consider the numbers. There are about 2,000 music videos, 6 Pixar Shorts, and 29 episodes of LOST available for purchase. So, how come 3/5ths of the top five downloads are a TV Show, when they only make up about 1.4% of the total content available.

Content	Apprx Items	Should Be	Are
Music Videos	2,000	98.28%	20%
Pixar Shorts	6	.2%	20%
LOST	29	1.4%	60%

Based on the TOP FIVE VIDEO DOWNLOADS as of 10/17/05

If we look further, to the top 10 video downloads, there are only 2 music videos, 3 pixar shorts, and 5 episodes of LOST. It is only when we get up into the 25 area that we see consistent music video downloads.

What is going on here? I'll tell you what is going on. It is the double effect of an excellent television show and the pent up demand and rage for more options of getting your favorite shows. Taping? So last year, but not everyone has a TiVo. So, this is the most convenient method ever! You can click and purchase an episode and it is download in 20 minutes. Poor Quality? Not really, and people sitting 10 feet back from their TV with their video iPod plugged into it won't care.

This is something big. People want to be able to get video on demand on their favorite shows, and this is the easiest method so far. They don't have to set up anything; no need to look at schedules on a TV interface. Just go to iTunes, find the episode you want afterwards, without commercials, without the annoying weather warnings of a tornado watch, and just click. The BitTorrent channels are always a hit or miss, but iTunes is a bulls-eye every-time,

Hopefully, more networks will be putting their shows onto this. Maybe throw a show on like Arrested Development and see that there is a reason to keep it around, eh? Maybe throw on shows like Daily Show or the Nightly News for a bit cheaper because they are run every-night. Maybe throw on a season subscription service to get shows while they are being put up.

This is big. This is big. This is big. And it isn't going away.

A Weird Shot from King Kong

October 15, 2005

So, in the most recent trailer for King Kong, there is a shot of a close up of Naomi Watts, but then pans to the left and reveals a group shot. It is a really weird looking shot, for some reason. Download it, and take a look, and tell me what you think. I cannot describe why it is so weird, though...

Download file

Anti-Spoiler Plug-in

September 24, 2005

I would like there to be some kind of anti-spoiler plug in for browsing the web, because I like reading about theories abot LOST, but i don't like reading spoilers for it... although I believe there are many false-spoilers out there made by either fans or the shows creators to throw people off their track.

I mean, why?

September 16, 2005

I mean, nintendo, why make your new controller look like a remote control for a TV? Everyone is going to be so damn skeptical of this thing. Revolution sure, but not if everyone is too scared to plunge their money into something unknown. The idea of the system is great, but I mean, seriously, the controller is off putting.

iPod nano, are you kidding me!?

September 07, 2005

this is like... bra

Thinner than a #2 pencil, Holds up to 1,000 songs and full-color album art. Only 3.5 x 1.6 x 0.27 inches and 1.5 ounces. Bright 1.5-inch color LCD display. Up to 14 hours of battery life(1). Apple Click Wheel. Charges and syncs via USB. Accessory-compatible Dock connector. Completely skip-free playback. Works with Mac OS X or Windows 2000/XP. Plays music, podcasts and audiobooks. Holds up to 25,000 photos. Syncs contacts, calendars and to-do lists

The Precious 15" Is safe

August 25, 2005

Ah, my precious 15" PowerBook is back from getting serviced, hard. They gave me a new battery, and it seems they replaced the BAT CONN/WIRE HARNESS ASSY,PB15" which I believed was the problem in the first place. The problem was that the battery did not want to connect to the computer anymore, so I could not use it mobile. This also would be the source of the turning off while being shuffled around in my backpack problem that has plagued me the past year I have owned it. But all is well now, thank you AppleCare!

ah, the new battery gives me a life of 3 hours, that is quite impressive, 3 hours! And it just feels newer.

I love Cinema Display HD

August 18, 2005

I love my Cinema Display HD.. Essentially, it is amazoing. Basically, it is this screen that is totally fucking huge beyond anyone's comprehension. It is so... big... and bright... and beautiful, and I would kiss it all over if that wouldn't ruin the screen. I blew my paycheck from the summer on it, but boy, was it worth it. Watching HD streams on this is incredible, and watching DVDs on this is incredible. And the resolution is just sooo much. Even running off a Mac mini, just stunning.

WWDC 2005 tis O'er

June 11, 2005

Ahhh, the magnificent week of WWDC 2005 is over. I cannot say specifics about the conference, but it was very worthwhile for me even though I am not a developer. I got to go to sessions about Core Data and learn how easy it is to write a database program without any lines of code.

This past week involved waking up an hour before my 7 34 alarm, walking to the Moscone Center (unless I was around when the cars were leaving from where I was staying with my very excellent hosts, my Aunt and Uncle), spending a day watching people talk about Apple stuff, talking to people about Apple stuff, eating, and eating, and eating, and taking a cab back very late at night. It was, to say the least, tiring. You never think just sitting down for that long will tire you out, but it does. But now, it is over, until WWDC 2006

I am looking forward to, hopefully, getting to go again next year and see Leopard introduced and some new Intel based Macs. And, you know, everyone is making a big deal about Mactels, but it is no different that saying "Apple will have faster more efficent computers in a year," that is an assumptions. For everyone but developers, it means nothing; for developers it means a few hours of work, or in reality 5 minutes.

And now, I am going back to Camp for the rest of the summer. An odd mix of computer conference to outdoors camp, but I am excited, as I should be. I am a lucky person that I get to experience all these things. Onward Danny!

Meeting a Geek Star

June 06, 2005

Today I got to meet a geek star: Wil Shipley of Delicious Monster fame. We talked for a bit about his company, and the t-shirts. He said they would be going online for sale in the future... which is like the sweetest! He gave a talk at the Student Sunday on the benefits of being a small independent mac developer versus a Windows lifestyle.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

May 17, 2005

Holy fucking shit.: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.. I fucking love Nintendo. Thank you ! Dude turns into an animal, duels on horseback, kicks ass all around

Not only was the new Zelda game shown off, but they presented the new Revolution

And also, a new GameBoy Micro

37signal's Web Based Applications

May 10, 2005

37signals now has a trifecta of great apps: Basecamp, Backpack, and Ta-da List. Each of these are examples of web based applications. These programs are only limited by the speed of the browser because the actual processing is done on the server. When the programmers have finalized an update, they just install it for everyone to enjoy. They are accessible from everywhere... well, as long as you have access to the internet.

The primary downside is, of course, access to the internet. You need to have it to get the work done, and if it involves any heavy lifting of images, upload speeds are gonna be killer. (An online Photoshop replacement might be great if you have a really fast connection)

That being said, there is a place for these web based apps, and the 37signals people have found the niche (wow, what bad writing I am doing). Great collaborative ways to share information and figure out a project. You can upload reminders, and make lists. Try them out, they are fun to use for anything!

New Design

May 04, 2005

I was bored with the old design, this is a new design, please tell me what you think.

This is Way Cool

April 25, 2005

FINAL CUT STUDIO!

April 17, 2005

OH YeAHS!!!!!!!!

You know the benefits of keeping all your production under one roof. Why not keep all your production tools in one box? Final Cut Studio combines the industry-standard Final Cut Pro 5 — including powerful SD, DV and HD editing capability — with the real-time design engine of Motion 2 for stunning motion graphics, the flexible audio creation and control tools of Soundtrack Pro and the sophisticated SD and HD DVD authoring features of DVD Studio Pro 4.

My Lucky Stars

April 12, 2005

Peter Jackson uses iPhoto

April 10, 2005

Peter Jackson uses iPhoto, and a 15" PowerBook, to review the stills on his current production of King Kong. He is not using, however, the newest version of iPhoto 5.

He needs to upgrade.

I totally gave in...

April 10, 2005

I gave in, and purchased the Elgato EyeTv 500, which records HDTV streams to my Mac. It is being shipped to me, and I also need to get a 20 dollar HDTV antenna, but aftewards, "hey!"

I will have my own TiVo kind of thing, and I won't have to pay a subscription fee!

It came back to me, it came back!

April 02, 2005

It happened. My SuperDrive is back. I thought that it was gone, and it was. For about a week, the Forrest Gump DVD was stuck in there.

I was doing a backup, and now, now it has come back to me. It works again, I have my DVD burner back, some how... i guess it was a software problem, not a hardware problem.

I was doing a backup, and then the GUI froze, and I restarted it, and the drive was responsive again!

HOORAY!

Reasons Why I Want Tiger

April 02, 2005

So, many of you know, Tiger is going to be here soon. There are some reasons why I want it right now. Not just because it is something new and fancy and from Apple (although that is always reason enough for me), but there is so much much more...

Spotlight

Spotlight is a search technology that allows for searching of meta data and content. It is so freakin' powerful. It can go into documents, including PDFs, and comb through the content. It can go and look at the meta data of files and use that too. This allows for smart folders in almost any application that wants them (like e-mail or file browsers). Most of all, there is no more need for folders. We are moving towards a more flat filesystem.

Dashboard

All those reasons for going to websites to check weather, package information (where is my DVD from Amazon.com?), and other stuff, no more! hit one button, and all these little widgets, made of pure XHTML+CSS (which I just love), and some javascript come on screen, and it uses the new Core Image in Mac OS X to do some cool stuff

Core Image

Core Image, i don't really know how to describe, but if you look at examples of what it allows, it is incredible. It can make windows flip, or ripple on screen, or give any developer the power to make a low-end photoshop replacement in seconds.

h.264

H.264 is an amazoing codec, part of MPEG-4 family, that is just going to blow people's minds away. Just wait till it is put into use with iChat AV, and there are going to be incredible results

I just can't wait any longer! I am going to go INSANE!!!!!!!!

I think I fruckd my computer , oops

March 26, 2005

I think I have messed up my computer (The 15" PowerBook). First it was it would turn off if it was moved around too much (loose wire?) , and now the DVD drive is not responding. Now, usually, I would blame the stupid computer, but now I am blaming the stupid me.

See, for some reason, I like smacking my computer when good music is playing. I like smacking it with my thumb, and maybe I like to hit it too much. It is a machine, I know, and I should not treat it like a drum pad.

But now, the DVD drive is unresponsive, and there is a disc in there that is not mine, and I am very upset about the whole thing. Next time, I suggest not beating on a computer... it cannot be good for it.

I am sorry, Computer, please forgive me.

I want some wiki action

March 20, 2005

I want some wiki improvements to this blog. So that when I type something in the format *Apple* it would provide a link to a page about Apple. Beyond just having a log of my daily livings, I could provide some kind of explanation for things commonly made referenced to. It would fit well with the growing feeling that my life some kind of sick twisted elaborate television show/ video game.

I think if I were to get Plug in, maybe I could make it work.

So, working is like good

March 17, 2005

So, people, I just want to tell you that everything is going well with my job. This week I was doing some of the iTunes/Pepsi promoting. It went well, we gave out free iTunes songs, free Sierra Mist, and people could sign up to win a free iPod (or maybe a Mountain Dew beach ball!). This weekend, I am working at the Dance Marathon. Everyone hates their jobs, but this is fun. I get to do what I love doing: getting people to understand the greatness of Apple stuff. Below, is the business card.

This is still very much mega-exciting.

MOLY MOLY WHGOAW!!!Two Things: Star Wars Trailer and New Zelda Trailer

March 10, 2005

The Legend of Zelda (Tentative Title)

This just looks incredible, please go and take a look!Here is the link to the lo quality version

The Star Wars Trailer

The trailer was amazoing (if you haven't seen it, try this). When i was watching it, I had my mouth wide open the whole time...and aftewards, i was just like "oh my god, oh my god... oh my holy fucking god!" The images were amazoing, it just seems like this one is just going to be better. Episode II was better than Episode I, I think it is a good trend. The part where he is like "you are arrested," the dude is like, uhm, hell no! I want to be one of the people who stands out on line the night it opens... Uptown here I COME!

Today I used my cell phone as a fax machine

March 10, 2005

Today I used my cell phone as a fax machine. It was pretty really very easy in Mac OS X:

• I plugged in the cell phone to the computer with this cord
• I went to Print..., and chose Fax...
• I filled in the information, such as phone number and subject
• Hit enter, and it controls the phone, as a 14.4 modem, and send it off!

Very very cool stuff to know if I am ever in a jam and need to send a fax.

The End of the Pre-Beginning

March 09, 2005

So, today, I became, officially, an Apple Computer College Campus Representative. It is very exciting, and I get a bunch of free shingdings, but I also have to work, but this is working with stuff I really love!

Remember all the times people asked me "hey, do you work for Apple?" because I would also mention Apple stuff? WELL NOW, people, It'S TRUE!

SO GET OFF MY BACK!

PS. Yipee!

You are a Winnah!

February 28, 2005

Subject: [macsig] How To's Win an iPod Shuffle - Winners

There were three submissions last week to the MacSIG at Michigan web site.

The lucky winner (drawn at random using a special php randomizer script) of this week's $10 iTunes gift certificate is : Daniel Cohen Daniel's submission entitled "Turn a DVD into an Audiobook" can be viewed at (http://macosx.si.umich.edu/public/viewHowTo.php?HowToID=64 )

Yipee!

Apple to buy TiVo?

February 24, 2005

Please, Apple do this, use it to make some kick ass software to run on top of Mac OS X. Use all you know about high quality video, and DVD burning, a good machines, and make people pay $99 for .Mac service with TiVo... do it! do it! come on!

I think many people want to buy TiVo. Apple could use it, as all the other things they have bought in the past 7 years (Final Cut Pro, anyone), and just improve greatly upon it. People cannot live without their TiVos, and people cannot live without their iPods... hopefully, people will not be able to live without Apple.

Sharing Tiger

February 23, 2005

So, there is all this talk of people being sued over leaking Tiger, the next big OS release from my good pal Apple. The only thing that can come out of suing them is sending them into bankruptcy and scaring away developers from fear that if they misstep they will be sued also. I have not had a chance to play with Tiger yet (I am waiting to keep the suspense high), but it is apparently pretty cool, but not finished. Apple is worried about keeping its secrets safe, but from who?

The people who are going to download pre-release versions of Tiger are those hard core mac users that don't have the scratch to pay to get a pre-release version of Tiger. They are those who are going to play with it, have nothing to do with it after a while (developers can make software and test it in the new environment), and eventually pay for the full release version.

On the other hand, the software was released under Apple's agreement with the people who got it, and they promised not to pirate it. Because of that Apple is in no way doing anything wrong, but maybe they are being just a little bit harsh on these developers who love Apple, and just want to share the love.

(Also, today Apple updated the iPods. So now, you can get an iPod at every $50 starting at $99... so, when you go into buy that $150, you may just be able to push yourself up to $200... what a smart Apple)

Remixxing books

February 17, 2005

People, I had this great idea during my bathroom time yesterday (first stall):

Take book text and have a computer program mix them up by sentence. You could have it create rhythms. Take the text of two books (there are many already available for free online already), and create a new book. It may not make any sense, but if you keep on having it sort through stuff, eventually something good may come out of it.

It is like 1000 monkeys at a 1000 typewriters for 1000 years, eventually will come up with something legible.

SHMUCKUMS! sweeeet

February 14, 2005

On Feb 14, 2005, at 11:52 AM, Sheri Schultz wrote:

Hi Danny,

I hope you are still interested in the student rep position! I would like to offer it to you!
Please let me know.
Sheri

On Feb 14, 2005, at 11:54 AM, Daniel Cohen wrote:

Hi Sheri,

Yes, of course! I am still very interested in the Student Rep position. Thank you very much!

-Danny

For all of you who cannot interpret decrypt the code in those two e-mail's: I got the Apple Computer Campus Rep job!

Files, Metadata, and Transportable Keywords.

January 23, 2005

The following is a crackpot rambling, continue if you dare

It would be these keywords mean this idea to this person. "This Text File has this meta data, and one of them is the keywords. But each set of keywords is tied to a certain user," thus, the user has to registered, each user registers with a database, allowing people to download and exchange files, attach their own keywords which are more meaningful to them.

The whole idea is boiling down to say, a group project. I create a graphic for the project. I save it, while choosing the option to attach keywords.

When someone is searching for files, a giant list comes up, and if they have not added their own keyword preference to the item, the file will come up, with my name next to it. Saying the only reason that the file is there is because it is searching for files with keywords from all users.

What this means? So what? Finding files, exchanging files, making things that are more meaningful to a person. No more folders. So, keywords that are attached to each user. Because, what I might consider interesting is totally different from what another person is.

So, back to the group project. Let's say I am working with three other people on paper about the environmental impact that urban development has had on the potomac river. I have created some really nice looking and informative tables and charts (they are in SVG or PDF format, allowing for the text inside the images to be read easily), and I send them to my group members over e-mail. They receive the files, download and save them onto their disks, and are going to open them.

Now, opening them, they don't know where they are saved, and they are only sure of one thing: Saved Keywords that they subscribe to. Because we are all working in a group, I decided to make an online database of keywords that we would all use to associate with our work. Their machines check for updates to their Subscribed keywords when they receive a new file with unknown keywords, AND their machines will check the subscription that is associated with the keyword group. This allows for them to search not only by keywords but by keyword creator.

So, I created a keyword group named "Potomac River Enviro Impact." This is just as if I created a new user whose name was PREI. They have a search list that updates automatically, with the criteria of listing all files of the keyword creator "Potomac River Enviro Impact." So, they find the newly downloaded file, and open it, easy as that. If they were to further refine the search, they would find that not only was the kind of file was a graphic, but that the type of file was a chart.

The whole problem with this, however, it attaching the keywords, it need to be simpler to attach keywords with minimal user input. So, when the user saves the file, gives it a Name (human readable, because we no longer need short indecipherable file names, the UI decodes the metadata Name and displays it instead of the six character jumble of constants.), it also gives it a parent. The parent can be "school work," or "Potomac river project." This is a lot like current folder hierarchy, but without the hierarchy. All the files lie flat, and can be grouped upon command.

If I am looking for all my school work done in the past week, it is very simple. I type "school work past week," and the meta data of Parent (school work) and last modified (past week) help my search. But, let's say that I saved the file with a parent of "Potomac river project," no problem. "school work past week," will turn up items in "Potomac river project" because "Potomac river project" was called a child of "school work." So simple, children can be parents, and parents can be children. A very nice descendant chain of file control, each getting more precise. When saving my chart, I typed "Potomac river project" as a parent, and it asked if this parent of the file was a child of any of my current groups. I get to choose, or type, from a list of parents, going down hierarchal.

The problem with this comes when transporting the file. This is where the transportable keywords come in. The file will come up on another computer, with my unique ID (translated into a human readable name) so the user sees that he is not the creator, and why the file came up in a search. The file would carry meta-data such as creator, and the creator would carry a (virtual) location tag. Persons, groups, and institutions could register for creator unique IDs, local social security tags to make shure people don't try to create files saying that their did it themselves (maybe there is a national database of online unique IDs already)

So, the file can also have multiple parents, and each parents can be descended from another parent. All my "school work" stuff is in "work" which has two children: "school work" and "job work." But "work" is not a descendant of any other ancestry. This makes it easy to associate a file to a larger group with just associating to a more precise group. If "Potomac river project" is under "environmental studies" which is under "college courses" which is under "school work," making my chart a child of "Potomac river project" gives it a long line of ancestry to be associated with.

Imagine a bunch of children at school playing on a playground. A teacher yells for all the Anderson kids over 10 to come in, their mother wants to talk to tell them how to reach her this afternoon. The anderson kids over 10 are not playing by themselves in a little pen. Maybe one of the Anderson kids is playing kickball, and another is eating some dirt with younger kids. They are playing among all the other kids, but when the teacher yells out for them, they perk up and come running.

Apply this idea to files, and you have a great file system. Each file knows certain information about itself that makes it easy to search for it. Making each file aware of itself makes the filesystem that much more efficient of finding a file.

And was I right?

January 11, 2005

Here are my final predictions for this afternoon's announcements:

• iPod Flash/Micro/Mini - Yes
• PowerBook Speed Bump
• CheapMac - Yes
• iWork Office Suite - Yes
• Tiger Related Announcements - Yes

Final Predictions

January 11, 2005

Here are my final predictions for this afternoon's announcements:

• iPod Flash/Micro/Mini
• PowerBook Speed Bump
• CheapMac
• iWork Office Suite
• Tiger Related Announcements

Tomorrow, I shall be gidy

January 10, 2005

Dudes, peoples, tomorrow is the MWSF keynote by the great Steve Jobs...

I will be able to conduct myself normally... excuse my multiple attempts to spread the news....

IT IS GOING TO BE FO INSANE

If Only...

January 09, 2005

So Many G5's, but none are for me

December 29, 2004

Saw these being delivered after I took my the listening part of my Spanish final.

MWSF 2005 Speculation

December 29, 2004

Well, now from ThinkSecret:

• HEADLESS MAC!!!!!! $500 teh amazoing
• iLife '05
• Keynote 2

Now, time for my speculation. All of the above, plus:

• All of the above, plus
• More Tiger information
• Motorola/phone announcement

And of course, there is always the impossible hope that the Apple iHome Media Server/iBox will be released..... well, wait until the 11th!

Sylvester Available for Download

December 19, 2004

Sylvester is a desktop scripting app. Think Konfabulator + Watson + Deskshade minus the cost and refinement. Right now there is only one tool, which is weather. (it uses NOAA weather station codes, which is a four letter code, )

Download Sylvester (dmg)

This is a first try, so please tell me if it is not working at all (I would no put it past it not to work.)
here is a scrennie for those of you visual people

Sylvester

December 11, 2004

So I made this program, finally, and it displays an image superimposed on the desktop. It useful because it could get me my weather (which it actually does) or show the stock of a company, or other things... it is good!:

Dashboard to replace Sherlock?

December 10, 2004

MacMinute has an article about Dashboard replacing Sherlock eventually. Dashboard is the widget system that Apple is implementing in Tiger and Sherlock is the current application that grabs information from the web and presents in a nicer fashion. This whole idea makes sense, many of the functions of Sherlock can be replaced by Dashboard. Basically, what people are using Sherlock for are:

• Weather
• Stocks
• Movie Listings

Of course there are also the people who like to look up Plane information and Mapquest stuff.

Here in this nice little development for Dashboard, it explains further about how the functionality can be duplicated in even a nicer fashion. Personally, developing a Widget from HTML and CSS is personally easier for me than using whatever Sherlock may use.

Dashboard also is better than Sherlock in many ways because it also includes little desk accessories like a calculator and a note pad for holding information, whereas Sherlock was an interface for receiving information from the internet. It does seem likely that Sherlock may be fading fast.

One thing that some may be forgetting is that Sherlock was , for the most part, a stolen idea from Watson (which is now bust) and that Dashboard is a stolen idea from Konfabulator (which is now migrating to Windows users). (Now, whether or not you believe they were stolen or Apple had original stake on those areas is another thing, but there is no doubt that Apple's development were pivotal in the future of those two third-party products). Just a thought.

SO MANY FUCKING SPAM COMMENTS

November 30, 2004

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, SO MANY FUCKING SPAM COMMENTS FROM FUCKING "ONLINE-SOMA," "SOMA"

sorry for the caps, but having to delete around 200 spam comments, one at a one fucking time, just gets so fucking frustrating.... I guess other people are not bothered by them , but it bothers me and detracts from the whole website... gah.. if anyone know how to do a DNS attack, please do it on that server.

iHub

November 29, 2004

So, there is this story about the famous Apple produced entertainment server, which I have written about before in the iBox... so now I have to write about it again to fulfill my hunger.

So, I am going to tell you what would be in it:

• Huge HD, enough to hold 250 ripped DVDs


• SuperDrive for burning and ripping CDs/DVDs


• A Slimmed down version of Mac OS X


• FireWire 800 Port


• Two USB 2.0 Ports


• AirPort Exrteme


• Bluetooth for the remote


• a fast ass G5 processor


• Video and audio in/out


• PCI card slot

The software would be a slimmed down version of Mac OS X, and would have a main program interface of having a PVR software... it would have some kind of "Entertainment Central," capturing TV, showing off your captured DVDs.. and then it could connect to your home network and get your iTunes music and iPhotos... It would be a nice UI over the Mac OS X base, and of course someone would figure out how to crack it.

Or maybe some kind of AirPort Express A/V that could have a FireWire port that would get the video stream of a wired computer, translate it in the box and output it to some firewire port box that converts it into video/audio plugs... something complicated like that....

All I know is that I would gladly buy one... of course.

Riding across the country at 10Mph!

November 16, 2004

A person has decided to trek across america on a Segway. It is simply fucking cool what this guy, and the people that are helping him along, are documenting and finding out about America. They stop, take pictures, interview people. Really sweet.

This is it homies. No more tidbits for me. Read it and weep. I'm done, son. Time to move on. God Bless America and Boston. Home of baked beans, tea parties, Heavyweight champ John Ruiz, Steve Grogan, Mosi Tatupu, Chelsea and Arlington-where my parents grew up, Revolutionary wars, Robert Gould Shaw, Arab owned hotels, The oldest restaurant in America, a buttload of world class colleges and universities like M.I.T. and Harvard full of smartypants whippersnappers who will someday rule the world and come up with incredible pharmaceutical doodads. AND in the midst of all of this comes a lone Segway rider -- Josh Caldwell -- who will become another legendary figure in the history of the greatest city in the greatest country. Move over pilgrims...

And then Entertainment and Geeks united.

November 15, 2004

The NY Times articleRegistration Required

SD vs HD (using the OC)

November 13, 2004

Notice how on an HD signal you get more on the sides that does not really matter that much, but when you get into the action, you can see people's whole bodies instead of the just half of them. Read more here. Remember, by 2007, all broadcast tv is going to have to be in HD, it has been manDated.

iSocks, oh yeah

November 11, 2004

So, many of you own iPods (and if you don't you might as well start watching Survivor: Vanatu to make up for it) and many of you, who do not go to school on the west coast, have socks. But how many of you have "iPod socks?"

That's right, people, $29 gets you six mulitcolored socks to keep your iPod (mini, Photo, or regular variety) warm and safe just in time for the cold season of winter.

Dress your iPod up in any one of six vibrant color socks (green, purple, grey, blue, orange, and pink). This set of knit socks provides a stylish, fun, and practical way to protect your iPod. So add a dash of color to your iPod with iPod Socks, the year's coziest and most vibrant iPod accessory. It doesn't matter which iPod model you have because iPod Socks fit all of them. And it doesn't matter what your mood is because each iPod Socks package includes six bright colors so you can pick the one that feels best.

JESuS FUCK!~ LOOK AT THIS

November 04, 2004

you need to be a member to see the trailer... but these pictures are tantalizing for anyone to join..this is going to be sweet!

meh, the image is gone, so hum drum... sadness fills my heart... yeah? Naw, well for those of you who saw it, it was some images from the Teaser Trailer for Star Wars Episode III

I had some fun making this.

November 02, 2004

Tee Hee

October 27, 2004

And all I have to do is sit on my butt.

"Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed to above US$50 on Wednesday for the first time in four years. The stock rose $2.33 (4.86 percent) to close at $50.30 following yesterday's introduction of the iPod Photo, U2 iPod and nine new European iTunes stores. " - MacMinute

The announcements keep on coming

October 26, 2004

Can you believe it?An iPod Sock, in six different colours, for $29 bucks... here is a sucker for it.

For complete coverage of the Apple Music Event, check out MacMinute.com

The U2 iPod:

Simply Sweet

October 26, 2004

Album Art with the song, colour screen... but yes... it does photos too!

I found it first

October 26, 2004

The new iTMS Countries, i found them first, officially:

Preann. Unt Flotopod

October 18, 2004

MacMinute has posted a snippet about an Apple event, hosted by the grand master Steve Jobs, next tuesday.

Apple has sent out an invitation to select media announcing a special event to be held next week at San Jose's California Theater. The event appears to be music related as the invite reads: "Steve Jobs, Bono and The Edge invite you to a special event." Bono and The Edge are of course members of the popular rock band U2, who are featured in Apple's latest iPod+iTunes commercial performing their new single "Vertigo." The song is also available exclusively through Apple's iTunes Music Store. During Apple's fourth quarter conference call last week, CFO Peter Oppenheimer said that Apple and U2 would be working together more "in the coming weeks."

This most likely will include some kind of Music update. Apple's two music products right now are the iTunes Music Store and the iPod. Under the iPod are the iPod and iPodmini. Most likely, considering that the new fourth generation iPods were released about three or fourth months ago, they would not update that product line. It looks like the PhotoPod or iPodPhoto may come along. But, who knows what other Music Store related announcements may occur.

Holy Damn, this would be pretty fucking cool.

October 08, 2004

An iPod that can show your pictures? This would be sweet, portable slideshow and all... showing alubm art... shure it may be out there already... but not by Apple! Come on stock, gimmie another four year high!

See the whole story here...

The new iPod, which will sit at the top of Apple's fourth-generation line-up, will pack Toshiba's new 60GB 1.8-inch hard drive, a 2-inch color liquid crystal display, iPhoto synchronization, audio/video-out capabilities, and will sell for $499.... The 2-inch color screen is identical in size to other iPods, but will sport a higher resolution for photo viewing. However, the new device's real shining feature will be its video-out port, which will enable users to tote their photo galleries with them, ready to be plugged into any television for big-screen viewing. ...... The 60GB iPod will feature only rudimentary built-in software for viewing photos, with no editing tools, sources say. Photo albums will be navigated in a similar fashion to music playlists, and a slideshow feature will provide transitions with user-specified background music, similar to iPhoto. Synchronizing features similar to iTunes will also be added to iPhoto....

Sources indicate that Apple will market the new photo iPod as being capable of storing 20,000 music tracks and 25,000 photos. As an added bonus for music fans, album artwork will be displayed on screen when it's available for a selected track.

In case you missed it, the Archive has it

October 06, 2004

In case you missed it, you can get The First 2004 Presidential Debate in numerous forms. Like, MPEG 2 or MPEG 4!!! Shit yeah, it is divided into three parts. People, paruse the Archive.org .. quickly becoming my favorite web site...

Three Panes?

October 01, 2004

I have been thinking of putting a third column/pane into this blog, putting interesting links and notes I have found. This (below) is somewhat what it would look like. Please leave your comments here. Thank you.

Site Updates

October 01, 2004

You may notice that there have been some subtle changes going on around here at PtIiM. From top to bottom, the banner got a gradient background and in the top right corner I have added a current location text block because I am no longer situated in one place. On the sidebar, I have gotten rid of the Archives by Month, and just put all the archives past 10 days or so in a Complete Archives page. Speaking of Archives, I have made going through the entries easier by using access keys. Type Alt for Windows and Ctrl for Macs plus either "b" to go a post back or "n" to go a post forward. Of course to get back to the frontpage here, you can press Alt or Ctrl and "1." Finally, for those of you coders, I was using two divs to create the effect of different coloring for different categories. I now use one div and put both class names in for the style of the div with a space them. Enjoy.

My New Obsession

September 27, 2004

So, right now, I am really into finding these Ben Folds live shows from the summer online and downloading them. But they are so elusive. I have found one or two, and then you have to find people who are serving them up. Most of the time they are being served at 1 or 2k, so the whole process is really slow. But, once I get them, they are great. They have songs that are new, different versions (instead of piano, they are just bass... sweet).

That is my addiction now, and I must feed it.. right now I am trying to download 6 shows. Someone must save me... stop me, get me away from here... no?

Also, if you are looking for live shows you should check out the Internet Archive: Live Music Archive. It is the same people who do that Wayback Machine that allows you do look at old pages that are not on servers anymore... what wonderful these people are. Archiving data!

DropCash me some Spare Change

September 21, 2004

I have started a DropCash campaign for 13 cents.

Please help me out

Thank you vast library of the Internet

September 18, 2004

I missed it because of class, but thanks to bit torrent I gots it now.

FUCKING THE OC IS GONNA ROCK THIS SEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get ready on November 4th.

The Beginning of the (I)End

September 16, 2004

If you are still using a PC, and are still using Internet Explorer, now is the time to get on the bandwagon and download Firefox. This is a web browser with functionality and no problems that could piss people off. Do your part and click on the banner below and download and start using Firefox... Sual uses it, and he is an ohkay dude.

It features pop-up blocking, tabbed browsing, integrated Google search toolbar, live bookmarks (some kind of RSS integration), allows for themeing and extensioning. Also, it has great CSS support.! SpreadFireFox.com is also really pumping out the "community built" aspect of Firefox. Overall, if you are a PC user, use Firefox... or get a Mac and use Safari.

SpreadFireFox.com's whole campaign is to get 1,000,000 downloads in 10 days, which they are going to get to, of course. Click below on the banner ad and get FIREFOX... DO IT!!!!!!

Dude, Wireless Internet is the bomb

September 12, 2004

I am sitting outside in the law quad, on the wireless internet, it is so fucking awesome. This is pretty cool, if I say so... and I do.

My New Computer

June 14, 2004

Lookout Washington, Here I Come. This is simply Amazoing©

I am very happy with my new computer. I can finally go on the IM while in the bathroom. So, when I am talking to you, think about where I might be sitting... on my throne? The greatest was connecting to the internet downstairs wireless (no cables AT ALL) while watching Seinfield. Discoe, this could be your future. If you just let it be. Just let it be.

The coolest part of it is that keyboard's letters are laser etched out and there are strips of lights below the keyboard, so in low light conditions, the keyboard lights up. Fucking awesome.

Cell Phone as Modem

June 12, 2004

With a laptop, I could be undetachable.

Fluxing the Future of The Filesystem

May 24, 2004

Meta-data- Data About Data

So, lately, I have been on the AppleInsider boards, and there I have been the talking of the way of organizing files. Right now, we live in a world where files are organized into folders, and if someone wants to have that one file in more than one folder that file needs to be either duplicated (which causes problems) or aliased/shortcutted. What the future is, is Meta-data. Using meta-data to organize files not by folders but by a list of documents.

Starting Point

Look at iTunes, which has a great filesystem going on. It has a Library of all the files, and then instead of folders there are playlists, and even better are special folders called "smart playlists" which uses meta-data to fill the playlists with things such as "Last 25 Played" or "1960's." (these smart playlists are defined by rules such as "all tracks whose year is 1960" or "all tracks that have been played most recently, limit to 25")This works great with Music files which have a lot of meta-data to work with: title, artist, album, composer, year authored, track number, genre, last played, date added, play count, rating, and more. In this case, the keywords are the artist and album (the two most specific groups that people would search by the most). But, how can this be applied to documents?

In documents, the keywords would be: title, album, last used, and date created. But the most important keywords would be data that you input yourself. Unlike music, documents are created by oneself so there is no online Document database where meta-data can be downloaded from (unlike the Gracenote CD Database). Therefore, upon saving the document, keywords would have to associated with the file. Let's say I just wrote an science essay for a final exam. I would file it under Schoolwork, Science, Essays, Finals. (let's suppose that the computer is smart enough to associate words like finals, final exams, and final all as one group). After I have saved my essay, I would be able to look in my Smart Folder Recent Work that has the rule "all files modified in the past two weeks, that have keyword work." and there is my new essay. But I could also look in my Schoolwork Smart Folder and find it there organized in a list by title, date created, subject, or type (essay or letter or simple question homework). And in every Smart Folder, all it would be is a reference back to a file that is listed in my Library of files, and the real file could be anywhere on my hard drive, but to me it is in my Smart Folders. What would be moved from Smart Folders (or just folders you populate yourself) is a reference that when opened would open the file wherever it may reside on the hard drive. This would be an incredible way to get data. There are problems to getting to this momentous point, however.

Investing in the Future

First of all, most people do not want to spend time after they have finished an essay typing in some keywords about what you just did. You don't want to have to remember if the keyword was "science" or "biology" or "bio." People already have to type in the title, why make them do more? (Well, for the reasons above). There is Author, Date Created, and Date Modified. The size (in bytes) is not as important as it is for an MP3 because one can figure from the size of the MP3 and the data rate the length of it. But because of different fonts, line heights, and margins the size of the document cannot necessarily tell you the length. So, maybe the Word Count and Length of the document (with the current font, line height, and margins) could be included as well. Already we have a Smart Folder that could have a rule such as "all documents written by Me in the last 9 months, that are at least 2 pages long." That would be a good way to get all the essays you have done this past school year. Yet, there is no subject or type of document, and that is where either context or user provided keywords come into play.

The Importance of Keywords

Context keywords would be that the system would include as meta-data. Much as a junk mail filter/scanner goes through a piece of e-mail to figure out if it is spam or not, another filter/scanner would be going through a document and trying to figure out what kind it is, or what it is related to. The Context Scanner would look for letters ( with words like "dear" and "sincerely," and clues such as an address and date at the top), essays (which would be long and contain headings or other characteristic factors), or maybe a screenplay (look for names in all CAPS and centered content.) The list goes on and on. Once it found what type of document it is, it can go on to look for the subject of it and assign a keyword that way.

The Context Scanner would be able to figure out if that essay you wrote was for English or for science, and figure out if the letter was personal or business. I have no idea how that could occur, but it would be great. Let's say you have just created a PowerPoint presentation for a math class. Upon saving it, it looks and already knows that is a slide show type of presentation because the Document Type is "PowerPoint Presentation," but then the Context Scanner goes to work and finds out that it would best go into keywords Schoolwork and Math. It would not append a Presentation keyword because that is already on the Document Type. If the Context Scanner did not exist, users would have to punch data themselves and that would get annoying and tedious (although auto-completion would help) and the dream of a meta-data driven file system would die.

An Excellent Metaphor

Users would also have to get used to the idea that they are using a card catalog to browse their files now. In the card catalog system there is great redundancy in that one book is filed several times to make looking for it easier. Once you find the card, the book to match it is very quick to find (Thank you Mr.Dewey.)

The card catalog bins are the Smart Folders and the Library are all your files, and finding things can be very quick. The computer is now your librarian and the card catalog, instead of being alphabetized have headings like "Work," "Projects," or "Personal." This is much better than now having to be your own File Clerk, putting things away by subject when maybe they would go great also by date, and it is getting hard to remember which one went where?

The problems here are the investment that software engineers want to make into a Meta-data driven system as well as protection novice/simple computer users from an incredibly changed file system without angering advance/power users with the lack of customizability and choice to put stuff where they want it.

The Future of Browsersrsrsrs

May 22, 2004

So, the next version of Microsoft Windows is at least 2 years away (if not three) , and that means the next major version of Internet Explorer is equally as far off. Right now, IE is the most popular browser (not by choice) and has some ohkay CSS support. There is a much better browser out there that could be used on Windows: Firefox. This is a web browser based on Mozilla, which is what Netscape is based on, and it has some great features ( tabbed browsing and large number of plug-ins) and good CSS support. So, right now, most people are using a browser that gives basic CSS support, but lacks some great parts of CSS.

Now, there are two years here where there is a chance for a more standards-compliant browser to come in and save web standards from Internet Explorer coming in two years later with shaky support: "dudes, I have been out of the country for a little bit, and I was the most popular guy before, and I know what is the best thing to do, but , from now on we are only going to dance the Macarena."

What would be the best solution would be a Google browser based on Mozilla or KHTML (which is what Safari is based on [the best browser out there now, CSS support wise]). Now, if Google were to come out with a browser, it would become instantly great and popular, and it would support web standards and it would create a happy ending. See, the problem is now, that many people think that Internet Explorer is the only thing out there, or that other browsers have things that nobody needs. THE TRUTH IS, Internet Explorer is an ohkay start, but (as Sual can tell you) once someone knows about Mozilla or Firefox, they stick with that because it is a superior browser with less awareness.

Web Standards are great and make web page development very much easier because the developer only has to create one page and it looks right on all browsers. Yet, if Internet Explorer continues to slightly suck, web standards will suffer. Therefore, there are two hopes : IE becomes incredibly standards compliant OR Google comes out with their own browser based on some Open-Source Code that everyone will love because Google is popular and NICE :) .

How Impressive

April 29, 2004

Why JRussell and Swest should get Macs

April 20, 2004

Now, as we all know, I am an Apple fanatic. I love almost all of their moves, and I get very defensive of attacks. I will take criticism when I cannot defend it, but most of the time I can. Soon, we will all be going our separate ways, mostly to a college of some type. There are two people I would like to highlight: JRussell and Swest, who are both interested in the idea of movie making (one aspect or another). Going to college usually means getting a laptop that will guide you through those tough years writing papers and downloading shitloads of music and other illegal goodies.

I am looking out for the best interests of my friends, and that is why they should get Apple laptops. First of all, as they are both interested in film, Apple is making (or bought and is now making) the best software for Pro Video. Final Cut Pro, the industry standard in digital video editing and growing, is only available for Mac OS X (the Windows XP of Mac, but so much better) along with DVD Studio Pro, Shake (video composition) , and the newly released Motion (motion graphics). Mac OS X is an amazing operating system, with advanced features such as protected memory (if one app crashes, the others ones won't falter) and multitasking (working on multiple programs at a time) as well as networking features that allow one to connect to almost any type of network. There are no viruses that have ever infected, and no spyware programs that are secretly installed. Third party software (not made by Apple) is vastly available; I mean there are at least three extra AIM clients, and dozens of peer-2-peer programs. The whole OS is just so elegant, that everything is intuitive.

Now, even if they were not to shell out the vast amounts of money for all those Pro Video apps, they could get Final Cut Express (which allows only DV editing, no HD), or even use the free iMovie that is included with all new Macs (along with iPhoto, and iDVD). Recently, our good friend VIX asked me where she could download iMovie for PC. I had to tell her, which broke my heart, she could not. Is this what we want them to go through when they need good (free) digital video editing software? NO! They should spare themselves the sadness. And if they are so worried about their precious two-button mouse, they can easily get a USB one and plug it in, and it will work (although I have always used my one button mouse happily).

For JRussell and Swest, nothing else would fit their lifestyle, and I hope they can find it inside of them to realize what they should have and need for college. An iBook or the beautiful PowerBook.

NAB me some fruit.

April 18, 2004

so, today, at the NAB (national associations of broadcasters expo dealie) Apple had a presentation, and this is what was to be told:

NEW! Motion Create professional motion graphics for film, video, TV and DVDs using Motion, a breakthrough offering self-propelled animation technology and real-time previewing for spontaneous and intuitive motion graphics creation.

Final Cut Pro HD Edit, finish and deliver HD, SD and DV media for film, video and TV using emmy-award winning, XML-enabled Final Cut Pro HD; now providing DVCPRO HD video support, the Digital Cinema Desktop and RT Extreme enhanced for HD.

DVD Studio Pro 3 Design, build and author state-of-the art DVDs using comprehensive authoring tools that include new auto-generated transitions, the Graphical View, DTS audio support and high quality HD to MPEG-2 encoding.

Shake 3.5 Design and composite stunning corrective and fantastic visual effects for film and HD using Shake. Render using Qmaster, the industrial-strength, scalable network rendering manager free with Shake for Mac OS X.

Xsan a high-performance enterprise-class Storage Area Network (SAN) file system priced at US$999. According to Apple, Xsan software combines "breakthrough performance with Apple's legendary ease-of-use for customers who require scalable, high-speed access to centralized shared data for video workflow and storage consolidation, and is the perfect complement to Apple's award-winning Xserve and Xserve RAID hardware."

The day was very fruitful.. let us see what happens tomorrow, according to rumors of new laptops. Today was software, and lots of it. DVD Studio Pro and Shake got some good updates, Final Cut Pro (HD) some minor, and the NEW program Motion!

NAB me some fruit, Part 2

Today, in a more silent manner, Apple updated its portable line of iBooks and Powerbooks. Nothing major; hard drive and processor and RAM upgrades. Some price drop... I really wanted it to be a G5 PowerBook, how sad I am.

New Tyson's Theater

April 02, 2004

After the holiday time remodeling of the Apple Store at Tyson's Store, they have finally gotten the theater back, which I was missing when I went there. Some time during the Spring Break, I probably will be head there, and see those new iPod Minis which I have not seen up close yet. The Genius Bar now has these nice 40-inch LCDs that show what is going on above the thing. Maybe my brother, Jim, who is going to Cornell University next year, and will be getting a new iBook... his current PowerBook, which is about 6 years old, is getting a little too old for the modern use... it cannot even run Mac OS X.

Bam.

A River Running Dry and Snipping a Name

March 20, 2004

So, it has been a while since there have been any big Apple updates. This past month it has been the whole iTunes-Pepsi give away, and then last week it was the new Filemaker database program (which is made by a subsidiary of Apple). I have been waiting for something, a new PowerMac update, or an iMac or eMac update. What would make me the happiest is a PowerBook update. Not because the current PowerBook models suck, but it would make them so much better if they slapped a G5 into it. After having a 32-bit processor for five years, it would be great to have a 64-bit processor for the next five years, go to the future. A G4 would be fine (as Apple has not made full optimizations for the G5 in the operating system, although they have for their media programs).

Right now, however, a PowerBook G5 has a few drawbacks. Like, making it cool enough not to burn pants off, getting a battery good enough for it to be taken places, and then getting all of that into a 1" tall case. Of course, that illuminated keyboard would be sweet as well. I feel bad for all of you people who are going to be having your really heavy computers that you have to get an external CD drive to make it into a REAL computer.

Now, let us not even start to talk about Intel is going to try to change people's views of how much Mhz really matter. 1 Ghz is not the same on a Pentium 3 as it is on a G4, (the G4 is faster between those two), and there are other parts of the computer that affect computer speed. And now that the G5 is fucking awesome, everyone is really scared... You can read more about it.

In conclusion, JRussell needs to get an iBook or a PowerBook.

Video Game Idea: HUGE TRAVEL EPIC

February 23, 2004

I think a cool video game would not include any killing of enemies, but it would be an epic travel game, where you travel across the world, collecting stuff, doing missions and such. The world would have to be incredibly huge, and you would be able to own horses, houses, ships. I guess what I am getting at would be the character starts off at 16, and then he has the whole world in front of him. There are no things that you have to do, there is not ULTIMATE place you have to get to.

There are things that you have to have , like clothing, and shelter, and health. Over time, your health and clothing will deteriorate, and you need to get new stuff. There are people that you can encounter that can help you, and depending on how you act towards them, they will be either nice or not nice to you. You can have connections with these people, and they also have connections with others. So, for example, you piss off this guy when you are 21, and then when you are 30 one of his friends comes and fucks with you.

The world would be a sphere, and to make things move faster you can keep on getting faster horses and ships so you can move between continents. So, the game is very open ended and wide. You can collect items, sell things, have money, put money in banks.

Of course, you can just stay in your home town and become the town leader by a vote, or you can become the KING of a country! I do not know how long an hour or day would be, if a day was an hour, that mean it would take 365 hours for you to grow one year. OR, it could be there are six months in a year, there are seasons as well. So, your health may go down faster in the winter with bad clothes than in the summer with bad clothes. Also, as your health goes down, you move more slowly on foot.

Web Standards Awards

February 19, 2004

A new site, Web Standards Awards, opened this month, and I think it is just grand. It awards sites on their use of web standards (XHTML, CSS), separating content (code) from design (using tables only for tabular data), and accessibility (which is more than just alt tags). Not only do the sites that it awards look great, but the site itself does, and is based on MovableType!

Take a look at the sites that listed there. They are great ones, especially Simple Thinking (a web design and development company) uses a combination of Flash and XHTML/CSS and their home made Content Management System (a CMS, which is what MovableType is) to make one of the best uses of web standards and accessibility into a great design.

An Interesting Idea of Limitations

February 16, 2004

So, I was reading this article by David Pogue in The New York Times Circuts section (his story is amazing, starting at a Mac User Group newsletter, to MacWorld, to publishing books and NYT's). He was talking about the limits of using an iPod and the iTunes Music Store, which use MP4 (or AAC) instead of Windows Media Files. He said something along the lines of 'yes, it is limited. But there is nothing wrong be limited to filet mignon or Four Seasons or a Lexus."

And that is the point of the Mac. It may be limited, but that is good, there is no crap. You get all the programs you would basically need when you get it. The networking set up is incredibly simple. It is a multimedia workhorse, as well as good for school and stuff. And also Windows Media Files suck. so there.

The Kindervan Struck

February 12, 2004

SOOOOOOOooooo, Cpt. Snug here, with some great news: Windows NT and 2000 source code has been leaked. It is all over, everywhere. That is right, stupid Microsoft let their source code go, and BOO FUCKING HOO! Check out the original article Neowin.net.

Yet, there is a downside to this. By the source code being out there (or a slice of it) that means the hackers can see what more of what they are dealing with, and be able to write better viruses. Now, this does not affect me, or other mac users, but it does affect my internet viewing experience. A great number of servers on the internet are MS boxes, thus if there is a virus and it rips through the world, it is most likely to great a giant hole in the internet. It can disrupt any system that uses a MS OS. See, see? None of you believed me when I said that Macs are not going to bring down an entire global world and leave us at Doomsday! But, there is now more of a possibility.

Also, Apple has released their source code for Mac OS X, at least, all the parts they want to. None of the GUI, it is really just an improved version of UNIX that runs on a lot of different kind of computers. Some of you might say, "then why are there no viruses for Macs?" That is because by allowing a whole lot more programmers than the ones you are paying help you improve your OS, there are fewer security holes. This goes for all the open source OSes (most of them ending in -ix) but not for Mircosoft's.

I just hope those cars that will run on Mircosoft software will not be based on any of these OSes. Damn it, this could pose a great great number of problems that we all though was Techno-Fiction before.

Random Banner

February 05, 2004

So, now, I have random banners that are shown ... uhm.. randomly. So, when you load a new page, it will choose one of them, but it will not load all of them, and then display only one. It will choose one, load one, and then display one. Yet, you would probably have a cache that would hold all of them at a time so you do not to reload them.

The Classic Real one. The Oldy Fridge one. The Map one. The DCo Box one. Tell me what you think. If people do not like it (which I may not), I will remove it, vigorously.

I love you Pepé

February 01, 2004

Apple Leaks! This is very unlike Apple to post stuff that has not been "offically" released yet. I mean, the ad is supposed to be released at the SuperBowl, not online... oh Apple...

Willie.app

January 28, 2004

So, I had made a Konfabulator widget for myself to count words in documents where there is no word counting feature (one such program is the one I use for writing my papers). So, I then made an AppleScript to do the same thing, but it involved me going to a menu, selecting, clicking ok, and all that, in addition to selecting the text and copying it. So, what my new program does is use the applescript function, but update it to a semi-transparent window. Now, I have been doing stuff with transparent windows lately (the ill-fated Lester, and another idea of mine that has not been discussed outside of my mind: Norman.), so using the included Apple Developer tools, I made an app that involves Cocoa (Objective-C) and AppleScript together. The Cocoa runs the transparent window part of it, and the AppleScript gets the word count of whatever was last copied and changes the text accordingly. It is pretty nifty. This might be a good way for me to develop further programs, even Lester use this method I bet!

So, it would seem that the idea I had in English this morning has become a reality this evening. Yazza! Download it for Mac OS X

Time to... Panic

January 27, 2004

So, one of the Panic developer's blogs hints to some previewing of the two new software pieces that were shown first at AppleInsider last week! Stattoo is the one I am excited about, because it seems like an alternative to Konfabulator, which I do not use anymore because the window that keeps on saying you haven't paid (1) can't close (2) can't be moved to my second screen that is TV that I rarely use.

Stay up late, I will, see what there is to see. Hopefully the dude will update his blog so I do not keep reloading Panic's website.

Ideology of Lester

January 26, 2004

So, the entire idea behind Lester is that there is so much information that we continuously are reloading websites for, weather or stock prices for example, or checking system stats, like battery level or clock or wireless internet power, that can be seen at a glance. Lester would have huge beautiful scalable images that would be able to give one that information. So, instead of going to a site to see a stock price, you could just look to see what your background color is, green or red. Look at the desktop quickly and you notice that there is a big yellow sun, you know what the weather is. RSS Feed readers, while possible, are not with the whole grand scheme, that takes time to look at, maybe you will read some of the entries, and click. Lester does not allow clicking and interaction beyond setting preferences (for example a weather "module" might allow 1-7 days of showing weather) so that leaves many out.

The desktop for many people (who utilize the Mac OS X home folder structure) consists of stray documents that line the right side of their screen. There is a huge void on the other 90% of the screen. With a 500px x 500px image of a sun in the middle of it, that space is now utilized, and it does not look jumbled, as too many Konfabulator widgets may do. The Lester "modules" can be set to rotate in a slideshow format, so every minute, it goes between the stock sticker and the weather, dissolving between them (thanks to Quartz).

Man, typing and thinking about this is just killing me knowing I do not have the programming skills to make it. There is so much more to do, and I am just not up to the challenge at this point, hopefully some help will come along

Lester (Try 1)

January 25, 2004

So, today, I finally decided to install XCode and try to make my Desktop Scripting App idea thing. So far, I have it overlay a color on top of the desktop picture, but below the icons (and Konfabulator widgets), so, really, I can make the desktop any color. Not that much, so far, but I am going to try to get help. The overlay color is really a window that has no title bar and the background-color of the window is set to nothing. The color comes from the Custom View inside the window. Is like you have a piece of paper, the Window, and you put on top of it a piece of construction paper, the Custom View. So, the View is set to a color (and opacity) and that is where the color is made.

What I hope I can do is make the View scriptable, so people can easily put text on their background, at the simplest idea. And then, put on images, and THERE , you got the weather on your desktop. This is gonna be big, if I can do it all. I hope, I hope I can. COME ON!

If you are so inclined, a preview

[APP IDEA] Desktop Scripting

January 24, 2004

Originally posted at some Mac forums.

The App would be a way to script the background picture to show information:

1. Display a stock price with a background color to correspond if the stock went up (green) or down (red).
2. Show the current iTunes song with album artwork.
3. Maybe change the desktop picture (or color) depending on the time of day.
4. Download images from a gallery and show them on the desktop.

It is sort of like Konfabulator for just the Desktop Background. It is easier, though, because there would be no need to design a GUI. Maybe it could use CSS and XML to arrange stuff? I am not a programmer, but I am an idea person, and I would love to see this idea come to life.

Is anyone else interested in this?

So, now, I guess I have some more ideas, graphically. Because, right now, you have another app coming that would compete against Konfabulator, by Panic named Stattoo. So, you could script it to do some basic transitions for when information changes. Like, you could have it do a wipe or a dissolve. You can have objects spin. The text would be anti-aliased, so it would look really great. There would be universal variables that would be standard, such as background (color or transparent), and the name of the "scriptlet." You would start out by writing a script. The most basic thing would be a simple applescript that would be like "set thisVariable to "hello" and then you would have specify some CSS code to say where you would want it. So "#thisVariable" would be made to be centered along the desktop, of course you would say what font-family, font-size, and color you want. then write "set desktop to rgb(0,0,0) And then, when the thing is run, you will see "hello" on a desktop centered. From there, the limits are endless, just like the number of konfabulator widgets. But (BUT!) this program is free for any developer who makes a good script.

More on the HP-Apple Deal

January 19, 2004

So, a couple weeks ago, Apple made a deal with HP, or more HP made a deal with Apple to sell a re-branded iPod. Now, some more details are coming out about the plot:

ohn Markoff of the New York Times notes that the Hewlett-Packard and Apple strategic alliance offers more good news for Apple: thebundling of QuickTime and Rendezvous on HP machines. "The program, which allows for the playing of video clips on a PC, will be a standard feature of every HP computer. So will another Apple software technology, Rendezvous, which is an API designed to let the computer identify and create links to any printer, camera, music player or other digital device without complicated configuration procedures on the user's part. Simply put, [Apple CEO] Jobs has managed to inject Apple's DNA into the PC world, meaning that it will be increasingly easy for his company to offer PC users any kind of iPod-style device -- whether for music or other media -- the company may create in the future."

This is some intense stuff. First, QuickTime being bundled is a big thing, because to get PC users to use QuickTime requires them to download it and install it. If it already there, that is great! Also, the Rendezvous thing, this is incredible: It is a Zero-Configuration of network technologies and devices. It is the way that iTunes allows Music Library Sharing. There is nothing to set-up. It works like you yelling out "I have this computer, and it has these services: iTunes, and a printer (which you can share)." And then someone else yells across the network that they have other things. The two computers communicate! Another great example of this is using the Mac OS X AIM Client "iChat," a buddy list of people on the network is automatically created for you, no configuration. This is going to help get a lot more devices out there with support for Rendezvous. Excellence.

Apple's Stock

January 13, 2004

Tomorrow is the Q1 2004 Financial Results conference call for Apple Computers. I have no idea what it all means. Sometimes, a few hints are dropped about future products, but normally nothing much (sadness fills my great hall). I do, however, have interest in the Financial Results because I have some stock in my great Apple Computers, and in the past week (since the start of the MacWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco) it has gone up around 4 dollars. I bet tomorrow it will gallop up one dollar to its 52 year high: $25!Now, this stock should be doing better, Apple has about $4 Billion in the bank, and now, they have the amazing iPod holiday sales. So, before, I was hoping for it to get to $25 when I sell half, but now I am think I am going to wait until it gets to $29, because that is how much confidence I have in this little game I know almost nothing about called the Stock Market.

d'MacMinute:Apple is due to post its quarterly financial results after the markets close today, and TheStreet.com's K.C. Swanson says that the company is "ripe" for a strong quarter. "Analysts say the company is on track to report healthy growth when it reports December-quarter results after the bell, courtesy of a refreshed computer line with faster processors from IBM and updated Mac OS X software, as well as surging sales of iPods," notes Swanson. "Sales should total around $1.93 billion, up 12% from the prior quarter on the heels of a fat Christmas season, with earnings of 14 cents, according to consensus estimates."

The "HP Digital Music Player"

January 09, 2004

The HP-branded iPod... An Alliance has been formed between Apple and HP...:

Carly Fiorina, Hewlett-Packard's chairman and chief executive officer, has unveiled the new iPod-based HP device at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The "HP Digital Music Player" that was shown is light blue in color, sports an "HP" logo on the back, and is "the first and only one," according to Fiorina. As reported Thursday onMacMinute, HP and Apple have announced a strategic alliance to deliver an HP-branded music player based on Apple's iPod, which is expected to ship in June "priced competitively to other digital music players currently available." Also as part of the partnership, HP PCs and notebooks will come preinstalled with iTunes and "an easy-reference desktop icon" to point consumers directly to the iTunes Music Store.

According to the Cox News Service, Dell Computer CEO Michael Dell had "nothing to say" when asked about HP and Apple's new iPod/iTunes allianceon Thursday. How's that for being caught off guard. In October, Dell began selling its own digital music player and bundling a branded version of the MusicMatch store, which Fortune called "the clumsy, Bizarro counterpart to Apple's brilliant iTunes Music Store."

My post at the MacNN forums :

The HP Digital Music Player is in "hp blue"

I mean, come on people, there are only TWO DIFFERENCES:

The color
and the hp logo on the back

So, just because something has color, it is bad? We should cast it out, just because it is a little different, but it is THE SAME ON THE INSIDE. Let's take a lesson from the past, and open our minds!

The MacWorld SF Keynote

January 06, 2004

So, my experience with the MWSF Keynote began at the end of third period when Dr.Smith held us back a little. 12:00. And I wanted to get out of there to run to Dahlgren's room, to the computer, and read one of the many live text coverages of the event. 12:03. I was reading it as people came in and out, made fun of me for my beliefs. I don't care what they say, everyone has their hobbies, or things they do. So, I was reading it, and West comes in with his talk of Record Xchange (hip) and he "needs" to use the computer. 12:15. So, being the nice person that I am, I let him have, even longer than he said he would need it. 12:20. The first major update I read was the stuff on the Server Solutions from Apple: The Xserve and the Xraid. The Xserve got a G5 upgrade (among other things) and the Xraid got some more space. So, I was happily reading what was going on, the beginning of class began (Dahlgren). 12:52. I was fine, and the Mr.Dahlgren realizes that I am looking at the computer and has me go to a seat. 12:58. Class is over, and I rush over to the computer to see what has happened: new iLife Apps, iPodmini,Final Cut Express 2.

The new iLife "'04" includes iDVD 4, iMovie 4, iTunes 4, iPhoto 4, and Garage Band. iPhoto 4 has some nifty updated features: Photo sharing over the network and faster app response. Garage Band is a music recording/authoring/mixing program. You can record music or MIDI inputs into the program, and if you don't have a drummer, use one of the included loops of drums! (GAH, they had that John Mayer fellow (hip cute sentimental fuck) come up and demo it with Steve Jobs, I am so conflicted!) You can also plug-in your guitar and use the Mac as an amp with different presets:

If you’re a guitar player, you’re going to be particularly pleased with GarageBand’s built-in guitar amplifier modeling. Recording engineers have already defined effect presets that will allow you to achieve a vintage British Invasion sound, the heavy distortion of Arena Rock, a Clean Jazz sound or still others.

Final Cut Express 2 is really just Final Cut Pro with the ability to only work with DV and not Batch processing. So, it is a good program. It is $299, $99 upgrade (there is also educational pricing, Sam). It works just like Final Cut Pro, but has some features exempted that one would not miss unless they used it to edit Cold Mountain.

iPodmini's are out! First of all, they are the size of a business card and 1/2 of an inch thick, and that is tiny. It is 4GB (which translates to about 1,000 songs). It comes in 5 different "trend-setting" colors: "silver, gold, green, pink or blue. (All shiny.)" It is just the same, but smaller. The price is $250, which is a bad bad thing. Spend $50 more, and you can get a normal sized 15GB iPod. I mean, come on, you don't want your product lines to overlap!

This is some exciting stuff, but there is still stuff in store for this 20th Anniversary Year of the Macintosh! Hopefully: upgraded PowerMac G5's and PowerBook G5's to say the least. Exciting year ahead, I hope.

The "iBox"

January 02, 2004

So, there has been a lot of talk about a new Set-top box by Apple dubbed the "iBox," and I feel like should put in my two cents (although this is a rumor and probably totally nonexistent for multiple reasons). First of all, it would be about the size of a standard VCR (or these days DVD player) so it could fit nicely in with the rest of your Home Theater components. It would have a SuperDrive (DVD/CD burner), a hefty hard drive (going from 80GB, 120GB, to 250GB), a modem, ethernet, AirPort Extreme (Wi-FI, 802.11g), A USB port on the front along with a FireWire 400 port, a USB port on the back along with a FireWire 800 port, audio-out for connection to a stereo system, and a PCI port for the included TV tuner card. The Processor would not be a G3, as so many people are speculating, because for there to be any DVD burning of captured TV programs a G4 would be needed for all the MPEG-2 encoding.

It would have an installation of Mac OS X with an included program to keep it simplified on the front, but quit the program and you can see a regular Mac OS X client installation (similar to how Mac OS X server is just Mac OS X client with more programs and features and settings). The "iBox" (what a horrible name) would have a program to schedule programs (I guess similar to iCal so you can download schedules), a program to burn DVDs of the shows (A slimmed down version of iDVD), a version of iTunes to play music that you have loaded onto the massive HD (and that is streamed from over the network), and version of iPhoto to display pictures. Of course, it would be able to share all the video, pictures, and music over the network to other Macs and "iBoxes," and the Apache web server (already on Mac OS X) would serve as a way to schedule TV show recordings from the internet or on the network (thank you rendezvous). To get the TV scheduling you would have to subscribe to .Mac (such as a subscription for TiVO users), or just pay a one-time fee to get only the "iBox Scheduling" features of .Mac .

The big problem with all of this is the UI, because right now Mac OS X works well on a computer with a keyboard and a mouse. Apple would have to translate that great user experience to a TV and a remote. Of course, you would plug in a keyboard and mouse, and use the "iBox" as a computer because that is all it is. All in all, the "iBox" would be a PowerMac G4 with some more Tivo-like options and I would buy it, because, well, I am an Apple Whore and I like TV (and a TiVo would be great).

OmniWeb 5

January 01, 2004

The future of browsing on Mac OS X is here. Now, OmniGroup is something like 10 years old. They have been working on software for Mac OS X before it was even Mac OS X! (not to get into any history or anything, but Mac OS X is based on an operating system called NeXTStep from a company that Steve Jobs started before he was ousted by Apple and then the company was bought by Apple in 1997 which brought back Steve Jobs and the technology that became Mac OS X) Now, already, OmniGroup's web browser OmniWeb is great (it is the only web browser that costs money that seems to be worth paying for). The feature set is great. So, yesterday OmniGroup put up a preview page with some of the new features of OmniWeb 5 (which be in public beta on February 2nd, 2004) . The most amazing is their take on tabbed browsing (having more than one page opening in a window) : a drawer on the side of the browser window holds thumbnails or a list of the web sites in that window. It improves on the bookmarks of Safari. There are per-site preferences, so if there is only one site with too small text that is green, you can set the size to 12pt and color to black, just for that site! Another great feature is the ability to find if a site has a search function (like this blog) and can put the search function into the toolbar! There are also a lot more features, like ad and pop up window blocking, built in RSS detector, and Workspaces (which is like having multiple browsers open at a time) . This might be the first browser I ever end up paying for, just because it is so fucking awesome. (trackback props to http://www.carpeaqua.com)

You all did not believe his powers!

December 23, 2003

POD

December 23, 2003

Ohkay, so everyone is like, Yo, DCo, why is it named "iPod." Now, before back in November 2001, we had NO IDEA, but now it is becoming more clear. POD=PERSONAL ORGANIZATION DEVICE. Not a PDA, but a POD. The POD holds your music, movies, and photos. Newer iPods will have the ability to display photos and videos, not on the tiny screen, but on a TV output or through the port on the bottom outputting to an LCD screen. So, finally, the name has meaning.

POD

POD

iPod

POD

The Other .21 is Going to Hit you on the Head

December 22, 2003

ately 1.79 iPods were sold every minute in fiscal 2003. Apple said it sold 939,000 iPods for US$345 million in net sales this past year. The iPod is the number one-selling portable digital music player on the market, accounting for 29 percent of all units sold worldwide. The device holds 54 percent of the market share in terms of revenue.

Heh heh heh. Get ready, Trevor, you can join 54% of the market. It got really close to selling 1 Million. Man that would have looked great for marketing purposes: "1 Million served in 2003."

Sweet the Keynote Speakerboxx

December 21, 2003

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2003--IDG World Expo today announced that Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO, will deliver the opening keynote address for Macworld Conference & Expo® San Francisco 2004 on Tuesday, January 6, 2004 at 9:00 a.m. Macworld will be held at San Francisco's Moscone Convention Center January 5-9, 2004.

"This is the biggest Macintosh community event of the year and we're looking forward to a great show," said David Korse, president of IDG World Expo. "We are thrilled that Steve is going to kick off Macworld with a keynote address."

The Beauty of Design

December 20, 2003

Look at the beauty, the sheer beauty, it is a great design, the bullet proof glass. oh yeah.

Google Search the Universities

December 20, 2003

Google Searches of Universities is a nifty little feature that Google offers free. You can search within the site exclusively. Who knows how this might help to find what food is offered. That is what I am most interested in, how will I eat at college? How will I get my food?

Also, there is an Apple Search and guess who is first when you search for "dcohen"? That is right? DCohen is the first!

Apple Updates Abundant

December 18, 2003

So, there are a lot of updates to talk about from Apple and the iTunes Music Store. Big thanks to MacMinute for the summaries. Besides updates to QuickTime and the Pro Apps (Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro), AOL and Apple have formed an alliance:

America Online and Apple today announced that AOL members can now preview, purchase and download songs available on AOL Music by simply clicking an iTunes button placed next to featured tracks. The iTunes button will immediately launch theiTunes Music Store and automatically select the featured track for preview or one-click purchase and download. In addition, AOL members can use their AOL Wallet or card-on-file to purchase and download songs from iTunes. Starting today, AOL is also offering iTunes Music Store customers the opportunity to purchase exclusive music from its popular music programs Sessions@AOL and Broadband Rocks

This thus invites Apple to release a new version of iTunes:

Apple has released iTunes 4.2, the latest version of its popular digital music application. Version 4.2 includes the ability to sign in and buy music from the iTunes Music Store using either an AOL or Apple Account, view the iTunes Music Store in a separate window, and offers a number of performance improvements.

And finally, Wal-Mart is testing an 88-cent online music service:

Wal-Mart on Thursday began a public test of its new88-cent-per-song online music service, which undercuts the 99-cent standard set by the iTunes Music Store. The world's largest retailer is offering "hundreds of thousands" of songs in Windows Media format. The songs can be transferred to compatible portable devices, burned to a CD or played on Windows-compatible PCs. Wal-Mart plans to officially launch the service in 2004

Also, the iTunes Music Store added an "Essentials" section which is basically just a bunch of mix CDs made by the people at the iTMS for people to purchase and such. The graphics are nice, I like the designs of the various artists. I am hoping that the new AOL+Apple Music thingy will help my stock price, as I am needing some new Smart Wool Socks

Fun with Amazon Images

December 16, 2003

So, I was recently looking for a way to get rid of the "30% off" things on the Amazon smaller pictures, and as I was looking at the URLs, I found a way to mess around with the images. I guess Amazon.com uses an image server that provides images based on URLs

so, here is the basic url : http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0811840603.01.50TRZZZZ.jpg

Notice the ".50TR"? That is where we will have our fun!

Now lets make it 99% percent off. Change the 50 to 99

Now lets make it 01% percent off. Change the 50 to 1. Also, we can change it from being in the right corner to the bottom left corner. Change TR to TL

Lets have fun with this image: http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00003CXC5.01._PE35_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Change the _SCMZZZZZZZ to _SCLZZZZZZZ (then if you change it to "_SCTZZZZZZZ" then it will be tinier) and PE35 to PE60

I found all these things out just be looking at the URLs, man, what a sad time to spend watching the Simpsons

PtIiM: iChats

December 13, 2003

So, I think this is a little site update thingy:

iChats Conversations are up, and have been up for a while. You can leave comments or whatever you want. A lot of them are with Lichman, I believe. So, check it out. I don't know if anyone noticed the link in the bottom of the sidebar. No, well, then I did a poor job.

Why IE needs to go to a home...

December 06, 2003

Windows IE has horrible support for web designers. Right now, the future of web design is CSS and XHTML. Separating the design and the code. Right now, WIN/IE does not support transparent PNGs. PNG is better than GIF because it allows more than one level of transparency, allowing for semi-transparent backgrounds of block elements or having navigation images that can change easily with a color redesign. (Notice the image to this post, it is a transparent PNG). Also, it does not support css text-shadowing, but few browsers do, so that is not something that is hindering web designers for designing for the future, although it would be nice to replace images. Now, I am not saying that Windows is a bad platform to view the internet on, but there are many better ones than WIN/IE. It really does not treat the idea of web standards well....

Good CSS Site

December 02, 2003

As mentioned on the Web Standard Project's site: Selectutorial. For anyone interested in learning how to make web pages for the future and not the past, check it out.

From the people who brought you the Listamatic, Listutorial and Floatutorial comes a new CSS tutorial called Selectutorial. In this new tutorial, Russ Weaklyorial explains the mysteryorials of CSS selectors and how you can go beyond the simple type selectors to take advantageorial of inheritance, pseudo classes and how to handle conflicts. Erm, ... orial. Seriously, the -tutorial series is excellent, and Selectutorial builds on the great articles already penned by the boys from Max Design. Highly recommended for people with a basic understanding of CSS who want to take things further.

Paying for Music

November 30, 2003

Ohkay, so everybody seems to like to make cracks about me buying my music, when you can get it for free off KazZa! I mean, who would want to pay for music , when you can get it for free. Because, it is stealing, eventually it is going to be harder to download music for free (stealing). . then there is the whole idea that eventually no one will buy cd's anymore because they are all expecting to get it for free of a P2P service, which won't happen. It might be harder to download music in college, as many universities have blocked the ports or otherwise have shut down abilities to use the services.... I will still buy CD's (sometimes for the special DVD's included with some), but if I just want the music. I can get the album art along with the songs, so I am not at a loss there.

So, is it right to steal? I don't care if it is over priced, or if the artists don't get all the money: is it right to steal? Is it right to take something that you have not received as a gift or purchased? Music is a luxury item, (is it right to steal bread for a starving family?), it is not necessary.

It'll be interesting to see what happens to movies when the time comes.......

Lingo, ALIVE!

November 29, 2003

So, the problem with my new iPod (which was the same to my OLD iPod) led me to call AppleCare this morning. After being on hold for 15 minutes (probably more) I got to speak to Dave who asked me a few questions about my iPod, and he went off to find some more information and put me on hold for 5 minutes. In that time. I found the culprit: Wild In The Streets by Bon Jovi from Slippery When Wet. It was missing a few letters from the artist, the song name was replaced with Japanese characters (which show up beautifully on Mac OS X) and the album name was equally messed up. I renamed the bad song, and updated the iPod. I waited on hold for another 2 minutes to tell Dave I had fixed the problem, and he said that was exactly what he was going to tell me to do. Lingo, ALIVE?

Lingo IS ALIVE!

Lingo, Dead?

November 28, 2003

Last night, Thursday night, I was going to use my iPod to listen to some tunes when suddenly: IT DID NOT WORK... IT would shut down when I was browsing, and it did not function right. I already was going to be going to the Apple Store at Tysons because of the rumored music related things that were going to go on. When I arrived next morning with my mother and grandmother, the Apple Store was advertising 10% off all iPods and iPod accessories. My iPod was dead. My grandmother was offering an early Chanukah present. What could I do? What would any sane kid who loves Apple do?

I asked for the 'Pod........

Not only was my grandma nice enough to get me a new iPod (20GB!) , she was in the mood to get one for my brother, and two of my cousins. The lady at the counter was very happy from my grandma's purchases. Along with that, I got my brother the wireless networking card he so desired to use around the UMich campus. So, I hung around the Apple Store (which was done with the month-long remodeling last week, and it looks nice, it was the first Apple Store opened) for TWO HOURS while my grandmother and mom went across to Tysons II and shopped. Elizabeth Barth showed up there with her dad, she was interested in getting an iBook, and left before my mom ran in to get me. She was illegally parked in a handicap zone with my grandmother in the car. So, how is the new iPod you ask? HOW THE FUCK IS IT?!

It has the same FUCKING PROBLEM THAT THE OLD ONE HAD LAST NIGHT! I am going to call Apple tomorrow and get the whole damn this straightened out... gad damn-it! Besides that, it looks cool, and I will have to get used to the new controls, it is better for listening to when I am walking because the buttons won't push against anything and I can still change songs easily...... Lingo, dead?

Lingo IS Dead.

Ginza my Binza

November 28, 2003

The Apple Store in Ginza, Tokyo, Japan is opening on Sunday. It is the first International Apple Store and the largest, towering with 5 floors of rich computery goodness. While it may not look different, It is really bitching!

More Than a Store
The Apple Store Ginza brings one of America’s most exciting new shopping experiences to Tokyo. Here you will find four full floors dedicated to Apple’s legendary products, including our full line of computers, the entire iPod family and the iSight web camera, as well as digital cameras and camcorders that work perfectly with a Mac.

Grand Opening
Be one of the first people to see the new Apple Store Ginza. We will be giving away commemorative t-shirts to the first 2,500 people who join us for the Grand Opening Celebration.

iTunes, iGot, iSteal?

November 27, 2003

I knew about how the guy who made the DeCSS decryption for Linux made this thing that also cracks the AAC Protection that Apple has on the iTunes Music Store stuff. And it pisses me off. It wont do anything to the Music Store, but it may cut out the sharing over the network of music libraries that iTunes offers...and it is a great feature too.

DeCSS did not hurt DVD sales at all, so I got a feeling this hack won't hurt the sales to the iTunes Music Store.

(track backing for trevor)

Double Crash

November 26, 2003

First of all, this is not a Pro-Apple, Anti-Microsoft Post:
Second of all, it is now being known that there are plans to use Microsoft Windows as the OS for Cars

The software maker has persuaded a number of carmakers to use its slimmed-down Windows CE operating system to power a variety of in-car electronics, from navigation systems to music players to information devices. BMW, in particular, has gravitated to Microsoft systems, although the company has announced wins with Honda, Volvo and others as well.

Now, I am just saying, with all the viruses that are made for Windows, and upgrades? I think it safe to keep cars running on mechanics and not along with an OS. What would one need to get an upgrade? What happens when there is a problem that needs an update? I don't want to be driving around in some HAL 3000.... Even if it was Apple (which I think would be limited to their own iCars, as they would not license anything....)....

In the past, it was a necessity to have the car controls linked directly to the mechanics. Now it is possible to have the steering and braking controls linked to a computer which sends out further messages to the car components. What advents do we need in cars that would require a computer to run them? Besides the REAL future: electric cars or some other alternative fuel. what else do cars need?

I think I am rambling in this post

START PRO-APPLE::: I would definitely not drive a car by Microsoft. Instead of a car jack, they would give it a virus to drive it to their hideout. Getting an appointment for service would take ever. And it would look like it was designed by a 10 year old with Photoshop 4 Dummiez.....

On the Snoop, I be

November 26, 2003

On Tuesday morning, i noticed none of the links were working at my favorited iTunes Music Store and I tipped off my favorite daily read of the mac world (not to be confused with MacWorld Expo and Conference) As the Apple Turns. In turn:

Meanwhile, the Apple Store's not the only thing that apparently experienced "technical difficulties" this morning; faithful viewer Danny Cohen was just the first of many to inform us that the iTunes Music Store had gone a little crazy, too. Reportedly all the song links were completely hosed, so that clicking on, for example, "Alice Cooper" would bring up the page for "Clay Aiken" instead. Well, okay, maybe that wasn't such a good example, since Alice and Clay are actually the same person, but you get the point: it's fixed now, but for hours the iTMS was in a state of utter chaos. So: wrong pricing promoted at the Apple Store, the iTMS in shambles... what could possiblyhave brought about such pandemonium at One Infinite Loop?

Yessir, I was the first person to tip them off to the fact that everything was fixed. My shining moment. Forget about the review of Guys and Dolls in the Northwest Current or the one appearing in tomorrows' Washington Post DC EXTRA.... This was my shining star as STAR JOURNALIST: DCO1 (mother-fuckers)

My Time Has Arriven

November 24, 2003

Prelude to Innovations in Motion is finally on the CiM Blog page

Next Stop, an XHTML and CSS based redesign........

On "Holiday Thymes at The Apple Store"

November 24, 2003

On response to my most recent post of when the Apple Store and Tysons Corner will be open during the holiday season, which some of you all have considered spamming around here.

I was merely trying to provide a schedule for everyone to know when they can go and get me presents for Thanksgiving/Chanukah/Word of the Day. If some of you thought it was an advertisement for the Apple Store, you were wrong. When was the last time I was pushing the iTunes Music Store? Have I even mentioned once the new 20 inch iMac or the upgraded PowerMac G5s..... NO! So, as you see, I was not "pushing it" or going too far with my love of Apple. I mean, yes, no one else is pushing their favorite brand or product (although I suspect a JRussell entry on Slurpees is not too far off) but this is my Weblog, a public journal. "Dear Diary, these are the times the Apple Store will be open during the Holiday Season."

I am not writing a review of the new 20 inch iMac or the upgraded PowerMac G5s, have not mentioned in great length the finds I have purchased on the iTunes Music Store.

I just want alls y'alls to know when you can go and get me he new 20 inch iMac, or the upgraded PowerMac G5s, or a gift certificate to the iTunes Music Store.

French Polynesia...

Holiday Thymes at The Apple Store

November 23, 2003

Just thought you all would like to know:

Tysons Corner
Nov 24 no change
Nov 25 no change
Nov 26 no change
Nov 27 Closed
Nov 28 9 am-10pm
Nov 29 9 am-10pm
Nov 30 10am-7pm
Dec 1 10am-9:30pm
Dec 2 10am-9:30pm
Dec 3 10am-9:30pm
Dec 4 10am-9:30pm
Dec 5 10am-10pm
Dec 6 10am-10pm
Dec 7 10am-8pm
Dec 8 10am-10pm
Dec 9 10am-10pm
Dec 10 10am-10pm
Dec 11 10am-10pm
Dec 12 10am-10pm
Dec 13 9am-10pm
Dec 14 9am-8pm
Dec 15 9am-11pm
Dec 16 9am-11pm
Dec 17 9am-11pm
Dec 18 9am-11pm
Dec 19 9am-11pm
Dec 20 9am-11pm
Dec 21 9am-11pm
Dec 22 9am-11pm
Dec 23 9am-11pm
Dec 24 9am-6pm
Dec 25 Closed
Dec 26 9am-9:30pm
Dec 27 10am-9:30pm
Dec 28 10am-6pm
Dec 29 10am-9:30pm
Dec 30 10am-9:30pm
Dec 31 10am-6pm
Jan 1 10am-6pm
Jan 2 no change
Jan 3 no change

DC Metro Bloggin'

November 23, 2003

Metro Blog Map!

interesting.... VERY interesting......

CSS 3: Shadow for Text

November 14, 2003

Now, the cool thing to note in this picture, is that the top "dco1" is a picture, but is embedded in CSS, yet, that is not the point....

THE AMAZINGEST THING OF THIS PICTURE is the fact that it is using CSS text-shadow to make the nice shadows (as this excerpt from the CSS shows) ALSO, the text at the bottom is slightly transparencied (RedGreenBlueALPHA!):::

text-shadow: 0px 2px 3px black;
color: rgba(255,255,255,0.9)

The SAD THING is that most browsers do not support this CSS function (text-shadow and opacity) yet. Apple's Safari browser does (which Is why I am able to see it and show this to you...)

Think of the implications, even fewer images would need to be downloaded because all the styling of headline text would be done through CSS!

Books on Web Pages, Completed

November 11, 2003

Designing with Web Standards and Web Design on a Shoestring have been completed (away school work!) and they have been good to read..

Designing with Web Standards was more useful than Web Design on a Shoestring because "Shoesting" talked about money, and databases and hosting and all that. And all I really want to learn more about standards (XHTML, CSS, DOM (no, no THAT kind of DOM Gabby and Trevor)).... it was useful

I am going web page creation CRAZY OVER HERE!!!!! OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG!!!!!!

Yeah, the books were good, I really liked Zeldman's Designing with Web Standards. I would suggest anyone who is interested in making a web page read it. It is very informative and great... OMG OMG OMG OMG...it is just good!

PhoPhoPhun Part 3

November 06, 2003

My sincere apologizes. The CS should had been shipped but it did not
actually ship until the 3rd. You should be getting it any day. Thanks for
your patience.

FINALLY!

I HAVE GOT IT!

Heh, Stupid Internet Personel

November 04, 2003

I urge all of you to go to this comment and read the last one. Notice how it makes no sense? Well, some of those words are actually supposed to be links, and the comment system of THIS blog does not support LINKS, so, uhm...yes...POO on YOU "levitra"

To give you some highlights of the words that are supposed to be high lighted:

>levitra , vioxx, ambien, celebrex ,propecia, soma , viagra ,phentermineletters

I just thought it was interesting that they would choose a post that far back..and so weird

unless, it was a computer that was doing it

Test this piece

October 30, 2003

Part III: Indians from the album "Back To The Future Trilogy" by Alan Silvestri Also, I got me some good books! Designing With Web Standard by Jeffrey Zeldman and Web Design on a Shoestring by Carrie Bickner

The Pestilince is Over

October 30, 2003

Hence forth, the Redesign of Ma$e's blog is appearing in theater's everywhere!

I hope the design captures the gritty new life he has found for his (Saved by the Bell the) college years, please post yer comments on it!

PhoPhoPhun Stalled

October 30, 2003

So, I wrote to ask why I did not get a tracking number for my Photoshop CS 8, And I get this back:

Actually, your product did not ship. The CS line of adobe products has not been released yet. They expect to release it sometime in November, but did not give an exact ship date. Sorry for the miscommunication.

Kind Regards,
Jackie Halpin-Rapp
Studica.com, a division of Torcomp, Inc.

GAH! I was so damn excited, and now I am so not damn excited, but angered. Because, I was prepared to wait, but when they said that it had shipped I got excited and in the mental state of receiving it soon. Damn it...

PhoPhoPhun

October 29, 2003

Clickee to Seeee

The Source

"Night of the Panther"

October 24, 2003

NOTE:: My strike is still going on, but I wrote this before I began it. You will not break me until I am SATISFIED!!!...also, this is the "Halloween Style Sheet." See how god damn dedicated I am? Give me SATISFACTION!!!

Today is the day, at 8pm EST, Panther shall be released. I will be heading to macUpgrades to get the Family Pack. As my mom has taken over the house, for a "party" (not parté), my pa' and I will be heading to Rio Grande Café, then to macUpgrades. I am very excited about Panther, for two main reasons. (1) The new features and (2) my system is in need of reinstallation, or upgrading that Panther would supply. My system, I visualize as, some sphere of glowing orb (colors that of Jaguar), that is dripping and has band-aids all over it. Many programs don't launch, I have to restart often. This is what I get for screwing and messing around with the OS, an unstable OS. So, right now, i just need to have everything backed-up for this MAJOR (10.2 -> 10.3) UPGRADE (as last time the simple "upgrade" option in Jaguar rendered my system "bad" and it would not launch, so I had to back up everything at midnight and go from there, I was under the impression everything was going to go every smoothly! ), and that means my pictures and music (all 5.32 GB)... So, hopefully all goes well, right? You don't want bad stuff for me, do you? I can't believe you! I can't believe you say stuff like that, I am hurt, like really hurt. That is just plain mean! So, yeah, I will probably be writing about my experience tonight, the meal, the installation and everything grand...grand! GRAND!!!! (yeah, four exclamation marks)

Sha La La

October 16, 2003

To save myself the trouble of typing, my good friend MacMinute has done it for me:

As expected, Apple today launched the second generation of its iTunes Music Store for both Mac and Windows users. The new iTunes Music Store, part of the iTunes 4.1 update, offers Windows users the same online music store that Mac users have come to appreciate -- with the same music catalog, the same personal use rights and the same US$0.99 cents-per-song pricing. "The iTunes Music Store has revolutionized the way people legally buy music online, and now it's available to tens of millions more music lovers with iTunes for Windows," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "While our competitors haven't even come close to matching our first generation, we're already releasing the second generation of the iTunes Music Store for Mac and Windows." iTunes is available as a free download for Mac OS X, Windows XP and Windows 2000.

So, Apple has released iTunes for Windows. iTunes is different from the iTunes Music Store which also is available for Windows. About this news, I am mixed. On one hand, it will get Apple more profits from the music downloads, but more importantly from people buying more iPod's (which sale are 140% up of from this time last year) and people on the Windows side will see how great using software and hardware is and will decide to Purchase a Mac. On the OTHER hand, this may just be the start of all the incentives to change to a Mac (the free iApps, like iMovie and such) disappearance... All in all, the stock is down a buck and a half, so I am glad that I sold half of mine two days ago. Another thing I am happy about today with all these music announcements, are the new "celebrity playlists" that Apple has gotten from musicians to put some of the music they like of others, and Ben Folds is on there, with some good music, like the Flaming Lips, they are good. I encourage all of you Windows people to at least try iTunes for it's powers as a music player, playlist manager, id3 tag editor, CD ripping program, CD burning program, music sharing over a network...the list just keeps on GOING!!! WHOAW!

About this Site, In-depth (Redeaux)

October 12, 2003

REDESIGN AND MY BIRTHDAY!!
Yeah, this is "Prelude to Innovations in Motion" 2.0, redesign with, what I believe is a much more simple, easy to view site. This is not to say the last one was bad, just that it was more show and after a while you just needed to read. So, I hope this one achieves the easiest way to read my posts. Comment on this, please. The biggest change is is that the whole site is now one ONE style sheet, and I can edit it over the browser, where as last time it was a more static thing, and really, well, I don't wanna talk about it, ohkay?

So, what this post used to say :

This is a more extended version of what is on that sidebar. This site was made using SubEthaEdit (for editing the design and css), Photoshop LE (for editing the graphics), and CSSEdit 1.0.1 (to simplify the creation of the css). The layout, design, color scheme were inspired by different sites, but brought together by moi, so it is all good. Remembered: Inspired, but no copied. Although, many people have heard the saying "good artists copy, great artists steal." There are two versions of this site, style.css and stylealt.css . If you are viewing a series of PNG's at the top of the screen, you are using style.css. If you are viewing one GIF at the top, you are using stylealt.css . Style.css , basically, is for Mac browsers that would support the outrageous CSS and standard PNG files with alpha level transparency. Internet Explorer for Windows, for some reason, refuses to display those items correctly, so I was forced either to scrap the word I had done or implement a nifty JavaScript feature to automatically detect if what browser a visitor would be on. Now, this bothers many web designers who would love to use PNGs as they support soft-shadows with alpha level transparency, instead of the either-transparent-or-not method of GIFs. But, until Microsoft realizes they are leaving an awesome open-source file format, this will have to continue!
There are some ever so pretty buttons and do-hickeys in the side bar: CiM Weblog declares the fact that this is a Cocaine in Motion Web Blog, and it is linked back. MT Powered is stating the fact that this blog is run by MovableType. XHTML and CSS Valid let the visitor know that this page is both XHTML and CSS valid by the W3C. Also, the XML Feed is you want to get the latest from an RSS feed on an Aggregator. The "What I am Reading" is something I believe is incredibly nifty.

Calculator Fun

October 10, 2003

So, I got the The TI Connectivity Kit which lets me connect my TI-83+ to my G4. It is pretty cool, I was able to put the Prelude to Innovations in Motion banner on the calculator. I think it if nifty, so stop yelling at me for a horrible entry...shut up

Re: Quality; Follow-up: 2944541

October 01, 2003

So, like, I got the new Ben Folds album,Sunny 16, from the iTunes Music Store yesterday morning. Now, at that time, the fifth song of the EP, Songs of Love, was not available yet, so I bought the first four songs. I download them, put them on my iPod and go to school. When I am listening to them at school, two of the songs, All U Can Eat and Rockstar, have these horrible skips and shit in them, so I am thinking that they did not transfer well to the iPod. So, I get home, and listen to the songs, and they crash iTunes . And, I mean, these are daft songs, and I am mad, because, you know, I paid for them. So, I write a note to the nice people at the iTunes Music Store:

Two of my songs have little skips/glitches on my iPod. Yet, the worst part is is that those skips/glitches translate into "CRASH THE iTUNES, IT IS EVIL" on my Mac. What happens, is that the songs plays for about a minute, and then when it gets to the troubled part, it will play, skip a few seconds, and then crash, and I get the same old dialog. So, really I have two daft songs. Can I please re-download them, please

So, during the day today, this dude from Apple calls my house, when I am not there, so he leaves his e-mail address. I get home, e-mail the dude and then read a note from "The iTunes Music Store Team":

Which songs are affected with this issue? Please reply to this message with the title, artist and album and we will test them on our end. If we discover an issue with the sources, we will be able to resolve the issue before you download them again.

So, I tell them the songs that are problematic. In less than an hour, I am sending this message back:

Thanks for fixing the problem, I checked to see if I had downloaded all my purchased songs, and the album started to download again! I deleted the bad songs. Thanks, it was very easy, iTunes was smart, good way to fix the problem, thank you very much again.

YES, everything is fine now. I, just to do it, went to "Check for Purchased Music" and lo-and-behold, they were downloading. Now, after that, I get a message back from the Music Store:

Our records indicate that All U Can Eat and Rockstar were never completely downloaded on order M#######.
From time to time, an attempt to purchase a song may result in an error message or the song may not download completely. The download process should resume, at no additional cost to you, after you restart your computer and reopen iTunes.
If a download does not resume after restart as expected, choose Check For Purchased Music from iTunes' Advanced menu.

JUST NOW, I have gotten e-mail from the dude whose e-mail I got earlier, it seems he was the nice person who allowed me to re-download the songs:

I have re-granted downloads for the Ben Folds EP purchase you made. My thinking is that your downloads are probably corrupt.
Please remove the current files from your Music folder and then select Check from Purchased Music under the Advanced menu. This should initiate a new download of the songs. If the freshly downloaded songs exhibit the same issue, please let me know. And if you could provide a log from the Console application of the crash, that would be very helpful. (If you need help with this, let me know.)
Thanks for your help and sorry for the difficulties.

So, it seems that those songs were not downloaded fully in the first place, or they were corrupted, but who knows what happened (I think that somehow they got corrupted). All I know is that they fixed the problem, and very nicely too, it is true that people are generally true, and nice, like, even though they are being paid, some people can just be mean, right? But, most people, they are nice people.

Originallity is still a virtue, right?

September 27, 2003

So, yes, Dell is at it again. Making a BREAKTHROUGH. Not yet, has a computer company, or anyone for that matter, made a digital music player with large capacity, long battery life, and easy to use controls nor has anyone ventured into Online Music Store country. The "Dell Music Store," (where'd they get that name?), will be offering "thousands of music selections and allows seamless, legal downloading of songs."

Now, if you could not tell already, I am being sarcasitc. Dell has always been the company to watch what the others are doing, and jump on the band wagon instead of innovating. They claimed to have the frontiersmen of the wireless laptop, among other things. The "Dell DJ" and "Dell Music Store" are the lamest things out there. Right now, the iPod is the number one digital music player out there, despite the high price, and how is a late comer like Dell going to do anything? iTunes for Windows will be coming out before the end of the year, and it is rumored much earlier, at a suspected Apple Special Event on October 24th that will also feature the release (or release date) of Panther, Apple's next OS release, and along with iTunes for Windows will be iTunes MUSIC STORE for Windows...
What Dell is doing is trying to get into the areas that the computer world is not currently penetrating, which is all that one can do at this time. MacCentral's story includes a notice of "Dell also introduced its own 17-inch wide-format LCD TV; the 'Dell Media Experience' application, media center control software that will be added to its Dimension desktop line; the Axim X3 handheld and a digital projector." You cannot blame anyone for trying, but you can blame them for copying a great idea of a Digital Music Player and Store. All in all, Apple released a statement today:

"It appears that Dell is re-branding one of the second-tier music services that will be announced soon, just like they are re-branding Creative's MP3 player. There is little original here," Apple's statement said

Also, there have been many notices of the new Apple Logo in the most recent build of Panther sent out to developers. There is all this talk about the new logo, whether or not it will be used everywhere around Apple, or just in the new OS. There is discussion on if people like it or not, lest we forget when Apple ditched the color-striped Apple for the monochromatic one we know now. I don't think that it would be used every where, as it would be hard to reproduce such a detailed logo for print on paper and software packages. Also, then there would be a need to retool the Apple Store signage. I am going on the record saying that the new Apple Chromo Logo will not be used in wide circulation.Yet, there seems to be a comment from Apple, so there is not sure way to know what are the facts that are fine to print.

About This Site, In-depth

September 25, 2003

This is a more extended version of what is on that sidebar. This site was made using SubEthaEdit (for editing the design and css), Photoshop LE (for editing the graphics), and CSSEdit 1.0.1 (to simplify the creation of the css). The layout, design, color scheme were inspired by different sites, but brought together by moi, so it is all good. Remembered: Inspired, but no copied. Although, many people have heard the saying "good artists copy, great artists steal." There are two versions of this site, style.css and stylealt.css . If you are viewing a series of PNG's at the top of the screen, you are using style.css. If you are viewing one GIF at the top, you are using stylealt.css . Style.css , basically, is for Mac browsers that would support the outrageous CSS and standard PNG files with alpha level transparency. Internet Explorer for Windows, for some reason, refuses to display those items correctly, so I was forced either to scrap the word I had done or implement a nifty JavaScript feature to automatically detect if what browser a visitor would be on. Now, this bothers many web designers who would love to use PNGs as they support soft-shadows with alpha level transparency, instead of the either-transparent-or-not method of GIFs. But, until Microsoft realizes they are leaving an awesome open-source file format, this will have to continue!
There are some ever so pretty buttons and do-hickeys in the side bar: CiM Weblog declares the fact that this is a Cocaine in Motion Web Blog, and it is linked back. MT Powered is stating the fact that this blog is run by MovableType. XHTML and CSS Valid let the visitor know that this page is both XHTML and CSS valid by the W3C. Also, the XML Feed is you want to get the latest from an RSS feed on an Aggregator. The "What I am Reading" is something I believe is incredibly nifty.