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Featured Ode: Macbook Pro Woes

Aviv — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:47:52 +0000

Macbook Pro Woes

Oh, Macbook Pro.
How I’ll miss you so.
The end is near I know,
And then you’ll have to go.

You served me for 3 years,
Sometimes brought me to tears,
the photoshop beach balls,
I have in my nightmares.

My Final Cut has stalled,
I think I’ve hit a wall,
I’d kill for SSD,
Macbook Pro Woe is Me.

They say that soon you’ll get,
an overhaul I bet.

“Give me that keyboard! Make me thin!”
I here you screaming as they grin,
“Why just him?” you wonder loud, getting hot, nearly implode.

“He’s just Air, so thin, no meat!” “And soon i’ll have him beat !”

Oh Macbook Pro I hope you’re right,
Because I can’t take this fight.
I want the Air but not like this, to cheat on you is not my wish.
You’re getting old, I’m getting scared, that soon you just won’t compare.

The reasoning when Steve will say,
they wanted to keep you this way,
Until this one magical day,
when all of us will gasp and pray…

Steve, won’t you drop this bomb,
This has gone on for way too long,
This hatch closure’s just all wrong, the keyboard’s old, needs to be gone.

Just tell us what we need, you claim to know better than we.
Please release a Macbook Pro, and cure my oh so nerdy woes.

Disclaimer: We know this is extreme nerdism at its best. Apple user whining about products again… big deal…But, it was just too good. We had to post it.

[Feature] SMS Popup Messages Lead to Ruined Birthday Party; Angry Boss and Pissed Off Girlfriend

Aviv — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:32:07 +0000

This past weekend, we had the privilege of hearing one of the most hilariously unfortunate iPhone stories we’ve ever heard. I know what you’re thinking, some sort of hardware issue, bad reception or an iPhone 3G problem, but no. Far worse, this story revolves around the tiny little SMS bubble that pops up when you get a new message.

When you receive an SMS message from somebody on your iPhone, in most cases, a preview of that message will pop up to the front of the screen.

If you go into Settings > General > Passcode Lock, you have the option to turn those SMS previews off. But then they’re always off. What if you want to use them sometimes, but you don’t want them to show up when you’re using certain applications? As an iPhone owner, I’d like the ability to do this.

The following happened to our friend (we’ll just call him) “Derek” this past weekend, nearly ruining his life.

1. Ruined Surprise: Thursday, August 7, 2008

Derek was driving with a couple of friends to a surprise get-together. The person who’s surprise birthday party it was, was sitting in the front seat of his car. Derek was the person in charge of keeping this a secret, and his friend, who’s in the car, knows nothing about this surprise birthday party.

On the way to the event, Derek and the rest of the people in his car, somehow lost the directions and wound up in an unfamiliar area. Naturally, everyone in the car turned to Derek and said “Doesn’t your iPhone have GPS?” so he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it to the person in the front seat.

Now this person opened up the Maps application and started plugging away to get directions to the “Address” that she’d been given, (She doesn’t know what’s going on there, because she is the one who’s birthday it is), but she finds their current location and pinpoints the destination, and starts properly navigating. Now I know what you may be thinking as you’re reading this…”Why would Derek give this person the phone? You’ve got other people in the car, let them do it!” Well, in moments of chaos, such as this, people don’t always think clearly. Handing the iPhone to the person in the front seat (who you trust with using the Maps application), is a natural reaction. Trying to remember that the oh-so annoying SMS screen may popup while he’s staring at the Maps application is another.

Of course, I can assume you know where this is going. Derek’s iPhone got an SMS message saying precisely the following, “What Time is Kat’s Surprise Birthday Party Stuff Going on Tonight?” while the device was in Kat’s hands because she was navigating with the iPhone GPS and Google Maps.

Surprise Party Ruined. Kat finds out. Only 10 minutes before the party.

2. Laura Gets Derek on His Boss’ Shit-List: Friday, August 8, 2008

A little disappointed from the night before, but hey, it’s Friday! Derek gets up and goes to work.

As he plugs away at his computer, checking things off one-by-one, he feels great. Lunch time rolls around and he cleans out his desk and steps out to get some Subway, (What, it’s the healthy option! $5 footlongs people!). When he gets back from work there’s a more relaxed atmosphere in the office, as so happens on Friday afternoons. As 6pm rolls around, he finishes up his work and shuts down his computer.

As his boss walks over to Derek’s desk, he asks him one final question before he leaves for the weekend “Hey Derek, can you show me the email that Jerry sent over about an hour ago? I haven’t gotten a chance to look at the numbers before I head out. You got it up?” Knowing that the email is the third one down from the top of his inbox, Derek whipped out his shiny iPhone and hit the Mail Application, navigated to the email and handed his boss the iPhone.

At the moment Derek was telling us this story, we knew exactly what was going to happen…again. Derek explained to us that “the second he handed his boss the iPhone, a sickening feeling entered his stomach and he thought to himself ‘No Way Can Anything Like This Happen Again.”

Precisely 10 seconds after his boss took the iPhone from his hands, Derek’s girlfriend sends him what she thought was a really sweet message, “Thank God today is over. Can’t wait to see you at home. I’m so glad you don’t have to see your piece of shit boss for Two Whole Days!!!”

Uh Oh.

Derek heard the iPhone SMS beep right as he handed his boss the phone. He looked at his boss’ eyes, and could sense the anger. His boss handed him the iPhone and walked away.

Weekend Ruined. Possible Job Lost.

3. Laura Sees Amanda’s Text From The Night Before: Friday Evening, August 8, 2008

At this point, allow us to clarify… Derek has officially turned ON the passcode and turned OFF SMS previews. He is now living with this annoying passcode screen interfering with his text messages.

When Derek got home, he was still rather shocked from what has just happened. He walked in and met Laura (his girlfriend) and didn’t know how to explain. After trying to wind down for a few minutes, Derek showed Laura his iPhone’s SMS screen, of the text that she sent him about his boss, that could’ve potentially gotten him fired, (we still don’t know). While she was looking at his screen, she noticed the text from Derek’s ex-girlfriend Amanda, who texted Derek “It was fun seeing you at Kat’s Birthday Party Last Night! Will I see you again soon?”

At this point, like most of you would, we were so shocked, we kinda stopped believing Derek, so we asked him to show us his iPhone. We took screenshots of his iPhone (and told Derek we just HAD to post this on MacBlogz), he said he didn’t care.

I know some of you may be saying, “Are you serious? You can turn on an SMS passcode so the iPhone will ask you for a passcode before showing you a preview of the message. Why didn’t he just do that?”

Well, these three experiences are all from Derek. All of them involve that little bubble that pops up with a preview of the message on their screen. And Derek hates having to type a passcode every single time he gets a text message.

Apple has given us, and Derek no other options here.

To prevent stories like this ever happening again, we propose that Apple should implement an App Specific SMS Passcode, where you can turn on and off this SMS preview bubble, based on what Application you are currently using. For example, when the Maps application is being used, the SMS preview won’t show up. Or the same for the Email application. Perhaps you could assign the people you want that bubble to show up for, or not show up for.

We need more options with our SMS passcode options. Derek is living proof of why.

[video] How do you like them Apples? One nerd’s quest to find something to write about.

Aviv — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 17:38:44 +0000

Earlier this week I set out on a quest to find the most irrelevant, OCD, and downright fanboyish post ever.

Here it is:

Below is a video clip from the Apple Special Event in August 2007 in which Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the all-new, redesigned aluminum iMac and the new features in iLife ‘08, iWork ‘08, and .Mac. Keep your eyes and ears peeled (turn up your speakers) around the 18 second mark of the video.

When Steve demos the new iMovie, he shows the crowd different resolution options for them to output their home movies in. Towards the end of the demo, as he shows the “large” resolution option, you can blatantly hear the girl yell “How do you like them apples?” as she swings from the rope.

Give it a listen. It’s rather amusing.

PS: If any of you can find any news as earth shattering as this, please send it in.

iTunes gets Rock Blocked.

Dave — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:19:08 +0000

Rap/rocker turned wannabe country singer Kid Rock is boycotting iTunes by refusing to put up his albums, claiming that artists are not receiving adequate payment. Kid Rock is one of the few remaining artists, along with Garth Brooks, The Beatles, and AC/DC to holdout negotiations with iTunes.

He claims that the payment process is “an old system, where iTunes takes the money, the record company takes the money, and they don’t give it to the artists.”

Despite his absence from the iTunes market, his most recent album, Rock and Roll Jesus, went to number 1 on the U.S. charts. While some may think that he is trying to portray a righteous stick-it-to-the-man attitude, don’t hold your breath.

“I will be on iTunes eventually because I can’t avoid it, but I like to always stick to my guns and prove a point and do something original and because I believe in it.” So…looks like his guns maybe running low on ammo.

The rocker said he was losing 10-20% of album sales by not being on iTunes, but added: “I’ve just sold a million records, I’m not really feeling that blow.”

Maybe he’ll be the next join the celebrity turned politician club with that flip-floppy attitude.

Full article here.

[video] iPhone to control unmanned aerial vehicles.

Dave — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 23:24:12 +0000

The University of California, Berkley’s, Center for Collaborative Control of Unmanned Vehicles (C3UV) has recently developed a system to control a fleet of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) using the iPhone to develop tasks, set coordinates, and send orders. While this development certainly carries with it an element of intrigue, as one person could control multiple aircraft simultaneously, yet Wired notes that the clause in the SDK agreement clearly states that “autonomous control of vehicles, aircraft, or other mechanical devices,” is prohibited. This could certainly put a damper on the future of this type iPhone technology.

via Gizmodo.

What’s Inside Carrie Bradshaw’s MacBook Pro?

Dave — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:04:05 +0000

Set for the upcoming release of the Sex and the City movie on May 30th, a viral campaign has been released to explore the inner workings Carrie Bradshaw’s (lead character of Sex and the City) MacBook Pro. “Carrie Bradshaw’s MacBook Pro” allows visitors and fans of the show to explore the virtual desktop of the famous fashionista.

Re-created in Flash, users can explore a multitude of folders and applications such as her Stickies, iCal, and iChat. Seeing as how Carrie has been using a mac since the beginning of the show’s creation, I’m rather surprised that she’s using a Macbook Pro and not a Macbook Air. It seems as though the Air would do everything she wants, like fit in her little fashion purse. I guess she heavily relies on the optical disc drive. Either way, we’re stoked she uses a mac.

Check it out here.

Old Apple Goodness

Dave — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:47:07 +0000

Heres one from the vaults…enjoy!!

iTunes Ad Lands Ting Tings on Top 100

Dave — Thu, 08 May 2008 21:36:17 +0000

Billboard.com has recently reported that the U.K based group, The Ting Tings, has recently seen a dramatic surge in popularity and sales over the past week, with their single “Shut Up and Let Me Go,” featured in the new iPod/iTunes commercial launched on April 27. Due to the ads popularity, the single has managed to debut at #93 on the Billboard top 100 this week. Sales from the single have soared from 1,100 previous to the ads debut, to a staggering 24,000 following it, an increase of 2181 percent.

Billboard.com notes that artists typically see a drastic increase in profile and sales after being featured on an Apple commercial. Yael Naim, famous for her “New Soul” single featured in the Macbook Air commercial, sold 134,000 copies in the first 2 weeks of it’s release date. Similar figures had been boasted by Canadian artist, Feist, for her single, “1234″ with a sales increase of 586 percent.

This proves that if you, as a band, can manage to dip your hand into Apple’s magical bucket, it will instantly turn to gold.

HTC Releases iPhone Rival

Dave — Tue, 06 May 2008 19:38:10 +0000

Today, HTC Corp. unveils its flagship phone, the Touch Diamond, the latest in a number of competitors to take aim directly at the iPhone market. Running Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS, general interest from the Apple community may be stifled, yet shows the tenacity and lengths that opponents are taking to dip their hand in the share of the market.

The Diamond boasts a slightly smaller body at 102 x 51 x 11.33mm compared to the iPhone at 115 x 61 x 11.6mm . It also carries with it a smaller (2.8″), yet higher resolution screen (640×480), compared to its Apple predecessor at 320×480. As a single touch device, the majority of its design has been focused on its 3D interface dubbed TouchFlo 3D, providing 3 dimensional animated access to people, messaging, email, photos, music, weather…etc. It also utilizes a front mounted 3.2 MP camera, with integrated video calling, a feature that has been rumored to to be set in place in the next generation iPhone.

The Touch Diamond utilizes HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and HSUPA wireless connectivity, replacing the default MObile Internet explorer with Opera to provide an enhanced internet experience. Some other features on the Diamond Include, accelerometer, GPS, Youtube App, and Google Maps.

The Touch Diamond becomes available to European consumers in June, and North America in the second half of 2008.

MacBlogz says Hello world!

admin — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:13:43 +0000

Welcome to MacBlogz.com. This is OUR FIRST POST EVER !!! Yes, we are still in development, but… we couldn’t help ourselves !!! It’s Alive !!! Related posts:Zero down time for Macblogz server migration! New features coming very soon.[world map update] Optus and Telstra announce 3G iPhone pricing in Australia.New “Post Snap” Navigation Feature on MacBlogz Related posts: