Microsoft is now a panhandler

Okay, so I knew it was out there but had never seen direct evidence of it before.



The clearest evidence I've seen yet that proves Microsoft has no taste. None whatsoever.

Apple MacBook Update Rumors Are Kinda Lame

Seth Weintraub at Computerworld has posted some rumored details of Apple's forthcoming portable refresh.

Please pass the Nodoze. Maybe if they could replace the entire keyboard with a glass surface that would morph into whatever input device required. Garageband? You get a mixing board. iPhoto? you get a standard keyboard with a set of photo editing controls - sliders, dials, etc.

If this is simply a glass trackpad with some of the same lame gestures that appear on MBA, I'll pass. Wake me up when the real revolution comes to town. Seriously, is this Apple's idea of next-gen tech that their competitors simply can't compete with?

Anything less than direct manipulation of objects on the screen is gimmicky at best. When are we going to move beyond detached and remote pointing devices and into a computing experience that lives up to the promise of iPhone OS?

How To Put iPhone Into Recovery Mode

If you reach the point where your iPhone will no longer get past the start screen, as mine did this morning, you have a powerful option.  Put your iPhone into recovery mode.  Here's what you do:

1.  Hold down home and sleep buttons until you see the phone power down.

2.  As soon as it powers down, let go of the sleep button but continue to hold the home button for a couple of seconds.

3.  Once you have verified that it is completely powered down, hold down the home button while connecting to your computer.

After a couple of seconds, you will see the iTunes logo and USB cable appear on your phone.  iTunes will prompt you to restore the phone.  From there, you should be golden.  Hope it works out!

Google Gears Updated For FireFox 3.0.1

Many thanks to Basil Hashem for pointing out to me that Gears has already been updated for FF 3.0.1 compatibility. He's got some more great info on his blog detailing extensions and FF versions.

Firefox 3.0.1 Breaks Google Gears

I almost pulled the trigger on this and was thankful that I was informed of the following ahead of time:

I've come to rely heavily upon Google Docs offline so this would have been fairly ugly for me, at least on this laptop.

Starbucks Misses Me, Lures Me Back With Vivanno

So I had pretty much broken my unhealthy Starbucks relationship. I haven't had a caffeinated beverage in over a month now and my wallet is smiling a bit more as well. So much for that. Starbucks is now selling high protein smoothies in a product they're calling Vivanno. I haven't tried Vivanno yet so I can't say much about it other than I like the name. I do know that I'll be trying this one first:

Orange Mango Banana Blend with Matcha Green Tea powder (250 calories, 16g protein, 5g fiber, 2g fat, 45% daily value of Vitamin C)

Microsoft In A Gunfight...They've Brought Toy Guns

Microsoft groupie Mary-Jo Foley has a post on her "All About Microsoft" blog asking if the empire should strike back against Apple's marketing campaign. Personally, I don't think Microsoft is in the position to "strike back". Any sort of lashing out they do will be perceived by an already leery public that they're just being big, bad bully Microsoft. Honestly, I don't believe that Microsoft is even capable of countering Apple's campaign given that they simply don't have a compelling consumer product to build it around. At the end of the day, their biggest hindrance is that they can offer no objects of lust. Apple's product line is jam-packed with sexy.

Microsoft is a software company, writing mainly business applications. While software can be sexy, Office is not. Windows is not. We're not talking about gaming consoles or mp3 players so this campaign has to be about their computing experience. Without using venom against their competitors while placing focus on their product, what's their story going to be? Windows One Care is the way to go? Live! is amazingly amazing? You're gonna love the gadget bar in Vista? Our start menu is shiny? There are thousands and thousands of programs...and viruses...written for Windows Vista?

Just Say Shazam For World Peace

So I settled an argument today using my iPhone. Up for debate was the culprit behind a sticky sweet pop song that only Belinda Carlisle and the Cavity Creeps would be proud of. Just as things started to get heated, out pops mah iPhone with it's newfound powers of Shazam. I simply told Shazam to take a listen and within seconds we were able to finger the offender - Kelly Clarkson singing "Behind These Hazel Eyes". Boom. My iPhone is now a musical know-it-all. For free.

MobileMe: Squash One Bug And 3 More Creep In

So I'm now able to get to my mail via web. We're making some progress. Unfortunately, I'm not able to use my contacts in mail. I'm really thankful that I'm still in my trial period. Here's hoping that they continue to shake out the issues in the coming weeks.

Taco Redux Casserole

So tonight I got all crafty and decided to actually do something with the leftover taco parts. Here's how the story goes:


Mixed leftover taco meat with more browned ground beef.
Added some cilantro and salsa seasoning.
Made 3 cups of Jasmine rice.
In a casserole dish, I filled the bottom with a layer of rice.
I topped the rice with a layer of crushed taco shells.
I topped the taco shells with a layer of Mexican shredded cheddar cheese.
I topped the cheese with leftover pico de gallo.
I topped the pico de gallo with another layer of cheese.
I topped it all off with the meat and another layer of cheese.
Baked it in the oven at 380 for 25 minutes.
Served it on a bed of lettuce, topped with sour cream.

Subtle New iTunes Feature?

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it would appear that one of my biggest peeves with iTunes has been corrected in 7.7. Previously, if I were using album or coverflow views and I clicked to browse mode (formerly known as the eye of Mordor), I would be switched to a 2 pane view with the browse nav in the top pane and a flat list view on the bottom. Now it seems to honor the view you were using:

The Sideline Perspective

Today is the first major Apple release that didn't have me running for the Apple store. I have to say that for once, I'm totally okay with it. The iPocalypse aside, I was quite content to spend last night with my "new" iPhone. The 2.0 software + AppStore was all that I imagined it to be and more. I spent a good part of last night feeling like a kid on Christmas morning, ripping through present after present with the attention span of a gnat.

My favorite so far? It's a close tie between the new Twitter app, MIM and the lightsaber.

"Game Changing" New iPhone Game Coming

Amazing new iPhone game coming next week. This by itself is more exciting to me than the new hardware or any enhancements to the software. I mean you actually reach in and build bridges and walkways for your characters with your friggin fingers. It's called Rolando and it's developed by Handcircus.

Duh: Intel disappointed with Apple over iPhone chip choice

Forbes says that Intel is "disappointed" with Apple over it's iPhone chip choice. Well duh. Apple is great at learning for growth in areas that are somewhat foreign to them. This is Apple's MO. Work really closely with a company in an industry that they don't have experience in. Turn around in a couple of years and apply what they've learned coupled with their own engineering smarts to do it themselves even better.

Remember the ROKR project with Motorola? Fact finding mission for Apple.

Heck, remember the PARC visits? The rest is Macintosh history.

Apple has it's own really, really small, low-powered chip design IP now in PA Semi. My guess is that they've learned quite a bit about the ins and outs of the silicon business over the past 3 years in working with Intel to design groundbreaking board and chip configurations. Just take a peek at the MacBook Air for reference.