Intersting developments on the Apple and Google front, two companies whose products I am very fond of. Eric Schmidt the CEO of Google has joined the Apple board. As many people are saying, the products from this union will be very intersting. I wont even begin to speculate on what this will lead to.
For the past few months I've been hearing more and more about "Bump Keys" - they allow you to open 90% of the deadbolt locks used today in a cheap and simple manner. This is potentially dangerous information, but I guess its case of the crooks already knowing about it, and by making the public more informed about the danger of Bump Keys people will be more careful. Read more in the article linked below to learn how easy it is for someone to break into your house with two very simple and cheap items, a special key called a "Bump Key" and a hammer like looking thing.
Link: The Lockdown: Locked, but not secure (Part I) - Engadget.
For the past few months as I've started using more and more of the Google applications like Gmail I've been getting increasingly disillusioned with .Mac. For those that don't know, .Mac is Apple's paid service that offers a number of features which can be obtained at a higher quality and cheaper cost (free) from Google.
The article linked has a nice point by point comparison of Gmail vs. .Mac, but more importantly the writer discusses a number of "hacks" that further enhance the utility of gmail - such as GTDGmail Firefox extension that let you use labels quicker. gdisk - an application for Macs that lets you use your gmail account as a online hard drive and Google Browser Synch, which lets you synchronize bookmarks across multiple Apple and Windows computers.
Link: .Mac's slow death - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).
For the past 3 months I have been using the Sony W810i Walkman Phone and I have to say its totally changed the way I feel about integrated devices. The Camera on the phone actually works great! The music player is a pleasure to use, but a little clunky at times when it comes to the number of steps you have to take to listen to music. This post is about the rumored Apple Phone, seeing the value of having an integrated Phone / Music player has gotten me realy excited about seeing what Apple has to offer.
The article linked below talks more about the rumors of the Apple Phone.
Thanks to the Da Vinci Code there has been a renewed interest in the Golden Ratio. This blog talks about some of the facts and myths surround the number. A good read for people that are interested in math, architecture or the Golden Ratio.
Link: Good Math, Bad Math : φ, the Golden Ratio.
Please note: Photo taken from Here.
Consumers hanker for the biggest mega-pixel number when searching for a digital camera. The camera industry has also promoted this thinking since it's an easy way to get people to upgrade their camera's. The article linked below has a good description of exactly where the Megapixel number fits into the overall scheme of picture quality. If you are thinking of purchasing a camera, or just interested in this kind of stuff then a good read.
Link: The Megapixel Myth.
I was recently thinking of getting a webcam for my Mac Powerbook, but I wasn't too keen on the iSight. Since I use a PC at work I wanted to get something that allowed me to use the camera with both a Mac and a PC - well in my searches I found this link that talks about a program that lets you do just that.
Let me start out by saying I am a huge Bose fan, admittedly that may be because I'm also a sucker for good marketing campaigns. Sometimes you just want to believe in a product, and that is how I feel about Bose. I've owned a couple of their Wave radios, upgrading each time they come out with a new model. My home theater system is a Bose 3-2-1 and someday I aspire to have a job where I fly around alot so I can purchase a set of noise cancelling headphones.
Having said all this, I am also open to people that say Bose is not all its hyped to be. In fact instead of the Bose Wave Radio I now have a set of Klispch speakers built for the iPod that I love. The link below is information that anyone considering purchasing a Bose system should read, I'd still purchase a Bose if it were me, but being an informed consumer is always a good thing!
So this is defintely my favorite article of the month - it combines a little bit of old technology with a little bit of new to create a apple computer powered by a steam engine! The piece was created by artists Jeremy Deller and his collaborator Alan Kane for Turner Contemporary and will be presented in
specific outdoor locations in Kent with partner organisations on
weekends in July and August 2006.
Link: Guardian Unlimited Arts | Arts news | Art brings steam power to the digital revolution. via Engadget
Great article on the .Mac services provided by Apple. For those who may not be aware, for $99 a year Apple provides .Mac users with a number of services that are integrated with the Apple computers. For example, you can automatically backup your Apple computer hard drive on their servers, publish web pages, check email, sync multiple computers etc.
For the past 2 years (since I've had my Apple laptop) I have been a subscriber to the service though recently I have found myself using their services less and less, using instead free services such as gmail. I also use Typepad for my blogs which is not free but is much faster and intuitive as compared to .Mac. If Apple does not change the quality of the services offered it might be difficult for me to justify paying the $99 next year.
Read Om's article for a more in depth analysis of .Mac.
Link: GigaOM : dotMAC, Time For A Makeover?.
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