MyMac.com Podcast 36
You can download this episode in MP3 format from THIS LINK. You can also find and subscribe to this podcast via Apple’s iTunes Music Store Podcast section at this link.
This podcast is sponsored by Small Dog Electronics, and RamJet.com.
This week, Tim and Chad look at the main news items in the Macintosh and iPod world, thanks to MacMinute.com. The focus segment this week: Mac mini Assesories. Thinking of buying a Mac mini? Here are some items that can take the mini to new heights!
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Assorted Griffin Technology Gear
Company: Griffin Technology
http://www.griffintechnology.com
Some products deserve a full review, a few pages of observations, exploration, explanations, and the like. For other products, not so much. So here is a quick review of a few products from Griffin Technology that they sent our way for review.
AirBase
Price: $24.99
Do you have an Airport Express? If so, don’t you just hate how the power plug is actually attached to the Airport Express itself? Say you want to plug it into the same power strip that your home stereo receiver is on. It may fit, but you’ll have to leave the plugs on either side empty. For me, I wanted to plug it into the amplifier itself where there are two switched power outlets so when the unit is turned on, it also powers up any device plugged in to these plugs as well. However, with the Airport Express plugged in there, gravity wanted to pull it back out, and it also stuck out the side of the amplifier. A yucky situation any way you look at it.
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A needy family member requested help obtaining an inexpensive Macintosh computer. Barbara decided to give him her aging workhorse G3 “Pismo” PowerBook during our current summer vacation, and worry later about replacing it.
Research led me to the new 14” G4 iBook, with no special need for a Super Drive. The $1300 full retail price was higher than we wanted to spend, so David Weeks offered to help us look for a bargain iBook after vacation time.
David usually purchases refurbished or reconditioned or similar new-but-not-super-expensive computers, and that thought lingered as my research concluded. With ten minutes of free time in the Corte Madera Apple Store a few days ago, I had the following conversation with J. R., a pleasant sales associate:
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MyMac.com Podcast 35
Download the MP3 file from here.
Our iTunes Music Store Podcast listing is here.
This episode is sponsored by Continue reading »
SmallDog.com
RamJet.com
Mora Black’s reliable, mission-critical Windows laptop crashed, and she lost all her data. She is self-employed, so she was devastated, not having backed up her drive.
Local tech support in Albuquerque (not the end of the world) took several hundred dollars of her hard-earned cash, with no positive results whatsoever. Mora mentioned this in passing, as part of an email message asking for a copy of a contract I had downloaded months ago from her web site.
I directed her to DriveSavers, the premier data recovery service. You can learn about this California company here and in a recent New York Times feature. Make sure you read the conclusion of this article, where DriveSavers’ founder admits to never backing up his own computers. No comment.
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Griffin EarJams
Company: Griffin Technology
http://www.griffintechnology.com
As I stated in a review of another iPod Shuffle product, there was one primary reason that I finally joined the iPod craze and bought myself an iPod Shuffle. I run. Three or four times a week, I run 2 miles, sometimes a bit more if I’m really on a good run day. The reason that I wanted an iPod was that I was tired of carrying my portable digital CD player or my “sport” portable tape cassette player or wearing the headphone radio that I constantly had to turn my head sideways to get a station that I could listen to somewhat clearly while I was running.
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MyMac Podcast 34
Download the show in MP3 format here.
Our show on iTMS link.
Small Dog Electronics and RamJet.com sponsor this podcast. Please be sure to visit both sites before downloading and listening to this podcast.
This week, Chad and Tim introduce our new, all original intro music. Created by the multi-talented Kevin Reeves. It is hard to put into words just how much we here at MyMac appreciate his time and effort to create for us this music. It is everything we could ever hope to have, and more than we deserve. Check out Kevin’s website at www.KevinReeves.net.
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RocketFM
Griffin Technologies
Price: $39.99
http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/rocketfm/techspecs.php
The ability to play my iTunes music on my home entertainment system was the main reason I purchased an Apple Airport Express base station. Much of my music is now located on my Macintosh and iPod, but that doesn’t mean I only want to listen to it on those devices every time. My home sound system has great speakers, so of course I want to play music on them. But the drawback to the Airport Express is that it only plays music from my iTunes music library. What if I wanted to send the audio from another application to my home audio system, or perhaps even a radio in the kitchen? No can do.
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Taming the Tiger – A tale of four books…
“Any volunteers?”, and of its own volition, my digital hand shot up and hit send (in the form of an affirmative email) before I knew what was happening. Soon boxes of books started arriving on my doorstep. I’d volunteered to do book reviews. That’s OK, I like books and reading.
A lot of people review a book, without any point of reference to others. You can learn something from almost any book, but the bigger question for potential readers, is which is the right book for them. Of course that depends on the reader and their goals. So by doing many book reviews at once, I figured I could help readers compare which is the right book for them. The downside is that they have a lot more of my wordy prose to slog through. Well, that’s a price that I’m willing to pay.
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John: What is a software license, Guy?
Guy: A license of this type is somewhat unique in the world of commerce. According to the fine print (that only lawyers could possibly understand), you don’t actually OWN the product itself. Yes, after installation it resides on the hard drive ready, willing, and able to perform whatever task or entertainment value you purchased it for, but the manufacturer has the right at any given time to demand that you cease and desist using the software, remove it from your hard drive, return all materials to the place of origin, and deny that Continue reading »
you have ever heard of the software, the company that made it, the computer on which it never resided, any programmers you have ever met, and your first-born son. Well, only Microsoft insists on that last part. Keep in mind that they can do this most likely without reimbursing you what you paid for the item in the first place. While I can’t think offhand of a single instance when this right was actually invoked, the point is that while you may have physical possession of a CD or DVD containing the software, in the strictest sense of the word, you don’t own that medium.
PodFM
Company: MacAlly
Price: $50 US
http://www.macally.com/spec/ipod/podfmtf.html
While Captain David Weeks was testing his MacAlly BlueWave wireless stereo headphones in the cabin of an Airbus at 37,000 feet, the Nemo family was evaluating MacAlly’s PodFM in a lime green Volkswagen Beetle at an elevation below sea level on California’s Interstate 8 expressway. I don’t know what FCC frequency David’s jet was using, but Barbara and I were grooving at 88.5 on the FM dial, thanks to the versatile PodFM.
This strange-looking and slightly-bizarro (at first) device sends the audio signal from your iPod to your car’s FM radio, similarly to Belkin’s TuneBase reviewed by Guy Serle. I urge you to read Guy’s explanation of how FM transmission works, to help you understand the limitations we experienced.
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MyMac.com podcast 33
The latest show is now online. You can directly download the show in MP3 format from this link. You can also subscribe to the podcast via our RSS feed here, or do a search for us in the iTunes Music Store Podcast section.
Links of interest for this show: Continue reading »
SmallDog.com. Small Dog renewed their support of our podcast through the end of 2005! Thank you, Small Dog Electronics!
RamJet.com
MacMinute.com
Griffin Technology
Madtown Aces Productions
MacAlly BlueWave Bluetooth headphones
Company: MacAlly
Price: $169.99
http://macally.com/spec/ipod/bluewave.html
MacAlly has recently released their new BlueWave headphones, which incorporate Bluetooth (see http.www.bluetooth.com) wireless technology to eliminate the annoying wires that tether headphone users to their iPods or computers. The Weeks Division of MyMac.com Labs spent some time using the BlueWave, and found it to be a fine product.
If you don’t know what (or who) Bluetooth is, you’re probably not alone. True blue nerds know Bluetooth technology is named after everyone’s favorite Danish king, Harald Bluetooth, who ruled Denmark from 940 to 985 AD. For more than you ever wanted to know about Harald, surf to http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dasgupta/bluetooth/history.htm
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DLO Action Jacket for iPod shuffle
Company: Digital Lifestyle Outfitters
Price: $24.99
http://www.dlodirect.com
There was one primary reason that I finally joined the iPod craze and bought myself an iPod Shuffle. I run. Three or four times a week, I run 2 miles, sometimes a bit more if I’m really on a good run day. The reason that I wanted an iPod was that I was tired of carrying my portable digital CD player or my “sport” portable tape cassette player or wearing the headphone radio that I constantly had to turn my head sideways to get a station that I could listen to somewhat clearly while I was running.
With the iPod, I knew that running was going to be definitely more pleasant. So when I bought the Shuffle, I also bought Apple’s Armband, figuring that would work out great. Well, maybe if I wasn’t running so much, maybe it would. I constantly had to adjust the armband as it just didn’t fit tight enough, at least without me cutting off the circulation in my arm. If I wore a T-shirt and had it over the sleeve, it kept slipping down on me. Not really the way to enjoy a run, besides I began to think it was designed more as a formal piece of gear, maybe it was more useful if I was doing a stationary bike.
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MUSAK Laptop Bag for iPod
Company: Techwiz
http://www.mymusak.com
Price: $99 US
Sold by Dr. Bott
In a perfect world, every day is sunny and clear, and you stroll down the avenue with your favorite music downloads from the iTunes Music Store playing out loud on the carrying case that contains your supercharged PowerBook. This laptop bag would fit you and your iPod perfectly, with effortless audio component connection and playback.
Is such a scenario possible? Techwiz thinks they have a solution, in their MUSAK Laptop Bag for iPod. In our perfect world, this product would either cost a lot less $$$, or be much easier to use for iPod playback (preferably the latter). MUSAK is a brilliant concept, with flaws in quality of construction.
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MyMac Podcast #385
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