iPod Saves Girls’ Life (She Claims)

An Essex teenager who was hit by lightning in a storm says that her life was saved by her iPod – and the fact that she was holding her boyfriend’s hand at the time.
….
“Everybody’s said the iPod must have diverted the lightning away from my body, which probably saved my life,” said Sophie, who has been dubbed “Sparky” by her friends and family. “I’ve got a few burns but it’s all healing OK.”

Sophie’s mother, Julie, told The Sun: “I just thank God my daughter is still alive. The doctors say her iPod saved her. Her nan only bought it a few days ago. Luckily, she wasn’t actually wearing the headphones. If she had been, she might not be here today.

But don’t worry, her priorities have stayed in line…

“Mind you, the only thing Sophie seemed worried about was that her new iPod was frazzled.”

Words fail me

Geek Technica says Microsoft is lying about IE (no! say it isn’t so!)

The Truth: Internet explorer REALLY doesn’t play well with web standards. The ‘myth’ refers to IE not IE8 which hold ~5% market share. However it is true that IE8 is the most standard compliant IE release yet. Not the most standard compliant web browser in any stretch of imagination. The test suite IE8 team is referring to is not approved or recommended by W3C. Basically, IE8 team cherry picked 7000 tests (which is yet to be peer reviewed) from CSS 2.1 test suite and declared IE8 the winner.

This is a very cool DIY iPhone stand from Geek Gadgets

And Dear Leader IS the Kingpin (via iPhone Savior, be sure to go to the link to see more pics, it is really worth it):

Man I wish I could have been there

Where the dream was born…

woz cuts in line

And more iPhone lines

There is something on the west coast of Florida that doesn’t agree with me. Every time I go over there, I come back sick unless I stay there for a few weeks before returning. I was in Panama City for a month, and everything was fine. But if I go just for a day or two for work and come back, I always end up with a throat/ear infection. This time is no exception. So that is why I haven’t done any further updates. I really can’t afford to miss time from work, so I am taking it easy with some other stuff, like the websites. Hopefully I will be back to decent strength soon.

Okay, over the past several years, I have been personally challenged (not by other people, but by myself) on what my position on certain economic realities is. (haha, ended with a “to be” verb!!!)

I learn much more towards laissez-faire capitalism than towards any other system and am not a proponent at all of the United State’s anti-trust laws as they currently stand. I intensely dislike the anti-corporation, anti-business attitude that seems to run rampant upon the extreme left in all countries. However, I am currently listening to an audio-book that details how a completely laissez-faire system would work, and I have to say, it gave me the creeps as well. Is it because I am just so used to Pappa State? Or is it because we really do need Pappa State in some form? I am seriously wrangling with these issues.

Now, it is no secret that I am no fan of Microsoft, but also, it is no secret that I am not a fan of the witch-hunt against them (as I see it; most people disagree with me). A prime example is the EU (I like Microsoft better than the EU when it comes to economics, so that should tell you how much I like the EU) and Microsoft’s forced unbundling of IE from Windows. That is just stupid. I stopped using Firefox as my primary browser because Mozilla supported that draconian red initiative.

But what about this story: Linux on Netbooks: The Smoking Gun?

I have mixed feelings about this. I just bought a netbook, and I know when I was shopping that I was noticing that Linux seemed to be an endangered species, and I will NOT buy a machine with Windows pre-installed. I did get a discontinued Linux netbook from Woot! It seems to me, though, no matter how much everyone hates a bully, that Microsoft should be allowed to use its market powers. It is a prime opportunity for a scrappy competitor to show them as a bully, sell Linux, and make a boatload of money.

So while this may not seem “fair,” the government did not put Microsoft in the position of power that it currently enjoys, the market did. And if it is to be unseated, it should be the market that does so. At least that’s how I see it today. (and I realize that most people disagree with me in the utmost of good faith)

I already posted this link in the past edition, but it is worth it again. The Macelope shows Enderle the business end of its antlers:

You kids remember Rob Enderle, don’t you? The guy who gets pretty much everything about Apple wrong? So much so that he’s earned himself the nickname “the mustache of misunderstanding”?

Sure you do. Well, this week he victimized yet another lazy journalist looking for a quote machine.

“The question is whether they will use it for product launches,” said Rob Enderle, president of the Enderle Analyst Group. “It appears the answer is no since they are signaling that not only will Jobs not be there, neither will the new phones.” From the standpoint of consumers and even investors, he said, the developers conference isn’t nearly as important as Macworld.

No product launches, no iPhones, and Macworld is more important than WWDC. Wow. It’s hard to pack so much wrong into one paragraph. The Macalope tilts his antlers in your direction, Rob. You’re a master.

Some nice images…

Plush Steve Jobs

From Have Mac Will Blog, 10 IT Quotes - The Delicious Irony of Bill Gates

2. eMail and Spam
“Like almost everyone who uses e-mail, I receive a ton of spam every day. Much of it offers to help me get out of debt or get rich quick. It would be funny if it weren’t so irritating.” - Bill Gates

Okay, I poke fun at Paul Thurott a lot just as part of the fangrl schtick, but it really seems like this article from Apple Thoughts is not being particularly unfair, Paul Thurrott is Arbitrarily A Moron. Particularly this statement from Thurott is just plain… dumb.

Amazingly, several software features Apple showed off yesterday will arbitrarily not be made available to other iPhone users.

I think perhaps Paul needs to look up the meaning of arbitrary. Here are some of things that he labeled as “arbitrary” (as quoted from the Apple Thoughts piece):

1. The compass isn’t available in prior iPhones because they don’t have a magnetometer chip like the 3GS does. You can still get a compass app (like the one in the commercial) but in order to determine your direction, you have to walk in a straight line and it calculates the direction you’re facing using GPS.

3. MMS will be available in the US, just not at launch. As dumb as that is, it’s not permanent; another assertion Thurrott seems to be making.

4. According to John Gruber who has a much better record on knowing what’s going on with Apple hardware than Windows zealot Thurrott, the Voice Control is based on a DSP that isn’t in the 3G. Arbitrarily indeed, stupid.

From Cult of Mac

The Macelope gives another view on the iPhone subsidyfest:

Here’s the problem with this debate (other than the whining and the name-calling). Both sides are getting it wrong. And the reason they’re getting it wrong is they’re both calling it the wrong thing. In a standard telecommunications industry shell game, AT&T fronts part of the hardware cost to Apple to make the phone look cheaper to get you in the door.

That isn’t a “subsidy” by the traditional definition. It’s a loan. AT&T is loaning you the money to buy an iPhone and you’re signing a contract to pay it off over the next 18 months. If you decide you want out of your loan, you have to pay a buyout.

If you don’t want to sign a contract, you can buy a no-commitment phone, but they start at $599 for an iPhone 3G S. See, AT&T gets its money one way or the other. Nobody’s “subsidizing” anything.

The Macalope hates this crap for the same reason he hates car shopping. Why can’t he just buy the damned thing instead of having to engage in some Mamet-esque battle of wits to figure out who’s smarter or simply relentless enough to come out on top?

Go to this etsy store for some AWESOME Mac-related jewelry. I totally want this:

And this:

umm okay

Via Edible Apple

Going through the list, Schiller mentioned how many apps were each available for Android, Nokia, and Blackberry phones. But when he got to Palm, Schiller didn’t mention them by name and simply said, “and somebody else.. i can’t quite read it it.. it’s small“, before completely moving onto a new topic. Ouch!

Via MacUser, Microsoft’s Bing recommends a Mac before a PC (sorry Lauren, it’s not a PC)

From Nibbet, This May Not Be the Most Believable Steve Jobs Rumor [Rumors]

From BlogCottage, Palm’s Pre is Nice, But Not All That

Oftentimes in Silicon Valley, talented engineers leave a company and resume working on unfinished projects at their new employer. That is essentially the story behind the “Pre,” an innovative new phone from Palm (PALM) that some think is a serious challenge to Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone.

The Macalope asks, and I can’t resist the urge to give the snark right back to the Horned One:

Did everyone at PCWorld take their stupid pills today?

I will let the irony of that title sink in. (it’s a joke!!! don’t get mad at me please!!!)

From my own stomping ground at World of Apple:

A report from the Wall Street Journal suggests that Apple may hold a special event to coincide with the return of Steve Jobs in late-June.

While Mr. Jobs has been on sick leave, some Apple directors have gotten weekly updates about his medical condition from the CEO’s physician, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Jobs’s recovery “is coming along” and he is on schedule to return to work later this month, said this person, who has seen Mr. Jobs in recent weeks.
WSJ cites sources who have ties to Apple senior management who told them that the company is trying to co-ordinate Jobs’ return with a product launch.

Much of the buzz appears to be conjecture of the type that has swirled around Apple and Mr. Jobs for years. But two people who do business with Apple said senior Apple managers have told them the company is now trying to coordinate Mr. Jobs’s return with a product launch or public event.
The article does not cite when the event would be or what product would be launched alongside Jobs’ return.

Now to my family and past few readers and my new reader Tom Reestman, get yer booties over there where you can actually read things where I am being serious. Or at least pretend to be.

The truth or yet another Luddite? From Bind Apple:

A few years ago, exactly July 9, 2005, Ed Smith, wrote an article about Apple computers, about iPod technology, to be more precise, called Generation iPod. I really don`t know if he was paid by Apple or not, but I read the article, and I love it. The man is awesome, like Apple is too, but in the article he says something that I liked very much: “ Therefore I Am, is a part history of Apple computers, part autobiography of Dylan Jones, the editor of GQ and an iPod junkie”. Not only he talk about Apple, but by a hole generation, the iPod generation. He is making reference to a new world, a world that takes us away both from friendship and imagination.

[and "hole" generation? Please proofread your work.]

PCWorld was prophetic! (via Cult of Mac via nep)

From the TCO files…. something “I’m Not Cool Enough to be a Mac Person” never read…

Which is Better For Your Business? A Mac or a PC?

To start, I need to tell you that up until 2006 I was an avid PC user. Starting with my first computer when I was five, an IBM PS2 Model 30 (without a hard drive), I’ve been loyal. I started with DOS, then Windows 3, 3.1, 95, and then XP. Then came Vista. Before Vista, I spent a lot of time rebooting but it was more or less bearable. After Vista, which is by far the worst operating system ever made, I had to find another solution.

In the summer of 2006, I upgraded about 80% of my company’s computers to Macs…” Read the full article at PCWorld.Com

The Microsoft Tax: Conficker’s estimated economic cost: $9.1 billion

The Cyber Secure Institute claims that based on their previous studies into the average cost of such malware attacks, the economic loss due to the Conficker worm could be as high as $9.1 billion,” Dancho Danchev reports for ZDNet.

Gored on the Macelope’s Horns,

Look, let the Macalope show you how this is done.

WRONG: Roger Kay’s Microsoft-sponsored “Apple tax” analysis is out of line! Let me show you a detailed analysis of how he pads and distorts the costs!

RIGHT: Microsoft has boxed itself into a corner of expensive, nonsensical and uncompelling upgrade paths and is behaving like a spoiled child because its customers have started realizing they don’t have to use Windows. They know it and Roger Kay knows it. If they spent half the time they spend filling out fake tax forms and paying actresses to buy their products actually making a good user experience, they might be able to speak about value with an iota of credibility. But probably not.

Windows Support Specialist: Switching to Apple Mac can save you countless productive hours

“Whether you are an expert computer user or not, you have probably been burned by your computer in the past. For some a computer virus could have wiped out your hard drive, or completely taken control of your web browser. For others, you might have been running an application only to have it crash and lose your data,” London Computer Support writes for Save My System. “So what is the solution?”

“There is a solution to many of the common computer problems: switch to an Apple computer… The Macintosh operating system has been redesigned from the ground up and is now a more stable and effective operating system. With Mac OS X, users have a lot less to worry about: no viruses, no trojans, and no crashes. What more could a user want?” London Computer Support writes.

Apple Website Circa 2000

iPhone Opening vs. Palm Pre Opening

WWDC Banners Appear

Couple Makes Apple Store Engagement At Roseville Opening

Nostalgia Trip: Exploded Mac 128K T-Shirt

Apple iFountain Makes Water Taste Mac-Tastic

Incredible Steve Jobs Portrait in Apple Typefaces

The Steve Jobs Lunch Bag!

Pretty Ugly iPhone Case

Apple Website Circa 1999

Apple at WalMart?? No Steve, nooooooo!!!!!!!