adam.riggins

Have you ever tried wiping down your laptop keyboard while it is still on?  You end up opening programs you don’t mean to, chaning settings, or any other number of random button-pushing acts that you don’t mean to do.  Well, Mac users (sorry Windows peeps), here is the solution.

Keyboard Cleaner is a cool little program that basically locks your keyboard so you can clean it off.  Open the program, and you get this screen. Pusing buttons will not do anything, so you are clear to clean away.  And hey, it’s FREE!

Keyboard Cleaner (via Lifehacker)

Anyone catch the refrence?

Anyways, Apple announced today that  starting in June, the iPhone will fully support Microsoft Exchange, a la Blackberry style.  In other words, you can use it just like a Blackberry at work.  I don’t use a Blackberry, but if I did, I would switch in a heartbeat.

Anyone out there planning on dropping the Crackberry for an iPhone?

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I just saw an amazing thing over at Dan’s Tech-n-Stuff. I have been using the “secondary click” and “two-finger scrolling” features on my Macbook’s trackpad for some time now. I have always seen the other options for “dragging” and “drag lock”, but never really looked into what they do. So instead of typing it, let’s let Dan explain it (he did so well):

• Click and Drag: Drag an item by double-tapping your trackpad and dragging it without lifting your finger. “Clicking” and “Dragging” must both be enabled in System Preferences > Keyboard and Mouse > Trackpad.
• Drag Lock: Works with Click and Drag, requires you to tap once on your trackpad to release a dragged item. “Clicking”, “Dragging” and “Drag Lock” must all be enabled in System Preferences > Keyboard and Mouse > Trackpad.

I just activated this feature, and I must say it is amazing. Being able to rely completely on the trackpad is a really good thing, and this option makes that possible.

A Kansas man has posted photos of his fully functional iPhone after the device flew off the trunk of his car at freeway speeds, only to be run over by a semi truck traveling at an estimated 70 miles-per-hour.

Now, I don’t know about you, but my crap-tastic phone will barely survive me talking on it. It’s awesome that a phone that looks and funtions amazingly also is actually rugged.

read more | digg story

It looks like Netflix will be releasing a set-top box soon that will allow the streaming of video from the PC to the TV. There are already a bunch of flavors of this technology out there, but Netflix’s solution will also have their movie library available, along with other video content. Currently, Netflix has something where you can watch around 6000 movies or so on your pc instantly, but this new device would be a stand-alone box, allowing you to break free from the PC.

The Apple TV is another stand-alone box that streams video from a mac/pc, and its advantage is that it can play iTunes-purchased content, something that no other player can currently do. Apple TV was named the best Internet-based TV device, so I think it will be the main competition to Netflix’s solution, especially since Apple will most likely begin to offer rentals through iTunes.

This is where I become a bit torn. I love Netflix for what they are best at, which is the through-the-mail dvd rentals. But, I love the AppleTV as well, especially if they can get the rental approach nailed down.

Who do you think will win this fight? Either way, I think we all win.

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I love how Apple is really good at keeping me in suspense. MacWorld is coming up in just a few days, and there will be new products that are finally revealed. For example, maybe a new iPod with a larger screen. Or hey, how about the iTV that we are all waiting on. Whatever they announce, I know that it is going to take all that I am not to go run out and by it. (Then again, when you are broke, that problem kind of solves itself).

Anyways, I will post more when I learn more.

technorati tags:apple, macworld, ipod, itv, osx, new, stuff

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from TUAW:

iPod? or Fruitcake? Let the facts speak for themselves.

10 Reasons why iPods beat Fruitcakes as Holiday Gifts

1. You can’t play your music on a fruitcake.
2. Inserting earbuds into your fruitcake? Makes them all sticky and gooey.
3. iPods come in many colors and flavors. Fruitcakes are…brown.
4. You can’t play video games on a fruitcake. (Or a Zune.)
5. Fruitcakes do not support smart playlists.
6. You can’t really accessorize a fruitcake. Belkin doesn’t offer a “fruitcake” section in its online store.
7. You can’t watch the latest episode of Battlestar on a fruitcake.
8. Fruitcakes don’t fit into your pocket.
9. Fruitcakes are unsuitable items to bring along with you to your workouts.
10. iPods? No crumbs.

10 Reasons why Fruitcakes beat iPods as Holiday Gifts

1. iPod price $249. Fruitcake price $21.99.
2. Fruitcakes need no frivolous accessories. They’re usable exactly as produced.
3. You’re less likely to waste your spending money at iTunes with a fruitcake.
4. Walk around wearing an iPod and everyone yawns. Walk around wearing a fruitcake and you’re a trendsetter.
5. iPod: 2.5-inch color display. Fruitcake: 10-inch multifaceted-crystalized-fruit display.
6. You can’t use an iPod as a football. Or a door stop.
7. Fruitcakes have no batteries to replace.
8. iPod: 7,500 songs. Fruitcake: the song in your heart, and the antacids in your medicine cabinet.
9. You can’t call your enemy “nutty as an iPod”. Well, you can. But nobody’s going to understand you.
10. In all likelihood, your fruitcake will still be usable three years from now.

This is an interesting article on the new “Microsoft Zone” mp3 player coming out next week. He points out the differences between it and the iPod, including wireless capability, video and photo viewing, ease of use, and several other factors. He makes a great point, as summarized below:

Competition is good and all. But what, exactly, is the point of the Zune? It seems like an awful lot of duplication — in a bigger, heavier form with fewer features — just to indulge Microsoft’s “we want some o’ that” envy. Wireless sharing is the one big new idea — and if the public seems to respond, Apple could always add that to the iPod.

Read the article, yo.

I was listening to the most recent Maccast this morning, and Adam was talking about how now that iTunes sells movies, Wal Mart and Target are getting pissed off. Walmart is the leading seller of DVDs in the USA, and they apparently think that iTunes is going to cut into their profits, and because of that, they are threatening to stop selling movies (or something like that). The point is, they are not happy. And now, Target is joing the whine list.

Personally, I do not think that the iTunes movies are a good deal. The quality is OK, but you are paying almost the same price for less quality, and no special features. So instead, what I do is take a DVD I buy, and rip it onto my iPod. Then, I have a digital version, and also the DVD for home viewing.

So here is the solution.

Apparently, Apple is in talks with Wal Mart to help kind of fix this. But, I have a better idea. I think that Wal Mart could up the price for a dvd, say, $5 more than normally. Then, when you buy the DVD, you get a voucher for a free iTunes download of that movie. See, you are getting the DVD with all the special features, etc, but you are also getting a version for the computer that has chapter marks, artwork, etc. Even better, the movie studios would be happy since this means we would not need to rip DVDs anymore.

Are there holes to this idea? Let me know, but I really do think that it would work, and it would benefit the consumer. We would get more movies in iTunes, and for almost the same price, we would be getting both versions.