I mentioned earlier this month that there were two Mac documentaries that were being screened at this years Macworld Expo. One of them, Macheads, is now available for download on Amazon and iTunes. Of course, upon hearing this news I went straight to my computer and rented the documentary on the iTunes movie store and this morning I watched it, twice! It is only about an hour long, so I thought a second pass would be feasible and I honestly really enjoyed it. The movie basically chronicles the history of Apple and the mac community through the stories, views, and experiences of a number of different mac personalities. You get much of the back history of the Apple community and fan base from the fans themselves and even the self proclaimed Macheads in this documentary give Apple a bit of criticism for their recent disregard for the fan base that sustained them through their darkest hours. If you are a Mac fanatic like me, or just someone who enjoys the history of computing I would suggest that you check this one out!
Month: January 2009
Skin Me!
After I bought my new LG enV2, I know I promised you all a review of the skin I bought for it, and here it is! As you can see, this is a pink plaid cast vinyl skin made to custom fit the env2! I absolutely fell in love with the pattern and HAD TO HAVE IT!! I am not someone who usually uses cases or covers for my phone since I usually store it on my desk or in my purse, so using one of these skins for protection and accessorizing fits my needs well. It keeps the major parts of my phone free from scratches while also personalizing it to my preference without adding bulk or extra parts. I have been using this skin now for about a week and I am really enjoying it. I bought it from DecalGirl.com, an online retailer that sells similar skins for all sorts of electronic devices. So, although you might not have an enV2, you might be interested in a skin similar to this for your own phone or device.
Now, lets get to the technical details of this skin, shall we? It is made of a premium grade adhesive backed cast vinyl and then covered with a clear protective coating. The skin itself is not much thicker then a simple sticker, but it has much more to it than a sticker. It is pretty strong and it keeps its shape well in my opinion. Obviously, if you take a scissor to it, or try to rip it, it will damage the skin, but once the skin is applied it adds a nice protective barrier between your phone and the outside world. Now, let me be very clear– this skin doesn’t cover 100% of the phone. As you can see in the images, it covers the face and most of the back of the phone, leaving the edges and sides of the phone exposed. It also does not cover any of the interior of the phone. For me, that is not an issue since my phone is usually closed and I am not really worried about my phone getting damaged.
Okay, so once you get past all of those features, there are two problems with this skin. First of all, it is a little difficult to put on. The skin came in pieces for each row of numbers and a different piece for the faceplate, so I basically sat there and had to– piece by piece– line up the sticker to the phone and apply it, then reapply parts that didn’t line up, etc. Luckily, I am good at this sort of thing, but if you are someone who has a hard time lining things up, you might need to get yourself some help. The upside to this, however, is that the skin can be reapplied many times and not loose its adhesive backing, so you can take multiple tries to attach it and it will still re stick each time!
Second and final negative feature of this skin is that the cracks between the stickers on the faceplate tend to collect dust/dirt and need to be cleaned out every once in a while. For me, this isn’t difficult, because I can just swipe my fingernail between the pieces of sticker and remove the stuck on dirt, but it is annoying that you have to do it in the first place. One thing I will say about that though, is that if you happen to buy a skin like this for another phone or electronic device like an iPhone, you might not have this problem because some of the skins for different devices are only one or two large pieces, as opposed to the 11 separate pieces that my phone’s skin requires.
Overall, I really do like this skin for myself. It fits my needs and it makes my phone completely unique– which I love! I would recommend this skin or others like it to anyone in the market for a similar product. Plus, you really can’t beat the price tag– I paid $6.99 plus shipping for mine!
Old Politics=Old Tech, New Politics=I think you know where this is going.
Apparently, when Barack Obama and his new staff entered the White House to begin their administration, not only did they inherit the old political problems, economic issues, and state of the union left to them by Bush, but also some outdated technology. It doesn’t surprise me that the White House is a PC environment, but it should surprise all of us that the PCs in the White House were running something to the effect of 6 year old software! Wow, no wonder nothing good came out of the White House for the past 8 years, they weren’t upgraded into the needs of the future. Well, it looks like Obama is off to a good start making the right sorts of changes in DC and if his previous inclinations are a sign of whats to come, I believe we will be seeing some shiny new tech arriving in slim eco-friendly boxes labeled with some sort of fruit… it’s just a guess!
{Story via here}
Belkin Making Waves.
For Christmas, my brother bought himself a 2G ipod touch, so of course I had to get him a case to protect this new tech (because I am such a great sister and all)! Knowing my brother’s tastes, I selected for him the Belkin Sonic Wave Two-Tone Silicone Sleeve in black/infrared. He LOVED it and so did I! I was so impressed with the quality of the case I stole his ipod touch for a few minutes to do a little photo shoot and review. As you can see this case is silicone, and despite the fact that I do not usually like silicone cases, the quality of this case was excellent. I really liked the thickness of the case, it wasn’t flimsy, but it was thin enough to show off the slim features of the touch.
Obviously this case doesn’t have any screen protection, but as you can see from the pictures, my brother uses a screen cover and the combination of the Belkin case and the screen protector actually seems to prevent scratches and other damage pretty well. Obviously a screen protector can’t prevent a hard object from cracking the glass, but it will prevent everyday scratches and can be easily cleaned. Overall, I recomment this case to anyone looking for the everyday shock protection of a silicone case for their ipod touch as long as you pair it with a decent screen shield.
Happy Inauguration Day!
Sorry, but I am busy celebrating the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama! I will be back to posting after the fun has died down!
{Image via Doug Mills/The New York Times}
Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger.
This weekend I finally bought the Belkin Mini Surge Protector with USB Charger! I found it on sale at Circuit City for $20.99 down from the usually $24.99 so I thought I should get it while it was on the cheap. I have been scoping this out for a while because not only is it a mini portable surge protector, it also includes 2 USB outlets and a USB to Mini USB cable for charging devices. I don’t have a wall charger for my iPods, so this is perfect for me! Plus it covers up to $75,000 in damages if it is defective, which is pretty spectacular. I have been using it for the past few days and I, of course, love it. There is not much more to say other than it has a 360 degree rotating head that comes in handy. Oh, but one small flaw that I discovered– when I tried to charge my iPod and my cell phone via the USB ports, the charge flow was interrupted and kept cutting in and out. I haven’t tried to charge two things simultaneously again, but if it keeps happening that is a major flaw because there is no reason to have two USB ports if it doesn’t actually charge two things at once. Other than that, I love the fact that it is a portable surge protector that also acts as a charger for my USB devices especially my iPods.
{This has been reposted from blackalligator.blogspot.com}
EnV Me.
I am totally excited to announce to you all that I FINALLY got a new cell phone today and it is completely awesome. I bought the new LG enV2 in black, it is fabulous! My old cell phone was a razr, and was beginning to crap out on me after only a year of use, which I find to be unacceptable. It is my own fault though, I was attracted to the slim design, nifty camera, and pink, of course, and I completely ignored the negative feedback from friends about the phone being a piece of… well, you know! Today the saga ends, however, because this new LG really rocks. My friend El Night Owl picked up one a few days ago and wrote about it, so check that out, but I am still going to do a little bit of a product review for you as well.
Let’s begin with the features I love, shall we? Okay, for starters, I love the fact that this is a brick phone that also flips open for texting! I used to be a big fan of the Nokia brick style phones, but they disappeared a few years ago and in there place were clam shell flips or sliders. Well, I am getting the best of both worlds with this phone because the brick is super easy to use not having to fumble with flipping it open to take a call, but on the other hand we have the full keyboard for texting. And, man, have I been texting! It is a breeze to text on this phone! I love the fact that I can text complete sentences, insert punctuation, etc, without having to sort through different menu options! That brings me to the next amazing feature, the speaking text option. Basically, you can have your phone speak your text messages to you! Yeah, wow, right? That’s what she said! Anyway, final feature I love is the camera. 2.0 mega pixels and it takes great quality images! What more is there to want in a cell phone, really?
Okay, so now maybe I should talk about features this phone is lacking. Really, this phone doesn’t lack much, but I have a pet peeve about one of the features that is not fully functional and that is the speaker phone. This phone does have a speaker phone option, however, as far as I can tell, you can only activate speaker phone when the phone is open. Hopefully, I am going to be found incorrect on this, however, so far, I can’t make the speaker phone turn on when I have the phone closed. This is a problem for me, because when I am driving and I get a call, I like to turn speaker phone on and set my phone down in the cup holder when I talk. Well, if the phone has to be open for the speaker to activate, that means I need to flip it open, which I know isn’t a big deal, but it is an annoying step to have to take. Oh, one more complaint I have about the phone– the ringer. I guess the speakers for the phone are technically inside the the flip portion of it, because when the phone is closed, the ringer is muffled. This is more than a little annoying because the ringer never seems to get very loud. More testing must be done to check how this works, but for now, I wish the volume on the ringer was louder when the phone is closed.
Okay, well I hope you enjoyed this review of my new LG enV2! I am really excited about this phone and I totally think the positives outweigh the negatives I listed above. One final thing I want to say about this phone, however, is just the quality of the construction. I really feel as though this phone is going to last me. LG phones are usually a great quality, and I think this model is no different. I don’t feel as though I am going to break it when I flip it open, the way I did the with razr, and I think it could totally survive some major drops- it just feels solid, which is always a great thing for a cell phone! Okay, so check back soon because I ordered a skin for the phone that I will also be reviewing when it arrives. As you can see in the picture above, it is a pink plaid style sticker that protects from minor scratches and such. So, get back here soon to check out that review and if you happen to have either an enV2 or a similar sticker style skin for the phone, let me know what you think in the comments below!
Coolest Moleskine Ever!
I know that Moleskine notebooks are part of the analog word and might seem to have no place on this technology blog, but this is a horse of a different color! This customized “Geekster Moleskine” as it is called by its creator, is actually an 80 GB external hard drive casing. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love the look and feel of a Moleskine notebook, so this hard drive speaks to my personal interests very much and I have to say, I sorta want one! I know I have more external hard drives than I need right now, but what is one more? This Moleskine hack was created using a laptop hard drive, something I do happen to have an extra of, so perhaps I might be able to create my own custom Moleskine drive using the directions written up by the creator of this hack! Hmm, this is totally moving the wheels inside my mind! You can take a look at more pictures of the project here, and see the work in progress here. Enjoy!
ReqWIRED Reading.
Today, while perusing the magazine section at the grocery store, I picked up a new magazine as you can see. I have heard of WIRED before and since it is tech and all, you would think I would have caved for it a while ago. Well, I finally got myself a copy of the magazine to read through, and so far it looks good. The headline stories are about Obama, Apple, and global warming so it should make for a good read!
Steve Jobs Steps Down… for now.
I just found out the late breaking news that today Apple CEO Steve Jobs is stepping down due to his health and leaving COO Tim Cook in charge while he takes a leave of absence. This medical leave, prompted by the news of a hormone deficiency he is suffering from, will be until he end of June and I am sure I am not alone when I say that I hope Steve gets well soon! I might not work at Apple or anything, but I sure am going to miss him not being in charge for a while.