irOn bLog

Nice Drive Home
Originally uploaded by iron photography

Just thought I would throw this little gem up on the Iron Blog. I have been really enjoying HDR as of late. This photo was taken as the sun was setting over Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.

It has been quite some time since I last posted to my Vox Blog.  I have been so busy with my new orthodontic practice.  The website is almost done (finally).  Just a few pieces left.  You can check out the site here.

Just started a new site @ Heysage.com.  The site is home to the HeySage Podcast. The HeySage Podcast is a weekly screencast devoted to helping Macintosh users discover the hidden power of OS X. In addition the video podcast introduces viewers to a variety of less conspicuous, yet tremendously useful, applications. Tutorials range in difficulty level, and are targeted for OS X newcomers and advanced users alike. You can subscribe to the XML feed here.  The iTunes feed is not up and running quite yet but once it is it will be displayed in a conspicuous location in the blog sidebar.

The remainder of the site is a repository for Macintosh Tutorials, News, and Reviews. Current postings have covered reviewd TwitterVision, the TextMate Blogging Bundle, MarsEdit and more.

Appletv_470

I have heard a lot of theories as to why the release of the apple TV has been delayed.  Some have said that they are having problems getting FCC approval (which usually takes 4-6 weeks) while others have suggested that there are a shortage of key Apple TV components.  I believe that all of these theories, although plausible, are  incorrect. 

I believe that the Apple TV is being delayed because Apple intends to introduce HD content for the launch of Apple TV.  The lack of HD content in the iTunes store could adversely effect sales and adoption rates for the Apple TV.  Who is going to want to buy a media hub to stream less the DVD quality video to your large flat panel display when you could just pop a DVD into your existing player. 

Now I know the lure of the Apple TV may be the ability to watch podcasts on your TV but, the podcast audience alone is not large enough to support the device and help Apple obtain market share.  There are too many options out there for people seeking HD content on their TVs. One could pony up the $200 for an HDDVD add on to your X box 360 and up converting DVD players are very inexpensive these days. My point, Apple TV can't succeed without HD content and that is what is holding up the release of Apple TV.  Apple knows that it will kill the product before it launches without offering HD content on the release date, or relatively soon after.  If they don't, only Mac Fan boys (and Girls), such as myself will adopt the product and, their chance of grabbing a substantial portion of the market will dwindle away.

With the Apple TV soon to launch, I have found myself asking several questions.  Most importantly, would I buy one?  The answer is very simple, it depends.

For me, it comes down to one point. When will Apple deliver HD content via iTunes.  For the consumers with large flat panel displays, the current "near DVD quality" just won't cut it.  I for one, have turned into an HD snob.  I refuse too watch SDTV for one reason.  It looks horrible.  The expanded/streched/whatever viewing format looks bad. The native aspect ration of SDTV waists an enormous amount of HD screen real estate.  Additionally the pixelation is an eye sore. 

So, will I buy an Apple TV.  Yes, once they offer at least 720P.  Once that occurs I will be happy to purchase an Apple TV and will likely abandon my digital cable service to boot.  For the amount of TV I watch, it would be much cheaper to buy my programming a la carte.  In addition, there will be no need for a DVR.  An HD antenna would fill in that small void for live sports programming (although I watch those events sparingly).

All being said, I am curious what others think about Apple TV and if and why they are planning on buying one.  It is strange that this product requires an HDTV yet Apple does not offer HD content.  I am sure that iTunes will offer HD content in the future.  But why would I want an Apple TV before that date. I would love to hear from anybody reading.

Slice-of-bread

It has been a while since my last post.  I have been working on a personal blog and website for my fiance and I.  I intend to create a new blog to post my reviews and opinions about products, hardware, software, apps, news, web development, and whatever else I feel like writing about.  I will also likely offer screen capture tutorials on everything from photoshop to shake to Flash to OSX.  I have registered a few URLs.  I just need to pick one and pay for a hosting package somewhere. Anyways, lets get to the subject at hand.

I have known about IMAP-IDLE for sometime now but it wasn't until recently that I installed this nifty little plugin.  IMAP-IDLE version 1.06 is a plugin for Apple Mail in OS X 10.4.2 and higher developed by Michael Rothwell.  

But what does this gem do you ask?  Well, IMAP-IDLE provides IDLE support for IMAP accounts in Mail.app.  But what does that mean?  A simplified way of explaining it is that any new mail received by the mail server will be immediately delivered to your inbox, rather than waiting for your email client to ping the server every X number of minutes.

So why would I want this? Well you might not.  If you find yourself continually distracted by email, RSS feeds, and the thingamablob, this may not be good for you.  I myself started using this plugin when testing a PHP mail script on one of my websites. With this plugin the mail would simply arrive in my inbox rather than having to press command-shift-N.  

Anyways, I have been using this plugin for almost two months now and I have not had a single problem.  This build appears to work flawlessly.  The only drawback (if there are any) are that this plugin will not work if your mail server does not support the IDLE command.  Also there is no UI at this time but the README file that comes with the plugin clearly explains how to install via the command line.

In the end, if you feel that you need your email immediately download IMAP-IDLE. Now!

I just recently watched the latest installment of MacBreak over at the TWIT network.  The topic of discussion was a nifty little app called Text Expander. I have downloaded the trial version and played around with it for a few hours now.

I have been delightfully surprised.  This little app is sure to boost productivity and efficiency.  After installing text expander I immediately added their autocorrect plugin.  This feature is quite helpful when typing in TextEdit, Apple Mail, or whatever, but is still quite limited.  It currently contains approximately 100 auto corrrections, though it is only version 1.1. 

In effort to see how robust this app is, I went to Photoshop/Image Ready and prepared an animated gif signature and inserted it into a new snippet.  I fired up mail, typed in my snippet, and instantly my signature was inserted into my message.  I then emailed my message to myself, and sure enough, the gif animated as expected and my lengthy signature appeared without a hitch.

At first glance, this app appears to worth its weight in gold.  The Macbreak episode was not the first time I have heard positive reviews of this program but I had been skeptical about the $29.99 price tag.  After a little use, I am quite sure that when the 30 day trial period ends I will be registering my copy.  You may download Text Expander from smileonmymac.

A&S2

    Well, I just wanted to throw up a quick note about a site that I recently published.  I have created a site which is dedicated to my upcoming wedding to Alene Le. Other than, the html and CSS on the index page (for indexing and layout), the XML sitemap, and the PHP script in the contact form , the entire site was created with Flash 8 and actionscript 2.0.
    This site was designed as a resource for our wedding guests.  The UI is designed so as to encourage interactivity with the viewer and there are hidden elements throughout the site.  Anyways, I thought I would throw up a quick post about it.  If you have some free time, check it out and let me know what you think.

AleneAndSage.us

Well, where should I begin.  I cannot believe it.  The iphone is more than I expected.  When I was watching the keynote I was literally shouting with excitement.  The AppleTV was about what I had expected, and to be honest, was disappointing.  With all the other companies fighting to serve our content on our living room displays, there are a lot of impressive features out there.  The 40GB HD was a nice surprise but, why is the USB port on for service?  I didn't expect DVR functionality, but it would be pretty nice.  I can stream my content wirelessly but do I want to watch 640X480 on my 50" display?  Also, do I want to invest in a product which is dependent upon a non-ratified wireless standard?

Once all of the excitement died down I was able to really reflect on the Macworld announcements.  The most apparent thing is that it was not much of a Macworld.  Computers weren't really discussed at all.  This was quite a disappointment.  Personally, I am desperately waiting the release of both Leopard and the Octo.  I would really like to upgrade to an updated cinema display as well.  But, nothing about any of these.  I can't believe that they didn't even mention Leopard at all. 

The iPhone is a very exciting product.  I have been waiting for it for quite some time now.  I am proud to say that I have turned down 6 months of offers for more minutes with T mobile to remain out of contract.  I will be one of the first people in line for two iPhones, one for me and one for my fiance.  That being said, there are some things that the iPhone seems to lack.  First, no GPS!  It seems like this is something that they should be able to get in there.  Are they going to get a full version of iChat to offer voice over IP?  Will third party developers be able to develop for the slimmed down OS X?  There are a lot of questions still to be answered.

For now I think that I will be holding off on AppleTV.  Although I can watch some of my favorite podcasts in HD (Macworld), it is not worth it until iTunes offers HD support.  And why didn't apple announce some HD content for iTunes.  If microsoft can offer it via Xbox, I am sure that iTunes can offer HD content. 

All in all the iPhoneWorld expo offered three things.  We have AppleTV (next month), an iPhone in June, and Beatles songs on iTunes.  I still can't believe that there is nothing for me to buy today.  Well, I'll be waiting for Octos, Leopard, and Cinema Displays (with integrated iSight).

The last comment I have to make: Did you feel the disappointment in the room when Jobs announced that the phone wouldn't be shipping until June?