Mac Tip for VPN Users

I often find myself connecting to VPN networks because I attend a large university. Every time I open my laptop I must log on to the VPN in order to access the Internet. Not that this is a tedious task it's just annoying. So I thought write an applescript to automate the task. Right before I attempted to write the script to connect to my VPN if and only if a specific wifi network is joined. I came across this little application PearportVPN. It does all the work for you and even
disconnects from the VPN before putting your mac to sleep. That feature is great otherwise you would receive a time-out message upon opening your mac again. Now don't trust me check it out for yourself.

Why are we living in the past?

With the advent of the Xbox 360 and its wonderful media streaming capabilities why are we so limited. One would think that they would want us to consume as much media as possible for advertisement purposes. Yet we are still confined to there Xbox live market place. Not to totally bash the M$ because I've heard good things about the up coming IP-TV but maybe its not all there fault. These big media giants should open up the way they let media be consumed. Internet television should be free and subsidized by advertisement as it is on traditional TV. I don't want to pay for an episode of something I can watch on my TV for free and record via DVR. Of course I realize that if you want a season of something you should pay because you are getting extra's and the satisfaction of watching your shows uninterrupted. It's a shame that the more money they make of media we as the consumer are provided with more restrictions an less options.

Company Mashups

Why can't M$ team up with a company like Netflix to get content to our 360's. Netflix recently introduced a streaming movie service which I believe is still in beta. So with that being said why can't we pay a fixed price of say $19.99 and stream as much media as we like. I know this is a pipe dream but Netflix sends you and unlimited number of dvd's for the same thing. So lets cut out the middle man and use the internet for what its worth. Just a thought.

What I liked at this years CES

1.Xbox 360 getting IP-TV - while it may not be something I plan on using with my 360 but it shows Microsoft is going in the right direction with truly innovative ideas.

2.Treo 750 - while the treo may not be the most cutting edge device as far as cell phones go due to lacking wifi and still packing a lo-res camera. Palm has establised itself a nice little niche in the market. Currently the treo is the ipod of cell phones, they provide easy to use software customized by palm along with 3g data service. Phone first, Pda second is the reason why tech savy and non-tech savy people love their treos. Image from palminfocenter.com

3. The HTC Omni - which is the upgrade to the HTC Univeral, this device is the power users phone. Supposedly 2mp camera added and a must needed 3g data service. Too bad this device is not Cdma, Gsm users have all the fun. Image from engadget.com

Fugg the Fox network they don't support the mac

So if you wanna catch replays of your favorite Fox shows such as Prison Break make sure your on a Windows PC because once again us Mac users are left out in the cold. Don't believe me see for yourself.

read more | digg story

Sony Reader

Sony Reader

The Sony Reader seems like an amazing product. Its not the first product of it's kind, but Sony has the power to make this revolutionary. For a student like myself it would eliminate so much clutter. Carrying around the Reader instead of piles of books would make any students dream come true. I'm all about making my life easier but here's some reasons why I won't be getting one on launch.

1. Doesn't have color (I know why to preserver battery life)
2. No wifi or bluetooth (could be used to transfer books since file sizes are fairly small)
3. No touch screen. (w/ color this would be great for highlighting
important text)
4. No camera (would be great with a built in OCR converter so that you could convert paper documents to digital format on the fly)

So hey Sony when you get it together, I will be swiping my card till then I save a few bucks.

Isuit

isuit
Originally uploaded by jaydon34.

Who needs a sleeve or a laptop case when you have a cool laptop shell like this. Seems sturdy enough to protect your macbook from minor bumps or bruises. Comes in a variety of colors and has openings to allow use of all ports. The price hasn't been released yet but if this baby comes in at under $50 dollars I'm sold.

Love Mac's But not your Macbook

Seem that a lot of people are experiencing problems with the Apple Macbook. From failed logic boards to yellow palm rest and poor build quality, Apple has seem to let loose a sub-par product. Even everyone's favorite Diggnation star Kevin Rose is ranting about his in episode 58. Check out the video here . Even I have had problems with mines. It was recently returned from Applecare for a failed logic board and yellowing. Macbook, wackbook or yellowbook call it what you want but Apple lets get it together.

Why I use to love digg.

Emerging as the underdog of all social bookmarking websites. Digg's growth had been tremendous, millions of users flock to the site in search of there news fixation. Now that the site has grown, received funding and become a heavy hitter in the web 2.0 field. There are many problems that exist.

• The same stories are displayed on the front page for long periods of time.
• Upcoming stories are nothing but duplicates.
  
• Digg has become a popularity contest where friends of friends digg each other stories thus pushing it to the front page.
• Speculations of top user create over 50% of the news on the front page.
  

Now with that being said Digg is still amazing. Still one of my favorites sites to visit and will remain. Scalability is one of the many problems that plague startups but I'm sure Kevin Rose and the crew over at digg will work out the kinks. Til then keep on diggin.

My trip to the apple store.

Despite having problems with my new Macbook. My trip to the Apple store was nothing but enjoyable. My ac adapter was replaced on spot, the logic board and the top of the laptop case are being sent in for repairs. Of course there was a long wait but I didn't expecnt any less. Now if they get this baby back to me in less than a week. thats amazing. But moral to the story ... Never buy revision A apple products and get applecare .

Why I love and Hate my new macbook.

By now we have all heard of the new Ibook replacements called the Macbook. From birth this device was destined to be a consumer model but is so close in specs to the Macbook Pro that it's an obvious choice for someone looking to save a few bucks. Packed with a Core Duo processor one of the best processors out right now make this laptop an easy choice. Now that the almost all of Apples products offer an Intel chipset new switchers will be dying to get their hands on a device that can run Windows as well as OS X.

I like many Apple fanboys picked up the device the day it was released. It quickly became my favorite computer of all time replacing my former G4 Ibook. The speed was remarkable faster even though my Macbook only had 512mb ram compared to the Ibook 1.25mb ram. It was smooth sailing for me while I read about many people have problems with there new Macbooks. I thought lucky me even though there was a few quality issues with the device such as a buldging bezel and a very loud disc drive. It wasn't enough to get me into an apple store seeking a replacement. Until today about 3 months after owning the Macbook I noticed discoloration of the palm rest and track button. It didn't really stop me from using the laptop just a real eyesore. Imagine showing off your laptop to people and revealing what looks like sweat stains on the top of it. Really not a good look. On top of all that now the Macbook shuts off by it self with no warning. Mainly when its using the battery without an Ac adapter (that hums as well) plugged in. So with a couple of searches on Google I noticed that I wasn't the only one. Alot of users were complaining about the same problems as I on the Apple forums only to have there topics closed. Users seemed to be getting there logic boards replaced which reminds me of the mishaps with the Ibook G4 . I love you apple and will continue to use your products as long as the OS is one step ahead of windows. But with the advent of Sony UMPC I maybe switching back. Lets get it together acknowledge the problems and keep the consumers happy.