It's not just any Sunday, this one happens to be Super! If you're over the game, or don't know what game I'm referring to, then join me at 7PM Pacific, 10PM Eastern for a look at the week's news and events.

We'll cover the latest Lion update, warts and all, as well as Siri's sitcom debut. If you want to make sure we talk about your favorite topic, get there early and let me know so we can get it on the list.

Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo, X-Lite, or Blink SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET/7pm PT: Super Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

On the first day of Macworld|iWorld, one of the talks on the main stage was by three people who help bring the animated series South Park to life each week: David Lenna (CTO), Ryan Quincy (Animation Producer), and Eric Stough (Animation Director and Producer). It was an interview-format talk, with the questions being asked by Andy Ihnatko. There were clips from the series as well as from last fall's documentary Six Days To Air.

The unique style of South Park's animation comes from its humble beginnings. When co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker first started shooting animation, they were actually using construction paper cutouts. Time constraints make that virtually impossible now, so the series is animated in Maya on Macs (keeping to that app much as possible so they don't have to switch between tools), using high-powered 3D rendering software to make everything look like it was shot with cut-up construction paper.

* Very little animation gets cut: They usually have about 24 minutes of animation for a 22-minute show.
* Blizzard got them actual environments and files to drop in when they shot the episode "Make Love, Not Warcraft," which was largely set within the game's environment.
* Their network is about 45 XServes and a stack of Mac Pros, which they pointed out, are getting a bit long in the tooth.
* When a suggestion is made for a new tool or workflow, the hard rule is that it cannot take any longer than things take now. Even today the schedule is so tight, if it takes an extra 10 seconds on every machine, the whole schedule is off.
* They have a team of people working right now on converting episodes to HD from SD. One of the episodes that will likely always live in SD is the aforementioned "Make Love, Not Warcraft."
* Initially they thought they might be able to get an episode out in two weeks, but have managed to tighten the process down to less than one.

There were also clips shown from the episode "Major Boobage." There was video of what the initial storyboards look like shown side by side with the finished product, and some video of live action that was filmed as reference and animated over.

It wasn't a long enough talk for them to get into the nuts and bolts of workflow, but it was very nice to know that part of how an entire show can go from a funny idea to a finished product in less than a week is thanks to Macs.

Macworld|iWorld's South Park talk originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here we are again, another Sunday. What remains of our TUAW crew after covering Macworld | iWorld 2012 (and more importantly, all of the ancillary events associated with MWiW) will be around tonight to chat about the show and whatever else we can come up with to fill out the hour.

What's left of Kelly's voice will be hosting this evening, so you might have to listen closely. What's left of Paul Kent has said he will make every attempt to join us, but if he can't make it this week he said he'd join us next week.

Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo, X-Lite, or Blink SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET/7pm PT: Post Macworld-iWorld Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We're in between big events for the Mac types, we just had the education event last week, and this coming week we have Macworld|iWorld, or as I like to call it, It's So Nice To Finally Meet You In Person World.

We'll be chatting specifically about how Apple's latest foray into education will impact both teachers and students, and we have a couple of educators scheduled to appear. If you are an educator or can talk one into joining us this evening, please do! Same goes for those who are attending MacWorld|iWorld, we want to know what you are looking forward to and any tips you have for others.

As always, Kelly hosting the show means there will be aftershow. Which could mean anything really, the aftershow has a tendency to wander.

Since it's really all about you, the community, join me won't you? To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (Viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite or other SIP clients (aside from Skype or Google Voice), basic instructions are here. (If you prefer Blink, the pro version is available in the Mac App Store.) Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Education/Macworld edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 22 Jan 2012 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Announced today at Apple's education event, iTunes U -- a long-standing feature of the iTunes Store -- is now a separate application (universal) for iOS devices running iOS 5.

Since 2006, iTunes U has been a way to electronically distribute class lectures. Both Berkeley and Stanford have released courses on iTunes U, as have many other schools. Now, the iTunes U app offers lectures from a wide variety of high-powered schools, plus more.

Apple demonstrated a course overview, required credits, a syllabus, and office hours this morning. We also saw a place for posts from teachers so there's an easy way to update the class, and a spot where students can take notes. Tapping on an assignment automagically takes a student straight to the specific materials in iBooks, and there's even a task list for students to cross off items as they are completed.

iTunes U is a free application for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, available now.

iTunes U graduates into separate iOS app originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As part of today's education announcement, you can pick up a preview of the biology textbook book E. O. Wilson's Life on Earth as a free download from the iTunes store. Requirements for this title are an iPad running iOS 5 and the latest iBooks version, the newly released iBooks 2. Parts of this textbook were demoed during the event this morning.

Included in this preview release is a demonstration of a virtual cell which students can zoom into, a step by step explanation of cell division (accompanied by footage), and a guided tour of a nature preserve.

New chapters of the book will be released in the spring, and eventually the entire book will be available to students (or people interested in biology) everywhere. Final pricing is not yet known.

iBooks 2 showcased with preview of E.O. Wilson biology textbook originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A new company that debuted at CES is looking to figure out a way to give users of web video (both content owners and viewers) exactly what each of them wants without ruining the experience for either side.

Shodogg wants to be the middleman of the video experience, tapdancing on the line between protective content owners and content-hungry users. If you have a web-enabled television (and if CES was any indication, that's a question of "when," not "if"), and you are playing a video on your iPad, you can send that video to the TV easily and as securely as possible. The idea is similar to what you have with AirPlay via the iPhone/iPad and Apple TV, except that Shodogg is intended to work with any smartphone and any web-enabled screen -- you can 'toss' your videos to the TV, control them with your phone-as-remote, and maintain playlists for yourself or share them with friends (like Boxee does now).

While Shodogg plans to support all varieties of handsets and screens, right now the company's signup-only alpha test is limited to the iPhone and to a small set of browsers. Participants in the alpha can try out the connected video playback features, but not all the bells and whistles will be working yet.

I am an optimist, so to me Shodogg is a very exciting thing: users and content providers both win, and I hope that all parties involved will be interested since it strikes a balance that seems to meet everyone's requirements.

Full disclosure: This particular company caught my eye because Seth Green was there representing them, because he is a Shodogg investor and advisor. We went to find out what they were about, and in speaking with Seth, it turns out they are trying to do something really interesting. Other advisors include the CEO of JibJab and an NBCU exec, so it is entirely possible this could be the thing that tips the scale for video consumption. You can check out the demo video below.

Shodogg - Video's Best Friend from Shodogg on Vimeo.

Shodogg makes a grand debut at CES originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

AllThingsD has an interesting story on their site about the Newton and a few specifics on the end of its short life. At the 1997 Worldwide Developer Conference (held the year Steve returned to Apple), Steve was asked about the Newton, and he said, "...if somebody would just make a little thing where you're connected to the Net at all times, and you've got a little keyboard. God, I'd love to buy one." In what will surprise approximately no one, he went on to describe how he hated the stylus, calling it a "little scribble thing."

Another tidbit came to light when Sculley mentioned how the Newton's technology had carried forward to today. He said, "ARM not only was the key technology behind the Newton, but it eventually became the key technology behind every mobile device in the world today, including the iPhone and the iPad."

There is more to be had from Sculley's perspective in an interview he gave the BBC, but the thing I found most interesting was how he kept saying Steve was ahead of his time. How the Newton was 15 years too early, and how the horsepower to keep up with laser printers was a year-and-a-half ahead of when Steve initially released the desktop publishing applications.

For a bit of fun, check out how the Newton MessagePad 120 compares to an iPhone or iPad. To find out for yourself what Steve said, you can watch the video below.

In which Steve once again predicts the future: the Newton and the iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

While making our rounds on the show floor at CES, we came across the DXG booth, which displayed an interesting piece of hardware: An iPhone dock.

No really! In what we originally thought was an interesting twist, DXG has some iPhone docks with cameras in them. Well that is certainly something we haven't seen before, it doesn't seem like anybody has done a dock with a camera in it. Let's find out more!

Well, we tried. We kept asking about how the camera worked, and they said it worked with an iPhone. Then we asked what apps you could use it with (thinking Skype and FaceTime would be nice with a dock that might have a nicer camera than the iPhone front cam), and they said they have their own app that uses the camera. As far as we could tell, you can't use these with anything but their own custom app.

After a variety of attempts to break through the language barrier failed, we took their sheet of product information and moved on. The only problem is that the models with cameras aren't mentioned on the DXG site, nor in any printed materials. So we're going off of the image you see below, which discusses the IVB-300.

DXG is also clumsily touting "dock+Peek" but we've no idea what that means. It could be referring to their app, which we never saw. But in the end the primary utility here appears to be motion detection, which will then trigger the camera to snap a pic or video, which can then be sent elsewhere via email or FTP. Useful? Perhaps. It's too bad they spent all that money on a booth just to flub basic communications, however. It's also entirely possible these will never make it to market, but we'll keep an eye out for them.

DXG docks with cameras in them are of limited use originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday we got a chance to stop by the Scosche booth at CES. While we were there, we got to see all manner of items, from the just released to the recent but also pretty cool. Here's what we saw:

Kelly's top pick: A new car charger. Why? It has three very important features all in one convenient package! It is not only a dual USB charger, but both ports will charge iPads, AND it's the teeny compact style that just barely peeks out of your power port. It's coming soon, and when it does, I'll be getting several.

Victor's top pick: freedomMIC Bluetooth Wireless Microphone. Not only is it a wireless mic that is handy for recording nicer audio when you are shooting with your iPhone, but you can also use it as a remote to start and stop recording, or snap a still photo with your iPhone camera. If you use your iPhone for reporting (as I have done), you'll find this mic super handy.

We saw a number of other neat things in the Scosche booth as well. We saw a case with two pieces for the iPhone that has a silicone sleeve to protect the back and front of the iPhone, and then an aluminum Element case style band that buckles around it (think springform pan) for extra protection (and aesthetic coolness). This was really neat to see and very sturdy to use, the latch was solid and it really did look sharp on the iPhone. Plus, unlike the Element, you don't need a tool to get the metal band off.

Also there was a really interesting cable. I know, cables aren't THAT interesting, and that's true, until you see one cable transform from one you always have to carry into the other one you always have to carry. Since I basically only need two cables, it was nice to see them both in one. You take the 30-pin end and it lifts up and pivots over, unveiling a micro-USB end as well. Generally I only need to charge on micro-USB, and this way I can have the "emergency" iPhone cable as well without taking up another cable's worth of space. It's called the syncABLE Pro.

Speaking of iPhone cables, another nice thing to see was that Scosche has expanded on their line of flipSYNC cables, a compact cable about the size of a car alarm remote that unfolds into a USB charging cable. Now they have the clipSYNC which includes a carabiner-style clip to attach it to your bag, and also a flavor that has a battery in it and is still really compact.

TUAW visits Scosche at CES originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Moshi, makers of a variety of accessories for your Mac and iPhone, have announced a new set of headphones at CES called Clarus. They have two interesting characteristics, one inside the headphones, and one outside.

Outside they are a little different than a number of in-ear style headphones in that they have the ear loop to hang over your ear and keep the earpiece in place. They do offer a few sizes of covers for the earbud itself, which is handy, but even better is that you don't have to rely on that to hold them in your ear. Made of a semi-rigid material, the loop is soft to the touch and flexes enough to let you wiggle them around to get the perfect fit.

Inside, there is a great big difference: there are two drivers! Generally headphones will have a single driver, and that driver has to be all purpose since there's only one. This tends to mean you have to choose whether you want clear crisp sound in the high end, or a bumping thumping low end. With two drivers, you no longer have to decide which you prefer. I don't know how they managed to fit two drivers into these compact little headphones, but I can tell you how happy I am that they managed to do it.

I got to listen to a pair on the floor, and unlike some booths that were using a specific sample or only one variety of sound to show off, I was allowed to plug in my iPhone and play whatever I wanted. First off, putting them on was really easy. That flexibility in the earpiece helped me settle them in, and then I tried samples from four different songs (a mashup, guitar-heavy rock, electronic, and acoustic guitar/piano) and got really impressive results. They were a variety of bitrates, and everything sounded clear and balanced in every sample. It was really nice to get to hear something I was really familiar with so I could tell how it would sound compared to all the other places I listen to the same music.

There are other details that are nice, like the braided cover on the cord, the iPhone mic/control capsule on the cable, and the color detail on the earpiece to help put them in the correct ear. Retail price is $200 and they are available now at Moshi's website.

More Moshi headphones seen at CES

Moshi releases Clarus headphones at CES originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Yesterday I got a chance to chat with Steve McGowan of the Matias Corporation about one of their new products, the Slim One Keyboard. It's a fabulous idea, really: Take the form factor of the Apple Wireless Keyboard, and give it a button in the top right that says "iPhone". You've got your iPhone on a dock or syncing, and you get a text message. Hit that magical little iPhone button, and boom! Your keyboard is now bluetoothed up to your iPhone so you can reply to that text, then a second press of the iPhone button disconnects from your iPhone and your typing goes back to your computer.

If the name sounds familiar, Matias has previously made waves with their Tactile One keyboard, which uses switches like the Apple Extended Keyboard II used, so it is a very responsive (and clacky) keyboard.

You can see a demo of the Slim One Keyboard in the video below. It is available in Mac and Windows flavors for the iPhone.

Matias Slim One keyboard at CES originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 13 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Today, while checking out the variety of iPhone case options available in the iLounge Pavilion at CES, I saw a display that caught my eye: iPhone 4 cases made from recycled bicycle tires. As a Portlander, I am legally obligated* to follow up on any product that is recycled or bike-related, so I went over and checked them out.

They are made by a company called Skech, and I actually got my hands on the Skech Trax case. This is a flip style case (like a steno pad, not like a book) with a nice soft interior and the exterior is made of the aforementioned used tires. This is cool because all the cases are a little different and have some cool texture to them.

I also liked that the inside material is available in a variety of colors, and the flap that covers the screen also includes a couple of card sleeves for business cards or ID and a credit card if you need to travel light. It has a hole for the camera, and the top is open for access to power or the headphone jack. There is a magnetic clasp to hold it shut the rest of the time, and the whole thing feels really well put together.

Be aware that it is not the most protectionary of cases, but it will keep your keys off the screen while your phone is in your bag, and look reasonably nice outside your bag too.

*There was an ordinance passed in 1998.**

**Yes, I am kidding.

Spotted at CES: Skech Trax iPhone 4 case originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 12 Jan 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Third Rail Mobility, a case/battery system that our own Mike Rose reviewed (and liked), announced revisions to their iPhone 4/4S case and battery systems at CES 2012. Now they are available in colors aside from black, allowing you to customize your iPhone and keep it charged. Soon their line will include green, red, pink, white, purple, and blue.

On the off chance you want to keep your black case but add an extra layer of protection or just accessorize a bit based on whatever outfit you're wearing today, you're also in luck: Third Rail has also announced a line of silicone "bumpers" that slip around your existing Third Rail case in assorted colors, letting you choose a color and yet still use your battery. And while they were at it, Third Rail Mobility also announced a new battery for their cases, a 2000 mAh capacity battery which will more than double the life of your iPhone 4 (1420 mAh) or iPhone 4S (1432 mAh).

Their cases are a twist on the battery case style we're all used to seeing: the battery snaps into the back of the case, so when you don't need a battery you have a nice trim case, but when you do need one, you just pop it on the back and you're ready to go. Another nice feature: You can attach multiple batteries together, so when one runs out, stack another one on top and keep going. Third Rail cases also have a power switch, so if you want to charge up at strategic intervals you have that option as well.

These updated versions of the Third Rail Case will be available in the spring.

Third Rail Mobility announces new cases, battery at CES originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Howdy kids! It's been a couple of weeks since we all got together on a Sunday evening what with all the holiday hullabaloo, so now that we're all nice and settled in to the new year, let's hang out and catch up, shall we?

We have all the gifts to talk about, the trials and tribulations of heading home and ending up as tech support, and maybe even the first 2012 visit to my House to discuss the rumored media event.

Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite, or Blink Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Hello 2012 Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's Sunday once again and this can mean only one thing: Talkcast Time! If the holiday crazies haven't completely overcome you yet, join me at 5PM Hawaii/7PM Pacific/10PM Eastern for some holiday goings-on.

We'll be discussing gifts for those who haven't finished shopping already, primarily from our own Holiday Gift Guides, but we're also looking for your suggestions as well. What's the one thing you've asked Santa for? What's the killer gift idea you have for someone else? Let us know!

As usual, the chat room will be providing color commentary and generally trying to cause trouble, so do join them, it's always a lovely conversation going on in conjunction with the recording. And besides, you never know who will actually show up!

Also keep in mind that we are planning to have some aftershow tonight, and it's been a while since the last one so it's bound to be interesting. Come find out why we never EVER record it!

Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free X-Lite, or Blink Lite SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Shopping Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 11 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Starting today, if you want to be a mobile developer, you have a prime opportunity to make it happen. RunRev, makers of LiveCode, are offering Game Academy, an online course in game development. Here's how it works: Over the course of seven weeks (there's a break in the middle for Christmas), you will learn how to use LiveCode to develop a basic mobile game. Nothing fancy, just a little fun thing to help you learn your way around LiveCode. You'll get webinars, reading material, sample code, and even a free trial of the LiveCode software.

A couple of bonus things to know here: First, you can start with ANY level of development experience. I met with RunRev's CEO Kevin Miller at MacTech this year, and he assured me himself that even though I've never launched XCode, I will be capable of going from zero to finished game by the end of the course. Also, it's free! You can cancel at any point, but when you get to the end you can buy LiveCode for $99. Here's another bonus: Once you create your game or app, you can actually compile it for iOS or Android. Or both! Remember you will have to go through whatever the requirements are for distribution for your app in the respective stores.

Kevin himself gave a live demo at MacTech, where he went from zero to app in three minutes flat. If you're still curious how your app might turn out, you can always check out the list of apps built with LiveCode..

I'm excited about it, and already signed up. Will you be there?

LiveCode launches Game Academy originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 07 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Here we are again, another Sunday. Provided you survived Black Friday and the turkey-based festivities, we'd love to have you join the TUAW family for a post-shopping, post-tryptophan-coma Talkcast.

Most likely we will have a few of the regulars, providing what we'll call "color commentary" in the chat room. Also, if you show up for the recording, you are automatically invited to stay for the aftershow. Learn why TUAWTF is never recorded!

Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo, X-Lite, or Blink SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 4pm HI/7pm PT/10pm ET: Holiday kickoff edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 27 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

"Can I use your computer real quick?"

Depending on who asks you this question over the next week, reactions may range from nothing to frantic flailing toward your machine to see if you can make it do something that looks like it is unusable, getting you out of having to relinquish it to a family member with a checkered techno-past. Since you've already done the basics to protect your Mac, like set a screensaver password, what else can you do to family-proof your machine?

Luckily, a small bit of prep work can make this question easy to answer. All you have to do is whip up a guest account on your system. Guest accounts are perfect because logging in as a guest user limits the amount of damage that can be inflicted on your system to virtually nothing. Guest users can't change other user accounts or system settings and have no remote access. If you really want to ratchet things down, you can also use Parental Controls to limit the apps a guest account can use, or filter internet content.

While all of that is nice, one of the most important differences between a guest account and a regular account is files: Any files created or downloaded by a guest account are deleted on logout, so every time you log in as a guest user it always looks like nobody has ever logged in before.

If this sounds like the way to go for you, and you're running 10.5 or higher, here's how to create a guest account:

• Go to System Preferences and select Users and Groups (10.7) or Accounts (10.5 or 10.6).
• In that panel, click on the Guest User, and check "Allow guests to log in to this computer."

That's it! No really! All you have to do is determine whether you want to turn on Parental Controls or allow the guest account to connect to shared folders, and you're done. Now your Mac is ready for whatever your visitors can throw at it.

Mac 101: Create a guest account originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Pizza. It's pretty popular for the most part, so really it was just a question of time before it came to the iPad. While Pizza Hut was first with an iPad app, Domino's is the first with a game. Domino's Pizza Hero is that game, and like most rhythm type games, it's quite a bit of fun.

This app has some bonuses though: You can progress through levels and learn the magic of pizza creation, and when you have it all figured out, you can walk through the process of building the pizza of your dreams, and then place an order through the app for that very pizza. It's a lot of fun, and the ordering process looks pretty straightforward.

My only real complaint is that the feedback in the app as you complete levels is sometimes contradictory. "Great job with the sauce!" "Your sauce skills need work." Who do I believe? Other than that I really enjoyed the app, and since it's all Game Center integrated, you can even throw down with the usual game playing suspects. Perhaps the loser of the competition has to foot the bill for the winner's custom pizzas?

I enjoyed it and while there is very clear branding, it wasn't really overwhelming while playing the games themselves. Turns out with my index finger I'm a pizza slicing machine! Who knew? It's a free app, so check it out, especially this coming weekend when you've reached your limit of turkey leftovers.

Pizza app wars heat up as Domino's brings game to iOS originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

According to the FOSS Patents Blog, earlier today the US International Trade Commission entirely dismissed the first S3 Graphics complaint against Apple. Interestingly, the official notice (PDF link) has no explanation why the Administrative Law Judge was overruled. There is still one pending complaint by S3 Graphics against Apple which has not been ruled on.

Part of what makes this an issue is that HTC is in the process of buying S3 Graphics, and a couple of strikes against Apple patent-wise would have just sweetened that deal. At least we don't have to wait long for more progress on the ITC front, as a date of December 6th has been set for a ruling on Apple's first complaint against S3 Graphics.

And don't forget there's still a bit of tussling between Apple and HTC going on as well, with a patent infringement throwdown still not yet decided between them, either. Whew!

It's all a bit confusing at first glance, so get comfy, get ready to take some notes, and head over to the FOSS Patents Blog for more information and links to other coverage that will help you make sense of all the legal wrangling.

ITC rules Apple didn't violate S3 Graphics' patents originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A lot of iPad and iPhone users have found the sweet spot for that device: the couch. And now TechCrunch reports eBay and PayPal are hoping to capitalize on that with a new addition to their iOS app. A new feature called "Watch With eBay" appears in the latest update to the iPad version of the eBay app, allowing you to cruise eBay for items related to whatever you're watching.

Right now, the way the app determines what you're watching is by finding out from you. After you type in your zip code and select your cable provider and channel, it shows you items related to that particular show, as illustrated in the image here. While it's still reasonably neat to have this happen, and the searches are pretty slick, I'll like it a lot more when there's some sort of SoundHound functionality that can identify the TV show for me. If you want to see the new feature in action, eBay has a video on YouTube showing it off.

For my example it was mostly accurate, but I did get a few copies of the Queen Documentary mixed in with all the autographed photos and coffee table books. I searched again using "Ellen" as an example and it gave me items related to the guests on her show today. I am guessing this is just the first wave of this sort of interaction, and I'm interested to see where it ends up. Who do you think will be next, and how?

New Ebay iPad app promotes "couch commerce" originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

We previously told you about DevilRobber and what sort of unsavory things it can do to (and with) your Mac. (In case you don't click over to read the article, here's the scoop: it's bad. Real bad.) Back in the day (November 1st), it was a Trojan horse and sent a little of your personal info off to some far flung servers.

But CNet is reporting the new version has mutated, and now it tries to grab your Terminal history and system logs. This new "improved" version can be picked up by downloading Pixelmator from someplace that is not the Mac App Store (currently the only place to legitimately get a copy). But the fun doesn't end there! It also tries (but does not succeed at) making off with information stored in your 1Password data file. CNet's story makes it sound like DevilRobber can actually do something with that file, but in reality that data is safe, as confirmed by Agile themselves. They have a nice writeup on their site about all of this and the steps you can take to make extra super sure your data is safe.

This is also another of those opportunities we here at TUAW occasionally take to remind you that malware is bad but real, and you DO need to protect yourself. Remember "Macs don't get viruses" is just as accurate as "Macs don't have any good games" (which is to say not accurate at all), and protection is ridiculously easy. Get yourself a nice antivirus utility and spend a little time with Little Snitch to make sure nothing suspicious is being sent from your machine, and that should help you avoid a lot of problems.

DevilRobber now "improved", still nasty malware threat originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

First, it was a few people who wanted to get work email on their personal iPhones so they could keep up with the office even if they weren't there. Then it was a couple of high level people who decided they'd get iPhones as their official company phone. Now you have stacks of them all over the place and people are starting to ask questions about managing this many devices and security policies and...urgh! What ARE you going to do about all of that?

Instead of the heart attack you're likely considering at the moment, let me make a different suggestion: Check out the new Mobile Device Management Primer from MacTech! First and foremost, this is a FREE resource. Really. Go get it. It's THAT simple. It's written by Russell Poucher, an Apple Certified Trainer and session chair for the upcoming MacTech MDM event.

If the primer isn't enough, or it's just enough to show you all the things that you didn't even realize you should be worried about, MacTech has announced an event called MacTech InDepth: Mobile Device Management. This will take place in San Francisco on December 7th. If you were a regular person, you'd have to pay full price, but you're not! You, dear reader, get to use the special TUAW deal and get $200 off an entire day of curated knowledge. Even more important than the sessions, you get to hang out with a bunch of other folks who also showed up to learn more about MDM, giving you the chance to attend my favorite part of any conference, the "hallway track." This part is the part no webinar or conference call can duplicate, the part where you get to chat with other people randomly over lunch or between sessions. I have attended conferences and learned at least as much from the hallway track as I have from the tracks themselves!

Whether you get to go to San Francisco or not, you should definitely check out the primer above and spend a little time with it, especially if you are just starting to look at iPhones in your IT environment. It's free! So go get it, and see if you have any free time in early December. I hear San Francisco is almost as lovely then as it is in January...

MacTech offers free Mobile Device Management Primer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 18 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

One of the interesting things that has come out of Steve's passing is all the ways various Apple fans have found to honor his memory. From MythBusters to cake pops, we've seen a number of ways people have paid tribute. Now there's a new way you can pay tribute, by actually paying.

The new site, Steve's Favorites, is not only a spot where you can pick up a few of the music or book titles that Steve liked (according to his biography), but you can do so through an affiliate link and all of the affiliate payments will be donated to cancer research.

This looks pretty fab to me, honestly. I like knowing they are things Steve liked, but I wish there were a bit of an expansion, like the mock turtlenecks that we also happen to know he enjoyed. I know there probably aren't affiliate links for those, but having them all in one place would be pretty handy.

This site was put together by iOS dev group Villain, makers of Archetype. A very nice idea, and I probably have a shortage of at least one of the artists in the list, so I'll probably grab an album to do my part to help. If your iTunes library is low on Dylan or the Beatles, you just might be in luck.

Buy things Steve liked, help cancer research originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Guy Kawasaki was the keynote speaker for the first day of MacTech 2011. Instead of a talk about Enchantment or Bozosity, this talk took a different turn: It was about Steve Jobs.

Specifically, it was about what Guy had learned from Steve and from working for Steve. I really liked his talk since it was a bit more personal than some of the other presentations I've seen him give. It was fun to watch him walk across a photo of an Apple employee reunion and point out people and explain who they were. I really felt like I was getting a chance to sit and talk with Guy about Steve and Apple and his time there, not like I was sitting in a room full of people listening to him talk. I enjoy any chance I get to hear him speak, and he's good at it, so everybody wins, but it's nice to see something that was more personally about him.

One of the biggest things he learned was how to give a good presentation, and his slides reflected that. He pointed out that (like Steve) he uses a dark background which is easier on the eyes (and if you're a speaker who walks into the projector beam, your eyes are saved too), keeping the info on a slide as minimal as possible, and shared his own formula for determining the minimum font size in a presentation: Determine the age of the oldest person seeing the slides, and divide their age by two. That's your minimum font size.

I liked his specifics about Steve, too. He was discussing how a leader needs to know when it's time to make a change if the wrong path was chosen. He said, "Steve can say something and reverse himself later, and you'll think he was right twice."

A favorite of the Apple fanatical was the slide after that, which said "Real CEOs demo." (I know it was a favorite, it got applause.) His example was how Steve knew the products well enough to demo them, and he brought other people in to show off other pieces, but it was basically the Steve show and no other company does that even still.

Two things stuck with me as things I learned from Guy that he learned from Steve: First, design counts. (I already knew I was all over this, but it was reinforced during the talk.) It's important that something look good, and price does NOT equal value. Also, he put up a chart with two axis, "Unique" and "Value". He discussed the other three pieces and then made it to the last one and said, "What I learned from Steve is that history is made in the upper right corner."

This was a great way to kick off MacTech 2011, it was nice to start with some fun and a tribute to the person who is why we're all here in Los Angeles in the first place.

MacTech 2011: Guy Kawasaki's keynote address originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's the night before All Hallows' Eve, and it's time for the creatures of the dark to make their way to their phones, Skypes and VoIP -- yes, indeed, it's Talkcast time! We won't know if you're wearing a costume (well, we will ask you what you're wearing, but we won't ask for proof) but there's sure to be both treats and tricks for our weekly go-round of all things Apple-licious. (Bobbing for Apples can get messy if you don't adequately waterproof your gear, you know.)

Since it's really all about you, the community, join me won't you? To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (Viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients, basic instructions are here. (If you like Blink, the pro version is available in the Mac App Store.) Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET/7pm PT: Pre-Halloween Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 30 Oct 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's another understudy episode this week on TUAW TV Live, since Steve is currently playing nurse to the recently operated upon Mrs. Steve. This means if you didn't get enough of the Doc Rock and Kelly show on the Talkcast Sunday, now's your chance to stock up.

We'll be discussing the news of the week, and since it's Kelly and Doc Rock, we will also veer wildly off topic. I know we don't have a topic, but we'll find one so we can make sure we get off it. I also have it on excellent authority that to ease this transition, at least one host will be wearing a hat.

Below, you'll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments.

If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It's a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat.

We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you'll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.

No Flash? Check out the YouTube channel or podcast listed above or click here.

TUAW TV Live NOW: Understudy Week! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 19 Oct 2011 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

There are all manner of medically-based uses for iOS devices (the iPad in particular) if you are a medical professional, so it was just a question of time before patients themselves got in on the act (brace yourself, we get all bureaucratic up ahead). According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the FDA has drafted a document titled Guidance for Industry and Food and Drug Administration Staff - Mobile Medical Applications which is a first pass at attempting some standardization and looking at regulating the data and communication requirements of apps like this (for example, having a glucose monitor that can sync readings to your iOS device).

Particularly for a condition like diabetes, which requires tracking and (sometimes frequent) monitoring, it's very handy to have all that data available quickly and easily. Having an official stance, even in draft, is a big step forward. From the JDRF:

Once the information is on a smartphone, diabetes management will become more discrete while at the same time opening up a world of opportunity. You could view glucose levels, determine insulin requirements and make dosing decisions, track your treatment, and share all of this information seamlessly with the people that help with and matter most to your care. You could send alerts and alarms automatically to parents or caregivers, and receive helpful advice when needed.

If this is something you're in favor of, or better yet, could actually use, now's your chance to add your voice to the encouragement. Here's the catch: You only have until October 19th to have your say. You'll find feedback on the JDRF post that you can use as an example to work from. If you or someone you know could benefit from this, take a moment and fill out the comment form. Who knows? Your comment may be the one that puts it over the edge and turns this draft into reality.

FDA drafts Mobile Medical Applications document originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 18 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I can't imagine what we'll talk about tonight. Like that other Sunday night tradition, we will try to have a rilly big shew for you. Oh wait, there IS something newsworthy to discuss after all: Happy Steve Jobs Day everyone! (Thank goodness! Clearly we have nothing else of note to discuss...)

Not ONLY do we have at least one thing to talk about, we also have at least one person to talk with about it! My favorite Macworld dining companion, Mister Rod Roddenberry will be joining us! (I checked with him, and dress uniforms are not required.)

Since it's really all about you, the community, join me won't you? To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (Viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients, basic instructions are here. (If you like Blink, the pro version is available in the Mac App Store.) Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 4pm HI/7pm PT/10pm ET: Steve Jobs Day Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 16 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's Sunday, and like most every Sunday, we will be getting together for the Talkcast tonight at 10PM Eastern, 7PM Pacific time. This week's will be unpredictable since we have happy news to discuss, as well as less happy news. We have some guests joining us tonight as well, and we'd love to hear your memories of Steve. Prepare for some laughter and (at least on my part) probably some audible sadness as well.

Your calls and questions help us make the show the best it can be, otherwise I'm just talking to myself! To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (yay for free cellphone weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Gizmo, X-Lite, or Blink SIP clients; basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 10pm ET/7pm PT: Somber Edition originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jeff Rock happened to notice a push notification on his iPhone after installing Shazam. He checked it and it turned out to be an advertisement that had popped up. Since it didn't seem like expected behavior (push notification of an advert?), Jeff tweeted the Shazam folks to ask about it. Instead of a) Apologizing and trying to sort it out, b) Taking him seriously and helping troubleshoot, or c) Ignoring him entirely, they chose d) Tell Jeff it was clearly his fault.

Not so fast there, Shazam...missing the point he was trying to make, they told him that he must have turned notification on himself and needed to turn them off. Let me just point out that his complaint was not that he received A notification, it was that he received an AD as a notification. Telling them so got him the reply that he had clearly opted-in to notification at some point.

Jeff, trying to be more clear, quoted back chapter and verse from the iOS Program Standard Agreement that this particular "feature" was violating. This got a different response at least; now they say they'll "look into it".

For Jeff in particular, I can see how this would be extra frustrating. He's a developer himself, co-founder of Mobelux who built the app that is now the official iOS Tumblr client. It seems the number of "Can you believe I got rejected for that!?" incidents is in decline, but with the number of apps that still get rejected for small reasons, it is odd this particular violation happened to make it through the approval process.

Shazam violates Developer Agreement, blames Jeff Rock originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Steve Jobs has changed the life of every single blogger at TUAW in some way. I am not overstating this, because if it weren't for Apple Inc, there'd be no TUAW, so none of us would write for it, and we wouldn't know each other.

I'm putting this post together from an airport. I just worked on a project with two other TUAW staffers that involved iPads, and we were on a Disney property to do it. This week has had a very high Steve Factor for me, and I was actually thinking before the iPhone event about how grateful I am for what Steve contributed to the world. I said it on Twitter and I'll say it again:

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011. That was a most impressive dash.

We here at TUAW are all saddened by the loss, and our thoughts go out to Steve's family and friends. Below is a look back, courtesy of our bloggers.

Kelly Guimont

My first experience with Apple was the IIe. My mom was a grade school teacher, so each summer I would help her with things in her classroom. Right before I started third grade, I was told Mrs Sharp had a new computer to move into her class, and I helped her set it up and I got to play with it. Later the school got a few Apple IIes and they put them on carts so you could roll them from place to place. Then I helped my mom put spelling words each week in a word search or a crossword, and I sat at that computer cart smelling the plastic of the Apple IIe and the hand finished wood. Sometimes if I was fast enough with the week's spelling words I could get a game of Oregon Trail in before the computer got rolled back into the A/V room.

Whenever I could I tried to hurry with whatever my mom wanted so I could get more time on a computer. I played Oregon Trail, I learned LOGO, I typed in line after line of code from ENTER Magazine so I could see what it did. I made some basic text games. I played with Koala Pads and Print Shop. I learned to type. I was sure to touch metal before ever picking up any floppy. I spent a lot of time with that computer, one of the few places I felt in control. One of the few places where I didn't feel like I was the odd one out, or made fun of for being different.

That was my entire school career: Playing with the computers whenever I had a chance, and it was always some flavor of Mac. I loved every one. I learned so much, and in high school I got to use a Mac as a city library volunteer, helping convert the card catalog to a digital system from actual cards so we could get the Interlibrary Loan Program going. It was fantastic and I loved every minute. Let's fast forward to now:

I keep trying to shake off the death of someone whom I never officially met, he shook my hand briefly four years ago and I've been in a room where he was speaking twice in my life. That's all the contact I ever had with him, and yet I keep thinking of people I know or things I've done as a result of Steve's work, and my eyes keep leaking. I'll turn this over to the rest of the team, so look over there at what they wrote, I have something in my eye.

Mike Rose

My 'close encounter' with Steve came in the early '90s, when he was at NeXT. I was working for a publishing software company and we exhibited at Seybold Seminars; I was doing demos on the show floor of our QuarkXPress-centric magazine editorial system.

Few things will shake up a demo more than the awareness that Steve Jobs is standing there watching it. I noticed him standing by the booth and tried not to freak out completely. When I finished, he walked over and asked a question -- I truly can't remember what it was, maybe something about the database behind the editorial system -- smiled, said 'Nice demo,' and walked on.

I saw him many times on the WWDC and Macworld keynote stage after that brief moment, but I always think of that tradeshow floor as "where I met Steve."

Chris Rawson

I never knew Steve Jobs, and I never will. Like many geeks my age, I've always dreamt of running into him and at the very least shaking his hand and telling him, simply, "Thank you." Thank you for changing the world, fundamentally, irrevocably, and unquestionably for the better. Moving to New Zealand made ever meeting Steve in person exceedingly unlikely, but at any point in the past several years I could have sent that message to sjobs@apple.com and expressed the same sentiment, using devices he helped craft to express my gratitude for that craft. But I never wrote that e-mail, never sent it, and now he will never read it. I regret never having had the chance to know Steve Jobs; I'm certain I would have liked him, and I'm pretty sure he would have liked me. But we'll never have the chance to talk about our favourite musical artists, geek out over the minutiae of the iPhone, or whisper conspiratorially about the humorously dumb things he did when he was a kid. Those moments are lost forever, because cancer took him before they could happen. It was neither silent nor swift for Steve Jobs; though a private man, he was also paradoxically a very public figure, and though his mind never lost its sharpness it was clear over the years that he was approaching an endpoint far sooner than any of us would have liked.

I have asked myself several times over the past day why the loss of a man I never met and who never even knew I existed has affected me this strongly. Why I shed tears for a stranger when I've not done the same even after the loss of members of my own family. The answer is not so much that I mourn the man himself, but what he represents. Gene Roddenberry, Jim Henson, Carl Sagan, and Douglas Adams are all men who have lived in my time and profoundly affected my view of the world, and while I have now outlived them all, their influence on me continues. The same is true of Steve Jobs, a man who transformed technology from dumb instruments of metal and glass into something else entirely. The world of 2011 has about as much in common with 1976 as 1976 had in common with 1876, and while the changes of the past 35 years are not all down to one man, a lot of them are. Had I been born in the 1940s instead of the 1970s, I'd have grown up in a world of typewriters and mimeographs, and the idea of being able to communicate with people on the other side of the world, instantly, as though they were merely in the next room, would have been but a dream. Instead I have always lived in a world where the personal computer is a fact of life, and over time the device has put less emphasis on the "computer" portion and more on the "personal" aspect. That has culminated in the iPhone and iPad, two devices that feel as though they are extensions of myself, seemingly as necessary to my daily life as the fingers I use to manipulate them.

The world that Steve Jobs changed spins on without him, and that is a hard thing for me to face. Because if a man who was larger than life and who changed so very much about the world he lived in can vanish from it, then there is no hope that any of us can avoid the same fate, including me. Steve was only a few months older than my mother, only 22 years older than I am now, and his death is a stark reminder that everything and everyone I now know will eventually be lost to me, including my very self. It is not a thought I particularly relish.

Even so, while I certainly feel grief and sadness, one thing I do not feel is despair. If anything, Steve Jobs's career proves the futility of despair; most people would have been content to fade into obscurity after being ousted from the company they helped create, but instead Steve Jobs returned and transformed Apple into a juggernaut like nothing the world has seen before. In the process, the past 14 years has seen the world changed, too; tell anyone from 1997 what the world would be like in 2011, and they probably would have scoffed at so much change taking place in so short a time.

Yet here we are - and though Steve Jobs's life has ended, the changes he brought to the world while he walked upon it are only beginning. Inertia, even in its metaphorical form, is a difficult force to overcome. The engines of change that Steve Jobs helped set in motion will not stop merely because he is no longer here to stoke their flames. The fact that his legacy will outlive him, very possibly in perpetuity, is the closest thing to immortality there is.

Mike Schramm

My father had a heart attack two weeks ago. My dad has never been in great shape, but he's never been in bad shape -- I remember him having a weight loss contest with my uncle back when I was a kid, and he beat my uncle handily. He and my mom have been touring around the country in an RV for the past few years, so they live a pretty active, exciting lifestyle. But nevertheless, my dad started having some issues with his chest, scheduled a checkup, and the night before felt so bad that he had to rush to the hospital. They opened him up that night, and a few hours later he had some stents put in, and gotten some stern warnings from the doctor that it was time to slow down just a little bit.

That hit me kind of hard -- he's now fine, and except for some extra medication, it seems like everything will be all right for now. But my dad is pushing 70, and the whole thing happened so fast. It was a serious indication to me, more than anything else, that time is always moving on, and that what we have now might not always be there in the future. My dad has always been there -- whenever I needed advice or help or encouragement or just a stern talking to. And this was the first time I really felt, really realized, that he might not be there sometime in the future.

I also bought an iPad this week -- finally, yes, for the first time. For so long, I just figured I didn't need one; I have a MacBook, I've had two iPhones, and I've got a Mac mini to go along with my gaming PC. I have an Xbox and a PS3 and a Wii, and I figured I didn't need yet another device laying around. But of course, as with every Apple product I've purchased, it's already become a part of my daily life. It's cliche to say it by now, but I'm amazed at how different it really is from an iPhone -- how it's used, what it feels like. I am convinced, more than ever, that this is the device Steve really wanted to make. The iPhone was cool, sure, but the iPad really is the personal computer that Steve always hoped for. If nothing else, I am glad that he was able to see it happen, and it's pure coincidence that I finally got with the program and realized his vision this week.

And then, yesterday, I saw on Twitter that it had finally happened. Mike Rose is right -- we knew. When Steve left the company, it could only have been because he just couldn't stay, and while the pundits of course hypothesized that he was just taking some time off, we all really knew that the end was close. That doesn't make it any less sad, however. Still, the best way to remember him is by celebrating what he told us all along: That life is built up one day at a time, and that you should always strive to make the best things you possibly can. I wasn't alive when Leonardo da Vinci was around, or when Edison was inventing, or when Einstein was doing his thinking. But I followed Steve Jobs, and I watched him work. And I can follow his example: Make the absolute best of what we have, stay one of the crazy ones, and do our best to change the world with whatever time we've got.

Mel Martin

I saw my first Apple product in 1978. It was an Apple II and I was pretty much floored. A lawyer friend in Des Moines had one and I was smitten. The thought of owning a computer was a pretty new concept for me, but I pretty quickly grasped that, as a journalist, writing without carbon paper and white-out was a pretty radical idea.

As Apple grew, and the Mac came in I gave more and more tasks to my home computer. When the Mac II finally offered a color display, I was able to combine computing with my graphic and photography pursuits.

Like most of us, I spend many hours using Apple products, and of course my computing platforms have evolved to include the iPhone and iPad. They are a part of all of our daily experience, and have changed our lives irrevocably. So thanks to Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak for changing my world.

I've also learned to spend more time experiencing the world beyond the computer screen and increasingly appreciate the joys of being outdoors surrounded by a beautiful landscape or under a starry sky. As a bonus, Apple has given me the tools to capture and share those moments in a way I never could before.

Thanks for all the great moments using your products Steve, extending my knowledge, my reach and my senses. It's a powerful legacy.

Richard Gaywood

I came late to the Apple party. Growing up, I was a nerd's nerd; I built my own PCs running DOS, reluctantly moved to Windows, and graduated to Linux in my early 20s. Eventually, shortly after starting my PhD, I grew tired of battling printer drivers and the endless configuration problems and half-working software. This was 2002, by which time OS X had settled into a stable and mature Unix-based OS, exactly what I needed for my research. Cardiff University signed off a budget agreement and with some trepidation I took delivery of a fully stacked 12" iBook.

For four years that iBook went everywhere with me. I loved it to bits. I worked on it non-stop through five logic board failures, the last of which happened just minutes before I finished my final 450-something page PDF of my thesis -- I literally worked it to death! Since then, I've had an old G4 tower, a MacBook Pro, plural iPhones, one iPad. They're not perfect, but they've come far, far closer to the "it just works" ideal than any other computers I've ever used.

Steve Jobs certainly wasn't afraid to make enemies, wasn't afraid to be disliked, and plenty of people did dislike him and the way he did business. But I don't think anyone would disagree that he was a very smart bloke and we need all the smart blokes we can find in this world. People are saying that when we look back in decades to come his name will rank with the great industrialists and visionaries like Edison and Ford and Disney. Time will tell on that, but I think they're probably right.

Of all the tributes and remembrances that have appeared on the Internet since the news broke, my favourite was actually from back in August when his neighbour, Lisen Stromberg, [wrote about him](http://lisenstromberg.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/my-neighbor-steve-jobs/). She paints a rare view of Jobs as just another guy, crying with pride at his son's graduation party. Like my friend Mike said; some kid has lost his father. A wife has lost her husband. That's worse than anything any of the rest of us are feeling.

Still, though. It is impossible to work in technology and not owe something to Steve Jobs, both to his vision and to his ability to make that vision a reality. Every day, whether I'm using Windows or OS X, Eclipse or Xcode, I am standing on the shoulders of giants. Jobs was one of those giants who made my career possible, who made my career exist. For that, I salute him.

Victor Agreda

In late 1978 my dad walked into a bicycle shop, and amidst the Altairs and other gadgets in the "computer hobbyist" part of the store in the back sat a brand-new Apple II with paddles, a cassette player and some tapes. My dad was in graduate school at the time, and we didn't have a lot of money, but Christmas that year saw our first computer as a family gift. That's where I started to learn about Steven P. Jobs.

As I grew older I started to read BYTE and as many tech magazines as I could get my hands on. I learned AppleSoft BASIC, a smidge of other languages, and created animations and games to dazzle my friends. My lifelong love of technology began at a tender age, thanks to two Steve's -- one I would meet, one I would only glance briefly as he headed for the car after a Macworld keynote.

How did Steve Jobs affect my life? I am struck by this talk Steve gave for the Library of Congress, about how computers are like bicycles for the mind. I think that Steve truly did want to change the world, for the better, and that's how he was going to do it. By making humans more efficient, we could live up to our true potential. Computers can be used to enhance our lives, expand our horizons and yes, change the world. Steve was a rare breed, like Da Vinci, he saw further than most. We are all lucky that he met Woz and was in a position to act upon his vision. When you forget about all the rest, the petty squabbles, the palace intrigues, the strict control... what's left is a man who wanted to change the world, saw how to do it, and actually did it. If my life is any indication, we are better because Steve Jobs was here.

Steve Sande

For the past 27 years -- half of my life -- much of my career has been shaped by the vision of Steve Jobs. I never met him in person, but the company he co-founded and the products that he had a strong, guiding hand in creating have been key to everything I've done since 1984.

It started that year when my boss and I went to a Nynex Business Center in January of 1984 to see the first Mac. Having used a MITS Altair, a friend's Apple II, a Commodore 64, and a Sanyo MBC-555 PC Clone up to that point, I was stunned by the power and ease of use of the Mac. I was able to hold out only until that December, when I bought my first Mac -- a 512K.

After that purchase, I started going to Denver-area user group meetings, where I met friends who I'm still in contact with. I brought that 512K "in the back door" of the company where I worked, and before I knew it I was not only the IT director of the subsidiary, but was overseeing a statewide network of almost 300 Macs. Our subsidiary was swallowed up into the parent company in 1994, at which time I worked on a group of almost 1,200 Macs. Regretfully, that company outsourced our support team to IBM in 1995, where one of my first projects was to help migrate the Mac users to Windows 95. I hated that project, I hated working for IBM, and I couldn't help but think of those great years with the Macs (and I still had several at home). It's no wonder that when I finally decided to quit IBM in 2004, I chose to work only with Macs.

I started writing about Macs in 1986, when I began a BBS (Bulletin Board System) called MAGIC -- the Mac And GS Information Center. That BBS ran until 1994, when my first website (designed on a Mac, of course) went up. The experience with that BBS and the website prepared me well for my current career as a writer and editor here at TUAW.

In 1993 I fell in love with a non-Jobsian Apple product, one that he would eventually kill -- the Apple Newton MessagePad. Of course, when I had my hands on my first iPhone in 2007, I realized why he killed the Newton. It wasn't ready for prime time.

My best memory of Steve was watching him on the stage at Macworld Expo 2007 announcing the iPhone to the world. It was one of the most exciting experiences of my life, a feeling of "everything just changed." That moment was so profound to me that I ended up outbidding a bunch of folks on a Nitrozac (of JoyOfTech fame) painting of it -- you can see it at the top of this post. Every day I look at that painting at least once, and it inspires me to do my best.

Thanks, Steve, for giving us the future.

Megan Lavey-Heaton

Walk into a room and most likely you'll find something that Steve Jobs has influenced -- whether or not it's an Apple product -- and that includes whatever device you're reading this on. Even diehard Apple-haters are acknowledging what Steve Jobs has done for technology and to push our lives forward regarding everything from computers to accessibility to media such as music and movies. He didn't just do this once, but multiple times.

One of my earliest memories was playing the Oregon Trail at age 6 on an Apple II in 1986. I used Macs exclusively throughout school because that's what was in our classrooms. I didn't appreciate Macs until college. I built my first newspaper pages on a G3. I typed my first news stories on Macs purchased in 1992 that filled The Crimson White offices at the University of Alabama. My first iPod lasted two years longer than the relationship I acquired it during, but the original tracks are on my current iPod thanks to iTunes. The purchase of my first iPhone in 2007 happened to coincide with my now-husband and I beginning to date. He's in the UK and I'm in the US, but because of the iPhone, we were able to communicate with each other without driving up hideous phone bills. We used iPhoto and MobileMe to publish pictures of our wedding in 2010, and I keep track of his immigration in iCal and Mail. Whether it was luck or happenstance, I can't think of a single aspect of my life that hasn't been positively influenced by Steve Jobs.

The following quote is from Walt Disney, who was most likely the Steve Jobs of my grandfather's generation:

"Somehow I can't believe there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true. This special secret, it seems to me, can be summarized in four C's. They are curiosity, confidence, courage, and constancy, and the greatest of these is confidence. When you believe a thing, believe it all the way, implicitly and unquestionably."

Steve Jobs was all of these, and he believed in his vision implicitly and unquestionably. Thank you for everything that you've done, Steve.

Remembering Steve Jobs: TUAW looks back originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 06 Oct 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Grove , a company based in Portland, Oregon, has announced they are expanding their line of bamboo-based goodies for your Apple product. They already have a variety of iPhone and iPad cases, so it was really just a question of time before they found a way to coordinate your iThings with your laptop. In a TUAW exclusive, I get to tell you all about The New Grove Thing: Bamboo Backs!

Designed to fit the top of your unibody laptop be it 11, 13, 15, or 17 inches, they are super thin bamboo panels (only .035" thick!) with adhesive on the back to stick it to your machine. As an added bonus, you can get one with a cutout in the center so when your computer is on, the glowing Apple logo lights up the shape of your choice. Now, if you and nine (or more) of your friends or coworkers all want the same logo, you can get in touch with Grove and have them do a nice custom cutout of a corporate logo or other particular design.

I've seen these in person, and my initial impressions are all favorable. I saw one applied and removed and it pops off flawlessly. They really are thin, and they look really nice once installed. I also got to see a few of the logos in person and they are all wonderful (my favorites: the globe, the command symbol, and the @ sign). As a Portland company, they are obligated to put a bird on it, and even have a variety to choose from. Priced at $29 each, they are also easy to get your hands on without throwing your budget into complete disarray.

Truly, the curve and the aluminum of the current generation of Apple laptops are beautiful, but there's something about the old school/analog vibe of the bamboo backs that really pleases me. I got to tour Grove's facilities, and since everything they make comes from the same building as their offices, I got to see the magic happen from the milling to the lasers to the hand finished packaging (the smell of the wood and the oil finishing is so very nice). It's all done in one place and while they could outsource it, the founders told me they aren't interested since this way they can keep a close eye on every single piece of the process and make sure everything they ship out meets their standards. Plus it makes it easier to whip up a physical version of an idea if all your materials are already in house. And let's be honest, it's got to be fun to work across the room from two laser cutters!

I have included the intro video below. Which design would you get?

Introducing Grove Bamboo Backs from Grove on Vimeo.

Grove announces Bamboo Backs for MacBooks originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Instagram announced on their blog today that version 2.0 of their popular iOS photography app is now available. Their post outlines a number of additions and changes in the new version, including "live view" of the filters, so you can see the filter applied before you even take the photo. My personal favorite is the higher photo resolution which takes the resolution of the saved photo up to 1936x1936 on the iPhone4 and 1536x1536 on the iPhone 3GS. There is a catch here though: You only get the high-res versions saved to your camera roll IF you have the setting on to save them. What goes out to Instagram is still a 612x612 image.

There are also improved controls for sideways photos and options on every filter to enable/disable the borders. Generally in my brief time playing with the update, I've found that the app is overall a little perkier. I did like playing around with the live view filters, even though I don't think I'll spend a lot of time with that function in day-to-day use. I think the revamp of the picture taking interface is nice too; I like the ease of controls and how you don't have to shuffle off to another screen to get the results when you take a photo. (See image.)

This is a free update to the free app available in the App Store.

Instagram 2.0 now available for iOS originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Our fearless host Steve Sande is still on the road, so the showtime shift is covered by Kelly G and Doc Rock again this week.

Our show will primarily be the "all request hour," where the agenda is completely driven by our chat room live viewers; if you want to get heard, keep reading for instructions on how to join in for maximum entertainment.

Below, you'll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments.

If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It's a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat.

We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you'll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.

No Flash? Check out the YouTube channel or podcast listed above or click here.

TUAW TV Live at 5pm ET: Kelly rules the roost originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Once again the weekend is coming to a close, so it's time we gather together for another Talkcast! Normally we have a variety of things to discuss, but this week we're going to shake things up with a very special guest: Chicago Sun-Times technology columnist & author Andy Ihnatko, a veteran of Mac commentary and all around delightful fellow.

Odds are good some of the regulars will call in as well, and if we're fortunate (and my voice holds out) perhaps there will be some TUAWTF aftershow action. Join us, won't you?

To participate, you can use the browser-only Talkshoe client, the embedded Facebook app, or download the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for +5 Interactivity, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the Talkshoe Web button on our profile page at 4 HI/7 PDT/10 pm EDT Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (viva free weekend minutes!): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8.

If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac, you can connect via the free Blink or X-Lite SIP clients, basic instructions are here. Talk to you tonight!

Talkcast tonight, 7pm PT/10pm ET: Ihnatko Edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If you haven't already heard, AgileBits has unleashed their fantastic password manager 1Password upon the Mac App Store. Not only is it now available in a convenient easy-to-update form, but this new version will include new features and an easy upgrade path to 4.0. Not to mention it's also HALF off at the moment.

For those of you who have somehow missed the 1Password boat, it is a password manager that lets you set a "master password" and then stash all sorts of sensitive info behind it: website logins, credit card numbers, software serial numbers, even secure notes. One of my favorite features is password generation: I can tell it my Facebook password needs to be 16 character and super high security and boom! As if by magic, I have a highly crack-resistent password.

Thanks to the magic of browser add-ons I can fill in web forms with my credit card information or any other bit of stuff I have secreted away behind that master password. Did I mention they also have an iOS app and Dropbox syncing so all your goodies are available on all your Apple hardware? Well, there you go. (There's a Windows version too, should you need that sort of thing. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

If you're an existing customer, here are a few of the changes you'll want to know about in the new version: A new menubar icon for easy access from any application, full-screen support and 64-bit support. This new version requires Lion, so be sure you're all upgraded before you pull the trigger.

We here at TUAW rather like 1Password, since it's a straightforward app that does what it does very well. If you haven't yet moved to some sort of password solution, this is a great opportunity to do so. Congratulations to AgileBits on getting to show off all the hard work they've been doing lately!

1Password now available on Mac App Store originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's all about the runner-ups this week on TUAW TV Live, since Steve is currently Out Of Office (and by "office" I mean "country"), the duty of entertaining you all this afternoon falls to Kelly and Doc Rock. We'll see how it goes.

This week we have a bit of news but mostly we are going to talk about workflow: How Doc Rock and Kelly actually do the stuff they do, and there will be naming of names (Applications on Mac OS and iOS, workflow tips, things like that.) All will be revealed a bit later today!

Below, you'll find a Ustream livestream viewer and a chat tool. The chat tool allows you to participate by asking questions or making comments.

If you're driving somewhere and would like to watch TUAW TV Live while you're stuck in traffic, please don't -- keep your eyes on the road! However, if someone else is doing the driving, you can watch the show on your iPhone and join the chat by downloading the free Ustream App. It's a universal app and is wonderful on an iPad, both for viewing and participating in the chat.

We'll start at about 5 PM ET, so if you're seeing a prerecorded show, be sure to refresh your browser until you see the live stream. For those of you who are not able to join us for the live edition, you'll be able to view it later this evening on our TUAW Video YouTube channel and as part of the TUAW TV Live podcast viewable in iTunes or on any of your Apple devices.

No Flash? Check out the YouTube channel or podcast listed above or click here.

TUAW TV Live at 5pm EDT: Substitute host edition, video style originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 16:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

It's all about the runner-ups this week on TUAW TV Live, since Steve is currently Out Of Office (and by "office" I mean "country"), the duty of entertaining you all this afternoon falls to Kelly and Doc Rock. We'll see how it goes.

This week we have a bit of news but mostly we are going to talk about workflow: How Doc Rock and Kelly actually do the stuff they do, and there will be naming of names (Applications on Mac OS and iOS, workflow tips, things like that.) All will be revealed a bit later today!

As usual, it all kicks off at 5 PM EDT (2 PM PDT / 10 PM BST) sharp, and we'll take a few minutes to chat before the demos start. To join in on the chat and watch the live streaming video, drop by TUAW about five minutes before the start time to get your instructions on how to participate. If you're unable to join us for the show, remember that you can always subscribe to the video podcast and watch the show at your leisure in iTunes or any other favorite podcatching app. The past shows are also available on the TUAW YouTube channel.

If you don't want to use the Flash Ustream chat tool, remember that you can always connect through IRC. The default chat server is chat1.ustream.tv (port 6667), the chat room is #tuaw-tv. You'll need to set up a Ustream account first with a username and password, and then log into IRC with that.

TUAW TV Live at 5PM EDT: Substitute host edition! originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.