Erfon Elijah is the producer and host of The CultCast. When not editing podcasts or watching Mrs. Doubtfire, you’ll find him on Xbox Live hunting CoD Ghosts foes like the Predator. Here are his tweets...
After weeks of wild price swings, Apple’s stock closed today at its highest value ever, $420 a share. The previous high was about $413; many were expecting that value to fall tremendously when (my hero) Steve Jobs passed, but to much surprise Apple’s stock remained relatively unaffected by his passing.
The new high comes right before Apple’s Q4 FY11 earnings report and conference call next week (Tuesday, Oct. 18th). This will of course be their first earnings call since Steve Jobs’ passing, and though I think the report will be their usual “we made ALL the money we win” type, whatever success they have had will surely be sobered by the loss of their visionary CEO and friend Steve Jobs.
Are you getting antsy to get your shiny new toy but Apple is still showing your iPhone 4S as “Preparing for Shipment”? I’m not sure why the Apple system is not showing actual tracking for many, but trust me, your iPhone is likely already on the move. Follow the simple steps below to get your actual tracking information in realtime.
Friend. It’s Mac I’d like to friend. Oh well, no matter… here’s the important part: We’re getting low on these Mac-inspired beauties, and once we sell out, we’ll be out for good.
Like it? You can scoop one up now for just $18. And I bet you need one. After all, to qualify for fanboy/girl status you need at least 5 Apple related tees in your rotation and I bet you have less than 3. Would also make a fun gift for the Apple fan in your life.
Unisex tees are 100% made in the beautiful USA, are sold by Seattle indie brand Might Tees, and are available to ship anywhere in the world.
Get one now and you’ll like the way you look. We guarantee it.
Been trying to preorder an iPhone 4S tonight? Yeah, me too… I’ve been trying for the last hour and a half and have had to restart the checkout process just about 26 times now.
Well, guess the Apple store has finally given up. Only minutes ago, trying to order an iPhone would have gotten a never-ending series of page timeouts and error messages. But now, Apple is assigning reserved spots so you can come back later, once things are working, to get your order on. Looks like they might have expected this to happen this time around.
He may have ushered in the personal computer; the iPod; the iPhone; the iPad; the modern operating system; the animated movie; but I bet this is the Steve his kids & family will forever remember and miss.
Steve certainly had a reputation for being a tyrant, but for me, these images put aside Steve Jobs the legend, the myth, and giving us rare glimpse into Steve Jobs the man. The normal, quite human, man.
These priceless images were captured in the office of former Apple employee (and Delicious Library creator) Mike Matas. See the whole series below.
In 2009, Baltic Latvian Universal Electronics (Blue) released the Yeti, a wonderfully talented little microphone that many, especially many podcasters, took notice of then proceeded to fall in love with. The Yeti was beautiful, dead-simple to use, and very Mac friendly. Yeti was also the first USB mic to allow users to record in any one of four different polar patterns (four I say!) making it incredibly versatile. And now, with the Yeti Pro, Blue is making their hit mic even better.
Ok, so all jokes aside, it’s no secret that many of us here at CoM are fans of Leo Laporte and his immensely popular all-things-Apple show Macbreak Weekly.
Well, in a moment of questionable judgement, Leo invited me on Macbreak to talk all things Apple for two whole hours, and I humbly accepted.
If you could use a dose of live Apple news and entertaining banter tomorrow between the hours of 11am and 1pm Pacific time, please tune in: https://live.twit.tv.
If you haven’t had a good laugh today, you should check out this video that’s been circulating of “Steve Jobs” rehearsing his iPhone 5 introduction keynote.
It’s absolutely hilarious to me that anyone would think this video is real, especially after hearing Steve say the iPhone 5 is going to have its own version of smell-o-vision. I also didn’t realize Steve Jobs sounded a lot like George W. Bush, but he does in this video.
The best part though is when Steve decides it’s time to suit up in his “go-time” sneakers, does a quick in-place foot shuffle, then compares the airy weight of his newly donned sneakers to the lightness of the new iPhone 5.
It’s not everyday you see a case like Silva Limited’s bamboo Macbook Pro case. Hand assembled, hand finished, made from sustainable bamboo — it’s obvious these handsome cases have been crafted with love and a ton of attention to detail.
I’m a huge bluetooth headset fan. In fact, I don’t mean to brag, but I’ve been doin’ it “hands free” since the early aughts. So naturally when I heard Jawbone had a hot new headset on the market, the Jawbone Era, I was excited to get my hands on it and give it a go.
Look. Summer’s right around the corner, and odds are, you’re still wearing some swag-tee you got at Macworld circa ’00, no? Why not wrap your torso in this super-soft “Mac I’d Like to Friend” Cult of Mac (CoM) tee, instead? They’re limited edition, hipster-approved, and guaranteed to get you unexpected high-fives from dodgy-looking street strangers.
Our new CoM tees are 100% cotton, and 100% designed, forged, and hewn in the fires of Mount U.S.A. They’re also available now over at MightTees.com, creators of fine indie-art inspired graphic tees.
Thanks everyone for your hilarious and entertaining comments in my Throwboy Giveaway post. I had a fun time reading them all and it was REALLY hard to choose the two winners.
If you’re an Apple fan (and if you’re reading this, it’s probably safe to assume you are), you’ve probably heard of these neat pillows from Throwboy.com. Throwboy makes a whole slew of cool Apple and geek inspired throw pillows. I love’em, and thought I’d be a nice guy and score some for you, our beloved Cult of Mac viewers and readers.
If you’d like to qualify to win one of these super stuffed plushes, good news, it’s super easy! Here’s how to get yourself in the running:
Live from the Final Cut X event (via twitpic user @fcpsupermeet)
Update: Final Cut X will be $299 and will be available in the App Store in June. Still unknown are the future of Final Cut Studio (Including Soundtrack, Motion, Compressor, Color, DVD Studio) or Express.
Apple is, at the very moment I’m writing this, taking the cloak off of Final Cut X live and to much applause in front of the Final Cut Pro User Group Network in Las Vegas. For several weeks there have been rumors and murmurings that Apple would today unveil the next iteration of its venerable Final Cut video editing software, we’re learning now those rumors were true.
Final Cut users know that the last major update the software had was about 10 years ago. Though many users love the program, it was getting so long in the tooth it was starting to look like a vampire.
Details of the new Final Cut X are still coming in since the unveiling isn’t over yet, but one attendee at the event is posting updates via twitter (thanks @fcpsupermeet). Here are some notables from his twitter stream:
Crowd is unruly!
Final Cut X is a full rebuild from scratch
64 bit – Crowd: “finally!” “thank you!”
Cocoa, Core Animation, Open CL, Grand Central Dispatch support
The Focus was on image quality
Fully color managed
Resolution independent playback/timeline all the way up to 4K
Features people detection, single or in groups
Non-destructive auto color balance
Automatic audio cleanup (option to auto noise reduce audio, more)
Features “smart collections”: a lot like the smart folders found in OS X
Editing can start immediately during importing of AVCHD and other media, switches silently to local media as it ingests
Uses every available cpu cycle to keep things rendered. Also highly scalable. Will even work on a Macbook
No interruption for rendering. No transcoding, EVERYTHING native. (incl DSLR footage–assume this means AVC)
[Update] Thanks to everyone who subscribed and commented, tons of really great comments, I had a fun time reading them all! The two winners are below, if you’re one of them, I’ll be contacting you via Youtube. Stay tuned for another great giveaway next Tuesday!
Winners:
AGreatDane123, against all odds, you got the first qualified comment in. I applaud you sir, you are a winner. Congrats!
Anthonypeter, it is for pity that I choose you, for no one should go through life not having won anything. Congrats!
Still rollerskating around in your short-shorts with tunes blaring on the headphones that came with your original Walkman? Tsk tsk… Everyone knows that’s a look that won’t be hip again for at least another 5 years.
Updates galore! Hot on the heels of the Snow Leopard 10.6.7 update yesterday, a fresh new update to Apple’s Aperture is also now ready for your installing pleasure via Software Update.
UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who participated! I had a great time reading all your comments. Congrats to Mitchell Chin (youtube user: Sportwin) and Mark Fleser (youtube user: markfleser) on winning a small stack of assorted Gear Ties from Nite Ize. If you’re one of those two people, check your youtube account, I just messaged you!
If you missed my gushing review of these brilliant Gear Ties from Nite Ize, check it out here to see what all the fuss is about.
I love these little rubber-bonded-over-pliable-steel pieces. I use them so often and they work so well, they’ve become one of my favorite new products.
Well, I got to thinking that you, our dear CoM readers and viewers, might love them too. So I asked Nite Ize if they’d be willing to give some away to you, and they responded with a resounding “yes!” So, if you’d like to qualify to win some of these little wonders, you only need to do two simple things:
In case you missed it, Apple stole the spotlight this year at SXSW by launching iPad 2 in a temporary popup shop right in the heart of Austin.
I had heard that Apple was opening a popup store at a secret location during SXSW, but the location wasn’t a secret for long.
Long lines, big signs, high fives—even dancing ensued once the twitterverse got wind of the popup’s location. It was a crazy fun time, so if you haven’t seen it yet, check the video and let your eyes behold the insanity of this brilliant iPad launch.
PS, excuse the video’s abrupt ending, my camera ate some of my video bytes.
In a day and age when every pair of headphones looks just as utilitarian as every other, I was surprised when I ran past the Urbanears booth at CES 2011 and was stopped by what I saw: understated; beautifully crafted; no-design-detail-missed; headphones. Surely they didn’t have the audacity to sound good too…
I realize how nerdy this sounds, but I hate a mismanaged cable. I can’t stand it when the cables behind my TV get tangled together like a giant snake pit. I also hate having to untangle my headphones cord every time I get them out.
So I was happy when I stumbled upon the Nite Ize booth at CES this year because their Gear Ties aren’t just good, they’re great. I love these little dudes. They’ve worked so well for me, they’re become some of my favorite new products.
I’ve been keeping my eye out for a basic, inexpensive iPhone stand for a while now. I use my iPhone as an alarm clock at night and I’ve needed something to keep it propped up. Well I’m happy to report I’ve found my solution, it’s called the Glif.
I realize a lot of people don’t care about how nasty their iPhone or iPad screens get—but I do—and I know I’m not alone.
Well those of us who like to keep a clean screen have a nifty new tool at our disposal: it’s called the Sidekick, and from what I saw, it works great. Peep the video to see how it works.
Yeah, I said Sinbad! Apparently it’s an old joke that everyone has a “I-met-Sinbad-at-Macworld” story, after all, he’s been coming to Macworld since 1985. Well since he was going to be here anyway, they asked him to get on stage and give a keynote, and I’m glad they did because it was fantastic.
The iPad is a lot heavier than it looks, isn’t it? Holding it with one hand can be unwieldy and make your hand tired, but holding it with two hands makes it hard to use.
Well we discovered a nifty little device that can help. It’s called the HandeHolder and it allows you to strap your iPad to your hand, making it much easier to hold and use.
