Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco freelance writer who heads up Cult of Mac Magazine, our weekly publication available on iTunes. You can find her on Twitter and Google+. If you're doing something new, cool and Apple-related, email her.
Adam Gadahn as "PC" and Anwar al-Awlaki as a "Mac."
Those iconic “Get a Mac” ads were recently used by an intelligence analyst to explain the emerging styles of two of al-Qaida’s American recruits.
At a classified intelligence conference outside Washington, the audience laughed and applauded when American al-Qaida members Adam Gadahn and Anwar al-Awlaki were swapped in for PC John Hodgman and Mac Justin Long in an Apple commercial.
Other analysts agreed that the award-winning ads featuring an uncool PC and a laid-back, charismatic Mac are apt characterizations of the two high-ranking American al-Qaida media strategists.
Steve Jobs rebuffed student journalist Chelsea Kate Isaacs dogged pursuit of a comment on campus Macs with “Please leave us alone.”
But the 22-year old has now discovered that not all tech companies are so hard to cover.
Issacs sent in a 140-character statement about why she should be picked in a Microsoft contest to cover the launch of Windows Phone 7 — and won. (All speculation about what that Tweet-sized application said are welcome in the comments).
A rescued miner wears the protective Oakley sunglasses in the care kit.
I’ve been mesmerized (along with Pope Benedict, apparently) by video feeds showing the 33 miners emerging from the mine in Chile, where they’ve been trapped for 69 days.
Given the media attention and pathos generated by the story, companies have stepped in to try to make re-adjusting to life above ground easier.
What are in these care packs? Wraparound style Oakley sunglasses (at over $250 each) to help them avoid retina damage, a high-calorie liquid diet, donated by NASA, to suppress motion sickness in the miners as they ascend.
Steve Jobs has apparently been touched by the story too: Apple has donated iPods to give to the miners after they emerge — bet they wished they’d had them with extra battery packs during the ordeal.
Other gifts from various companies for the miners and their families include food, clothing, sexy lingerie, wine, toys and children’s Halloween costumes.
With pudgy poodles and tubby tabbies becoming the norm in the US, an iPhone app promises to help keep pet calorie counts under control.
Called CUPetHealth, the $3.99 app was developed by a team of seven computer science students at Cornell as part of a class project and vetted by the university’s veterinary experts for accuracy.
The app is meant to take the guess work out of feeding for the household’s four-legged companions. After entering the daily diet and noting several lifestyle variables to determine the appropriate number of calories each day, the app responds with “overfeeding,” “underfeeding” or “appropriate.” The app also keeps track of medication and vaccine and flea control information.
It took Athens, Greece-based artist Charis Tsevis about a week of 16-hour days to create this trippy mosaic portrait of Steve Jobs for Brazilian magazine ALFA.
This one is something of a departure, taking us back to the colorful early days of Apple history. More on the inspiration behind it and close-ups after the jump.
Universities across the U.S. are arming students with iPads, so it only makes sense that one school would teach them how best to use it.
Central Michigan University created a pilot course on iPad literacy to make sure they’re getting the most out of it.
What’s in the iPad course curriculum? Business uses for social networking, using the GPS device, making presentations with the Blackboard app — and a presentation from a lawyer about software and music copyright.
For the second year in a row, Apple CEO Steve Jobs tops a list of teens’ most admired entrepreneur.
His popularity slipped somewhat from last year, when 35 percent of 1,000 12 to 17-year olds polled said they looked up to him in the Junior Achievement Teens and Entrepreneurship survey.
Now the man who creates the gadgets teens fight to keep in schools is admired by 23 percent of them.
Grammy winning rapper Lil’ Wayne is discovering the sound of silence in jail.
During his last month in prison, he’s confined in “punitive segregation,” where he’ll spend 23 hours a day alone.
The punishment was meted out after Wayne got caught with a contraband iPod. Officers found the telltale Apple earbuds and charger hidden in a bag of potato chips, while another inmate stashed the 28-year-old rapper’s MP3 player.
An iPhone bug gave users in Australia an early wake up call — or not one at all — as they adjusted to daylight savings time over the weekend.
The good news: the bug appears to affect only “recurring” alarms.
The bad news: because it appears to affect all of Apple’s products running iOS — as daylight savings goes into effect around the world, you may get it too.
Place that laptop on your lap for too long and you may get burned, doctors say. Though computer manufacturers warn against placing portable computers on skin (see Apple’s MacBook Pro manual excerpt above), people do it — and toast their skin.
Medical researchers recently reported on cases of skin blotches caused by hot laptops on legs. In one, Swiss researchers found a 12-year-old boy developed a criss cross blotch on his left thigh after playing computer games a few hours every day over a period of several months.
‘He recognized that the laptop got hot on the left side; however, regardless of that, he did not change its position,’ Swiss researchers wrote in the respected medical journal Pediatrics. This is the youngest of 10 reported patients with what is known as laptop-induceddermatosis, nicknamed “toasted skin syndrome,” since its first description in 2004.
Another sign that Kindle should beware: iBooks is the most popular free application for the iPad and iPhone.
According to Distimo, a start-up that analyzes app stats, iBooks has made the top ten list of free apps available on iTunes from July to September. This constant hovering in the most popular category is a ranking Distimo believes may be “influenced by the fact that Apple pushes this application to iPad users.”
Games are still less popular on the iPad than the iPhone, Distimo notes. In the Q2 version of the report, half of the top ten paid iPad apps were “productivity tools” like note taker app Penultimate and presentation app Keynote. In the Q3 report, the trend continues: there is still just one game — old school classic RealSolitaire — among the ten most popular free applications for iPad, compared to four in the Apple App Store for iPhone.
iPods have been banned in schools from Australia to Idaho by officials citing reasons from cheating to social isolation, but one at one Massachusetts school students prevented the ban saying that the MP3 devices help them study.
The Natick School Committee canceled its vote on banning iPods after about 70 students students packed the town hall to ask members to let them hang on to their iPods in school, The Boston Globe reported.
“When I listen to music, it helps me concentrate,’’ said senior Craig Dickey, who said he has attention deficit disorder. He likened the music on his MP3 player to white noise, saying, “It blocks everything else out.’’
“It’s hard to focus without it,’’ student Patrick Shaughnessy said. “The ones not listening are the ones who are talking’’ and disrupting study halls, he said.
Thug Shotz is a new iPhone game where players “match the slime with the crime” and “pick the crackhead” using real mug shots.
The app was first rejected by Apple on moral grounds, then approved. Thug Shotz ($0.99) is also available in a “Cell-ebrity” version ($1.99) where you can hook up the A-lister to the crime.
The shaudenfreude fest — in the same vein as controversial Busted! Real Mug shots app, but created by a different company called It’s Bailey Entertainment (IBE) — was first rejected by Apple on moral grounds, then approved. (Note: the screenshots are stock photos, but all photos in the game are real people.)
Cult of Mac talked to IBE Founder K. Patrick Whalen about how the app, which started as a lunch time diversion of “guess the perp,” made it into iTunes.
President Obama may be running the most Mac-friendly White House to date — including launching the health care reform program from a MacBook Pro — and even though he famously quipped he was too clumsy to work an iPod, he has now opened his iPod playlist for Rolling Stone — at the tail end of an exhaustive interview — to reveal what music gets him moving.
Like a lot of people, the 2,000-tracks on Obama’s Apple MP3 player skew towards old favorites:
“I am probably still more heavily weighted toward the music of my childhood than I am the new stuff. There’s still a lot of Stevie Wonder, a lot of Bob Dylan, a lot of Rolling Stones, a lot of R&B, a lot of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Those are the old standards.”
To infuse some new life into his old school tastes, he gets suggestions from his personal aide, Reggie Love.
Proof that politicos are just like the rest of us: David Axelrod, senior advisor to President Barack Obama, keeps himself entertained during meetings by playing video games.
Axelrod confessed to logging in some quality time with old-school favorite Pac Man on his iPad.
Site Real Clear Politics asked Axelrod what does with the iPad he’s been “known to sneak into meetings with.” His answer: “It depends on whether my Cubs are playing…(but) it’s really actually very useful to keep track of what’s going on….I google things all the time.”
While it’s nice to use FaceTime to “show junior to your senile father-in-law” or “try to force a smile out of your spoiled brat,” wouldn’t you rather use your iPhone 4 to look at live naked girls?
The first porn service to target iPhone 4′s video chat feature FaceTime is betting that you do. iP4Play is promoting itself with a kiss between adult stars Kagney Linn Carter and Natalia Romero in this video.
In the video, after mocking the current wholesome, family-orientediPhone ads, the pair bra-and-pantie clad blondes are induced to smooch for a client, a dude in a polo shirt — Morgan Grimes’ older brother? who declares: “Oh my god, this is so awesome!”
Police in Los Angeles are reporting higher numbers of thefts involving victims distracted by iPods or cell phones.
“People are walking around the street in public with their head down texting and thinking about a conversation, rather than up looking around them, and it’s given criminals an opportunity to snatch these cell phones and iPods out of people’s hands in broad daylight,” Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department told local news station ABC 7.
While we’ve reported frequently on iPhone snatch-n-grabs involving people on the phone, this is the second US city authority recently to warn against using mobile devices while, uh, mobile in public.
Chicago’s transport authority reported an uptick in e-thefts warned riders that using iDevices on public transport makes them easy pickings for thieves who want those gadgets. The CTA is developing a poster to warn riders that electronic devices are often targeted by thieves, who single out people sitting or standing near the door so they can snatch an iPod or other device, then make a quick escape. The CTA won’t be the first to launch the iWarning: in 2007, authorities in Brixton, South London launched an awareness campaign with posters declaring, “They want your iPod!”
The LAPD’s Vernon estimates that there are almost 400 robberies and grand thefts in downtown LA, 70 of them related to cell phones and iPods. While that’s only about 18 percent, it’s still high enough that police want to warn against the dangers of digital distractions.
It does seem a drag that you can’t use your devices as they were intended — when you’re mobile. That said, I’m pretty careful about making mobile calls on the street and which neighborhoods are “safe” enough to shut out with music from an iPod.
In case you doubted that smartphone choice is the party game for the aughts, another survey has outlined what makes iPhone owners different from Android and Blackberry users.
This one won’t tell you what kind of meat they prefer, or whether they get more girls, but Retrevo polled some 7,500 smartphone owners to uncover preferences in other kinds of consumption.
iPhone owners tend to buy more Mac products and households that run a Mac OS as their primary computer purchase three times as many iPhones and almost six times as many iPads as other households.
iPhone owners are more likely to be younger than other smartphone owners, make purchases with their phones and watch TV online.
Android owners are more likely than iPhone or Blackberry owners to ditch landlines — 31 percent compared to 23 percent for the other two. Some 45 percent are netbook owners, 31 percent use their phones for GPS navigation, some of them don’t read books (15 percent) and about 10 percent don’t recycle.
Researchers conclude with a sweeping, but powerful, statement: “Apple is not just a company but a way of life and a commitment to a line of electronics, Android owners with their choice of carriers could make them more confident cell phone users and BlackBerry owners might agree with the motto slow and steady wins the race. “
In general, US consumers are happier than they’ve ever been with their computers. The ASCI score for personal computers totaled 78 out of 100 for the last year — higher than it has ever been since the 1994 baseline score.
Apple owners, however, are especially satisfied. The Cupertino company scored highest for the seventh year in a row, earning 86 out of a total 100 points. That score is two points over last year’s survey and Apple’s highest score to date.
“The company now has a 9-point lead over its nearest competitor. No other company in the ACSI has as formidable a lead within its own industry,” comments Professor Claes Fornell, a professor at the university and head of the ACSI. “Innovation and product diversification, along with strong customer service, have long been at the center of Apple’s success.”
Apple wasn’t always leading the pack: scores from the early 2000s show Apple lagging behind Acer and Dell. In 2004, the year the iMac G5 launched, saw an uptick in consumer ratings.
Despite a few snafus — real or imagined — with the launch of the iPhone 4 and the arrival of the iPad, Fornell doesn’t predict that either will have any impact on Apple’s bottom line.
“At the same time, sales of Mac computers set an all-time quarterly high, which suggests that the popularity of the iPad has not impacted Apple’s desktop computer business. The company’s net income rose 78% in the second quarter and stock price, despite recent volatility, was up about 50% compared with one year ago.”
The puppet version of Walt Mossberg shows you how to make an iPad stylus from a pen, scissors, tape and the wrapper from a protein bar in this video resulting in the stylus pictured above.
Not a bad idea — if you’re tired of cleaning up sticky finger marks from your magical device. Skip the corny jokes and head to about 1:42 for the details on how to make the stylus.
Not a puppet person? You can probably figure it out with the sound off, too.
Popular open-source media player VLC is now available for iPad, thanks to developer Applidium.
Offered gratis, VLC faces some competition from other universal media-playing apps already available for the iPad including paid apps OPlayer ($2.99) and CineXPlayer ($3.99).
VLC has long been my go-to app for video viewing (can’t remember the last time I even bothered to update Quicktime), nice to know it’s available now for the iPad, too.
Atelier Lole in Montreal with the iPad community station and social media wall.
Women’s activewear retailer Lole launched a new store design concept with 15 iPads they hope will connect customers and make the store more sticky.
The new concept store called Atelier Lole opened doors recently in one of Montreal’s main shopping drags, St. Denis Street. One of the main portions of the store is set aside for community, with tree stump stools and iPads on a low workbench opposite a wall featuring customer’s travelogue pics.
Described as kind of a “living Facebook,” through an app developed especially for the stores users can also “flip” through photos directly on the iPads located along the Atelier’s social wall.
This $13 skin from Petapixel makes your iPhone 4 look like a Leica camera, inspired by a DIY sticker project Joey Celis devised for his iPhone.
While it would protect your phone from scratches, as far as camouflage goes, does it make sense to cover your expensive iPhone to make like look an even more expensive, easy-to-steal gadget?
Britain’s best-selling Sunday National Newspaper The News of the World is the latest publication to announce plans for a subscription-based iPad app.
Dates for the iPad app haven’t been announced but are expected to be in synch with the relaunch of the website in October.
iPad users will have to pay £1.19 a week (about $1.85) to view the celebrity highs and lows, that’s slightly more than the £1 newsstand cost but less than a snail-mail subscription, which currently costs £134.00 a year or £2.57 a week.
The website will also be behind a paywall, charging readers £1 for a day’s access or £1.99 per month.
The rogue tabloid — currently embroiled in the celebrity phone hacking scandal — is the third title in under six months in the News International stable to launch digital subscriptions, following the Times and Sunday Times.
“News International is leading the industry by delivering on its commitment to develop new ways of making the business of news an economically exciting proposition,” Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, told Reuters.
