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.
A thief who stalked Apple customers telling them “don’t do nothing stupid” to induce them to hand over just-purchased products didn’t follow his own advice.
After robbing at least three people by stalking them from Apple’s SoHo store in New York, Dwayne Stewart got caught by using his real name to pawn the products nearby.
“Don’t do nothing stupid,” Dwayne Stewart snarled to one victim before grabbing his computer a few blocks from the Apple Store and running off, police told the NY Post.
Stewart was arrested after a person who bought one of the hot computers took it in for service at an Apple Store.
A worker there looked up its registration number and discovered it had been reported stolen.
Police traced the stolen computer back to Stewart because he used his real name at the pawn shop.
Doh!
Image of the SoHo store used with a CC license, thanks genzo
Eric Lawrence crafted a chandelier from the molded Styrofoam packing material Apple used to use for shipping laptops. What once cradled MacBooks now lights up with 16 bulbs (5W compact fluorescents) that generate little heat but produce the same light as 20W incandescents.
His creation, called Styrolight, won the Sustainable prize in Design Within Reach Austin’s M+D+F competition.
Wonder if I’d hoarded the packaging over the years whether I’d have enough to do something with it…
Via Make
UPDATED: It seems that David Hockney doesn’t like what he reads on Cultomac.com. We received an aggressive letter from Hockney’s lawyers demanding we remove the pictures posted here (which were copyright the Annely Juda Fine Art gallery); and correct an error: Hockney didn’t create the paintings on his iPhone, but on his desktop computer. David – we apologise for the error and are usually very careful and respectful of copyrights, but we were just trying to draw attention to the exhibition, not rip off your art. No need to sic the lawyers on us. We’re fans. I have a Pearblossom Highway print hanging in my house (which I paid for, btw). — Leander Kahney.
We wondered whether iPhone art was gallery ready, perhaps it took grandad of Pop art 71-year-old David Hockney to convince those who put art on the walls for a living that the output was more than random doodling.
The Annely Juda Fine Art gallery in London recently launched a show of Hockney’s entitled “Drawing In a Printing Machine” featuring iPhone works — created over the last four months — plus other drawings made with Photoshop and Graphics Tablet. All are displayed as inkjet printouts on paper.
For all the chatter generated by what may be the first major iPhone art gallery show, no one seems to mention what program he used, though it looks like Brushes.
Hockney’s technique, according to the Times, is to “stroke the screen very softly.” He reportedly sends fresh flower sketches to friends every morning, and says that he never could have imagined that the telephone would usher a renaissance in drawing.
You can see some more of his handiwork at the gallery here, if you’re in London, the show’s on until July 11.
Are his iPhone works in the gallery because it’s Hockney or because it’s art?
Police in Portsmouth, New Hampshire are setting up an iPod registry to thwart stealing. The registry covers the local high school, where staff and students reported high numbers of Apple snatching.
It works like much like bike registration: students fill out a form with a description and serial number of the device, verified by police staff at registration, and are given a sticker stating the device has been ID’d. The iPod is also photographed and the info is kept on file at the police department.
Police said the program is meant to speed up investigations and perhaps prevent thefts.
Do you think the registration will act as a deterrent?
The folks over at Pogo Stylus are offering $500 to the best artwork created on an iPhone or iPod touch made using said stylus (“no naked fingers allowed.”)
You can enter more than once (keep it clean and friendly, no copyrighted material, trademarks or logos owned by another party) and the deadline is July 1. Complete rules here.
The two works above are the first in the online gallery of contest entries.
Welcome iHome: doors recently opened on a solar-powered, energy efficient prefab house that creators hope has the design cachet of Apple products.
Miles away from the usual trailer park digs, the homes feature v-shaped rooflines, bamboo floors and rooftop decks.
The name’s a hat tip to Apple — much like the iApartment building or the iHotel we’ve written about before.
“We love what it represents,” Kevin Clayton of Clayton Homes told the AP. “We are fans of Apple and all that they have done. But the ‘I’ stands for innovation, inspiration, intelligence and integration.”
The recession-friendly iHouse goes for $100 to $130 a square foot, depending on extras in what’s billed as “a moderately-priced plug and play dwelling” for the eco-conscious. The ribbon was cut on the iHouse in the US a few days ago at the annual shareholders’ meeting of investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire-Hathaway Inc. in Omaha, Neb.
Via AP
An iPod Touch or iPhone is now considered necessary equipment for journalism students at the University of Missouri.
As of fall 2009, an iPod Touch is the minimum requirement (an iPhone is a plus) for incoming freshmen to j-school, providing orientation information and course materials.
It’s not the first time universities have adopted Apple devices, but it may be the first time they approach something like mandatory. (Would-be Woodwards and Bernsteins won’t have to flash their iPods at the door and there will be no penalties for not having one, the requirement stated.) The journalism school has also required students to have laptops with wireless capabilities since 2005.
Brian Brooks, associate dean of the Journalism School, said the idea is to turn the music player into a learning device.
“Lectures are the worst possible learning format,” Brooks told the Missourian. “There’s been some research done that shows if a student can hear that lecture a second time, they retain three times as much of that lecture.”
Apple got top marks all three laptop categories in “Consumer Reports” special computer issue.
Five Apple laptops made the cut. In the 13-inch category, MacBooks took all three top spots:
The 13-inch aluminum MacBook ranked No. 1, the solid-state MacBook Air No. 2 and the white plastic 13-inch MacBook came in third, in a tie with the HP Pavillion dv3.
The 15-inch MacBook Pro came in first in the 14- to 16-inch category.
In the 17- to 18-inch category — the same category where Lauren of “Laptop Hunter” ads chooses an HP over a Mac — was taken by the 17-inch MacBook, which scored 80 out of a possible 100. (The HP Lauren opted for ranks fourth.)
The results amount to “embarrassment of plaudits,” (Apple polishing?) for Fortune mag — perhaps to avoid looking gushy, Consumer Reports put a PC on the cover in question…
Microsoft’s controversial Laptop Hunter ads were probably conceived, pitched and perhaps created on Macs, if these office snaps of the ad agency behind them are anything to go by. They show the desk of Alex Bogusky (with two Macs) at Crispin Porter + Bogusky plus the surrounding office space, also full of Macs.
I wouldn’t mind getting paid to sell PCs, as long as I didn’t have to work on them, too.
Back in February, Rapid Repair began supersizing iPods (30GB, 60GB and 80GB original iPod video) with new 240GB hard drives for $300. (Null any warranty, however).
In the first two hours the service was available, Rapid Repair received 300 orders – more than its inventory could handle. A month later the company had solved its supply problem and upgraded 500 iPods, though the drives are again out of stock.
The 1.8-inch Toshiba hard drives are roughly the same size as regular iPod hard drives. Thanks to advances in storage technology, the company tapped into a market for expanded iPods that the computer giant isn’t serving, Fortune reports.
Image courtesy Rapid Repair.
Via Fortune
Tap out lines on your iPhone with a credit card, then iSnort them with a rolled up bill. Sort of: it’s a video demo that you have to synch your livin’ large faux coke habit to (on a jailbroken iPhone, not surprisingly it hasn’t been approved by Apple), rather than an actual app that responds to your gestures.
Why bother? Creators Irish filmmaker Peter ‘Magic’ Johnston (of the 15-second film festival) and co-pilot Steven Henry push iSnort thusly:
“Be the envy of in-crowd. Get ejected from nightclubs. Shock and amaze your so-called friends. Get oral sex from Z-list celebrities.”
iSnort costs £5 ($7.40). Maybe it’s good for a chortle…
Police in Allentown, Pennsylvania don’t mess around with iPod thieves. When a woman had an iPod stolen after meeting a potential buyer for it from craigslist, they sent an undercover agent to bust two teen theives.
Police contacted the same 17-year old through craigslist and set up a meeting for him to buy an iPod. He showed up with the same friend about 6:30 p.m. and met with the female detective. The teen snatched the iPod from the detective and he and his accomplice tried to run.
Both were charged with robbery, theft, receiving stolen property, conspiracy, resisting arrest and criminal use of a communication device. (This last charge, it seems, has to do with illegal activity on craigslist. )
Via The Morning Call
Via The Morning Call
Photo of anti-iPod theft poster in London used with a CC license, thanks weegeebored.
To answer Microsoft’s controversial “Laptop Hunter” series, Landline TV parodies the series by sending homeless Frank out to seek a computer. (NB: put your headphones on, some of the language/images are NSFW.)
He loves the Macs (“these are beautiful”), finds the PCs insulting and wants to take the cash instead of getting a PC. Doubt it would ever fly with Apple execs, but it’s a lot more convincing than the latest “Get a Mac” ads.
Gary Go will perform with an iPhone as his backing band at Wembley Stadium.
The 24-year-old Go, born Gary Baker, will open for boy band veterans Take That in July. He’ll stand in front of thousands (90,000 if it’s a full house) with only his device for some tracks, a live back-up band for others.
“The fact we’re going to see someone playing an iPhone at Wembley is something I don’t think even Apple thought would happen,” said Stuart Dredge, of industry site Music Ally.
“The software started out as a gimmick, but now we are seeing real musicians producing real music with it. Of course, you still need talent, but the phone means you can make and record anywhere.”
(Unfortunately, none of the stories I saw on Go mention which virtual four-track app he used to write his songs, some are lush ballads far from the brittle synth-pop of yesteryear.)
“My biggest worry is that my phone will ring mid-song,” Go said.
Barely 19, Muscovite Vera Uvarova landed herself in the hospital after a car crash that left her immobile, save for one arm.
Four days after the accident, a friend gave her an iPhone. The device became Vera’s visual connection with her beaten body and the resulting pictures are showcased in an exhibition at Moscow Gallery Na Solyanke.
“This transformation was important to me…” Uvarova told the Moscow Times. “Unable to lift my head, the only way I could see my legs, for instance, was through the lens of my iPhone.”
She was restricted to hospital life for close to three months, but the exhibition focuses on the first transformative 800 hours, hence its title, “800 Hours on My Back with an iPhone in Hand. How I Was Born Again with the Help of Photography.”
In Bridgewater New Jersey, the police blotter reports (between rock-throwing incidents and credit card theft) that someone managed to walk out of the local Best Buy with a MacBook from a display. Anyone else come across scenes of attempted five-finger discounts?
Here’s the report:
THEFT, 5:41 p.m. March 31: An employee of Best Buy reported that someone was able to remove a MacBook computer, valued at $1,800, from a display and leave the store undetected.
The lucky downloader of the billionth app from iTunes (winner of a MacBook Pro, a 32GB iPod Touch, a $10,000 iTunes Gift Card and a Time Capsule wireless hard drive) is reportedly a 13-year-old who hit the jackpot with a free app called “bump.” Apple reached the billion mark with apps in just nine months.
Call it hacking, or just common sense: getting into actress Salma Hayek’s Mobileme account was apparently as easy as knowing her birthday and her favorite starring role.
An anonymous post on imageboard 4chan.org provided MobileMe login details for Hayek:
Go to me.com, forgot password, type [email protected]
Her //snip//
Answer to change password question is: //snip//
Voila : a peek at Hayek’s iPhone apps downloaded from iTunes — including restaurant finder Urbanspoon, Shazam and the Say Who voice recognition dialer — plus emails from uber-magnate husband Francois-Henri Pinault and an invite to America Ferrera’s 25th birthday party.
Wonder if iPhone loving twitterer Ashton Kutcher’s next…
In a gloves-off analysis of Apple’s unexpectedly good earnings report yesterday ($1.2 billion in profits, up 20 percent from 2008), Time attributes the uptick to brand cachet, not the products.
“Apple and RIMM results are an example of why brands matter and why companies are willing to work to develop them by making huge investments which can stretch over decades.”
Writer Douglas McIntyre falls back on a number of generalizations “a lot of people” “a lot of experts” “a lot like the iPhone” “a lot of cheap phones” and then pulls a few punches took a few cheap shots at people who buy Apple products.
“A lot of people think that consumers who buy brand are suckers, the kind people WC Field used to mock in old movies. Samsung builds a smartphone that looks and works a lot like the iPhone. It is called the Instinct and Apple owners think it is junk.”
“A lot of experts claim to know why people buy branded products, but there are probably as many reasons as there are people. All Apple cares about is that their customers have enough money to buy an iPhone, iPod, or Mac. Suckers have money, too.”
The Better Business Bureau is warning Facebook users to read the fine print when responding to ads.
A recent BBB press release stated that an estimated $1.3 billion will be spent on social networking advertising this year. The large print on ads featured on social networking sites, like Facebook and Myspace, do not always tell the entire story.
The warning about MacBook Air scams is a hoot:
Also common on Facebook are ads to get a free MacBook Air claiming that the company is seeking laptop testers. The ads lead to an incentive marketing program at https://www.colormyrewards.com/ where participants must sign up for various products and services in order to earn their free laptop.
The Fine Print: Customers must complete two options from each of the three tiers, Top, Prime and Premium before receiving their “free” MacBook. Example offers listed in the Top and Prime tiers include signing up for credit cards or trial offers for subscription services such as for vitamin supplements or DVD rental services. In some cases, the participant will need to pay for shipping, and if they aren’t vigilant about canceling the trial offers they signed up for, they’ll begin being billed every month.
Examples of the Premium offers listed on the Web site that must be met in order to get the MacBook are much more expensive and include paying as much as $1,500 for furniture or purchasing a travel package with a minimum value of $899.00 per person.
BBB Warns: Incentive programs can be extremely costly in the long run and the fine print shows that the customer might have to pay a significant amount of money in order to get their “Free” items. It is also a red flag that Apple does not even make MacBook Air in purple, red, pink, or green. (Emphasis mine.)
And as flickr user 4braham noted (image used with a CC license) the Mac in the scam pic isn’t a MacBook Air. Sheesh!
What gadgets and software applications do you use on a day-to-day basis?
Steve Wozniak: I have such a crowded life and crowded schedule. When people send me a link with a gadget, I’ll look at it and buy it if it looks interesting, but I don’t have time to check out everything I’d like to.
I do have a Nixie Tube watch… The biggest benefit in my life comes from my Segway, which I use everywhere I am. If I’m going to San Antonio, for example, I’ll load it in the car and just go everywhere with it. The other crucial thing is my Verizon wireless card, which I have to have because hotel Wi-Fi is just so unreliable.
What are you using to manage your email?
Steve Wozniak: Eudora….The reason I do is, it has an incredible feature that every single mail client should have.
Any feature in the menu list, any action there, can be added as a button. I changed it so I have a vertical menu bar, so I can have tons and tons of pre-made buttons saved right where I want them up top, and I learn where those place are. You can script actions to the buttons, too, so I can quickly copy messages to my assistants. There are scripts I wrote for joke lists so I can forward a message, remove the brackets and formatting, and make sure all the original attachments are included, to a pre-defined “joke” group. Apple’s Mail app just isn’t scriptable enough to really handle my mail buttons.
Some of the buttons will re-direct mail with quote marks, or not. I’ve got another script that will actually customize a mail forward, like my own version of mail merge. So even if something’s going out to 400 people, I can set it to single out certain people and take away all the forwarding markings, so it looks like I singled out someone to send them mail. Which is, I hope, a nice little moment for them.
Thinking further about the new Mac ads — and how if I were considering buying a Mac over a PC they wouldn’t sway me — I came across this post about an accidental switch & bait that turned one PC person, political-science professor Harry Farrell, into a Mac user:
“I was working in my office, when a work-study knocked on my door with a brand new MacBook Pro, which he told me had been sent over from my school’s technology program. I was nonplussed, and told him that he must be wrong, that I hadn’t ordered one etc…
So I finally acquiesced, on the grounds of gift-horses, and the wisdom of not inquiring too closely into the dental conditions thereof, and unpacked it. Two hours later, I was completely hooked –œ more rational and altogether nicer than my Windows box, while much smoother than my Ubuntu installation. I would have wanted to take it home and marry it, if I wasn’t married already. Three hours later, I discovered it had been a mistake, and that it was in fact intended for a colleague with a vaguely similar name… And I had to give it back.”
Fewer viruses (the PC has to wear a hazmat suit), facial recognition for iPhoto, stability (no freezing, crashing, error messages) and low maintenance (stability doesn’t depend on security patches, virus scans etc.)
Hmmm. The ads are cute, especially the future one, but I’m not sure if I were really weighing a Mac vs. PC any of these things would convince me to go Mac.
