Nicole Martinelli - page 53

The state of Maryland has proposed a ban on writing, sending or reading text messages while driving.

One lawmaker, however, is concerned if the bill becomes a law it will mean he can’t make any more calls using his iPhone touchscreen during commutes.

Saqib Ali, a delegate for Montgomery County, told a panel of colleagues yesterday that he uses his iPhone all the time.

He’s worried that tapping the touch screen to make calls would violate the ban proposed by delegate Frank Turner on writing, sending or reading a text message while operating a motor vehicle.

Turner’s bill doesn’t target talking on the phone. Just thumb jockeying instead of keeping your hands on ten and two.

Ali wonders how a police officer would know he was dialing his phone and not texting while driving.

Hmmm. Is this splitting hairs or should drivers be forced to keep their hands on the wheel and off their phones, period?

Image used with Creative Commons license, thanks to Mike Kline on flickr.

Via AP

Photographer Kelsey Blessman named this shot “iGod,” it’s part of an ongoing series on technology.

Portraits include one called iFashion where young woman wears iPod headphones as a necklace and others that feature diskettes, cassette tapes and film.

Image copyright Kelsey Blessman.

Via Etsy

This free iPhone, iPod app from 1-800-flowers.com could come in handy, the idea of using a meeting deadzone to order a forgotten birthday gift (sorry mom!) appeals to me immensely.

You can order stuff from the site, namely  flowers, plants, balloons, plus cookies, cakes and wine and cheese, some for same-day delivery.

Caveat: the first few user reviews are on the low side, with one person having to go through customer support to access an existing account, so you might want to make sure you’ve taken it for a spin before Valentine’s Day next week.

Available on iTunes.

Texas native Jesse Jane is on hand for the Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, where she talked tech with the Canadian Broadcast Company.

For the last six years, she’s been making movies for Digital Playground, one of the bigger U.S. adult entertainment companies, which prides itself on being one of the first of the early technology adopters.

Jane gave a heads-up on where the porn industry is going with tech, with a nod to the iPhone, Twitter and iChat:

Q. Besides high-definition, what other technologies are you seeing that are notable or interesting?

A. There’s always new stuff going on. Just in toys, they’re always coming up with these inventions like Sybians and crazy machines to have sex with or get tied up with.

Now we’re shooting on the Red [digital HD] cameras I think Digital Playground is the only one and we have all the Blu-ray coming out. I’m learning with my little camera and my website, where I’m able to upload daily diary videos, which is fun. Technology is getting a lot easier to make things more personal with your fans. They like the daily clips.

Now we can watch porn with our iPhones, and in the next month or two, with Digital Playground we’re going to be able to stream, Twitter and live iChat on our website from our iPhones.”

Jane also hearted her iPhone, which she calls a lifesaver during downtime.

“I love my iPhone because I can sit there and check my e-mail and update my website from my phone while I’m sitting there waiting at the airport.”

Via CBC

These iPod Nanos bedecked with crystals look a little like the flashy glasses Elton John used to wear. (No, the look is not understated).

John, 61, put his signature on 1,000 of these limited-edition iPods for a cause. A percentage of the proceeds (12.5%) go to his AIDS foundation.

In addition to 250 Swarovski crystals, the iPods also come pre-installed with “Rocket Man: The Definitive Hits.”

Prices range from about US$565 (£400) for the 8GB model, the 16GB model runs $636 (£450).
Available online from February 9.

The iPhone, the iPod and Apple all made the top ten of a list of 100 brands commanding attention and participation from social communities online.

The iPhone reigns as the number one most social brand of 2008, outscoring parent company Apple, which ranks number three in the list complied by social media marketing company Vitrue. Overall, Apple dominates by also securing iPod at number seven and the Mac legacy brand at number 16.

That gives Apple or Apple products three spots in the top ten and four in the top 20.

The top 20 is ruled by media and entertainment brands including CNN, Disney, Xbox, MTV, Sony, Nintendo, PlayStation, Turner and Fox News.  Full line-up here.

The list was compiled by analyzing online conversations on a variety of social networking, blogging, micro-blogging, photo and video sharing sites. Vitrue then gave them a composite score and ranked brands by it.

Interestingly, the rankings don’t take into consideration social networking bastions like LinkedIn, Myspace and Facebook. The reason? “The Vitrue 100 is measuring companies that are using social technology, not those who are the technology.”

Hmmm. This is the second year Vitrue has done the study, I suspect the line between using technology and being technology will blur. Wonder if the rankings would be super different if they were included…

Photo used under Creative Commons license, thanks to jm3 on Flickr.

Via Macnn

Stumbled upon this lovely, lit-up Apple logo carved into a real Apple by Flickr user Evelina.

How did it come about?

She tells us: “I belong to a group, where we set a ‘scavenger hunt’ for each month and the theme for January was trademarks.  I like to think a little outside the box… a shot of a MacBook or i-Phone was too simple, so I played in the kitchen with an apple, my daughter and a craft knife!”

Its another variation on  actual apples getting the Apple logo, but to make this one you won’t have to wait a month while the apples “tan” in the sun.

If you have other cultish photo projects, let us know!

Image used with permission.

There are a lot of envelope-style sleeves for your Mac: leather from Bally, a sturdy vinyl version and plenty of handmade fabric ones, too.

A nice variant on the theme: these from Spanish company iSobre have a spark of color on the inside. Hand-made leather, they’ll provide protection for the MacBook, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro. They come in basic manilla, plus black or white with pink, green, or blue insides.

So you can show your the world that, yes, your computer is thinner than the presentation your boss insisted on printing out for clients.

Available online at iSobre.

This Shel Silverstein inspired iPhone sticker is bound to bring a smile to anyone who grew up on his quirky tales like “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “Falling Up.”

CoM reader Flunkycarter made the sticker inspired by Silverstein’s 1964 “The Giving Tree,” a tale about a boy who enjoys the fruits (including apples) of a tree without giving back…

He even wrote an an Apple-update of the work:

But soon the boy grew older and one day he got on the iPhone and said,
“Can you make me some money, iPhone, to buy something I’ve found?”
“I have no money,” said the tree, “Also, no copy, no paste and no MMS”
“But you can take my SDK, boy, and make apps to sell them in the store”
And so he did and…
Oh Steve Jobs was happy.
Oh Steve Jobs was glad.

He’s now “obsessed with getting a green case, to match the real book cover more and also printing the branch that is tossing the apple to the boy.”

Don’t know, I like it as it is. Can think of a few people I’d like to give this to…

Image used with permission.

Here’s an early Mac movie product placement. In the opening minutes of 1989’s “Back to the Future II,” Marty McFly lands in 2015, where hover cars loom, “Jaws 19” in 3D plays in movie theaters and folks sport layered outfits that only a daltonic could love.

In an antiques store, Michael J. Fox does a double-take over a “vintage” Mac sitting next to other 80s relics like a Dust Buster and a bottle of Perrier.

Found on the excellent Starring the Computer, where James Carter has compiled a few other early Mac movie sightings including “Manhattan Project” and “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home,” both from 1986.

Anyone remember Mac movie appearances before 1986?

Eagle-eyed CoM reader Joaquin Jang spotted what looks like a either a Pismo, the last G3 PowerBook launched in 2000, or its close cousin, the Lombard PowerBook G3 laptop launched a year earlier, in a recent Wells Fargo bank banner.

He writes, “Imagine my surprise when I went to log in to my bank account at Wells Fargo’s website and found this picture which appears to show my first Mac laptop, the Pismo, it could also be a Lombard which had a similar form factor.
While the Pismo still does some work for me, it’s not my everyday machine since it is nearly ten years old. Yet, it still makes it into a website ad nine years after it was introduced.”

So, which one is it?

Many thanks to Joaquin for the tip and screenshots.
CoM readers: if you spot other interesting Macs starring in ads, let us know!

Here’s an Apple keyboard spray painted snowy, pure white — nothing to stop your eye but if your touch typing skills are still at high-school level, you’re in trouble.

Maker Essell says:

“The design snob in me isn’t particularly happy with Apple’s recent trend of using two colors (black and silver, white and silver) on their stuff.

So. Combine my pedantic taste for minimalism with nerdy touch typing abilities and a cheap can of white spraypaint, and you end up with my keyboard – possibly the most pretentious keyboard in existence.”

What do you think?

Via NotCot

Turn a humble juice box into an iPod case. These cheap and cheerful cases are the handiwork of Ross, who wanted to create a decoy case to disguise expensive electronics as well as protect them.

You’ll need spray glue, some sand paper, a little knack with a sewing machine and about an hour.

Since the boxes are typically made from six layers of paper plus polyethylene and aluminum foil, Ross reckons they should be sturdy as well as practical, especially with an added velvet lining to protect from scratches.

Check out the full how-to on Flickr.

Via Make

A city councilor in Dartmouth, England has sparked debate by wearing his iPod earbuds to drown out prayers traditionally said before town council meetings.

Brian Boughton, an atheist, put in his earbuds on during the short prayer in protest. His iPod wasn’t turned on but fellow councilors branded the move disrespectful.

Boughton told the BBC: ‘I accept that they want to continue with the tradition but that leaves the problem for those like myself who do not wish to participate.

“I was accused of being disrespectful which I never intended.  Listening to the iPod was a way to get the debate going but I never had it switched on.  I’ve asked the mayor to consider opening up the prayers to other people.”

You’ve seen this guy. Maybe, in an unguarded moment of early-adopter smugness, you’ve even seen a friend who acted like this guy, trying to impress with a cool playlist or two.

Enter the Hipster Pod, a new “device that tricks people into thinking you’re hip.”
How does it work? If your bad taste in music prevents you from getting dates, the Hipster Pod projects cool music outwards (Velvet Underground, Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth are mentioned), while you get to listen to guilty pleasures, including bubble gum pop and Kenny Loggins.

The two-minute parody stars an everyguy named Mark who tries to impress but gets caught out listening to Celine Dion on the subway and then use the Hipster pod to rather surprising results…

It’s the first jab at tech from a team called Barely Digital, the same folks responsible for the viralicious bikini-clad “Obama girl.”  Now that a Mac President is in the White House, they’ve turned to tech satire to give themselves something to do.

Funny? Yes. If there were a female version, it’d be a little too cringeworthy to laugh at, though.

When a computer gives up the ghost, there are a lot of things you can do to keep it around the house.

Here are a few ways we’ve found, if you’ve found a new way to give new life to your dead Mac, let us know.

Macquarium: when your mac is swimming with the fishes.

There are a ton of these — flickr counts nearly 700 — but this slick black version was made by Dave D’aranjo who rescued a Mac from a Singapore sidewalk and turned it into an aquarium. He spent a couple of months fashioning the fish bowl, following the how-to in low end Mac, then adding his own touches and getting a custom logo to give it a screen-saver look.

Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke started out on the wrong foot at the Women’s Superpipe Finals at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado.

The tricks weren’t working,  her rhythm was just a little bit off.

Then, according to the AP,  the freestyle skier suddenly discovered her flaw – she wasn’t pumping Dr. Dre on her iPod. Burke cranked the hip-hop artist on her final run, dropped into the pipe and flawlessly hit all her stunts to win her third straight Winter X skiing superpipe title Friday night.

“Dr. Dre always pulls me through,” the 25-year-old told journalists.

With her alley-oop maneuvre slightly off, Burke decided to bag it, going with a nice, easy run on her final attempt. It was her third straight superpipe gold.

What do you put on the iPod to get you through?

White noise is getting me through the daily slalom of late…

Times they have changed: a quarter of a century ago, reporter Michael J. Miller was on the West Coast bureau of Popular Computing. (Now he blogs for PC mag.)

A few choice extracts about his trip down to Cupertino to see the first Mac:

“I met with Steve Jobs, who was then Apple Chairman and heading up the Mac project, along with key designers including Burrell Smith, the original hardware designer and software designers Andy Hertzfeld and Bill Atkinson.”

“Most of the time I was meeting with other members on the team, but I remember Jobs coming in —  he was very charismatic: intense, proud of the work and a bit prickly about any criticism. He and his folks were quick to put down the IBM PC and its clones for not pushing the envelope and settling for “mediocrity.”

“Jobs and the team were rightly proud of the new machine, which was very different from the IBM PC that then dominated the industry. Maybe it was the famous “Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field,” but even then I was entranced by the new machine and the possibilities it offered – particularly the graphical user interface.”

Miller’s trip down memory lane — complete with anecdotes about the Mac II, Apple’s first laser printer and the role of industrial design at Apple — is well worth a read.

As far as I can make out, these custom-made Japanese iPhone cases are silicone fashioned to look like frosting, turning your device into a frou-frou cake like confection.

Must learn Japanese, however – google translate isn’t cutting it, calling the cases “quite appalling.” Or maybe it’s not a bad translation

Update: kind reader Wonko tells us the word used to describe the cases was “sasumajii”.

Here is the EDICT translation: terrific, fierce, terrible, tremendous, dreadful, awful, amazing, absurd.

So it looks like there’s room for either interpretation…

Via Blog! Nobon

No laptops. Old PCs with outdated software and broken keyboards. No Internet. No phones. Though his administration has been described as representing “an iPhone kind of future,” the first few hours for Barack Obama staffers were the worst kind of analog past.

According to a Washington Post article:

“One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used.

The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing.

Several people tried to route their e-mails through personal accounts.

But there were no missing letters from the computer keyboards, as Bush officials had complained of during their transition in 2001.”

Looks like time they started shouting, “Yes, we Mac!”
Via  Washington Post

Travelers in economy class flying Singapore Airlines can hook up their own iPods or iPhones to the inflight entertainment system.

Starting in March, A330-300 aircraft with these new hookups will replace older planes flying medium haul routes to Australian and Japanese cities.

The re-designed Economy seats sport adjustable leather headrests and larger monitors.
In addition to iPod and iPhone connectivity (plus a plug if you to power your device) the multi-port panel has a USB port, enabling passengers to listen to their own music, view photos or read PDFs.

United Airlines was the first US carrier to offer a similar service back in June 2008, but it is only available in business and first classes.

Love the idea of being able to catch up on 30 Rock instead of being reduced almost to tears because the only thing left to watch on a long-haul flight was “Legally Blonde 2.”

Via news.com.au

After the binder clip stand, here’s another way to prop up your iPhone that you can make from everyday office supplies, courtesy the enterprising folks at Geeky Gadgets who were looking for an impromptu stand to better watch the presidential inauguration.

Here’s how:

You’ll need four or five pencils, probably five to support an iPhone 3g.

Take two pencils with one rubber band at either end to make the horizontal phone support. Then make a triangle using two more pencils. Add the final pencil as the back support. You can adjust stability and support given by tightening the top rubber band.

One caveat: If you have a slippery desk, try making the stand with pencils that have erasers, putting the eraser end on the desk for added support.

More photos, details on Geeky Gadgets

iPhone app developers are busy, smart people. In addition to keeping us entertained with apps, they also bake.

Organized by Gavin from Antair Games, indie developers were invited to bake cakes and send in the pictures in a contest of skill that took them away from the computer and into the kitchen. Prizes include, surprisingly, apps and some iTunes gift certificates.

There are some pretty sweet cakes, like the “sneezies” one above (thought I’m still a little perplexed over the iFart entry), so head over to 148 apps to vote for your favorite before the January 25 deadline.

Via Macsimum News

Developed by two anesthesiologists, this iPhone app helps log cases, keeping track of who has gone under for what in the operating room.

Some functions include:

— Record a new anesthesia case log on the fly, even if you don’t have a wireless connection (your iPhone will sync data to the CaseLogs server once it regains connectivity).

—  Browse  Case Log History to quickly find a patient record and open the entry for easy editing (your anesthesia records are organized chronologically).

Launched a couple of months ago, iAnesthesia:Case Logs reviews are generally favorable, it seems that the app (view demo here) helps get rid of manual methods like collecting stickers to log patient procedures but has been criticized for omitting a field for patient names over privacy concerns.

Costs $19.99, available on iTunes.

Via Med Gadget

Cradle your iPhone in this artisan-carved iPhone stand made to look like a hand.

Made by a Tulsa-based carver, the oak stand holds your iPhone or iPhone 3g in its palm and then slides out vertically when you need it.

Not for everyone — especially with a $95 price tag — it would go nicely with your wood-look iPod case or wooden MacBook Case.

Via Geek Sugar