Welcome to my technology blog!
Things I can’t believe someone invented
I have to thank Rufus Deuchler for passing this one on to me. I don't know if these actually work or not, but needless to say I will be ordering some of this gear before my next trip through a TSA check point as quickly as I can 🙂 I hope they're back in stock soon.
Happy Monday!
I made a joke about people lining up already to get the iPhone 3g when it was announced back in early June. Sure I knew people would start lining up a day or two before they went on sale. However, I can’t believe that people started lining up A FULL WEEK before they go on sale this coming Friday!
The good folks over at MacNN posted this report and picture above about people lining up this past Friday at the 5th Avenue NYC store.
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Sure, I plan to get the new iPhone 3g as quickly as I can (mainly to report on it here and update my book), but not if it means camping out overnight (let alone for a week!). I’m almost tempted to hop on a plane, fly to NYC and ask them “why?”
If last year’s launch is any indication of the availability of the new iPhone, there should be plenty to at least last throughout the weekend. Especially now that you have to do in-store activation and it will be one per person activating the phone. You’ll probably be able to walk right into a store on Saturday morning or even Sunday and buy one with no waiting. Is being first really that important?
Remember the guy who got the first iPhone last year?…………….. Exactly! No one cares.
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I’m sure they’ll be handing the first person in this line their iPhone with a stick. 🙂 I feel sorry for the Apple Store employee that has to sit there with him while he gets his phone activated. PU!
I pray that there is never anything I would want that bad that I’d be willing to live on the street for a week to get it! If you happen to be one of those folks in line already reading this, please respond below with your reasons. C’mon, I gotta know! Good luck!
UPDATE: Apparently the group is trying to set a world record for the longest wait in line to buy something. See their website here.
It’s the news you’ve been waiting for and speculating about for years now! That’s right Steve Jobs and Adobe’s CEO Shantanu Narayen have announced that they are merging the companies. Although they haven’t settled on a name for the combined company yet, the new acronnym for the combined company will simply be "A.A."
The question on everyone’s mind is what will the new product line up look like? In the press release today, they gave a list of their top products to be sold and there are a few surprises:
These products are available and shipping today! Also now no matter what you purchase, you will receive a FREE iPhone case.
It is uncertain as to the fate of the Windows versions of the existing products, however both CEO’s said that they remain customer focused and that Windows customers shouldn’t be concerned. Steve went on to say that the Mac is a great platform and that he would give the Windows versions serious consideration, "no, really I will". They also announced that since they’ve now created the world’s largest software/hardware monopoly outside of Microsoft that prices will be raised immediately across the board by 25%. Shantanu went on to say that "the decision to raise prices across the board was not taken lightly. However, it was necessary to cover the cost of all the new package designs and trademarks of the new company and to hire a top legal team to continue to fight the mounting lawsuits that both companies would now be facing."
All in all I’m happy that this merger has finally happened and I can’t wait to see what the combined company does in the future.
I can’t believe it! I actually found it. At long last, it really does exist. I recently traveled to Dallas and of course went through the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. I have dubbed DFW as the worst airport I’ve seen for tech travelers. Don’t get me wrong, the place has T-Mobile Wi-Fi throughout. However, I challenge you to find a freakin’ AC outlet!
That’s right, they are practically non-existent! You arrive at your gate a little early figuring you can get some work done. You whip out your laptop and realize that you need to plug-in. You sit there scanning the area figuring they have to vacuum the place sometime right? Well they must have the longest extension cords on the planet. I have gone from gate to gate looking for outlets. However, this trip was different. Coming in I saw a huddle of people sitting on a bench with cords everywhere. Sure enough they had discovered the only outlet known to man in the entire airport. One person sat as lookout for the others to make sure that their position would not be overrun by hoards of travelers. I marked this spot on my map and dipped my Indiana Jones hat. I would have to see if this plug really existed and possibly use it before the flight out. It’s true. It was really there when I returned.
So if you ever have the misfortune of traveling through this technology waste land, head over to gate E6. Casually move over to the bench next to the USA Today vending machine. Make sure no one is watching and plug-in. There’s not one, but two outlets there. Be careful, I saw one of the incoming flights dip down a bit when I plugged in. Luckily the pilot recovered.
It happens to all of us at some point. You pack and you check your list and you do all the things you are supposed to do before leaving for a trip, but you forget your charger for your cell phone or iPod. I was coming home from Photoshop World in Las Vegas and I spotted this "Rapid Charger" charging station in the Las Vegas airport. What caught my eye was the various adapters just dangling there.
Just about all the major brands were covered. This is capitalism at its best! For a mere $3 you can get 30 minutes of power. My first thought was, "who would use this?" Then I remembered that yes, we do occasionally forget our chargers, because if you had your charger, you would simply find an outlet somewhere in the airport and plug in (unless that airport is Dallas/Fort Worth – they have no outlets ANYWHERE).
So the next time you’re running low on juice, forgot your charger, have 30 minutes to kill, and have $3 bucks, these folks have got you covered. Also you’ll have to stand there the whole time so no one walks off with your shinny device. Better bring a book or magazine too.
I hope you all had a great 4th of July break and enjoyed time with the family. I’m a fan of fireworks displays, but not of the electronics kind. The above shot is actually a backup battery pack for my Nikon D80 Digital SLR camera. I keep this pack in my bag as a backup for when I’m out shooting and run out of juice. It’s great because you can use off the shelf AA batteries in a pinch. While I was in Montana, I left my laptop bag with this pack in the outer pocket in the trunk of the rental car. I guess we can say that the Energizer Bunny keeps going and going and going. Things must have gotten a little hot back there and at the end of the day when I opened my bag to grab something out of it, I saw this! Luckily it didn’t damage anything else. The batteries were Energizer NiMH AA rechargeable batteries. So you might want to think twice about what you leave in your car on a hot day, tech wise. It would have been kind of hard to explain to Hertz why their car burst into flames. Thankfully it didn’t come to that.
The new Runaway Alarm Clock is designed for those who hit the snooze button too often. OK, here goes: When you hit the snooze button on this alarm clock it rolls off your nightstand and "hides" (no I’m not making this up, that’s what it says in the description). It keeps sounding until you get up and chase it down to turn it off. I’m not a morning person either, but this is just silly. Especially since this puppy costs $50! Couldn’t you just put your existing alarm across the room?
I had to create a new category on my blog for products like this. It’s called "Wacky!" When I find something technically outrageous, I’ll post it there.