New from Apple: MacBook Air, less than an inch thick

Live blogging Steve Jobs:

10:13 am display is LED backlit. iSight is built-in. MacBook-like keyboard, but with an ambient light sensor
10:12 am Magnetic latch, 13.3″ widescreen display
10:12 am MacBook Air is 0.16″ to 0.76″. The thickest part of the MacBook Air is thinner than the thinnest part of the Sony. It fits inside a envelope
10:10 am We thought 3 lbs is a good target weight, but there was too much compromise with the other features
10:10 am Most people think of Sony TZ series when they think of thin notebooks. Competition specs: 3 lbs, .8-1.2 inches, 11 or 12″ display, miniature keyboard, and slower processor.
10:08 am “The World’s Thinnest Notebook”
10:08 am As you know, Apple makes the best notebooks in the industry. Today, we are introducing a third kind of notebook. It’s called the MacBook Air

New Apple wireless keyboards ignore accidental caps lock

The rumors are true. The new little Apple Bluetooth keyboards for your laptop are insanely great; and they ignore accidental swipes on the caps lock key; you have to hold it for a nanosecond or it ignores you, assuming it was just an accident. My ibook G4 has a shit for brains keyboard which has already been replaced twice and finally I got sick of it. I just got the new little wireless keyboard and YOU HAVE TO GET THIS, people, even if your keyboard is still alive. 79 bucks and worth every penny. The little one just sits right over the top of my ibook keyboard without touching any keys, or buttons, or speakers, or the mouse pad. Or, you can sit it in your lap, while the laptop is on the table. It’s brushed aluminum, is about a quarter inch thick and weighs nothing except the batteries. Setup is like 15 seconds. 3 AA batteries (included). the only thing it needs is some little non-skid pads, if you use it at a steep angle. Maybe a little bag to protect it and your laptop when you carry.

Hint: Best Buy seems to have them, even before the Apple stores.

The history of pushbuttons, keys, etc.

Now that George W.  Bush has officially declared the end of the great American experiment in democracy, we can fool around a little.

This guy is an industrial designer, and there is more to his website than first meets the eye.  Check it out.

Apple’s new products for the Middle East, introduced by George W. Bush

video

how to fix an iPod that won’t boot

this site shows how to fix an iPod that won’t boot.

Put it on your bookmarks list, even if you don’t have an iPod, cause you know someone who does.

new Mac iBook G4 keyboard problem: screen shutdown with delete key problem

I have had several issues with my iBook G4. At one point, the k key became very sensitive, requiring a replacement keyboard. But this latest problem was a stumper for a while. I am posting about it because I couldn’t find it mentioned anywhere else.

The screen would shut down when the book was moved or jarred, and the charger light ring would change color where it attached to the book. Often there would be deletions in text just before the screen shut down. That was the clue. Eventually the delete key wouldn’t function, and when it was hit, the screen would shut down.

Evidently there is some sort of short occurring below the delete key. I pried off the cover of the delete key and that solved the problem. Delete works, screen is stable.

I love the Mac but I wish Apple would pay more attention to this sort of quality issue.

Bush Unveils i-Iraq i-Policy i-Initiative

I stole this entire piece from Tom Burka because I’m a crook and because it’s so damn funny. So go visit the site and put him on your blogroll so maybe he won’t sue me.

and ps: I promise never to do it again.

Bush Unveils i-Iraq i-Policy i-Initiative
Feels Adding “i” To Beginning Of Every Word Will Make Ideas Look New And Vital

President Bush, wearing a black turtleneck and jeans, announced today what he called “an amazing new invention” that he said would “revolutionize the way we fight the Iraq war” and “make previous Iraq war policies look dumb.” He called it “the i-Iraq”, and said that he got the idea while surfing “the Google.”

In a two-hour long slideshow, Bush outlined the features of the “iStrategy” which he frequently praised as “absolutely innovatical,” and “amazing.” The new strategy device would come with a patented “LMS” key, for a “last-minute surge” to overwhelm all opposition, as well as a function that will produce troops from virtually nowhere, create something from nothing, and replace any civil war with a fully functioning peaceful representative democracy.

The iStrategy also has long lasting batteries, automatic and periodic face-saving, reality muting, and a small switch on the side that turns off the advice of top-ranking military experts.

The device will operate with “unilateral gesturing,” which the President has also patented.

The unveiling of the new device caused an audience of yes-men to applaud spontaneously no less than sixty-two times.

Reporters asked Steve Jobs if Bush was trying to steal his ideas for Apple’s new iPhone, but Jobs dismissed the comparison.

“They’re totally different,” Jobs said. “Our phone works.”

Dell: what do you bet they won’t do ANY of the top ideas?

Dell, the computer company without any ears, finally must have hired a consultant younger than 50, who finally convinced them that their market cap fell 20% because JUST MAYBE people REALLY DON’T LIKE THEM. So they came up with this site. Ha. Like Dell would really do any of this stuff.

Maybe I’m too harsh… they did boot their CEO and Michael Dell is back in the saddle. So maybe they will shape up….. NAHHHHHHHHHH….this is the guy who said

On October 6, 1997, in response to the question of what he’d do if he was in charge of Apple Computer, Dell founder and then CEO Michael Dell stood before a crowd of several thousand IT executives and answered flippantly, “What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.”

Guess who’s bigger now, Dell or Apple?

Life Cycle fitness equipment to incorporate iPods

This is big; Life Fitness is a important supplier to fitness clubs:

Wednesday, February 21, 2007 – 12:35 PM EST
Life Fitness has announced that it would deliver commercial exercise equipment to feature seamless iPod integration. This connectivity makes it possible for iPod users to plug in and charge their iPods, watch video on the equipment’s large LCD screen and control the playing of their iPod music libraries from the console. The first Life Fitness product featuring iPod integration will be demonstrated at the upcoming IHRSA Convention in San Francisco and will be available in March with the rest of the line to follow later in the year.

Next:
the iPooped, which plugs into your toilet….?

Minimalist housing: can you put ALL your stuff on your iPod?

Living small just took on a lot more cred, as the NY Times tosses out a spread on the subject.

early last summer, Mr. Friedman, 69, an industrial photographer, rented a truck and trailered a pre-built 65-square-foot Tumbleweed Tiny House up mountain roads, into a meadow and parked. To compensate for the lack of interior space, the couple cook, entertain and, for the most part, live outdoors. “We live in our view rather than look at it,” said Ms. Shepherd, 58, a retired youth counselor and an avid hiker. At night the two nestle in a sleeping loft with three feet of clearance, gazing at stars through a skylight. “It’s shelter, pure and simple,” Ms. Shepherd said.

A wave of interest in such small dwellings — some to serve, like the Shepherds’ home, as temporary housing, others to become space-saving dwellings of a more permanent nature — has prompted designers and manufacturers to offer building plans, kits and factory-built houses to the growing number of small-thinking second-home shoppers. Seldom measuring much more than 500 square feet, the buildings offer sharp contrasts to the rambling houses that are commonplace as second homes.
….PRICES for tiny houses vary by region, but in general reflect degrees of finishing, who does the building, types of materials and design options. In general, count on spending anywhere from $35 a square foot for a very basic structure to more than $200 a square foot for designer models built with specialized or luxury materials.

Manufacturers’ prices do not always include delivery fees, and there can be other costs, including site preparation, foundation work and installation of electric, water and sewer services. “You have to go into this with open eyes,” said Jay Shafer, owner of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company. “Zoning laws, land covenants, building permits, restrictions and codes vary within states and across the country, and these impact what has to be done at the site, and how.”

link

iPod, laptop…might work out…but I’d have to scan all my books, files, etc into digital…hmm…also my clothes, tools, food….