Review – Tekkeon myCharger

mycharger

This little gadget allows you to charge an iPod and just about any other kind of cell phone from a single AC plug. The myCharger device is compact charger with a USB female plug on the bottom. You can plug an iPod cord in the bottom and charge your iPod or iPhone directly. It also has a separate cord with a usb plug on one end and an adapter on the other end. It also comes with a series of plugs for the adapter that allows you to charge several different brands of cell phones including Blackbery, LG Mobile, Motorola, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson. I took it into the office and managed to charge everyone’s phone.
Tekkeon also sales add-ons to allow you to charge other 5 volt devices and international plugs for serious travelers.
There are many charging products on the market. I think the Tekkeon myCharger is really best for travelers or others who find themselves carrying several chargers. Using this product, you can cut down on the clutter in your bag. You can find the myCharger online for about $19.

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Save Fake Steve Jobs!

Steve

I’m sure many of you have read The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs where fake Steve rambles on about a litany of subjects, a few of which relate to Apple. In addition to being very humorous, the writing is very smart. I discovered it awhile back and now it is on my very short RSS list. I like fake Steve because he pokes fun at all things holy for just about everyone including Apple fans such as myself. I like it the same way I like the Mac/PC commercials and life is just too darn short not to have a few giggles every day.
Well, recently some scoundrels have been trying to unearth the true identity of fake Steve and I must say I am very much against this. I don’t want to know who fake Steve is because in so many ways he is the real Steve in my life. He shares his thoughts, entertains, and occasionally disturbs me which is all good. Besides, the true identity doesn’t nearly matter as much as the value of the myth. Doesn’t anyone read Joseph Campbell anymore?

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Screencast #3 – Quicksilver Timers and Alarms

macSparky SC

This is my third screencast. This one explains how to set alarms and timers with Quicksilver so it will appear in large text on your screen or play a song from iTunes. This screencast is in high definition format. The version that goes up on the iTunes feed will be in the iPod format. It is best viewed if you download first.

 

 You can Download it Directly Right Here

or better yet subscribe in the iTunes store

Macsparky Screencasts

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Review – Airfoil

Airfoil

I really love all the creative things I can do with my Mac. Before going to college I used to play the saxophone and piano professionally. Somehow I’d lost touch with music over the past 20 years but since the Mac makes it so easy, I’ve found myself really enjoying a resurgance of music in my life. I’ve even posted a few of my songs up on MacSparky.com.
Anyway, one problem I ran into when recording music was decent playback. Specifically, when I’ve to several instruments playing at once it is hard to get a feel for the right levels through my MacBook’s speakers. Sure I can plug in headphones but I wanted more. I wanted to rattle the house with my subwoofer . I have an airport express that allows me to play iTunes through the stereo so why not Logic and GarageBand? I kept looking for a way to hack around my airport express but never quite got it to work. I was explaining this problem to one of my favorite Apple Store geniuses when he just smiled and said … “Oh .. you need Airfoil”
Well he couldn’t have been more right. Rogue Amoeba’s Airfoil is the perfect way to unleash your Airport Express from iTunes only playback. Using this application you can route any source of audio from your Mac to your Airport Express. It worked with every Media Player I have, dashboard widgets, system audio, and even web sites. This really dovetails with my latest obession, Tim’s link to Soundsource.com in episode #115. I’ve been using that site, along with Airfoil, to make all sorts of strange sounds come out of my home stereo … from nuclear explosions to balloon animals. It’s all good. My wife, by the way, thinks I am crazy. But I digress.
Airfoil even can drive multiple Airport Express units. So lets say you have two stereos attached to Airport Express units in different parts of your house. The program synchronizes them both so you can really get the neighbors upset. It also has an equalizer and Applescript support.
One limitation on this application is delay. While normally this is not a problem, it does prevent you from watching video on your Mac with sound through your Airport Express. Rogue Amoeba explains this delay is built into the Airport express and there is no way around it.
Using this $25 application I got my wish. I can now hear playbacks when working in logic through my home stereo and much much more.
Edit 8.10.07
Just a point of clarification. Airfoil’s delay applies to everything you pipe through it so when using it with Logic or Garageband it doesn’t work in real time. It plays through the stereo on playback. It doesn’t pipe through the stereo real time while I am playing the keyboard. Cheers, D

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Final Score … Mac 3, PC 0

MacBook

Just when I thought I couldn’t give the Apple Store any more money…
My wife, along with her partner, runs her own internet business where they sell paper crafting and stamping supplies. I am very proud of her. Anyway, she has been running her store on a PC box that has given us nothing but problems for the last year. I’ve replaced the video card, the sound card, the hard drive and just about everything else but the motherboard and the darned thing still blue screens despite our best efforts through re-installing windows and routine maintenance. Well everytime it dies on her she finds herself on my daughter’s iMac and it has made her a believer. So tonight she joined the growing legions of Mac users with her very own MacBook.
It is funny because the sales guy who set us up was the same guy who sold me my first Mac. I really like the great people at the Irvine Apple Store. It is of note how much easier this purchase was. When I bought my first Mac I was a bit worried about making a mistake. I need a computer every day for my work and Apple was a big leap for me. Buying my wife’s computer was not stressful at all. It is actually a relief to be free of all those PC blue screen problems.
I’ll spend this weekend tricking it out for her. She bought one of those red plastic protective cases on which she plans on doing some serious customization. I can’t wait to see what she does with it.

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MacSparky’s Favorite iPhone Applications

iphone

I have been collecting an eclectic mix of web based applications on my shiny new iPhone and I thought I’d share a few here:

GasApp

I realize the terms “cheap” and “gas” have become mutually exclusive. Regardless, GasApp is great. Works fine on an edge network and finds you the least expensive gas in town. The google map integration is a nice touch.

One Trip

This was my first iPhone app and still one of my favorites. An excellent shopping list web app. It looks very nice but still manageable on the Edge in the vegetable section of my supermarket

iPhone Digg

I never really “got it” with Digg but sitting on the couch thumbing through it on my iPhone is a whole new story.

iActu

This is a great newspaper mashup organized like a newsstand. Not all that Edge friendly but still very nice over tea.

AccuWeather

The weather widget is perfectly fine for most of my needs. But if I really want to geek out on weather, I go here.

Telekinesis

This looks to be the most interesting of the bunch. I can’t really recommend it since I haven’t had a chance to try it yet but it is supposed to be able to allow you to remotely access and control your Mac from your iPhone. This should allow you to do things like remotely control iTunes, run applescripts, or access your iSight camera. I’m a little concerned about the security of it all but I’m going to be looking into it soon.
There are so many new ones being posted every day I am sure this list will get revised over time. As an aside, I organize these by a seperate tab “iPhone” applications. Please drop me an email or comment as to your favorite iPhone applications.

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OmniFocus Check In

OmniFocus 2


I’ve been using the Sneaky Peak of OmniFocus exclusively now for several weeks for task management and I’m very pleased with the progress Omni is making with this program. If you have any interest in it, get yourself over to the Omni Group web site and get your name on the list. It is “different” from what I was doing in iGTD, but generally better for my workflow with a few small (hopefully temporary) annoyances. It is still just Alpha after all.

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MacSparky Podcast

macSparky SC

I’ve been having fun making the screencasts and decided to give them a podcast feed. Granted it is nothing near the quality of Don McAllister’s excellent “ScreencastsOnline”, but I’m having fun making them. I’m really figuring this out as I go along so I’m sure there will be changes. Moreover, it will not be a weekly podcast but as more along the lines of a few a month.
I have an email from Apple saying “MacSparky Screencasts” has been approved and is on iTunes but I sure can’t seem to find it except for using Apple’s link right here. I’m using a PodBean account, at least temporarily, to host it which can be found here. I’ll keep you posted.

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