I have been using Google Earth, since before it was called Google Earth. Back then it was known as KeyHole. I use Google Earth at work to look up buildings we manage or are looking at managing. It is an amazing system and if your computer is less than a few years old then it should run fine. There is a free version for now, so there is no reason not to download and try it out. Oh, it gives directions and finds places for you as well using the Google search engine.
GREAT DEAL: Lexar JumpDrive 1GB $39
This is just a great deal. For only $39 you can get a USB drive (typically called a "Thumb Drive") with 1 gigabyte of storage. The average CD holds 640 megs, and while DVD drives store just over 4 gigs, they take a long time to write to. A USB drive is nearly instantaneous. The prices on these types of drives is just dropping like a rock and are a fantastic way to move data. The best deals for these are still on-line, but you can get some good prices at the brick & mortar stores as well. Just make sure it is USB 2.0, the 1.1 units are cheaper, but also much slower.
Store, transfer and carry your data with you wherever you go! JumpDrive Secure is your answer for dependable and reliable storage of all types of files. With JumpDrive Secure security software, your confidential data will remain password protected and encrypted, even if someone else tries to use your JumpDrive.
Apple At it Again - 6 Weeks Comes to An End?
First there was the iPod Nano. On Sept 7th Apple released the pencil thin and incredibly stylish iPod Nano that clocked in with both 2 gig and a 4 gig models. On the 11th of October over 1 million had been sold (that's 5882 units a day). They weren't without issues, but for the most part everyone was just stunned, bemused and amazed. So small. So Tiny. So MUCH. Oh, and Apple axed their most popular iPod ever in the process, the iPod Mini. Of course many had thought it was going to be a video iPod or (vPod) as it was being called, but alas on the 7th it was not to be a reality. We did however get iTunes 5. Nothing really amazing about that release though, it just felt like another release supporting a new iPod, nothing much. Had iTunes 4.9 not be out, it would have been iTunes 4.9.
Then October 11th comes around and Apple shows, in their 4th Quarter analysis, that they are kicking butt and taking names. 80% of the on-line music store business, 6.4 million iPods sold, 1.2 million Macs sold and $3.68 billion in profits, all in just the 4th quarter. What did that mean... well, 48% increase in Mac sells and 220% in iPod sales over the same quarter in 2004. I wish the company I worked for had seen those kinds of increases.
The very next day, October 12th, Steve Jobs takes another bite out of the news.... He releases a video iPod and calls it "iPod." Yep, while it came with a lot of fanfare it didn't get a new name. This may have been expected, but it still stunned a lot of people. This new iPod is designed to play music, better than anyone else's player and oh yes, it plays video too. You get that feature for free! He has a point, because the only iPod on the market (full size that is) plays music and video and they didn't raise the price for the two models they had one penny. During the presentation he also released a new version of the iMac and a little software ditty called FrontRow which may be a major player in future announcements, possibly Apple trying to really move into the living room. However, none of these were the really big announcement that Steve Jobs was working up to and always loves to do. He always has one more thing to say.
This "one more thing..." was Steve Jobs' real draw dropper and would take the entertainm ent industry and the tech industry by storm and guarantee free advertising for weeks. In an unprecedented deal with Disney's ABC, he announced that their two most popular shows and the two most popular shows on American TV would be available on iTunes 6.0 along with 2000 videos some Pixar shorts and three other TV shows. All for the price of $1.99 each.
This just stunned the industry and really urked the Screen Actors Guild which has already petitioned Disney to make sure their membership gets a cut, must be taking hints from the RIAA. After what iTunes did for music, no one is taking their video plans lightly.
Okay, so that leads us to today.... What will be released? What is Steve Jobs up to now? Well, Interestingly enough this may all play together... On September 7th, Act 1, he releases the Nano. On October 12th, Act 2, he releases an iPod that plays video and a "small" side deal with Disney for content. Now, today on November 19th, he has another set of announcements and possibly Act 3. He said how much he likes drama and even used the three act play to make his three big announcements on the 12th of October. So, could we be seeing the really big announcement for Apple today? Not Sure.
The announcement is being made at a huge Photo convention in New York City called Photo Plus Expo. Everyone who is everyone in the digital photo industry will be in attendance. Today at 12 Noon EDT Apple will make their announcements to a host of media (and media only) they sent special invites to last week.
At this point it doesn't look like it will be a climatic announcement, but neither did October 12th. The rumor mill says a Pro level photo editor, along with the possibility of a refresh of the Powerbook with a camera built into the bezel as with the new iMac. The photo software though, that may just be one of their biggest announcements so far. iMacs, PowerBooks, iPods, iTunes in all their flavors are businesses that Apple is doing very well with so far and all we have heard are upgrades and changes. While amazing the deal for TV content was, it is in the end a wait-and-see concept. If Apple really is releasing a photo editor aimed at either PhotoShop or its little brother PhotoShop Elements, then Apple on November 19th is firing a real shot across the bow of Adobe and in the end at Microsoft itself.
It is a direct attack on Adobe and one more battle in the war to win the hearts and minds of the digitally minded artists, workers and hobbyists. What had been and has become again the growing soul of Apple Computer. They have been playing with consumers, maybe they are ready to go back after the professionals they have lost over the years since Steve originally left Apple. If this truly is the case, then it means Apple is aiming once again at corporate America. Apple learned long ago that you have to get people young or in their homes and schools. They played that game well for years. Today though, they don't have the K-12 market anymore. They don't have the college market anymore. They are taking one hell of a bite out of the home market, proving they can design and innovate. Maybe, just maybe, all of this is part of a grand plan to move back to where they hail from... Professional digital. The market they not only helped create and foster but make thrive. If that is the case, then it may mean a real move back into software. There are rumors of more office type programs in the works and their relationship with Microsoft has always been tenuous. If they lose them, then they lose Office and that would not be good for Apple. If I were them, I would have something in the wings. Something very Mac in nature, something that could entice the graphic artist that he can stay with Apple even without Microsoft's Office applications.
I'm just thinking out loud here. I don't know anything. I haven't read all the reports and I haven't even owned a Mac since the late mid-90's. I'm not saying they won't announce refreshes of the PowerBook, that seems a given and that refresh may tie in some way to their really big announcement of this new software (if it is real). Of course, this may all be a ploy like in October to lead us down one path.. make the announcement in a matter-of-fact way and then release the real jaw dropper and complete this three act play in grand style going into the holiday season. Which after all is what all of this has most assuredly the short term effects of these 6 weeks worth of announcements is aimed at... Christmas 2005.
Recommended Software
From time to time friends and family ask me to recommend software to them. Software from the best virus catcher to photo management. So I thought I would list some of the here for you. I used to have a list on my website, but removed those links during one of my website renovation. So below you will find my latest choices for "Best Software." There are lots of places to get information on the best software, one of my favorite review sites is CNET, which is also a great technology news site. There are others, but you will find that many are part of Ziff Davis and therefore CNET (also owned by Ziff Davis) also gives you the same thing.
All of the software below will be for Windows PCs. I don't have a Mac yet and can not fully attest that what is best on Windows will be best on Mac.
- Best AntiVirus: McAfee Anti-Virus
- Best Spyware Detection: Microsoft Antispyware -- This is Free (Great and Automatic)
- Best Instant Messaging: Trillian -- This is Free
- Best Web browser: FireFox -- This is Free
- Best Home Photo Editing: Adobe Photoshop Elements (4.0 just released)
- Best Home Photo Editing (Runner Up): Picaso 2.0 -- This is Free and Very Good
- Best Home Video Editing: Adobe Premiere Elements (2.0 just released)
- Best Photo Sharing: SmugMug (Three Levels of Service)
- Best Blogging Software: Blogger -- This is Free (This Web Site Done with Blogger)
- Best Office Suite: Microsoft Office 2003
- Best Office Suite (Runner-Up): Open Office -- This is Free
- Best Music Catalog Software: iTunes (6.0 just released) - This is Free
- Best Magazine software: Zinio -- Software is Free, Magazines Very in Price
- Best DVD Viewing: PowerDVD
- Best Bill Pay Service: MSN Bill Pay -- When You Arrive, Click on Bill Pay
I have provided links to each where you can learn more about them. You should be the final judge on what you want and if you want something that is free or not. Free isn't bad and there is some very good "free" software on the market. A great example is FireFox and Open Office, both are part of the Open Source movement. Basically that means a movement for software to be designed in the open by the community at large and given away for free. Not a great business model to be sure, but there is a huge following.
If you have any questions about any of these software packages let me know. I will do my best to answer your questions. I have more experience with some than others. All of them though I do use and enjoy. I have used different programs to do the same things in the past, and have ended up using all of these. That isn't to say I will always use them, there is always something bigger and better on the horizon.
Mac mini needs a Front Row seat
This is an article I found on Digg that came from MacCentral's website. If you haven't seen the Mac Mini it is Apple's answer to the $500 computer. Basically it is just the CPU, nothing else. But it is compatible with every monitor out there and any USB keyboard or mouse. This story talks about the new FrontRow software introduced by Apple for the iMac. The software is basically Media Center software and it is done very well.
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