Apple Event, Tuesday Sept 9th, 2008

Given that I am now employed by Apple, I will refrain from speculating on any of the product or service announcements that will be made, but this invitation went out from Apple this week, regarding an event scheduled for next Tuesday morning (local time) in San Francisco. Looking forward to seeing what they announce!

(Believe it or not, even working for Apple, I don't know any more than you do!) :-)

Mac Game: Burger Shop

I found a cool game via a web link from Facebook, I believe. It's a site that sells lots of games for the Mac, offering a free 1-hour demo of each. I saw this one called Burger Shop at #3 on their Most Popular list and decided to try it... it was a blast! I showed it to the boys and they loved it, too!

Basically, you fill fast food orders :-) Jen and I think this was made by the fast food industry, because when I was playing it with the boys, we were all really starting to crave burgers, fries, milk shakes and more. :-) It's got a fun little story that goes along with the game, and is super fast paced but pretty simple. Click on the photo above to check it out.

If you don't have a Mac... come visit me at the Apple Store... :-)

Energized

I got back just a while ago from my first shift at the Apple store. I was really looking forward to it, wondering just how it would actually play out. I know Macs, for sure, but I didn't really know how thing go at the store. I knew I was going to tag along with a more experienced Apple Specialist (that's what I am doing also) so I figured it would just be fun.

What happened was great, but very unexpected.

When I got there, it was obvious that it had been pretty busy. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but found the manager on duty and they tried to pair me up with someone... but there was no one to be found. They finally decided on someone, but he was on break. After lots of indecision, I offered (if they were OK with it) to just jump in, with no training. :-) The person who was assigning me my duties confirmed that with me, and then, in a bit of desperation perhaps, said, "OK! Get out there!"

I headed into the sea of people and found a mom and daughter standing by the laptops whose body language suggested they were not certain what to do next. I approached them and introduced myself, and explained that even though this was my very first shift, I would try to help them best I could. And help I did. After fifteen minutes or so, and explaining all the great stuff Apple has to offer (that applied to them) they were ready to make their purchase! I really couldn't believe how fun (and easy?) it was!

From then on, it never stopped. Ever. It was 9:01 when I actually did not see anyone who looked like they would like assistance. 5:30-9:00 ... straight. Every minute was spent talking to someone about Macs, and selling lots of stuff! It was fun and crazy! (They assured me that it's not usually that busy!) :-)

And do you know what I did when there was no customer to assist? I found some fellow employees to talk to. I asked one of the other "new hires" how she liked her second shift. I spoke with a few of the other Specialists. I met one of the Creatives (the guys who train people in using their Macs) and talked with him at length about Macs and their software.

By the time all was done, it was just after 11pm that I was getting in the van and heading home.

I called Jen. I couldn't wait to. I had wanted to. We have a cell phone that is pay as you go, and the minutes are super low right now, so I only told her a few quick things, and then said we'd get to chat more when I got home. And I couldn't wait to do that. But then, as I was going home a different way, I thought of our very good friends (one of whom is in Mexico right now!) and I decided to call the one who is not in Mexico to see how all of that was going. (I had forgotten that normal people don't feel like it's 5pm at 11pm....) Again, with limited cell minutes, we only spoke for 2-3 minutes, but here's my point.

I am energized by being with people. I literally can not get enough.

When I got home, I told Jen some stories from my first shift, and I listened to her stories of what she and the kids did. We chatted about various things, and she finally asked, "Aren't you hungry?"

I thought about it and then said, "No. I'm really not." And kinda chuckled about it. I hadn't eaten since lunch (12:30) so... I should have been hungry.... but... I really wasn't.

The only thing I could figure was that being with people - and helping them learn about Macs - energized me. To the point that I didn't even notice or feel hunger? I didn't even need food!

And even though I needed to take a shower from the day, I really didn't want to. The only thing I could tell Jen was that it seemed, "boring" ... that's not a word I use, so that was weird. But I think I figured out that all I wanted to do was stay with Jen, and keep enjoying the interaction. I really love interaction with other people. A lot. Like, I never really want a time where there isn't interaction. Maybe I do, but it's very rare. (You could argue that me writing this blog is a form of "interaction" as well...)

So, it's most definitely settled. I am a people person to my core, and that is most certainly what I need to be doing with my time. I need to be with people. We have seven living in this house, so I have that covered, but it really puzzles me why God has given me office work to do. Granted I do get to work with people on some level, but mainly I am working by myself at my desk most of my days.

After tonight, I am just reminded that it is nice that God gives me relatively short chapters. Hopefully the next one more directly involves interaction with people. :-)

Apple Retail = Me!

As you are well aware, if you have spent any time at all here at GregsHead.net, I am a big fan of all things Apple. I have informally been a "representative" for Apple for many years (often the number one resource for Apple info and assistance amongst people who know me) and was even officially a representative for a year and a half from 2006-2007 as an Apple Authorized Business Agent. Most recently, I signed on as an Apple Business Store Affiliate, which allowed me to place banners on my websites that paid me a commission when a click turned into a sale.

All very nice. But now, as of Saturday July 26th, 2008, I am actually employed by Apple, Inc. :-)

OK, I'm just working as a specialist at the Apple Retail Store, but hey, it's true: I'm an Apple employee. Most are convinced it's just where I need to be, and I'll admit, I'm looking forward to being around all the other Apple fans (my coworkers) and helping people solve their computing questions and even dreams by listening to them and recommending solutions from my 13 years of experience on the Mac platform. (And a few years as an Apple-trained agent as well.) Really, should be a blast.

This week I will be working a couple shifts, and actually get to get "on the floor" and do that. So, we'll see how it goes, and if you're in the Rochester area, make sure to stop by and visit. I'll hook you up with the perfect Apple solution for you! It's what I do. :-)

[editor's note: As an official employee of Apple now, I may not be as free to discuss Apple products, definitely not rumors, and other such things. That saddens me greatly, and I'll definitely still be a huge promoter of all things Apple, but will also try to not overstep any boundaries. Apple is very good at boundaries...] :-)

Mac Trojan: Real Threat, or Website Traffic Generator?

I'm late to the party with this one, but it's been busy around here... what can I say?

So, last week there were reports that a genuine Mac OS trojan had been discovered "in the wild" (meaning, in the real world, affecting real Mac users). I checked it out (per the link above) today and found that it's still just a good opportunity to get some hits to your site.

The so-called "trojan" is an AppleScript file that must be downloaded, and double-clicked (opened) in order to do anything. I must admit, what it is able to do is impressive. It somehow works around the OS safeguards and is able to do some things only an administrator should do. However, it still requires user activation.

So, the Mac continues to be (by far) the safest computing platform available. I do wonder if this particular script "counts" enough for Apple to have to say there are now (1) viruses for the Mac?

(NOTE: I visited a page where Apple used to claim there were currently zero viruses for the Mac OS, and now it does not explicitly say that. Perhaps they are becoming a bit less smug about their incredible security? Perhaps.)

How Did I Miss This?

How busy have things been around here of late, you ask? Well, today I was browsing my news RSS folder (for the first time in a while) and caught a few articles titles referencing the big WWDC keynote today at 10am PST... and I thought, "TODAY???"

That's right, folks. There are big doin's today in the world of Apple, and I was totally unaware of it!

I'll try to do better next time... :-)

Apple Myth Debunking (By Another Writer)

I posted recently some thoughts on the ongoing myth that Apple computers are more expensive (comparing "apples to apples") than their Windows-running counterparts. It's pretty amazing that such thinking is still widespread. I like to give folks the benefit of the doubt, and say they just haven't actually seen the real numbers for themselves...

Today came across another article debunking several myths about Apple/Mac OS. Here's one snippet of what he said:

While users do pay some premium for both the Apple brand and the innovation that goes into Apple's often brilliant hardware design, the premium is not out of line with that users already pay for name brand systems from vendors such as Sony, HP or Lenovo. In many cases, comparable Apple systems are priced similarly or in some cases are even cheaper than their competition.

If you're interested, you can read the full article by Michael Gartenberg at his blog. It's relatively short. And, if you really still think PCs running windows are cheaper... just read the article. :-)

(Also, it's not just the price myth, he also takes on the software myth as well as the proprietary myth. Sheesh. Why so many myths??) :-)

Apple Logo Birthmark

I found this today... a baby that was born with a birthmark that closely resembles the Apple logo! :-) Too funny. I'm surprised God hasn't plastered one of those on any of our kids... ;-)

Apple's Market Share

It's been quiet here at GregsHead because it's NOT been quiet in Greg's office or Greg's home! I even tried to post something like Steve did yesterday, but didn't have time to finish it! Ha! :-)

But wanted to post a link to this article about the Apple market share myth(s). Pretty interesting stuff. Was chatting with a fellow Mac user about it and he sent me this link.

From what I have seen (from my decidedly Mac-skewed vantage point) the world is much more than the fabled 2% Mac market share. And, as the article says, we are some of the coolest tech/computer users out there. :-)

It's not too late to "go Mac"...

:-)

Still?

I can't really believe that this still comes up, but I've been talking with a friend who is in the market for a new computer, and though there are several people close to them who insist they would love a Mac, is still convinced that he can get "the same" computer for less. Folks... this is just not true. Perhaps a little less... but usually the opposite is true. I wrote about this here TWO YEARS ago, and Apple has gotten heaps better in those two years.

I was trying to figure out why I can't just let it go sometimes. I think it's just my personality. I need stuff to be true. (Though, not in everything... but I guess the stuff I care about.) If someone just doesn't want a Mac, that's OK (too bad, but OK) ;-) But if they say they don't want it because they can get the same computer for less... that's just not true. I think it all works out pretty evenly in the end, except with a Mac you get no viruses, spyware, everything just works "out of the box" (all included in the computer) and you get the Mac OS, which is fantastic. (Not to mention their superior customer support.)

I'm really not trying to be a salesman... and I TOTALLY understand the need to spend less on a lesser product simply due to lack of funds. TOTALLY. But I just wanted to say again, Macs are not ridiculously overpriced. You get what you pay for, and we think, with Mac, you get even more than what you pay for.

If you're at all interested, or even if you think you know that you're NOT interested... check out this section of Apple's website. apple.com/getamac. Not only are all the cute/funny ads there, read the 10 reasons (and more) "Why You'll Love a Mac." Great list. Explained well.

Everyone gets to choose and use what they'd like, but we, the Campbells, can't say enough how great Macs are, and how much you'll love 'em if you try 'em.

(This blog post brought to you by an Apple fan and user for over 13 years now. No money was received for this endorsement.) :-)

Breaking News!

There are some advantages to staying up super late. I had some stuff to do tonight, and kind of randomly pulled up the Apple online store when lo and behold, I have a scoop! The Apple Store is currently down... and today (tomorrow for me) is Tuesday, which is when Apple typically releases new products.

I don't know what it will be. BUT... I've been telling folks for a couple weeks that I think Apple will be updating the iMac soon. They had a "limited time offer" on refurbs of the current generation listed at the online store for just about two weeks now, and to me that meant that at least an updated iMac is coming, if not a bigger revision of the best computer on the planet! :-)

So anyway. Now that I've broken the story...

I'm going to bed. :-)

Check the apple store for what the actual news is tomorrow. ;-)

Great Deal on a Mac!

I am no longer paid by Apple to tell you this, but that never mattered anyway! I was looking for something at the Apple store yesterday and discovered that they are selling refurbished iMacs at extra low prices. You can get a 20" core 2 duo iMac for $999! (That's good.)

I think that link will work... if it doesn't, just go to apple.com/store and scroll down to the refurbished Macs link near the bottom left.

Great deals, and for a limited time! So, maybe a way to spend your tax return? :-)

Apple Lighter Than "Air"

The big news from the keynote presentation from Steve Jobs today at the Moscone Center in San Francisco was the announcement of the highly anticipated ultra-portable laptop - the MacBook Air. This computer is as thin as .16" and the full thickness when closed is .76". Whoa. Still has all the bells and whistles! (13" screen, 80GB hd, 2GB ram, built-in iSight camera, backlit keyboard, multi-touch track pad, 802.11n wi-fi, Bluetooth 2.1, and some cool software that allows you to access/use an optical drive on a network computer - Mac or PC!)

They're pretty pricy, but also a pretty amazing little product. You can even get it with a solid-state drive (flash drive), which might give you more battery life, but definitely is super fast and less parts to breakdown.

Other announcements included a new wireless router (AirPort Extreme base station) that includes a hard drive for easy network access, and Time Machine backups. It's called Time Capsule, and is available in 500GB or 1TB. And, the iPod Touch received some software updates, allowing iPod touch owners to access Mail via their iPod as well as some other "essentials" (weather, stocks, etc).

The other big announcement involved iTunes and the AppleTV. iTunes sells movies, but not all that well. Not compared to how they do with music. The AppleTV has done OK, but not that well. Well, now the newly lower-priced AppleTV gives you access to much more movie content which can be rented and immediately watched on your AppleTV. Movie rentals are $2.99 and $3.99 for 24 hour rentals. HD movie rentals are $4.99. You can also purchase music directly on your AppleTV now as well.

I'm still waiting for Apple to fully get into the TV business and release a real AppleTV. We should start saving up now, cause I know it's coming! :-)

Fun stuff today from Apple. Not sure I'll be getting any of it soon, but those MacBook Airs will sell faster than anything Apple has ever made. Even at that price (starts at $1799). Just watch and see.

[for more coverage, see the archived live coverage page from Macworld.com.]

Macworld 2008

It's that time of year again, the annual Macworld Conference and Expo is going on starting today in San Francisco, CA! For some reason I am not as excited this year as I usually am... maybe just too busy with other stuff. But, I'm sure I'll be following tomorrow's keynote presentation by Steve Jobs around my lunchtime and will be at least slightly excited by the new products and services announced.

Rumored this year is a new super slim MacBook. They are calling it the MacBook Air. We'll see what actually shows up.. there are a lot of rumors supporting something like that though, so I'd say that will be one of them.

Expect a full report back here tomorrow sometime. :-)

In the meantime, here's a pretty decent link with rumor "news" if you're interested.

Remote Control = God?

I remember when I was a kid, one of the coolest things in the world was remote control cars. I mean, you could make it go... even though you weren't touching it! How cool is that?!?

Well, last night I noticed that remote control is still one of the coolest things.

I was walking away from our vehicle and needed to lock it as I was going out of sight of it, and all I had to do was press a button on the little key fob and ... voila! It was locked! Like magic!

When I was able to do that, I realized that remote control is a bit like being God. You can manipulate things outside of yourself, like magic. (I know... it's not magic, but... it looks like it is!) Whether it's a toy car, or a boat, or a plane... or a real car that you can lock, unlock, or even start! You say it, or click it, or whatever... and it happens!

And there's so much like that these days! The whole world is going wireless. Cell phones, GPS thingies, satellite radio, key fobs, Wi-Fi computers and other devices... everything is wireless. On our home network, I can log into Jen's computer from my laptop, and send files from there to my computer in the office... without being on either computer! I can even do a "screen sharing" thing where I can use other computers as if I were right in front of it. I can print stuff in the office from any computer... WIRELESSLY.

We have some pretty amazing powers these days... :-)

So, just a little observation. I still believe the next computer interface (probably Mac OS X 10.6) will be a spoken interface. So not only will things be "remote control", but we will speak and it will happen.

And Greg said, "Let there be e-mail" ... and there was e-mail.

Weird. :-)

Mac-Related News

I'm sure you'll remember that we stood in line on the night that Apple released their new operating system—Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard—and got ourselves some snazzy t-shirts... well, we finally got the OS, too! I have installed it on my laptop, and it's pretty neat. There are still many questions I have about it (Safari—the browser—crashes a lot, and the networking seems... fishy, among other things) but overall I do like a lot of the new features. Will be better when I can install it on my main machine here. (Too busy to risk doing that right now!!)

Besides Leopard there are a couple other items of interest I saw come across the RSS feed today...

Macs indeed cheaper than PCs
Multiplying Mac Trojan not epidemic yet

Yes folks, there are rumors of another Mac virus, and though I'll admit to not investigating thoroughly, it's still not the same as a self-propagating virus as you see infecting the Windows world. Not making excuses here, just trying to quell the shouts of, "Macs get viruses too!!!" Apparently there is a LOT of user input necessary for this virus to do anything. (Downloading, clicking, installing, etc.) And again, it's not self-propagating.

So, interesting stuff if you're a Mac fan.

And really... who isn't? :-)

The Busyness Continues

Here I am at the Apple store, waiting to meet with a Genius for our Mac Mini. (Was trying to install the newest OS, Leopard, on it last night and that didn't work.) :-) This is the first chance I have had since getting back from vacation to post anything to GregsHead.net! (I used to do this more often.....) :-)

I still do want to tell more of the stories that I did write down from our trip, but again... it's finding/making the time to get them up here. I will be posting a "highlights" version soon, though. It was SUCH a great trip!!

I'm #3 on the list here, so I am keeping one eye on the Genius Bar... but trying to remember what I was going to say here... :-)

A couple things of interest... first, the busyness does continue. Going on vacation was a nice escape from reality, but did make the work pile up a bit more. And, when I finally get to the projects I need to be working on, then I get a call or email from someone needing tech support on their sites. You never can quite predict how a day will go, eh?

Also, last night I watched Spider-Man 3 while re-installing the system software on my broken Mac Mini. :-) Actually really liked it. The violence is weirdly over the top, but "cartoony" enough to not be that bad. Aside from that, the story lines were very good. There were three different story lines of characters being consumed by revenge, and eventually overcoming it through forgiveness. Not as cheesy as that sounded. :-) Also just cool examples of the power of loving someone, even enough to die for them. (Don't want to give away the ending...) ;-)

So, I recommend it.

OK... it's gotta be my turn soon!!!

I am here by myself also. We had dinner with some friends, and we were late :-) Just got to finish my waffle and head out for this appointment. Hope to get to hang out a bit once we finish this.

I hope we start it... :-)

This Time Tomorrow...

So, it's really here. For months—maybe even years?—we've waited for this day, this trip. We're packing stuff up now, getting the house ready to leave. The kids are ready for their vacation, too. A whole 8 days at Grandma & Grandpa's!!

And for us? Eight beautiful days at a resort on the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, CA... without our kids!

Now THAT'S an anniversary present! :-)

We leave Buffalo tomorrow at 8am local time, and get to the San Jose airport around 12:30 local time. We'll find our rental car and drive about an hour or so to the coast. After checking in, and checking out our place, getting settled, etc... we'll head BACK to SJ for the evening to get some dinner, and get a copy of LEOPARD at the local Apple Store! :-) (First 500 people at the store get free t-shirts! We're so there!)

We'll just be spending time together, celebrating 10 years of marriage, and just enjoying each other's company. Walks on the beach, walks through town, nice dinners... QUIET days. :-) Can't wait. Really can't wait.

I may post some here during the week, or I may not. :-) Depends on what Jen is doing. This week, I'm totally with her, and I don't want to miss any of that!

I will definitely miss our kids. I can tell already. But I can't wait to have 8 uninterrupted days with my wife. I love her more now than ever before (which was already a lot!) and can't wait to just be with her!

(Can you tell?) :-)

We will also get to visit with some friends from college who live out that way, so that will be a huge bonus, too.

And it all starts very, VERY soon! So...

Gotta go! :-)

Apple Announces Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

Just in case you are not subscribed to my Apple blog... thought I would let you know that Apple announced a release date for their long-awaited OS update. October 26th will be the day you can get your hands on the latest and greatest OS! There are links to pages detailing the many new features and upgrades on the article I posted at my Apple blog. Head over and check it out!

(If you already know you just want to buy it, you can click on the software retail box above...) :-)

The Public Debate Continues

As I mentioned last week, Apple & NBC are not getting along. First Apple publicly announced they would drop NBC shows from iTunes in the month of September. NBC rebutted Apple's public statement, saying that in fact it was not asking to sell shows for more, rather, they wanted to sell seasons for less, which Apple did not want to do. Then a few days later, it was announced that they would remain on iTunes through the end of the contract in December.

It's all rather confusing.

In the meantime, NBC announced that they would be selling shows via Amazon's Unbox service, which lets you purchase videos to play on your Windows systems, or download directly to your TiVo.

Now it has come out that Apple wanted NBC to sell their shows for $0.99/episode, as Apple does with their individual songs at iTunes. NBC was concerned that such a price structure would eat into DVD sales far too much as a series season sells for $40 on DVD, and would be less than $23 at iTunes.

The public feud continues. Stay tuned.

More on the New iPod Line

I was able to post several articles to my Apple blog yesterday regarding the updates to Apple's iPod and even iTunes line. I mentioned that I would be doing that earlier, and thought perhaps you'd like the links. Some pretty neat stuff. Lots of links off of my pages to great content at Apple's website as well.

And, if you click the photo above, you'll be taken to my GregsApples.com site, where you'll first have a chance to sign up for my Apple eNews. If you're at all interested in the stuff Apple is doing these days - and maybe especially how to get the best deal on some for yourself - I think you'll enjoy receiving the Apple @ BWD eNews. I send it out about 4 times a year, and when there are major Apple updates. (Like, I'll be sending one today.) :-)

Here are the links to yesterday's articles. More to come!

Greg's Apple News:
New iPods: Refreshed & Revealed
iPhone Price Tag Reduced 33%
iTunes WI-Fi Music Store & Starbucks
iTunes 7.4 Brings Custom Ringtones
VIDEO: iPod touch Overview and Tutorial (from Apple.com)
iPod Touch, iTunes Wireless... Wow. (Article @ Newsvine)

Subscribe to Greg's RSS Feeds:
Greg's Apple Blog:
Greg's Newsvine Column:

All New iPods, iTunes Wireless

Apple made their big announcements today. Nothing really unexpected, and most expectations were met. No Beatles announcement, but it won't be long. I'll be writing up much more on my Apple Blog later tonight, but for now, here are the highlights:

• iPod Shuffle in new colors
  
• iPod Nano is shorter, bigger screen, video, larger hard drives
  
• iPod is now iPod classic, and available in 80GB and 160GB.
  
• iPod Touch - the iPhone without the phone! 8GB & 16GB. Built-in wi-fi!
  
• iPhone is now $200 less, only 8GB size. ($399)
  
• iTunes Wireless. Purchase music over wi-fi connection right on your iPod!

Lots more to come. You can read up on it yourself at Macworld.com, they did a nice live update article as the presentation was unfolding today. Or, go straight to Apple's iPod page.

If you already know you want one... you can get one from my Apple store!

Apple Feuding with NBC

Apparently, Apple is sick and tired of NBC's shenanigans! The 3rd largest music retailer in the world (who also sells video content...) is parting ways with all of it's NBC content (30% of it's top shows!) in the month of September! Seems a drastic move by Apple, but they contend that NBC wanted to double the wholesale price of their shows, which would have raised the cost to consumers from $1.99 currently to $4.99/episode.

NBC on the other hand seems to claim almost the opposite... that they wanted to combine some of their content to make the package more attractive to the consumer.

Either way, the consumer is losing in this spat.

You can read more most anywhere on line, but here's a link to get you started.

I hope they make up soon. We got the Knight Rider from iTunes, and NBC also has the Sci-Fi channel as part of their content. And, it's just not nice to fight...

Apple Event September 5th

Another Apple Event is just around the corner. Apple is planning to hold a special event on September 5th, according to Arstechnica. Most rumor sites are expecting Apple's updated line of iPods to be revealed, including a possible full screen video iPod. (The iPhone without the Phone.) Also rumored, iPhone Nanos and video-capable Nanos. (Perhaps the same thing?)

I don't think we'll see a smaller iPhone... but, ya never know.

Stay tuned to my Apple blog for details.

UPDATE: Apple officially sent out invites to the event today, it's pictured above. There are some interesting things about the invite that most likely point to 1) an ipod-related event, 2) an iPod with CoverFlow view (much like on the iPhone?), and 3) the phrase "the beat goes on" was in the Beatles' final press release. Perhaps we'll finally see the Beatles at iTunes on the 5th?

More from MacNN

Blueberry Hill

Isn't there a song about blueberry hill? I know it was the name of the hill behind the main part of Mountainview Christian Camp where I have spent several weeks of several summers of my life. But tonight, though there weren't really any noticeable hills... I'd say we visited THE blueberry hill!

We're in Clarence at the moment, visiting with Jen's mom & dad. The kids love visits to Grandma & Grandpa's and this time, Mom & Dad stayed too! :-) We went to the Bills game last night - it was a blast, read about it here - and then today we played football, visited with some friends, saw another friend off on a trip to Africa, played more football, and then took a trip down to East Otto, NY to Burdick's Blueberries.

The experience begins by heading as far into the middle of nowhere as you possibly can. Then, once you're there, you "check in" by weighing your blueberry containers before they are filled... whereupon you are whisked away in a giant blue pickup truck (further into the middle of nowhere) to your row of blueberry bushes. The help walk you to a specific spot and tell you to begin picking here and go that direction, making sure to strip off all the ripe berries.

(Blueberry picking is serious business!) :-)

We had a blast! Picked (and ATE!) blueberries for about an hour I'd say! When we got there, one branch of one of our assigned bushes had bent to the ground - perfect for Julia!!! And our little Julia LOVES fruit!!! So, she stood there and picked and ate blueberries - at least 2 or 3 dozen - for the first 20 minutes or so while we picked elsewhere. Too cute!

After the big blueberry fest was over, we rode the blue pickup back to the home base and weighed in. We had almost 20 POUNDS of blueberries!!! Ha! That's a LOT of blueberries!!! They taste great, and we're going to be having lots of great blueberry-related foods for a while. I guess they freeze pretty well, too.

So, after we left the super fun blueberry place, we shared a meal at Ponderosa together. That used to be a more frequent outing for the Walker clan, but I think size and grandkids growing up have been factors in making it a much more rare - and special - occasion. We had a very nice meal (still full now!) and then came back home.

Tomorrow we spend the day at the fair. Jen's dad is preaching there in the morning, and we're hoping to get some fun in either before it rains, or in between the rain drops. Wish us luck. (It's looking pretty rainy...)

Much more to come here at GregsHead.net. I'm wishing I had wireless internet... :-) BUT, I am typing this blog from my in-laws' computer (a Windows computer) using Safari! It looks amazing! It's almost... almost close to what I would see on my Mac! Now that's impressive!!

Until after the crazy weekend...

John Lennon @ iTunes

Apple announced on Tuesday that the entire catalog of John Lennon's solo music has been added to their store. It's all available as DRM-free music (which is also higher quality AAC files). This follows the addition of Paul McCartney's entire catalog earlier this year.

Good stuff. But when will the Beatles arrive?

Apple Special Event

If you'd like to see all this great stuff for yourself, you can watch the entire presentation online! Just click the image above.

New iMacs, iLife '08, iWork '08 and .Mac

As was predicted, Apple announced a new iMac yesterday. And they are beautiful! You can tell from the photos, but in person they are even better. We took a trip to the Apple Store last night to see the new Macs, and it was worth it!

They are a bit leaner (slimmer), and they have lots more power (feautring a new Core 2 Extreme processor in the top of the line model) ... and they just look fantastic.

Enough about looks. What do you get with this new iMac?

Here's a quick overview of the new machines:

• Aluminum case and glossy glass display
• 20" and 24" ($1199, $1499, $1799)
• Great connectivity: USB 2.0, Firewire 400 & 800
• New keyboard - .33"!!! (feels like a MacBook)
• Up to 2.8 Ghz Core 2 Extreme processor
• Up to 4GB RAM, 1 TB!!! Hard drive
• Built-in, Ultra-fast 802.11n
• AVAILABLE TODAY!

Yes, that last point is actually a valid point. Lately it seems every time Apple has a special event, they are announcing something that won't ship for months! (Remember AppleTV and the iPhone??) So, this was nice to be able to see and play with right away.

First thing I noticed was the new look. It is stunning. That glossy glass display does make it look very nice. Jen didn't care for the functionality of it though. In the store with lots of flourescent lights, it was quite reflective. But to my eyes, it still looked very nice.

It's also super fast! When I tried to import photos into iPhoto to play with its new features, it was nearly instantaneous. Incredible. Everything opened very fast, and the new skimming feature worked transparently in either photos of videos. Fantastically fast machines.

Then there were the new features. Not enough time to play with them with more folks wanting to play with the one display model, but what I saw, I liked. The new Events feature in iPhoto (and iMovie, I believe) does make it easier to sort/find photos. I would have liked to see it work with a much larger library. But, with what I did have, it seemed like it will be a great tool for organizing our photos and movies. iMovie looks totally different, and to be honest, at first glance was a bit overwhelming. Perhaps it would not take long to learn the new features (supposed to be able to make a great movie in 20 minutes). I did not have enough time to play with it, though.

Actually, one of my favorite new features announced at the special event yesterday is the upgrade to .Mac. Along with the "Back To My Mac" feature that will be part of Leopard once it comes out in October, they announced a new way to use .Mac, and some capacity increases.

First, subscribers will get 10GB of storage, and 100GB of monthly bandwidth (versus 1GB and 10GB currently, respectively). That is a decent upgrade. Greater space was needed for one of the main new features announced yesterday as part of the iLife '08 upgrade, the .Mac Web Gallery. This is a superbly formatted, one-click way to publish photos and now videos as well. (Note... iMovie also offers an easy one-click publish option to YouTube as well! That's great!) .Mac Web Gallery is even better than sending stuff to iWeb, which is what you would do in iLife '06, from iPhoto. Check out this working model of a .Mac Web Gallery.

iWeb also got the enhancements I was hoping for. Now you can embed code (like YouTube videos, GoogleMaps, etc) into your iWeb/.Mac pages. iWeb has also been upgraded so that the features that used to only work with a .Mac address will now work with your own personal domain. (Like GregsApples.com!) :-)

Apple also announced a speed increase for the Mac Mini, a new application for its iWork suite called Numbers, and some other fun stuff. But I'm tired of writing about all this stuff! :-) The best thing to do is FIRST, visit my GregsApples.com blog, then click the links I have provided there to some GREAT content at Apple's website.

Some really great new stuff, and as I've said before... there has never been a better time to get a Mac!

If I Had A Million Dollars... (Or, at least $65K)

When I was looking at the configurations available of the new iMacs at the Apple Store online, I think I got a little carried away. I wanted to research what options were available to people, and well... I got to dreaming.

"What if money were no issue... what would my (current) ideal Apple order look like....."

Well, I told a friend I could easily drop $100K at the Apple store, but it turns out I was wrong. Here's most of the list of what I would get for our family if spending limits were set free:

• 1 Octo-Core MacPro for me (3TB of interal storage, 16GB RAM, loaded...)
  
• 2 30" Apple Displays to go with that MacPro
  
• 2 24" iMacs (one for me, one for Jen)... mine would have the 2.8Ghz Core 2 Extreme processor, both with 1TB of interal storage, 4GB RAM
  
• 1 15" MacBook Pro, loaded, for my portable needs...
  
• 1 White MacBook for Jen, again, loaded. Larger hard drive, since she has lots of photos.
  
• 4 20" iMacs for the kids, standard configuration on those...
  
• 7 external speakers from Bose (for each computer)
  
• 9 AppleCare Extended Warranties (gotta protect your intestment!) :-)
  
• 3 AppleTVs (one for each floor, of course...)
  
• 1 80GB iPod (we'd give our other one to the kids)
  
• 3 Bose SoundDock Digital Music Systems (again, one for each floor...)
  
• A 10TB XServe (Apple RAID server) with all the software and Service/Warranty (this is a hefty sum!!!)
  
• A few more fun peripherals...

And all of that added up to just over $63,000! Not bad!!!

:-)

And don't forget, we could sell all of our current equipment and put that towards the $63K... so, that would make it a bit cheaper.

:-)

Of course, in our current financial state, this will never happen. But hey, you never know... If I had a million dollars... ;-)

Fusion from VMWare

I found this article yesterday, (which includes the video above) about an upcoming release of another virtualization option for the Mac. This software will allow you to run Windows apps as separate windows on your Mac, with icons in the dock... just like they were native Mac apps! Sweet! I think you still need to buy/install Windows, but sounds like the UI is much better.

(Articles on yesterday's Apple announcements are forthcoming. Some have been posted at GregsApples.com, but I am currently writing a newsletter, and will detail my hands-on experience with the new iMac here at GregsHead.net later today. Stay tuned...)

.Mac Update Tomorrow?

Well, it seems that along with the possibility of a new iMac, perhaps Apple will also announce a new version of .Mac, it's internet service. For a long time now, people have not been too impressed with .Mac, because without much effort, you can find better versions of most of what .Mac offers across the world wide web - for free. What .Mac offers (and the reason we currently have two accounts) is integration of all of those things, for $99/yr.

At this year's WWDC, some great new .Mac features were announced. The main one that caught people's attention was the "Back To My Mac" feature that will allow users to access all the files (they choose to make availble) on their Mac - from anywhere! This will be extremely useful to anyone who travels with their laptop. (I'll use it!!)

So, tomorrow morning, look for the planned .Mac updates, as well as, I suppose, those shiny new metallic iMacs!

Fun!

(And, don't forget, if you want one... let me know!) :-)

New Macs?

Apple announced a special event to be held on August 7th, calling it "a presentation focused on the Mac." Most speculate that we will see a new version of the iMac with the brushed aluminum look, perhaps bigger screens (at least dropping the 17" model) and a new keyboard similar to the one on the MacBook. We can't be sure, but this would make sense with it being back to school time, and the iMac is the best overall value (for the desktop lines).

Stay tuned...

It's Got To Slow Down Eventually...

Yesterday Apple announced it's third quarter earnings, and actually it was astounding. They broke all kinds of their own records, and beat whatever estimates smart financial guys had predicted. Basically... they rock. Way more Macs sold than ever in one quarter. More iPods than this quarter one year ago. Tons of iPhones (and that was in just TWO DAYS) and I think iTunes is even doing better than ever.

When does it end? It's got to... but... when? They just keep doing better!

If you can afford their stock... I'd say it's still worth buying! It just keeps going up!

iPhone... Without the Phone?

This is interesting... Some folks have already found a way around the "required" activation of the iPhone and are able to use it as a 6th generation Wi-Fi iPod. Intriguing...

iPhone Review

I found this review on the AppleInsider.com website today. Quite thorough and really explains all the greatness of the iPhone (as best as you can with words... you really have to actually hold it and use it to understand how amazing it is.)

He covers all the features (and missing features) in a very in-depth article. If you're interested in the iPhone, I'd say it's worth the read. Don't forget to check out all the great videos Apple has posted as well. Links at my Apple site (visit the Blog section...)

iPhone-mania

In case you haven't heard... Apple will be releasing what they think is the next "iPod". (That's not what they're saying... they are just super excited about this device.) It's a phone, but way more than that. If you haven't seen the commercials, or read or heard much about it, you can visit Apple's website for a great collection of information, photos, videos, tutorials, etc. They have upgraded it this week in anticipation of the Friday release of the new device.

We will not be getting one because 1) we don't have five or six hundred dollars to spare, and 2) we don't use cell phones :-) But MAN do they look amazing. Really, check out the site if you have not visited it yet.

I sent out a newsletter to my Apple mailing list today (you can sign up for that here), and put up a couple updates on my blog (that's here). But most of them link back to that iPhone site. So, stop by and pay them a visit why don't ya.

And, if you want one... you know where to find me. I'll be happy to help.

Shopping List

We are really not spending any extra money at the moment. We are paying bills, buying food and other necessities, investing in our house a bit, and then just GAS to visit family and such. But no extra "toys" at the moment. It's kinda hard... but, OK. We're dealing with it... :-)

IF I WERE to make a little list of what we'd buy (had we the cash...) it might look something like this...

• AppleTV (refurbished) - $249 [reg: $299]
  
• Airport Base Station (802.11n!) (refurbished) - $159 [reg: $179]
  
• 20" Cinema Display (refurbished) - $499 [reg: $1299]
  
• Quicktime Pro (software) - $29.95

Refurb is the way to go, since it comes with the same warranty from Apple, for less!

If anyone is interested in getting me a Father's Day present..... now you know what to get!! :-) :-)

AND, if you want any Apple stuff yourself, don't forget to ALWAYS SHOP HERE. Thanks. :-)

(Stop by my Apple site for more info, or to contact me about getting Apple stuff...)