YarravillePaul

I am still in the throws of exploring my new iPhone.

So far, many things are as expected. It is my first so-called "smartphone", and I am loving the variety of functions in a single device. Music, SMS, phone, internet, maps with GPS, point-and-shoot camera, games, wireless file transfer, voice recording, calender, organiser, etc.

And I love the simple intuitive interface.

But one function that has particularly excited me is the SMS display. It shows SMSs as a 'conversation' like iChat/AIM/MSN (see the attached picture). This is amazingly convenient when SMS relay-chats have several hours between messages, and I have forgotten my previous message.

Even better, when I type a reply, it already knows who to send it to, saving me the need to search my address book for each message to the same person. It is tres cool.

You don't need to be a nerd to love this function....

Hmmmm, I have fallen. After procrastinating for weeks, I have succumbed to the demands of my nerd-factor. I had been thinking that there will be some sort of update to the iPhone that I should wait for. Such a foolish thought pattern. Apple always updates their products 2 days after a purchase. So why wait?!?

All I can say is that I am happily ensconced in nerd-heaven. This is my first so-called smartphone, and I love it. I have spent all day configuring and playing with it, and suspect I will spend several more months doing the same.

Swapping over my old account was easy at the Chadstone Apple store. It took about half an hour for the phone to become active. There is a benefit in going to a new store where staff are tripping over themselves with a smiling, eager desire to be helpful.

So I may be missing as I make the transit from a 4 year old phone that was only good for SMS and phone calls, to a beauty that will be my phone, SMS, calender, organiser, gaming machine, internet browser, emailer, music machine, and portable file storage device. More later....

I love the sense of fun surrounding Jonny Gladwell's drive to be the first to own the new Apple 3G iPhone in the world. Perhaps some will challenge him to the title, but he will probably hold his title in the marketing machinery surrounding this launch.

It seems an adventure in pursuit of stuff. Youthful exuberance in which the chase, and lust for the object, exceeds the excitement of any possible outcome. And it doesn't matter. It is all just good fun.

Jonny Gladwell lives in New Zealand and camped outside a Vodaphone store in order to be the first to purchase the iPhone. Remember, it is winter down here and Jonny has had some cold nights. He has blogged about his adventure, and it seems as grand as many I have read about. He struggle the cold, he gave up rugby practice, he went 3 days without a shower...

The attached video is from his blog, and is him receiving a shave at the entrance to the store.

I will refrain from commenting on the iPhone. There are many more qualified to comment. Walt Mossberg presents a particularly good review.

I will be getting one, but have stayed the excitement because of the darth of good information about contracts attached to the phone. MacTalk Australia has today linked to a great table comparing some iPhone Contract details. Many thanks to NeoRicen for the hard work. I will check this against my iPhone requirements. MacTalk Australia has a collection of discussion forums here for those needing further assistance (like me...)

Be still my beating heart. Be sensible and cautious with your approach, and revel in the eventual glory with judicious control....

There is a fun game on the ABC's Gruen Transfer website.

The Gruen Transfer is a show that explores the place of advertising, and some commonly used tricks. According to the website...

The Gruen Transfer is named after Victor Gruen, the guy who designed the very first shopping mall. The term describes that split second when the mall's intentionally confusing layout makes our eyes glaze and our jaws slacken... the moment when we forget what we came for and become impulse buyers.

For me, the show's strength is its use of multiple avenues to communicate its message/critique: the free-to-air TV show, the downloadable version of the show, the online education resources, and the do-it-yourself ad making game called Consumers Revenge.

With the Consumers Revenge, you need to patch together the video, audio and text of three existing commercials into a new, hopefully humorous recreation. There are 3 themes to advertise: a beauty cream, a beer and a bank. Using the provided fragments avoids problems with copyright, and there are some (moderated) creations by other punters posted on the main site.

I have found it a great way to experiment with Apple's Final Cut Pro, Live Type and Compressor, although you can also patch together whimsical solutions on-line using the web based interface. That would be a quicker method, but I have enjoyed learning about these applications.

Here are my final products....be kind with your feedback...but all feedback is welcome.

Gruen Life - Bank


Gruen Life - Beauty


Gruen Life - Beer

Oh Yeah! The 3G IPhone is officially available in Australia.

No longer do we need to buy the phone and 'crack' its software to have it work in our fair land. From July 11 we will be able to buy one that can be maintained and updated as smoothly as any ipod.

After 4 years, my current phone has dodgy buttons. The wait, knowing the iPhone was coming, has seemed eternal. I can wait the month, but hope I do not need to wait much longer due to supply constraints.

It looks like Optus and Vodaphone will be the providers, but I do not think we will necessarily be locked into them alone. Details are sparse, as is the true cost of phone contracts. But I have never understood phone contracts. They seem infinitely more complicated than they need to be. They are clearly designed to fleece the naive, and reward those that speak double-dutch.

My lust is not just for the sexiness of the new apple offering, I also want the GPS linked maps, the connectivity to my mail/ calender/ contacts, and to have my phone/ camera/ organiser/ music player/ etc, all in one neat package. There is also a App store for the iPhone with some amazing games and 'stuff'.

I can't wait.... more details here.

My Mac has a new favorite widget!! Or perhaps I should say that I have a new favorite widget on my Mac. But my Mac seems so human some days...


Among the many widgets available to listen to radio streamed over the web, is this jem written by Brazillian Alexandre Bazyl. Called World Radio Widget (WRW) it is free and can cope with lots f different streaming formats like asx, asf, wax, mp3, pls, m3u, mov, ram and rm.

I must point out that I have no idea what half these formats are, but do I know that it is a time-consuming-pain-in-the-arse to have to try and find a new codec for each new format. This widget handles them all with ease provided I know the web address of the streaming radio. There are hundreds listed on his site.

It is fairly easy to configure once downloaded, and is listed on the Apple site which I usually interpret as being free of maliciousness.

Here is my list of favorite radio stations from Melbourne:

PBS	http://www.pbsfm.org.au/public/ASX/3pbsfm.asx
MBS Classical	mms://3mbs.serveftp.net:8080
ABC Classical	http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/classic/classicfm.asx
ABC JJJ	http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/triplej.asx
ABC RN	http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/RN.asx
RRR	http://www.apStream.net/clients/streams/3RRRfm.asx
ABC 774	http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/774/774stream.asx
ABC Dig Jazz	http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/digjazz.asx
ABC Dig Radio	http://www.abc.net.au/dig/dig.asx
ABC Dig Country	http://www.abc.net.au/streaming/digcountry.asx

Can you tell that I dislike radio with advertisements????
(If any of the stations wish to be removed from this list, please email me)

There are a couple of new toys in the apple basket!

Billed as the worlds thinnest computer, the new MacBook Air is very sleek and sexy. Without an internal CD/DVD drive, it is designed for the world of the increasingly ubiquitous wireless internet. The built-in camera continues support for video telephony. A very Dick Tracy thingy.

I have never really been a laptop man, tending to prefer the greater grunt of a desktop beast. The price premium of laptops, lack of expandability, and increasing theft risk, discouraged me. However, this one is very sexy.

The forthcoming movie rental service through iTunes will be worldwide, eventually. It seems impressive in its grandeur. ALL the major movie studios are participating. There must have been some big time back room brawling to iron out the arrangements.

Perhaps buying or downloading bittorrent movies will become a thing of the past. Steve Jobs made a passing comment about music being something we enjoy repeatedly, whereas movies are more often watched only once or twice. Even our favorite flicks. Initially I thought this was just marketing hype, until I reviewed my use of my own large DVD collection. Many have dust upon their jackets.

The renewed apple TV has been updated to support the movie download service. As a media centre, it is nearly where I need it to be. Nearly....

The interface is smooth and user friendly, and will remove the need for multiple confusing remote controls. The increasing array of video and sound sources (disc, computer, internet, TV, radio, etc) need a simpler driving interface. However, there is no way of including digital TV with the software, and user modification of apple software is rarely encouraged by apple.

I am still leaning toward buying a mac mini to use for a media centre. Anyone had any luck trying this?

There was also some updates to the iPhone and iPod Touch. Something I will give consideration to when it comes to Australia. I'm holding back the excitement right now...

This is the 60 second summary of the full 90 minute keynote address which can be found here.

The anticipation for this years surprises from the 2008 MacWorld Conference are killing me. Rumours can be found here, here and here.

I doubt that they will be as playful as this image suggests. Only a day or two more to wait.
There is something in the air...

Not many posts of late dear reader, I have been a little distracted by the latest feline from Apple.  As I did with the release of the previous Mac operating System "Tiger", I took myself to a launch party at a nearby computer store where champagne was being served along with the free t-shirts and software demonstrations.  

As a self-acknowledged techno-nerd and apple mac fanatic, I know that posting this picture is heteretical, but it is funny. Thanks to Matters Of Little Consequence who also has a great post about Brinking and Dlogging.

Several upgrades were released today, with the increasingly sexy looking iMac (above) the main focus. Steve Jobs pushed the companies environmental credentials by identifying the recyclable aluminium and glass components of the new machine.

For me, it was the upgraded Mac Mini which has most promise as part of my entertainment system. With built in wireless and bluetooth, and with the addition of my USB TV tuner, I think that everything is now covered. Now to save the pennies....

Here are the other updates courtesy of macrumours.com:

• iMacs - brushed metal, with thin keyboard, up to 2.8GHz Core 2 Extreme Processor. (unboxing)
• iLife '08 - completely new iMovie and updated iApps (video tour)
• iWork '08 - updated Keynote, Pages and new spreadsheet called Numbers. Downloadable demo available.
• .Mac - personal domains, increased storage (10GB) and transfer limit (100GB), Web Gallery (example)
• Mac mini - Core 2 Duo processors at 1.83GHz/2.0GHz.
• Airport Extreme - now with Gigabit ethernet.
• Mac Pro RAID - build-to-order RAID card

From UndergroundFilm.org via MuffBoxFilms

I know that it is only the first release, and there will be teething problems and significant improvements in second round releases...but I am quite jealous of US guys that can just pop out and buy one of these...

...but I still think its dead sexy!
Here are the new ads from Apple for the June 29 release in the US.

I should be offended as an Apple Mac devotee, but this is a very funny parody...

Appleinsider reports Apple has plans for a glass-topped cube store in Melbourne, similar to its flagship store in San Francisco. I visited this store last year and it is very cool!!


The old Fun Factory Building on the corner of Chapel Street and Toorak Road is the proposed location. It will need to be demolished. Time will tell if they get permission to build, The Fun Factory has a long history in Australian terms, 120 years. Here is its description of the building from Chapel Street History:

THE FUN FACTORY

The Fun Factory building, on the corner of Toorak Road and Chapel Street, is believed to have been built in the late 1880s to house the Toorak cable tram system. According to Stonnington Council, the complex would have also included a tram depot in Chapel Street. In 1926, when the system was electrified, the building fell into disrepair, and it was vacant from 1929 to 1933. Capitol Bakeries took over the complex in 1934. The Fun Factory opened with much funfare in 1979. Howard Bartlett, the Council's heritage adviser, said the building had local heritage protection and therefore, future planning consent and a planning permit would be needed to demolish parts or all of the building.

I have been very weary after work this week. In part because I feed my blog addiction way too late at night.

But today, after a nana-nap, I decided to go for a bike ride and enjoy the evening light. I was hoping that I might see the McNaught Comet on the horizon, but despite my endorphin buzz (I wish! Someone promised me I would get a buzz if I exercised...), no comet was to be seen.

It was a great ride through streets of Yarraville, Seddon and Footscray. Streets that I would normally never see. Fishermen and fisher-lads were scattered all along the Maribyrnong river, looking relaxed, as people with a fulfilling hobby seem to look.

I think the reason that I am enjoying my rides so much, is that I plug in to my iPod and listen to the backlog of ABC Radio National podcasts that I have been downloading for ages. The programs are diverse, and it is not possible to keep up with all the programs. From experimental music, to science news, to exploration of societal changes, to health updates, and then to tales of ordinary people. When I get around to it, I will build a collection of links to my favorite programs on the Melbourne page.

Today after listen to a Street Story about the life of truckers, I found one about three gay guys from Canberra who moved to Tasmania to start an organic egg farm. I was glued to the sea-changing story of these brave men. Of course, my interest was piqued by my current desire to make changes in my own life. There is something encouraging in listening to the personal-growth tales of others. I guess that blogging provides a similar reward.

The story goes for about half an hour, and if you have a bike and iPod, I strongly recommend it...

Apple Computer INC formally renamed itself Apple INC as part of a re branding that reflects a company not solely about computers any more.

They also announced the new iPhone which exceeds all expectations I had. Bluetooth, WiFi, Mac OS X, synchronised calendars and contact lists, widgets, full internet browsing, video iPod with large screen, iTunes synchronisation, email and more...

But I wax lyrical in vain as it will not be available in Asia until 2008!! My current phone screams of death every time I play with its joystick (like my men, lol). Perhaps bugs will be ironed out by then. Perhaps the camera will either be usable (currently 2meg pixel) or gone by then. Perhaps the battery life will be improved by then.

Many bloggers are commenting on their first impressions. But even in the US, it will only be available in June after FCC approval. First users will be warmly recieved if they send me details of their experiences with it before 2008.

Today's Keynote address from Apple's Steve Jobs was surprisingly short in the number of products announced. No new computers or upgrades. No new software are upgrades. Just some chat about profits and growth, the iPhone and the new ('appleTV').

It is more like a cut down version of a mac mini using Front Row as an easy interface. Wireless connection to your computers store of video and audio for playing through your home entertainment system. Looks nice, and affordable, and may be another belated Christmas present to myself. It is disappointing that it does not come with a digital TV tuner built in, but the USB TV tuners are falling in price rapidly...

The Macworld Conference & Expo at San Francisco's Moscone Center is only hours away!

One friend will be getting up at 3am to catch the delayed broadcast of Steve Jobs Keynote Speech to catch the new toys we are expecting from Apple. I'm not that keen. I am happy to wait until after a good nights sleep. But I have a gentle level of excitement building inside.

Rumours include a new smartphone with integrated music downloading ability, new screens with HDMI interfaces, faster wireless networks, and a piece of convergent technology that will allow users to broadcast computer images (ie.downloaded movies) directly to their TV or audiovisual system.

The AGE, MacRumors and Thinksecret are just a few of the sites feeding the public anticipation for the announcements. Its a bit like mac-nerd Christmas. And that would include me...

Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivered a special announcement from the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco today. The announcement focussed on audio-visual software and equipment, rather than the computers or accessories usually released at the MacWorld Conference & Expo.

Software, such as iTunes, is designed for both Mac & PC. But you will know this, unless you live in a bomb shelter hermetically sealed in 1945. The presentation is also available for viewing through the apple web site.

Todays talk covered the updated iTunes. No longer just a jukebox for music, it is increasingly becoming a portal for Music, TV and Movie storage and purchasing. It is the best I have used over the years for simplicity and stability. Always room for improvement, but the addition of browsing my music by scrolling through the album's cover art using Cover Flow, is just downright sexy. Here is a preview image.



Updates to the iPod range were also released. The iPod Nano has been returned to an aluminium casing, and colours. Clearly money has been spent on assessing the consumer market. There is a funky new advertisement if you like that stuff.

The iPod Shuffle has also been updated. Much smaller, and with a built in clip. If I ever build a wishlist for some anonymous sugar-daddy to buy me toys, this device will be on it. Sometimes it would be nice to have a small, solid state music player where there is no agony of deciding what to listen to...

Probably the most exciting announcement was a device with a production name of "iTV". Not available until January, it will provide wireless connection between your computer and home entertainment centre. It is long overdue. The box is surprisingly (not) similar in shape to the Mac Mini. Now, if only we can get them to put this functionality IN the Mac Mini. Then there will be a proper home entertainment device. Maybe I am just being greedy...