Holiday Help Desk

Ok the holiday help desk is open. I'll have my trusty Macbook Pro and iPhone with me through out the Holidays so send me tech questions on all the cool tech gifts you got from family and friends! I'll get back to you ASAP.

richmlee@gmail.com

Almost like Photoshop but free : )

So I like to do a little photo editing now and nothing nothing fancy or crazy but touching up some pics is about 90% of what I like to do and iPhoto is great for that. If you want to get crazy you can use Aperture which is an exteemly powerful photo editing software but it's $200. If you want to get all uber fancy there is Adobe CS4 which is about $650.

Well what about the rest of us who just want to do a little more than iPhoto can do for us. Well there is an awesome program out there called GIMP. It's just like Photoshop where you can edit in layers and what not and has a lot of the same features of Photoshop but not all obviously but for FREE.99 it's the perfect price.

In fact I edited this photo in GIMP for my buddy's wedding and the one at the top of this post. I also did the effect where one thing is color and the rest is black and white, pretty cool for a free program. Also see that dude's hand totally distracting my picture of my buddy's wife? Well with GIMP I removed that thing and now the photo is all focused on my buddy's wife which is a lot better. Then I thougth well those random people in the backgroud are really distracting my pictures focus so I removed everyone excpet my buddy's wife and now the real focus is all on her. I've posted all of them so you can see the difference.

Oh and P.S. I took these pictures on my Nikon D80 DSLR, which takes amazing photos.

Check it out http://www.gimp.org/

Currently it's only for Windows but I have VM Fusion running Windows XP on my Macbook Pro so no problem for me.

Got any questions feel free to email me. richmlee@gmail.com

Holiday Tech Gift Guide by Santa Dick

Ok so it's November 12th do you know where your Christmas gifts are? I'd guess probably not, but never fear Santa Dick is here to give you some gift ideas that won't break the bank.

First off are Apple products, I know I always talk about them but they have some pretty sweet gifts for less than $100.
iPod shuffle - This thing is awesome and the 2gig version is only $65 dollars (with PwC discount) and the 1gig version is only $46 dollars!! You can't beat that!!

iPod Nano - Right now you can get the 3g version the little square version refurbished for only $79 for the 4 gig and $89 for the 8 gig! Plus all of the refurbished Apple products come with the same 1 year warranty as new products, I've bought these as gifts before and they are just like new and just as awesome! Who wouldn't want a new iPod nano under the tree!

iTunes gift cards - I personally love music and I'm always down for free music so get iTunes gift cards $5, $10, $25 and $50 dollar versions anyone would love that.

Apple Airport Express - I love this thing it's a tiny wireless "N" router, print server and remote iTunes to pump your music from your computer to your stereo wirelessly! And at only $99 it's an awesome gift. I actually have two of these in my house : )

Although not under $100 there are some seriously nice Refurbished Mac desktops and laptops for less than $1,000

Refurbished (White) Macbook 2.1 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo - $849

Refurbished (Aluminum) 20'' iMac 2.0 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo - $949

Refurbished (White) Macbook 2.4 ghz - $999

BRAND NEW (White) Macbook 2.1 ghz - $999

What about the iPhone?! Only $199 altought you can't get them the iPhone you can get them the gift card that will pay for the iPhone. This is the gift that keeps on giving.

Apple TV! - This is an awesome digital media hub, stores all of your TV shows, Music, photos and movies. You can also rent movies using this little box. I LOVE mine plus it's always up to date with automatic streaming/updates via iTunes, whenever you make a change on your PC it pushes that change to your Apple TV - starts at $229 for the 40 gig ($215 w/PwC discount) $329 for the 160 gig ($303 w/PwC discount)

Ok non-Apple

Got a grandparent who just needs to surf the Internet and check email? Get them a cheap ass Netbook! These are little laptops that will just do the job and are usually less than $500 bucks! My pick are the HP Mini 1000 or the Dell Mini 9. Not as powerful as a full on laptop but will get the job done!

Digital Cameras! How about capturing those holiday moments with a new digital camera!! My pick the Canon SD1100 IS awesome little camera great Canon optics ='s great looking pics about $150 if you buy online.

1080p HD Camcorder!! I know what you're thinking those are SUPER expensive but fear not there is a 1080p solution for LESS than $200, that's right you heard me. It's the AipTek A-HD+ 1080p Camcorder. This thing will record in 1080p! Better yet it's tape less you use SD cards, and with a 4 gig SD card you can record up to 60 minutes of pure 1080p bliss. This little guy has been getting pretty good reviews. Of course you're not going to put out the next Discover Planet HD show but it'll be good enough. Infact Amazon.com right now has it for $169.99 no tax and free shipping!!!! So tell your kids/friends/family that they're only worth crappy 420p on mini DV tapes camcorders or tell them you really care by recording them on full 1080p resolution.

Another awesome tech gift a GPS! I know what you're saying again "I can't afford to give a freaking GPS as a gift those are hundreds of dollars!" Again Santa Dick says you're wrong! Right now at Pep Boys you can get the TomTom one for only $99!! (after $20 mail in rebate) I shit you not, this is an excellent little GPS in fact I actually own one! It sits in my 330i and works awesome! Here's the link scroll down about half way: http://www.pepboys.com/parts_accessories/accessories/electronics/

What about a Nintendo Wii? By itslef it's only $250 but if you're willing to push down little children and old people make way to a Sam's Club on Black Friday they are offering a "Wii Bundle" for only $224 and it comes with the following: A Wii console, two extra Wii remotes, two extra nunchuks, Super Paper Mario, Mario Party 8 and Brunswick Pro Bowling. What a freaking deal!!

Ok last gift idea and you ass holes are on your own. Why not a PS3! Give the gift of pure 1080p Blu-Ray movie player and sick video game console! At amazon.com right now you can get the special gun metal grey version for only $399 no tax and free shipping. Of course this person who would receive this gift better be a) your wife/girl friend, b) yourself or c) Someone who love you long time because it's pretty expensive but it would be a sick ass gift.

That's it i'm all out take it or leave it. As Xmas nears I might post some more cool shit for cheap that would be bomb xmas gifts.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Macbook Pro Review October 2008 version

So I've had my Macbook Pro for a little over 2 weeks now and I think I can give it a pretty decent review.

First off specs, I custom ordered a 15'' Macbook Pro with the 2.8 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor as well as the 320 gig 7,200 RPM hard drive for added performance. Included however is the 9400 M AND 512 MB 9600 GT graphics cards, 4 gigs of DDR3 memory at 1,066 bus speed, and 6MB of shared L2 cache on the processor.

Usability/Features:

The new Macbook Pro body is very well constructed, feels extremely sturdy and solid even more so than the previous generation. Additionally this Macbook Pro is acutally thinner that the previous generation although only by a tiny margin (1'' vs 0.95'' thick) still amazing.

The new key board is very nice to type on even though I'm used to the old Macbook Pro/Powerbook key boards it's still very easy and nice to use with good feeling. The ambient automatic back lit keyboard is also very nice especially when working in low light conditions. This of course can be turned off if you don't like this function. Even my girlfriend who was typing on it for the first time said it was really nice to type on, thanks Nat : )

The Glossy/Glass screen is very bright and vibrant, the colors just jump out at you when looking a photos or video. glare is a concern, however in doors it's not too much of a problem it hasn't bugged me yet at least. I haven't used it outdoors so I can't give much feedback on the glare from outside use.

The new LED back lit display is awesome instant on with no warm up time for full brightness.

The new glass track pad is also very nice. It doesn't even feel like glass it feels like a regular mouse pad. Your finger glides across the pad very nicely with excellent feed back. Working with the entire track pad as the button is very easy and almost intuitive, had a little learning curve but anyone who is savvy with computers can pick it up very easily. The new multi-touch finger gestures work very well. I especially like the new two finger tap for right click. I also assigned the bottom right hand corner of the track pad as right click as well so I have multiple options for right click.

The battery, memory & hard drive are all very user replaceable now for upgrades. Although for now the Macbook Pro is limited to 4 gigs of DDR3 memory, the Nvida chip set is capable of 8 gigs. All it needs is a software update.

One other minor down side is that the new Macbook Pro only comes with a FireWire 800 port no more 400. Although 800 is compatible with 400 I just need to get some new cables.

The integrated iSight camera is awesome, did a few iChats with my girlfriend's sister out in Missouri and the video and sound quality is awesome!

Performance:

The new Macbook Pro is extremely fast especially with the new 512 NVidia 9600 GT video card along with the new DDR3 memory and increased cache on the processor. When compared to my old 1.67 ghz G4 Powerbook, it was a quantum leap in performance, everything is just so much faster. The thing I noticed the most is in the iMovie and iPhoto perform ace. iPhoto launches very quickly and the photos render and fly on the screen very quickly. In iMovie the rendering of effects is lighting quick. Things that used to take near a minute take seconds now. I was amazed at how fast things really rendered.

When I launch Safari, it instantly pops on the screen and starts to load a page for all of you Mac people Safari launched before the icon finished it's first bounce.

So far my only complaint is that iTunes is a bit sluggish on launch. At first I thought it was my library. But I tried to launch iTunes on several other new Macbooks, Pros and Airs and they all seem to have this delay but once running it was very quick and functioned very well.

Although I do have one complaint so far, one day launching iPhoto was glitchy as it crashed on me a few times, but after I let it go it worked fine. In general everything launched extremely quickly on it. I even installed Windows on it and it runs extremely smoothly.

One of the new cool features of the ability to switch from integrated graphics to discrete graphics. This is particularly useful for battery life. If you aren't doing any intensive photo or vidoe editing or gaming you can switch off the discrete graphics card. I found that you get a little over 4 hours of battery life with the integrated graphics or the 9400 M. With the discrete graphics cared the 9600 GT you get just under 3 hours. Which are both not as good as advertised of 4/5 hours of battery life. The downside is haveing to log out and log back in to switch graphics cards, this should be an on the fly option it should be addressed in the next version of OSX. Also with the Nvidia chip set the next version of OSX it should be able to take advantage of Hybrid SLI basically using both video cards are the same time for supped up graphics performace. I'm gonna cross my fingers on that one.

Pros:

Extremely fast, solid build, dual graphics cards a plus, new track pad is awesome, beautiful display, extremely easy to use.

Cons:

No Firewire 400 port, no standard DVI port, glossy screen can be a downer, battery life is not as advertised, god damn expensive.

Overall Conclusion:

If you were looking to upgrade an old Powerbook I'd highly reccomond getting this. If you have an existing Macbook Pro you're good just sticking with that one for a while. Overall it's an awesome laptop and I would highly recommend the Macbook Pro to anyone looking for a new laptop. This laptop gets Dick's Help Desk Choice award.

Wow AT&T is doing something nice & free?

Dude so you have an iPhone huh? Well guess what you finally get to access all of AT&T's wireless hotspots including those at Starbucks for free. That's right gratis!!

AT&T knows Wi-Fi is hot, and FREE Wi-Fi is even hotter. Which is why FREE AT&T Wi-Fi access is now available for Apple iPhone at thousands of hotspots nationwide, including Starbucks*. Users can relax and access music, email and web browsing services with their favorite blend in hand from the comfort of their nearest location. For information visit www.att.com/attwifi.

- Activate Wi-Fi from the settings icon on your iPhone

- Select "attwifi" from the list of available networks

- Enter your 10-digit mobile number and check the box to agree to the Acceptable Use Policy. Tap 'continue'

- You will receive a text message from AT&T with a secure link to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot. You will not be charged for the text message.

- The SMS link will only be valid for 24 hours at the location it was requested. Another request must be submitted when using another hotspot location.

- Open the text message and tap on the link for 24-hour access to the AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot

Good luck out there! Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Migrate a Mac with Time Machine

Ok I totally ripped this off so credit goes to the guys at TUAW here:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/10/29/6-easy-steps-to-migrate-your-mac-using-time-machine/

But it's a cool way to migrate your Mac:

6 easy steps to migrate your Mac using Time Machine
by Cory Bohon on Oct 29th, 2008
If you use Time Machine in Leopard, then transferring your stuff to a new Mac might be a bit simpler than you thought. With Migration Assistant, you can easily transfer Applications, Documents, Settings, and more. In this Mac 101, we're going to show you how it's done, and how you can do it yourself!
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1. Make sure you have a recent backupMake sure you have a recent Time Machine backup on the machine you wish to transfer your information from. To check, go to System Preferences (Apple menu) > Time Machine. If you see a recent backup, then you're set; if not, click "show Time Machine status in the menu bar." In the resulting menu bar item, click "Back up now." Time Machine will make a new backup.

2. Make sure you're not leaving anything behindIn the Time Machine System Preference pane, click the Options button. In the dialog box, you can see all the folders you have chosen not to backup -- check these to make sure you really don't want them. If you do, click the folder and chose the "-" (minus button) at the bottom. Click OK and backtrack to step 1 to create a current backup.

3. Getting the new machine readyFrom this point, you can deviate into two directions:
If your Mac is new: Boot up the new Mac and go through the setup screens. When the setup assistant asks if you want to migrate information from your old Mac, choose "From Time Machine backup or other disk." If your Mac has an existing account, don't fret. Just open "Migration Assistant" located in /Applications/Utilities.

4. Connecting your Time Machine drive to the new machineOnce you have completed the above step, click continue. Migration Assistant will ask you to specify the backup you would like to transfer to the new machine.

Macbook Pro has arrived

So my Macbook Pro has finally arrived a few days early I might add so I was pleasantly surprised. I'm in the process of transferring all my data from my old 17'' Powerbook to my new 15'' Macbook Pro.

Once I get it all set up I'll post a review and first impressions.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

My new Macbook Pro has left China

Ok I got an email today at like 4am saying that my new Macbook Pro has left China is on it's way here. Sweet! Ok here is what I ordered:

2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

4GB 1066Mz DDR3 SDRM

320GB Serial ATA @ 7200

Nvidia 9400M + 9600M GT 512 mb of video memory

I got all this for the bargain price of $2,845.23 (which includes tax)

This system should be blazing. I was really considering getting the 128 GB solid state drive but since the Macbook Pro is so easy to swap drives I'll wait till they go down in price and get one this will certainly increase my performance.

Well hopefully I get it sometime this week and I can write a full review of it for ya.

Got questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

BlackBerry Ripoff....I mean Bold

Ok so BlackBerry has officially announced that the BB Bold will be available to everyone on November 4th from AT&T. Horray for all BB fans!! Now here's the shitty news, it's gonna be $299 WITH a two year contract!! Holy shnikes!

Ok so let me get this stright I can get a non-touch BB with a tiny screen and which is really just the BB curve with a new shell and shiny buttons OR I can get an iPhone that is all touch, 16 gigs, app store, iPod, GPS and WiFi. Humm tough choice, although to be fair the BB Bold will also have WiFi and GPS.

I don't know you make the choice on Nov 4th.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

New Macbook and Macbook Pro

Alright yeah so finally new Macbooks. No a surprise it was kind of expected but some very cool innovations. Here are the most notable updates:

• Uni body Construction


• Glass button less track pad with multi touch ability


• New Nvidia chip set and graphics on Macbook up to 5x the perform ace of the old integrated Intel chip


• New Nvida chip stet PULS new discrete Nvida video card for hard core performance


• Option for SSD in all Macbooks now


• More standard memory

I've already ordered a new Macbook Pro and have upgraded to the 2.8 Ghz processor with the 320 gig 7,200 rpm hard drive. Should come sometime next week and I'll be posting a full review of that soon.

If you were in the market to get a new laptop you really can't beat the quality and performance that you'll get out of the new Macbooks. Go check em out.

Here is a summary of the standard configurations:

Macbook:

$1,299:

2.0GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 Memory
160GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

$1,599

2.4GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB DDR3 Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

Macbook Pro:

$1,999
2.4GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
15-inch widescreen
2GB Memory
250GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB

$2,499

2.53GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo
15-inch widescreen
4GB Memory
320GB hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 512MB

Macbook Air:

$1,799

1.6GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1066MHz frontside bus
2GB Memory
120GB SATA hard drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

$2,499

1.86GHz
Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 1066MHz frontside bus
2GB Memory
128GB solid-state drive1
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics

Go questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

It's official new Macbooks Oct 14th

An official announcement from Apple and the spotlight is on notebooks. Dude I'm pretty stoked.....

Nero Liquid TV (aka Tivo for your PC)

Ok so if you have a Media PC you may want to take a look at this. It's the new Tivo Liquid. Basically it's just the Tivo software you can install on your PC and turn it into a Tivo. It's pretty cool. This brings the TiVo interface and featureset to Windows. The $199 package comes with a year of TiVo service, a Hauppage USB ATSC tuner, an IR receiver, and a Nero-branded TiVo remote. Also it comes with the ability to export directly to iPod and PSP-compatible .mp4. You may want to check this out.

Sucks to be you BlackBerry

Ok so there is an offical beta for Lotus notes support on the iPhone w00t!. Pretty sweet, check out the article at TUAW.

http://www.tuaw.com/2008/09/30/iphone-in-the-enterprise-lotus-inotes-ultralite/

iPod Nano 4G

So I got a new black iPod Nano 4g over the weekend because I buy every nano that's ever come out. But I wanted to give my first impressions over the newest nano.

• I got the 8 gig, the 16 just seemed like a waste for me since the past few nano's I've never even filled up.


• Extremely thin and light. I think it's the thinnest nano yet.


• The screen is extremely bright and high resolution very crystal clear.


• The accelerometer is pretty cool rotating the screen from portrait to landscape is very easy.


• The shake to skip and shuffle feature is cool as well, but just a gimmick I'm not sure too many of us will take advantage of this feature.


• Genius play list is actually pretty cool but the database is somewhat limited so a lot of times it can't find matching songs, however over time as more and more people us the genius play list feature the better it will get as peoples other compatible songs are being uploaded to the Central Genius server and will be able to find even more matches


• Sounds great works just like the other nano's I've had

That's about it. Got any questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

BlackBerry Storm (BB Touch)

Ok BB fans there is more info on the "Touch" BlackBerry. If you haven't heard already it's called the BlackBerry Storm and will be available for Verizon wireless.

Check out the report on Engadget:

http://www.engadget.com/2008/09/15/verizon-blackberry-storm-talking-points-slip-out/

Some guy actually got a hold of one and was testing it out and his initial impressions that while good it was a bit slow and the tactile feedback was a bit awkward. But overall a good phone. We'll see what happens when it finally comes out.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

iPhone firmware version 2.1

Ok everyone version 2.1 firmware is release and I've updated both of my iPhones with the latest software release.

It seems like my original iPhone works fine no problems at all. And actually the first iPhone is a bit more stable wasn't plagued by some of the other bugs from the 3G version.

On my new iPhone I can definitely see the improvements. Apps install much quicker no more lag in typing (so far at least) overall improved stability as well. It also seems to be able to hold the WiFi signal better as well.

However it's only been a few hours so I'll blog back after the weekend and let everyone know how it goes. But so far so good iPhone 3G is running pretty smooth.

Got questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Ok, I think new Macbooks/Pros in October

There is a report out there that new Macbooks, Macbook Pros, and Macbook Airs will be coming out October 14th. It's only a rumor for now but it's supposed to be from a fairly reliable source and it's consistent with Apple's upgrade history.

One additional note that Macbook Air will look the same but will receive upgraded Intel processors and a larger hard drive at 120 gigs. The Macbooks and Macbook Pros will have more significant changes including the case. We'll see October 14th I guess.

See the full story at here: http://www.macrumors.com/2008/09/10/apple-notebook-updates-on-october-14th-120gb-macbook-air-hdd/

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

New iPod Nano's and iPod Touches

Ok so it's official there are new iPod Nanos and iPod touches, iPod Classic now only 120 gig, firmware 2.1 for iPhone and iPod touch and iTunes 8

So here are the cliff notes versions of the latest:

iPod Nano:

• Long and thin 8 gig and 16 gig glass screen and aluminum case $149/$199


• Has accelerometer so you can turn it land scape to watch video


• Literally shake to shuffle or skip next track


• New headphones have volume control, skip, back, and built in mic for voice recording


• New Genius play list, "Pandora" like smart play list where you play a song you like and it will search your music library for similar songs and recommends new ones on iTunes

iPod Touch

• New curved even slimmer design (think 3G iphone but even thinner)


• New "hard" volume controls on the outside like iPhone


• New built in speaker


• Genius play list


• BUILT in Nike Plus no more receiver all you need is the sensor in your shoe!


• 8GB, $229, 16GB for $299, and a 32GB for $399.
  
  

iPod Classic

• Got rid of the 80 gig now only 120 gig and only $249
  

Firmware 2.1 for iPod touch and iPhone

• This is a big update, it fixes lots of bugs. Fewer dropped calls, big battery life improvements. No crashes with Apps. Backing up is faster


• Per Steve Jobs "Some great new performance enhancements" (whatever that means)
  

So that's it. No new Macbooks but there is still a rumor out there that they will be coming in October who knows.

Got questions? email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Have BlackBerry want to switch to iPhone

So you have a SlaveBerry, I mean Blackberry and you want to switch to a superior phone. Ok that's an easy decision. But what about that little problme of all your precious contacts stuck in your Blackberry! Do you have to manually re-type all of your contacts? Hell no, that's why you read my blog because you'll learn how to automate this process. I know that if you're a BB user you probably have Windows. So I'm gonna tell you how to export your Blackberry contacts to outlook and then sync that to iTunes and your iPhone.

1. Download and install the latest Blackberry desktop software as of the posting of this blog it should be ver 4.6. Get it here: https://www.blackberry.com/Downloads/entry.do?code=A8BAA56554F96369AB93E4F3BB068C22


2. Once you've installed the BB desktop software run the app and plug in your BB


3. It will ask for your password, NOTE: be sure that you spell your password and not the numbers. So if you have a curve and your password is 4545 your password is sdsd.


4. The BB desktop software will have to connect to the Internet to check some settings and then let it do it's song and dance


5. Once it's finished click the "Menu" button and sync your BB contacts from your phone to the BB desktop software by selecting the sync option


6. Once it's done syncing in the left hand pane you'll see the sync button click that again and it'll take you to another screen asking you how you want to export your BB contacts, select Outlook and do a two way sync or one way sync and finish the prompts


7. Go back to the main menu and select synchronize and then press the sync button again in the middle of the screen, this will snyc your contacts from the BB desktop manager to Outlook


8. Load up Outlook and click on contacts and you'll see all of your BB contacts in your Outlook contacts.

There you go I've actually done for someone this so I know it works.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

F-U AT&T LOL! : )

Ok so the girl I'm dating wanted an iPhone but she wasn't upgrade eligible for the discounted pricing ($199/$299) according to ATT, even tho she was coming off corporate liability and onto an individual liability and she had to sign a new 2 year contract.

We proceeded to fight with the ATT reps for another 20 min about how this makes no sense. Then I just blurted out, what's to stop her from walking into a Verizon store switching carries and doing their 30 day free trial, but instead of waiting 30 days just walk back to an Apple store later that day and then get an iPhone for the $199/$299 price? All the ATT rep could say was well there is nothing stopping you.

So that's what we proceeded to do and I'll give you the whole low down.

BEFORE YOU START THIS: Make sure you will not incur the early termination fee from ATT if you switch carriers!!!! More on this below.

1. Walk to a Verizon store and tell them you want to switch carriers, pick a cheap ass phone and start service. This will cost you about $13 dollars



2. Wait for your number to port to the Verizon phone



3. Make all the phone calls you want because according to Verizon's 30 day test drive you can talk all you want and they'll pay for the calls



4. After about an hour or so walk over to an Apple store



5. Tell them you are an existing Verizon customer and you want to switch carries to get the iPhone



6. The Apple rep will enter all of your info and attempt to switch carries and activate your phone, BUT they will receive an error that says "This number is an existing ATT number and belongs to NMI" Whatever that means



7. On your cell call ATT customer service 1-800-331-0500. Tell them that you've switched your service to Verizon and now you are coming back to ATT and that you are about to get a new number with ATT and that you would like your current number to port over to the new line and have your current number replace the new number. Have the ATT rep on the line hold.



8. Instruct the ATT rep to start a new ATT line and you'll only have to pay the $199/$299 price.



9. Once this is done talk to the ATT rep and ask them to port your current number to replace the existing number. They will say "The system isn't allowing me to do that right now" but but be very courteous and ask them to have a supervisor or higher technical support to port the number and have them call you when this is done (they should be able to within 24 hours)



10. Walk out the Apple store with a big smile, because you got your new iPhone having only paid the $199/$299 price



11. By tomorrow morning or so the ATT rep will call you and let you know that your old number has ported over and replaced your new number.



12. Smile again as you've found a loop hole to get your iPhone at the discounted price : )

Make sure you do not incur any early termination fees because the early termination fee is $175

Got any questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

iPhone 3G Update

Ok so I've officially had my iPhone 3G for almost 2 months now. Since that time there have been two minor firmware releases (2.0.1 and 2.0.2). Both of these firmware releases updated some minor fixes such as somewhat improved 3G & cell reception, keyboard typing lag, and crashing apps.

Overall I'm still pretty happy with my iPhone however I do have some gripes.

1. Back up takes over 45 minutes! This shouldn't take that long I hope firmware 2.1 fixes this because it's really annoying.


2. Installing Apps on the iPhone is a little inconsistent, sometimes the install crashes or takes forever even on WiFi.


3. My iPhone will sometimes freeze and I'll have to wait for it to come back to life and then I can use it again or if I even touch on a native app like SMS it'll take a while for it to pop up, or when I "slide to unlock" it does a weird pause but will eventually come back.


4. Switch from EDGE/3G to WiFi is slow and inconsistent. I usually have to go into settings and hit "release/renew" before it'll pick up my WiFi.

So far those are my biggest gripes, but again overall it's still a great phone, better than most of the other crap out there. So crossing my fingers that firmware ver 2.1 which is due this month will fix some if not all of these issues.

New iPods September 9th

Well there is a confirmed date for new iPods, Apple is having an official announcement on September 9th. Sounds like for sure new iPod Nanos and a refreshed iPod touch. No word on Macbooks/Macbook Pros, although there is a rumor that these have been delayed until October.

Well if you were looking to get a new Apple product at least wait until September 9th to see what all the latest and greatest are.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Ok it's been a while but new iPods : )

Ok so it's been a while since I last blogged and sorry to all 5 of my readers. But honestly there hasn't been that exciting of news to report.

However we are getting closer to September and yes that means new Apple products. So if you've been wanting Apple gear hold out until about Mid September. There will be new Macbooks, Macbook Pros and iPods.

Most notably is a new long skinny iPod Nano, and a rumored refresh of the iPod touch with GPS? Same rumors about new Macbook and Macbook Pros. Prob a new case and the Macbooks may have aluminum cases now. Also there is a rumor of Blu-Ray support FINALLY!

But that's about it. Got any other questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Simplify Media ='s streaming your home muisc to your iPhone/iPod Touch

There is a sweet new app out there for you iPhone/iPod touch users. It's called Simplify Media (http://www.simplifymedia.com/) and what it essentially does is stream your iTunes music from your home computer or your friend's computers to your iPhone or iPod touch anywhere.

The iPhone (and iPod touch) app is free for the first 100,000 downloads and will then be $3.99.

Features include:

- Stream your music over Wi-Fi, EDGE and 3G- Navigate quickly by artist, album and genre- Enjoy cover art, artist bios and lyrics

- Connect with up to 30 friends- Easy setup; no router configuration It does require installing additional software on your Mac or PC to successfully stream the music.

Unfortunately, it appears that DRM encoded files are not available for playback. This typically includes songs purchased from iTunes.

Check out the demo video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8DaD1Dtyl8&eurl=http://www.macrumors.com/iphone/2008/08/14/stream-your-itunes-library-to-your-iphone-over-wi-fi-edge-or-3g/

Got questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Don't buy that Apple Laptop just yet!

Ok so I haven't' blogged in a few days. But today's big news plus a friend of mine was asking) is that Apple is probably going to be pushing new Macbooks, Macbook Pros, Macbook Air and iPods in September.

So if you were thinking about buying one wait until about mid-September, you'll get more bang for your buck. Usually Apple keeps the prices of their computers the same or actually they even get cheaper.

My buddy also asked the difference between the Macbook and Macbook Pro and here are the basic differences:

The Macbook Pro has faster processors, faster hard drives, higher resolution screens, aluminum casing (more durable), and a dedicated video card. All of these things translate into a much much faster computer. Don't get me wrong the Macbook is a very capable machine but the Macbook Pro is just that much faster.

So it just depends on what you want to do. If you plan on doing heave video/photo editing I'd suggest getting a Macbook Pro, otherwise for everyday use a Macbook will be just fine.

Got questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Tech Douche Bag Of The Month: Don Reisinger

Ok I know I'm not some sort of Messiah when it comes to Tech blogging, I'm an armature Tech blogger I don't get paid for this and I do it just as a hobby, and I certainly don't claim to know everything. But there are a lot of douche bags out there who are purported Tech blogger and they freaking suck. So I've decided to start the "Tech Douche Bag Of The Month" award. This month goes to CNets: Don Reisinger.

I don't like CNet, however I find myself constantly reading it for some unknown reason. It's like train wreck, you don't want to stare but you do it anyway for no reason.

But when I do read it, this guy Don Reisinger, is a giant tool. I don't know where he get's his ideas to write about. It's as if he has a crap idea machine and he just picks the crappiest of the crap and decides to write about it. I don't even know how to explain is douche-ness but it's pretty douche.

Like one of his latest entries, about how Apple needs to lower it's prices on computers to be more competitive with Windows Machines. Hello, Apple doesn't need to lower it's prices and they are still selling plenty of computers and their year over year grown is outstanding. That's like saying Mercedes or BMW should lower their prices so they can compete with Toyota and Honda, freaking retard. Apple is in the "luxury premium" laptop market, why would they lower their standards to half-assed HP's or Dells. Additionally while Apple is interested in Market Share of the PC industry, that is not their primarily focus, their primary focus is the user experience and making the best products they can. They aren't too concerned with squeezing out just as many laptops to the market as HP or Dell.

Not to mention that Apple probably has some pretty smart people in their marketing and sales teams that know what to charge for produces and services and this douche bag knows better than S.Jobs and the rest of the crew there? Doubtful, otherwise he'd be running Apple right?

Now don't get me wrong Apple doesn't make everything great, they make some pretty craptastic stuff too, does anyone remember the Newton, or iPod HiFi? Yeah no one does because these things blew more than a a 2 cent hooker in Bangkok on payday.

Anyway this is just a small sample of this retard you'd have to read more of his blog to get the full experience of this douchery. But take my word for it he's a tool and that's why he deserves this month's "Douche Bag of the Month" award. Don't be surprised if he wins it next month and the month after and the month after........


Got questions? email me: richmlee@gmail.com

XBox does not <3 Wireless....

So another buddy of mine emails for help with his wireless router:

To: Dick's Help Desk
I'm a long time reader, first time writer. I am having issues with a router purchased on the advice of this blogger, and am seeking answers.
So I switched over from my old DSL to road runner a few weeks ago, and that is when I got that linksys N router you suggested. Now everything has been going fine, and my computer that is plugged directly into it seems much faster. Jessica's laptop also seems faster on the wireless Internet through the router.
But for some reason, when I tried to play xbox live last week it was horrible. The xbox showed it had a strong wireless connection, but when I tried to play RB6:V2 with Ryan it was so awful and choppy we could't even play. The only thing that has changed since he and I used to play just fine is my new Internet service and new router. He and I also tested it with Halo 3 and had the same issue.
I was thinking about stopping by Fry's to pick up another one and test it, but wanted to first see if you had any advice.
Thanks Dick's Help Desk, and I eagerly await your answer.
From: Lonely Gamer in San Diego
Sent from my iPhone

So I suggested several fixes:

1. Reboot all devices and the magical unplug and replug the power to your router.


2. Update the firmware on your router.


3. Use WEP instead of WPA2 and choose a simple WEP key


4. Restore your Xbox network settings back default and re-configure the wireless


5. Move your Xbox somewhere away from speakers, metal, or cordless phones. These things will cock block your wireless signal and throughput.


6. If all else fails, then you should consider getting a different router, but one of these should work.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Beto needs help

So a buddy of mine calls and asks what kind of laptop should I get? Well he has the following cirteria:

• Wants to spend less than $1000


• Needs it for basic web, email, pictures, movies and music


• Wants it to be somewhat portable as he is going to run around quite a bit

Well ultra portables are out because they cost more than $1,000 but that would be perfect. However this is what I suggested for him:

Hey Beto:

So I did a little research for ya and here are my recommendations:

Although I'm not the hugest fan of Dell laptops except their XPS line but that is a little more expensive that what you're willing to pay. They have a new "Studio" line that is in between their shitty Inspiron Line and their top of the line XPS.

They have two Studio configurations that would work well for you:

The Studio 15 "Good" configuration is $749 and this has the specs that would satisfy your requirements such as email, trading, web surfing, music, pics, videos and it's somewhat portable. It has the good Intel Core 2 duo processor at 2.00 ghz, this processor has two processing cores or it's really like having two processors. It has a large 160 gig HD, CD/DVD burner, WiFi, and 2 gigs of memory. This laptop used the integrated Intel graphics chip set which is ok but not as good as a dedicated video card.

The Studio 15 "Better" configuration is $899, this has all the same things as the "Good" configuration however it's got more memory 3 gigs, a bigger hard drive 320 gig HD, and a dedicated video card, 256 MB ATI card. It's only an extra $150 dollars but you get so much more, I think it's def worth the extra money.

Both Studio Laptops are about 6 pounds W 14'', H 1'' front and 1.3'' in the back, D 10.3''

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop_studio_15?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn

Your other option is to get a refurbished Macbook from the Apple website:

The white Macbook is $899 and has a 2.1 ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1 GB of memory, 120 GB HD, and a CD burner and Reader. The down side of the Mac is that it's new you'll have to get used to how to use it but trust me it's really easy, you don't get a DVD burner, and it has an integrated video card. But the build quality of the Macs are the best. Macs use very high quality parts and are typically very reliable. This laptop is also a bit more portable because it's only 1'' think all the way around, has a 13.3 in screen and only weighs 5 pounds. The other advantage is that Macs have no viruses, pop ups, spy ware etc. Plus you get the awesome Mac software included at no extra cost for your music, videos and pictures. I use my Mac to make all those movies of when we used to go out a couple summers ago. And lastly the Mac OSX operating system is waaaayyyy better than windows. don't worry about it being refurbished, it comes with the same warranty as new laptops and statistically speaking new laptops have a repair rate the same as new ones, so they're not any worse than a new one, they just can't be sold as new.

Here's the link:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB402LL/A

If it were up to me I'd get the Mac, they're just that much better than lame ass windows. But if you're more comfortable with Windows I'd recommend the Studio 15 "Better" configuration. That should be a great laptop for you.

Email me back if you have questions.



Richard

BMWs get em' while they're "cheap"

I know that my blog is a Tech blog, so why am I blogging about BMWs? Well technically BMW's are a giant piece of tech. Now a days no car would be able to function with out massive amounts of tech such as computers that control temp, safety, navigation etc.

But I'm not going to really talk about that what I wanted to bring to my 5 readers attention is that BMW is going to increase their prices on their cars. Not that they're not expensive enough already but their margins are getting squeezed and they need to make up for this so they're gonna pass it right along to the consumers.

So if you're thinking about getting a BMW now is a great time because they are offering 0.9% APR on almost ALL BMWs (including the M5 and M6 sorry no M3). This is ridiculous because BMW has never offered this low of financing on new cars.

This also is important to know because now this actually makes buying cheaper than leasing. That's right, I said it. However it's not just the low buy rate, it's also residual values shrinking and leasing money factors going up. It's getting more expensive for BMW to lease cars to you and I.

Well anyway if you're interested in getting a new BMW I'd take advantage of the 0.9% (good thru 9/2/08) financing right now. Here's the link:

http://www.bmwusa.com/Standard/Content/FinancialServices/FinancingOffer/Default.aspx

"0.9% APR2008 335i Convertible Offer: 0.9% APR Financing now through 9/2/2008
Qualified customers only. Available at participating BMW centers through BMW Financial Services NA, LLC. Applies only to specific models and only for specific model years. 0.9% APR available through 9/2/2008. Subject to credit approval. See participating BMW center for details and vehicle availability. * Be sure to ask your BMW center about adding an automatic transmission at no cost."

Got questions? Like should I lease or buy? I've built a pretty nice lease vs. buy calculator and I've got a lot of experience with leases and buys. So email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Nintendo DS - "Backup" your Games

If you have a Nintendo DS, you might want to invest in one of these babies. It’s called an RS4, basically it allows you to copy DS games onto a Micro SD card and store your entire library of games on one card instead of carrying around like 20 games.

And you might be able to think of other ways to utilize its capabilities. Here is a video of the goodness in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxInC6zQJx4

But you better hurry if you want one because Nintendo just filed a lawsuit against several of the manufactures of this device so get em’ while they’re hot! Here's the link to buy one:

http://www.supercardnds.com/detail.asp?subcatid=0&private=&catid=10544&PageNo=1&PageSize=1

Got questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

iPhone Nano in time for the holidays? Maybe...Maybe Not...

Ok so fresh rumor of the day: Apple plans to release an iPhone Nano just in time for the holidays. Well take this with a grain of salt, they've been saying this sine the first iPhone and nothing has ever happened.

But it's supposedly going to be smaller of course, have similar functionality come in 4 and 8 gig sizes and may just be a phone with WiFi, no EDGE or 3G so that will keep your wireless plan costs down a lot. No word on pricing but it's said to be "cheaper" than the iPhone, you can interpret that anyway you'd like but right now no one has a clue.

That's about it, nothing solid and I wouldn't hold my breath. But it would be a nice option and if this were true there should be some kind of announcement in the September time frame with the rumored new Macbook/Macbook Pros.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Your printer is a spy against you!

This is actually kinda old news but only very few people actually know about this. But you being of the 5 people who actually reads my blog will now know the secret.

So did you know that just about every printer, particularly laser printers, print a special code or finger print not visible to the naked eye, on each piece of paper it prints. That fingerprint is detected by closely analyzing the bands a printer leaves behind. It's a combination of using image-analysis tools and pattern recognition. The printer's "signature" is then digitally loaded into a database. This database could be used by forensic examiners, law-enforcement agencies, and government officials to spot forged documents.

So basically everything you print could potentially be linked back to you, so next time you want to print your manifesto about world domination or how you're gonna commit some kind of crime just be weary of printing your master plan ; )

Got questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

More iTunes Awesomeness

So we all love music and most of us have iPods and we use iTunes. We also all burn music in iTunes to take on the go in the car or stereo or to bring to a friends house. But who wants a CD with no titles of songs and what tracks are on it. It's like a miscellaneous grab bag and you never know what is going to be on there.

As a veteran of burning CDs I know that my friends like to see the song titel and artist. So guess what iTunes, does this for you automatically! It's so easy a new PwC associate can do it. So this is how you do it. Select the play list you want to print the track listing for, then Go to File/Print. From here you can print a CD jewel case insert, Song listing or Album listing. But the cool part is to use the "Theme" drop down to pick more options. My personal favorite is the "Mosaic" theme, it uses the album art in your library to print a Mosaic for the CD cover and on the inside it does a list of song and artist. Of course this is dependte on your iTunes library being ORGANIZED, with the correct album art and song name and artist. If you're having trouble with this see my other post called "I hate iTunes...that's because you're an idiot" This will help you get your music organized.

It's really slick and you can impress your friends and tell them you spent a lot of time designing that cover just for them.

Give it a try next time you make a Audio CD or an MP3 CD.

Questions? Email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Mac Printer Sharing

So a friend of mine emails me and askes me how to share printers within Mac well here is the solution I was able to find:

On the OSX Machine go to System Preferences then Sharing. Simply click on Printer Sharing and exit out of the screen.

In Windows go to Start -> Control Panel (or All Programs, then Control Panel.) Click on Printers and Faxes, then “Add a Printer”. Choose Next then “A Network Printer,” next again and make sure Browse for a Printer is checked.

A list of computers with shared resources will come up.

Double Click on the one that is your OSX box and hit next yet again. The OS X name may be something like MAC00123456, this is the EtherNet card’s unique Mac address.

A list of available printers should come up, highlight the one you want to install and hit next again.

The next step is a bit complicated, when you see a message saying that the printer drive will install automatically and it could be a security risk, go ahead and say Yes to the message. The next message may says “The server for the printer does not have the correct printer driver installed.” Click Ok, as this is why the printer driver was already installed. If the printer driver isn’t on the list, then browse to the printer driver that you installed earlier.

Hit OK, perhaps do a test page just to be safe, and enjoy printing!

Got other questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

New Macbook & Macbook Pros?

Ok so the rumor is that Apple is working on the new Macbook and Macbook Pros. They are suppoed to be thinner and have more of a Macbook Air look.

Also a key thing to note is that Apple is looking to change the chipset that is used on the main board. Not the processor, Apple will still use Intel Processors, but they are looking at the other components, such as the integrated graphics chip set. The current integrated Intel graphics has been average at best and Apple is looking for more performance in the Macbook.

Also the big news is that the new Macbook and Macbook Pro will have a glass touch screen for multi touch goodness, like the iPhone and iPod Touch. Best of all thees are supped to be due out in September just in time for back to school and holiday season.

So if you were thinking about getting a new computer hold off until about September.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Tivo and Direct TV Satelite Box Love

A friend of mine texts me today and asks how do I set up my Direct TV box with my single tuner series 2 Tivo. Well the easiest way to do this is just to get a Direct Tivo box just two cables and you're done. But if you don't want to do this because you have an existing Tivo box I've got an answer for you too.

Well good news is that this is possible bad news is that it's going to require a few more additional steps in order to accomplish this. Here is a step by step guide.

- First turn off/unplug both devices and place the satellite box on top of the Tivo

- Connect the Coax cable from the wall to your Direct TV box

- From the Direct TV box grab your RCA cables (the white, red & yellow cable) and connect one end from the Direct TV "out" to the Tivo RCA "in" with the corresponding colors

- From here you have a choice, you can connect another Coax cable from the Tivo to the TV's Coax in, or you can connect the Tivo RCA "out" to to your TV's RCA "in" the only difference is if you're using Coax you'll have to tune your TV to channel 3 or 4, with RCA you'll have to click the video input on your TV to get the correct input.

- Next you'll have to figure out if your Direct TV box has a "serial" port in the back, this port looks like a computer monitor port. If it does try connecting the serial port cable that came with your Tivo from the DTV box to to your Tivo box. The serial cable looks like a computer monitor cable on one end and a headphone jack on the other. You have to do this so that the Tivo can control your satellite box, otherwise Tivo won't be able to switch channels.

-If your DTV box doesn't have a serial port or if the serial port doesn't work you'll have to use the "IR Blasters", the IR blasters look like a cable with two plastic hooks with tiny light bulbs on the end of each hook. You plug the end that looks like a headphone jack into the back of the Tivo and place the hooks on the top and bottom of the satellite box making sure that the hooks are pointing at the IR sensor of the DTV box. This will enable the Tivo box to send a channel command to the DTV box to change the channels for recordings.

- For the official Tivo guide and pictures to help you set up see this link:

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/setupmytivo/How_Do_I_Set_Up_My_Single_Tuner_DVR_with_Satellite_and_Antenna_or_Basic_Cable_.html

- Now turn on both devices

- On the Tivo main menu go to: Channel Changing screen on your DVR. From TiVo Central, select Messages & Settings; then Settings; then Channels; then Channel Changing.

- Follow the guided set up depending on weather or not you're using serial cables or IR blasters.

- For the Tivo guide on how to set up channel changing go here:

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/howto/How_Do_I_Change_Channels_Using_IR_Control_.html

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Slow day in the Tech snooz....I mean news

No I haven't been ignoring the Blog for all 5 of you readers out there. It's just that nothing exciting has popped up that any non-super tech dork would care about.

Like there are new price drops on Intel chips

Rumors about new Macbooks and Macbook Pros and maybe a Macbook touch.

Oh, SSD drives are getting cheaper and should become more mainstream later this year

ummmmmm, that's about the most exciting news I've encountered. Nothings all that intriguing or will help you with anything.

So stay tuned, I'm sure something will pop up soon.

In the mean time got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

You have an iQuestion...

So a buddy of mine texts me over the weekend asking me what the deal is if you have an existing iPhone. Well here's the scoop:

-If you have an existing iPhone you can upgrade to the new one from $199/$299 guaranteed

-If you do upgrade you can use your old iPhone as an iPod touch

-You can sell your original iPhone or give it to a friend to use and they can sign up for service under the "old" iPhone service plans which are cheaper ***IMPORTANT, make sure if you are selling/giving your iPhone away, you at least restore it first to get rid of your personal information, if you've upgraded your iPhone to ver 2.0 there is a specific button that will perform this erase for you it'll take about 30 min.

-If you "Jailbreak" your original iPhone, it will actually sell for hundreds more than a locked original iPhone

-You can actually swap sim cards and use both phones if you want in case you want to have one for work and one for personal

- You can sync two iPhones on the same computer and as long as you configure iTunes to pull the same data to both phones I'll do so, also remember both iPhones must be synced on the same computer

What's "jail breaking"? Erasing personal data? Have questions like that email me: richmlee@gmail.com

iPhone 3G - Week One

Ok so I've officially had the iPhone 3G for one week now. So I'm going to give my report card on this thing.

Positives:

-The 3G network is awesome, the speeds are really fast when you do have 3G and is well worth the extra $10 for the data.

-GPS and location features are awesome, finding points of interest near you with out having to input a point of reference is awesome.

-App store is amazing I've found so many sweet applications out there and it'll just continue to grow. Although you don't need the iPhone 3G to get the app store you just need software update version 2.0 and your first gen iPhone can have the same app store sweetness!

-Despite the new plastic back, it still has a very solid fee and still very scratch resistant. I've been case free for a week and no nasty scratches.

-Still same old iPhone that I loved before with a few new extras

The Bad:

-The new back up process is extremely long like 10 min to back up your phone to iTunes, before ver 2.0 it took seconds now it takes forever....hopefully the new 2.0.1 firmware version will fix this.

-Battery life is not as good as the original, it's decent but if you're pounding away using 3G, the GPS, bluetooth, iPod etc, it will drain the batter really fast. But you'll still get about on day's use out of it and you'll have to charge it when you get home. I'd recommend getting a car charger.

-I find that the new iPhone isn't as responsive as the old one, sometimes there is a half a second lag when you're sliding/tapping things. This is probably mainly due to the new software so again I hope the 2.0.1 update will fix this.

-Typing lag! On my old iPhone I used to be able to type with a quickness, but the new iPhone sometimes has a lag! This is lame, again this is probably a software issue that can be fixed.

-Also semi-lame is the fact that the auto switching of the EDGE/3G to your home WiFi isn't as quick anymore. Sometimes I have to wait a couple min before it'll switch to my WiFi network at home.

So there you have it a full weeks worth of use and despite the few things I've mentioned above I still really like the phone, if they can fix a few of the things above, it make this phone even better.

So is the upgrade worth it? Well yes and no, if you don't care about the 3G speed and GPS then don't upgrade, you're better off just sticking with your original iPhone and upgrading to firmware 2.0 you'll get the the apps store this way and it's free.

But if you're tired of the dial up Internet on the first iPhone you'll want to get the 3G version the speed is dramatically faster and the GPS is actually very useful for location based services.

But even if you did upgrade I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Got Questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

ATT does not love iPhone yet...

So earlier, I said that all iPhone users will get free WiFi from ATT but now ATT is saying just kidding!! We didn't mean to post anything like that on our website.

So for now no free WiFi for iPhone users. Supposedly this service is coming tho, just no one knows when, Freaking ATT and their bait and switch....

iPhone ='s free ATT WiFi Hot Spot Access

Well being an iPhone owner just gets better and better. ATT has announced that all iPhone owners will have FREE access to all of their 17,000 WiFi Hot Spots! This includes, Starbucks, Airports, book stores, schools, restaurants, etc. So anywhere you find an ATT hot spot just whip out your iPhone and you'll be able to access it for free.

This is particular useful because the only way to access the iTunes store is to access it thru WiFi, ATT and Apple do not allow over the air access and downloads from iTunes. So next time you're dying to buy that Rick Astley track on the go, now you can. Or if you're in an area that doesn't have 3G and you're trying to do things with the painfully slow EDGE network, just find an ATT WiFi hot spot.

Now I'm not sure why they aren't making this feature more known to everyone it's an awesome feature. But thanks to your old buddy Dick I've found the 411 on this see the link:

http://www.wireless.att.com/learn/internet/wifi.jsp

The link above also has a WiFi hotspot finder to find the closest one near you. I'm sure someone in the future will create an app using the GPS to find your location and then pinpoint the closest ATT WiFi hot spot, man I should be an iPhone developer, except my job kinda gets in the way of that.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com

Mobile Me **Review UPDATE** Back to my Mac

On thing I forgot to mention in my review that Mobile Me offers is a feature called "Back to my Mac".

Basically this feature enables you to access your Mac at home remotely. This requires a Mobile Me subscription and two Macs with Leopard OSX installed.

It's actually really cool basically after setting up both Macs, it'll automatically show up in your "Devices" panel in the Mac finder, from there you can click on it and browse what's in there and to grab that file simply drag and drop it your desktop.

Also what you can do is "share my screen", what this does is that you'll be able to see your Mac's screen remotely and control and use all the programs from you Mac remotely. You can launch apps, send email and do everything as if you were sitting in front of your other Mac.

Very cool feature if you have two Macs both running Leopard OSX. This makes it extremely easy to set this up.

I've done this in Windows but it reacquires some pretty technical setup requirements such as going into your router and opening up the RDC port, finding your external IP address and setting up both Windows computers to allow communications with each other. Plus your home Internet does not come with a static external IP it's dynamic meaning that every month or so your ISP will change your external IP, if that happens you won't be able to RDC to your Windows machine at home.

But with Back to my Mac and Mobile me they handle all of this for you so you don't have to worry about anything.

Although it request 2 Mac running Leopard OSX and a Mobile Me subscription this can be an extremely useful feature.

Got questions email me: richmlee@gmail.com