Katie Floyd: Mac Power Users Twitter
Bart Busschots The International Mac Podcast Twitter
Chuck Joiner The MacVoices Group Twitter

The Mac Roundtable discussed the announcements from Apple’s September 1st Music Event. Including the new iPods, Apple TV, Television Rentals, iTunes 10, iOS and more.

iPod Shuffle

Pod Nano

iPod Touch

iTunes 10

Apple TV

Keynote Video

John F. Braun The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab Twitter
Victor Cajiou: Typical Mac User Typical Shutterbug Twitter
Katie Floyd: Mac Power Users Twitter
Tim Verporten The Mac Reviewcast Twitter
Chuck Joiner The MacVoices Group Twitter

Safari 5.0.1 and Extensions

About Safari Extensions on Apple’s Developers site

Safari Extension Recommendations:

• Twitter for Safari

• TinEye Reverse Image Search

• New York Times Breaking News

• ExifExt

• Rotten Tomatoes

• Shortly

• Coda Notes

• A Cleaner YouTube

• YouTube5

• NoMoreiTUnes

• BugMeNot

• AutoPagerize

Sources for the Extensions:

Apple’s Extensions Site

Tumblr

Safari Extensions.org

Bandwidth Throttling - how to do it and why you should care.

SNMP Status

Bandwidth throttling in OS X on Mac OS X Hints

Apple’s Magic Trackpad – thoughts and experiences.

Apple Magic Trackpad

The Need for Higher End Macs – The group discusses how the newest Mac Pro desktops do and don’t meet the needs of the highest-level Mac users, and why Apple’s support of this market segment are important

Picks - the crew choose some of their favorite hardware and software.

Katie – Hulu +

John – Namebench

Victor – Zoom H4n Portable Digital Recorder

Tim – Turbo.264 HD Software

Chuck – MailPlane

Don’s SSD Failure

Are there drives it’s not logical to back up?
Is it better, worse or no different that SSD’s don’t warn you when they fail?
how do you deal with friends  and their backups?  what have you used to convince them to back up? any  sure fire strategies? I’ve had a bunch of people I set up with time  machine, but since they have laptops they just don’t seem to get around  to plugging that drive in!

iPhone case refund/acquire process

very cool and super efficient!
helping people make a decision on the iPhone cases
Apple bumper case doens’t have a dock connector hole big enough for the dock connector on many cables, even those from Apple
Katie bought the Scosche Charging Adatper for iPod & iPhone fromscosche.com, fixes not-fitting dock connector and charging problem.

New Mac Pros, iMacs and MacBook Airs

What’s our wishlist for these?

iPad hits and misses after the first 90 days

Goodreader from http://www.goodiware.com/goodreader.html
Wall Street Journal App isn’t nearly as bad as it was early on!

Picks:

Allison – Altaz HD Network Multi-Media Player ($100) http://www.altazdesign.com/Altaz-HD-Network-Media-Player-AZNMP101.htm

Tim – Freeware Video Converters:
MPEG Streamclip: http://www.squared5.com/svideo/mpeg-streamclip-mac.html
FLV Crunch: http://flvcrunch.awardspace.us

Don – FlipBoard for iPad  – http://www.flipboard.com/

Bart – Fraise – port of the now defunct Smultron programming editor – http://wiki.github.com/jfmoy/Fraise/

The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab http://www.macgeekgab.com/

Monday’s Mac Gadget http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/features/mondays_mac_gadget/

Twitter: @johnfbraun

Steve Stanger

The Mac Attack http://www.themacattack.tv

Twitter: @tmasteve

Jonathan Cost

Mac Tips Daily! and Thinkmac Reviews

Thinkmac.net - www.thinkmac.net

twitter: @MacTipsDaily

Chuck Joiner

The MacVoices Group http://www.macvoicesgroup.com

Twitter: @chuckjoiner

Bart Busschots -

http://www.bartb.ie

The International Mac Podcast – http://www.impodcast.tv

Twitter: @bbusschots

MEASURING TEMPS IN YOUR MAC

smcFanControl http://www.eidac.de/

A cool CPU is a happy CPU.  I’m actually wondering if there’s any quantitative data showing the benefit of a cooler CPU versus minimal power consumed by running fans a bit faster.

CoolBook  http://www.coolbook.se/CoolBook.html

Reduce processor voltage to reduce clock speed

ThermographX (no update since 2008, doesnt’ see all temp sensors, but does graph)

http://www.kezer.net/shareware/thermographx/

TemperatureMonitor (free, current)

http://www.bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

Shows values, can store history as well.

iStat Menus (now pay), MenuMeters (free), Matias iRizer (portable stand)

http://matias.ca/irizer/index.php

Thermapak  http://www.thermapak.com/

Podium CoolPad and Traveler CoolPad  http://www.roadtools.com/index-2.html

Griffin Elevator  http://www.griffintechnology.com/products/elevator

Be careful if the little rubber “feet” fall off your laptop – replaced my lost one with a penny taped to the bottom of my MBP!

Even if you’re not experiencing a heat-wave, it’s worth monitoring your temps and fan speeds anyway. If they begin to creep up over weeks or months, your machine may be full of fluff and crap! I vacuumed out my G5 iMac because it over-heated and always had fans going, now it runs much much better.

(Side note: UPS protects computer equipment against brown outs and possible power surge during heavy peak power use times.)

CABLE MODEM ISSUES DUE TO HEAT

Many cable modems offer a status page here:

http://192.168.100.1 or  http://192.168.1.1 typically.

(nice if your cable modem isn’t locked down)

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/cmtips/signal.html

**Some important figures are**

Receive Power Level and Transmit Power Level (in dBmV)

Downstream/receive should be between -15 and +15

Upstream/transmit should be between +5 and +58 (below 50 is best)

Another important figure is SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio) may not be available, have to break out the big guns to get this value:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/robin.d.h.walker/docsdiag/

This is a Java program that will extract many values (via SNMP I assume) that web status page may not make available.

Run from command line:

docsdiag -jar docsdiag.jar (-vvv)

SNR should be 30 dB or higher, mine is 34.5 right now.

There are also error figures

SigQu: received without error        = 1737538425 codewords

SigQu: correctable errors            = 106961 codewords

SigQu: uncorrectable errors          = 9387 codewords

I was told if the last two values steadily increase, this can also indicate an issue.

iPhone 4 Antenna Thoughts:

Article on Engadget from their experiences.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/13/yes-the-iphone-4-is-broken-no-the-iphone-4-is-not-broken/

Our Picks:

John: 3M MPro 150 Pocket Projector ($395 retail)

http://www.3m.com/mpro/products150.html

Steve: http://safariextensions.tumblr.com/ – list of available Safari extensions to tide you over until Apple opens their gallery.

Bart: Apple World Travel Adaptor kit – http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB974ZM/B?fnode=MTY1NDA4NA&mco=MTA4NDYwMDk ($39)

Jonathan: Sirius XM APP: http://www.siriusxm.com/oniphone/indexd.xmc

Requires Premium streaming account, but allows you to listen on your computer and your iPhone/iPod.  Free 7 day trial.  You can add it onto your SiriusXM account for an extra $3 a month.

Chuck: Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go MiFi with pay-as-you go plan

http://www.virginmobileusa.com/phones/mobile-broadband-2200.html

Chuck’s Review: http://www.chuckjoiner.com/2010/07/14/virgin-mobile-broadband-mifi-portable-connectivity-with-no-contract/

iOS 4

Good:

• Folders are pretty cool and definitely useful
• Camera speed is INSANELY fast not! BOL folks thought it was iPhone 4 that had the faster phone, but it’s iOS4 that causes the speed, worth the upgrade just for this
• Unified inbox

Bad or So So:

• Allison – “multi-tasking” not as cool as I thought – I keep finding 20 apps waiting, stresses me out!
• Limited fucntionality on 3G – no multitasking, background apps or wallpaper (what’s up with the Wallpaper?)
• Finding it very slow on my iPhone 3G, and battery life has been poor
• 65 security updates in iOS4, but what about iPad and older devices?
• Exchange calendar color issue

iPhone 4

• David Pogue’s explanation of the different discount prices by AT&T: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/how-much-it-costs-to-upgrade-to-an-iphone-3g-s/

Good:

• Dang, that screen be beautiful
• Gyro in one game is pretty darn fun
• Speed
• Camera – w00t!
• Adam’s iMovie 4 example: http://www.youtube.com/user/themaccast
• Allison’s Taco Bell Thursday 720p video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R0Pk4Xreq8

Bad or So So:

• Battery life – unimpressive! – I’ve found battery life to be great.
• Poor reception – dropped calls and 1-2 bars in areas I use to have 4-5 bars and no problem
• No GSM buzz noise when connected to non-shielded speakers
• First iPhone to work with my car audio system w/ iPod dock (Charging not supported – but should be corrected with the PASSport) http://www.scosche.com/products/productID/1667
• Works well with original iPhone dock
• Problems with using a case – won’t fit in the dock!

iPhone Death Grip Problem

• very real. I can watch my iPhone go from 5 to 1 bar.
• Who all is having problems?
• Software vs. Hardware or both?
• Problem persists with MicroCell but seems worse in areas with flakey AT&T coverage (like all of my town.)
• 4.0.1 Coming soon (Monday)

Picks of the Week

Katie – Jiggler – http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/20791
Allison – Disk Warrior http://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/
Bart – TechTool Delux – free with Apple Care on a Mac
David – OmniFocus iPhone
Adam – SonicPics, http://www.sonicpics.com/

Chuck Joiner
The MacVoices Group http://www.macvoicesgroup.com
Twitter: @chuckjoiner

Steve Stanger
The Mac Attack http://www.themacattack.tv
Twitter: @tmasteve

Victor Cajiao
Typical Mac User podcast http://www.typicalmacuser.com
Typical Shutterbug Podcast http://www.typicalshutterbug.com
Twitter: @victorcajiao

WWDC Keynote – We discuss what we feel was left out of the keynote as much as what Steve Jobs announced during the keynote.

PICKS

John
TotalFinder http://totalfinder.binaryage.com/

Steve
AirVideo ($2.99) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-video-watch-your-videos/id306550020?mt=8
Fast PDF ($.99) http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fast-pdf/id365270223?mt=8

Victor
Camera + iPhone app. ($2.99) http://campl.us/

Chuck
Take Control of Apple Mail in Snow Leopard by Joe Kissell ($15)
http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/snow-leopard-apple-mail

Allison Sheridan
NosillaCast Mac Podcast http://podfeet.com
Twitter: @podfeet

Don McAllister
ScreenCastsOnline http://www.screencastsonline.com
All About the iPad Blog http://allabouttheipad.tumblr.com
Personal Blog http://themacscreencastguy.com
Twitter: @donmcallister

Bart Busschots
Blog http://www.bartb.ie
International Mac Podcast http://www.impodcast.tv
Twitter: @bbusschots

WWDC isn’t having the annual  design awards for OSX developers (only doing it for iPhone and iPad  Apps) so ArsTechnica is doing the Ars Design Awards.  To see the top  nominees for the categories of Best New App, Best User Experience, Most  Innovative App, Best K-12  Education App, and Best Student-created App,  and to vote on the  Reader’s Choice Award go to:
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/05/readers-choice-poll-for-2010-ars-design-awardsmac-os-x.ars

Recording Apps
Audio

• Wiretap Studio $69 http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/wiretap/
• Audio Hijack Pro http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/
• Garage Band
• Call Recorder (specific to  Skype) $20 http://www.ecamm.com/mac/callrecorder/
• Quicktime 7 and X

Video

• iRecord quick and easy  way to get video from your isight – developer site vanished though, so grab it quick! http://dl.macupdate.com/final/multimedia/23939/irecord1_1b.zip
• ScreenFlow – overpriced ($99) and annoying to use, but the least-crap I’ve found for screen Casting http://www.telestream.net/screen-flow/overview.htm
• QuickTime X – now Built in to  OS X
• iShowU $29.95 http://www.shinywhitebox.com/home/home.html
• Snapz Pro X 2 $69 http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox/
• Camtasia for Mac $99 http://www.techsmith.com/camtasiamac/
• Jing free & cross-platform from http://www.jingproject.com/

International iPad launch

• Don and Bart give us the scoop from the source.
• Point 2 View $69 and cross-platform Windows/Universal Mac: http://www.ipevo.com/IPEVO-Point-2-View-USB-Camera_ep_58-1.html

Home Theaters

With the AppleTV rumors buzzing about, we talk about our home theater setup, our  experiences with  AppleTVs, Mac Minis, Boxee, ATV Flash, and others.

Picks:

• Katie – iTiVo and PyTiVo http://code.google.com/p/itivo/ http://pytivo.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/PyTivo#Download
• Allison – PaperDesk for iPad  from http://mypaperdesk.com Lite version is free, paid  is $2. create notebooks with text and drawing, change colors and line thickness, record audio, sync with text and drawing, change colors and line thickness,  sync with mypaperdesk.com, can download pdfs, multiple pages
• Bart – MarsEdit 3 ($39.95 or $14.95 to upgrade from MarsEdit 2) http://www.red-sweater.com/marsedit/
• Don – ReelDirector for iPhone/iPad ($8) – http://www.nexvio.com/product/ReelDirector.aspx

Victor Cajiao
Typical Mac User (http://www.Typicalmacuser.Com)
Twitter: @victorcajiao

Adam Christianson
Maccast (http://www.maccast.com)
Twitter: @maccast

David Sparks
Mac Sparky (http://www.macsparky.com/)
Mac Power Users (http://macpowerusers.com/)
Twitter – @macsparky

Are Solid State Drives worth the upgrade?
Victor got an 8GB RAM upgrade and an OWC 200GB SSD drive for his Macbook Pro 13″ and worked up some upgrade benchmarks. John has also been comparing the SSD options vs. moving from 5400 RPM to 7200 RPM drives. In this episode we dive deep into the pros and cons of each solution. We test the theory that upgrading your RAM is the most cost effective way to get more performance from your Mac. Does going over 4GB still give you the same bang for your buck? Is an SSD worth the investment or can you max your Mac with other options? Listen in to find out.

Links
Victor’s post on upgrading to 8GB of RAM
Snow Leopard Performance (Mac Performance guide)
MCE OptiBay
OWC Mercury Extreme Pro RE SSD
200GB SATA 3.0G/s Solid State Drive
Crucial 8GB 204-PIN PC3-8500 SODIMM DDR3 (4GBx2)
HITACHI Travelstar 7K500 HD20500

Software/Hardware Picks
Victor: Apple iPad Camera connector kit – $29.00 (if you can find one
Adam: Audioengine W1
John: 3rd Generation Wi-Fire
David: iTeleport (Jaadu VNC)
Jump Desktop

Katie Floyd – Mac Power Users http://www.macpowerusers.com Twitter- @katiefloyd

John F. Braun – The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab http://www.macgeekgab.com/, Monday’s Mac Gadget http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/features/mondays_mac_gadget/ Twitter – @johnfbraun

Allison Sheridan – NosillaCast Podcast http://podfeet.com Twitter @podfeet

Adam Christianson – http://www.maccast.com Twitter – @maccast

Victor Cajiao www.Typicalmacuser.Com Twitter – @victorcajiao

In this episode we discussed the iPad:

How we got our iPads

preorder vs. reserve vs. show up?

how was it?

First impressions

Happy Impressions

• books
• maps
• typing is better than I thought

Negative impressions:

• heavier than I thought
• hard to plug in the connector
• can’t figure out how to sync up my podfeet.com email
• tried creating calendar event – add invitee, but NO….
• gathers dust and finger prints pretty easily
• Apple case: $39, bought it instead of a dock, weird flap, very thin, roundy standing up, maybe it will get a crease? not very Apple-like, kinda hinky.
• Fail on download of Pages. Had to download via iTunes. Didn’t tell me it failed, just stopped and didn’t show up. grrr… trying to download again told me I had to go to iTunes

Mini rant 2: I did go out and get 1PW for iPad and then found out I did not have to do that. 1PW did send out a link to clarify but I had not seen it before. I put a post up to let people know and that has a link to the iTunes store to get a refund.

iPad Apps

• Some are VERY expensive
• Ability to do hybrid Apps
• Some developers (1Password) are offering iPad upgrades for those who have alerady purchased.
• Other developers are requiring you to purchase new versions at a premium

Mini-rant about apps, a well-written app, be it on a iPhone/iPod Touch, Mac, PC or iPad, should not make assumptions about screen size. If companies are just charging extra for something they should have done to begin with, that’s a ripoff. If it takes advantage of the features of the iPad, that’s different.

Font Scaling?

• The old raster (bitmap) versus vector (paths) font issue
• iPhone apps at (2x) size suck

Charging issue

• http://www.tuaw.com/2010/04/03/consumer-reports-discovers-ipad-charging-issues/
• Seems older cables will charge when connected to AC adapter, but not computer
• Older cables will not sync
• You will get a “not charging” message

Accessories

• Bluetooth Keyboard
• Apple Case
• charger for car – USB Kensington http://store.apple.com/us/product
• AppleCare?

LCD Visibility Outdoors

• Any different than any other LCD screen?
• Mac OS X 10.5.8+ required

iPad Internals:
http://i.imgur.com/It9To.png

iPad versus Baseball Bat:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGUppxoJUVg
Best and Worst apps:

Worst – we give them 60 days to fix them

• Netflix but we applaud them for being there
• Wall street journal – expensive AND popup ads! plus it’s slow, unintuitive

Best

• Marvel (free with some free comics)
• Google Maps
• Drawing Pad
• USA Today
• ABC App (no scrubbing through the movie tho)
• Twitterific

Geotagging – be careful!

• Not all services to share photos strip out GPS data from the meta data (EXIF Data) in the photos you post (edit EXIF data with the free app Reveal)
• Many cameras now have GPS in them, including the iPhone, so many images have GPS data when they’re taken
• iPhone and iPod Touch apps should ask for permission any time they try to use your location
• Many Eye-Fi cards do this with WiFi, compatible with other schemes
• Note that location services are required for Find My iPhone/iPod Touch

The iPad

• Apple badly misses it’s target of “world-wide availability” in 60 days
• US get it a few days late
• UK & a few other large countries get it about a month late
• No release date at all for other countries like Ireland

What version of the iPad are people getting?

• Verizon using the opportunity to sell 3G data plans
• Broadband Access Day Pass -$15 a day
• Confirm availability before purchasing
• High cost per use, but may work for occasional users
• Benefit of having another wireless carrier besides AT&T
• No iPad Tethering

App Store

• Through some very clever trickery the EFF have legally, publically, released the iPhone dev agreement
• Selective rejection and removal of apps
• Why is Apple handling this so badly?

Picks:
Bart – 3D Sun – NASA iPhone
Katie – TextExpander 3
John – New 4GB RAM chip (OWC) and new Hitachi 500GB HD with case (OWC)
Tim – Fujitsu S1300 Scanner
Steve – HDRtist

Thank you to Chuck for the great coverage at Mac World of the Mac Roundtable. See it at the Mac Roundtable Episode #78 or at Mac Voices #1013

Surge Protectors and UPS

• Stay away from the $5 – $10 dollar power strips. They only offer basic protection.
• You can get better protection for $15 to $25 (or more).  These strip will have better ratings and some special features, jacks for your phone line, cable line, even Ethernet.

iPhone chargers
A plethora of options have sprung up – perhaps there’s a big problem to be solved here? If you’re at a show or an all day event, you can’t actually USE your iPhone all day without one of these devices.  Tweeting is probably the root cause…or searching for wifi…or searching for 3G if you’re in San Francisco!

• FastMac iV and iV plus fastmac.com
• Mophie Juice Pack mophie.com
• Ecosol Powerstick from powerstick.com
• XPAL Power XP2000 xpalpower.com
• RichardSolo 1800 richardsolo.com
• NuPower Charge and Sync+  newertech.com
• GearPower (gearjuice)- Mobile Pocket Power Portable Battery for Mobile Devices iogear.com

Wireless
Wi-Fire hfield.com extends wireless range if you have a localized outage and need to “borrow” someone else’s wifi.  Up to 1000 feet range.

Drop in Apple quality on software

• John’s issues with iWeb
• Not Apple, but Flash Plugin in Safari (Unexpectedly Quit…I now expect it regularly)
• Aperture 3 abomination
• Allison’s issues with iTunes (spinning pizza wheel on starting videos, stuttering on videos, doesn’t remember external monitor is gone)
• Look at all the errors and calls to debugger in the Console, I’m surprised the system doesn’t crash immediately

Picks:

• Bart – iPhone Game Optia at iTunes – puzzle game where you have mirrors and other optical devices to try get a laser to blow up targets. LOADS of levels and builds up very slowly so you pick up a lot skill without noticing.
• John – Google Analytics Automator Action – echoone.com
• Steve – Dropbox dropbox.com
• Katie – Cnet Tech Tracker   cnet.com/techtracker/
• Allison – Logitech Portable Lapdesk N315 with a mousepad pullout tray target.com (don’t pay over $30 for it!)

Chuck Joiner – The MacVoices Group
Don McAllister – ScreenCastsOnline
Ken Ray – Mac OS Ken
Victor Cajiao – Typical Mac User Podcast, Typical Shutterbug Podcast
John F. Braun – Mac Geek Gab Podcast
Katie Floyd – Mac Power Users
Allison Sheridan – NosillaCast
Tim Verpoorten – The Mac ReviewCast
Adam Christianson – MacCast
David Sparks – Mac Power Users, MacSparky
Dave Hamilton – Mac Geek Gab Podcast

Katie Floyd – Mac Power Users
Adam Christianson – MacCast
Jonathan Cost – Mac Tips Daily
John F. Braun – Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab
Chuck Joiner – The MacVoices Group
David Sparks: MacSparky / Mac Power Users
Tim Verporten – The Mac Reviewcast
Steve Stanger – The Mac Attack

The Mac Roundtable crew gather to discuss Apple’s announcement of the iPad (’nuff said).

Apple’s iPad

Allison Sheridan – NosillaCast at podfeet.com @podfeet
Katie Floyd – Mac Power Users at macpowerusers.com @katiefloyd
Bart Busschots – bartb.ie @bbusschots

Tech gadgets we must pack for vacation:

• Chargers – phone, camera, video camera, iPod
• Battery pack for iPhone
  • Al favors the FastMac iV fastmac.com/iv.php saved my iPhone from distruction when I tripped on lava in Hawaii
  • Katie likes the Richard Solo richardsolo.com
• HyperMac (or similar) chargers? hypershop.com
• Cables – Ethernet (Bart also carries ethernet crossover cable), iPod/iPhone, USB, Firewire
• Spare Flash Drive
• Movie Drive (small USB drive with Drive-In encoded movies (telestream.net/drive-in) sadly shut down by the DVD Copy Control Association
• Noise canceling headphones for the plane
• Surge protector for dodgy power (in Mexico) catalog.belkin.com
• Plug converters for European travel (and American travel for Bart)
• How much memory do you carry?  SD cards in camera vs. video camera?

Related: What is your current travel bag and why do you like it?

• Bart- Crumpler Base Toucher (L) laptopstuff.co.uk to hold my laptop and related stuff (hard to get a good bag for a 17″ MBP), or my LowePro Orion Trecker II camera bag amazon.com/Lowepro-Orion-Trekker-Camera-Backpack
• Al- LowePro Micro Trekker 100 products.lowepro.com + Tamrac Adventure 9 tamrac.com
• Katie – Expandable Trek BP Titanium MacBook Backpack brenthaven.com

What tools or skills do we want to learn/improve next year?

• Bart – I want to learn more about iMovie
• Katie – Blogging (Wordpress, Mars Edit, etc.) WordPress theme Allison recommended to Katie is Atahualpa from wordpress.org/extend/themes/atahualpa (named after the last Incan sovereign emperor)
• Al – more about screencasting and video in general – still baffled by encoding options.

Tech Related gifts bought or received:

• Al – LowePro MicroTrekker 100 & Logitech MX Revolution amazon.com/Logitech-Revolution-Cordless-Laser-Mouse due to peer pressure from the Mac Roundtable – now how do I talk to it without the Logitech drivers?
• Bart – iPhoto Calendar – it’s the most tech-related thing I’ve given this year. I decided on the topic at the very start of the year – “Butterflies of Ireland” – and spent the whole year diligently gathering the shots to assemble into the calendar. Even put in all the Latin names!
• Katie – iHome iP9 Clock Radio for iPhone store.apple.com

Katie Floyd – Mac Power Users Twitter
Bart Busschots – Bart Busschots Blog The International Mac Podcast The Nosilla Cast Twitter
Chuck Jointer – The MacVoices Group Twitter

The panel first provide their thoughts on Mac advocacy, bias, objectivity, activism, and why you should attend Macworld 2010. AT&T’s performance as a cell and data carrier is examined and debated, and some of the best products of 2009 are picked.

Where to Find MRT at Macworld 2010: Main Stage

Mac Roundtable – Saturday, Feb 13, 2010 10:30 a.m.
Mac Geek Gab – Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010 12:30 p.m.
Mac Power Users – Saturday, Feb. 13, 2010 2:45 p.m.
Possibly other events to be announced.

AT&T Has Spent Less on Network Construction Every Quarter Since the iPhone’s Launch

Hands on: Virgin Mobile Broadband2Go

Picks Best of 2009:

Bart- Choosy Combined with Fluid

Katie – Dropbox

Chuck – iPhone 3GS

Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast podfeet.com @podfeet
Katie Floyd of the Mac Power Users macpowerusers.com @katiefloyd
Don McAllister of Screencasts Online at screencastsonline.com @donmcallister
Adam Christianson of the MacCast at maccast.com @maccast
Jonathan Cost of Mac Tips Daily at thinkmac.net @mactipsdaily

Deals Deals Deals
* Amazon Prime amazon.com/prime
Deal Websites:
* DealBrothers dealbrothers.com
* DealMac dealmac.com
Coupon Sites
* Dealcoupon dealcoupon.com
* Retailmenot.com retailmenot.com
* MacZot, maczot.com
* MacUpdate Promo, mupromo.com
Bundles:
* MacHeist macheist.com
* TheMacBundles themacbundles.com
Other:
* Camel,Camel, Camel – FireFox plugin for Amazon.com (Firefox add-on – Price watcher – camelcamelcamel.com
* Woot, http://www.woot.com
* Apple Refurb Store
* Third Party Online Authorized Resellers MacMall
* Bing Cashback – bing.com

Turn by Turn GPS for the iPhone
Price when compared to stand alone systems? – Worth It?
Pay as you go subscription (AT&T Navigator $9.95) or buy an app with Maps. if you lose your connection you have no maps!
No background Apps on iPhone causes problems? Disconnect when calls?
iGoMyWay “http://www.igomyway.com/en/ $80 North American Version, $90 Europe, $70 Western Europe, not Jonathan’s favorite
Tom Tom $100 US iphone.tomtom.com
Navigon – steered Jonathan wrong! navigon.com
Why not just buy a standalone unit like a Garmin?
Or why not the built in Google Maps on the iPhone? (except for not being able to be hands free)
Sygic is Jonathan’s favorite on features (but not fond of the interface) sygic.com
Ped3 – thoughtout.biz
Griffin Window Seat – griffintechnology.com

AppleTV Love it or Hate it?
Allison hates hers…
Is it because she’s hacked it with ATVFlash? atvflash.com
You just need to use it like Steve tells you, Katie and Adam love theirs
Boxee boxee.tv
Plex – plexapp.com

Picks
Allison – Brando Mini-mic for the iPhone and iPod Touch – $14 – brando.com
Don – Ecamm Skype Call Recorder Ecamm.com – $19.95
Jonathan – Epson Picturemate Charm $149 epson.com
Katie – Airport Express – apple.com/airportexpress
Adam – TVClean, tvclean.co.uk or US sister site

John F. Braun: Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab / Twitter
Chuck Joiner: The MacVoices Group / Twitter
David Sparks: MacSparky / Mac Power Users / Twitter
Steve Stanger: The Mac Attack / Twitter

Our ‘Mac Tales of Woe’ on this episode of MRT. We discuss our (near) Mac disasters and how to prevent or repair our Macs when trouble finds them. We also talk about Applecare and insurance for your Mac and a new MacBook upgrade that all the cool kids are trying. We then wrap up the show with our picks.

iFixit
MacBook Scuba – What to do when you MacBook gets wet

OptiBay info:
MCE OptiBay
MacVoices #9104: Arnie Ramirez of MCE Technologies Expands Your Mac Laptop with Their OptiBay
ScreenCasts Online SCO0224 – Solid State Drives & OptiBay [Members Show]

Picks:
Chuck – ScotteVest
David – Secrets
John – eGo Ruby Red Portable Hard Drive
Steve – Dungeon Hunter (itunes link)

John F. Braun: Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab Twitter
Victor Cajiao: Typical Mac User Typical Shutterbug Twitter
Dave Hamilton: Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab Twitter
Chuck Joiner: The MacVoices Group Twitter
Don McAllister: ScreenCastsOnline Twitter
Allison Sheridan: NosillaCast Twitter
David Sparks: MacSparky Mac Power Users Twitter

Live from BlogWorld 2009, The Mac Roundtable crew deliver an impromptu discussion of the week’s events in Las Vegas, their thoughts on social media, and their take-aways from the show.

This edition is available in both audio and video editions.

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Victor Cajiao: Typical Mac User Typical Shutterbug Twitter
Chuck Joiner: The MacVoices Group Twitter
David Sparks: MacSparky Mac Power Users Twitter
Steve Stanger: The Mac Attack Twitter

The panel discuss the possibility of “more affordable” Mac laptops, examine the sudden explosion of rumored (and real) tablet computers, debate the possibility of an Apple-controlled Mac App Store and the reality of an independent Mac App Store that already exists, and consider the new LightPeak technology that is under development. The Mac Roundtable will be well-represented at BlogWorld in Las Vegas, and outline some of their plans for the event, then wrap up with their always-popular picks.

Courier: First Details of Microsoft’s Secret Tablet on Gizmodo

Bodega

MacVoices #989: Phil Letourneau of Bodega Talks About Their Mac App Store and Why You Need to Know About It

Axiotron ModBook

Apple’s Knowledge Navigator video

CrunchPad: The Launch Prototype

Sources: ‘Light Peak’ technology not Apple idea on CNET

BlogWorld

How we upload files from our Drop Box Folder to Posterous with Automator by Victor Cajiou

I am totally building a fracking Cylon Jack-O-Lantern on David Sparks’ Twitter feed

Picks:

David – BusyCal by BusyMac

Victor: DropBox for the iPhone

Steve: GoodReader for iPhone and iPod touch

Chuck: The productions of the members of The Mac Roundtable:

In this episode we talk about how happy we were to see Steve Jobs back, our impressions of the sales numbers, and then we dig into the new features iTunes 9 and the new, or not so new features of the iPods.  Then we talk through the improvements of iPhone 3.1 and we close up with our picks:

Allison:  Fiwi for $0.99 from wordpower-software.com
John : XPAL Power XP2000 xpalpower.com
Katie: Cocktail 4.5 – now for Snow Leopard maintain.se/cocktail
Bart: iHandy Level Free – itunes.apple.com

Allison Sheridan NosillaCast Podcast (Twitter)
Katie Floyd Mac Power Users & The MacCore (Twitter)
David Sparks MacSparky, Mac Power Users, (Twitter)
Victor Cajiao Typical Mac User, Typical Shutterbug (Twitter)

In this episode we worked through the processes we used to migrate to Snow Leopard, pitfalls to watch out for, things to do to make sure you DON’T hit pitfalls. Then we walked through our impressions and enjoyment of Snow Leopard, and the very few problems we’ve found. We did touch on what 64 bit means to normal users.

In our discussion of how cool Services is (are?) we referenced the following resources to learn how to automate processes with Services

Pixelcorps & Mac Automation

Picks of the week:
Allison Twitter search utility Incoming!
Katie: zBoost YX500 cell extender for your house
Victor: Bamboo Fun but more the benefits in software that come with it. Wacom Privileges web site found at wacom.com
David: AppleScript book Applescript 123, Sal Sohoigan

John F. Braun The Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab (Twitter)
Bart Busschots Bart’s Blog (Twitter)
Tim Verporten The Mac Reviewcast (Twitter)
Chuck Joiner The MacVoices Group (Twitter)

The episode starts with a revisiting of trackballs and why they are a good thing, morphs into a discussion of who uses automation as part of their productivity environments and why (or why not), where to go to get scripts, and why you need to be alert when you do. An unexpected turn into Unix and the Terminal occurs before the stage is cleared for the big topic: Snow Leopard. The panel discusses their upgrade strategies, concerns and developer responsiveness and responsibility for having their software compatible with Apple’s new big cat. The show wraps up with the ever-popular product picks, and a little squabbling over who gets to choose one particular application.

Kensington Expert Mouse

Kensington Orbit Optical Trackball

Logitech Trackman Marble

Steermouse

SuperDuper by Shirt Pocket Software

Twin by App4Mac

The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide To AppleScript

Doug’s Scripts

Hazel by noodlesoft

DOSBox

Multi-Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME)

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Compatibility List (if it is back up)

Menu Meters by Raging Menace Software

Information about Photoshop CS3 on Snow Leopard on John Nack on Adobe

Picks:

Bart:
Fluid
Choosy by George Brocklehurst

Tim:
TextExpander touch by SmileOnMyMac

John:
Darwin Streaming Server

Chuck
Blue Microphones Eyeball USB Webcam Microphone

Mikey by Blue Microphones

Icicle by Blue Microphones

Blue Snowball by Blue Microphones

Displays
Is it worth Buying an Apple Display?

• Allison is still using a 17″ Apple Studio flat panel and a 22″ Apple Cinema Display (8-9 yrs) and now a 24″ Cinema
• Katie has an old Cinema Display (gray and white) that just won’t die. It’s nearly 10 years old. Thought it was the best monitor ever – till I saw the new LED screen on my MacBook Pro.
• John uses Samsung
• Don uses Dell Monitors (some are rebranded Samsung)

Why doesn’t Apple take ergonomics seriously on the ACD
Handling multiple monitors
AppleCare for Display – http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB590LL/A ($99)

Screensharing-ish Things
Microsoft RDC
Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac 2

• http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/remote-desktop/default.mspx

• http://sourceforge.net/projects/cotvnc/

Team Viewer from http://www.teamviewer.com/index.aspx
iChat Screen Sharing
Can do remote with MobileMe “Back to My Mac”
Cisco Webex

• http://www.webex.com//>

HP vs. Canon vs. Epson
All-in-ones? Laser Printers?
Katie uses Canon – MP530 – Printer, scanner, fax – gripe – scanner doesn’t work via Airport
Don uses Canon – MP600 – Scanner is sooooo slooooow
Allison – HP all the way – HP4480
John – HP Deskjet 990Cse & GCC Elite 12/1200 Laser!

Input Devices
Kensington Expert Mouse http://us.kensington.com/html/2200.html
Kensington Orbit® Optical Trackball  http://us.kensington.com/html/4771.html
Katie likes the Logitec Mice – Have an MX Laser (older model) now looking at Revolution – http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/130&cl=US,EN Works great without any drivers.
Don uses MX Revolution and Nano VX Revolution
Al likes MacAlly and even a crappy little HP mouse!

Picks
Allison – The BT-1 Bluetooth camera from http://www.bt-1.com/ $149
John – Snapz Pro and Hector Cam http://www.ambrosiasw.com/cam/
Katie – MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 http://www.macspeech.com/
Don – Matrox CompressHD – http://www.matrox.com/video/en/products/compresshd/

Closing:
Please make comments on iTunes – in the US store the 2nd to most recent comment says “no longer available for free.  This is a great podcast but the guy that does it no longer offers it for free.” Even if you don’t put a FAVORABLE review up there (of course that would be our preference) we’d sure like factual reviews to come up under most recent!

This weeks topics:
The latest iTunes update breaks Palm Pre syncing. Did this really surprise anyone? This conversation then leads to an iPhone “love-in”. Next we talk about the rumors of a new touchscreen device from apple. Tim then raises the question “Are we seeing the death of the Apple desktop?” David recently upgraded his MacBook with a SSD hard drive and he shares his interesting findings with us. We also discuss our experiences so far with the 3.0 iphone / iPod touch upgrade.

Our Picks this week were:
Chuck – Pandora One
David – Prowl (itunes link)
Jonathan – Funbooth
Steve – Topaz Adjust (Steve during the show called it Aztec Adjust)

First up we talked about our now first hand experiences with the iPhone 3.0 software, then we talked about our first hand experiences with the iPhone 3G S.

Allison did a nice little rant about how she bought 2 MacBooks right before WWDC because none of the rumors talked about the MacBooks. Don talked about his 15″ MacBook Pro may be a gem now with the removable battery and the ExpressCard slot.

Bart asked us what 4 things do we keep in our iPhone Doc, and then Don gave us the low down on what you can expect if you ever join one of the MacMania cruises.

Our Software Picks were:
Bart – Mapterture Pro – Geotagging plugin for Aperture from UberMind – http://www.ubermind.com/products/maperturepro.php $39.95

Don’s – TeamViewer http://www.TeamViewer.com

Allison’s Dial Zero on iPhone from http://nextmobileweb.com/