This week’s episode of the Mac Roundtable is hosted by:

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

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This edition of The Mac Roundtable features:

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

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This week’s Mac Roundtable is hosted by:

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

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This edition of The MacRoundtable included:

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)

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This edition of The MacRoundtable included:

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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The panel for this episode included:

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:

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Mac Roundtable #70 is hosted by:
? Katie Floyd of Mac Power Users at macpowerusers.com twitter.com/maccore, themaccore.com
? John F Braun of Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab macgeekgab.com and Monday’s Mac Gadget macobserver.com
? Bart Busschots impodcast.tv & bartb.ie (twitter.com/bbusschots
? Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast Podcast at podfeet.com, twitter.com/podfeet

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

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This show’s panel members include:

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

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This show’s panel members include:

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

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Hosts:
Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast Podcast hosted at http://podfeet.com, Twitter @podfeet
Katie Floyd of  Mac Power Users http://macpowerusers.com Twitter: @maccore
Don McAllister of ScreenCastsOnline – http://www.screencastsonline.com Twitter @donmcallister
John F Braun of the Mac Observer’s Mac Geek Gab Podcast at http://www.macgeekgab.com, Twitter @johnfbraun

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!

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