• My netbook runs Skype and has a built in webcam and mic. – This was mainly due to my desire to have portable video-conferencing. Thanks to the iPhone 4′s inclusion of a front-facing camera and FaceTime, I now have that. Skype will likely release a version of their software that supports that feature of the iPhone 4 as well in time. Undoubtedly the next iteration of the iPad will have this.
• My netbook’s bluetooth and/or USB connection allows me to tether to my phone. – Still a sore point. C’mon Apple. Really?!?!? Recently, my iPhone 4 has a mic problem and I needed mine replaced. I took my Hackintosh to work with me. I went out over lunch, picked up the replacement, but did not wish to wait until I got home to activate my iPhone. Thanks to the Hackintosh, I tethered to my BlackBerry over Bluetooth and was able to activate it at work.
• My netbook can run Silverlight and Flash (maybe not great, but it works well enough). – This stuck in my craw because I wanted Netflix and/or Hulu … both of which now have iPad apps. Netflix became available on launch day, after my rant
• My netbook has an SD slot and USB. – A legitimate gripe but not unexpected as no iPhone or iPod has one either.
• My netbook has a 160 GB hard drive. - Still a good point though not as necessary as I once believed as I never normally even fill up my iPhone or iPod.
• My netbook can multitask and run apps simultaneously. – iOS 4 will fill that need well enough.
• My netbook only cost $435 and can do all of that. – an iPad is $499.

One thing I hadn’t expected when I wrote this was that the Hackintosh would become my wife’s primary computer. She got hit by a terrible computer virus last year and I just couldn’t send her back to Windows. I didn’t feel like paying the McAfee protection racket, her laptop is six years old at this point, and wouldn’t run Vista or Windows 7 well. She favors a laptop over a desktop and the Hackintosh suited her needs nicely. While I’m glad she who does not embrace change moved easily from Windows to Linux to OS X, the Hackintosh more or less became hers, not mine.

As Dell had discontinued the Mini 10v, I could either get one off eBay and build another or I could try something a little different.

I don’t like buying 1st generation Apple products because the next ones are usually what the 1st generation should have been. I know one will be coming down the pipe with at least a front facing camera and retina display, so rather than go full-tilt boogie and get the top of the line I bought the bottom of the line model (16 GB, wi-fi only). So far, we’re pleased. Wendie likes it a lot so maybe I’ll get the Hackintosh back

There are three items I highly recommend as accessories and they are the ZooGue case, Power Support’s Crystal Film, and the Apple Bluetooth Keyboard. The ZooGue case allows multi-angular viewing and is very sturdy. It’s the same price as Apple’s case and much more versatile. It can even strap itself to a headrest which is probably neat if you have kids. The screen becomes a disgusting, fingerprinted mess really easily and I prefer the crystal film since it doesn’t produce the “orange peel” look on the screen that Zagg actually touts as a feature and it requires no liquid activator in the application process. If you buy that film, do watch their installation video beforehand as it will prevent you from potentially ruining the film in the installation process. I prefer the normal Apple keyboard to the one with the built in dock for a couple of reasons. First, it works with the iPhone 4 and the iPad. Second, the huge honking dock hanging off the keyboard was awkward and ugly. Fourth, both keyboards are the same price so why not get the one that works with multiple devices?

After a little research and an endorsement from Jim, I just bought a Tom Bihn Ristretto bag for traveling. I’ll be going to Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco in a couple of weeks and I’m going to see how well simply using the iPad rather than a full-fledged netbook will work for me.

This isn’t good idea and it sets a really bad precedent.

First, there is no technical reason to do this. Skype isn’t being charged to provide this as a service (as far as I know). Data traveling over a 3G network is no different than data traveling over my ISP’s network. Skype’s service is decentralized anyway because it’s peer-to-peer. We’re not talking about calling normal phones here … these are Skype-to-Skype calls.

Second, I pay AT&T a good bit of money every month to send data over their 3G network though this is the same network that has failed me when I visit places like Las Vegas or New York. To be charged another premium on top of what I’m already paying is ridiculous. What incentive do I have to pay Skype for phone service when I’m already paying AT&T for phone service on the same device?

I’ve no problem with Skype making money. I’d like to offer them some things to think about:

• If you want to make money in the mobile market, why not play an audio ad instead of the sound of a phone ringing when I call someone? Make me listen to a 15 second ad for every call I place and give me the option of paying a monthly fee to eliminate the ad-supported model.
• Stop giving the app away for free in the App Store. I’d pay $9.99 for a Skype client on my iPhone. For me, $10 is the highest I like to pay for iPhone apps.
• Keep the basic features free and charge for ‘premium’ ones. You guys were on the right track with this before. Example, keep 1-on-1 video chat free on the desktop but charge for multi-party video chat. By this same rationale, keep 3G Skype-to-Skype calls free but incorporate something like call waiting or multiparty audio chat as a for-pay addition.

I hope that Skype reconsiders this. I know I wouldn’t pay for it and I would either use Fring or just keep Skype relegated to my computers instead.

Software needed: Tomato (not necessary but it’s what I use), iSSH for iPhone ($5.99), ORB Live for iPhone ($9.99), ORB for OSX, and Vine Server for OSX. Total software investment $15.98. All figures in US dollars. Optionally, I would recommend an NZB provider (I use nzbmatrix), SABnzbd, and a web browser.

On your Mac

Step 1: Install Vine Server for OSX OSX already includes a built-in VNC server however I like the look and feel of an external OSX VNC server. Vine server is free, lightweight, and what I’m used to in other OS’es. You can pretty much go with the defaults, even going so far as to skip the encryption (for now). I also like to set a password for VNC. With our setup, someone from the outside would still need a password to access it if you didn’t set one here, though anyone on your local LAN could then access your desktop without a password if you don’t set one here. Download Vine from here.

Vine Server Preferences

Vine Server Main Window

Step 2: Enable SSH access on your Mac Rather than have VNC provide encryption, we’re going to tunnel our VNC through SSH. The easiest way to accomplish this is to go into System Preferences->Internet & Wireless->Sharing->Remote Login and enable it as shown in the images below.

OSX System Preferences

Enabling SSH in OSX

Step 3: Install Orb on OSX Download Orb here. Once you’ve installed Orb, you’ll want to go into Control Panel->Media Sources and configure the location of your library. I’ve stuck with the defaults.

ORB Preferences

ORB Library Preferences

On your iPhone

Step 4: Install iSSH for iPhone iSSH can be downloaded through iTunes for your iPhone. Step 5: Install ORB Live on the iPhone On your router

Step 6: Allow SSH in from the Internet From your home router’s port forwarding administration screen, allow incoming traffic (TCP) on port 22 to your Mac. How often and from where you allow this is up to you. I simply connect to a secure URL from my phone and enable the access only when I need it.

Tomato Port Forwarding configuration

On your iPhone

Step 7: Use iSSH You’ll want to create a default connection. Mine is called “Home VNC”.

iSSH Configuration

Enter your home network’s external hostname (assuming use of a service like DynDNS) and your user name.

More iSSH configuration options

Put in the IP of your local (i.e. non-routable) VNC server in the VNC host section. Optionally, you can save your password here if you like (I don’t).

VNC configuration in iSSH

Once you’re done, try connecting. The app will first open an SSH tunnel …

iSSH opening an SSH tunnel

You’ll then be prompted for your SSH password (the same password you use on your Mac when you login).

iSSH asking for SSH credentials

You’ll then enter the password you set up in Vine for VNC access …

iSSH asking for VNC credentials

The app will then complete the connection.

iSSH completing VNC login

End Result

The interface for iSSH’s VNC client is pretty straightforward. As seen in the images above, you have a virtual mouse on the lower left of the screen and a translucent keyboard on the right. It was very easy to access my desktop, fire up a browser, search and download an NZB, load it into SABnzbd, and reindex ORB. After that, I could stream my content either to a computer or to my iPhone directly. Once I was done downloading, but before streaming the content, I logged into my router and closed the SSH port forwarding.

Conclusion

While I wouldn’t use this iPhone VNC access to do any serious or intensive tasks, it was a snap to login and perform some relatively minor and familiar tasks. Being able to stream fresh content is great alternative to carrying the content locally and provides a cheaper alternative to using a SlingBox/SlingPlayer combo.

At first glance, this may seem surprising but Apple, the company known for innovation, has released an oversized iPod Touch that really doesn’t offer anything compelling.

During the announcement, Steve Jobs said, “Now, some people thought that was a netbook—the problem is that netbooks aren’t better than anything!”

• … except my netbook runs Skype and has a built in webcam and mic.
• … except that my netbook’s bluetooth and/or USB connection allows me to tether to my phone.
• … except my netbook can run Silverlight and Flash (maybe not great, but it works well enough).
• … except my netbook has an SD slot and USB.
• … except my netbook has a 160 GB hard drive.
• … except my netbook can multitask and run apps simultaneously.
• … except my netbook only cost $435 and can do all of that.

When viewed in this light, it’s obvious Apple wasn’t targeting the netbook market at all. This isn’t surprising; Apple’s reasoning is that if you want a “cheap” Macbook, get the $999 starter model. The model has sold very well for Apple and it was unlikely they’d cannibalize it.

If it can’t handle the most basic functions of even a $200 netbook, then what does it do well?

Audio/Video? 720p video is okay but the display doesn’t have the 16:9 dimensions that are standard on just about every TV made. No support for Flash or Silverlight means no Hulu or Netflix On-Demand. Regardless of what you think of Flash and Silverlight, not including support for them on something you’re trying to pass off as a netbook competitor is unforgivable. Apple can’t blame the performance of the CPU since they designed it. No, Netflix and Hulu compete with iTunes so there’s your reason for the snub right there. 64 GB of storage is going to be painfully small for this device if it were meant to compete with netbooks (yes I know many netbooks have the same or less amount of storage, but actual HD’s are options on netbooks).

The lack of a webcam is truly odd. First they keep putting low quality cameras on the iPhones and then refuse to put any on the iPod Touch or its oversized brother. Why?

The answer to all of this is that Apple didn’t like seeing Amazon own the digital print space. This is a Kindle competitor pure and simple. Sure there’s an iPhone Kindle app but Amazon profits from the book sales, not Apple. If folks buy the iPad and use it in a netbook-lite fashion, so much the better but Apple wants you to buy print content on it.

You can add a keyboard to the iPad, but why would you? If you’re going to do that then just get a netbook.

I own an iPhone, an iPod Touch, an iMac, and a netbook. My iMac suits all of my desktop computing needs. When I’m not at my iMac, which is often, the iPhone does most of what I want. When I travel or just need a slightly more desktop-like experience, the netbook hits the spot because I have all of the features listed above at a sub-$500 price point with a keyboard that’s 92% the size of a normal keyboard … much like Apple’s Bluetooth keyboard. Even if it wasn’t a Hackintosh and ran Windows 7 or Ubuntu that’d still be true.

As much as I’d like to get excited about this device, I can’t. The thing I’ve liked most about Apple’s products is that many times they seem like creative solutions to computing paradigms we take for granted. This feels like a solution to a problem that doesn’t impact me– Amazon’s success.

I’m sure they’ll sell a billion of these things and in retrospect my comments will be about as spot on as the guy who said that horseless buggies would never take off. As with the iPhone, I’ll at least wait until the second iteration before I would even consider jumping on to this bandwagon.

GMail

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, GMail made desktop email irrelevant in addition to forcing other free webmail providers to step up their game. Between the web interface, a great iPhone interface that effectively mimics the web interface, and IMAP access there’s no other email client I would use. I’ll also throw in Google Calendar and Google Contacts as well simply because of the free, automatic syncing with the iPhone.

iPhone 3GS

Speaking of which, despite its imperfections like Apple’s idiotic app approval policies, it’s the computing device I use more than any other since it’s always with me. I’ve probably spent nearly $200 in the App Store in 2009 and I only had an iPhone for 9 of the 12 months of 2009.

Facebook

I never thought I’d use this and I find the walled-garden approach of the site to be AOL’ish, but I can’t deny how useful this has become in keeping touch with folks. I should have put Twitter on the list because I use it all the time, but Twitter doesn’t have the reach for my network of friends that Facebook does. Simply put, Facebook is the site even my parents use and Twitter isn’t. I post something to Twitter and one or two folks may see it. I post something on Facebook and I get a ton of comments.

Google Reader

Without it, I would find it impossible to keep up with what’s going on in the world. It’s also the biggest timesuck in my life … even more than the XBox 360.

CrossLoop

VNC in a tidy, easy-to-use package. I make all my family members install this as it’s my go-to tech support conduit. It makes connecting to another person’s computer a snap as it’s dead simple to use and it’s cross platform.

Skype

I bought many of my relatives webcams and installed this on their computers. If I want to talk to them and still see them, I can. I video chat with my brother in Mississippi the most.

Dropbox

My impetus for using this initially was being able to keep files that I use for helping my parents with their various technologies in easy reach. For example, I have images of their TV remotes and AV setup that I can access from anywhere including my iPhone. The 2 GB they provide for free is sufficient for now, though I wish their premium plans were a little more affordable.

Delicious

Without Delicious, I’d forget half the things I see on the Internet.

Google Voice

Automatic transcription of voicemail, the ability to block unwanted callers, and the ability to send text messages from the web. If Apple would only allow the app into the App Store, though I have high hopes for the Voicecentral Black Swan edition.

Tomato

I breathed new life into my old routers with this software. I now have a consistent interface across all my networking equipment and I’ve just installed TomatoVPN so that I can connect to my home network from anywhere.

SABnzbd+

The easiest to use Usenet client ever. I use it everyday.

PlayOn and ORB

With PlayOn, I stream my movie collection to my PS3 and XBox 360′s. With ORB, I do stream it to my iPhone.

WordPress

It’s powering this blog, so I guess I have to put it on the list

We go to the Apple Store and I decide I want a 27″ iMac with an Intel Core i7 processor. I ask the guy working there if they have any. He says they don’t but that if I order now I might be able to get it in time for Christmas. He questioned why I wanted an i7 instead of an i5 but if I’m getting a computer to use for 3-5 years, I try for the highest specs I can get at the time I buy it.

Since he couldn’t sell me an i7, I left and ordered it from Apple’s online store.

Here are the specs:

• 2.8GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
• 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM – 2x2GB
• 1TB Serial ATA Drive
• ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB
• 8x double-layer SuperDrive
• Apple Magic Mouse
• Apple Wireless Keyboard

I also bought an Apple Remote. I made my iMac purchase using one of Discover Card’s affiliate links so I get 5% cash back on the purchase … which should cover about 75% of the sales tax they charged me. Once ordered, I immediately hit crucial.com and got myself another 4 GB of RAM for about $65 less than Apple was charging. Time to pick up VMware Fusion to go with this copy of Windows 7 Ultimate and I should be all set for the New Year!

Update: Buying the boxed version of VMware Fusion on Amazon was $10 less than buying the digital distribution version directly from VMware. Shame on you, VMware! I was able to use a $50 gift certificate I got for Christmas on Amazon so I essentially only had to pay $19 for VMware Fusion!

I was quite surprised by Wendie’s generosity and thoughtfulness. She is truly a great wife. Now I have to get her something better than this for Christmas. Argh!

Update #2: Since getting the computer, I’ve installed the following:

• Perian – additional video codecs for QuickTime
• Flip4Mac – WMV playback for QuickTime
• CrossLoop – For my familial remote tech support
• Google Chrome – The browser of the future
• HandBrake – Gotta keep ripping those DVD’s
• iSkysoft video tools – Ditto
• MozyHome - My backup solution of choice
• Tweetie – My Twitter client of choice … on the iPhone and elsewhere
• uTorrent – My favorite bittorrent client
• VMware Fusion – I still like to run Windows and Ubuntu
• Microsoft Office – I still need it
• Skitch – Sort of like Paint.NET except for Mac
• Skype – Gotta stay in touch
• uTorrent – Bittorrent … the bane of my bandwidth
• SABnzbd+ – Best. Usenet. client. ever.
• FileZilla – The best FTP client ever
• ORB – Only way to stream my files to my iPhone
• Paragon NTFS for Mac – A necessary evil for the time being

I’m now taking all of my external hard drives and converting them from NTFS to HFS+ and installing the beta of HFS+ for Windows by Paragon Software on my old Windows PC.

Reviews: Wired.com, tuaw.com, and Apple Reviews.

For the last three or four years, I’ve been a BitTorrent junkie. I’ve been seeking an alternative so I decided to turn to Usenet for the first time in almost 15 years. If you want to jump in to Usenet, here’s a simple way to do it. This is not intended to be a comprehensive guide by any means, only a primer on how to get started with Usenet.

Premise: You want to be able to find software, media, or files on Usenet and download them. You will need a Usenet provider, an NZB provider, and a fully-featured newsreader.

Usenet provider: SuperNews

My requirements were unlimited downloads, SSL connections, and decent retention time. Out of all the providers out there, I narrowed my choices to Giganews, Easynews, and Supernews.  Giganews had the best reputation but at $30 a month it’s way too pricey. Easynews was similarly priced but wasn’t as full featured as Giganews. SuperNews offered unlimited bandwidth, SSL connectivity, 350 days of retention, and 3o simultaneous connections for $11.99 a month. I signed up on a promotional deal for $9.99 a month. Winner: Supernews

NZB Provider: NZBMatrix

NZB‘s are, in layman’s terms, a ‘direct link’ to where you can find specific items on Usenet. The provider I was considering using was Newzbin. The downside of Newzbin is that you have to be referred by an existing user and then you have to periodically buy credits. While the former wasn’t a problem since I have plenty of friends who would refer me, the latter was a bit annoying. One of my friends told me about NZBMatrix which required no referral and a one-time fee of about $32. Winner: NZBMatrix

Newsreader: SABnzbd+

Usenet without a newsreader is like the web with no browser. You have to have one. Back in my day, I used TIN or PINE which are extremely primitive compared to what you’d need to get anything out of Usenet today. My friends all recommended Newsleecher hands-down. Newsleecher is about $20 a year. While that’s a reasonable price, I wanted something that required a one-time payment versus recurring payments. Of course, free would be better than either of those options. In my research, I found SABnzbd+. While the name of that software doesn’t roll off the tongue, it is free software (GPL), cross platform (written in Python), and handles post-processing for files … all you have to do is feed it NZB’s. Sold! Winner: SABnzbd+

Putting it all together

Once you’ve installed SABnzbd+, you simply open a browser, login to NZBMatrix, search for something, save the resulting NZB file, then feed it into SABnzbd+. That’s it.

SABnzbd+ is configurable and has many features that I’ve not even touched on. For my purposes, this simple use case has been sufficient.

My total investment is about ~$150 in the first year and ~$120 after that

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way endorsing piracy. What you do with this knowledge is up to you. I pay for satellite TV, all the movie channels, a Netflix subscription, two satellite radio subscriptions, XBox Live, and all my music comes from Amazon MP3 or iTunes. I also buy all of my own software. I fully support the entertainment and software industries. You should too.

• No sushi or lobster bisque at the salad bar plus the spread just wasn’t quite the same
• No cheese bread
• Rice instead of garlic mashed potatoes

I started to call them out for frying bananas instead of plantains, but it turns out they all serve only fried bananas. I will say that it wasn’t nearly as crowded as the other two which is a plus but it left me a little annoyed that it was missing those little touches.

If Hulu does start to charge, this is what they should change:

• Stop blocking services like Boxee. If you want to start getting paid then stop the senseless blocking of companies who are trying to drive people to your services. Of course I’ve been using PlayOn to circumvent your efforts to keep your service off my TV. Integrate with PlayStation Network or XBox Live. Get your service on as many devices as possible. Give me an iPhone app already.
• Stop the ridiculous “We can only post 5 trailing episodes of the season” nonsense. Give me entire seasons at my fingertips.
• Stop the whole “We can only post episodes 8 days after they air” nonsense.
• Upgrade your “hi-def” option from 480p to 720p. Figure out a way to make that happen.
• No more commercials. I guess it wasn’t enough that I watched every ad so now  I don’t want to see any ads.
• Open up the library already. Don’t take shows in and out of rotation. Let me have access to everything you have.

I already pay for TV with Dish Network. I don’t really want to pay for watching things on the Internet as well.