Jim Lynch

Will Windows 8.1 Save Microsoft?

Jim Lynch — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 18:43:01 +0000

Microsoft finally appears to be getting a clue that its customers detest the Windows 8 default interface, and want the Windows 8 Start button back: Microsoft will soon launch Windows 8.1, the first major overhaul of an operating system that’s often described as a rather disappointing product. Also dubbed “the new Vista,” Windows 8 will receive several upgrades this summer, as part of a so-called Blue project that’s expected to refresh not only the Windows platform, but also some other apps, such as Internet Explorer, SkyDrive, Windows Phone and Office. But leaving all these improvements aside, Windows 8.1 is very likely to mark a historical moment: Microsoft will finally admit it was wrong when it decided to remove the Start button from Windows 8. According to sources familiar with the matter, the Redmond-based tech giant is planning to bring back the Start button in Windows 8.1, along with a new feature that would allow users to bypass the Start Screen and boot directly to desktop. The Windows 8 Disaster Let’s face it, Windows 8 has been a major disaster for Microsoft in terms of sales and customer satisfaction. While a few people seem to be fine with it, most have [...]

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What’s Wrong With Modern Movies

Jim Lynch — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 17:40:55 +0000

Here’s one for the Other Musings category. I’ve been watching a lot of Netflix lately, and I’ve started to notice something about my movie watching habits. I really, really dislike most modern movies. Instead, I’ve been watching a fair number of older (classic?) films on Netflix. Here’s a list of some of those: The Agony and the Ecstasy Cleopatra (50th Anniversary 2-Disc Edition) [Blu-ray] Becket [Blu-ray] Elizabeth R Two other older films I really like are The Three Musketeers/The Four Musketeers (Two-Movie Collection) from the early 1970s. I could not find them on Netflix online streaming, but they are still available via DVD and other video outlets. I’ve listed some of the reasons I dislike a lot of modern films below. Share your own pet peeves in the comments section after you finish the article. I’m interested in knowing if it’s just me or if other people feel the same way. Political Correctness Ugh. Political correctness is one of the reasons I really dislike a lot of modern films. It’s nauseating to watch, and you see it time and time again with modern films. Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine for a film maker to have a political point of [...]

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DARPA’s ARGUS-IS 1.8 Gigapixel Drone Camera

Jim Lynch — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 05:43:57 +0000

DARPA’s 1.8 gigapixel surveillance video feed is a stunning piece of technology, but it’s also very creepy. Take a look a the video embedded below to see the amazing resolution of these videos…from 15,000 feet in the air! Useful Tool or Big Brother in the Air? I suppose that some will argue that this will simply be a useful tool for law enforcement, the military and other government agencies. But, frankly, I can’t help but be creeped out by this thing. How will you feel walking around in a city, knowing that something like this is hovering above you, recording your every movement? Personally, I’d feel set upon and I’d rather not have something like this spying on me while I go through my day. If this technology is going to be implemented (and apparently, according to the video, the government refuses to say whether it’s already using it or not) then it needs to be strictly limited by law and the court system. Military Use Only…? According to Wikipedia, the ARGUS-IS is supposedly for military use only: The mission of the Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance – Imaging System (ARGUS-IS) program is to provide military users a flexible and [...]

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How to Buy Refurbished Apple Products

Jim Lynch — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 21:11:33 +0000

From time to time one of my friends or family members asks me about buying Apple products. For some strange reason, they tend to think that they have to pay full price to buy an iPad, Macbook or iMac. None of them seem to know anything about refurbished Apple products. What is a Refurbished Apple Product? Here’s what Apple has to say about their refurbished products: (1) What are Apple Certified Refurbished Products? Apple Certified Refurbished Products are pre-owned Apple products that undergo Apple’s stringent refurbishment process prior to being offered for sale. While only some units are returned due to technical issues, all units undergo Apple’s stringent quality refurbishment process. Each Apple Certified Refurbished Product: is fully tested (including full burn-in testing). is refurbished with replacement parts for any defective modules identified in testing. is put through a thorough cleaning process and inspection. is repackaged (including appropriate manuals, cables, new boxes, etc.). includes the operating software originally shipped with the unit and the custom software offered with that system. See each products “Learn More” for more details. is given a new refurbished part number and serial number. is placed into a Final QA inspection prior to being added to [...]

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Apple’s iPhone Plus

Jim Lynch — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 17:20:26 +0000

I posted a column earlier about a larger iPhone, and Marco Ament has some very interesting speculation about what it might look like. The theory is easy to understand: perform John Gruber’s Mini-predicting math backwards. The iPad Mini uses iPhone 3GS-density screens at iPad resolution. What if an iPhone Plus used Retina iPad screens with iPhone 5 resolution, keeping the rest of the design sized like an iPhone 5? Its 640?×?1136, 264 DPI screen would measure 4.94” diagonally.. By keeping the pixel dimensions the same as the iPhone 5, no app changes would be necessary. While the larger screen would hinder one-handed use, two-handed use would actually be easier because the touch targets would all be larger, and UIKit’s standard metrics and controls still work well at that physical size. I think this makes a lot of sense, actually. The size and resolution fit well into Apple’s product lineup, and would finally give Samsung and other Android manufacturers some competition in the larger screen space. See these screenshots of what the iPhone Plus might look like and how it compares to the smaller iPhone: As I mentioned in my earlier column about this, one of my friends switched recently from [...]

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Download 25 Free Android Games for Your Phone or Tablet

Jim Lynch — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 23:25:18 +0000

There are lots and lots of games available for Android, but it’s tough to separate the wheat from the chaff. Here are 25 free games that you can download for your Android phone or tablet. You can just click on the title or image to go to the download page for your game. You’ll have a ton of fun playing these free Android games, and best of all they won’t cost you a cent! However, if you are looking for Android products, be sure to visit this page for some great deals. #25 Drag Racing The most addictive racing game with realistic controls and 50+ real cars! - Drive 50+ officially licensed cars, from hot hatches to american muscle and 1000HP supercars - Buy your dream car, install performance upgrades and show your skills in 1/4 or 1/2 mile races - Challenge millions of players online: race 1 on 1, drive your opponent’s car, or participate in real-time 10-player races in Pro League LOTS OF CARS: Would you pick an iconic Skyline GT-R, a classic 69′ Mustang, or a brand new BMW M3 as your ultimate driving machine? Do you dream about seeing 1000+ HP exotics pushed to the limit [...]

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Download 25 Free iPhone Games

Jim Lynch — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 17:44:14 +0000

Here are 25 free games for your iPhone. Most of them will also run on the iPod Touch. Why pay for games when you can get them for your iPhone free? Just click on the title of the game or the game’s image to go to the download page. Enjoy your free iPhone games! #25 Angry Birds Space Free After a giant claw kidnaps their eggs, the Angry Birds chase it into a wormhole and find themselves floating in a strange new galaxy – surrounded by space pigs! Luckily the Angry Birds have super powers of their own… Angry Birds Space Free features 10 interstellar levels on planets and in zero gravity, resulting in spectacular gameplay ranging from slow-motion puzzles to lightspeed destruction. With brand new birds, brand new superpowers, and a whole galaxy to explore, the sky is no longer the limit! FEATURES • 10 interstellar levels! • Free updates! • Brand new birds! • Brand new superpowers! • Zero-gravity space adventures! • Trick shots using planets’ gravity! • Beautifully detailed backgrounds! #24 Slotomania – Slot Machines Enjoy an infinite amount of different slot machine themes: Bingo, Mafia, Creepy, Adventures, Sports, Fairytale, Comics, Aliens and many more… LARGEST variety of Slots [...]

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Apple Making iPhone Plus in Multiple Colors

Jim Lynch — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 21:27:37 +0000

Well, apparently Apple is working on a larger iPhone. It may come in three sizes, including one larger than the current 4 inch iPhone. There may also be different colors, similar to what’s being done already with the iPod Touch. I wonder how long it will be until the iPhone Plus is released for Verizon, ATT and other carriers? Apple is preparing a new iPhone in multiple colors and sizes, analyst Brian White at Topeka Capital reports. Thus far, Apple has only released one model of the iPhone, with one screen size, at a time. “We believe this is about to change with the next iPhone offering different screen sizes that we believe will allow Apple to better bifurcate the market and expand its reach,” says White. He thinks Apple could have three screen sizes. The small iPhone with a 3.5-inch screen, the medium iPhone with a 4-inch screen, and then a bigger iPhone with a bigger screen. The next iPhone is going to come out in the May-June time frame, says White. White thinks Apple makes the next iPhone more colorful, similar to what it’s done with the iPod Touch, which available in a wide variety of colors. He’s [...]

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Windows Blue and Yearly Upgrades

Jim Lynch — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 23:01:03 +0000

Windows Blue is apparently the next big thing at Microsoft. Now we’ll see a yearly update to Windows, along with a standardized SDK for desktop and mobile devices. The update will also be much cheaper than previous Windows upgrades (probably around $25). Way back in August, three months before the release of Windows 8, we learnt about the existence of a project at Microsoft codenamed Blue. At the time it wasn’t clear whether this was Windows 9, or some kind of interim update/service pack for Windows 8. Now, if unnamed sources are to be believed, Windows Blue is both of those things: a major update to Windows 8, and also the beginning of a major shift that will result in a major release of Windows every 12 months — just like Apple’s OS X. This information stems from The Verge, which cites several anonymous sources who are “familiar with Microsoft’s plans.” According to these insiders, Blue will roll out mid-2013, and will be very cheap — or possibly even free, to ensure that “Windows Blue the next OS that everyone installs.” Exact details are still rather vague, but at the very least Blue will make “UI changes” to Windows 8. The sources [...]

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The Top Ten Tech Flops of 2012

Jim Lynch — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 19:15:33 +0000

Here’s a list of the top tech flops in 2012, along with my thoughts about some of them below. 1. Apple Maps Fiasco 2. Path Privacy Breach 3. Facebook IPO 4. Nokia’s Fake Photos 5. Instagram 6. RIM 7. Oprah’s Surface Tweet 8 The Facebook Chair 9. Homeless People Wi-Fi Hotspots 10. Samsung’s Puppy Commercial Facebook IPO I disagree with the placement of some on the list though. The Facebook IPO was far worse than Apple not properly labeling their Maps app as a beta. The Facebook IPO cost some investors quite a lot of money. The decision to invest, of course, was on them. But still, I think the overall effects of that were far worse than Apple’s Maps mistake. Apple Maps Speaking of Apple’s Maps app, I’ve used it and not had any problems with it. It’s gotten me to a number of places without any issues. So I tend to think it has been more than a bit overblown. Apple has already been improving it, but they could have avoided a lot of the drama if they’d simply labelled it as “beta” when it was released. Instagram The Instagram fiasco was noteworthy, but fairly predictable. You just knew it [...]

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Why Do We Buy Ebooks with DRM in Them?

Jim Lynch — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 06:11:02 +0000

Ars has a good column about why DRM persists in ebooks despite being dropped by the music industry. So maybe you were lucky enough to get an e-reader for the holidays. In fact, maybe you’re reading this article on one right now! Maybe you’re cozying up to your fire and you’re considering what e-book you want to download to get through these dark winter days. But you’re an Ars reader, and you actually know (and care!) what DRM stands for. After all, we’ve been covering digital rights management for years, ever since it was a contentious issue in the music industry. And that leaves this question: where’s the DRM outrage over e-books? Or put another way, why doesn’t Amazon care about eliminating DRM for books, when it did for music? What is DRM? If you aren’t familiar with it, here’s a good definition of DRM: Digital rights management (DRM) is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders, and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that are not desired or intended by the content provider. [...]

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The History of NeXT and OS X

Jim Lynch — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 06:04:37 +0000

Ars has a very interesting history of NeXT and OS X. In the 1990s, Apple struggled to bring the original Mac OS—originally written in 1984 for the resource-constrained Macintosh 128K machine—up to modern operating system standards. The story of how OS X came to be is thrilling in its own right, but suffice it to say that Apple ended up buying Steve Jobs’ second computer company, NeXT, and using its NeXTSTEP operating system as the basis of a new generation of Macs. Apple announced the acquisition of NeXT on December 20, 1996, noting it wanted NeXT’s object-oriented software development technology and its operating system know-how. As part of the deal, Jobs came back to Apple, eventually taking over as CEO and making the company into the consumer electronics giant it is today. Sixteen years later, several technologies developed or championed by NeXT still survive in OS X and in its mobile cousin, iOS. This week, we remember some of those technologies which continue to power key features of Apple’s devices. While I knew on a general level about NeXT and OS X, I wasn’t aware of so many specific features and effects that were incorporated from it into OS X. This [...]

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Apple Bashing By the NY Times

Jim Lynch — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 05:57:40 +0000

I sure hope the NY Times doesn’t get a Pulitzer Prize for their blatant bashing of Apple. How absurd that there’s even a possibility of that happening. If you wondered where the New York Times’ massive, 9-part iEconomy series was headed, here’s a clue: Part 1 was published on Jan. 21, and Part 9 on Thursday, Dec. 27 — just under the wire, we presume, for the Dec. 25 electronic submission deadline for the 2012 Pulitzer Prizes in Journalism. For reporters who know about these things, the series had Pulitzer written all over it from the start. The plan was simple: Single out Apple (AAPL) as what biologists might call a “conspicuous megafauna” — the high-profile stand-in for thousands U.S. firms that have been shipping American jobs overseas. Then, with only a couple detours into automobiles and robots, a team of Times reporters set out to dissect Tim Cook’s company one layer at a time: Part 1: How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work Part 2: In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad Part 3: How Apple Sidesteps Billions in Global Taxes Part 4: Apple’s Retail Army, Long on Loyalty but Short on Pay Part 7: The Patent, [...]

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The Best Google Android Apps of 2012

Jim Lynch — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 05:49:13 +0000

Google has released a list of the best Android apps of 2012. Here’s the full list, with download links for your Android phone or tablet. Zappos The best in mobile shopping with a great selection, free shipping and returns as well as an elegant new UI for phones and tablets. Evernote Stay on top of every element of your life, from anywhere. Take notes, capture photos and record memos with this amazing organizer. Pinterest Take full advantage of your android device and set pins from anywhere using the built-in sharing system. Share and enjoy! Grimm’s Snow White A deceptively simple and well-executed storybook that serves as a perfect introduction to the world of Grimm’s fairy tales. Pocket A full-featured offline reader that is constantly adding new capabilities like site subscriptions that let you save articles on paid sites. Expedia A beautiful and well-designed app that sets the bar for globally relevant travel tools with a rich and detailed tablet experience. Ancestry A unique and full-featured genealogy app that delivered a stunning design overhaul which also delivered new functionality. Fancy Fancy lets you share your personal style with style and brings a fresh perspective to the worlds of online shopping and fashion. Mint.com [...]

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The VLC Christmas Icon

Jim Lynch — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 18:14:01 +0000

If you close VLC down on your system, then reopen it you will see that the icon has changed during the month of December. Or just open it if you aren’t already running it. What a neat little trick for the VLC developers during the Christmas season. This is the first time I’ve noticed it, but I like it. I’m sure there are probably some Grinches out there that don’t care for it. Aaah well, there’s no pleasing everybody no matter what a developer does. On the odd chance you aren’t familiar with VLC, it’s an amazing video player app. Every user should have it on their system. You can download VLC here. It’s free and open source. Here’s a bit of info about it from the VLC site: Simple, fast and powerful media player. Plays everything: Files, Discs, Webcams, Devices and Streams. Plays most codecs with no codec packs needed: MPEG-2, DivX, H.264, MKV, WebM, WMV, MP3… Runs on all platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Unix… Completely Free, 0 spyware, 0 ads and no user tracking. Can do media conversion and streaming.

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Facebook Sexting App?

Jim Lynch — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 17:46:25 +0000

I had not considered the…er…adult uses for the new Facebook Poke app when I first heard about it. Cue the inappropriate poke jokes. Facebook just released a Poke for mobile app that lets people send messages, photos, and videos that expire seconds after they’re sent. The news confirms a report by AllThingsD earlier this month. This standalone app, similar to the app Snapchat, is perfect for sending messages and images you don’t want unintended recipients to stumble across. Facebook calls this sending things in a “lightweight way.” The rest of the world calls it sexting. “With the Poke app, you can poke or send a message, photo, or video to Facebook friends to share what you’re up to in a lightweight way. You can poke an individual friend or several at once,” reads a Facebook blog post. Facebook isn’t that naive. It’s built in reporting tools to make sure things don’t get too out of control for recipients. After all, sharing photos “of a sexual nature,” is a violation of Facebook’s policies. Frankly, I thought it was rather silly and wondered who would be bothered downloading it in the first place. I guess my mind just wasn’t in the right [...]

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The Worst Rumors About Apple in 2012

Jim Lynch — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 17:38:33 +0000

HP has a list of some of the worst rumors about Apple in 2012. My favorites include the giant 4.6 inch iPhone screen, the perennial Apple television, and the iPad mini. Oh wait, the iPad mini rumor came true…and it’s selling like hotcakes. Doh! :w00t: The 4.6 inch iPhone screen reminds me of a friend that just got an iPhone 5. He moved over from Android, so he’s used to much larger screen sizes. He feels strongly that Apple will be left behind if they don’t release an iPhone with a wider, bigger screen. I’ve tried to explain to him that Apple considers a phone to be something that should be able to be used with one hand. Two should never be required. But he just doesn’t get it. I’ve seen this with a lot of Android users, who can’t seem to grasp the difference between a phone and a phablet. Apple doesn’t want to make phablets. Samsung certainly does, but Apple doesn’t. Phablets don’t fit into their product plans, particularly with the massive success of the iPad mini. Why settle for a 4.6 inch phablet when you can get a 7.9 inch iPad mini instead? The Apple TV rumors [...]

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Steve Jobs’ Yacht is Ugly

Jim Lynch — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 17:19:58 +0000

There’s been a lot of coverage about Steve Job’s yacht being impounded, but the worst thing about the yacht to me is how it looks. It’s ugly! How could someone with Jobs’ refined tastes build something this ugly looking? It looks like something you’d order out of an old-time Sears mail order catalogue. Ugh. It’s clear that Jonathan Ives, Apple’s design chief, had nothing to do with this heinous looking sucker. Perhaps the inside is immaculately designed? I can’t be sure since I haven’t seen photos of what it looks like on the inside. But the outside of it is a combination of bland and utterly mundane. This looks like a yacht designed by an accountant. :blink:

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Does the Wii U Suck?

Jim Lynch — Sun, 23 Dec 2012 16:56:00 +0000

This isn’t really surprising to me. I have a Wii U. And although I find its motion implementation quite fun at times, and the addition of a second screen a good idea, I haven’t played it at all in the last couple of weeks. I decided to conduct an informal poll with other people I know who also own a Wii U. I asked them if they’ve been playing with the console much since its launch. Nearly every person said that they played it somewhat heavily in the first week after launch, but little after that. When the Wii launched, it was hard to come by for months. And during the holiday season, especially, it was impossible to even find it on store shelves. Each weekend, folks would stand in line for hours just to get their hands on a handful of consoles that were available. It was shocking. But the Wii U appears to be different. After just a month of availability, the console can still be purchased quite easily. Conventional console systems are on the wane as many gamers move to phones and tablets. There are so many great games available for iOS and Android devices, and most [...]

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15 Free Christmas Apps for iPhone and iPad

Jim Lynch — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 00:44:39 +0000

Christmas is here, and it’s time to download some free apps for your iOS devices. Yep, all of these apps are free to use on your iPad, iPhone, iPad mini or iPod Touch. Have fun downloading from Apple’s app store! Merry Christmas! #15 Santa’s Bag – Christmas Gift List Santa’s Bag – Christmas Gift List is a fun and easy-to-use app to help you manage your Christmas Gift Recipients, Planning, Shopping and Budgets. Facebook and Contacts Import for Recipients Add Gifts, Wishes and Preferences Email customizable, checkable lists: Wish Lists, Planning Lists, Shopping Lists, Individual Gifts and more Split/Multiple/Unassigned Gifts Store Photos/Add Tax for Gifts Gift Statuses: To Buy, Purchased (or Ordered/Received), Wrapped, Given Recipient/Occasion Budgets and Progress Bars Screenlock Passcode Archive Gifts from past years (with Upgrade to Pro Version) Contact Recipient through App Highly Customizable Views/Sorts/Filters Countdown Timer #14 Grab-N-Gabs: Tell the Elf A holiday question-and-answer game based on the Hallmark Tell the Elf Grab-N-Gabs handheld game. Choose one of three stories to play with a friend, taking turns responding to Elf’s prompts. After all the questions have been answered, the Elf will tell your fill-in-the-blank, one-of-a-kind, laugh-out-loud story featuring your answers in your elfified voice. #13 Christmas [...]

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20 Free Christmas Games for iPhone and iPad

Jim Lynch — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:31:02 +0000

Christmas is here and it’s time to have some fun on your iOS device! Here’s a list of the best free Christmas games for your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad mini. Yup, every one of these games is totally free. They won’t cost you a cent to download from Apple’s app store. Have fun! Merry Christmas! #20 Millionaire City Holiday Welcome to Millionaire City, where your holiday dreams can come true as you become a powerful CEO and watch the money roll in from the convenience of your iPhone or iPod touch. Build your winter wonderland from the ground up by creating cozy gingerbread houses, joyous toy shops, fun candy cane decorations and unique world wonders. Use Facebook Connect to start playing with ease. The more friends you have playing the more money you will get! Make smart investments, take risks, see your company grow, and be good because Santa is watching! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! #19 FairyWoods Patisserie Create and operate an exquisite Patisserie in the fascinating forest of the FairyWoods. See all your favorite past-time fairytale characters come to life and prepare scrumptious pastry, succulent desserts and to die for beverages. Compete against real players and [...]

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Five Reasons Why I Love My 13-inch Retina Macbook Pro

Jim Lynch — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 19:59:18 +0000

A Dying Macbook Pro My aging laptop from 2007 finally breathed its last recently. My old one was a 15 inch Macbook Pro with 4GB of RAM and a 160GB hard disk. Back in its day, it was a very nice computer, but fast forward five years and it certainly had been showing its age. My initial plan was to buy an 11-inch Macbook Air. Why the 11-inch? Well, I found over the course of my 15-inch Macbook Pro’s life that it was too big to tote around everywhere. Oh sure, the extra screen space was nice. But the weight and size of it just made it a bit too big for my tastes. The 11-inch Air seemed quite portable in comparison, yet powerful enough to meet my needs since most of what I mostly write on my computers. I was so very sure that the 11-inch was the absolute perfect computer for me, so I headed off to the Apple store to get one. A Trip to the Apple Store Apple is a very smart retailer, the company knows how to set its stores up and it leaves absolutely nothing to chance. When I walked into the store, I [...]

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Blizzard’s Mobile Gaming Mistake

Jim Lynch — Sat, 12 May 2012 05:28:09 +0000

Blizzard is generally regarded as a smart company with a savvy business model and knowledgeable developers. However, it has made a terrible mistake by not developing mobile versions of its popular games. Oh sure, Blizzard released its Mobile Armory ages ago. And it’s fine for what it does, but it doesn’t let you play World of Warcraft on your iPad, iPhone or Android device. For some reason, Blizzard has allowed the mobile revolution to pass it by. That could ultimately prove to be a very costly mistake. More and more gamers are finding that their phones or tablets provide hours of gaming fun. The days of the PC, Mac or console being the bedrock for gaming are swiftly drawing to a close. Think I’m kidding? Check out the sheer number of games available for the iPad or iPhone. Games make up a big chunk of app sales. And, as mobile hardware gets more and more robust, mobile games keep getting better and better. WOW Gamers Ready to Go Mobile? Don’t take my word for it though, a mobile version of World of Warcraft has already come up in multiple threads in the official WOW forums. Here are a few links [...]

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Ebooks: Goodbye Kindle, Hello iPad 3!

Jim Lynch — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:56:26 +0000

A while back I wrote a column called “Why I Bought a Kindle 3 and Why I Stopped Using My iPad to Read eBooks” in which I explained why I had moved away from reading ebooks on my iPad in favor of my Kindle 3. Well, with the introduction of the high resolution iPad I have reversed myself. I’ve stopped using my Kindle 3 and am now using my new iPad 3 exclusively for ebooks. In case you aren’t familiar with it, the new iPad has basically double the screen resolution of the iPad 1 and 2. The iPad’s resolution went from 1024 x 768 to 2048 x 1536 (which amounts to about 264 pixels per inch). It even beats an HDTV! If you’re coming from an earlier iPad then you will notice the difference immediately. Text in ebooks looks much crisper, without the fuzziness that you saw if you read ebooks using the iPad 1 or 2. It’s not just ebooks that look so much better though. Photos, games and anything else that takes advantage of the iPad 3′s screen just looks phenomenal compared to prior versions of the iPad. If you looked at my earlier column, you know [...]

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Mobile Devices: iOS Versus Android

Jim Lynch — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:25:55 +0000

Have you noticed the inane babble about mobile devices happening online lately? You see it on technology discussion forums, but also on Facebook and other social media. It’s the dreaded “iOS Versus Android” battles. Ever since the release of the iPhone and subsequent release of Android phones, there have been battles happening as partisans of one platform attack users of the other. On and on it goes, with neither side ever giving ground. And all this over mobile phones and tablets? Sheesh. Get a life, folks. Not Just Online: The Battle in Meat Space Unfortunately, the Android versus iOS battles aren’t just happening online. The mobile OS partisan fighting can be found wherever you have groups of people using one platform or the other. Not All Gay Guys Own iOS Devices I’ve seen this first hand with some of the guys I hang out with. A lot of them are gay, and guess what? They don’t all own iPhones or any Apple products at all. I know this will come as a shock to a lot of people who view Apple as synonymous with gay, or vice versa. In fact, I think the gay Android users outnumber the gay iPhone/iPad [...]

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