Tag: Apple & All Things Mac Posts

It seems like I spend a lot of time at the Apple store trying to get things fixed. My current laptop has had the LCD replaced, and the main board twice now. My previous laptop also spent a few visits behind closed doors there as well. Truth be told, in the shower today I was trying to think of any other devices I’ve ever owned that have been in for repair as often, and I can’t think of any. I’ve had each of my cameras in once to the shop, once to repair a cracked LCD (I dropped it), and once for a cleaning. So other than when I drop things or get them dirty, not many of my devices crap out on their own. While in North Carolina, the power button on my iPhone mysteriously went missing. Looking at what’s left, it appears it’s just glued in with a […]

When Apple introduced the iPhone 3GS, they added a new piece of hardware: a magnetometer. That little do-dad can pick up magnetic field lines, and basically act as a virtual compass. While kind of a neat feature, I don’t think it’s very practical. I mean, pretty much every iPhone 3G user I know has the data plan, which basically means they can access Google Maps whenever they want. Yes, you can’t get a real time indication of your direction using Google maps, but if you move around you can obviously watch what happens and see which direction you are facing. But to be honest, it’s pretty rare I ever give or receive directions of the sort “you go down that street, and then turn due east.” Most directions are made in relation to landmarks or streets, both of which are direction independent. The feature I really would love to see […]

Congrats are in order to Kasia, for finally leaving behind the dusty world of PCs and embracing the world of Mac! Enjoy your new toy! PS – somebody sure is spoiled this year!

As most people now know, Apple released a full suite of online web applications similar to Google’s offerings just a few weeks ago. Those products, launched under the name “Mobile-Me”, were touted my Steve Jobs as being crucial to the future success of Apple and the iPhone. I’ve been using Mobile-Me for a few weeks now, and I thought I’d give some feedback. Truthfully, it’s a very shoddy alternative to Gmail. I find the website extremely slow, and I have had loads of trouble even logging into the service. The only reason I’m still using the service at all is because Apple offers PUSH email if you have an iPhone and use Mobile-Me. But even that service has been spotty, and lately I’ve been forced to poll for my Mobile Me emails as well. So do I think Apple’s Mobile Me service is worth paying for? Absolutely not. It’s really […]

We’re up to about $530 now. I’m hoping we can hit $1000, which means we basically need about $100 an hour. That’s a big goal, and I’ll need the help of every reader to pull it off. If you want to know more information about the United Gospel Mission, please head over to their website or send me a personal email via my contact page. When the iPhone 3G came out a few weeks ago, along with it came the new 2.0 firmware that brought many new features, including the coveted application store. Unfortunately, with the update came a pile of bugs, including problems with the GPS unit, and a completely unresponsive user interface. The good news is that the new 2.1 firmware is due to be released any day now. Hopefully that will bring a pile of fixes and make the iPhone 3G usable. Right now there are random […]

A while ago I posted about my recent purchase of the Agent 18 Eco-Shield product. I received it via FedEx the other day and have had it on my iPhone ever since. I thought I’d give a quick review of the product. Agent 18 Eco-Shield First, I have to say that my primary motivation for purchasing the product was that it is supposed to be made entirely from recycled plastic. The product is indeed made of plastic, and fits my iPhone 3G perfectly (the last case I bought didn’t fit properly at all). Unfortunately, while I love the case, I have to say I was extremely disappointed with how much packaging this product uses. As you can see in the photo, the packaging is made entirely of plastic, and is much larger than the actual product itself. I emailed the manufacturer, hoping to get a response before I wrote this, […]

I pulled my laptop out of my case tonight and fired it up. I was immediately greeted with this: $1000 worth of fail As you can see, my LCD has a wicked crack in it. I did a quick scan in the forums, and replacing an LCD via the Apple store runs about $1000, which is rather insane. Thankfully I found a few companies on eBay that are selling the raw LCD screens for around $200, so I put in an order for a replacement. Hopefully I’ll be able to install it myself when it comes in the mail. So as of right now, I’m without a laptop. Thankfully I have an iMac at home as well, so I’m not really in any trouble. But I do use my laptop quite a bit, so would like to get it up and running as soon as possible.

The first order of business with my new iPhone is picking up a decent case to keep it from being scratched. I called around town, but unfortunately nobody has any stock for the 3G iPhone cases yet. So basically the only place left to buy one from was on Apple’s store. I originally went over with the intent to buy one case. However, it appears that one case wasn’t enough to qualify me for free shipping. Since I like free stuff, I decided to buy a few more things. Since I wasn’t sure if I’d like the first case, I bought a second one with a different style. Worst case, I’m sure somebody will probably take it off my hands in the near future. In addition, I tacked on a new iPhone 3G dock for my stereo so I can listen to music. The case I plan to use is […]

I’ve been messing around with the iPhone 3G pretty much non-stop for the last 24 hours. For the most part, it has exceeded my expectations. First, being able to check your email or surf the web from any location is a pretty awesome feature. For example, today I was at the beach with some friends and we noticed that the tide was slowly creeping up the shore. I quickly fired up Safari, did a Google search for “Vancouver Tide Table”, and determined that high tide was in about two hours. As most people know, the iPhone 2.0 firmware brings with it the iPhone application store. I’ve already purchased two applications, the premium Twitterific app and the Flickr app. The Twitterific app is a bit more polished, but the Flickr app is fully functional and will probably make life with Flickr that much easier. One application that is notably missing is […]

As everyone knows, Rogers announced their lackluster iPhone plans not that long ago, and were immediately criticized by most Canadian wireless customers as being far too expensive. In addition, the lack of an unlimited data plan, a feature that Bell and Telus have for some of their phones, is also fairly disappointing give the web-based nature of the device. In response to the data rates, RuinediPhone set up an online petition asking Rogers to change their data rates. Since going live nearly a week ago, they’ve amassed nearly 36,000 signatures, and have been featured on several mainstream news segments. John Biehler recently posted a great article on how Rogers may actually be starting to listen to these various complaints. The main wireless provider in Sweden also recently revised their iPhone data plans to include an unlimited data option, mostly to appease customer complaints. I actually don’t think Rogers will do […]