And now I’m on Twitter and FriendFeed
Well, I’m not sure why, but I signed up for Twitter and FriendFeed. I am pretty sure the status will never change from “Sitting alone in the dark in front of the computer”, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know about how much fun YOU’RE having. So add me, so I can live vicariously through my pretend friends. Thanks!
(add me on FriendFeed)
Rumor: Apple’s “Mobile Me” ad spotted?
Above: “Welcome to my freaking iLair”
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Art Vandelay for the pic.
I think my Software Update is a little confused…
That’s either one hell of a secure Camera Raw update, or the most photo-centric Security Update I have ever seen. (A restart set things straight).
Using the world’s oldest video game to pick up chicks
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, iPod Touch, video
Is it possible to make the classic game Pong cool again? Yes, actually, it is, although these three dorks try their best to blow it.
Using their ginormous brains, these guys were able to create a 3-way game of Pong via iPod touches that are able to somehow sense each other, and pass the ball from unit to unit. It is a very cool proof-of-concept and an indicator of great things to come. In fact, it’s so cool, that approximately 1 minute 30 into the video you will hear the sounds of a woman who is about to freely offer herself to these men based solely on their amazing programming abilities. Unfortunately, the deal ultimately falls through because the one guy won’t stop yelling “BONG!” every time the ball hits.
And by the way, it’s “PONG!”
If only Apple had put a speaker on the touch, these guys would not have had to make their own sound effects, and their 3-way game of Pong might have turned into a 4-way game of something else.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Chris for the link!
Ellen Feiss: The Musical
You may remember Ellen Feiss as the most famous of the original “switchers”. Her 2002 Switch ad in which many thought Ellen appeared to be high spawned much controversy and internet fame for the then 14-year-old. I tracked Ellen down last year and interviewed her about the ad and life in general, but one thing neither Ellen nor I knew at the time was that her haunting visage had spawned a power-ballad love song of sorts.
I came across the song “Ellen Feiss Makes Me Hot” last week, and was so impressed by its awesomeness that I momentarily forgot how creepy this song is if you remember that Ellen was only 14 at the time of the ad, and so I threw together this little video tribute. Unfortunately I only had 40 seconds of footage to fill a 3-minute 24 second song, so be kind.
The song is the work of the brilliant Benj Edwards from request-a-song.com, the site that will make any reader-submitted idea into a song. I spoke to Benj about the song’s history, and whether or not he was familiar with Ellen before its creation.
“[The song] was requested by “David” around March 2003, and the song was released August 8th, 2003. I recall that the request was “Ellen Feiss Makes Me Hot” exactly. I kinda thought Ms. Feiss was cute at the time, so the subject seemed natural. I’ve always been a fan of Macs, and I collect them, so it was a good opportunity to weave some Mac lore into my music. (You can see my collection here at vintagecomputing.com)
I knew who Ellen Feiss was when I did the song, and had seen the ad. I kept abreast of the latest Mac news at the time, mostly because I had bought my first Mac ever (aside from having vintage Macs and a Mac SE as a kid) in early 2002 — the 15″ G4 iMac, and I was excited about Apple’s “Switch” campaign. I’ve been paying attention to every major Apple development since Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997, and especially since the iMac launch in 1998.
I spent a very long time recording “Ellen Feiss” — I think there are something like 16 simultaneous vocal tracks on it at one point in the song (all me singing), but thanks to my wimpy mix, you can hardly tell. Overall, I wasn’t very satisfied with how the song turned out. Ironically, I was later surprised to learn that a number of our fans really loved the song and ranked it among their favorites, so maybe it’s better than I think.”
Damn straight it is, Benj! This song is stuck in my head, and not just because I had to listen to it for 3 hours while chopping together that video. I liked it so much I decided to send it to Ellen herself and get her take. (Luckily she was not wise enough to change e-mail addresses after our last interview). 
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.Mac to be renamed “Mobile Me”?
Ahh it’s all coming together.
Earlier this week we learned the term “MOBILE_ME” pops up again and again in strings found throughout the SDK, as noticed by John Gruber. Now faithful Macenstein reader o.hickmott points us to a Coding Robots posting about various similar secret strings founds in the 10.5.3 update. AppleInsider discovered Apple filed 4 separate trademarks for the term “Mobile Me” back in 2006.
So, is MobileMe the new .Mac?
I looked up who owns the (non-working) domain “mobileme.com”, and it is registered to a San Fransisco address, which as we all know means Apple owns it. (Just kidding). Actually, the company MarkMonitor is listed as the registrar. MarkMonitor lists itself as a “online brand protection” service used by more than half the Fortune 100. Could Apple be using them to secure the domain until launch?
Could be.
I’m not sure MobileMe is all that much better a name than .Mac, but I suppose pushing the portable OS lifestyle is the goal here, then MobileMe makes Mobile sense. One thing’s for sure, if Apple wants their .Mac e-mail addresses back, they’ll have to pry them from the fanboys cold dead hands!
OMFG DON’T USE SAFARI!!!!!
TUAW reports on a zero-day exploit in the Safari browser which can potentially cause the the unintentional downloading of files and applications to a users drive. Like any exploit, the people who discovered it claim it is OMG-critical, and are begging Apple to jump on a patch. Apple says they are aware of the problem, and will get to it when they are good and ready.
I’m not sure what the danger is in files being downloaded, other than the inconvenience of a cluttered desktop (can applications autolaunch when downloaded?) but when people throw the term “zero-day exploit” around, I tend to crap my pants (and I guess that’s the point).
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Mason for the tip!
Bush’s iPhone
Looks like he jailbroke it.
[via about.com]
Celebrity Mac Chick sighting: Leelee Sobieski
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Celebrity Mac Chick, Photos, iPod nano
Look who’s fightin’ AIDS in Africa with her (Product) Redâ„¢ iPod nano! It’s Leelee Sobieski, the most unlikely named woman in Hollywood. Kudos to you, Leelee!
[via UseMyComputer]
Windows 7: The Search for Dock
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Leopard, Microsoft Bashing, Opinion, design
Based on these concept pics, the “future” of Windows looks remarkably like the “present” of OS X
Speaking of stealing… Is it just me, or are these shots of the upcoming Windows 7 looking a little too similar to OS X?
I can’t wait to see what Microsoft decides to call that transparent Dock-looking thing. Given that they call OS X’s Widgets “gadgets”, I’m going to assume it will be called the “Spock”.
[images via techdreams]
