No need for the tinfoil shield guys, you aren’t getting laid
Filed under: Apple Bashing, Apple Fanboyism, Cynicism, Microsoft Bashing, iPhone, video
I never really understood the whole “destroy tech on YouTube” thing, I guess I’m sort of missing the “attention whore” gene, but if I WERE to destroy a gadget on YouTube at the tail end of 2009, I don’t think I would use a product from 2007 to prove I was cool. Yet, that’s just what Jory Caro and the folks over at “Is It A Good Idea To Microwave This?” did when they recently microwaved a 1st generation iPhone. Wow.
There’s so much Apple bashing here that you have to wonder if they even sincerely feel that way or are simply trolling for flame hits. I mean, I’m an Apple fanboy and all, but I have an xBox and a Microsoft mouse I don’t hate. (Hmm… I sort of sound like someone accused of being racist that says they have a black friend.*) What’s next for the “Is It A Good Idea To Microwave This?” gang? They’re going to nuke a 1997 issue of Macworld Magazine.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Doug for the tip!
* Note to self: Get some black friends
How To: Add a bunch of useless stuff to your desktop with GeekTool, Yahoo Widgets, and more!
I’ve recently gotten into playing around with GeekTool, an add-on System Preference Pane that allows you to add a wide range of both useful and useless things to your desktop, not only to make your life easier, but to make other geeks feel inferior. Sure, you can display the current date and time in the menu bar like a noob, but why not have a GIANT clock right in the middle of you desktop? Or show CPU usage, AirPort signal strength, Processor temps, RSS feeds, Facebook updates, computer uptime, iCal events, current weather conditions, etc.?
Above: Some cool examples of GeekTool custom desktops: 1, 2, 3, 4
Despite its geeky name, setting up GeekTool doesn’t require a whole lot of geeky knowledge. Luckily for us, the TRUE geeks of the world have already come up with the necessary code and scripts you’d want, so for the most part you will simply be copying and pasting bits of code that you find by Google-ing “GeekTool code” (or at least that’s what I did). I don’t claim to be any sort of GeekTool expert, but I’ll walk you through the basics of what I did to achieve MY results, and you can take the ball and run with it. Read more
The “Where in the world is Steve Jobs?” Contest
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Steve Jobs, contests, design
Attention graphic designers and “Where’s Waldo?” fans! We have teamed up with the good folks at Pixelmator for a new contest here at Macenstein designed to test both your creativity and your love for everyone’s favorite temperamental CEO, Mr Steve Jobs. Announcing the “Where in the world is Steve Jobs?” Contest!
Above: Now THAT’S what I call a “Mac Chick”!
The rules are simple, just download this pre-cutout headshot of Steve Jobs (right click to download) – shot courtesy of the awesome Ben Stanfield – and use your graphics program of choice to place Steve in whatever creative situation you want. Entries can be funny, moving, or just plain disturbing (but please, let’s not have Steve banging a horse or anything). We’ll pick our 3 favorites, and dish out some decent prizes for your 3 minutes of hard work.
1st Place: A Copy of Pixelmator and a $100 iTunes gift card!
2nd Place: A Copy of Pixelmator and a $20 iTunes gift card!
3rd Place: A Copy of Pixelmator and our best wishes!
Entries must be submitted by Sunday December 13th, 2009 and you may enter as often as you’d like. E-mail your entries to: plotsuggestion@macenstein.com. And if you don’t own a graphics program, why not download the free 30-day trial of Pixelmator?
Thanks, and good luck!
(oh, The contest is open to all readers, but unfortunately we can’t send iTunes cards internationally. However you can still win the Pixelmator copies).
And THIS, ladies and gentlemen, is why they sell fake iPhones
Remember that dummy iPhone we reviewed all those years ago? Well, guess what I’M doing this weekend?
OK, so that’s not what I have planned this weekend, although it DOES involve Super Glue and a couple of frustrated people…
A message from the iPhone to Droid and WinMo
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Humor, Microsoft Bashing, iPhone
One of the good things about having over 100,000 apps available on the iPhone is it more or less allows you to spell anything.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Xavier for the link
[via imgur]
Microsoft Pitch-man Seinfeld upgrades to an iMac
Faithful Macenstein reader William writes:
“Curb Your Enthusiasm had its “Seinfeld reunion” episode on last night. To help bring it to fruition, the production crew faithfully reconstructed the original sets, modernizing them with some updates, which they highlighted in the fall promo: a new refrigerator, an HDTV and granite counter-tops.
One update they failed to highlight nevertheless made its appearance in several shots. Seinfeld’s commercials for Microsoft notwithstanding, that ain’t no Dell on his desktop.”
Family Guy takes a Jab at Windows 7, Mac OS X
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Awesomeness, Humor, Microsoft Bashing
Family Guy took a couple of geeky jabs at both Microsoft and Apple’s OS’s recently. One unforseen benefit for Apple in having under 10% of the computer market is that probably only about 10% of the Family Guy audience was familiar enough with OS X to even knew it was an Apple Jab, where EVERYONE understands Microsoft bashing. I also noticed that just like the two different brand philosophies, the Apple joke was more subtle, well designed, and “just worked”, while the Microsoft jab was obvious, clunky, and not all that well put together.
Enjoy.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein readers Justin and pimax for the tips!
[via and When Will Apple and Gizmodo]
This is exactly why I won’t eat at Johnny Rockets
Filed under: Apple Fanboyism, Microsoft Bashing, WTF
Man, I was JUST about to break down and go to the Microsoft store when luckily faithful Macenstein reader Chuck sent us this video of a COMPLETELY SPONTANEOUS AND UNSTAGED employee dance session. As with all Microsoft Store videos, the best part is watching the reactions (or complete lack thereof) of the hapless customers, who I assume were just there to get out of the rain or something.
Review: TrailerSpy Mobile for iPhone
If there’s one thing going to the movies has taught me (aside from never put your jacket down on the floor) it’s that while it is very difficult to make a good movie, it is apparently REALLY EASY to make a good trailer. I would say 8 times out of 10 when I see a trailer for a movie, I think to myself, “I would see that”. Sure, sometimes I mean I would PAY to see that in a theater, sometimes I mean I would pay to RENT it, or sometimes I mean if I were channel surfing at 2 AM and it was up against a repeat of Ninja Warrior I have seen 10 times I would give it a chance. Unfortunately more times than not, the 2 minute trailer for a movie far surpasses what I end up seeing in the 2 hour version.
Which leads me to my new favorite “bathroom break” time waster (yes, you do NOT want to borrow my iPhone) TrailerSpy Mobile. TrailerSpy Mobile (99¢ App Store) is basically an iPhone optimized version of the TrailerSpy website, and boasts most of my favorite features. Sure there are free apps out there that let you play movie trailers – such as the MovieFone app – but their layout leaves much to be desired, as do their pop up ads.
TrailerSpy also offers you a wider variety of trailers than most other apps. In addition to the requisite “Movies” category, TrailerSpy lets you browse trailers for television shows, video games, and perhaps most surprisingly, BOOKS. I actually worked on a book “trailer” once, and Read more
Review: Totemo – My New Time Burglar
As odd as it may seem, not all iPhone games begin life on the iPhone. Game maker Hexage seems to have an “Android first” mentality that while seemingly a ludicrous waste of time from a business standpoint, at least lets them iron out most of their games bugs before porting to a “real” platform. One such game is their newly released Totemo, a sort of match 3 (or 4) puzzler that has become a true time burglar for me recently, so I decided to share my love/hate (but mainly love) relationship with the game.
The idea behind the game is fairly simple, although I’ll do my best to confuse you. There are two modes of gameplay – the misnamed “Story” mode, and the addictive, timed “Survival” mode – but the rules are the same for both. Basically you start each level with a series of colorful, Read more
