Macenstein

Anyone else think it’s time for Apple for to remove the word “unexpectedly” from this error?

Is it just me or is this getting worse lately?  Read More

Submit your iPhone location data and help create some beautiful crowd-sourced art

crowdsourced iPhone data from Frankfurt For those of you are NOT flipping out about the iPhone tracking data being “crowd-sourced” by Apple, there’s a new project called “CrowdFlow” being developed by Michael Kreil, Lorenz Matzat, and Dr. Huxorn that allows you to submit your iPhone location log file in order to create a visualization of how various wifi and cell networks are distributed all over the world. The results, as you can see, are actually... Read More

World’s smallest Apple store looks like it would rank #1 in customer service

Ironically, this is the 3rd largest store in China A reddit user posted a picture of an “Apple store” in China which brings new meaning to the term “One to One”, as I doubt more than one customer plus the employee could fit in there. How awesome would it be if that store was sitting on 500 iPad 2′s right now? (And actually, I suppose given that it’s located in China, where pretty much every iPad 2 purchased in the US was shipped, odds are that... Read More

Season Premiere of South Park targets iPhone location tracking with the Human Centipad

Wow those guys work fast. I have always been impressed with how quickly the guys at South Park can crank out a topical episode, but I HAVE to imagine this was a perfect storm of South Park already going to make their “Human Centipad” sketch, and then they somehow were able to tack on a 2 minute tracking piece. If not, they must have literally gotten their turn around time from script to air down to about 6 days. If you missed the episode, I assume it will be rerun... Read More

Apple releases “Apple Q&A on Location Data” to calm down the Nervous Nellies

In addition to two other boring press releases (white iPhone 4 tomorrow, iPad 2 in Japan this week) Apple PR just released their far more fun to read Apple Q&A on Location Data (below) in an attempt to address the would-be media storm surrounding the unencrypted location tracking data stored on the iPhone. (And OK, I’ll admit, I also wanted to use my awesome “Mantracker” graphic again). As expected, Apple says it is not “tracking” anyone, and... Read More

How and Why Steve Jobs and The Grim Reaper Track your iPhone

Of COURSE! It all makes sense now! Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader Tim for the link!  Read More

Homer Simpson voice now available for Tom Tom iPhone GPS App (But seems kind of annoying)

GPS maker TomTom announced today that you can now download Homer Simpson‘s voice as a $5.99 in-app purchase to replace the default set of voices in their $49.99 TomTom U.S.A GPS App. Since I already own the TomTom USA App, and was a HUGE fan of the Simpsons (for the first 15 years or so, anyway) I thought this might be a cute no-brainer of a purchase. That is, until I listened to the two voice samples TomTom posted on their page and MY GOD I can’t think of anything... Read More

Macenstein’s “Mac Chick of the Month” (April 2011): Heather Shanholtz

Welcome to Macenstein‘s “Mac Chick of the Month”. Each month we feature a different die-hard, Mac-loving girl who is (almost) as well designed as the Apple products they love. This month we present you with the lovely Heather Shanholtz ! Read More  Read More

Steve Jobs, frozen in carbonite iPhone case feels like something I should want, but don’t

Society6 is selling a “Steve Jobs in Carbonite” iPhone case for $35 that in theory is such a perfect geeky combination that I SHOULD want to own it. But something about it just feels so very creepy… I’m not sure I would want to touch it, let alone hold it really close to my cheek. Still, the idea IS oddly awesome. If the iPhone case isn’t your thing, it’s also available as a decal, art print, and T-Shirt. Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader... Read More

The Awesome iPad Art of Chris Seddon

Tina Fey or Sarah Palin? Either way, it's dead-on. Illustrator Chris Seddon has some pretty impressive work, but I’m always a little extra impressed when someone can crank out that work on an iPad. I spent about 2 days toying with the various big name drawing apps on the iPad before giving up and sticking with paper, but some artists like Seddon apparently stuck with it (using Sketch Club on the iPad) and have achieved great results, such as The Dude and my favorite,... Read More