Digital Impulses

Instaling Mac OS X Leopard (10.5)

This afternoon, after "The Interview", I decided to dedicate a few hours to installing Mac OS X Leopard.  Unfortunately, seeing as to the problems I had with iPhoto '08 earlier this year, I was very hesitant to start the upgrade without making absolutely sure I had backed up completely.

After much indecision and research of Mac backup programs, I just made sure that my iPhoto and iTunes library were indeed safe on my external hard drive and just plunged ahead with the default 'Upgrade Install'.

All in all, although it took a long time (over 90 minutes), the install itself was utterly painless.  I booted with the Leopard DVD, clicked a couple of buttons, answered a few questions and let the install do it's thing.

I returned to my Mac Mini about an hour and a half after it started the install and I was presented with a beautiful Leopard desktop, ready for me to explore and test.

I spent the next few hours going through the new features and making sure my hard disk(s) and the data thereon had survived intact and it had.  Everything was working as it should and nothing was out of the ordinary.  The install completed seamlessly and with nary a hiccup.

Score one for Apple in my book.

A trip to the Manhattan Beach Apple Store: Buying Leoaprd OS X 10.5

Just got back from picking up a copy of Leopard OS X 10.5 from the Apple Store in Manhattan Village Mall.  I decided to take the plunge on some very positive reviews from Leo Laporte on the TWiT Netcast network.

I bought the single-user, $129.00 copy and will be installing it either tomorrow or the day after, with Thursday being most likely, as tomorrow is Halloween and I will be going trick-or-treating with the kids and my siblings after work.

I am really looking forward to putting Leopard through it's paces.

RAM Upgrade kit for my Mac Mini

So, I just went to Crucial.com and purchased a 2GB RAM upgrade kit for my Mac Mini for a very reasonable $59.99.  With tax and expedited (2 business day shipping for $6.99), the total came to $71.39.

I had no idea RAM was so inexpensive. If I did, I would have upgraded the RAM on my Mac Mini months and months ago and avoided the frustration of getting the dreaded "Spinning Beach Ball Of Death" whenever I launch more than 1 or 2 apps and try to switch between them by tapping Cmd-Tab on the keyboard.

Regardless, I took the plunge and bought the RAM in anticipation of the coming of Leopard OS 10.5 which will be released by Apple tomorrow night at 6:00 P.M.

I think I am going to go ahead and follow one of the on-line Mac Mini RAM upgrade tutorials and do the RAM install myself rather than taking it into an Apple store and having one of the Apple Geniuses do it for me and paying through the nose for it

New Keyboard and Mouse for my Mac Mini

I just finished installing the Microsoft Wireless Laser Desktop for the Mac that I purchased earlier today with the gift cards that I got from my mom and sister for my birthday.

I drove to the Apple store in Manhattan Beach after work and after some looking around, I determined that this keyboard and mouse combo was just what I needed, since I have really never liked the "Mighty Mouse" that I got with my Mac Mini last December.

I can tell right away that I am going to be much, much happier and productive with this new optical mouse than I was with the Apple Mighty Mouse.

I have to admit that I found myself rolling over to my Windows machine whenever a long session of typing or web surfing was called for because I simply did not look forward to navigating with Apple's mouse.  I should have made this move a long time ago.

10 months of being uncomfortable on my Mac was retarded.  Now I know for next time.

iPhoto '08 photo library corrupted

So this evening, after stopping by Best Buy to pick up a sandisk Multicard reader, I took the time to install it correctly and then I made a MONUMENTAL GAFFE:  In trying to free up a USB Port on my Mac Mini to plug the card reader into, I UNPLUGGED my External Seagate 320 GB hard drive that is home to my iPhoto library. With iPhoto '08 OPEN.

Not good.

Upon restarting my Mac after all of the iLife 08 patches had DL'ed and been installed, iPhoto 08 presented me with the dreaded "gray box with the dotted lines outline" where most of my pictures used to be displayed.

After a bit of Googling this problem, I learned from the Mac Observer that you can hold down "command-option" and double-click the iPhoto 08 icon.  This will result in iPhoto '08 launching with a dialog box that prompts you to select a number of different rebuild and repair options for your thumbnails and your photo library.

Unfortunately for me, none of these options worked for me and nothing I did brought my images back into iPhoto.  Now the images appear to still be on the external Seagate, so I should be able to ferret them out and get them re-imported into iPhoto '08.  It was nearing 10:30 P.M. last nigt when I gave up the ghost and decided to call it a night and tackle the issue again tomorrow evening after work.

We will see how I fare in my first iPhoto '08 disaster.

Iphone Rebate

This morning, Apple announced a slew of new products, including the iPod Touch, Ipod Nano w/Video, Ipod 'Classic' and also made it known that the 8GB iPhone was being discounted $200 to $399.

Most important to me of course, was the $200 price reduction, as I just bought my phone 3 days ago.  After Jobs keynote was over at the Special Event, I raced over to the Apple web site to look at their policies in terms of price protection.

Sure enough, there was a paragraph there that stated that customers are entitled to price protection within 10 days of the purchase date.  I printed out the relevant section and highlighted it, with the intention of heading over to the Apple store in Manhattan Beach after work to see what they would say.

After work, I headed over to the Apple store with my son and his girlfriend, iPhone receipt in hand along with my earlier printout. 

Print-out not needed.

I walked up to the green-shirted employee at the register and explained that I had bought my iPhone on Sunday 9/2/07 and that I was hoping to get re-imbursed the $200 as part of Apple's price protection. BAM. Done.  The kid looked at me, smiled and said "...Of course.  Would you like store credit or are you going to buy something today?" 

feeling a little shocked because I was expecting them to put at least some resistance, I told him that a copy of ILife '08 and an Apple BlueTooth headset for $129 would be just fine.  He rang me up, I paid a few dollars to cover the difference and again I was o n my way inside of 10 minutes.

The Apple Retail experience is nothing short of AMAZING.  I cannot say enough good things about my experience with Apple dating back to last December when I got my Mac Mini.

Apple Rocks.  Plain and Simple.

Getting my 8GB iPhone

So, this afternoon, after waiting for my son and girlfriend to arrive from Huntington Beach, I got the remainder of my Birthday cash from my wife and son and combined it with the money we got yesterday from cashing in the coins in Manhattan Beach.

Having enough money for the phone, we drove over to the Apple Store in Manhattan Beach to buy the iPhone. Arriving at the store just a few minutes before closing, we walked up to the register and were attended to immediately by a very friendly Apple Store employee who asked me what size iPhone I wanted and dutifully got it for me.

The whole process took less than 10 minutes and before I knew it, I was at home in my office, unboxing the most hyped tech gadget of all time. 

The "applephoneshow": A podcast dedicated to Apple's iPhone

Scott Bourne is an author, lecturer, teacher and new media pioneer, and the president of Podango Productions in San Francisco, CA.

He is the founder of the world's first Internet-only radio network, Netradio, and is a co-host on several prominent podcasts including:

• MacBreak Weekly
• Apple Phone Show
• The iLifeZone

Bourne has also been a featured speaker at events such as Macworld Expo and the Podcast & Portable Media Expo.

With the "applephoneshow" podcast and website, Scott intends to provide a one-stop shop for all things iPhone.  Anything and everything related to the iPhone, including the very latest news, tips, step-by-step how-tos, reviews of iPhone accessories and anything else of import in the iPhone universe.

Tune in and stay tuned to all things "iPhone" at http://www.applephoneshow.com

Awesome Father's day

Neato.

Started off by a wonderful, friction-free breakfast with the family.  Before breakfast, my son and I stopped by the bakery to see his mom, and also ran into my mom there. 

Ritz Camera is AWESOME
After the bakery visit, we stopped by Ritz Camera in Manhattan Beach, where I picked up a spare battery for my camera and my son bought me the Quantray  Yellow, Orange and Warm filters for my Nikon D40 digital SLR camera.

Why the need for a spare battery?  Well, like a big dummy, I had left my camera on the entire day before and drained the battery.  So, of course, the new battery I bought was also not charged. 

In a brilliant fit of wonderful customer service, the lady behind the counter at Ritz offered to let me borrow the (charged) battery in the floor model Nikon D40.  So, I simply traded batteries with her and we agreed that I would just come by the store again after breakfast and swap batteries with her.

The Ritz Camera store in Manhattan Beach, CA at the intersection of Rosecrans and Aviation simply rocks.  If you are ever in the South Bay in Southern California and need anything in emergency photographic equipment, stop by and see Dan Purdy or anyone else there.  Highly Recommended

More CONCACAF Soccer
After breakfast, we stopped by Ritz again and swapped camera batteries. We then went home to watch Mexico beat Costa Rica in an exciting match in which Mexico prevailed 1-0, thereby earning a spot in the semi-finals  against Guadalupe, who later in the day beat  Honduras  2-1.

Seagate MyBook 320GB Hard Disk for my Mac Mini
Right after the match, I took a quick ride over to Best Buy to get myself a Father's Day gift of a Seagate 320GB External 'Essential MyBook' hard drive for $89.99. This was intended to hang off the back of my Mac Mini, whose internal puny 60GB hard disk had gotten full to capacity over the weekend when I transferred my Dodger Stadium images into my iPhoto library.

Watching The Departed
After the Soccer match and my trip to Best Buy, my son and I went to my room to watch The Departed, 2007 Oscar winner for Best Movie and Best Director for Martin Scorsese.  Although a bit long and somewhat confusing, the movie once again proved to be ultimately satisfying to see again.  My son seemed to enjoy it very much also.

Screwed by iTunes
After watching The Departed, I retired into my office until well after 11:00 P.M. to install my new external hard drive on my Mac Mini.  What took place over the next 4 hours is something worthy of a post in and of itself. Grizzly is one way to put it, I think.

Thus concluded one of the funnest, most satisfying Father's Days I can remember having in a long, long time.

iPhone Release Date Confirmed: June 11th, 2007

According to this story on CNet, Cingular Wireless has confirmed a release date for the much anticipated, much hyped, iPhone from Apple.

So.  74 days and counting...  I really wonder just how many of thees units Apple and Cingular will actually sell AFTER the hype and the euphoria and the reality distortion field dissipates. 

I suspect that once people get a chance to put the iPhone through its paces and start bumping up against the battery life, the small storage size (4 or 8 GB is *nothing* to hold video podcasts, movies, etc), and the still-to-be-determined actual usefulness of the on-screen virtual keyboard, the word-of-mouth emanating from having spent north of $500 on it may be slightly less than rosy.

It will be very interesting to see what happens and what the sales are like after the iPhone has been out 3 months, 6 months and a year later.