Macgasm

A post on the South Park Studios Blog post revealed that a South Park iPhone app had been rejected by Apple. This is disappointing in many ways, mostly because we can’t bring Clyde Frog with us wherever we go, but also…well, it’s mostly about watching South Park and playing their Flash games.

Apple’s reason for rejecting the app was that the content was ‘potentially offensive.’ As with many app store rejections however, this seems to be more protectionist policy in the approval process. The South Park creators are well known for having gotten fed up with fans resorting to potentially illegal means to get access to their shows and decided to post them all online for free. Apple sells all the South Park episodes through their online store. This isn’t a business practice or policy that one can really take offense to, as I’m sure that any of us would act the same if it came to our sources of income, but it’s very frustrating for consumers.

So, without further ado I will provide you some ways to enjoy free South Park on demand, wherever you are.

First off, in regards to the iPhone there is South Park Mobile which features an iPhone customized interface and pretty snappy download speeds.  They also have a sister site that is Family Guy Mobile which even has Blue Harvest.

Second, if you’re at your desk or laptop there is the South Park Studio’s site, and for Canadian readers there is  the Comedy Network website.

Third, there are several indexing sites that collect or post links themselves. One dedicated to South Park is www.allsp.com and  Surf the Channel has a good selection of many T.V Shows and Movies.

• South Park Mobile – www.southparkmobile.net
• South Park Studio’s – www.southparkstudios.com
• Comedy Network – www.thecomedynetwork.ca
• AllSP.com – www.allsp.com
• Surf the Channel – www.surfthechannel.com

[South Park Studios via BoingBoing]

[Download] [03.7 MB] [0:08:00]
Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner

We talk about Twitter clients for OS X in this episode of the Macgasm Podcast. Both Grant and Josh like Twitterriffic because of the Growl integration and built-in spell checking. Twhirl and TweetDeck are also discussed.

While it might not be a head-to-head battle royale, it certainly seems like Boxee might have a challenge on their hands as someone from a Google code team is working on getting Hulu and Netflix support directly into front row.  Now, I love boxee and use it quite frequently (add me…I’m macgasm… go figure!), there’s something to be said about front row getting support for these other services.  To be frank, it likely means a lot less people will be turning to Boxee once the Google product matures a little.  I’m personally more likely to use the tools that are built into an OS than download another third party application, especially if it means I can run my Mac Mini on the TV straight out of the box.  It might be awhile for that to become reality however, and until it gets a little more stable, I’ll be sticking with Boxee.

Filemaker released an update to their popular personal database application, Bento, back in November. With me being a mysql type of person for any type of database,I thought I would give it a go and review it. Since we all started with some database application, personal databases are nothing new to me. I started back in the Access 97 days on the Windows side of the computing world. Being into the Mac for only two years, I did not get an opportunity to play with the original version of Bento, so you can consider me a newbie with the Filemaker products. Let’s dive in, shall we?

Bento 2 is a great little application for those who want to create a database that they will be using to keep track of anything, whether it be a book collection, DVD collection, or if they just want a cool way to look into their address book. Bento 2 is quite flexible, like most other personal database applications, there is not much that you cannot do with Bento. The key difference between Bento and other personal database applications is that it has the ‘Mac’ feel to it.

By ‘Mac feel’ I mean that it has the simple and intuitive nature of most other Mac applications. You can drag and drop each field of your database onto the form. You can resize the fields, and pretty much add what you want to your database. The entire ‘administration’ of the database can be done using the form view, or by using the table view of your data.

There are two different ways to actually input in your data. The first way is to do this is by using the ‘traditional’ editing technique by creating the table, adding fields, then populating the data. Which is good for those are used to spreadsheets, but there is the second way, which is better for the more visual people in the crowd.

The second way is to actually create the form and then start filling in the data that way. Setting up forms isn’t always the best, since you may think of adding something later, as well as having the task of going back through all of your data after adding a field can be a bit daunting. But, the beauty part is that if you do add a field it will appear and you can go back and your leisure and add the information at a later time.

One thing that Bento does quite well is show you how to actually use the program. They do this by actually having some projects pre-populated. The best example is their ‘Address Book’ database. This pulls all of your information from Address book. This project allows you to see what Bento can do, and allows you to take a look at how they created the project and you can go ahead and tinker with that one and use it to create your own. See below for the Overview and Detail Views.

One thing you can do, in case you’re moving from another database, is that you have the ability to import data from several types of files. I didn’t test this myself, but I figure it should take pretty much anything like comma separated values (csv) or access databases, or even Excel spreadsheets. Try it out and leave some feedback.

I’d recommend everybody try out Bento if you need a personal database application. It works better than Access, and it works for personal databases. If you’re looking for simple and easy to use Personal database system, since Office for Mac doesn’t include one, I’d recommend Bento 2 by Filemaker. It’s $49 for the single user license and $99 for the family pack, which allows 5 licenses. Head over to File Maker.com to get the trial or buy a copy.

Hi Everyone!

It seems like I’m the latest edition to Macgasm’s blogging team and I wanted to share something good with you, just to kick things off.

What I’ve got for you is Apple’s very own repository of OS X tips and tricks that’s hidden away on Apple.com. Either hit up this link or go to apple.com, search ‘Business’, take the top hit and click on ‘Theater.’

The video tutorials introduced an Apple Genuis and give excellent walk-throughs of all the provided tips. The tutorials are good for new and old Mac users, either to help you get know your way around or to remind yourself of some of the great features you’ve forgotten about.

There’s a new tip every week; this week’s is about the Finder Path Bar.

Enjoy!

If you are a blogger and you aren’t using Blogo you are missing out on a wonderful application for the Mac and your blog.

Blogo is a desktop application for publishing to many different blog sites including Blogger, Typepad, and WordPress, just to name a few. I am actually using Blogo to write this post right now. The best part about the application is you can set up several blogging accounts on it, then chose where you want to publish the blog that you have written. This makes it especially nice if you are like me and have a personal blog and then write for a more popular blog!

I have been using Blogo for a for about 2 weeks now and have recently made the $25 plunge and purchase this wonderful software. If you are a little nervous about buying Blogo, you can download it and try it for 30 days at http://drinkbrainjuice.com

[Download] [02.4 MB] [0:05:05]
Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner

We feel that the media hype over the health status of Steve Jobs is disrespectful and in poor taste. As of this episode, we will be adhering to a moratorium on discussing any rumors on his health. Macgasm will only cover the topic if there is an official press release from Apple, Inc. or Steve himself.

Have you ever wanted to use your laptop as a desktop? With the lid closed, and the machine hooked up to a sexy cinema display?  When I bought my iBook I dreamed of the possibility and was constantly told that it was impossible because the device would over heat.  I never persued it further than that initial research, but, the thought never expired.

Having just purchased a brand spanking new Macbook Pro I figured I’d give it another go.  Much to my chagrin, not only is it possible, but Apple actually recommends doing it.  The real caveat here is that you obviously need a monitor, keyboard, and mouse plugged into it so it will work.

Plug in all the devices, close the lid, click a mouse button to wake it from sleeping, and away you go.

It’s as simple as that.   If you want some more info, and more specifically information on using bluetooth devices, check out the support article from apple.