Macgasm

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Hosted by: Grant Brunner

In this episode, Grant talks about the Safari 4 public beta and the news that OmniWeb 5.9 has been released for free.

[Download] [03.4 MB] [0:07:20]
Hosted by: Grant Brunner & Marty Keefe

In this episode, we discuss producing podcasts on Macs. Grant suggests recording in Quicktime Pro, and using Apple’s iLife suite to edit and export. Also, look into the Conversation Network’s Levelator to help smooth out your recording.

We have been hearing rumors of aKindle app for the iphone for the last month or so, But now it is official! The “Kindle for iPhone” app is now available through the iTunes app store for your iPhone. This app is pretty nice too. I just purchased and received my new Kindle 2 and I have already installed this app on my iPhone. The nice thing is, it seems that you don’t have to have a kindle to use this app. So if you want to save some money, you can. The other nice thing, is if you have a kindle you can put your already purchased books on your iPhone for free. It also syncs every thing so you have your bookmarks and notes, and even can pick up where you left off on your other device!

You do have to remember, You are reading on the iPhone, so it is not the most pleasant experience. You have a small screen, and some of the formatting looks funky with some of the pages. Another thing to remember is with the kindle you get a ton of battery life to read several books with out having to recharge, with the iphone this will help burn through your battery. But if you are going to be on the go, I think this would be a great app to pick up for free. I think this is a must have app if you have a kindle though.

Apple today released a slew of updates. Among these updates were two minor, but necessary updates. Both the Time Capsule and Airport Extreme saw a small minor update to support all of the major wireless standards. 802.11a, and 802.11b/g/n. The update was that now both the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule are dual-band.

The move to add 802.11a seems a bit odd, considering that the prevalence of 802.11b/g/n almost makes the case for 802.11a moot.

There is one major software change that has been added to the Airport Extreme and Time Capsule. The notion of ‘Guest Networking’. This is a simple and easy way to protect your network, yet allow guests to connect to your broadband connection, but not allow them to see any of your files or computers. This makes it much simpler to allow guests to access your network without giving them a password and worrying about your privacy.

The only reason I can think that Apple has decided to include 802.11a would be that they have a new product in the works that may work better on 802.11a since it is a higher frequency. Now, this could just be taking a shot in the dark, but it just befuddles me to why you would add 802.11a to a product that doesn’t really need it.

Prices have not changed for any of the products. The airport extreme is still $179.00, while the 500GB time capsule is $299 and the 1TB time capsule is $499. Currently, Apple has discounted the older generation hardware on the Airport Extreme only. I’m assuming this is only until their stock of the old supply is gone. The Airport Extreme, 2.4GHz only, is $159.

With the hardware updates, there is also a software update for Airport Utility. The version, now up to 5.4.1 allows you to manage the Airport Express, Airport Extreme and Time Capsule. This update is available for both Mac and Windows.

Mac Download.
Windows Download

In addition to the Airport Utility software update, there is also an Airport Client Update 2009-001. This is for Intel-based Macs running 10.5.6 and above. It is available from here or by getting from Software Update.

Sometimes we need a simple application to invoice clients with, and sometimes finding these applications can be a bit of a laborious process.  Our very own Corey Harris decided to give you a screencast walk through of an application that lets you invoice. Involver’s a friendly invoicing application that is simple to use and quick to figure out. We’re planning on releasing a new screen cast every other week, so if you like what we’ve done with this one please feel free to subscribe to our podcast in iTunes.

Download the involver screencast.

There is a new Mac Mini as promised with an impressive update to the system, as well as the iMacs recieving a huge boost in memory.

The Mac Pros now feature the latest Nehalem processors, which clock up to 2.93ghz running in an eight core setup. Airport Extreme and Time Capsule also saw some features added.

All in all a good day for the Mac community, I know I’m going to be looking at a new Mac Mini sometime this year.

Head over to your local Apple store or apple.com for all the details.

The internet has been abuzz with the release of Amazon’s Kindle 2, their e-book reader. Essentially the Kindle is an e-book reader that allows you to download books directly to the device whenever you want. It comes with lifetime Sprint EVDO to provide connectivity. You can read my full review here. When I ordered the Kindle I started to look for some software that would allow me to create Kindle 2 compatible documents. I ran across an application called Stanza.

Stanza is a great application for converting from the following formats:

To any one of the following formats:

If you want to export a document all you have to do is go to File -> Export Book As and save it as your intended format. For the kindle I recommend ‘Mobi Pocket’.

You can also download Stanza for the iPhone and iPod Touch which will allow you to read e-books on your device. Although I’m wondering how much reading anyone can do with the iPhone or iPod touch with such a small screen.

I’d recommend that you go and check it out, if you’re interested in doing any type of e-book reading or conversion. It’s free so give it a try. It’s available for both Windows and Mac.