Macgasm

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In this episode, we talk about Lips.

[00.9 MB] [00:02:40] [Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner] [Subscribe]

I’ve fallen in love with Glyph ($4.99), a puzzle game that’s out of this world. The main game (Quest Mode), you need to save the dying world of Kuros by restoring ancient glyphs that are hidden under several levels of stones. You do this by removing the glistening colorful “jewels” — just as long as they’re in adjacent groups of three or more. Touch these groupings and they disappear from the screen; jewels from above fall and new jewels appear where those previously were. You’re awarded certain power-ups, such as the ability to sort jewels, the ability to bomb an area, or the ability to turn all nearby jewels a certain color. If you don’t use these power-ups when they’re immediately made available and continue to play on the game board, the power-ups gain momentum and can cover larger areas once used.

There are over 200 levels in Glyph, and you’ll easily see that you’re up for hours of exciting fun. The graphics, too, are excellent. It’s a game you won’t bore from — at least I didn’t. And in the alternate mode (Action mode), you continuously have to remove groupings of jewels that appear from the bottom of your screen. It’s good for a pick-me-up and for some good fun. I’m surely going to be playing this one for a long time.

On the October 16th, supposedly off the record, meeting at the Internal Neiman Jornalism Lab at Harvard Bill Keller, Executive Editor for the New York Times, might have let something slip: when listing several platforms the Times is working on bringing content to he mentioned something that could be the oh so desirable Apple tablet. At 8.33 in the video he says:

“I’m hoping we can get the newsroom more actively involved in the challenge of delivering our best journalism in the form of Times Reader, iPhone apps, WAP, or the impending Apple slate…”

According to Gizmodo Apple has been in talks with senior executives in newspapers, magazines and book publishers so it doesn’t seem too far fetched that they would know if something is going on, specially since the tablet could be the perfect platform for this kind of content. Apple has already redefined the way people listen to music; is the tablet their bet to redefine the way people read?

*fingers crossed*

via Gawker, 9to5Mac and Gizmodo

The hardest pill to swallow is knowing that your shiny new laptop will eventually be replaced by some other shiny new laptop within a matter of months.  It’s one of the prime reasons that leasing a computer or even signing up for some payment plan through a telco is a bad idea.

Today, we get evidence that another MacBook Pro might be on the verge of release or has at least hit the testing phase.  Current Macbook Pros are sitting at Model 5_*, and we’re now seeing references to 6_* models in system files.  We could see some Core i7 based Macbook Pros a lot sooner than some suspect.

via Applesana

Photo Credit: Yutaka Tsutano

Yesterday apple released new iMacs, amongst them are the 27″ iMacs. There are a few things that separate the new iMacs from the newly updated 21.5″ iMacs.

The first is the VESA mounts. The new 27″ iMacs support standard VESA mounts. What this means is that you can mount any 27″ iMac onto a wall. This has not been the case with any of the previous iMac iterations. None of the 24″, 20″, or 17″ iMacs were capable of this. I think this coupled with a couple of other items means quite a future for Apple.

The second feature that was added only to the 27″ iMacs was the ability for the iMac 27″ to accept input from anything through the Mini DisplayPort. This is a huge addition to the iMacs. This means that in all reality anybody could use their new 27″ iMac as an actual monitor.

Since the Mini DisplayPort is electronically like HDMI, the ability to use an adapter to allow any device to utilize the built-in monitor on the iMac. This could be a DVD Player, a Blu-Ray Player, or even a game console. As a side thought, I am wondering allowing external devices this is how Apple gets around not having to have built-in ‘bags of hurt’.

All of these new options, I believe, eventually will have Apple making a new device. I’ll say what I think in a bit, but first some information that ties everything all together.

Since Apple has decided to drop the ‘Computer’ from their name back in 2007 they made the first step into becoming a consumer electronics company. They have done so with MP3 players, with iPhone OS devices, and their computers. What is the biggest consumer device? The Television.

I think the next device will be an actual AppleTV. Why would I come to this conclusion. Well, let me explain. All of the items in conjunction with another, to me anyway, spells a television.

One item that adds to this possible new product is to use the use the new iMacs to verify that the the input capabilities of the new monitors actually works as Apple expects it to.

The other change made with the iMacs that lends credence to the idea that of a new aspect ratio (16:9) where the previous iMacs were (16:10). As most television followers know the standard screen ratio of high-definition 16:9.

The last little bit of news that makes this so plausible is the statement made by Tim Cook. “And so you”re correct that in general, we spend more in freight in Q1. However, this increase is larger than usual. And I”m sorry, I can”t be specific on the product, but it”s an abnormal sequential increase.” Mr. Cook specified that this was just not the ‘normal’ holiday increase. These increases were specifically related to Air freight.

Now I may just be reading too much into the tea leaves but to me this seems like a logical conclusion. What the Apple executives never said is that this item would be shipping in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010; they didn’t say anything about Superbowl sales of a television though. We will see what arrives in the, hopefully, not to distant future.

Activity Monitor is a little bit lacking for me. It’s not that it doesn’t provide pertinent information, it’s that it doesn’t do it in a way I’d like it too. atMonitor on the other hand puts your information in the menubar, and even in a heads up display on your desktop.

It’s a pretty powerful little application. As expected it gives you the information you need on processes that are running rampant (ahem *FireFox* ahem), but it also gives you access to RAM readings, CPU readings, hard drive information, and network transmission speeds.

Pretty much everything Activity Monitor does, but, it also lets you set up triggers that execute scripts. So for instance, if your computer is starting to get laggy and it passes a certain CPU% that you’ve assigned, you can write a nice little script that goes and axes Firefox. A pretty handy feature in today’s day and age of web browsers taking up way too much RAM. Another thing it lets you do is set up priorities for certain processes. So, if you’d prefer Final Cut to get all the attention from the computer while it’s crunching away, rending that home video of yours, you can set it up to do that.

If you’re sick of the activity monitor you might want to check this out. It’s free, so there’s nothing really stopping you from giving it an old fashioned kick at the can.

Labyrinth ($2.99) is an amazing collection of playable mazes for the those who love a challenge. You may have seen labyrinths as a kid, but today’s labyrinth is in the palm of your hand, thanks to Codify AB and Illusion Labs. In the former and current versions of the game, you had to tilt the maze to lead a steel ball from start to finish, carefully avoiding holes that the ball could land in. Using the iPhone accelerometer, Labyrinth is nothing short of fantastic. It does an incredible job giving players full control over the ball.

If you’re on an uneven surface, fortunately, you can calibrate the iPod touch sensors, and doing so is as easy as pie. Put the device on a flat surface and hit the Settings button. You’ll see the bubble levels. Once the bubbles are centered on both the horizontal and vertical bubble levels, you’re ready to confirm and play the game.

One of the most amazing features of Labyrinth is really the fact that there are thousands of mazes to choose from. Become a master at one level? You have a few hundred more to beat. Labyrinth is powered by community; that is, there are people contributing different levels to the game, ensuring that you’ll never get too bored with the game — ever. There really are that many options available to you.

Further, you’re empowered as a maze creator. All you need to do is visit their website to create and edit your levels. You’ll have a unique ID to identify yourself as the creator. Once the maze is created, you simply download them and unleash the power in the palm of your hand.

You’d think a game like Labyrinth doesn’t need an iPhone app. Illusion Labs and Codify AB really have made a solid argument proving otherwise. The game is great, the interaction of the community was a brilliant idea, and you’re in for hours of challenging fun.

Macgasm now has an official presence on Facebook!

You can add yourself as a fan, and join in on all the good stuff. We’re sharing all sorts of great Mac and iPhone related posts, photos, and videos on our Wall. Feel free to join in, and add your own.

Don’t forget to check out the discussion board as well. Having problems with your iPhone? How about a wonky MacBook? Ask in the discussion board, and we’ll try to help you out.

Photo Credit: _Max-B