Macgasm

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In this episode, we talk about using to-do lists.

[03.2 MB] [00:09:30] [Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner] [Subscribe]

For a while now I’ve been writing about how the iPad can be used in schools for education, or how it can be used for entertainment.  Be it watching videos, playing games, or simply reading a novel.  Well, I’d like to switch gears and look at how the iPad could make an impact in the business world.  The iPad has core apps that would be great for use in business.

Olga Kharif of BusinessWeek is reporting that the iPad has peeked the interests of many people in business.  One in particular is Jim Turner, who has ordered fifteen iPads.  Jim runs a consultant agency, and he provides Information Technology Services to Law Firms and other businesses in the D.C. area.  When asked how he would be using the iPad, he simply responded with, “It’s for business,…”.  Jim goes on to explain how he will use the iPad in his business:

“…says he’ll use the computer for checking e-mail on the go and taking notes while setting up client computer systems.”

Jim brings up an excellent point for the iPad in business.  Checking email.  Something that’s unavoidable in business is email.  Personally, I don’t know how we functioned before email.  With the iPad you can be mobile, yet stay in touch with your employees or clients.  The iPad will also include iCal with a gorgeous interface.  I’m not lying when I say that the interface is gorgeous.  My only hope is that they port this over to iCal for the Mac.  With iCal on the iPad you will have access to all of your appointments, plus you can make changes and updates to you calendar right in the app.  Let’s not forget about Address Book.  This is key to keep in contact with everyone.  If you need to write up an email, no problem you have your entire Address Book with you wherever you go.  Or, you might need to look up your clients address, it’s just a finger touch away.

Apple will be offering iWork for the iPad.  Fortunately for us it’s not just a port of the desktop applications.  Instead it has been re-tooled to utilize a touch interface.  And, unlike the desktop version where you have to buy all three applications as a suite, on the iPad you get to pick and choose.  Best of all each app will only cost $9.99.  So, how would you use Numbers on the iPad, you don’t have a mouse to click and drag.  Well, as I mentioned before you’ll will interact with Numbers by touching the area you want to manipulate.  For example, you will hold on the cell you want to copy, and then drag it across the spreadsheet.  Pages will also be very useful for writing up documents or jotting down some notes.

The app that I think will definitely be most used in a business environment is Keynote.  This is Apple’s presentation application.  With the added VGA dongle, you’ll be ready to show your presentation on any projector.  Another great feature with Keynote is you’ll be able to make changes right on your iPad.  This is very beneficial when you’re about to give your presentation, and you notice that you forgot to add a slide, or you found some spelling errors.

Microsoft has been trying to make the TabletPC a success in business; however, they have somewhat fallen short of what they envisioned the TabletPC to be in the business market.  Now there are going to be some that say that the TabletPC is a success.  I ask those people, why it has not been more widely adopted in business?  I can’t say that the iPad will be a success, but it definitely has potential to be great.  It will have less of a barrier of entry than the iPhone did because the iPhone is almost like the big brother in the sense that it paved the way for the iPad.  You are going to have employees that are comfortable with the iPhone, and be more willing to accept the iPad in their business world.  Are you planning on using the iPad for business?  If you are, how will you use it, and how will it increase productivity for you?  I’d like to know, so tell me in the comments section below.

Photo Credit: iPad

Article Via BusinessWeek

In the culture of the nerd, having the newest and shiniest everything equates to being well liked. God forbid we take a breather with the latest and greatest. Believe me, I am just as guilty of this as any of you are. I am constantly on the prowl for new software, and that often leads me to broken software, sadly.

If you look at the page for Google’s Quick Search Box, the beta version that I’ve been using hasn’t even been touched since last August. If beta software is meant for public consumption, doesn’t it stop being a beta in spirit?

On the flip side, we also get 1.0 software that is fundamentally broken. Sadly, this is all too common in the gaming world. They focus on just getting something to ship, and then we’re left waiting for a patch to fix all of their bugs. This just isn’t an acceptable practice.

To be fair, it is impossible to test your software on every configuration that exists. Hell, public betas even reduce the bugs in 1.0 software. Unfortunately, we seem stuck in this everlasting beta phase in either name or functionality.

So, what can we do about it? Pay for your software. If you can chose between a free application and a paid application, you’re far more likely to have a responsive support team. Even if the support team is made up of one guy in his home office, his paycheck is on the line. If you’re complaining to a development team for free software, you’re more likely to get the high hard one.

Supporting your favorite applications by paying the developers is the best way to keep those apps great. If the developers don’t feel like they have any incentive to fix bugs, or innovate, good luck trying to get them to respond to your issues. They are people with bills and families. If they’re just developing software as a hobby, you’re going to get hobby-level support.

What are your thoughts? Are you obsessed with finding the latest betas? Maybe you’re sick and tired of “Stable software” not being so stable. Please let me know by commenting on this post.

Photo Credit: Verity Cridland, Google, redjar

A Summer Games app for the ages. StickSports: Summer Games brings us another game for the iPhone and iPod Touch. While the free version of the game is home to only three summer sports, it still has it’s moments. Except when you’re tapping away during the 1500 meter race. Just try to imagine how many steps you’d take in an actual 1500 meter race and then multiply that by five to get the amount of finger taps you’ll need to finish this race with even a decent score.

What You Can Expect

You can definitely get your money out of this free app, and use it over and over. This lite app features three Olympic track and field sports: the javelin throw, the 1500 meter race, as well as the 100 meter race. Every event in the game utilizes a finger tap in order to sprint and the javelin throw requires an extra tap to launch. You’ll probably never complain more about a game until you try the 1500 race on your iPhone. This isne hell of a way to work on your dexterity! The amount of tapping on the screen seems kind of pointless, but the entire game is quite simple, and they hit on the point they were shooting for.

The Better Parts About the Game

While the game could get on the nerves of some, it does have it’s lighter moments. The javelin throw and 100 meter race are actually quite enjoyable, especially if you’re hanging out with some friends and want to try to beat each others scores. The game really has no ease or hard difficulty, it’s based primarily on how much you’re willing to tap wildly at your gadget’s screen. The 100 meter race isn’t as time consuming (or dreadful) as the 1500 meter race is, and can turn out to be enjoyable as you try to beat your score each and every time.

Looking to the Future

As this is a very small game (even the full version is) I would really recommend improving some of the features. I know it’s your “thing” by using stick figures as the playable character. But adding in features to help improve the mechanics, like a better aiming feature to the javelin throw. Right now you’re distance is measured only by the amount of speed you have as you approach the fault line. If you were to add in a depth cue or maybe a power meter to the throw, things would be a little bit better. I think it would also be cool to buy upgrades for your stick figure. Turn this in to a comical event instead a realistic stick figure game. Let me add some rockets to the javelin and hit over 1500 feet with a throw. It would be really cool to see a point system added as well. That way, I can build up points to make upgrade purchases to help out later on.

The Just of It

Overall, I did enjoy the game. I found myself playing it in the movie theater waiting for the show to start, and while I was stuck in traffic. It definitely passed the time and I didn’t get any more bored than I already was. For a free app, it is definitely worth the quick download and addition to any iPhone. There is definitely room for improvement, but I’d recommend acquiring this app now for that “just in case” moment that you’re stuck behind somebody slow at the Starbucks drive-thru, or if you arrive a little too early for your movie. If I had to throw a score on the app, I’d easily place it darn close to three and a half stars out of five.

[You can read more about StickSports: Summer Games by going directly to the creator's website here.]

Would you like to have your computer turn itself on in the morning, or when you return home from work?  No, I’m not talking about a computer from Star Trek.  I’m talking about a great feature that’s built into Mac OS X.  It has an auto on and off feature in Energy Saver under System Preferences.

To enable this feature, you’ll need to open up System Preferences, and select Energy Saver.  Once there, you will click on Schedule.  A new window will overlay on top of Energy Saver.  Now, you will see two options.  The first one is Start up or Wake.  The second option has three sub-options they are – Sleep, Restart, and Shutdown.  With both options you can set them for Weekdays, Weekends, and Everyday.  You even have the option to select individual days between Monday through Sunday.  Below is an example of how your Schedule could look:

Don’t limit yourself to what I demonstrated above.  Play around with your schedule, and have fun with it.  Just make sure you don’t freak everyone out in your house, when your Mac all of a sudden turns itself on.  Your family might just think your Mac is haunted.

My Brute, from Bulkypix, is a martial-arts combat game… sort of.

Don’t expect to memorize complex multitouch gestures and combo moves—that’s not what My Brute is like.  Think Pokemon: the idea is that you create different anime-style fighting characters (your “Brutes”) and pit them against other players’ Brutes from other dojos all over the world.  As they fight, they gain experience and unlock new abilities.  It’s not exactly an original concept, but if that’s what you like, My Brute does a decent job of it.

Gameplay

The game starts by asking you to name your dojo, and then create fighters.  (There is an option to join under a “Master”—players invite other players to join the game and gain advantages from having people join their team—but I didn’t explore that.)

Character creation is the most involved (and time-consuming) part of the game; with good reason, since success or failure in combat depends almost entirely on your Brute’s statistics.  The game lets you customize almost every aspect of your Brute’s appearance, and gives you some influence over its strengths and fighting characteristics.  There is also an online store where you can buy weapons and accessories for your Brute.

The combat reminds me of Final Fantasy II, except that it requires even less interaction.  As soon as you choose an opponent, combat starts and… you just watch.  This was disappointing at first, especially considering how much time creating my Brute took.  The speed of combat and the interesting animations made up for that, to a degree.

To level the playing field, the game only allows you to fight six battles in a 24-hour period.  That may seem like a heavy restriction for a paid game, but it does keep you from getting either addicted or bored.  I certainly wanted to keep playing after my first six battles were done.

High Points.

A lot of early games for the iPhone used every feature available, from multitouch to the accelerometer.  Not My Brute.  Instead of having a complex interface, My Brute concentrates on ease of gameplay.  Other than using your location data (to place your dojo on a map of the world) and allowing you to choose background music from your own library, only simple touch control is used to do everything.  Navigation is simple, once you figure out the game.

Things that could be better.

My Brute could do with more detailed instructions; figuring out how to play initially was a mixture of guesswork and rifling through the wiki.  There is no explanation for what the icons and symbols mean, or at least not that I found.  With better, more accessible instructions, the game would be easier to get into and its simple interface would really shine.

Wrap-up

All in all, My Brute, even though it’s not the kind of game I’m used to, turned out to be more engaging than expected.  If you like stats-based combat games, My Brute is intricate and kind of fun, but will require a long-term commitment to be worth its $4.99 price tag.

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In this episode, we talk about our obsession with Apple.

[03.8 MB] [00:11:40] [Hosted by: Josh Schnell & Grant Brunner] [Subscribe]

What would you do if you broke your iPhone?

An initial reaction would be to visit your local Apple Store. After all, each store comes equipped with a repair team, known as the Genius Bar. You bring your iPhone to them (or any Apple product) and a Genius will fix your device.

Sounds simple enough. But if the screen on your iPhone is cracked, or it’s been exposed to water, it’s not covered under Apple’s warranty. To get a new phone, you’re then faced with shelling out the full price of $200. You’ve got to pay rent, and bills, and $200 is looking pretty hard to stomach.

This is where Dr. Brendan comes in.

Dr. Brendan (real name Brendan McElroy) is a veritable one-man iPhone repair operation. Working out of his apartment in the West East Village in Manhattan, Dr. Brendan is able to repair your iPhone for a fraction of what Apple charges.

For example: that cracked screen? Dr. Brendan’s asking price is a mere $85. And he understands what it’s like to break an iPhone.

“I dropped my phone after a bartending shift, and looked into YouTube videos on how to fix it, and it was just broken glass, that’s all. And that’s a pretty easy fix,” said Dr. Brendan during a visit to his West Village apartment. “[After that] I started off just putting up CraigsList ads. The biggest part was building a network of people here in the city of referrals. One customer can be so valuable because people have friends that have iPhones… to provide a good experience that then leads to them giving a referral is huge.”

Dr. Brendan's workspace

So huge, in fact, that a small writeup in popular graphic design blog Swissmiss had Dr. Brendan fielding repair requests from all over North America. But what makes customers trust him with their precious iPhones?

“I think the customers are looking for an alternative, something that’s more affordable. I take accountability for what I’m going to do. If someone goes onto eBay, buys a part and does it themselves, then who’s going to take accountability besides them? If they screw up their phone they pay the price. If I screw up their phone, I will replace it. I have a reputation for standing by my work,” explained Dr. Brendan.

Anyone familiar with Apple product repair knows that obtaining the correct parts is a difficult task. Dr. Brendan would not reveal where he purchases iPhone components, so as to protect those relationships. Dr. Brendan said, “It was hard for me to find a supplier that would give me a good price and was also reliable. Because there’s a lot of scheisty Chinese distributers out there. You know, there’wes people over there that will sell you used parts and tell you that they’re new, they’ll tell you that they’re original parts and they’re actually third-party, knockoff cheap parts… I use OEM [Original Equipment Manufacturer] parts unless they want the cheapo knockoff ones.”

An opened iPhone, revealing the battery and motherboard.

Watching Dr. Brendan in action was a mere 15 minute process. A middle-aged man arrived at the apartment, broken iPhone in hand. He had accidentally shattered the glass during a rambunctious night out. As shown in the picture below, his iPhone now looks as though it was never dropped.

An iPhone with new glass. All in a day's work.

After his customer left, Dr. Brendan mentioned the enjoyment he gets from his work. “If you’re into fixing stuff, and you’re not terribly worried about breaking your iPhone, it’s fun to do. Which I don’t encourage. I encourage them to come to me!”

Editor’s Note: We accidentally said Dr. Brendan’s apartment was in the West Village.  He’s actually in the East Village.