Macgasm

Those Jazzy iPad commercials, featuring Chilly Gonzales’s Never Stop (He’s Canadian BTW!) have officially become mainstream enough that South Park thought they should take it, along with the structure from Apple’s new iPad commercials, and turn them into a parody.

The commercial, an advertisement and reminder for upcoming episodes, is pretty hilarious. It’s a great way to get the weekend started.

Article Via 9 to 5 Mac

It takes the HandBrake team a long time to deliver stable versions of the popular transcoding app. They’re all unpaid volunteers, so it’s understandable. That said, we’re often left using year-old technology when there are developer builds available that take advantage of the latest and greatest in the world of video compression.

Nightly builds allow you to download newer versions of HandBrake, but they are likely to be unstable. You’ll get to test out the new features before anybody else. Be warned, though – nightly builds are not for the unexperienced. Sometimes you’ll be dealing with an unpolished feature. In fact, you’ll often be left with an unfinished encode after a crash. That said, I’ve been using the nightly builds of HandBrake for a few months now, and I’ve found it to be more stable than not. Don’t rely on it for mission critical work, and you’ll be fine.

So, what do you think about trying out early-stage software like HandBrake? Are you brave enough to jump in head first? Sound off in the comment section of this post. We here at Macgasm want to know what you have to say. If you’re so inclined, you can hit me up on Twitter. I’d be more than happy to read your comments there.

There’s nothing like putting out fires before they even start burning. Apple’s currently refunding expedited shipping charges for the Apple TV to those people who were hoping to be able to yell FIRST on Twitter with a TwitPic of their new Apple TV.

Apple sent out an email notifying people that “Due to delay, we may have not been able to meet our delivery commitment.” There’s no mention of whether the device is being shipped directly from China, or if the Apple TV is so delayed that they’re going to miss their September release date. This nesw is a little bit curious considering that Apple, just yesterday, started charging the credit cards of those people who have already placed orders for the device.

The Apple Store has said for a while now that the device will ship in 2 to 3 weeks for a while now, despite TechCrunch’s claims that it was a recently changed from “Shipping in September” to “2 to 3 weeks.” Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Canadian Store more than the US based store, so their could have been some discrepancies there.

I’ve been poking around our local Apple Store every couple of weeks trying to get my hands on the device, and from what I’ve been able to gather is that no one has any clue when they’ll show up, which isn’t exactly abnormal for the Apple Store. They generally don’t know anything until they show up at their shipping dock, and even then it’s a handful of people who would know immediately.

Article Via Macstories and TechCrunch and iLounge

Third parties and resellers are finally getting their hands on the iPad, so it’s no surprise this morning that a company like Target would also be getting their hands on the product. While we don’t have Targets up here in Canada, but plenty of people south of the border might be pretty happy about the news.

It seems like Target will only be getting the WiFi models, and one 3G model, though we don’t know which model just yet. Target announced today that the’ll be selling the iPad’s starting on October 3, and will still be applying their 5% discount to store credit-card holders. So, if you’re thinking about buying an iPad, you might want to check your local Target before heading off to an Apple Store, it could save you some coin.

Article Via 9 to 5 Mac and Apple Insider

Either you love the iPad or you don’t. I have to be brutally honest here, and say I’ve met very few people who hate it. It could be the circles I run in, or it could be that I’m just amazing at seeking out content people. Either way, putting an iPad in someone’s hands usually means giant grins.

It takes quite a while for most to notice any major problems with the iPad, but sooner or later a couple of them start wondering how they were meant to hold the device. Two hands or one? If anything, this is the main reason Apple might be making a move to create 7-inch iPads, should the rumours turn out to be true, which we’re still slightly skeptical about. Numerous sites today are reporting that the 7-inch Apple iPad 2 is finished, and suppliers with super huge mouths are saying it looks more like an iPhone 4 than it does an iPad. And, these suppliers are saying that the device will be ready to ship in the second quarter of 2011, which would likely coincide with the traditional January announcement cycle.

If you’re going to take anything away from these rumours, it should be that Apple tends to announce new products in January. Other than that, it’s a bunch of best guesses, and we’re bound to see them ramp up between now and January.

So, where does that leave us? Well, if you round up a bunch of rumours and put them all in one place, we might see in the JesusPad this time around the following:

• Camera…Check
• Front Facing Camera…Check
• Able to hold it in one hand…Check
• Smaller Audio Jack…Check
• Retina Display…Check
• Over the Air Sync…Check

We could go on and on here, but most of the time these rumours are rarely true, so, before you start hurling eggs at us, please don’t shoot the messenger.

Want to know what the best thing about this rumour is?  If Apple’s taken on the iPhone approach to the new iPad, and designed it to have an external antenna, it would be a giant bird-flip to all the antennagate whiners, and bumper cry-asses out there, and that’s something we’d love to see.

Article Via Apple Insider and Cult of Mac and MacRumours

Capcom is cutting the prices on eight of their more popular titles through the weekend to just 99 cents. Included in the sale are Mega Man II, Resident Evil 4, Cash Cab, and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2010. Unfortunately, Street Fighter IV is not on the list, but there are some good deals to be had.

Here are the games and their new prices:

• Resident Evil 4 $4.99 => $.99
• 1942: Joint Strike $1.99 => $.99
• Mega Man II $2.99 => $.99
• Dark Void Zero $2.99 => $.99
• Cash Cab $4.99 => $.99
• Cash Cab: Las Vegas $1.99 => $.99
• Are You Smarter Than A 5TH Grader? 2010 $1.99 => $.99
• Who Wants To Be A Millionaire 2010 $1.99 => $.99

I have many fond memories of wasting quarters trying to get past the big tank in the arcade version of 1942, so spending 99 cents is like four tries in the arcade… what a deal! It’s too bad you don’t actually win money playing Cash Cab or Millionaire, but at least you can simulate the feeling of winning. Or if you’re into 8-bit games, Dark Void Zero and Mega Man II are classics. And if you can’t wait for Left 4 Dead to come out on the Mac next month, you can stem the tide of zombies in Resident Evil 4 while you wait. Patiently. Die zombies, die!

So if you’re looking for a game deal this weekend, head on over to App Store and grab some of these games before the sale ends.

As some of you know, I’ve taken to using a good ole’ pen and paper model for my GTD these days, but that hasn’t stopped me from looking for something on iOS that better suits my needs. It’s with great interest that I stumbled across the graphical planner, Diacarta.

Diacarta is more of a daily planner than a ToDo list application, but it illustrates exactly what I was talking about in my previous article. Developers need to step outside of the box and tackle this age old problem that we still seem to be facing in the digital age.

Diacarta lets you place visual reminders next to a clock, giving you a picture, and more importantly an overview of your day. It does a great job of giving you all the information you need in one spot, without having to dig through folders or settings just to see what’s on the agenda for the day. You get it all at once, and all in one place. But, the really great thing is that if you need to be able to put details into your daily reminders you also have the ability to do so.

To add additional information, place an icon on the screen as close as possible to the time you want it to be attached to, then double tap the icon, and it will bring up the details pane. From the details pane you will be able to adjust time, add notes about your task, and add both a name and a location.

To see the information you click on the thumbnail and hold until the details come up.

If you want to move into the future, swipe from right to left, and you’ll go through two pages per day, one for the AM and another for the PM. If you want to go back in time, swipe left to right, or bring up the calendar view, and navigate in a more familiar way.

What’s Macgasmic

Have you seen the screenshots? The app looks great, and provides a layout that we’ve never really seen before. The image based planner does an excellent job of giving you an overview in one glance.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much can you say with a screen full of icons?  Diacarta does a great job giving you a reminder without making you waste time reading words.  If you’re a visual person, this app’s for you.

What needs work

TJ Luoma left a great comment on a previous article where I suggested that a pen and paper is a better system for me than an iOS device.  What he said left me paranoid. He questioned how reliable my system might be if I lose my trusty Moleskine. It sent shivers down my spine when I read it, and I think it’s something that needs to be addressed in Diacarta. There’s no syncing system, and there’s no google calendar links either.  That makes it a little bit tough on the stomach.  What if my iPhone dies?  We’d love to see the problem addressed in some way.

You know that feeling you get when you clean off your desk, or when you wrap up your spring cleaning? The moment where you immediately feel refreshed, renewed, and rejuvenated. Everything’s in its place, and you finally feel like your thoughts can be in order again? That’s how I feel about my Mac, and now that SmashingApps mentions it, it’s probably the reason why I love my Mac—it has eliminated the clutter, and it makes me feel, well, productive.

I think this image wraps up the philosophical differences between Apple and their competitors quite nicely. You could easily replace the Windows logo with an Android logo and still have the picture be just as applicable.

Flame away.

Article Via SmashingApps