BillBlevins.com :: Mostly about 2.4mR sailing

8, 9 & 10 = 8 GB iPhone

Emily, Tracy and I went to the mall at 4:30 p.m. this afternoon and saw the very long line at the Apple store so we cut through the FYI store to the other side of the mall and found only 7 people in line at AT&T, all waiting for the new iPhone this afternoon. (We were numbers 8, 9 and 10).

At six on the dot, the doors opened. Ten minutes later we walked out with the last three available 8 Gb models at that store. The people behind us were not happy. The store got 10 of each type.

(They were planning to place orders for the rest of the people in line, they said.)

Anyway… now, after owning this thing for 3 hrs, I’ve got a new phone number, I’ve surfed the web and read the press release from my company tonight, SMS’d with a vendor, called Tracy (first) and then my Dad, answered a call from Howard, found Pizza in zip code 14450… and I can safely say this thing is amazing.

More to follow I’m sure.

Tags: apple, iphone

Google Desktop for Mac (beta) download available

You can find the download link for Google Desktop for Mac on the Official Google Mac Blog: Google Desktop for Mac as of this morning. I’m a frequent user of Spotlight, but have not been totally satisfied with it and was eagerly awaiting the Leopard release for OS X to see if it improved, but for now, I’ll try Google Desktop.

Tags: apple, google

Bye-bye Podcasts, Hello vLogs

Yeah, my AppleTV arrived Friday. Well, actually since I wasn’t home Friday I had to go and wait at the door of the FedEx office until they opened Saturday morning.

Anyway… I got it hooked up via the device’s HDMI port to the TV’s component video inputs. Running short on inputs, I had to switch my HDTV to the DVI input because I couldn’t play PS3 Tiger Woods Golf 2007 on anything less than the best quality settings.

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

I just told a co-worker that I’ve already deleted all of my favorite podcasts from iTunes - Slashdot, NPR Tech, podcast411.com (I’m sorry Rob, I’ll still listen on my iPod) and started scoping out video blogs.

Rocketboom looks great on the wide-screen though my wife hasn’t quite appreciated this yet. (She says it is no wonder their demographic show that only 8% of their audience are female.)

We did agree on Reuters “Odd News” videos, but that one only comes out once a week. I bet that is all about to change.

Tags: apple, videoblog

Apple Airline Adapter, meet my CueCat

I’ve been to California twice in the past four weeks. Before the first trip I purchased the new Apple MagSafe Airline Adapter thinking that I’d get some work time in during the flight.

On the first trip out, after being upgraded to what is referred to on United as “first class”, I thought I’d be in luck to use my new gadget. Not so. There were plugs under the seat, but none looked anything like the two adapters on the end of my power cord - one looked like a USB port and the other looked like some sort of Ethernet outlet.

Back to reality in the back of the plane for my next three multiple-leg hops across the country, there was not an outlet to be found.

Last night on the flight from Sacramento to Chicago, while reading MacWorld, I saw mention of the Apple Airline power adapter and in the article a small mention of a site called SeatGuru.com where you can do your power outlet research before booking flights. After browsing the two airlines I travel most frequently - Delta and United - I don’t expect to be using my new cord any time soon.

I guess I’ll keep it in my computer bag for a little while, but soon I’ll probably introduce this device to it’s new neighbor on my office bookshelf that is filled with gadgets I got that never worked.

MagSafe, meet CueCat. CueCat, meet MagSafe.

Tags: apple

A bag full of digital goodies

Yesterday was Halloween and I didn’t get any candy, but UPS delivered an early birthday package from my wife. The box came from B&H Photo Video and contained a wide-angle Nikon zoom lens. Wow! This gift is now the highest priced item in my arsenal of photo equipment!

My last camera was a Holga and I bought it for $22. I’ve been told, and I’ve been repeating, that back in the 1940’s Holgas sold for $2 at five and dime stores as toy cameras.

I decided last year I wanted to move up from the plastic camera, and get away from dealing with loading medium format film and dealing with electrical tape in the dark. (The tape is used to stop the light leaks). It was time to go digital.

My digital camera bag is filling up one piece at a time. It now includes:

Nikon D200
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR ED-IF 17-35mm 1:28D lens
Nikon AF ED NIKKOR 50mm 1.8 lens
Nikon SB 800 speedlight (wireless flash)
Nikon MB-D200 Multi Power Battery Pack (vertical grip)

I’ve been posting photos to flickr.com but I’ve slowed down a little since I started using Apple’s Aperture because I still have two books to finish reading on what I’m doing. Adobe Photoshop and Apple’s iPhoto were working just fine before. (The recent photos all look desaturated and flat coming out of the new program).

I’m also recording RAW files, because I heard that is what Sports Illustrated does and figure they know what they are doing. Right? The RAW files on this camera are 15 Mb each, so my little 2 Gb card only holds 120 images at a time now.

I have two more items on my camera wish list. I would like to save up for a Nikon 105 mm f/1.8 micro, a Nikon 400 mm f/2.8 and a Nikon 70-200 mm f/2.8 VR zoom lens. Oops, that was three things!

Now that I think about it, while I’m at it, I may need an extra body to hold one of those new pieces of glass and probably a mono-pod!

Tags: apple, flickr, nikon, software

VideoBlog software for OS X

One morning in late 2003 I walked in to the newsroom at Fredericksburg.com and said, “We need to use this iSight. Do something fun.”

Brian Baer and Alex Russell recorded and posted “The Baer Facts” videoblog within hours. They continued on somewhat regularly and invited in guests to comment on sports, features and weather reports. Volunteers from the FUG community, (”FredTalk Users Group“) were regulars on the show.

“The Baer Facts” was recorded on most mornings through early 2005. Someone decided that it was too much work and killed the idea. Today, the only remaining evidence I can find are a few videos which include a few classic outtakes.

We hacked together freeware for the recording and taped scripts to the side of the monitor. Just this week I was reminded of that show when I was pointed to a video recording program that would have been perfect.

If you are contemplating a simple videoblog, check out VideoCue 2 from Vara Software. There are two versions and prices. One comes with a full-screen teleprompter.

I’m downloading a copy now. I’ll let you know how it goes. Next week I’m going to walk into my office and say, “We need to use this software for something”.

Tags: apple, coolapp, os x, software, videoblog