What Steve Jobs Meant to Me...

Though I never met the man, Steve Jobs to me represented opportunity.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

When in 1991, after floundering in the field I had chosen to pursue,
and a failed marriage, I decided to take a step back and try and
figure out what it was I wanted to do with my life.

I knew that I wanted to make money, sure...I wanted to make
a decent living that used all of my talents and not just
a physical labor job. I wanted to be excited about what I did
everyday, and to not dread going into work and hating myself,
or my employer, as I was currently doing.

I decided at the end of 1991 to go back into Commercial Art,
as I had been good at it in High School, and had loved the
creative end of it. I enrolled in my local Technical College,
and as I soon found out, things were moving in the art field
toward being created on the Computer. And that computer was
the Macintosh.

I graduated Technical College with my degree, and went to work
for a company that had just started moving their art production
over to Computer Production, and again that computer was the Macintosh.

I found myself becoming a much needed cog in the wheel there, as I was
one of the first new hires that not only knew the platform, but
could help the company grow as they moved more and more into
Computer Generated Art Production.

Four years later, I had left art totally behind, and moved into a
position at the same company as a Systems Administrator in the
IT department. My specialty: the Macintosh.

Seven Years later, four OS revisions, and countless releases of
Macintosh machines later, I left the company in good hands,
and used my skills I had acquired to move into a higher paying
position elsewhere.

I also took my knowledge gained on using Apple's Software offerings,
such as Final Cut Pro, iWeb and iMovie to create freelance work for myself,
to grow as a creative, and even further enrich my earning potential.

And all of this would not have happened without Steve Jobs.

Steve's vision of how people would use computers, how they
would change the way we got things done, how we could come
to view it as more than a tool and as a valid part of our lives,
created opportunities for people like myself, to be able to
escape from the cycles of dead end jobs, from dead end existences
of just collecting a paycheck and not contributing to society.

I may have never met the man personally, but I'm proud to have been
enriched and blessed by the fruits of his vision, by the labor of love he
created that made not only computers an integral part of of our lives,
but how he was able to bring so many who had been without a clear
vision for themselves and their futures, like myself, a moment of clarity.

Rest in Peace Steve.

OS X 10.7 Lion: Wait to Upgrade

So today marks officially that Apple's newest version
of OS X, 10.7 Lion, has been on the market for
five days ( not counting Sunday).

And I'm still not going to buy it just yet.

Apple's newest version of the OS looks like a real stunner,
and I'll admit I'm intrigued by several things in the new
OS ( among them Full Screen Apps, Mission Control, and
Resume. Launchpad just makes it look too much like
an iPad, I'm fine with Snow Leopard's Dock thank you).

But not intrigued enough to hose my self and make it so
I'm unable to work, thank you.

My tips for a new OS Release :
1. Never update your working machine on a .0 release.
Bugs aren't worked out, and the apps you use the most
usually aren't ready for  the new OS when it is in .0 release.
( Apple has had  a long history of this, from Panther and Tiger
to Leopard, and yes even Snow Leopard)
I usually wait until the OS has reached either the .2 or .3 point
 update release before jumping in.
That's usually six months to a year from the .0,
and my favorite most often used apps will either be ready
by then, or will have been discontinued.
 Either way, I know then what to expect, and can
adjust more accordingly by then.

2. You only as good as your most current Backup.
Enough said. I'd also add "and a way to get the machine
back up and running in less than 12 hours."

3. Take a Cue from Apple that it just isn't as simple as
upgrading to make things "new".
As the recent Final Cut Pro X update has shown us,
new things from Apple aren't always good things.
And new things form Apple will often hose your video
production workflow, causing all kinds of hair pulling,
nail biting, and expletive spouting.
You really don't benefit from being on the cutting edge,
not if it affects incoming revenue.
That should always be your first priority.
Whether a major application Application Change,
or a major OS update, Apple, god bless them,
isn't infallible. Steve Jobs does get it wrong sometimes.
Just ask David Wegley.

4. Last, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
No seven words in the English language
ever made more sense together than these.

Week of Favorite Apps: Day One R-Name

So while looking for some of my favorite apps
on the web, I found that several of them are no longer
to be found. One of these such apps I use quite often is
R-Name, a wonderful free batch renaming utility.

In the interest of keeping it alive and found on the web,
I am making an available archive of it here for
others to download. Click the link here to get it.

If you've ever had to rename more than three items
in a folder, add or rename a file from something
cryptic ( ex. S-1-E-2) to something more readable
(ex. Season1Episode2), then this app is for you.

I will be adding more apps, one a day, until Friday.
When I'm done, I'll add a permanent sub page
on my UMU Free Stuff page.

Creating iTunes account without a credit card

Great article by Christopher Breen over
at Macworld.com. I'm bookmarking it here,
as I get asked this at least once a day....

Apple's Greatest Cinematic Hits...

Apple's Greatest Cinematic Achievements from The Awl on Vimeo.

A very nice trip down memory lane on Apple Product Placement.

Director DJ Caruso uses iPads in making "I Am Number Four"

Very Interesting article on Director DJ Caruso using an iPad,
for, well things other than the iPad was originally envisioned for.
Read more about it here.

When To Let Go: or How Do You Know When Your Mac Is Getting Too Long In The Tooth?

So today for the third time this week, I'm frustrated

by my Mac.

Today, it's a new annoying thing:  It is dog

slow, acting more like a 10/100 base T connected

machine than the Gigabit ethernet  equipped machine I

know it to be.

Monday, it was the fact that it produced a KP due to

the fact that I tried to push it to do more than it

was capable of it seems:  Burning a DVD in Toast,

 while converting a Video-TS to a DIVX encoded  .avi

file in VisualHub, while copying a folder of digital

files over from server ( a workhorse that is the

2009Mac Mini ).

Right in the middle of 1/3 to a half of everything, 

the KP comes up. I force shut it down & reboot.  I

check iStat Pro and sure enough, the Processor  is at

126C, which in a Dual MDD 1ghz Power Mac,  aka

"Windtunnel" or as it is known in the house, "Eve") is

disatrous.

And last Friday, ahhhh...let's just say that for

whatever wierd reason, one of the  power cables to one

of my 500Gb HDs decided to come undone. (the wires

seperated from the plug) And wouldn't you know it, but

it was my main FCP scratch disc,  a 500GB WD Internal

HD.

Now I admit, the plug was a little worn from having

upgrading the machine  so much over the last three

years:  I've swapped that drive bay out first with a

250gb, then a 300gb, and then finally a 500GB drive,

each time as prices fell on ( what was then standard)

a big drive.

But to completely come undone, the wires literally

pulling themselves out of the plug.... now I have seen

it all!!

But, looking a little deeper inward, I realize what my

true frustration is with my Mac.. not that it is long

in the tooth, and despite ( somewhat) working, it is

the fact that  I have pushed this machine farther than

I have ever pushed one of my macs, and that in

reality, I'm more mad at myself for not replacing it

sooner, letting it go.

I tend to run my electronics into the ground. For

almost 8 years,  I kept my 2nd gen iPod 10Gb around,

as an example,  pushing it with more and more music

playlists, HD use, and in the end, using it as a music

player / external  pocket FW drive. 

Had it not been in my pocket that day I dove into a

pool to save  my floundering oldest from drowning, it

would still be in use today,  and not replaced with a

5th gen 30GB iPod Classic, that,  as I type this, is 4

years old.

My computers are no different: my first mac, a

Performa 460, I kept in service for almost 7 years, I

followed that with  a PowerMac 7100/80, that through

peripheal upgrades  ( an external CD-RW burner that

burned at max 1x,  and a 500MB external HD that I paid

$200 bucks for....),  I kept going for 8 years, until

the Dual 1 MDD Powermac.

So for the most part, I like to keep upgrading my

Macs  at about every 7 years or so, before they

totally wear out. I knew that when I purchased this

one refurbed through the  Apple Store in 2003, I knew

the clock had been set then.

So now, I limp along with the MDD, and one or two

things will eventually happen:  I'll either get off my

duff,  and replace the machine, and move along with a

new mac for another 7 to 8 years, or go another year

fighting the ups and downs  of the MDD, as in this

economy, I'm trying to do my part of  "more with less"

even though it may kill my production output.

I do like the look of last year's i7 model in the 

Refurbished Mac section of the Apple.com website.... 

I think that will be my machine of choice for the next

few years...consolidating much of my clutter  from my

desk, if not to mention just from my computer alone.

For what it's worth as an aside, I highly reccommend

buying your "new" mac  from store.apple.com, under the

refurbished  section ( aka "special deals" section).

Not only do you save as much as $400  on a the cost of

a new mac, but each machine  is certifed to work, and

AppleCare can be bought for the machine  to extend the

warranty on the machine and avoid any hassles.  Once I

learned about how to purchase Macs this way ( with my

Dual 1 MDD), I've been hooked. Both my MDD and  my

wife's iBook G4 were bought this way, and both have

been  solid, stable machies that have been problem

free ( with the exception now of my MDD). For the cost

savings, you can't beat it, and aside from not having

the pretty retail box,  the machine you get performs

just as well as  the retail counterpart.

Hump Day Wednesday

Another round of girls to help get you through the work week!
These ladies are courtesy of my friend Vincent Gordon!
Mash up Manips, courtesy of yours truly.

Mac App Monday: Spotlighting Great Little Know Apps

Apple Events often are REALLY, REALLY boring things.
You'd expect some great magical Steve Jobs-ian type
of moment where, you get introduced to something really
really cool, that would help you with your productivity,
or at the very least, help you get through a project
in iMovie or Garageband that your stuck on.

Instead you are often given 6 hours of butt to the chair,
non stop PR talk about how great Apple is doing,
how great Apple will be doing, and how you can
be a part of that by buying more apple product.

But occasionaly, you do get something cool for
coming, and not just the free can of soda that
comes with the boxed lunch.

And at this event, not only did we get to see something
cool from Apple, but then they gave it to us
( in attendance only) for FREE.

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I Present the little app
that changes the game: Screen Capture.


Screen Capture, we are told leverages the power of
Core Video in Quicktime, and enables something
really cool: You can, for free, screen capture your
mac and save it to a quicktime movie file.
You can even record your voice while you work on screen,
annotating the event you are doing, and once done,
you can turn that into a podcast, or share it
as is with collegues to show them how to do
that which they have been stumbling around on
in their Mac app of choice. ( which is what I've
been doing of late)

The results are impressive: On an MBP Intel Core Duo 2.0,
I can capture 1440 x 900 at 5fps in Best mode
to Mpeg-4 with AAC audio at 1080 x 675 and
at 950 x 594 at 15fps in Better Mode to
Mpeg-4 with AAC audio as well, and yet it
was very watchable and played back quite nicely.

Now, it's no iShowU ( my favorite app of this type),
but it is two things: (1) FREE, and (2) leverages
both the built in iSight Camera and Quicktime
to put something together that costly apps can
only do one of ( iShowU does the video, but doesn't
leverage the isight Camera to record audio).

Word is now that Apple is incorporating this tech
into Snow Leopard going forward. The app that
was given to us at the even for FREE works only
on Leopard and only on Intel based Macs
( sorry PPC and Tiger).

If you get to go to an apple event, show up with a flash drive,
and be prepared to get at lest something for showing up;
while I didn't expect anything this cool, it was worth
the 6hours of butt in a chair aerobics I had to endure.

Wednesday is Upon Us!

It's Wednesday, and I'm thinking of taking a different track.
Rather than do Hump Day Wednesday, I'm going to instead
focus Wednesday as Fun Day Wednesday, which just means
that rather than find always random mac goodness to
help get through the work week, I'll instead find
random goodness, sometimes apple-centric, to
liven up the middle of the work week.

Why, you ask?
Because there just isn't enough Apple -Centric
funny out there, there is some but not enough,
to make a month of Hump Day Wednesday
posts.

So this will be our last ( for awhile) Apple Centric fun(-ny)
day posts. Next week, something funny, but maybe not
Apple -Centric.

I'll still keep the girls though, like Hannah the new Apple
Girl that is showing off the new Apple iPod Shuffle!
WOW and WOW!!

Say Hello to New Macs, Goodbye to your Cash!

Apple announced FINALLY a new Mac Pro model
today, one I have been waiting on for a long
time! ( my current mac, a Powermac G4 MDD dual 1 ghz,
is long in the tooth.)
This new Powermac takes advantage of a redesigned
case that allows for easier methods of
expansion of all things PCI, Ram and Hard Drives!
I am so stoked about this new machine.
Of course, Apple still charges a premium on it's
Pro Desktop line, but I'm starting that second
job any day now, and will be filling my piggy bank
until Christmas when I get one!

oh, and yeah, Apple also updated the Mac Mini,
as well as the consumer model desktop, the iMac.
photos ™ and © apple.com 2009.

Hump Day Wednesday

Another Wednesday, Another Chance to Get it Right:
below is some Mac Goodness to help you get through
the work week, until Friday.
I personally can't wait for this weekend,
lots, and lots to look forward to.

Hump Day Wednesday

It's Wednesday, and time for another bit of
Mac Centric Goodness to help you get
through the work week.

Mac Daddy Two Steps to ABC

As reported on tuaw.com this morning,
Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, is
one of the 8 contestants on Dancing with the Stars.

While I don't hold much hope for Woz's
two step or cha-cha, I'd settle for
him finding love with one of the
Dancing stars, so he can stay far
away from that annoying
Kathy Griffith.

For my vote, Cheryl would get a 10 from me!

Hump Day Wednesday

Back again with another bit of Mac
and Apple goodness to help get
through the work week.

Happy 25th Anniversary Macintosh!

Today, January 24th, marks the
25th Anniversary of the Macintosh:



Above, Steve Jobs demos the Macintosh at Macworld.
Below, the first Macinitosh Computer Ad:



These take me back, I remember the Apple Macintosh
commercial when it first aired in my childhood.
I was just entering my first computer classes in
high school, and remember wishing we had one
in my Gifted and Talented class, as we were stuck
with Commodore 64s at the time.

Enjoy and Happy Anniversary Apple!

Mr. Mac Comes to Washington

Today, Barack H. Obama officially took the
Presidential Oath and was sworn in
as our nation's 44th President.

Never have I personally been filled with
excitement over an elected President,
or any elected official for that matter.

And what this Mac using President has
done not only for Politics, not only for
race relations, but for all Americans,
will be written for years to come.

I had to admit: Everytime he and Michelle
got out of the super limo, I was on pins
and needles! But amazingly, nothing
and nobody slipped through the
Secret Service to harm our nation's
first African American President.
And for that, I can be very, very grateful.

The Magician Leaves the Stage

As announced around the Internet, Steve Jobs,
CEO of Apple Inc.,
is taking a leave of absence from the company until
the end of June,citing “a hormone imbalance”.



While I wish Steve the best and a speedy recovery, Apple Inc.
is in solid hands with COO Tim Cook running the show,
as he has been with Jobs, for the last several years.
So before anyone wonders if the magic is gone from Apple,
rest assured come WWDC 2009, the magic will amaze us once again.

APPLE KEYNOTE: Compromised

I’m sure by now I’m not the only one who feels that exact same way. At Macworld, Apple really didn’t have much to show
off, really didn’t have much to deliver, so they gave us a few
things to say it was worth the price of admission.

A Unibody 17inch Mac Book Pro that is at the fastest a
laptop can be (2.93ghz Intel Core 2 Duo), but that has
hands down the worst idea of Battery replacement ever
(ie. YOU CAN’T!) ; a ho-hum iLife update that leaves iWeb users
in the cold ( why didn’t you listen to us iWeb users Apple?);
An even more lackluster iWork ’09 update ( hint Apple,
sell it off to Adobe and let them incorporate it as a CS Lite Suite)
and Apple’s bending over to give a little to the Record Labels
to get variable pricing structure in iTunes Music Store.
( which I haven’t used in months thanks to Amazon.)

I hope the next Apple Only Invite Event is spectacular,
otherwise this is strong signs of Apple being affected
by the downturn economy.

Tomorrow is A NEW DAY

Tomorrow begins the controversy that is MacWorld 2009.
And whether you spent the last couple of weeks looking over the rumor mill daily,
or you worried if Steve was going to show
up anyway, or how this would affect Apple’s current stock prices,
I believe that without a doubt, tomorrow at 12 noon CST,
( that’s my time here in Midwest USA), I along with the millions of you,
will be tuned in just to see what shakes loose from the Apple Tree this year.
Regardless of what new goodies make it to
production, I’m sure that even the most budget conscious
of us will be saving our pennies for the newest Apple widget.