I’m not usually the one discovering things. I do read quite a few Apple related blogs, and some other general tech blogs. However, I was perusing the jobs section at the Barnes & Nobel website. Where I discovered a Mac developer position available in NY. Under responsibilities it lists “Work on a ground breaking new Mac app.” This of course caught my eye. Is it an e-reader + store how ‘ground breaking’ will it be?

Below is a screen shot.

groundbreaking new Mac app

After hearing many cries’ of anti-competition in the iTuens App Store approval process; I figured I would write about it.  Now as for software competition, they don’t limit much. I personally don’t see anything wrong with limiting, or holding approval till the devices firmware, or hardware can be changed to meet the needs of a program. But fact of the matter is, just because a user likes a program, or a developer creates a program doesn’t mean it will preserve stability or the users experience. Largely, the nerds and maybe a few developers are the only ones crying fowl anyway.  Any good businessperson would know what their target-market is, Apple does; Hint: it’s not the nerds.

Who does an iPhone user blame if software sucks, crashes, or glitches? They blame Apple, not the developer, or themselves. Are we going to sue IBM for making their 486 anti-competitive because it can’t run Vista or Windows 7?

That’s just the problem too, the end user shouldn’t have to deal with whether a program will run well, preserve stability, or have conflicts. It’s simply not the users job! Microsoft, BlackBerry, Palm, and Android don’t really have any means of ensuring that the user can just use the device. The user should be without a care for drivers, hardware compatibility, and software conflicts. This is exactly what the App Store approval process is. It serves to encumber the device manufacture with the burden of discovering and adjusting to accommodate developers, and the most important person in the equation, the end user.

Overall, for the past three decades Windows, and mobile platforms have been for hobbyists, developers, and geeks. Microsoft sailed a long way on the good ship IBM. That worked well when IBM was the only major maker of business machines, or personal computing devices. Personal and mobile computing consumers aren’t just geeks and office workers anymore. These aren’t Tandy computers out of Radio Shack. They are devices for non-tech people, and that’s a good thing!

If anything, Apple has proven over the past few years that they aren’t “all looks.” Apple has a firm grasp on what non-tech people actually expect to get out of a personal computing experience. The App Store approval process is a necessary cog the machine that makes that happen.

Well my birthday is in a couple of days, I’ll be 29 on May first. Hope we can get this house we found! Discovered my 10-year high school reunion is set for September! I just revamped this site, trying to update the look and feel of it a little bit without making it unrecognizable. It feels strange being one third dead. In another two thirds of my age I’ll be about 90. Guess it seems like there should be more in it. I’ve also been designing more skate decks, so check out the store tab at the top! I hope to churn out some more art and things. I hope that I’ll tap some part of some market with an eye for what I create. I only have a few more credits till I’m done with two years of university.

So for one third of my life I have a car, my lappy, an associates, a wife, the priesthood, a web site, and some furniture.  Mind you that’s not the prioritization schema, it’s just the order it came to mind in. Of course in the eternal paradigm I only have priesthood.

A reply to Why you must ditch your iPhone and AT&T? which I just read.

Anticompetitive? There is nothing anticompetitive about it. Obviously there are many competitors including the one you list, Android. The approval process is exactly the apparatus that helps keep malicious software off the iPhone. Palm and other platforms with no approval process end up with lots of security and stability issues. As for app refunds, the developers make most of the money on app sales, why shouldn’t they pay?

Hacking: Being a target and being easy to hack are two different things. You’re right, hackers have engineered ways to compromise it’s security, it’s called jailbreaking. As usual, with lots of malicious code, users voluntarily install it. The operating system the iPhone runs on, as well the Macs is older than Windows, and has already had to suffer through the things that Windows is growing through. If anything the iPhone OS is the best one to have because it stands on the shoulders of decades of development.

App store organization can always be changed to fit what’s needed. There isn’t really anything better out there, so I would have to say they’re doing a pretty good job.  My experience with Palm, which was only one of two or three serious options before the iPhone left me with trash apps, stability issues, and difficulty really finding anything useful. The App store’s functionality is vastly superior comparatively. As for UI, you’re just referring again to the App Store, not the user interface of the iPhone.

Android being “much better,” Is a statement firmly planted in the opinion column, at best to be honest the jury is still out on how better it may be. Android is new, and largely untested coming from a company which is still very new, and until recently benefited greatly from it’s ties with Apple.  Phone hardware on the other hand, is something average people don’t really give a crap about as long as it does what they want, and is easy to use.

As for iPhone users “jumping ship” that sounds like something you wrestle with personally. As for the circles I run in, I know lots of people getting iPhone, not dumping them. The one person I hear complaints from often finds the firmware updates fix those things. Updates, which are largely superior at adding value to consumer’s device. Something other mobile device manufactures have yet to realize. I’ve never heard of anyone anticipating their Blackberry’s firmware update, or raving about new features they’ll appreciate.

AT&T, I believe isn’t any worse than other carriers. I’ve been with several, and I believe AT&T is the best choice by Apple in the U.S for carriers because they are most well suited to the unique challenges of supporting the iPhone, and it’s user-base.  Of course it’s a walk in the park for wanabe smart-phones on other networks they don’t do as much, or they find shortcuts that diminish the quality of the users experience.

image of lappy

As many of you know, one of my life long dreams has been to have and own my very own Apple Computer. With the coming of the new year often means tax season. With the return we got this year we have taken care of a few smaller things, but the major treat for me was to realize my dream and get an Apple MacBook Pro 13”. I’m very happy to finally have one.

Having used it for a few days I am remembering all the things I love about OSX on Mac., and all the things I loath about Windows. I am fortunate in that the important software from the old Ruby iMac works on my new one like MS Office for mac, and AppleWorks. I’ve also found some new amazing things in the new OSX like QuickTime X, which makes capturing video of the desktop, video or audio from a device really easy. As is often the case with many programs like Office, Adobe Photoshop,

image from desktop

and others there are extended, or extra functions in OSX versus their Windows “equivalents.” But what was new to me is that a game called World of Warcraft also has extra features not available on other platforms. Next, a handy tool for those with Gmail accounts, Google Chrome can sync bookmarks across computers and platforms. Making it easy to save and share your bookmarks across all the computers you use Chrome on.

Over all I’m very excited to have my new lappy, boasting a 7 hour integrated battery, an amazingly clear, bright, and colorful 13” display, and of course the star of the show OSX, only the best and most user friendly operating system ever!

Above, and below I’m including a picture, a screenshot of what’s on the screen in the picture. As well as a short clip of video ‘in game,’ and a clip of video from the desktop of me changing Google Chrome themes and adjusting my dock in OSX.

www.eztaxreturn.com is a great site for preparing your taxes, and e-filing them! I’ve been using them for 6 years now and they never let me down! I found them 6 years ago at the www.irs.gov site. The fee is a low $29, and you can get $5 off by using coupon code MTABMG this 2009 filing year. They are e-file authorized by the IRS! They’ve never let me down, I always get my return back within two weeks (via direct deposit). The service is straight forward enough for a novice. It is still inclusive enough for even the most complex of filings.

Take the calculator and pencil out of fling taxes, use www.eztaxreturn.com. Their computers take all the information from your forms and from you. Then they do the math; give feedback on what other things you qualify for. Once you finish the process you simply let them e-file the documents for you!

They also offer e-file for some states, or refer you to your states e-file services! It’s so easy to use!

Tethering settings on iPod touch

Trying to force a company who creates a closed platform devices to become an ‘open’ platform is foolhardy at best. The iPod touch and iPhone platforms are designed to work for the consumer who simply wants devices that just work, just like their computer line. It is not anyone’s ‘right’ to force any company to make the devices into hobbyist toys like Windows based PC’s. Which has proven to inevitably be unstable, unpredictable, and ultimately an unnecessary burden to the consumer. The argument for ‘jailbreaking’, or forcing Apple to provide ‘open’ devices, platform, or application-access is extremely week, and impulsive.

I have had my iPod touch for nearly a year now, I never jailbroke it until about two days ago just to see what this is all about. To be perfectly honest the stock device was stable, and reliable I only had to force shutdown once the whole time. Once jailborken though, it hangs, freezes, and often requires forced shutdowns. This is precisely what average people who aren’t PC hobbyists don’t want to deal with. It is precisely the reason people are sick of Windows, and PC’s as a platform. People don’t want there to be nothing but hobbyist toys for computers and phones. Some people, even many people just want computers, phones, devices and tools that just work. They don’t care if you can tether, they don’t care if you can change the background, dock, icons, etc. They don’t care if you can change the battery from a progress bar to percent. Lots and lots of people just want devices that work, are easy to use, and consistent.

This is something Windows users are new to because Microsoft, and the PC world have caused us to feel like hobby toys are all that is possible. In reality it is not, Apple has always been demonized for having proprietary features, software, or platforms. But in reality what they are providing is a finished consumer product, a personal computer for everyone. Whereas on the other hand, the Windows, ‘PC’ market has largely and realistically been targeted at hobbyists. Hobbyist are people who want to fiddle with things, changes unnecessary settings, fix problems, and frivolously customize things.

Overall this debate has nothing whatsoever to do with antitrust or anticompetitive monopolies. There is nothing monopolistic or noncompetitive in making a whole product, and controlling what runs on it. It’s what I would call complete and complete product. Something anyone can use, and depend on. And they aren’t stopping anyone from competing. Anyone can go make a device, and an appstore, and control it any way the please. As a matter of fact, there is already a company which is competing with Apple in the smart mobile device arena, it’s called Palm.  Blackberry also competes with apple.  In my experience with Palm there were stability and ease of use issues as well, I had to deal with crashing and things because there was no quality control for applications, which transitions me to my next topic.

The appstore is necessary, developers aren’t infallible, and some are just plain lazy. There must be a sets standard and method for assuring quality and stability in all applications. Apps need to ‘play nice with others,’ and without an approval process and set standards there is no way to assure this.  The Apple App approval process provides this.

What it comes down to is Apple makes personal computers, be it desktops, laptops, or mobile devisees. This is what they specialize in, and have been doing for 30+ years. Microsoft makes toy operating systems, for toy computers for hobbyists to play with, and they have been doing that for about the same amount time.  There is an entire market of people who just want serious tools that just work. The Microsoft/PC offerings never have addressed that, nor will they. As we see Microsoft only comes close, when it closely copies Apple’s offerings. Windows 7 is much like OSX in appearance because they want to confuse people about what makes it different. But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s  underpinnings have long been, and still are largely designed for hobbyists, and designed for people who want to play, not people who want to work.

Now while there are many facets to this topic for the sake of persuasive appeal I would make other articles about them.  For now this is how I see the market. Nearly 10 years ago, I witnessed the release of the first iPod, at the time I had a thought that people should start investing. It was $30 some per share then, now it is $190+ just about 10 years later.  I believe the best way, or ‘road map’ for the marketing and development of computing devices and software to go is in the path Apple is beating. It will provide stable, secure, well thought out, useable computing for everyone.

This, the following video I made back in 2006 using iMovie on a MacBook Pro, and footage from the same camera from which footage was shot for the “The Kansas” video. The footage documents the travels of a family on a Sunday trip to Adam-ondi-Ahman, it was a fine day, near the 4th of July. The reason for it only just now being posted is that I only recently discovered the finished version of video which was thought to be lost. This edition of the video is the low-resolution version. If I should discover the original higher quality version it will be posted.

The Kansas Turnpike Authority is changing the pricing for those who pay with cash at the toll booth. This is all good and fine, except for that they are encouraging people to use KTag. KTag is a great service which automates the process of using the road.

The problem is that it jeopardizes your identity and personal security. Why? One might ask; they unnecessarily request your Social Security Number in the application for KTag. This is your personal number which uniquely indentifies you to the government. If this number becomes compromised your identity could be at risk. Anyone who gains access to this for malicious purposes can steal your identity.

“You say it’s unnecessary?” Yes, many other services manage to exist without the need to ask for your personal Social Security Number. Netflix, Redbox, pre-pay phone services, Web Hosting, and many, many other things do not request your Social Security Number, so why does KTA?

The Social Security Agency States,

“You should be very careful about sharing your number and card to protect against misuse of your number. Giving your number is voluntary even when you are asked for the number directly.” (http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10002.html#protect)

And,

“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America. A dishonest person who has your Social Security number can use it to get other personal information about you. Identity thieves can use your number and your good credit to apply for more credit in your name. Then, they use the credit cards and do not pay the bills. You may not find out that someone is using your number until you are turned down for credit or you begin to get calls from unknown creditors demanding payment for items you never bought.

Someone illegally using your Social Security number and assuming your identity can cause a lot of problems.” (http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html#confidential)

Write KTA and tell them you won’t give them your Social Security Number, and that you won’t compromise your security. Email them at kta@ksturnpike.com or write mail to: Kansas Turnpike Authority, 9401 E Kellogg, Wichita KS, 67207.

To help circulate this informative document point your browser to http://www.mediafire.com/anotheronion then download and print the PDF file titled New KTA Prices.

vehicles,toll,price hikes

I made these polls on facebook. I kind of had more fun making the icons than I have had viewing the results of making the polls. But check them out, have a vote!