Spooky phone call

Tracfone100My friend George and I get together most Saturday mornings for coffee and conversation. While chatting this morning, George gets a call and he unholsters his iPhone. He gets a funny look on his face and says, “It’s from Steve Mays.”

I’m thinking it’s from Barb. She couldn’t call me for some reason, so she rings up George.

“No,” he says, “It’s from your cell phone.”

I pull my Tracfone from my coat pocket and, sure enough, it’s calling George.

If you are unfamiliar with Tracfones, I should tell you it doesn’t have a “redial” feature. And while I have George’s number in my phone, it’s about six down in the list. So how could this have happened?

I would have had to bump (against my chair) the down arrow six times… and then bump the “dial” button. Now, I ask you… what are the chances of that happening and the recipient of the call be the person I’m talking to? Hmmm?

TV will never be the same

Gave the Apple TV (Take 2) a good test drive last night by watching Ratatouille. I don’t think I rented the high def version but this was still as sharp and clear as anything I’ve watched since getting this TV.

Just to be sure, I rented The Brave One in high def and could see by the progress bar that it was going to take a while to download. But within a minute or two, a message came on that said we could start watching the movie. Once enough of the file has downloaded to buffer, you’re good to go.

I’ve also been sampling more video podcasts. The Apple TV makes this so easy it didn’t dawn on me right away, but I don’t have to subscribe to these podcasts. I can, but it’s not necessary. I can just hit play. On the latest episode or previous ones.

When I try to describe Apple TV, people say, "How is that different than Tivo?" Tivo is great for recording network or cable shows, but there’s a world of stuff online that will never make it to network or cable. And Apple TV has made it drop-dead easy to watch these programs on the big screen. Think plugging your TV into the Internet.

Apple TV. Take Two.

Appletv2I think they got it right this time. My Apple TV brings the net to my living room. I can rent movies, buy TV shows and music, watch podcasts and YouTube videos and view photos from Flickr (mine or anyone else’s).

I can Tivo all my favorite shows and watch them when I want but the new Apple TV feels like a very different viewing experience. Give me a week or two to get familiar with it. I’m looking forward to watching more video podcasts. This might be the future of TV. Smarter folk than I seem to agree.

Public radio and podcasting

Mark Ramsey points us to an interesting piece by “The Long Tail’s” Chris Anderson on how his listening behavior to public radio has been transformed by podcasting.

“I realized that I don’t really support my local affiliate. I love some of the shows it broadcasts and hate others. My attachments are to individual shows, not to a broadcast station. My engagement with public radio is at a more granular level than the affiliate.

Now that I get my radio via podcast, I don’t have to take the bad shows with the good. I’ve got an a la carte menu, and I assemble my own schedule with what I want and when I want it.

But look at the arc of history here. The podcast model is getting cheaper and more ubiquitously available (who doesn’t have a cellphone?), and it serves individual needs and taste better. Meanwhile the broadcast model, which is all about one-size-fits-all taste, is based on human labor costs and costly transmission equipment and is only getting more expensive. You can see how this story ends.”

I’ve had the same guilty thoughts about my own listening habits. I like a lot of NPR programs but listen to them as podcasts. And I would be willing to pay for the best shows (This American Life, for example).

IpodspeakerAnd my morning listening routine has improved with the purchase of a small speaker/doc for my iPod nano. Each evening iTunes downloads any new podcasts to which I’m subscribed, and syncs to the nano. In the morning I pop the nano into the speaker dock and listen to a perfectly customized line-up of progams.

SOLD: Marantz PMD660 Digital Recorder

Pmd660
I’m selling I have sold my beloved Marantz PMD660 Digital Recorder. It’s in mint condition, I just want something smaller. You can see all the specs on the 660 here and if you happen to be in the Jefferson City area, I’ll let you take it for a test drive.

The PMD660 sells for between $450-500, and I’m starting at $225. If there are any budding podcasters out there, this would be a good recorder. You can reach me at stevemays@gmail.com.

UPDATE: That didn’t take long. And we have found it a good home with a podcaster who wants to crank out more programs. More on that later.

Decorative fluorescent light diffusers

SkyscapeFluorescent light diffusers are those plastic panels that cover the fluorescent tubes in the ceiling of your office or cube. The clever folks at Sky-Scapes have created some cools scenes to add a little fun and/or beauty to that space above your head.

You can get blue sky with clouds; jets streaking across the sky; ocean scenes that make it appear you are under water… or you can have your favorite Dilbert character peering down at you.

Not sure I can get approval for my office but I’ll post a photo if I do.

Flip Video from Davos08

Flipvideo
Jeff Jarvis is attending Davos08 (a “World Economic Forum), where “small video cameras are the hot thing,” and he’s posted a short video clip (with the editor of a big German newspaper) he (Jarvis) shot with one of the little FlipVideo cameras.

These things –which are cheap and the video isn’t too bad– seem to have been designed for making it easy to shoot video and put it up on the web. The camera even has a little flip-out USB connector you just slot into your computer.

From the image on the website, it looks like there are just three buttons on this thing. I was skeptical until I saw the video Jarvis posted. If you’re looking for something easy and fun, this might be it.

WiFi detecting T shirt

Wifi_shirt_anim
I fear it’s a bit late for this holiday season, but this WiFi detecting T shirt would make a great gift for that geek on your list. Not only finds WiFi signals, but displays the strength.

Runs about $30 and you can remove the electronics for washing, although that wouldn’t be much of a problem for the people on my list.

Spotted this at Keith Povall’s Sturdy Soapbox.

World’s smallest indoor radio-controlled airplane

“The Butterfly” and it is billed as “The Living Room Flier” a full radio controlled mini plane you can fly around your living room. “Full Proportional radio control enables you to fly with precision in any room 12′ X 16′. Just add 4-AA batteries to the combination transmitter/charger and you’ll be ready for action anytime Take the Butterfly with you ANYWHERE in it’s own protective aluminum briefcase (included!). The Butterfly costs $239 and it would take Lucy about 2 seconds to shred it.

Mac OS X Leopard Installation

I remember when installing a new operating system took a huge stack of 3.5 inch floppies (or 5.25 inch floppies!). And a lot of time. But what was really needed back then –at least by me– was patience and courage.

You knew to a near certainty that your computer wouldn’t work at the end of the process. Or some of your applications wouldn’t work or you’d spend hours tracking down and installing drivers.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped upgrading my computers with new operating systems and just purchased a new computer with the newest OS already installed. An expensive solution.

Osx
So I have had mixed emotions about the new release of Mac OS X (Leopard). Lots of new features I’m eager for, but trepidation. My plan was to wait until my Mac sensei, George, had time to do the installation.

On Saturday he informed me that this was something that I could do. Back up my data, and stick in the installation DVD.

I took the added precaution of burning my photos and music to DVD and then (with hunched shoulders and squinted eyes) slipped in the installation DVD for Leopard. Less than an hour later, the new OS was running and –so far– nary a problem.

I won’t bore you with my early impressions of the features of this new system. The web is swarming with those. I will share one thing…

Time Machine is the new backup/restore application that comes with Leopard. So I bought a new external HD, plugged it in, and let Time Machine make another full back up of my computer. It will update that back up every time I connect the laptop and the drive.

The real test of any such app is the restoration. When the time comes I need to recover a file or –god forbid– the entire contents of my computer. Let’s hope that’s off in the future. But it’s a pretty slick tool and so easy to use, I will.

But the installation was as advertised: slot the DVD and take a nap.