Random Brain Activity

Quick Review on the Apple TV

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:08:00 -0800

I was on the fence for quite awhile about the Apple TV but a recent deal on a refurbished 160Gb model was too good to pass up. The Apple TV's main selling point is to allow users to sync their iTunes library for viewing and listening on their TV. Setup was quite simple; all was needed from my end was an HDMI cord, which I had. After connecting the Apple TV to my wireless router, I updated it fully before syncing a good portion of my library. One drawback was that there is no easy way of doing a quick sync, especially if you have a large iTunes library.

Probably the biggest selling point for me was being able to add 3rd party software with ease. Using an ATV USB Creator and an extra USB flash drive, I was able to install drivers and software to add Boxee and XBMC. Boxee allows me to watch an impressive collection of streaming TV shows online (Great selection of South Park, He-Man and even found The Legend of Zelda animated series). While I haven't had a chance of doing anything with XBMC yet, it does allow you to detect a NAS drive or shared external network hard drive on your network and playing back properly formatted video files. So, if you happen to have a strong collection of video files from "other sources" or a growing library of ripped DVD's (in my case - all my own by the way), Apple TV + XBMC can read it.

The only issue I found with adding the 3rd party software was coming upon a black screen after install. After doing a bit of digging, I learned that the newest drivers were needed. After a minute of logging into the Apple TV via SSH, downloading and installing the software as well as a quick reboot, the Apple TV was back to normal, ready to go.

I know that not everyone will find a need for the Apple TV, and that's fine but for my house, I already know that this is a welcomed addition to our Apple family.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Minimal Mac on the iPad

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 11:19:29 -0800

This is one of a few Apple websites that gets it when it comes to the new release of Apple's iPad. Forward, streamlined thinking for a product. Quality over quantity, even in the face of available features. Give it a read.

http://minimalmac.com/post/357897734/free

Permalink | Leave a comment »

I'm in the Motley Fool

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:27:00 -0800

I just happened to be mentioned in a recent article on the Motley Fool regarding Apple and cloud computing. I think in a few days, I would like expand on what I do use within the concept of cloud computing and what I do rely on with the computer itself or physical third party devices. Enjoy.

http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2009/12/30/apples-going-to-hate-me.aspx

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Wired: Snow Leopard Is Less Secure Than Windows, But Safer

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:15:00 -0700

Wired came out recently and said that Apple's new operating system, Snow Leopard (10.6), is less secure than Windows, but mainly because of the lower market share, is safer. I think I see this article at least once a year from "knowledgeable" tech writers. While I will say that no system is 100% secure, the outlying architecture of OSX is Unix. Unix has always been a stable, secure OS. Vista and Windows 7, on the other hand, is still today based on the original code from Windows 3.1. Until Microsoft wisens up and rewrites the code for their operating systems as Apple did almost nine years ago, it will always be a much more vulnerable OS.

John Gruber of Daring Fireball had this to say a few months ago on this very topic:

Dennis Fisher:

Little, if anything, gets Mac users more exercised than a mention of their favorite machine’s security problems. Despite the fact that security experts believe Macs to be much easier to exploit than Windows machines, Mac users simply trot out the old saw about there not being any virus attacks on Macs. Not only is that assertion demonstrably false, but it misses the point entirely: Virus attacks are not an indicator of the security of an operating system.

That probably sounds like clueless trolling to many of you reading this, but it’s not, and it highlights an important distinction. Security is about technical measures, like the strength of the locks on your doors and windows. Safety is about the likelihood that you’ll actually suffer from some sort of attack. Microsoft has in fact implemented more advanced security measures in Windows than Apple has in Mac OS X, but that’s not surprising, because Windows is where nearly all the malware is.

But it rings untrue to most ears to claim that Apple is doing a bad job with regard to security. The evidence suggests that Mac OS X has been and remains secure enough to be safe, and safety is what real people actually care about.

Permalink | Leave a comment »

Cocoia on a look at Billings

Mon, 11 May 2009 09:22:28 -0700

I follow Cocoia's blog a bit for his interesting design style and love for the Apple brand. His latest post is on the invoicing, billing and tracking app Billings. While most would not be interested, finding some invoicing software worth its weight that wasn't called QuickBooks would be nice. The other reason for posting is purely greed on my part: He's giving away a free copy of the software. I like free software, so it's worth a shot. Give it a look. And check out his design posts.

http://blog.cocoia.com/2009/a-look-at-billings/

Permalink | Leave a comment »