Jim Dalrymple on the iPhone Platform

from Daring Fireball by John Gruber

51 people liked this

Jim Dalrymple:

The next version of the iPhone is already well underway and it will have cooler features than the existing models. Apple created a platform, not just a piece of hardware that uses the same old software. That’s a huge distinction.

If you want a parallel, try this. Apple had the most successful music player on the market with the iPod mini. Any other company executive would have given their right arm to have that device. What did Apple do? It dumped it. Apple stopped making its top-selling iPod and introduced the iPod nano in its place. Just when the competitors thought they had Apple in their sights, Apple completely changed the game.

Right. You know who thinks the iPhone 3GS stinks? Steve Jobs. No one is working harder on an “iPhone 3GS killer” than Apple.

Aren't You a Little Short For a Minuteman?

from Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker

I saw this picture this morning, and thought of you people. Thanks to Geekstir!

But I do have one question. Why is the plucky, little rebel faction carrying the evil Sith lightsabers?

feel the force George

Arnold Schwarzenegger's coded F-bomb in veto

from Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder

24 people liked this

cheeky little robot

mmmm lawyers

Animated electronic zombie head that drinks the blood that oozes out of its eyesocket

from Boing Boing Gadgets by Cory Doctorow

best 39.99 you'll ever spend

stereovision, uhh hearing

Tuesday, October 20, 2009   12:18 EDT  

Apple

Apple updated its iMac, MacBook and Mac Mini products today and introduced an innovative mouse. Excerpts from the press releases:

Apple today introduced the new wireless Magic Mouse, the first mouse to use Apple's revolutionary Multi-Touch technology. Pioneered on iPhone, iPod touch and Mac notebook trackpads, Multi-Touch allows customers to navigate using intuitive finger gestures. Instead of mechanical buttons, scroll wheels or scroll balls, the entire top of the Magic Mouse is a seamless Multi-Touch surface. Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac and will be available as a Mac accessory at just $69. [...]
  Magic Mouse features a seamless touch-sensitive enclosure that allows it to be a single or multi-button mouse with advanced gesture support. Using intuitive gestures, users can easily scroll through long documents, pan across large images or swipe to move forward or backward through a collection of web pages or photos. Magic Mouse works for left or right handed users and multi-button or gesture commands can be easily configured from within System Preferences.
  The Magic Mouse laser tracking engine provides a smooth, consistent experience across more surfaces than a traditional optical tracking system. Magic Mouse uses Bluetooth wireless capabilities to create a clean, cable-free desk top and its secure wireless connection works from up to 10 meters away. To extend battery performance, Magic Mouse includes an advanced power management system that works with Mac OS X to automatically switch to low power modes during periods of inactivity. The wireless Magic Mouse is powered by two AA batteries which are included.
  Magic Mouse comes standard with the new iMac and is available at the end of October through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $69. Magic Mouse requires Mac OS X Leopard version 10.5.8 or later.

Surfer’s Curl

from mclasen's posterous reading list

  Posted by clementine

when you're there...

Sympathy for the Lamprey

from Boing Boing by Maggie Koerth-Baker

3 people liked this

"Lampreys don't charm most people," begins a pamphlet from the Minnesota Sea Grant.

Truer words, my environmental research friends, truer words.

Yes, it's hard out there for a lamprey. Already cursed with a face not even their mothers (who die shortly after spawning) could love, these fish were further saddled with 50 years of bad PR brought on when one invasive species, the sea lamprey, moved into the Great Lakes and wreaked a trail of parasitic havoc from New York to Minnesota. Lost in the shuffle were several native lamprey species, some of which aren't even parasitic. Despite living in the Great Lakes for 1000s of years in co-evolved cooperation with other fish, non-invasive lamprey have paid the price for their cousin's misdeeds.

remember lamprey boy frolm x-files - great episode

National Lampoon cover gallery 1970-1998

from Boing Boing by Mark Frauenfelder

Here's a complete run of National Lampoon covers from 1971 - 1998. The August 1971 cover depicts American war criminal William Calley as the imbecilic Alfred E. Neuman, painted by the inimitable science fiction illustrator Kelly Freas.

Natio

the golden years