Do You Want a New MacBook?

If you've got facebook, then look for my post about where to win a macbook air. If you enter a friend, and they are the winner, then you win too! All of this is sponsored by big prize giveaways.

What's in the new MacBook Air??

Clearly, Apple's MacBook Air line is due for a refresh; it's been 498 days since the last update! The MacBook Air is one of my favorite computers, since it is amazing what Apple could fit in there. Now, there have been thinner notebooks, like the Dell Adamo, but it only has a 1.4GHz processor. It has been rumored that we might finally see an actual netbook type computer from apple. Some people think that there will be a smaller 11 inch screen. We might also see a price drop. Some people think we will have two USB ports. That will be great, because what if you are burning some cd's to your computer, and your iPhone dies? What do you do? It's also been rumored that we might see some upgraded specs, such as a 2.4GHz processor. What do you think we might see in this new laptop? Post a comment below.

Funny Comic

Okay, I said I wanted to add a blog post every day, so that, I shall do. But there comes a time in everyones life, where they just run out of things to talk about, write about, or just do. Tonight, there's not really anything important, but it is kind of funny; here's a link to a funny comic on the Oatmeal.com it's about owning an apple product. So, here's the link:"What it's like owning an apple product"-the oatmeal

Notice the Microsoft "Clippy" in one of the drawings.

ENJOY!

Apple sort of lied...

Okay, this isn't really a big deal, but I thought I'd share it with you anyway, just in case there are some of you out there that can't (or shall I say THINK) buy a new iPod or iPad, just because their computer won't run iTunes 10. Just for the sake of testing things, I downloaded and installed iTunes 10 on my older machine from 2004. Specs are as follows:
Compaq Presario SR1010NX
256MB RAM
40GB Hard Drive
2.7GHz Celeron Processor.
64MB video memory. Not sure of the actual video card model.

Now, I remember when this was a fast machine, and to make it fast again, I reinstalled the whole operating system, and made sure I backed up everything I needed. Then, you'll be able to try harder not to pile up your computer with pointless things that just take up space. So, after I installed iTunes 10, it opened up. It wasn't a very fast loader, but it opened up after a minute or two. I have absolutely no music whatsoever on this computer, so what I did was use home sharing. I'm not sure if my choice made a big difference in speed or not. Anyway, it plays songs perfectly, and without any lag. If you run the visualizer, or any video, this is where you start to get some lag. For a sample, I played about 5 minutes of video on this machine, and every 10 seconds it would freeze. Everything else was fine, though. Even syncing my iPod touch. The reason for the "Apple sort of lied" title was because they said you need at LEAST 512MB of memory for running on windows. I had 256. Most everybody has more than 1GB now, but there are still a few people who still have that small amount of memory. I still have a 6GB quad core machine, but I almost use my old one more for internet browsing, updating this blog, and soon to be using iTunes 10 more!

Kindle vs. iPad

Do you own one, or both? What do you think about them? Some people have rated the iPad first because it has so many other features besides being an eBook reader. That's not really fair, now is it? The iPad's meant to be able to do many different tasks, however for a cheaper price you can get an Amazon Kindle for just $189. That's with FREE 3-G. Yes, that's right. The new generation of kindles actually have free 3G. You can get books anywhere. Get an iPad, and add another 30 bucks a month for 3G. I'm not saying the iPad's a bad deal, but I'm doing an eBook reader competition here, so the other features don't matter. With kindle, you get a screen that actually looks like a real book, and with iPad, you get a colored screen with vivid photos, and a more realistic page turning effect. One thing that I think would be great with the iPad is implementing moving pictures into the books, especially in children's books. Kindle is as thin as a pencil, and iPad, not too far behind, considering the size of the screen. The kindle is EXTREMELY light, since I have actually used one before. I've also used an ipad, and holding that up reading could be a pain. So what I think, the Kindle beats the iPad in terms of an eBook reader. What do you think? I might add a poll later, also.

One of my favorite games...

Just thought I'd share with you what my favorite game would have to be. I LOVE Microsoft Flight Simulator X. It's really great. The graphics, the controls, everything. While it's a fun game, or should I say simulator, it is still very educational. In fact, just about a month ago when I flew a Cessna 172 for the first time, the instructor was extremely impressed with my knowledge. I was able to fly the plane, maintain altitude, turn ,and whatever he wanted me to do. This was all thanks to FSX. I'll be honest with you, though; this game is very hard for the early beginner. I hated it at first, just because the virtual instructor wanted me to intercept a localizer, and tune the radio to the correct frequency. How was I supposed to learn how to do that? I won't tell you what a localizer is, because that's beside the point. After over 100 hours in my log (this is real time, folks!) I understood most of everything. This game has stunning graphics for 2006. Surprisingly, you couldn't find a computer that would run the game on high settings until 4 years later. My computer still only has 10FPS (Frames per second) on ultra high settings! The game has over 24,000 airports! I'm sure that's almost every one of them at the time. Addons are really great too. There's a website called Simviation that has user uploaded freeware planes, scenery, etc. The game includes at least 20 included aircraft (not including the different colors to choose from) for the game. These range from an AirCreation Trike Ultralight, to a Boeing 747. This just has to be my favorite game because all the scenery, and planes, and you can't forget education! Thanks for reading, and post a comment about your favorite game!

New Mac Computers?

What do you think about there being a new mac updates at the "Back to Mac" event on the 20th of October? There has been some speculation, especially with the logo, posted below:

Do you think Apple will announce Mac OS X version 7; Lion? Look behind the apple logo in the photo. Do you think we'll see a new MacBook Air? What other things do you think we'll see. Post a comment below.

Computer Terminology

In this article I will explain the basis of what makes a computer a computer.

Computer Components:
--RAM: The RAM in a computer stands for Random Access Memory. This stores temporary memory, such as the code to open an application. The more RAM you have, the more tasks your computer can well, compute. My personal computer has 6GB of ram. I will tell you what GB, and all of that stuff means next.
--Forms of storage: A computer can have several means of storing things, whether it be a flash drive, hard disk drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD) The amount of programs, documents, and other files your computer can store depends upon the amount of space in your hard drive. My computer has 500GB, or GigaByte. One GigaByte is 1024 Megabytes. One megabyte is 1024 kilobytes. One kilobyte is 1024 bytes. A byte is the smallest general form of computer storage. (there are more, such as bit, but we won't get into that.) Most general computer programs are 10-50 MB of storage. You can read more about all this on Computer storage on wikipedia. Just click on the blue or purple text (depending on your computer) and go to the link. This gives more information on storage, and RAM.
--Disk Drive: This is what you will put a CD or DVD in. I'm sure you are familiar with the common round disks that movies come on. That's all they are. You can "burn" things to a disk, and like the storage section, you are limited on space depending on the size of the disk.
--CPU: Central processing unit. This is what runs the computer. If you've ever heard the term "Processor" when referring to computers, this is what they mean. This computes all of the data on your computer, and depending on the speed of your processor, the faster or slower tasks can be performed. My computer has an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor with 2.33GHz speed. This probably sounds like a bunch of jargon to you. (If you've taken english classes you probably know what that means.) Let me explain. GHz means Giga Hertz. I'm not really sure what hertz means, but I know its some measure of speed. Giga's just a billion Hertz. You might have an 800MHz processor, but Gigahertz is more common now.

Again, this is just a BASIS on computers, and I'm not getting into a lot right now. You should start out like this, learning about what makes a computer before you start to learn about how to use one. I really don't know what I should post in this section, so send me a comment or email, and I'll try to make a tutorial for it. Thanks for reading!!

--Matt

Let me introduce myself.

My name is Matt, and I live in the United States, in Kentucky. If you haven't already found out, I am a big apple fanboy, and a geek. I enjoy technology, and love to fly in airplanes. I love writing, whether it be blog posts, poems, or just writing for the fun of writing, I enjoy it. I hope to get my blog very popular, and I hope it can be a resource to all of you for your tech needs. So, anyway, that's about all you need to know about me!

What do you think about the new iPod Lineup?

Hi, this being my second blog post, I'd like to point something out; I love seeing what my readers think of the things I talk about. So in this, as the title states, I'd like to know what you think about the new, 2010 iPod Line!
The new iPod Touch has some pretty great features, including not one, but two cameras! The one on the front is for a feature called FaceTime. If you're not familiar, it was introduced with the iPhone 4, and allows users to video call other iPhone users. Now it's available in the iPod touch. The new iPod touch is, I believe, A whopping  2mm thinner than the previous generation. It's got the most amazing display I've seen in a phone; the Retina Display. It's got an extremely large number of pixels-326 Per inch! As you can see, the new iPod Touch seems to be an iPhone 4 without the phone. Now let's get to the iPod Nano. Many people are skeptical about buying this product because of the lack of features. Did you know it doesn't even play video? Yes, that's right, it's the only iPod in at least 3 years that doesn't play video. It does have a Multi- Touch screen, and resembles iOS 4, even though Apple states that it doesn't run the OS. It also lost the beloved click-wheel. Being around since 2001, the click wheel can only be found currently on the iPod Classic line, which by the way was not changed at all. Anyway, the new iPod Nano just plays music, and includes a clock and FM radio. Personally, I don't think this new iPod Nano is the way to go. The iPod Shuffle now has " the best of both worlds" according to Apple. Voice-Over and Click-Wheel. I don't really know what it was like to own the previous generation, because the only one I ever owned was the predecessor to that model. But I can tell you that there was no way to control the  iPod without the included headphones (or another apple remote pair). If these weren't comfortable, I'm not really seeing how you would change songs with a different pair. Anyway, the new iPod Shuffle now has clickable controls once again. Voice-Over is a feature that has came with Mac OS X for many years, but Apple put it in the iPod shuffle last year. At least you had a way of knowing the song that would play, before it played. Like I said before, the new iPod Shuffle now has "The best of both worlds."

Thank's for reading this lengthy article, and please comment with your opinion. Thanks!

--Matt

iOS 4.0

Well, the days of the iPhone OS are over, and now with 3 products using this OS, Apple has changed the name to the iOS. I'll be reviewing this on the iPod Touch 2g. When I upgraded, I was sort of expecting more than what I got, considering the iPod Touch 2g just has 128MB of memory. My iPod lacked several new features that had been advertised on Apple's website. One of those features was Multitasking. I've heard it's a great feature, and now that I've used it with the iPhone 4, its a great one! Just open an app, and then when you go back to the home screen it just keeps the app open in the background. When you'd like to open the app up again and pick up where you left off, it's as simple as double tapping. One of the downfalls is the way to close the apps. From what I saw, there is no way to close the app completely unless you double-tap and click and hold on the app you want to close. That's just a little too much. I wonder if there's another way. Another great feature is folders. Folders let you store similar apps in one location, just to save home screen space, I assume. It's very useful if you're like me, and download a bunch of pointless, free apps. The only bad thing is that you can only store 9 apps in one folder. Another new feature is backgrounds. You can add wallpaper to your home screen. You cannot do this on an iPod Touch 2g. That was a slight disappointment. On the bright side, iOS runs very smooth on my device. I give it a 8/10 just for not having the features I wanted. Thanks for reading!

--Matt