So, I’d given this some thought – if you take a PDA and you put it together with a quarterback’s wristband you’d have a snazzy, yet geeky, wearable computer. The question is, who will wear this?
Geekery
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Apple to launch Cingular Phone?
According to ThinkSecret, Apple is going to roll out their much rumored iPhone and it will be a Cingular exclusive.
I’m currently stuck in a Verizon contract. However, I may try to jump to Cingular if this Apple phone finally comes out. Why would I buy another 1st generation Apple product? Actually, after writing “1st generation Apple product” I am more apprehensive about picking one up until I read some reviews. However, let’s assume that a 1G iPhone will not be too buggy – in a perfect world it could be a combination of an iPod and a Newton.
As far as I’m concerned, this iPhone could be a Mac smart phone. That would be great. I wouldn’t need to carry a PDA, a cell phone and a music player. That’s a best case scenario. It would need to be able to download iTunes songs without connecting to a computer to really set it apart. (As an aside, I’ve never purchased anything from the iTunes Store because of my anti-DRM stance).
In a worst case scenario, it’s a lousy phone with iTunes capabilities. There’s lots of lousy phones out there, what’s one more?
Goofball hack idea.
Has anyone tried to run OSX86 in a virtual machine on a Mac?
Decommissioned Computers
Currently, I have access to six computers that do not do anything. Five PC’s and one PowerMac G4. My schedule doesn’t really permit me to do anything with them that is too intensive. Hak.5 has some great ideas like making an old PC into a NAS. That may be a good idea to try during the Thanksgiving break.
Limiting factors of my usage of the older computers:
Physical space. These are big, honking mini-towers. It would be nice to learn to mod computers using these things or put them in something like a coffee table or something.
Lack of Networking. There’s no point in saving an old computer that doesn’t have access to my network or Internet access. In the perfect world, my house would be wired with Ethernet cable everywhere. Unfortunately, I’m not in the perfect world just yet. Wireless networking is a lousy option.
I’m cheap. I don’t want to throw too much money into older hardware. If the costs get too high, it would just make more sense to pick up another Mac mini.
There’s a lack of time. I am currently a student (in what should be my final year of formal education) and this last year of work is intensive. I become obsessive when I start working on projects, so starting a “quick project” could become a lost weekend.
Speaking of lack of time, I’d better get to work.
Get 7 hours of battery life out of your iPod.
Today I ran an unintentional, unscientific battery life test on my 2 week old 5G iPod. Since I did not have my normal laptop, nor did I have any way to charge my iPod, I was going to listen to music between my two classes on my 5G. Unfortunately, my two classes are separated by 9 hours.
The iPod battery survived over 7 hours of playback. How can you get 7 hours of battery life? First, I turned of the backlight. Then, I played the music at a moderate volume. This was possible since I was listening to my music in a quiet library. Also, I did not mess with my tracks too much. I was just listening to one playlist after an another. The iPod battery didn’t die – I just switched to my iPod Shuffle (purchased to avoid muggings) after a while.
So now you know how you can extend the battery life of your iPod and knowing is half the battle. The other half is too complicated to mention right now.