The Pink Mac

Perfect Guy Case.

I have sort of fallen in love with this Hard Graft sling sleeve and extras case (125 euros) and have decided that it is the perfect guy laptop accessory. Made of felt and leather, there is something luxurious yet masculine about the cross bands that hold laptop and accessories together in one secure bundle. I think it reminds me of British schoolboys or something; very old world parochial. Alas, I am so tempted to get it for my boyfriend, but he doesn’t find it practical. Why is it that guys and girls can never see eye to eye on accessories?

tech The Pink Mac

Cousy’s Vid of the Week 5/7

As most of you that spend more than 3 seconds on the internet know, the web is a great place to find cool and funny videos of whatever your heart desires. The web as provided a great breeding ground for artists and comedians to share their work with the entire world. That’s why the Pink Mac wants to share with you some of our personal favorite videos we have found on the interwebs in the past 7 days.

This week we are featuring a “commercial” that Ellen DeGeneres showed during her talk show. She got in a bit of trouble for ripping on Apple for this one though because it makes it seem like the iPhone is hard to use. But I get what she was going for. She wasn’t making fun of the product but rather the incompent person behind the camera that doesn’t understand technology. Watch it and judge for yourself.

So what do you think? Was this a spoof of the iPhone or the user? Leave a comment below and share your thoughts!!

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Bonus video of the week!

I just couldn’t pass this one up. A personal favorite of mine are videos by a person named Christiaan Van Vuuren… better known as The Fully Sick Rapper. Quick back story: Christiaan is from Australia and he took a vacation to South America, where he contracted Tuberculosis. For the past FOUR months he has been stuck in a hospital quarantine room. To pass the time from going insane he has been making comedy rap videos. I love his stuff and if you like this one check out his Youtube page to see more. (Oh and the fashion show thing up right now is too weird to try to explain, just skip those ones for now lol)

tech

The Million Dollar Winner

UPDATE! A few months ago I posted my first article on the Pink Mac about how a video game, MLB 2K10, would give away a million dollars to anyone that could pitch a perfect game. (If you haven’t read it yet, shame! Here’s a link to read it: The Million Dollar Game)

Well as it turns out after weeks of practicing, a man down in Alabama actually did it. He pitched a perfect game and won a million dollars for it. 24-year-old Wade McGilberry, of Alabama played the game so well and got so good at it he was able to be the first person to pitch a perfect game. Of course he had his wife’s consent to play so much. In fact she even suggested he leave his job so he could focus on playing more. Despite that proposal, Wade kept his job and in his spare time played enough to where he could win. In an interview Wade said that with the money they are going to pay off the house and now start a family. Aww, see what video games can do ladies? Congratulations Wade, and enjoy your reward!

Here’s the interview Wade game to the CBS Early Show:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

tech

Cousy’s Vid of the Week 4/30

As most of you that spend more than 3 seconds on the internet know, the web is a great place to find cool and funny videos of whatever your heart desires. Whether it’s seeing a cat playing piano, a cat acting like a person, a cat napping… okay there are a lot of kitten videos out there. But besides that the web as provided a great breeding ground for artists and comedians to share their work with the entire world. That’s why the Pink Mac is announcing a new series, where each week we share with you some of our personal favorite videos we have found on the interwebs in the past 7 days.

Here’s our first video, hope you enjoy!

Please leave a comment on if you enjoyed this and let us know what other types of videos you would like to see!
The Pink Mac

Hands on with the Nook Elves.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that yesterday I went to Best Buy to check out the Nook, which is now being sold in there stores. I thought this would give me a good opportunity to compare the functions of the eReader, which has recently piqued my interest due to the addition of a web browser and games to the nook software. Without a doubt, the Nook is light, sleek and slim. Out of all the eBook readers out there, this one takes the cake for form factor. Once I awoke the Nook from its sleep mode, however, I discovered something odd. When the screen changes (because of page turning or application switching etc), instead of a seamless pixel change, it looks like little Nook elves are drawing an Etch a Sketch of the page for you. The images and text slowly come together in a grainy mix until the page is fully loaded. Now, I wasn’t sure if this was normal, or some sort of error on this device, so I went over to the Sony eReader display and found the same issue over there. Now, I realize I am a little behind on this eReader thing and perhaps some of you knew that the page rendering on these devices is reminiscent of 1980’s displays, but I wasn’t, and furthermore I am a little shocked that these devices are doing so well when they look so low tech. I suppose it’s the eInk display that causes this. I know the displays use less energy and make it easier to read for long periods of time in any lighting but when you compare them to even a cellphone or iPod touch display, they seem soo outdated. I don’t mind that the display is black and white, although a touch of color wouldn’t be bad, but I am bothered that the rendering of the screen is so rough.

With that being said and all things being equal on behalf of the screen rendering of eBook readers, I did enjoy the ‘mouse pad-like’ touch screen at the bottom of the device, although I did find myself trying to touch the actual eInk screen in an attempt to move the page or select something (totally embarrassing lol)! The web browser was nice, a little slow, but I always find the Wifi in Best Buy stores to be slow. It was a full web browser too, no flash of course, but still full pages with images, ads and text. The other thing I was disappointed about was that there are only two games for the nook, Sudoku and Chess, but this is an android based operating system so I suppose more games will be coming. Overall, I think this could be the most functional eReader, mostly because of the addition of the games and the Wifi for web browsing. I didn’t get a chance to test the mp3 player but I am sure that works fine as mp3 players seem to be in every device these days. If you have the Nook, let me know how you feel about it. I would love to get the opinion of an actual day to day user of this device!
lifestyle The Pink Mac

Happy Earth Day!

If you couldn’t guess from the title of this post, today is Earth Day! Perhaps some of you will let this day pass without notice, but to the few of you who may actually be interested in the planet and would like to make a small difference in your day to day lives I have something for you! Today, and today only (until Midnight) you can get FREE SHIPPING on your order from Baggu! I took advantage of this today, and it equates to $4 off your purchase ($4 is the standard flat rate delivery from the USPS). Just use the code earth10 at checkout!

Now, if you have never heard of Baggu before, you are in for a treat. Baggu is a line of handmade, reusable shopping bags made from 100% ripstop nylon and each regular sized Baggu is the equivalent of 2-3 plastic bags from the grocery store. I LOVE these bags, and actually, I am sort of obsessed with them because they are so useful in so many ways. The philosophy behind the bags is to use products that have more than one use, so you can ‘own less stuff’ as they say in their literature, and these bags do just that. I own a few sizes of the Baggu including the backpack- not only are these products well made and durable, they do function in multiple ways. I keep a Baggu with me whenever I leave the house and they are great for not only grocery shopping (where I get 2 cents off my purchase per bag I use and the bags each hold up to 25lbs so I no longer worry about them breaking on my walk home) but I have used them to carry wet clothing and shoes in my luggage, to cover my head during a rainstorm, to store linens in, as a laundry bag, as a lunch bag, and probably a few more ways I can’t remember right now. They are washable and come in a nice little carry bag that is made from the scraps of fabric left over when they make the bag itself- so these bags are really well thought out and well designed. They also come in an array of colors so I am sure you will find one you like.

Like I said, I’m obsessed, but I think this is a good obsession. These Baggu’s have taught me to look for multipurpose products helping me to reduce my consumption and, happily, my spending. For someone who lives in a tiny apartment, owning less is a philosophy I can get behind! So, seriously, check out the website. I know this isn’t a tech gadget, but I think that Baggu is a company with products that embody the promise of technology: to enlighten and simplify our lives.

On this Earth Day, go and do something good for yourself and your planet, even if it doesn’t involve online shopping!

tech

Steve Jobs is a Jedi

Now it should be no secret that I hate the iPad. I can ramble on and on about how stupid it is, but at this point you should all know that. I for the life of me could not figure out what the point of this device is. Steve Jobs said at the keynote address that the iPad would fill the void between a smart phone and a laptop. I’m sorry I didn’t know there was a void, gap, or even a crack of space between the needs of the two. If i need to check something on the go like e-mail or play a game, I’ll pull out my iPhone. If I want to go online and do all the functions of a computer… I’ll pull out my laptop. And guess what, despite being a little big a laptop is portable too! This rational logic has led to me hating the iPad and thinking it is a big waste of money. I don’t get the point of having this over sized iPhone.

(What the iPad should have been… and can be)

I just really wish it had an operating system so you can do more than just live off apps. Then I found a video on Youtube of a person using this app called Remote Desktop. My mind was blown. Remote Desktop is an app that allows you to access your computer from anywhere, granted your main computer is on and no one will mess with it. You basically control your computer from anywhere and see it on your mobile device. Now Remote Desktop is available for the iPhone but since the screen is so small, it hasn’t been too useful. Until now. Remote Desktop will work for your iPad and has thus turned this once useless device into a full touch screen, easily portable, app using – computer. And it will use Flash. And as much as I’ve hated and bashed this device so much, over and over again… I kinda want one now. So damn you Steve Jobs and your Jedi mind tricks that make us want this devices.
tech

A Real Apple Tablet.

Unsurprisingly, in the last few days since the iPad has been introduced, the media coverage of the new device has gone from mostly positive, to mostly negative. Now that the iPad is under the microscope, we can see it for what it is and for all it’s faults. Many people have been having issues with their iPad connecting to WiFi, over heating, taking a long time to charge, and I can’t say I’m that surprised. It is a first generation device after all, and Apple’s first gens do have a way of disappointing. I was thinking about it today, and understood that I am mostly disappointed because I wanted the iPad to be more like this…

If you are not familiar, this is the Axiotron Modbook, a real life full fledged Mac Tablet, and it has been available for years. Inside is a real working Macbook that has been manipulated into tablet form. This is what I was hoping Apple would create, albeit in a slimmer, more visually pleasing form.
Now, the Modbook isn’t perfect, it isn’t a touch screen like the iPad. Instead you can use a pen to write on the screen of the tablet. But not for long. Axiotron has also announced a new device they are working on call the Modbook Pro, which is a modified Macbook Pro with a dual touch and pen sensitive screen.

Although these modified Macs are pricey, they are exactly what many Mac users want from a tablet. A device like this is perfect for professionals in the art and design world who want to use their Macs to sketch and edit by hand but without the hassle of external devices. It is also perfect for business professionals who are always on the go, when carrying a laptop from meeting to meeting is too cumbersome. Finally, it is also perfect for the wired consumer who wants the convenience of mobile computing without having to stop to find a table to sit out just to whip out their laptop to compete a few tasks that aren’t possible via their smartphone.

I definitely think tablet computers are the wave of the future and a far more functional portable computing platform than netbooks, but instead of dumbing them down to do a few key things well, they should be able to do everything necessary to keep a mobile life, well, mobile.