lifestyle The Pink Mac

Got Gold?

The marketing phrase for the Starbucks Gold Card is “For People who Love Starbucks,” but really, I think it should be “For People who Love Starbucks and Free Wifi!” Right now, I am sitting in one of my local Starbucks locations, trying to burn a few hours while my dog is at the groomers, and using the free wifi that I get for my Starbucks Gold Card membership to access the ATT Wifi Hotspot at the store. It’s actually a pretty sweet deal. This Starbucks Gold membership card was one of my Christmas presents this year and I am actually just getting around to using it! The way it works is you pay something like $25 dollars a year for the card which is a refillable Starbucks card that gives you discounts on all your purchases as well as special offers throughout the year on specified days, ect. I was mostly interested in this card because a membership also gives you a free wifi time through ATT Wifi Hotspots. Most Starbucks locations are ATT Wifi Hotspots, although, I have been to some that give you free wifi access via a linksys router 🙂 Since I am someone who believes that places like Starbucks should give you wireless internet access for free just for visiting their store, I am a little ticked that I have to have a paid membership in order to do this, but of course this is better than nothing! I am actually really disappointed that there are no Panera locations around me, because before I moved I would spend hours sitting at Panera, ordering drinks and food and just hanging out doing work online. Panera actually has a really great set up for their customers. They have great food that you can take out or eat in, and when you do eat in, they have a very comfortable venue where customers can sit and eat, refill their own drinks and get the benefits of a dine-in restaurant without having to tip or wait around for a waitress. Of course you clean up after yourself, but that is nothing to cry over, and on top of all that you get wireless internet access for free. It’s one of those great places that college students or people who work from home or constantly on the road can go to and do lunch and work at the same time. I think Starbucks should really follow this model and start offering their wifi to customers for free. I mean, it makes perfect business sense to me that if you can keep your customers in your store for more than 5 minutes, they will buy more than one cup of coffee, and really isn’t that the point, to sell coffee?!? So, this is my rant, and my plea to Starbucks to put free wifi in all their locations!
The Pink Mac

The New Mac Mini?

If you have been browsing Best Buy for Mac products lately, you might have ran across this recent development: something that appears to be the next generation of Mac mini. Yes, it looks like one of those rare moments where a distributor like Best Buy ruins the surprise of a new product, however, it appears that this was not a logistics error, but rather an imaging error. Although this image from Best Buy’s website might seem like a new cube mac mini, when you compare the specs of this model with another, more familiar model, you see that they are the same dimensions. Well, it certainly is exciting to think about Apple releasing a strange silver cube to replace the Mac Mini, but for now that seems as though it is just a dream!
tech The Pink Mac

Do the Shuffle.

OMG! That was my first reaction to seeing that Apple had released a new updated version of the iPod Shuffle! Not only is the world’s smallest iPod even smaller than ever, but this time it has been packed with 4 GBs and uses VoiceOver software to talk to you. Because this model has been shrunken down, it now lacks manual controls on the device itself and control of your music has been moved to a small control on the specialty earbuds. With this new control you can start and stop your music, change the volume, change the playlist you are listening to, and hear the title of the track you are listening to! I am completely blown away, yet again! This sleek little device comes in two metal finishes, silver and black and is priced at $79. So far, no other configurations for capacity have been introduced, but a shuffle with 4 GBs of memory is a pretty great deal!

{Images via Apple}
The Pink Mac

Old School.

Last week, I unfortunately ran into my first tech related injury. After spending the three day weekend I had (thanks to the snowstorm on Monday) on the internet with my earbuds securely fastened in my ears, I developed a painful and swollen ear canal! At first, I thought nothing of it. Sometimes after wearing my earbuds for an extended period of time, my ears would get sore from them, but things usually healed up in a few hours. This time, however, my ear developed some sort of minor inflammation. I think the constant rubbing of my Apple earbuds on my ear canal caused a little sore that I inflamed further by itching and scratching at my ear in an attempt to sooth the pain. I didn’t feel like going to the doctor about this, mostly because I knew it wasn’t a real ear infection because I had no other symptoms of an ear infection (I know, way to play it safe, but things worked out well in the end). After a few days of leaving my ear alone and taking Advil Cold and Sinus, via my grandmother who insisted I take it, my pain and the sore had gone away, leaving me with a lesson learned about my earbuds. 

In order to prevent this painful situation from happening again, I went out and bought myself a pair of actual headphones. I haven’t worn over the ear headphones in like years, but I thought if I hurt myself using the earbuds once, I obviously use them too much and should get a better method. So, I ended up getting these super cute and comfy Panasonic Old School Monitor Headphones. They are so retro, but I love them. I know I could have bought something a little less over the top and a little less expensive (these set me back $60) but I am thinking quality and style here. I am not a fan of over the ear headphones because they are obviously large and obnoxious looking, so I thought, I mine as well get ones that were obviously trying to make a statement. I love the white color and the off white leather strap, as well as the simple functionality of them. They are easy to adjust and like most headphones, plug and play! No annoying volume controls on the headphones themselves or on the wires, just one chord into the computer! Best part about them is they are also noise canceling. They aren’t marketed that way, but when I put them on, I can barely hear myself speaking, all I hear is my audio!
tech The Pink Mac

Creative Directions.

After much deliberation, I have decided to get myself a new creative director for this blog. Really, my boyfriend just decided he was going to be my new creative director so that my blog could be “more awesome” and so I agreed (of course, that’s what you do with men 😉 haha ) So, as you can see, one of the first changes he made to my blog was this new intro for my videos! I actually really love it, and when he came to me with the idea I was really blown away. It’s not much but it will be a cute little addition to the blog that I really enjoy!

Pink Mac Intro from Miss Trenchcoat on Vimeo.

The Pink Mac

Decal Girl Skin for LG EnV2.

Decal Girl Skin for LG EnV2 from Miss Trenchcoat on Vimeo.

Skins for the LG EnV2 as well as MANY more devices like mp3 players, phones, and notebook computers can be purchased directly through decalgirl.com! Prices vary by device, but to give you an idea, this skin for my phone cost $6.99 plus shipping, so for a smaller device you are looking at $10 for a skin, which I think is a great price for a little individuality!
The Pink Mac

Why they call it enV2…

As you might remember, about a month ago I got a new cell phone. I was very excited about my new LG enV2 because it is a texting phone and I outfitted it with a nice pink plaid sticker to show it my love, however, the honey moon is officially over. For the past few weeks my phone has been turning off and restarting randomly for no reason. At first, I thought I was accidentally turning it off, but eventually I realised it was the phone. So, I took it back to Verizon today to see what they could do and apparently this was a known software error and they promptly issued me a brand new cell phone. So, this is phone number 2 in two months. Let’s hope this one lasts…
The Pink Mac

Blogging like a Pro.

I just wanted to write a quick post to let everyone know I am currently blogging from a Macbook Pro. Not one of the new models but the previous generation with the latch screen. I am at a family friend’s home helping them configure their wireless printer to their network and I got bored so I am just saying a quick hello!