Fly With Wi-Fi?

c|net's News.com is running a story about the FCC auctioning off the bandwidth currently used for the in-flight phones.

I admit that this is somewhat inevitable, as Wi-Fi Hotspots are popping up like mad all over the place. It is not all bad either, but I am not sure it is all good.

They are also considering allowing the use of personal cellular phones in-flight (as if the screaming children, and the person sitting next to you aren't enough already).

I took a few minutes and thought up some issues that might arise should this eventuality turn into reality:

• Good thing: There are hours of entertainment on the web; it could make flights seem shorter.
• Bad thing: The person sitting next to you is addicted to Skype, they know everyone in the world who has a phone, and they are not afraid to speak quite loudly.
• Good thing: You can now check for that last minute email that you were dying to get (or send).
• Bad thing: You are constantly tied to said email, and have no time to relax (same goes for the phone: See the second bullet.)
• Good thing: Your deadline has an extension due to this available time on the flight.
• Bad thing: Your evil, over-bearing boss (I have not had one of those for some time now) has access to you in-flight.
• Good thing: “My laptop battery died, and I did not have a power adapter that worked on the plane. Sorry.”

Google Earth For Mac

Google released their application called Google Earth for the Mac OS X platform yesterday (Windows version has been available for some time now). I got right on that and downloaded it.

Wow. I am really impressed with a great many of the features available here. This is one of the coolest applications I have ever used that I don't really have a use for. Of course, I am sure I will find a use for it at some point.

Free is such a good price.

Macoid Heaven

Yesterday was Apple CEO Steve Jobs' Keynote address at Macworld. After the last three months of rumors flying back and forth, there were many expecting great things from this “Stevenote.”

Intel, to be exact. Many were expecting the announcement that Apple would ship its first computers with Intel processors inside.

While I consider myself a fan of OS X, as well as of the computers that Apple makes, I have never seen a Keynote address by Jobs. So, even though I already knew what was going to be announced I surfed over to Apple's website to check out the QuickTime stream of the address.

In the past I worked with a company that organized events such as the Macworld Conference. We dealt with all the staging, sound, lights, video, and even coaching of CEO's speeches. I have seen a lot of new product introductions, and even more speeches by various CEOs.

Aside from the products, I did not notice anything unusual about Steve's style. Possibly, though, that is what makes him so unusual. This address was about the products; by forcing the audience's attention away from himself, and onto the company's products, the keynote covered a lot of ground in a (relatively) short amount of time.

He demoed the software himself, and clearly had been well-prepared for the demos (something I have seen some CEO's neglect).

In the area of software:

• iLife '06 looks really good with the addition of iWeb to create, and publish various types of websites without using HTML, or other programming languages.
• iPhoto also got what looks to be a really good upgrade. I would like to see it run on my computer, though, considering some of the performance issues the current version has. That said, the interface looks vastly improved.
• GarageBand has some cool new features for podcasters.
• iDVD and iMovie are still cool, and got a few new features as well.
• iWork had some updates--but not the looked-for spreadsheet app (possibly named “Numbers”)
• OS X (10.4.4) released as a free download

Also released, were the first Intel-equipped Macs:

• The iMac: Same form-factor as the last version, just duo-core Intel inside (with no badge on the outside!!!). Its fast, very fast.
• The MacBook Pro. This monicker replaces PowerBook, but the form factor remains much the same, with the addition of an iR port on the front for the Apple Remote, and Front Row. Also, they added an iSight camera to the upper bezel of the screen--genius. This machine is up to 5x faster than the last version of the PowerBook. Also has no “Intel Inside” badge on the outside.

With these products Apple may not be set to take over the world, but they definitely seem to be jostling for a better market share in the PC world. They need to work on pricing, though, which still seems a bit high.

Some fans of the PowerBook are bemoaning the name “MacBook Pro.” I do not think its great, but I have always thought that PowerBook was a bit awkward for a product name. I am not saying that MacBook Pro is better, but--it is different (I am still trying to decide if I like it or not).

It looks like it will be a good year for Apple, as long as they keep the quality of the products up, and the prices as low as possible. I am curious how soon the new desktops will be unveiled, and what kind of speed they will have. I guess I'll just have to wait, but then, I don't have money for a new computer anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter anyway.

Adobe's Lightroom Beta1: A Cursory Look

Adobe Systems has recently made some noise in the digital photography world by announcing Lightroom.
Lightroom is viewed by most as direct competition for Apple's Aperture. Lightroom is available as a public beta to Macintosh users who are using OS X 10.4.3, and who have a 1 Ghz or faster processor with 768 MB of RAM (according to the press release, and other places on the site--however I know I saw somewhere that it said 512 MB). It is a free download.

Before getting into the features of the program, a little background on the user, and the hardware available: I have not used any of Adobe's most recent products. I have a very old copy (5.5) of Photoshop that I barely use, mostly because it requires starting up OS 9. I have not used Apple's Aperture, either (it would not even load on this laptop). In other words; when it comes to photo editing software I am a novice.

That said, I tend to pick up on things pretty quickly, and generally don't get to nervous with new software. I also seem to have an embedded artistic sense that helps with these sorts of things.

The equipment: PowerBook G4 Titanium. 512 MB of RAM (below the 768 MB requirement), 1 Ghz processor.

I recommend watching the video tutorial on Adobe's site. It is a long one at 20 minutes, it downloaded very slowly for me, but the server is probably seeing quite heavy traffic today as a result of the recent announcement. I also note that it seems they take a couple of stabs directed squarely in Aperture's direction.

Now to the software highlights:
Upon startup the user is greeted with a four-section, one window interface. It has a black background that highlights the pictures and the menus. The main images are in the center, flanked by menus on the left and right. In the lower section is the “film roll.” All of these panes are re-sizeable.

I imported some of my own work from my 5 mega-pixel Minolta DiMage A1. I can't say much for the image quality of the camera, but it is what I have to work with.

1. The flexibility of the filing system is really nice: You can store your photos in your existing file structure, or you can import them directly. Either way, the editing is non-destructive, so you don't have to worry about whether you are editing the original or not (something I have done in Photo Shop several times).
2. All the various menus are very user-friendly. I have had no trouble finding my way around.
3. Many of the keyboard shortcuts are one-key. This is very easy to get used to.
4. It is possible to dim the entire user-interface just by hitting the “L” key, and the buttons, though less-visible, are still usable. HItting the same key again cycles the interface to complete black, and again brings it to normal.
5. It works on my machine. Even though my machine is well below spec in the memory category, this program retains its functionality; though with higher resolution photos, users may run into trouble.
6. The slide show feature is very customizable, bringing the pro the ability to import company logo, name, and much other information, as well as the ability to export to a number of widely used formats--with more on the way.
7. Though I have not tried it, the printing abilities are very interesting, and look very streamlined.

As with any beta release, this has bugs. Mouse-scrolling in the side menus does not work, and there are other, less-noticable bugs that are being worked out. I pushed the programs use of memory by importing a bunch of photos, and, while iTunes was playing, and a couple of other applications were open, scrolling through photos. The result was slower scrolling, and a slight hang-up, but nothing like when I open iPhoto.


The pro-level photographer will not probably want to exclusively use the beta, but it looks promising. I know I am going to keep using it. It looks like they are positioning this to compete directly with Aperture. In my mind, if it works on this computer, and has even just a little more functionality for a better price, I am in. I will let you know if I change my mind.
[Update:]
Added photos, and the forgotten links (sorry to have left them off).