Doing some last minute shopping, for myself, on Amazon and I was looking through the software. While I was going through the “Movers & Shakers” section of Amazon I found this:

Now when I saw this I became quite frustrated. The already shady Norton is now cashing in on new unknowing mac users. Those of you who are new to the mac world and aren’t tech savvy, you need to know that virus software isn’t needed when running Mac OS X. Don’t waste $50 on crappy software that will just take up space on your hard drive.

The “Product Information” on Amazon:

 

• Automatically detects and removes viruses Offers automatic protection against the latest threats with set-and-forget convenience
• Scans and cleans downloaded files and email attachments Delivers continuous, up-to-date protection via fast updates
• Protects against attacks that target software vulnerabilities Provides advanced protection against software and Internet vulnerabilities
• Works with new Mac OS® X v10.5 Runs natively on Intel® and PowerPC® based Mac® systems
• Includes an all-new Norton AntiVirus dashboard widget

The information is repetitive, but the dashboard widget sounds innovative. Right?

Is this the beginning of so called “problem solving” windows software moving to the mac? I can’t wait for the release Windows Movie Maker and disk defragmenter early next year.

Every year Macs are becoming more popular. Windows users are flocking switching to Macs rather that attempting to try and update to Microsoft’s interesting operating system known as Vista. But if there is one reason not to switch to the Mac, I have it.

On a Windows computer, I have found it to be the perfect place for getting work done including school papers, blog posts, and even just checking/writing my email. With a Windows computer you’ll start something and usually finish it in a respectable amount of time. I would like to say I could do the same on the Mac, but I can’t. Writing an English thesis paper on my Macbook will look promising at first, but then I’ll find myself navigating through the iTunes Store or reorganizing the files in my documents folder. No, I don’t have an attention disorder, but maybe I’ve psychologically made my Mac a computer for “fun stuff” and my Windows computer for “work stuff.” Is it because I grew up on a PC during most of my childhood education? I thought it to be true until I noticed that I wasn’t the only one with this problem.

Searching through the pages of (the now hacked) MacApper, I found dozens of “Getting Things Done” or GTD applications specifically to end my problem. The only problem with these GTD applications is that they take more time away from your work, especially when trying to set them up. I’ve spent a couple hours on a GTD app only to delete it the next day.

I then (now wasting time) tried to give this condition a name. Mac Attention Deficit Disorder, MADD, is already been taken. Any ideas?

Back on topic, if you’re going to get a Mac you need to know that you won’t get as much work as you once did on your Windows machine. Why? Mac OS is too pretty, has animated everything, and it could even be a psychological thing. They say creative people use Macs, possibly because the Mac can be the doodle on the side of your page or writing on your hand.

Writing this post I have replied to five Pownce messages, downloaded a new song on iTunes, attacked a zombie (and lost) on Facebook, and emailed an old classmate. 

It’s been less than a week since I ordered the Chumby and when I saw that it was being sent from Hong Kong, I expected it wouldn’t be delivered for a couple weeks. Fortunately, it was expedited and I have it in my hands right now. I wasn’t planning on doing an unbox, but I’ve been emailed and Pownced by many asking me to do one.

Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

I will have a full review of the Chumby very soon!

Yes, I know it’s been a while and I don’t have an excuse. What I do have is my first impressions of the new Apple OS know as Leopard, which was released on Friday.

Shiny and Ripe:

• Theme stays consistent throughout every app
• The end of the futuristic brushed metal look
• Finder finally found itself and it’s good
• The dock is pretty, very pretty
• Preview is even better
• Time Machine ends my pack-rat days
• Stacks makes getting to files, much easier (perfect for multiple piece projects)
• Mail.app could be seeing use again
• Front Row is faster and now something I’ll use (you can finally get to it in the applications folder)
• No bugs encountered…yet?
• No trouble running older apps

Soft and Rotten:

• Coverflow in Finder. Really Apple?
• I still despise Dashboard
• Wireless connection settings/information is still useless
• iChat will once again never be used
• Runs sluggishly on my 2GB MacBook Core Duo
• Only one Leopard space wallpaper
• No spine-tingling new features

One of my favorite applications for the Mac is Overflow and at WWDC 2007, “Stacks” was preview and show some very similar characteristics. Overflow is a simple application that holds files that you don’t use regularly, instead of filling up your dock. Stacks seems to be much of the same, in that it holds files for easy access. Can Overflow compete with a pre-loaded application? I decided to email Dan Messing (of Stunt Software) to see what he had to say.

Stacks may indeed be competition for some users using Overflow, but I think Overflow has a bit of a different goal than Stacks does. Stacks seems to be intended as a quick way to store temporary files, such as files downloaded from the Internet, without creating a clutter on your desktop. Overflow is generally used for more permanent files or applications.”

After looking at the Stacks video on Apple.com I can see where Dan is coming from. Overflow seems to be more for applications and not temporary files and documents. The final decision will be the made by the users when Leopard is released in October. For now, Overflow is a simple, yet useful application, for Mac users.After watching the Stacks video and using Overflow, how does everyone else feel?

Verizon has been my service provider since my first mobile phone (some eight years ago) and they have been great with coverage and rarely do I ever have dropped calls. Last February, I upgraded to a new phone, Motorola KRZR k1m, and the phone has been great.

The phone is also a music player, but to put music on the phone you need the driver, to get the driver you needed the “V Cast Music Manager”, to get the V Cast Music Manager you need XP (not OSX or Vista). The Vista version was coming though, when I first looked at the chart it said it would becoming out in March. Verizon kept their word and it came out yesterday, July eleventh, that’s three months of delays.
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After taking a much needed vacation I opened up my Gmail for the first time in a week. Deleting 99% percent of the emails was nothing new, but the last email was what I had been hoping for, a Pownce invite. Pownce is trying to bank on the popularity of sites like Twitter (and in some ways even Tumblr) and even applications like Twitterrific.

Before getting into the details on Pownce, the Pownce team already are well known throughout the Internet. The team consists of Kevin Rose (Digg, Revision3), Daniel Burka, Leah Culver (Laptop girl), and Shawn Allen (first time I have heard of him). With big names on board at Pownce will it become as popular as Twitter or previous projects like Digg? Only time will tell (that sounds real cliche).

Pownce works like Twitter in that you can post what you’re doing or post a cool website or whatever you want. Unlike Twitter, Pownce offers four categories of items you can submit, them being a message, a link, a file and an event. Submitting links on Pownce works just like submitting a link when using Tumblr, which has become a favorite thing to do when using Tumblr.

At this point you might be thinking Pownce doesn’t really do anything to make it different from it’s competition, but it does. First off, the ability to submit files is a brand new area in the field of presence websites and could easily become popular among Internet pirates. A “Pro” account is available for those who are heavy on the file submitting.

Twitterrific has become the “killer-app” for Twitter users and Pownce took note. Instead of the Pownce team waiting for a typical user created application, they created their own. Built off of Adobe AIR, the Pownce application is beautiful in both functionality and visual appeal. It works like a charm on my Macbook and Vista machine.

Pownce improves on what the competition has to offer. With a celebrity crew, high interest (hype), and a great visual appeal, Pownce will become as popular if not more popular than Twitter.

BTW- I have five invites to give away. Just be the first (five) to email me at mail@r3fresh.com.

Check out my profile at www.pownce.com/LOR3N
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Google has become more than just a search engine, it’s become an email, Microsoft Office, and an online video competitor. What has kind of perplexed me is why Google hasn’t bought into or created a web browser. It’s not as if Google doesn’t have the money, they could easily buy Opera or even Mozilla Firefox and make it their own.

What would make the Google browser a killer application would be the addition of an offline Google Doc’s & Spreadsheets. At the moment Google has introduced Google Gears which enables online applications to work offline, but it’s still in beta and has some work before it becomes mainstream. Microsoft would be hurting if Google were to create an offline office application that was free.
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