Tag Archives: Apple
My iPod broke!
Posted on02. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.
Last week I downloaded the Pandora app or the iPod/iPhone. Awesome! I’ve been plugging it into my stereo and enjoying some great internet radio. However, I was having some difficulty getting the line in to make a good connection with my headphone jack. Then yesterday morning I left for work. When I plugged my headphones into the iPod, it didn’t stick. The headphone connector just fell out of the iPod. Crud! I broke my iPod. On my way into work, I started thinking of all the things that could have been wrong. Ultimately, I figured it would be an expensive fix to replace the headphone jack. If it’s too expensive, maybe I’d be better off getting an iPhone. Seriously, I can’t live without my iPod and if my iPod isn’t going to work, I might as well have an iPhone.
I decided to try out the Genius Bar at the Apple store. I went online and saw that I could make reservations. I made two, one for the iPod issue and one for a Quick Time Pro issue I was having. I was very impressed with the customer service/tech support of the Genius Bar. It’s simply genius!
Well, the genius took my iPod, pulled out one of those things the Dr. uses to look in your ears and said, “there’s your problem, your spring is all bent back.” Crud! That’s gong to be expensive. “Looks like you’ve got some junk in there too.” He pulls out a can of pressurized air and starts spraying into the jack. After a few seconds a huge dust/lint ball falls out. He looks in again. Wow, there’s still more. He get another tool and starts digging around, spraying in more air and digging some more. A few minutes later he pulls out two more huge dust/lint balls. Then he say’s, “there you go” and he he hands it back to me. I plug my headphones in and they stick. I hit play and there’s music. Wow! Three ball of lint/dust broke my iPod touch! Thank goodness for the Genius Bar.
Oh, and the same genius fixed my Quick Time Pro issue in less than five minutes too.
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My conversion?
Posted on13. Aug, 2008 by Kenny.
In case you didn’t figure it out from my posts a few weeks ago, I got a new computer. A MacBook Pro. No, it wasn’t a grand conversion and no I am not drinking the kool-aid. I’ve been getting a lot of pressure from friends and colleagues to give the Mac a chance. So I did. It’s been a pretty good experience so far. Am I glad I made the switch? I’ll let you know in a few more weeks.
Does my lack of enthusiasm disappoint you mac-heads? Sorry, but it’s just my own experience. So here is my personal experience.
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Windows Apps to OS X Apps
Posted on25. Jul, 2008 by Kenny.
Okay, before I spend hours and hours looking, maybe you could help me specifically. I have these applications that I use on a regular basis. I need to know if there is something similar (or better) on the Mac. Most of what I suggest here are free.
- VSO image resizer – I right-click on an image on my desktop and it opens VSO and with one click it will create a copy of the image in any size I specify. Very handy for adding images to the blog. I use it all the time!
- Hoversnap – It runs in my task tray. I hit print screen and it creates a jpeg of my desktop. I hit alt-print screen and it creates a jpeg of my active window. I hit control-print screen and it creates a marque drawing tool that I can highlight any space on my desktop and it makes that into a jpeg. Again, it’s handy for blogging and I use it all the time.
- Windows Live Writer – I use it to blog and I love it. It’s better than using a web application. What is good for the Mac?
- DVDFab Decrypter – I use this to rip a DVD to my computer. I then use handbrake (which was originally Mac) to export video tracks to MOV, MP4 or whatever other file I need. I know handbrake can rip the DVD, but it won’t rip some copy protected DVDs. DVDFab always does. Anyone have any ideas on what I can use to rip DVDs without the copy protection getting in the way.
Well, those are a few. Here’s the real deal. I’ve got XP running on the machine and I could easily install all of this on the XP OS… but that isn’t the point of having a MacBook Pro, is it?
Thanks for your help. Oh and please do make suggestions of things I don’t know about that you absolutely love. I do have Adobe Creative Suite 3 as well as all the Office Suite, so I’m good with all of that… but I need more!
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Okay people… I need your help… BIG TIME!
Posted on25. Jul, 2008 by Kenny.
I’m starting to hyperventilate. No seriously. Here is the computer I was issued when I got to Gateway a little over two months ago:
It’s a Dell Inspiron 1525.It’s been a good machine. I can’t say the Vista installed on it has been a good move. But, it’s what I’m familiar with and I’ve been happy (mostly).
However… in three days I am giving this machine to my Early Childhood director. She is going on maternity leave and she needs a laptop to use when she does start getting back to work but not coming into the office. So in just a few days I have to get all my files off. Simple enough, huh?
Why panicked? Because I’m switching to this…
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One week with Vista
Posted on01. Jun, 2008 by Kenny.
Last week I posted about getting a new Dell Inspiron 1525 with Vista. A few expressed their concern over me taking a Vista machine over a Mac. Not as many as I thought. Let me first defend myself. I’m not an Apple hater. I even posted a blog post on what I like about Apple. I’m just not ready to go back… yet.
To be honest, I don’t know how some of you do it. Do you not at all feel a little demasculated carrying around a little dainty computer? Every time I use one, I feel like I’m going to break it if I type too hard. Does using an Apple make you want to stick your pinky out while sipping your morning coffee? (I’m willing to bet I’m going to get a few comments on this little paragraph)
Nah, I’m just kidding. Okay, back on subject. I’ve been using Vista for a week and I must say that it’s not all that bad. To be honest, I don’t feel like it’s all that different from XP. As cool as the Aero looked before Vista released, it’s just eye-candy. I haven’t had any driver problems. I still don’t know where everything is, but my experience has been without any incidents. Perhaps my experience would have been different if I had gotten Vista 12 months ago. I’m running with 3 GB of Ram and it still seems like it takes forever to load when I boot up.
So, I don’t plan to upgrade my personal laptop from XP to Vista until I have to. I don’t’ see the benefit of spending the money for an upgrade. I have a feeling that on my personal machine, I’ll upgrade from XP to the OS after Vista unless Microsoft somehow forces people to upgrade to Vista. So, that’s my take… for what it’s worth.
Technorati Tags: Vista, XP, Apple
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Vista… bring it!
Posted on21. May, 2008 by Kenny.
I just got my new laptop for work. I’ve been using a desktop in my office for the past few weeks. When at home I’ve used my own laptop and have been able to do everything necessary. However, now I’m glad to have my own equipment and able to set it up for getting stuff done.
However, it’s loaded with Vista. Hmmmm. Not sure how I feel about this. I’ve been an XP user for 5 years and have become very comfortable with it. I’ve been keeping tabs on the mess Microsoft has had with the Vista release. I know at some point a person must move on… I guess now is that time for me.
Before all you Macheads (you know who you are) suggest Apple as another option (and some of you would probably say the only logical option), I am not ready to go “there” yet. Yeah, I actually had the option. Actually, the IT guy was disappointed that I didn’t. So, we’ll just have to wait a little longer on that end.
Anyone else using Vista? Anyone in a Vista recovery group yet? I’ll let you know how my transition goes….
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What I like about Apple
Posted on22. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.
One word. Innovation.
By reading my other posts, you might think I was a mac hater. By no means. I didn’t use my first Windows based PC until 1995. From the time I was 6 or 7, we had an Apple computer in our house. At school I used the Macs in the computer lab. For graduation, one. Once Steve Jobs came back as interim CEO, everything started to change. Six months before I sold my Mac, the first iMac came out. Who thought people would want computers in colors other than beige? During this time Mac introduced new technologies such as USB, Firewire, the absence of floppy disks. Not long after this was iTunes, the iPod, iLife and everything else. Innovation is the drum Apple has marched to for the last decade. Although I’m a PC guy (and happy to be one) I’m grateful for all that Apple has done. They’re leading change across the entire industry… which is such a good thing.
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ProPresenter – Ministry presentation software you can’t live without
Posted on18. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.
For the past two years I’ve been using Sunday Plus for media presentation. It’s actually what our church had been using for several years. It made perfect sense to use it since we had a site license, a vast library of songs, backgrounds and tons of video loops. But man was this software buggy. I had a love/hate relationship with it. It was so much better than PowerPoint, but very frustrating on many different levels. If I had a video clip to show, I’d have to get the video guys to rip it off and it had to be encoded to a very specific type of video file.
About a year ago my church launched it’s third campus. The tech director intended to test a new software called ProPresenter for this campus. At the last minute leadership said no, but the equipment and software had already been purchased for the Children’s Ministry there. This did cause some problems as I was using Sunday Plus, another campus was still using PowerPoint, and the new campus was now using ProPresenter. When we’d make all the slides, we’d make them as JPEG’s so that each campus could just import the pictures for the slides. However, just a few months ago the rest of the church decided to make the shift to ProPresenter.
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