Bike+

Ash sent me the following link to Patently Apple last week.

Apple Introduces us to the Smart Bike

All I want to know is...where does the line form? I'm ready for this yesterday.

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Pikes Peak 2010

Me and Ash have successfully made our 16th ascent of Pikes Peak. It was also the Ash-sister’s second and the Ash-dog’s first, for those keeping score.

The day remained sunny throughout. Not even a hint of rain, hail or snow near the summit. My energy stayed strong for the duration of the hike and the altitude sickness problem I’ve been dealing with the last few years did not rear it’s ugly head. In fact, it’s the best I’ve felt in a quite some time. You can tell because I’m actually smiling in the photo above. Woohoo :)

I have thoughts on why this is, but for now I’ll call it luck. We’ll see how next year goes.

According to the published specifications, it’s maximum operating altitude is 10,000 feet, but if you look at the photo above, you’ll see me holding my iPad. I am happy to report that, yes, it does work at above 10,000 feet. Even up 14,110 feet. I turned it on and it did not explode or implode or do anything besides work as it’s supposed to. Hmmm, maybe I should file a class action lawsuit for false advertising.

I had my Nintendo Personal Trainer: Walking pedometer in my pocket this year, as I was curious as to how many steps it takes to get to the top. I’m not sure if the count is anywhere near accurate, especially since the steps trailed of sharply around 11:45am, which is around the time we reached the timberline. Up until then, it showed a steady graph of walking. After 11:45, it showed more rest than walking. Maybe the pedometer has an altitude operating limit. Perhaps I should look into the Nike+ thingamajig for next time.



OK, last thing is a quiz. Is the following picture

a.) a “wild” dinner roll
b.) not a dinner roll, but something more indigenous to a forest



Good times. I am outta ’heah!

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Slippery Mac Mini

The new Mac Mini comes with a handy-dandy twist-off cover that allows for easy access to the RAM slots. Adding RAM to the previous Mac Mini model required a putty knife and some patience, so this is a welcome change.

Unfortunately, the cover is also the base upon which the Mac Mini sits. The cover is made of plastic, which frankly, seems a little un-Apple-like to me. If you have an even slightly slippery desktop surface, the Mac Mini will slide around at the slightest touch, like when inserting a DVD. It doesn't have grippy, rubber feet to grab hold of the desktop surface with.

Well, until now. Pay attention class-action-lawsuit-happy assclowns...this is how you handle the situation.

Not wanting the Mac Mini to slide around like a hockey puck, I grabbed some rubber feet that came with a network switch and slapped them on the bottom cover. Problem solved. The Mac Mini now stays put should there be a breeze, someone walks by too fast or breathes too hard in the immediate vicinity. Tada!

I suppose I could have whined incessantly about this. Gone to Gizmodo and told them a story of how the Mac Mini slipped off the table and killed a kitten (story is fake but I hear those Gizmodo guys will buy just about anything) Force Steve Jobs to call a press conference and have him reluctantly give anyone who purchased a Mac Mini free rubber feet. Apple’s already making a bunch of iPhone bumper cases, what’s a few million additional little rubber feet going to cost?

Or wait, hang on...somebody get me the number of a good class-action lawyer! Why am I fixing this on my own? This is an Apple product and I am incapable of making rational decisions in it’s presence. APPLE MUST PAY. Yikes, sorry about that. I got class-action fever there for a second.

For the record, I also gave the Mac Mini every sort of death-grip imaginable, but it’s Wi-Fi signal stayed unrelentingly strong.



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Seems Like Filing Class-Action Lawsuits Is All the Rage These Days

Apparantly, an iPad shuts down when used in direct sunlight for more than a few minutes. Or at least, so say three asshats who have hopped aboard the Class-Action Bandwagon and slapped Apple with yet another ridiculous lawsuit.

The premise? Here’s an excerpt from Macworld...

The three plaintiffs—Jacob Balthazar, Claudia Keller and John Browning—said that they were duped into buying a defective device by Apple’s claim that “reading on iPad is just like reading a book.”

This has got to be a hoax. The plaintiffs can’t possibly be that stupid and yet, still live and breathe. It’s almost as if they are mocking the legal system, cranking the frivolous level to 11, waiting to see at what point they get shot down.

I’d like to know exactly how they were "duped" into buying an iPad. An iPad can be demoed at any Apple Store before committing to it’s purchase. It would have been apparant right away that reading on an iPad might not be "exactly" like reading a real book. Did an Apple salesperson put an iPad sticker on a real book and say “Check it out man, this iPad is just like a real book. Go ahead, try it out”. Now that would be a good duping.

Also, who the hell reads a book in direct sunlight, anyways?

I am an iPad owner. I use it daily. One of the first things I noticed about the iPad was how cool it ran, not even getting warm when used for an hour or more doing intensive things, like watching video. This in comparison to a laptop, which pretty much roasts your lap after about 15 minutes of use. I also read books and magazines on my iPad -- my iBooks library currently contains The Omnivore’s Dilema and a handful of MAD Magazines and PDF-ified AmigaWorld magazines. I will say that reading a PDF on the iPad is just like reading a real PDF :)

Today, I headed outside to do a little reading of my own on the iPad in direct sunlight. The iPad overheating and shutting down is the least of your worries when trying to read an iPad in direct sunlight. Not burning out your corneas from the wicked reflection is the first.

Reading outside in the indirect sunlight didn’t prove to be much better. The display is overwhelmed and washed out in bright sunlight. Of course, I could have just been holding it wrong. Reading in the shade, however, yielded much better results. In fact, the display looked just as good in the shade as it does indoors. I’m not sure how many people try to read in the direct sunlight, but I’m betting more opt to read in the shade. You know, normal, non-class-action-lawsuit-filing type people.

The Apple-published environmental operating specs say the iPad can operate in a temperature range of 32-95 degrees. If it’s over 95 degrees outside, the last thing I want to do is curl up with a good book in the sun. For that matter, even I shut down if left in the direct sunlight for too long.

As usual, this is a no harm, no foul situation we have here. If the plaintiffs are unhappy with their iPads, common sense says they should return them and get a refund. Or sell them on eBay. I don't see how they were harmed by the iPad not being like a real book. Harmed enough to warrant a lawsuit? I hardly doubt it.

Common sense does not trump the need for 15 minutes of fame. I feel like I’m repeating myself.

At least now I know why the iPad kept cutting out on me while I was trying to use it in the freezer.

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Royalties, Please

When Ash sent me a link to Syte Shirt, I was thinking that I had seen that somewhere before. While I try to remember, you should check out my Feb. 24th post, “How Are YOU Gonna Carry Your iPad?”

I’m sure royalty checks will be on the way soon.

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