Chris Ullrich | Dot Net

As previously mentioned, I’ve been trying to write with the iPad as much as possible instead of using the MacBook Air or any other OS X-powered Mac. After a couple weeks of doing this, I’ve got some thoughts to share.

First, and this should not come as a surprise, I love almost everything about the iPad as a device. It’s extremely portable and has amazing battery life, even when used for several hours of work and pretty much continuous syncing of Dropbox via Verizon’s 4G LTE. I can only imagine the portability and battery life are going to get better and better as we see newer versions of the iPad.

As a device used for content consumption, the iPad also excels. If you want to watch a movie or TV program via Netflix or iTunes, the iPad is your best choice. The screen is excellent and the afformetioned battery life can get you though several programs during a long plane ride to Hawaii, or wherever you’re going. It also features an impressive collection of apps devoted to bringing you content.

On that note, the iPad is excellent for reading books via the Kindle or iBooks app or comics using an app like Comixology. I also enjoy checking out news, Twitter, Facebook and my Instagram feed using an app like Flipboard. These kinds of content consumption, and the quality experience they provide, are all pretty much a given.

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I realize today is only Thursday, but it’s never too late to plan for the weekend. That said, it is likely I will be in Long Beach this weekend going to the Long Beach Comic & Horror Con.

I’ve been taking care of a lot of things recently (many of them personal) and need a bit of a break to explore my inner (and outer) geek. So, in that spirit (and because I missed Comic-Con in San Diego due to my back) I’m going to head to Long Beach this weekend.

I expect it to be interesting and fun. Plus, it will be nice to see a few people I haven’t seen in some time as well as check out some new comics and horror stuff.

Plus, there’s a couple panels I want to go to as well. They mostly have to do with making comics and such, stuff most of you probably are not all that interested in. I also plan on taking a few pics, so be on the lookout for those as well.

In other news, I have opted against getting a new 13″ MacBook Pro with Retina Display and will also not be getting an iPad Mini. Why?

The short answer is I already have way too much stuff already. The longer answer is I just got a new laptop a few months ago (the amazing 13″ i7 MacBook Air) and I already have an iPad I hardly ever use.

So, I don’t need to spend the money on new stuff I don’t really need or something I probably wouldn’t use very often. Plus, I’ve read a fee reviews of the new MacBook Pro and from what i gather it isn’t quite all there yet. So, I’ll wait until it is.

I’m actually quite pleased with these decisions. I think I’m growing.

See you in Long Beach.

When I find intersting stuff, I drop it in here. Although, as I’ve not put up much lately, I guess there’s not that much interesting stuff to be found. Or, I’m just not looking hard enough. Meh.

Anyway, this is quite interesting, especially if you’re a fan of Apple and the Mac. Enjoy.

This was written by Steve Jobs sister Mona Simpson and given at a ceremony for the late Apple co-founder and all-around genius. I thought it was worth reposting and preserving here for me, and for you.

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I grew up as an only child, with a single mother. Because we were poor and because I knew my father had emigrated from Syria, I imagined he looked like Omar Sharif. I hoped he would be rich and kind and would come into our lives (and our not yet furnished apartment) and help us. Later, after I’d met my father, I tried to believe he’d changed his number and left no forwarding address because he was an idealistic revolutionary, plotting a new world for the Arab people.

Even as a feminist, my whole life I’d been waiting for a man to love, who could love me. For decades, I’d thought that man would be my father. When I was 25, I met that man and he was my brother.

By then, I lived in New York, where I was trying to write my first novel. I had a job at a small magazine in an office the size of a closet, with three other aspiring writers. When one day a lawyer called me — me, the middle-class girl from California who hassled the boss to buy us health insurance — and said his client was rich and famous and was my long-lost brother, the young editors went wild.

This was 1985 and we worked at a cutting-edge literary magazine, but I’d fallen into the plot of a Dickens novel and really, we all loved those best. The lawyer refused to tell me my brother’s name and my colleagues started a betting pool. The leading candidate: John Travolta. I secretly hoped for a literary descendant of Henry James — someone more talented than I, someone brilliant without even trying.

When I met Steve, he was a guy my age in jeans, Arab- or Jewish-looking and handsomer than Omar Sharif.

We took a long walk — something, it happened, that we both liked to do. I don’t remember much of what we said that first day, only that he felt like someone I’d pick to be a friend. He explained that he worked in computers.

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As you probably know, Windows 7 came out this week and, of course, Apple launched an ad campaign to fight this latest encroachment by the “evil empire.” Here’s my favorite one of the new ads so far featuring your old friends Mac and PC. Enjoy.

Yes folks, its true. I’m in the wonderful city of Austin, Texas for that melange of music/film/interactive goodness known as South by Southwest. Or, as all the cool kids refer to it: SXSW. I’m here covering the event for the fine folks at AOL/Weblogs who, on occasion, pay me to write about cool events such as this.

I do not complain about the weather or anything else when out at events like SXSW and always appreciate the opportunities afforded me as a member of the AOL/Weblogs team. Thank you benevolent AOL/Weblogs overlords for all that you do for me.

Okay, with that done, we can now get on to the business at hand and I can bring you a cool new video from innovative filmmaker Dennis Liu.

You may recall I interviewed Dennis for TUAW awhile back about his previous work, a music video for The Bird and the Bee’s song “Again and Again.” Now, Dennis is back with another Mac-centric short film which I find not only highly amusing but extremely innovative in its simplicity. Plus, it helps you find ways to watch porn at the office.

Putting it another way, this kid’s got chops.

Oh, before I forget, if you happen to be in Austin for SXSW, be sure to say hello. Also, I accept most offers of free beer and/or cookies. And cake. I like cake. But please, no pie. Sorry, you gotta draw the line somewhere and I draw it at pie.

Enjoy the video.

I realize I missed this week’s ‘Photo Tuesday’ but I have a good excuse for it. Unfortunately, I can’t say what it was because its a secret — at least for now. Let’s just say I spent some time on Tuesday doing something very cool and I will be revealing just what that thing was shortly.

Until then, let’s take a look at some interesting links for the week, shall we?

My interview with Hack/Slash creator Tim Seeley at ComicMix

My latest BSG Weekly at ComicMix

My interview with innovative filmmaker James Liu at TUAW

I thought I had a lot of computers.

If you happen to be in LA on June 1st and want to take a stand against abuse of photographers taking pictures in public places, check out this post.

And just so we have some artwork to accompany this post, here’s a couple of my favorites from Tim Seeley. One from Hack/Slash. Which, by the way, is a great comic you should be reading. And one from his other work on Forgotten Realms: Halfling’s Gem. Enjoy

Apple honcho Steve Jobs announced a bunch of new stuff today. Among the items were new, improved iMacs complete with shiny anodized aluminum keyboards, iLife ’08, increased storage and other improvements to .Mac (finally) and a new iWork suite of applications — including an “Excel killer” called Numbers. All in all, some pretty interesting new stuff that I can’t wait to try out.

I’ve already ordered iLife ’08 and will probably get iWork ’08 too — any chance to use something besides Word is ok with me. I might also go for a new iMac, but probably not right away. They do look cool, though, so it will be hard to hold off for too long. Also, it might be fun to get a new Mac Mini as well, seeing as how his Steveness saw fit to update those today as well. With the recent release of the iPhone and now this stuff, its great to be an Apple user these days.

Also, if you like Apple and you like Podcasts then you’re in luck because over at TUAW we’re doing another live Talkcast/Podcast about all-things Apple. Its this Thursday, 9:30PM Eastern and I’ll be on it along with my esteemed TUAW colleagues Scott McNulty, David Chartier and Mike Rose. We also did one last week as well so check that one out too.

For all the details on how to listen to this week’s Talkcast and even call in live with your comments and questions, head on over here. We like doing these Talkcasts that become Podcasts and they will probably become a regular thing. So, if you have the time, tune in. Finally, I wrote a bit of an editorial on my feelings and the state of Comic-Con over at Cinematical.

It should be up tomorrow barring any unforeseen issues like they decide I’ve written it way too long and gone off on a tirade or something. Me on a tirade or writing something way too long? Not possible.

It may come as somewhat of a surprise that I, the vehement Apple fan would ever say anything even remotely negative about my favorite computer — er, sorry “consumer electronics” — company, but here I am saying just that. After much hype, speculation and furor all across the web and beyond, the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference Keynote went off this morning not with the expected bang, but with a whimper. And not a particularly interesting whimper either.

Sure, there were some interesting things about it but those bits of joy were few and far between. Basically, what it amounted to was a big commercial for Apple’s upcoming update to OSX called Leopard and some bits about the iPhone and the fact that yes, you can now experience the bliss of using the Safari web browser on your Windows PC. There are some cool ones like Time Machine and the new look for the Desktop but without actually using it I can’t get too excited yet. If you’re really interested, the full list of the new features Leopard has to offer can be found here.

I have to say I was expecting more. Although, some might argue that I really shouldn’t because this event is geared towards software developers and so isn’t the place to debut new, exciting updates to Apple’s products. Nor is it the proper venue to announce new additions to Apple’s ever-expanding line of consumer electronics. That might be true but Apple needs to remember one thing when they decide the content for these keynotes: everyone is watching.

Apple is a trend-setting company whose products have a tremendous appeal and whose influence is felt in many corners of the business and consumer markets. They are not the little company in Cupertino trying to make it anymore. They are a world player to rival the biggest in the industry and they shouldn’t waste any opportunity to announce new stuff — especially stuff people are really waiting to see. So, given all of that, what did I want from the keynote? I’m glad you asked because I made a list:

• Something about an update for Apple’s ailing suite of .Mac offerings. The days where getting what amounts to an email account and 1GB of online storage for a hundred bucks a year are drawing to a close. Apple needs to make .Mac more valuable and even better, make it free, for it to compete in today’s world where Google gives it all away. Not only that, but now it seems that .Mac was not only overlooked during the keynote, but has disappeared from Apple’s website completely. Mmm, I wonder where it’s gone? Hopefully it will surface somewhere new and be more fantastic than ever. Google anyone?

• Something about an update for Apple’s suite of iApps which include iPhoto, iMovie and iWeb. I like all of these applications but it would be great if they did more — especially in the case of iWeb. Its pretty good for version 1.0 but it really needs more features and more custom features to remain viable. Of course, there’s always the chance that the iApps are also going to appear somewhere else. Maybe they will end up being available the same way .Mac will?

• New hardware. How about an updated iMac in stunning aluminum enclosure or something I really, really want: a 13″ MacBook Pro. Surely Apple recognizes the need for a ultra-portable Mac laptop for business people who don’t want to lug the 15″ MacBook Pro around with them and who won’t want to use a MacBook. More than anything, I would really love Apple to come out with this kind of machine. If they do, I’ll be ordering one the first second its available. I can’t be the only person who wants one of these, can I?

• Tone down the iPhone hype a bit. Sure, the iPhone looks cool and on the surface seems to have a bunch of great features. But seriously, its not the second coming or anything. It’s a phone that supposedly does a lot of other stuff still unproven in real-world conditions.

So, while you’re flogging the crap out of the iPhone, it might not be a bad idea to remember your loyal user base of Mac computer users. You remember them, right? The ones that kept buying Macs even though everyone in the press was predicting Apple’s imminent demise? They kept the company going during the dark times of Amelio and Scully so please try to remember and throw them a bone once in awhile. They deserve your respect and your thanks.

All the hype and attention surrounding the iPhone and its imminent release to a salivating public is one of the reasons I’m counting the days until it finally comes out. Once its finally out there and succeeds massively or falls flat on it shiny, touch screened face, maybe Apple can then get back to doing what it has always done best, make terrific computers that “just work.” Until then, if I have to watch any more Keynotes like this I’m gonna need a lot more coffee.

It’s not a secret how I feel about our current President. If you’re not sure, let’s just be polite and say I think he’s not doing a very good job at all. In fact, I think he’s probably one of the worst Presidents we’ve ever had and will go down in history as one of the key reasons this country went from world leader to world joke. Well, maybe ‘joke’ isn’t the right word (we are still well-reagrded in some circles) but we sure don’t look as good as we used to.

The real question on my mind now is who the heck do we get to be our next President when we have our election in only eighteen months or so. We need someone who can help restore the world’s faith in our country and help us reagin our standing as the world leader we should be.

I pretty much know how I’m going to vote but its always good to hear other opinions. Following that logic, here’s what Chris Rock has to say on the subject:

Also, if you’re a fan of interesting commercials (and great ones from the past), politics and the Mac as I am, then this next bit of video should be right up your alley.

I really like some of the more subtle updates to the add — especially the inclusion of the iPod on the hip of the hammer-wielding woman. From a technical standpoint, also very well done. (Actually it occurred to me later that the person making this video probably used the updated version of the commercial already featuring the iPod and didn’t add it himself/herself. Still, a great job.)

Lastly, I’ve been thinking about how to reform our government and the election process and have some ideas. But for now, just enjoy the video. We can get into massive change later.

Over at this site they have an interesting bit of info on the film 300 and how the Macintosh was a very big part of getting the film done. Some of the Apple tech that was used to make the film possible include Final Cut Pro, Shake and Quicktime. Even though the film was primarily edited on an AVID system, the filmmakers said they prefer to use Macs running Final Cut instead of AVID. Interesting bit of info. And, if you want even more, head on over to the FX Guide site. Even more bits of interesting info there including the above mentioned ‘Death Monkey.’

While we are on the subject of 300, I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the film. As I usually do these days, I went in with almost no expectations and as open a mind as I could possibly muster. Fortuntely, the film more than lived up to the hype and I was rewarded with a great experience. Sure, the film isn’t perfect but its a visual treat that should not be missed. Obviously, I’m not alone here because the film made over $70 milion in the first weekend — the third biggest opening weekend for an R-rated film of all time, btw. So, get a babysitter and go out and see the movie if you haven’t already.

Also, got some new stuff up over at Cinematical — including details on Frank Miller’s career aspirations, Michael Eisner’s new venture and the YouTube saga — as well as a brand new ‘Ask the MACist‘ over at LAist. Plus, I should have a couple things coming out at CBR in a few days as well. And, possibly something new and cool I’m not at liberty to discuss just yet too. You’ll just have to chcck back to find out, sorry.

As much as I love ecto and all its blogging goodness I sometimes wonder if something better is out there to suit my needs. So, I have decided to give Mars Edit a try. I only downloaded it this evening and this is the first post with it. So far, so good. Over the next week or so I am going to put it through its paces, kick the tires and generally see what’s what with the program.

Then, as I often do, I will give it a thumbs up or down and say some reasons why. Until then, happy blogging all and to all a good night.