Checket.com

The iPad over-explained in a too-long post

Some 9 years ago or so (I think. I may need someone to check the dates out for me) my brother bought my Dad a really unique Christmas present. It was a 3Com Ergo Audrey; one of a crop of so-called internet appliances. It did a few things really well: It surfed the web (with a few significant javascript and flash display issues) and it ran a really good email program as well as a decent calender and address book. And the form factor was simple and beautiful. In fact, one of the first things both my brother and I remarked on was how Apple-like everything was, from the packaging to the unit design etc. This little thing had a cool touch screen operated with a stylized, clear plexiglass stylus that sat in a little divot holder at the top of the unit. And inside the divot was a green LED light that lit up the whole stylus when there was new email or when something else in the unit wanted your attention. It came with a mini keyboard as well and all you had to supply was a phone cord for the built in 56K modem. It was awesome. But the manufacturer suffered mightly when the dot com bubble burst and they discontinued the unit. You can read more about the Audrey here at Wikipedia [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3Com_Audrey] and, for the adventurous and nostalgic among you, I actually found a website that still sells brand new units! [http://webpages.misn.com/~toybox/audrey.html] Caveat Emptor on that one, by the way.

Anyway, the point of this little stroll down computer-memory lane is the imminent launch of the iPad. Even if you don’t follow Apple, you’ve no doubt heard about it. And it’s a good bet that you know more about the controversy than the actual product. The essence of the so-called “controversy” is the generally poor reception its getting from people in the tech community who are underwhelmed by most of what the product represents. In order to understand the reaction, you have to first understand a little bit about Apple and the tech community as a whole. This little explanation comes with a bit of a disclaimer: I have and love a MacBook Pro. Its the best computer I’ve ever owned. Most people who own Macs love them. And at the risk of feeding the stereotype at the root of the problem, those who don’t own a Mac fall into 2 camps: people who don’t really have an opinion and people who hate Apple just for being Apple. They think of those of us who love Apple as zombie slaves to Steve Jobs who’d buy a rock with an Apple logo on it if Steve Jobs told us to. I wouldn’t, but that’s beside the point. They also love to point out the higher cost of a Mac in comparison to other computer manufacturers such as Dell or HP or Asus, etc. I don’t want, nor would I consider buying, a “cheap” computer. Here’s a quick comparison of the Mac I have vs. a Windows machine I might consider buying (I picked Sony specifically because they offer a great machine with a form factor that I like alot) -

15-in. MacBook Pro – $2,348.00 (including 3 years Apple Care)
Intel Core 2 duo processor
350 GB hard drive
4GB mem.
SD card slot
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M + 9600M GT with 256MB graphics card
7-hour battery life
includes iLife suite of software

VS.

Sony Vaio F-Series – $2,069.96 (Including a 3-year care program which involves shipping your computer out to someone)
Intel® Core™ i7-820QM processor (1.73GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 3.06GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit
320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
CD/DVD burner
16.4″ VAIO Premium Display (1920×1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)

Much closer in price than many people think. I’ll admit that I cheated a little here. I added both Adobe Premier Elements and Adobe Photoshop Elements for video editing and photo editing respectively at an additional cost of approx. $150.00 . Why’d I do that and how is that cheating? Well, Windows 7 doesn’t come with video editing software so one of the places where Apple fans correctly point out a major cost difference is in the lack of user friendly photo and video software. Apple’s iLife suite has both of those things built in and they are both suberb products. Windows doesn’t. Although you can download a free Windows movie editor so you really don’t need Adobe Premier Elements. But…if what you really want is user-friendly, relatively powerful, out-of-the-box functionality, then you ought to get Premiere Elements. So while it may be fudging the numbers a little, it’s justifiable.

I also did not add the cost of anti-virus software which is an absolute MUST with any Windows machine. I’m savvy enough to find and install free AV software on my own but many, many average users don’t know how to do that. So they’ll spend the extra $80+ per year for Norton or McAfee. Smart. More money, but smart nonetheless. Also, the MacBook Pro I have is not the top of the line. A 17-in version with all of the bells and whistle is very expensive (around $2,500.00). But I was more interested in the ~15-in versions. Nevertheless, I admit that the bottom line is a MacBook Pro will usually cost more than most average Windows computers. Plus, the average consumer is nowhere near as concerned about specs as I am. If they see a price of $699.00, they don’t stop to think about whether it includes the software they need out-of-the-box. Nor do they care if the graphics are integrated or not. And the sure as hell don’t fuss over design aesthetics. Windows users are generally less concerned over build and design quality than are Mac users. But I do think its important to try a little harder to make an apples to apples (so to speak) comparison. Will Apple get beaten often on price? Heck, yes. But that doesn’t tell the complete story.

Wait…what does all of this have to do with the damned iPad?!?

I’m getting to that.

First, more background. The past few years have seen a bumper crop of what folks are calling Netbooks. These are the miniature laptops, usually around a 7-in screen size and about the size of a standard hardcover book. To the average consumer, they are everything that a larger laptop is, only shrunk down in size and with a price tag to match. The average price for one of these things is around $399.00 and under. People LOVE them. Never mind that they aren’t even remotely close to a full-featured computer. For the vast majority of consumers (and forgive me for co-opting this phrase) it’s the economy, stupid! Honestly, even I think they’re cute. And for the right type of person, it’s a very servicable choice. And it’s a great 2nd computer for the bedroom or the kitchen or something to put on a coffee table and use when you want to surf or check your email. But for everything they seem to have on the surface, they lack a whole lot more. When one looks closely, one wonders why you can’t just have something small and tablet-like to accomplish the same thing. Even though they run a version of Windows XP or 7 (or Linux) netbooks are severely under-powered, have terrible battery life and most have no CD/DVD drive so you can’t install software. And even if you downloaded software and installed it from online, you really wouldn’t want to. Take my word for it. I’ve played with one of these and tried to run PowerPoint. Let me just say that it was a miserable experience and PowerPoint crashed twice. What happened to what looked like a very positive and refreshing trend starting with the Audrey and other devices like it? Why did we take this step backward toward shruken, under-powered computers instead of building on the success of a re-imagined, re-engineered product that focused on doing a few things really well.

What’s really needed is not just the same old operating system forcing you to perform the same old tasks except on a different sized device. You need a whole new way of thinking about the task of computing. You want something that is fast and reliable, runs for hours without recharging the battery, let’s you surf the web and check email, play a game or two (and I’m not talking about Super Mario Brothers or World of Warcraft. I’m talking about crosswords and Sudoku or the occasional game of Hippo High-Dive which is awesome, btw.) You’ll also want to listen to music or watch a movie or TV show. And you want to do it wirelessly. The Audrey was almost all of that (without the wireless part. But had they stuck around, that would’ve happened eventually).

That’s just the stuff that you know you want to do and may even do already on whatever computer you already have in your house. But here’s some other stuff you may not have thought about. Anyone who’s used a computer is familiar with the tried and true paradigm of the menu bar (that’s the thing at the top of your window with the File, Edit, View…etc. commands). And even some less-than-savvy computer users know about the right-click menu. You also spend alot of time coaxing your mouse toward small buttons and links. These are the things that define the standard user interface today. And it hasn’t changed much in the last 20 years or more. But if you really think about it, the standard UI sucks rotten eggs. It always has. It’s lasted this long because it was the best of all possible worlds for a very long time, even when the occasional alternatives were presented. Completing tasks on a computer is a complicated process that requires an equally complicated interface. Until recently, that is. Apple, to much fanfare and cristicism, launched the paradigm changer (christ, I hate that phrase. It’s so over-used) a couple years ago with the iPhone. No more mouse. No more menus. Everything was touch-based. Launch an app with one touch. Drag your finger to scroll. Pinch with your thumb and forefinger to zoom. It’s brilliantly simple. My 2-year old daughter knows how to do it.

There are some sacrifices with the Apple interpretation of simple usability. For instance, there’s no multi-tasking. You’re only allowed to run one app at a time. When you want to switch to another, the first one closes. I, for one, don’t think of this as a drawback. Maybe its a function of getting older but I am trying hard to reduce the amount of clutter I deal with on a daily basis. It isn’t unusual for me to have 5 or 6 programs running at the same time that I’m browsing anywhere from 5 to 10 seperate websites and listening to NPR streaming in the background. It should come as no surprise when I say that I am not that productive. I’m busy, to be sure. But not productive. That’s my argument against multi-tasking. I am sympathic, however when I hear people say, “But all I want to do is stream Pandora while I’m surfing the web.” That’s a good point. I never said that the lack of multi-tasking was 100% correct. As far as I’m concerned, it’s more like 93% correct. Still a grade of A in my book.

The iPad will be based on the iPhone operating system. All of the apps are accessed by touching their icon. The menus have changed, too. You won’t be touching File or Edit or View menu options. Instead, you’ll be presented with slide out option boxes (I think they call them “drawers” or something) that are sized perfectly for fingers. What Apple has done is completely re-imagined how you interact with a computer. That’s a recipe for polarization. The reaction has been one of “How dare Apple presume to tell me how I should use my computer! How dare they take the control away from me!” I’ve even heard some folks prognosticate that this means the end of young kids learning how to program. “This is so radical,” they say, “it’s jeopardizing the very future of computer programming!” Bollocks, I say.

Admittedly, the iPad is missing some very compelling features. There’s no camera. At least not in version 1. I admit that I’m a little dissapointed by that. It would be nice to maybe use iChat or Skype video conferencing with this little thing. More on that in a sec. Also, there’s no Flash support. I’m not going into that. Its a long story. Suffice to say, not a big deal to me but a very big deal to others.

Now, consider that in addition to all of things I mentioned that you probably already do, you’ll also be able to read books and magagzines designed specifically for this device. Its vastly better than the Kindle experience. Plus, from what I’ve read, the iPad is so fast, that it’s almost as though everything happens in micro-seconds. Nothing on the market comes close to its speed. This is, in my humble opinion, the future of computing. It’s elegant and simple. It’s faster than anything else on the market and can deliver media of any kind without any of the complicated mess of computing as we’ve known it for the last couple of decades. And it will not be for everyone. At least not right away. The world will still need actually computers running Windows for the foreseeable future. That’s the bread and butter of a lot of business (my own included). As much as I’d like to see that change, it probably won’t. Also, not everyone needs something like this. Again, at least not right now. As much of an Apple fan as I am, even I don’t need something like this. I like it, but I don’t need it right now. (also, I’m unemployed and broke.)

About that camera thing I mentioned a second ago. If, by some chance, you haven’t seen the iPad, go to the Apple website and check it out. Try to imagine how you might hold it. Now try to imagine how, if it had a front-facing camera, you’d have to hold it up and in front of you to get a good view of anything except the inside of your nostrils if you were going to use it for a video conference. The viewing angle would be uncomfortable for anything longer than a few minutes. So I’m not all that concerned about the lack of camera for now.

There’s more that I could mention about it. But I think that it’s a very important device and coming out at just the right time. And I think, once again, Apple is setting the standard for what’s going to follow. That’s my two cents, anyway. And nuts to all of the people making fun of the name. That’s just silliness.

Many people will say (and are saying) that they can do all of the things the iPad can do on a netbook. Yes, they can. But I reject the premise of the argument outright. Why must you? That’s what I think is far more relevant. In the short history of the World Wide Web, one thing has been made very clear: the real benefit of the technology is in the quality of content it can deliver to the widest possible audience. True, any device can bring you content. But what we need is a device that can do a better job of bringing higher-quality content to a larger population in a way that doesn’t require a predisposed prejudice or exposure to the so-called traditional computing paradigm.

I’m cutting myself off here before I go on for another several dozen paragraphs about books, periodicals, media, media companies, etc. I’ll save it for my next post.

Good news/bad news

Yesterday was the WWDC (World-wide Developers Conference) keynote speech and, as expected, Apple announced a whole bunch of updates to both software and hardware. In the good news category, the entire Macbook line got updates and price cuts at the same time. Best of all, the new lithium polymer batteries promise up to 7 hours of power on a single charge.

If I can pat myself on the back a bit, some 14 months ago or so someone asked me what advances would convince me to shell out money for new hardware. And I said that I thought we’ve reached a point where most laptops had plateaued in terms of what they offer the consumer. Apart from faster processors, room for up to 8GB of RAM or SSD hard drives, the laptop you have today (unless its more than a couple of years old) is probably as good as it gets right now. But I did say that I might be tempted to buy new, even if I didn’t really need to, if someone would finally address the one problem that plagues laptop users: battery life. If someone could produce a laptop that gives up to a full work day’s worth of battery life, then that would be an extremely compelling reason to upgrade. Laptops are nearly as powerful (and in some cases, even more powerful) than most desktops. And sales figures for laptops indicate that a significant number consumers are opting for laptops to replace their aging desktops. Plus, you get the benefit of taking it with you when you need to. But laptop batteries have the frustrating habit of dying after a few hours of use. If you aren’t near an outlet or if you forgot to bring your power cord, you’re pretty much shit-out-of-luck.

So, back to Apple…the new Macbook Pro line has better battery life, claims to be the greenest on the market, and the old 13″ Macbook is now considered part of the Pro line. And when most PC manufacturers can be trusted to jack prices when they add new features to their hardware, Apple is cutting their prices, in some cases as much $300.00. Good for you, Apple!

Adding to the good news, OSX is getting a major update from Leopard to Snow Leopard. And it’s due out sometime in September. And its only going to cost $29 for the upgrade! That’s virtually unheard of. I mean, it’s not a complete OS overhaul like Tiger –> Leopard was, but still, if you read over the list of planned improvements, you can see that it’s as close to a major upgrade as possible.

Of course, there’s the new iPhone 3GS to talk about. And with it, iPhone OS 3.0 is going to be released a couple of days in advance. Starting with the new OS, there’s almost too many improvements to list but my favorites are landscape keyboard, copy/paste, and MMS messaging. There were a couple of very cool surprises, too. You’ll now be able to buy and rent movies from the iTunes Store directly from the phone. And they added a “Find my iPhone” feature that has some cool tie-ins to MobileMe. Long story sort, if you lose your iPhone, you can log into MobileMe and send a message to the phone asking for it to be returned. You can also send a command to make the phone beep loudly (even if you turned the sound off!) until someone locates it. And if everything else fails, you can remotely wipe the data completely off of the phone through MobileMe. All of these features are free to existing iPhone owners. The new iPhone hardware gets a camera upgrade along with video and, according to the keynote, most processes are up to twice as fast on the new phone vs. the old one.

Remember how I said there was bad news? Well, if you think back to when the original iPhone came out, there was that little uproar over the price drop that made Apple issue a “mea culpa” to the tune of $100 to every early adopter. Then, when the 3G came out, they actually allowed previous iPhone owners to purchase the new one at the subsidized price even though they were still in the middle of a 2-year contract. Well…not this time. Even though the new 3GS is only $199 for the 16 GB model, existing owners won’t get the subsidized pricing. If any existing owners want to upgrade, they’ll have to pay full price. At least for now. Maybe AT&T and Apple will cave on that decision. Another really nice feature that was announced that comes with some very bad news is internet tethering. Basically that means that you can use the phone as a modem. Which is awesome. Except that AT&T isn’t supporting it yet. You should have heard the groan from the audience when that was mentioned. Seriously AT&T, what’s your major malfunction here? Are you begging your customers to dump you? You won’t have the iPhone exclusivity forever, you know.

Overall, the complete list of updates and improvements overshadows some of the bad news. But I’m curious to hear what some of the tech world thinks about those frustrating bad news items. My guess is that most of the blame is going to be laid at the feet of AT&T. That’s who I’m blaming.

Copy/Paste

In a fairly low-key event yesterday, Apple trotted out iPhone 3.0 software. The rumor sites had most of the details right, as usual. Including the most missed, most hyped, most frustratingly absent feature; copy and paste.

The iPhone has been missing copy and paste ever since its launch. There are basically two camps here…those who think that this was a mortal sin and those who figured “what the heck. I don’t really miss it that much.” And you can sort of tell by the subtext that the second camp kinda wished it was there, too, but was much more sanguine about its absence. I was in the second camp most of the time. But let me give you a really good example of how copy and paste would’ve made my life a hell of a lot easier. I bought most of my Christmas gifts online last year which meant lots of emails with UPS/Fedex/USPS tracking numbers. These numbers are almost always at least 14 – 17 characters long. So, to look up the status of the package, you just copy the number and paste it into the tracking field on the relevant website and voila! You can tell if its on its way or about to be delivered, etc. Except on the iPhone. The mail app and the browser can’t run simultaneously and since there was no copy and paste function, you either had to have a super memory or you had to jot down the tracking number on a slip of paper and then type it into the tracking field. I don’t carry little slips of paper with me. Heck, I rarely carry a pen. That’s why I have my iPhone. Admittedly, I don’t find the need to copy and paste very often but its one of those things that you don’t think about often until you really need it and then it becomes a huge source of frustration.

So adding copy and paste functionality is a major step forward for the iPhone 3.0 software. There are other new features that are worth looking forward to as well, such as a landscape keyboard. Again, a minor inconvenience most of the time but a major bummer on those occasions when you really need to send an important email to someone and your fingers get cramped by trying to squeeze them into that tiny keyboard layout. That’s actually such a good idea that I might turn back on the autocorrect feature that I turned off almost a year ago.

3.0 isn’t going to be available until June, I think (in the event yesterday they said ‘mid to late summer’ but the rumors have it happening a little sooner than that). Really looking forward to the new features.

Happy Birthday, Mac!

Depending on how you want to look at it, it’s either Macintosh’s 25 birthday or silver anniversary. But considering how Mac fans love to anthropomorphize their Macs, birthday is probably more accurate.

Relive great moments in Macintosh history by visiting the Vintage Mac Museum which has some great pics of Macs through the years as well as some interesting facts. Or check out this guys Flickr page with photos of his awesome vintage Mac collection.

2009

Well…here it is.  The first full week of the new year. And my resolution was, of course, to write more often. Something like at least 3 times a week is what I think I said. So here’s post #1.

That’s it.

Thanks.

What?  Too cheeky? I guess you’re right.

I don’t actually have much to write about except for the usual subjects of football etc. Wildcard weekend was wild indeed and now the Panthers know who their opponent will be next week. Carolina meets Arizona in Charlotte and Philadelphia heads to NY for a match-up against the Giants. Should be a good weekend of games although the national sports media is in much more of a flutter over the Eagles v. Giants game rather than the Panthers v. Cards. One sports writer even called it a sleeper. Screw him. Its still exciting for Panther fans.

Google’s got some interesting innovation happening this morning. At least I only noticed it this morning. In addition to getting driving directions to anywhere, you can now choose from a drop-down list to show the same directions via public transit or walking. Both are quite cool unless you happen to live somewhere like I do where there is no public transit to speak of that services all points around the city and suburbs. I bet it’d be awesome though in Chicago or NY or San Francisco, etc. 

Speaking of San Francisco, the last thing to mention this morning is that MacWorld 2009 begins today. A new 17″ uni-body MB pro is rumored as is a big update to the Mac Mini and possibly the iMac. But the biggest news is that Steve won’t give the keynote this year and that Apple has decided to forego MacWorld in the future. So, of course, the rumor mill swirled with suggestions that Steve Jobs was ill and/or dead etc. He’s not dead. He did, however, release a statement explaining his recent weight loss but that was about it. And the decision by Apple not to attend MacWorld in the future is less about Steve’s health and more about the fact that it was never an Apple-sponsored event in the first place and costs them lots of money and loads of time to prep for and added artificial pressure to their product cycles that they decided they didn’t need anymore. Or something like that. Still, I love following the MacWorld news during the week. Especially new product announcements.  You can follow via twitter or at the MacWorld website or on any number of apple-related blogs.

Not bad for the first full post of the new year, I guess. Stay tuned to see how long I keep my resolution this year.

I’m tired but it was worth it.

The big Monday Night Football game last night didn’t end until the usual time at around 11:30 but I wasn’t about to go to sleep until it was officially over. In an important NFC South battle, Tampa came to Charlotte with both teams tied at 9-3 records and sole ownership of the conference lead on the line.

Here’s a quick quote from Don Banks’ article on SI.com:

It was the first time in league history that a pair of teammate running backs have twice in a season gained 100-plus yards in the same game, with both runners averaging better than six yards per carry. And let’s not lose sight of the really shocking statistic: Four Carolina rushing touchdowns, despite the Bucs entering the game having allowed just one rushing touchdown all season.

That was the kind of game it was. 

So here’s the important list right now…Pittsburgh Steelers, NY Giants, Tennessee Titans and (drum roll) The Carolina Panthers. Those are the teams that have 10 wins on the season. The big four. And, as Don Banks also says in his article, the Panthers are the unheralded ones on that list despite the fact that they have a 7-0 record at home this year. Now, Carolina fans know nothing if not this…the Panthers are a hard team to fall in love with. As soon as you think they love you back, they play a stinker like they did against Atlanta a few weeks ago. But I think that Boston Red Sox fans and Chicago Cubs fans and Philadelphia Eagles fans know better than anyone that this is one of the qualities that actually endears a team to a community. You love them and you hate them, often many times throughout the same season. Even I caught myself cursing Jake Delhomme after his two rookie level mistakes that led to picks that could have changed the game if our defense hadn’t played as well as they did. So you can forgive me if I feel a little uncomfortable getting excited about that fact that if the Panthers can run the table through the rest of the regular season, they get the bye and home field advantage and the number 1 seed going into the playoffs. If they continue to play like they did last night, its possible. If not, well…I’ll try not to think about it.

Other news – my updates got really slow lately. There’s plenty to write about but my level of creativity is currently at its nadir. I do have some pics and links and such to share so if I get some extra time, maybe this week will see some more regular posts.

There’s one other thing to mention to the Mac users in the family, MacUpdate is offering their holiday bundle of software for $49.99 through Dec. 18. These special software bundles show up every so often and usually include as many as 8 – 10 full featured apps, most costing at least $49.00 individually, for a super low price. This MacUpdate bundle includes Rapid Weaver and Drive Genius 2 which are 2 apps I’ve been interested in for a while. Its a great deal if you’re interested. You can read more about it at The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

Do want!

I am so jealous of this awesome Mac mini mod built into an old 1940’s Philco radio. This deserves a place in my house!

Mac mini Philco radio mod

Speaking of Macintosh, today is the day that we’re supposedly going to hear about new Macbooks and Macbook pros. The Apple store online isn’t down yet, which is usually a sign of a new product launch, but its still early in CA as I’m writing this so stayed tuned.

iPhones for Obama

One of the things that I love about the Obama campaign is that they make incredible use of technology to reach out to voters. Today, they launched an iPhone app and the app is awesome. What I like especially is that it’s clear they worked hard to make the app more than just another campaign advertisement. They added a built-in link to your phone book so you can select any of your contacts and call to remind them to register or to vote or just to reach out to anyone you know who might be undecided. And unlike the normal contacts application, the Obama version organizes your contacts by state, which is quite cool. There’s also a link to your local Obama campaign headquarters and links to photos, videos, issues, etc.

I’ve got some screen shots of the app from my phone below…

Of course there’s the obligatory ‘Donate’ button at the bottom as well but I like how they called it out without making it obtrusive.

And don’t forget the debate tonight. Should be a fun evening. I stand by my earlier suggestion that Biden should not attack. At least not right away. It makes more sense for Palin to hang herself on her plentiful rope and for Biden to calmly and cooly explain, point by point, why she’s wrong and why she’s a dangerous and supremely unqualified choice for VP.

Reminder

To all my Mac-lovin’ (see what I did there?  Shout out to Superbad!) family and friends, today was a big update day for Apple. Here’s the rundown:

• FrontRow
• QuickTime
• iTunes8

That last one is the most interesting. There’s a new feature in iTunes8 that’s getting some buzz called “Genius.” Basically, its a recommendation engine. After the initial set-up (which took a little over 20 mins. on my Mac since my iTunes library is sort of huge) you can select any song in your library and the Genius engine will create an automatic playlist out of a selection of other songs in your library that share similar characteristics to the song you selected. It can also do the same thing for the iTunes store. Select a song and it’ll find a selection of tunes in the store that have similar characteristics. Its alot like what Pandora does. And I’m a big fan of Pandora. In fact, I’ve been digging a station called “Alternative Country” for a while and I’ve heard some awesome stuff. In order for the genius feature to work well with your library, you really ought to have more than just a few albums in there. But you can still use it with the app store recommendation engine. You just have to buy whatever they recommend, of course, if you want to hear more than a 15 sec. clip.

So, run your update when you get a chance. Click the Apple icon in your menu bar and select Software Update… and follow the prompts.

More shortcuts than you can shake a keyboard at

I’m a keyboard shortcut geek. If it can be done without a mouse, I’m going to figure out how. This blog has an awesome and really comprehensive list of shortcuts for just about everything on the Mac. And there’s even a section with some common application shortcuts.

Time to start memorizing.

By the way…it doesn’t really mean anything and the starters played for a total of maybe 7 minutes but the Panthers won their opening exhibition game against the Colts last night. No one got injured and it looks like there might actually be a real running game.