If you love words and can’t get enough of word games, then you should try Etymologic! a game about the origin of words. What makes this game tough is the improbable origins of many words. Sometimes the least plausible answer is the right one.
I just upgraded my old USB mobile data card to a mobile hotspot. These fairly new devices allow you to connect with your MacBook (or iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad!) through a mobile network with a monthly data plan. The advantage of these new devices over the old USB stick is that you can connect more than one device, and you don’t need any special software on those devices since the AirCard works like a regular wireless base station. So I can travel and connect with my MacBook Pro, iPhone and iPad with just one device and nothing to install. I can even use it for mobile connectivity instead of waiting for a 3G iPad. It will also come in handy when I’m in places were I can’t usually use my iPhone because AT&T doesn’t work. And this method of connectivity offers much more security than using a public WiFi hotspot. Check with your wireless carrier to see if they offer this model or a similar one.
Ever wanted to quit an application without switching to it first? You can, using the Dock. Just right click or Control+click on an icon in the dock and you can select “Quit” from the pop-up menu. This will quit a running application without ever showing the application if it is hidden. An exception is if you have an open document and the application decides to ask you if you want to save it first.
Apple sent out iPads to a select few journalists and their reviews have been posted over the last few days. Here is a round-up of major reviews and what they said.
Apple released an update to iTunes this week that added support for the iPad, so Macs and PCs will be ready to sync with the device on Saturday when people start bringing them home. MacMost will have its first look and review of the iPad starting Saturday and continuing with closer looks at the device in videos throughout next week.
Apple seems to be scrambling to get content for the iPad ready to go for launch day. At the same time, publishers have been preparing books and other content. Several publishers should have books available on day one, or soon thereafter. But some, like Random House, are holding out according to reports that have those publishers worried that book prices may follow iPhone app prices into the bargain basement range.
Publications like the Wall Street Journal may be preparing subscription services. Reports are that the WSJ will be available on the iPad for $18/month.
Wired magazine has been reportedly testing an iPad version and also selling ads to fill it. Some magazines may be selling per-issue at full price on the iPad, while others will sell at a discounted level. Some will have advertising and some won’t — at least to start.
It will be interesting to see which publications do well on the device, and which fail to gain an audience. It will also be interesting to see how they do against iPad and online-only publications that do no need to also support a print version. An digital-only publication theoretically costs the same to produce whether there are a thousand subscribers or a million.
On the video side, CBS has been reportedly testing our a Flash-less version of its Web site that should work on the iPad. The video would use HTML5 for playback, rather than the Flash plug-in.
And on the App side, there are reports of developers getting their games and other apps ready for iPad launch day. Some developers have had access to iPads for testing.
In Mac news, Adobe seems poised to release its Creative Suite 5, which would include new versions of software such as Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator and Acrobat. The date has been set for April 12. But lest you think this news doesn’t somehow involve the iPhone, the new version of Flash is supposed to allow Flash developers to make native apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This would be different than Flash on the Web. The apps would simply appear as normal apps. Many apps are already developed in alternative environments from the standard Apple Xcode environment. Adobe even lists some Flash-created apps on its Web site and blogs.
Apple lost one of its board members this last week when Jerome B. York died of a brain aneurysm. York had been on Apple’s board since 1997. During his career, York also served as CFO of Chrysler and CFO of IBM.
Ever wanted to improve your typing? One way is to use Mac software. You can find several learn-to-type-better programs, but the one I always seem to hear good things about is Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor. I used it myself many years ago. And now I’ve got a 2nd-grader using it to improve on what they are teaching her in school. It makes learning to type much more fun and easier than how they tried to teach me back when I was in school. With keyboards being the way we work and communicate today, it is worth trying to improve your typing speed with a little practice.
So in Apple Mail you can compose messages and “Notes.” A note is like a message that stays in your mailbox. A message to yourself, in a way. Did you know that you can also call out lines in Notes as To Do items? Just choose File, New Note. Then after you write down some things, select a line and press the To Do button at the top of that window. The line will not only get a checkbox next to it, but it will also be added to your To Do list that you can access in Mail and in iCal.
I’m always trying to get the edge on my friends in our neighborhood poker games. One method I use is to play good poker computer games as practice. I’ve found several for the iPhone, but my current favorite is Apple’s own Texas Hold’em game. The graphics and features are excellent. But most importantly the AI is good, which means I’m learning to be a better player.
Last Friday Apple began taking pre-orders for iPads. You can pre-order for delivery or reserve an iPad for pick-up at your local Apple Store. The initial models will be available on April 3rd, and will be WiFi models only. A 3G model, able to connect to AT&T and other wireless networks, won’t be available until about a month later.
Reports varied on sales. Some estimates but the first day’s sales at just under 100,000 orders. But Apple hasn’t released any official numbers yet. The reports are only estimates from financial analysts.
In addition to Apple’s e-book reader app that is expected to ship with the iPad, it looks like we will have a choice of other e-book reader apps as well. Barnes and Noble has announced that they will have a reader app for the iPad. And it is expected that Amazon will have a Kindle app — they already have one for the iPhone while will most likely work on the iPad.
The Kindle desktop application finally made it to the Mac this week with Amazon’s release of a public beta test of “Kindle for Mac.” You can download it at http://www.amazon.com/gp/kindle/mac/.
Research company NPD Group reported that Mac sales were up significantly in the first two months of this year as compared to last year. New iMac and MacBook Pro models in late 2009 are the most likely cause, as well as a recovering economy.
Apple released a minor update to Safari, version 4.0.5, this week, available through Software Update. The new version features many performance and stability improvements.
Here’s yet another game from CleverMedia (AKA MacMost): Home Run Derby. Even better, this game is free!
You’d think that four internal hard drive bays in my Mac Pro would be enough. But no, I also need to easily swap out external drives for backups and archiving. The Startech.com eSATA/USB to SATA External HDD Dock allows me to connect two large drives easily. It works with both USB and eSATA, if you have an eSATA card to connect it to.
Not all entries in your Address Book need to be people. If you want to add the phone number for your doctor’s office, bank, insurance company, mechanic or any other general office or service number, simply check the “Company” checkbox right under the Last, First name entries when creating a new contact. This will put the company name as the primary identifier for the contact, rather than a person’s name. You can still enter a name if you want, but it is optional.
