High Caliber Guns
Cigar Smokers Ride For The Kids...
Matt from Matt's Cigar Journal
http://mattscigar.com/2010/03/13/rfk2010/ is participating in Ride for the Kids again this year. He's trying to raise five large this year and needs all the help he can get."This year I am trying to raise $5000 and reach the "Champion" level with the charity. I want to thank those of you who have already donated again this year. I really appreciate the support...I have gotten a lot of support from the cigar industry and community again this year and I have some nice things to give away to my donors."
Oliva Smoker...
Oliva Smoker at Cigars For Aficionados in Springfield IL with Oliva Rep Paul Hight...awesome! www.olivacigar.com
Dancing Angels...
Awesome day. My son Caleb (8 years old) came to me today wanting to talk about Jesus. Long story short, he will be getting baptized this Sunday. My two oldest sons have now decided to become followers of Christ! It just doesn't get much better than that.
iStat For iPhone...
I use iStat Menu to monitor my Mac's vitals, and now I can monitor them from anywhere using iStat on my iPhone. Very cool! http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/istat-sys-monitoring-battery/id303034517?mt=8 Sent from my iPhone...
Uninstallers For Mac...
I started wondering yesterday if was using the best solution available for removing software from my MacBook Pro so I decdided to do a little test. I tested three different solutions and came up with the following results.
CleanApp is just too much tool for the job, it listed several items using its Relics feature that would have been problematic to remove, and it was the most expensive solution I tried at $15. The Relics feature relies upon other users sharing their data with Synium Software via its CleanCommunity technology, and it is reasonable to expect that it will become more reliable over time. CleanApp also has lots of features the other solutions do not provide, such as the ability to remove unwanted language files and to monitor software installations to insure it gets every file when it comes time to remove it from your system. CleanApp is perfect for users that equate more features with more power.
AppZapper is a beautifully designed intuitive piece of software. It is also just a little more affordable than its powerful competition at $12.99. It provides the user with the choice between a simple "Hit List" view that lets the user choose which applications, widgets, or plugins they wish to remove, or an even simpler drag and drop interface where the user drops their unwanted software and sees it zapped out of existence. The fun sound and screen effects could get old if you were removing a lot of software, but fortunately you can turn the effects off if you wish.
AppCleaner provides a free solution to software removal that is very similar to AppZapper. It will give you a list of applications, widgets, or plugins from which to choose or you can simply drag and drop the unwanted software onto AppCleaner the same way you drag a file to the trash. What is really cool about AppCleaner is that you never need to actually open the app if you do not want to. When AppCleaner notices that you have moved an application into the trash it automatically provides you with a list of files to be removed. Click delete and the software and associated files are banished.
During my tests all three solutions deleted the application and its associated plist files. However, CleanApp and AppZapper also found cache files that were no longer needed. Fortunately, I routinely delete all my cache files using OnyX, and AppCleaner removes all my old Mac software for free. Of course you could make a $10 donation to the developer and still come out ahead!
iPad Fail...
The big event is over and the chances that you read my thoughts on the release of the iPad are slim indeed, but I am going to put them out there anyway...for posterity. So how did the event begin? Steve jumped right into demoing Safari by browsing a website that required Flash. Guess what happened? Nothing. That's right folks, still no flash support. You can say what you want about Flash sucking or not sucking, but the fact of the matter is that every day I follow links on my iPhone from my email or tweets that lead me to nothing because my iPhone (and now the iPad) lack support for Flash. FAIL I new there wouldn't be enough memory in this new device and Apple did not destroy my prediction. The high end model has only 64gb and the low end has an embarrassing 16gb! Of course Apple can't include an SD card slot because that would mess up their price points. FAIL The Home Screen on the iPad just looks goofy to me. I think it's because there aren't enough icons per row. While the device is a glorified iPhone, it doesn't need to look like they just pixel doubled the Home Screen. FAIL In the midst of all the fun, someone had to remind me of one of the biggest negatives of the day. Not only are there not dual cameras on the iPad, there are no cameras on the iPad. DOUBLE FAIL AT&T as the data provider? Is that a joke? FAIL I'm not sure this is a bad thing, but it is at least a little disconcerting that the iPad using Apple's own silicone. As a friend of mine pointed out, this is probably just somebody else's chip branded by Apple, but it gives me the willies all the same. It wasn't all bad. I am quite excited about iBook and the iBookstore. The mobile versions of iWorks are interesting, and watching movies on this thing would be very cool. Heck, as an ebook reader the iPad may be worth the price when compared to every other reader on the market. I would have liked to have seen iBook and iBookstore for the iPhone, but I guess that would pull people away from the iPad.
I guess the best thing about the iPad was the price. I would never in a thousand years thought that Apple would sell this thing for under $1,000 let alone $500. Sure, the $500 iPad is Wi-Fi only and sports a massive 16gb flash drive, but for Apple that price is amazing. I am about as close to being an Apple fanboy as you can get without actually being 100% fanboy. Before I started writing this post I was fairly excited about the iPad, but when I look back on what I took away from the event I have to say that I'm a little more than disappointed. I'm fairly confident that this device (or at least its ancestors) will do very well, but I can't say I would buy one even if I had the $500 burning a hole in my pocket. Who knows, maybe it will FAIL? Doubt it.
I guess the best thing about the iPad was the price. I would never in a thousand years thought that Apple would sell this thing for under $1,000 let alone $500. Sure, the $500 iPad is Wi-Fi only and sports a massive 16gb flash drive, but for Apple that price is amazing. I am about as close to being an Apple fanboy as you can get without actually being 100% fanboy. Before I started writing this post I was fairly excited about the iPad, but when I look back on what I took away from the event I have to say that I'm a little more than disappointed. I'm fairly confident that this device (or at least its ancestors) will do very well, but I can't say I would buy one even if I had the $500 burning a hole in my pocket. Who knows, maybe it will FAIL? Doubt it.
iPhone Passcode Lock...
There have been a lot of stories lately about iPhone thefts. The phenomena closely resembles purse snatching. The thief grabs something valuable that is out in the open and runs like mad! Also, much like having your purse snatched, losing an iPhone is about more than the iPhone itself. Sure the iPhone is valuable, but perhaps not as much as what's inside.
For instance, in addition to my adress book, my iPhone stores my browsing history (including online banking), access to over 13,000 email messages, my Twitter, Facebook and IM accounts, personal photos, over 1.5gb of data on Dropbox, several personal documents, access to my source code repository and well, you get the idea. If all of that isn't enough, a would-be iPhone snatcher could concievablly gain access to my MacBook Pro using the VNC client I installed on my iPhone!
However, unlike the victims of purse snatchers, you can do something to protect what's inside your iPhone. If you touch the System icon on your iPhone's Home Screen, then choose General and Passcode Lock, you can create a four digit numeric passcode which must be entered by anyone attempting to access your iPhone. For even more protection you can have the iPhone wipe itself clean if anyone enters the wrong passcode ten times in a row (be sure you keep current backups if you use this option). If the thought of entering a passcode every time you use your iPhone is less than appealing you can choose to lock the phone only after it has been off for several minutes or even hours.
This isn't government level security by any stretch of the imagination. Personally I would prefer a five or seven digit code and the ability to erase the data long before ten failed attempts, but it's still much better than leaving all my data unprotected. Also, it's built-in, it's free and let's face it, it's more than enough for most of us. Protect yourself, protect your iPhone, protect your data!
Walgreens iPhone App...
I used the free Walgreens iPhone app to order refills of my prescriptions today. I received an email confirmation when my order had been received and when it was ready for pickup. It just doesn't get any easier than this...it's even easier than the automated phone system.
Although I only use the app for managing my prescriptions you can also order prints from the pics you take with your iPhone, view weekly adds, and a bunch of other stuff. If you don't have an iPhone you can access these features by pointing your mobile browser at www.walgreens.com/mobile or your Firefox running on your Mac at www.walgreens.com (ok, it works using other browsers on other computers, but why would you want to do that?)
The Pampered Chef 7" Santoku Knife...
My favorite Christmas present this year came from my favorite Sister-In-Law. I don't host or attend Pampered Chef parties, but I have to admit I really love cooking with their stuff, and this Christmas my Sister-In-Law added a new piece to my cooking armory, the 7" Santoku chopping knife. To say the Santoku knives are awesome is an understatement. First of all, this thing is sharp. Not sharp like a paper cut, but sharp like butcher a bovine. Second, it just feels great in the hand because of it's solid construction. It's made from one piece of steel. In other words, the handle isn't going to fall off some day. Finally, it's Pampered Chef which means if it does break, they replace it...period.
If you want to get awesome deals on tons of Pampered Chef stuff you can certainly have a party. If you're a guy just have you wife host one and tell her what you want...I'm hoping to get the rest of these knives by years' end. If you're in Southern Illinois, by all means shoot an email to my Sister-In-Law, but even if you're not you can order directly from her website.
