Jetting off
But there's more news
A while back I mentioned that I was writing for Download Squad. Well, I'm very excited to announce that I'm now also going to be found writing for The Unofficial Apple Weblog (sister site of Download Squad). You can find my own posts on this page and adding /rss.xml to that URL will give you a handy RSS feed of my posts over there.
Kit Review: ExtremeMac MicroMemo
![[Blog Photo] iPod Nano with XtremeMac MicroMemo](http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1075/1135181095_ac97e5ed01.jpg)
Tuesday saw me head up to London for the Defective by Design protest outside BBC Television Centre. Download Squad had comprehensive coverage of the protests, however one issue that nearly made the day a whole lot more troublesome was the fact that the Griffin iTalk I bought this time last year was being (ever more) iffy with the 4th Gen iPod I love so much. Instead of choosing to write a long list of notes, I chose to hit the Apple Store on Regent Street to pick up a new microphone. My day-to-day music listening is done on the iPod Nano, so I chose a mike for that, given that I'd more than likely want the mobility of a Nano (plus the 4th Gen is nearly 3 years old). So I picked up an ExtremeMac MicroMemo. It's not as cheap as the Griffin iTalk Pro, but it does offer a directional microphone which helps when you're perhaps stood by the side of a busy road talking to the Executive Director of the Free Software Foundation....!
So why would you want to buy this over an original iTalk? Simple. The iTalk is mono, whilst the iTalk Pro and MicroMemo are stereo addons. The addition of the mini-boom is a neat one, and something that the Griffin iTalk Pro lacks, but the Griffin beats the MicroMemo on price. It was a tough call with the iTalk Pro and MicroMemo, but my experiences of the MicroMemo are far more pleasant than my early experiences with the iTalk (original). Highly recommended.
Verdict: Whilst a little more pricey, the directional abilities of the mike make it far more usable - for example it could be rested on top of a notepad, with the microphone pointed at the subject. The quality is excellent (at 'High' - a mode I'd highly recommend you always record in). For a sample file take a listen to the Download Squad interview. The MicroMemo is available for 5th Generation iPods (Black and White) and Nanos.
Twitter Meet Manchester
Flickr have had their Manchester meetups. Now it's the turn of the Twitterers. Of course, any Twitter meet must be announced. Via Twitter. So what's the plan? Frankly I don't know. Graham Gilbert is organising, so feedback on dates (currently set as the 22nd September), meeting places, SMS pricing plans and how the iPhone might just help us with our addiction (or not) should be address via Graham's post. It should be fun. I'll be there in my Twittervision shirt, so see you there.
Kit Review: Apple Aluminium Keyboard
Anyhow, this is meant to be about something else - the Apple keyboard. Firstly, i have a little admission to make. I've used a laptop almost exclusively for the best part of 3 years, and love the laptop's lighter touch. I've longed for a keyboard that has a laptop feel and yet has whole set of keys, and the new keyboard appears to be the answer. It's so very thin, and surprisingly resilient to my typing barrages. Unlike the Apple Keyboard of old (which I've been using at the Realmac offices) the keys have a lot less travel in them which allows you to at least feel as though your fingers are typing faster, and being more productive ;-).
Other than the feel of the thing, my other favourite thing is that there's neat is that there's a whole plethora of function keys. Media controls, brightness controls, and dashboard and expose buttons. It's taken a little while to get used to the new keys. One noticeable thing is that skipping tracks is just so much easier. No more Alt-Tab to iTunes, and then the relevant arrow key. It's simply a click away. Sweet.
Now for the bad. The USB ports are unpowered, writing out iPod sync-ing or memory card reader usage. However, for now the real pain is the fact that the F3 and F4 keys simply don't activate Exposé or Dashboard. Inexplicably, they don't work, whilst all the other function keys do. Reinstalling the keyboard update makes bugger all difference. There's no way (in an hour of looking) to sort it via Keyboard preferences in either Dashboard or Keyboard Sys Preferences panes). It's a real shame as I love the design, and keyboard function in general. Of course, the hope is that this is simply a software glitch that will be fixed in due course.
Verdict: I'm impressed with the keyboard. It's great to type with, and I'd give it an overall thumbs up. Expect to see this in use by Jack Bauer & Chloe O'Brien in CTU. Once they can activate their dashboard and Exposé, that is........
Kit Review: Shure E2Cs
Of course, the first thing that was needed was a suite of music files to test the headphones with. So, I combed my library for a variety of tracks. If you're wondering what they were, it consisted of the Pirates of the Caribbean 3 soundtrack, some Fratellis, Jools Holland a recording of John Adam's Short Ride in a Fast Machine, and a couple of assorted classical works (Rite of Spring and Beethoven 9). It should also be noted that a variety of formats too were used for the test: MP3s, MP4s and iTunes purchased tracks. iTunes purchases were at 128kbps, MP3s and MP4s at 128kbps and 256kbps. Each track does have an Equaliser setting attached to it in iTunes. The results, unsurprisingly are that the E2Cs are a fantastic piece of kit. The details they bring out (once you've fitted them to your ear with one of the dozen included fits) are truly awesome. In fact, it brings out details that to this day I'd simply never heard. Bass frequencies are heard (finally!!) and the soundstage was impressive, with a real sense of depth. The one track that really noticed the difference was a certain track from POTC:3 which just sounded so much crisper.
So. To summarise:
Pros:
1. Brilliant sound
2. Reasonable price (particularly on Amazon - half what you'd pay at the Apple store)
3. Plenty of cable to run it down the back of your top
4. It creeps people out to see a Secret Service-like ear-piece like earphone. In each ear.
Cons:
1. You will become an audio snob. If you hear the difference between 128kbps and 256kbps tracks, it'll make you cringe.
2. The expense. Not in buying the headphones. But the fact that you'll want to ensure you have 256kbps tracks. And seriously, you'll want them. Badly.
3. You will look like a dazed moron as they're noise isolating, and you'll appear arrogant and rude when people you're on a train, with your back to the carriage (you're about to get off) and after 4 attempts of "May I see your ticket please, Sir", the guard decides to grab your attention by some kind of hit / punch / attention grabber.
RapidWeaver Tip #14: Theme Styles [Screencast]
You can view a Lo-Res version here, but I'd highly recommend downloading the MP4 file instead, as the quality is far greater.
Turbo!
Just a day at the office
RapidWeaver 3.6.2 is out. So of course, the first order of the day was a HDR wide-angle team photo :-)