lots of news stories recently about various people “stealing” apple software, like front row or the apple operating system running on generic intel computers instead of apple hardware.

is this stealing? technically, of course, yes. kirk is an artist, so we have a vested interest in understanding the concept of intellectual property. and my machine doesn’t have a byte of bootlegged software. heck, i’ve even paid for a lot of my shareware. bottom line, don’t steal software!

that said, my sense is that apple knows exactly what they are doing with this software and, to a degree, even encourages its “theft”.
Continue reading “ripping off apple” →

i know i shouldn’t dwell on this subject, which probably bores everyone but me absolutely silly, but the corporate strategy of intuit, the makers of quicken, just continues to flabbergast me.

the latest chapter of lunacy involves their high-end product for businesses, quickbooks.
Continue reading “more intuit looniness” →

i’ve used quicken, the personal money management software package, for years and years. before there was quicken, i used check free software to pay bills online.

i haven’t written a check for a bill since about 1989.

so i have some expertise in this area. and my one gripe about switching to a mac was quicken.

it’s not apple’s fault. intuit, the publisher of quicken, just does a lousy job with the mac version of the program. it’s completely inferior to the pc version. i’ve adjusted, but i’m doing a lot of things manually that used to be automated.

here’s why i’m so gripey about quicken.

it’s greed.
Continue reading “getting rid of quicken” →

i want an ipod.

actually, that’s not quite accurate. i want kirk to have an ipod. i already have my ipod shuffle, but i don’t want to share it anymore. i’m selfish that way.

but which ipod do i want kirk to have? or, more accurately, which ipod, if any, will kirk buy vicariously for me?
Continue reading “ipod fever” →

pay close attention to the man in front of the curtain

first off, apologies on behalf on my hosting service which has yet to apologize to me–the site was down yesterday for at least 24 hours through no fault of mine. there are several of you getting your daily queerspace fix, a number sure to rise into two figures anytime now, and yesterday must have been hell for you.

i love the picture above. i blatantly stole it from a mac rumor site posting–it’s steve jobs playing around with his newly introduced photobooth software. it reminds me a lot of kai’s power goo, a little program i had for my student’s macs years ago, but that was so long ago that i’m sure everyone has forgotten about it and the concept of photobooth seems fresh and fun once more.

anyway, i made some predictions about wednesday’s big apple event. actually it was in california, not new york. har har har. let’s check in and see how i did.
Continue reading “the wizard of jobs” →

the apple “one more thing” press event starts at 1:00pm est today. and then the wait will be over.

why do i care? i’m not sure. it’s not like i’m going to buy anything that is introduced. at least i don’t think i am. i guess it’s just that i like rooting for the underdog. after all, i’m a mets fan. and apple is the underdog, and microsoft is the yankees, and i’d like to see apple hit a home run and knock the wind out of microsoft’s sails.

too much to hope for. too many mixed metaphors. but it still interests me, and there’s always hope.

florida, by the way, was a lot of fun.
Continue reading “today’s the day” →

one side benefit to switching from my pc back to my beloved mac is the reawakening of my mac fanaticism.

yes, i’m an apple fanboy. have been since 1986 and the mac pluses i bought for my journalism classroom, except for my recent brief sojourn away from the fold. and there’s nothing like the evangelical community that surrounds the company and its products.

and evidently next week, there will be lots of new reasons to be fanatical and celebratory.
Continue reading “apple rumors” →

dell has introduced their latest “ipod killer”. it’s called the “dell ditty”. as dave barry is so fond of saying, i am not making this up.

i am also not making up this unfortunate website which dell has apparently created to promote this unfortunately named product.

honestly, i thought this was a parody site. i’m still not sure that it isn’t. if i’m missing some joke here, please let me know. is this loser guy in a track suit supposed to make me want to buy a dell ditty? even al sharpton doesn’t wear these anymore.

and can you picture the conversation if you actually had one of these things?

“is that an ipod?”

“no, it’s my new dell ditty.”

[hysterical laughter]

“well, it’s not my fault. my grandmother gave it to me.”

and the comments here will make you pee your pants laughing.

i’ve used quicken for windows to do my home finances for years. many more than ten years. and i’ve paid my bills online for more years than that. i used check free when it was a standalone product and i uploaded my payments on a 2400 baud modem. and my first versions of quicken came on floppy disks.

so i know whereof i speak when i say that intuit, the distributor of quicken for mac can. kiss. my. annoyed. ass.
Continue reading “quicken for mac sucks” →

i have the day off work tomorrow, so i’ll be home…you guessed it…finishing the transition from pc to mac.

wish me luck. i may need it. not for the mac end of things, but for the pc end of things.
Continue reading “wish me luck” →

loving the new mac mini, with one slight quandary remaining.

i’d forgotten how easy it all was. i had kvetched with the salespeople at tekserve, bombarding them with a million “what if” questions.

what if my cable modem won’t connect? how will i then get drivers for my peripherals? how do i configure my mail and internet access? will my printer print? will my scanner scan? will my mouse mouse?

and so on.

i’m such a fool.
Continue reading “steve jobs is my new hero” →

i want a mac.

again.

hopefully, the karma fairy will read this and drop a chunk of change in my pocket. my computer, which is a pc, a dell, is several years old. 5+ years old, to be exact. i think.

and it does the job, but i’m dreaming, and while i’m dreaming, i’m drooling. right on the keyboard, every time i go to the apple site, which is more often than i should.
Continue reading “i want a mac” →