iPhone 3G Shipping

The iPhone 3G has been sad to be shipped in eco-friendly PaperFoam packaging. The tray is supposed to have the carbon footprint a tenth the size of the package. And, yes, it’s made from potato and tapioca starch.

This raises the question: Can I have my iPhone 3G and eat the box, too?

[via The Register]

Ahh, I’m not alone…

Not that I enjoy seeing other’s in pain over their broken iPhones, but I like the emotional support of “I’m not alone.” Jesus Diaz over at Gizmodo lost his [picture is not of his] this morning. Although, in the video, it seems to be fine in comparison to the one I sold. Ahh…I can’t wait. July 11th here we come!

[via Gizmodo]

Twitter Fail Whale Sculpture

If you use Twitter, you’ve seen this guy at least once. He shows up whenever Twitter’s over capacity. Known by the original artist as “Lifting Up a Dreamer,” Flickr user, Hil made a kinetic sculpture of the Fail-Whale and friends. 

[via MAKE]

In-Store Activation Process Explained?

There’s a forum over on iPhoneinCanada.ca which released “leaked” [the quotes are due to the possibility of it being fake] information regarding the activation process to stores. Even though it’s not AT&T, since they have Rogers, I think it could give us an inside look to how the process could go down here in the USA.

I find it strange that “tethering” the iPhone means to connect it to iTunes via USB. Could reign some false advertising if a customer were to ask if they could tether their iPhone to their laptop [as in allow the laptop to use the iPhone's 3G Internet connection] and the sales clerk were to say “yeah, you can do that with the USB cable provided in the box.”

I’m going to download and try running the “store version” of iTunes [maybe I get free music downloads] whenever I decide to turn my PC on.

Jelly Bean Gun

What can I say…I want one.  

[via MAKE]

Things that make Me Sad

This’ll be my last post for tonight. I just wanted to share one of my frustrations with my internet. I live in BFE, therefore, I’m pretty far from the cable company to begin with. Secondly, my house is technically “too far away” from the street [that's what happens when you trade a back yard for a bigger front yard]. So my modem’s “Receive Power Level” sucks to begin with. When the weather changes, the cable [which the local branch of Bright House SUCKS at laying] changes, thus causing MORE signal degradation. 

In short, my internet periodically goes on and off and it pisses me off.

Public School Students Getting Zunes?

There are many things that irk me. Most of these things have to do with the politics of schools and all that jazz. That being so, I’d like to disclaim something: this post might get a little harsh. That being said, we shall begin.

A group of Liberty, Missouri’s local high school and middle school students are to be receiving Zunes to listen to “lesson-supporting podcasts” in an effort to “save lost class time.” Teachers are allowed to designate “No Zune Zones” where the kids can’t use them.

Okay, that sounds great in lala land where the school board and Microsoft seem to be, but in factual land, students aren’t going to be using the devices as intended [I'm leaving out that they're Zunes at the moment, that'll be a bit later]. A teacher reported that he hadn’t seen even one student using the device as the study had wanted, and many students admit to using it for recreation instead of studying. 

I can see why they could think that it would be a good study tool, but the content of the Zune should be monitored by the teachers or the parents for this study to actually work. In fact, if it were to be done my way, no content on the Zune whatsoever except for the educational podcasts or educational videos. All Zunes would be checked in every morning, and the students would not be supplied with a USB cable. Yes, give them a charger, but don’t give them a way to connect it to their own computers. Unless a teacher allows the student to put something new on or to update the podcasts, there should be no interaction between a PC and the student’s Zune. 

As far as it being a Zune, [I told you I'd be getting to this] I don’t really care…they could have given all the kids iPods, my feelings would still be the same…okay maybe a little less harsh. The Zune isn’t cheap…we all know this, neither is the iPod. There are plenty of MP3 players on the market that are cheaper and do mostly the same stuff. If this study goes through, schools will be spending thousands upon thousands to buy every student a Zune or an iPod. Why not do something useful with that money, maybe get laptops for all the kids? Surely they can do 100 times more on an Asus Eee than a Zune or an iPod or a PoS. 

So, what do you think? Should the schools keep testing the Zunes without stricter monitoring? Or should I be able to legally smack the sh*t out of the board members that approved this.

[via Engadget]

BrightKite and My Virgin Post Experience

So now I’ve got a brightkite account. I haven’t been on it much to be able to say that I like it or not, but I’ve been seeing posts from folks with it, and I like what I see. So, I can say that I’m excited to get started using it. 

My first post:

I felt excited to announce the people of the Internet that I am, in fact, at home. So I typed “Home, Hernando, FL.” I didn’t want to give out my address, cause, some of you all might stalk me in the way that’s not cool. I didn’t enjoy how it moved me to “A and W Mobile Home Ct, Hudson, FL.” First off, Mobile Home Ct? Sounds like where all the white trash goes to settle their feuds while drinking root beer [or moonshine]. Second, Hudson isn’t Hernando…a little far off. But that’s okay, it tried to find the business that I was at. I’m content with just saying “Hernando, FL.” I’m sure everyone that follows me will be able to pick up on that being where I live. 

I can expect that this fun will increase as soon as I get my iPhone 3G. [Extra Apple points for throwing that in last minute!]

Twelve Days!

Yes yes yes… 12 days to go according to my now-favorite Dashboard widget.

The widget can be found here for download.

[via iGerard]

Internet Security…for Mac?

I was recently linked to this website [by a jedi]. The image probably doesn’t help, but I’ll explain anyway. This company, Intego, is producing and actively selling Internet security software for Mac OS X. Sound a little odd?

Here’s what the pictured software provides(paraphrased from the site):

- an Internet firewall

- an app that will backup files

- and virus protection

Now, to those of you still in Windows world, this may seem alright to you. But seeing how Mac OS X 10.5 basically already has all that built in, it seems like quite the rip off. 

Yes, of course, Leopard doesn’t have any virus protection software, but considering what some say about Mac vs PC viruses, in Mac Land, the virus threat is none.

I guess just because you’re smart enough to purchase a Mac, doesn’t mean you’re smart enough to realize you just spent at least $100 on unneeded software.

EDIT: One more thing… if it’s “Must have” software…why haven’t we heard of it yet?