The Comedy Central star pulls an iPad out of his pocket and claims he got it in his gift bag.
Filed under: Odds and ends, Apple
It must be nice to be the host of your own popular Comedy Central show and a host on the Grammy Awards. Why? You get to play with an iPad.
No, it’s not one of Tim Meehan’s faux iPads - this was a working unit that flipped from portrait to landscape mode when Stephen Colbert pulled it out of his jacket… or pants. Enjoy this short piece of video from tonight’s Grammy Award ceremonies.
TUAWStephen Colbert and his iPad at the Grammys originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Following revelations that cell phones running on Android replace rude words with hash marks, it appears that works such as “Lolita” and “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” are also censored.
In the Macmillan-Amazon battle, one thing has become clear: it’s time Amazon got out of the way of e-book pricing and let the market do its thing.
Stephen Colbert, host of the 2010 Grammys, shock-rocked the audience at the Staples Center during his opening monologue by whipping out a new Apple iPad from underneath his jacket to deliver the nominees for "Song of The Year". He immediately started goofing on rapper elite, Jay-Z.
"Jay-Z, did you not get one of these in your gift bag? "Am I cooler than you? Colbert asked as both Jay-Z the crowd are shown erupting with laughter.
It certainly looked like the real deal he was holding in his hands. Yes, Stephen, you definitely are cooler than Jay-Z holding that iTampon tablet. Watch the video below.
Online retailer says that, while it deems $14.99 e-books unreasonable, it will have to capitulate to Macmillan’s demand to sell books at higher rates.
Filed under: Interviews, Developer
More coverage of TUAW’s inside look at developer boot camp. See below for notes & disclaimer.
I’m on my second day at Big Nerd Ranch, settling in and getting some blogging done between 3-hour lectures on Objective-C fundamentals. I sat down with our first instructor, Mark Fenoglio, last night to discuss Big Nerd Ranch from his point of view. He’s a very dynamic guy, even if my “talking head” video angle doesn’t portray that very well. If you’re curious about the kind of people Big Nerd Ranch has on the teaching staff, this is a good introduction. I’ve also got a few clips of classmate “first impressions,” some walking tour-video of the ranch and plenty to write today, so you’ll hear more from me soon.
To view the video, click on the “Read more” link below.
In order to give our readers the first-hand account of what it’s like to experience developer boot camp, Big Nerd Ranch has permitted Brett to attend complimentary classes and has provided transportation/lodging assistance. Other than those considerations, no sponsorship or advertising relationship exists between BNR and TUAW. This series is not an endorsement of BNR’s programs or teaching methodology.
TUAWTUAW at Big Nerd Ranch: Mark Fenoglio originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The moment was right, the way you feel in baseball just before you swing. I was finished with my business in Kuala Lumpur, and my flight home was a week away … it was time to see something new.
Kuala Lumpur is a big place that looks like the shinier parts of every modern city in the world, with a sleek commuter rail system, and fast trains, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, none of which interest me when abroad. It’s hard to feel like I’m having an adventure while drinking a root beer from an A&W like the one back home.
So I strapped my world to my back and walked to a commuter rail station, looking woefully out of place among businessmen and students. No matter. Soon I would be at KL Sentral, the main transit station where I could escape to somewhere I felt more at home. I had no idea where that could be, and it didn’t matter — that feeling would return and tell me, as it guides everyone who trusts their instincts.
KL Sentral is the place to catch the KLIA Express train out to the airport, trains to Singapore or Thailand, buses to the interior and everything else. It’s where the adventure starts, with a feeling like being in one of the wings of Grand Central Station in New York City — people hurrying everywhere, fast-food counters in the walls and giant flickering displays with arrivals and departures.
Without a cellphone, without the internet, without a plan, there was nowhere I needed to be and no way to reach me with other people’s problems.
All of the commuter rail lines connect to KL Sentral, either directly or by linking to another line. I arrived easily. Without a cellphone, without the internet, without a plan, there was nowhere I needed to be and no way to reach me with other people’s problems … and no way to ruin the adventure with over-planning. It took me years to discover this freedom, and to realize how simple it is for anyone to step into the madding hordes and disappear and know, truly know, that wherever you end up things will be just fine.
The big, expensive international flights take off from KLIA — that’s where my Malaysian Airlines flights come in, but I couldn’t afford any other flights out of that terminal. An hour away by taxi or bus is the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, where Air Asia will sell you a ticket on the spot for any plane that leaves more than twenty minutes later. Other budget airlines pull up to those gates as well, and when you buy a ticket, you buy whatever seat you reach in the rush to fill the plane. They let you out onto the tarmac and point you to the plane. There are usually two ladders up into the fuselage and a great rush of people with oversized carry-on bags all trying to make it inside first to get the best seats.
Then they’re off to Johor Bharu, Kota Kinabalu, Manila, Chiang Mai … all these exotic-sounding places, in Malaysia or countries where you get a visa upon arrival either free or very, very cheap. I could go there and pick a plane, put my money down and let come what may. Anyone could, any time of day, and worry about the rest when you land.
But I wanted a bus, for some reason I didn’t question. The best station for long-distance buses is three stops away, taking the green line to the gold line and stopping at Plaza Rakyat, on the edge of China Town. I could walk or grab a taxi, but following that old impulse, I got back on the commuter train and made it there in just a few minutes. With some mini-bananas and a dragon fruit from a hawker near the train stop, I hoofed it over to the bus station and looked in awe at the people, stalls, noise, lights, and touts. Everyone was selling something, either tickets or taxis or chopped fruit in a bag. It was exactly the kind of chaos that blissfully overwhelms me, such that in having entirely too much to take in, I shut it all out and focused on the simple task of walking and reading the signs.
There are destinations all around Malaysia, like the Cameron Highlands and their tea plantations, or Penang with their restored British fortress where tourists play paintball. For most of the cities, I had no idea what to expect … so I looked at the departure times, searching for the next bus to anywhere.
It was Melaka, a name that sounded right in my mind. The ticket spelled it differently — Malacca — from the sign, which was itself a different spelling — Malaka — than I saw on the bus placard. Phonetics are important for white guys in Asia.
I paid about three bucks US, threw my bag under the bus, and rode off.
When you take the next bus, or train, or plane to anywhere, you don’t worry about accommodation or ruin the adventure with over-planning. It took me years to discover this freedom. You can sort it out at the other end — if you don’t have a guidebook, you walk a few blocks from the station and hail a cab. The touts that wait for travelers like me are usually rip-off artists, but the regular cabbies you hail out of traffic a few streets over are the kind of folks I don’t mind trusting. I got a ride, and simply said “cheap hotel”. He asked me where, and gave me an introduction to Melaka — the Indian district, China Town, the old Dutch city center … so many choices.
It was the perfect way to start an adventure.
Next bus to anywhere is happily produced by The Indie Travel Podcast, proud winners of Lonely Planet’s “Best Podcast 2009″ — Check out our free podcast in iTunes, free online travel magazine, or have the Indie Travel Podcast Magazine delivered.
31
Jan
Steve Jobs at Apple Town Hall meeting: Harsh words for Google, Adobe
Posted by: admin / Category: GeneralFiled under: Other Events, Internet Tools, Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs recently held a Town Hall meeting for Apple employees, and according to Wired, he had some very choice words for both Google and Adobe. While these likely aren’t direct, word-for-word quotes, as they come from employees who spoke to Wired and MacRumors on condition of anonymity, if they’re even in the ballpark of what Jobs said, Apple’s response to both Google and Adobe can be summed up in two words: “Bring it.”
On Google: “We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake: they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them [...] This don’t be evil mantra? It’s bullshit.”
Snap. Maybe a tad belligerent there at the end, Mr. Jobs? I wonder what brought that on?
On Adobe: “They are lazy. They have all this potential to do interesting things, but they just refuse to do it. They don’t do anything with the approaches that Apple is taking, like Carbon. Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5.” Sounds like the petitions can stop now. If that’s really what Apple’s CEO thinks of Flash, then make no mistake: Flash is never coming to Apple’s mobile devices.
Some other tasty tidbits from the Town Hall courtesy of the folks at MacRumors:
- Jobs considers the iPad on a par with the iPhone and Mac as one of the most important products he’s worked on
- Apple acquired Lala because they wanted to bring Lala’s people to the iTunes team
- The next iPhone is “an A+ update” that Android won’t be able to keep up with
- New Macs this year will take Apple “to the next level”
- Apple is still playing “wait and see” with regards to Blu-Ray, and won’t implement it until/unless Blu-Ray sales take off
TUAWSteve Jobs at Apple Town Hall meeting: Harsh words for Google, Adobe originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sun, 31 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Frontline’s “Digital Nation,” which airs on Tuesday, raises some troubling questions about technology addiction, yet provides some optimism about the positive implications of a tech-immersed world.
