Marianne Schultz

the musings of a geeky girl

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everythingiCafe: the show “Fire It Up”

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The everythingiCafe.com podcastEpisode 40 of the everythingiCafe.com podcast is now available. You can listen to it right here using the embedded Flash player above or download it through iTunes here.

Chris Meinck and I talked about rumors of a Siri-powered Apple TV and the iPad 3 display, as well as the parts cost of the iPhone 4S. We also talk about a new product recently announced by former Apple executive, Tony Fadell, who was heavily involved in the development of the iPod. His new product has many people excited, including Chris, even though it really falls in a home appliance category not previously known to be very thrilling.

Verbs IM by #include techMy Teh Awesome of the week is the Verbs IM app by #include tech. I recently switched to Verbs IM from Beejive. While Beejive is a solid app, it’s got a ton of extra features that I really don’t need and Verbs IM has a more straightforward and appealing interface without all the extra bells and whistles.

Chris’s selection this week was actually a Teh Suck related to Apple’s decision to use the micro SIM form factor for the iPhone 4 and 4S. In order to use his iPhone’s SIM in other phones, he has to use a micro SIM adapter make it fit. And this adapter has caused many other problems for him, most recently the destruction of a brand new Pre 3 he recently got.

(Chris also runs everythingpre.com in case you’re wondering why he’d want a Palm Pre to begin with.)

We’re planning on recording another podcast this week though the exact day and time is TBD now. If you want to catch us live, you can get the latest news on when we’ll be recording/broadcasting by checking this thread in the everythingiCafe forum or following @everythingicafe on Twitter.

Chewbacca yells at me when I get a new text message

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This is the sound I hear whenever I get a new text message on my iPhone 4S:

[wpaudio url=”http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6704128/chewbacca.mp3″ text=”Chewbacca” dl=”http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6704128/chewbacca.mp3″]

I love that I can finally select a custom sound for incoming text messages in iOS 5. (Yes, I know this was possible for jailbroken iPhones but this official way is so much easier.)

everythingiCafe: the show “Brain was Fried”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded episode 39 of the everythingiCafe.com podcast last night and it’s now available through iTunes. You can listen to it here using the (gasp!) Flash-based player embedded in this post if you don’t want to schlep all the way over to iTunes. (I know, I know. The Flash bit is part of my site’s theme – I swear I didn’t know about it when I chose it.)

We talked about the release of the iPhone 4S and our thoughts on it so far. Chris wrote a thorough review of it in case you’re still not sure about upgrading or switching over to the latest iPhone and want some nitty-gritty details. Also on our agenda were some problems with it Sprint subscribers are seeing as well as some screen issues that seem pretty widespread.

My Teh Awesome of the week was my iPhone 4S (of course) and the new Vaja Libretto case I got for my iPad 2 that I mentioned the other day. Chris’s choice this week was formerly a Teh Suck selection in a previous podcast: the Navigon MobileNavigator turn-by-turn navigation app for the iPhone. He’d had a bad experience with it on his iPhone 4 but it’s working flawlessly on his new iPhone 4S now and he’s going to be returning the stand-alone GPS unit he recently bought in favor of it.

We’re shooting for next Tuesday evening at 7:00 p.m. ET for our next episode. If you want to catch us live, you can get the latest news on when we’ll be recording/broadcasting by checking this thread in the everythingiCafe forum or following @everythingicafe on Twitter.

Oh, and if you’re an aspiring technology blogger, Chris is hiring for everythingiCafe.com and his other sites – there are both paid and volunteer positions available. See the full job posting here. If you can’t already tell from the podcast, Chris is a great guy and working with him is fabulous.

everythingiCafe: the show “Visionary”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded episode 38 of the everythingiCafe.com podcast on Sunday and it’s now available to download via iTunes (or you can listen to it right here using the embedded audio player above).

We talked about the iPhone 4S announcement and preorders and iOS 5. We also talked briefly about the death of Steve Jobs to offer our condolences to his friends and family and note the passing of a true visionary in the technology industry.

My Teh Awesome for the week was the official Apple Store app (link opens iTunes) solely because it finally let me preorder my iPhone 4S last week after all other methods failed me miserably (you can read about my preorder experience here). It’s a free app and beyond placing orders for Apple products, you can join the queue to get support while in an Apple store and more.

Chris’s Teh Suck this week was AT&T Wireless, who backtracked on letting him go back to an older voice plan despite promising this when prompting him to move up to a more expensive plan to avoid overage charges. AT&T is not my favorite company (my last beef with them came from their decision to only offer a single unlimited texting plan to new customers for $20 per month) and this behavior on their part does not surprise me, frankly.

Our schedule for upcoming podcasts is still a bit up in the air but you can get the latest news on when we’ll be recording/broadcasting by checking this thread in the everythingiCafe forum or following @everythingicafe on Twitter.

[frame]What do you think of our show? I have one free promo code for each of the following songs for the first two people who post a comment on this post with some feedback on our podcast. Tell me what you like, don’t like, or what you wish we’d change or add.

Note: these links open iTunes

These codes are good for U.S. iTunes store accounts only and expire in December 2011. When you comment, be sure to use your real email account (it will not be visible to others) since this is how I’ll send you the code. The first commenter gets to pick which song you want while the second gets whichever song is left. 🙂

[/frame]

everythingiCafe: the show “Cheese Whiz”

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Chris Meinck and I recorded episode 37 of the everythingiCafe podcast this week and it is now available for download through iTunes. As always, you can use the embedded audio player here (unless you’re on an iPad or iPhone) to listen to it if you’d rather not go all the way to iTunes to get it.

We talked about a lot of iOS 5 and iPhone 5 rumors, which all point to releases in October for the latest version of Apple’s mobile device operating system and the new iPhone model. I don’t know about you, but I am more than ready for a new iPhone model – although I’m still pretty happy with my iPhone 4, I’d really like to get past the never-ending rumors and get to real news. Hopefully Apple will announce its press event to unveil the iPhone 5 soon.

We also talked about a funny observation made by the acting president of HTC’s American division who doesn’t believe that iPhones are “cool” anymore following a visit to his daughter’s college.

Chris’s Teh Awesome earned him a little teasing from me since he selected a flashlight app for his iPhone 4. Surpax Technology’s Flashlight saved his bacon during the power outage caused by Irene a couple of weeks ago.

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

My Teh Awesome was the SAS Survival Guide app for the iPhone. I have some paranoid leanings, particularly related to any Zombie Apocalypse (and any t-shirts referencing said apocalypse) that may occur, and the SAS Survival Guide provides a ton of information on how to survive in a variety of environments should all hell break loose and civilization shudder to grinding halt in the face of a catastrophic event. If you’ve ever wanted instructions on how to trap and kill wild game, field dress their carcasses, and use every last bit of meat, bone, and fur to help you survive in the wilderness, this is the app for you.

(For the record, I’m also getting a survival guide in paper form since I’m quite sure that electricity to power my iPhone will be scarce during the Zombie Apocalypse.)

We usually record the podcast every week on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. ET though our schedule for the next few weeks is a bit tentative at this point. See this thread in the everythingicafe.com forum or the site’s Twitter feed to get the most up-to-date information about our recording schedule.