Marianne Schultz

the musings of a geeky girl

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An excellent screen protector for the iPhone 5

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I can’t stand fingerprints on my iPhone’s screen and even though Apple claims it has an oleophobic coating, it still racks up more marks from regular use than I care to shake a stick at. For my iPhone 4S, I had the SGP Ultra Fine anti-glare screen protector and loved it. For my new iPhone 5, I went with the SGP Ultra Oleophobic version since it was available to order shortly after the iPhone 5 was officially announced.

The screen protector came in the mail today and I installed it within minutes of its arrival. So far, it’s absolutely great at rejecting fingerprints much more than the iPhone 5’s naked screen and I expect it to work just as well in the long run given my experience over the years with SGP’s screen protector products. If you are looking for a crystal clear fingerprint-resistant screen protector, you can order this SGP one through Amazon. It (you actually get two in the package) costs just $13.99 and is Amazon Prime eligible so you can get free 2-day shipping if you’re a Prime member.

Stupid things I do while waiting for my new iPhone to be delivered

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  • Take a shower in 25.8 seconds flat to minimize the amount of time I may not hear the delivery truck or doorbell over the sound of running water. Even when it’s 6:00 am and there’s no chance of the UPS guy stopping by my house that early in the morning.
  • Open all the blinds and windows facing the street to be sure I hear the delivery truck when it arrives.
  • Stop and look through any street-facing window randomly in case I suddenly went deaf temporarily and simply didn’t hear the UPS truck drive up.
  • Avoid turning on the radio or TV so that there are no other sounds that could interfere with my ability to hear the UPS truck arrive.
  • Encourage and reward my dog with an unprecedented number of wholesome turkey jerky dog treats to bark at every vehicle that drives down our street to increase the odds that I’ll be aware of the UPS truck’s arrival. Then spend the other 364 days of the year trying to train him out of this habit.
  • Stare at the entrance to our neighborhood and attempt to use the Force to will the UPS truck to get here sooner.
  • Read through my Twitter timeline and alternately empathize with those waiting like me and hate those who stood in line at a store and already have their new iPhone.
  • Repeatedly track my package in hopes that UPS has added new statuses like “Your house is next!” and “Driving down your street” to its tracking system.
  • Scream like a teenager at a Justin Bieber concert when the UPS truck appears and heads toward my house.

everythingiCafe: the show “Weird thumbs, but beautiful girl”

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So Chris and I got off on a bit of a tangent at the start of this episode (now available through iTunes) and somehow started talking about the actress Megan Fox. I remembered an odd factoid about her – she has an inherited condition that resulted in shortened thumbs. And that’s where the title of this episode came from.

After this tangent, we talked about the first purported iPad mini part leak and speculation about the size and design of the rumored device that indicate it will look like a large iPod touch with a slimmer bezel compared to all iPad models to date. Also on the docket were lots of iPhone 5/sixth-generation iPhone rumors that indicate that the new iPhone will be available for pre-order on the date it’s announced, which is shaping up to be September 12 with an actual release on September 21.

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Review: Capta tripod mount/stand accessory for smartphones

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I first heard of the Capta through Kickstarter and though I missed getting in on the funding campaign before it closed, it remained on my list as an accessory to check out. As you probably already know, I do record video reviews and I’ve been getting a little tired of the cheap and flimsy plastic clamp tripod mount that I’d been using with my iPhone. Fortunately, BiteMyApple.co offered me a Capta to review and I’ve used it to record a few videos and get a feel for how well it works.

If you’re not familiar with the Capta, it’s an aluminum tripod mount and stand accessory for the iPhone or any other smartphone or smartphone-sized device. It has an über sticky polyurethane pad used to secure your smartphone and a ¼-20 threaded hole to mount on a tripod or any other accessory with a stud this size.

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everythingiCafe: the show “Sniffling, cranky Marianne”

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Chris and I recorded episode 65 of the everythingicafe.com iPhone and iPad podcast and it’s available for download through iTunes now. My seasonal allergies made a surprise appearance this week after several weeks of a blissful hiatus, prompting the title of this week’s episode.

We talked about Apple’s Q3 financial results, which were pretty damn good overall even if Wall Street wasn’t entirely happy with them. We also talked about the latest iPhone 5 (or 6 if you want to get technical) and iPad mini rumors, plus new rumors about an impending iPod touch redesign. When we recorded this episode, Mountain Lion was set to be released on the next day so we also talked about our plans on updating to Apple’s new operating system for the Mac.

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