me.com

MobileMe and me.com

MobileMe is the new .Mac and – from what I see &ndash the only way to get over-the-air syncing of your iPhone’s contacts, calendars and bookmarks without being on Exchange.

Is it worth $8.25 a month if you only have one Mac and an iPhone? Or even just one Mac? Absolutely. You get twice the current storage (10GB bumped to 20GB), a very impressive suite of web apps, and of course, a name@me.com email address.

me.com

Refreshing the iPhone Tips & Tutorials Page

Since last July I have loosely been maintaining a tips and tutorials page for the iPhone. The page is basically a categorized list with some helpful links to popular web apps, how-tos, articles and hardware accessory stores — all for the iPhone.

In light of tomorrow’s rumored “iPhone! iPhone! iPhone!” keynote announcement, and the upcoming release of OSX iPhone 2.0, I figured it was time to update the page. But with your help please.

If you know of a link or two (or three) that you think would fit in, please send it on by emailing me at [email protected].

Thanks in advance.

— Shawn

Refreshing the iPhone Tips & Tutorials Page

WWDC Predictions

To be honest, I have read only a little of all the rumors and hype around the Net regarding all this Monday’s WWDC keynote. Not because I’m not interested or excited, but I’ve just had other things to do.

Since I am relatively uninformed and have no inside sources, I thought it only logical to give my two cents on what we may or may not see at WWDC. And besides, everyone else is doing it.

  • iPhone: I am hesitant to believe we will see a 3G capable iPhone released and available to buy next week. Announced or talked about? Absolutely. But I’m not convinced it will be in stores before this Fall.On the other hand, I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see a price drop and/or a refresh to the current iPhone model. Maybe an increase in storage capacity, a fix to that annoying headphone jack and one more thing.
  • iPhone Software Update: I’m still holding to the ‘sleeper agent‘ mentality I adopted after watching the iPhone SDK announcement in March. There is a lot of potential within the current iPhone which Apple is still unveiling. Right now, as far as Apple is concerned, it’s all in the software. I think the software update will be the most exciting news.I think Steve will brag on – and then release – the 2.0 software update. It’ll probably be available right after the Keynote (which means a whole lot of people will be pounding on the server and we won’t actually be able to get it until 24 hours after the keynote).

    Also, I’m sure we will see some 3rd party apps available on the iTunes store as well. Come on App Store.

  • Laptops: I will be surprised if we don’t at least see a refresh to the MacBooks and MacBook Pros, though I doubt we’ll see a whole new lineup just yet. They seem very much overdue for an update, but it also feels like the main push at WWDC next week is going to be software, not hardware.Of course that’s not to say Apple won’t release a whole new line-up
  • .Mac: Speaking of software, .Mac has long been Apple’s would-be golden ticket to a fantastic Mobile/Home synchronization platform thingy. The potential of .Mac is so un-tapped, and I think everyone is ready to see it updated.The main update feature I’m hoping for is a better synching option between my MBP and my iPhone. Primarily over-the-air synching.

    Will the name get changed to Mobile Me (or something like it)? Probably. If they’re going to make a massive overhaul to the service, it would be just like them to give it a new name. Similar to when they made the move to Intel: PowerMac became Mac Pro; PowerBook became MacBook Pro; etc…

  • Snow Leopard: Sure. Why not?

To wrap up, my gut tells me the main push next week will be software related, with some hardware refreshes (and maybe some price changes) to accommodate.

WWDC Predictions

Sweet Mercy:

8.3-litre Viper motor, 48RE auto tranny, Rubicon Rock Trac transfer case, Currie Iron Jock Dana 60 axles, 5.38 gears, ARB rear and Detroit locker front, PSC power steering assist, high steer, heavy duty tie rods, Huge SRT10 brakes front and rear, American Racing Cartel wheels 20×8.5, 39.5 Swamper Irok tires

UPDATE: It looks like someone from AutoBlog saw it on eBay and posted about it first. Then someone from TechBlog saw the AutoBlog post and so they posted about it themselve. Then someone else from 2dayBlog saw it on TechBlog and posted it.

My point being: The auction is over (it was last Fall) and the most pictures are on AutoBlog, so I’ve changed the top link.

505hp Dodge Viper-Powered Jeep Wrangler

Seth’s Blog

Seth’s Blog

I inadvertently got my wife hooked on Seth Godin last week when I ordered some of his books off Amazon. She saw me reading Permission Marketing and asked who in the world would put a picture of their bald head on the cover of their book.

I told her the guy is a great writer, and has awesome ideas. They’re the kind of ideas that may never apply to you, but you’re glad you heard them, and you hope the right person does hear them, because you know it will make the world a little bit better.

One of my favorite posts (one that after I read it, I had the exact reaction described above) is this one on McDonald’s dipping sauce:

99 people out of a hundred take one or two packets of sauce. One guy takes 20. This is infuriating. You lost money on this guy. He’s a pig. He probably hordes the sauce and uses it on his eggs in the morning or whatever.

Seth’s Blog