A brand new “Mac” for $299

So what if Apple sold a Mac that’s smaller than a mini? What if you had to jump through some hoops, but you could get it to run OS X, and other apps? What if it cost only $299?

Apparently, you can hack an Apple TV to run OS X. Then you’ve got yourself a cheap mac. I’m REALLY tempted even if it does violate the warranty to buy one and use it as a low-end FCP editor, (if it can do that, but I don’t know why it couldn’t, except for the low ram and small HD). Then again I can edit on this G3 500 iBook w/256 megs of ram.

Anyone want to buy me one so I can give it a try?

Mac OS X running on Apple TV | Apple TV Hacks

Paul

Free Web Hosting for churches (and other non-profits)

So, I’ve heard a lot of good about DreamHost. It’s not exactly well-publicized. I just happened to see it on a friend’s computer. This actually solves problems for tons of churches that are are hosting either with free sites like Blogger or their denomination. Read more about it: Non-profit Discount – DreamHost

Paul

On-line Photo Editors

So, say you’re out and about and have an image you need to edit. The thing is, although you can find an internet attached computer, you can’t find one with Photoshop. So, what do you do? Well, you go to Extreme Tech and read about five sites where you can do it online.

Some are better than other, but enjoy.

Paul

I’m Paul and I’m a Twitter addict

Amber MacArthur (tech journalist, web designer, and cute kid-sister type) posted a cartoon about Twitter addicts. I admit that I’m one. I love me some Twitter. I posted not long ago that I’d signed up for Twitter. Read what I’m up to in the box to the left on this site.

Read the fun cartoon at Amber Mac: Twitter addicts in cartoons, on maps, on badges

Paul

Cheap Wireless, Tally Lights, Unsung Lyrics, and Your Questions–tnb070327 Episode 37

On today’s (much delayed) Tech, No Babel:

Cheap wireless for preproduced video,
What are Tally Lights,
Lyrics to be seen and not heard,
Your questions,
and much, much more.

I’m praying I get to come back. Pray for me. This was recorded right before I went on hiatus, so the episode number is way out of order.

Paul

Embed this file:

Is Youtube successful b/c of the embed code?

You can put YouTube video on your blog by just copying the code and putting it in. What if you wanted to do the same with “Tech, No Babel” shows? I’m going to retrofit my show entries with that code so that you can embed it on your site (if you want). Here’s an example:

BTW, if you want to do it yourself, replace my url with yours in this text and close the text area with “less than sign / testarea greater than sign” (with no spaces):

<textarea cols="45">

Paul

I’m all a Twitter(.com)

So I’m sometimes on the bleeding edge. Apparently twitter is a web 2.0 company that is out there with me. So, if I start using it, will you follow? I’ll put a link to what I’m doing here and you can read it either place.

Paul

follow sempei13 at http://twitter.com

For you PC people

I was watching a video online and found this great site that allows PC users to log into their computers from remote locations. This would be great for going back and forth between your work and home computers and your home and church computers.

The best part is that the lowest level of service is free. Now here’s the bad news: PC only. I’m so bummed. I was thinking about just leaving my Mac at home and just logging in from work from time to time if I needed to get something, but no such luck. So this is my gift to you Windows people.

Click LogMeIn.com for more info.

Paul

A Single Stop for Cell Phones

THE FOLLOWING IS A SPONSORED POST:

From time to time, I may tell you about a site that both provides you a service that you need/want and me a little advertising $$. This is one of those times. I only choose site that interest me, so rest assured that I’ll keep it in the tech genre (unless it’s something really cool that I like personally so much that it transcends tech 😉 ).

I don’t know about you, but I get a new cell phone every year or two. Everytime I do I’m always looking for the best rate plan and the best phone to fit my budget. I’ve had a cell phone since Christmas of 1996. I’ve owned an Erikson, three Nokia’s, and two Motorola’s.

I’ve almost always taken the best free or free after rebate phone I could find. Sometimes that meant talking to multiple sales people (yuck!). Sometimes that meant scouring multiple websites (not as bad). Last time, it meant just going to my carrier’s website and taking what they gave me. Now, while that wasn’t a horrible phone, the selection was limited and I had no choice but to pay for the phone and get a rebate.

Now, I find that there’s a site for most major carriers (at least in the US) that has some pretty cool free cell phones. On the front page, they’ve got a Blackberry Pearl and also a Razor for free. I’m actually a little bummed I didn’t find this site earlier as either one looks like my kind of phone.

The Pearl looks like something I’d be interested in. You might know I’m a bit of a geek so anything that’s cool makes me happy. The Pearl is one of the only (are there any more?) Blackberrys with a camera. I know having a camera on my phone has helped me get some good shots of the kids when my regular camera isn’t at hand.

My boss loves sending text messages and my current phone’s regular keypad just isn’t cutting it. Who thought of putting the two most common letters in the English language (“r” and “s”) two or three button pushes in. Well, the Pearl looks like it solves that one too.

Additionally, the ultra-sleek Razor is a great little phone that everyone I know (at least that’s the way it seems) uses. It’s trim design is light and elegant. A phone that thin makes you wonder where they hide both the battery and all of the electronic components necessary to make it work.

Those are just two of the phones offered. Enter your carrier and location and they’ll tell you about the ones you qualify for at either greatly reduced rates or (my personal favorite) free. I can only pray that by some miracle, the iPhone will be on the site once it’s released, but I fear I’ll have to wait a bit for a great deal on that.

I guess I’ve gotten off the subject a little, but take a look at it for yourself.

Check it out: free cell phone

Paul

What if the RIAA…?

What if the RIAA quits being self-serving and starts to sell a good product at a fair price? What if DRM becomes a thing of the past and honest people can buy music that isn’t hobbled? What if licensing for RIAA music becomes a simple process that people without law degrees can complete? What if I could buy music from Napster or the Zune Marketplace or iTunes and put it on any player I wanted b/c it’s not DRMed? What if buying a $.99 song meant you actually own a copy of the song, not that the RIAA will “let you use it” under very strict circumstances until your HD crashes? What if the artists owned the rights to their music and recording companies merely published the music? What if we could buy music in perpetuity, not just until it “goes out of print” because the artists could always sell copies to the fans from back in the day? What if an artist could grant permission for someone to use their music without having to check with “legal” to see if it’s okay? What if we could live our lives without hearing about an organization suing little old ladies, college students, families who don’t even own a computer? What if the penalty for stealing a song was like say 5x of it’s fair market value not 100 times? What if the artist were paid a fair price, not cheated out of wages because of strange licensing deals?

I want the artists to get every penny they deserve. I want the record execs to get paid for their work. I want internet radio and podcasts to be able to buy a license that won’t bankrupt them (a $500 minimum to webcast). I want churches and non-profits to be able to use popular music without either being confused by the licensing and give up trying. I want to NEVER hear anymore nonsense from the RIAA saying that ripping cds is illegal.

What if we help make a statement by buying a particular song from a particular independent artist on 3/22/07 and show the RIAA that the consumer is their master, not the other way around?

Read more about it at: Bum Rush the Charts

Paul