The Appsolute Tech Show

Return of the Appsolute Tech Show…

Sat, 03 May 2008 17:17:14 +0000

The Appsolute Tech Show podcast and blog has been on a hiatus for too long. Expect the blog portion of things to come alive quickly and the podcast to follow with a new episode arriving later this month.

Btw, I’ve added/deleted some podcasts (netcasts, video casts, etc) from the “Netcasts That Rock” section underneath “Dr. Apps Tweets” on the right-hand sidebar.

In the meantime, you can follow me on twitter (@drapps) here. Or look on the right-hand sidebar and see my latest tweets.

Thanks for your support.

Dr. Apps / Host of the Appsolute Tech Show

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Get Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition for free from Microsoft!

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:07:31 +0000

Microsoft calls it their “Super Suite Deal” and today is your last day to partake in it’s goodness. All you have to do is purchase Office 2004 for Mac Standard Edition (or Upgrade) or Office 2004 for Mac Student and Teacher Edition, and pay $6.99 shipping you will receive a free copy of Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition on DVD by mail. Amazon lists Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition at $449, so if you were planning on buying it anyway, save yourself some cash and buy Office 2004 (for $129-$149) today and save almost $300 over buying Office 2008 at retail. The only caveat… no instant gratification, you will have to 6-8 weeks before you receive the Office 2008 DVD in the mail. Your redemption form has to be postmarked by February 14, 2008 and you must have purchased Office 2004 between November 1, 2007 and today (January 14, 2008). Don’t forget to include your ORIGINAL Office 2004 for Mac box top and a copy of your sales receipt. The form is available for download here.

Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Edition includes new versions of Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Entourage (Mac’s Outlook equivalent), Messenger for Mac, Expression Media and some special Mac only features like Automator Actions for Workflows in Microsoft Office. If you already have Office 2004 for Mac, you may be questioning how worthwhile of an upgrade Office 2008 will be. I’ve been using Office 2007 Ultimate on Windows and it’s the first time I can actually say I’ve enjoyed using Office. It really was a worthy and compelling upgrade over Office 2003. Therefore, I have high expectations for what Office 2008 will bring to the Mac. Of course, if you choose you can also get something like NeoOffice (an Open-Office port for Macs) for free.

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Episode #4 - Virtual Availability

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 19:54:46 +0000

Did somewhere really warm just freeze over? No, but a labor of love has to marinate a little sometimes. In this special edition of the Appsolute Tech Show, Dr. Apps keeps it to himself, his lonely self. I open up with a brief talk about the addictive quality of Super Mario Galaxy and it’s current hold on my brain.

This episode was recorded with my new Samson Zoom H2 Handy Recorder (crappy name), how about Zoom H2 Portable Personal Digital Recorder. O’Reilly Digital Media has an in-depth review here. This tiny, lightweight handheld recorder has four microphones and can record true surround-sound audio! How cool is that? Plus it sounds great and comes with a carrying case, stand, mic-stand adapter, headphones and an ac adapter. Two AA batteries can also power it for up to 8 hours. I love it so far, I just wish it was aluminum instead of plastic.

Hate proprietary single network instant messaging clients, like AOL Instant Messenger or Yahoo Messenger? I do too. I briefly touch on two great free and open-source IM clients. Pidgin (formerly GAIM) is a free open-source multi-network IM client for Windows, Fedora, CentOS (and others) and Adium a multi-network IM client for the Mac. Nurse Apps listened to the raw recording of this episode and told me to add that all you have to do to start using Pidgin is type in your AOL IM (or Google Talk, Microsoft MSN/Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, etc) username and password and Pidgin will import your buddy lists so you don’t have to. Truly awesome examples of well-done free open-source software.

I also try my best to discuss the different types of software, like open-source vs. proprietary (or as I call it closed-source) and freeware, crippleware, shareware and commercial software.

If you are new to podcasts/netcasts I discuss some of my favorites, like Buzz-Out Loud, TWiT, Command N, LabRats and Tekzilla (and I forget to mention GeekBrief TV).

And finally, for 2008 the Apprentice and I agreed that we need theme music and decided that the show will be released on Sunday (still bi-weekly).

Thanks for listening and feel free to comment here or email us.

Dr. Apps / Host of the Appsolute Tech Show

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Using Google to Quickly Track Your Shipments…

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 00:02:05 +0000

Google Search is like the swiss-army knife of search engines. Here is a tip/trick/hack you may not have heard before. If you type (or copy/paste) a tracking number for a package shipped via UPS, FedEx or the United States Postal Service (USPS) into Google, it will show a solitary link to the tracking information page on the carrier’s site that is handling your package. Check it out by inserting your USPS (XXXX-XXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX-XX), UPS (usually 1ZXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX) or FedEx (XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXX) tracking number. I thought this tip would really come in handy because sometimes the site you ordered from has an out-of-date tracking page (like Newegg) and this is much quicker than going directly to the shipping carrier’s site (especially the USPS).

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Super Mario Galaxy Delays Episode #4 of the Appsolute Tech Show…

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 23:46:59 +0000

First a format change because of episode #103 of LabRats, then Super Mario Galaxy sent Dr. Apps into his own sort of orbit. Ok, maybe it was the holidays too. But Dr. Apps has spent an inordinate amount of time playing it since Nurse Apps received it on Wednesday. Thursday came and went and episode #4 was nowhere to be found, and Friday is almost gone as well . Have no fear, episode #4 will be here (on ~~Saturday~~ Sunday). Sorry for the delay (again). Bad Dr. Apps! Bad! ~~BTW, no Apprentice this week, I had to go at it alone~~

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Episode #103 of LabRats steals Episode #4 of the Appsolute Tech Show…

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:39:45 +0000

Just kidding. But they did beat us to the punch. The Apprentice has been pushing me to cover the different types of software (open-source, freeware, commercial, etc…) in the next episode of the Appsolute Tech Show. However, the newest episode of LabRats (#103) has pretty much covered the bases for us. Andy Walker (author of Windows Vista Secrets) and Sean Carruthers (of Lab with Leo fame) are hilarious, so if you’ve never seen the show now is the time to check it out.

Nonetheless, we may elaborate a bit more on the various types of software in episode #4 (coming December, 27th), but we will also have plenty of other things to talk about as well.

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Additions and Errata for Episode #3 of the A.T.S.

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 23:25:57 +0000

1) The Apprentice called me Saturday and said that he tried the Circuit City coupon code again and it worked. Yippee! The coupon is for $15 off of a purchase of $99 or more. The code is RNAXN53AYS and is valid in-store (if you have the coupon), at circuitcity.com or by calling 800-593-4361.

2) At one point in the episode I said Chloe instead of CLEO.

3) Patrick Norton of the weekly tech show Tekzilla on the Revision3 network mentions Miro on the December 15th episode, although his pronunciation is “mor-reau” whereas mine was “mir-oh”. Patrick is most likely correct and I am probably wrong.

4) BTW, I realized that I mentioned Miro as being a “version” of Firefox. What I meant to say is that it is built using the same (layout) engine as Firefox aka Gecko.

Thanks again for listening and please let us know what you think of the show.

-Dr. Apps / Host of the Appsolute Tech Show.

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Episode #3 - The Smorgasbord

Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:01:14 +0000

We’re at it again, episode #3 of the Appsolute Tech Show is now available.

This week (or bi-week, actually tri-week) we talk about Circuit City’s crappy $15 coupon code and CompUSA’s new all sales are final policy. Of course we had to mention the availability of the Windows XP SP3 Release Candidate and the Windows Vista SP1 Release Candidate.

We kept it simple on the apps and talk about two great open-source, cross-platform programs which are video related; Miro and VLC Media Player.

Thanks for listening to the Appsolute Tech Show. Leave your comments, corrections or suggestions here or send us an email.

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Wow, do we feel stupid! Episode #3 to be released Thursday…

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 21:28:32 +0000

Everybody makes mistakes, and sometimes one person makes many more than just one! Someone (*cough* Dr. Apps *cough*) isn’t very handy with a calendar . We just realized that Episode #3 was supposed to be released on the 6th (which, coincidently was The Apprentice’s birthday). Anyway, we are recording Episode #3 tomorrow and releasing it on Thursday. We, and by we, I mean Dr. Apps, apologizes for his supreme stupidity in misunderstanding that two weeks is 14 days. Thank you for your patience, here’s to hoping that Episode #4 arrives in your iTunes, or podcatcher on December 27th.

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Can you stump Dr. Apps?

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:48:10 +0000

So, Dr. Apps considers himself a Windows expert, eh? Let’s put him to the test! Send in your toughest question and if your question is picked, he’ll try to answer it on the show. Besides bragging rights, we are still trying to figure out what to give out for those of you who do stump him (we have a budget measured in $1 bills). Send an email here.

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