This was by far my favorite video they have put out, after the Life before the segway. So for those lucky souls that preordered their new 17in Macbook Pro please let me know how long your battery really lasts.

Once I stepped on, I noticed all the coach seats had a nice (i think 7in) LCD. No multi-touch displays, but still pretty slick. This new multimedia system is amazing, why did it take this long for airlines to get this, right? I did a click run through and had over 11 movies to choose from and could click, play, fast-forward, rewind, pause, it was like “on demand” back in NJ (cause COX in AZ DOESN’T HAVE IT!). So while sitting there waiting for take off, I noticed a little sign “Power Outlet This Row”. Yea, so after hitting “cruising altitude” I pulled out my laptop and plugged in. It was like First Class, but paid nothing for the ticket, how unique. Although their PA Alert system is pretty annoying. So if the Captain wants to chat with the “Uniformed Crew member” they pause what your doing and post a PA System message on the LCD. Most of the time, they don’t need to “disturb” us (customers). I like the system, but maybe they should look into newer technology. Yes we have the Technology, each flight attendant could get a bluetooth headset and allow for easy messaging between the captain and the “Uniformed Crew members”. If the captain needs to get on the PA, thats fine, but most of the time, you just see them pickup the “phone” (cause they still make it look like we are in the 60’s) and have their “private” conversations.

Anyway, All the games/play/movies on this trip will keep you entertained for the entire “duration”. I know I was working on trying to get some work (blogs/coding) done but wanted to see/play/hack with this system. Their Virtual Bowling is not as fun as Wii bowling, but still entertaining. They have plenty of games, chess, checkers, backgammon, mini golf, etc. I definitely need to pay more attention to flying on 757 and try and get on more of these “new planes”. I was pretty impressed by the AI as in speed, def not in “smart” for chess as well as the speed. (was playing on hard) Although the touch screen was a bit off, so each time I played I would move, but sometimes miss hit the space next to where I wanted to move and could not easily find the “undo”. The fact that it has “multi” as in play other people on the plane, SICK!

Does anyone know if the Berlitz World Travel game is web based? Would think this would be great to teach/learn a language. I know Tim Ferrris discusses how to relearn a language in 20 minutes. I know for myself I got “my mind back into Japanese” by listening to podcasts in Japanese and “lesson teachings” while walking to class in college. It was a great way to listen, say it, and think it (Highly recommend it).

Oh, so before all this fun with the 757, I has yea anotherTSA experiences due to the fact that I had to remove my “coat” I said, “excuse me?”, he said my “coat”, (I was wearing a zip up hoodie). So I guess it contains a lot of “metal”, whatever. I found it funny because the guy in front of me had on a blazer as well as polo and sweater. ha!

So back in the day (like last week, or even the “cheaper model”) we used standard plater hard drives. We have this arm that picks up this “data” and constantly reads/write and deals with this “reliability problems”. The SSD uses chip sets, so their are NO moving parts. The benefits of SSD over standard plater technology is the increase performance due to not having the read/write latency as well as lower the power consumption. For laptop users this is a BIG win, your laptop WILL last longer and perform better with a SSD drive.

So for those who dropped over 3k for the SSD upgrade on the Macbook Air, expect better performance and longer battery life. I also find it interesting, that on Dells or even current Macbooks, you could drop in a SSD replacement and have a solid state drive. This would cut down on your disk size, but also speed up the performance.

I also wanted to point out that, you don’t need to drop even 1k for a SSD computer, the Asus EEE or disposable laptop I have been tempted to pickup, but have restrained myself. I do have a OLPC, that I need to do a blog review, maybe a vlog about. It’s very nice and has some amazing slick apps for video blogging, music, and surfing the web, but my hatred for the small (obviously geared towards kids) rubber maid keyboard keeps you from touch typing.

This push from standard plater drives to Solid State is only the beginning. We have seen it with iPods, and now with a Macbook. I think the market will be leveraging this technology and forcing the price to come down, to help with the biggest problem portable electronics face, battery usage. Having a laptop that last 12 or even 24 hours would be insane. I know every time I travel, I am that walking baffoon, looking to “charge up” my equipment. (come on I’m a self proclaimed Geek Guru, of course I carry many electronics).

So for those who have just heard of SSD technology, expect even more, and for those who are in the SSD market (or business) expect a LOT of growth in the next 2 to 5 years.

Today marks that revolution (or should) in the world, when a CD/DVD drive is a thing of the past. Seriously, how many times do you use your disc drive? I might use it to burn a CD/DVD, but don’t you just sync music with your iphone/ipod? Remember when Macs first started shipping without a FLOPPY DRIVE. Everyone and thier mom was like, what OMG! But now a days, don’t Dells not have that, and just come with 1gb or 2 gb USB drive?

The days of no moving part computers are here as well as the concept of “sharing devices”. This idea that a macbook air can “share” a drive with another computer is no “new” thing, you can always create a network share, or for those “windoze” users, just click share. The idea that more and more people will be transferring/sending their “digital products” in download forms rather then a DVD is what I am excited about. I don’t want to lose my copy of Windows Vista or Photoshop CS due to misplacing the DVD. I should just be able to download them when I need them. I also have been starting to “backup” or image CDs/DVDs and store them, for this purpose. There is NO NEED to have physical media like this, just email us a link and boom!

I think with this macbook air as well as the Asus EEE, more people want that slim, thin computer that you can carry around, but hook up to that 30in Display you are at work. I know I would love this, but gave up on it last year. I picked up a mac mini for my desktop, a laptop for the on the go, and a 3TB NAS server to “transfer”/store/backup/whatever. Granted a 64gb SSD drives is small, but you just need what your working on (wish it was 128gb though, maybe next year Steve). I think the idea of SSD (Solid State Drives) are going to be great not just for speed/performance, but for battery life. This Macbook Air as a 5 hour life, WOW! Ask almost any “laptop” user, they will tell you they are more interested in a long life computer/battery then another dual dvd laptop burner.

Anyway, I just had to rant about this macbook air, and as much as I was ready to jump over to the Apple store, I withheld myself. I do not NEED a new laptop right now, but I am thinking about picking up a Apple TV now.

So what about you, have you pre-ordered it?

Growing up with horrible hand writing and not being able to spell hardly anything I always found myself relying on computers to do the spell checking and grammar checking along the way. So I was always dreaming of using or having a laptop throughout school. Well, I have graduated and have since moved on, but I am still in need of a killer cheap computer. So I wanted to post up and later, review (after I pick one up next week at best buy) and use it as just that, my disposable laptop. This small laptop features a 4gb solid state hard drive, with 512mb ram and a 800×800 wvga display plus wifi (802.11b/g). This would be perfect for meeting clients and showing off their website as well as using it to keep my life organized and in track. I know your prolly saying, isn’t that what your iphone is? Well, yes but I dislike surfing because I always have like 20 tabs open and want to hit a lot of sites and view content. The iPhone can only have 8 tab windows open at a time, and typing it, well I just wouldn’t want to type this blog post on it. So I plan to use this while on the go and HIGHLY recommend it.

So what does it have for software, if its only $400 and has 4gb hard drive, it runs it’s own operating system (but you can install others) and offers the basic, internet, email, word processor stuff. This is just a great machine for kids or early teenagers. Have them bring it to school and type up papers with it. This is also a GREAT machine for that soon to be or is now retired grandparent. Think about it, it offers simple menus like work, play, etc that allows to easily send/view email and surf the web. For $400 it’s also won’t hit your pocket too hard if you lose or break one. The last thing I want to add to WHY YOU NEED TO BUY ONE, is that theirs already hacks out for it. This will be a fun hackable computer that features NO MOVING PARTS! Think about that, a computer where its quite, small, and has everything you need to do your basic (time waiting?) computing. The best part, the high end model comes with a video camera! So expect some video chatting on the cheap (~$400) to anyone who owns one.

I could not find the upgraded model with a web camera and upgraded ram on Amazon, but I will keep you posted.

Anyway, I just used this wok to make some amazing chicken with a friend of mine, so good! As for clean up, I just rinsed and EVERYTHING CAME OFF! Imagine that, a wok that is almost self cleaning! So if you are a chef or trying to learn how to cook, pickup the $8 wok and some chicken and bam, good food.

If you need some good recipes for cooking check out opensource food. yongfook build it and well, since edibletags is still a work in progress, I might as well promote another site.

Drop a comment on how the cooking and wok(ing?) is going.

Yes, I have joined the hippies and bought myself a new hybrid car! For the past year (about) I have NOT had a car. I have been driving family/friends cars as well as A LOT of public transportation. I sold my 2005 Subuaru WRX STI Crystal Grey Metallic last summer before leaving for a nice journey to Europe. After getting back from Europe I was not sure where I would end up. I felt that I did NOT need a car right away and would wait til I found out where I would live for a bit.

Well after a bunch of jobs interviews as well as various tentative plans, I keeped delaying getting a car. It’s funny it took me almost a year to make this decison and now I have made up my mind. I am moving to Arizona and choose a Prius as my daily driver. I do plan to pickup a weeekend car, either cheap drifting car or something nice and fun like a used BMW M3.

Anyway, I pickuped my 2007 Toyota Prius with GPS Navigation/Backup Camera/Leather/etc, the package 6 option. I connected my iPhone, but was unable to transfer the phonebook due to the LOCKING of the bluetooth profile ($&#@ you very much APPLE, please unlock!). Then again, I guess I should focus on hacking the bluetooth profile on the iPhone and get it up and running!

After picking up my Prius I noticed the alignment is a bit off so I dropped it back off and should have it fixed by tomorrow, but I will be back on the east coast and have my friend pick it up for me. I guess it kinda pisses me off that no one noticed it, but the car is planning to sit there for the two weeks while I am in NJ/NY/CT. I know a couple of people will test drive it, but no worries.

So I am moving west and need to pack as well as visit with friends/family while I am still on the east coast.

I have a couple of issues with the Prius and will be posting a review of it after I have broken it in. I have only driven about 150 miles with it, just around the Phoneix area. Do you have a Prius, please comments your pro/cons/etc about them.

What does this mean? A FAN is used by large businesses that allow discounts to their employees through at&t. This would mean someone who is a blackberry user and is working for a Fortune 500 or company who has a FAN with at&t gets a discount. Well NOT for that newly switched iPhones business savy person who has just stopped using his blackbery and got a nice shiny iPhone, that person has to cough up the full price (like the rest of us) and even though his company has a FAN, he gets the nice kick in the balls, THANKS at&t.

For myself I recently found out that I qualify for a FAN because someone in my immediate family works for a large Fortune 500 company that has a FAN with at&t. You get this “discount” for basically any and every device EXCEPT THE iPhone, thanks at&t you know how to stick it to your CUSTOMERS! The at&t representative explained to me that a iPhone is a CONSUMER PRODUCT and NOT A BUSINESS PRODUCT. A bit of news to me maybe you too?! Did Apple explain how Microsoft Exchange would work for iPhone. Does the average CONSUMER have a Microsoft Exchange Server at their house for their email? Well I guess at&t see this differently and that iPhones are for CONSUMERS and NOT BUSINESS users.

So for those tech savvy business people who are dropping their blackberries or moving to a iPhone LOOK OUT FOR THE BILL! You will NOT receive any discount and/or qualify for anything “special”. It seems the higher ups at at&t have forced the customer once again to foot the bill rather then treat all customers (business or consumer) equally.

Did you leave your blackberry for an iPhone, do you still want to receive that great discount? No problem, the representative provided me with a mailing address to send your concerns in to at&t. I also found that this mailing address is not only on your bill but also has “more power” then customer representatives. So if you hate your plan, bill, or just don’t get why cingular is the new at&t send a letter to the following:

9020 N. MAY AVE., #250 NYC
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 73120

Note: I have a NYC number so the NYC above (#250 NYC) might relate to your area code, please check your bill to be sure.

As for people complaining, I used to have a MDA from TMobile and it took for a while just to load IE and Google something. The iPhone passes a lot of the “problems” with mobile browsing but making it more efficent. I can have multiple webpages open at once, I have quick access to Google and keys like .com (although I suggest other keys like .html and www.). The Google Maps is built in so I do not even need to open safari, and I can also save locations which is great for quick browsing.

The main reason I am suggesting Apple did not include a GPS and/or 3G is size and cost. There are over 13,000 cities that have edge as compared to 3G which is in about 100 of the Top Markets, or major cities. The average internet use does not understand that DSL/Cable companies share their internet connection and that it varies in speeds. With fiber I have a constant pipe of speed and do not have issues when massive amount of users are on at the same time. With a GPS built in the antenna alone would take up a bit of the phone and the battery life would drop dramatically. Think about the GPS or portable navigation systems you use and how much power they consume, now imaging GPS, Edge, Display, etc it all adds up.

Back to the iPhone, the easy of searching the web has sped up my surfing abilities on a mobile device, but the actually speed to surf is still pretty fast. If I am surfing for movie tickets or looking at websites its pretty solid. Yes it is a LOT slower then your home speed, but its a MOBILE DEVICE, understand that!

With the iPhone being driven by software, we can make it simpler to enter or find websites while surfing and cache websites to “speed” up our connection. I think over the next 3 months Apple will be releasing many updates that will allow for faster browsing and hopefully one day migrate to 3G.

As for the rest of the world and what if you bring it to Japan, will it “magically” work on 3G and its just a “software update”, prolly not. I am “guessing” that Apple would not release a 3G iPhone in Europe and NOT HERE! I would guess that the rest of the world will have to suck it up just like us and wait until we get up to speed. I do not plan on making any trips over seas just yet, but if someone is overing I would be happy to contact at&t and fly to show off or test the iPhone.

As for not finding an iPhone, I was checking the website and FINALLY realized that they may have iPhone’s in stock, but they ran out of 8gb iPhones. For the $100 more to double your capacity it is WELL WORTH THE WAIT! It’s after 9am so I can NOT see how the Apple stores inventory is doing, but I will be checking it out tonight at 9PM EST.

To conclude, I find the internet speed to be reasonable considering its MOBILE and find that its the fastest mobile device to navigate the web, so the lack in speed is made up by the efficiency of browsing. (if that makes any sense?!?!) And if you find the speed to be that big of a problem, either add a tmobile or [insert wifi company here] service and jump on and use WIFI. Having WIFI setup at home and jumping on at 3MB is extremly faster, BUT it SUCKS UP A LOT OF THE BATTERY! As I said earlier, I can NOT FIND WHERE YOU CAN SEE HOW MUCH BATTERY percent% or time is left. If anyone knows, please contact me. If not PLEASE APPLE, update the battery icon so I can click it and CHOOSE which one I want displayed, just like on my macbook!

So speed is kinda slow, but you can do MUCH MORE with an iPhone then any other mobile device even though it lacks 3G, just suck it up and pick one up, you will love it!