macasia.com

If I were to buy a netbook...

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 04:06:31 +0800

...it would have to be the Eee PC S101. It has a 10.2-inch LED widescreen, SSD drive, 30GB online storage, 1.8 cm thin and weighs in just 1 kg. But what's important to me is that it looks classy, not cheap like other netbooks or even its other Eee PCs. I saw the real thing last week; the one on display was in graphite (also in brown and champagne) with a glossy finish, accented with 2 Swarvoski crystals embedded at the hinge. It was a beauty. Lucky for me, it wasn't the champagne or brown that was on display, or I might not be using the subjunctive "If I were..." and bought myself a netbook.

I wrote about netbooks, but called them ultra-portables back in June. The Asus S101 should go well with the ThinkFree Mobile: Netbook Edition software I got.

Back to ecto for blogging

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 02:15:15 +0800

Now that I gave MacJournal 5.1 a try, I'm back to using ecto to blog. MJ has improved a lot, no doubt, but it might be that it's difficult to switch from the familiar. Or it could be that while using MJ, it reminded me of the little quirks that kept me away in the first place. For example, when I press return after a paragraph, it doesn't translate to the web; the whole post is one big paragraph. I looked in the settings to try to change it, but couldn't find it, so I had to edit it from the browser. I'm sure the setting for it is in the program somewhere, but why not make this very basic function the default? That said, MJ is still a good journaling app, but I won't use it for blogging.

Live Mesh for Mac by Microsoft

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 01:44:42 +0800

Microsoft has come up with a slick answer to Apple's MobileMe cloud service. It's called Live Mesh, and it's free. It syncs files in folders you designate on your Mac to your Windows PC, of course. And when you're away from your computers, you can access your files on Live Desktop in a browser. The Live Mesh software is for Intel Macs only, so if you have an older Mac, you too will need to run Live Desktop. Live Mesh doesn't have all the bells & whistles of MobileMe or its tight integration with Apple apps. But if you add Google's list of free Mac apps and services along with Live Mesh, you basically have a MobileMe equivalent for free.

Live Mesh for Mac is in beta, but you can sign up for a Live account to try it out. It comes with a generous 5GB of cloud storage, enough to sync lots and lots of stuff.

You may be surprised to find this type of sync software for Mac made by Microsoft, but did you know before Live Mesh, Microsoft has acquired FolderShare that does exactly that, sans the cloud?

ThinkFree Mobile NetBook Edition for Mac

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:28:04 +0800

I signed up for a free license to the ThinkFree Mobile: Netbook Edition software last month. It required filling in an online questionnaire. Long a fan of ultra-portables and as a MacBook Air owner, netbook is something I follow closely, even though there's not one from Apple, yet. What made me motivated enough to fill a form, however, was that in addition to Windows and Linux, an edition for Mac will be available as well. MacBook Air with SSD is certainly the closest to a netbook Apple has, despite being many times pricier. The purpose is the same: to use as a secondary computer to do basic tasks--word processing, e-mailing, browsing, blogging, social networking, instant messaging, etc.--that can sync with your main computers at home and office. ThinkFree's software and cloud service should fill most of that bill nicely. I'm eager to try the Mac edition to see how it's different from its regular online suite.

Blog It on iPhone

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:53:07 +0800

Somehow I missed it. I knew Six Apart made an iPhone app for it's subscription-based TypePad service, but I didn't know it also made a web app for the iPhone that connects with all the other social media and blogging systems out there. Movable Type and WordPress are supported, even though MT already has a 3rd party web app called iMT, and WP has its own iPhone app. Blog It is powered by TypePad, so you access it at http://blogit.typepad.com/ to post to your other blogs. You can even log in with your Open ID. The features of Blog It are limited compared to the iPhone app, iBlogger, but Blog It is free and handy, nonetheless.

MacJournal 5.1 for blogging

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 07:59:06 +0800

I’m always looking for a desktop blogging client to write my entries. Sure, the ones that come with the blogging system using the browser has improved enough for everyday use. WordPress even allows for offline access with Google Gears installed. But something about using the browser for writing doesn’t jive with me. It never did. It’s why I don’t use Google Docs and other browser-based word processors to write. For a long time, I used the defunct iBlog to keep my .Mac blog, and tried a bunch of different clients for this blog: ecto, MarsEdit, Tinderbox and MacJournal. Now that I’ve moved the .Mac blog to my personal domain running WordPress, I’m even more devoted to find a capable client that works with MT and WP smoothly.

This new version of MacJournal looks better than previous versions I’ve tried. Setting it up with my two blogs isn’t difficult. I also like how it can work with .Mac to post your entries, though only in their barest forms; none of the other clients supports this, so it’s good to have the option. MJ can also sync to MobileMe, so that I can have MJ on my PowerBook G4 and MacBook Air and both will contain the same content. I know blogging clients pull data from the server, so you will have the same content on any computer anyhow, but since MJ supports personal journaling that isn’t published to the server, the MobileMe syncing does come in handy in this respect.

MacJournal is having a promo sale on MacUpdate right now, so I downloaded the demo to try it out, and if it works well enough for me to use regularly, I can buy it at a discount.

One Day Only - Free CrossOver Mac Pro

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 02:08:36 +0800

I just caught this on the Mac web, and it's for one day only -- You can get a free license to CrossOver Mac Pro, with the full version download link. The US$70 program allows you to run Windows programs on your Intel Mac, without having to install Windows OS on your Mac. It's perfect for those of us who only need to run the occasional Windows app that isn't available on the Mac, or in my case, use Internet Explorer for Windows to access some sites that won't fully support Safari on the Mac. Grab it now before the day's over.

[Update: 30 October 2008, 01:32] Just as quickly it appeared, it disappeared. The free license giveaway is over. Those of us lucky enough to have signed up will now wait patiently for our license to arrive via e-mail--a small price to pay, or is it not pay?

Apple falls

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 16:23:40 +0800

$22.98. Is this the biggest single day drop ever? It has to be; I don't recall losing this much money in a single day. Is the worst over? I doubt it. AAPL will probably sink even lower before it will rise again. And rise it will, as surely as the sun after a long, cold night. I've bought Apple stocks cheaper than $22.98 in the past, and if you're willing to put a little faith in "the fruit company," it will reward you when it's time to harvest.

AAPL: 105.26

Tags: stock, aapl, apple, apple inc

Unlocked iPhone at the Apple Store

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 02:42:32 +0800

Yes, but only in Hong Kong. For HK$6,200, you can buy a 16G unlocked 3G iPhone without having to sign up with 3 Hong Kong, the official service provider. At this price, the iPhone isn't inexpensive; it might actually be cheaper with a 2-year contract with 3 HK. But for those who are already locked into another provider, now they have the option to buy the iPhone outright, without needing to go through unauthorized channels, and get support directly from Apple. Choice is always good.

Tags: hong kong, iphone

iBlogger for iPhone

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 18:29:04 +0800

It's pricey, but I took the leap. iBlogger, a US$9.99 blogging app for the iPhone, works with different blog engines in one app. I have a WordPress and Movable Type blog, and both work in iBlogger. Yes, WordPress has a free app, and Movable Type has an iPhone plugin (iMT), but if you're used to working with a desktop blogging app, then this might fit you better. In fact, iBlogger is based on the very popular Mac blogging client, ecto.

As I'm writing my first post in iBlogger, I find the editing and linking a bit clumsy. But for a first iteration software on a new platform, it's good enough. .

Let's hope having a mobile client will make me want to blog more.

Tags: blogging, iblogger, iphone, iphone app

iPhone Apps

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 16:47:22 +0800

Apple reports that it's App Store is generating a miilion dollars a day in revenue for the past month since it opened its virtual door. That's a lot of people paying for these apps. I and my circle of friends have all downloaded a bunch of them on our iPhones, but they are mostly free. I, being the big spender, have paid for only two apps (Super Monkey Ball and Ambiance). I guess it's a numbers game. The more people using the iPhone, the bigger the chance they will eventually pay for an app or two. I also noticed the Apple stock price has gone up each day following the announcement on August 11th. Let's hope it keeps it up, the stock price and the apps sales.

iPhone 3G exceeds expectation

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 20:36:31 +0800

Ming Pao reports (in Chinese) that iPhone 3G online preregistration at 3 Hong Kong is at 60,000, demand far exceeding the 500 iPhones alloted for launch on July 11. There was supposed to be a list out today of those lucky 500 random individuals who get their iPhones on the eleventh, but I can't find the list on 3 Hong Kong or Apple Hong Kong websites, yet. Cross my fingers and hope my name is on that list.

[Update: 09 July 2008] The list is out. Neither I nor any of my friends or family got on the list. Another news source states there are actually 10,000 iPhones for Hong Kong, but the number still doesn't match up interested buyers.

iPhone 3G with no unlimited data

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:23:26 +0800

Just when I thought price of the iPhone 3G unlimited data plan is pricey at HK$498 a month, I learned that some countries' carriers don't offered unlimited plans at all. On top of that, their plans are *really* pricey. For the 1GB data plan, it costs HK$1,120 in Australia, and HK$418 in Switzerland, plus HK$3.08 per hour talk time for the latter. Wow, it makes my unlimited data plan here in Hong Kong seems too cheap. [via Daring Fireball]

MacBook Air SSD now US$500 less

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:13:24 +0800

It's good news for those waiting for a cheaper MacBook Air with SSD, and bad news for those who already got one. Less than 3 months after I received mine, the price of the MBAir SSD is now US$2,600, a full $500 less than the previous price. I had always expected the price of SSD to go down, but did it have to be by that much and so soon? Now I know how suckered the first batch of iPhone buyers felt when Apple lowered the price shortly after it came out. But, hey, like I said, it's good news for those looking to buy one, unless you can wait another few months for the price to go even lower, or the capacity of the SSD to double. I love and hate technology at the same time, sometimes.

Dropbox - What iDisk should have been?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 17:40:16 +0800

I just got to try out Dropbox, an online storage that's still in beta. It has a Mac and Windows client that works like any folder on your desktop. Throw files in them and they will sync automatically. Then access your files on different machines that have Dropbox, or not, because you can also access them in a browser. You can also share files and folders inside Dropbox with others. What sets this apart from iDisk is that Dropbox is fast, which makes all the difference in the world--the difference between using it frequently or only on occasion.

Dropbox is a lot like Evernote, my favorite note manager, which lets you access your work simultaneously on a PC, Mac, or on the web. Where Evernote is for notes, Dropbox is for files and folders.

I have several invites to give out. Leave your e-mail in the comments and I'll send you an invite. I have less than 10.