I’m sure if you are even passingly interested in technology news you are probably aware that we are once again on the cusp of a big Apple event. This happens every year to some degree. Since the world went gaga for the iPod some time back this means tons of media coverage. Even the morning news shows now tart up a 4 day old story as Tech Bytes and feed it to the masses.

The iPod, the iPhone, iMac, iaM tired of it. Even the i fixture in front of the word speaks less of original thinking and more of branding, and its fast becoming hackneyed

I like a machine that does what it is supposed to do, hopefully with as much transparency as possible and then goes about its business. I have never been one to give in to devotion or cultish following of any tech products. At their core they are purchases to be made, or not. Ecosystems to support, as someone in tech support, and liars. All products lie to you either through omission, or through outright deception. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: apple, Bill Gates, devoted, fanboy, functionalism, Linux, Mac, Microsoft, open source, PC, Steve Jobs, Windows, your rights

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Delayed taping but not dampened spirits

Switching to 11 pm eastern time for the live show is already paying off slacking dividends. It allows me enough time to actually research for the show last minute after the house calms down for the night. But always leave room for messups when dealing with computers! A truth that eluded me tonight.

One “Oh Poopy” erases ten “Atta boys”… this week in work has been rough. Trying to get new tech to work with old software is not even close to being the cat or its pajamas. But press on we must.

Tonights show has a good mix of both sections. We go from how social media is effecting change in earthquake ravaged regions of Haiti to talking about the Universities being forced to pull Kindles. On the lighter side we discuss the evils of flavored coffee, dirty decaf, and  some awesome eating utensils for kids.

CaffiNation Live on Wednesday Nights at 11pm Eastern

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Geek Cruft:

• Haiti in real time
• How you can help with the relief effort
• Tumblr does away with popularity, for now
• Netflix coming to the Wii
• Justice department tells Universities to hold off on Kindles
• Gravity rules with luggage scale
• Turn your new mac laptop trackpad into a tablet
• Mini 1080p PC looks awesome
• Booleo, learn boolean logic the fun way
• Analog Memory card, Design via my friend JayV

Food and Caffeinated Bits:

• Crazy Maze for M and M treats
• Coffee bag wallet via Norbert
• Multipurpose spoon / pencil
• Get your kids to eat, Chew Chew train
• When frying is bad for your wallet too
• Truth about flavored beans
• People think i’m nuts Flavored coffee is nothing but chemicals
• Reminds me of  Constructive Eating Utensil Set*
• And for the girls too Constructive Eating Utensil Set for Girls* Girls can use yellow too you know. Female construction workers don’t get pink bulldozers… thats just silly

Thanks and Stay Caffeinated People!

Stay in Touch: Phone 215-240-1319 | Twitter @caffination | Facebook Fan Page

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Tags: analog, Coffee, Evil Flavored coffee, haiti, justice department, Kindle, luggage, m&m's, Netflix, PC, relief, social media, spoon, tumblarity, tumblr, Wii

Just an FYI to people who listen to my show. I often post news from a site called mopo.ca, but today when i visited the site looking for the funny content I was accosted by a warning screen telling me i have a virus and the website is dangerous… OK, didn’t even look close to being real. i hit the escape button.

Then a fake virus scan ran and this lovely error message popped up in the window. The malware was trying to get me to install their “special” Antivirus, but the OS seemed a bit off. I’m working on a Mac right now… the Windows XP menu looks a bit out of place.

Sad thing is its very easy to have a website do a browser check to not only see what type of browser you are viewing the website with, Internet Explorer, opera Firefox ect, but also what OS th browser is running on. So if the scammers ever really got their act together they could theoritcally do a good job, but apparently they are slopy, so hold off visting that site until further notice and as always don’t install anything a website trys to force you to. To exit out of a program trying to hijack your machine on a PC, hti CTL- Alt -Delted and close the offending program, on a Mac hold down Option, Apple and Esc to force quit.

Tags: antivirus, fail, Mac, mistake, os x, PC, Scam, scamware, whoops, windows xp, xp

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On Today’s Show: Wii, Exercise, Olympics, robots, decaf, ice cream

Gardening refreshes the mind, and bring you this episode

Real News Bytes

• Back to the Drawing Board with Form over Function Fridays
• Olympic issue, Cyborgs up next
• History of Exer-Gaming
• PC for Teens
• This deserves attention Plaxo bought by Comcast

Tech Cruft

• You sunk my powerstrip
• Console mod that freaks me out, Beware of the Croc
• High Tech: Robot Love
  • Batteries not included, but this bot is pretty cute
  • Vitruvian Man, robot style, to the rescue
  • Bots for Art, will paint for energon cubes
• Low Tech Dennis the Menace
• Cool Tech, Misting spray bottle

Caffeine & Food

• Portable Ice Cream Floats, Nostalgia on the go
• Nespresso Design contest winners announced
• Vaccuum Fresh Beans
• Enjoy your tea later, with steps on Natural Decaf Methodology

Contact Me:

• Phone Me: 215-240-1319 :: Email Me @ CaffiNation@gmail.com
• Skype Me thecaffination :: Full Contact Details

Thanks and Stay Caffeinated People!

Tags: Coffee, comcast, decaf, Exercise, ice cream, nespresso, nespresso design contest, Olympics, PC, plaxo, Robots, tech, tech news, Wii