Tech in Plain English

Well It’s finally here! My new portfolio website: http://www.zbthomas.com! I’ve been working on it for quite a while and hope you like it. It incorporates my favorite shades of blue and gives me a relaxed feeling when I look at it.

The concept of the site was that I wanted to keep the information very brief, to the point, but give you enough to make a decision about contact me about having some web site work done. So to that end, alot of the details of the projects I’ve done come out in the form of smaller “windows” that appear when called out. It’s still a work in progress. As I have new ideas and finish new project, I’ll be adding them to the site.

But for now, enjoy the site and feel free to let me know what you think about it using the contact link on that site or the comments form below this post.

Every now and then you may come across something that is so simple yet so useful you have to tell someone. I am a proud iPhone owner and there are many applications (over 100,000 in fact) and features on the iPhone that do a lot of different things but one thing is for sure: I use the copy and paste feature more than any other feature or application on my iPhone. Well maybe that and Twitterific… I never thought I’d need an application to help me do what my iPhone already does. But, I found an application that actually improves upon copying and pasting, Greatly! Pastebot by Tapbots is an iPhone app that actually lets you copy and paste text and images and it stores the data inside of the application. So, Pastebot stores the information and allows you to organize that information in a series of folders. This can be really handy for keeping things like receipts, notes, things to do, pictures of potential gifts, and the list goes on and on. The thing that I love about it is how effectively quick and simple this application works.

First of all, as a person who appreciates good design, interfacing, and experience: this application scores high marks in all 3 categories. The design of the application is completely well thought out. There are no graphics there that seem like filler. And the way that the application responds to interaction needs no instruction booklet. It’s one of the apps that you pick up, start using, and just know what to do.

But, for the benefit of those that may not have the app yet, I’ll go over how quick and easy it is to use it. To save an image or a snippet of text, just copy it as you normally would and then open Pastebot. Pastebot will then automatically save what you have currently copied. After that you can put the content into whatever folder you would like inside of Pastebot. That’s it on a topical level. It also has many other features, such as search text content via google, send as an email, edit text, filter text and images, character count, word count, and many more.

Now this may not sound very exciting yet but we’re getting to that part.

The hands-down coolest feature is the ability of Pastebot to copy and paste text and images to and from your mac. All you need is the Pastebot Sync App for your Mac and you’re ready to go. It’s a pretty eye-opening experience. And at $1.99 it’s not a bad investment in usefulness. Pastebot is available now in the iTunes app store. Check out the video demo below and let me know how much you like the app in the comments.

For more news and information on Pastebot and other apps by Tapbots follow @tapbots on Twitter.

Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard

Mac OS 10.6 otherwise known as “Snow Leopard” is coming and the word around the blogosphere is that it may be coming earlier than expected. Some were expecting September (and some October), but the date that keeps getting tossed around is August 28th. Which is earlier than Apple’s own published time of September 2009 and would beat Windows 7′s expected release by a few weeks.

Earlier this week, the Snow Leopard Box Set made a very quick appearance on Apple’s official online store. It has since been taken down but it was up long enough for someone to get a screenshot of it.

You may be wondering what the requirements are for Snow Leopard to run and what is the difference between the different versions. Well unlike the Windows 7 upgrade chart upgrading to Snow leopard is going to be very easy. First, if you have an intel-based mac then you are eligible. Sorry, Legacy users, the reign of the Power PC stops at 10.5 Leopard. Second, if you have one mac then all you need is Single User Snow Leopard and it will only cost $29! If you are someone who has multiple Macs in the home then getting the Snow Leopard Family Pack is the way to go. With the Snow Leopard Family Pack, you can upgrade up to 5 Macs. Even if you have 2 Macs at home to upgrade you will save money because the Family Pack is only $49.

If you are someone who for some reason decided to skip Leopard (Mac OS version 10.5) and stick with Tiger (Mac OS 10.4) then to upgrade to Snow Leopard you will need to get the Snow Leopard Box Set which will be $169. The reason why this costs so much more is because the box set basically brings you up to date on the latest OS, iLife, and iWork. Which is pretty cool considering the last OS upgrade was $129 and only included the OS. And again if you have multiple Macs to upgrade there is also a Snow Leopard Box Set Family Pack available to upgrade up to 5 macs.

If you have purchased a Mac computer after June 8, 2009, then you are eligible to utilize Apple’s Up-To-Date program. In which case, you only have to pay $9.95 for your upgrade. That’s a very nice option for those you who upgraded this summer.

All in all, these are great values because the OS you get has all the bells and whistles. There are no slimmed down versions that are missing key features. I mean why would you sell an OS that does not have the ability to play DVDs, handle light photo editing, or even listen to music?

So if you’re wondering “Why upgrade?”, sit tight. We will talk about the point of upgrading in the next article. Still have questions? Want to talk about upgrading? Please use the comment field below.

Update: Snow Leopard is shipping on August 28!

Update 2: Amazon’s prices for pre-ordering Snow Leopard have dropped and are as follows:
Mac OS 10.6 Single User $24
Mac OS 10.6 Family Pack (5 User) $43
Mac OS 10.6 Single User Box Set $149
Mac OS 10.6 Family Pack (5 User) Box Set $199

Today’s deal of the day comes by way of storage. Sometimes you run out of hard drive space just when you need it most. Or you want something that is quickly accessible to store day 3 of your 7 day vacation.

The Hammer HP1100-500 morespace 500 GB Portable Hard Drivewill get you through more than a week of photos! In fact, it will store thousands of photos, mp3s, videos, and documents all while being powered by a single cable! But the best part about it is the price $78.83 with free shipping! You can’t be that! I also like that fact that it is small and could fit in your pocket (although I wouldn’t recommend leaving it there long these drive are not intended to be booster seats). And for all of my Mac fans out there, this drive would be a great complement to any laptop for time machine backups. So if you’ve been saving up and looking for a good portable storage solution check this deal out while it’s hot. Also, Father’s Day is this weekend…

UPDATE: looks like the price went up to $121.