The Apple Podcast App

Apple released its own podcast app today. I was eager to try it out because I wanted something that easily and reliably kept my podcasts in sync between my computer and my iOS devices. I was hoping that would be the killer feature of the Apple in-house solution.

I spent the time adding each of my podcast feeds to the app on my iPhone. I checked iTunes on my computer... nothing. I loaded up the app on the iPad... nothing. I even plugged the iPhone in and synced it to the computer. Nothing. Apparently you have to add the feeds on each device, and then it will keep your play position in sync. I didn't try it, but I read that is how it works. I don't feel like going through and adding each of the feeds 4 separate times so for now this is a no-go for me. I will continue to use Instacast.

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A New Dock Connector?

Techcrunch has reported that it is confirmed the new iPhone coming this fall will have a new dock connector. I don't feel strongly about the 30 pin connector they use now. I don't love it, but it works. Them changing it was probably inevitable. Are they going to offer an adapter or is my alarm clock and home stereo rendered useless as soon as I upgrade? The adapter doesn't seem like something that would work very well, but if anybody can figure it out it would be Apple. For now we will just have to wait and see.
➞ Techcrunch

The Unrepairable Computer

A few years ago I shied away from getting an iMac. One of the main reasons was because it was all one unit, and if anything broke I thought I'd be screwed. I would never be able to upgrade the monitor. I'd never be able to add more hard drives. For the last decade I'd had a big Windows computer that I'd upgraded through the years. I couldn't quite swallow the idea of not being able to repair it if something broke.

Over the last couple years I've realized that I have no interest in spending my time repairing computers. I just want it to work, and if it doesn't, I don't want to have to deal with it. Apple, and all computers in general, have been moving in the direction of custom cases that can no longer be opened. The new Macbook Pro is the least repairable computer ever made.... but who cares? John Gruber made a good point on his site the other day. The average consumer isn't looking to mess around in their computer, and if they can't they are really not going to care.
Daring Fireball

Catfish Second Viewing

Last weekend HBO was free and Catfish was on so I decided to go ahead and dvr it. I saw the film when it came out in the theater and was pretty impressed by it. I was curious to see how it held up on a second viewing... and I found out.

Surprisingly it was better the second time around than I thought it would be. I knew nothing about it going in the first time, and that maximized the effect of the film. How would it change now that I knew the ending?

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New Apple Podcasting App

I'm a big podcast consumer. About a year ago I got sick of always having to sync back to iTunes to get my new podcast episodes. I downloaded Instacast and I never looked back. It has been a much better experience than iTunes was ever able to offer. However, when I am working in my office and want to fire up a podcast on the computer I am kinda stuck. I don't have them in iTunes anymore so my only option is to listen on the iPhone. If Apple were to offer a new solution that solved the syncing issue I will probably be switching back.
➡All Things D

Free HBO Weekend

Free HBO weekend was a success even though I didn't realize it was going on until late Saturday evening. It seems to still be available until midnight tonight. That is lucky for me because there were a few films that I missed early Saturday that didn't run again until today. If you missed it altogether you still have a few hours.

I now have a dozen or so movies on my DVR that I have been hoping to see for a while. That should keep me busy for a couple months at the rate I have been watching lately. I'm sure I got a few that I will delete without ever watching.

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Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Case

Iusually don't shill for products, and I don't intend to here. I guess I realize I am in the minority because I use my iPad as my primary writing device. Maybe I want to try to convince others that it can be an enjoyable experience.

I bought the Logitech ultrathin iPay keyboard case last week. I use my iPad along with the Blogsy and Byword  apps to write a lot. I always used the Apple bluetooth wireless keyboard along with the oragami foldable keyboard case. It works okay, but it cumbersome to carry around. I'd wanted a more compact keyboard case, but there didn't seem to be a good option.

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Sherlock Holmes - The Books

Last Sunday there was no new episode of Sherlock, the excellent BBC series. We won't get to see our dear friends for an entire year. I couldn't take it. I was thinking about how good of a job the show did at representing the literary characters. Then I had an idea. To get me through this rough time I could... READ.

I have a very nice hardback of The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes. I dug it out the other day and started reading. It was amazing. In my mind I was seeing the characters from the show. It was like a whole new episode! Now, I had read all these stories before but it had been so long ago that I didn't remember them. Now that I had the image of Cumberbatch's Sherlock in my head it made them so much better.

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