I decided to write a blog post about this for two reasons, one to discuss the book and two to speak to how I consumed it.

First up, the book was very good, if not very predictable. I basically would surmise that anything you thought about Steve Jobs is probably true. He was quite “prickly” and a downright ass most of the time, but it would seem that basically his vision was exactly what he always said it was and it’s as I’ve said before, why I love my Mac and all my Apple products. There is a viewpoint, a philosophy, a soul to the products that Apple creates, it’s clear that it was not just Jobs, but everyone at Apple creates these products because they understand this “DNA”, but it was Jobs who pushed it, who started it who made it possible.

And the DNA is juxtaposition of technology and a philosophy, which is a part of every Apple product, just as it was a part of Jobs himself. A hippie at heart, always in search of inner peace and zen who became a innovator of technology and a billionaire, two things that don’t seem to go together.

Apple’s products, much like Jobs have a polarizing affect on people, you either get and embrace the “whole widget” philosophy or you don’t, you either think he was a genius or you don’t, but the one thing that rings true is… people are always talking about both the product and the man and that’s a legacy I think you can be proud of.

Now on to the how… I’ve made no secret both to people in this blog, in my podcasts and in person how much I love Audio Books. They are a great way to read, while you’re busy. There is much to be said for sitting down with a book and just reading. Shutting out the world and focusing on just one thing, but in my life that’s not always practical.

My best mate was kind enough to gift me a copy of the book on the most appropriate medium, the iBookstore. I tend to buy digital books via Amazon because of the number of ways there is to consume the book, but I was happy to get a copy. I sat down and started to read, I fell away from my reality and into Steve’s life and then… a text, an email, a phone call, work, podcasting… well life got in the way.

Due to this, I tend to read at night, in bed, when I’m tired, which led to several nights of my iPad hitting me in the face as I dozed off. And it dawned on me that I should probably think about just listening to the book.

Lucky for me another great pal, surprised me with a gift of the book via Audible! How great was that… both mediums… for me to choose from, or rather in this case to use in conjunction with each other.

I decided to do just that, listen AND read. I told myself that I’d only stop listening or reading at a major chapter marker to make it easier to go back and forth and you know what? It worked, fantastically. Listened on my drive in, at work, on the way home, while playing Forza 4 etc. and then every evening, I read a few pages and when the power was out during the freak snow storm we had, I read for HOURS and HOURS. It was wonderful.

It led me to think about something that Chuti said on Oh My Pod! Daily, that Apple should sell a combo of an iBook and an Audio Book for a reasonable price, I think this would rock but it’s unlikely to be a price I’d pay. I mean let’s be honest, I probably would not have done what I did this time by paying for something twice, but it got me to thinking again about a feature that the Kindle has on some books… read aloud. Now don’t get me wrong, the reading aloud is not the best and no where near what an audio book is, but maybe Apple could some how use one of the voices on OS X (Alex for example) to let my iPad read to me. I for one would pay a bit more for a book if that was possible.

Wishful thinking I’m sure but what do you all think?

A long rally it started at 9am and finished off at 6pm, tho to be honest I bagged out at Valley Forge Park and headed home around 3pm. My dad was my navigator this time and I think he really enjoyed it.

It was a very spirited fun day and I’m looking forward to my next rally… the Night Owl Run.

Photos over at Flickr, not too many photos cause I had the Android.

And yes it’s a first world problem.

I’m mad because I want an iPhone 4S, and according to AT&T, I don’t spend enough to get one yet. I need to wait until late Nov. Only problem is that before the iPhone 4S was announced, I checked my eligibility with AT&T and guess what… I WAS ELIGIBLE, and now I’m not.

This wouldn’t be a problem but I already sold my iPhone 4, and it has to go out this week, and well this week and November 25th are feeling very, very far away.

The last time this happened I went back to my old burner phone, an small and useless Motorola phone, with t9 texting and the RAZR interface. It’s not pretty and and it’s not neat but it’s a phone.

This time tho, I have an opportunity, a chance to try something new and I’m going to take it and you’re gonna have to read about it.

More tomorrow. For now… bed.

I… am sad at the loss of Steve Jobs. I am sad for his family, I am sad for his coworkers.

It’s been said by many that he wasn’t the nicest guy in the world to work with or for, and I for one believe that, and I think that most people who are trendsetters, the “crazy ones” aren’t. Einstein is said to have been quite odd, Mark Twain… are real a-hole, and I’m sure Edison wasn’t the nicest guy on the block but you know what. Who really gives a f*ck?

Prince and Michael Jackson aren’t/weren’t your typical guys next door but they are/were brilliant. As was Einstein, and Twain and Edison and yes, Jobs.

The man changed how we communicate, how we consume, how we create. He didn’t do it alone, and I believe he didn’t come up with ever idea at Apple, but he had a vision. And he went after that vision at all costs. He never asked a group of people what they thought, he just made what he thought we would all like, and he was right a lot. And wrong a lot. But I know that I am sitting in front of a razor thin, gorgeous laptop, using the most amazing OS I’ve ever used, envying a phone I don’t have, and thinking about the comic book I’m going to read on a sheet of glass that lies on my bedside. All of these things, we can thank Steve and Apple for.

I’m glad he came back to Apple, I’m glad he fixed Apple. I’m glad because three times now, three products made by Apple and shaped by Steve have changed my life.

1. The iMac – getting an iMac reignited my interest and love in computers, before it I was bored to tears with Windows.
2. The iPod – before it came out, I had honestly stopped listening to music.
3. The iPad – before my iPad, I had given up on magazines, newspapers and comic books, after I can’t get enough of them.

So, maybe he didn’t change your world, and maybe he wasn’t the nicest guy at the office, but he changed my life and for that, I’m grateful.

Thank you Steve.

You know me… Mr. Remiss?

Never blogs, but still hopes you read.

Got the bug again. So much to say. Will start with a catch up. I hope you’re still there.

Your crappy host…

MacboyX

My best friend Chuti came down from Beantown just after we got the car to help with the mods. The weekend he was here we did the following:

1. Blacked out the Belt Line (the chrome ring under the windows and above the body)
2. Replaced the red hood scoop with a black one (a gift from him!)
3. Replaced the super long 10″ antenna with a amazing stubby one (another gift)
4. Coated all the remaining chrome pieces in PlastiDip. This included:

• Headlamp rings
• Gas Filler Cap
• Taillamp Rings
• Side Scuttles

5. PlastiDip coated the trunk handle.

I took photos of everything (natch) and posted them over to Flickr

Just a peek or two here:

I wanted to say thank you to Chuti for his help and tutelage. I don’t know what I’d have done with out him!

Since 2004, I’ve been a Volvo guy. Really love my Volvos. From our first S60 to the XC70 to the new S60, I really love them, but once I started driving the MINI on a regular basis, I stole me heart. It stole it so completely that about a year into our three year lease I began to lust and want after our next MINI. Seriously, I had fully planned out the next car we got after this lease was up would be another MINI but this time it’d be a MINI Cooper S and a this weekend that dream came true.

I took our Oxygen Blue MINI Cooper into Otto’s MINI for service and found out that I needed some new tires, three tires to be exact and those three tires were going to cost me $1200.00. It seemed silly that I’d have to pay that much money to put tires on a car that I’d be giving back in less than six thousand miles. So I went over to my salesperson Holly and asked about a new MINI.

I had hoped to order our new MINI and watch and wait for it to go through the process of being built but, it turns out that Holly had a MINI on the lot that was more than I ever dreamed of.

She is a 2011 MINI Cooper S Hardtop. Chili Red and Black outside, Black with the Anthracite (black) headliner and Rooster Red Trim inside!! I would never have gone for that inside, but I love it. She still needs her bonnet stripes and I have plans to black out all of her chrome bits but here is the first photos of her!

I will post some more pics as I go!

I have to say, not surprisingly, I adore it. It’s everything my iPad was only better. I’ve gotten very used to the new thinness, tho I still find some issues with the buttons, I like the new size and shape. I’m kinda disappointed that it’s not as wide as it used to be as it no longer has any hope in hell of fitting into my Rocketfish iCapsule (guess it’s time to eBay that) and hence I’m on the prowl for a new setup for my keyboard situation. As I felt before typing on the iPad is just fine but when you ‘re writing things like this… you’re gonna want a real keyboard. I still miss the feeling of my finger actually striking a key. (In fact I’ve switched to the MacBook Air to write the rest of these posts!).

The battery actually seems to be lasting just as long as the last one, I get about 3 days of use before I need to charge it. A lot of that comes from the fact that I’m gaming more and more on it which means that the screen is on more.

The cameras are fine, tho I find that I’m not using FaceTime as much as I thought I would. I still use FaceTime on my MacBook Air because the angle is better, (who wants to look up my nose?), but I’ve had some great chats with some friends with it so it’s certainly not a waste .

All in all I am really happy with the upgrade. I’m certainly not feeling like I wasted my time or energy in upgrading!

I guess putting the pressure on yourself to do something daily comes along with the guilt of missing a day. Maybe it’s just me but as the days pile up, I can never seem to get the damn thing back on track, and then, I’m just embarrassed and ignore it. That’s exactly what happened last time and that’s what happened again.

I’m getting past it. However it would be ridiculous to keep up the whole iBlog 365 thing so I’ll just say I’ll do my best to try and blog often.

If there was a reason other than just sheer laziness and guilt that this went off the rails so badly I’d have to blame it on my podcast which went from once a week to daily. My best mate Chuti and I have started doing a second part of Oh My Pod!, a daily show where I get a chance to vent daily about news. If you don’t listen, go ahead and give it a listen.