Warning: iRant. Nano syncing with disaster.

This past May, I crossed the tech trenches into Apple territory when I made the decision to purchase my MacBook. My Dell desktop is still in tact, but has remain unplugged since the day of college graduation, as I’ve been attempting to get acclimated to my newer, slimmer, “i” happy computer. And now, with September just around the corner, I can finally say that I am a very satisfied Apple customer. So much so, in fact, that my sister noticed, and decided that she wanted her very own MacBook. She called me to tell me the joyous news, and then politely segued into asking me to be the buyer, as I was still enjoying my student status (and, thusly, my student discount). Always wanting to spread the MacBook love, I consented.

Upon my return to the Apple website, I noticed a promotional deal for back-to-school students: with the purchase of a MacBook, you could also receive an iPod Nano and an HP Inkjet printer. With a few seconds of pause, I decided that the deal was legit, and placed my order, planning to keep the iPod all for myself. And so the iRant begins…

While I enjoy the sleek innovation and creative slant of both the Apple products that I use possess, I sometimes wonder if these creative inventors were keeping usability in mind when they released the various music-playing “i” products.

Suffering from a mild computer addiction since the age of 11, I consider myself to be fairly tech-savvy. But from the moment I opened the cleverly packaged Nano, I’ve felt like I’m operating some kind of foreign gadget that doesn’t mesh with any of the expectations that I had for this product.

The first thing I noticed was the directions – or lack thereof. This didn’t bother me at first, as I am definitely of the “Play with first, read directions later” school, but when it came down to finding answers for my questions, fold out piece of paper that was a bit smaller than your average playing card offered me none. Instead, I discovered a cute little sketch of the iPod, labeling what all the buttons meant. At least they used the standard shape symbols for play, pause and skip ahead – standards that have been around since the tape player/VHS cassette days. But that’s where the standards stopped.

There is no power button on the Nano. Holding down any part of the play pad will power it on, and holding down the “play” button will turn it off. Well, that’s simple enough. I can deal with that.

After the power discovery, it became time to load up my favorite tunes to my new mp3 gadget. I suspected that this would be the easiest part – that the initial plug-in would prompt some kind of dialogue box, and I could ever-so-selectively check the songs that I wanted to transfer. Or perhaps there would be a whole series of prompts, thanking me for purchasing an Apple product, and introducing me to this ultra-hip mp3-and-video-playing contraption.

So I plugged in the necessary cords, running from my iPod to my parents’ new Dell desktop, and I waited. After a few seconds, iTunes opened, and gave me a message that I would later come to despise: “Do not remove. Syncing with iPod.” Syncing with iPod? What did that mean? Well, when the warning tag flashed to a downloading bar “Now downloading ‘U2 – With or Without You’ 4 of 326”, and then I realized that “syncing” was Apple’s term for “downloading every song in your iTunes library to your iPod without consulting you first.” This annoyed me for two reasons: 1) All the songs in this particular iTunes library were my sister’s – and while I respect her musical tastes, I don’t want five Led Zeppelin albums in my 4GB Nano, and 2) even if the library was full of my music, I wouldn’t want all of it – the 98 Degrees Christmas album, for instance, is definitely seasonal.

And so I put a stop to all of this “syncing”, and tried to find out an alternative method for the transferring of my files. I tried “only upload checked songs.” That worked with some success, but I ran into trouble when I started checking only the new songs I had downloaded, and then the Nano went into delete mode. I Googled my quandary, but few people had any solutions that worked for me. I consulted the “instructions booklet”, but that was only good for a laugh. So I bit the bullet, and removed all of my sister’s songs from iTunes, and replaced them with the files that passed my test for Things-That-I-Want-To-Listen-To-A-Lot.

Problem solved, right? Well, not exactly. There is still the issue of getting the 20 or so songs off my laptop, without the entire library coming with them. I consulted a friend of mine, who was the not-so-proud owner of an iPod Mini (that’s a whole ‘nother story), and she told me that there was an answer. She went on to explain that I needed to go into Preferences and tell my iPod not to automatically sync to iTunes, and then open the iPod from a different location (My Computer, I think it was?), and then I could drag in items, as if I was burning a CD.

I haven’t tried this yet, but I have a feeling that it won’t be that easy. Which brings me to my big question: why isn’t it that easy?

Also: those damn earbuds don't fit -- they actually hurt my ears.

{insert exasperated sigh here.}

Clean up your Digital Dirt!

From MSU's Career Services:

Like it or not, employers are using Google as a tool when checking out new employees. If you have a MySpace page with photos of you doing a keg stand, or have a blog that describes bong building or sexual trapeze acts, it’s likely it will be seen by someone evaluating you for a job.

With the recent partnership between Jobster and Facebook, recruiters now have access to profiles, and personal information, about you like never before.

What should you think about when you evaluate your online presence?

1. Criminal behavior–yours and others.
Don’t provide information that would let a stalker or identity thief find your personal details. Also remember that multiple students have been criminally convicted from evidence against themselves they provided online about underage drinking or vandalism.

2. How a potential employer will view you.
Employers don’t expect you to be perfect–but you do need to have some judgement about what you share with the world. By setting your Facebook profile to private, or using other privacy settings, you can still share information with your friends, but retain a professional image in the wider world. If you have a MySpace page or a blog, use a pseudonym, rather than your real name.
Don’t forget that even if you set your MySpace or Facebook pages as private, the comments you make on other pages may be public! All you have to do is look at the main MSU Facebook page for some examples of inappropriate comments that are highly sexual and unprofessional.

Think it can’t happen to you? Read about some students who learned the hard way:

• Online persona undermines job search
• Student denied degree over MySpace photo
• Applicant lost job because of her blog
• Employers snoop on Facebook
• 1/3rd of bloggers risk firing
  
• Recruiters mock Facebook postings

Watch out Webster: Chatting Changes English Language

In case you haven't noticed, kids and young adults are speaking a new language. I'm not sure if it will count as a language requirement when they apply for college, but it does help them communicate with others via instant message programs. And they'll probably continue to use it in college and maybe even in the workforce. I know I do.
If you use instant messaging on your computer, you may be familiar with the acronym LOL (Laughing Out Loud). But what about BRB, TTYL or ROFL? Especially among teenagers, you're just as likely to encounter IM-talk in the real world as you are on your desktop. The phenomenon of written IM slang crossing over into speech. I really feel that if you ask a typical high school student to tell you what an adverb was or the correct use of a hyphen, they would have no clue. But ask them what TTYL means and most hands will raise in the air, eager to ansewer that all to basic question.
Some people worry that all of these shortcuts will prevent today's young people from knowing how to compose a coherent sentence, and I think that's true. I graduated from high school not knowing the correct uses for who and whom, add BTW (by the way) into the mix and you have an entirely new comprehension of words and sentence structures. I've read a number of student papers (my sister teaches freshman English) and many are attempting to shorten their time spent writing by using IM-code. Future professional writers of America better be ready to understand, study, and speak across all genres of text, talk, and type.

I think we will see many changes in the future. Or perhaps, ITWWSMCITF? Lets hope not

Dell's Dealings: Enter Wal-Mart

While packing for my upcoming New York trip and half-heartedly watching an episode of Law & Order SVU, I saw a commercial that halted my packing, mid-fold. A friendly looking Wal-Mart sales associate started the narration, which I wasn't paying much attention to, until I heard the words "Dell Dimension" in tandem with the Wal-Mart logo flashing on to the corner of the screen. My attention snapped towards the television, and I sat, mesmerized by the last 10 seconds of cheesy music and clips of the trademarked Wal-Mart smiley bouncing around the newest model of the first PC that I had ever owned. My thoughts were clouded with confusion, outrage, denial, but basically held to one overarching theme: Dells are now available at Wal-Mart? Wait.. what?!

A quick Google search confirmed it: Dell is now in partnership with Wal-Mart. On the Direct2Dell Blog, they answered the "why?" question with a long schpeal about "delivering [Dells] on a global level" and how this change "will only augment our core direct business model, not replace it." In simpler terms, their disclaimer seems to be: "Don't worry. Same product, different venue." Something I have a hard time believing.

Perhaps this example will shed some light on why I'm so concerned: Snapper, Inc., an outdoor power-equipment business known for high prices that match their high quality products, partnered with Wal-Mart for three years. And for three years, there was pressure on the higher ups at Snapper to "find a lower-cost contract manufacturer." Or, an even better alternative: the suggestion to produce "a separate, lesser-quality line with the Snapper nameplate just for Wal-Mart." Cheapen the bottom line. Double your sales. Wal-Mart pushed, but Snapper had enough sense to push back, and pulled their product from those smiling blue shelves. (The longer version of this story was recently published in Charles Fishman's book, The Wal-Mart Effect.)

But aside from the worry that Dell will suffer a Snapper-similar fate, there are the ethical questions that are now raised with even an utterance of the Walton family's prize business. It's no secret that Wal-Mart has been center stage as of late, the favorite topic of talk show hosts and political figures alike, a model for the effects of outsourcing and all the baggage that accompanies it. And now Dell, one of the biggest names in PCs, has a contractual affiliation with them.

I'll be sure to watch this one unfold.

iPhone may not be all I expected it to be; or is it?

Watching the commercials, I have been fancying the new Apple iPhone, but from what I hear, it may not be all that it's cracked up to be. I am mesmerized by the look and feel of Apple Inc.'s uber-sleek new phone that's a combination cell phone, iPod and Web-browsing gadget, and that touch screen navigantion; WOW!

But what I'm not understanding is that even though the iPhone has internet capabilities, you cannot download music directly from iTunes over your phone. You have to buy the music from your computer and then download it to your phone from there. Why exactly can't I buy and download music over the iPhone's wireless network?

The arrival of the iPhone on Friday has stoked optimism among many and I truely believe that this is a new wave of easier-to-use mobile music devices. Even though I will be limited to loading music onto my phone via my PC, or soon-to-be MAC, and blocked from buying music wirelessly. The whole idea of on-the-go instant gratification isn't there, but on the other hand this graphicly rich tool offers so much more than just music and iTunes downloads.

Which leads me to my next problem. Currently, Sprint and Verizon Wireless are the only wireless networks U.S. who directly sell full-track, over-the-air downloads for phones. Even with that feature they are behind iTunes in digital music sales. So does this "glitch" really matter? I never download music from my krazer, even though it has the capabilities. I barely download ringtones because I hate filing through the tiny screen and waiting for the next page to load. I imagine most of the people who'll buy the iPhone will be iPod users already. I know I don't have a preference for buying mobile music wirelessly, so what exactly am I fussing about? Options. I want the option and the capability to use the iPhone in a way that others can't or only dream of.

So I think I am going to take the plunge and buy this seemingly sophisticated piece of digital equipment, even though the iPhone has far less storage than many higher-end iPods or other standalone portable music players.

A 4-gigabyte version costs $499, while an 8-gigabyte model costs $599.

When I dig deep into my unemployed pocketbook, I will let you know how this new relationship fares.

Google Tracking

I like Google as much as the next person (whoever that may be). In fact, I have begun to utilize Google in almost every aspect of my digital doings. I mean, there’s Gmail, Gtalk, Google Calendar, Blogger (the lone non-G). And who could forget iGoogle, my homepage, the pièce de resistence of my personal Google empire, customized with the date, time, calendar, news, RSS blog feeds, and, of course, the countdown until I leave for the Denver Publishing Institute. And those are just the things that I use on a regular basis. There are even more applications that I haven’t even gotten around to utilizing yet: Google Video, Google Groups, Documents, etc. There is even an application now called Google Web History that logs every site you visit and how many times you visit them. Whoever said that Google is taking over the world is probably right.

So it didn’t come as much surprise today when I read an article on CNN.com about the privacy issues that some people are having in regard to all of this. A lot of people don’t realize that Google tracks EVERYTHING. I found this out when I first got my Gmail account. I was writing an e-mail to someone about my fear of public speaking and as I was typing, I happened to glance at the ads on the right side of the screen. I noticed that one of them read: How to Speak Without Fear. I think I just sat there and stared at it for about a minute, then promptly wrote a blog entry in my personal blog about the creepiness of it all (because I am a nerd after all).

This article brings up a whole range of issues though. How much should Google be allowed to track? Is it even legal for them to do so? And the biggest question of all: How unaware are people about the digital footprints they leave behind? I can't even count the number of times that professors have brought up this issue, especially with social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Everything on the internet is out there just waiting to be found and we have to be careful about the information that we leave behind.

All of these issues put things in perspective... and are a little scary. But even so, Google remains a staple in my web browsing activities. It's so useful that it's easy to overlook the fact that they track everything. For now, I'll stick with the Gmail and the iGoogle, but will avoid the Google Web History. Because, let's face it, I don't really need Google to remind me of how many times I visit Facebook...

Visual literacy, design, and rhetoric. Visual elements in print and online documents.

As you many know, many Professional Students have a love of photography. Which, isn't surprising, given how much we use and manipulate images and graphics in so many of our documents. So I wanted to post a little information on some fantastic photo-learning opportunities.

Mentor Series

Mentor Series is the study abroad-esque opportunity. You can choose where in the world you would like to travel. Each year they pick new locations, destinations and instructors. Whether beginning or experienced this looks stunning. The instructors are well-known photographers, often having worked for National Geographic, Discovery, Newsweek, etc. It is a bit pricey, but I think it's well worth it for the experience!

I have yet to take my trip. I was close do doing an excersion in Sweeden last year and then I considered the Michigan trip this summer, but neither have worked precisely with my schedule. I'm still looking foward to going on one some day. I'll let you know.

Nikon School



Nikon offers courses in general photography, digital photography, and underwater photography. This looks like a great way to gain some skills over a short period of time. I'm interested! Again...I'll let you know.

Speaking of underwater photography...
In my senior year of high school I was CERTAIN that I was destined to be a photographer. Since junior high when my uncle took me out camping and let me use his old 35mm SLR Canon, I was sold on the beauty of photography and the talent it took to see something the rest of the world couldn't. So I researched a number of schools and the one that caught my attention was The Brooks Institute of Photography.

Brooks Institute of Photography

The Photography School That Offers Training in Filmmaking,
Graphic Design and Photojournalism

Brooks Institute is designed for anyone who aspires to a career in photography, filmmaking or graphic design. Whether you are completely new to the field or seek new skills to advance an established career, Brooks' educational philosophy of "learning by doing" can provide you with the artistic, technical, and business expertise needed to succeed.

Classes are taught by world leaders in professional photography, motion picture and graphic design at beautiful locations in Santa Barbara and Ventura, California. From this base you will have the opportunity, literally, to explore the world. In this era of global communication, Brooks will continue to offer a responsive, active, and innovative training in photography, filmmaking, photojournalism and graphic design. Come see for yourself!

Learn more about the programs offered at Brooks:

» Professional Photography

»» Master's Program

» Visual Journalism

» Film and Video Production

» Visual Communication

Moo, Seriously.

This is a really interesting website. I came across it while surfing the web and I just used it to print some business cards. It's simple to use, cheap, and you can either upload your own photos or use stock images that they provide.

Moo.com

MOO is a new kind of printing business.

There are now more than a billion people online, and most of us use the internet to engage in some kind of social activity. In doing so we help generate over 4 petabytes of unique virtual content a month

We have virtual communication like email, instant message or video. We belong to virtual communities like social networks, image sharing or interest groups. And in these communities we have created virtual identities like homepages, avatars and blogs.

But sometimes life can be a little too virtual.

MOO dreams up new tools that help people turn their virtual content into beautiful print products.

---

If you give a mouse a cookie ... or a gigantic track ball?

As a newbie laptop owner, I still haven't gotten around to buying a mouse. But after two weeks of double digit scrolling and attempting the overly sensitive tap-click mechanism, I realized that the trackpad has a very limited appeal. So I bit the bullet and decided that only a mouse would remedy my phalanges blues.

Searching the Electronics section of Amazon, I was stunned at the selection that the three pages of search results presented to me. Optical, cordless, wheeled, tracked, mini, ultra-mini, retractable, bluetooth, laser -- eight million options in eight different colors, and one dubious consumer staring at the screen, mouth agape.

Some of the unconventional mice that I came across:

This sleek device is dubbed the "Razer DeathAdder 3G Infrared Gaming Mouse", and got excellent reviews on Amazon.com. One mouse-savvy user commented, "Everyone who touched it wanted one. It's lighter than it looks. I took it home and fired up UT2004 and it allowed me to spin around much faster and get a quicker bead on my oppenents' heads. And it looks pretty cool next to my Saitek Eclipse II keyboard. Highly recommended!"

Why you'd make this purchase: if you are a serious gamer. "Powered by Razer Precision, the new 3G infrared sensor on the Razer DeathAdder lets you move 2.25 times faster when compared to a standard 800 dpi optical sensor. Before the enemy sees you, he's already dead."

Whoa. Yeah. Intense.

This gem is the Kensington Expert Mouse Optical USB Trackball, compatible with both Macs and PCs. This particular mouse (and trackball mice in general) have always baffled me. While I can appreciate the advantages that come with a stationary mouse (a preemptive effort to curb Carpal Tunnel), I can't help but think that this huge lug would be clunky and just all around harder to use. The reviews would vote against me, however, as the Expert averaged a 4 out of 5 stars in over 100 customer reviews.

Why you'd make this purchase: out of preference, or solely due to the medical advantages. One user's take on it: "I use a computer for hours every day, and the Kensington Trackball helps to take the physical drudgery out of PC use for me." I'll take their word for it ... and pick one up when my 22-year-old fingers no longer function properly (see: age 30).

Looking at the picture, I thought Amazon.com's precise searching capabilities were failing me. This, obviously, is not a mouse. At first glance, that is. Introducing the MoGo Mouse, a Wireless 2-button Bluetooth Mouse that looks ... remarkably like a laptop trackpad. What this pictures doesn't show you is that the upper part of the mouse actually folds down and props it up, so that viewed from the side it just appears to be a flattened version of all its previous cohorts. After some research, I figured out the draw for these little guys: they fit into the "PCI slot" of a laptop (if that's applicable to your machine), and charges while stored. The sleek convenience of caring the mouse inside the computer has obvious benefits, although I would still be weary of these unless I had used one previous to purchase. However, owners liked the product ... the only complaint was the lack of a scrolling wheel.

Why you'd make this purchase: if you are a tech-savvy professional who's always on the go ... or just really forgetful. The general consensus: a good buy. "Installation was easy, and tracking performance is great on all surfaces I've used it on. I travel for work and often have to work remotely, and the mouse is always conveniently within my reach. The battery life is good too. I've had it on for 8 to 9 hours straight with no problems."

Now, after all my browsing, I'm sad to say that I won't be breaking out of my shell and trying any of the above. One major reason: price. High tech = high expense, and I = poor college graduate. While my curiosity has been peaked on the subject, I think I'll stick with my $20 Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 in Winter Blue. But next time I'm in Best Buy, you better believe I'm going to go searching for a MoGo, and curse my not-so-disposable income.

Alright, all you Mac lovers: get ready to say "I told you so."

It all started in Room 317, Bessey Hall, when Dr. Danielle DeVoss stressed for an entire class period the importance of being able to work "across platforms" in our half-Mac, half-PC lab. That was the day I touched my first Mac. From afar, it looked almost the same as any other computer: a monitor, a tower, a mouse ... how bad could it be? But as soon as I bypassed the Log In screen, I was thrown out of my comfort zone and into the foreign world of "i" -- iChat, iTunes, and what was up with the one-button mouse? And the blue smiling face taking the place of my Start Menu? And the where's the Internet? I quickly logged out, and started coming to class earlier and earlier, securing my PC and my sanity for the duration of our class.

My next Mac experience didn't happen until JRN200, at the end of my sophomore year. Class was once again held in a lab, only this time, all the computers were Macs. I was so appalled that I considered dropping the class entirely and expanding my mind with an "elective." I stuck it out, though, and eventually cracked the Mac code -- stumbling upon the Internet (a compass? really, Safari, you thought I'd figure that out on my own?), clunking through Finder, and begrudgingly familiarizing myself with the obviously sub par OSX system. Our acquaintance grew, but we were no where near friendship -- mostly because I didn't see the point in learning anything beyond the necessities, as PCs dominated the marketplace, and were used the in the majority of homes and businesses.

Little did I know, however, that my relationship with Macs was just at its beginning stages. Senior year rolled around much quicker than anyone anticipated, and my last semester of college I found myself in the midst of a Mac bombardment. With the release of the MacBookPro (which was all the craze with everyone in the PW major), a semester spent mastering InDesign in another all-Mac lab, my entire family family purchasing iPods, and every single emo blogger passing on the "What's On Your iTunes?" quiz ... there was no escaping it. I was trapped. And it didn't help that my Dell desktop was on the fritz. So for five weeks, I expended all the energy I could muster into iHating, iResisting, and the like. Until the day of my epiphany, when I realized that Macs weren't all that bad. In fact, it was infinitely easier to open heavier applications and toggle back and forth on a Mac than on a PC (see: the 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and "performance-enhancing 4MB of shared L2 cache"). The graphic-based navigation was no longer confusing -- it was actually very intuitive and creative. The breaking point was learning of the MacBookPro's back-lit keyboard the same day that I read the horrendous reviews for Windows Vista. After bordering the line for the last three months of my college career, I officially switched sides.

My 13" white Macbook arrived on May 4, and hasn't left my side since. Here is the scoop, as far as I see it...

The mega-cool features:
--The "front row", which essentially transforms your laptop into an all-in-one stereo, DVD player, and image viewer, complete with a remote!
--Extreme wireless capabilities ... if there's a signal, my Macbook will find it. Apple's boasting of the easiest connections via AirPort are right on the money ... and apparently, there is an Internet sharing option? They have my curiosity...
--Performance in general: the sports car analogy is the best I've heard.
--Shapeshifter: making your Macbook 100% customizable, in ways I've never seen on a PC system.
--A built-in iSight camera ... while it encourages the narcissistic Myspace culture that my generation has been stuck on for years, it's also pretty damn cool. I have video and photo capabilities at my fingertips.

The still-getting-used-to features:
--In a period of three weeks, my Macbook has froze up four times, all of which happened while performing routine tasks (opening average sized docs, surfing the web, etc) ... all four times, my Mac-using friends had no explaination, and I'm still clueless.
--I'll be frank: I miss Internet Explorer in its truest form (I know, I know ... quiet the groans).

Overall score: Mac wins with +5, as compared to the PC's +2.

Now, don't get me wrong: I'm not a die-hard, my-computer-doesn't-need-Norton-because-it-can't-get-viruses Mac Person. I am, however, a very satisfied Macbook user who loves her iTunes, her graphics-driven menus, her handy mini cam, and her 2GB of RAM to make heavy apps run smoothly and seamlessly ... although I do frequent the Dell for the tabless IE and familiar Start menu. Hey, some things just never change.