Excellent summary of the Tweetie 2.0 fuss, by Dan Moren

People are still bitching about Tweetie 2’s $3 price point. Most consumers are stupid enough to think that developing software is easy or effortless, when if fact it is hard, time consuming and at times expensive.

The main flaw here Apple’s lack of ‘upgrade pricing’ in the App store. This is compounded by the dumbass public, in specific, people my age bitching about everything, and how they expect to be given something for nothing. My generation is the ‘gimme’ generation, for sure.

Excellent. Someone with authority needs to call out Fox News.

Sadly, where I live, a lot of people trust Fox News for their information. The thing is, and even conservatives have to admit it (even just a little), there is little ‘news’ in Fox News.

Even more shameful than Fox News’ tactics, is the fact that there are people that believe and trust Fox News’ hatful rhetoric.

Granted other news outlets have a tendency to be a little more leftward leaning, that’s why you should listen to all media outlets, notice the common information, and then develop your own opinion.

I don’t like this kind of music, but this video is awesome. Except for the middle part. That part is just weird.

Awseome quiz from Ironic Sans. It allows you to test yourself, at determining the difference between Arial and Helvetica.

I got 18/20.

iLounge is reporting that they have received several tips regarding Apple’s rumored tablet from the same source that tipped them of about the fifth-generation iPod nano. The source goes on to claim that the device will run iPhone OS, and not Mac OS X. Additionally, the device will have a 10.7 inch screen, and a resolution of about 720p. Lastly, this device, according to the source, will be announced on or before January 19th, 2010, and will ship by May or June.

The report further suggests that the device will be ascetically similar to the iPhone, and will come in two variants, one with 3G cellular capabilities, and one without. Furthermore, the device is not targeted for the ‘netbook’ market, and will feature substantial book and magazine reading abilities, and other enhancements that set this device apart from the iPhone.

To finish up, the report claims this device has not yet been finalized, and work on the device is at the 80% completion mark.

The Boy Genius Report is claiming that they have received a mockup of a touchscreen remote that may be included in an upcoming Apple TV refresh. The image shows an iPhone-esque device with a longer thinner screen, which seems like overkill especially since the device would be a peripheral for an appliance that Apple only considers a ‘hobby’. Anyway, this rumor gains some credibility after BGR claims the image came from the same source that accurately predicted iTunes 9 features, prior to launch.

It seems a little far-fetched that this unit’s only purpose would be to control an Apple TV, and you can even see a Safari option on the mockup. To be honest, it looks like a touch screen iPod nano, just longer. We’re going to dig a little bit and see what we can find, but we figured we’d run this with a high dose of caution for informational purposes.

Add McCain to the list of GOP senetors wanting open war with Iran.

Granted, something needs to be done with Iran, but not a ‘regime change’. Notice how well that last one worked out? We’re still over there.

Both the Rockefeller and Schumer Public Option amendments to the Finance Committee’s health care reform bill, failed today.

Good to know most of congress has been paid off.

Merlin Mann gives his opinion on Adobe’s obismal app performance on OS X, in his own stylistic flair.

Apple has rehired  Michael Tchao one of the original developers of the Newton. Except his role now will be Vice President of Product Marketing, and he will report directly to Phil Schiller.

I have no idea what this means for Apple.

Loren Brichter the developer of one of my favorite Mac and iPhone apps, and definitely my favorite Twitter app, is preparing to launch Tweetie 2.0 for the iPhone.

Brichter goes into extreme detail regarding what’s new in Tweetie 2.0, and it sounds amazing. Especially the offline persistence feature.

Now, here’s where the problem comes in. Tweetie 2.0 will be a free update to for the Mac version. However, Tweetie 2.0 will be $2.99 for the iPhone version. Brichter is considering this a new app, and not just an update.

So, what does everyone do? If you guessed ‘bitch about the price’, you would be right. Twitter lit up yesterday after they found out Tweetie 2.0 for the iPhone wasn’t going to be a free update.

So, if you don’t like the price, my advice is to make an app as sophisticated and elegant as Tweetie, and after spending all that time and energy, make it free to the public.

I would be embarrassed to publicly bitch about that amount of money, but my generation knows nothing better.

Nifty use of CSS3.

MacRumors is reporting that last week, Intel demoed there new ‘Light Peak’ interconnect technology. Intel hopes Light Peak will be adopted as a high performance optical connector.

Intel just showed off a glimpse of the future: Light Peak, an optical interconnect for mobile devices that can run as fast as 10Gbps. That’s fast enough to do everything from storage to displays to networking, and it can maintain those speeds over 100-meter runs, which is pretty astounding. Intel says the idea is to drastically reduce the number of connectors on mobile devices, which should allow them to get even smaller

This technology could replace such connectors as Firewire, USB, and display connectors. Engadget has recently found that Apple originally conceptualized this idea and brought it to Intel.

Apple had reached out to Intel as early as 2007 with plans for an interoperable standard which could handle massive amounts of data and “replace the multitudinous connector types with a single connector (FireWire, USB, Display interface).”

Rumor has it, that Apple will begin integrating this new technology into their desktops in the Fall of 2010, and with a low-power variant due in 2011 for portables. These means that some time in the future all peripherals could have this single connector, and thus reduce the different ports on your computers.

Ok, opinion time. I can see Apple just beginning to roll out this connector in 2010, but don’t expect it to catch on that fast. Apple has recently introduced their minidisplay connector on all of their computers, and USB 3.0 devices are expected any time now.

My guess, is that this will be a slow migration, which is kinda a given.

I think I had a nerdgasm when I saw this.

Nice article from Neven Mrgan, talking about the Spotlight calculator feature, and why he uses it.

This is really cool. It serves my nerdery in two ways. First, it’s Star Wars. Second, it’s a really sophisticated web app with a lot of polish.

Well, if that’s the case, I must be gay.

Cabel Sasser’s take on the ridiculous tupperware parties Microsoft wants consumers to hold next month during the launch of Windows 7.

When will Microsoft realize that it is no longer 1995?

Nice chart that shows the primary differences between Helvetica, and Microsoft’s knockoff, Arial.

Hint: Look for slants.

One of the many refinements in Snow Leopard, that are just now being discovered.

Satire only Will Ferrell and Co could deliver.

This sounds about right. Microsoft will just throw money at the problem, and hope it takes care of itself. That seems to be their business strategy for everything.

Switching gears, does anyone actually know what they are going to sell in these stores? It’s difficult to sell software as a stand alone product, and Microsoft makes no money from PC hardware sales.

So what’s left? Xbox and Zune? Hardly seems worth opening a series of retail stores for just those products.

Some are spooky, while others are a real shame.