Think Different

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Wikipedia: The one-minute commercial featured black and white video footage of significant historical people of the past, including (in order) Albert Einstein, Bob Dylan, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Branson, John Lennon (with Yoko Ono), R. Buckminster Fuller, Thomas Edison, Muhammad Ali, Ted Turner, Maria Callas, Mahatma Gandhi, Amelia Earhart, Alfred Hitchcock, Martha Graham, Jim Henson (with Kermit the Frog), Frank Lloyd Wright and Pablo Picasso. The commercial ends with an image of a young girl, Shaan Sahota, opening her closed eyes, as if to see the possibilities before her.

Obama TIME Person of the Year

Barack Obama has been named the TIME person of the year. This, perhaps, nicely caps off his achievements this year. But his ascendancy to the world's most powerful office comes with high expectations and high hopes, especially in such uncertain economic times. If all that he said is to be realized, a "brighter day will come".

Henry Paulson, Nicholas Sarkozy, Sarah Palin and Zhang Yimou are the runner-ups.


On the tech front, Apple has announced that it is pulling out of MacWorld.

It's hard to believe 2009 is almost here.

Macbook Air

Last week, Steve Jobs gave his keynote at Macworld in San Francisco, and unveiled the Macbook Air. (Download Steve Jobs' Keynote). Although the Macbook Air comes with 1.6 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, an iSight Camera, an innovative multi-touch touchpad and a back lid keyboard, it is missing some other stuff. Of course, one only realises this after breaking out of Steve's Reality Distortion Field. Where is the firewire port and the Ethernet port?

Last week was also significant as I was nowhere near a computer during Steve Job's keynote. However, technological innovations have made it possible to get live updates half way round the globe. I used twitter to provide me live updates via my mobile phone (I don't have a 3G/wifi-enabled mobile phone). SMS (short messages) were popping in at about one every 5 seconds at its peak (imagine the excitement!). Sadly, the messages stopped coming just before Steve Jobs announced the Macbook Air. (I later learned that twitter crashed, probably due to heavy traffic from Macworld.) I waited about an hour before I received the delayed updates.


Anyway, I have finally uploaded the KDE 4 Wallpaper pack to omnidrive.

iWoz

Yesterday, I finished iWoz, the autobiography of Steve Wozniak.

Having read iCon Steve Jobs, I would say that iWoz is a book that is profoundly different in terms of viewpoint. Woz dwelled little into Apple's political history during its tumultuous years, but he did offered insight into the decisions he made, including leaving HP. In fact, he highlighted the very statement (told to him by his then boss Allen Baum) that convinced him to leave HP to start Apple was, "You can be an engineer and become a manager and get rich, or you can be an engineer and stay an engineer and get rich."

Woz proudly talks about some of his famous pranks, such as the TV Jammer, how he tricked Richard Nixon, and making a call to the Vatican by impersonating as Henry Kissinger. Besides the good old times, he also devoted a chapter to the less known plane crash and his resulting experience with temporary anterograde amnesia.

All in all, iWoz is not a must read, but it is a good book for anyone interesting in engineering, technology or the PC.

At the end of the book (in the last chapter "Rules to Live By"), Steve offered advice to youths regarding their passion. These are interesting lines and also worthy to note.

If you're as lucky as I've been, then you'll get to live in a time when you're young just as a revolution is about to take off. Just like Henry Ford was there for the automotive industry, I was there to see and build the first personal computers.

Back in the mid-1990s when I was teaching school, I thought one time to myself, Wow, I wish I could be twelve now, look at the things I could do with what's out there now.

But then I realized I was lucky. I got to see the before, the during, and the after of some of those changes in life. I got to be one of those few people who could effect some of those changes.

Excellence comes to me from not having much money, and also from having good building skills but not having done these products before.

I hope you'll be as lucky as I am. The world needs inventors - great ones. You can be one. If you love what you do and are willing to do what it takes, it's within your reach. And it'll be worth every minute you spend alone at night, thinking and thinking about what it is you want to design or build. It'll be worth it, I promise.

Steve's words are a reminder that things are progressing. There will always be revolutions as long as there is innovation.

And just like every other good book, the last paragraph left a lasting impression on me.

.Mac Web Gallery

Recently, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the all-new, redesigned iMac and demoed the new features in iLife '08, iWork '08, and .Mac at an Apple Special Event, held at a Town Hall meeting in Cupertino (watch Steve Job's presentation here). Among the impressive announcements were Numbers (iWork's new spreadsheet program) and the new .Mac Web Gallery (for photos & videos).

True to Apple's slick design style, the .Mac Web Gallery is absolutely cool. I compared several web services such as Flickr (demo) and Picasa Web Albums (demo), but none can be beat the .Mac Web Gallery (live demo 1, 2, 3) in terms of the professional layout and design.

Apple also made Numbers more than just a spreadsheet program, with its intuitive and easy to use interface - Numbers could be used instantly to make small presentations, such as positioning multiple spreadsheets in one "canvas" (or page), along with various elements such as charts, pictures and titles, without resorting to using a presentation-specific software such as Keynote or PowerPoint.


To end off this post, here are some titbits:
- 'Grass' Wallpaper for Leopard as shown during WWDC 07
- Hamad's Vista Wallpapers (direct download here)

Eric Schmidt with iPhone (Photos)

Eric Schmidt showed off his iPhone when he spoke to the World Economic Forum at the Google Campus yesterday. He took out his iPhone at around 24:30 in this video (thanks to Robert Scoble for this hint), to show his location using Google Maps.

Photos of Eric Schmidt with the iPhone below:

Photo of the Google Campus on the iPhone.

and he even commented, "this is the privilege of being on the Apple Board... and I have to guard this with my life here."

D5 - Historic Moment?

And, you know, I think of most things in life as either a Bob Dylan or a Beatles song, but there’s that one line in that one Beatles song, “you and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.” And that’s clearly true here.
-- Steve Jobs

Last week, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates shared the same stage at D5 - All Things Digital, a yearly conferences hosted by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). It has a historic moment, of sorts, for the two technological giants, who had been at odds at some time or another. The interview was laced with many references to the past and present. To name a few: Bill Gates claiming that he is not fake Steve Jobs, and talking about "Steve’s taste", Steve Jobs saying that "PC Guy is Great. Got a big heart." and most surprisingly, quoting the Beatles (Apple vs Apple was not so long ago).

Perhaps, what was most clear that both Bill and Steve had mutual respect for each other, and Om Malik even went as far to say that Steve Jobs appeared kinder and gentler.

All about fonts

"And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do."
-- Steve Jobs

Unconsciously, fonts and typography play a very important part in our daily lives. If you happen to visit a web page with ugly design and hard-to-see fonts, chances are that you will run for the door. However, if you are to visit a nice looking web page, or look at a poster with easy-looking fonts, chances are that you will take a longer look - like that poster below.


For starters, the font used in the diagram above is the Adobe Myriad (aka Myriad Pro). This Apple corporate font has been in used by Apple since 2002 for marketing purposes. Another familiar font will be the Apple Garamond, which is prevalent in the Think Different slogan.

With Windows Vista, Microsoft has also set Segoe UI as the new default system font. It replaces the Tahoma font, which has used since Windows 95 for all Latin and European language versions of the Windows OS.

Finally, for all of those that can't wait to download the above-mentioned fonts, here they are:
- Download Apple Garamond, Adobe Myriad (Myriad Pro) fonts
- Download Segoe UI font
- Download Microsoft Core Fonts
- Download Misc Fonts - (Lucida Grande, etc)

* For info - List of Apple typefaces

iTalk on the iPhone, therefore I am

Alan Kay once said, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it." In the case of Steve Jobs, the best way to predict the future is to reinvent it. Last week's CES was no doubt shadowed by the big bang at Macworld 2007. The "revolutionary new product", the iPhone, came from a man who reinvented three industries - the Mac changed the way computers look and function, PIXAR with the world's first full-length computer animated film, and then the music revolution that came with the coming of the iPod in 2001.

If the iPhone "works like magic", as magician Steve Jobs claims, then Job's 2007 Keynote @ Macworld was also "like magic". It was another of his reality distortion field, a presentation fine tuned to near perfection.

However, like the first iPod, the iPhone does have some questionable problems:
- Apple Inc. filed over 200+ patents for the iPhone. Unfortunately, Cisco got there first.
- Concerns over non-replaceable battery? According to the small print, the iPhone allows 16 hrs of battery life with music playback.
- If the iPhone will be exclusive to only Cingular, will it scare away potential customers?
- Will using the touch screen cause the screen to become oily, dirty and full of scratches over time?

Of course, we will find out the answers to these questions in a half a year's time.

One more thing, Engadget provided the best 'live' coverage of Steve Job's Keynote.

With the iPhone to be out in June, Michael Arrington at TechCrunch already asking people to "throw out the PC", and everyone else forgetting that Bill Gates gave a keynote at CES, the times are indeed a changin'.

CES, Macworld

Its another new year once again and its time for CES and Macworld.
- CES (Consumer Electronics Show): Jan 8-11, Las Vegas
- Macworld: Jan 8-12, San Francisco's Moscone Centre

Where to get updates: TechCrunch, Scobleizer, Gizmodo, Engadget (The guys over at Gizmodo have managed to sneak inside)

What to watch out for:

• Cool new stuff/technology @ CES
  
• Steve Job's keynote (iPhone?) [Keynote on 9th Jan, 9 AM GMT -8:00; get ready for the RDF]
  

Reality Distortion Field or a Cult of Personality?

What exactly makes Steve Jobs tick? How is it that Steve Jobs has such a loyal following that he has developed a personality cult? Even more mysterious - people who have worked with Steve Jobs claim that he is able to set up a reality distortion field (RDF).

RDF distorts an audience's sense of proportion or scale. Small advances are applauded as breakthroughs. Interesting developments become turning points, or huge leaps forward. RDF focuses less on outright deception and more on warping powers of judgment.

To quote some examples Mac followers know too well:

For example, when he revealed notepad and todolist (among other small improvements) the audience clapped like there was no tomorrow...

I was thinking the exact same thing... WWDC conferences Reality Distortion Field is an incredible phenomenon, truely wonderful for those under its spell, and creepy as hell to those left out. Other examples as the adding of 2 extra USB ports as a brilliant new idea, as well as... two optical bays?
(Source: Wikipedia Talk Page)

One more thing, this reality distortion field that Steve Jobs has when giving speeches (like this inspiring one) ... it is too good to be true.

New Apple Store Opens in NYC

Apple Store Fifth Avenue opens in New York City today. The design of the building is really cool!

Apple's 30th Birthday

If you are looking at that giant iPod above... and you find it unbelievable, see it here.

Rumours have it that Apple is planning something BIG for their 30th birthday... which includes the world's first advertisement that can be seen from space (that picture above).

1GB iPod @ US$99

New today @ Apple

• 1GB version of iPod for only US$99
• 512MB shuffle now sells for US$69
• Billion Songs Countdown
  
  

  Music fans who download every 100,000th song will receive a prize package featuring a black 4GB iPod nano and a $100 iTunes Music Card. And if you're the lucky grand-prize winner who downloads the billionth song from the iTunes Music Store, you'll receive a 20-inch iMac, 10 60GB iPods, and a $10,000 iTunes Music Card to jumpstart your digital music collection. In addition, Apple will create a full-ride scholarship in your name to a world-renowned music school.

  
  To the right of the Billion Songs Countdown webpage is also a running counter showing the total number of downloads and recently purchased items.
  

More reasons to get an iPod now instead of a Creative Zen Player.

Apple’s new accelerometer patent

Apple’s new accelerometer patent reveals a unique gaming device.

If Apple launches something like this in next 2 years, it will surely take the world by storm. So is Apple following Microsoft's move into the gaming domain (think XBox)?

Absolutely cool!

Technorati: Apple

Apple & Microsoft

In an interview with Steve Jobs...

The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste, they have absolutely no taste, and what that means is - I don't mean that in a small way I mean that in a big way. In the sense that they they don't think of original ideas and they don't bring much culture into their product ehm and you say why is that important - well you know proportionally spaced fonts come from type setting and beautiful books, that's where one gets the idea - if it weren't for the Mac they would never have that in their products and ehm so I guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft's success - I have no problem with their success, they've earned their success for the most part. I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third rate products.

Today... Apple and Microsoft sign pact to deliver Office software for the Mac for 5 more years...

"It's the best of both worlds," he (Microsoft's Erickson) said. "We get to work with Microsoft's developers and have great partnerships with both the Mac and PC worlds."

What is this? Nazi-Soviet Pact? With OpenOffice and Linux being the victims? (Kidding...)


Technorati: Apple, Mac, Microsoft

Cool Apple Ad

Check out the newest cool Apple ad on the switch to Intel.

"The Intel chip: for years, its been trapped inside PCs, inside dull little boxes, dutifully performing dull little tasks, when it could have been doing so much more. Starting today, the Intel chip wlll be set free and get to live life inside a Mac. Imagine the possibilities."

So what about AMD? Trapped inside the PC as well?

Since Steve Jobs's keynote speech is over... you might want to know what happens behind the magic curtain -- the inside secret on how Steve Jobs prepares for his speeches.


Technorato: macworld

MacBook Pro

Well, well, well. It's finally out: MacBook Pro, Apple's first Intel-based laptop. It now features Front Row and iSight, all built in. Check it out here.

Luck is in the air

Imagine walking into an Apple store... and paying a small price for a "lucky bag". And opening it to find out that you have gotten...
* Airport Extreme base station
* Keynote
* .Mac account
* wireless keyboard behind it,
* wireless mouse
* D-Link Bluetooth adapter
* iLife '04
* 10%-off card

Cool? This is exactly what is happening in Japan according to ThinkSecret.

This New Year's, Apple is advertising its event with an aggressive branding campaign at its six Japanese stores. An observer noted yesterday that all the employees at Apple's Ginza store were wearing maroon t-shirts reading "Luck is in the air" bearing a picture of headphones floating away from an iPod. (that picture above)

Check out the Apple Japan website (translation)!