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UPDATE: This is a _really_ boring podcast. Don’t listen to it. Seriously. Sorry, to those who already did. So sorry.

Going through this 43 Web Design Mistakes posted on Daily Blog Tips (at least 5 of which aren’t related to design in the least), I find I disagree with a rather large number of them. Overall, it’s a decent list, but I wanted to review the list in a podcast.

Good news, too, I finally figured out how to export an MP3 (although it’s a rather complex process). Apple, get your act together and support MP3 out of GarageBand directly!!!

That said, the Podcast is about 36 minutes long. I have no idea how I let it get so long, but there you have it. As a result the file size is rather large, so it might be a rather unfortunate wait for some of you on slower connections. Most browsers can stream MP3s, however, so you shouldn’t have to wait long.

LISTEN TO PODCAST - 35min48sec
MP3 (28.7MB) | M4A (16.9MB)

By the way, this is quite off-topic, but you should go pick up the new Foo Fighters album in iTunes. Now.

No doubt you’ve noticed the new set of links to the right of the blog. These will hopefully boost the traffic this blog receives. Unfortunately, there’s not a whole lot of readers right now. You, too, can boost your blog visitors with this pretty cool new tool from a long-revered web marketing expert. It’s called BlogRush, and you can check it out and sign up for FREE by clicking here.

I hope you don’t find its placement too annoying. As you can see, it’s too big to fit in the left sidebar, which would be the ideal placement. I have been considering creating a new layout for the site for quite some time now, though, and this may well be what pushes me over the edge. Please be sure to comment in on what you think of the tool itself and the placement.

Thanks guys!

This is to those of you complaining about Apple limiting the functionality of the iPod Touch (specifically the lack of a Mail application). It is in response to this article at TUAW.

Apple has chosen not to include this one application (Mail) because this is an iPod, not a laptop or a PDA. Sure, you can argue that it wouldn’t be more work for them to simply include it, but you could argue the same about them not including a cup holder on the TV (Apple TV)… It’s simply not the function of the device. Yes, I’m sure it is also partly the fact that it would hurt their iPhone sales. Can you blame them? They want the iPhone to be big. To be honest, if I were them, there is no way I would have released an iPod Touch AT ALL!

Now, let’s have a look at what Microsoft does. They produce about 60 different versions of their operating system, many of which are exactly the same for a different price just to test the market and see how much people will stand to pay. They severely handicap the cheap versions of the software, down to a point of non-functionality. Every single one of these costs them the same amount to produce: a few cents for the box and the disk, and a few cents a day to some guy in China or India to burn the proper version of the OS onto said disk.

I fail to see how anyone can make an honest comparison between Apple and Microsoft. I also fail to see how anyone can say Apple is a monopoly when they very clearly, by definition, are not. They own about 57% of the MP3 player market share in America, and shy of 5% of the computer market share. Monopoly means that you own 100%, or extremely close to it. Microsoft isn’t even a monopoly. Apple certainly isn’t. Be careful about throwing words like monopoly around.

“…we love to see see students cut themselves and shoot themselves.”

-Mario DeAngelis, Film Production and Camera Teacher, East Hollywood High School

The full quote:

“Sometimes for time reasons, I do a lot of the camera work and editing myself, but we love to see students cut themselves and shoot themselves.”

I’m surprised how many people are upset about the recent price drop on the iPhone. Being the technology field, anyone spending that much in the first place should be well aware that things change quickly. A lot of people use that as an excuse not to buy things…”it will just be cheaper in a year”. Personally I don’t buy into that, because you can say the same in a year. If you can justify it, buy the iPhone when you want it! Don’t wait because it’s going to change in the future, unless you’re waiting for something that has already been specifically announced.

So, yes, I’m afraid the iPhone’s price was bound to drop rather quickly. Like I stated, this is technology we’re talking about. You bought it at the opening price on opening day (or some time in the three months after) because you felt it was worth it. Nothing has changed, the iPhone is still a WONDERFUL little machine, and if the price hadn’t dropped you wouldn’t be complaining now. Are you really so jealous and regretful that you’re going to let this ruin your idea of Apple?

Apple even did something that I consider incredible. They offered you a $100 credit to the Apple Store. That is just overly generous. They didn’t have to do that, it doesn’t help them any as a company. It reinforces my opinion that Apple is one of the only big companies around today that ACTUALLY CARES about their customers!

Quit complaining. You don’t deserve a reimbursement. You don’t deserve an upgrade. You deserve to have enjoyed the iPhone for three more months than everyone else, and that’s how everything in this new world in flux works. Realize that the feelings are only jealousy, and that what other people get the iPhone for doesn’t matter, all that matters is that YOU were willing to pay $600 for it, and it WAS worth it!

If I buy an iPhone in the next few months, or perhaps an iPod Touch, I will do so knowing full well that the price is going to drop, the technology is going to get better. I will do so not knowing how long it will be, but fully accepting the idea that it might be a week or it might be years.

In case you haven’t already heard, there’s new iPods from Cupertino today. Here is a very quick rundown! The shuffles got a color refresh, the Nanos are much smaller and differently shaped and doubled their size from 2 and 4 gigabytes to 4 and 8 gigabytes, the iPods are now called iPod Classics and are 80 and 160 gigabytes (HOLY CRAP!!!), and there’s a new kid on the block! The iPod Touch is basically an iPhone without the Phone That includes wireless internet, Safari, YouTube, etc. Very nice. To top it all off, the iPhone is 200 bucks cheaper than it was (4gb is no longer offered). Also, you can buy from the iTunes store on your iPhone or iPod Touch. If you want more info, see the Apple site (I suggest watching Jobs’ presentation, it’s very entertaining…or it was for me) and TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog).