Author: Paul

Sharing the shiny bits of life since I can remember. I run http://greenergrassmedia.com/.
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Dell Adamo vs. MacBook Air

adamo

“From the Latin, meaning ‘to fall in love'” vs. from the English, meaning very lightweight.

So, Dell came out with a new laptop.

The designer discusses his inspirations in a YouTube video “…the use of kindling material…” And the background music on the video is so ten years ago.

“Adamo was created to elicit desire…” I wouldn’t call that a worthy goal in producing a product. (Hello? Function?)

1.2 ghz for $2000?! Compare that to the 1.6 ghz Air for $1800. Well, there is no comparison. (Admittedly, the Dell has a flash hard drive, which would bring the Air up to $2300.)

And yes, Dell followed Apple a mere 14 months later. (Remember, in computer time, that’s 27 years.)

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Toyota iQ

iq-1iq-2

Toyota has a great car that you can buy in Europe right now (if you can afford a new car). It’s the iQ.

It’s just 10 inches longer than the Smart Car*, but it has a rear seat! (Admittedly, anyone over 5 years old would only be able to survive a 2-mile journey back there. But it’s probably bigger than the back seat of my buddy’s Porsche 928.) *In the picture, the iQ is on the left, and Smart is on the right.

I know you are thinking, “What a quick way to die!” Not true. It earned a 5-star rating in the Euro NCAP crash tests.

Toyota could have been more original with the name – “iQ” and “Smart” – notice any similarity?

So yes, since I’m a lover of small cars, I want one.

(Apologies for the poor quality of the photos; I shot these from a magazine sitting in my lap, as part of the bookstore findings series.)

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What was once valuable…

junkyard-caddy

A few Saturdays ago, I enjoyed some time at a car junkyard. (The visor on our old Mitsubishi died. It would no longer stay up. So $2.50 later and the time spent finding the right donor car meant a working visor.)

On my way to find the donor Mitsubishi, I saw this Cadillac hubcap center laying forlornly in the dirt. I remembered how much the car it came from was worth at the height of its glory – a lot more than it is worth now!

Takeaway: as you think about buying that shiny new whatever, just remember that it won’t be shiny forever.

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Death of the Rocky

rm-news-mastheads

February 27th was the day Denver’s second newspaper, The Rocky Mountain News, was put to rest. In my book, it was not a big deal, as the Denver Post was owned by the same company – so they were essentially the same voice. I am sad, though, for those who lost jobs in the shuffle.

We bought the final newspaper. Above is a spread featuring every masthead design from Day One until Day Final. I thought that was cool. It’s a nice tracking of how visual design reflects changes in culture. Naturally, I didn’t save the newspaper, but I do have a full-size image of the mastheads spread available. If you want to see it, leave a comment, and I’ll email it to you.

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Throw it away

bad-lipbalm

So I got this lip balm for free.

It was schwag from a concert I went to, almost two years ago. In dry Colorado, everyone needs lip balm, so I grabbed it.

Well, I used it a few times before I realized it stung when I applied it. But I kept it because I appreciate the company that gave it away. Finally, it sunk in – why am I keeping this is if doesn’t work right?

Takeaway: what do you need to throw away today?

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iPod Shuffle 2009 Review

ipod-shuffle-1aipod-shuffle-2a

Yes, Apple just came out with a new iPod Shuffle. As always, it’s cool. As always, if you’re into tech stuff, you want one.

Pros:
+ Very cool size – smaller than ever.
+ Voice Over feature, where you can hear what songs you are listening to. This is by far the biggest innovation. Funny enough, if you have a Windows computer, it speaks to you in a female voice and male if you have a Mac. (An “alpha” thing?)
+ 4 gb capacity (2 gb was the previous high).

Cons:
– 10 hour battery life. (The current Nano has 24 – and the $29 Shuffle I’ll mention in a minute has 12.)
– You can only use the Apple-provided headphones, which don’t fit every set of ears. (They don’t fit mine!)

Suggestion: Buy a 1 gb Shuffle from the Apple Refurb store for $29 or $39, depending on availability. Get a great set of headphones and sing all the way to the bank. (Update: Now there are 2 gb models for $39, if you keep checking back.)

Big users’ tip: always leave the headphones plugged in. If you take them out, this puppy is so small you’ll lose it within minutes.

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Things of beauty

mac-outlet-11mac-outlet-21

There’s a whole shop window filled with old Mac towers. It’s Denver’s Mac Outlet.

I used to work on one of those. I say “on” – as I took it apart to add memory, put a new hard drive in, add a video card, etc. I learned a lot about hardware that way. In comparison, changing out the hard drive to my MacBook Pro was like brain surgery. I remember how easy it was to just pop the side off, do the deed, and put it back together. No more.

I am reminded of growing up. We had a series of Volkswagens. My dad was always working on them. His bedside reading was How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive. He let me and my brother “help”. That is something I have struggled with as a dad. Thankfully, car repairs have been minimal, but house repairs (or projects) seem to be an on-going part of life. Our house was built in 1965 or so, and things just wear out.

So my challenge has been to teach my boys how to do repairs. I usually take the lazy way out and do it myself. Bad me! Laziness is rarely the best way forward. As you know.

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Drink responsibly?

joose

I have a habit of picking up aluminum cans to recycle them. Why? “Recycling one aluminum can save enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for almost four hours or run your television for three hours.” (Source. I heard that somewhere else too.)

So I’ll just pick one up, if I happen to see it in a parking lot or while I’m riding my bike.

Anyhow, I came across this flattened can. Joose. It is basically kool-aid with 9.9% alcohol. My question is, does anyone drink Joose responsibly?

By the way, the Joose can is so big that recycling it saved five hours of TV electricity time.

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