Today husband and I talked on the phone, which we frequently do. In fact, people are surprised at how often we talk. But that’s the thing. We’re GREAT friends. Definitely each other’s best friend. We were (are?) just crap husband and wife. So we still chat a couple of times a week and text a bit more than that.

For all that, we don’t talk about anything real. We talk about his work and my job hunt. How the dogs are doing, who we’ve been hanging out with. That sort of thing. So everyone keeps asking me if I’ve talked to husband lately. And when I calmly say yep, just this morning, they look at me funny. Because they think we’re talking out real stuff. Not understanding that we barely talked about real stuff when we were together. Why the frick would we start now – just for extra torture? No thanks.

But I did feel a bit guilty that in the 6 weeks I’ve been gone, we’ve never even discussed the decision. We’re just living it. So this morning I bit the bullet and asked: “How are you feeling about this whole separate thing?” The response was a bit tragic, but probably good. Husband said that for all it’s been difficult and he misses me and he missed the dogs (emphasis on the dogs, by the way), he said he hasn’t had a moment of OH MY GOD, WHAT HAVE WE DONE?! And I had to admit that I felt the same way. This whole thing sucks beyond belief and I miss my life. But I don’t think I made the wrong decision. My heart isn’t broken.

And when we got off the phone, I was a bit uplifted somehow. Like any thoughts in the back of my mind about some half-baked effort to get back together – on either of our parts – was out of the picture. I also have to admit that my ego took a hit. I always kind of felt like I did the leaving. It was a mutual decision, but I felt 51% in control of it. I also thought that it would be Jordan who might try to reconcile. And his voice had no reconcile in it. No hostility, but no reconcile either. I was uplifted because it felt like permission to really move on. We still haven’t talked about dating others or timelines for legal paperwork or any of that. But that stuff will come. We’ve decided that it will.

And so we get to the topic at hand, my rather odd experience as I cut husband out of my life. Well, out of my photographed life. And it struck me that there would be no overly dramatic teenage angsty moments with scissors a shoebox and a lighter. I mean, besides a couple of framed wedding pictures, who has actual pictures? Not me. I have an Apple TV. A glorious, entertaining, Apple TV. I’m a HUGE fan. My itunes library is on my TV. My music plays while my entire digital photo library scrolls as the screen saver. I just love this. And it’s amazing when book club is over. You get people to look at your photos without being too obnoxious about a slide show. But I haven’t turned on my Apple TV in a month. The last time I did I started to cry.

Because, of course, husband is in 70% of the photos. So after our phone call and my relatively content sense of closure, I cut husband out of my pictures. Well, I went through my ENTIRE photo collection and I put all the pictures of him in a separate file, no longer scrolling on my TV.

Don’t think that it’s because I can’t look at him because I’m sad. It’s more like it makes me miss the life I had. Seeing the places we vacationed together, the friends we visited. All the pictures of husband made me think was: Now I don’t have anyone to do fun things with. They made me feel really alone.

But no more. After a sore neck and a few hours, my pictures now scroll and only remind me of my friends, puppies and beautiful places. And I love Apple TV again. Here’s to new pictures.

Apple’s Black Friday deals for the US have just gone live – and in terms of percentage, they are much the same as the deals countries such as New Zealand and Australia have already received.

Apple's Black Friday deals for the US have just gone live

For the entire iMac and MacBook Pro range, $101 has been taken off.

For both the iPod nano models (8GB & 16GB), $11 has been taken off.

For the iPod touch 8GB, $21 has been taken off, for the 32GB, $31, and for the 64GB, $41.

And for the Apple TV, $21 has been taken off.

Of course, there are also plenty of price cuts on both Apple & 3rd-party accessories. View the full range here.

While the deals are not amazing, and did not live up to the expectations of many, one has to remember that Apple really doesn’t need to try and ‘lure’ customers in with spectacular discounts. They’re already making plenty of money.

So, my advice: don’t like the discounts? Don’t buy. Like them? Buy.

Seems simple enough.

In New Zealand it is the 27th of November today which means that Apple’s Black Friday deals are finally live on their online store. That’s right, America – we constantly live in the future – you guys are still celebrating Thanksgiving.

Apple's New Zealand Black Friday deals

So what are the deals like this year? There is a set price off on all iMacs and Macbook Pros, $171, which is about 8.5% off the base model of each product (e.g. the base model iMac is $1999 – $171 is approximately 8.5% of that). The higher up models have the same price discount.

There is also a set price off on all models of the iPod touch and iPod nano – $35 & $15 respectively. That’s about 10% off the base model of the iPod touch & 5% off the base model of the iPod nano. Like with the Macs, all the other models have the same discount.

There’s also about 8% off the Apple TV – a $35 saving.

And, of course, there’s heaps of savings on both Apple and 3rd-party accessories.

Remember, of course, that these price cuts are for the New Zealand store only – I’m not sure what the American discounts will be like. However, I’m betting that they’ll be very similar in terms of percentage.

If you want to have a look at the deals yourself go to this page.

I know that there are lots of media centers that connect your computer and your media collection to your TV but I think that the best one out there at the moment is Apple TV. Why I here you ask?

Well, the reason why it is the best is the way that it works, the connectivity between iTunes and Apple TV. Then you can also count in the Time Machine back up system, I now have my iTunes library on Apple TV and back up on my Time Capsule, and that is why Apple make some of the best equipment in the world.

Acer R1600

I haven’t really done much in the way of tech posts lately, so today I discuss my newest addition to the HTPC front.  I have been watching for some time with interest the Nvidia ION platform.  It is essentially the graphics and processor on one board which promises a super-compact package which performs media operations extremely well.  One of the applications so far is inclusion in the tiny Acer Aspire Nettop which is to date, one of the smallest full function desktop computers.  I picked up the AR1600-U910H from Best Buy for the bargain price of just $199.99.  I purchased this with hope I could finally have a Windows Media Center which had the advantage of the Apple TV’s tiny footprint.  I am pleased to report I have achieved this very goal.

Cracking open the case

The Acer R1600 comes in the box with a USB keyboard and mouse, and a power brick you would typically expect for a laptop.  The specs are very minimal, using the Intel Atom 1.6 ghz processor, Nvidia Ion video with HDMI Video / Audio out, VGA out, 1 gig 800 mhz, DDR2 DIMM, 160 Gig Hard drive.  The packaged operating system is Windows XP, SP3 home.  The software load includes all the normal junkware which I spent 3 hours removing in order to do a quick image backup.  Once the backup was complete, it was time to get Windows 7 on this thing and start enjoying a Media Center PC.

Simple Layout

The first task was opening this unit up to put more RAM in.  After a couple of days trying to find instructions on how to do this, I came up empty handed.  I took my chances and removed the one small screw in the cavity where the stand goes.  There is a white plastic band around the perimeter of the computer with a visible seam.  As with most of these CE devices, it’s held together by a series of plastic clips (as seen in the photos).  I carefully pried the case open, unsnapping the clips until the top cover came off.  Inside, I was pleased to see a very simple main board with the hard drive, RAM expansion slots and mini PCIE slot in plain view.  I pulled the 1GB DIMM and swapped in two matched 1GB DIMMS in it’s place from my old laptop.  I had a wireless G mini PCI-E from my retired laptop, so placed that in the empty slot.  After a few photos, replaced the top cover, replaced the screw and powered up to load Windows 7.

Size compared to Apple TV

The Windows 7 install went very easily (using external DVD drive, none included with this budget PC).  Once Windows 7 came up for the first time after the install, I installed the Windows 7 drivers for chipset and video found on the Acer support site.  This system is super snappy at this point.  Another thing to note, it’s practically silent.  No noise from the WD hard drive and the fan is running slowly and quietly.  I continue my install by plugging in my Hauppauge 980 USB HDTV tuner and installing its driver.  Without walking you through all the painful details on configuring the power management, scanning for channels, and all the other items, I finished the configuration.  Now for my thoughts / impressions of this platform for a Media Center PC.

New HTPC in action

WOW!  This thing is NICE!  With the built in HDMI, connection to the TV was flawless.  The new Acer with Windows 7 detected my 32″ LG Tv at its native resolution and looks beautiful.  Turning on the Media Center software and tuning to an HDTV program rewarded me with smooth animation and flawless (no jitters, stutter) video.  I have never had such an easy time getting such a knockout video stream with an HTPC.  I think I can probably thank the ION platform for this, as it uses the Video Processor to offload all decompression tasks from the CPU for video playback.  12 mbps HD video at 720p and 1080p is perfect.  This looks as good as any consumer set top box I have ever used.  Netflix even worked flawlessly.

In conclusion, with all the features available in Windows 7 for the TV DVR functionality, my AppleTV 3.0 is now my device to watch Internet podcast video.  The Acer unit drives my TV for day-to-day programming.  Apple should consider allowing a TV tuner in the Apple TV, because with this new addition to the Windows market, Acer with Windows 7 is the perfect package.  Size, function and price are just right.  Sure, there are extra costs such as the purchase of Windows 7, USB tuner, memory, etc.  I had the hardware components I was able to put to use from components I had sitting around.  Still, this is a bargain price for what you receive in the way of the Media Center experience.

TJD

I held off buying this little device for over two years but I have finally decided to buy it. It should be here by the end of the month and then I can finally watch all those HD TV programs on my HD TV instead of on my little laptop screen.

Is it worth over two hundred pounds, well I don’t know, but it should be better than what I have at the moment.

Please refer to the following articles for more background information:
Apple pitching TV subscription option for iTunes to networks
Apple pitches $30-a-month iTunes TV subscriptions – report

Recent reports indicate that there may be a chance that in early 2010 Apple may offer a subscription based service for its products. This service will most likely be similar to that of Cable companies and most likely offer a superior service. When one things about it, having the ability to play, pause, and watch any movie or TV show purely on demand, well, its heaven in a digital box.

Based on reports, Apple is in talks with providers and the first provider that may sign on would be Disney. Seeing that Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs owns majority shares as well as Disney was the first to sign on in offering movie downloads through iTunes, it would not be inappropriate to say they may lead the subscription as well.

If all does go well, consumers may be fortunate enough to get a glimpse at the service at January’s WWDS. At the very latest, we may hear about it. Never the less, it still may be something that will not be rolled out as early as has been indicated, although it would be nice.

(Seeing that I started this and didn’t finish it two days ago … I’m having writers block and cannot think of anything else to write about it …)

When I first got my MacBook, as I have previously mentioned, I didn’t want to be one of those Mac people. However, after hearing/reading one too many people getting obnoxiously and unnecessarily defensive about PCs (which I think may just be because they’re intimidated by Macs – I know I once was). I may have to join the douchebag parade.

That aside, I present you with a few Mac-centric things that I found worth sharing – most of which were sent to me by Chuck*:

• How Critics Reviewed the Original Macintosh in 1984
• Funny comparision of Windows 7 to an old girlfriend Funny comparision of Windows 7 to an old girlfriend
• Mac-loving Obama staff confronts Windows White House reality

Regarding the Apple TV (I have one, and I admit that it’s lacking):

• Apple pitches $30-a-month iTunes TV subscriptions
• Apple expected to push for greater living room presence

For further nerd goodness:

• I Want to Have Twins Just to Get Them These Awesome T-Shirts

See also:

• Users Want Their Computers to “Just Work”

*Chuck is one of those lucky people who has time to play on the Interwebs, whereas I just have to hop on Google Reader every so often and “Mark All As Read” on 1000+ items. I have no time, so most of my interesting tidbits come from him.

Yeah!

I love Boxxee, but instead of just watching it my Mac, it’s mind blowing  when hooked up to the large plasma in the living room!

So I have been running it on an Apple TV with a hack (anyone interested do a search for ATV Flash, from Firecore), which is great for the most part, but the hardware is just too slow for HD shows, which lag and jerk a fair bit, so I was super pleased to hear that Boxxee is launching it’s own “box”: According to Engadget:

Color us shocked and elated. Boxee, the white-hot startup that has risen from nothing to everywhere
thanks to its internet TV software portal, has just announced that a deal has been inked between it and an undisclosed “hardware partner.”
If you’ll recall, we actually heard that the outfit was mulling the production of its own set-top-box back in January, and now it looks like Roku, Apple TV and a host of other mini PCs will have yet another formidable rival vying for space underneath the tele.

• Heads Up: Update your Apple TV to 3.0.1 ASAP, says Apple

I never know when it’s sale season in France. It’s something like January and June—and only at those times because sales are government-sanctioned here, apparently.

So imagine my surprise when I rolled the Dae-by into BHV (a department store near my house) and saw 40% off signs everywhere. Turns out this is the “sale before the sales” and they’re happening all over Paris for a week! Why didn’t I get the memo?!

Probably b/c I’m a new mom who doesn’t listen to the radio or watch French TV, especially now that I’ve got an Apple TV. (And that’s worth its own post; I’m hooked on Glee* now.)

Anyway, I’m almost back to pre-pregnancy weight, except for the boobs, so I felt like I could do some worthwhile shopping. Which I did. And I got 40% off everything!** Plus an added 12% off for the detax. Wheeeee!!

And Dae already seems to have a shopping gene. She smiled and laughed the whole time I was trying on stuff during the sale madness. That’s my girl.

* I actually auditioned for a role in “South Pacific” at Lincoln Center in front of the dude who plays the glee club teacher (and about 8 other men). Turns out he was the male lead of that Broadway production. Clearly, I didn’t get the part, which was that of a 17-year-old virgin—a stretch by any imagination. And what the hell was I doing at Lincoln Center auditioning for a Broadway show, anyway?! It was a strange confluence of events and horribly embarrassing, as auditions tend to be, but I seem to have a vague memory of him being nice and telling me I was “excellent.” So I like watching him play the nice guy on TV, too.

** Sales in France are no joke. It’s not like the States where stuff is “on sale” constantly and it’s not really a sale. Hence, the major madness when sale season arrives.

Jeg har dårlig bloggsamvittighet. Det er ikke det at jeg ikke har noe å skrive om, jeg vet bare ikke hva jeg skal skrive om det jeg egentlig har lyst til å skrive om.

Jeg er for eksempel i full gang med ny Dexter-sesong, der John Lithgow er knallgod, kald og kalkulert i rollen som Dexters nemesis, The Trinity Killer. Jeg har også stiftet bekjentskap med en vittig Courtney Cox i Cougar Town. Jeg gikk faktisk så langt som å tvitre (!!) at Cox er høstens morsomste, noe som skapte umiddelbar reaksjon. Synes du virkelig Cougar Town er morsommere enn Modern Family? Ja, egentlig, for etter piloten å dømme, er karakterne i Modern Family endimensjonale og karikerte. Likevel måtte jeg gi serien en sjanse. Jeg slo derfor på eple-tven og lastet ned det som har blitt vist på amerikansk tv til nå, og konkluderte raskt med at det er mye god dialog og absurd morsomme situasjoner i denne serien, selv om jeg virkelig kan klare meg uten trebarnspappa Phil Dunphy, spilt av Ty Burrell. Han overspiller irriterende pappa som prøver å være kul. Slitsomt. Da er homseparet med kinesisk adoptivbaby en frisk, om noe paranoid, kontrast som begynner å sitte. Her vil jeg se mer. Ellers er Grey´s Anatomy, Brothers and Sisters, Desperate Housewives og Heroes for lengst i gang igjen, og her er fruene den største skuffelsen hittil, mens plottet og historiene på sykehuset etterhvert har klart å bli interessante og gode igjen etter en miserable sesongpremiere (bortsett fra de fem første minuttene). Flash Forward var en av seriene jeg hadde størst forventning til etter screeningen vår på TV 2 i vår. Etter en knallpilot, virker det nå som om det er manusforfatterne som har hatt et flash forward (en framtidsvisjon) i beruset tilstand, for karakterene er like tamme som varm cola light og plottet like engasjerende som å se maling tørke. Katastrofe.

Jeg har også nettopp lest tre gode bøker: Mattis Øybøs Karin og Kareem, Arne Lygres Min døde mann og Kjersti Annesdotter Skomsvolds Jo fortere jeg går, jo mindre er jeg. Alle tre romanene forteller sterke, nære historier om menneskers relasjoner til hverandre, deres styrker og svakheter, samt om deres frykt for seg selv, hverandre og samfunnet. Fine leseropplevelser som anbefales på det sterkeste.

Hm.

Tankerekke i bokstavform er vel også en form for blogginnlegg?

Finally!  It was frustrating wasn’t it to have your media disappear?  Install this firmware update.  Click here.

Ten days after updating the Apple TV’s software to version 3.0, Apple has released version 3.0.1 along with an alarming warning about users’ content “temporarily” disappearing.

From the uninformative and unintentionally hilarious support document, if you are running Apple TV 3.0 and “all of your movies, TV shows, and songs appear to be missing” or “all of your movies, TV shows, and songs appear to be present,” you should update to version 3.0.1 immediately.

In a letter to unlucky Apple TV users, the Apple TV team (at least those that still have jobs) gave instructions for updating.

1. Reboot your Apple TV (unplug the power cord and plug it back in)
2. Select Settings > General from the main menu
3. Select Update Software
4. Select Download and Install

After a restart, the problem of disappearing content should be solved. That’s the good news. The bad news is there are still a number of problems with the 3.x software.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt at Apple 2.0 beat me to the Apple Support Forum and found 10,000 page views for the missing content discussion, as well as continuing complaints after updating to the latest version. Reported problems include the Apple TV no longer syncing with iTunes, surround sound problems, new purchases not showing up, as well as performance issues.

It appears Apple’s “hobby,” as the Apple TV has been described by company executives, could use a little more developer attention, not to mention a purpose besides being an iTunes Store kiosk.

For those with Apple TVs, Apple released an update from 3.0 (which was released about 2 weeks ago) to 3.0.1 and sent out emails urging people to make sure they update as soon as possible.

What happens is the system appears to be missing some media – According to Apple, the system can be re-synced to remedy the issue OR run this update.

It is not common for Apple to send out an email about a software update like this UNLESS they are getting a serious number of calls or complaints about the 3.0 software “breaking” people’s Apple TVs connections to their computers. Follow the instructions below or check the website above.

Resolution
There is an issue with Apple TV software version 3.0 that can possibly cause your content to disappear after a period of time. All customers running Apple TV software version 3.0 should immediately restart their Apple TV and then upgrade to Apple TV software version 3.0.1.

For either symptom, do the following:

*Restart your Apple TV by unplugging the power cord and plugging it back in.
*Select Settings > General from the main menu.
*Select Update Software.
*Select Download and Install when prompted.

Note: Your Apple TV will restart; this is followed by the Apple logo and a status bar.
If the issue persists, try disconnecting your Apple TV from your computer, and then connecting it again. To disconnect and then reconnect a computer:

On your Apple TV, go to Settings > Computers.
*Select your iTunes library to disconnect.
*Select your iTunes library again to reconnect.

Last night, at around 10:06 (Central Time) the Apple Online Store went down. Most had guessed it was for nothing extremely new,. But maybe some new things bundled with Macs, such as the new Magic Mouse shipping with the Macs other than the new iMac. Well, here is what happened, Apple is now stocking up for the holidays! The nice graphic on the page, says that all orders over $50 get fast, free 24 hour shipping. This ties in with Apple’s other holiday doings like holiday boxings and gift wraps on products, and laser engravings on iPods. This is a great time to buy a new Apple product and with the free shipping, the possibilities are endless!

Despite a hasty fix to repair the last update, reports of problems continue to pour in

Photo: Apple Inc.

Only hours after Apple (AAPL) released version 3.0 of the software that runs its Apple TV set-top box, complaints began appearing on its online discussion boards — the company’s own early warning system for detecting major bugs.

By Saturday, Nov. 7, when Apple advised owners by e-mail to immediately update to version 3.01, the discussion topic TV 3.0 — Many Problems had drawn 134 posts and been read more than 10,000 times. A second topic, Apple TV lost all media, had 108 posts and more than 3,000 reads.

Unfortunately, update 3.01 addressed only the “lost all media” issue. The other problems — periodic freezes, random restarts, overheating, sluggishness, disappearing networks, screens going “blocky red” etc. — haven’t gone away.

“3.0.1 has actually made things worse for me,” wrote user “laozi” late Saturday evening. “Now iTunes won’t see the AppleTV at all, and no combination of rebooting/resetting is helping. Totally stuck. Apple, please fix this.”

Apple TV may be a “hobby” for Steve Jobs, but Apple’s customers don’t sound happy about being treated like hobbyists.

“I don’t know about you,” wrote a user who calls himself baron von benjamin, “but this is the most problem-prone upgrade to any hardware I’ve ever seen.”

Below the fold: The e-mail Apple sent Apple TV owners Saturday afternoon.

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]

Vi segnalo l’uscita di Juice 2, seconda edizione del catalogo (gratis) online con oltre 100 pagine in PDF dedicato a chi si appresta ad acquistare un Mac o un qualsiasi altro prodotto Apple nei prossimi mesi. Oltre a dettagliati datasheet dei prodotti della Mela è presente anche una selezione di accessori in linea con il mondo Apple, dalle tavolette grafiche agli hard disk esterni, passando anche da applicazioni per iPhone e iPod Touch. La guida, che pesa 10 Mb, è stata realizzata da Macitynet per APstore. In ogni caso è ancora disponibile la prima edizione, scaricabile a questo indirizzo. Buona visione.

I received the following email from Apple,Inc today. It is hilarious, since that update to 3.0 was only released a week ago. I’m pleased to say it doesn’t affect me, since I’ve loaded XBMC onto my Apple TV to make it usable.

Dear Customer,
If you’ve installed the Apple TV 3.0 software update, you should immediately update to version 3.0.1. This prevents content from temporarily disappearing until it is resynced.
To update your Apple TV software:
1. Reboot your Apple TV (unplug the power cord and plug it back in)
2. Select Settings > General from the main menu
3. Select Update Software
4. Select Download and Install
Note: Your Apple TV will conduct a restart, which is followed by the Apple logo and a status bar.
For more information, please refer to this article:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3116
If you need further assistance with your Apple TV, contact AppleCare.
Sincerely,
Apple TV Team

TM and copyright © 2009 Apple Inc. 1 Infinite Loop, MS 83-DM, Cupertino, CA 95014.
All Rights Reserved / Keep Informed / Privacy Policy / My Info

Apple is quietly negotiating with all the TV networks to offer a $30 per month High Def TV on demand service. Initially it would be delivered through the Apple TV device, but I can see it also being packaged into TV’s by many other manufacturers who are already rolling out broadband ready TV’s.

Expanding the video side of Itunes is a smart move on Apple’s part, if you take into account that it has the credit card details of more than 100 million paying customers. Converting just ten per cent of those music fans into TV subscribers for a year would bag Apple and its potential network partners a staggering $3.6 billion.

Fox, Disney and NBC are already in business with Apple and of course Steve Jobs is Disney’s largest shareholder. This could be a huge win for Verizon which has a fiber to the home Broadband network (FIOS) capable of 100 MBPS, making the download of the High-Def shows almost instant. Could Comcast’s desire to buy NBC be some sort of very expensive blocking move?

What do you think?