January 11th, 2009 by Jason

Awaking to the church bells ringing… the fog horns in the bay… looking out the window to see the fog rolling away… it is a pretty city. 

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

it was a day of wasting time… wandering, shopping, drinking at the Thirsty Bear, some more wandering… some snacking…catching the transfer to the airport soon….

January 10th, 2009 by Jason

Today as I mentioned in my last post, was the MARKET SYMPOSIUM - Podcasters Day
with the presenter Alex Lindsay - Pixel Corps.  

This session started poorly, for the whole first hour the presenter wasn’t able show his presentation due to technical issues, so  was taking questions and answering.  This was particularly person-specific. It didn’t get much better from there, as when he started it seemed very very video related, but yet interesting even though it was pretty much below where we are already at.  About 11.30 I got sick and tired of one of the participants highjacking the session with questions of his own, stopping the presenter during his slides taking him off track, so I left and went to the Expo floor then had some lunch.  I returned to the Podcasting session at 1.30p (which was just after the session had returned from lunch).  On checking with one of my other AUC colleagues, I didn’t really miss anything, during my break.  Once again, the session was very video related, I thought I was almost in a “Final Cut” session, as the presenter was showing some of his examples and explaining how he got his shots, backgrounds etc.  It may have just made my day worthwhile, he just started going through his field audio gear.  Some very cool recommendations here, a new lav mic that I want to try - a field recorder and mixer. ‘Countryman’ laveliere mics and Sounds Devices field mixer and recorder - the Sound Devices tools have a very high quality Limiter in them, apparently very good  for the sort of stuff we do. So this is definately something I will be looking into.
Another gentleman came in from Rhedpixel to guest speak about his podcasting. (www.vidpodcaster.com)   What is becoming very evident here is that companies here in the US are really starting to use podcasting as a serious tool - very high production values, SD & HD material. Some material is prepared for DVD and is produced at levels so distribution to TV can be done.   

Some final thoughts on today’s Podcasting session: generally speaking it was certainly NOT what I was expecting.  I think I was expecting a little more about how to get podcasts out there. Producing effective podcasts and the like.  But what I got was - what’s a good camera, “this is my cool CGI set”, “these are the cool things I’ve done” and ” these are the software gadgets I use to do all those cool things.  So, YES, I was a little disappointed with that session. 

Back to my 2 hour break from the session today - I raced down to Expo floor to grab a couple of pieces of info - Ecamm (Call Recorder - for recording Skype - this could be another option for recording phone interviews in the studio), Pulse SmartPen - this is won BEST of SHOW award at MacWorld09.  This device is amazing, rather than me explaining here, visit the weblink.  In a nutshell, it is a Pen with an audio recorder which is nice, but what makes this such an amazing device is that you use a specific notebook that you write in and as you write and take physical notes - it indexes to the audio being recorded… a little hard for me to explain, but amazing.  This is available from OfficeWorks in Oz for about $330 (I bought it here to get a good discount).  Yes it seems expensive - but when you see what this thing is capable of - you’ll understand.

After the Podcasting session finished - that was it for MacWorld09.  I headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading to dinner with the AUC team.

Again, there are more pix on the PicGallery - I encourage you to stop by there.

January 9th, 2009 by Jason

Today was an interesting day for me… as have the other days been, but today I started off by heading along to a FEATURE PRESENTATION - with Leo Laporte.  For those unfamiliar with Leo, he’s an internet media celebrity - host of The Week in Tech (TWiT) and cohost of popular podcast Mac Break Weekly.  Leo’s background is as a Broadcaster, he started in radio, moved to TV and now is an internet star.  As an ex-media person myself, I found this presentation a real “A ha” moment, not just because this guy is a ex-broadcaster like me…but he really had some very interesting points that really made me think.

He talked about mass media and how they look at us as the public, pretty much as cattle.  A great quote he used which really made that point for me was : “Freedom of the Press, only belongs to the guy who owns the press” - it’s simply not that way anymore - with the internet, it belongs to everyone !  This lead on to him discussing that today’s audience is turning into ‘community’ and they’re more engaged, because, we the audience, are seeking what interests us.    Consumers want content… when you want it, where you want it and how you want it.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Targeting a narrow audience is good, because this creates communities - which are a more engaged audience, and audience who also have the ability to participate !

Moving from that fairly light presentation to a MacIT session - Advance Apple Remote Desktop.  As a very new user to this software, it was a fairly big leap to dive into this Advanced workshop.  But surprisingly I actually got a lot of it !  I took some good notes and will be following up with Ray & Chris upon my return.  (I do want you guys - a little information for this little black duck is dangerous … insert evil laughter here

After this session I had some time to finally have a good look around the expo - I must say it really does take a lot longer than what I’ve given it to get the most out of the expo - but, in saying that, I did some homework and tracked down specifics and took note of all the other stuff on the way.  A couple of standouts that will come in handy:

• Sorenson Squeeze 5 -  I managed to score a fully working 30day demo for Jeff + a MacWorld discount to purchase
• ScreenFlow - this is from the makers of Flip4Mac - it’s a pro-level screen recording tool that I personally think will come in very handy and I can’t wait to give it a go !

 Later this afternoon I went to a User Conference entitled “Music composition & performance with Apple tools” - I kept waiting for the sell to stop.  This session had presenters from Apple, and they predominantly just demoed the software showing off the best of what it can do, without getting into any real specifics.  It was good to see some cool stuff… but… hardly what I was expecting.

So back to the expo I ventured and got a demo of Pro Tools 8 - (the latest version which I hope is waiting for me to install when I get back !).  At the expo there are so many great product ideas, both hardware and software, some of which are yet to be released and some of which we may never see in Australia.  But thanks to the internet, that doesn’t really matter as those items not available in Oz can usually be shipped out  Mmmmm gadgets !

Tomorrow is Friday and the final day of MacWorld09 - I will be participating in a Market Symposium - “Podcasters Day”.  The session goes the whole day 9-4, which means no expo for me tomorrow at all (as it is only open 10-4). 

Don’t forget the PicGallery, which has some more pix of MacWorld09

January 8th, 2009 by Jason

During Day Three - I spent about an hour trolling part of the Expo Floor, I’ve been told by some MacWorld veterans that it takes about 2 or 3 full days to get the most out of the Expo its self, but I certainly won’t be getting that much time doing that !

After visiting the Expo I ventured off to my first session for the day - The iPhone Supersession. To my surprise this session was a basic help session for iPhone owners - although it was quite basic, I did take some notes and gleaned some useful tips that I will pass along to other users.

During the break between that session and my next one, I managed to grab a few moments with Allan Carrington from the University of Adelaide to record a comment from him on why he’s here at MacWorld:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Allan mentions he also interviewed myself and other AUC members for his podcasts, which I encourage you to visit - Macworld for Educators Podcast Program - http://macworld4educators.edublogs.org

My next session was “Remote System Management” - a lot of this session was over my head (stop chuckling Ray & Chris), predominantly the presenters just covered the TOOLS available for remote system management. At one stage I thought I was in a Sales seminar… But not quite that bad! From what I can work out, the software we use (ARD - Apple Remote Desktop) is one of the two top choices for the style of support we do.

It was time for a little break, then back for the “birds of a feather” forums - I found myself at two, half of one and half of the other. First up was a group of Higher Ed Network Admin folks, this was certainly NOT the place for me, but it was good to show an Aussie presence. Upon some other and more appropriate Aussies turning up, I popped down the hall to the Educators forum, here I spoke with a fellow of a Canadian P-12 school who was really interesting to speak with. He shared that his school provides Macs to all students and teachers and block NO content (there’s a lesson for the Aust Govt & their censorship aspirations). It works really well as with more technology both the teachers and students are getting more creative.

January 7th, 2009 by Jason

7.30a standing in line for the keynote. I got here at 7a and my line (Platinum pass holders) was already moving inside out of the cold.

Sitting in the Moscone Centre West, Phil Schiller (Apple VP) is delivering … I look around and wow, there are spare seats … I think folks miss Steve.

So what’s new - THREE NEW THINGS
iLife09 - iPhoto with new things called FACES (a facial recognition and sorting), PLACES (geotagging recognition and sorting), Facebook sync, slideshow themes.
iMovie09 - video stalisation, advanced editing etc.
GarageBand- learn to play. Artist lessons for purchase.
$99 USD-late January - preorder now.

iWork09 - cool new features to Keynote, Pages & Numbers. $79 or $49 with new Mac.
Ships today.

iWork.com is coming for document sharing online & reviewing. Beta today.

NEW - 17″ MacBook Pro
.98 inches thin, very light, LCD display, 1920×1200 resolution, glass trackpad, Intel upto 2.93Ghz, upto 9gb ram, all new non removeable battery-upto 8 hrs on a single charge, upto a thousand recharges-which is 3x the lifespan of industry standard. Around 5 year battery life. New MacBook Pro ships late January.

iTunes - pricing changes, DRM free.

And now the legendary Tony Bennett sings  ”I left my heart in San Francisco”.
This is SWEET !

After the Keynote, the EXPO opened …people everywhere !!
…. but for me it was straight onto Day 2 of AppleScript.

This was another head-spinning hands on workshop writing scripts for error handling, generating dialogs, conditionals, through to manipulating Images … including the ability to crop, scale, pad, and convert images.  Plus learning Folder Actions, Finder Droplets,  moving files.  Doesn’t sounds like much… but wow… this stuff  is powerful !

So as Day 2 draws to a close, I’m planning out tomorrow already…  first up - Conference Attendees get to go into the Expo Halls at 10am (an hour before everyone else !)  Also tomorrow the “iPhone SuperSession”, a MacIT session on Remote System Management, and a meeting with Higher Ed Mac Admin Forum….   another flat out day !!

Thanks for reading !   don’t forget the Photo Gallery for more pix.

January 6th, 2009 by Jason

So, now it all begins - the expo doesn’t open until tomorrow - today’s schedule for me is simple, I have a PowerTools workshop - day One of Two - “AppleScript”.  Based on “AppleScript 1-2-3″ (Apple’s official AppleScript training guide), the 2 days of sessions are designed to provide a solid indoctrination and foundation in AppleScript.  DAY ONE - AppleScript A to Z - The first day is a gradual walk-through of the basics of AppleScript, from A to Z and starting at square one.  Yep… we started at square one… but the word ‘gradual’ wasn’t really the best word to use… it was more like a lot crammed into a short time.

All I can say is - Applescript is something EVERY mac user should get to know, it’s quite simple and amazing in what it can do to automate repetitive tasks.  We started with the basics of Applescript and using it with FINDER 

**  3.30pm… I think my brain is full…

We’ve got a room of people all with a mac of some sort in front of them, (this is a very very hands on, learn by doing class) tapping away with scripts being read out and explained… as a kinesthetic learner this is great for me !

*** Let me add a side note:  Nothing beats a REAL DrPepper  !!

In part two of this Applescript session, tomorrow we move onto more complex and specific scripts.  This will be great !!  I just hope I can retain and try some of this stuff out !

After today’s session finished at 6p it was straight onto the AUC meet & greet Reception to catch up with some other Aussies.

First thing tomorrow it’s lineup for the Keynote…as a Premium ticket holder I’m apparently guaranteed a seat - but it’s recommended I’m there NO later than an hour before start. (Keynote starts 9a PST)

January 5th, 2009 by Jason

After a morning of exploration on the cable-cars and trams, visiting Fishermans Wharf and the Pier area. I stopped for Lunch @ House of Nanking in ChinaTown. Swilling down a Tsingtao beer and Crackling beef- life ain’t half bad in SF.  Remember to check my Photo Gallery ‘mobileme’ page as I will be updating the photos there everyday (but not necessarily talking about them here.) The link is in yesterday’s post.

cracking beef.. yummy lunch !!

Checked in to the Conference, all registered and ready - got my tag, bag & t-shirt - ready to go ! So the arvo is being spent reading through everything to make sure I know where I’m going & when.  Here’s a cool thing, the “Steve-less Keynote” will be in Mascone Centre West which is less than a block from my hotel, plus as a Platinum attendee I’m guaranteed a seat !

January 4th, 2009 by Jason

OK, after a LONG flight from Australia - I left Toowoomba at 7am on Saturday morning the 3rd and arrived at the hotel in San Francisco at 12.30pm Saturday 3rd.  About 15 hours travel.

So, a little orientation… SWEET little hotel, directly opposite SF Marriot, just a few hundred metres from Virgin Mega Store and SF Apple Store  - http://gallery.me.com/jasonmyatt#100108
…for my NextByte friends, wow … this is sweet… very much like the new look NextByte store, except it’s much bigger - tables full of mabooks to try (with iPhones plugged in to play with), tables full of iMacs… you name it, it was there… I tried to score a Apple Store name tag.. but no go… was even chatting to the store manager.

Feel free to bookmark that GALLERY as I will be updating that every evening.  There will be new pix everyday, that don’t necessarily get talked about here.

I checked out the Mascone Centre today, a very short walk from the hotel.  Everything is getting ready for a big conference.  A “broadcast van” outside for the Keynote… banners being “hidden” - tomorrow is registration day.

December 21st, 2008 by Jason

Test blog from CellSpin

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

December 18th, 2008 by Jason

ok, so over the last little while I’ve been looking out for some new gadgets that I want to check out in person at MacWorld Expo… here’s a list of some of the cool ones so far… and yes, I know that they’re all for the iPhone… 

• FastMac - iPhone iV
• ETYMOTIC, my favourite provider of hearing protection - HF2 noise isolation earphone/mic
• Gelaskins, these are awesome artistic skins for everything from iPod to Macbook - LOVE ‘EM