The Mac Experience in Business & Home: Help, Tips, Discussion & Radio Show Notes

Thanksgiving for the mobile set: why pay for mobile email, contacts and calendaring when you can now get it for free from Google ?

While the current, major limitations on the number of supported devices and carriers , as well as the functionality (it’s POP only, for one example, making synchronization challenging), make it the choice for few this holiday season, it’s certainly promising at least for spurring competition and development in mobile data communications. Note one doesn’t need the new app to view Gmail: browse it from most mobile devices using Google’s improved mobile browser .

Robin Good’s Kolabora is worth a look for people interested in developing a context for developments in online collaboration.

Last week I visited Zimbra, dropped by a prospective customer on the way to the Apple Campus, and later took one of my brothers out for dinner.

Flying into San Francisco from Chicago first thing in the cold, dark morning, I drove a bright red Hyundai rental 15 minutes away to the Zimbra headquarters in San Mateo. During the drive, pulled-over twice to answer my cell and speak with customers, so arrived about 20 minutes later than expected. Lucky for me the Zimbra kitchen is well-stocked with snacks and every conceivable caffeinated beverage (thanks, Jamie)! It’s the kind of snack emporium about which as a college student, and for sometime thereafter, I dreamed. [Insert choral crescendo and harps here.]

http://www.infoworld.com/article/06/09/22/39FEbizmac_1.html

Because technology’s usability is a primary contributor to productivity, Yager’s main premise is as the usability of Mac hardware and software continues to improve even as Apple continues to push the envelope into sophisticated enterprise technologies, IT organizations who are ready to rethink their systems in light of recent 64-bit, and other technology advances, should give serious consideration to the Mac server solutions.

http://www.letsgodigital.org

Came across this site while performing research on new cameras for family, friends and customers. Best of the best, kept returning to it and found most other sites had a subset of the information that is easy to find, contrast and compare here.

Note that one of the highlights of recent research is the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2. Pricey at $500 retail, but attractive with completely manual shooting options, 8+ megapixels, and 2GB SD cards available for under $70.

In essence, this is a discussion about Quality of Service on the internet. Ultimately, the internet is based on working interconnections between people and organizations, and I believe this interconnection *is not* fundamentally threatened regardless of whether Congress mandates “Net neutrality”, or not.

“Network neutrality” means: the service to people and organizations using the internet is not differentiated based on the destination/origination, content or amount of bandwidth used. This means that currently, for example, you’re not charged, and I’m not charged, for your reading this blog, nor are you charged for video conferencing with your friend using .Mac or AIM just because it’s audio and video. You are not charged for sending an e-mail, nor is anyone for receiving one.

The Chicago Sun Times had an intereseting story about the “Spam King.” Since my wife is from Austin, Minnesota, home of the George A. Hormel Company, any headline that includes the word Spam always catches my attention.

Anyway, the Sun Time story notes that Sanford Wallace and his company, Smartbot.net, have been fined $4 million by the Federal Trade Commission for installing spyware, altering browser settings and inundating users with those nasty pop-up ads.

Talk about your poetic justice. The feds notified Wallace of the ruling by sending him a thousand emails with subject lines such as, “Are we still on for tonight?”, “Here’s that link I was telling you about,” and “News about a mutual friend of ours.”

Apple’s always had the good sense to not just hire good product designers, but good advertising firms as well. With this newest round of ads, they tout the joys of belonging to the Cult of Jobs by personifying PCs and Macs as people. Apple is represented by Justin Long, possibly known for his acting in the Brittney Spears film Crossroads. Windows is brought to life by the recent addition to the Daily Show, John Hodgeman. All six are worth a watch, as they’re snarky enough to make any Apple fanatic’s day.

See all six here .

I love the People and Yellow Pages widgets to track down addresses and phone numbers. I also love the fact that I can instantly add the info that I find in these widgets to Address Book with just one (well, two) clicks.

Once you’ve found the listing you want to keep, just click the little plus sign that appears next to the address. In the confirmation dialog box that appears, click the Yes button and the info immediately appears in Address Book.Could it be any easier?

The often-correct rumor mongers at AppleInsider are speculating about what Apple has to offer at the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters conference this Sunday. Keeping with Apple’s flair for stepping ahead of deadlines, it looks like the 17-inch MacBook Pro might be early as well. Originally talked about with a June debut, it looks like Apple may be showing off the 17-inch powerhouse at this weekend’s Las Vegas conference. Also in the rumor mill, attendees may get a peek at the Intel native version of Final Cut Pro, which should support Blu-ray and HD-DVD burning.

Full article from AppleInsider can be found here .