All Things Apple!

Alright, we'll let Sarah ride out her China Lily glory no more! It's time to turn this thing around and getting talking about what *I* want to yap about.

And, being that you all know me, one of my favorite things to talk about is Apple. And not the fruit.

In my daily browse, I spend more time on one Apple-related site than any other, and I figure it's time to bring a few of you over with me, so that you understand what I'm jammering about at the pub.

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) is a fantastic resource for Apple-related news, hint, tips, and advice. It's also quite well-written, and often humourous in its information delivery.

Here are ten of my favorite articles from the past few months, which I hope you'll enjoy too. Weirdly, a lot of the best links on TUAW actually point to their sister site, Engadget. It's all good, but I wish they'd keep the articles on TUAW :)

1. With the new iPod nano just released, TUAW posted a great article on the iPod Family Cemetary. It's a great look at how the iPod's evolved in just a few short years. It makes me think of Mark's old 5gb 1G pod, and my little brick - the 10gb 2G. In fact, just yesterday I sold my 20gb 4G and ordered a white 4gb nano :) Go me!

2. A few months ago, TUAW posted a brief article that linked to some other page about Synergy - quite possibly the most life-changing app I've ever installed on my 2 computers here on my desk. Just last month, they posted an even better guide to Synergy (courtesy, again, of Engadget) - which lets you use 1 keyboard and mouse between multipile machines, over your network. So yes, I'm typing this on my PC's keyboard, on my iMac. If you have 2 machines, even cross-platform, you NEED Synergy.

3. TUAW also makes with the funny. Dress Up Steve Jobs is a great way to check out the varied wardrobe of "He With the Reality Distortion Field".

4. Like many sites before them, TUAW also helps those everyday mortals gain their 15 minutes of web infamy. But really, is it wrong to want a Happy Mac Sweater??

5. WoW and Macs. Let me say that again for those of you in the back. WoW and Macs!! Yes, the bestest, and as I've said before, the most soul-suckingly good game ever created was released on a Mac at the same time as a PC. But hey, starting your own gulid for Mac-users only? That's a bit much, innit? The Reservoir Dogcows don't seem to think so. Oh, and you can figure out what a dogcow is on your own.

6. Not so much a single article, but possibly the single, smallest category on TUAW is one that appeals most to me, iMacs. I'm on my 2nd iMac now (this is a 20" G5 monster here) and while I realize they're not as hot and cool as the mini, I love it, and you should love it too.

7. Back in the middle of August, a school division in the US decided to sell all of its 4-year old iBooks. Old, 500 mhz G3 machines, with not too much going for them. So they decided to sell them for $50. Would you wait in line to get one? You'd be surprised at what happened - all over a little white computer.

8. The iTunes Music Store (iTMS) is great. You can hit FutureShop, get a $20 card, buy 2 albums. Do it now. But some people hate the fact that you can't do what you want with music you paid for. Now, *I* would never do this, but it's nice to know that TUAW points the way to a DRM Workaround. I never said nuthin'.

9. So I finally bought a keyboard to use with GarageBand, Apple's amazing music-creation software that comes with iLife '05. What inspired my interest with GarageBand was an article on TUAW way back in April about Nine Inch Nails releasing their new single for GarageBand remixes. This completely changed the way I look at GarageBand, and led to Christopher Robin doing some great work on his remix.

10. And just to prove I'm not a total fanboy - here's proof that Apple is just as evil as every other big American corporation. Honest. Apple Wants the US to Invade Canada!.

So, there are some great selections from TUAW. I hope that it becomes one of your daily browses. If it does, MSN me and we can go off on whatever great new product I must buy next from the shiny white company.