We had to take a weeks off due to me being sick as hell, and to just do some extra pre-production.

We’ve been using Guitar Rig 4 for our tone. We’re getting a new tube amp soon, so this advice [OBVIOUS-ADVICE] will be implemented.

Guitar Rig 4 is absolutely fantastic, yet it’s an AMP-SIMULATOR. We need to grab the full tone from the guitar. I’m sick of going INSANE with EQ, PRESETS, and ANNOYING SHIT I don’t have the slightest clue about.

The advice was, that I should mic an amp with a condenser versus using my M-Audio DIRECT to Guitar Rig. Obvious to me yet I just didn’t hear the advice from the RIGHT person in the past. I will be doing some experimenting soon.

HELP—anyone that reads my blog into Pro Tools / Audio / Metal Guitar?? Any sick advice would be great.

Conclusion: Qill be away for much longer than I expected. I was trying to keep this blog thing going for once but it’s getting me absolutely nowhere. I almost feel guilty taking my time (when I should be working on my life according to everyone) with this when there’s many other things I should be doing. I will possibly come back when this album is finished, along with giving more updates on it.. Who knows. CONTACT PAGE USE IT.

I WILL be back though. I’m not giving up on this whole blogging thing. I just need to make some money, eh? :)

Don’t be afraid to ask me anything while I’m working—just shoot to my contact / socialize page, and GET AT ME!

Sincerely,

The BROKEST blogger there EVER WAS.

Zakk Forchilli.

Apple has released iCloud for Mac OS X Lion as well as iCloud in iOS5. I’m not exactly going to write an article here. I’m going to lay it out as simply as it can be laid out. Screenshots and lists are all you people want to see anyway, so here we go.

iCloud in iOS5 & OS X Lion

iCloud is fully integrated into anything you do on your iDevice that has to do with your Contacts, Calendars, Mail Accounts, Bookmarks and other information. Apple did this right and gave us all of this functionality for the good price of, FREE.

Apple.com/iCloud for MORE

This photo is how I figured out on my own, that iCloud was going to be free for everyone. I was waiting for 10.7.2 Lion to download and install and realized that I couldn’t switch on Mail. I knew I was going to be able to do so when I got iCloud running on my Mac.

Once you have installed Mac OS X 10.7.2 Lion and iOS5 on your devices—you’ll never have to use iTunes again.

See? It’s all the same on both platforms. Apple has made it so a 12-year-old could set up iCloud and begin syncing all of their information, and using email right off the bat. They did some good here. And iCloud is amazing. As long as you have space left.. You’re golden.

Next is a screenshot showing the ONLY thing you have to pay for. Then I’ll show you proof that you will never have to pay for anything to be in the iCloud again — iTunes Match is a different story, I consider that separate.

• 5GB — FREE
• 10GB — $20 /year
• 20GB — $40 /year
• 50GB — $100 /year

It sets this up for you automagically when you open up the iCloud preference pane in OS Lion.

Quite simple I’d say..

An email alias is an email address that conceals your actual email address from a recipient. You could create an alias to use when buying items from online stores, signing up for mailing lists, and registering online, and reserve your real email address for use with family and friends. In this way, aliases can help you better manage the email you receive and monitor the sources of unwanted messages.

Now everyone gets to use Find My iPhone.

Aside from hunting for worthless free WordPress themes, the death of Steve Jobs and the hourly wait for iOS5—I’ve been away for a few days.

First of all, if you’re a creative person without you own laptop.. You’ve come to the right post.

I found the perfect helper for all of this downtime. The elegant, social-creative-professional-portfolio website, Behance.net has a sub-company titled, Creatives Outfitter. They make incredible notebooks, notepads, etc. There’s much more to it.

These aren’t your usually stationary. We’re talking, elegant-creative-productive-professional. That’s what Behance is all about in the first place. I spent around $15. I’d never spend fifteen bones on a pad of paper. Unless, it gave me a template allowing me to get shit done. That’s what this does.

I purchased the Action Book. I’ve spent the last 6 days writing in it. It helps you prepare for anything you’ve decided to call a project. From simply something at home that you’d like to create steps—to be more productive. From business meetings, to planning blog posts, the action book alone has everything you need to be at the top of your game. I used it to detail out this post itself. It was a late night so i wrote a ton, and won’t be sharing everything, but just enough.

Uses

1. Bloggers without laptops – I, personally do not own a laptop. I’m still stuck on my 2007 iMac, and I’ve been wanting to switch to a MacBook Pro since, most likely the day I bought the thing. SO when I’m sitting in my living room watching tv, I don’t have the luxury of hittin up my homies unless I’d like to use the iPhone that i smashed to pieces practically. I went nuts with the Action Book and knocked out huge details on about 4 posts I’d like to use for @zakkforchilli. Some, I’ll probably throw away, but It’ll be good to have the extra ideas floating around for later projects and such.

See more+screenshots after the break! I love this thing!

2. Boredom – If you haven’t been a typical online reader and actually read something before you got to these bullet points, you would have realized that I used it for this post. The past 6 days I’ve been a little pre-occupied with boredom so when I got this in the mail I was stoked. It only took about 2 days to get here with standard-free-ground shipping. Made my day. I wrote at least 2000 words in the Action Book within the first 3-4 hours of ripping the plastic off of it.

3. Old-school note taking of any kind – Business meetings these are big for—but I’m surely not at that stage, and don’t really plan to be—so I’m not really familiar with that one, but I definitely get the picture. High school kids would love this if they’re productive at all, or want to be. When I go to college in my hopefully-near-future I’m going to buy another one of these bad boys. I probably won’t ever fill it up (I’m not that creative) but you get the idea.

Action Method

What the “Action Book” is based on, is Behance’s “Action Method.” It’s technically just the name of their “Suite” of a variety of different notepads and stationary. The Suite includes the Action Method template on each sheet. It’s simple.

Starts with a title area and a date slot at the top.

Below that is their slick “Dot-Grid” instead of college or wide ruled lines on a page or a clean sheet. The Dot-Grid is amazing for sketches, and It’s really not bad for writing a ton.

Along the right side of the page, there are the “Action Steps.” These are crucial little spaces (including checkboxes for obvious reasons) for your steps, and a little room to elaborate.

Below the Action Steps at the bottom is what’s called the “Backburner.” Personally, I use this very small space to simply jot down small clues for myself when I’d like to reference them later in the Dot-Grid. Lasting thoughts, if you will.

Unboxing

I’ve taken a couple of photos here for you all to check out from my unboxing affair.

Online: They also have a newly added Online Action Method. They now have an online service which you can now connect to via their iPad, iPhone, and Android mobile applications.

Overall: I love this thing. The Action Book full notebook is worth it above the rest; others are practically just add-ons for your workflow. They could really work as a workflow though, using the smaller pad to reference and take notes, while elaborating using the full size book. I advice everyone to grab one. Drop $15 and be more productive in your downtime; especially if you’re lacking a laptop.

Readers: Have you used any of Behance’s products? What about their new online suite? It’s gone mobile, so get to it!

Occupying most of the time I spend on my computer / the internet has been Spotify. It has been a huge pleasure using it, and I’m actually proud to say that it mostly, for me, replaces iTunes. Especially, iTunes Ping. Spotify flourishes where iTunes falters.

For those who aren’t familiar, I will quickly touch on what Spotify has been doing lately. Facebook. At f8 this year, (Facebook’s annual dev conference) they announced they would be taking music to a whole new level on Facebook. They’ve incorporated services like iheartradio, MOG, and most profoundly Spotify, directly into Facebook.

Spotify is surely the better pick of the bunch newly associated with Facebook. So I went with it, and surely I was more than satisfied. Going hand-in-hand with a webapp and a desktop application, it did what iTunes couldn’t, and flourished with it.

There are things I love about Spotify’s new move, and some things I’m not a fan of within the apps.

Read tons more + SCREENSHOTS after the break.

Features / Facebook Integration

On Facebook itself, there is a new “Music” tab on your left sidebar. It integrates all the above said new services. There you can find a general outlook of which friends are listening to music, which service they’re using, and what music they’re listening to in a multi-column environment.

—They’ve placed your “Real-Time Playlist” in a visible, convenient place on the top of your new “timeline.” Timeline hasn’t been officially released yet unfortunately, but it’s the future, so that’s what we’ll talk about. The Real-Time Playlist shows what you’re listening to at that exact moment, and what you’ve listened to recently, period. Usually, services are behind (not in real-time) on this—but with Facebook’s direct integration of Spotify—it begins to list what you’re listening to, as you listen to it. You will now always be able to view what’s “Now Playing.”

—What is killing me about this “Music” page is the lack of certain crucial content, and the sloppiness. There is too much “Music from artists you like” on the page and not enough of what your friends are actually listening to. Even the desktop application doesn’t show you a real-time playlist. You can only get that online, on your Facebook profile.

On their desktop application, there is a lot lacking. Sure there is a small “Share” button with the normal functionality we see from most blogs. A pop-up that includes sharing to services like Facebook, Twitter, Spotify, and Windows Live Messenger. You can share an individual songs, albums, artists, and especially—custom playlists created right from Spotify, or ones imported from iTunes*.

—On the Facebook side of things, there is a sidebar on the right that shows all the friends that have begun using Facebook to login to Spotify. Clicking on a name brings up their public profile which only displays “Published Playlists” and your “Starred” songs. There is a space for “Top Artists” and “Top Tracks” but no content seems to be being pushed there.

—A small restriction being—if you would like to use the desktop application for free, you must have a Facebook account. They don’t give you a normal username and password unless you use the unlimited or premium plans*.

The worst part of all of this is the lack of a real-time playlist anywhere but your Facebook profile. There is no real social feeling here. It doesn’t feel like another social network. Spotify should have just expanded their own site—leaving them with a kick-ass standalone webapp. But no way, they had to get ahead of the other players, and get their brand out there, taking the easiest route—selling out, by using Facebook to shove your application into the hands of every user.

Replacing iTunes / Ping

I surprise some people when I tell them that I’ve chosen Spotify to replace iTunes. It’s not entirely true. I still need to use iTunes to load in my music from scratch, and there are a few downsides and restrictions that come with using Spotify as a default.

Spotify’s desktop app does almost everything you would need a desktop music library to do. You can import all of your music from iTunes automatically, all of your playlists, and you get an even better social network out of it.

—You can’t just start loading in music to the Spotify app. You need to load it into iTunes as usual, but Spotify does technically, “Import” your music library. It doesn’t actually copy it all over into another directory, it uses a Cache. I’ve seen other applications use a better method of iTunes import, but we’re stuck with this if we want all these tasty social features. The Cache technically doesn’t
“Import” your library but it sure leaves a mark in disk space. It indexes your music for offline listening whether you choose so or not. You’re looking at a large loss in disk space if you don’t mess with the “cap” in preferences. This cashes even the music you stream, for offline listening. (both streamed and imported files are cached)

—You can choose to show tracks from, “Music, Local, and Library.” This gets ridiculous. They’re all technically the same thing to the user because it doesn’t specify. This creates duplicate songs, and you end with 2 or 3 instances of the same song in your “Library.” It’s a mess. If anyone knows their way around this, be sure to let me know in the comments.

iTunes Ping is a few steps behind Spotify’s service, but not so many. Spotify has many more features than iTunes, yet it’s surely not as simple and streamlined.

—The ability to stream tons of full songs rather than just preview them or purchase them is a plus. I get to view what everyone is actually listening to versus just what they choose to share. It’s all automagically sent to the cloud, while in iTunes, you have to select the Ping dropdown on each song and share manually.

I really wish that Spotify would polish their desktop app, now that they are a huge service—integrated with a social giant, Facebook—to be more organized and feature-rich like iTunes. They need to get their shit together, but other than that, they’ve started something huge.

Account Nonsense

Not that iTunes has an online streaming service or anything.. iCloud will begin that saga, but we aren’t there quite yet. Spotify doesn’t have one either. Yes, you stream from the desktop app, that’s it*. If you go to their site, you can only download the app, or check your account settings.

—$9.99/month Premium accounts* offer offline streaming, an ad-free experience, unlimited streaming, and the ability to use Spotify on your mobile device. The problem here is, they’re not getting killed for their terrible mobile situation. You have to pay to use the “Free” iPhone and Android applications. You can’t even just stream with a cap on your bandwidth.

—$4.99/month Unlimited accounts* offer unlimited streaming and an ad-free experience. There’s nothing to that. They’re charging for practically nothing. I have a free Facebook account, and I’ve been streaming tons of music. The cap is quite high, yet I’m not really sure what it is.

They really need to work on their mobile views, and their prices. Why are they living through this?

In a Nutshell

Pros:

1. Stream a bunch of music!
2. Import iTunes library/playlists
3. Share with Facebook and others
4. Desktop application
5. Multi-Platform mobile application

Today, Mashable decided to report on the newly released Firefox 7′s memory usage. They based it on Flash running and Flash not running. They used Hulu HD video streaming for the Flash test and they used a Mac running Lion. Lifehacker reported on Firefox 7′s memory usage vs Opera 11, Internet Explorer 9 and Google Chrome 14. They chose to leave out Safari “since they are using Windows,” which makes no sense since Safari is for sure, still on Windows. So I’m here to fill that gap.

“(all tests were done on Windows, so we’ll be ignoring Safari here)” -Lifehacker

Initial Thoughts

I’ve posted about Safari recently after having a run-in with its ridiculous memory usage. It’s officially, a RAM killer. This following test told me that Safari only folds under immense pressure. I’ll explain later. When you have more than a few windows open, each with a few tabs, you’re going to get a huge overload using Safari. Google Chrome seems to deal with immense pressure pretty well. So far I’ve only had it crash on me two or three times with the same windows open as Safari did. Safari on the other hand, had crash at least three times a day.

So, I figured that even with a couple of windows open using Flash, its performance would be going down the drain. This test proved me completely wrong. It seems that Safari holds up pretty well when you’re not pushing it to its limit.

The test (with SCREENSHOTS) after the break:

The Test (Keeping it very simple)

I made this test so simple, it’s ridiculous. The tests are accurate because I snapped the screenshots back to back. Sure, memory usage statistics in the Activity Monitor are always changing, and rapidly at that—but I wanted even the dummiest of dummies to be able to take a quick look, and know exactly what I’m talking about.

I’ve taken 2 screenshots with the Activity Monitor application. (Apple’s Task Manager)

The first screenshot highlights Safari using 53.3 megabytes of real memory.

I was quite surprised to see Safari under Firefox, and under Chrome. My first thought was simply, why is Firefox above all of the other browsers? This is even more crazy than you’re thinking right now.

Lets look at the facts.

1. In Chrome during this screenshot, was running 3 pages with Flash
2. 7 windows total
3. at least quadruple that number, in the amount of tabs
4. Firefox 7′s only real new feature, is a leap in RAM usage
5. Safari and Firefox are both only running 2 pages, with flash

Number 4 is quite ironic after seeing the facts, eh? I’m blown away after seeing that Safari and Firefox were both only running 2 windows (with no extra tabs)—and they were above Google Chrome, which was running about 10x the amount of pages and windows.

I think Mozilla just lied to us. Maybe not. I believe they designed it slightly like how I was describing Safari, above. Maybe it’s built to use much less memory when it’s under immense pressure. You know, what Chrome seems to be doing right now—running what would crash Safari in the blink of an eye.

The second screenshot highlights Firefox using 113.1 megabytes of real memory.

Lasting Thoughts

There it is. The new Firefox 7 claiming to drastically reduce its memory usage. This whole update is based on that feature. And there it is, sitting just one process away from bring on the very top of my shit list. Unbelievable. This deserves a more thorough test to really be able to determine how this all works.

I’m flabbergasted (just wanted to use the word) at the fact. I’m going to look further into what the other tests online are coming up with. But like I said, I’m sure it’s designed to withstand the pressure that Safari cannot take. If it was doing what Chrome was doing (with tons of tabs and windows open) I’m sure it could take it.

I’d go further into detail, but in this case, I’m not a Firefox fan anymore so I can’t spend too much time with it. Chrome might get jealous. Chrome seems to be the golden boy in this congregation. The winner of it all. Chrome can withstand what I’m throwing at it, and even when operating a single Flash site, it’s barely making itself known at the bottom of my Activity Monitor.

For the record, Safari loaded the pages first. So it’s performance is still top notch.

Readers: What’s your experience so far with Firefox 7? Officially, what is your choice of browser?

The big names in Social Media such as Mashable and TechCrunch especially, (due to the recent clusterf*** with AOL & Michael Arrington) have great influence over what sites we visit, what apps we use, and mostly what startups and apps we even know about.

If you ask anyone, they’ll tell you that these sites are mostly/partly responsible for at least half of the well-known startups’ success. Startups will tell you that if it wasn’t for TechCrunch, they would be a failed startup. Brands go crazy to get plugged on these sites. Sending flowers to the TechCrunch HQ? Come on; this is making everyone desperate and it’s sometimes sickening. One mention on Mashable or TechCrunch and millions of people are shooting over to your new startup to check it out.

So you’ve got all of this traffic to your startup. Sure, these Social Media giants are giving you millions of page views, but are they really causing these sites success? Most of the time, yes. The only thing these giants can’t do is make up the users mind about signing up. But, those users wouldn’t be there in the first place. So yes, these sites are mostly responsible.

Enough with the introduction. I’m writing this after a small annoyance I came across today. I threw out a couple ranting Tweets about Mashable and how they need to stop dictating influence where and when they don’t need to. That’s a general statement, but you will see what I mean as you read.

Tons! More after the break. The incident, the solution and how we lost:

The Minuscule Facebook Incident

Sarah Kessler, a writer for Social Media giant, Mashable—thought it would be awesome to write a ‘How-To’ post about how you can use the new Facebook features to view who has unfriended you in the past.

“In addition to showing users a timeline of their activity on the site throughout the years, it turns out that Facebook’s new Timeline profile provides a rundown of which friends they’ve lost.”

Right when I saw this, I knew the incident I’m going to explain, was inevitable.

Here is how she intended we do it:

• 1. Enable the new Facebook timeline.
• 2. Pick a year in the timeline and locate the “Friends” box.
• 3. Click on “Made X New Friends.”
• 4. Scroll through the list. Where you see an “Add Friend” box, you know that you are no longer friends with that person. If you haven’t unfriended them, they’ve unfriended you.

By writing this article—she wasn’t just giving us a cool little tip to take on and maybe go for it—she was canceling herself out, the second she hit publish. There was something much bigger (yet still minuscule) going on here that she didn’t realize.

Facebook’s Quick Retort / Solution

After all, this was, to Facebook, a bug. There was no hacking involved, no tricks. She was merely pointing us in a slightly hidden direction to make us aware of what potentially could seem like a small hack, to be able to view who has unfriended you.

Facebook doesn’t want you have access to that information. Sure they give it out almost subliminally, but that wasn’t their intention.

They came in just a day or two later, and fixed the problem. But they did much more than that, and it’s not good.

“Facebook users noticed an odd feature of the new Timeline profiles last week that allowed them to see who had unfriended them throughout the years. That “bug” has now been fixed.”

Now We Lose

Since Facebook believed that was a bug—instead of making it just a little harder to find (who has unfriended you)—they completely removed the problem, and a valuable piece of information. (that we are for sure, entitled to)

I showed you how it works, above. What Facebook did, was, they completely removed the friends (all listings) with the ‘Add Friend’ button next to it. That’s too much when it comes to ‘solving’ a problem or ‘fixing a bug.’

Now we cannot find everyone that friended us in the past. We lose because Facebook decided to correct something that didn’t need to be corrected. It’s not like we are going to kill whoever unfriended us. I’m curious why Facebook wont give out that information.

Point Your Influence Elsewhere!

I’m sure most of you are smart enough to realize the problem here. Sarah Kessler wrote about this awesome way to find people who have unfriended you. Facebook came and immediately ripped that function out and more.

All because of that post. These Social Media Giants, have so much influence over the scene, that Facebook, a huge company, got immediate wind of this ‘functionality,’ and jumped on the chance to deprive us of it. This is just one small problem I have with large company’s influence. It’s simply pointed in the wrong direction. Sure, most people were glad to be able to know such a thing, but it doesn’t matter now, does it?

We need to find another source that doesn’t have such a loud voice to get corruptible information like this. I don’t think a news site is going to be that outlet. I also don’t know what could be.

Readers: What other source could we use for information like this? In what way could we receive this information without it being corruptible?

GetGlue, the “activity-check-in website” similar to but more popular than, Miso—has come out with a new iPhone app. They have polished the interface just a little. Quickly I came to thinking, they need to do the same to their webpage. Their iOS GUI makes their web-app look like it was run over by Web 2.0.

New graphical features include:

• Polished main page
• New conversation view with iChat-like bubbles
• New “checked-in” page with more content; more options
• Smaller fonts on the check-in history page
• Within conversation, a pop-up for “Agree-Cool-Funny-Reply”

The iPhone App

In the photo, you can see they’ve polished the check in buttons to give them more of a unified, chunky, trendy feel. They also finally fit all of the buttons on the same page. In my opinion, having to scroll to view more buttons (when all there is, is buttons) on the main page of any full screen application, is a major design flaw. No one wants to attempt to push a button, and then have to slide a finger down just for one more option. You should either scroll for more options, or have them shrunk! Tip for good design.

Everyone is and should be going with the iOS-native chat bubbles. Although some, hence the GetGlue app, use their own colors. Good idea, but sometimes they do a little more and create them from scratch, and make them almost look foolish. They didn’t do so well on the padding of the text; they could have touched that up a little bit more. But it’s alright, it still looks good enough. The plus icon bring up the pop-up with the interactive ‘Agree, Cool, Funny, Reply’ options.

This is the most innovative part of the design yet. The interaction buttons. A fantastic use of color blending and small gradients on the box surrounding the buttons. Not that GetGlue gives us much to work with, but when it comes to keeping it simple, they nailed it. I’m just getting used to the “Like” functionality being built into every website I see. Now I have to deal with Funny, Cool, and Agree. Fantastic.

Checked-in! The new page that comes up after you’ve just checked into an activity, got a big revamp. It no longer gives you simple information you’ve already read along with a confirmation. Gives you all of them information the web-app gives you, plus you can scroll down for more options. It’s quite colorful, so you notice it rather than skip right through it. A reason to keep the app open and continue browsing before close the app.

These are the main things I wanted to point out for the iPhone app with one more thing.. When you go to “Profile” or “Messages” or any link to an app feature like those, you know the usual “Back” button on the top left to get back to the previous page. Well it says “Messages” or “Profile.” That is the only place in the app that constitutes anything but “Back” as the title for that button. They should be using more specific buttons in some places so you know where you’re going. Sure, its obvious to most, but you’d be surprised when sometimes you run into a time where you would like to know before you go back.

The Web App

You can see immediately that the web-app is lacking the fantastic interface polish that came with the iPhone version. The app actually—since the beginning—hasn’t taken any hints from the web-app. Thais a good thing in this case. Most brands nowadays go to great lengths to polish both before launch.

The web version has a great interface, and all pages are unified—but its surely not unified with its iOS apps. (Brands have much more freedom on an iPad, so those apps are usually; hopefully much better) If they simply took their own advice on the web-side of things, they would have an amazing app experience.

Overall: I brought this up from personal experience. I was using the web-app and realized how much I wanted to take the iPhone version for a spin instead, even though my iPhone was in the other room. I like being able to have a tab next to Google+ and Facebook—for GetGlue—so I can jump right to it seeing as i watch 3/4 of my media on my iMac.

Readers: Which do you like better? (Web or iOS versions) You think the web version needs some work? Did GetGlue do a good enough polish on their iPhone app?

Filed under: iOS + Devices, Software Review & Analysis Tagged: App, Check-in, Entertainment, GetGlue, iOS, iPhone, Miso, Mobile, Version, Web ]]> http://zakkforchilli.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/getglues-new-iphone-app-is-nice-their-website-not-so-much/feed/ 3 Zakk Forchilli GetGlue-Social-Networking-and-Media-Addicts-600x383 photo 3 copy photo 2 copy photo 5 copy photo Screen Shot 2011-09-25 at 7.58.13 PM http://zakkforchilli.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/netflix-is-sorry-apologizes-via-email/ http://zakkforchilli.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/netflix-is-sorry-apologizes-via-email/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 11:23:18 +0000 Zakk Forchilli http://zakkforchilli.wordpress.com/?p=1136 ]]>

Click the photo to enlarge and read entire email.

Netflix went crazy late yesterday, and decided to let us all know that despite the splitting of the services, (DVD / Streaming now have separate pricing) they’re going to change their ‘DVD By Mail’ service’s name to “Qwikster” and launch a huge upgrade.. Come to find out, they didn’t quite lock down their Twitter name.

“Qwikster” on Twitter, belongs to a pot-head named Jason Castillo. Here’s what he has to say, “Bored as shyt wanna blaze but at the same time I don’t ugh fuck it where’s the bowl at spark me up lls.” You guys did good. Real good Netflix.

Co-Founder & CEO Reed Hastings told me, (and everyone else) “I messed up, I owe you an explanation.”

Read more + PROS & CONS after the break:

I actually thought I was the first on this topic today.. Turns out every other blog decided NOT to SLEEP, and steal all the glory. Most of them aren’t going by the email. They’re going by tips. All good.. ;)

“So we moved quickly into streaming, but I should have personally given you a full explanation of why we are splitting the services and thereby increasing prices.”

So apparently, Reed felt guilty enough to send out an email to all the Netflix subscribers. Now, I’m not sure if only those who received this email, were ones that recently changed their account to the ‘Unlimited Streaming Only’ setting. That’s why I find this all so ironic. Just last night I switched it, and announced on Twitter the prices were getting ridiculous.

I suppose their stock-drop brought them some tears.

Pros

1. For one, the debacle with the Twitter account has everyone’s guts hurting from immense laughter. It’s priceless when an ethical company, that usually has all the bases covered—up until about a week ago—would forget something so simple as to forget Twitter! The launching of a Twitter account comes way before the launch of the product.

They’ve got enough guilt already with the price-up. Now they’ve got to deal with Jason Castillo and his drug habit. Shit, I’m sure he got tons of followers for this though. Touche!

2. Whether or not you’re signed up for a DVD and Streaming plan, you will see both your DVD and Watch Instantly tabs in the queue page. It will be nice not to have to click on Instant every single time you’ve already clicked ‘Queue.’ When running a product that has the potential to bore people, (not everyone will watch movies online forever, thing do get old) every click matters. The less clicks, the better to one the ease of use will be.

3. (Quote below) Well something had to bring them to this. And if it’s in the same email, I say there is a root cause here.

“One improvement we will make at launch is to add a video games upgrade option, similar to our upgrade option for Blu-ray, for those who want to rent Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 games.”

GAMES! Period. Video games as simple as selecting the option with it. Just like Blu-Ray.

Cons

1. Sometimes what is a Pro, is also a Con. The debacle with Twitter! Wow Reed has to feel like such a dummy. Tomorrow, or even later today—we will probably receive another email from him, with a new name for Qwikster. Apologizing for accidentally associating himself with the drug world.

2. People that weren’t bothered with this price hike. Now it is confirmed to them that the prices have gone up. This is for the kids out there, whose parents are the ones getting the Netflix bill. Now that they know about it, these sly kids won’t be able to get away with it anymore. What was, as of yesterday, just a small purchase off the card, is now officially something mommy or daddy might not want to pay for. This is quite unlikely in most cases, but it does exist. Trust me, I just saw it happen.

Overall: I believe that the ‘Games’ upgrade will (long-term) put Gamefly right into the deadpool. Even if Gamefly, right now, would begin offering movies, it wouldn’t compete. Netflix already has an amazing selection of movies both on Instant and on DVD/Blu-Ray. Now with Games, who would have the need for another service? Those who would want to stay loyal, yes, but overall? No. [I'm sure they'll stay loyal after this Twitter business! ;)]

Readers: How much of a dummy is Reed? (1-10) You think Gamefly is out of business or what!?

(Update Sep 19 7:44AM): And for the record, Qwikster is such an awful name. Doesn’t suit it at all. They wanted something that said, “Go fast!” Just like Game-FLY. Fly. Qwik. See some brand-inspiration happening here? I sure as hell do. I think they’re throwing it right in GF’s face.

The title is a bit much, but It’s only personal.

Apple’s Safari 5 is lacking some of the most simply implemented features that are the heart of the Firefox and Chrome browsers. Some even features that Safari has had in the past, but for some reason ditched them. The features are simple, but crucial for a workflow environment.

There is actually some irony in the reason I have for posting this. I was complaining on my Twitter account about how I have to ‘Force Quit’ Safari 5 in Lion at least 3-4 times a day. Those ’2 cents’ on Twitter wasn’t enough for me. (I always turn my 2 cents into 10, hence this blog) It brought out a few other flaws in the app when I began really thinking about it.

I also stated how I wanted to move to Google Chrome, but it’s a pain sometimes to get the bookmarks over while keeping it looking clean. I like to see all of my bookmarks in a small window. I hate that arrow button with a list to the bookmarks that can’t fit. It’s a pet peeve i suppose. It’s no biggy; I switched to Chrome and got it situated.

After switching back to Chrome, I immediately realized that Safari used to be quite like Chrome in a way. Now it is not. Apple actually took away a feature that i used all the time. Allow me to explain.

MORE + SCREENSHOTS AFTER THE BREAK:

Safari 4 Had It

When you for some reason, thought you were using an awesome browser, and attempted to use the address bar as the search bar—Safari would throw at you a, “Safari can’t find the server” page. Here is my point. Under that notice, you would see a small search bar! A search bar!

“You can use Google to search for your text.”

This was perfect when you forgot to hit the tab key to get into the actual search field, in the toolbar. Safari would give you a quick chance to redeem your search instead of clicking back up into the toolbar.

When you’re in a workflow environment, and have to get to a site really quick for a photo, or a piece of text (for, say, a blog post like this?) you could resume your workflow quickly if you make that mistake. This actually changed the way you browse—because you wouldn’t have to use the search bar. You could just use the address bar, and hit the tab key. Bam. Done.

Chrome and Firefox HAVE It

You know, that big bar up top called the “smart-bar” or the “Chrome-bar?” Yeah. No need to ever use the search bar. Chrome doesn’t even have one! It doesn’t need it. Therefor Chrome is a nice step towards the perfect browser for a workflow environment.

If you’re a blogger, or a designer, or anything where you can say you have a ‘workflow’—this can actually be a big deal to you. It is to me in those times where i just want to jump in to a site real quick and snag a quick quote, or photo.

Safari 5? Where Is It? I’m Bailing!

For some stupid reason, the new version of Safari decided not to own it. Only then did I realize how much that small, simple feature meant to me. It was almost this feature alone that caused me to switch back to Google Chrome.

Developers at Apple are known for paying attention to every detail. Usually, also in a workflow environment! Workflow is why the Mac is what it is today. To make everything more convenient for the user. Almost all of their collaborating software is ‘workflow-oriented’ nowadays. All these suites—Final Cut Studio, iLife, iWork, Logic Studio—all work hand-in-hand to help each other, and to make your workflow much easier.

Apple Needs To Play Catch-Up

Apple, with Safari, is focusing on mostly performance. I haven’t seen a drastic Graphical User Interface change since they simply changed the ‘theme’ from Brushed Metal, to a streamlined, smooth Grey. It seems they’re just trying to up their JavaScript benchmarks—which I don’t think they’re on top with anyway.

Google Chrome by far, i believe, is the fastest browser out there. I’m pretty sure that’s a fact.

What brought me into Chrome originally, was the ability to give every tab a separate process. This allows the browser to survive as a whole, if say, one website crashes it. The browser will still be operable, even during a complete memory dump. (which Chrome rarely has compared to Safari)

Safari on the other hand, shits on me every day of the week. At least 3-4 times as said above. Memory dumps are its specialty. It rarely happens with Chrome or Firefox. But I think Chrome takes the cake when it comes to surviving in the OS.

Overall: The new version of Chrome seems more optimized for Lion than the native browser! You only see constant crashes like this when you’re using an Alpha or Beta version of a piece of software. For a brand new Golden Master release of a browser native to the OS it came with is very rare. I’ve never seen this before.

Readers: Have you experienced these same problems with Safari 5? Could it just be 5.1? What is your browser of choice? Leave some comments.

///Update: A new version was released today, with the updates customers were asking for. I can’t say they addressed everything, but a good handful of functionality. Hopefully most of us are happy with at the very least, an attempt to actually listen to customers.

They’ve released a free trial / free update. Dedicated update page.

I condensed the new features in a block quote.

“Final Cut Pro X 10.0.1 focuses on implementing the top user requested features” ”Rich XML import and export. XML interchange gives users access to third-party workflows” “Xsan support, which includes projects and events.” “Roles, which allows you to tag tracks based on the stems you want to export.” “Custom Starting Timecode, GPU-accelerated export, Camera Import SDK and full-screen view in Lion.” via The Loop - TUAW

///End Update

The new Final Cut Pro X. Apple’s new high-end video editing solution. Built for prosumers, by professional video editors. What they didn’t disclose, was that this is actually a mid-end application. It is no longer considered the top of the line video editing application it once was.

There has been a ton of controversy over the newest installment of Apple’s High-End video editing suite, Final Cut Studio. They’ve gone in a somewhat new direction with the new Final Cut Pro X. They skipped Final Cut Pro 8, 9, and jumped right to X.

What this “X” stands for?

In this case, the “X” in Final Cut Pro X translates to being a cross between the high-end Final Cut Pro 7, and Apple’s measly low-end application iMovie, from within the iLife suite. Don’t get me wrong, you can make a good 5 minute montage with iMovie.. But if you’re looking to do something as small as a commercial, or even a tiny web advertisement, you’re out of luck. You’ll need to jump all the way up to Final Cut Pro.

FCPX takes a few interface and usability features from iMovie. The “rollover to scroll through your movie in real-time” feature, as well as its pure simplicity. I won’t get into it, all you need is a screenshot, and you will know everything there is to know about how it relates to iMovie.

Final Cut Pro has never been cheap. Running at the usual $999 for the full version, and $699 for the upgrade, you’re free to assume you bank will be broken. Especially for those who only need an extra feature or two for your iMovie app.

After the break.. We go into those gritty details. You will enjoy.

The “In-Between”

Yes, you could settle for Final Cut Express, but there’s not much lacking with that compared to Final Cut Pro. The only massive difference is that there is no ‘suite.’ There’s no Final Cut Express Studio. It’s a standalone app. You can go grab that for $299. It is still a great alternative to this day.

$299 is the price tag on the new Final Cut Pro X. Downloadable only as a standalone app. They’ve created a new version of Motion, and Compressor. (Both Version 5) Those both, are also standalone apps. There is no longer a “suite” price. You can’t even buy it in a box anymore. Mac App Store only.

Bad Aim, Apple, Bad Aim (The Bad)

Apple is aiming this application at “prosumers.” If you’re not familiar with the word, it’s a cross between “consumers” and “professionals.” (wow! valuable info!) You know, those of us that like to consider ourselves professionals when we are just kidding ourselves for confidence.

Well they just have some terrible aim, don’t they. Some people are saying that they might as well have aimed this application at the barely capable. Almost everyone in the high-end filmmaking community, (the ones I know) that always relied on Final Cut Studio for all of their work—were almost completely screwed over by Apple. I’ll explain.

At first with the release of FCPX, it was the only high-end video solution they were offering. They ditched out on selling FC Studio. They discontinued it as if FCPX was an actual upgrade. Nooo sir. Not an upgrade. More like an out and down grade.

After everyone started screaming, and Apple was about to lose out on tons of cash.. They realized they were making a huge mistake, and released FC Studio 7 back onto the market. People were diving right in to purchase the new version, downloading it, then realizing they just blew $299 on an app that is half of what it was. Oh and trust me Apple doesn’t care enough to give any refunds to people who believed they were actually “upgrading.”

Still A Beast, Though (The Good)

Don’t get me wrong—FCPX is still a powerhouse. If you purchase Motion 5 & Compressor 5, you will see a lot more integration going on. Seamless integration isn’t new to Apple, they know what they’re doing. 3 separate standalone apps, integrating even more seamlessly now, then when they’re were all together now, in a suite.

I just got my hands on it today, and after all the cracks and banter I’ve heard about it being so terrible and all—I actually started to realize that it still had potential. It’s not iMovie, It’s not Final Cut Pro. Its simply, Final Cut Pro X. It’s not an upgrade nor a sequel. It’s a new application.

The whole “new” application thing is getting to people. They want their FC Studio back, with upgraded interface and power features. (Me too!) But, we are going to have to settle with this for now. Its not the end of the world for Mac editors. Keep using your FCP 7, and those who choose to, will move on to FCPX.

Pogue, Harrington (The Ugly)

David Pogue—writer for the NY Times’ Technology section, did a huge writeup titled, “Professional Video Editors Weigh In On Final Cut Pro X.” This—in a lot of detail, described practically every feature that was in FCP 7, that is no longer, in FCPX. Then, for each of those, (and there were tons) were ways to make up for that in FCPX; ways to work around the lack of those said features.

The main problem everyone has, is the way its projects are set up. Instead of having a single file like iMovie, or a single folder with a separate folder for render files like FCP 7—it has a folder for the “events” and a folder for the project, and a folder for render files. It’s a mess. Read on for details.

The missing features aspect was correct, but not all of the work-arounds.

A Professional video enthusiast / video editor / blogger named Richard Harrington, wrote another huge post as a direct retort to Pogue’s post. He laid down the law. Some of it seemed like he was putting Pogue right in his place. But! Mr. Pogue doesn’t consider himself a professional videographer, so Harrington took it easy on him.

Seeing as I, Zakk Forchilli, like to be original.. I’m not going to recite every little thing that is FCPX is lacking compared to FCP 7. Harrington has already covered that. Check out his list—its actually quite refreshing to know this stuff. He’s a very smart guy, he knows his shit. It will give much insight.

Overall: Final Cut Pro X is a great application. It lacks many things from its predecessor, FCP 7, but it is still a great app. Apple claims to be releasing an update in the near future to address those features it’s lacking. (Hell yes!) They’re taking other steps as well to enable users to do what they could in FCP 7. Harrington can take it from here.

Readers: What are your thoughts on the new FCPX? Trash? A good, new app? Or a nice, easy leap forward?

(Sources: Richard Harrington, David Pogue, Apple)

VMWare has release a new version of VMWare Fusion. Version 4 is optimized for Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion). It comes with about 90+ new features including the simple ability to run a copy of 10.7 Lion or Lion Server within a Virtual Machine. It also supports 10.6 Snow Leopard and Snow Leopard Server. It’s available for a promo price of $49.99 until the end of the year.

I’m a huge fan of virtualizing Operating Systems, so jumped right at the opportunity for a version optimized specifically for my OS.

Then, i found out that today, Microsoft decided to release a Developer Preview of Windows 8 downloadable for free from their Developer site.

It took me about an hour to download because I’m sure i wasn’t the only one downloading it at the time. Within VMWare Fusion 4 it took about 15 minutes to install. It honestly took longer for Windows 8 to boot up than it did to actually install it in a Virtual Machine.

Right when i jumped into the OS i was blown away. Finally, Microsoft did something right for Windows. A beautiful full screen start menu interface using a “Metro Style” application interface. I took a bunch of screenshots to show everyone, and let them know how beautifully designed almost every part of this OS really is. Here we go after the break.

Screenshots After The Break!

The Start Page is home to all Metro apps, regular apps, and a link back to the desktop. It shows the current information on the icons of each app you have active. For example, the weather app icon would show the current forecast. It's very pretty. Just hit the Windows key to go back here from other apps.

This is the full screen Metro style Control Panel. There is also a regular version of the app. The interface of these Metro apps just gets better as we go. If you hold your mouse against any side of the screen, a small icon pops up, and you can click it at any time to get back to your Desktop.

The new Windows Explorer has a Microsoft Office feel to it. Three tabs. The view tab is perfect for having a full toolbar full of view options. Honestly, Mac OS could use this functionality. No more drop down menus for view options. Also being a Desktop shot, clicking the Start button brings you directly to the Full Screen Metro Start Page. I'm not sure yet how exactly to change it to a regular start menu. It had one at first, then i tried again and BAM. Full screen. Hmm.

The new Internet Explorer has a much better interface.. Seems to be much faster. It's hard to tell when in VMWare since I'm only running 1GB of RAM dedicated to the Virtual Machines. Tabs on the top now.. Almost like Chrome, but next to everything instead of above. You'll notice that Windows 8 isn't the same Aero as Windows 7 or Vista. It's more streamlined like the transition from Mac OS Tiger to Leopard.

This is the built in Twitter application. It's a Metro style app with everything you will need to use Twitter to its fullest. I didn't see Lists though.. It's easy to switch from this to your desktop, so being a full screen Metro app doesn't effect your workflow.

RSS news app. Add feeds or select from the included popular sites.

The customizable weather application. The background is actually a video, and looks like crap on a 20" screen. Hopefully they up the resolution when the final version comes!

Flash Cards Metro app. Quite interesting. I'm sure people could actually get use out of this one.

There is also a few other apps that i didn’t get photos of, but are still very useful. Alarms, and a “Notes” like application for sticky’s.

News Splash Screen

The Notespace splash screen.

Flash Cards app splash screen.

Overall: The OS has an amazing interface compares to previous Windows releases. Metro apps are actually pretty cool. Thank god they made it somewhat simple to switch back and forth between apps or else you would have NO workflow. This is for sure an OS built for Tablets. Everything about these Metro apps says, “SWIPE!”

Readers: Go get your hands on the Developer preview, and let me know what you think of these apps!

(Sources: MacRumors, Mashable, Microsoft)

As of right now the only product widely known to have the high-res Retina Display is the iPhone 4. Not for long. Other’s want in on the action. It’s one of the  many features that enabled Apple to release a whole new refresh to the iPhone lineup.

First of all, what is the Retina Display?

The iPhone 4 Retina Display

• larger than usual angle of view. Above 120 degrees.
• It approaches the human eye’s view with such a high-resolution capability.
• The color resolution is much greater than that of a conventional display.

The iPhone 3Gs had a 163 ppi screen with a 480-x-320 resolution.

The iPhone 4 has a 326 ppi screen with a 960-x-640-pixel resolution, squeezed into the same 3.5 inch display. (ppi = pixels per inch)

We have yet to find out whether or not these Retina Displays will have all the same features as the iPhone. The iPhone 4 has a huge contrast ratio for better whites, darks, and just better looking shades of color.

The small screen contains IPS Technology (In-Plane Switching) used to improve viewing angles, and enhance colors. (produces 8-bit color rather than the conventional, cheaper 6-bit color produced with TN Technology—Twisted Nematic)

Apple Products

The iPad and the iPhone 4 both have Retina Displays. Apple has been laying the ground work for all of its products to include it.

Right now looking at my iMac display, I will say that I wish it had the screen my iPhone has. It puts all of their Mac displays to shame. (It’s not that bad since they implemented LED Backlighting into almost all of their products—still not the same)

They’ve already brought the technology to their newest OS, Lion since the developer builds. Buried far under the hood. Now we just have to wait until either LG or Samsung can bring the right Retina technologies to the table.

Microsoft Is Getting In

This is where all of the hype is coming from. Everyone is hearing about the Retina Display going mainstream into Laptop and Desktop Displays.

Microsoft is building Windows 8 to support them just like OS Lion. It’s a bit early to tell whether or not it will be worth for them with Windows 8 seeing as half of their OS is simple child shapes at this point. They’re taking Windows Phone to the desktop.

These displays will apparently boast 250+ DPI (dots per inch)—which is well above the standard.

Will It Be Worth It?

It’s hard to tell whether or not these displays will actually still compete with Retina Screens like those on the iPhone. We don’t know if they are going to support LED Backlighting. We don’t know if they will support IPS Technology. We also don’t know if they are going to squeeze in pixels at the same ratio or better into the same size screen.

Apple is very innovative compared to most companies. They’ve also beat them all to the punch with the best display on a phone.

///We are supposed to see this all happening within the next couple of years.

Overall: I believe that these displays won’t really be as good as they sound. Sure they’re going to give it a shot, but who’s on board? HP? Dell? I know right now that if Dell gets on board, I’m on board. Aside from Apple, Dell makes the best monitors out there & they’re even cheaper than Apple Cinema Displays.

Readers: Are you on board? Do you think we will see beautiful screens on our laptops and desktops just like the iPhone?

(Sources: MacRumors, Wikipedia, PCWorld, BGR)

1. HTC can’t just create their own OS?

I might not go that far, but they should at least be putting in some hard work if they are planning on going up against Apple & iOS. Right now Apple controls the Tablet world, the Smartphone world, and is either close to or already is, controlling the Personal Computer climate. We will get back to that later, not to mention Digital Music or anything in their sub-production / software lines..

I just feel that instead of going out and purchasing an already functioning, already complete and sold a ton of units type of OS — They should actually be putting some hours in. It’s okay when a company buys a suffering project — even one that is doing quite well in the creation process, but not one that has been finished and around for.. ever.

This leaves HTC — which has grown to be one of the biggest phone manufacturers in the world — exposed and dependent on two mobile operating systems who’s owners’ priorities lie elsewhere. -Stan Schroeder, Mashable

2. Apple has a fairly long lease on the climate

I’m sure the mainstream is quite aware of the Tablet Market at the moment. They can’t quite put their fingers on it, but they do know one thing, or maybe, don’t know one thing. “What exactly is a tablet?” Unless it has tablet in the product name, most mainstreamers think of that old crappy gadget from HP or Motorola with a ‘stylus’ — or that huge, bulky, terribly designed, Palm looking thing. Even something that looks like a small Toughbook.

Apple controls the mainstream with iOS, and even at this point, Mac OS. No mainstreamer is going to go out and purchase an Samsung Tablet unless it’s suggested by a friend, and they’re not into the iPad. And let me tell you, not many people aren’t into the iPad. Grown men turn into little mindless children when an iPad is in their grasp.

If you say tablet, we say, “Oh the iPad?”

3. Everything else is just a copy

Besides the fact that they just plain and simple won’t even be competition for iOS.. They know it too. To an Apple iPad, most of the tablets out right now look like Kindles. Disregarding the ones that have the same damn design Apple pioneered in the beginning with the touch screen.

We all know who started what we now call the standard in touch displays and gestures. We all know who designed a device that contained practically nothing but a giant screen. We all also know who started the current standard style for a tablet on the market.

All these tablets wouldn’t exist without their father, the iPhone originally, and now the iPad. It takes a long time for a kid to become strong enough to finally kick his fathers ass. It hasn’t been that long since the first launch of these game-changing products.

Overall: None of the tablets created by anyone (maybe just about 2 exceptions) will be / are GAME-CHANGERS. There was ONE game-changer. The game has been changed. It’s not due for another for a long, long time. This is just my 2 cents guys.. I’m not going crazy over all of this, but It’s just something for you to keep in mind as you see this unfold.

Readers: Do you own a non-iOS tablet? If so list it here. Also, readers — tell me if you think this is going to help HTC at all.

(Sources: AppleInsider, Engadget, Mashable)

CloudApp hides well in your Mac OS menubar with a drop down menu listing your top 5 recent uploads and a link to the web app. You’re able to drag and drop almost any file type right to the menubar icon to upload it immediately. Alternatively you can use the web app to drag and drop as well, or select a file from a browser. The icon turns blue and a custom sound may be triggered when the upload is complete.

File types include: Images (all formats), Bookmarks (by typing / pasting the address into the upload bar within web app), Text Files, Archives, Audio Files, and Video Files. Once uploaded, you can click on the thumbnail to get a ‘CloudApp’ page to enlarge and view your file. You then have to click the ‘Direct Link’ button in the corner to view file on a dedicated page. That’s slightly inconvenient, but it does this to promote its ‘Simple Sharing’ feature button which uses RealMac Software’s ‘Courier’ plugin to share via Facebook, Twitter, and other social sites.

Both the web app and the menubar application work seamlessly together, both showing a hit / view count on each file.

In that drop down you will notice the feature that I believe sets this app apart from all those similar. You’ll see an unchecked option titled, “Auto-Upload Screenshots.” It enables exactly what it says. Using Preview, Grab, Command+Shift+3 (Takes screenshot of entire screen), Command+Shift+4 (Takes a selective screenshot of a specified zone or a single window by tapping the spacebar) or any other hotkey, CloudApp recognizes all of those and can upload them automatically. This feature does wonders for writing a blog post or any other project that may require multiple screens.

Free Users

• Only 10 file uploads of any kind per day
• Maximum file size of 25MB
• NO sharing links with custom domain name