Hello,
There will be no live MacMania Saturday. Expect a studio show within the next week.

Thanks to our sponsor, Freecasts at http://freecasts.net.

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Chris’ letter to Steve:

Dear Mr. Steve Jobs,
Hello, my name is Christopher Koffel and I am HUGE fan of Apple and your products! I am 13 and live in Cincinnati, OH. I have been an apple fan for quite some time and would like to ask you a few questions.

First off (which I HIGHLY regret) is that I use Windows. I am not a fan of windows at all! I always have to restart my computer (which I built) but that’s because of windows always having a problem with something. It says something about "an illegal operation" or something. Kids at my school say I am a big computer geek/nerd/dork but I love working with computers with my good friend Ben Fryxell. He just recently purchased a Macbook from you guys and he says he loves it! Let me say that I do not have an Apple product of any kind (except for one iPod that I got over the summer as a gift for doing well in school. I think that the design of every one of your products is second to none.
Besides my friend Ben, I have 2 other friends that use Macs (that I know of). One of them has a Mac Mini and the other has a previous model of the iMac. They say they love their Macs and tell me that I should get one. The only problem is, I don’t have nearly enough money to pay for one (due to the fact that I am 13 and cannot legally get a job, I also don’t get allowance). Anyway, I just recently got serious about deciding to switch to a Mac. Even though I don’t have any money to afford one, I have done extensive research on the different Macintosh computers to see which one could best fit my lifestyle. So far, I’ve been really into the Apple notebooks. I don’t really want to get a desktop only because I can’t take a desktop around with me . Here is where I need your help on the decision. Let me give you a little background information about my hobbies.

First of all, I am heavily involved with multimedia. I love doing webcam chats with my friend Ben using an old webcam that I got. I love listening to music and it is practically my life. I am in a band with 2 other friends and I just recently got into recording my music. I love recording myself using soundboards, microphones, and any other equipment I can find. I play 5 different instruments which are guitar, drums, piano, saxophone, and mallet percussion (such as xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, bells etc.). So, music is a big part of my life. I am also a band geek in the school band and I play in the Jazz Ensemble for our school every Tuesday morning before school. But, that is not the only music/audio that I work with.
Another thing about me is that I am very involved with theater technology. I work the soundboard at my school which means I handle music tracks, microphones, and various theatrical audio equipment. My other theater friend, Ross, has decided that there is a much easier way for playing music/DVD’s through the soundboard. Which is, to hook a computer up to it. The only problem is that we don’t have a permanent computer to use for mp3 files and other playthrough media. So, we end up having to borrow computers from other classrooms.
Another thing that I love to do is take photographs. I love photography and I am pretty good at it if I do say so myself (haha). I don’t have a really nice camera that real photographers use but I do enjoy taking simple photographs with my dad’s digital camera. I also like to edit them and take pictures off of the internet and edit them using Adobe Photoshop. I visited the apple store recently and I loved taking funny pictures with the iSight camera! I thought that the different distortion features were hilarious!

The last main multimedia subject that I like to do is video. I love to film videos for friends and sometimes youtube. Much of the videos I make, are for enjoyment and take place right at my desk in my room and other various parts of the house. I also have my little brother press the record button on my camera at my band’s concerts. I use Windows Movie Maker which is the SINGLE WORST video editing software on the ENTIRE PLANET!!!!!! Anyway, I got my hands on iMovie not too long ago at the Apple store her in Cincinnati and I absolutely LOVED it! I thought the entire package was great for editing videos! Anyway, these are the three main types of Multimedia that I love to do on my free time.

Anyway, after reading that EXTREMELY long letter, I’m sure I’ve just about put you to sleep! But, I would like your extremely valuable advice for this next part. Even though I don’t not have nearly a fraction of the money that it costs to buy a Macbook or other Apple computer, I would like to know which Apple desktop/notebook (preferably notebook) would best fit my lifestyle/needs. Please do not feel as if you need to email me right back because I know that you are an extremely busy guy and you have things you need to get done but whenever you get the time, I would truly appreciate your advise on buying an Apple computer.

Right now I would personally like to thank you for taking about 30 minutes out of your day for reading this (haha sorry about this long letter). Once again please do not feel the need to respond to this right away and I don’t expect a response at all. I would like to thank you again for taking time out of your day to read this and I hope to hear from you sometime in my lifetime.

Sincerely,
Christopher W. Koffel

P.S. If you would like my contact phone number, I will gladly give it to you when I know for sure that this is Steve Jobs and not someone who has a fake email to make it seem like you.

THANK YOU SO MUCH

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Screenflow

Wingnuts and Tiki Magic Mini Golf

Snood

Paul Risko

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Here are the links mentioned in episode 49:

iJailBreak

NetNewsWire

MacMania Contest

TalkShoe Page

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Hello,

Sorry I’ve not been posting in awhile, but I’ve been busy as heck! Anyway, we have the MacMania 50th episode coming up tomorrow night and I would like everybody to be there! I will have more info on the next studio episode which will be released either tonight or tomorrow morning. Keep those contest entries coming!

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Hello,

I have noticed that the enhanced podcast that I did two days ago has had no comments on the blog! If nobody is enjoying the enhanced podcast, there is no sense in doing it. I am happy to do it if you would like. If you want the enhanced version back, email me here.

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The links mentioned will be in the enhanced edition of the podcast, which can be downloaded here.

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There will be no show Saturday night. Expect a studio show soon after though!

-Ben

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Well, I have gotten a new printer! I got it free! Here is the back story. When I bought my MacBook on January 6th, I had forgotten that if you buy a new Mac that you get a $100 mail-in rebate on a printer of your choice. They had neglected to tell me that, and, while browsing the store yesterday, I decided to bring it to their attention.

I went up to the register and asked the woman about this problem. She was kind of, well, something I won’t talk about on this blog. But she did get the manager, who was much nicer. He helped me through the issue and gave me my printer. I chose the HP Photosmart C4280, which is a printer-scanner-copier hybrid. It rocks! It comes with HP vivera cartrige support, and the black cartridge that came with this was full! What a nice surprise! The printer is also very fast, and the claims for the speed work great. It has a card reader on the front and that would have worked great, but my card didn’t work because it was formatted wrong. The printer is not Leopard-compatible out of the box, but on HP.com there is a free update that you can download. I downloaded that and all of the features work flawlessly. It also has a color 1.5" LCD on the front. You can purchase the printer on Amazon here or visit the official page here.

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Time Machine now is in the Menu Bar! What everybody’s been waiting for! This is enabled by default when the 10.5.2 update is installed and you can enter Time Machine, force a full backup, or open the preferences. It also shows you when you last backed up.

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