MacUser

MacJury #4 features two counts of MacUser

Posted on Apr. 25, ’08, 9:59 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | Podcasting

We’ve been remiss in bringing you a fresh episode of the MacUser Podcast. I know. Mea culpa. Please accept my most sincere apologies. But in its lieu, please accept the closest thing we have to a replacement: the most recent episode of the MacJury podcast, which features both myself and MacUser contributor Cyrus Farivar, alongside moderator Chuck Joiner of MacNotables fame, Matt Neuburg of TidBITS, and Friend of the Blog John Moltz, who really needs no introduction—not even that one right there.

On the docket was primarily a discussion of the ongoing battle between sophistication and simplicity in the Mac OS. But we, like General Zod, cannot be contained, and so we veered over to the future of digital media, launching from recent comments by NBC executives about Apple and iTunes, and then on to the diverse uses and joys of Twitter.

I certainly enjoyed my time on the panel quite a bit—I’m listening to it in full now, because I really need that morning ego-boost, and I look forward to participating in future episodes. Next time, perhaps I’ll remember not to nod in agreement quite so much.

Please remain calm: the April Fools nightmare is over

Posted on Apr. 1, ’08, 1:39 PM PT by Mac User

Category | MacUser

SAN FRANCISCO, CA—Bowing to reader demands, all bloggers at MacUser have been fired for posting way, way too many corny April Fool’s articles, well exceeding the reasonable limit for pointless dribble on a popular blog owned by a large publication.

Jason Snell, parent publication Macworld’s editorial director, shook his head in shame.

“I just…I just don’t know what got into them,” said a visibly shaken Snell. “They thought it would be fun to write some April Fool’s posts. Sure, why not, right? It’s a just a stupid blog, after all.

“But they just wouldn’t stop. Post after post after post. After a while I started posting comments about how not-funny they were, and how I really just wanted to them to please, please stop.

“Then I realized I could just fire them, so I did.”

Dan Moren, a MacUser editor, denied having anything to do with the posts, inconspicuously pointing his finger at co-editor Derik DeLong while mouthing “all him, all him.”

At last sighting, MacUser bloggers Dan Pourhadi and David Dahlquist were seen attempting to cross the southern US border while being chased by dozens of pitchfork-wielding readers who were fed up with the lame-ass jokes.

“They weren’t even clever, or witty, or, like, legible,” said one reader. “Look, you’re still writing! Why won’t you just stop?!”

New MacUser writers are a terrible twosome

Posted on Feb. 22, ’08, 9:35 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

As it’s a slow Friday morning in Macland, let me take this opportunity to introduce you to our newest writer, David Dahlquist. You’ve probably seen a few posts from David this past week as he acclimates himself to the joys of life at MacUser, and I think I can safely say that you’ll be seeing plenty more to come.

David comes to us as from the University of California, Berkeley, where he’s a senior studying Political Science. Unfortunately, I think we’ll probably have to keep him away from that topic, while he’s behind the MacUser desk, lest we encourage rioting and fighting in the virtual streets.

But the real reason behind David’s addition to the crew here is far more nefarious: we’re desperately in need of bolstering our alliterative name count. This brings us up to three, or roughly 33% of the staff. Not bad, not bad—but I think we can do better.

And, on the topic of alliterative staffers, a long overdue welcome to our second international writer, Aayush Arya, who joins us from West Bengal, India where, as you may have heard, the Mac pickings are somewhat slim. Aayush has been toiling tirelessly away on our behalf since early December, and this is how we repay him: a belated welcome post (the private jet is in the mail). We are terrible taskmasters, I know.

So give both of our new(ish) bloggers a warm welcome (the alliterative trend continues!) and prepare to commence the hazing ritual on my mark.

MacUser Podcast #25: Moltzing season

Posted on Feb. 4, ’08, 8:10 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

This being our twenty-fifth podcast (break out the silver, baby!), we decided that we needed to take things up a notch. To that ends, we’ve assembled an all-star cast, featuring not only regulars such as myself, Derik, and Mr. Pourhadi, but also former MacUser contributor Pat Nakajima and our Special Guest, former Crazy Apple Rumors Site maven John Moltz. That’s right, Mr. Moltz joins us to discuss the week in Mac news, the Microsoft-Yahoo deal, and, of course, the little matter of CARS’s hiatus.

Along the way, learn about John’s plans for solving mysteries in his retirement, Dan P.’s brand new shiny MacBook Air, and just what Mr. Nakajima’s been up to recently (well, the declassified stuff, anyway). So hit the download link below, or subscribe to our feed (there’s always the iTunes link too).

AAC version (14.4 MB, 60 minutes)

Comments and feedback on the show are always welcome, so feel free to share your thoughts below, or in an email to macuser [at] macuser [dot] com.

MacUser Podcast #24: Expo exposed

Posted on Jan. 20, ’08, 4:22 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

We were on the floor at the Macworld Expo for most of last week, so it was only logical that while we were there we avail ourselves of the resources our illustrious parent company could bring to bear. So Derik, Dan P., and myself ventured into the Macworld fish tank podcast studio, where we were roundly ridiculed, taunted, and outright mocked by passersby.

Joining us for this installment is the man, the myth, the legend, Paul Kafasis. You might know Paul best as the illustrious CEO of Rogue Amoeba, developers of fine products like Audio Hijack Pro, Fission, and the indispensable Sound Source. But far, far more important than that is Paul’s official status as a Friend of the Blog, a title coveted by many a person in the (Mac)world over, but bestowed on a select few. We were thrilled to have him on the show, where he regaled us with stories of his eight foot tall inflatable amoeba. No, that’s not a euphemism.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy the dulcet tones of the MacUser crew in this, our twenty-fourth podcast.

AAC version (12.1 MB, 51 minutes)

Comments and feedback on the show are always welcome, so feel free to share your thoughts below, or in an email to macuser [at] macuser [dot] com.

MW08: We’re (a)live at the Macworld Keynote

Posted on Jan. 15, ’08, 9:00 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

The MacUser/Macworld joint keynote strike team has infiltrated Moscone West, where their mission requires them to liveblog and photograph the heck out of the Steve Jobs keynote. The whole shebang gets underway at 9AM Pacific, noon Eastern.

For full coverage, hit the gigantuan link below, which will take you directly to the liveblog page, where you can follow along. We warn you now that the following thoughts may be completely unedited (read: too hot for the Interweb).

MW08: Keynote coverage, coming your way tomorrow

Posted on Jan. 14, ’08, 10:08 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

It is my distinct pleasure to remind you that we are on the ground at Macworld Expo 2008. This lovely vista is taken from the Macworld offices, floating high above San Francisco on a cloud of dreams.

While the conference technically begins today, the big kickoff event is the Steve Jobs keynote tomorrow at 9AM Pacific (noon Eastern) in Moscone West. The MacUser crew will be in attendance and we’ll be working with our fine colleagues at Macworld to bring you a live accounting of everything Steve Jobs does and says. We’re also thinking about instituting a Steve Jobs drinking game—every time you hear “boom,” for example, or see him take a drink of water. Our goal: to be thoroughly soused by the time Phil Schiller first shows up. We think it’s doable.

Anyway, you’ll be able to find our liveblog of the Stevenote at this very URL right here, so bookmark that sucker and get ready for adventure.

Also worth noting: if you’re going to be at Macworld and snapping some pictures, why not share them with a few thousand of your closest friends? The team at the mothership has set up a Macworld Expo 2008 Flickr group. Join up and you can include your pics along with the rest of the fine folks attending the shindig.

MW08: MacUser gets its Expo on

Posted on Jan. 11, ’08, 12:39 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

We hear there’s some little shindig going on next week in San Francisco and, you know, we thought we might just up and go. Why not, right? Great; it’s set, then.

Yes, the MacUser crew, in the form of Derik, Dan numero dos, and myself will be present and accounted for at Cheeses of the World Macworld San Francisco 2008, starting next Tuesday with our incisive, hard-hitting coverage of the annual keynote. We’re doing something a little different this year, as our liveblog of the Stevestravaganza will actually be over on the Mothership—we’ll have more details on that early next week.

After that, we’ll be bringing you our thoughts, pure and unadulterated, from the show floor as we peruse the latest Apple offerings, have one-on-one conversations with vendors, and buttonhole Mac luminaries to make them answer our inane and meandering questions. If they fail, we will immediately report them to building security. Look, no second chances, okay?

We’ll also be recording a live version of the MacUser Podcast in Macworld’s spiffy podcast studio on the show floor, booth #2314 in the South Hall, if you must know. Plus, over at the Macworld Learning Center (West Hall, Booth #4052), our own Dan Pourhadi will be presenting a session entitled Blogging for Beginners at 2PM-2:45PM. Every. Day. Boy, is he going be tired. Especially with our incessant heckling.

As always, if you see us on the show floor, feel free to say hi or, alternatively, give Pourhadi a noogie.* We also accept food, preferably still in its original packaging—for safety reasons. Last year, Scott ate half of some guy’s burrito. Man. We miss him.

If there’s anything particular you want us to check out, feel free to toss it in the comments on this story, or drop us an email at macuser [at] macuser [dot] com.

*Offer valid for Dan Pourhadi only.

It’s a website!

Posted on Dec. 14, ’07, 9:38 AM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

If you’re a MacUser reader, we suspect you might also partake of the content offered by our more, er, distinguished siblings over at what we lovingly refer to as the Mothership. If you’ve gone by the Macworld site in the past week or two, you may have also seen that the team was preparing to roll out a new website. Well, wait no more: the bouncing baby site was finally delivered late last night, weighing in at a hefty 20MB, 416KB and both baby and parents are resting comfortably.

All right, I really have no idea what the size of the website is, but I’ll tell you this: it’s filled to the brim with new features and all your favorite existing content, like Mac Gems, Chris Breen’s iPod Blog (now rechristened Playlist), and hey, Gadgetbox too. The Macworld team had many goals with the new site, among them making it easier to find the content you want, and encouraging more feedback from readers. At the bottom of every story, you’ll now find Siskel & Ebert-style thumbs-up and thumbs-down icons, inviting you to make your voice heard.

The site remains in beta (and not just ‘cause it’s trendy), and the team asks that you let them know about any glitches or potential improvements so that they can continue to better serve you.

Today only, save 20% off Macworld Superguides

Posted on Dec. 11, ’07, 2:34 PM PT by Dan Moren

Category | MacUser

Still looking for last minute gift ideas for the holiday season? Remember, there’s just one gift-giving day left in Hanukkah, and only two weeks to Christmas. But if your idea well is running dry, allow us to sprinkle it with a unabashedly self-promotional brainstorm.

We’ve regaled you with tales of MacSanta before: all month, they’re working with a bunch of different vendors to bring you deals of 10% and 20% off great Mac software and other products. You notice that “other products,” eh? Well, today our festive overlords colleagues over at the Mothership have teamed up with MacSanta to offer 20% off their various PDF superguides. Topics include Mac Basics, the Apple TV, iTunes and iPod, iPhone, and a brand new guide on Digital Photography.

Normally the guides start at $12.95 each, but for today only you can enter the code MACSANTA07 and save 20% off the cover price. We now return you from our shameless self-pimping to your regularly scheduled Mac blog.