Geek & Mild by Sean Sperte

Apple files for patent on zirconia ... for iPhone?

Apple files for patent on zirconia for use as a casing material for a “handheld computing device”. Geniuses they are. Read up on zirconia.

30-Nov 2006

Apple updates Apple ID site, finally allows editing

Apple updates Apple ID site, finally allows editing. This could be the straw the broke the camels back for me. I’ve been wanting to drop .Mac for years now, but always lemented that my Apple ID would have to remain my mac.com email address. [UPDATE: Scratch that. It seems that .Mac users still cannot change their ID.]

29-Nov 2006

Over 600,000 Wiis served

Over 600,000 Wiis served. Not surprising, though I can’t believe notta one of those is mine.

29-Nov 2006

Wii All Love to Play

Nintendo's Wiimote Nintendo has brought the “play” back to “gameplay” with their new game console, the Nintendo Wii (pronounced “we”). I had the privilege of playing the Wii system at a private pre-release party two days before it was released to the public, and since then I’ve been trying to come up with ways to get my own.

It’s really everything you’d want in a gaming system. For those who aren’t up on such things, here’s a quick overview of the Wii’s most notable features:

Nintendo’s 5th generation game console
Small, light-weight, sexy design
Plays both GameCube and Wii games via its slot-loading disc drive
Standard-definition, progressive component video (via optional, additional cable)
Standard SD card support (up to 2 GB) for photos, videos, game data, etc.
Wireless controllers use Bluetooth and infrared, called Wii Remote or Wiimote
Wiimote has three-dimensional motion sensitivity to interact with games in a 3D space
Wiimote has speaker for directional/dimensional sound
Wiimote has vibration feedback
Games cost anywhere between $20–$45

Bringing us together

The aspect of the Wii that really excites me isn’t all those features, though. I think the absolute best strength of the Wii has to do with its ability to appeal to not just the geek or gamer, but the kid in us … all.

Take, for instance, the Flickr photo pool called Wii Motion. In that group you’ll find dozens of photos of people playing Wii – people from every generation, culture, background, and race.

Some of my favorites are this one, this one, this one, and the show stopper (tear-jerker): This one of a brother born with cerebral palsy playing baseball with his sister. Wow, Nintendo, get that family on a commercial or something.

29-Nov 2006

Ben Folds Fake

Ben Folds Fake. Another awesome Improv Everywhere mission.

22-Nov 2006

Nintendo announces MP3 player for Europe

Nintendo announces MP3 player for Europe. Not another iPod-killer[-wannabe], this will just be software on a SD card adapter for the DS and GBA.

20-Nov 2006

kuler

kuler color palette generator from Adobe. (Via Daring Fireball.)

19-Nov 2006

Pre-Release Wii Party - a photoset on Flickr

Went to a pre-release Wii party yesterday. Everyone in attendance left with altered Christmas lists.

19-Nov 2006

Sony’s Playstation 3 is Not Worth the Hype

Sony’s Playstation 3 is Not Worth the Hype. “[…] I wouldn’t recommend buying one, not even for the regular price, which is plenty expensive without the import markup […] There just isn’t the leverage there to make buying a PS3 de rigeur.”

18-Nov 2006

The TOP 10 Spammers

The TOP 10 Spammers – or “Ten People The Rest of The World Would Like to Sit On.”

16-Nov 2006

Installing the Zune… sucked

Installing the Zune… sucked. Every so often I have a fit of wow-I-just-love-my-iPod. I’m feeling that now.

13-Nov 2006

The Wii a big hit with non-gamers

The Wii a big hit with non-gamers.

13-Nov 2006

Myriad Network

It might be vain, but I judge web hosts by their websites. That’s why I’ve always admired MediaTemple.net. Their site is positively ~~sexy~~ attractive, and it makes them look like a luxury automobile dealership – not rack-mounted server solution.

I guess that’s why it seems all the cool designers use them. From Zeldmen to Bowmen to K10K, the list goes on. MediaTemple is to web hosting as Bono is to rock stars.

That’s also why, since they announced their Grid Server hosting solution, I’ve been really tempted to switch to them. Previously their cheapest plan was almost three times what I pay now, and offered half the benefits.

Greener Grass

Myriad Network

My current host is Myriad Network, and even though I’ve used probably a dozen or so web hosts, I’ve never been happier with one. Their server technologies, transfer speeds, support response, and competitive plan rates are all top-notch.

I first signed up with them for The City Church’s multiple sites, but was so impressed after just a few months of service that I moved all my family’s personal sites onto a shared plan. It’s been nothing but a great experience since.

Still, as happy as I’ve been with them, I’ve never stopped looking for other hosting possibilities. I think it’s a habit I developed back in the 90’s or something – and hey, I’m not as bad as some people I know (you know who you are). I guess the grass is always greener.

Ready, Set, Reliable

Now, in the 18 months I’ve been with Myriad there have only been three instances of server issues, and only with VDS The City Church sites are on, not with our shared plan. Two of the issues were outages that had been planned and expected. The other issue was a slow down as a result of our server getting pounded after launching the GCTV podcast.

I got into work that day to find the server crawling and immediately emailed Myriad’s support address. Fifteen minutes later the server was back up to speed. Actually felt even faster than it had previous. I don’t know what they did, but it worked.

Whatever It Takes

We have a motto at the church: “Whatever it takes.” Today I learned that the guys at Myriad must share the same motto.

To make a long story short, I accidentally erased a stylesheet file that I was editing live, on the server. The file was the homepage styles for the GC site … so it was pretty dang important. (No, I didn’t have a backup and no, I couldn’t find a cached version.)

Needless to say, I was pretty frustrated and couldn’t think of a solution. As a last-ditch, desperate attempt, I emailed Myriad support. I was assuming the worst, but received this quick response, literally five minutes after I had hit send (at 8:30pm EST, mind you):

Hello,

We should be able to provide a backup for you.

I need your domain / IP, username and password, along with the exact path to the file in question.

Thanks.

What the –? I knew they did nightly backups, but I always just assumed that was just for another bullet on their server selling points, not as a real-life, practical solution!

Twenty minutes later – even after dealing with my inability to provide them with the correct file path (I tried winging it twice) – they were able to recover the file! How awesome is that?

In fact, I don’t think there has been a time when I’ve send an email to their support team that hasn’t been promptly answered. Whether it was a problem I had created or something to do with a third-party application running on the server, they’ve always been very gracious and helpful. Literally, they’ve done whatever it took to make sure a solution was found.

So if you’re looking for a quality, reliable web host with awesome technical support, look no further. I highly recommend Myriad Network.