apple

Google lit up the hornet's nest yesterday when they announced that they were dropping built-in support of H.264 for their own 'open' WebM and OGG video formats.

I reconfigured Xmarks on all my computers (to sync all my bookmarks between FireFox, Safari and Chrome), and I'm back to using Safari full-time, with FireFox as my main backup. (FF 4.0 can't come soon enough).

It was good knowing ye, Chrome. I actually had my sights set on using Chrome indefinitely until yesterday.

I've only been using the Apple TV for a few days now, but I have used it enough to jot down a few first impressions. I'll likely do a full-on review at some point in the future.

Some of the things I really, really like about the ATV (I have the black/2010 model):

After having visited New York's four very large and unique Apple Stores, coming back and visiting the St. Louis Galleria Apple Store was somewhat of a letdown. The store has been reported to be the world's smallest mall Apple Store, and it was quite apparent upon entering.

The Galleria Store was known for being incredibly cramped, and one would often see many Apple employees training Mac users in the common areas around the Mall. One was lucky to be able to grab an Apple employee to simply make a quick purchase within 5 minutes of entering the store!

No more.

Now, the Apple Store inside the St. Louis Galleria is likely one of the largest, if not THE largest, Apple Stores in a mall, in the world.

Over in the Articles section, I posted a detailed tutorial/guide on how to replace the hard drive inside a 24" Intel iMac with an aluminum enclosure (the process is similar on other aluminum iMacs). It's a rather intricate process, so in addition to a few illustrations, I posted a video of the process on YouTube (it's embedded in the article as well!).

Intel iMac Teardown and Hard Drive Replacement - DIY/Guide

Have fun repairing your iMac! (Please be sure to leave comments on the guide post, and not here).

If you've glanced over on my 'Articles' page lately, you'll no doubt notice my recent love affair (just kidding!) with the iPhone 4's audio and video recording capabilities. This blog post will offer a nice summary of all my blog posts and articles about A/V production on the iPhone (and, by extension, the new iPod Touch that was just announced today):

Click here to view this image in its native resolution (which is incredible, on the iPhone 4).

Besides a couple of the very helpful new features of iOS 4 like folders, multiple Exchange accounts, and unified inboxes, there are a few things I've been finding in my use of the new OS that are underrated, but very helpful improvements:

It is said that, during a jubilee year, one would receive a plenary indulgence by visiting all four major basilicas in Rome (nowadays, it seems you only have to visit one of them—pfft!).

During this Apple Jubilee of 2010, I have visited all four of the Major Apple Stores in New York City (my total Apple Store visit count is about 25 now) in two days... I didn't buy anything, so I might've missed one of the conditions of the plenary Apple-dulgence, but I did get my photo taken by an Apple employee!

Apple Store - Upper West Side

Entering into the Upper West Side Apple Store feels like entering a major train terminal or union station; the space is HUGE, with a ton of vertical space. It was fairly chilly inside, and I wonder how much money they spend on air conditioning and heating the place!

(Eek! Not very flattering, I know)...