Disclaimer: I’m not a full-blown fanboy, but I do enjoy the products that Apple makes. I have nothing against Windows/Microsoft, nor do I have anything against pc-based products. This is just my take on Apple as a company and their tactics.

Apple is an expert at working the hype machine. After all, they’ve been doing their thing for quite some time now. Remember the orange pants-wearing woman wielding the sledgehammer in their 1984 Mac introduction? Kind of wacky and far fetched for its time, but effective!

Much has changed since the 80’s, of course. Instead of shockingly out-of-this-world advertising (no, I don’t consider I’m A Mac as shocking) Apple is using their own conferences and blogs containing fabricated rumors as their hype bed. More people than ever know about the January 27th (today’s) announcement — even people who aren’t Mac fans! Name one other computer company that tackles the launch of a large-scale project like Apple does. None really come to mind.

Oh and let’s not leave out how intuitive, innovative, and aesthetically sexy their products and OS components are. Their classy use of cutting-edge technology constantly allows Apple to be seen as the “first innovator”, even though a good portion of the technology they employ has been around the technosphere. I believe that it’s also their relatively small product lineup and long anticipation that really multiplies their products’ hype factor. It’s obvious that Apple’s “halo effect” boosts consumer desire for their future products.

That brings us to the infamous Apple Tablet. I’d just like to say, I can’t wait for the announcement for the sole fact that I will not hear any more silly, extremely falsified rumors from interweb “experts”. News flash to those experts: this is not the first Tablet-based computing system, but it will indeed have it’s time to shine today. Needless to say, I will not be buying one because there’s no need for it (especially at the estimated $599 price point) — my 2008 Macbook Pro is still in very good health :).

This is a feature that I’m VERY excited about, considering the current privacy settings aren’t specific enough (and also shady at times). The content-specific privacy query, which was talked about in Zuckerberg’s December 1st blog post will be pushed live to every Facebook user today. What does this mean? Well, for every sliver of content you post on Facebook, you’ll be able to choose who does and doesn’t see the content. By creating contact “lists”, you’re able to select which list sees the content you’re posting. So in essence, Networks will be thrown out the window.

So go forth, post that picture of the triple-beer funnel you took at that party last weekend — without your Mom seeing it.

It’s been a while since I wrote in the box so, hello yet again internets!

As you all know, the ad wars continue to fly especially during this competitive holiday season. I think I’ve seen more AT&T ads in the past 3 days than I have in the entire year of 2008 (even though Luke Wilson is funny and a good face for AT&T). They’re all truly shots in the dark with respect to Verizon’s ad campaign, which take jabs at AT&T’s services AND devices. And the argument that one 3G network is faster than the other is just plain stupid — if you simply don’t have 3G coverage what’s the sense in arguing about data transfer rates? It makes me want to yell at my TV.

As I’m writing this post I’m seeing articles titled “AT&T’s new iPhone app conveys your disappointment in real time” and “Mark the Spot: Tell AT&T Where the iPhone Sucks” pop up which ridicule AT&T for creating such an app. However, I think it’s a bold move in the right direction. Not only does it help AT&T map out their shady areas, it shows the customer-base that recognize their coverage issues and are doing something about it. Hopefully this will translate to better, more comprehensive coverage in the flagged areas sometime in the near future. I have a feeling that AT&T is hurting, and this is their gauze but at the same time I wouldn’t be hard pressed to find other carriers creating a similar app…

The internet is abuzz with opinions and findings on the newly launched “Computational Search Engine” called WolframAlpha (oh and yes, there are some easter eggs already). Although dubbed the “Google Killer” a few weeks ago, it’s not similar enough to what Google offers to even be a blip on the radar.

Google obviously has other informational products they offer such as Google Docs and Google Scholar. Unlike Google, WA can directly compare returned sets of data, present appropriate alternative suggestions (Java the island vs. JAVA the stock symbol), and offer simple charts and graphs — all on the same result page. Pretty good for looking up pertinent info and converting it however you want.

Before you start playing around with WA, check out some of their search examples.

Ok so sue me, I forgot to post this last week :D

ImagineRIT was a HUGE success. Nearly 25,000 people showed up to the event, which ran all day Saturday. We had an overwhelmingly positive response from visitors regarding sociCLOUD.com as well as my New Media Team Project, the Sociable Table.

To top everything off, our team won one of four $1,000 prizes that were to be given to the most creative exhibit in the festival. We also received the Marge Ruffing Memorial Award, a prize given to the exhibit that displays what RIT is all about — meshing the left and right sides of the brain, including the hospitality aspect of the exhibit.

Phew…and it was all worth it. Now I just have to worry about Graduation next week :D

Here are the shirts and some boards we’ll be showing at imagineRIT. Swing by, check out our exhibit, sign up, and grab a free shirt!

Alright I know it’s really bad that I get excited by t-shirts, but they came out sweet. We’ll be handing these out at our ImagineRIT booth next Saturday. Be sure to check out sociCLOUD in Building 70 on RIT’s campus, as well as my other group, Team Sociable with our interactive bar table — they’ll be in Building 7 (room 1420) and I’ll be bouncing between both exhibits throughout the day.

It’s been a while since I’ve written in the box, but here I go again.

Is BMW’s X5 M and X6 M overkill? Hell no.

This is exactly what BMW needs to pull ahead of ALL competition out there, as well as put an ear-to-ear grin on each and every BMW fanboy’s face. How could you argue with a 4.4-liter 555hp engine, with a twin-turbo setup? Both the X5 and X6 M’s will have the same engine, which will also be in the newer generation M5. Not only does the powerhouse impress at obvious levels, the interior and track of these new models are equally impressive. Then again, would you expect anything less from an M model?? I’m going for a test drive, not that I need it..

You can check out the official press release here.

In a Business Insider article published last week, a calculation that Ross Sandler had published created much buzz on the Interwebs. He claimed that Facebook now brings Google 19% of it’s unique visitors — more than ever. Good point, and of course when I read that it took me back. At the same time, it also sounded unrealistic.

In a more recent article, Rob Go questions the analysis, explaining that 19% of uniques coming from Facebook to Google means that each Facebook user goes to a Google search at least once a month — not impressive at all right? He also makes the point that Facebook isn’t literally driving users to a Google search, it just so happens that they navigate to Google after viewing pages on Facebook. It seems like Facebook may prompt or persuade a user into starting a new Google search, but it’s certainly not DRIVING uniques.

I’m not going to bore you with data that’s presented in both articles, I just wanted to point out how easy it is for one to misinterpret metrics, even by professionals who do this sort of stuff for a living. Numbers can be exciting, but not if they’re misleading..

That title sounds dirty, doesn’t it?

Yeah anyway, nothing like some fresh mockups to end the night. New design photos were uploaded to Lenovo’s Flickr stream earlier today. You could only imagine the rumors that were flying across the interwebs. It seems to be a mix between Sony’s latest dip into the UMPC market and a standard tablet.

Anyway, Lenovo said that there’s not actual product to back up the high resolution mock-ups. Shit, who cares. Lenovo, I’d like a carbon fiber case instead of the wood print, please? Thanks! Check out more photos at Lenovo’s Flickr if you’re interested…