Before I actually dive into the hot topic of the iPhone, I wanted to comment on a few other things first.
- Apple TV - I don't see what is so great about the Apple TV. It isn't any better than me hooking up my laptop to my TV and using FrontRow. I thought that the "iTV" was going to bring us a real next generation set-top box. I envisioned it doing everything that was announced (cause that is what I can already do with FrontRow) plus DVR, surf the internet, check my mail, chat with people, etc with a bluetooth keyboard. But no, we got front row with Syncing...so you have to wait for your content to be downloaded to be able to watch it. So if I want to watch a movie, I have to buy it on my laptop, then wait for it to sync to the Apple TV and then I can watch it. I dunno about this one...we'll see how long it lasts. It was definitely glossed over during the keynote too and will forever remain in the shadows. I won't buy one...
- I'm going to regret saying any of this because I love Apple, but here it goes - Apple, I love your products and fully believe that you are far better that Microsoft...but stop with the school yard name calling and bragging. I'm also getting a little sick of Apple saying they invented things when they didn't. I'll give them the fact that they usually do things better than everyone else, but there are many things in the iPhone that I have seen before.

Ok, onto the iPhone. I like to talk about a few things.
The good things:
- Multi-touch - I've dreamed of an interface like this for years...I should have patented it myself...I can't wait to play with it in person. I'm a little curious about how good it is at doing exactly what you want. Like actually scrolling and not just selecting something where you started the swipe. Only time will tell.
- Web Browser - Finally! Someone figures out how to make a browser for a mobile device with a small screen. The zooming and widescreen aspect make it great. And the fact that you get javascript and support for AJAX calls make the web on the mobile finally come to life.
- Multitasking! You can be on a call and surf the internet, read mail, do whatever! All at the same time!
- Real Email on a mobile device.
- Google maps - wish it had GPS though
- Auto switching from edge to wifi - this should save people money on data rates hopefully. And just the fact you don't have to look to see if you are in range of a wifi network, then switch to it, that is nice.
- GSM Quad Band - Glad Apple realizes that GSM is the world standard. And quad band is always good. Quad band (and 900 specifically) could mean they are thinking about the rest of the world and possibly unlocked phones at some point.

The Bad:
- Cingular??? This is the main one that makes me mad. Mainly because I'm not a Cingular customer, but that is for a reason. Their plans are expensive (especially their data plans) and I don't think their coverage is any better than TMobile. My other big issue with them choosing ANY provider is WHY? Why do they need backing from any provider? Why can't Apple just sell the phone unlocked from their stores? They would make plenty of money on the phones and they would possibly sell MORE of them because they aren't forcing people to switch from their current providers (or worse are stuck in a contract). I don't see what they need Cingular for at all. If anyone gets what they get from it, let me know. I do see one good thing in that they are already forcing changes in the provider (i.e. Visual Voicemail).
- Price and 2 Year Contract - Ok, I would willingly pay $599 for an iPhone, but a 2 Year contract as well? They are asking a LOT of people now...Especially for someone like me who is completely happy with their current provider and has been for years. This is one of the main reasons I might not get an iPhone...
- No 3G???? - Apple touted the iPhone as "Breakthrough Internet Device", yet they released this internet device on a non-broadband network. Sure they say they are going to upgrade the iPhone when they think 3G is ready, but guess what that means?? You get to buy a NEW iPhone! That's nice of them...
- Camera, no flash - All camera phones now a days have a flash (even if they are crappy). I would have though Apple noticed that...but looks like they didn't.
- NO JAVA??? Ok, maybe I am misunderstanding Steve, here, but in an interview with John Markoff, he says:
"Markoff: “And what are you thinking about Flash and Java?”
Jobs: “Java’s not worth building in. Nobody uses Java anymore. It’s this big heavyweight ball and chain.”
He better just be talking about in the browser and not on the desktop. I'm really interested to know if the Cocoa framework on the iPhone supports the Java bindings available on the desktop. Not that it matters...see the next bullet...
- No 3rd party developers - What happened to openness?? I think that Palm would say that they have thrived on the fact that anyone can develop software for their devices. You have a device as powerful as a computer in the palm of your hand, but you can only use it for the things that Apple says they want you to. So if you want to have an application that helps you with your home inspection business for example, you have to carry an iPhone and your trusty Palm device. If I pay $600 for a palm top computer, I want it to do the things I need. So my message to Apple, release a SDK for the iPhone (oh wait...it run OS X right? We already have the SDK...it's called Cocoa...let us use it!). They also stated that the reason they didn't want just anyone throwing apps on your phone is because of stability. But wait, I thought it ran OS X...a modern OS that has memory protection...so even if I write a really buggy app that crashes every 2 seconds, it should effect the rest of the phone right? This is why I NEVER reboot my mac, so why should I have to reboot my phone?
- OS X or not?? I'm quoting a slashdot article on this one because it didn't cross my mind in this respect. If the iPhone IS running OS X (in the darwin aspect), then Apple MUST release the source for the darwin port to the ARM the iPhone is rumored to be running. So which is it apple? OS X or not quite OS X?
- Voice recognition? Voice dialing? Voice memos? - What happened to voice dialing and the like? They released a bluetooth headset as well, so they must be thinking about handsfree, but handsfree is only possible if you don't have to touch your phone. Maybe Apple will add this before the actual release, but no one knows at this point.
- Can you change the battery yourself - Take a guess...it's just like the iPod. If your battery dies, you have to send it to Apple to get a new one. I can see it is that big of a deal with an iPod. So you are without your music for a week. Big whoop. But if you have to send your only cellphone in for a week, what are you supposed to do?? Buy a separate phone as a backup? Will your backup have all the capabilities of your iPhone (contacts, calendar, etc)? Probably not, so all you business people better think twice on that one...
- No GPS - impossible for a device that thin I know, but I can still wish right?

I think that's enough ranting for now. :)

I'd really like to thank David Pogue for being so honest and forthcoming with his information about the iPhone. He is shedding a lot of light on what the iPhone really is. Check out his Blog if you haven't.

There are a ton of articles out there now on the iPhone which I hope Apple is reading, but I really hope they are reading the COMMENTS to all those posts. I hope I'm not off base on all my comments, but I had to share my thoughts on the iPhone while the topic is still hot. Hopefully it changes something (I can wish right?).

After Little Wild Horse Canyon, we went around the back of the swell and headed to Crack Canyon. Crack Canyon is completely different than Little Wild Horse. It starts off with huge "Swiss Cheese Rock" and then goes into a few narrows. We ran into some water here as well which we had to wade through. But that is all part of the adventure!

The next day, we decided to head to Archs National Park. Before heading out of town, we headed to Crystal Geyser. Crystal Geyser is just outside of Green River, Utah. It is an active geyser, however, we didn't get to see it blow. The area is a awesome redish orange. It looks like it is slippery and soft, but it is rock hard. I loved the calcified trees.

We then headed to Arches National Park where we played tourist. We really just drove to all the takeouts, walked to the arches, took pictures and headed out. We didn't do any long walks here. We then headed to Moab for lunch. There was a Car Show in town as well, so we checked that out. After that, we headed back towards Colorado, but we decided to go over the LaSalle Mountains. The drive up there was beautiful and if I lived there, I would definately take a car club up that road! It was a fun drive. On the way back down, we headed back towards Colorado the back way and went past Dewey Bridge. This used to be a really old and scarry creeky bridge when I was a kid. Now it is all paved and pretty sturdy.

We stayed in Junction for the night and started making our way back home the next morning. We wouldn't be outdoors men if we didn't hit some more trails on our way. My Dad has always wanted to go to Rifle Falls, so that was our first detour.

Rifle Falls State Park is just outside of Rifle Colorado on the western slope. The park is only 11 miles from I70, and I'm guessing not many people have been here. You drive right up to the falls (park and walk 100 yards), but if you go for a short walk (about a mile), you will come to the fish hatchery. The cascading falls act as a natural digestive system for all that flows through there. It was so lush and pretty, it is deffinately worth the detour off I70.

Our last stop was NoName Creek which is at the West end of Glenwood Canyon. We only walked up here for about a half hour, but it was still a nice walk. We found some rare Avalance Lilies on the way back down too! So it was definately worth the stop.

To get Aerith up and running, you first need to go check out the source code. Aerith is controlled in a Subversion repository on java.net, so you will need a subversion client to check out the source. You can find one here, but I used this one for OS X because the fink version is behind...Once you have installed svn, open the Terminal and create a directory to check things out into.

# mkdir aerith.trunk
# cd aerith.trunk
# svn checkout https://aerith.dev.java.net/svn/aerith/trunk aerith --username guest

With the code checked out, launch netbeans and open the Aerith project. From here I learned of a few dependancies Aerith had:
1 - Java SE 6.0
2 - The SwingX project
3 - JOGL (I knew they were using it, but you have to get it seperately.)

So I'll tell you how to get all 3.
#1 - Java SE 6.0 - It is currently still in beta if you didn't know. If you are running Mac OS X, you can get the Java SE 6 Preview from the Apple Developer Connection. You must be a member (it's free) to download it. So go get it! Download and install it.
After you have installed it, in netbeans, go to the Tools menu and open the Java Platform Manager. Click Add Platform. It took me right to where all the versions are, but in case it didn't for you, browse to here:
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6 and select Home
You done with that
#2 - SwingX - SwingX is another java.net project that can be found here:
https://swingx.dev.java.net
You must be a java.net member to get this project, so log in and click on the Version Control - CVS link on the left. It will give you the CVS commands you need to check out swingx. I checked it out in the same directory as my aerith baseline.
After you checked that out, open that project in netbeans. This project will complain about a reference problem. Right Click on the project and go to Resolve Reference Problems. It is missing JMock. Click resolve and it will take you the Library Manager. Add a new library and call it JMock. Then add a jar to it - browse to the swingx/lib dir and select the JMock jar. SwingX should be happy now.

#3 - JOGL - This is the Java™ Binding for the OpenGL® API. It is also another java.net project! (Imagine that!) This one you can just download. Go to https://jogl.dev.java.net/ and then click on Documents and Files. Then browse to jogl-> Release Builds 2006-> JSR-231 beta 05 - June 8. Download the jogl.jar and find the jogl-natives for you platform. Mine was jogl-natives-macosx-universal.jar. Put both of these into the aerith/lib directory. Unpack the jogl-native jar into the lib directory.
Then in netbeans, Resolve Reference Problems for the aerith project. It is missing 2 jars. jogl.jar and jl1.0.jar. Click resolve and browse to the lib directory and select the one you choose to resolve. Both should be resolved now. If not, browse to the other one as well.

Now we have to tell aerith which Platform to run with. Get properties on the aerith project. Go to libraries and at the top should be the Java Platform. Select the Java 1.6.0.

And last, you have to tell the VM where your JOGL native libraries are. Still in the properties for the aerith project, go to the Run selction. In the VM Options, add the following to the very end:
-Djava.library.path=lib

You should now be set to build and run Aerith! It will launch and ask for your flickr account name. If you don't have one and just want to see it run, put mine in: serff.

Hopefully this has been useful to someone out there. Please let me know if it was!

The blog MusicThing is running an interesting interview with Andy Moorer. Mr. Moorer is the man who created the sound called Deep Note, now heard in every THX-enabled movie theatre. The interview is originally from last year, but the tech-heavy discussion is still a timeless analysis of a great sound." From the article: "The score consists of a C program of about 20,000 lines of code. The output of this program is not the sound itself, but is the sequence of parameters that drives the oscillators on the ASP. That 20,000 lines of code produce about 250,000 lines of statements of the form "set frequency of oscillator X to Y Hertz. The oscillators were not simple - they had 1-pole smoothers on both amplitude and frequency. At the beginning, they form a cluster from 200 to 400 Hz. I randomly assigned and poked the frequencies so they drifted up and down in that range.

1. You've ever ended a sentence with the word SIKE

2. You watched the Pound Puppies.

3. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Belair and can do the Carlton

4. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy.

5. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own.

6. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls.

7. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom

8. Two words: Hammer Pants

9. If you ever watched "Fraggle Rock"

10. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and spokey-dokes or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect.

11. You can sing the entire theme song to "DuckTales" (Woo ooh!)

12. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.

13. You wore a ponytail on the side of your head.

14. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen...and still know the turtles names.

15. You got super-excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer Class at school.

Click below to see the rest!

17. You played the game "MASH"(Mansion, Apartment, Shelter, House)

18. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it.

19. L.A. Gear....need I say more?

20. You wanted to change your name to "JEM" in Kindergarten.(She's Truly outrageous.)

21. You remember reading Tales of a fourth grade nothing and all The Ramona books.

22. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"

23. You wanted to be a Goonie.

24. You ever wore fluorescent clothing. (some of us...head-to-toe)

25. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted.

26. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf.

27. You took lunch boxes to school... and traded Garbage Pailkids in the schoolyard.

28. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets.

29. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence.

30. You remember Hypercolor t-shirts.

31. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band.

32. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up.

33. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets.

34. You ever owned a pair of Jelly-Shoes.

35. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"

36. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"

37. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates

38. You ever got seriously ! injured on a Slip and Slide.

39. You have ever played with a Skip-It.

40. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds.

41. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement.

42. You remember Popples.

43. Don't worry, be happy!

44. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks.

45. You wore socks scrunched down (and sometimes still do...getting yelled at by younger hip members of the family)

46. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that.

47. You remember watching both Gremlins movies.

48. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"

49. You remember watching Rainbow Bright and & My Little Pony Tales

50. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot.

51. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac.

52. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB"

53. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class.

54. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART.

55. You just sang those words to yourself.

56. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird.

57. Homemade Levi shorts.. (the shorter the better)

58. You remember when mullets were cool!

59. You had a mullet!

60. You still sing "We are the World"

61. You tight rolled your jeans.

62. You owned a banana clip.

63. You remember "Where's the Beef?"

64. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' about Willis?"

65. You had big hair and you knew how to use it.

66. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you?!?!

I can't decide how I feel about all this. One one hand, WHY would you taint your Mac by installing Windows on it?? But on the other hand, this may get many people to switch to the mac. It also gives those of us who have to support multiple platforms the chance to use just one computer. I would rather see Apple release Virtualization Software, but this is a giant step in that direction.