National holidays for iCal

Do you use iCal and miss national holidays? Here's an easy way to quickly import them all.

Sending from Gmail on an iPhone or iPad from a different (masked) address

From the "No Idea Why This Took Me So Long To Seek Out" Department: the modernerd solves it quick, simple, and elegant HERE.

Pandora streaming?

Have an Airport Express and want to stream your Pandora music wirelessly? Check out AirFoil & PandoraJam.

A few good apps

We've been accepting all major credit cards with Square - the innovative free app/card reader from the folks behind Twitter, and it's been working great. Also addicted to classic gaming with Frogger and Atari's Greatest Hits; and (finally) the updated Google Voice app interface.

Chubby to Chiseled

I'd like to introduce to a friend of mine, Bernard Katz, who's recently received his certification as a personal trainer, and offers sessions at the Hollywood YMCA or will meet at your gym. He is an amazing, inspiring person, and an incredible trainer.  Call Bernie at Chubby to Chiseled: 323.719.2273 or email him here.

Boomerang brings scheduled sending to Gmail

The wonderful folks at Boomerang have developed something for which many Gmail users have been waiting: an extension allowing users to schedule the sending (and receiving) of messages. Need to ‘send later’? Wish that email you just received would be at the top of your inbox right at 9am on Monday morning instead of on Saturday at 6pm? Boomerang makes it happen. We love this feature, and think it's amazing a third party beat the Labs gang to it.

AT&T vs Verizon iPhone : our two cents

Considering a switch from AT&T to Verizon's iPhone? We just made the jump, and if so you'll definitely want to check out Gazelle, they buyback used technology (and paid over $350 for a used AT&T iPhone4). As for Verizon iPhone service? Well, VZW does have reception almost everywhere in LA and rarely drops calls, but MMS/picture messages often fail or take 2-3 attempts, and there's no removable SIM card if you are an international traveller (not to mention the current inability to  simultaneously handle data & phone usage).

Full museum navigation

Google has taken a landmark first step in moving 'street view' indoors with ArtProject, which makes the first wave of many artworks as accessible as books. Thanks to Slate's Cultural Gabfest for the story.

new iMac line - perfect timing

A few weeks ago the good folks at the elliptical swItchthInk blog told us about the new line of iMacs coming soon, and an Apple press release this morning confirmed that they're now shipping.


We are due for a desktop upgrade. The 4+ year-old white iMac on which this post is being composed has a GPU that's often overheating (and that's after cranking the fans with smcFanControl). The display gets all stretched out with wonky 8-bit geometrical shapes and weird gooey bends and reminds this viewer of the freakout boat scene from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Fun, but annoying when you're trying to work. And its audio input and output jacks are very touchy.