Like many, I started on Apple computers back in the mid 80's. But since you must experience pain and sorrow to truly know joy, I did my requisite years on the Windows platform before finding myself and my happiness again with Apple's OS X. I had one of the very first 17" PowerBooks out of our local Apple store and have never looked back.
Not long after submerging myself back into the world of Apple, I began writing here at TheAppleBlog. I love to write and talk about Apple, so it was a perfect fit. I relish the chance to educate others and geek-out, so please feel free to ask questions. I thoroughly enjoy lively comment threads on my posts, so please sound off!
When I'm not writing here, I'm serving as the world's greatest dad to 3 kids, making my lovely wife fall in love with me each day, playing with Legos, checking someone at the hockey rink, traveling Colorado to make great photographs, or paying the bills as a Cisco Network Engineering consultant. And other stuff.
Check out my personal home on the web at http://nicksantilli.com or follow my random stream of consciousness on Twitter @nucof.
A few days ago, Charles pointed out the great FusionAds Holiday Bundle deal on software for your Mac. If web design isn’t your bag, here are a few other Mac software bundles available right now that you may be interested in checking out. Read more »
The days of AT&T’s all you can eat data plans are dead and gone. Now, your options for data on the iPhone are 200MB or 2GB of data per month. Regardless of which plan you’re on, keeping track of usage is useful. Enter DataMan. Read more »
OS X includes a great tool called Automator, which makes it really easy to take the sting out of repetitive tasks. Recently, I ran into a situation where I had to combine a bunch of PDF files into one. Luckily, Automator makes it dead simple. Read more »
What was once Quicksilver would provide the basis for Google Quick Search Box. With both a community-supported version of Quicksilver that runs smoothly on OS X 10.6, as well as the Google-backed Quick Search Box, which is the better choice for daily use? Read more »
If Apple isn’t enough of a religion for you, there are plenty of iPad apps out there to cover most other religions to which you may subscribe. The iPad’s versatility — coupled with developer ingenuity — means there are many different ways to engage. Read more »
Apple’s free case program is in full effect now. But if you’re the type that wants to enjoy your iPhone 4′s beauty in the raw — and still avoid the death grip — there are solutions available other than bulky cases. Read more »
In April, Apple saw the money to be had in targeted advertising, and announced it would take an ownership role for ads running on its mobile platform by creating iAd. However, marketers don’t seem to be finding the process of working with Apple very easy. Read more »
This morning, as is part of my ritual when waking up, I checked for app updates on both my iPhone and iPad. When doing so on the iPad, I noticed that the Genius feature had been released sometime while I slept. Read more »
Despite storage becoming so cheap, it is still a good practice to keep tabs on your hard drive’s capacity. I’ll help you to arm yourself with the tools to figure out where that space is going, and how to maintain and protect it in the future. Read more »
Whether you like to show off your media on your mobile iDevice, or at home on the computer or high-def TV, the same conundrum can occur: how do you store and organize all this great stuff so it’s easily accessible in one place all the time? Read more »
The TV-on-the-web service, Hulu, is now offering a free iPhone & iPad app for Hulu Plus, its recently launched subscription service (currently in private beta). Though the service itself is in private beta, the iPhone/iPad app is available right now for download. Read more »
By now, a lot folks with an iPhone have been running iOS 4, the new name for iPhone OS. But if Apple has seen the point in renaming the OS, at what point will it admit that iTunes is horribly named at this point in time? Read more »
Several of us here at TheAppleBlog have gotten our sweaty mitts on the new iPhone 4, and have had a chance to jot down some impressions after a few days. Perhaps you’ll find the following helpful in making the decision to purchase Apple’s new mobile phone. Read more »
Well our day to preorder the iPhone 4 has come. However, for the majority of people, the process has ended prematurely as the AT&T verification service bombs out. This has been frustrating (to say the least) to many potential, and renewing customers. Read more »
Today Steve Jobs unveiled the fourth iteration of the beloved iPhone, dubbed, iPhone 4. It was, of course, the device that we’ve seen leaked in recent weeks, but there’s a lot more to this new phone than meets the eye. Read more »
Taking screen captures in OS X is pretty simple and powerful. Today I’ll explain how to use the built-in screen capture functionality, the included application Grab, and a couple of third-party options that offer extra functionality. Read more »
It appears — originally based off a tweet from Robert Scoble, and then confirmed by Business Insider — that Apple has made yet another acquisition: the company who makes the Siri application for iPhone Read more »
While the iPad has been flying off shelves for almost two weeks now, its Wi-Fi has caused some headlines of its own. Now the news comes of Israel blocking the entry of iPads into the country over concerns of the wireless transmitters being too strong. Read more »
The iPad comes out tomorrow all around the U.S. If you find yourself needing to wait in line to try to snag one, then you should be ready. I’ve got a few tips for what it may be like and how to show up prepared. Read more »
If you’ve ever Control-clicked (also known as ‘right click’) a file, you’ve seen a listing of actions presented to you that can be carried out on that file. This menu is called a contextual menu, but that’s not the point of this exercise. What is the […] Read more »
So Aperture 3 is finally out. The trial has been an absolute dream to play with. It doesn’t upgrade your existing Aperture 2 library, so you need to test it on newly imported images. However, for those who immediately bit the bullet and upgraded with a […] Read more »
A month ago I vented about Aperture 2′s stagnation, and many of you rallied along with me. Well everyone can stow their torches and pitchforks — Aperture 3 has finally been released today by Apple. With over 200 new features, the latest version of Apple’s professional […] Read more »
Here at TheAppleBlog, there’s been plenty of instruction and discussion about using Smart Folders, Playlists, Albums and so on, as well as Automator and Folder Actions and other products like Hazel — all of which serve to make your Mac work a little harder to simplify […] Read more »
Apple plays the media game as well as anyone. There’s a rigorous cat and mouse game of filing patents, trademarks, and domain registrations, fake images, rumors, leaks, and misspoken (or are they?) comments in public forums. Each of these manage to whip the public into a […] Read more »
While the iPad will run all current iPhone and iPod touch applications (either in 1x or 2x sizes), the newest SDK (available today) supports iPad specific development. Below are a handful of apps from developers who were given a head start of about two weeks to […] Read more »
Looking dapper in jeans and a black mock turtle-neck, Steve Jobs took the stage today and officially introduced his iPad to the world. As we’ve been seeing and hearing from so many rumors as of late, it appears as if the iPhone got the super-size treatment, […] Read more »
Once a tool employed mainly by hardcore users, GeekTool seemed to begin exploding across OS X desktops in 2009. But despite its widening usage, many still are unfamiliar with this fantastic utility (you’ve probably seen it, and not even realized) or just don’t know how to […] Read more »
For those of you looking for a different desktop experience, BumpTop Mac is now available for public consumption. Almost four years ago we got a glimpse of the BumpTop prototype, and the application of physics to desktop-based files looked great. Since then, the Windows version has […] Read more »
Have you heard about AT&T’s A-List? (In my circle of acquaintances, surprisingly few have.) Similar to other carriers, AT&T now offers five to 10 (depending on your rate plan) numbers that are free of charge. If you combine this with a Google Voice account, you can […] Read more »
Through the past three quarters, Aperture users (like myself) have only seen two updates to the pro-level photo processing and organization application from Apple — and those have really only been stability type releases. About a year ago we saw Aperture’s consumer-level sibling get places and […] Read more »
Many readers are likely familiar with the Getting Things Done craze of the past few years. This task oriented methodology has spawned a system for managing the chore that is email, with battle-cries of “Inbox Zero!” resounding around the Internet. While I’m not exactly an “inbox […] Read more »
The good folks at Econ Technologies recently began offering some of its software for free, in order to allow it the time to focus on its flagship products. Earlier this week, Portraits & Prints, ImageCaster, and DayChaser specifically, went from paid software to freeware. Recognizing the […] Read more »
Over a year ago I had the pleasure of profiling David Barnard’s App Cubby and their growing selection of iPhone applications. David’s attention to detail and the feedback of his many customers has allowed him to grow Gas Cubby into a great app for tracking your […] Read more »
I love having the luxury of video capture on my iPhone 3GS, because it’s available to me anytime I need it. The only problem is, it’s either video or photo capture, so I’m potentially out of luck if I captured one and decidedly would have rather […] Read more »
I’m sorta picky about what I put in my Menu Bar. It probably stems from my MacBook’s 13″ screen turning pixels into a premium. Whatever the case, I audit the icons that are displayed there on a regular basis. If this sounds remotely familiar, the following […] Read more »
In the ever leap-frogging world of desktop virtualization for the Mac, VMware has announced that it will make its next hop (I won’t venture to say who’s ahead at this juncture) by the end of October…or the 27th, if you go by its blog. So in […] Read more »
Just as BumpTop 3D is coming into its own on the Windows platform (Multi-Touch support in 7), a private Mac alpha is being circulated. It’s in Alpha for a reason too, because in its current state, it does little more than look like its Windows counterpart. […] Read more »
Years ago — even before Getting Things Done was all the rave — a powerful note-taking application named Notational Velocity, was all the rage. And then it lay nearly dormant. For years. But just a couple nights ago I received a fantastic email notifying me of […] Read more »
From what I’ve been reading on support forums, some users of Quicksilver saw no affect from upgrading their machines to Snow Leopard. I however, was not one of those people. And although I am warming more and more to Google Quick Search Box, I still supplement […] Read more »
What happens when a bunch of really smart and musically inclined PhDs who make iPhone apps team up with a popular hip-hop recording artist? You get a recording studio-quality, karaoke-style machine in your pocket, otherwise called I Am T-Pain ($2.99). It’s the latest in a string […] Read more »
