Apple Grrl

PC Magazine readers give Apple an over all 9.1 score on customer service. Way to go Apple!

Of course, no Windows machine comes close to Apple’s 9.1 overall score. But even Apple was down from last year in just about every category except technical support, which went up to 8.4 points. Apple’s high marks extend even into areas we don’t have room to print charts for, such as the 85 percent rating for the reliability of software included on the computer (aah, iLife), the 93 percent score for new desktops working right out of the box, and the 9 out of 10 score for the attitude of the tech-support provider. Even the Apple.com Web site gets kudos for how much information it makes available.

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An internet buddy of mine, Amy, turned me on to MacGourmet. I downloaded it, tried it, and used it so much right away that I bought it. I am in love with this inexpensive, easy to use little program! Thanks, Amy!

MacGourmet is a recipe managing software, but it goes the extra mile. It integrates with Safari and uses Mac Services to let you pull in recipes from the web as you surf (this has been my hands down favorite feature so far). It also calculates the nutritional value of your recipe if you grab the Nutrition plug in, prints out shopping lists, lets you make notes on each recipe, add photos and rank each recipe. It also lets you add wine notes and more.

I’m recently a red wine addict, so the wine notes have been fun. I also am an amateur gourmet who loves to cook and briefly owned their own catering business. I have a lot of recipes. A. Lot. The chance to organize them on my MacBook and toss the massive wooden recipe box the size of a Buick is making my honey very happy. It might take a while to get them all entered in using my spare time, but in they will go.

Amy wrote a comprehensive review of MacGourmet for Epinions, which is how I discovered this little gem of a program. I give it two thumbs up for people who want to organize their cooking life. My only complaint so far is that is does not integrate with FireFox, my browser of choice, but that is Mozilla’s issue, not MacGourmet’s. FireFox won’t accept Mac services yet for some reason.

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This is a well written piece on why Windows users are often reluctant to make the switch to Mac.

Let me say it right off the bat: Macs running OS X give the best computing experience on the planet. It’s not that Macs are perfect, but compared to everything else, there is nothing like the Mac experience. With that in mind, it’s difficult for many Mac users to comprehend why there are so many Windows users suffering needlessly by running a Windows system. That’s where I come in.

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It seems Mac is taking steps to make its PDF and image viewer, Preview, into a fully integrated image editor with Preview 3.0. The 3.0 version of Preview will be released with Leopard, and includes many more features than its previous incarnations.

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today’s news flash: Apple has updated iLife 08, including iMovie. Get started on the update by grabbing the file at the Apple site here.

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I got a bit busy this week, as I mentioned over on Smoke Rings. That means I missed some excellent Apple news for you. By way of apology for tripping over my own deadlines this week, here is a quick recap of some of the highlights:

• MacWorld has opened registration for the the big MacWorld 2008 event and exhibition. Even better, for a limited time you can enter the code below at this site and get into the exhibit hall portion of the show for free. Yes, FREE. I wish I still lived in Santa Barbara - I’d so be there! (Use Priority Code: 08-E-VF01 to get the Exhibit Hall passes for free until October 5th.)
• This is a nice look at the man behind the beautiful designs of the iMac, iPod and iPhone, Jonathan Ive.
• The drummer from the Ramones, unable to resurrect his career legitimately, has decided to make some money by suing Apple and a host of others over use of his music. Git.
• This site tells you how to stream movies to your iPhone from iTunes. Awesome.
• Apple asks its workers to cancel holiday plans between Turkey Day and Xmas this year. The plan seems to be to release the new line of slim MacBooks,, and that coupled with new iPod options and other innovations may make this holiday season quite busy for Apple.
• Steve Jobs was subpoenaed by the SEC in the back dating case.

Have a great rest of your weekend! Can’t wait to see what Apple news and rumor abounds in the coming week.

You can also read my work today at Profy (NovelMaker, Mog vs LastFM), The Writer’s Well, and Smoke Rings. Enjoy!

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Apple has released the fine print of the $100 iPhone credit. (SecretNotes)

Apple has released a software update for iMacs that fixes a few glitches. (Apple)

Marketers dissect Apple’s strategy for loyal customers. (CRM)

PC Magazine plays with the new iPod Touch. (PC Mag)

MacWorld talks about user driven news versus media conglomerate driven news. (MacWorld)

Learn to create Keynote slides for a series of images. (MacWorld)

Is Apple breaking into the movie rental business on iTunes? (Money)

Undercover security application recovers 4 MacBooks. (MacNN)

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Nothing to do with Apple, but I thought you’d like the geeky goodness nonetheless. Thanks, JP!

PC Magazine’s Take On The Top 100 Undiscovered Web Sites