>>>Share
YOUR OPINIONS, RANTS & RAVES
Influenced by the Influencers
Usually your magazine causes me to run out and pick up
the latest hot product or software, but I’m happy to report
Jonathan Twingley’s Steadman-esque illustrations in “Top 10
Apple Influencers 2009” for the December 2008 issue have
actually caused me to put down my MacBook and revisit
Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Bravo.
—Seth Odell
> Yes, we wholeheartedly tip our hats to Mr. Twingley. And we
hope our journey to the heart of the American dream wasn’t
quite as savage as Thompson’s.—DXZsC`]\
Future Influencers
I’m pretty much a daily reader of your site,
so I wanted to share this with you. With all
the emerging technology that is leading
the way to direct brain-machine interfaces,
I got to thinking what an Apple computer
might look like in the future. For my own
amusement I created graphics for an Apple-
branded neural implant that I dubbed the
“i Think.” This may fascinate some people
and terrify others, but it is a glimpse into
where technology may be leading us.
—Paul Micarelli
> Thanks for sharing your concept art
(pictured right). We came up with our
own ideas on what may be coming down
Apple’s pike. Check out our fauxtotypes
in “The Future of Apple Design” (Jan/08,
p22) or online at www.maclife.com/
article/feature/future_apple_design.
—DXZ|C`]\
Office 2008 File-Compatibility Woes
In the Ask section of your December 2008
edition, you mentioned various options for
people who are unable to open files created
using the new file format in Office 2008
for the Mac and Office 2007 for Windows.
Another option worth mentioning is Open
Office, the free, open-source alternative to
Microsoft Office: http://www.openoffice
.org. Until recently, I’ve avoided using Open
Office because of various limitations. (For
a long time, the OS X version required X11,
a Unix windowing environment that was
significantly less user-friendly than the Mac’s
WRITE TO US: Mac|Life, 4000 Shoreline Ct, Suite
400, South San Francisco, CA 94080 or letters@
maclife.com
FOR SUBSCRIPTION QUERIES: Call toll-free
888-771-6222
555(' M|L FEB•09 www.maclife.com
standard Aqua interface.) Recently, however,
they released Open Office 3.0, which now
runs in Aqua. I tried it out after I received
some files in the new MS Word format that
I was unable to open in my old version of
MS Office. To my delight, Open Office 3.0
not only handles the new file format, but is
more user-friendly, stable, and responsive
than the for-pay version from Microsoft. I
hope Mac|Life will do a full test and review of
Open Office.—Sheldon Rampton
>Great tip! We, admittedly, haven’t
given Open Office 3.0 a whirl yet, but
we covered its predecessor in our March
2008 issue (“A Penny for Your
Apps?” p45). Might be time for
another look!—DXZ|C`]\
and would love to use my 2G iPod touch to
record rehearsals, but will need something a
little more “beefy” than the headphone mic
Apple is producing. What are the chances
you know of a good sub-$75 accessory that
works well with the 2G and some of the new
recording apps? Thanks, and keep up the
great work!—Matthew Udland
>We haven’t reviewed anything
specifically for the touch/iPhone, but we
would guess that any mic with the proper
adapter should work. (And see p70 for
our reviews of audio-recorder apps for
the iPhone and touch.)—DXZ|C`]\
Zapping Your ZIP Files
In the “Deleting Your ZIP Files” question
in your Ask section (Dec/08, p110), you
direct readers to a hidden application
called Archive Utility, located at /
System/Library/CoreServices. I looked
for it, and it’s not there. Spotlight can’t
find it either. I’m running OS X.4 .11. Did
you fail to mention that Archive Utility is
only in OS X. 5.x?—Paul W. Palm
>Sorry, Paul. You’re right. This utility
was called “BOMArchiveHelper” in
OS 10.4... located in the same folder
on your Mac.—DXZ|C`]\
PHOTO OF THE MONTH
Paul Micarelli is a man after our own hearts.
His concept designs for the future of Apple
computing are mind-bending.
Submit your images for Photo of the Month to leters@maclife.com.
Photos will be chosen based on creatve use of the Apple or Mac|Life
logo, creatve modificaton of an Apple or Mac-related product, or
some interestng and unique situaton or use of an Apple or related
item. If we run your photo, we’ll send you a free Mac|Life T-shirt!
Recording on Your iPod
touch 2G
I’m new to the Mac|Life world, and I am
very impressed with your reviews! I’d
love to see the Editors’ Choice section
get some updates and include some
more products. Do you have any
information on a decent microphone on
its way to the market? I’m a musician
