Microsoft Office 2011 - Cyber Monday Sale

Want to get rid of the abysmal piece of software known as Microsoft Office 2008? Amazon has Office 2011 on sale for $79.99. As 9to5 Mac points out, it's a full $10 less than it was on Black Friday.

So get clicking and pick the Office that works for you.

Office 2011 - Student Teacher Edition

Office 2011 - 3 License

Office 2011 - Business Edition

Amazon via 9to5 Mac

Apple Store Cyber Monday

So you won't find any deals on that iPad you've been eying since March (and with 2 months before an almost sure annual refresh, we don't recommend it), but you can find great deals on many peripherals.

For example, I'm partial to this find: An M-Audio, 49-key MIDI keyboard. It's designed to work with Garage Band but it does also work with most DAWs out on the market including Reason, Sonar (for you Windows people), and Logic. For $69.95 it's a steal.

So check them out and get to those stocking stuffers as there are deals to be found.

Apple Store On-line

via Gizmodo

The Art of Apple (Destroyed!)

We've seen people do some pretty stupid things to Apple products in the past, and we don't condone that sort of behavior here at The Poor Mac. In fact we're all about appreciating the elegance of the product designs and the hard work that went from concept to actual product you can buy. Hey if it's good enough for the MoMA we sure believe it.

Although rule number 1 at The Poor Mac Blog is respect the product, sometimes exceptions must be made. Michael Tompert and photographer Paul Fairchild clearly fall under the exception.

Sure critics would say, "Ooo death as objects! We've never seen this before." But it would not detract from the beauty in the photographers composition or their subjects for that matter. Click the links below for the full gallery.

Fubiz via Boing-Boing / TUAW

Mayor Michael Bloomberg & Spider-Man Team Up on iPad

In a real-life Marvel cross-over team up; Spider-Man joined forces with New York City's Mayor-for-life Michael Bloomberg to fight the City's 9.3% unemployment rate.

An eight-page comic follows an out of work Peter Parker as his job hunt starts in the City's Subway system and a chance encounter with Mayor Bloomberg at the City Hall station (we're assuming the comic stays true to its source and it was on the 4, 5, 6 or R lines).

The comic was commissioned at the request of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment to spread the word of Workforce 1 Career Centers; the City's free to the public job resource center.

As Joe Quesada, Marvel Entertainment's Editor-in-Chief, said, "Even New York's most famous superhero needs a day job."

Available as a free Marvel Comics in-app purchase on iTunes for all iOS devices.

via Reuters

The Beatles on iTunes

Well, tomorrow is here and according to the clock designated 10AM New York, we're about an hour away from the big announcement. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that today's announcement will bring The Beatles catalog to the iTunes Store, a move that will bring one of music's all-time most profitable franchises to a digital retailer for the first time ever.

The negotiations between Apple, EMI, and members of the band have been an on-going saga that seems to be coming to a close.

The truth is this would be a tepid announcement on Apple's part as more and more customers are hoping for a lot more from the world's largest music retailer (I'm looking at you Lala). It would be great to hear that Apple will allow you to stream your content to any via the cloud, offer a subscription a la Zune Pass, or even just offer iOS syncing via wifi.

Well here's hoping to something with a little more substance.

UPDATE: Engadget is reporting that The Beatles page on iTunes went live about 5 minutes ago. So ummm... yeah get there. Screen cap from Engadget below:

via The Wall Street Journal

Full disclosure: I have purchased The Beatles catalog more than once and would probably buy it on iTunes as well.

iPad 2 Ads Shot & Ready For Post Production

We knew it was coming, but now reports of an ad being shot at New York's Pier 59 by David Sims means that it's officially a matter of 'when' and not 'if.' According to 9 to 5 Mac's report, the photographer used current gen models for the shoot and the new models will be rendered in during post production.

Clearly the new iPad 2 will be of similar dimensions to the current one; goodbye rumors of a 7-inch iPad. Since we know that an iPad 2 is forthcoming, is it too early to get started on the fake iPad 2 rumors? I'm going with full Flash support and Verizon exclusivity.

via 9to5 Mac

RIP Xserve - 2002-2010

Image via TUAW.com

Oh Xserve; I only begun to know you. Actually come to think of it I must've seen you about 4 times in your short life. You were something of an enigma huh? You were there and maybe we took it for granted that you'd always be there.

Guess El Jobso was right in saying, "hardly anyone was buying [you]."

Via TUAW

The HTC HD7 Is Now Available on T-Mobile (US)

Kudos to T-Mobile and their efforts to put out more and more interesting phones. In the last quarter we've seen the release of the Samsung Galaxy S - Vibrant, the G2, the myTouch 4G, and now the first Windows Phone 7 handset on T-Mobile - the HTC HD 2.

Spec wise the HD7 is no slouch offering a 1 GHz processor, 16GB of internal storage, 5MP camera with dual LED flash, and 3.5mm headphone jack. Pretty much standard stuff for a high-end smartphone. The only issue at present seems to be if it's too little too late for Microsoft, the developers are already entrenched in iOS and Android platforms.

Still, at $199 (2-year contract)/ $500 (sans-contract) it offers up another alternative to the dinosaur (RIM), fragmentation with skins (Android), and smartphones without AT&T (iPhone).

So can Magenta make an early adopter out of you?

UPDATE: It looks like AT&T also has two Windows Phone 7 phones available today: the HTC Surround and the Samsung Focus.

Magenta Takes Aim at Apple and AT&T With MyTouch 4G

T-Mobile has a new a flagship phone, the MyTouch 4G. Yes the G2 is a blogger darling, but the truth is the MyTouch is Magenta's flagship phone. T-Mobile took off the gloves in their latest ad blasting AT&T's 3G network as the iPhone's burden. Ask any iPhone user in NYC, SF, or just about any dense city and they may just agree with it.

So is T-Mobile's myTouch and "4G" Network enough to take you away from your sexy iPhone 4.

PS - Lol @ "You can Face Time anywhere that has wifi like an airport."

ITunes Music Preview Times Now Tripled!

Image hosted at http://maci75.wordpress.com

The iTunes Store truly revolutionized the way we consume music online. Downloading your music was no longer an admission of guilt but rather a proclamation that you were the future of music sales.

Hyperbole? Not really; especially when you consider that the iTunes Store accounts for the majority of music purchases in the US. ITunes managed to do this by offering people a 30-second preview of every song in their catalog allowing you to try before you buy. Now, at least according to TechCrunch, it seems like Apple will be serving up 90-second previews for songs longer than 2-minutes and 30-seconds.

Will this mark the beginning of streaming music direct from the cloud? Probably. I just hope it comes sooner than later because I miss having my music library anywhere I went. I miss lala.

Blogging Tech

This photo is from last month's Back to the Mac Semi-Live Blog. From left: iBook G3, Powerbook G3 and Macbook (Core 2 Duo).

Is that an iPad?

Twitter user @KevlarMenace posted that very same question in response to Degree for Men's "Chain of Adventure" YouTube campaign. It looks like they made an attempt to disguise the iPad but it's probably one of the worse camo-jobs this side of a Cupertino beer garden.

Anyhoo; we'll let you decide for yourself.



Hat tip to @KevlarMenace.