EXCLUSIVE: UNBOXING PICTURES AND VIDEOS OF THE MACBOOK AIR

My First Reactions

1. I want This

My Second Reaction

2. I Want this now

My First level review

It's amazing how tiny and thin this machine is and it does not loose power, getting instant on has been a craze for me for a very long time, ever since I got my iPad earlier this year, i Wanted to work with machines that boot up the moment you press a button. The Macbook Air works like that.

I also would have loved to have an Ethernet port, especially when you are working on a Gigabit network, but then this is too little to ask for, the portability on this machine does not make you miss the Ethernet port. Here I opened and used a 13" Model, but would personally like to own an 11" model only, mine are on it's way and another few days we can do the unboxing and pictures of the 11" plus a dedicated review.

I did not like the fact that the keyboard does not have a backlight, I some how have fallen in love with the Backlight on the MacBooks and the Macbook pro's, so am a little disappointed.

The speakers work fine on this machine and we also tried playing some stuff off garageband as you will see in the Video, the machine works cool and looks cool, now in a few days, will give you comments on the Battery time and if I feel the machine is too slow or the missing hard drive is giving me trouble, for now, this is one Amazing Machine.

Steve Jobs, Shine the Light on me. Thank you @maninderpals for sharing the machine with me the moment it Landed in India.

So here is my flickr pool of unboxing

www.flickr.com gagandeepsapra's MacBook Air 2010 photoset

G

Remember Bobby Mc Ferrin: The Power of Pentatonic Scale

Remember Bobby McFerrin, of the Famous, Don't worry Be Happy Song. All of us thought he has disappeared, but his sudden appearance at the World Science Festival 2009, showing how Science and the Pentatonic Scale can be used to teach music to anyone, is a wonderful presentation, this Presentation should also get featured on Presentation Zen in some days, but for now, here is the wonderful video, Trust me the second part is awsome.

World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale from World Science Festival on Vimeo.

Electric Auto Spotted in Bangladesh

Electric vehicles are making inroads but are very expensive, this Jugaad, in Bangladesh was spotted by Shawn

Here is the Video

Smart Power Outlets - Now Why did no one else think of it

Electrical Fire, a very common thing that happens across the globe, what was meant to be a single outlet to connect a TV or a Bed Side Lamp, has become an extension cord, and has Cell phone chargers, Mosquitto Repellers, Laptops, and yes, the Bed Side lamps plugged into it, and chances are, that your outlet may soon burn down, or spark, and worst comes to worst, cause an electric fire.

While going through TED, I came across this brilliant talk / presentation by John La Grou, an Inventor, Designer, and Entrepreneur.

Now I Wonder, why the **** did no one else think of this ?

John La Grou unveils an ingenious new technology that will smarten up the electrical outlets in our homes, using microprocessors and RFID tags. The invention, Safeplug, promises to prevent deadly accidents like house fires -- and to conserve energy.

How to Grow Air - Mr. Kamal Meattle

I have always looked up to Mr. Kamal Meattle and the object of making green homes / green offices is very close to me. He has done some wonderful work with the Nehru Place Greens, and his continued research has helped me with my work of turning things Green in a lot of manner.

I had a chance to meet him in person, and pick his brains, sometime back, and he was courteous enough to not only help me with my ideas, but also spend a full hour explaning things, where I was going wrong.

I just got to know about his talk on TED, and I thought I must paste it. Though this is not one of the finest ways of projecting data, but he is good with his work, and if you think you want to grow air, he will teach you how to, in the next 4 minutes.

Where there is a Will, there is a Way - Home Made Windmill

I have always believed in the addage, where there is a will, there is a way, and you may call it Jugaad, or you may call it, putting together things because you have the need. The following video of Willian Kamkwamba, from Malawi, shows how he adapted a Windmill concept, using a Cycle, to Generate Power, to light up 4 Bulbs and 2 Radios in his Home.. This is one of the Jawdropping Videos from Ted

Can Electric Vehicles be a Commercial Reality - Another Ted Talk

Whenever I have spoken about / written about Electric Vehicles, or anything Electric Powered, people have looked at me and wondered, why am I so crazy about alternative fuels, and why I have a strong belief that the world will run on Solar Powered Electricity in the future, that seems to be the only way to reduce our carbon footprint.

Anyway, while my usual browsing through TED, I came across the above talk by Shai Agassi, who has just recenlty setup a company called Better Place, and if you are thinking, or if you don't believe the world is changing, and we will now soon be running Electric Cars, you must see this presentation.

More Later, till I think, how can I send this to Mr. Ratan Tata ?

G

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT - NEW BAND CALLED SMOKE

While catching up on my daily dose of Music, I saw this video in the morning on one of the channels, a Band Called Smoke Signals, has Kailash Kher, who I absolutely love, singing with them. The Song is titled Summer Time Rocks

To know more about the Band visit their page at Blue Frog, the Independent Label they have their album out on.

Always believed Independent Music and Labels will be able to change the whole crap that bollywood has been feeding us with for all these years.. Rahman Sahib, think you are going to meet your match soon with these kids.

Great work guys.. Would love to see you live one day.

G

The Sixth Sense - Wearable Computing

Indian news papers for the last 2 - 3 days have been full of the news on how Pranav Mistry is making waves with Sixth Sense. In case you have also read the news, or are interested in reading more, read on

Computers are a great asset, but they were not designed for out of the box interactivity. Over the last few years computers have become friendlier, even for a child, but you still need to learn how to use it, the interactivity is limited through the use of a keyboard and a mouse, and you need to know what these are. You just can't put a computer in the hand of a person who has never used it, and expected them to use it. This is the biggest challenge that all of us tech geeks must solve, there is a huge movement already there to solve this.

A few days back, in a post What if computers were as simple as blocks, I shared with you the work David Merill is doing, going forward Pranav Mistry's work is another break through.

Keeping in mind that these kids managed to what is very simple, but yet no one did it before, and all by spending just 350$ on the hardware, the cost of software and implementation is separate.

It has it's wow factor, so even if you are not interested in technology, and landed here, just while browsing this massive Internet, click on the video below and spend the next 5 minutes, seeing what is possible.



For those of you wondering, how this works.

Pranav has used a Web Camera to capture what he is seein'g, a Mirror Based Projector to project the images that you see, and 4 colored finger tips (also he is seen using nail paint) to identify where his fingers move. Think about it, Simple, yet wonderful. WOW

Non Tech: Why God Made Moms

A few days ago, I was a part of a Mail Trail about the subject, Why God Made Moms. I chose to reply back to the sender alone, due to the sensitive nature of the email, but Harpreet sent out a mail, which touched all of us. Her mail is replicated at the end of this posting.

A video was then returned to the whole mail trail, which is brilliant, worth a standing ovation, so here goes, WHY GOD MADE Moms



BTW, are you still grounded ?

Everybody thinks that their moms boss over them too much, nag too much,
fight too much.. but they are the best things that ever happened to a
person. only a mom can give total unconditional love even if you are the

worse possible daughter. LOVE U MOM..hope u know that :-)

G

What If - Computers Were as Simple as Blocks

The value of unlearning is very big. A concept introduced to me by a great friend of mine, and it has helped me progress, as my friend said, the importance is not to learn, but to unlearn. Our lives have become complicated with things around us, technology, cultures, television, media, all trying to teach us something, making it more and more complex. Any technology that makes life simpler, and easier, is something that I welcome with open Arms. This year at TED, David Merrill presented a Talk on Siftables (tiny blocks of computers, that interact with each other). Though in very early stages of development, but this talk will show you endless possibilities that you can think about.

David's presentation is just 7 minutes 9 seconds, and uses both videos, stills and talk to deliver a message, that makes you think. A Must Watch



Want More details, check out www.siftables.com.

PS: You can't buy them right now, I know, I also want them.