In a move that surprised no one, Apple finally officially launched the replacement to their iBook today – the MacBook:

Core Duo, iSight, Front Row with remote, and all the goodies that you’d expect. The screen is a 13.3″ widescreen 1200×800 unit, and it’s thinner than the old iBook. Available in white or black, which is awesome. A black MacBook would perfectly match all of the other black gadgets I have (iPod, PSP, X41 Tablet, Dell 2005FPW LCD, etc.). Starting price is $1099 for a 1.83 GHz system with 512 MB RAM.

Will I be getting one? We’ll see. They’re definitely nice systems, and easy to recommend, but I think if I end up with an Apple laptop, I’d want it to be the MacBook Pro, mainly for it’s more powerful 3D graphics capabilities (I’m starting to dabble more and more in Second Life, and the integrated graphics on my Mac mini and X41 Tablet just aren’t cutting it – the same graphics chipset on these new MacBooks).

What do you think?

My favorite T.C., originally uploaded by tesla1000.

The people who read and submit stuff to Make Magazine do some really cool things.

Like Flickr user tesla1000, and his set of photos of Tesla Coils. I’m not sure what his background is, or why he gets to have all the fun, but I want one of these in my driveway, if only to attract questions from the neighbors. 🙂

Skype just keeps delivering the hits. Now, you can make free SkypeOut calls (from Skype on your computer to any landline or cell phone) to the U.S. and Canada for free (at least until the end of this year). See here for the details.

SkypeOut was a very useful tool before, and very affordable. Calls ended up costing something like 1.7 cents a minute in the U.S., and calls to toll free numbers were already free. Now, everything in the U.S. and Canada is free. Sweet. 🙂

I’ve been using SkypeOut more and more for work-related stuff – so many of my meetings take place on the phone, since Intel people are scattered around the world. I didn’t mind paying the cheap rates, but now that it’s free, it’s going to be even easier to evangelize Skype to my friends and coworkers.

Relaxing, originally uploaded by JoshB.

By the window, reading feeds on my Tablet PC.

Thanks to my friend g11-troll@gmail.com for pointing out the obvious fact that I need to go on a diet. 😉

Make 06, originally uploaded by JoshB.

What I'll be doing tonight.

Away From Keyboard, originally uploaded by JoshB.

Spotted on a Miata on the way home from work today. (For anyone who doesn’t know, “AFK” is short for Away From Keyboard”, and is used in online games and IM.)

Also, look close, and you’ll see the license plate frame says “and the geek shall inherit the earth.: 🙂

Skype just launched a service that lets you get a professional quality translator (choose from 150 languages) into a Skype call for only $2.99 a minute (pay with SkypeOut credit). They claim you can get a translator into the call within 45 seconds.

Cool idea. Too spendy to play around with, but probably dirt cheap compared to alternatives if you really need the service.

Now, I’ll be really interested when they can pull this off with software, in real time, for free. 🙂

I haven’t had a single response to the first Domain Name Giveaway I posted, for whiteonorange.com.

Maybe nobody is really interested, and it’s not as clever a name as I thought it was. 😉

Anyway, if you’re interested in the domain, post a comment telling me what you’d use it for, and it’s yours. I’ll check the comments at the end of the week, and pick a winner, but as of now, your odds of snagging it are pretty high. 🙂

My Nintendo DS Games, originally uploaded by JoshB.

Man, I’ve managed to accumulate 8 Nintendo DS games already? How did that happen?! 😉

Check out the sweet (hah!) Altoids Sour Chewing Gum tin that I’m using as a case for the games. It fits all 8 of them perfectly – it’s great, and cost me like a buck.

Starting at the top left, the games are Mario Kart DS, Animal Crossing Wild World, Electroplankton, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, Brain Age, Nintendogs (Lab), and Tetris DS.

Of all of those, Tetris DS definitely gets the most play time. It’s like crack to my brain and my fingers. 🙂

Heard an NPR Morning Edition story on Rocketboom on the way to work this morning. A good summary of the show, and a nice interview with Amanda.

Way to go Amanda and Andrew! 🙂