The Need Mac Help Blog » Cultural Blah Blah http://needmachelp.com/blog Your source for information about Mac support and our digital lives in general. Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:08:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 No more free New York Times on the web http://needmachelp.com/blog/2011/03/17/no-more-free-new-york-times-on-the-web/ http://needmachelp.com/blog/2011/03/17/no-more-free-new-york-times-on-the-web/#comments Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:29:34 +0000 sara http://needmachelp.com/blog/?p=912 I guess it was inevitable.  Beginning March 28, readers of the online version of The New York Times will be able to read 20 articles a month without charge, BUT as soon as they click on the 21st article, they will have to buy one of three packages in order to continue.

The 3 packages are: $15 every four weeks for access to the website and a mobile phone app, $20 for Web access and an iPad app or $35 for the all-access plan.

Subscribers who get home delivery of The New York Times will have free and unlimited access to the online edition of the Times.

For more info, read the report in The New York Times (while it’s still free).

]]> http://needmachelp.com/blog/2011/03/17/no-more-free-new-york-times-on-the-web/feed/ 0 Diaspora* – A Social Network Alternative to Facebook http://needmachelp.com/blog/2010/05/27/diaspora-a-social-network-alternative-to-facebook/ http://needmachelp.com/blog/2010/05/27/diaspora-a-social-network-alternative-to-facebook/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 15:44:47 +0000 sara http://needmachelp.com/blog/?p=571 This might be what a lot of us have been searching for: Diaspora*, which is being designed to be a “personally controlled, do-it-all, distributed open-source social network.”  Developed by four students at NYU’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Diaspora* is a social network built on privacy. Essentially, Diaspora* is software that will enable users to set up their own personal servers, called “seeds,” create their own hubs and have full control over the information they choose to share amongst friends.

The project has gained a good deal of support.  The team behind Diaspora* launched a funding campaign on Kickstarter to help them achieve their plan of being able to work non-stop for the next 3 months so that the software can be released by end of summer.  The initial goal was to receive at least $10,000 by June 1st.  As of today, they are fully funded at $189,797.

I’m excited to see how this pans out and will be following the team’s progress this summer.

]]> http://needmachelp.com/blog/2010/05/27/diaspora-a-social-network-alternative-to-facebook/feed/ 0 Apple’s next iPhone found in a bar in Redwood City? http://needmachelp.com/blog/2010/04/19/apples-next-iphone-found-in-a-bar-in-redwood-city/ http://needmachelp.com/blog/2010/04/19/apples-next-iphone-found-in-a-bar-in-redwood-city/#comments Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:03:24 +0000 sara http://needmachelp.com/blog/2010/04/19/apples-next-iphone-found-in-a/ Apple’s next iPhone found in a bar in Redwood City? For real? Take a look here: http://bit.ly/bVN5Ma (via @Gizmodo)

]]> http://needmachelp.com/blog/2010/04/19/apples-next-iphone-found-in-a-bar-in-redwood-city/feed/ 0 The Simpsons’ parody of the Apple Store http://needmachelp.com/blog/2008/12/01/the-simpsons-parody-of-the-apple-store/ http://needmachelp.com/blog/2008/12/01/the-simpsons-parody-of-the-apple-store/#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:30:10 +0000 sara http://needmachelp.com/blog/?p=61 For those of you who missed last night’s episode of The Simpsons, enjoy!

]]> http://needmachelp.com/blog/2008/12/01/the-simpsons-parody-of-the-apple-store/feed/ 0 Cliff Bleszinksi Profile in The New Yorker http://needmachelp.com/blog/2008/12/01/cliff-bleszinksi-profile-in-the-new-yorker/ http://needmachelp.com/blog/2008/12/01/cliff-bleszinksi-profile-in-the-new-yorker/#comments Mon, 01 Dec 2008 19:19:05 +0000 sara http://needmachelp.com/blog/?p=25 In times of recession, entertainment is one area of the economy that usually doesn’t suffer as much as others.  I read an article in the New York Times a couple of weeks ago, however, that the major movie studios and DVD distributors have reported that DVD purchases are down.  Interestingly enough, video games sales have been increasing since October.

Last month The New Yorker published a really interesting profile of Cliff Bleszinkski, the Creative Director of Epic Games.  Epic produces Gears of War, one of the most complex and most popular video games on the market.  When Gears 2 was released last month, it sold over 2 million units in the first weekend.

Now that Christmas shopping is officially in full swing, I am curious to see how many of our clients pick up a new video game console, and whether it will be a PlayStation, Xbox 360 or Wii.

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