… and there was one mouse to rule them all

First Impressions
As always when getting a new item, you just want to get it unwrapped and setup as soon as possible! With Apple’s new Magic Mouse it does work GREAT with their Macbook Pro series that feature bluetooth! After a quick pairing it was up and working!

The design and finish are so far top-notch. With small hands, its neither too large or annoying. Its square profile allows for lots of contact area, and it is very responsive! Its low profile allows for it to keep that wireless sophisticated look. The mouse runs off of AA batteries, which is great since they are widely available.

However, there is one small issue. If you are running “Snow Leopard”, you will need to install Apple’s wireless mouse support. This allows the custom features used in the Magic mouse. Those features are:

• Scroll with momentum
• Two finger navigation
• Circle Scrolling

You can download Apple’s wireless mouse software on there site! Click the link below to navigate there: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL950

So if there are any available at your local BEST BUY or APPLE store, pick one up! Im sure you will appreciate it! If you want more pictures, please submit a comment and I will get back to you as soon as possible!

The Canon S90 is awesome. I am not going to do a write up telling you what is great and what is not so great about the camera, as there are many more qualified reviews from people who aren’t web developers. Attached below are just a few sample pictures from my trip to the Grand Canyon in January (re-sized only).

More awesome S90 photos from Flickr Community »

My Apple Bluetooth Keyboard experienced some technical difficulties over the winter holidays. For two weeks I was coding without a V on my keyboard. I had two options. 1. Press the rubber nub. 2. Press the V on my laptop. Trivial yes, but when you are typing <div></div> many times a day, it becomes a real pita.

I bought my MacBook Pro at a great little local store in Vermont, so have not had to deal with the Apple Store too often, but as I read frequently… it tends to suck. A quick Google search on getting a single replacement key from Apple seemed unlikely. I happened to be in a mall with an Apple Store this weekend and decided to go in. *&#^$#*@(@#)()!. I dwaddled around. Played with some packaging. Tried to look like I needed help. Tons of people in blue shirts with ginormofreakinlously huge iPhones were buzzing by, but on a mission (as a person who hates people without manners, hates being interrupted, and tends to be shy, I assumed that if they looked busy, they were.) I finally pinned down someone in a blue shirt.

The “genius’” first response to my queue, “I don’t think so.” Oi! I buy an absolutely overpriced piece of battery draining metal and naturally break it, and now you are telling me I have to buy another one!?! (I didn’t actually say that.) Well, I explained what my research online returned. He actually went to a computer (Man the 27 inch iMac is sexy and I want one!!!) and researched it as well.. on Apple.com and then Google. Still nothing. Instead of being told, “Sorry…” My genius went out back to do some more research (I finally started to feel like I might get a new key!).

5 minutes FLY by when you are in an Apple store. If you like to people watch and or eavesdrop on people, this place is ripe. So many brilliant things to be heard, “Apple TV is the best!” etc. Anyway. Guy returns. “Do you have it with you?” “Yes, I always carry it with me…” “Ok, can you bring it back today?” “To this hell hole?” “I’m working tomorrow, if you bring it in, we’ll replace it.” Next day, after the similar, trying-to-look-like-i-need-help-dance, some smurf tracked down my “contact” and the transaction was completed. Total Cost: $0.00.

Not as easy as I’d have hoped. But DID YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?! I didn’t actually do anything, BUT I DID get what I wanted! Which, apparently, unless you have warranty, and the item in question has never seen moisture, you may not get! Cheers Apple of Northridge, CA!

For the longest time, I’ve been on forums with people posting beautiful and amazingly composed pictures. I’ve always wanted to be that “one” too, so last Sunday i broke down to buy a Professional (at least to me) camera. To justify it more, it will be used here on RIOTRIOT to further expand our capabilities.

I read many reviews with Nikon vs. Cannon, which never ended. It was such a tug of war which results in personal preference from experts when comparing similar model’s specs. After searching around and finding a great deal at at a local store, i took the leap and purchased the Nikon D60! (link to specs)

From the first week of using the camera, I’m really impressed. Night and day this takes phenomenal pictures. One thing that really impressed me was the low light no flash quality. Most regular point and shoots are horrible when in those situations but this is leaps and bounds in regard to that issue. Take a look at the picture below, that was taken at 11pm Wednesday night with no flash with the camera on Auto ISO setting.

Its stellar, not to mention the color quality also. This cameras CMOS brings all the colors almost perfectly. In the sun this camera is even better. I took a early morning shoot (thursday) down in Narragansett near the water and can i tell even with a dirty car the photo’s came out great! Here are some examples below!

These are all taken without a tri-pod. The lense being used is a Nikon VR 18-55mm. There are a few photo’s where i did apply a “neutral density” filter to help bring color depth and reduce intense light. Another good use for that filter is when taking photo’s of water. Sadly i only have one or two of the waves, and probably not close enough to notice a difference.

In conclusion, for a beginner DSLR user this camera rocks! Below is the items used to take the pictures above.

• Camera Body: Nikon D60
• Lense: Nikon VR 18-55mm
• Filter: Neutral Density (only on some photo’s)
• Memory Card: 4GB Extreme III (30mb/s) SDHC
• Battery: EN-EL9 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery

If your interested to see more photo’s click the link below to view Riot’s gallery!

Thanks for reading.