Introducing the new iTunes with Ping. Apple is finally entering the social network arena with a niche service all for music, all built-in using iTunes. My first impression:

• Mainly inspired by Zune Network and Last.FM
• Apple dropped a hint on the upcoming iOS 10.7 GUI by making the traffic lights button aligned vertically?
• Muted icons on the left sidebar
• I don’t like the new checkbox input, is this the next version of Aqua?
• Taken cues from the iTunes player in iPad
• Apparently, Ping is only available on few markets as of launch: US, UK, and etc. you’ll get an annoying error (I can’t believe Apple is still showing this machine only error codes!)

With the media event yesterday, Apple did some subtle changes to its website too. You’ll notice that they added a noise texture with gradient effect on the background, and their rounded corners seems to be trimmed down from 7px to 5px radius. Who knows what’s upcoming? One thing is certain though, iTunes GUI is usually related to the next update on OSX, iTunes 9 gave a hint about the GUI in Snow Leopard.

Now, enough. Here’s the direct download link to iTunes 10.

Man this is just entertaining. Haven’t read comics in a while so catching up something web related is sure interesting. So this comic depicts how Reddit invaded Digg all in epic colored comic strips. The funny thing here is that, it somehow predicted the invasion months before the new Digg site is unveiled to the public. Check it out!

BTW found it via Twitter.

Along with a mobile desktop, I also got myself a NorthFace Borealis backpack, and a Logitech V550 Nano. Next in the list would be Wrapsol a fine protective film that easily blends with your notebook’s original look,  Moshi Keyboard protector – just to make sure I won’t fry my logic board because of an unexpected coffee spill, and perhaps another bag for casual trek like the Crumpler’s Part and Parcel.

Now let’s get some stuff working. If you have an interesting project just buzz me

In most people’s minds, spending money on luxuries sets off alarms that making investments doesn’t. Luxuries seem self-indulgent. And unless you got the money by inheriting it or winning a lottery, you’ve already been thoroughly trained that self-indulgence leads to trouble.

If you’re like me who likes risk, you should read this entry. In the end, success boils down to our attitude and on how we perceive things.

It’s been a year and a half and I’m definitely impressed by Samsung LCD Monitors. So just last week, I said goodbye to my old friend SyncMaster T220 and got me a brand new SyncMaster 2494HS.

At first I was reluctant to buy it, I was actually going for the P2370G but the lack of stock on the local stores made me consider the 2494HS. Searching for reviews all over the net made me sweat a bit, I actually got only a handful of it and this one from the whirlpool forum being the most helpful, thankfully this model is of professional grade and with that combined with the positive feedback of users on the forum nailed my decision to get it.

Here’s the specs of the unit:

Diagonal Size  :  23.6 "
Distinction    :  1920 x 1080
Brightness     :  300 cd / m²
Contrast ratio :  50.000:1 (1.000:1)
Response Time  :  5 ms
Viewing angle  :  170 ° / 160 ° (horizontal / vertical)
Colors         :  16.7 million
Video signal   :  D-sub, DVI, HDMI
Sync signal    :  Separately, composite, SOG
Connector      :  D-sub, DVI-D, HDMI

Image Gallery:

Being used to Apple Machines, from the old PPC iMac, to the 24″ 2009 Model and the new 27″, I have to admit that this one is really at par in terms of performance and a sure deal! I got it only for $260 (around 12kPhp).

So I’ve been playing around with Python and the Django Framework and found that the official binaries provided on the PIL site are incompatible with the 64bit editions of Windows. In case you don’t know what PIL is all about:

The Python Imaging Library (PIL) adds image processing capabilities to your Python interpreter. This library supports many file formats, and provides powerful image processing and graphics capabilities.

After a couple of minutes sniffing into StackOverflow I’ve found this custom compiled binary and it just works perfectly! Special thanks to Bill Mummert for providing it.

PS. If the download link doesn’t work, Download it here Directly.

Introducing Google Font.

The Google Font Directory lets you browse all the fonts available via the Google Font API. All fonts in the directory are available for use on your website under an open source license and served by Google servers

Now that’s a nice little gift for us Web Designers and Developers. The next time you’re looking for fonts for the web but don’t want to spend a dollar or lurk into technical stuffs, be sure to checkout Google Fonts (They have a sleek preview tool too).

Also worth mentioning, TypeKit and Google recently announced some sort of partnership regarding this matter, you can read it on TypeKit’s official blog entry here.

Apple finally released the long awaited refresh to the Macbook Pro line. The i7 2.66Ghz is available only for the high-end 15″ and 17″ models, according to Apple marketing for this configuration battery power should be around 8-9hrs (wow!). The rest of the 15″ got the i5 series ranging from 2.4 to 2.53Ghz, also it is interesting that the 13″ still feature a slightly bumped Core2Duos from 2.4 to 2.66Ghz and feature a 10hrs batter life.

Head on and read about the rest of the new features.

In just a few days before Chirp, Twitter just made a bold move to finally acquire a client and brand it as its own. Today both Atebits and Twitter formally announced the acquisition of Tweetie on their respective blogs. Some tension on its developer community (Seesmic, TweetDeck and etc) is to be expected, lets just hope Twitter founder Matt Evans can address this and clear things up in the upcoming conference.

Congrats both to Atebits and Twitter!