OK, so I have my first big application review for you, and it is on a great piece of software for the Mac known as Mailplane. Mailplane is basically and application that allows you to access the Gmail interface from a desktop application. In this review, I am only going to cover a few big parts of Mailplane. If you wish to view a more in-depth review of the application, then go over to my YouTube Channel and view the video entitled “Mailplane Review: Part x”. The reason that I put in an x is because this is such a great application, it is going to take way more than 1 YouTube video to do a good review. Alright, now for the text review.

Mailplane is a sort-of email client that allows you to access Gmail’s web client, along with the Mailplane interface, and this gives you lots of new possibilities. I have included a screenshot of the Mailplane interface below.



Along the top bar in Mailplane you have your typical refresh, open, and overview buttons that allow you to navigate Gmail, but then the buttons that make Mailplane special. The next button is Archive your mail, and I did not do this before in Gmail, when I was using Firefox, but boy do I ever use it now. This also applies to the star button. I love starring my mail in Mailplane now, and it works great. The next few buttons are expected in any mail client, the Print, Reply, Foreword, Send, and Delete buttons. The next button is also really great, the Screenshot button. This allows you to push one button, take a screen capture of part of your screen or the whole screen, and it automatically saves and attaches it to the mail. I have used that feature countless times, and it is great. The next four buttons are separated from the other buttons, as they are quite different. The next button is Google Talk and allows you to bring up a new window with your chat in it. I don’t use that feature, but I do use the built in AIM compatibility. The button that follows Google Talk is the Downloads button, and this allows you to bring up Mialplane’s own Download window, which really helps. The iMedia button brings up a Media Browser window that allows you to navigate multimedia on your computer and attach it to an email. The last button, Accounts, pops out a drawer on the left side of the window that allows you to change Gmail account that you are connected to, since most people have more than one email account. The last button on the toolbar allows you to customize the interface of the application. I have included a screenshot of the toolbar below.



Well, that is a quick overview of the Mailplane interface and some of the features in the application. I will have a multi-part review up on YouTube by the beginning of next week. Thanks for subscribing - Alex

This quick video is a quick tip on how to quickly import your video clips into iMovie. Kind of a backdoor way of doing it, but hey, I've got it working for me and it cuts about 28 minutes of import time for me. Go over to the YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/alexheidinger to watch this video and to subscribe to the channel. Thanks for viewing and subscribing - Alex.

OK, today I published a video to YouTube all about the application known as Fluid. It runs about 8 minutes, I believe. I am trying to pump out a few more videos before I go back to school. I will probably get another couple up today and maybe a couple tomorrow. Go over to the YouTube Channel at http://www.youtube.com/alexheidinger to check out the new video and subscribe to my channel. Thanks for subscribing, Alex.

OK, so it has been a while since I have done a software review on YouTube, so I figured that I would do a not-so-quick review. I am going to be doing a 2-3 part YouTube Series on the software that I use to make my website, RapidWeaver from RealMac software. This software is so very easy to use, and it takes nothing to learn how to use it. This is going to be one of my first big ScreenCast episodes, so I am currently working on setting up an good ScreenCasting environment on a separate user account on my Mac. One thing that I am still debating is if I should start up a completely different website for the ScreenCast, and then continue to do RapidWeaver episodes using this website, or if I should use the iAlex homepage to do this show...I am currently leaning toward a completely different website and do monthly versions of a RapidWeaver show. What do you think? Email me by clicking on the Contact tab and dropping me a quick email. I have also been doing more video's lately because I am on Spring Break, and event though it is harder to make videos while I am in school, I am going to try to keep making lots of videos.

I have had really bad earbud problems for the past few months. When I purchased my iPod I got a pair of Apple Earbuds. They lasted about a month, and then the cord came out of the plug, where it plugs into the iPod. I then went down to my local Apple store and purchased some Nike Vapor around ear-buds. One of the buds broke about three weeks ago on the bus when I was listening to podcasts, so I can't use those anymore. So now I am stuck without earbuds and I am having to borrow my brother's iPod earbuds. I was wondering if anyone has any suggestions for a good set of earbuds for under fifty dollars. I am more than likely just going to buy the Apple buds again tomorrow and try to take better care of them this time. I would really like to get the Bang and Olfson buds, but they are really expensive. Anyone with suggestions? Click on the contact tab and then send me a quick email. Thanks for subscribing - Alex

Alright, I recorded the Airport Extreme video review today, and it is going to be encoding as soon as I leave for TaeKwonDo. The video should be up sometime around Midnight (US Eastern Time) today. In the video I cover the differences between the Extreme and the Express, and I go in depth about why the Express is a far better portable router than the Extreme. I also mentioned in the movie that Apple released a Wireless N Express today, and mine is Wireless G. There is not really a lot to post about this video, other than please go over to the YouTube Channel. Thanks for subscribing - Alex.

Ok guys, here is a quick update. Tomorrow I am going to be recording an Airport Extreme Review video, to be posted on YouTube. I am not going to go over the topics of the video in this post, as I am going to save that for the post about the actual video. Unfortunately, I do not have a Time Capsule, so I will not be able to do a video on this, but I hope to get one when I get my MacBook Pro within the year. I will then have done a review on on every single Apple base station. Check back and read some more tomorrow, as there will be a new post and a movie.

Ok, so I just finished editing and uploading a video to YouTube. This time, it is a ScreenCast episode, all about what is in my dock and menu bar on my iBook. I simply read through every application/service that I have running on my mac at all times. You can check out this video and many others at my YouTube page. I also am going to begin broadcasting more on Ustream. Tomorrow, maybe not so much, unless the NASCAR race is rained out, in which I will be streaming most of the afternoon. The reason that I don't stream a lot is because it slows the iBook down a lot. I am currently looking for a Logitech USB webcam to use on my PC laptop so I can dedicate that just to streaming. I need to make a little money before I buy this, but when I make the purchase I will be streaming about 15 hours of every day, unless I decide to turn it off while I am at school. If anyone has any recommendations for a good USB webcam for under 50 US Dollars, then please send me a quick email by going over to the contact me page, or messaging me on YouTube.

Thanks for subscribing - Alex

Ok, so I just recorded a video for Youtube today, and it was all about my future on Ustream and some updates about videos that I will be putting up on Youtube over the next two weeks of my spring break. If you would like to check in on me on Ustream then simply click the "Live" tab at the top of the blog. If you are not on the blog and you would like to check in on me then you can point your browser to live.aheidinger.com and this will take you to the same page that the Live tab will take you to. Please go over to the YouTube channel and subscribe to the channel, as this is the only way that I know that anyone is watching the videos. Thanks.

Well, I haven't made a post in a while so I thought that I would write about my trip that I just got back from a few days ago to Concord, NC. This was probably one of the best trips that I have made down to that area, as we hit the most shops this time since we got down there right as they opened. We went to (in this order) Hendrick Motorsports, Lowe's Motor Speedway, Michael Waltrip Racing/Raceworld USA, JR Motorsports, and Penske Racing. Of all of the shops, I had never been to Penske before. I went to Hendrick one time before, but that was when Dale Jr. was still racing for DEI. It was really cool to be able to see right into where his cars are prepared for the next week's race. We visited a temporary store there because the main store is being renovated. My Dad bought the National Guard pit cap for 2008. The reason that he got this one is because I have the Amp cap. We then went to the Lowe's Motor Speedway Gift Shop to look for a shirt for my brother, although we did not find one. From there we went to MWR Raceworld, which was very fun, as we did the same tour there this time that we did last time, but I picked up on many more details this time around. This is by far the best shop to visit if you want to get an insight into how the stock cars are prepared, as you can see absolutely everything at MWR. We then went to JR Motorsports again, and this was fun, and I got a new Dale Jr. T-Shirt, this time I got the 2008 Bud Shootout Champion shirt. we then looked into his shop where we saw the JRM/HMS Nationwide cars being prepared. We then went to the last shop of the day, Penske Racing. This one was extremely clean and very organized. From there we went and ate dinner in Lexington at a very good barbeque place. I really enjoyed that. From there we dropped my Dad's friend off at his house and drove home. For those of you who are reading the blog for the Tech posts, I'm sorry that the last posts haven't been tech related, but I promise the next post will be.

Alright, so no final plans yet, but on Monday we (my Dad, a friend of his, and myself) are going down to the Concord, NC area to see some more race shops in the area. We have been down there to see shops twice and another two times to see races at Lowe's Motor Speedway. We are at least planning on going to JR Motorsports for the second time, Hendrick Motorsports, the Lowe's Motor Speedway gift shop to check for some Dale Jr stuff. We are then going back to Michael Waltrip Racing to see his Raceworld Experience again. This was really cool the first time that we went down there to see, so we figured that we should go back to see if we could see the team tearing down the cars after the race in Atlanta tomorrow. Enough about that, we are now going to talk about Ustream and my plans for over break. First, go over to live.aheidinger.com to see the live chat and the live stream via Ustream. You can then watch me for almost 24 hours a day. The only times that I will not be broadcasting is when my computer is not at my desk. Please sent me a quick message at alex@aheidinger.com if you have any ideas for what I could talk about on my Ustream channel.

I start Spring Break on Monday for the next three weeks, and I will be broadcasting live on Ustream hopefully 24 hours a day, or as long as I have my laptop in my room. On Monday, I will be going down to Concord, NC, so I will not be able to broadcast on that day until maybe about 8pm eastern time. So go across to the "Live" tab or Ustream.tv to see me live 24 hours a day over spring break.