I talk cell phones on WCCO-AM

wccostolenphones.MP3

John Hines of WCCO-AM quizzes me about cell phones. We discuss how the federal goverment got the top U.S. wireless carriers to agree on a joint database for remotely disabling stolen handsets. We also talk about how the feds want to discourage the use of cell phones while driving.

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I appear on CNN (en español)!

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_416x234_embed.swf?context=embed&videoId=spanish/2012/03/29/cafe-zapata.cnn

I talk Mountain Lion, Windows 8 and the latest Ultrabooks on CNN En Español. I show off the Dell XPS 13 (with Windows 8 on it) and HP Envy 14 Spectre.

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I talk 3rd-gen iPad on WCCO-AM

ipad3withesmeemurphy

I discuss Apple’s just-released third-generation iPad in its various permutations with WCCO-AM’s Esmee Murphy.

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I talk 3rd-gen iPad on Fox 9

In what has become a yearly tradition, the Twin Cities’ Fox 9 News interviews me about Apple’s latest iPad on the day it is unveiled.

Here are the Fox 9 segments on the iPad 2 and the original iPad.

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‘Enough’ book becomes podcast

My friend, Patrick Rhone, a St. Paul-based technology consultant, has achieved Web-based superstardom for one of his side projects, the Minimal Mac blog.

The Apple-enthusiast site, spare in appearance, is dedicated to the idea that simplicity is power. The famed blog has spawned an equally popular podcast, co-hosted by England-based Myke Hurley, dubbed Enough.

Now “Enough” is also the title of Patrick’s new book, a petite white volume that begs to be picked up and perused because its physical design is so irresistible. (It’s available in e-book form, too; so is Patrick’s book, “Keeping It Straight.”)

“Enough” is a fine read for those trying to find balance – their center – in a complicated and cacophonous world. The book poses the question, “What is enough”?

“I’m convinced that a successful life is largely driven by balance and moderation,” Rhone writes. “Not too much of anything. Not too little either.

“Just enough.”

In a collection of essays Patrick tapped out with index fingers on an iPad screen and thumbs on an iPhone, he explains how he applies this philosophy in a wide range of life areas: Technology, relationships (online and offline), family (including wife Bethany and daughter Beatrix), business, personal productivity and more.

What belongs in his life? And what should be eradicated, permanently or temporarily? How and why? “Having clarity of purpose and intention helps me to eliminate needless items from my life and keep such things from entering in the first place,” Patrick writes.

My favorite essay, given my own obsession with practical technology considerations, is the one on that difficult-to-tame electronic beast known as e-mail.

Patrick reminds me that my inbox must be treated as a “sacred space” with only the worthiest of messages allowed to stay there, and that I should treat the inboxes of others as sacred, as well.

The essay segues elegantly into e-mail-management tips and tricks that are making a difference in my heavy electronic-mail usage.

Patrick describes other sacred spaces in his life, and how and why they remain so. He sets you on a path to identify and nurture your sacred spaces, too. For that reason alone, you will want to check out this book.

“Enough” is available in paperback, Kindle format for use with an Amazon e-book reader or app, and in EPUB format suitable for reading on computers and tablets. An Apple iBookstore version is coming soon.

Get details at enoughbook.com.

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Flattered to be a MIMA speaker

Last October I was a speaker at the Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association (MIMA) Summit, which was an honor given this yearly event’s prominence in the Twin Cities. My topic: “Apple’s iPad in the Work World.”

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Path, Pinterest, etc. on Minnov8

I did another guest-hosting stint on the always-awesome Minnov8 Gang Podcast today. Topics included Pinterest, the Path-privacy snafu and, of course, OS X Mountain Lion.

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Talkin’ tech (again) with Karin!

Karin Housley – Feb. 18 – Pt. 1 Julio Ojeda-Zapata (mp3)

I never have more fun as a tech writer than when I’m talkin’ tech with Karin Housley on her KLBB radio show. Scrub to 16:25. Thanks for having me on again, Karin. I’m honored to be your “radio-show boyfriend.”

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I show off tech gear on KARE-11

Today I demonstrated several offbeat tech products on KARE 11, the Twin Cities NBC affiliate. Watch until the end for the dramatic TV-studio flight (and crash) of the RC helicopter. Here’s a related post.

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Pro players use a drive as puck

How rugged IS ioSafe’s Rugged Portable hard drive? St. Paul Pioneer Press photographer Ben Garvin and I had fun filming this wacky video for which I will garner NO acting awards.

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I set a hard drive on fire (it lives)

I staged a hard-drive bonfire to test ioSafe’s claim that its Solo External hard drive is “fireproof.” That’s St. Paul Pioneer Press outdoors editor David Orrick doing the honors as I film.

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