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Apple iFountain Makes Water Taste Mac-Tastic

You know those cool little Apple logo decals that come packaged with every new Mac? Rather than wasting them on the rear window of your Chevy Geo, why not transform the water dispenser at your college into a fantastical Apple iFountain?

The iFountain pictured above was discovered in the art gallery building at the University of Denver. Offering students that same feeling of smug superiority experienced by every Apple fanatic, each time they guzzle down a Mac-Tastic mouthful of joy.

This simple do-it-yourself kind of Apple branding instantly turns any ordinary drinking fountain into a memorable piece of modern design. It's amazing how much equity is added just by applying the Apple logo. Trigger iTunes music to play every time the flow of water starts and Apple may just have a practical new iProduct for the masses.

Bottled water from the school cafeteria one dollar.

Drinking from an Apple iFountain... priceless!

[Photo by Eric Brow]  

Apple Folds Like A Lawn Chair After Trent Reznor's Public Tantrum

After Nine Inch Nails front man Trent Reznor, threw a ridiculously public rock star hissy fit over Apple rejecting the latest update to his app  "Nine Inch Nails: Access" for objectionable content, the company quickly reversed its course of action. The iPhone app was approved by Apple with no changes made to the rejected version. I'm confident the world is now a better place as a result of mister Reznor's epic battle for App Store justice.

Was Apple showing favoritism to the celebrity rocker or did they relent just to keep the guy from continuing his doofus joy ride in the press? It's probably a bit of both. Who cares? As a result I'm left feeling a whole lot dumber enduring that entirely absurd experience. But still not dumber than NIN's EP "The Perfect Drug" Versions remixes. No one can reverse that unfortunate decision.

Apple Wants All iPhone Apps Compatible With 3.0

Apple announced to developers late Thursday afternoon that all app submissions not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, will not be approved according to an email sent by the company. With the official launch of iPhone software version 3.0 expected to be less than two months away, it's no surprise that Apple is pushing all developers to comply with their launch plans.

"Beginning today, all submissions to the App Store will be reviewed on the latest beta of iPhone OS 3.0. If your app submission is not compatible with iPhone OS 3.0, it will not be approved." Apple wrote

Apple went on to confirm that most existing apps in the App Store should already run on iPhone OS 3.0 without requiring modification, but they encouraged all developers to start testing existing apps with iPhone OS 3.0 to ensure that there are no compatibility issues. The company warned that any apps incompatible with iPhone OS 3.0 could be removed from the App Store.

Apple released iPhone OS 3.0 beta 5 and iPhone SDK 3.0 beta 5 to developers just yesterday, which is now posted on the iPhone Dev Center website. Early reports indicate that version 5 disables both MMS and Tethering options. Some devs insist, if you had the MMS and Tethering activated before it will continue to work on the Beta 5 version as long as you UPDATE rather than RESTORE.

Today's announcement by Apple is bound to come as a shock to some.

Revisiting The 'Obama Spock' Action Figure

With the new Star Trek film set to make its epic debut, I figured this would be a good time to revisit the fantastical "Obama Spock" action figure that surfaced during last year's "Art + Action = Obama 08" auction hosted by Jailbreak Toys.

Out of the entire display of custom painted Obama action figures designed by some 80 artists, Mr. Spock was my ultimate favorite. The artist cleverly chose to feature Obama wearing a classic Star Trek uniform and then flashing the mandatory "live long and prosper sign" in order to make hardcore Trekkie loyalists drool. The entire lot of specially designed Obama figures were auctioned off on Ebay directly after the art opening ended.

I'm expecting the retooled Star Trek to spark dozens of epic theater bromances while creating a new wave of Trekker man-love from certified geeks everywhere. Highly illogical, but truly fascinating.

[More Hand Painted Obama-Bots]   [Photos by Steve Talkowski]

AT&T Brings Account Management App To iPhone

  

With the release of their "My Wireless Mobile" app, hardened prisoners of AT&T can finally manage bill paying directly from their iPhone. The application is not only free but it's also free of annoying advertising which can really sour the mobile bill pay experience.

I found the features page to be a useful tab offering the ability to add international calling plans on the fly. This section of the app also gives greater details on international plans along with tracking minutes used. Necessary features when traveling abroad.

The ability to upgrade any service and review my entire bill on the go are brilliant options compared to direct calling the AT&T prison. I consider this one a must have iPhone app.

Nice job AT&T. What took you fellas so long?

Get myWireless Mobile

Having Lunch With Steve Jobs Takes Real Sack

STYLE GUIDE: Have you ever wished you could take Steve Jobs to lunch? I have! Now anyone can with this ultra-low tech Steve Jobs designer lunch sack. You'll be the talk of the office when you stumble into work holding your very own "Sack-O-Steve", the hottest Mac geek lunch bag on the planet. "You call this lunch?"

The creator, "Lunch With Steve" offers you the chance to add any message you choose to your sack with a thought bubble customized to your liking. This nifty lunch companion comes in one size and color, "brown sack". Expect to pay $5.00 each plus a small shipping fee with no regrets included.

For some extra flair add an epic "slide to unlock" lunch bag to your order just because you can. Sack-O-Steve makes bag lunching fun again, because it takes real sack to have lunch with Steve Jobs!

  

photos by Lunch With Steve

Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling Beats Stern To iPhone

Longtime fanboys of the Howard Stern Show remember Jackie "The Joke Man" Martling, as Stern's witty wing-man and head writer on the show for some 15 years. Martling exited the Stern dynasty in March of 2001, leaving behind an enormous hole to fill along with a stain that practically required a hazmat team for clean up. He was eventually replaced by the cutting slackjaw humor of Artie Lange, who backfilled Martling in gargantuan form but never in the rancid hearts of Stern loyalists.

Martling might be having the last laugh, gaining credible bragging rights by beating the 'King of All Media' to Apple's über cool iPhone by way of The Jackie Button. After enduring several months of empty rumors, Sirius XM has finally launched their official satellite radio app to the masses. Hey now! But frustrated Stern fans are quickly finding out that the Sirius XM app for iPhone does not include the beloved Howard Stern in its 120 channel line-up. Wah!

Overcoming several last minute objections by Apple, "The Jackie Button" ($.99) has finally made its epic iPhone debut. Though there's a plethora of text driven joke applications in the app store, Jackie Martling is the first comic brave enough to launch an iPhone joke telling app featuring his own recorded voice riffing to an invisible audience. A death defying feat that "The Joke Man" performs effortlessly without a net to break his fall. Which qualifies Martling as a comic genius with a possible suicide wish.

Jackie's signature brand of joke telling can be best described as classic zingers delivered at rapid speed without apology. And now there's an app for that! You don't have to be a Jackie Martling fan to love this app, though Jackie fans should know these jokes have been carefully scrubbed to remove the dirty parts. But make no mistake about it, most of Jackie's jokes are laugh out loud funny.

Review: Ow My Balls Is Totally Ridonkulous!

  

Rising above its share of painful delays upon launch, the scrotum crunching game "Ow My Balls!" has made its triumphant return to the App Store. I found this game to be highly addictive by kicking Joe the juggler square in the nards, sending him up to new heights with fantastical fart boosting powers. The more objects you hit on the way down, the more bonus points you gain, which means higher points and a larger arsenal of fart rockets.

One of the unique characteristics of this app is the ability to record your own annoying sound effects to carry you through each round. You can record up to five sound effects in order to make the game play your own. Hearing that obnoxious ball handler yell "Ow my balls!" when straddling a fire hydrant after falling three stories is pure genius. Even better when it's your own voice. Every now and again you'll hear him just scream "balls!" which is so worth waiting for.

Creator Josh Michaels has imagined an instant iPhone classic here, leaving plenty of room for growing this one into a franchise. Ow My Balls! reveals a few sweet surprises both high above the rooftops and on the ground as the game progresses. Illustrator Timothy Smith kept the graphics deliberately simple and colorful, adding an instant likability to what I expect will become a cult favorite among iPhone fanatics everywhere.

Ow My Balls! totally lives up to its name, quickly moving into epic ridonkulous status with each round of progressive play. You will not be disappointed spending $.99 cents on this one. (video demo after jump)

Trent Reznor Reveals Obsessive iPhone Man Love

Not long after a recent update to the app "Nine Inch Nails: access" was rejected by Apple for objectionable content, the band's outspoken frontman Trent Reznor, took to the NIN forum in order to throw a proper rock star tantrum in text form.

The content in question turned out to be the NIN song "The Downward Spiral" which can be accessed online through the app though the song does not actually reside on the iPhone app itself. After several paragraphs of fist pounding and whining with grand expletives, Reznor calms down long enough to express his deeply felt man love for Apple and iPhone while carving up the competition into bite size bits.

"Everyone - let me be clear. I love Apple products and as goofy and out-of-touch as their app approval process / policy is, I will still use them because they work 1000X better than the competition. This is not a debate, it's a fact," Reznor wrote on the NIN forum.

iPhone Slippers, One Fugly Size Fits All

STYLE GUIDE: There's a new iPhone slipper in town and it's called iSkin. One of the worst ideas I've seen yet in fashionable iPhone footwear. This handmade pull-over iSock thingy is made of 100% super soft acrylic yarn that's durable, but ultra soft to the touch. As if soft will somehow mask fugly.

Chicago designer Urartist, describes her iSkin cover this way; "Just slip it on your little think tank, then, get the 'wow' effect from your classmates and peers when it's time to pull it out."

I can't wait to see that look of horror on people's faces when you pull out your Grandma's orange afghan spooning your iPhone. Expect your peers to start bitch slapping you silly just for sport.

iSkin can be made to order in the obnoxious color of your choice according to the designer. It's possible the epic button fly feature may not be optional. Get this one from Urartist on Etsy for $16.00 along with a small shipping fee and plenty of regrets attached.