Hi. So. I don't even know where to start right now, in a nutshell ~ who was i kidding (maybe pretty much myself) that i would be able to work during an the all day FM Conversational Marketing Summit that our Federated Media family is putting on? I think i've been running around since early this morning - all day through the summit, getting to know the advertising/marketing world, meeting the people behind the campaigns we love and admire, then drinks... then dinner... then... well finally home to linhchi's at like 12:30? Only to supposedly be up and do it again tomorrow? And be on a panel at 2?

Well you know me. I'm about to pass out (and sorry this post is a bit ramblier than usual, SO tired) ~ but i had to find SOMETHING to post and share with you! It just feels too wrong to be running around chatting with people who love our sites, and not post to do so! So, for anyone at the summit, yes, that was me... in the grass outside the cocktail reception, in that perfect sunset lighting, sprawled across the grass in a little black dress shooting pictures of our new macbook pro and macbook that dan and i might have ducked out of an afternoon session to run over to the marina to pick up. And while i am embarrassed to say that i have not actually booted either machine yet, and may not get to do the inaugural booting/transferring/notcot loading until AFTER tomorrow (how wrong is that?)... i did take a bunch of pics of the packaging and details in the grass in the presidio before getting back to "work" ~ meeting some incredibly insightful agency creatives, marketers, sales people that i've probably swapped far too much email with. So, take a peek at the pics on the next page, and more to come after i try to survive tomorrow...

For those at the CM Summit, come say hi at the 2pm panel i'm on? I'm so nervous! And for those not here ~ one of my biggest goals here as a publisher, is to get to know some of the people behind the ads and campaigns, and ultimately see what it will take to turn advertising on NOTCOT into as much fun as the content (really, we all know there's no excuse for ugly, useless creative) ~ and how we can convince advertisers to support what the readers want to see more of! (On one thing i can leak... sounds like a really exciting competition with Adobe for CS4 is in the works, so get those creative juices flowing! And it just shipped today! I totally spaced on getting a copy while i was at the apple store...) As readers, any and all ideas you have on what you'd love to see more of ~ please leave a comment and i'll do what i can to make it happen.

TO PAGE 2 of "FM CM Summit + Macbook Pro!"! ----->

Tags: advertising - apple - laptop - mac - me - notcot - packaging - unboxing

Perhaps one of the best parts INSIDE that Esquire 75th Anniversary E-ink covered magazine.... they commissioned a variety of artists to create the imagery to go with their 75 most important people pieces. And most eye catching... is certainly Dominic Wilcox's "The Immaculate Threads" ~ which cheekily takes on Steve Jobs' uniform of glasses, jeans, and black turtleneck... and places them in iPod like clear plastic containers, all perfectly lined up... It certainly reinforces the idea of Jobs as God (the god who gave us the jesus phone?). Can't you just picture him getting his dry cleaning in these boxes, popping one open, and he's ready to go for the day? See more images of the piece on the next page!

TO PAGE 2 of "The Immaculate Threads by Dominic Wilcox"! ----->

Tags: apple - art - magazines

When at the Wall-E midnight showing on Thurs ~ walking out at nearly 3am, i felt like we were nearly venturing into the world of Wall-E as we lined up to feed the ticket in the machine to validate, then lined up in our cars again, sitting, idling, waiting to get out... and the other thing that stuck in my mind was ~ enough cross over Apple placement, Pixar? From the sound every time Wall-E had to reboot, to the ipod he played his movies on... and why was i SO drawn to Eve? And then i was reminded... Eve is a product of Jonathan Ives... Apple helped design the robots of the future... and remember the Automator icon? How cute is he? He looks like he might be Eve's grandpa, they certainly have quite a few things in common ~ that glossy white skin, and that face looks like she could definitely have evolved from him! See many more images of them all on the next page ~ as well as some Eve icons for Adium.

TO PAGE 2 of "Wall-E's Eve: Descendant of iPod"! ----->

Tags: animation - apple - iphone - ipod - movie - pixar - robot

We were cleaning out more of the log cabin, and when we started poking through desk drawers, dan and i both laughed when out popped Steve Jobs on the cover of the August 5, 1985 issue of Fortune Magazine - and the headline read "The Fall Of Steve Jobs"... funny article in retrospect too (see images on the next page)...filled with great pop cultural references of the time "John Sculley, 46, president and chief executive, ruefully remarked that Apple's moves were attracting as much attention as an episode of Dynasty." There were also statements like "No players in the drama have explained publicly why Jobs came to grief. But several of them, promised anonymity, have revealed the essential details to Fortune." ~ can you imagine if any apple insiders were so bold today? Ah, how times have changed since 1985... Equally worthwhile, the ATT ad that runs next to the article... and the "Picture Phones: New Spin On An Old Idea" article that sits next to "Droids For Sale: Star Wars' George Lucas if pushing new technology"... suffice to say, this is a quality issue of Fortune, and a nice way to get some perspective on exactly how far we've come in the last 23 years... See the details on the next page!

TO PAGE 2 of "The Fall Of Steve Jobs"! ----->

Tags: apple - magazines

Incase sent over a MacBook Pro Hardshell case in Plum a few weeks ago (i spaced, and the pics of this review got momentarily lost in the pending MT posts, apologies!) ~ if you recall, it was in that gorgeous press kit! So below you can check out pics of it in person (and how nicely my NOTCOT sticker subtly shows through!) as well as images and info from the catalog of this *coming soon* case. Currently only the Incase Hardshell cases for Macbooks are available on their site. Additionally there is a video walkthrough from Incase on how to properly put one on! See all the details below.

TO PAGE 2 of "Incase MacBook Pro Hardshell"! ----->

Tags: apple - laptop - mac - technology