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.

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

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.

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Tags: apple - laptop - mac - technology

Incase: A better experience through good design. The UPS and FedEx guys always seem to make my day. Today it was the delivery of the Incase press kit that has my love of packaging design gushing. With a tagline like "a better experience through good design", you would think it would be hard to live up to... but apparently not, from the time i sliced the tape open on the box they continued to surprise me with impressively high quality new products for 2008, incredible attention to detail in the catalog/boxes/design, extremely efficient use of space, and ultimately the whole press kit experience was like a designer's babuska doll of surprises. So come unbox it with me in the photos after the jump! And more to come on the incredible macbook pro hardshell case soon...

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Tags: incase - iphone - ipod - laptop - mac - packaging

Wow. So for those of you, who like me stayed at home and watched the macworld keynote and madness unfold across the internet through the eyes and ears of the crazy kids at Gizmodo and Engadget with their live blogging of the keynote, etc... here's a peek at what its like to REALLY be there ~ not as press, just as regular people trying to partake in the mac madness. So dan actually decided to go to the keynote this year (for "fun"), went and spent ages in line yesterday to get his pass, and then got in line at 6:30am this morning (and as you know from our sites, we aren't morning people, unless it's because i'm not sleeping till 6am) in the 40 degree weather... and didn't even make it into the keynote. But that aside, the madness continued as all those turned away tried to make a mad rush for food and warmth after only found themselves in MORE freezing lines, like a half hour just to get into Mel's diner (which is most certainly not really worth waiting in line for at any other given time)... Seems like apple needs to take care of its fans a bit more? Get a bigger venue? Be more realistic earlier on about who will get in? So although he didn't get any pics while in the freeeeeezing cold this morning, he did just send over a few quick pics of the rush and sea of mac fanboys running around... let's just say i'm glad to be home right now, and if he ever tries to do this again, and you guys want us to cover it, maybe i'll apply for a press pass? More pictures of the sea of humanity after the jump!

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Tags: events - mac - technology

We all want it. We have to. Right? And i do have a soft spot for manilla envelopes... Does anyone else think of air jordans when they hear macbook air though? The naming on this stuff kills me. Also the user experience of their whole keynote/macworld expo is apparently quite possibly the worst user experience ever... But for now. It looks pretty cute, and the music video for the song in the ad is quite possibly the cutest thing i've been woken up with... see it below! I would love to have her box on the water... and as far as packaging goes, i'm going to be sad if i open the box for this and it's not in a manilla envelope... oh and apparently it's completely sealed, has no ram slots, no battery replacement, its just like a ginormous ipod... i mean small laptop. same diff - only 2 gigs ram... no ethernet port...

UPDATED 1.15.8 at 12:50: We have hands on pics of the MacBook Air ~ detail shots added after the jump!

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Tags: gifts - laptop - mac - shopping - technology

"Give Good Food to your Mac" time... basically a series of developers met up at WWDC and have teamed up to offer you discounts on bundles up to 70% off for about 12 days... "While San Francisco was getting ready for the grand opening of Pixar's new movie Ratatouille, with a smell of French Cuisine in the air, we had the idea of organizing a great Mac feast with Mac apps made by the top European developers. 'Give Good Food to your Mac' was born. 'Give Good Food to your Mac' is a community action where independent Mac developers come together and build this exciting project : for about 12 days, every Mac users are able to download and taste more than 25 great Mac applications and enjoy discounts ranging from 30 to 70%."

What's on the menu? Remote Buddy, Personal Trader, CoverScout, Magnet, Morphage, iDive, Expert Wine Cellar, iStopMotion, Cheetah 3D, Banner Zest, VideoPier, PulpMotion, CSSEdit, Contactizer Pro/Express, GeoPhoto, Merlin, RapidWeaver, Freeway 4 Express/Pro, Money, Art Text, FotoMagico, Feeder, Together, Pixelmator, Tables, and Unity Indie.

Tags: gifts - mac - shopping - software

Working Class Heroes ~ this Viennese duo, Monie & James ~ have me giddy over their gorgeously functional grey felt and brown leather combinations... from laptop wallets to passport cases, moleskine pouches to glasses cases. I mentioned these in a roundup where i had mentioned finding these on .org and ordering two laptop wallets! Well they arrived in LA while i've been in SF the last few weeks... and they were the first thing i headed for when i got home. First impression? Beautiful presentation, all hand tied with red/white ribbon, and the products are even nicer in person than online ~ and they were even nice enough to add one of their keyholders as well.

I purchased their Girls Only Laptop Wallet as well as the Laptop Wallet Tidy ~ and actually i ordered two simply because i couldn't decide if i wanted it to horizontal or vertical, and at such a reasonable 49$ pricetag ~ no reason not to get both for use in various bags. The three things about these that impress me most are... 1. no zippers! (i'm extremely particular about avoiding zippers in my laptop cases, because i had some macbooks get very sliced up on the sides from quick ins and outs... and also no velcro! so its silent) 2. the simplicity of the styles using a nice heavy "3mm grey german felt" combined with adorable graphic branding imprinted leather accents ~ as well nice cotton herringbone reinforcements 3. the genius of having laptop sleeves where you can easily PUSH the laptop out. Honestly, i've gone through MANY laptops, laptop sleeves, and laptop bags ~ and its been a long time since i've gotten excited about one... but these have surpassed my expectations in both form and function.

MANY pictures below, both from their site of their line, as well as some quick snapshots of mine when i just got home. Having these to play with may actually get me off my laptop a bit more since i need to close it to slip it into the laptop wallets!

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Tags: accessories - gifts - laptop - mac - shopping - technology