GBTV #523 | Apple Product Refreshes, Best Job in the World Contest
Posted on: March 3, 2009
Posted in: Video
Posted by: Cali Lewis
(you can vote once a day!)
Voting closes March 24th
Shownotes:
Today is a big product refresh from Apple. They’ve updated iMacs, the Mac Mini and the Mac Pro. Very little has changed on the outside of any of the machines. It’s all about faster, better more effecient performance. The Mac Pro internal system architecture has been re-designed to make upgrades even easier.
Out of everything that’s changed, I’m most excited about the new Airport Extreme. It now simultaneously and separately supports 2.4GHz data Wi-Fi AND 5GHz Wi-Fi. That means your need for speed on your computer isn’t throttled by all the 2.4GHz wireless devices you have in your house. The new Extreme also supports up to 50 users and guests can be on a different network to keep data on your network secure.
On today’s Brief, I talked about being short-listed for the Best Job in the World contest. Winning would mean Neal and I would move to an Island in the Great Barrier Reef from July to December 2009. The whole thing is a marketing campaign by Tourism Queensland so my duty would be to share my experience on the island through video, blog posts and tweets. I would, of course, continue to do Geek Brief from the Island. The way it would work is pretty simple. Neal would be with me and he would work full time on the show. I already spend 80 percent of my time interacting with you guys through Twitter, blog posts and email. That’s what Tourism Queensland is looking for in this promotion, so my life wouldn’t be that much different for those six months than it is now. The difference would be a change of scenery, and I would be producing a ton of travel and nature content in addition to releasing 4 episodes of GeekBrief.TV a week with the beauty of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef in the background.
Tourism Queensland will pick 10 people. There is an online vote to pick an 11th. All 11 will travel to Australia for an interview. They’ll pick from the 11. I appreciate your votes for me at IslandReefJob.com/cali. You can vote once a day until March 24th. If you have any questions about it, I’ll answer in the comments on this post.
Voting closes March 24th
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« Apparently my Island Dream is very Moxie!
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
I voted for you Miss Cali!
Great job today on getting out a quick response to the Apple updates. Will the Geekbrief being procuring any new hardware from the latest updates?
Jimmy
March 3rd, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Cali, you have my daily vote from work and from home.
I’ve also send out to all my friends.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
No mention of the iMac being upgradeable to the ATI Radeon HD 4850??
Nice plug on the new job! Hope you plug it often!
Richard
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:20 pm
I voted for ya, hah. I expect a small tube of Australian sand or outback dirt for all of us =)
Also, for airport new features.. just don’t take their word for it, you’re suppose to check!
And this update was as expected. Though, I didn’t think we’d see a greater price gap between the base iMac and Mac Pro.
I’ve sadly almost recommitted to Windows. My hackintosh can’t cut it. I do love their products, but some of their decisions as a company just make me angry (sneak in a numberpadless keyboard if you aren’t careful in ordering, wth?!?)
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:43 pm
I am rooting for you and hope you get the job. Count on me to vote everyday until the closing date.
Hope you are well and I cannot imagine anyone more suited for the job!
Good Luck
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Voted! Hope you get it, Cali. The girl at the top of the list does not come off as authentic AT ALL. You’ve got it locked down :)
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Love Queensland – Brisbane is a beautiful city. Fraser Island is amazing. Noosa Heads, Bundy, Cairns. I hope you get to go. Voted yesterday and then tried to vote again today, but the site said it hadn’t 24 hours – I’m certain it has been. Hmmm. I’ll try again tomorrow. Good luck – Sheila !!!
March 4th, 2009 at 4:55 am
Hello Cali,
You have my daily vote to I hope you get this job :)
I also send it to my friends to
Good luck
Olcay
March 4th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Cali,
Just checked the leader board, and it looks like you are doing REALLY well. I have a reminder to vote for you! You and Neil, would be awesome. But, two concerns, what about the dogs? And having been down under, you do realize there is a strong chance you might not want to come home after just 6 months!!
GOOD LUCK
March 4th, 2009 at 8:41 am
Six months in OZ and they may not WANT to come home !!!!
March 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Cali, do you know what is going on with Mahalo Daily and the departure of Leah. I thought she had won the contest, but she did not even make the finals.
March 4th, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Cali,
You’ve got my daily vote until the 24th, and I’ll pass the word along to all my students. My classes are fairly small, but they are your faithful followers. Maybe our combined effort can help push you over the top.
March 4th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Cali, I thought Leah of Mahalo Daily had gotten the job, but I guess she was joking in her last show. Do you know what is up with Mahalo Daily and Leah?
March 4th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
Unfortunately, I don’t know. I was *shocked* that she wasn’t in the Top 50.
March 4th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Actually, Lon at Mahalo Daily said she left on her own accord. Bummer. She was my second-favorite Web gal. Of course, you can guess who is No. 1 :)
March 5th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I agree with Linh. Seriously, why would Apple remove the number pad from their newest line of iMacs? I honestly think it’s a method of theirs to get more money out of the consumer. Recessed headphone jack in the first gen iPhone = buy adapters. Poor battery life in the second gen (with 3G) = buy external battery packs. Shiny backs on previous and current iPods = buy protective sheets/cases/socks.
Apple is a company that makes it hard to love at times.
March 7th, 2009 at 1:35 am
I’m voting for you every day & I’m promoting you to all my blog readers. I hope you come down under! We need a few more geeks here. ;-)
March 16th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I voted, and I hope you get the job. I have one piece of feedback though — the background music in your video on the island reef site is way too loud with respect to your voice.
March 17th, 2009 at 8:56 am
You got my vote (2 of em so far)… I suggest lowering the volume on your audition video – it’s so loud that it’s distracting from what you’re saying.
April 15th, 2009 at 5:03 am
Not that I’m impressed a lot, but this is more than I expected when I stumpled upon a link on SU telling that the info here is awesome. Thanks.