Month: February 2012

By Posted on Posted in Music No Comments

I have been listening to the new Van Halen album while working and exercising to slowly get my head around the fact that there is a new Van Halen album with the old (or should I say old-ing) Van Halen.

I have to admit that I really enjoy the album. It is without question a Van Halen album.  Eddie Van Halen is still the undisputed champion of hard rock guitar. There is no one on the planet that even comes close.  There are many times while listening to the album that I find myself shaking my head in disbelief hearing Eddie rip yet another shocking run.  Alex and the young Wolfgang round out a really great rock band.

Now, that brings us to David Lee Roth.  There are moments on the album where DLR is his old self belting out lyrics just like back in the day.  Then there are the moments when he sounds like me trying to sound like the 70’s version of DLR or Robert Plant (insert funny comment from the wife here).  If my ears are working correctly (and at high volumes, I think they are), it is possible to hear the order in which the songs where recorded.  I have a feeling DLR’s voice is just a little rusty on the songs where he sounds a bit off.  It is clear to me that with practice, he can regain complete control of that insanely fun and powerful voice.

If you’re a Van Halen fan, I’m sure you’ve already heard the album, but if you haven’t, you can find it on iTunes and Spotify.

By Posted on Posted in Technology No Comments Tagged with , ,

Last week, one of my Facebook friends asked if it made sense to share one Apple ID between he and his wife so they did not have to buy their apps twice on each of their iPhones. The short answer here is yes, but does it really make sense in a world where individuals personalize their devices?

As a family with more iOS devices than I would like to admit, we use the same Apple ID on all of our devices and in iTunes on all of our computers. This works for us now because my wife and I don’t mind using the same Apple ID, and our kids are too young to have accounts of their own. In less than a year, the oldest will want an account of her own, and I can’t really blame her. I would too.

So, how does Apple solve this issue with an insanely great solution? Well, here’s my plan.

It is time for Apple to implement the Apple Household. A Household will be comprised of one or more Apple IDs. All purchases made with any of the Apple IDs in the Household will roll up into one iTunes in the Cloud library. This will make purchases available to anyone in the Household.

So what are the benefits of having several Apple IDs rolling up into one Apple Household? The biggest advantage is that a family will be able to easily consolidate their purchases in the cloud and will be able to take advantage of iTunes in the Cloud and iTunes Match as a family while still maintaining individual accounts on iOS devices.

Of course, an Apple Household would also create a lot of opportunity for parents to monitor and control the purchases of their minor children. Apple already provides a way for parents to give an iTunes allowance to their kids. The Household could take this even further by using the concept of a head of household. The head of household, most likely a parent or guardian, would have the ability to easily set parental controls over all of the minor accounts in the Household via a simple iTunes-based control panel.

So, to summarize, the Apple Household provides the individualism that typical Apple users need, families get the consolidated iTunes library they want, and parents get the controls they require. Seems like everyone wins. Apple, let’s make this happen!

By Posted on Posted in Uncategorized 4 Comments

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I used to love going down to the Fox River with my Grandpa Leonard to feed the ducks and geese. We used to go to the bread outlet on River Street, buy a bunch of bread, and feed the birds until all of the loaves were gone.

I guess something in me still finds this highly enjoyable. After seeing several cardinals bouncing around our deck looking for food, I felt the sudden urge to toss out some bread.

So, here’s to you, Grandpa. Now, if only the birds would come back . . .