Wii now available at reduced price

We really enjoy our Wii game system, especially the Lego series of games including Lego Batman, Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones. The Wii has recently dropped in price to $199, from its typical $250, which makes it even more inticing.

You can find links to all these games and more in the Welchwrite Bookstore.

Coffee-related iPhone Wallpapers from Rohde Design

Latte (320x480 Wallpaper)
Originally uploaded by Mike Rohde

I went looking for some new wallpapers for my iPhone and came across this collection by artist and online friend, Mike Rohde. Most of you know I am really into coffee, so I love this collection highlighting all the different styles of coffee in Mike's Unique style. These images were originally part of the 2008 Sketchtoon Coffee Calendar.

Mike is also getting a lot of buzz over his "Sketchtoon" note- taking at a variety of conferences including SXSW. He recently released an iPhone app containing his Sketchtoons for SXSW in an easy-to-use "stack of images. Free Download from iTunes App Store

Mac Users: Please, please, please set up Time Machine!

I ran into the librarian at my son's school yesterday and saw that she had a new Mac. Her old one had died unceremoniously, but the administration had the budget to replace it quickly. One thing I noticed, though, is that she had not yet setup Time Machine on the new iMac.

Mac users, there is no reason NOT to set up Time Machine on your Macintosh. This feature, added with Mac OS 10.5 backs up your entire Mac -- data, applications, settings -- and then updates any changed files on an hourly basis. All it takes a an external hard drive (I usually recommend on about 250GB in size). Theses drives are on sale all the time for prices around $50. This is a great investment to give you substantial peace of mind about your Mac.

While Apple touts the ability to easily restore deleted or damaged files using Time Machine, my use of the software has almost always been to restore a Mac that has crashed or build a new Mac that looks exactly like and old Mac -- including email, settings, desktop pattern, printer, everything!

I had a client who happened to get a lemon iMac. The unit died after 2 weeks, but we had set up time Machine from the very beginning. It had taken several hours to move data from her Windows machine and set the Mac up the way she wanted it and all that would have been lost if we didn't have a Time Machine backup. Instead, we were able to plug her backup drive into the new Mac, select "Restore from Time Machine Backup" during the setup and about 15 minutes later she was working again -- with all her original settings.

I recently had to replace my Time Machine backup drive, as I was using an older, leftover drive I had lying around the office. I found this Seagate FreeAgent Go drive (250GB) on sale at a local retailer. I like it, as it is small, quiet and requires no external power cable. It is powered directly from USb port of the computer.

Mac Users -- if you haven't set up Time Machine on your mac -- DO IT TODAY! You have nothing to lose and everything to gain -- including peace of mind.

Elsewhere Online: $50 Refurbed iPhone 3G 8GB Is Back [Dealzmodo]

Now you can get a refurbished version of my iPhone for 1/4 of price I paid only a year ago. Picking up an iPhone 3G 8GB for $50 certainly lightens the load of the $30 monthly data plan. As the article mentions, this price is cheaper than you would pay for some of the more typical, "dumb" phones on the market.

$50 Refurbed iPhone 3G 8GB Is Back [Dealzmodo]

from Gizmodo by matt buchanan

I guess AT&T found a spare closet filled with refurbished 8GB iPhone 3Gs (that's a little 's'), because they've got a fresh stock they're selling for $50. That's cheaper than a lot of dumbphones. Check the stock here. [AT&T]

Elsewhere Online: Rumor: New, Thinner iMacs Rolling Off Factory Lines, With Mystery Features and Maybe Blu-ray [Rumor]

If you are thinking about buying a new iMac, you may want to wait a couple of weeks. The rumor mills are running and it looks like we might see new units as soon as October.

Rumor: New, Thinner iMacs Rolling Off Factory Lines, With Mystery Features and Maybe Blu-ray [Rumor]: "

New iMacs aren't just coming soon, they've been rolling out for two weeks, according to AppleInsider. They're thinner and look more like the LED Cinema Display, with mystery features that make them the 'most versatile ever.'

Read the entire article

Elsewhere Online: CustomGuide Provides Quick-Reference Sheets for Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe Products [Reference]

Looking for a little extra help with your software? These free quick reference forms, in PDF format, could be great have next to your computer. The PDFs are easy to reference on your computer, or you can print them out and keep them in front of you all the time. I am going to go over several of them to refresh my knowledge on some of those programs I don't use very often.

CustomGuide Provides Quick-Reference Sheets for Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe Products [Reference]: "

Learning a new application? Have a cube-mate that pesters you with questions about an application they're learning? Print off a cheat sheet from CustomGuide.

CustomGuide has guides for popular Microsoft, Apple, and Adobe software. Most entries have both present and past versions of the application in question. The entry for Outlook, for instance, has quick-reference sheets for Outlook 98 through Outlook 2007.

Each guide includes a diagram of the main interface, keyboard shortcuts, summaries of the menus and the tools found in them, and other relevant tips for using the application more efficiently.

Know of a good resource for software guides and cheat sheets? Let's hear about it in the comments. The guides are free and in PDF format.

CustomGuide Quick-Reference Sheets [via MakeUseOf]