As I alluded to in my Disneyland post, I’ve started a new position with a California-based company called 318, Inc. My new title is technology consultant and I will be based in Minnesota. You can reach me now at 952-232-9296 or via email at dkingsbury@318.com.

318 calls itself a “boutique technology solutions company delivering comprehensive technical support services and software solutions to SMB and Enterprise businesses.” The headquarters is located in Santa Monica, with offices in San Francisco, Portland and Seattle. I will be working with noted tech author and 318 partner Charles Edge to establish a new Minneapolis office.

318 has a platform agnostic philosophy, but is also one of the largest Mac consultancies in the country. Founded by Kevin Klein in 1995, they have a mission statement I really like:

“Helping business grow profitably through the smart use of technology.”

I’m very excited to work with Charles, who moved here from California about two years ago. He’s brilliant (not trying to kiss up here) and I feel this will be an excellent learning opportunity for me. I’m currently studying for both Apple and Microsoft certification tests and gain new client experience every day.

318 has internal expertise in many areas, but especially shines in Xsan, Final Cut Server, Podcast Producer, OS X Server, imaging/mass deployments, Filemaker development and Kerio mail servers. If you need technology help, check out the web site or give the service desk a call at 877-318-1318.

I know I’m a little late with this post, but some of these new Apple toys just began shipping this week, so I guess it’s not too late to dash out a few comments.

On October 20, Apple updated several product lines, including the iMac, the Mac mini and the entry-level MacBook laptop. The new multi-touch Magic Mouse was also introduced.

Apple has posted links to some of the many reviews on their hot news page, so I’ll just add a few of my observations:

• A maxed out 27-inch iMac (2.8GHz quad i7 processor, 16GB RAM and 2TB hard drive) costs a cool $3,849. Although that is still much less than a similarly-equiped Mac Pro tower (which has an older processor and no monitor).
• The Snow Leopard Server version of the Mac mini was a total surprise. I’d consider replacing the mini this site runs on with one of those eventually. The internal RAID option is nice.
• Don’t have much to say about the MacBook – wouldn’t really want one.
• Same for the Magic Mouse, although I’ve heard some people say it’s nicer than a trackball. I still have an old Kensington Turbo Mouse trackball that I love, so I’m curious to test out that statement.

Nice products, but nothing I feel the urge to run out and buy right away.

It’s been almost two weeks since we picked up the new iPhones at the Mall of America, so I thought I’d write up a short review. AT&T also sent me a survey last week, so it got me thinking about what I like and don’t like about the 3GS (after switching from a first generation model).

As I wrote when I got the original phone, I’m not a big fan of the touch screen keyboard. After several years, I’m still not sure I like it all that much. I’ve gotten better at typing on it, but it still seems awkward to me. Even with the auto-correction, I still find myself correcting errors way, way more than I do on my laptop keyboard. The new cut-and-paste tools don’t work very well for me, either. It nice to have the option, though.

The 3G service from AT&T has been OK in my area – faster than Edge with decent coverage. I still experience the same dead zones as before and have had a few dropped calls. I don’t care about the MMS issue (don’t use it), but the tethering thing bugs the hell out of me. I’d use that if I could (and it should be included at no extra cost).

As for the phone experience, it feels better in my hand (lighter and sleeker), apps run much faster and the new camera options work great. It’s amazing to me that I can shoot video, edit it on the phone and upload it directly to Facebook from just about anywhere. I had some issues moving my settings and files over from the old phone, but nothing major. Having the extra storage space is wonderful – I now need to figure out what songs and movies I want with me all the time. I still have 15GB open on the device, after loading 1799 songs, 11 videos, 591 photos and 20 applications.

Here are my most used third-party apps:

• Tweetie
• Facebook
• Weighbot
• NetNewsWire
• iStat
• Now Playing
• Urbanspoon
• HoldEm
• Canabalt
• Wurdle

I’ve also been looking for a good TV listings app (currently using i.TV, but I’m not sold on it). I love that you when you buy an app, you can put it on all your devices without having to pay again.

Colleen bought a case for her new iPhone, but I’ve left mine plain so far. I’m really partial to Skinizi products (especially this one), but they are expensive. I also picked up a pair of the Apple in-ear headphones, which are awesome (and well worth the price).

So overall, I’m very happy with our purchase. It’s not perfect, but it does just about everything I want.

Just in time for the first (and second!) Minnesota snow storms in October, I purchased new tires for the MINI. The car now has almost 75,000 miles on it and the tires on the front were actually still the originals. I bought two new ones a few years ago and rotated the old rear tires to the front. This time, I picked four new Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grids (size 195/55R-16). Discount Tire in Apple Valley installed them for me quickly and smoothly for around $500.

Saturday also turned out to be new phone day. Colleen decided she was done paying T-mobile $50 a month for her pink Razr and wanted to upgrade. We went to the Mall of America and visited both the Apple Store and the AT&T corporate store, the latter of which was able to convert my account to a family plan. Colleen switched to a white 16GB iPhone 3GS, while I upgraded from a first generation iPhone to a black 32GB iPhone 3GS.

So now kid one has an iPod Touch, kid two gets my old iPhone (sans phone service) and we both have current iPhones. Everybody’s happy!

Yesterday I was invited by my long-time friend and Apple employee Paul “Pash” Pashibin to a meeting of the Apple Consultants Network that was hosted by Apple retail. Pash used to support the national sales channel and now is a business manager for the four Minnesota Apple Stores (Mall of America, Rosedale, Ridgedale and Southdale). Managers from all of the stores were on hand to introduce themselves and hear ten-minute presentations from local ACN members.

I went with the intent of doing a “test-drive” of ACN to see if 7 Minute Miles, LLC should apply for membership. In order to become a member, I need to pass at least one Apple certification test, obtain business insurance and pay the membership fee ($60 application fee and $395 annually).

Apple currently offers three primary levels of OS X certification:

• Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) 10.6
• Apple Certified Technical Coordinator (ACTC) 10.6
• Apple Certified System Administrator (ACSA) 10.6

There are all new classes, training materials and exams for Snow Leopard and currently only the first test is available (the others should be available next month). I think I can pass the first two tests without taking any classes, but I do need to study before plunking down $150 per exam.

I met a number of talented consultants at the meeting, but I was especially pleased to finally meet Charles Edge in person. Charles is the Director of Technology for 318, Inc., author of multiple books, prolific technology blogger at krypted.com and a prominent speaker. Charles had asked to be my friend on Facebook a while back, but I was pretty sure I hadn’t met him before (although we share a number of friends). He recently moved from Los Angeles to Minnesota and we had a very nice conversation after the meeting.

Here are some of the other ACN members who attended:

• Rashan Moore of Digital Coordination
• Clinton Little of Clintron X
• Brian Reichow of Escape Systems Corporation
• Bruce Greenberg of Northbrain
• Jason Hawke of Core Computer Consulting
• Kevin Kourajian from TechCheck LLC in Sartell
• Joe Skelley of Joe’s Tech Support
• Patrick Rhone of Machine Methods Consulting
• Chris Raymond of MacWorks
• Steve and Terri Zeh Jacobson of TechSource IT (and RSB)
• Tim Nyberg of The Mac Guys +
• Chuck Hauge of CPH Solutions

I was impressed by the Apple Store staff who spoke, as well as the ACN members. If I apply for the program, the local Apple Stores would stock my business cards and sell sheets, which I think would be very beneficial for future growth. I could also use the stores for client demos and other presentations. All of this means more business for Apple, so it seems like a win-win to me…

As some of you may have noticed, there have been a few changes here at 7minutemiles.com:

• All of my former .mn sports sites now re-direct to this site. New sections have been created for golf, hockey, running and skiing. Archived posts from each site have been consolidated on 7MM and separate RSS feeds are available for each category.
• Photo gallery images from the old sites have also been consolidated in the main 7MM gallery.
• Links to other sites we like have been consolidated in the 7MM blogroll area in the sidebar.
• I added page anchors to the fetishes page, along with a drop-down selector so you can jump down to the exact section you’d like to read.
• A new 7 Minute Miles, LLC services randomizer box replaces my personal “to-do” bucket list section, which has moved to the footer.
• Information on the contact page has been updated to add the new 7MM PO box mailing address and the return of my iChat/AOL account name.
• Minor updates to the about page and the biography sections.
• A new company page has been created to describe services the new 7 Minute Miles, LLC, organization is now offering.

Speaking of the LLC, I decided at the end of the summer it was time to start a new company. With the help of Doug Podolak and attorney Kevin Johnson, I founded 7 Minute Miles, LLC, on August 28, 2009.

The legal framework is now in place and I opened new business checking and savings accounts with U.S. Bank earlier this week. A former co-worker from Northwest Airlines, Mumtaz Walli-Ware, will be providing small business accounting and tax services and I will be purchasing business insurance from Tapemark Charity Pro-Am presenting sponsor, Anderson Agency.

The new company is a technology consultancy that specializes in WordPress web publishing and Apple system administration and management. Our first two new clients are the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am and the Macalester College Relations department. With are in negotiations with several other organizations and hope to have more news to announce soon.

Please take a look at the services we offer and contact us for a free initial consultation today!