This may be way off topic, but I have to say something. I’, saying it here rather than at iTechGear for a reason – JAMM has a wider audience.

I really love Windows Live Writer and am missing a compatible tool for the Mac side of my Unibody MacBook. I am currently involved in a Time Machine backup that I have delayed for far too long. How long..? 9.26GB long. That’s how long.  Its going to be at it for a while, and if I stop it and boot into my Windows 7 Boot Camp partition, its never going to get done.  While I’ve been on the Mac side lately, Time Machine won’t backup over WiFi (which is good and bad…).

Yes, I could use things like VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop to run WLW, I don’t like the performance hit and quite honestly, using your Boot Camp partition via either Fusion or Desktop messes with the activation and causes problems when you want to boot natively.

So, I’m kinda stuck. I have projects to complete and love, loVE, LOVE Windows Live Writer for blogging on JAMM (and other blogs, though I can’t use it for iTechGear, as the host doesn’t support it…).  Unfortunately, I can’t find any app on the Mac side that reads and writes WLW compatible files; and Microsoft doesn’t make a Live Writer version for Mac.

The writing staff here at JAMM has been yacking about WLW on and off for the last few days and we haven’t been able to identify any alternatives. If you have any ideas, I know there are a lot of people here that would love to hear about them. Why don’t you join in the discussion and give us your thoughts?

Today’s JAMM Store Deal of the Day is 3D Mini-Sportsbike for Windows Mobile.  You can register the game, 3D Mini-Sportsbike, today, for half off the regular price.  This brings the total down to $9.97!  You can check out the details / specs below and download a demo or register here.

Mini-Sportsbike is a 3D motorcycle racing game featuring both breathtaking superbike racing and frantic motocross racing.
Lean into the next turn! Jump over the next trench!

Features:

• Highly-detailed Environment
• compete on one of 8 superbike racing tracks or 5 motocross racing tracks featured with wild landscape
• The Best 3D Rendering Effect
• Sophisticated light effect, metallic and shiny motocycle, dynamic racer postures
• Believable Physics and Dynamics Simulation

Minimum Requirements:

• Window Mobile Pocket PC 2000/02/03/5/6 with ARM-compatible CPU

Display Dimensions
240×240, 240×320, 240×400, 320×240, 320×320, 400×240, 480×480, 480×640, 480×800, 640×480, 800×480
Operating System
Pocket PC 2000, Pocket PC 2002, Pocket PC 2003, Pocket PC 2003 SE, WM5, WM6, WM6.1, WM6.5

Edit:  This is an article from Doug, recounting the weekend with his son.  Only posted by Brian.

Earlier this weekend, my five year old son started complaining of stomach pains.  Sparing you the gory details, this landed us in the local emergency room late Saturday evening.  Now, the problem with the emergency room is that it involves a lot…LOT…of waiting.  Something most five year olds, mine included, are not very good at.

We tried to watch television, but by that time at night, even the kid friendly channels were not catering to him,  A five year old boy can only watch iCarly so many times before boredom sets in.

Luckily, I had my iPad with me.  I grabbed iBooks and opened the free copy of Winnie The Pooh that was included.  He was delighted, and we read almost the whole book in one setting.

Still, when it became clear that this would result in an extended stay in the hospital, i knew that Winnie The Pooh book would not be enough.  So, I pulled up iTunes, which allows you to download videos directly to the iPad, and purchased a few episodes from my son’s favorite TV shows.  On the second night, we almost did not have to watch TV at all, opting instead for shows we actually liked, stored on the iPad…as an added bonus, the screen is significantly nicer than that on the 25 year old TV in the room.

This is a quick note to let you know that several interesting reviews are in the pipeline.  I’ve been trying out WinMo Finance, a finger friendly finance manager for Windows Mobile that looks promising.  Next up will be BizWorks WYSIWYG Puzzle.  This is a very well done jigsaw puzzle program that gives some of the big boys a run for their pieces.  And finally, the Astraware Zuma for Windows Mobile update.  I’d known about Zuma for quite some time, but never ran the demo of it.  After installing it and playing it for just a bit last night, I can only share my initial reaction right now:

Wow!  This is awesome.  The graphics are incredible and gameplay is both simple and addictive.  Be sure to stay tuned for these exciting program reviews!

It sounds like Apple is trying to play off iAds as a good thing for consumers and developers and themselves alike, but all that I can see is advertising in our programs.  I don’t know about you, but advertising is not something I need more of.  Nor do I need it taking up precious real estate on my devices.

I do understand that it may allow me to find new and better apps that (unless I actually take the time to look) I otherwise wouldn’t have found out about as quickly, however I think most people would choose  to search for their apps and not have them and other worthless bits of information taking up their precious screen space.

So there you have it.  If you have an iPad, iPod, or iPhone you should really make sure that you want to install OS 4 when it comes your way.  It looks Android will be embracing this as well, and I assume others will, when they figure out the revenue that will ensue for screwing up our screen space.  It is unbelievable to me that they actually wrote this as being good for the consumer.  I guess what we don’t know what is good for us.

By giving app developers a way to enhance Apple’s platforms without charging users

The iAd platform, part of the iPhone OS, will allow users to watch videos, play games and even purchase products within an ad inside of an app

Unbelievable in my opinion.  What is yours?

[wired]