November 2011
3 posts
So, let's see...
What did I do today?
•Woke up congested
•Got nitric acid on a paper cut (boy that hurts).
•Burned 3 of my fingers on my right hand while soldering.
But, I also got to
•Hear a fantastic political lecture by Fred Barnes.
•Participate in a fantastic Bible discussion.
•Talk about Daring Fireball with my chem lab instructor.
Overall, I’d say that’s not bad.
Why Ballmer Needs to Go (Example #34)
From The Verge:
We’ve got broad initiatives driving Windows down to the phone with Windows 8.” The choice of words is incredibly (if unintentionally) telling, but also a little vague. Like with tablets, Microsoft would rather cram a desktop OS “down” into mobile form, than build off of a simple mobile platform into something more complex. Of course, that’s the least...
“According to Motorola, choosing Super AMOLED helped make the RAZR thinner —...”
– (Review from The Verge).
This is what people don’t get about Apple; they won’t sacrifice something as crucial as the screen just to make it a bit thinner. Honestly, with a full touchscreen phone, where’s all the interaction going to be? The screen! If the screen is crap, the...
October 2011
1 post
“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at...”
– Steve didn’t just make this statement; he lived it.
September 2011
1 post
How-To: Simple Electro-Etching for Knife Blades →
July 2011
5 posts
iOS 4.3.4 and the haters
I’m not going to lie- I really was pretty disappointed to find that all Apple updated today was iOS- and just a measly 4.3.4 update too. What does it do? It only patches the PDF vulnerability that jailbreakme uses.
Yeah, that’s worthy of a groan- indeed, I did so when I first saw it. After all, I’m jailbroken myself. But here’s the key:
No one will force you to update....
May 2011
3 posts
If you don't already read Scoopertino... →
You’re missing so much.
Marco Arment on the iMac Harddrive Kerfuffle →
I don’t think this is a big deal: iMac hard drives are not considered user-serviceable at all, since accessing the bay requires the extremely risky removal of the screen (and the dust-free reattachment afterward). This is something that Apple only wants authorized service centers to do, understandably, because otherwise they’d have a bunch of people botching the repair and then complaining to...
The Possibility of Microsoft Buying Skype
Real quick here, I wanted to just briefly mention the possibility of Microsoft buying Skype. For some reason (be it bias or actual well-grounded thought), the Apple community is absolutely flipping out about such an acquisition. I’ve got a couple of points. 1. First, I think we can all agree that this is better than Google buying Skype. Let’s face it, Google’s already creepy...
April 2011
4 posts
Leaving in a Huff →
(via Instapaper)
When Less is More is More Than Less :... →
(via Instapaper)
Funny Logical Progressive Expression of the Day
So, @_Dew on Twitter posted a link to a website’s 404 page. Here’s where my mind goes with that.
-Site’s URL is http://iplanwebsites.com/404
-By going there, you reach their 404 page, which means the page doesn’t exist.
-Yet, the 404 is being hosted at /404
-Which means the 404 doesn’t exist.
-If the 404 doesn’t exist and is 404’d… click.
...
March 2011
14 posts
4 tags
Customer Support Done Right
Ever since they first started, I’ve been a big fan of the company Twelve South. Everything they make is visually appealing as well as rock solid design. I happen to own both the BookArc for iPad, as well as the more mobile stand, the Compass. I love both, as they serve different purposes. I keep the Compass in my bag and leave the BookArc on my desk as a more permanent stand.
However, I...
Steve, you sneaky...
As I was rewatching the original iPad introduction video (just for the heck of it), I noticed that while Steve was showing off Safari, there was one thing that kept cropping up: the blue lego. Rather than make any kind of mention about it, Steve would simply (and quickly) either scroll past it or zoom in on another section so that missing plugin image would no longer be visible. 9 out of 10...
Microsoft Zune reaches end of life →
andrewmin:
According to Dina Bass, Microsoft will end production of the Zune hardware. It will continue developing the software, however.
Smart move for Microsoft - as Bloomberg’s headline notes, there’s no real demand for yet another player that really doesn’t have any special features.
Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) will stop introducing new versions of the Zune music and video player because of...
Apple + Trailers →
A bit old, but interesting none the less.
WatchA Million Miles in a Thousand Years
I have not yet read this… I’d certainly like to. Anyone out there read it before?
Why it wouldn't surprise me if 4.3 were introduced...
If Apple offsets the update day with the release of the iPad, it could conceivably mean less stress on their servers on Friday. Remember how in the past we’ve seen Apple’s servers melt down on iPhone release day? By offsetting the update day, most people that care will update tomorrow, leaving Friday to the iPad’s activation alone.
Mostly, that is.
The System is Messed Up
I was listening to a bit of AM talk radio today, and I heard a report about a local Pittsburgh union that was rather scary. Here’s the deal: A couple months ago, a man who worked for the animal control group of Pittsburgh noticed that one his fellow employees was acting very drunk when he arrived in the morning. Smelling the alcohol on his breath, this first man (I can’t remember...
Why is Home Sharing a big deal?
During the event today, Apple briefly mentioned the upcoming iOS 4.3 release. It’s slated for March 11th. I’m sure we’ll see a preview of iOS 5 soon enough, but it was nice to see a couple things added into iOS before the big upgrade this June.
Here’s what Apple announced:
AirPlay enhancements. Essentially, if your app displays video, you can send it to an AirPlay...
MobileNotifier vs. Notifed Pro
Starting late last week, a bunch of Apple-centric blogs started posting about a new jailbreak tweak regarding iOS’s notification system. Then Engadget and even Wired picked up on it.
But what about Notified Pro?
Let’s state the truth here: notifications in iOS suck. End of discussion.
So last year, we saw the release of Notified Pro in Cydia. Its tagline was simple:...
February 2011
9 posts
Inside the multimillion-dollar essay-scoring... →
Then came the question from hell out of Louisiana: “What are the qualities of a good leader?” One student wrote, “Martin Luther King Jr. was a good leader.” With artfulness far beyond the student’s age, the essay delved into King’s history with the civil rights movement, pointing out the key moments that had shown his leadership. There was just one problem: It didn’t fit the rubric. The rubric...
Motorola Xoom Launches Without Flash →
Motorola’s $800 Android-based tablet, the Xoom, will ship without Adobe’s Flash browser plug-in.
So yeah… Confirmed to be starting at $800 and missing it’s chief boasting point. Brilliant.
(via Instapaper)
The iPhone is customer mainstream, or, Proof that...
So as I was out and about today, I happened to overhear a conversation between a teenage guy and his dad. I kinda came in on the tailend, but I quickly noticed they were talking about the iPhone 4 on Verizon. I don’t remember the exact conversation, so I’ll paraphrase:
Dad: Wouldn’t you want to wait for the next iPhone, as opposed to buying last year’s model now?
Son:...
WSJ "reports" on the iPad 2.
From the publication that told us a Verizon iPhone was coming in January every year from 2008 until they finally got it right this past year, comes the latest rumor- the iPad 2 is in production.
Great, we pretty well already took this as a given. Nevertheless, did you guys get any kind of juicy scoop?
“Apple Inc. has started manufacturing a new version of its iPad tablet computer with a...
What I'd like to see in iOS 5
With the new year comes (conceivably) a new version of iOS in June. Apple typically gives a preview in March or April of the features to come. Here’s what I’d like to see:
Better notification system. This is easily the biggest thing in need of fixing. The popup windows were great back in the days of iOS1, but with the abundance of 3rd party applications, the popups are no longer any good. And...
January 2011
9 posts
Google Cloud Print + iOS = ?
So, Google has announced their printing service for mobile devices. While this is all well and good for Android, what’s the point of having it for iOS? I’ve been printing from my iPhone and iPad just fine since October (since I had the beta), so I don’t see why Google feels the need to trumpet their service. Considering the iPhone has AirPrint built-in, there’s really...
“We will never make a 32-bit operating system.”
– Bill Gates. Tim Ferguson nabs quite a few brilliant one-liners from the old Microsoft boss in days gone by.
(via Reddit)
Explaining A:\ and B:\ →
andrewmin:
A quick piece on what Windows uses the A: and B: drives for. If you’ve never really used floppies, it’s somewhat informative.
The A: and B: drives are leftovers in Windows from the days when a floppy drive was standard issue and required for software installations. That’s why the C: drive is your main hard drive, as the first two drive letters were reserved for floppy drives.
(via...
New iOS beta looks fascinating; particularly the iPad gestures. I hope that doesn’t mean that Apple’s abandoning buttons like Honeycomb is, though…
Microsoft is actually touting compatibility with Windows applications as a feature. “All of that is working today.” This is on the Intel x86 system. So your Windows applications will work on a Windows PC — pretty cool right? -Engadget
December 2010
9 posts
