January 2012
5 posts
Government For Sale →
Unnamed movie studio exec:
“God knows how much money we’ve given to Obama and the Democrats and yet they’re not supporting our interests.”
It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when people are essentially saying that they’re upset because the president isn’t essentially taking a bribe.
Nevermind the willingness from all of these people to sell free speech so they...
New sale cuts BlackBerry PlayBook price by as much... →
I think it’s time to start feeling bad for RIM. They are going to take a bath on this in an swimming pool sized tub.
What’s sad is that while I was interested in picking up a Touchpad during HP’s liquidation of its failed tablet, I can’t bring myself to consider a Playbook for anything short of free.
4 tags
Samsung's Galaxy Ace Bringing Innovative Design to... →
Unfortunately, it’s not their design, it’s Apple’s from 4 years ago.
I’d kind of like to see Samsung’s lawyers explain how they are not intentionally ripping off Apple.
Marco Arment Gives Insight Into His Time Working... →
Couple of other good reasons not to shop at Staples.
PSA: Monoprice. I’ve order tons of stuff from Monoprice, and I’ve been blown away by the quality, especially given what I paid for it. No, I don’t work for them, nor am I getting money for this. Do your parents a favor and just tell them to let you order cables for them.
Comments Still Off - Matt Gemmell →
Wonderful results from not letting the bottom section of your article become a cesspool.
December 2011
49 posts
That's *Sir* Jony Ive, to You... and Everyone... →
My computer was designed by a knight. You?
Bullshit →
Who’s product is worth the bullshit?
"Hacker Proof - Secured By GoDaddy." →
I hope that is just a slogan and not an actual contractually binding agreement.
Siri Ported Successfully to any iOS 5 Device, With... →
The catch: You need an authorization token in order to connect to Apple and actually make it work. You can bypass this with a proxy, but as yet proxies are slim. But if you have a friend that just got a 4S…
Anyway, great work from chpwn. Definitely a huge step if you’ve got an older device and still want Siri.
Samsung’s Lack of ICS Updates is an Android... →
Marco Arment, with something I didn’t think about in my earlier posts:
And what about tablets, which should probably be expected to have a useful life closer to a computer’s than a phone’s? The original iPad is nearly two years old, runs iOS 5 well, and will probably get a few more significant OS upgrades. The Galaxy Tab is one year old and it can’t run the latest version of Android.
...
3 tags
GoDaddy Not Actually Opposing SOPA →
On another note:
Hover Namecheap NearlyFreeSpeech Dreamhost
I’m with Hover, and they were very helpful in transferring my domains from GoDaddy a couple of years ago.
Told You GoDaddy Supporting SOPA Seemed Fishy →
Looks like it would have given them exemption. On the plus side, they are now hemorrhaging customers.
Couldn’t have happend to a nicer bunch.
6 tags
The Dearth of Android Software Updates →
This is going to get a bit meta, as I’m linking to a post linking to a post (shut up with the Inception jokes), but here’s John Gruber:
It’s almost certain that this is what the executives at these Android device makers think, too. Why bother with software updates? We’ve got their money. Let them buy a new device if they want the latest software.
Now, that in mind, take my...
1 tag
GoDaddy Supports SOPA. That Seem Strange to... →
Via Wil Wheaton’s twitter.
Given that I would only assume that SOPA would make the job of a domain registrar more difficult, I have a few questions:
Is GoDaddy being motivated externally by something else? (money, political pressure, etc)
Is GoDaddy actually trying to make itself the worst in it’s field?
Seriously, does GoDaddy know what business it’s in?
Fortunately, I...
7 tags
A Long-Time Apple Nerd’s Review of the Galaxy... →
Why doesn’t the iPhone have 4G? Shawn talking about 4G on the Nexus:
Here’s the crazy part: when I am actually using the 4G network for tasks — such as turn-by-turn navigation or video streaming — it will drain 1-percent or more of battery life per minute.
Even just having 4G turned on (but not in use):
With 4G simply being enabled, even if I am at home where I have Wi-Fi, and if...
Perspective: 17 Killed in 9/11. Since Then, 200... →
But one of those we spent a few billion (trillion?) dollars on solving.
5 tags
Microsoft’s iOS Apps →
Ben Brooks:
If we go by a favorite saying of the tech web, that Office is far more important to Microsoft than Windows, would it not make sense then that 10 years from now Microsoft is just a really good “app” company?
I’ve been wondering about that for a while. I actually think Microsoft keeping it’s fingers in iOS, even though it might mean the eventual death of Windows, is a...
2 tags
Ashton Kutcher on SOPA →
Kutcher:
Placing search engines and ISP’s in the middle of policing for piracy is plane[sic] and simply a bad and confused attempted by well meaning people that fundamentally don’t understand how the the Internet works.
Please note that I’m posting this not because “it’s official now that a celebrity said it”, but because he’s actually got a horse...
2 tags
CES: Microsoft, you're fired. Microsoft: No, I... →
With a stage presence like Steve Ballmer to come and announce vaporware, why would CES do this?
MG Siegler’s take:
Is it possible both sides came to those conclusions independently? I suppose. But let’s be realistic, that rarely happens. And if you read their statements carefully, they actually don’t suggest that at all.
4 tags
Apple Patents Using Apps During Phone Calls →
There’s surely no one that’s done this before? And this clearly doesn’t have any negative consequences for consumers.
Patent office is a joke.
2 tags
Dear HBO →
MG Siegler:
I realize this is all about money. The cable companies send you a ton of cash and provide you with a great platform on which you are given prime billing to the elite tier customers. But the world is changing. And you need to get in front of it.
Like MG, I’ve cut the cord as well. It seems ludicrous for me to continue to pay more than $100 a month for something I barely...
5 tags
What's really behind Twitter's staff exodus →
I’m not entirely sure this is a good or bad thing. On the one hand, if you loved what Twitter has been, this might scare you. On the other, if you fear whether Twitter might not be around in 5 years, this might excite you.1
I’m still bitter about Tweetie, though. ↩
4 tags
The Best is Just Around the Corner...Always. →
I love it because Eric Schmidt both manages to imply that Android’s current offerings are shit, and makes a promise that he’ll have almost no chance of keeping.
Again, why does Google let Schmidt speak publicly?
"Take a Stance." →
Ben Brooks:
The problem is endemic of the industry as a whole. You can say all you want about my opinions — whether I am right or wrong — what you can’t say is that I don’t have one. I will take you disagreeing with me all day long over being a bland yes man.
This is the reason why I never could get into sites like Engaget or Gizmodo, and I too, don’t really read the Verge. Everything...
5 tags
How to take screenshots on the HTC EVO 4G Shift -... →
A friend asked me how to take screenshots on her new Evo Shift today. I’m not even being snarky, is this seriously the best way? It was the top hit on Google.
3 tags
Dear Congress, It's No Longer OK To Not Know How... →
Via Brooks Review
Yep, the guys we put in charge of regulating one of the biggest things on the planet right now have no idea how it works. And still think they are qualified to make decisions about it. I see nothing wrong with this…
8 tags
A Really Good Review of Galaxy Nexus. →
Via Daring Fireball
Very solid review. If you are wondering about how the new Nexus or Ice cream sandwich compare to the iPhone, this review should help.
1 tag
Walter Isaacson reportedly to expand Jobs... →
I would really like to see this, but not the way Isaacson is talking about. Expand on the NeXT era. Expand on how Jobs knew to make the various decisions in the last 10 years that made Apple the biggest company in the world. Hell, just give me a freaking book of anecdotes that Steve gave like the little piece in the link. Please don’t give a recap of something that is going to be more than...
Thieves Reject a Droid, Only Take iPhone →
I’m linking to John’s post only because the joke is hilarious. Read Topolsky’s and Siegler’s posts as well.
Goodbye, Amy Pond →
Via Tom Merritt’s twitter
I’m sort of bummed, but everyone knows that she couldn’t stay forever. Amy and Rory have definitely been my favorite of the new companions.
Netflix and Gmail apps updated with bug fixes and... →
I don’t normally post links for app updates, but I am with this because they serve as perfect examples for how not to make an iOS app. Which is to say non cocoa/obj-c and instead basically just a wrapper for a web app.
That said, the Gmail app is noticeably quicker, but it still suffers problems that it shouldn’t. Also, when are you going to get with the program and allow multiple...
AppleInsider | Acer chairman sees Mac growth... →
Let’s check back in a year.
8 tags
Rumor: Android’s Answer to Siri is Coming Soon →
That would be hilarious if true, given Andy Rubin’s previous stance:
I don’t believe that your phone should be an assistant
Good luck with that, Andy.
6 tags
App Developers Bet on iOS over Android this... →
Via Daring Fireball
How is this going to be any different in 6 months? That’s the time frame that Eric Schmidt said it should take for developers to start choosing to develop for Android first.
5 tags
Irony, Thy Name is Brooke Crothers →
Let’s see. We’ve got a guy calling out Apple blogs for calling shitty products shitty. He says they’re “assailing the misinformed or pointing out how wrong or disliked the Android competition is.” To support his opinion, he offers no facts and nothing objectively measured.
Oh, and he uses my favorite ad hominem: fanboi. Just so you know, the moment you type this...
4 tags
A Few Thoughts on the New, New Twitter — Shawn... →
Shawn Blanc:
If Tweetie was designed by a user, the new Twitter app was designed by Twitter’s senior management.
This is a very cogent point, and I do not see this as a good thing.
4 tags
What Twitter for iPhone 4.0 and Twitter’s New-New... →
Ben Brooks:
What is absolutely crazy — what drives me nuts — is the ditching of the swipe-to-act gesture. In previous versions you could swipe left or right on a tweet to slide open an action menu. From there you could quickly favorite, retweet, Instapaper, or reply to the tweet.
Amen.
6 tags
Daring Fireball: The New Twitter (R.I.P. Tweetie) →
John Gruber:
Sad, because Tweetie was truly a great app, and today’s Twitter is no Tweetie. I wouldn’t hesitate to hold Tweetie up as one of the best iPhone apps ever made, period. It was every bit as polished and clever — if not more so — than Apple’s own apps. No app is perfect, no app will please everyone, but Tweetie came damn close.
I fully agree with this, and the thing that I hate...
4 tags
HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source →
it has got to be a testament to what shitty company HP has become than to watch them squander what was once a very viable product. WebOS should have been a success, but HP has had no idea what to do with it.
And while I generally like things becoming open source, I really don’t think a mobile OS is going to be better for it. At best, I’d say what might happen now is if you get tired...
5 tags
+ Instacast - How iCloud Should Work
I recently downloaded Instacast HD on my iPad, and in while there is a lot of uncertainty from developers about how iCloud should work, I’d say the guys at Vemedio have it figured out. The key - I don’t think about it. I listen to a podcast on my iPhone, then go pick it up on my iPad. Everything is right where it should be.
A lot of developers are sort of in the dark about what they...
7 tags
"Whether you like Android or not, you will support... →
Via marco.org
Marco:
Why does Google let Eric Schmidt speak publicly? Has it ever turned out well?
That about sums up how much sense this makes. As Marco points out, the simple question is to ask which of these problems Android 4.0 is going to solve:
Customer base that doesn’t buy apps
Really low tablet market share
Fragmentation. Yes, fragmentation is a real problem. Unless an...
Study Suggests Watching Dumb Things Makes You... →
Personally, I am just shocked that watching a bunch of douchebags who are famous only for being douchebags has a negative effect on one’s intellect.
4 tags
Here's Why I Don't Post Pics to Facebook →
Via Technologizer
Zuckerberg’s own pics were downloaded. Hilarious. I guess there’s something to say for using your own products, though.
5 tags
Developing Gmail’s new look | Official Gmail Blog →
Pretty interesting look at how Google changed one of the world’s most popular services without really screwing anything up along the way.1
Technically, whether you like the design is another matter. ↩
10 tags
Don't Get Your Family an Obsolete iPad 2, Get Them... →
As Marco said, this is obviously linkbait, but worth posting because it’s just so dumb it’s funny.
Read Marco’s bit and then check out the link if you want to see some real leaps in logic.
7 tags
How to Misunderstand Anti-Trust Laws →
This is actually absurdly simple. If you don’t have an actual monopoly, you aren’t breaking any anti-trust laws.
In the case of the iBooks store, not only does Apple not have a monopoly, but people actively choose other book stores even on Apple’s own devices1. So if Apple wants to say “You need to make your content the same price across all stores in order to be in...
Windows 8 will be 'largely irrelevant' to... →
Via Technologizer
This sounds more like what I was expecting. Metro on a tablet looks great, but when in front of a keyboard and mouse, I could see that getting in the way. I think we are going to see some serious design changes before the release, in a similar manner to how Longhorn changed before it became Vista. Which is to say, the released product may look nothing like what we’ve seen...
6 tags
How the iPad 2 Became My Favorite Computer →
Harry McCracken:
This hasn’t been one of those experiments-for-the-sake-of-experimentation in which someone temporarily forsakes a PC for another device in order to write about the experience (like, say, this). No, I’ve been using the iPad for my daily activities–running Technologizer, writing for TIME, CNET, and AllBusiness.com, and more–because I find it to be the preferable tool in multiple...
11 tags
+ In Which I Continue My Quest to Find the Best...
Since the app store opened, one of the things that i’ve been continually swapping in and out is my preferred note taking app. I’ve used a good half dozen, but they’ve failed in some way or the other. The stock Notes app is woefully under-featured, and syncing in a meaningful way is tough. Then I moved to SimpleNote, which was great, except I want to sync to Dropbox without paying...
5 tags
"Microsoft Possibly Compromising On Its "No... →
Seeing this a bunch of places today, but my favorite headline is definitely MG Siegler’s, writing for parislemon.com.
I was never hot on the idea of running desktop apps on a tablet, and more than a little skeptical of Microsoft being able to run an entire Windows OS on something cheapish like an ARM tablet, so this doesn’t really come as a surprise. Also, as John Gruber points out,...