Chris Gonzales:
> Simplenote has become the perfect note-taking app for me. It allows me to very quickly and easily jot down whatever’s in my head before I forget it, which is hugely invaluable to me. On top of that, finding anything I’m looking for from previous notes couldn’t be easier.
At the end of August, [Marco posted his review][1] of Microsoft’s Sculpt Ergonomic Keyboard. It actually looked like a good keyboard — so I went ahead and picked one up to try out.
I have had the keyboard for only a short time, but I am returning it. It’s not so much an issue with the split layout, but a philosophical issue with how keyboards should work.
Before I get into that I see two major issues with the Sculpt:
1. As Marco noted the F1-F12 keys are the biggest piles of shit I have seen on a keyboard before. I’d like to meet the guy who made that decision so that I can tell him I’d rather typeset my website in Comic Sans than touch one of those keys. And, as it turns out, I actually use those keys quite often — something you don’t likely notice until you so loathe touching those keys.
2. The keyboard is wireless, but still requires one of those stupid RF things to be plugged into your USB port. Honestly, if that is the route you have taken, I don’t think it is fair to call the keyboard wireless. Wireless means Bluetooth — to say otherwise is to be a liar.
Ok, so back to my philosophical problem with the keyboard.
My biggest issue with this keyboard isn’t technically the fault of the keyboard — it’s the natural layout. I’ve never used such a layout before this keyboard, but was excited to try. It doesn’t take long to get used to the layout, but — and this is the philosophical issue I have — why should I have to get used to it?
I get that every keyboard takes a bit of an adjustment to get used to, but the natural layout eschews everything I have spent the last 20 years learning so that I may type faster. Why should I have to conform to the “way you should type”, if hitting `B` with my right hand, or `Y` with my left hand is simply faster for me?
More so than any other keyboard I have ever used, the Microsoft Sculpt is constantly telling me: “You’re doing it wrong.”
That bugs me more than anything else.
Yes, I could have predicted this had I thought longer about it, and yes I just should stay away from natural keyboards. All of that is true, but what’s also true is that I despise this keyboard because it seems preachy about how I should type — I don’t think keyboards should ever be preachy — just let me type the way I type. I also hate those damned F keys.
[1]: http://www.marco.org/2013/08/30/sculpt-ergonomic-keyboard-review
Google is trying to encrypt all search traffic, which is fantastic news for users. [Pamela Vaughan is outraged][1]:
> This means marketers won’t even be able to get keyword data for searches conducted by users who aren’t even signed in. (Cue marketers everywhere raising their fists in fits of rage.)
Her entire post is a whine-fest over losing access to search keywords — WHAT’S A MARKETER TO DO! How can this world be so unfair that Google is seeking to protect its users in a way that hurts marketing activities? I guess all those SEO-experts have a job again.
[1]: http://blog.hubspot.com/google-encrypting-all-searches-nj
Marc Rogers:
> First you have to obtain a suitable print. A suitable print needs to be unsmudged and be a complete print of the correct finger that unlocks a phone. If you use your thumb to unlock it, the way Apple designed it, then you are looking for the finger which is least likely to leave a decent print on the iPhone.
If you don’t read this you are not allowed to talk about Touch ID security.
[Matt Mullenweg has a great post up with a little Q&A about the revised Simplenote.][1] [Shawn Blanc also loves it][2] — as do countless others. I used Simplenote for a very long time before switching to Notesy, but as [most of you][3] know now I have [deleted][4] my Dropbox account. I did so without even considering note taking and how that would be affected.
Obviously, not using Dropbox means that I can’t use 99% ((I did no math to arrive at that number.)) of the nerdy note taking apps in the App Store. I had been trying just the iOS clients for ownCloud and BitTorrent Sync, as I figured I didn’t actually use notes as much as I thought.
*Wrong*.
As it turns out I still use note apps quite a lot, at least enough that both of those file manager apps tuned out to be shitty solutions.
When I saw the new Simplenote I thought two things:
1. Man that looks great.
2. Oh yeah, they are owned by Automattic now.
That meant one big thing to me: I had reason to trust the syncing engine that Simplenote uses, because I trust Automattic ((I likely trust them more than I should out of respect for Mullenweg himself. Based on nothing more than what I know about the man from reading about him, and using his products.))
I can’t say that I am 100% sold on Simplenote just yet, as I am not 100% sold on the idea of not “owning” or controlling the syncing engine. That said these apps are simply fantastic. There’s a few things wrong with each, but with each day that passes the Simplenote suite is steadily winning me over.
And this quote from Mullenweg might have just tipped me fully into the Simplenote camp:
> You will start to see the Simperium engine make its way into almost everything we do.
I can’t wait.
[1]: http://ma.tt/2013/09/on-the-new-simplenote/
[2]: http://shawnblanc.net/2013/09/the-new-simplenote-apps/
[3]: https://brooksreview.net/2013/09/goodbye-dropbox/
[4]: https://brooksreview.net/2013/09/dropbox-opens-your-files/
Just as the headline says, someone can use your iPhone to call anyone, but it’s not by unlocking your phone. Honestly, if someone gets a hold of your phone do you really care if they use it to call someone? That’s the least of my worries.
Anyways. I am linking to this post from Andy Greenberg because it contains the most wrongheaded and jacktastic quote I have seen in a while, from the person who found the exploit:
> “I think this is a part of iOS that they’re [Apple] not paying much attention to,” Daoud says. “They’re more interested in copying Samsung on new things than fixing their bugs.”
*Nailed it.* Douchebag.
Update: I am hearing from a few people that 7.0.1 actually fixes this, but I have yet to see verification of this.
[Frank from the Chaos Computer Club on their workaround for Apple’s TouchID system][1]:
> The method follows the steps outlined in this how-to with materials that can be found in almost every household: First, the fingerprint of the enroled user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution. The resulting image is then cleaned up, inverted and laser printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone. This process has been used with minor refinements and variations against the vast majority of fingerprint sensors on the market.
As I said that other day, [who cares][2]. The CCC is making this out like there is *no* security with TouchID, which is a falsehood. In fact there’s a lot *more* security even with this vulnerability.
Let’s walk through a few facts:
– The CCC hack requires a near perfect, smudge free, finger print to be photographed at a very high resolution, cleaned up digitally and printed at a very high resolution. Once all of that is accomplished then you can unlock a phone. Yeah, not exactly something that can be done quickly.
– $10 says I could remote wipe my iPhone before you could replicate my fingerprint and unlock it.
– With TouchID a user has very little reason *not* to create strong and complex passcodes and Apple ID passwords for their information. Meaning you are increasing the non-you aspects of your security. And because iOS 7 requires your passcode upon restarting the iPhone, I could easily accomplish wiping my phone before you could accomplish your task of beating TouchID. ((Assuming you don’t carry a portable faraday cage. There does exist the possibility that you have my fingerprint already replicated when you swipe my device, I’ll take my chances on you being able to do that.))
So yes, TouchID isn’t perfect, but we had a reasonable expectation to assume this may be the case. However, the other items that Apple has implemented makes TouchID a pretty secure system. Because while you could beat my fingerprint under ideal conditions, I could likely wipe my iPhone under shitty conditions before you beat my fingerprint.
[1]: http://www.ccc.de/en/updates/2013/ccc-breaks-apple-touchid
[2]: https://brooksreview.net/2013/09/touchy-id/
I personally believe that Touch ID, and future systems like it, are going to prove just as important to smartphones as multi-touch has proven. It’s something that seems so logical, so magical that when you use it, as [Jony Ive says][1]:
> True simplicity is, well, you just keep on going and going until you get to the point where you go, ‘Yeah, well, of course.’ Where there’s no rational alternative.
Touch ID is one of those “Yeah, well, of course” things. So naturally I have been wondering about the future of Touch ID. Right now Touch ID can only bypass your device passcode (which you can now make complex without hating your life) and it can unlock your Apple ID password for iTunes and App Store purchases (which should also be a complex password). These are very useful scenarios, but I’d really like to be able to do things like unlock 1Password (again, a complex password).
I think it is a safe assumption to assume that Apple has thought about how nice this would be too, but they aren’t yet allowing third-party access to whatever system Touch ID works off of, so why? I have to believe that Apple could allow access in a very secure manner, so why not?
My guess is that Apple knows that Touch ID is a system that makes a lot of people, to say the least, *uncomfortable*. And until such time that Touch ID becomes comfortable, Apple won’t run the risk of letting any third-party developers do anything to potentially delay, or dissuade, the comfort and trust that Apple is asking from its users.
Assuming then that Apple can securely allow developers access to Touch ID, I have to believe that they want to, and eventually will, allow developers usage of Touch ID. The timing will just come down to waiting for the point to come when users not only want and trust Touch ID, but refuse to go back to the pre-Touch ID days.
I can’t wait for that day.
[1]: http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/19/apple-jony-ive-craig-federighi/2834575/
[A nice report from Bloomberg’s Linda Sandler on LinkedIn’s incredibly shady practices](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-20/linkedin-customers-say-company-hacked-their-e-mail-address-books.html). The report stems from a lawsuit filed against LinkedIn alleging (very generally) two things:
+ That LinkedIn sent emails asking people to connect with users without user permission.
+ More seriously, that LinkedIn hacked (in someway) into external email addresses of their users and scraped all email addresses to send the above reference emails to people.
Of course, they are trying to make this more of a class action lawsuit than anything else. While the hacking aspect would certainly be damaging, its the first claim that is — I feel — potentially far more interesting. If you read the Bloomberg report you can see LinkedIn’s defense: that they don’t do anything without the permission of the user.
The issue in the case I think will come down to what “permission from the user” really is.
The argument LinkedIn would make is that the user didn’t uncheck this, or agreed to that, in the terms of service, or any other obscure place. The user would argue they had a reasonable expectation to not have to dig for that information to turn off privacy violating features and that they didn’t know, or couldn’t be reasonably expected to, find these settings — probably showing how often the locations change and items mysteriously turn back on as supporting evidence.
The decision by a potential jury on this could be far reaching in the tech industry. The best outcome for users would be for LinkedIn to get hit with huge punitive damages which sends a clear message to other companies that these settings must be clear, easy to access, and explicit. I don’t generally like lawsuits, but this is something I can get behind.
[Dustin Curtis remarking on the space grey iPhone 5s][1]:
> The outer part of the new home button is exactly the same size as the Phone and passcode keypad number circles in iOS 7, which are in turn also identical in size to the holes in the back of the new iPhone 5c rubber case.
He noticed a lot more things too, which to me speaks worlds to having “one” man in charge of all design. Consistency of design is very important, and though few would notice this sizing, we all unconsciously notice these things. It makes a difference, just not a directly quantifiable one.
Curtis, again:
> “Slide to unlock” on the lock screen no longer makes sense when you’re using a fingerprint to unlock.
I do find that odd. Obviously you can still unlock your iPhone with a passcode ((Make it a complex one though now that you have Touch ID.)) when you have Touch ID turned on, but it seems odd to see “slide to unlock”.
If you are using Touch ID and you do attempt to slide to unlock you are only slowing down the process of unlocking your iPhone. I assume the reasoning behind this staying in place is to maintain a sense of familiarity for users, but I fully expect this to change at some future point.
[1]: http://dcurt.is/5s
[In his review of OmniFocus 2 for iPhone, Don Southard concludes][1]:
> I think the Omni Group did an excellent job improving on an already great product while keeping it relevant on an entirely new operating system. OmniFocus 2 is being released as new app for all customers but is still highly recommended.
While I fully realize I am now biased on the matter of todo list apps, I do want to weigh in on OmniFocus 2 because it is a tool I still use daily.
I don’t like OmniFocus 2 for iPhone very much right now, but I do like it better than the version it replaces. Don’t get me wrong, if you are Ben Brooks, I highly recommend OmniFocus to you.
Allow me to explain.
OmniFocus for iPhone has never been (well OmniFocus in general) a world class app when it comes to design. The functionality is amazing, but the aesthetics leave a lot to be desired. It looks as though this was the complaint the OmniGroup looked to address in this update (and I am very glad they did). So to judge OmniFocus 2 for iPhone we need to not look at the features, but we need to look at the design.
There are some really odd design choices in this app.
For one: why display the days of the week under the forecast heading on the main screen, if tapping those days doesn’t jump you into the forecast view for those days? This seems like a wasted power-user opportunity to me.
Also, why wouldn’t you show the individual perspectives as tappable items under the perspectives heading — instead leaving an awkward spacing before the bottom of the screen is reached? UPDATE: Turns out you can do this, apologies. Still, not very discoverable.
All this brings me to my last complaint. In the forecast view, the plus button at the top right-ish area of the screen: was this an afterthought? I hope so because it could not look more out of place. The alignment looks off, it cramps the top bar and it looks out of place. I get the function of the button, but I think this is an instance where removing that “feature” and saying you add all tasks with the inbox add button at the bottom, would be a better move.
I am glad I bought the update, and recommend you pick it up if you use OmniFocus, but the design feels a bit rushed and not fully fleshed out. That’s just not something I expected from an app of this caliber. Perhaps that expectation is too high, but as an everyday OmniFocus user I hoped for something that felt (for lack of a better term) more well thought out.
That said, this is certainly a step in the right direction, perhaps I was just hoping for a leap.
[1]: http://www.macstories.net/reviews/omnifocus-2-for-iphone-background-sync-and-a-bold-redesign/
The bookkeeper at my company used to (she is now retired) have this routine — it was something like this:
As the day progressed, anything that came up would be added below a horizontal line she would draw at the bottom of the page. As the week progressed she would repeat this routine every morning and would trash the list from yesterday.
As a devoted and devout OmniFocus user this has always amused and baffled me.
The thing is, my new bookkeeper does this too. In fact, most people in my office do something very similar to this. My wife uses the Apple ruled Notes app for crying out loud.
***
So when Kyle Rosenbluth contacted me a few short months ago to see if I wanted to help him out with a new app he was making — he got my attention.
Kyle’s idea was a todo list app that we would soon come to know as Begin.
Begin is made with everyone else in my office in mind.
(Disclaimer: I consulted with Kyle on the app — that’s a fancy way of saying I helped where and when I could, but don’t have ownership in the app. Yes to compensation though.)
Through the entire process of making Begin, I have been trying to guide an app that my wife and coworkers would love to use, and that I would be proud to encourage them to use (but that I wouldn’t have to teach them how to actually use).
Something simple. Something with almost zero learning curve. Something that worked the way their brains work.
And then, perhaps because I needed to constantly test the app, something else happened: I started using the app regularly.
That’s not to say I am done with OmniFocus, but I fell in love with Begin. (I am too biased so I will stop here…)
Begin is $0.99 and iOS 7 only. You don’t have to take my word for it, here is some of the press:
If you do nothing else, do me a favor and check out the site for Begin before you move on to the millions of other new apps launched today.
[Glenn Fleishman on changes to ‘Find my iPhone’][1]:
> So even if you wipe your iPhone remotely, you don’t have to worry about anyone else ever being able to use it again. If it’s later recovered, you can easily restore from your most recent backup, entering your Apple ID and password when prompted.
Read his entire post, some really great security changes for iPhone users. It seems pretty clear to me that Apple is serious about helping users secure their devices (at least from non-NSA types — I can’t speak to what they are doing on the NSA front).
[1]: http://tidbits.com/article/14113
#### The Good
1. The lock screen is fucking gorgeous — I don’t care what anyone says.
2. Control center negates the need for any flashlight apps and generally makes me a very happy man.
3. The Today view in notification center is near perfection and eerily accurate. It’s the best way to keep your day on track and I hope developers (like [todo list apps][1]) are able to tie into that in the future.
4. Auto-update is fantastic.
5. You can set any IMAP account to archive emails instead of delete them. *Praise be…*
6. In Settings, under Phone, you can set a list of blocked numbers. I put all the phone numbers of my exes in there — I recommend you do the same because it is glorious.
7. Don’t be fooled, the Calendar app is a winner. I don’t care what anyone says.
#### The Not Good
1. “Designers” still won’t shut up about the icons and typography.
2. You still can’t get rid of Newsstand.
3. Despite #1 on this list, the Camera app icon is horrid.
4. Apple made it harder to manage playlists. When you wanted to add new songs to a playlist you used to be able to click `Edit > +` and you would see a list of all your songs, but then you could tab to your Playlists to add songs from another playlist. For some asinine reason this has been removed. I hate whoever made this call.
5. You can now swipe to unlock from anywhere on the lock screen — meaning not just in the “slider area”. This annoys me to no end because it feels imprecise.
Carry on.
[1]: http://beginapp.co
Hayley Tsukayama:
> Several months after calling for legislation to unlock cellphones, the White House filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday asking that all wireless carriers be required to unlock all mobile devices so that users can easily switch between carriers.
*Nice.*
[Justin Williams][1]:
> If Path or App.net can show verifiable success in their respective ventures it will likely lead to other services copy-catting the idea of charging their users for the service they are offering. I can certainly think of worse things to copy.
While I can’t bring myself to trust Path (what is this of Dave Morin using a day *and* night phone?), I can certainly get behind this notion of copying paid services.
I think the key to offering a paid service is to be paid from day one. Path is going the opposite route and that never seems to work in the long run.
If people know they need to pay from day one then the standard has been set. If the service then offers free later on (with reduced whatever) that service stands a much better chance of converting free users to paid users because the service has never been devalued by being free in the consumer mind.
[1]: http://carpeaqua.com/2013/09/17/the-path-of-opportunity/
Kelly MacLean:
> Next I see the gluten-free section filled with crackers and bread made from various wheat-substitutes such as cardboard and sawdust. I skip this aisle because I’m not rich enough to have dietary restrictions. Ever notice that you don’t meet poor people with special diet needs? A gluten intolerant house cleaner? A cab driver with Candida?
Fantastic post, despite the website hosting.
This morning Contrast launched [Perfect Weather for iPhone][1]. A weather app — oh — I must take a look at it. Perfect Weather is $2.99 — so it is looking right at me and daring me to install it — blue icon and all.
##### Background Time
First a little bit about the current state of my weather apps. On my home screen for the past few months have been two weather apps: Dark Sky, and Apple’s iOS 7 weather app. I like the iOS weather app, but I hate one thing about it: no precipitation percentages for future days. This really irks me, but for some reason I just like that app so I keep using it.
##### Back to the App At Hand
Enter Perfect Weather. When David Barnard emailed me about the app he noted that *this* was the perfect weather app for him. (Honestly, at this point how could I not write about this app?)
I am happy to say that Perfect Weather quickly displaced the Apple weather app on my phone. Here’s what I like about Perfect Weather:
– The precipitation forecast is right there with no extra taps for today and the rest of the week. This is immensely helpful for me.
– The app is highly glanceable, with a lot of in-depth data buried just a tug and swipe away. ((That sounds dirty, I know, but you gotta love that phrasing.))
– The icon. Yes, that blue square. *I* like it.
Ok, now on to the part you wanted to read. Here’s what I don’t like:
– I am not a fan of the fold out animation when you pull down on the gripper. It doesn’t feel like the right animation.
– The light weight of the fonts makes the smaller temps, and specifically the low temps, hard to read.
– Lastly, when you are using your current location as the location for the weather data, Perfect Weather gives you little indication of what location it thinks you are at. And yes, the radar map helps, but that’s not a great indicator. I personally would like to see a zip code or something to indicate that the app is accurate on this front.
##### Overall
I like Perfect Weather. It’s going to stick on my home screen for a while so I can put it through it’s paces. Even though my time with the app has been limited, I think it is the best weather app on my iPhone. (Please note: Nothing can touch Dark Sky, but it’s a specific app for a specific use, not a general weather app like Perfect Weather.)
[1]: http://contrast.co/perfect-weather/