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Leica Sofort 2June 13, 2024
Grand Seiko SBGX261February 23, 2023
Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022

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  • iPhone 4 “Glassgate” Lawsuit

    Matt Brian: LA resident Donald LeBuhn has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of misleading customers as to the strength of the glass used in its iPhone 4… Except for the fact that it is called “glass” — which inherent to the word glass means that something is fragile. This bit…

    Matt Brian:

    LA resident Donald LeBuhn has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of misleading customers as to the strength of the glass used in its iPhone 4…

    Except for the fact that it is called “glass” — which inherent to the word glass means that something is fragile. This bit though really pisses me off:

    The claimant is asking the court to get Apple to refund the price paid for the iPhone 4 to all of those in the class action lawsuit and to reimburse any repair fees charged, making Apple accountable for its actions.

    Apple should tell these idiots that they will give them their money back if they give Apple the phones back. My guess: not to many of these people would be willing to give up their iPhones.

  • In Meetings, Pen & Paper, Not Glass and Fingers

    Randy Murray, responding to my two posts that responded to his about not using an iPad in meetings: Ben may be right, but only for a select few, people like himself who can master the technology to a degree that it becomes invisible. It doesn’t work that way for me and I’m pretty good with…

    Randy Murray, responding to my two posts that responded to his about not using an iPad in meetings:

    Ben may be right, but only for a select few, people like himself who can master the technology to a degree that it becomes invisible. It doesn’t work that way for me and I’m pretty good with the device. Most people I know simply couldn’t operate it at the level required to take accurate notes without bringing a meeting to a screeching halt.

    I still am unconvinced that paper and pen is a better medium to use during meetings. What I do know is that you need to use what works best for you. For Randy that is pen and paper with a digital recorder, for me that is the iPad.

  • Kyle Baxter Makes an Excellent Point

    Kyle Baxter in reply to this post by me: That’s all possible through an iOS application and AirPlay, but there’s no way something like that could gain traction following that route. Telling users to (1) purchase an Apple TV, (2) purchase an iOS application, and (3) stream it to their Apple TV is so convoluted…

    Kyle Baxter in reply to this post by me:

    That’s all possible through an iOS application and AirPlay, but there’s no way something like that could gain traction following that route. Telling users to (1) purchase an Apple TV, (2) purchase an iOS application, and (3) stream it to their Apple TV is so convoluted few regular users would get past the first step.

    That is a great point, I may have to rethink this.

  • Is AirPlay the App Store for the Apple TV?

    Leading up to the launch of the Apple TV 2 there were rampant reports that the Apple TV would get iOS and its own App Store. At the time it only seemed natural that Apple would make such a move — netting more revenue for the Apple TV “hobby”. With a $99 price tag it…

    Leading up to the launch of the Apple TV 2 there were rampant reports that the Apple TV would get iOS and its own App Store. At the time it only seemed natural that Apple would make such a move — netting more revenue for the Apple TV “hobby”. With a $99 price tag it seems like the Apple TV would be a loss leader for the company and perhaps an App Store would be the way to make up for such a loss. Perhaps, but does it really makes sense?

    They way I see it there are two possible types of apps that could be useful on the Apple TV:

    1. Games
    2. Streaming Apps (be it video, audio, or other)

    I don’t see much need for any other type of app, but just for shits and giggles I admit that somebody somewhere probably really wants to see OmniFocus on their 100” TV. I don’t.

    I also don’t see a need of any sort for any apps to make their way to the Apple TV, again there are two reasons why:

    Lack of a Good Controller

    This mainly applies to games and any apps that you would need to input text into, but any Apple TV owner knows that the remote is only good for navigating menus or hitting play/pause. I doubt that someone can make a compelling game that uses an infrared remote to control it.

    Angry Birds and Flight Control for instance would be nothing short of a nightmare with this type of controller as the interface to those games. Part of the reason games are so great on an iPhone/iPad/iPod touch is because you have multi-touch control coupled with accelerometers and gyroscopic controls. You just don’t get that with a little remote like the one paired with Apple TV.

    Yes you could set it up so that you would use your iPhone/iPad/iPod touch as the controller, but then that brings me to the next point…

    AirPlay

    Wouldn’t you just prefer to go the ‘two for one’ route and use AirPlay to route the video to the Apple TV? That is wouldn’t it just be easier to enable AirPlay on the Hulu iPad app than it would be to recode something for the Apple TV? Doing this would solve the crappy controller problem, and not cause the customer to download/pay for two apps all while reducing the strain on your companies mobile software development. This seems like a win-win scenario for everyone.

    It becomes even more of a no brainer for games too — just look at something like The Incident, where the TV becomes the screen and your iWhatever becomes the controller. Doesn’t that make a lot more sense than putting an actual app store on the Apple TV would?

    Essentially a game developer could turn the pairing of the Apple TV and iPhone/iPod touch into the Wii — which has seen mild success. ((I, of course, know it is a huge success — no emails needed.))

    No Sense, None

    From a consumer perspective I can’t see any reason why one would want an app store for the Apple TV — unless said consumer doesn’t own a proper iOS device. From a developer and Apple perspective the only reason I can see is monetary and I just don’t think Apple is as motivated by monetary means as others do. I think Apple sees this the same way I do: there is just no good way to deliver a consistently good experience with an app made by a 3rd party for the Apple TV.

    There is a reason NetFlix is packaged with the Apple TV: Apple wanted to control the UI and knew this was the only way to control that aspect.

  • No Opting Out From Facebook Turning Your Check-Ins, Likes Into Ads

    Jacqui Cheng on Facebook using users in ads: Still, there are ways in which the system could be improved, especially for those concerned about their privacy being respected. The most obvious is that users are not notified that their posts are being used in ads, and cannot block their posts from becoming ads unless they…

    Jacqui Cheng on Facebook using users in ads:

    Still, there are ways in which the system could be improved, especially for those concerned about their privacy being respected. The most obvious is that users are not notified that their posts are being used in ads, and cannot block their posts from becoming ads unless they change their privacy settings to make the posts private. That’s one thing Facebook has going for it this time around, though—the company will respect all privacy settings so that only the people you’ve already authorized to see your posts will see ads with you in them.

    Ok so here is what is happening: say you check into Starbucks a couple of times. Facebook may use that data and your profile picture displaying it to other users that would normally be allowed to access this data already. Except that instead of seeing it in a normal way it is shown as an ad for Starbucks.

    This all seems rather harmless until you think about this: what happens when you check in somewhere that you would never want to come back to?

    Checking in somewhere is in no way an endorsement of that place – yet Facebook is using it as if you are endorsing it. Perhaps you are only checking into Starbucks because that is the only place you could find.

    Not only is this a privacy concern, but it could really piss off your friends if they think you are endorsing a particular place.

  • How to Turn Disaster Into Gold

    Jason Fried on apologies: “I apologize” is renting the problem. “I’m sorry” is owning it. CampFire had a lot of glitches in December and 37signals did an epic job handling the problem from a customer relations standpoint. If you want to know why they handle problems the way they do — or better — if…

    Jason Fried on apologies:

    “I apologize” is renting the problem. “I’m sorry” is owning it.

    CampFire had a lot of glitches in December and 37signals did an epic job handling the problem from a customer relations standpoint. If you want to know why they handle problems the way they do — or better — if you are having to deal with customers this is a must read post.

    I respect honesty and will forgive mistakes that are clearly explained and owned. What I don’t respect is thinking that I should just deal with the problem. This is a huge reason why I use 37signals products and why this site is hosted on Media Temple.

  • Quote of the Day: Khoi Vinh

    “Few companies seem to understand the concept of design so cannily and yet so incompletely as Google does.” — Khoi Vinh

    “Few companies seem to understand the concept of design so cannily and yet so incompletely as Google does.”

  • New Apple.com Design

    An all new navigation bar that looks modern and has a sweet fly-in bounce transition. Very nice.

    An all new navigation bar that looks modern and has a sweet fly-in bounce transition. Very nice.

  • “We’ll be retiring our support of OpenID on May 1”

    37signals: OpenID has been a burden on support since the day it was launched. I used Open ID on 37signals the minute it became available because it gave you a single sign on. It was a pain in the ass every time. I for one am glad to see it go and the 37signals ID…

    37signals:

    OpenID has been a burden on support since the day it was launched.

    I used Open ID on 37signals the minute it became available because it gave you a single sign on. It was a pain in the ass every time. I for one am glad to see it go and the 37signals ID that is has been in use for a while now is quite nice.

  • Read & Trust

    A new community of writers that I am honored to be included in: Everyone has a favorite online writer. And asking them which writers they recommend is a great way to expand our reading list and explore new topics and viewpoints. Read & Trust is committed to gathering together the best independent writers available—the ones…

    A new community of writers that I am honored to be included in:

    Everyone has a favorite online writer. And asking them which writers they recommend is a great way to expand our reading list and explore new topics and viewpoints. Read & Trust is committed to gathering together the best independent writers available—the ones recommended by the writers you read and trust.

  • Stand Tall

    I hate standing — it makes me tired and hurts my feet. Even though I hate standing I decided that my main office desk (a 6 foot by 3 foot desk) was going to be a standing station. I didn’t do this to be cool, nor because I hate my office chair (I love my…

    I hate standing — it makes me tired and hurts my feet. Even though I hate standing I decided that my main office desk (a 6 foot by 3 foot desk) was going to be a standing station. I didn’t do this to be cool, nor because I hate my office chair (I love my office chair). I decided that I should stand for most of the day because I want to be healthier — this has nothing to do with New Years resolutions. ((I don’t make those.))

    I spend, at the very least, an hour and a half in the car each day (Monday thru Thursday). Usually you can tack on another thirty minutes or so and you can safely say that most days (Monday thru Thursday) I spend two hours in the car. That is roughly eight hours a week that is guaranteed sitting time. ((Not counting any drives I take on the weekend or Friday — my work from home day.)) Add to that another two to three hours each night when I get home and that isn’t even counting what I do, or don’t do on the weekends. Bottom line: I sit a lot, we all do.

    My best guess is that I spend roughly 26 to 30 hours a week on my ass, not counting any time I sit while at my office. ((This maybe adds another 2-3 hours a week now days.))

    I have linked to this New York Times post a couple of times now, but here is what it says about sitting:

    Men who spent more than 23 hours a week watching TV and sitting in their cars (as passengers or as drivers) had a 64 percent greater chance of dying from heart disease than those who sat for 11 hours a week or less.

    That number startled me the first time I read it and still puts fear in me every time I read it.

    Immediately after reading it I setup a part of my workstation as a standing station. I used it for a few weeks and then it quickly went unused. I just like to work with my 24” display.

    Last week I decided that I really need to start taking my health seriously (I am 28 now after all) and so I decided to make the big desk a stand up station and the smaller, less comfortable, station as my sitting area.

    I love this setup.

    I mean I don’t love the way my feet hurt when I get home — and they do hurt — what I love is that my drive now becomes an nice time where I can enjoy sitting. Lunch is also enhanced because I allow my self to sit while eating (that is also better for you — you tend to eat less).

    I don’t know if I have seen any health benefits yet, but I do know that I feel more focused and less tired with each day that passes. I know that it can’t be bad for me. I know that I enjoy working at the computer while standing and that I am less reluctant to walk over and grab something.

    Standing while working has turned out to be quite nice.

    Here is what the setup looks like for those interested, please note a few things:

    • I just set this up a week ago so it is not fully finished.
    • I added a lower side table to keep water off the desk where my computer is.
    • I hoped to hide the MacBook Air in clamshell mode below the desk, but the Cinema Display cord is not long enough.
    • I still need to get the wires under control.
    • The chair is there for height reference.

    Standing Workstation

  • Quote of the Day: Mandy Brown

    “I still believe that to be true, but with one important modification: it’s not that a blog post has permission to be rough so much as that roughness is its natural state. Meaning, blogging encourages exploration and experimentation. In this way, blogging is the kind of writing authors have done for centuries but which usually…

    “I still believe that to be true, but with one important modification: it’s not that a blog post has permission to be rough so much as that roughness is its natural state. Meaning, blogging encourages exploration and experimentation. In this way, blogging is the kind of writing authors have done for centuries but which usually remained hidden away.”

  • Meetings and the 1960s

    A few people have asked what my reference to the 1960s was all about in my last post. It is nothing revolutionary, just based on my observations of 1960s meetings from watching Mad Men. Which means: the 1960s involved a lot of Scotch during meetings, which seems like a pretty nice addition to most meetings.

    A few people have asked what my reference to the 1960s was all about in my last post.

    It is nothing revolutionary, just based on my observations of 1960s meetings from watching Mad Men.

    Which means: the 1960s involved a lot of Scotch during meetings, which seems like a pretty nice addition to most meetings.

  • 900-HP DIY Electric BMW Keeps Getting Better

    Keith Barry: The current iteration features 300 lithium iron phosphate cells in a battery pack that provides a claimed range of with 110 miles — roughly a full day of drag racing, drifting or general hooning. Propulsion comes from a DC motor designed and built by VST; it churns out a whopping 900 horsepower. That’s…

    Keith Barry:

    The current iteration features 300 lithium iron phosphate cells in a battery pack that provides a claimed range of with 110 miles — roughly a full day of drag racing, drifting or general hooning. Propulsion comes from a DC motor designed and built by VST; it churns out a whopping 900 horsepower. That’s good for a Tesla-beating 0-60 time of 3.3 seconds. Keep the pedal mashed to the floor and you’ll see a top speed of 174 mph. That’s on par with some of the best high-performance sports cars on the road today, and it makes this homebuilt EV a worthy competitor to high-end electrics like the Audi eTron.

    If you like fast cars, click through and watch the video.

  • Fraser Speirs On the Rapid End-Of-Lifing of Android Devices

    Don’t be fooled by the title, Speirs hits the nail on the head with his analysis of the current tablet market: Having said that, my core belief about the new wave of “tablet computing” is that the hardware is only relevant insofar as it enhances the user’s experience of the software. These devices really are…

    Don’t be fooled by the title, Speirs hits the nail on the head with his analysis of the current tablet market:

    Having said that, my core belief about the new wave of “tablet computing” is that the hardware is only relevant insofar as it enhances the user’s experience of the software. These devices really are all about the software and, in particular, they are about the user interface and user experience of the software. Nobody cares which kernels these devices are running.

    This is a must read if you are developing tablets, or if you are planning on buying one that you want to keep for more than a year.

    The bottom line is this: Android has yet to prove that they will not make your device obsolete in six months time by not getting you the updates that you need/want. ((I don’t care if carriers control this, it is a major problem and one that Google has yet to fix.))

  • PlayBook Could Sell 6M Units First 12 Months

    Bull. Shit. ((The only way I could see this happening is if it was also coupled with 5.5 million returned PlayBooks. Ridiculous.))

    Bull. Shit. ((The only way I could see this happening is if it was also coupled with 5.5 million returned PlayBooks. Ridiculous.))

  • TextMate User

    My favorite text editor now has a dedicated blog for fans (too bad it is on Tumblr though). [h/t Justin Blanton]

    My favorite text editor now has a dedicated blog for fans (too bad it is on Tumblr though).

  • How the iPhone Mail App Decides When to Show You New Mail

    Basil Safwat on how the iOS Mail app handles new email: The addition of this extra detail has made the app less visible than if the detail wasn’t there. Lovely. It really is pretty neat if you think about it — read this whole post. [via DF]

    Basil Safwat on how the iOS Mail app handles new email:

    The addition of this extra detail has made the app less visible than if the detail wasn’t there. Lovely.

    It really is pretty neat if you think about it — read this whole post.

    [via DF]

  • Top 10 Guesses Why Google CEO Stepped Down

    A rather amusing list of ten reasons why Schmidt stepped down from Brier Dudley, this one takes the cake though: 1. Page and Brin learned a lot from their experiment with “manage a trois.” But they finally decided a 10-year public beta test was long enough. A funny list all around.

    A rather amusing list of ten reasons why Schmidt stepped down from Brier Dudley, this one takes the cake though:

    1. Page and Brin learned a lot from their experiment with “manage a trois.” But they finally decided a 10-year public beta test was long enough.

    A funny list all around.

  • Tim Cook and Spreadsheets

    Migeul Helft: “My favorite scenes were meeting suppliers,” said a former Apple executive who had traveled with Mr. Cook frequently and asked to remain anonymous because he did not want to upset their relationship. “He is Mr. Spreadsheet. If things weren’t right, he would torture the suppliers and demand improvement. At the same time, he…

    Migeul Helft:

    “My favorite scenes were meeting suppliers,” said a former Apple executive who had traveled with Mr. Cook frequently and asked to remain anonymous because he did not want to upset their relationship. “He is Mr. Spreadsheet. If things weren’t right, he would torture the suppliers and demand improvement. At the same time, he had good relationships with them.”

    This entire article is nice and all, but left me with this one thought: Does “Mr. Spreadsheet” use Excel or Apple’s own Numbers program? It’s got to be Numbers right? But then, really, Numbers?