Browsing Tag

Apple

Some Useful and Interesting Things (Sunday Edition)

Posted on March 30, 2014

For at least a few weeks there I was putting up lists of things I found useful and/or interesting from around the Internets. I would like to get back to doing that. So, in that spirit, here I am with a new list of, you guessed it, useful and interesting things.

Of course, these may only be useful and/or interesting to me. Fortunately, I pay the bills around here, so you’ll just have to take your chances.

Here goes:

• Too much paper clutter in your home or office? Geek Day has the solution.

• Microsoft Office has finally come to the iPad. Who cares, you say? Well, I tend to agree, but what do I know?

• Facebook paid a cool $2 Billion for the Oculus Rift VR goggles and the companuy that created them? But what about the Kickstarter backers who helped make the product a reality in the first place?

• A tale of two pencils. Will the “real” Blackwing 602 please stand up?

• Speaking of pencils. What’s the big deal about vintage ones anyway?

• The new HTC One (M8) looks cool but I don’t think it will replace my iPhone 5s.

• Check out Stanley Kubrick’s annotated copy of Stephen King’s The Shining. Cool.

• As I’m a man and an Altoids fan, here’s 22 Manly Ways to Reuse an Altoids Tin.

• Can the right tools help you write better? I don’t know, I’m just trying to write good … I mean well. Crap.

Finally, here’s the trailer for Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. I am not a devout devotee of the original TMNT, so this new version really doesn’t offend me on that level as it seems to have done to others. I’m just not sure it looks like a very good movie. Oh well.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCjsWpM9zFU?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

And heck, while we’re on the subject of movies, here’s the trailer for the next movie from The Wachowskis called Jupiter Ascending. See, her name is Jupiter and she’s, well, ascending … or something. I see what you did there Andy and Lana.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1hW3bWIuDA?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

A Very Effective and Touching Apple Ad for the Holidays

Posted on December 17, 2013

I don’t watch a lot of commercials. This is mostly because I record to a DVR or stream from a source like Netflix or iTunes. So, I fast forward through them or they don’t appear at all. Plus, as I don’t work in that world anymore, my interest in them has wained considerably.

However, I do like a good commercial. When they’re done right, they can be quite effective and fun to watch. I also like to try to bring them to your attention when I find a good one, even if most of the time I’m disappointed by uninspired, boring and/or ineffective drivel.

This latest holiday commercial from Apple is not boring, not ineffective, not uninspired and not, by any means, drivel.

In fact, it’s very much the opposite. It’s excellent in pretty much every way that counts. Kudos to the team that put it together.

If you don’t have some sort of emotional reaction to this commercial you are likely a robot and have no soul. For the rest of us humans, enjoy that warm feeling. You’ll need it to get through the rest of the holidays.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlmVqH_5HM?rel=0&w=560&h=315]

Steve Jobs, An American Legend

Posted on August 5, 2013

I haven’t said much about the upcoming biopic of Steve Jobs, featuring Ashton Kutcher as the iconic Apple frontman. I’ve done that mostly because when I first heard about it, I was sure it was going to be a disaster, so why bother talking about it?

However, now that I’ve been seeing more and more material from the movie, I have to admit my attitude has changed. But changed how, you may ask?

Look, I don’t have anything in particular against Kutcher or against people trying to make movies about icons like Steve Jobs. We live in a world where things like that are still possible, and I, for one, am very happy about that.

So what’s my problem (or problems) with the movie? To be honest, after several months of hearing about it, watching trailers and talking about it with other film and tech people I know and respect, I’ve kinda forgotten what my problem with it is.

In truth, I kinda forget about the movie until a new trailer, or other piece of marketing, arrives in my inbox. And maybe that’s the problem I have with it. It’s not that I’m angry or think that Kutcher will do a terrible job portraying Jobs, it’s that I just don’t care.

I don’t care enough about the movie to have an opinion anymore, positive or negative. And that brings us to the latest trailer for the movie Jobs. I’ve watched it at least twice. It’s not horrible.

It’s not blow-you-out-of-your-seat great either. It’s just . . . there.

Will I see the movie when it comes out? At this point, probably not. Although, I really do hope something changes. I really hope something comes along that sparks my interest. I don’t like being indifferent. I really do want to care.

I guess that’s something, right?

[blip.tv http://blip.tv/play/hJh3g5SxfgA?p=1 width=”550″ height=”331″]

The First 24 Hours With iOS 7

Posted on June 11, 2013

As promised, I’m back with more on Apple’s latest iOS offering, a “little” update known as iOS 7. Things started off a bit rough yesterday as I tried to get iOS 7 to install and activate on my test iPhone 5 (CDMA) in order to get to know it better. I was able to install the beta but then could not activate the phone. The result was, effectively, a bricked device.

Fortunately, I was able to boot the iPhone into DFU mode and revert to iOS 6. I actually ended up doing this twice due to trying alternative install methods using iTunes. One, the usual wipe and restore and the other an upgrade to iOS 7 over an existing install of iOS 6. Neither of these resulted in the iPhone going all the way through the activation process.

What finally ended up working was a wipe and restore using Apple’s development tool for iOS (and OS X) called Xcode. Using Xcode I was able to wipe and restore iOS 7 to the device and then, this time, the activation completed and I had a working iPhone. This was after several hours and went on into the night.

Consequently, I haven’t had a lot of time to get into the intricacies of the new OS. However, I did have a chance to play with it a little bit and following are my thoughts so far.

First (and this is a big one), I’m not sure I like the new look. Sure, the skeuomorphic aspects of iOS 6 are pretty dated and probably needed to go. I won’t miss the leather-bound elegance of the Calendar app or the simulated wood grain of iBooks. I’m just not sure iOS 7 is going in the right direction either.

In its present form, I find the font and lines around elements too thin and the colors too similar to be very distinct. In my several hours of use I’ve found myself clicking on the wrong thing or trying to slide something to the left or right that can’t actually be slid. Plus, the contrast between UI elements seems much more muted as well. When everything is flat and looks similar with similar colors and little contrast, it’s difficult to tell which elements can be interacted with and which can’t.

I find this especially true when using the new keyboard. A key with a thin black line around it over a light grey background is harder to hit, at least for me, than a key with a heavier line against a darker background. Contrast is good and not something to be scared of. Of course, more contrast makes things look less flat. I get that.

I also get that I’m not a designer, but I have participated in the design of many projects and supervised designers of various kinds over the years. I also know what I like and what I think looks good. And I’m not sure this color scheme and lack of contrast is it. Although, maybe it’s because I’ve haven’t spent much time with the Yahoo Weather app.

Yes, I know, Jony Ive is a genius and I can clearly see what he was going for with iOS 7. You only need to look at the man himself and see what his wardrobe looks like to know he’s not a fan of contrast. He prefers uniformity and order. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But that doesn’t mean his taste is the right taste for everyone. Some people might prefer things to be different. I might be one of those people.

As this is a beta, and an early one, many things also don’t work as expected or seem unfinished. This is especially true with a few apps I use regularly, like Gmail, that haven’t gotten the memo about using the new keyboard. Consequently, when you need a keyboard in the Gmail app, the old one pops up.

This is actually one of the ways I know I don’t like the new keyboard very much. I still have occasion to use the old one and find it much easier to type on than the new one. I’m also not a fan of the seemingly arbitrary change from lines to dots to show cell network signal strength. I didn’t mind lines. What’s wrong with lines? They were used quite a few other places in the new UI, why not for signal strength?

I’m also not sure why I now can’t double click on the home button to get a list of running apps, press and hold on one of the icons to get it to vibrate and then press the “X” to quit it. I’ve had more than a few apps crash on me so far and the old way to get them to work again was to make them stop running and then launch them again. Now, it’s all different.

The way you do it now is to double click on the home button to get thumbnails of the running apps. Then, you swipe the thumbnail upwards to close an app you want to quit. I was able to do it but I also found myself bringing up the control center from the bottom of the screen several times too. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like a rather convoluted “new” way to accomplish a previously simple task.

On a positive note, I do like the new static wallpapers and that cool 3D-looking effect when you move the iPhone around. Plus, the motion wallpapers are kinda nice too. I’m using one right now, in fact. I don’t know what effect they will have on battery life but so far, somewhat surprisingly, I’m getting pretty much the same battery life as when the iPhone had iOS 6 installed on it. Let’s hope that continues.

With any massive change, there’s bound to be bumps and rough edges. None of my issues with iOS 7, at least so far, are hugely annoying, would prevent me from continuing to use it or make me switch to Android. Although, I’m entertaining that thought for other reasons. But that’s a subject for a future article (or two).

I’m sure as iOS 7 matures, many of the things that bother me about it will be addressed and corrected. At least I hope so.

Once I’ve had more time with iOS 7 I’ll bring you another exciting round of observations. I’m also going to be installing the new version of OS X, code named Mavericks. More on that later too.

Initial Thoughts on iOS 7 and Apple In General

Posted on June 10, 2013

Like many of you, I watched Apple’s WWDC keynote this morning with a great deal of interest. I was very curious what the next version of iOS, called iOS 7, would look like.

Well, now we know.

My first reaction on seeing iOS 7 was less dramatic than I thought it was going to be. I like the way it looks but I wasn’t “totally blown away” as I thought I might be.

That’s not to say iOS 7 isn’t nice to look at, it is. And in truth, I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting and/or hoping for. It’s just that I don’t think the look of iOS was really the big problem that needed solving. Flat icons and a thinner font don’t make things work better, it just makes things better looking (and that’s a matter of opinion too).

Of course, it’s hard to judge something I haven’t really had time to play with, so I’ll reserve any deeper analysis until I’ve had a chance to install and use iOS 7, which I’m going to do a bit later today.

One other thing I did want to mention about the WWDC keynote that bothered me was the bashing of other companies (especially Google) and the almost apologetic self-promotion by Apple. Let me put it another way: You don’t have to keep talking about how great you are, to be great you just make great products. People will figure it out.

Over the years I’ve managed companies and teams large and small and one thing I’ve always tried to remember is if you have to keep insisting you’re in charge, you really aren’t. The person in charge doesn’t have to say they’re in charge or prove anything, he or she just is.

It’s the same for Apple. The more Apple insist that they’re amazing innovators, the more they try to refute critics and the more they bash other companies, the less they look like a market leader and one of the most successful companies of all time. They just look desperate.

The more Apple tries to be like everyone else, the less special they become. There’s no reason to publicly acknowledge critics or paint rival companies in a bad light and there’s certainly no reason to make it more difficult/impossible for iOS users to choose which default search engine they want or what Maps app they want. That’s just dumb and, frankly, beneath a company like Apple.

Apple got where they are today by not doing things like everyone else. They should win by having the best ideas and the best products. Period. The rest just isn’t important.

Okay, enough of that. More on iOS 7 after I’ve had a chance to work with it a bit.

A Few Interesting Things For a Friday

Posted on June 7, 2013

It’s almost the weekend. Pat yourself on the back for making it this far. It’s been an interesting week for sure.

But let’s put all that aside for a minute and take a look at some fun things for a Friday. Next week we can all go back to the usual BS.

Don’t worry, it will still be there. Promise.

First up is the cool LEGO Star Wars Ewok Village Set (pictured above). Sure, I felt the same way about the Ewoks as you probably did, but this is still pretty cool.

In more LEGO news the company apparently doesn’t want to rest on its laurels by having the worlds biggest LEGO space ship. They also want to build the ultimate LEGO house. Sure, why not?

If you like comics as I do, you may want to, occasionally, read them on your iPad. But what’s the best app to accomplish this? Well, the gang at Lifehacker recommends Comic Zeal. I like it, but as it’s only for non-DRM comics, I also use the Comics app from ComiXology to read my Marvel, DC and other publisher’s stuff.

With Apple’s WWDC coming up next week, there’s lots of speculation as to what the company may announce. I think we’re going to see iOS 7, a new Pro desktop, maybe a new laptop and a new music streaming service, but what else? Wired has the full compliment of predictions. We’ll know if any of us are right next Monday.

Finally, are you a science geek? Or perhaps you have a child (or two) that needs to learn the periodic table of the elements? Well, what better way than with a music video. Watch and enjoy. You just might lean something. I did.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUDDiWtFtEM?rel=0&w=525&h=295]

Happy weekend.

Steve Jobs and ‘One More Thing’

Posted on February 26, 2013

I had the good fortune to be at several MacWorld Keynote events over the years, including the one in 2007 where Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone, so this video was a real treat for me. In it, the enterprising folks of YouTube’s Every Steve Jobs Video channel have compiled pretty much all of the times Steve Jobs had “one more thing” to share.

And his “one more thing” was usually pretty awesome. He would have been 58 this week. RIP Steve.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QQLyS0MnzM?rel=0&w=525&h=394]

Still More Useful and Interesting Things

Posted on February 14, 2013

As life returns to normal (or at least my version of it) I realize it’s been several days since I last put some useful and interesting things up here.

So, with that in mind, here’s some more for you:

• Have trouble getting people to do what you want? Maybe this technique can help.

• For the screenwriting nerds out there, John August and his team have come up with a new version of the venerable Courier font, called Courier Prime, to use when writing your scripts. I’ve switched to it and it’s quite nice.

• If you have a girlfriend who would love this as a gift, marry her. If you already did, kudos to you and it makes a nice Valentine’s Day gift too.

• Here’s a complete collection of Mac OS X install disks. I think I still have all of mine too. Yep, Mac nerd right here.

• Have and iPad? Want to use said iPad in the kitchen or other place where it might get wet? You want one of these.

• I like talented people doing cool things, so I like this. Granted, I know Brian so I may be a bit biased. But still, it’s pretty cool. BTW, you should also read his book. It’s very funny.

• Last, but not least, Tom Witkin’s Poster app for iOS is for posting to a WordPress site and is very awesome. It’s become my new favorite and I now use it pretty much every day. Check it out.

I Like to iWatch

Posted on February 10, 2013

Take my money.

(Via Mashable)

A New iPad Writing Update

Posted on January 9, 2013

As previously mentioned, I’ve been trying to write with the iPad as much as possible instead of using the MacBook Air or any other OS X-powered Mac. After a couple weeks of doing this, I’ve got some thoughts to share.

First, and this should not come as a surprise, I love almost everything about the iPad as a device. It’s extremely portable and has amazing battery life, even when used for several hours of work and pretty much continuous syncing of Dropbox via Verizon’s 4G LTE. I can only imagine the portability and battery life are going to get better and better as we see newer versions of the iPad.

As a device used for content consumption, the iPad also excels. If you want to watch a movie or TV program via Netflix or iTunes, the iPad is your best choice. The screen is excellent and the afformetioned battery life can get you though several programs during a long plane ride to Hawaii, or wherever you’re going. It also features an impressive collection of apps devoted to bringing you content.

On that note, the iPad is excellent for reading books via the Kindle or iBooks app or comics using an app like Comixology. I also enjoy checking out news, Twitter, Facebook and my Instagram feed using an app like Flipboard. These kinds of content consumption, and the quality experience they provide, are all pretty much a given.

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