Tag Archives: Apple

Most Useless iPhone 3.0 Feature

In the iPhone OS 3.0 update, there were a lot of nice features added. Some of them are fairly major and useful, like cut-and-paste. Some of them are subtle and useful, like the 30-second rewind button when playing a podcast. But there’s one feature that sticks out to me as totally useless: “Shake to Shuffle”.

I guess there’s some tiny “cute-factor” to it. But in practical terms, it’s pretty darned useless. When you’re using your iPhone or iPod Touch to listen to music, you’re probably either: on the move (in your car, jogging, biking, mowing your lawn, etc.) or in a passive environment (working at a desk, connecting your iPhone to an external amplifier/speaker system, etc). [...]

Posted in Tech | Also tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Dougal’s must-have iPhone app list

My brother-in-law, John, recently got an iPhone 3Gs (lucky dog). Knowing that I also had an iPhone (though mine is the older “2G” model), he asked what apps I recommended. I’ve got a ton of apps installed, many of which I never really use, and should probably delete. But here are the ones that I actually find myself launching with some regularity, grouped into rough categories, all free, except where noted:

Productivity/Utility

Evernote
This is a great note-taking app. [...]
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WordPress iPhone App beta testing

Do you use WordPress? Do you have an iPhone? Or do you just like beta testing cool apps? You could help beta-test the upcoming WordPress for iPhone 1.2 release.

The catch is, you can’t test unreleased apps on an actual iPhone. Instead, you have to download the (free) SDK, and run the code in the iPhone simulator. [...]

Posted in WordPress | Also tagged , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Macbook + Coffee = Bad

Everybody knows that you shouldn’t keep beverages too close to the computer, right? The reason is because eventually, your toddler is going to run up to give you a big hug before she leaves for daycare, and is going to bump your leg. Your leg, in turn, is going to bump the TV tray where you set your coffee cup. The cup is going to tip over and spill several ounces of coffee directly onto the keyboard of your Macbook. And as a consequence, the Macbook is going to cease to function.

Yes, that’s what happened here at Castle Campbell last Friday morning. I tried to disconnect power and battery as quickly as possible, tried using a blowdryer on it, sat it out in direct sunlight for about an hour, and continued to let it air out for quite a while after that. [...]

Posted in Hardware, Linux, Operating Systems, Personal, Software, Tech | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

How to podcast with an iPhone

My coworker, Andy Edmonds, has a video tutorial on how to podcast using an iPhone and a Mac. I don’t have an iPhone or a Mac, but I wish I had both. Maybe one day…

Posted in Blogging | Also tagged , , | 10 Comments

Dvorak stirs the pot

John Dvorak seems to thrive on controversy (much like the rest of journalism). His latest claim is that while Apple’s switch to Intel processors could threaten Microsoft, it also “could actually be most dangerous to the emerging Linux OS environment.”

Linux has other problems too. It’s likely that developer interest will wane when Apple is fully engaged on the X86 platform. [...]

Posted in Community, Hardware, Linux, Operating Systems, Tech | Also tagged , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Intel Macintosh rumors true!

I hadn’t been keeping too close an eye on this, because we’ve got higher priorities right now than buying new computers. But there have been rumors lately about some sort of deal between Apple and Intel. The speculations mainly fell into two camps: 1) Apple would release a new Pentium-based Macintosh computer, or 2) Intel would begin producing a new PowerPC compatible CPU.

Steve Jobs just dropped the bomb: Apple to Use Intel Microprocessors Beginning in 2006

Basically, it seems, Apple has been disappointed with IBM’s inability to deliver a G5 processor that could break the 3GHz barrier or with heat characteristics that would be usable for laptops. [...]

Posted in Hardware, Operating Systems, Software, Tech | Also tagged , , , | 18 Comments