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Technology reviews and opinions
Source: XKCD
App store ratings are both a blessing and a curse. They can offer prospective buyers a semi-objective opinion on the use of an app and be the means of pushing a wary shopper to a purchase, but that all kind of hinges on the user actually providing useful information or even not having a personal vendetta against you.
I can completely sympathize with users not wanting to get hoodwinked out of their own cash, but many app store reviews are actually pretty worthless, even ones rated high. But if that weren't enough, I got a really strange email last...
iOS 5 has been a real treat, not just for the end-users, but also developers, as well. The introduction of UIAppearance, CoreImage, ARC, and many other goodies has really amped up the awesomeness in developing rich applications at a much quicker pace. One of the other interesting items is called UIStoryboard. Storyboards offer us the ability to apply our Interface Builder skills and take it to the next level for developing cohesive applications through a WYSIWYG interface. I developed my latest application, TF2 Recipes, exclusively in Storyboards in order to get a real feel of how they might be a...
As an iOS developer I have a number of devices with which to test. Among those are FaceTime capable iPhones, but because I don't have a phone contract or data plan for them the FaceTime app isn't available to use. The reason is because Apple uses a specially crafted text message to activate the application. But because I don't have a carrier plan I can't ever receive it.
Except there's a loophole that I just discovered. You still have to go into Settings --> FaceTime and do the usual setup:
Turn FaceTime on.
...
There has been a lot of uproar from the geek community lately about the recent additions George Lucas has made to his space epic, Star Wars. Turns out, Darth Vadar gained some additional lines, Ewoks now have eyelids, and other changes. To be fair, I too, am still bitter about the fact that Han did shoot first. This particular change, first made with the re-release of the Star Wars trilogy in 1997, brought up an interesting question: Should movie makers be able to alter their movies beyond the theatrical releases we watch?
One of the childish reasons against this notion runs...
Something really caught my eye recently that really made me think about the state of society. I saw an add that read:
iPad 2 Blowout - 93% off
Get a new Apple iPad 2 for $89.95 Limited Supply. Get your iPad Today
This really interested me, not for the fact that an iPad could potentially be found for such a ridiculously low price, but that there are people out there willing to fall for such scammy tactics. It made me wonder, how many people will click on that advertisement in hopes of being able to 'score it big' by getting an iPad for...
I have been on a riff lately, trying to find ways to upend the status-quo and try doing something different.
My opportunity came.
Last week the The New York Post decided to erect a paywall for anyone trying to visit their site on an iPad to view their content. I don't find paywalls to be intrinsically wrong, it's just that discriminating based upon the type of the device was an odd choice. You gotta make money somehow-- I get that--and maybe the NYP thinks this is one way to monetize their newspaper business in an increasingly digital world. However, pissing...
At work we were discussing the topic of the 'fathers of technology'. The question posed was who we considered those to be. There were quite a few responses which tossed out some of the most important technologists of our time, but they invariably centered around break-through modern technologies. One could say that I look for a reason to be 'different', so I decided to center my opinions around those that had pioneered the way for technologies to emerge and florish.
Innovations are deeply rooted in the necessity of solving a problem. Others come at whimsical moments. No matter their genesis, in...
So normally I don't blog about my interactions with my customers. I get a mail or two every now and again asking for help, clarification, etc on using Webmail++. These people usually come with a pretty open mind and are earnestly seeking help with a product they spent hard-earned money for. I would think I do a pretty good job of not only being prompt in my replies, but taking their issues seriously. If there's one thing I have learned form my day job, it is that good customer service can go a long way in establishing long-lasting relationships.
Out of...
I got an iPod Touch a little while after they came out. I didn't want to get an iPhone at the time because I still had quite a bit of time left on an existing contract, plus I didn't quite feel like there were enough compelling reasons to be shelling out an extra $30 per month at the time. Nonetheless, it was a reawakening of sorts for digital content for me. I really liked RSS feeds and the ability to be able to get a wide variety of sources for what was going on in the world.
RSS was a good...
Yesterday I waited 5 hours in line to get my hands on a new iPad 2.
The Device
Having owned the original iPad for almost a year now, the iPad has been an integral part of my life workflow. I use it to gorge on RSS feeds, keeping up on the latest news and loved it for reading books. Despite what Amazon would tell you, the iPad is a wonderful eBook reader. Most people don't live at the beach or spend most of their time outdoors, so the fact that you can't read very well in the open sunlight is not an...
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