Microsoft admits that they are “not cool.”
Published on 21 Aug 2008 at 5:33 am.
1 Comment.
Filed under humor, microsoft.
This is a bit silly, but… Microsoft recently made their photosynth project available to the public at photosynth.net. My first question was why the hell not .com? They own photosynth.com, but it redirects to .net. That aside, I wanted to see some of the demos. I go to the site, find a nice demo and, get this…
Joe Whatever is a liar
Published on 28 Jul 2008 at 8:37 am.
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Filed under Uncategorized.
Look, this is simple. Steve Jobs doesn’t call a reporter about his health, then speak “off the record” about it. Journalists would kill for this “scoop.” To believe that this actually happened, well good luck in life, you flat-earthers.
And Gruber himself falls in, or off…
But that’s only true if the full story isn’t the least bit embarrassing or private. In Jobs’s case, it seems clear that whatever it is that’s been bothering him this year, it is related to his digestive and intestinal system. Even if he’s recovering fully from this problem, set to live a full life for decades to come, is it any wonder he might not want to speak on the record about digestive problems like, say, extreme diarrhea? Fuck that.
Good one. Cause I’m sure Jobs calls some reporter out of the blue and lays down the details of his
hemochromatosis.
Five minor Vista features I wish Leopard had
Published on 25 Jul 2008 at 1:45 am.
20 Comments.
Filed under mac os, rant, vista.
These aren’t a big deal to me, but they are enough that I keep thinking about them. For most people I bet none of these are issues. Read the rest with that caveat in mind.
- An easy way to see the wireless connection speed. Signal strength and connection speed are somewhat related, but they are different. In Leopard, seeing the connection speed involves browsing the file system … Finder -> Applications -> Utilities -> Network Utility. That’s not discoverable. In Vista, you click on the connection icon in the taskbar, then the name of the connection and then status.
- A start menu sort of thing. I use about five apps with some regularity that aren’t already in my Dock, because, hey, 2 minutes use does not warrant a permanent place on my screen. The problem with “Recent Applications” is that they get reordered based on when each app was last used – not how often. The Vista start menu lets you organize in a few ways how often used, recently used, your own order or alphabetic. I argue that “how often used” it the most useful.
- Another indication that my password was wrong. If I type my password wrong when I login to Vista I get more than one indication. I get a sound, plus the visual cue doesn’t go away. In Leopard, the sign in box shakes for less than a second, then the screen is back to how it was, as if i never typed anything! I shouldn’t even have to expalin how this is the absolute wrong way to indicate a mistake.
- A way to control each application’s volume. I usually keep a DVD or QT movie playing in the background on my Mac. It gives me a little distraction. I want to hear it, but maybe not see it. At the same time, I keep an iChat session going, where I may want to see it but not hear it. In Leopard I have to rely on each app letting me set its volume, in Vista I can set the volume for each. And no, the developer doesn’t have to do anything, Vista controls the volume of any app that grabs hold of the sound device. Nice!
- An indication that a device was connected and not recognized. I’ve had a few mice that simply didn’t show up in Leopard. The problem is that I don’t know if the OS is the problem, or the mouse. Leopard gives no indication that I’ve connected an unsupported device, let alone asks me if you have a driver for it.
Yes, these are minor things. These are things that would be helpful to me. I don’t know how you got to my post, but the title clearly says “minor.” Which means, I’m not interested in comments that say that I’m complaining about small potatoes.
I think this list is basically “Vista, gives me more information (or control.)
I’m going to do a similar list on Monday with five Leopard features that I wish Vista had.
Update: Wow, useful comments! Thanks guys! Oh and that option click is great! Thanks again!!
How selective is the App Store?
Published on 10 Jul 2008 at 1:59 am.
5 Comments.
Filed under appstore.
There are a few sites (arstechnica style linking) reporting that Steve Jobs said he was expecting the App Store to launch with 200 apps, but ended up with “over 500.” I know that sounds impressive, and in fact, Jobs himself is quoted as saying “This is the biggest launch of my career.”
Interesting. I still have to ask “why so few?”
After all, back in June, Jobs himself said (@3:46) that “we admitted 4,000 people to the [developer] program.” Moments before that he reminds us that the iPhone developer program began on March 6. That means that the July 7th deadline for getting apps listed for the July 11th launch of the App Store gave developers four months at most.
It is hard to know exactly how many unique developers have apps available in the App store. If each developer only had one app approved for the App Store then only 12.5% of those approved got listed. But we know that some developers have multiple apps available (left column; 1/3rd down.) We also know that some developers already had apps coded and available on Installer.app.
Given all we know about the level of development for iPhone the obvious question is why are there so few apps available. It’s gotta be…
- Apple can’t review these apps fast enough.
- Developers simply can’t get the code out the door soon enough.
- Apple is being extremely selective on which Apps get on the App Store.
If Apple couldn’t review Apps fast enough, how’d they more than double Jobs’ expectation? Or, why’d they admit so many developers? This reason seems extremely unlikely.
Developers may be working on some advanced things that do take time to develop. However a few developers that have Apps in “the store” started out with their apps on Installer.app.
I’m left with one conclusion; Apple is hand picking developers – and apps – for inclusion in the App Store.
So, really, how selective is Apple being with who gets to put an app in the App Store? We’ll likely never know, but my guess is extremely.
25,000 applied. 4,000 accepted. 500 apps. The weeding down process should not result in only one in 50 (at best) apps making it to the store. After all, those 25,000 developers represent at least $2.475 million in profit for Apple, even if they never produce an sellable app.
None the less, this is a great showing for Apple. It also shows who’s in control, and that’s Apple.
Can prior .Mac members get a MobileMe Trial?
Published on 9 Jul 2008 at 10:31 pm.
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Filed under mobileme.
Last December I gave up on .Mac. I stopped using most features at that time and began changing over to a new email address. Although my account didn’t expire until February, I wanted to get a jump on the transition so I wouldn’t be tempted to re-upgrade for a fourth year.
But a funny thing happened last month… Apple announced even they were giving up on .Mac and at this very moment they’re in the process of replacing it with MobileMe. My feeling is that Apple conceived MobileMe when (or even before) they decided to add Exchange support to iPhone. I just don’t see Apple offering up a third party solution without offering up one of their own. This may explain some of why .Mac became so dated and stagnant, and why multiple bugs were never fixed.
I’d like to give MobileMe a try — without giving Apple $100. So my question is, as a prior .Mac member do I get a 60-day trial of MobileMe? I’ll soon find out and let you know…
Apple’s customer service amazes me
Published on 20 Jun 2008 at 1:11 am.
2 Comments.
Filed under applecare.
Apple’s customer service, or more specifically what they call AppleCare amazes me. It is either exceptionally good, although rarely it can be exceptionally bad. I’ve complained about it here a few times.
I had an experience with them on Monday that I felt worth sharing.
I won’t drag this out too long, but a little backgrounder is in order. A while ago, more than a year ago, I bought a 24″ iMac. It had some issues, and Apple took care of them. Eventually there was an issue they didn’t resolve in a timely fashion at all, and with a little prodding I was given an alu-iMac as a replacement. The original iMac I had was of the white plastic variety, and I had purchased it with a wireless keyboard. For some reason that had to be shipped back, and they didn’t have any 2.8 GHz machines with wireless keyboards in stock, but they sold me one for 79 cents, and I got to keep the wired one that came with the replacement machine.
I love the keyboard and treat it with kid gloves. I never eat near it or drink near it — and when I get frustrated I don’t even bang my fists on it.
Well, something happened with the membrane under the , key so that it would occasionally not push down. I guess it depends on the angle I’d hit the key. It was frustrating, but most of the time it worked. One morning I had enough of it and decided to call Apple for a replacement.
After no more than a 2 minute wait I speak to someone who speaks English and has a normal name like Greg or Mike. Anyone who’s dealt with phone support with most other companies knows what a rarity this is. I had a conversion with (now I’ll call him “Tim”) that went something like this.
Tim: What is your serial number.
Me: blah blah blah serial number.
Tim: Your complementary phone support period is over, unless you have registered AppleCare on the machine?
Me: Actually, I’m calling about a hardware issue, but this machine is a replacement from Apple for a machine that did have AppleCare. Are you able to look that up and move it?
Tim: Ok, I see that blah blah blah (as he precedes to move my remaining AppleCare from the old machine to this one.) What is the problem you’re having?
Me: My keyboard is being funky, sometimes I can’t push down the comma key.
Tim: Let me go ahead and setup a replacement to be sent to you.
And the rest is minor details. It was that simple. He explained I should expect the replacement in 3 or 4 business days. I got it today. About 30 hours after calling!
Like I said, AppleCare amazes me. When it’s good — it’s great and when it’s bad — it’s disastrous. I’m glad this was one of the great times, though it usually is.
What’s in Pork and Beans?
Published on 6 Jun 2008 at 3:45 pm.
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Filed under meme, video, youtube.
What’s in pork and beans? Quite a lot!
I present to you, in order, the YouTube videos that were reproduced in whole or in part for Weezer’s Pork and Beans music video. Pork and Beans contains literally dozens of other YouTube and internet meme references, especially in the large scene at the end. I haven’t listed those here, however.
Jeong-Hyun Lim as funtwo.
Drama prairie dog from Mini Moni.
Mark Allen Hicks as Afro ninja.
Fritz Grobe and Stephen Votlz demonstrate diet Coke and Mentos.
G.I. Joe PSA parody.
Matt McAllister who set a t-shirt-wearing world record.
Chris Crocker begs you to leave Britney alone!
All your base are belong to us.
Caitlin Upton the clueless Miss Teen South Carolina.
Gary Brolsma loves Numa Numa.
Psychotic Kids Crank that Soldier Boy.
Judson Laipply shows you The Evolution of Dance.
Tay Zonday sings Chocolate Rain.
Kevin Federline (aka K-fed) introduces you to “Popozoa.”
Daft Hands inspire Daft Bodies.
Kicesie gives you some Advanced Sex Ed.
Kyle Sullivan as Kelly needs more Shoes.
This list is mainly for my own reference, but if you spot a mistake let me know. Especially if I’m not using the “original” of one of these. A knew a few myself, I scanned the comments on YouTube to find some others and referenced the wikipedia entry on the video for the rest. I may add the timestamps or descriptions later on.
No screen captures?
Published on 22 May 2008 at 4:41 am.
25 Comments.
Filed under Uncategorized.
This bugs me to no end. In fact, I can’t even capture it with a screen capture. I often code while watching… err… listening to a DVD. Every once in a blue moon, I need to do a screen capture to examine pixel for pixel what I’m doing. And every time I get a lovely dialog that tells me”Screen grabs are unavailable during DVD playback.”"Please quit DVD player first.” Why can’t I pause it, or minimize it? Why must I quit? Imagine going to some club that’s non-smoking only (ok, you won’t have to imagine that, it seems they all are these days). But you get stopped at the door… “Have you quite smoking?” “No, but I won’t smoke in here.” “Not good enough, you must be a non-smoker.” So I quit DVD player, start my screen capture, start DVD player. What’s the harm? Uhh, hello! DVD player lets you capture a frame. If it’s some technical thing, uh yah, beyond me. Pure, Simple, Annoyance.Thanks Apple, for making me take a break from Star Trek to capture a webpage. But, at least, could I capture this “error?” BTW, does anyone know of a DVD player other than “DVD Player?” I’d really love something full screen at about 10% opacity.
We lost Ars Technica
Published on 18 May 2008 at 4:19 am.
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Filed under Uncategorized.
This is not a giant run-on paragraph. I’ll figure out why it appears that way later.
There’s no real problem with big sites. Some of the biggest are amongst the best. A bad example is Wikipedia, and a good example was Ars Technica.
Latin is by far my least Favorite language, right next to English. But since my mother tongue is English, I feel more than qualified to translate Latin to English, back again, and brutally mutilate both in the process.
That gives way to my favorite Star Trek-based Latin. “ex astris scientia” meaning “from the stars, knowledge.” Of course, this is also the best site for star trek information, be it imagined or real – http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/
But now let’s get back to Ars Technica. It’s the art of technology. And who can deny technology as an art? And really, who would say Ars Technica ever provided less than the best commentary on our modern technology.
A trillion years ago, had they existed, Ars Technica would have been covering the coin (had it existed) and the fear of predators. Oh, and a healthy dose of actual information!
Here’s the big problem. Condé Nast is unaware of art or technology. Hell, they own Wired.
Yes, the same “Wired” that publishes Leander Kahney’s, who (really, this happened) wonders why Steve Jobs refused to comment on a story about him (oh, could it possibly have something to do with calling his company’s customers cultists? nah!), blog “The Cult of Mac.” Better than Kayney himself, is his side-kick Mortensen… This guy thinks Apple should hire a man who’s iPhone was run over by a truck. Yah, Apple should hire him. Uh, why? Because he dropped his phone, it was run over, and still worked. Yes, our hero, and next Apple employee.
No offense intended to Ars Technica, but you guys could not have made a significant portion of what Condé Nast offered you over say the next 10 years? Cause, really, with the quality you publish, 2.5 million per year doesn’t seem that far fetched. Well now it does.
Yahoo + Microsoft = -Google
Published on 1 Feb 2008 at 5:22 am.
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Filed under google, microsoft, yahoo.
Engadget has reported that Microsoft has officially bid on Yahoo, and Microsoft confirms it as well.
I’d really rather skip the anti-Google rhetoric and the anti-Microsoft rhetoric too. Oddly, I don’t know of any reason to be against Yahoo, except that YIM crashes a lot.
But we are looking at something that may eventually be a major turning point in online services, or it may not matter. Right now it seems big. I’m not so sure it will count for shit in a hundred year though.
Let’s talk about now. Google has been on it’s “do no evil” mantra for years. However, it slips. I remember a year, or two, back when Google made an agreement with the Chinese government to censor some Google search results.
Most recently, one of Google’s free apps, an RSS client from what I understand, started spewing out private user data due to a policy change.
[Update] I am waiting for more informed information on the two prior topics. That information will go here.
And Microsoft. Gee, shit. Has Microsoft really denied being an uncaring corporate entity? Has Yahoo! for that matter?
The way I see it is that a common enemy creates a friend indeed (Gimme the quote, Gruber?) Both Microsoft and Yahoo have an enemy in Google. But here we have two giants with a similar goal “win by being better.” While neither alone may be better, they’re fighting an enemy whose goal is “win by doing higher math, oh, and, being bigger.” It’s not hard to be better when you’re yahoo and microsoft. And, I look forward to it.