mangochutney

I am happy that the trend in hotline service is slowly shifting...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:55:48 +0200

I am happy that the trend in hotline service is slowly shifting away from mindless automatons, at least in Germany. The time between the system picking up the call and the emergence of a human at the other end of the line has been getting shorter for a few months now.

(click the picture for a bigger version)

Solution for my iTunes-Aperture problem

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 10:45:00 +0200

Yesterday I posted about the dilemma of having multiple Aperture libraries and synchronisation with the iPhone through iTunes.
The solution was obvious, but unfortunately the process requires many manual steps (perhaps I can use Automator to alleviate this problem):

Install iPhoto and create an iPhoto library.
Advise iTunes to synchronise with iPhoto.
Optional: Choose between synchronising all events from iPhoto or just selected ones.
Select pictures from an event in Aperture that you want on the iPhone and create an Album (name aptly).
Select all pictures from the album and export* to a folder, name folder according to the album name.
Drag the newly created folder into iPhoto, an event will be created, named like the folder.
Sync you iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad using iTunes.

I opted for using events, not albums in iPhoto and there are good reasons for this: iPhoto will do the sorting work (by date) and events on the iPhone are sorted by date, while albums are not.

In order not to have wallpapers get lost amidst all the other events, I changed the date of the images inside it to a point far in the future.

* I chose to export the work copies to JPEG with a high quality setting but a maximum height/width setting of 1440px. For this I duplicated and modified one of Apertures built-in export settings. That way I get image files on the iPhone 4 that I can zoom into.

On a side note; I switched to using Aperture 3’s built-in backup system, in favour of using TimeMachine to backup my library files. Again, it demands for a few clicks more on my side, but I find it to be more flexible.

reminiscent of a PADD

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:51:32 +0200

The iPhone 4 feels even less like a phone to me than the iPhone 3GS. The latter was already an impressive design, but the iPhone 4’s ‘density’ and finish are of a different class. The first thing that came to my mind when I held it, was that this is what I imagined the smaller PADDs from Star Trek to feel and behave like.

Aperture 3, iTunes and multiple libraries

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:35:18 +0200

I’ve been happily using Aperture 3 for a couple of months now and everything worked fine for some time. A few weeks ago I decided to split up my one giant (~80GB) database file into smaller ones, to reduce the load on the CPU and RAM and the load times.

While this house cleaning had the positive effects I had hoped for, it also has a snag; you cannot synchronise the iPhone with multiple Aperture libraries through iTunes — or iPhoto libraries for that matter.

Since I do like to have wallpapers for the iPhone, a selection of my favourite LOLcat pics — don’t judge me — and quite a few photos with me at all times, I’ll have to find a workaround.

Rejoining the Aperture libraries is out of the question, which means that I’m going to install iPhoto again and use it to synchronise pictures to my iPhone. It means I’m going to have to export all photos that I want on the device to iPhoto first, but maybe this separation isn’t such a bad idea.

Bloatware, now on your Android device

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 15:54:08 +0200

Bloatware, now on your Android device:

This is great: Unwanted, non-removable bloatware on factory new Android devices. It’s like Windows 98 all over again.

I think Apple should just get the old ‘Get a Mac’ ad out of the archives, and overlay the words ‘PC’ with ‘Android’ and ‘Mac’ with ‘iPhone’.

If you don’t know which ad I’m talking about, here it is:

This is a quick preview of Camera+ version 1.2 for the...

Sun, 18 Jul 2010 21:56:28 +0200

This is a quick preview of Camera+ version 1.2 for the iPhone.

The app, which came into being through a collaboration of the talented photographer Lisa Bettany and the programming geniuses of tap tap tap, is the best one I’ve used so far and now it’s being improved even further:

The video shows the ability to separately set the focus and the exposure of a shot on the iPhone. As of right now, the point of focus, is also used to determine the exposure of the scene, which can be detrimental sometimes.

To some it may look like overkill to add a feature like this to something that is essentially a snapshot camera, but to me it is very welcome.

via

"That’s basically what Steve Jobs did on Friday. He got up on stage, explained that this issue wasn’t..."

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 13:09:11 +0200

“That’s basically what Steve Jobs did on Friday. He got up on stage, explained that this issue wasn’t as bad as it was being made out to be, told the people that mattered how it would be resolved, and told the harpies to shut the fuck up. I’m glad he finally got pissed off enough to do it.”

- Darby Lines’s on Steve Jobs’s calling the press coverage regarding the iPhone 4’s alleged antenna issues to be blown out of proportion.

It just makes me sad it were basically respectable news outlets that drove him to be this angry and disappointed.

You can see Steve didn’t particularly care about tech blogs and the random New Media Douchebag; he was angry that journalistic institutions gave into the temptation of producing badly researched, exaggerated and unverified link bait.

via marco: AnandTech on Apple’s iOS 4.0.1 signal-strength meter...

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 11:01:57 +0200

via marco:

AnandTech on Apple’s iOS 4.0.1 signal-strength meter adjustment. Seems sensible. Click through for more great explanations and illustrations.

I highly recommend reading this article, if one wants to be able to discern fact from fiction in this ongoing debate.

genius Old Spice marketing campaign continues

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:58:54 +0200

genius Old Spice marketing campaign continues:

The marketing geniuses of Old Spice and the advertising firm Wieden + Kennedy continue to impress.

In addition to two new TV ads they started video-answering questions by Reddit members — Reddit being one of the sites that helped make the campaign go viral on the internet. Now they’re even answering question sent in by people on Twitter.

If I’m not much mistaken this is the single best executed viral ad campaign to date

Too bad I don’t like the smell of their products, cause I’m tempted to buy.

Astute observation and fucking...

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 09:03:07 +0200

Astute observation and fucking hilarious!

thanks thedailywhat:

Breaking Tech News of the Day: The Onion News Network covers Apple’s unveiling of their latest Genius Bar spinoff — the “Friend Bar” — which provides Apple fanboys with someone to talk at about the latest Mac products.

[theonion.]

Spot-on! grindlebone: Everything you need to know about Fox...

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 08:35:47 +0200

Spot-on!

grindlebone:

Everything you need to know about Fox News is captured in this screenshot: the American flags, the fear-mongering image in the upper-right corner, the blond anchor with a facial expression that somehow combines sneering with absolute terror.

Email conversation regarding the iPhone 4's antenna issues posted on BGR

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 18:20:16 +0200

I just read the alleged email conversation between a iPhone 4 user and an Apple engineer and Steve Jobs.

I would urge this youtube-ishly blunt reader, to carefully read the iPhone 4 review posted on AnandTech. The reviewers of this particular site give a very good and unbiased explanation as to why the reception problems exists, what Apple did wrong and what they did right.

Obviously nobody cared. (via grindlebone)

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:42:23 +0200

Obviously nobody cared.

(via grindlebone)

Retina Neuroscientist confirms Apple's Retina Display claims

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:46:27 +0200

Retina Neuroscientist confirms Apple's Retina Display claims:

It seems that Apple didn’t lie when claiming, the Retina Display, built-into the iPhone 4, has higher resolution than the human eye can resolve:

Dr. Curcio et. al. calculated 77 cycles/degree or .78 arcminutes/cycle of *retinal* resolution. However, this does not take into account the optics of the system which degrade image quality somewhat giving a commonly accepted resolution of 1 arcminute/cycle. So, if a normal human eye can discriminate two points separated by 1 arcminute/cycle at a distance of a foot, we should be able to discriminate two points 89 micrometers apart which would work out to about 287 pixels per inch. Since the iPhone 4G display is comfortably higher than that measure at 326 pixels per inch, I’d find Apple’s claims stand up to what the human eye can perceive.

I urge you to read the entire article by Bryan Jones, he very comprehensibly illustrates the difficulties in measuring these things and shows the differences between the displays of the first generation iPhone, the iPhone 3G, the iPad and the iPhone 4.

found on Daring Fireball

I don’t see NMDs (New Media Douchebags) categorised...

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 10:47:11 +0200

I don’t see NMDs (New Media Douchebags) categorised here.

Thanks to thijsjacobs:

Hah; no comment. (via doinwork)

(via 9gag)

Oh my, I'm an AppStore addict

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:09:00 +0200

Since I sold my iPhone 3GS in anticipation of the iPhone 4 last week, I downloaded six applications, five of which I paid money for. The sixth one was Twitterrific Universal, which I’m going to upgrade to ‘premium’ in App, once I have an iPhone again.

What does that tell you?

For one it tells you that I’m much too trigger happy when it comes to new apps. It also tells you that I see so much value in the AppStore and the products that are offered therein, that I’m willing to buy applications, even though I won’t be able to use them for at least another three weeks*.

*until the white iPhone 4 with 32GB is available in the UK.

Apple's way of slapping Gizmodo in the face

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:57:00 +0200

Apple's way of slapping Gizmodo in the face:

… giving its biggest rival early access to a production unit for review.

And a great review it is, Joshua Topolsky really did a great job.

I’m a sucker for a good, compact multi tool. Having a...

Thu, 17 Jun 2010 09:27:58 +0200

I’m a sucker for a good, compact multi tool. Having a couple of tools with you at any time can come in quite handy.

Enter ‘Swiss+Tech Utili-Key 6-in-1’. It provides one with;

a flat screwdriver
a Phillips screwdriver — necessary for every self-respecting geek
a micro-sized screwdriver for glasses
a straight blade knife
a serrated blade knife
a bottle opener

I found it through a great blog called Utility Journal.

TUAW writes down MobileMe

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 10:29:45 +0200

TUAW writes down MobileMe:

… in favour of free services like GMail and Dropbox. Some of the points made are valid and understandable, some are not.

Accepting everything Lauren Hirsch said, I dare her to try to resolve any problem with Google’s support in less than 30 minutes. Because that is what I get with the MobileMe support chat.

Oh the bitter irony. (via lonelysandwich)

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 08:57:00 +0200

Oh the bitter irony.

(via lonelysandwich)