iPhone post

This is my first post from my iPhone. Awesome

The engadget podcast is dead

I have some seriously sad news. As most of the readers of engadget know by now, the podcast is dead. It was the premier tech/gadget podcast and was produced by some of the best writers and most knowledgeable people in the business, Ryan Block & Peter Rojas. And while there are many, many good tech podcasts such as TWiT, Diggnation, Cranky Geeks, and Webb Alert, none will compare to the quality and knowledge of the Engadget Guys.

Long Live the Engadget Podcast

The iPhone “Continued”……..

So Apple you released the iPhone. You created probably what is arguably one of the greatest, most powerful, innovative, and sexy devices of all time. Destined to either to become an instant icon or another Apple Newton. A user interface second to none with great fluid graphics and animations. Simple and powerful, like OS X. Yet Apple did something that Apple isn’t used to doing. Creating a great product that developers can’t use.

Mac OS X, is a great operating system. This is partly due to its extensive Unix backend, powerful Core API’s, & Cocoa Interface. These API’s allow developers to create programs that integrate well with the operating system. Programs such as Camino, Adium, and a whole mess of other open source and commerical software and integrates with iTunes or Spotlight. This is what makes OS X a great operating system, the amazing pieces of software that allow tight integration with the os, as if they were first part programs. Yet for this round, Apple has crippled their developer model, not allowing third programs, “for quality assurance reasons”, which is ridculous. Essentially Apple is going to extend its iPod model, selling you everything, in an attempt to “streamline” the experience. However the iPhone is different than an iPod, and while they share similar features the iPhone has distinct differences that makes it well, different.

So in an attempt to actually finish this post, I’m going to make a list of a few things that the iPhone should do, and why I don’t think the First Gen iPhone won’t do it, and may never do.

1) Customizable Ringtones: Apple if you think you can extort 99 cents for every ringtone you sell on the iTunes Store… you probably can. However that doesn’t make it right. They should take a cue from there great ability to make wallpapers, just search you’re library and apply. If you want to compete with Windows Mobile 5.0, Palm, & RIM, allow contact specific ringtones and global ringtones. Its ridiculous that Apple a company that has mastered the integration of common databases won’t allow us, the users , this simple feature. Seriously its probably like 15 minutes of development using you’re core api’s and cocoa.

2) HSDPA….. Oh wait it doesn’t have it: Give us faster internet access to use that super slick browser you give us.

3) Third party Applications: Okay so maybe this makes sense, you don’t want the phones to crash, understandable, but allow us the ability to install widgets, something that would allow us to use that great internet access. Oh and no one who uses Mac OS X wants to use iChat for the iPhone at least allow Adium to make some software.

4)Give us more…: What I mean by this, is that for the iPhone to really compete it needs a few more things. It needs some sort of Note taking application, maybe a stripped down Pages, maybe a Keynote viewer, something to gain the business mind.

5) We want real Widescreen: There isn’t any reason Apple would do this…

All in All, the iPhone while better than every other phone, still isn’t a good phone by Apple’s standard, missing clear integration with user’s media and lacks as a true platform to make better. I’m holding off, in hope of either hacks to make it better or for my favorite company to make some serious improvements.

Forgotten Blog

No, I haven’t forgotten about this blog, I’ve just been busy. In fact I’m writing this post on break from writing a critique. Lots of great things have been going on. I’ve made some friends here at university and already have stories I’m not going to forget (Waffle House+Drunk People= Funny and Scary). Parisian Internet Radio is infinitely better than US internet radio, mostly because it has more variety.

I have a fascination with London and Paris, mostly because I’ve been to both, and throughly enjoyed myself (well not so much Paris but thats because I didn’t see only the greatest museum of all time). I love Daft Punk a French House styled band. Lord Byron is my favorite poet, and as I love computers Ada Lovelace is my hero, in a non-hero sort of way.

The Integration Problem and a call to the Open Source Community.

I’d like to preface this by saying I’m not a developer. I don’t claim to be one, and as much as I understand development and how its done and should be done, I can’t do it. I can code python and thats about it. I’m just not a true developer of sorts. However let me also preface this by saying, I know software. I know good software, bad software and just about everything in between.

Now, Apple did something many Mac users take for granted in OS X and thats the development of the Core API’s. With Core Data we have this amazing systemwide tool called Spotlight and the ablility to share content from one program to another (the iLife Browser). With Core Video we can get amazing video preformance and effects from iChat and iMovie, the same with Core Image. And now with Core Animation, applications and bring a whole new level of just usablity and interaction possibly (if developers have really good architects) totally new ways to interact with a desktop or possibly even get rid of the WIMP paradigm, and have a more Star Trekkian interface. Now with all this when will we see Photoshop plugin into Core Data so that its Scripting feature can search for the 10 viewed photo can apply a filter. When will see Firefox take advantage of Core Animation (or as it where Camino). Probably never. But how long until Safari uses it. It most likely already does. So many Compelling Third Party applications exist but how many are really taking advantage of things like Core Video. I can’t think of any. But so many things can be done with Core Video.Improve an interface like Sony Vegas and use Core Video and integrate that with Core Data and iLife so you can import iMovies, that would blow the pants off iMovie and create real competition.

I guess the real issue is that with so many great APIs and ease of use we don’t see so many great Open Source Apps specifically for the Mac platform that take advantage of Core Data/Image/Video. And now with animation it should only be a matter of time until some generates a scripting language that allows really easy renderings of things like the “City of Music” commercial or of the albums that get sucked into iPods or PC’s or maybe a video of a PC spinning with the music rushing inwards, but it shouldn’t be long. Unfortunately it probably won’t every be done because for some reason the open source community won’t develop great products for the Closed source community. A Native version of aMarok that integrates into Spotlight and iLife would be awesome. However it won’t ever be done.

PS: I will say this. Camino does an excellent job of integration. They are a model software creator.

Mac Pros, Core Animation, and no Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro’s and everything else from WWDC

So no surprise on the Mac Pros, other than the price (which is actually really good) and the xserve. Now Leopard was good, but still no Updated Finder or a Desktop Widget layer. However Time Machine and my favorite Core Animation was amazing. Core animation is so amazing and I can only imagine its uses for film and video, not to mention some very interesting ways to view them also. And supposedly there are a ton of new Features that are being held close to Apple proverbial chest.

But the big downer is they didn’t update the MacBook Pro, something I not only wanted but really needed also. Apple update the bios and add a new CPU, it isn’t that difficult. Plus Leopard is going to be the first 64 bit version of Mac OS X that runs on the x86 platform. So buying any Mac other than the Mac Pro (damn that name sucks doesn’t it) is a waste since in 6 months it won’t take advantage of Leopard’s 64bit underpinnings.

Last Post before WWDC

I’m justing gearing up for WWDC (no I’m not going to be there).

The things I’m almost positive I’ll see:
1) New Finder
2) A new Dashboard Layer
3) Improved Spotlight
4) 64 bit Intel Support
5) Mac Pros and Xserve
Things I hope to see:
1) New MacBook Pro
2) BlackBook Pro
3) New Display’s with iSight Cameras
4) Leopard will be out before September 15, 2006

WWDC 2006

Tomorrow big day, we got an Apple event at 10am, so head over to engadget and just get ready to hit F5 a whole helluva a lot, and you’ll be surprised (I hope they release a Black MacBook Pro with Merom, I’d buy that in a minute and a half, and get the iPod)

Adobe Lightroom

Adobe Lightroom

Originally uploaded by RayRay85.

Haven’t used this, yet…..

Why Microsoft makes me sad.

Let me preface this by saying, contrary to my vocal beliefs, Microsoft isn’t all that bad. For how large they are, and how much they try to put into every release of their software, they do a moderately good job.

Now onto what, in all honesty, really holds back the greatness Microsoft really can be.

Firstly its their product cycle. Vista is going to be realeased nearly half a decade after XP. Within that time, many things have changed. Users want the graphics chip accelerated desktop GUIs, something Mac OS X has had for a very long time, and has implemented quite well with allowing for extensiblity to other programs. Also during this 5 year stint, users have been calling for “fast-search”, search based on pre-databased information and metadata. Spotlight and Beagle have both provided this for the alternative platforms, and third-party applications for the Windows platfom, but Google Desktop has never really integrated with the platform the way Spotlight and the Core Data API does for Mac OS X. All these features and more such as, a better browser (if you can call IE a browser), more user oriented suite of tools ( such as iLife). This things are finally coming into Vista, and even though they were announced before Mac OS X shipped with Spotlight and Dashboard, they weren’t the first out the door where it really matters.

Secondly, Windows Media Player needs to be more robust. Microsoft would argue that, Media Center is the more robust Media Player, but Windows Media Player could’ve and should’ve had podcast support about 3 years ago. It isn’t that diffcult of a thing to support. The interface is down right dreadful and it’s absolutely astounding to walk around the UF campus and still see people using it over Winamp, Zinf or even iTunes (which by the way is a great media player but horrible music store).

Thirdly, Outlook has never been a good e-mail/PIM client, its overly complicated. IT has tons and tons of features, but most will never ever be used. And Outlook 2007 is even more convoluted. Comparing Calendars is useless side by side and it shouldn’t take me 3 trips to a manual and some ridiculous method of creating a faux folder to create one new calendar. Microsoft has serious issues with its interface design choices sometimes, mostly so they don’t copy Apple. But if they had a shorter product cycle they wouldn’t have to worry about that.

Finally what irks me the most is this. Why if they are so large and so powerful, is there so many bugs. Apple has its fair share of bugs to, especially with the iLife suite corrupting itself, but nontheless Apple Operating software and some of its suites work exactly like promised (especially Final Cut, which is great but not as good as Sony Vegas). Microsoft is doing something very wrong in this respect and hopefully since Vista has been delayed so many times, that once they get rid of the bugs, they won’t come back.

Mac Book Pros, educational discounts, College, and various other gadgets

Long post title simple idea. I’m seriously considering getting a Mac Book Pro, pending a few major and minor caveats.

1) Firstly the software I’ll need day to day. Now I know in the majority of my classes Mac OS X will be shuned. I can deal with that. I can still open word docs, powerpoints, and excel files. And if they give me an Acess database, i’ll tell them to wait a few minutes and boot into windows, no big deal. The problem comes with third-party software. There just isn’t a big following of good open source software. No good note taking applications. No good note taking applications (Stickies in Dashboard don’t count), no amazing email/pim application (the iLife suite is lacking some serious things with e-mail and PIM, mainly a standard three pane interface with Mail.App and having iCal, Mail, and Address Book as one app. Most likely a marketing move).

2) I have to mount an install file? what the hell is up with that. I have to mount install files but Its difficult to mount NAS devices? Not cool at all.

3) Podcast support in iTunes shouldn’t require iTunes Music store to be activated, it should just download the enclosures through Safari’s RSS integration.

4) The battery gets freakin’ hot when plugged in, not usable as a laptop then and probably detrimental to the battery as it is Li-Ion.

5) Two Button support either eludes me in Windows or rather isn’t there.

6) That damned Beach Ball.

7) Why are they so damn expensive for the low end Mac Books that are aimed at students. Students want to have $800 notebooks, most of them can’t afford a $2000 Mac Book Pro, or want the smaller form factor. When Apple can easily bring the cost down, why don’t they? Because of the software, the whole iLife suite and the great integration of iLife and the rest of the mac system mainly through the Core Data API (and its main frontend Spotlight)? That should be the value add, what really holds on to the customer have, after capturing them with the style and low price ( Sub $1000). Educationaly Discounts don’t help much for the low end.

These few things not only bug me right now about getting a notebook from Apple but always have been the impeding factor for my purchase.

The horibbly named Mac Pro….

Rumors abound on the Mac Pro (the so-called sucessor to the powermacs), on a release date. August 7, looks to be the date of not only a switch to the Intel platform, but also an entire case re-design. So no more cheese grater, and possibly more expansion options (some of us may want to put one of those blu-ray drives in). Also an update to the Mac Book Pro chassis and upgrade to Core 2 Duo. Since this is before WWDC do you think they’re going to announce a 64-bit Universal Leopard….? I suspect so….

mostly via Engadget

reaktor: Flickr Photo of the Day

reaktor

Originally uploaded by ℓucas (sr w).

Greatest piece of music creation software.

Microsoft Panther?

Microsoft Panther?

Originally uploaded by Changa_Lion.

this is pretty funny, its a geek joke though

Mac Book Pro

I’ll buy a Mac Book Pro probably under a few conditions

1) I can get it around $1800 (Possible)
2) The next gen Mac Book Pro has no Heat Issues like Burning a hole through my pants
3) Runs Leopard and has Merom
4) It fully supports a right-click
5) some explains to me how to properly uninstall a program

I’d get a Mac Book Pro if these things we’re somehow magically placed in my lap. Or some dumb saying like that.

Why Apple makes me sad

Apple is a business that makes me quite sad. They have a great product, Mac OS X, but there are so many issues with what Apple does in terms of Hardware and Software that quite irk me.

On the hardware side there is mostly their notebooks (Yes and the iPod which is a beast of its own). Now yes there new Mac Books are fairly economical, but the Mac Book Pros are exorbitantly overpriced. Yes they have a few interesting features and the design is rather nice, but nothing that warrants the sometimes $1000+ over the competition, its ridculous. On top of that First-Gen Apple products simply have huge flaws in them. Now look at there Mac Books and Mac Book Pros, they have serious heat issues, so much so in the manual they say “do not place on lap, may cause burns”. When I pay that much money for a “portable computer” I would like it to actually cool my lap not heat it up, if I were going to pay $3000 dollars. And I’m sorry but all the white, and monotone is not very interesting after the first 4 minutes. If you wanted to be really creative take, approach the iMac the same way the Xbox 360 does it, or have at least 3 different colors or something. Apple (like anyone at Cupertino is reading this), if you are marketing towards the Youth demographic, allow them to add their own personality to the machine, sell Swarovski kits, and faceplates or something. The whiteness is almost like a walled garden solution. I understand that other laptop companies don’t do any sort of true customization, but if you want to be different, shouldn’t you Apple?

The same goes for there Software. Look iTunes as a piece of software is okay, but the iTunes music store, I’m sorry, DRM is not my style. And if I subscribe to a podcast, like engadget’s why should I have to have acces to the music store enabled. Let me use it like Banshee or Amarok. And add support for FLAC and OGG, you tout your Open Source roots, give back and contribute if you can (which you can). And Jobs dude, do you like the beach or something, get rid of that damn Beach Ball, make the software a little bit more optimized it isn’t that hard for you geniuses (hah i made a really geek pun, hah a geeky pun is a gun, BANG!). And when a user hits X and closes an application, close the application, kill the process. Add something to minimize to the dock, don’t assume we want that piece of software open. Change the dock, people don’t want ever app on the dock, and we don’t want to open up finder to open an App. And Build an uninstall wizard, other wise the configuration registry is going to be full of junk. And My biggest gripe. Okay, so Apple you’re finally x86, release your software for anyone to us, not just for use on Apple Machines. Get out of the hardware business and compete with Windows and Linux like they do. Ubuntu isn’t known for sexy laptops, its known for a super stable operating system.

As for Apple’s Open Sourceness, don’t steal ideas (XGL and Window’s Aero) and then say ooooo look at us we are doing something based on Open Source, when many a times you are stealing there very ideas and only slightly improving upon it. If you want something truly innovative, look at the BumpTop ( I can guarantee, that Apple will have something like this).

I know most of these things have been said before, but It irks me that Simple things like Auto-Playlists in iTunes isn’t out of the box, you have to install a third party app to get iTunes to do it. And why doesn’t the iPod support higher bitrates? Because the user experience is what Apple wants you to have, not what people necessarily want. Apple if you open up just a little more to people creating their own experience, you will make Microsoft run for the high grounds. Its as simple as that.

Amarok

splash_screen

Originally uploaded by andreyev_br.

A great piece of software. If it were on Windows it would be the iTunes Killer.

Half-Life 2 Menu (Citadel): Flickr Photo of the Day

Originally uploaded by banapaulo.

One of the Greatest Games ever. If by 2010 there is a game better than this one,I’ll public announce that i’m not awesome.

Why Linux makes me sad

Laptops have very specialized hardware when it comes to power management. They have to, obviously, since they run on batteries many times and teh CPU needs to be underclocked and undervolted to decrease power usage, and many other power saving features such as decreased HDD usage and Lowering of the screen’s brightness. Anyways this control all takes place from the operating system usually within the kernel, thats the only logical place to have all that code be placed. Windows has excellent support for laptops, usually the best, mostly because thats what laptops usually runs. However Linux, does not, and usually one loses 40 to 50 minutes of computing time on laptops due to poor power management. Now for me I have one piece of software that I must have all the time, that is Namely evolution, and all-in-one e-mail/calendar/task client. It integrates extremely well with gnome and is generally a great piece of software. Other than that I have alternatives to use in Windows (firefox runs on windows and for search I can use Google Desktop or Copernicous), but I don’t have a single really good E-mail/Calendering Client in Windows. Outlook isn’t that great, basically it works, and Thunderbird isn’t powerfull enough and lacks a good Calendering app. What is Geek supposed to do?

By the Way this is going to be a Three part series on Operating systems and why they make me sad.

The Redesigned Web: Using Web 2.0 (part II)

This Tutorial is meant to show how Web 2.0 can and will eventually totally integrate with day to day life. RSS and Flickr both are something I use daily (most of the time).

First things First. STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER. Use Firefox or Camino if you’re a Mac OS X user. Just download it from mozilla.org or Camino.org. Now both Firefox and Camino support extensions and plugins with provide greater functionality through small software additions, without getting a separate piece of software. So for this tutorial we are going to use Sage, a very lightweight but extremely powerful piece of software. Now what Sage is going to do for us is pull the xml to a blog we subscribed to. Oh by the way the screenshots of mine are with a different theme for Firefox. Well how do we subscribe to an RSS feed to a blog? Well lets assume we are on a blog such as this one. First open Sage (the keyboard shortcut is ALT+S for Firefox), and then click the Second Large Icon to the left of the sidebar. Before that, I like to remove the third lower pane, that displays all the articles and simply use the rendered feed through Sage (this is found under options under show feed item list) . So when you are on a blog simply click the magnifying glass and a screen will come up showing all the available feed. Then simple click the feed and hit add. Now if you click the feed it will show you a special screen with all the articles on that feed. This is called a style and if you go to the Sage developer’s website you can download many of these different styles depending on your preference and use them.

So go ahead add some more feeds, organize them by folders, listen to podcasts, Web 2.0 is out to serve you. (look for the Flickr article… coming soon.)