GKT's Soapbox

iPhone 3G v2.0 Missing Features

2008-07-16T21:38:00.003+10:00

Now I'm a big usability head and think the iPhone really is the bees knees, but I've worked in mobiles for a while now and been a gadget freak too. So there are a few basic features missing from the iPhone, and some not so basic ones.

So here, due to popular demand, and in no particular order, is a list of iPhone Missing Features!

* no MMS
* no bluetooth transfer of contacts/items to other devices
* no sms drafts
* no sms forwarding
* no video recording
* no video streaming (youtube is not streamed, it's "progressive download")
* no deleting of photos, songs sync'd from iTunes
* and of course - no cut & paste!

All the above can be fixed in a future software releases.

Addressing the following missing features require a hardware upgrade:
* higher megapixel camera
* auto-focus camera lens
* light or flash
* no video calling (front camera required, video iChat anyone?)

I'm sure there are more to add. Let me know what you think.

Podbrix... Lego Art, Apple style

2006-10-24T23:44:00.000+10:00

Podbrix...

I stumbled on this a while ago. It's always cool to see beautifully executed designs, especially ones that combines multiple classic elements, in this case Apple themes with Lego!

See www.podbrix.com

WikiMapia

2006-06-10T22:53:00.000+10:00

Very cool site that combines Google maps with a wiki-based highlight of locations.

You can see the Empire State Building here.

Google's business model

2006-05-17T21:49:00.000+10:00

Cringely always writes interesting commentaries on the tech industry. In this weeks links he points to some interesting analysis on Google's Business Model and competitive approach. Fascinating take on how technology is changing how in a few years time Microsoft's dominance could be no more...

How to make a Chai Latte

2006-05-17T21:44:00.000+10:00

Since discovering Chai Latte a few weeks back (a good friend introduced me to the experience), I've wondered about making my own at home. It helps to have a capuccino maker to steam the milk but this page shows how to do it all from scratch, including using a micowave to "steam" the milk.

The easy way is to buy Chai tea bags which have the right type of black chai leaves - usually Darjeeling - along with the necessary spices (cinammon, cloves, ginger root and cardamon), but the link shows to to grind the individual bits together.

Motorsport DVDs

2006-05-04T21:57:00.000+10:00

Found a cool site that sells extreme motorsport dvds. They have stuff on cars, bikes... and even have remote control cars!

Check it out Carazy.

New Sony Ericsson Phones announced at Cebit

2006-03-10T17:16:00.000+11:00

I'm waiting on the K610i as a worthy successor to the K600, and a 3G replacement for the K750/W800/W810 - except while the camera is up to 2MP it doesn't have auto-focus or a flash!

That's reserved for the first "Cybershot" branded SE mobile (leading an imaging-focused mobile lineup to parallel SE's "Walkman" branded line of phones), the K800i, which will have a 3.2MP camera, auto-focus, Xenon flash, as well as the "Best-Pic" feature.

The M600i and W950 are both Symbian OS 9, UIQ 3 devices - neat, large touch-screen and jog-wheel for input, but no camera, which keeps these phones nice and slim.

SE's info site here.

The Museum of Modern Betas

2006-02-02T00:49:00.000+11:00

Want to get in on some new web apps/tools ala gmail? Check out this site!
MoMB

Excellent articles that demystify the art of Editing Digital Images

2006-01-31T23:53:00.000+11:00

Three part series explaining digital image editing concepts such as layers, masks, histograms, color balancing and many other useful techniques. Courtesy of Ars Technica.

Editing your digital images without the mystery:

Part 1 - Levels, curves and noise
Part 2 - Retouching Techniques 101
Part 3 - Compositing

Buying Computer gear in Melbourne

2006-01-19T11:56:00.000+11:00

There's a few places I source computer gear from, generally for their competitive prices as well as their wide range of stock.

CPL - www.cpl.net.au, Computer & Parts Land, in Dudley St, West Melbourne, and Notting Hill (Mulgrave)
Instant IT - www.instantit.com.au, order only over the net, office in Qld, warehouse in Sydney, excellent prices
Computer World - www.cworld.com.au - now have a shop in Melbourne Central, but I have only shopped from the Blackburn shop

iTuneMyWalkman - sync your W800i with iTunes!

2005-11-14T08:14:00.000+11:00

Okay so you have a brand new SonyEricsson Wzalkman phone and want to synchronise playlists to it from iTunes?

Here's the solution.

The next step in Web Applications: Ajax

2005-10-29T10:44:00.000+10:00

Want to know how Google creates such cool. usable apps like Gmail, Google maps and Google Suggest? Using a technique called Ajax.

While you're there, it's worth reading about Jesse James Garrett and The Elements of User Experience. Highly Recommended.

Steve Jobs and television physics

2005-10-28T18:04:00.000+10:00

Steve's latest venture into video -- especially TV show -- downloads for the iPod is shaking things up again. This article is a great commentary on how it could upset "television physics".

Television Physics and the $1.99 price point
- Engadget - www.engadget.com

Ipodmyphoto brand extension - ipodmybaby!

2005-10-27T11:07:00.000+10:00

Courtesy of MJS:

If the "off" and "pause" functions work this should be a winner…..
ipodmybaby

Site of the week - despair.com

2005-10-26T13:36:00.000+10:00

A satirical take on all those (de)motivational posters...
www.despair.com

Here's a list of all the posters they sell.

My favourites are procrastination and apathy. (I have perfectionist tendencies and used to work in customer support)

Keyboard settings for Accented Characters

2005-10-25T15:25:00.000+10:00

If you type lots of European languages with accents and graves over your letters then in Windows it's not a bad idea to us the "US-International" keyboard layout.

This page has a very nice summary of how to set it up and the ALT codes for when you only need these accents occasionally.

One of the reasons I discovered this is because I tried out "US-International" as I am from Australia and thought it would be more applicable to me! Turns out not quite so... the international here is referring to other languages that use the Roman alphabet but with some extras...

Other links at various university sites:
Vanderbilt
Gallaudet
Manitoba

80+ wpm! Data-entry speeds on a handheld device

2005-10-24T10:28:00.000+10:00

I know I can maintain ~25wpm using grafitti on my old Palm Tungsten. I probably peak in excess of 40wpm, but 81.74 wpm?

Well, the "Dom Perignon" Speed Contests have been held every 2 years for the past few years and have produced some interesting results across Palms, Pocket PCs and even Treo thumboards.

The champ of entry methods is not graffiti, is not even the thumboard, but is a funny-looking,specially designed key layout called "Fitaly".

I don't know how much design effort went into the layout to get "f i t a l y" across the top... I think it was named because if you say it quickly it sounds like how it feels to use!

For proof, checkout the clips of the winners in action. Contestants even used a program called "FitalyLetris" to calculate their speeds...

What's really weird is that two of the past winners are from Adelaide...

Cool wallpaper ideas

2005-08-29T22:00:00.000+10:00

Checkout these these wallpapers.

Tres cool!

Google Earth on Area51

2005-08-22T17:02:00.000+10:00

Yes these people have lots of time on their hands. Checkout the black crop circles, crosshairs and craters!

Notarized Today!

2005-03-03T00:46:00.000+11:00

Yes, I was notarized today! What does that mean?

Well about a year ago I finally got myself a free Digital Certificate. With it I can sign my emails and if my corresponder also has one I can exchange encrypted emails.

Today I finally got around to the next step which is adding my name to the Digital Certificate as well as my email address. This is no trivial process as you must physically meet at least 3 existing notaries and have them verify your ID (using a passport and/or driver's license).

The process went smoothly today and now, not only am I able to include my name but I am also able to notarize other people!

See Thawte for more information and to get your free email certificate. When you're ready to be notarized, and if you live in Melbourne, give me a call!

Site of the week

2005-03-01T15:15:00.000+11:00

Here's a neat little site I stumbled across.

MakeAShorterLink

As the site says, it serves one simple purpose:

You pass one of those rather obnoxiously long links that some sites are so fond of, such as:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000002LOA/ref=pd_sim_music_2/104-5986531-3352760?=glance&s=music

and MakeAShorterLink returns you with:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?B2423249A

which is much easier to send in an email or even in an IM, and not have it wrapped and broken at the other end.

Buying Contact Lenses off the web

2005-03-01T14:47:00.000+11:00

I've been buying my contacts over the internet for at least the last few years, ever since I noticed I could save over 25% off from retail prices. My main provider has been Eyesonline. Their prices have always been excellent, their service most satisfactory and delivery has been either $5 or $6 an order - amortised over 2 boxes this has always been rather cheap.

After my annual checkup I reordered 4 boxes this time - enough for a full yearly supply for me - and took advantage of Eyesonline's free shipping on orders over $125. I don't expect my prescription to change in the next year so this seemed like a good approach this time.

Recently two friends have asked about getting Contacts over the web, so I decided to do a little cheking up on the state of affairs. There are at least 10 sites now in easy reach of a google search. Of these I noted a few had identical pricing schemes (interesting, eh?), OPSM Direct are still horribly overpriced (the Telstra of the Online contact lens world) and there are now a couple good competitors to Eyesonline.

The first is Webcontacts - they have a very nice site but their prices are a smidgen higher and I don't like their return policy.

The two that I may consider in future are NetOptical (a real shoestring operation by the looks of it, but being cost focussed means they meet my #1 requirement); and Eyecontacts. They have similar pricing to the others but freight is charged at $8.50 per order - depending on how many boxes you order this may or may not be cheaper. For my current lenses (B&L Purevision) they are only $1 more expensive per box. But for a friend who is looking for Focus Dailies the have a tremendous offer of $65 per box for the 90-pack, where Eyesonline offer them for $82.

Definitely something to look into again further next year, before reordering.

Gadgets - SD card with built-in USB adapter

2005-01-11T09:29:00.000+11:00

Checkout the cool pic of this folding SD card

More tech items - Sony's new laptops

2005-01-10T18:31:00.000+11:00

Engadgets' continuing report from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Vegas turned up pics of Sony's new laptops!

1" thin, eh? Now will these laptops give Apple's Powerbooks a run for their money? (seeing as Sony is the Apple of the PC workd, I don't expect the challenge to come from anyone else...)

Tech item of the week - 102" plasma screen

2005-01-10T12:11:00.000+11:00

Engadget reports on Samsung’s 102-inch plasma TV.

That's a whopping 2.5m! Big enough for ya?

I'm wondering if a real nice projector (ie. one with high lumen output) would do an equally admirable job for possibly a lot less.

Meanwhile the largest LCD is only at 57" ...

Site of the week

2004-12-15T16:41:00.000+11:00

Google Labs

Try out Google Suggest and Google Sets among others.

Way cool.

Computer Tips - Coming up with a secure password that's easy to remember

2004-12-13T17:42:00.000+11:00

Computer security depends on having a secure password. That is, one that's hopefully not the name of your spouse, pet, team, friend, or incorporates something directly associated with you such as your birthday.
The reason people tend to pick such passwords is that they are easy to remember. So how do we come up with an obscure - and therefore secure - password that is still easy to remember?

Answer? Use a mnemonic. A mnemonic is usually a short sentence, rhyme or phrase for remembering something. Mnemonics can take various forms but when applied to passwords, a good suggestion is to use the first letter from each word in a mnemonic phrase.

For example. how's this for a secure password: csd0haSp.

How did I create this? Quite simply, by using the first letter of each word in the first sentence of this tip! (see for yourself.. Computer security depends ...), plus I substituted '0' for 'o'. I also used a capital S for secure, because I happen to emphasise this word when I say this mnemonic in my head. Using this basic rule and tweaking it by replacing letters with numbers (e.g. 2 for z, 3 for e, 5 for s, 0 for o, etc.), and selecting a letter to be uppercase based on how you say the mnemonic to yourself, you can easily come up with a great password that you won't forget anytime soon. The mnemonic could be based on anything - a line from your favourite poem, a song, a movie; something unique to you. Even if someone can possibly guess the "topic" of your mnemonic, it's going to be tricky to guess the combination of letters and numbers you choose to represent it.

Site of the week

2004-12-08T12:49:00.000+11:00

The cult of mac lives long...

IpodMyPhoto - need I say more? Check it out.

Thought of the Day

2004-10-06T17:17:00.000+10:00

If the internet has no doors or fences, who needs windows or gates?

Latest Gripe about driving to work

2004-08-13T10:46:00.000+10:00

Why don't people let others in? Why do they they guard their bit of road so jealously, when 90+% of the time, whoever is trying to get into their lane, actually wants to get across to the next lane. Net result? They haven't lost anything by letting someone in!

Or the truck driver this morning who was tooting his horn at the taxi driver double parked in Flinders Lane... Sure, the taxi driver could have pulled over in a more appropriate spot, but (a) there's no pointing tooting while the passenger is putting their luggage in the boot - they're moving as fast as they can! and (b) the lights 50 m ahead were still red, so it wasn't like the truck was going to go anywhere! Ah the stupid impatience of it all...

Finally

2004-08-13T10:38:00.000+10:00

Ok, so I've finally got a blog. It's August 2004, so am I behind the times or what? Oh well, I can now rant and rave like everyone else!

Displays of the future

2004-08-07T20:18:00.000+10:00

Robert X Cringley's latest article: The Big Picture

Rolltronics Display Backplane Technology Could Put a Holodeck in Your Bedroom
http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/pulpit20040805.html