Jun 7, 2011
Stuck - thanks Apple! —
So I took the plunge and tried updating my iPhone 4 to iOS 5. I marvelled at the shiny new process which allows untethered activation.
I then got frustrated when presented with the following message:
But wait! It says on the screen that I can connect the iPhone to iTunes to activate it the old-fashioned way. Salvation!
And then:
Great.
Thankfully I got it resolved by borrowing an unlocked SIM card - once inserted into the iPhone the activation server started working again.…
Apr 18, 2011
Lose two inches in just three weeks! —
(aka How to lose 1000 pounds overnight) I recently decided to splurge on one of the new 2011 MacBook Pros, and am very glad I did. My 2007 MBP has served me well and I’ve been very pleased with it’s performance over the years, but there were a few reasons why I thought I could justify ditching the older model:
it was out of warranty; the fans were coming on more frequently with daily work; the battery was only lasting a paltry 2-3 hours (after 2 replacements); it was feeling a bit heavy for carrying to work every day; the 15" screen was feeling like overkill; it was taking too much room in my bag.…
Mar 10, 2011
The Apple TV just got better! (Or did it?) —
The Apple TV just got better! …unless of course, you’re in the UK1, in which case…
The Apple TV just stayed the same! With the rollout of iOS 4.3 yesterday US owners of the Apple TV found that not only do they enjoy the availability of NetFlix on their devices but they now also get access to MLB (baseball) and NBA2 (basketball).
It’s great that Apple are actively working to provide extra services for these devices but it would be nice if they would try thinking about territories other than the USA.…
Feb 2, 2011
Global warming-induced apocalypse or just more coverage? —
I’ve just read two articles on the BBC News site - one was about the imminent arrival of another winter storm in the US, and the other was about Queenslanders being told to flee the arrival of the strongest cyclone in their history.
This is not long after the worst flooding in Queensland’s history, mudslides in Brazil which claimed hundreds of lives, and a number of other extreme weather events which have made the international headlines.…
Jan 25, 2011
Udosson - Kurz Unter Land —
A long time ago I stumbled across the artist Udosson through his SoundCloud profile. I always found his music to be a perfect combination of organic sounding synths and machine-like rhythms. I’d always listened to his tracks in isolation but recently I decided to lay down some cash for his 2010 album Kurz Unter Land (helpfully translated as “off-shore” by the kind souls at Udosson’s label Petite:Unique1).
The music itself is predominantly ambient in nature and takes in clicky percussions, swelling pads and beautiful samples.…
Jan 24, 2011
£10 of petrol - where does it go? —
It dismays me to see how much of my tenners worth of fuel goes to the tax man. Would love to see a breakdown on how that fuel duty is actually used though.
I guess petrol is taxed as a luxury item, but for people who need it to get about (e.g. the disabled) surely it should have a lower rate of VAT?…
Jan 17, 2011
Mmm AirPlay I Love You —
On first sighting of Apple’s AirPlay technology I was initially impressed but wasn’t sure how much it offered over their existing AirTunes facilities which I’d been using with Airport Express/Apple TV (the first one) for some time. This weekend I got to use AirPlay “properly” for the first time.
I wanted to listen to another of the excellent 5by5 Studios podcasts which I had on my iPhone. I had a few options:…
Jan 10, 2011
The CoverSutra debate continues —
I love MacStories and just about everything that Federico Viticci writes, but I have to disagree with some aspects of this post defending Sophiestication and the CoverSutra debacle.
Firstly I agree with Federico - verbally abusing the developer is not necessary and is completely wrong.
Where I disagree is when Federico alludes that this situation was a by-product of the Mac App Store policies: “I believe Sophia is yet another victim of Apple’s policy when it comes to the Mac App Store, and she’s just being accused first.…
Jan 7, 2011
An ideal time to develop software? —
I had the good fortune to listen to yet another excellent podcast from Dan Benjamin’s 5by5 Studios yesterday - this time the Build and Analyze program Dan co-hosts with Marco Arment (of Instapaper and Tumblr fame).
The show featured a discussion on the typical work cycles of developers and fell into the mistake of re-iterating the stereotype of developers as working great in bursts of time, often late in the night.…
Jan 7, 2011
Mac App Store - some initial thoughts —
So the Mac App Store has launched and there doesn’t appear to have been any major disasters.
Much to my relief it has been possible to purchase a paid app (e.g. the new iMovie 11) and not only install it on my user account on another Mac, but also to use it in my wife’s user account on both Macs. This was my big concern which seems to have been unfounded.…