WordPress iPhone App ScreenShot
December 14, 2009
I’m on an on-device iPhone publishing roll here. The following is a ScreenShot of the WordPress App for the iPhone which is used to publish posts. Somewhat recursive I know.
WordPress on iPhone
December 14, 2009
By the way, when using mobile Safari for the iPhone to view a WordPress blog hosted on wordpress.com as RADThoughts is, an iPhone specific theme is used which is quite nice.
iPhone Kindle App Now Available In Canadian AppStore
December 14, 2009
Amazon has now released the Kindle iPhone app in the Canadian AppStore.
It looks good. After installing, the app requests your Amazon login information on first launch at which point your existing books appear in the Archived folder.
Clicking on an Archived book downloads it to your iPhone or iPod Touch. The book then appears on the home screen.
The app has a clean interface that allows page turns via swipes or clicking on the left portion of the screen (previous page) or right portion (next page). Clicking in the bottom margin brings up the extra controls allowing bookmarking, returning to the Home screen, and the same canonical progress bar showing reading location. The killer feature, of course, is synchronizing reading location across devices.
Frustrating Amazon Kindle Support
November 25, 2009
I don't know if its just me but I have absolutely no luck reporting what seem like clear and reproducible bugs.
I sent a bug report to Amazon regarding the PDF conversion problem after the 2.3 upgrade. I received a response in e-mail that looks autogenerated or perhaps my report was confusing. Anyway, the e-mail has a very customer focused section asking whether the e-mail resolves my problem and includes a “If not, click here:” Feedback link which I clicked through. I filled out my information in the form and started typing in the Comments text area but I couldn’t type beyond a sentence or two. Looking at the source I found:
<textarea name=”comments” rows=”10″ cols=”23″ maxlength=”50″>
Nice. I have 50 characters to provide feedback. I like succinct as much as the next guy but sheesh.
My original bug report was the following:
Canadian Kindle Software Update Version 2.3
November 25, 2009
Amazon has released updated software for the 2nd generation Kindle including the Canadian Kindle.
I received an e-mail from Amazon describing the update but the update had not yet been pushed out wirelessly. The update binary file can be installed manually. The updated User’s Guide is also available.
In addition to better battery life with Wireless On, the new version brings native PDF file viewing and screen rotation to the 6″ Kindle.
Screen Rotation is available from the Text Size menu (key to the right of the spacebar on the keyboard). PDF files in portrait mode display the entire page. The text is unreadable at this magnification. In landscape mode the full width of the page is displayed making it a little easier to read. Multi-column text is a pain.
@FREE.KINDLE.COM Conversions Broken
Unfortunately the update has broken the user_name@free.kindle.com conversion service. The PDF file is returned in its original format. The documentation states:
Tip: You can choose to convert PDF file(s) that are sent to your device by adding the word “convert” in the email subject line.
This does not seem to be the case with the @free.kindle.com service, at least with my testing.
Canadian Kindle Review
November 22, 2009
The international version of the Amazon Kindle eBook reader is now available in Canada.
I ordered one and have been using it for four days now so I thought I’d write up some my initial thoughts. Ordering the Kindle is accomplished through the U.S. Amazon site (amazon.com vs. amazon.ca). The Kindle Store where you can order books online via a web browser is also accessed via the .com site. The Kindle Store is also available directly on the device. It allows you to search for books, read reviews, and even write reviews.
Text input is via a Blackberry-esque thumb QWERTY keyboard. While reading a book you can start typing at any time. A small search box appears at the bottom of the screen which allows you to search the current book, a dictionary, Google, and others. The keys are round and flush at the edge but raised slightly in the middle of each key. Most of a user’s time on the Kindle is spent reading so the keys are designed to be unobtrusive during normal reading which makes them less than ideal for typing compared to a input heavy device such as a Blackberry. I think this is a good compromise considering the screen is fundamentally different than the computer screens we are used to.
Read the rest of this entry »
Tonka Truck
November 18, 2009
Leaf Pickup
November 4, 2009
I guess the boy in me still loves big yellow machines.
Is hands-free really safer?
October 30, 2009
The National Post asks Is hands-free really safer?.
Actually holding a cellphone to your ear to conduct a conversation would, at first blush, not appear as dangerous, but then you do often have to avert your eyes to manually key in a phone number, so the loss of the traditional phone call while driving is not to be lamented. In fact, were our provincial legislature more brave, it would have banned an even wider list of activities all too common to modern motoring such as applying lipstick, reading the newspaper, editing manuscripts and even changing diapers (yes, indeed, I have seen that one). The common thread to all these activities is that they require diverting your eyes from the road ahead, which is very dangerous when you’re driving.
Hands-free regulation bugs me. I think people should be safe and use hands-free technology whenever possible. The key is increasing overall safety. I use a bluetooth headset when making calls in the car. My LG Chocolate is brain-dead and does not allow me to use voice dialing through the bluetooth headset so I use speed dials on the keypad which I can do by touch.
Incoming calls and unplanned outgoing high priority calls are another matter. I’d like to think that I am capable of weighing the safety costs rather than have a well-meaning but sometimes misguided law that states that if I’m holding a cell phone to my ear I am breaking the law. I understand that a clear-cut law is better than the subjective opinion of a police officer and/or judge, but the regulation still bugs me.
Perhaps its just my own conceit to believe that I make above average cell phone while driving decisions, above average LCBO bottles in the blue bin decisions, above average incandescent light bulb decisions, and above average grocery plastic bag re-use decisions.
Hidden Tax Collection: CRTC LPIF
October 29, 2009
Rogers Cable has the following to say about the CRTC LPIF (Local Programming Improvement Fund):
New Fee on your Bill
Beginning September 1, 2009, customers will see a new line on their invoice called CRTC LPIF Fee, and a corresponding charge of 1.5% of their recurring TV monthly service fee. Rogers Cable does NOT benefit from the LPIF fees collected. These fees are directly remitted to the CRTC’s Local Programming Improvement Fund, for the use solely by broadcasters like CTV and Global serving markets with less than 1 million people.
The CRTC has the following to say about cable companies passing on the LPIF fee to customers:
Several cable and satellite companies want to increase their customers’ rates by 1.5%. Can the CRTC prevent this?
In Public Notice 2008-100 (paragraph 357), the CRTC indicated that in light of the performance2 level of the cable and satellite sector and the benefits accruing to broadcasting distribution undertakings (BDUs) as a result of other changes being made to the regulatory framework, the Commission saw no justification for BDUs to pass along any increased costs relating to the LPIF to their subscribers.
This is an example of a non-intuitive economic principle. You can not tax companies. You can only force companies to collect tax from customers on behalf of the government. Not only do you have hidden taxes but you also have hidden tax collection.
Actually, Rogers is making it a little less hidden but the principle still holds. Consumers always pay one way or another.
UnicornCam: Lumix GF1 (Gee a Flat One)
September 3, 2009
Panasonic has announced their new Lumix GF1 camera and I believe this one is close to the mythical UnicornCam that I’ve discussed over and over and over again.
Panasonic already comes close to the UnicornCam with their baby SLR the Lumix G1 and later with the HD video enabled Lumix GH1. The GF1 is a close sibling that is housed in a flat range-finder like body rather than the baby SLR look and feel of the G1/GH1.
As mentioned in one of the comments, the Olympus EP-1 has a similar form factor. All of the almost-there-unicorncams are based on the new Micro Four-Thirds standard so this seems to be the sweetspot for the tradeoff between sensor size and image quality.
So why am I posting about the GF1 rather than the EP-1? Simple, Panasonic seems to have nailed fast autofocus with a live preview camera. It also has a built-in flash which the EP-1 lacks.
Two new lenses were also announced, a Leica f/2.8 45mm (90mm equiv.) macro and a lovely little f/1.7 20mm (40mm equiv.). If you add the f/4 7-14mm ultra wide angle lens you have a pretty decent system.
Together with the macro and the wide angle lenses, I think the GF1 may be the starting point for another mythical beast that I’m truly interested in…. the Underwater UnicornCam. Hopefully one of the underwater housing manufacturers will target this little beastie. The remaining question is how the flash system works (pre-flash metering or TTL) and whether it will work well with the existing TTL underwater strobes on the market.
Graffiti or Vandalism: A Tale of Two Stories
September 2, 2009
Yes the title is a little “cutesy” and from the department of redundancy department but let me explain. This is a tale of two newspaper stories about graffiti. The first story is a follow-up to the Graffiti Photophrapher vs. Virgin Mobile article I previously mentioned. In the post I noted that I found it ironic that the image in question, that was supposed to represent transient street art, had the URL of an art gallery named Thisisnotashop painted above it.
I sent e-mail to Thisisnotashop with a link to the Toronto Star article. The reply I received caught me off guard. Read the rest of this entry »
Slice of the Kidney Pie
August 29, 2009
Will Wilkinson and Bryan Caplan are debating why people oppose organ markets. Caplan believes that all (or effectively all) people that understand the economics behind organ markets support it over, I’m assuming, the current heavily altruistic system. Wilkinson attempts to summarize the moral argument against organ markets as follows:
Human beings have a certain dignity that is central to the value of human life. That dignity ought to be respected, preserved, and protected. Allowing the sale of human body parts diminishes the dignity of those involved in the transaction and erodes respect for the dignity of human beings generally. Therefore, markets in body parts ought to be legally prohibited.
