Excuses
For every occasion. Thanks to the humorous Excuse generator iPhone app.
Have you been smoking?
I like to see my air.
Have you been drinking?
Jesus drank.
Coming to my party?
Yes, I’d love to (just lie). Or donating blood also works.
Homework late.
I was using a PC.
Have you had an affair?
You told me to try new things.
Friend asking for help.
I’m entering witness protection.
Forgot anniversary.
There was a disturbance in the force.
The application downloads new excuses too. So you’re always up-to-date.
Earth From Above »
A collection of photos from Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Breathtaking. It’s the kind of stuff that makes you think and want to travel everywhere.
The iPhone losing its fizz?
Over the past couple of days, there have been several articles here about how the iPhone is losing its appeal; how it (slighly) pales in comparison to other phones out there in the market. Sure, the hype has fizzled out, but the iPhone remains one fantastic device.
But before I continue, let’s start with a story. About a month ago, when I was still considering which device I should go for, I spent about 20 minutes playing with Samsung Omnia at a booth here. Things go pretty bad right off the bat. The screen shows “tap here to unlock” but there’s no response. I can’t even shut down the phone. And then the Samsung rep says “oh, I was just showing it to other people. It probably has many tasks running.” Right, it’s Windows Mobile ;) He takes the sim card and battery out, restarts the phone and now we’re back in business. So I ask him how this device is better than the iPhone. He whips out this list he’s prepared in pencil, and starts with the first item that reads “better processor”. Other items in the list include the 5 megapixel camera among other features. But really, when I’m there using the device, I know I’d never buy it. The interface is slow, laggy and the whole user experience is just plain bad.
Why do I bring this up? Because this is the exact same mistake everyone seems to make. When was the last time you cared about the processor and memory powering your phone? People love to talk about how the cameras on other devices are way better (the Sony Ericsson C905 has an 8MP camera!) or have user-replaceable batteries (I know I have never replaced the battery before) among a host of other things. Why, the Nokia N96 even has a tv-tuner! Somehow it reminds me of the complaints people had about the iPod (no fm/voice recording, no replaceable battery).
Sure, the iPhone could do a lot of things better. A better camera (not a deal-breaker for me), bluetooth file transfers, or the good ol’ copy-paste. The good news is the device is gradually getting better. The 2.1 update fixed the most of the glaring bugs I had with the device. But I digress.
Fact is the iPhone just about owns every other device out there when it comes to the user interface. Sure, the multi-touch interface on it is a year old now, but there’s nothing quite like it out there yet. In fact, it’s hardly an understatement to say that the iPhone has sent phone manufacturers back to the drawing board. I’ve tried the Omnias and the Diamonds but they’re not even close. And what’s even more amusing is these new devices try pretty damn hard to conceal the windows mobile interface that runs underneath (yup, I’m not the biggest fan of windows mobile). Admittedly, the Diamond’s TouchFlo3D does a pretty good job at it too.
The day I got my iPhone, I’d replied to a couple of emails, watched a youtube video or two, listened to a number of songs and caught up on some my favourite websites. All this on a 25 minute train ride back home and no application skipped a beat. You literally fly across the device, pinching, swiping and pulling. This is the most fun I’ve ever had using a handheld. I’m no Apple fan, but you have to give it to them when they get things right.
Musical taste linked to personality »
Heavy metal fans are gentle, indie music listeners lack self-esteem and lovers of pop music are uncreative, according to research.
Those who listen to heavy metal and classical music share character traits, according to the research, of being creative, at ease and introverted.
Inside Chrome: The Secret Project to Crush IE and Remake the Web »
Great article from Wired.
iPhone sync issues
It’s been a year since I’ve completely wiped windows from my laptop. But now I can’t get my iPhone to sync properly.
Virtualbox has some issues and the developers are tardy to resolve them. I understand some people have managed to get the phone working under VMware. I haven’t tried that route yet.
Otherwise, looks like I’ll have to settle with dual-booting. So, here’s a big fat ‘meh’.
Looking for a project
Phew, just finished the first 3 weeks of training. Hope I get an interesting project to work on now.Three weeks at Big Blue
I just joined IBM Global Business Services as a Consultant on the 7th of July. This Friday, I’ll be three weeks old as an IBMer. I’ve spent most of my time so far reading up on the different business lines, the products and services and what and how IBM does things.
The people are fantastic, and I really appreciate the culture which favours guidelines over policing. I have the freedom to work from any location, and I’ve been given all the necessary tools to get my job done. The organization trusts you to take the right decisions.
I’ve already been involved in a project, and I’ll just say there are many acronyms I need to catch up on. And next month, it’ll just be pure training, a formal introduction to IBM, learning, career development and generally how to be an IBMer.
So far, it’s been very exciting and things should get even better.
Jaiku extension for Firefox?
I’ve spent the past hour trying out some Firefox extensions. The most useful ones to me are the small notifiers (like Gmail or Google Reader) which will reduce the number of tabs I keep open when surfing. I also found this nifty tool called “Dashblog” which lets you collect content from the web pages you browse and publish them on your blog. Besides that, I have the Delicious extension installed for easy bookmarking. And Firebug have always been a staple for me.
But talking about notifiers, the one thing I’ve come to miss after this extension adventure trip, is a Jaiku interface for Firefox. There’re a few to choose from if you’re on Twitter, but nothing that I could find for Jaiku (I understand the Jaiku API has been acting up lately as well). A pity. In fact, it makes me want to do one myself. If you have any good resources on developing firefox extensions, do leave a note in the comments!
On the other hand, I now have a list of extensions to check out. Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I’ll certainly take a look at those.