Hah, I'd like to try to get through NYC airport security wearing Kiss make-up.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
How to Fool Face Recognition Systems With Make Up
How to Fool Face Recognition Systems With Make Up, article.
Hah, I'd like to try to get through NYC airport security wearing Kiss make-up.
Hah, I'd like to try to get through NYC airport security wearing Kiss make-up.
Printing from an iPad
One of the silly little first-generation weaknesses of the pad is that you can't print from it. Well, it has now been solved by Steve Cencula.
Instapaper updates
Instapaper updates.
(As you should know, Instapaper is a bookmark utility which lets you save an article for later, on a device of your choice, and in a more readable format.)
(As you should know, Instapaper is a bookmark utility which lets you save an article for later, on a device of your choice, and in a more readable format.)
Angel-A
I'm just watching the amazingly refreshing movie Angel-A (US link, UK link).
It's only now that I discover that it's a Luc Besson movie. And that the ball-breakingly hot lead actress is Danish Rie Rasmussen, who is also a film-maker herself. She's also huge. Damn. Not a gram of fat too much, but look how small the French actor looks next to her. Man, we have some good Danes these days.
It's only now that I discover that it's a Luc Besson movie. And that the ball-breakingly hot lead actress is Danish Rie Rasmussen, who is also a film-maker herself. She's also huge. Damn. Not a gram of fat too much, but look how small the French actor looks next to her. Man, we have some good Danes these days.
Basics, folks
Here's another example of one of my pet peeves, how people always omit the basics: on TV, they never tell you which episode and which season of a show you're about to watch. It seems to me to be pretty essential information with regards to whether to watch it or not. You may own the DVD, or have seen it before, or if it's late in a season, decide not to watch it to avoid any spoilers and instead get the DVD.
Maybe the general audience are too apathetic to care about such niceties, I don't know.
Maybe the general audience are too apathetic to care about such niceties, I don't know.
Misse said:
Casinos, with very few exceptions, do not have publicly displayed clocks, and are designed to limit an awareness and contact with the outside world. Intensively farmed chickens live on an accelerated lighting and feeding program to increase food consumption.
If TV program controllers do not advertise a specific showing, how can they possibly transmit the wrong episode? There have been instances (the technology has changed, so this was in the past) of segments being shown out of order, or even from different episodes.
The medium has become a massage, so the literal content of the medium no longer has to make sense.
In the USA there is a growing tendency to show repeats interleaved with episodes from the current series. Even quality channels operate an around the clock carousel schedule, so that without stern self discipline a viewer can become a bloated, indiscriminate consumer.
The broadcasters also heighten this discontinuity and sense of being in the zone and spaced out by blurring the start and finish of segments. Gone are the Reithian days of someone in a dinner jacket or pretty frock announcing the schedule. Opening titles have been largely abandoned, and closing credits are often sandwiched between two doses of advertising.
I have friends who work in the television industry. One described his job as a supplier of moving wallpaper and mental chewing gum.
It's not all bad. I can comfortably walk through casinos (the noise is sometimes a problem, although in recent years the levels have gone down) and enjoy an hour's people watching. Engaging people in conversation is harder, their attention is elsewhere. I would like to take pix, but it is forbidden. I have mastered the mathematics of games of chance, but I have never been clever enough enough to figure out the mechanics of participating. Thus casinos are a safe place for me to shamble around, and I never carry money anyway.
TV is a harder call. An iron will is required. Selecting, and then finding programs to watch, is a Sisyphian task. I have no problems turning the TV off. I just wish the broadcasters would make it more tempting for me to turn it on. Contrary to the impression I may have unintentionally created, I think there is a wealth of engaging, rewarding, and thoroughly enjoyable entertainment and information awaiting.
That's how I feel. Because occasionally I do find it. But they make it so hard to find!
PIXELS by Patrick JEAN
Tommy found this really fun and amazing video about arcade games taking over Manhattan. 10/10 for imagination and execution.
Octopus steals my video camera
Hey, the poor guy probably just wanted to become the first successful octoped independent film-maker. And where's he gonna get the cash to buy a camera!
Gaga marketing
Ganesha Games pointed to this article about Lady Gaga's marketing.
... she had music in her blood and was playing piano by age four and was accepted at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts at 17.
She was once performing at a bar filled with drunken NYU students. No one was watching or listening to her until, fed up, she began stripping down to her lingerie. "I started playing in my underwear at the piano and I remember everyone was all of a sudden like ‘Whoa!’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you’re looking at me now, huh?’ "
All cool, just don't forget the music, honey.
... she had music in her blood and was playing piano by age four and was accepted at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts at 17.
She was once performing at a bar filled with drunken NYU students. No one was watching or listening to her until, fed up, she began stripping down to her lingerie. "I started playing in my underwear at the piano and I remember everyone was all of a sudden like ‘Whoa!’ And I said, ‘Yeah, you’re looking at me now, huh?’ "
All cool, just don't forget the music, honey.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Climbing by machine
[Thanks to Ray]
Tower climbing, with a ditch-digger.The most amazing thing to me is that the idiot journalist at one point is standing right under the machine! Sure, They wouldn't do it if the chance of it falling was very big, but it has to be a lot bigger than the chance of winning the lottery!
"You can't buy three", part II
A guy had bought five iPad to help friends around the world. Article.
“I’m sorry sir, but you have reached your lifetime limit of iPad purchases and will not be allowed to buy any more.”
"lifetime"? However you look at that, that's weird.
A friend of mine in a culturally unacceptable in a store in his town, and was banned. Two or three years later he went back in, and and was summarily and physically thrown out. He also got confirmed that the ban was literally "forever".
I think it's crazy. Unless we're dealing with a psychopath here, I would say that if you ban him for a year, he will get the idea and will not misbehave again. And if he does, give him two years. And five next time. "Forever" is nuts.
People always go to extremes way too fast.
“I’m sorry sir, but you have reached your lifetime limit of iPad purchases and will not be allowed to buy any more.”
"lifetime"? However you look at that, that's weird.
A friend of mine in a culturally unacceptable in a store in his town, and was banned. Two or three years later he went back in, and and was summarily and physically thrown out. He also got confirmed that the ban was literally "forever".
I think it's crazy. Unless we're dealing with a psychopath here, I would say that if you ban him for a year, he will get the idea and will not misbehave again. And if he does, give him two years. And five next time. "Forever" is nuts.
People always go to extremes way too fast.
Going out much
People, usually people who don't know me well, sometimes say to me: "you should go out more".
Why?
I don't go out much, I have never gone out much. And yet my accomplishments in life are well above average for my people, and I'm happy and healthy.
So what is all this which is supposedly accomplished by "going out"? From what I can see, most of it is composed of making sure that what surplus you have by the end of the week, of braincells, energy, and money, all are wiped out come Monday. Boy, gimme, gimme, gimme.
I'm asked, why have I addressed this issue more than once now? I'm not quite sure. Maybe because in my upbringing and in culture generally, "going out" is exciting, regenerating, educational, adult, necessary, lively. But then when I really am "out there", there simple is nothing interesting. And not only because I live in a boring town, I have no doubt I feel the same about Vienna or San Franscisco.
Why?
I don't go out much, I have never gone out much. And yet my accomplishments in life are well above average for my people, and I'm happy and healthy.
So what is all this which is supposedly accomplished by "going out"? From what I can see, most of it is composed of making sure that what surplus you have by the end of the week, of braincells, energy, and money, all are wiped out come Monday. Boy, gimme, gimme, gimme.
I'm asked, why have I addressed this issue more than once now? I'm not quite sure. Maybe because in my upbringing and in culture generally, "going out" is exciting, regenerating, educational, adult, necessary, lively. But then when I really am "out there", there simple is nothing interesting. And not only because I live in a boring town, I have no doubt I feel the same about Vienna or San Franscisco.
-----
Jan said:
If what you were told was the first type of statement from AnotherAnonymous' comment, then you may be able to relate to Jacob from earlyretirementextreme.com :
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/2010/01/letter-to-normal-people.html
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/2010/01/etroverts-and-introverts-the-great-dichotomy.html
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/2010/01/music-extraverts-introverts-and-your-inner-voice.html
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/2009/12/travel-is-not-worth-it.html
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/2009/12/travel-tourism-and-living-abroad.html
Fun Earth day
[Thanks to Carter]
Earth day is usually about embracing your guilt an unworthiness. But it can also be made fun.
In strange waters
This is a first, ladies and gentlemen. The first post on this blog which is written and posted "on the road".
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Update from home: I cut it short, because for some reason, after a sentence or so, the virtual keyboard slid down out of sight again, and I could only get it back by going to "edit posts" and find the post I was doing. Quite tiring. I don't know why it did that, but it seems I may have to bring the little bluetooth keyboard with me. Well, it's much better for writing on anyway.
But anyway, the sim card and connection came today, and it seems they work fine with the Mifi and the iPad.
Albeit strangly unevenly. Domai.com worked beautifully and fast (a confirmation of the soundness of my simplicity approach). Other sites too looong times to load. Some youtube vids played fine, others wouldn't.
Perhaps phone reception in my apartment is much better than it is in the restaurant I was at, I don't know.
Here's a Canon S90 Photo I took on the way home:
---
Update from home: I cut it short, because for some reason, after a sentence or so, the virtual keyboard slid down out of sight again, and I could only get it back by going to "edit posts" and find the post I was doing. Quite tiring. I don't know why it did that, but it seems I may have to bring the little bluetooth keyboard with me. Well, it's much better for writing on anyway.
But anyway, the sim card and connection came today, and it seems they work fine with the Mifi and the iPad.
Albeit strangly unevenly. Domai.com worked beautifully and fast (a confirmation of the soundness of my simplicity approach). Other sites too looong times to load. Some youtube vids played fine, others wouldn't.
Perhaps phone reception in my apartment is much better than it is in the restaurant I was at, I don't know.
Here's a Canon S90 Photo I took on the way home:
One more friggin quake
"This was from Sunday’s 7.2 magnitude earthquake, less than 100 miles from San Diego , just south of the border... with twice the shock as the one in Haiti. This is Mexico Hwy 5, south of Mexicali. Check out the mountains shaking"
(The pics were taken by family of a friend.) I can't believe the mountains shaking. - Eo
(The pics were taken by family of a friend.) I can't believe the mountains shaking. - Eo
App stores and instapaper
This is so f***ing messed up... it seems Apple has just started using IPs to close off the US app store to the rest of the world.
For one thing, at the moment the app store app on the pad just quits, it does not even redirect me to the UK store.
But that's the least of it. I have bought tons of stuff in the US store, and it seems some of it I can't use now.
It gets worse: some of it, for god knows what reason, is not even available in the UK app store. I can't even pay again for Instapaper there, and get a working version!
Instapaper was my favorite app, what am I gonna do!
... Also, at the moment, Instapaper is incapacitated, it is stuck in the middle of an update, which it seems it can't complete since the app store suddenly closed. I'm very irritated.
Update: I also went through the various update procedures in the iTunes app on the Mac, and this may actually have done the trick! It seems Instapaper is updated. I hope it keeps.
For one thing, at the moment the app store app on the pad just quits, it does not even redirect me to the UK store.
But that's the least of it. I have bought tons of stuff in the US store, and it seems some of it I can't use now.
It gets worse: some of it, for god knows what reason, is not even available in the UK app store. I can't even pay again for Instapaper there, and get a working version!
Instapaper was my favorite app, what am I gonna do!
... Also, at the moment, Instapaper is incapacitated, it is stuck in the middle of an update, which it seems it can't complete since the app store suddenly closed. I'm very irritated.
Update: I also went through the various update procedures in the iTunes app on the Mac, and this may actually have done the trick! It seems Instapaper is updated. I hope it keeps.
Update iPhone app?
I'm new at this: when an important new update has appeared of an iPhone/iPad app, how does one actually update it? I haven't found any button or setting for this, neither in the app or on iTunes.
Update: aha, Instapaper told me: the app store has "tabs" at the bottom of the screen (easy to overlook), and one of them is Updates.
Update: aha, Instapaper told me: the app store has "tabs" at the bottom of the screen (easy to overlook), and one of them is Updates.
Clever spam
I report it whenever a spam mail tricks me, because only one in ten thousand manages to do it, so I'm amused when they manage. Look at this one, puts a little bit of V**gra spam into an otherwise legit Amazon promo mail! (The big arrow and pink highlight is added by me, obviously.)
I was sitting there for a second, wondering why a digital photo filter would have the word "pharmacy" in the name, and come in a pill box! Well, don't look at me like that, the software "Painter" comes in a paint can (used to anyway)!
I was sitting there for a second, wondering why a digital photo filter would have the word "pharmacy" in the name, and come in a pill box! Well, don't look at me like that, the software "Painter" comes in a paint can (used to anyway)!
Vest pocket
"It's your life in your vest!" sez Woz.
See? I toldja it should be wearable. Now I just need a jacket with a big pocket. Maybe I'll just take my jacket and coat to a local tailor.
On the other hand, maybe a belt thing may be better for me, because I always get warm when I have walked a couple of minutes and take off my jacket.
----
A couple of minuscule notes about the Woz site. They have taken down the web cam link, because he's never around the office these days. ... but they have not removed the huge link to it from the home page! Huh? Also big on the site is his book. iWoz. I bought it when it came out, and... well, I was a bit disappointed. While he was one of the best sort/hard-ware wizzes ever in the seventies, as a writer he is not very interesting, methinks. Not much to say.
See? I toldja it should be wearable. Now I just need a jacket with a big pocket. Maybe I'll just take my jacket and coat to a local tailor.
On the other hand, maybe a belt thing may be better for me, because I always get warm when I have walked a couple of minutes and take off my jacket.
----
A couple of minuscule notes about the Woz site. They have taken down the web cam link, because he's never around the office these days. ... but they have not removed the huge link to it from the home page! Huh? Also big on the site is his book. iWoz. I bought it when it came out, and... well, I was a bit disappointed. While he was one of the best sort/hard-ware wizzes ever in the seventies, as a writer he is not very interesting, methinks. Not much to say.
4G case
Here's something interesting: a pad case with a 4G hotspot device included. It runs 3G when no 4G is available, so it sounds like a good idea.
I've barely heard of 4G before, so I wonder how much it's spreading?
Hmmm... the page I had wanted to link to, see image:
... is gone now, and there are rumors that the actual case they are selling is nowhere as nice as this one looks.
Hitler being removed from YouTube
Here's a good one.
"Oh, we're getting millions of new potential viewers through viral advertising, that can't be good! We better react with harsh clampdowns!"
"Oh, we're getting millions of new potential viewers through viral advertising, that can't be good! We better react with harsh clampdowns!"
Thursday, April 22, 2010
"iRip"
This may be one of the kind of things Steve wants to keep off the iPhone app store, even if not strictly pornographic: fart noises.
Seems he can sell it outside the App Store by selling the source code?
Seems he can sell it outside the App Store by selling the source code?
Iceland pics
Tommy found these outstanding pictures from Iceland from the recent volcano event.
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I think the Boston Globe has done a brilliant thing when they invented the Big Picture format, going against the dominant culture of minuscule pictures on the web, which caters only to those with the smallest monitors and the worst connections.
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I think the Boston Globe has done a brilliant thing when they invented the Big Picture format, going against the dominant culture of minuscule pictures on the web, which caters only to those with the smallest monitors and the worst connections.
Porn: Good for us?
Porn: Good for us?, article.
"Scientific examination of the subject has found that as the use of porn increases, the rate of sex crimes goes down."
Yet another study confirms this, and yet attitudes keep changing with glacial speed.
----
Update: Many people think that pr0n is one of those things that you Have To Take A Stance About. And then they assume that because I claim non-pornographic status of Domai, that I'm against it. Always confuses me a bit.
"Scientific examination of the subject has found that as the use of porn increases, the rate of sex crimes goes down."
Yet another study confirms this, and yet attitudes keep changing with glacial speed.
----
Update: Many people think that pr0n is one of those things that you Have To Take A Stance About. And then they assume that because I claim non-pornographic status of Domai, that I'm against it. Always confuses me a bit.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
I miss popup folders
Do you know what I miss from Mac OS 9? Popup folders. If you had an open folder/window, which you need often, but you don't want it open all the time, you could just drag it to the bottom of the screen, and it would turn into a little tab which popped up a window/folder connected to the edge when you clicked on it.
I fould this way more useful, simple, fast, and user-friendly than having folders in Mac OS X's dock.
The closest I've found is a nine-year-old tip from DrClaw:
Here's a substitue for pop-up folders. It works best with Finder windows, but can be applied for others.Take a window, resize it to a small size but so that you can still see the name of the window, and drag it to the bottom on the screen (should only see the title bar). Now hitting zoom will reveal the window in full. Hitting zoom again will return the window to the bottom of the screen. This is easier to use when the dock is is located on the side of the screen.
I'm amazed that this still works after all these major updates of OS X.
It's pretty close top popup-windows, but it does not collapse again automatically, and you have to use the Maximize button instead of anywhere on the "tab". And you have to drag it down again after putting something in it. So not super-great.
(Also it would be more ideal to have a utility which could use the sides of the screen also, since (having many apps) I prefer to have the dock at the bottom.)
Update: I found something called "Sticky Windows" that sounded perfect. But it does not work with Snow Leopard... sigh...
Update: ... I'm finally trying the famous Finderpop though (review). It's only a beta for Snow Leopard, but a very late beta. And on early trying, it seems to me to be a way more speedy and convenient way of navigating the Mac than using Finder windows. I am actually looking forward to seeing how this may easy my daily work. If I was, say, a writer, it would be different, but being an editor and webmaster, handling hundreds of photos in various ways every day, I do a lot of navigating in the file hierarchy and handling of files.
Here's a couple of examples: I right-click on the desktop, and I have access to a menu-system which can quickly lead me anywhere on my disks. When I have found a file I am interested in, I can press Q to get a "quickview" of it. Or I can press G to grab the file and drag it out! Kewl. Very fast. Free from much of the opening and closing of folders.
I couldn't find out how to see the previews while I had the menu, so I asked the creator. He said:
On 10.4 and 10.5 systems, pressing cmd-opt-shift while mousing over a FinderPop menu item will momentarily pop up a Preview window.
If you're on 10.6 Snow Leopard, this only works when you control-click the menubar. I haven't ported that Preview code to Cocoa yet so it won't work in the Snow Leopard Finder. --turly
-
I fould this way more useful, simple, fast, and user-friendly than having folders in Mac OS X's dock.
The closest I've found is a nine-year-old tip from DrClaw:
Here's a substitue for pop-up folders. It works best with Finder windows, but can be applied for others.Take a window, resize it to a small size but so that you can still see the name of the window, and drag it to the bottom on the screen (should only see the title bar). Now hitting zoom will reveal the window in full. Hitting zoom again will return the window to the bottom of the screen. This is easier to use when the dock is is located on the side of the screen.
I'm amazed that this still works after all these major updates of OS X.
It's pretty close top popup-windows, but it does not collapse again automatically, and you have to use the Maximize button instead of anywhere on the "tab". And you have to drag it down again after putting something in it. So not super-great.
(Also it would be more ideal to have a utility which could use the sides of the screen also, since (having many apps) I prefer to have the dock at the bottom.)
Update: I found something called "Sticky Windows" that sounded perfect. But it does not work with Snow Leopard... sigh...
Update: ... I'm finally trying the famous Finderpop though (review). It's only a beta for Snow Leopard, but a very late beta. And on early trying, it seems to me to be a way more speedy and convenient way of navigating the Mac than using Finder windows. I am actually looking forward to seeing how this may easy my daily work. If I was, say, a writer, it would be different, but being an editor and webmaster, handling hundreds of photos in various ways every day, I do a lot of navigating in the file hierarchy and handling of files.
Here's a couple of examples: I right-click on the desktop, and I have access to a menu-system which can quickly lead me anywhere on my disks. When I have found a file I am interested in, I can press Q to get a "quickview" of it. Or I can press G to grab the file and drag it out! Kewl. Very fast. Free from much of the opening and closing of folders.
I couldn't find out how to see the previews while I had the menu, so I asked the creator. He said:
On 10.4 and 10.5 systems, pressing cmd-opt-shift while mousing over a FinderPop menu item will momentarily pop up a Preview window.
If you're on 10.6 Snow Leopard, this only works when you control-click the menubar. I haven't ported that Preview code to Cocoa yet so it won't work in the Snow Leopard Finder. --turly
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Film on the Net?
Just got a good question: outside of the USA, is there any any reasonably-priced service (say, less than three dollars per film) which allows one to watch movies online, in decent resolution? (I'd say DVD quality or above.) And preferably cross-platform.
Torrent is a nightmare to use, and not legal. I can rent digitally from iTunes and Lovefilm and my TV service here in the UK, but the prices are obscene (like five pounds (eight dollars)) for 24 hours rental of one movie.
Torrent is a nightmare to use, and not legal. I can rent digitally from iTunes and Lovefilm and my TV service here in the UK, but the prices are obscene (like five pounds (eight dollars)) for 24 hours rental of one movie.
Europe Corp logo
Most film studio logs irritate me (1: I've seen them hundreds of times 2: they are mostly so dang self-righteously pompous), but this one is beautiful. (I wish I could find one in high-rez.)
No pr0n on the pad?
Stevie wants no porn on the ALDITCS? Well, then maybe we'll reverse it.
He's gonna hate this. (NSFW.)
(Notice the model's sarcastic anti-acting at the end. Funny.)
(Actually I have a feeling they'll try to make them remove it (without legal grounds, but they may cave). Does anybody know how to save a vid from funvid.eu?
He's gonna hate this. (NSFW.)
(Notice the model's sarcastic anti-acting at the end. Funny.)
(Actually I have a feeling they'll try to make them remove it (without legal grounds, but they may cave). Does anybody know how to save a vid from funvid.eu?
Mifi thought
Here's a thought for those about to buy an ALDITCS: How about getting the wifi model without 3G? You save weight and money and time, and you could put those into a tiny "Mifi" device, which gives you a portable hot spot you can carry with you anywhere there is phone coverage.
This device can host up to five devices, as opposed just the one a built-in one can. So while on the road, your ALDITCS can be online at the same time as a friend's laptop, and an iPod Touch, or whatever, all on the same bill. Andy Ihnatko uses one, and I've just gotten one. (Haven't used it yet, I only get the sim card/connection tomorrow.)
It's not the cheapest bling in the world, but it's getting really good reviews, so I chose it over the cheaper device from "3" (I hate over-generic product- or company names), because that one felt very plasticky, and only works with one provider.
iAds
... Still watching Stevie's "keynote" (great ADD issues here, I jump all over the place all the time), now about the iAd technology. And like I might have suspected, if people do this the way Apple intends it (and demoed it), this is finally advertising that I don't mind! Might even be fun. It's not intrusive, it's easy to dismiss again even if you do choose to view it, and it works in practical ways for information and purchase if you're interested in the product.
Coffee surprise
I'm never getting a Senseo machine again.
It seems to be un-staged. Except I don't know why they'd have a camera on her as she just sits working. Well, she's very cute, there's that.
It seems to be un-staged. Except I don't know why they'd have a camera on her as she just sits working. Well, she's very cute, there's that.
Browser issues
One of the minor irritations of the ALDITCS is that Safari has no settings. You can't change the font, or its size, for god's sake! What is the thinking behind that?
So to my joy there are already several alternative browsers available, including an old friend, the excentric German browser iCab (now called iCabMobile).
And a browser named Atomic Browser, which has settings out the wazoo! Totally the antithesies to the bare-bones Safari mobile.
We'll see what's good for what, but it's good to know you're not stuck with Apple's training-wheel apps.
So to my joy there are already several alternative browsers available, including an old friend, the excentric German browser iCab (now called iCabMobile).
And a browser named Atomic Browser, which has settings out the wazoo! Totally the antithesies to the bare-bones Safari mobile.
We'll see what's good for what, but it's good to know you're not stuck with Apple's training-wheel apps.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monotony
[Thanks to Pascal]
Most people will tell you that a "proper" monotonous, sorry, monogamic, relationship is the answer to loneliness. They pity people who live alone, and have no doubt at all that they are delusional when they claim they can be happy without a Significant Other.
I'm not saying either is Right or Wrong, because it's clear that there are very happy people as well as deeply unhappy and lonely people in both camps.
I am suspecting that the only real and final answer to loneliness may be philosophical, internal, and metaphysical.
Steve and pr0n (updated twice)
Article.
Jobs sez:
"... we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone."
Also: “You know, there’s a porn store for Android,” Jobs said. “You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going to go there.”
I wonder why. Just for one thing, the iPhone and pad both have a web browser. And I've heard rumors that there are whole web sites specializing in porn on the web!
I don't think it's about protecting the kids, for the kids can get porn a million places. I think it's firstly an emotional thing, and secondly (like Disney), about protecting a squeaky-clean image for Apple. I think it's a little silly. Nobody will blame Apple if somebody goes to a porn site on an iPad, and nobody would blame them if somebody sold a porn app which works on the pad.
Eolake said:
They don't have to do that, they could just allow third-party apps and app stores.
I hear that on the Android there's a setting you can dig up and tick, which will allow you to install apps which are not approved officially. Not many people do it, and they know what they do. So the brand is clearly not to blame if you get porn or the performance of the device is impacted. Perfect solution.
----
By the way, my interest in this is more intellectual than personal. OK, it might be fun to have a Domai app on the pad, but I really don't have any great ideas for what it might be, and it's quite unlikely to by all that successful, so I don't care all that much.
Rather, I'm always interested where there are very strong societal rules without logic. For example, in some companies (more so in the past) you must wear a suit and tie. And if you consider it, a tie does nothing, it does not even hold the shirt collar shut, there are buttons for that. But to some people, it's hugely important, it's non-negotiably important. And I find that interesting: how do such arbitrary beliefs become so strong?
Jobs sez:
"... we do believe we have a moral responsibility to keep porn off the iPhone. Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone."
Also: “You know, there’s a porn store for Android,” Jobs said. “You can download nothing but porn. You can download porn, your kids can download porn. That’s a place we don’t want to go, so we’re not going to go there.”
I wonder why. Just for one thing, the iPhone and pad both have a web browser. And I've heard rumors that there are whole web sites specializing in porn on the web!
I don't think it's about protecting the kids, for the kids can get porn a million places. I think it's firstly an emotional thing, and secondly (like Disney), about protecting a squeaky-clean image for Apple. I think it's a little silly. Nobody will blame Apple if somebody goes to a porn site on an iPad, and nobody would blame them if somebody sold a porn app which works on the pad.
Steve said:
The difference is that Apple approves all the apps available in the App Store, and approving a pr0n app might damage their "squeaky clean" image.Eolake said:
They don't have to do that, they could just allow third-party apps and app stores.
I hear that on the Android there's a setting you can dig up and tick, which will allow you to install apps which are not approved officially. Not many people do it, and they know what they do. So the brand is clearly not to blame if you get porn or the performance of the device is impacted. Perfect solution.
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By the way, my interest in this is more intellectual than personal. OK, it might be fun to have a Domai app on the pad, but I really don't have any great ideas for what it might be, and it's quite unlikely to by all that successful, so I don't care all that much.
Rather, I'm always interested where there are very strong societal rules without logic. For example, in some companies (more so in the past) you must wear a suit and tie. And if you consider it, a tie does nothing, it does not even hold the shirt collar shut, there are buttons for that. But to some people, it's hugely important, it's non-negotiably important. And I find that interesting: how do such arbitrary beliefs become so strong?
OS4 and keyboards (and a writing app)
I'm just watching the Jobs "keynote" about iPhone OS4 et al. I always enjoy his talks.
I noted that in the padform OS4, coming for the small devices in summer, and for iPad in fall, will include support for bluetooth keyboards. That's great. I can just see an idyllic road-side cafe in the countryside outside of Paris, a writer type arrives with a backpack, you know him, fifty-ish, grying hair and mustache, a denim jacket and fisherman's hat. From his backpack he picks out the beutiful tiny one-pound Apple wireless keyboard, and then his iPhone, and orders a café au lait and sits down, continuing to write on his novel on the iPhone...
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... And so far, the most promising app I've found for it so far (there's bound to come many more) is My Writing Nook. Pages is good, but it's being sold as a word processor, and it's really not, it's a Desktop Publishing App, isn't it? It's more concerned with placing things on pages and presentation, than in the process of writing. We need a real writer's tool, like Nisus lite or Mellel.
My Writing Nook syncs with a web site, which is quick and off-site backup. And from the site you can download the document with one click. (Pure text document.) Also, both the web site and iPad (or iPhone) app lets you email instantly what you have written, also a nice backup.
Update: in correspondence with the author, I've found out that MWN does not yet have Undo capability. I have urged him to add this soon; to me being able to undo things is perhaps the most vital of advantages of digital media.
I noted that in the padform OS4, coming for the small devices in summer, and for iPad in fall, will include support for bluetooth keyboards. That's great. I can just see an idyllic road-side cafe in the countryside outside of Paris, a writer type arrives with a backpack, you know him, fifty-ish, grying hair and mustache, a denim jacket and fisherman's hat. From his backpack he picks out the beutiful tiny one-pound Apple wireless keyboard, and then his iPhone, and orders a café au lait and sits down, continuing to write on his novel on the iPhone...
====
... And so far, the most promising app I've found for it so far (there's bound to come many more) is My Writing Nook. Pages is good, but it's being sold as a word processor, and it's really not, it's a Desktop Publishing App, isn't it? It's more concerned with placing things on pages and presentation, than in the process of writing. We need a real writer's tool, like Nisus lite or Mellel.
My Writing Nook syncs with a web site, which is quick and off-site backup. And from the site you can download the document with one click. (Pure text document.) Also, both the web site and iPad (or iPhone) app lets you email instantly what you have written, also a nice backup.
Update: in correspondence with the author, I've found out that MWN does not yet have Undo capability. I have urged him to add this soon; to me being able to undo things is perhaps the most vital of advantages of digital media.
Pre-driven bikes
BMW Germany 's campaign for their factory approved "pre-owned" cars.
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What's funny is that the ad actually has an "opposite" effect on me. Normally I don't give a tiny rat's ass about being the first, with women or cars, but this makes me think about it and get a little bit of an urgh reaction. Perhaps it's because she is so beautiful and innocent-looking.
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What's funny is that the ad actually has an "opposite" effect on me. Normally I don't give a tiny rat's ass about being the first, with women or cars, but this makes me think about it and get a little bit of an urgh reaction. Perhaps it's because she is so beautiful and innocent-looking.
Bikes (updated)
I really like this. Pic by Laurie Jeffery.
The other pictures in that five-picture set are also really lovely.
I hope to see more "creative" (non-commercial) work from Laurie.
Another lovely Laurie photo:
This Modern World
(Click for big pic.)
Comment from little me: The Internet shows people more like they are really like, without the fear of being smacked or shouted at.
TidBITS is twenty!
TidBITS is twenty!
Congratulations to the oldest and best tech newsletter on the Net.
Congratulations to the oldest and best tech newsletter on the Net.
Monday, April 19, 2010
John Mill
"The amount of eccentricity in a society has generally been proportional to the amount of genius, mental vigor, and moral courage it contained. That so few now dare to be eccentric marks the chief danger of the time."
~John Stuart Mill~
~John Stuart Mill~
Modern Maturity: Create More, Consume Less
TTL points to an interesting article.
The problem is, in the absence of these old markers of maturity, guys don’t know how to transition from boys to men. They may not find the marriage/kids/corporate job gig appealing, but they also aren’t keen on remaining a perpetual adolescent. They feel stuck between these two guideposts-no longer boys but not yet “settled down”-and don’t see any models on how to proceed. The gap has become a life stage wasteland for men, where guys are drifting along like amoebas.
I'm not sure the definition he comes up with is the ultimate, but it's a good stab at it, and certainly good advice. And the question itself deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten yet.
The problem is, in the absence of these old markers of maturity, guys don’t know how to transition from boys to men. They may not find the marriage/kids/corporate job gig appealing, but they also aren’t keen on remaining a perpetual adolescent. They feel stuck between these two guideposts-no longer boys but not yet “settled down”-and don’t see any models on how to proceed. The gap has become a life stage wasteland for men, where guys are drifting along like amoebas.
I'm not sure the definition he comes up with is the ultimate, but it's a good stab at it, and certainly good advice. And the question itself deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten yet.
Early Gaga
[Thanks to Leviathud.]
It seems she had lots of substance before she added all the flash.
Or to put it another way, all the sizzle now is almost hiding the steak.
Or a third way, maybe her hat was too small, but now it's so big it's hiding the cattle which was actually there. (Texan expression: "all hat and no cattle".)
Lauren and tee designs
If you think I am vague about specs (the contest), try watching Lauren O'Connell ask for tee-shirt designs. I really like her, she's cute and straight-forward.
... And her songs are even being covered:
... And her songs are even being covered:
Book holder
I've gotten a book holder for the pad (alternative brand). It's brilliant for long reading and watching movies. And writing.
The plastic book straps it comes with could hold the iPad, but not securely (they are made for book covers), so I inquired about this for tips, and for now I use stick-on Velcro, a simple and strong solution. (If you do this: don't put velcro in the center of the pad 1's curved back, leave that empty, that's give you a greater contact area.) [Update: there's a useful adapter now.]
The plate rotates, which is great with the pad. It has click stops at 90 and 45 degrees it easily slips into. Unfortunately due to the weight of the whole thing, it's a little tilted, this I have solved by simply putting the pad on it slightly tilted the other way. This works fine in both orientations.
Of course it takes just three seconds to take it off or put it on.
Once can also strap an iPad case to it, and take the iPad in and out of the case. When you don't use it, you just swing the whole arm out of the way.
If one wants, it can also be set with the screen pointing down so one is looking up at it. Or be set lower and further away, so one looks down at it. It's flexible.
It's quite heavy, as it has to be, but it was not too hard to assemble, took me twenty minutes.
This setup is great for video or for long reading. E-books or instapaper articles.
With a bluetooth keyboard, is also great for writing. I find it more comfortable than with a notebook, even if it has a stand. No arm strain at all.
The plastic book straps it comes with could hold the iPad, but not securely (they are made for book covers), so I inquired about this for tips, and for now I use stick-on Velcro, a simple and strong solution. (If you do this: don't put velcro in the center of the pad 1's curved back, leave that empty, that's give you a greater contact area.) [Update: there's a useful adapter now.]
The plate rotates, which is great with the pad. It has click stops at 90 and 45 degrees it easily slips into. Unfortunately due to the weight of the whole thing, it's a little tilted, this I have solved by simply putting the pad on it slightly tilted the other way. This works fine in both orientations.
Of course it takes just three seconds to take it off or put it on.
Once can also strap an iPad case to it, and take the iPad in and out of the case. When you don't use it, you just swing the whole arm out of the way.
If one wants, it can also be set with the screen pointing down so one is looking up at it. Or be set lower and further away, so one looks down at it. It's flexible.
It's quite heavy, as it has to be, but it was not too hard to assemble, took me twenty minutes.
This setup is great for video or for long reading. E-books or instapaper articles.
With a bluetooth keyboard, is also great for writing. I find it more comfortable than with a notebook, even if it has a stand. No arm strain at all.
Ah, l'amour!
[Thanks to Tommy]
Pretty he ain't, but what a swimmer! And a gentleman on the first date.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Kodak Photo CDs
Do you have any photos on Kodak Photo CDs? Then I recommend that you convert all of the files on them to big JPGs to your hard disk, because it's getting very hard to get hardware and software which can read those old discs. After only a decade!
(I managed to read mine with GraphicConverter on the Mac.)
(I managed to read mine with GraphicConverter on the Mac.)
About the Domai art contest
Notice: if you know any artists or artists' forums, could you please mention this art contest? The prizes are nice.
staircasing
Here's an example of staircasing, or whatever that pricing model is called...
Say you make a heavily illustrated book.
Say you make a heavily illustrated book.
- Then you sell the ebook for a tenner.
- And you sell the paperback for twenty.
- And you might sell a hardcover for thirty, with special paper, if it's promising.
- And you sell a deluxe version in special binding and extra metal inks or whatever, and signed by the artist and author, for, say, $100.
- And at launch, you have an nice exhibition where you sell the originals of the illustrations.
AirVideo
I'm trying an iPad (and iPhone/Touch) app which seems quite promising. "Air Video".
You set up their free server software on a Mac or PC, and it streams to a padform device. It can play many more formats than iTunes can, and usually can also convert on the fly (if not, conversion is fast, and can be queued*). And of course it's space you save on the smaller device.
(Streaming over the Net is possible, but experimental and slow.)
I have a hard disk I don't use, with a terabyte free. That's almost 1000 converted DVDs. That's a lot of shelf space I could regain. (I don't even have that many I'd want to get rid of but keep, as it were.) (Update: I recalled wrong: it has 1.9TB free!)
* That's actually the spelling. Ridiculeuse.
You set up their free server software on a Mac or PC, and it streams to a padform device. It can play many more formats than iTunes can, and usually can also convert on the fly (if not, conversion is fast, and can be queued*). And of course it's space you save on the smaller device.
(Streaming over the Net is possible, but experimental and slow.)
I have a hard disk I don't use, with a terabyte free. That's almost 1000 converted DVDs. That's a lot of shelf space I could regain. (I don't even have that many I'd want to get rid of but keep, as it were.) (Update: I recalled wrong: it has 1.9TB free!)
* That's actually the spelling. Ridiculeuse.
Frost comment
"A civilized society is one which tolerates eccentricity to the point of doubtful sanity."
- Robert Frost
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(You can see why I am always pushing tolerance... :-)
- Robert Frost
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(You can see why I am always pushing tolerance... :-)
Too smart for our own good
Like I've said, though I love Apple and their products, sometimes (not often, fortunately) they're a leeeeeettle bit too smart. A classic example is the circular mouse which came with the original iMac. It looked kewl, but you couldn't feel which way it turned, so you had to look every time you grabbed for it. :-)
Here's another: I just looked at the surely fine "Pages" word processor (and desktop publishing app) which I bought for the iPad ($10, super-bargain). I just wanted to see if the app would open a JPG I had placed in its documents folder from my Mac. But Pages already had a document open, one which was a Getting Started document about Pages.
... And I couldn't figure out how to friggin' close it!
I tried everything to close the document. I tried all the things I have learned so far about the touch-screen interface. I looked up the help file on Apple's site. Nothing helped. The document which was open talked about a Tool Bar, but there wasn't any such thing visible anywhere, and no amount of tapping or holding or sliding or singing Hello Dolly helped.
Then came one of my Insight(R) moments, when I extrapolate something from how computers/programmers think, and it works: I rotated the blamed pad to vertical position... violin, there was the gold-durned tool bar!
Clearly, in their brilliance the programmers had decided that the landscape format view is a Full Screen view, and there's nothing you can do to get out of it, except turn the device. And no hint that this has happened.
Where do I get hold of the programmers to Talk to them about this? Ah, never mind, they are probably hanging out down in the Tool Bar with the other tools.
Here's another: I just looked at the surely fine "Pages" word processor (and desktop publishing app) which I bought for the iPad ($10, super-bargain). I just wanted to see if the app would open a JPG I had placed in its documents folder from my Mac. But Pages already had a document open, one which was a Getting Started document about Pages.
... And I couldn't figure out how to friggin' close it!
I tried everything to close the document. I tried all the things I have learned so far about the touch-screen interface. I looked up the help file on Apple's site. Nothing helped. The document which was open talked about a Tool Bar, but there wasn't any such thing visible anywhere, and no amount of tapping or holding or sliding or singing Hello Dolly helped.
Then came one of my Insight(R) moments, when I extrapolate something from how computers/programmers think, and it works: I rotated the blamed pad to vertical position... violin, there was the gold-durned tool bar!
Clearly, in their brilliance the programmers had decided that the landscape format view is a Full Screen view, and there's nothing you can do to get out of it, except turn the device. And no hint that this has happened.
Where do I get hold of the programmers to Talk to them about this? Ah, never mind, they are probably hanging out down in the Tool Bar with the other tools.
An ALDITCS magazine
My Italian friend of Ganesha Games is making a new magazine, designed for a handy-sized print and for the ALDITCS (A Leading Device In the Tablet Computing Space). Here is the first cover as seen on my pad:
Even if you don't speak Italian, it should be apparent that it's an illustrated magazine with pulp-type crime stories. Sounds cool to me, I almost wish I read Italian.
He already has success as an ebook publisher, some of them gaming books for role playing games.
If this goes well, we could find the resources (or the volunteers) to make an international English language version.
By the way, the title reads "Lead" in Italian (as in the metal of which bullets and old typefaces are made).
Even if you don't speak Italian, it should be apparent that it's an illustrated magazine with pulp-type crime stories. Sounds cool to me, I almost wish I read Italian.
He already has success as an ebook publisher, some of them gaming books for role playing games.
TTL points out it's a pulp-less pulp magazine. :-)
GG expands:
Not only crime, also superhero, adventure, SF and historical. Basically we try to apply the pulp short story formula to the "padmag" format.If this goes well, we could find the resources (or the volunteers) to make an international English language version.
By the way, the title reads "Lead" in Italian (as in the metal of which bullets and old typefaces are made).
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