If you live in an area that has no broadband provision or you cannot get more than 2Mbps, then ThinkBroadband want to hear from you.
They are collating information for a coverage map showing the broadband ‘notspots’ in the UK.
Cat 5 picture by kaeru.my used under Creative Commons Licence
I recently downloaded the 30-day trial of Apple’s Aperture software and have been impressed enough to buy it. On clicking the ‘buy’ link in the software however, I was presented with the choice of a boxed version shipped to me for £126 or have a serial number emailed to me for exactly the same price. Surely, Apple should be offering a discount for the downloaded version: no box, no DVD, no shipping.
In the end I ordered it from Amazon
One day, a florist goes to a barber for a haircut. After the cut he asked about his bill and the barber replies,
‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’
The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber goes to open his shop the next morning there is a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies,
‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’
The cop is happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there is a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen doughnuts waiting for him at his door.
Later that day, a university professor comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replies,
‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’
The professor is very happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber opens his shop, there is a ‘thank you’ card and a dozen different books, such as ‘How to Improve Your Business’ and ‘Becoming More Successful.’
Then, a Member of Parliament comes in for a hair-cut, and when he goes to pay his bill the barber again replies,
‘I cannot accept money from you. I’m doing community service this week.’
The MP is very happy and leaves the shop. The next morning when the barber goes to open up, there are a dozen MPs lined up waiting for a free hair-cut.
Barbershop picture by Trondheim Byarkiv, used under Creative Commons Licence
Not content with removing the FireWire interface from iPods in favour of the exclusive use of the inferior USB interface, Apple has removed the FireWire charging option from the Nano 4G, iPod Touch 2G, iPhone 3G. Unfortunately, most third party manufacturers of docks, speakers and car interfaces, used the FireWire charging option on their interfaces, rendering them useless for charging the latest iPod/iPhones.
Worse still, plugging one of these latest iDevices into an older dock connector throws up a warning message (see left, click for larger) suggesting you switch to flight mode. Not what you want to do if you still want to receive phone calls!
Enter Scosche Passport
At only £5 more than a Griffin car charger, I can now have my iPhone connected like my old iPod 3G with no need for a separate car charger. It also has the added advantage that I can choose whether to charge the iPhone when it is plugged into the Dension Ice-Link or allow it to drain – My iPod 3G used to remain permanently connected to the Ice-Link and its battery suffered as a result, now being unusable without external power.
My only criticism is that the size of the Passport makes the overall connection a little flimsy; it would have been better if it was made as an in-line lead so there was no load on the iPhone’s connector. Alternatively it could have been made shorter but wider, but its size has obviously been chosen to fit the width of an iPod Nano. The false warning on the iPhone is also a nuisance.
All this could of course have been avoided, had Apple done the right thing in the first place and left the FireWire charging pin connected.
My iPhone 3G has started rebooting when attaching to the Mac for syncing. This has only started recently and is intermittent, but it would appear that I’m not alone. It is obviously not supposed to do this because according to Little Snitch, mdcrashreporttool is connecting to iphonesubmissions.apple.com to report the fault:
Here’s a great video from someone who clearly has too much time on their hands, but is nonetheless very talented.
(via The Register)
Can’t believe “The Matrix
So, Apple have brought out yet another generation of iPod shuffle (what was wrong with the previous one I don’t know).
Now, as expected, the memory increases, but someone at Apple has decided that the previous shuffle wasn’t small enough and designed a smaller version at the expense of any actual controls on the unit so the controls have been moved to cable on the right earphone. What if you don’t want to use Apple’s supplied earphones? You’re snookered. Why couldn’t they have duplicated these controls on the unit? It’s only three buttons.
Even before iPods, I had a portable minidisc player but found the supplied ear-bud Sony earphones useless, not anything to do with sound quality, but simply that unless I held my head perfectly still (say, in a vice) they would not stay in my ears. When I went back to the shop I found I was far from alone; I therefore bought a pair of ‘in ear’ earphones that I have used with every iPod since. None of the ear-bud iPod earphones have ever got out of the box.
Apple say that third party earphone manufacturers will be making compatible earphones but why should I have to pay out for another set when I have a perfectly usable pair. This needless extra expense is on top of the price hike on the previous version.
The other problem is that some people will want to plug it into a set of speakers rather than earphones; again how are you supposed to control it then?
Tried using Google while out and about on O2 3G but Google thought I was a malware bot and produced the following message:
Since when has performing a search on Google been classed as suspicious activity?
My Powerbook battery has slowly lost its capacity to hold charge for any reasonable amount of time. I recently read about the free Coconut Battery utility and some tips on how to recondition your battery to recover some of the lost capacity.
After downloading Coconut Battery, I found out how bad my battery had got: From an original capacity of 4200mAh, my battery capacity had reduced to only 1225mAh, a mere 29%! (see left)
I then set about reconditioning the battery. This involves firstly charging until the computer shows 100% and the power plug changes from amber to green. Then the power is disconnected and the laptop used as normal until it goes to sleep on low power. Leave it for a couple of hours then charge it again back to 100% without using it.
After this the battery capacity had increased by to 1737mAh (see right) – an increase of 41% but still only 41% of the original capacity (a strange coincidence). I will try another cycle to see if I get another improvement. I also have a spare battery which I’ve just checked is in an even worse condition – its current capacity is only 11% of its original capacity so that will also need conditioning.
It is interesting to note that in trying to drain the battery, the laptop carried on running long after the low battery warning and after the battery was shown at 0%. I have drained my iPhone in a similar fashion (and intend to do so on a regular basis) and this also continued to function long after the 10% battery warning. If most people do, as I did, and plug the charger in when the battery warning comes on, it is hardly surprising that batteries lose their capacity as they are not being properly cycled. Perhaps battery warnings should be set much lower.