Archive for March, 2011

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Field Notes Spring Colours

Mar
30

Comes with three notebooks and a dry-transfer text kit. Fantastic.

[W]hen these are gone, you’re once again stuck with the letters F, I, E, L, D, N, O, T, E, and S, placed in an order of our choosing.

March 30, 2011

Earth Hour 2011 – The Big Picture

Mar
28

As usual, some spectacular before & after photos from The Big Picture. In slightly embarrassing news, Calgary chose not to participate by any measurable amount. The real effect of Earth Hour, though, should not be that one hour, but a lasting reminder bucking waste.

March 28, 2011

New York Times paywall goes live

Mar
28

$35 every four weeks for iPad, smartphone and web access seems a bit expensive, especially when you don’t get extra crosswords, and other features that may have “restrictions applied.” I don’t see why they think tiered access is the right approach. That said, it’s always easier for them to bring the price down if it tanks.

Also of note, they will be offering subscriptions at a reduced price to students and faculty of some schools, though which schools will have this opportunity is unclear.

Subscriptions wouldn’t fail so spectacularly if they kept the pricing simple and reasonable, and made their apps work well (the Times’ smartphone and iPad apps both are second-rate when compared to news apps from Reuters, the BBC and various RSS readers).

March 28, 2011

Some readers will get around paywall: NY Times

Mar
26

The Times has a much better attitude than the music industry.

March 26, 2011

Various Bullet-Point Thoughts on the iPad 2

Mar
26

I ended up only standing in line for a few hours, but I got exactly the iPad I wanted. A few thoughts on what I’ve discovered so far:

  • It’s really thin. I don’t have an first-generation to compare it against, but the thickness is almost perfect. It’s right in between that sweet spot of being thin enough to feel like an e-reader, but not too thin that it feels fragile.
  • I got the 16GB black WiFi-only model. My iPhone can function as a WiFi hotspot, and the white surround makes the screen look dim. I can’t fit my iTunes library on any of the available models, so there’s no point in spending $200 more for the additional space. iTunes Home Sharing more than compensates.
  • There are a couple of small areas where the metal back meets the glass front that weren’t rounded properly at the factory. They’re just a little sharp.
  • Setting up was a nightmare. Like when I bought my iPhone, I had to reinstall iTunes multiple times before it would get to the setup screen. Weird.
  • Apps are the entirety of the experience. Web browsing isn’t faster, I don’t think, but it feels like it is. Flipboard is phenomenal. Pulp is an interesting experiment on the Mac, but it’s absolutely joyous on the iPad.
  • I’m trying very hard not to add any iPhone-specific apps to this. Someone pointed out how un-Apple it is to be able to run iPhone applications in a little frame. If I could find that tweet, I’d link it up.
  • Writing HTML tags with this keyboard is hard. It’s probably worth finding an app that can post to WordPress with Markdown.
  • After being spoiled with a retina display (still not sure what I should capitalize there), the iPad display looks noticeably cruder. Helvetica (as opposed to Helvetica Neue) is also more apparent.
  • The magnifying loupe is also notably cruder. It’s really blurry.
  • The single most-important thing you can do is enable multitasking gestures. The four-finger swiping feels very natural.

March 26, 2011

RIP New York Times Elizabeth Taylor Obit Writer

Mar
23

Elizabeth Taylor passed away today, but the writer of her New York Times obituary passed away in 2005.

March 23, 2011

Undercover News: Long-Lost Bowie Album Leaks Online

Mar
22

As a Bowie fan, I’m intrigued.

March 22, 2011

Things Real People Don’t Say About Your App

Mar
20

I may have linked to this already, but it doesn’t matter. It’s worth a second link.

March 20, 2011

Why so little looting in Japan? – Slate Magazine

Mar
20

All three major crime groups—the Yamaguchi-gumi, the Sumiyoshi-kai, and the Inagawa-kai—have “compiled squads to patrol the streets of their turf and keep an eye out to make sure looting and robbery doesn’t occur,” writes Jake Adelstein

March 20, 2011