Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod Touch
Google released Google Earth for the iPhone and iPod Touch today. I’m a huge fan of the PC version of this great application and have killed many hours traveling this virtual world known as Earth. If you have never tried out Google Earth then I highly recommend downloading it now. You can view the entire planet in 3D, see photos, read Wikipedia entries and download different data overlays. This only scrapes the surface, but it’s an incredible application, and best of all, it’s free.
So how does Google Earth hold up on the iPhone? Well obviously it’s a bit trimmed down, but still much better than I thought it would be. You can see photos, Wikipedia entries and move around the earth in the typical intuitive Multi-touch way that we are all so used too. You can even twist two fingers to rotate, and if you tilt your device the accelerometer kicks in and allows an angled view so you can see the 3D surface of the Earth. You can also use the iPhones GPS to find your current location on planet Earth. The application runs fairly smooth on the iPhone, but I did notice a few hiccups which sometimes even happens on the full Google Earth.
Quick! Stop writing your blog, it’s so 2004
According to Wired writer Paul Boutin we Bloggers should all pack up our bags and move along. In his article “Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004” he does hit on a lot of valid points, but there are also glaring oversights. Either this is link bait and I’ve taken it hook line and sinker or this guy is seriously out of touch with the Blogsphere.
Why Flash sites usually suck
I’m seeing much less full on flash sites than I used too, but I seem to be seeing more flash portfolios. If your only goal is to be a Flash developer than that’s fine, but if you want to be seen as a web designer / developer and your site is 100% Flash, you’re probably not going to impress anyone.
Why Flash sucks — most of the time
Flash usually sucks because it is used in places where it’s not needed, breaks usability basics, or tries to deliver a rich media experience to people who don’t care. Lets face it, most of us are not coming to a site to see Flash animations, flashy enter pages and load dialogues; sure this was impressive 5 to 8 years ago, but most of us are over it now. I remember animating menus, playing with collision and elastic algorithms I found on the web and drooling at the newest Flash in the Can awards which are still pretty impressive. It was really cool and fun, and there are a lot of places where this will still fly if done right, your website may not be one of them.
An addictive little iPhone game call Lux Touch
Lately we are seeing more cool little games coming out for the iPhone/iTouch. My iPhone is now becoming my primary hand held gaming device, in fact it is becoming my only device for everything. The other day I saw the free app Lux Touch while surfing the iPhone app store. It looked like a Risk clone, so I had to download it. Although I have never played the real Risk board game, I have put many hours into digital versions including the fantastic Conquer Club web based Risk clone (warning, if you like risk or strategy games going to this site could be dangerous). So when I saw an iPhone Risk clone I got pretty excited.
Poverty, we can make a difference – Blog Action Day 2008
I am a little late with this, but today was Blog Action Day 2008, and this years topic is another issue I am passionate about and that’s poverty. I try to give aid whenever there is a terrible disaster somewhere and I have a sponsored child through World Vision. Late last year I sponsored a second child for my Mother. It’s a strange feeling doing something like this, although it feels great knowing you are helping in a very small way, it also makes you very sad to know that people live in such poverty, especially children.
Apple’s new brick laptop to be announced tomorrow?
There has been a load of buzz over the past few days about Apple’s new MacBooks. Rumours of a sub 1000 dollar laptop along with speculation of a new manufacturing process that allows Apple to produce them for less are fueling the buzz. The new laptops are being code named “brick” and it may refer to a new manufacturing process.
On Tuesday, October 14th Apple has invited media to a special notebook event, so the wait to find out if the rumours a true will be over tomorrow. AppleInsider has more details and photos of the laptop.
Techcrunh also has details on the new laptop and CrunchGear will be there for the announcement.
(update: Engadget will have Live web coverage of Apple’s “The spotlight turns to notebooks” event.)
Space Monkey for the iPhone, iTouch is free for a limited time
Tonight I was browsing the top free downloads and noticed Space Monkey in second place. This was originally a $9.99 game, but right now it is temporarily free from the Glu developers (Update: Space Monkey is no longer free, but it looks like it’s now 99 cents, still a great price). This is why it’s always a good idea to check out the top free apps every few days, because a lot of apps start out free and then cost money later on. Sometimes they will also go on sale or as in the case of Space Monkey go completely free.
How to transfer your itunes library to another computer
I spent a good chunk of time this weekend figuring out how to transfer files from an iTouch to a new laptop. The original library was on an old computer and I wanted an easy way to transfer the files from the iTouch to the new laptop. Considering how easy most Apple products are to use it’s surprising that there is nothing easy about transferring your files from an iPod to another computer. Yes there is the quick transfer purchases option, but unless you bought every song from the iTunes store it’s a pretty useless feature. Many of us have invested a lot of time ripping our old CD collections or heaven forbid may have bought our mp3 music elsewhere. Why is it so hard to transfer YOUR music? The apple method requires burning CDs, DVDs or transferring the entire hard drive over. Maybe the record labels play into this, who knows, but it’s damn inconvenient. The locks on transferring files are obviously artificial since an iPod is a simple USB storage device.
Another inane idea, more physical media!
The days of physical media are almost over. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Blue Ray disks bite the dust in a few years and I’m not the only one, but that’s another topic. The future is online and the only thing really holding back online adoption by the masses is clumsy DRM punishment for customers who buy music and movies online. Most people don’t even know what DRM is, but they do know what it means when they find out they can’t copy a song from their favourite device to their new computer (I’m looking at you Apple). This is severely annoying and the industry still doesn’t get it. We have been able to rip, share, and use our CDs and DVDs on any device we saw fit, but unfortunately this is not the case with our downloaded purchases. The industry needs to stop locking down things we paid for! Stop treating your paying customers like criminals, the people pirating this stuff will continue to do so and you only hurt legitimate users.
Sony’s new all in one desktop, the JS1
Earlier this week I saw several articles on Sony’s new all in one desktop, and it really stood out. Sony’s new JS1 all in one desktop looks sweet, at least in the pictures. There is also a sister laptop, the NS1, but it’s the desktop that really made me drool.
