Pogue has the best MobileMe review to date: State of the Art - In Sync to Pierce the Cloud - NYTimes.com.
Since MobileMe does tasks, I wonder if can work with my tasks through the iPhone browser -- at least for now.
Well, I guess I'm signing up for MobileMe. Resistance appears futile.
It will give me something to do while I wait for the iPhone to resupply. As of yesterday there are zero iPhones in Minnesota. If we don't see phones by next week people are going to start muttering about the Wii supply story.
Update: The 5 member MobileMe family pack is $130 on Amazon - a $20 savings. As usual, best to order via Macintouch.com to give them a bit of a boost. By happy coincidence we are a family of five humans -- these days most family offers max out at four. Kateva will have to do without.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
How to uninstall an OS X preference pane - as an admin user
Dang. I've always removed Preference Panes by hunting them down in the file system.
Turns out there's an official way (with one catch) that works in 10.4 and 10.5:
So this is not well implemented in 10.4. It should be a menu item for non-admin users, and ask for a un/pw when it's selected. I wonder if Apple fixed that in 10.5?
Turns out there's an official way (with one catch) that works in 10.4 and 10.5:
Mac 101: Remove unwanted System Preference panes - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) To uninstall System Preference panes, just right-click (or control click if you have a one button mouse) on the preference pane icon and select 'remove x preference pane.'The catch is, you need to be logged in as an administrative user! If you're a non-admin user you don't see anything; there's not even a "gray menu" (tested in 10.4). That's why I never noticed it -- I don't run as an admin user. I'm used to OS X asking for a privilege escalation for admin tasks.
So this is not well implemented in 10.4. It should be a menu item for non-admin users, and ask for a un/pw when it's selected. I wonder if Apple fixed that in 10.5?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Physics hurts: the iPhone battery life and how to work around it
Physics is a pain sometimes. Jobs told us 3G was going to suck way more power than EDGE, but some were skeptical (I recall I was inclined to believe him).
We know the iPhone will function on EDGE networks if 3G is not available, I wonder if Apple and AT&T will provide an option to use EDGE when power is at a premium. (See comments -- in fact this is available now. So why do only my readers know to mention this?)
Meanwhile, a solid Tidbits review recommends the APC UPB10 Mobile Power Pack USB Battery Extender. These are $63 on Amazon; however there are newish airline regulations about carrying external LiOn batteries. The terminals must be covered and it has to go through security in a bin.
These regs are enough of a pain to make the $10 APC external USB AA battery charger very appealing; I would want to test in a store that it really charged an iPhone however.
At work it's easy to charge a phone from a USB source, on the road it's easy to carry a USB car charger. One does have to learn to treat a power supply the way long distance cyclists treat a shower -- get it while you can.
Update: disabling push email helps too, Ars has a in-depth review of accessory battery packs.
Update 7/23/08: More tips, including holding down home key to shut off background tasks.
AppleInsider | Apple's iPhone 3G battery good for about 3.5 hours of browsingI've found that the battery life on my low end 3G Nokia phone is similarly quite poor, even though that phone has no data services at all. 3G is bad on batteries even when the traffic is voice only; of course 802.11 is far worse.
...While Anandtech's chart shows the Apple handset to last about 30 minutes more than Samsung's 3G Blackjack, the unsettling comparison exists between the iPhone 3G running on AT&T's 3G network and the original iPhone running on AT&T's EDGE network. In the site's tests, the original iPhone lasted 2 hours and 26 minutes longer while browsing over EDGE than the new iPhone did browsing over 3G...
We know the iPhone will function on EDGE networks if 3G is not available, I wonder if Apple and AT&T will provide an option to use EDGE when power is at a premium. (See comments -- in fact this is available now. So why do only my readers know to mention this?)
Meanwhile, a solid Tidbits review recommends the APC UPB10 Mobile Power Pack USB Battery Extender. These are $63 on Amazon; however there are newish airline regulations about carrying external LiOn batteries. The terminals must be covered and it has to go through security in a bin.
These regs are enough of a pain to make the $10 APC external USB AA battery charger very appealing; I would want to test in a store that it really charged an iPhone however.
At work it's easy to charge a phone from a USB source, on the road it's easy to carry a USB car charger. One does have to learn to treat a power supply the way long distance cyclists treat a shower -- get it while you can.
Update: disabling push email helps too, Ars has a in-depth review of accessory battery packs.
Update 7/23/08: More tips, including holding down home key to shut off background tasks.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
How to wrap earbuds so they don't tangle
Life Hacks explains how to keep headphone wires from getting tangled (2/2006)
The attached image is missing, but the technique is simple. I just tried it and I like the results. The comments reference various organizing techniques for larger cables and ropes.
iPhone 2.0 development: it must have been a death march
iPhone 1.0 development must have been insane, but I'm guessing iPhone 2.0 development was a classic death march.
We can gather that from the things that were left out:
It must have been really, really, ugly in Cupertino over the past few months.
I'm definitely feeling sympathy for the iPhone development team. They must be toast. It's going to take more than a few months to get things patched up. Corporate customers are going to want to hold off on significant deployments until next year.
Update: More death march evidence
We can gather that from the things that were left out:
- cut, copy, paste: Apple has now admitted they wanted to put this in, so the omission must have been a desperate decision
- tasks: If they couldn't add tasks, then they were beyond cutting features and deep into slashing organs (emphasis mine):
Entirely Random Notes On iPhone 2.0 - Inside iPhone BlogSearch only looks at contact names.
... There appear to be crashing bugs with both many third party applications themselves, as well as the OS itself. Prior to updating to 2.0, I can't recall the last time my iPhone reset. I've seen it a half dozen times already so far, however.
Searching in Contacts is nice. However, I find I still generally just scroll for the contact, and the search doesn't look inside each contact, just at the name...
It must have been really, really, ugly in Cupertino over the past few months.
I'm definitely feeling sympathy for the iPhone development team. They must be toast. It's going to take more than a few months to get things patched up. Corporate customers are going to want to hold off on significant deployments until next year.
Update: More death march evidence
iPhone availability widget
Minnesota is among the 21 states with no current iPhone availability.
What a nuisance.
Apple has a widget that works only after 9pm (local time?) to check local Apple Store stocks:
I'd pay to reserve at an AT&T except I know AT&T is so Satanic that Hell itself could not abide them. (Apple, on the other hand, is merely a close confidante of Beelzebub. AT&T store staff, in my experience, are quite good btw.)
What a nuisance.
Apple has a widget that works only after 9pm (local time?) to check local Apple Store stocks:
Apple Retail Store - iPhone availability at the Apple StoreI'd prefer to buy at an AT&T store due to the tactical complexity of AT&T's deliberately evil contracts, but I suspect Apple stores are getting more shipments. AT&T is not offering a similar availability widget, they suggest payment up front and they'll hold a phone when it arrives. Fortune reports they have no phones anywhere, and no word on when they'll receive any.Check availability after 9:00 p.m. the night before you plan to visit an Apple Retail Store.
Get there early. Shipments arrive most days, but be sure to arrive early since iPhone 3G is sold on a first come, first served basis.
I'd pay to reserve at an AT&T except I know AT&T is so Satanic that Hell itself could not abide them. (Apple, on the other hand, is merely a close confidante of Beelzebub. AT&T store staff, in my experience, are quite good btw.)
Update 7/15/08 9pm: no iPhones available in Minnesota. Ok, 1 8GB white.
Update 7/16/0810pm: none at all
Update 7/16/0810pm: none at all
Monday, July 14, 2008
Epocrates Rx is out for the iPhone (and iTouch)
Epocrates Rx is available for the iPhone.
Not the web version -- the true iPhone client.
Free medical PDA software: Epocrates Rx for iPhone / iPod touch:
- Apple iPhone/iPod touch with OS 2.0
- Minimum available memory 8 MB
- 20K per free health plan formulary selected
It's a big deal for physicians, my wife couldn't switch from her Palm to her Blackberry Pearl until Epocrates was available for the Pearl. My friend Andrew keeps his Palm for the same reason.
The iPhone is going to be really big in healthcare; this is one important landmark. As soon as the line dies down and I can get my phone, I'll give it a try. It's distributed by the Apple Store (free), but you need an Epocrates account to use it.
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