Category: Rants and Raves

iPhone 2.0 update

Monday, 28 July 2008 15:16 Written by Mike 0 Comments

Ok, I have had the upgrade now for almost 2 weeks.  And I have been on vacation so I am writing this without checking to see if another iPhone update is available.

Battery life on 2.0 is much worse than before the upgrade.  Applications seem to be locking up on me and I have to reboot the phone to fix them.  Twice now I have had to perform a hard reset by holding down the power button the function button on the front.

It has been a bit frustrating since the upgrade.  The upgrade did add a ton of cool nice new shiny stuff.

I will check for an update later tonight and see if maybe Apple released some fixes for the glaring issues while I was out relaxing in the sun.

Adobe AIR

Monday, 28 July 2008 14:59 Written by Mike 0 Comments

Have you heard about Adove AIR?  Sounds like some new oxygen bar Fad right?  Well, it is a fairly new technology from Adobe that brings the rich content of web 3.0 content to the desktop without a web browser.

Adobe AIR installs a small client application that is basically the framework for the AIR application to run in.  You then download these AIR applications which are typically designed in the Service Oriented Archtecture design with XML data transfers, etc.

Anyways there are some very cool applications that are available for Adobe AIR.  My favorites are the Ebay Desktop and Twhirl (a Twitter Client).  Also following closely behind is the Google Analytics client.  It is way cool and much easier than having to login to google to look at the reports.

There are so many cool apps for Adobe Air that I am going to create a category for Adobe Air and review some apps that are available.  As new ones come out I will keep reviewing and make recomendations.

If you know of some new site, software or technology drop me a line so I can check it out too.

iPhone 2.0

Friday, 18 July 2008 15:22 Written by Mike 0 Comments

Ok, so the new iPhone has been out for 7 days and iPhone 2.0 software has been out just a little bit longer.  I am still on my old original iPhone but now with iPhone 2.0.

So far I am not overly impressed.  Well let me say, I love the new stuff they added but they also added some not so good stuff as well.  There are a ton more problems.  The problems are not just with the new iPhone but with iPhone 2.0.

New Stuff:

Lets start out with some of the positives first….

  1. My #1 is it now support Activesync via Microsoft Exchange OWA.  This is major.  I can now use the iPhone with my corporate email, with security, etc.  And Amazingly, it works much better than my Windows Mobile 6.0 device I have been carrying around for my corporate email.I mean I can add a calendar entry and in seconds it appears in my outlook calendar.  Email is fast and best of all.  There is no more searching the GAL for people.  It does it for you automagically in the background.  Very Cool.
  2. My number two big item….  3rd party app support that can be installed and run locally.  Shouldn’t this have been in the first release after all?
  3. Bulk Email deletion is much better now.  Plus they added another little secret deletion trick (see the Tips and Tricks below).
  4. They put the contacts on as an icon/app now so you no longer have to go into the phone to get to your contacts.
  5. The new AppStore where you can download low cost or FREE applications for the iPhone and install them on the iPhone.  So you can actually play them on a plan when the wireless is off.  There are some really cool apps out there and they are just starting to become available.  Just wait till a little time goes by.

I will be writing some followup blogs on some of the Applications that are available on the iPhone.

Problems:

Of course with every new code release there are problems.  Some of these problems are taking some of the fun out of the iPhone for me.

  1. Battery life with iPhone 2.0 is horrible.  It does not last half as long as it did prior to the software upgrade.
  2. Programs Lock up.  Sometimes it locks up for as long as 30 seconds.  There does not appear any specific program that causes it or it happens in.   I have been doing lots of reboots which seems to fix it for a little while.

What is still missing?

Well, I am a little disappointed that the new iPhone 2.0 does not have a few features.

  1. There is still no copy and paste functionality.
  2. There is no voice dial.
  3. GPS is not a navigateable GPS.  It only shows a little dot where you are located.  It gives no directions, etc.

The App Store:

The new App Store on the iPhone is cool.  You can see a quick list of applications that are available for the iPhone.  Many of them are free, the rest are low cost app.  There are some very cool applications, games, etc available.

I am going to spend some more blog time reviewing a few of these apps.

Tips and Tricks:

Screen capture

The iPhone 2.0 now has a screen capture function.  When you perform a screen capture the image of the screen is saved into your camera roll of pictures.  You can really freak some one if you take a screen capture then view the picture.  It looks just like the desktop.

Quick Email Delete

New in iPhone 2.0 is the ability to quickly delete a single email message.  Apple made the bulk delete much better than before with the edit button.  Now, if you have only one email you want to delete….  Slid your finger over the message starting at the right edge towards the left edge.  A delete button will pop up on the message.

Keep checking back for more iPhone updates and application reviews.

Rave: Eagles Concert

Wednesday, 28 May 2008 16:32 Written by Mike 0 Comments

Everyone has heard of The Eagles, right?  Well I was given the opportunity to go see them live in what is supposedly their final tour named after their new CD Long Road Out Of Eden.  Of course the Hell Freezes Over tour was supposed to be their last tour too, so who know maybe they will do another one in a few years.

I am a huge eagles fan so I was excited to go see them them live for the first time.  And let me say that they did not disappoint.

Some of you know that I am a sound and lighting guy in my spare time and normally when I go to a concert I cannot get away from how bad something sounds or how bad the lights look, etc.  It is like a curse after you spend so much time in a professional vocation like lighting and sound.  You can no longer just enjoy the show.

However, this is one show that I truly enjoyed.  The sound was mixed awesome, everything was crystal clear, the drums had to be the best sounding drums I have ever heard.  I want to know what mics they were using and how they had them EQ’d.

They did an awesome job on the lighting effects as well as the video effects behind the band.  Nothing to crazy or dis-tasteful.   It was a well thought out and put together show.

I am amazed that the night before I saw them in Charlottesville, VA they were in Atlanta, GA.  If they tore down and setup again overnight, I am truly impressed.

The tickets were a little pricey but worth even more.  The show started at 8pm and they played until after 11:30.

If you have the chance to go see them, jump on it.  You can get the latest tour dates at http://www.eaglesband.com/

Bad Drivers

Thursday, 08 May 2008 15:05 Written by Mike 0 Comments

Ok, it has been a while since I took the driving test but I am sure I remember that you pass on the left.  So if you are not passing anyone (or worse, people are passing you on the right) you should be in the right hand lane.

It is so frustrating when the works get all clogged up because someone is puttin along in the left lane.

Sorry, just needed to vent!

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