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Filed under: Humor, Cult of Mac, Odds and ends

Stink Different with an Apple toilet

by Victor Agreda, Jr. (RSS feed) on Nov 14th, 2009

We've long heard jokes of the iCar, the iToilet, and other iCrap, but until now we'd never seen a real, working example of one of these things. Well, here's your iToilet, gang. It doesn't connect to the internet in less than three steps, but it does connect to a series of tubes.

Tipster Mike Jones actually had this made for himself, but through Rival Toilets, makers of custom, printed potties. Yep, the owner of Rival, Fred, has figured out a way to get decals under a coat of specially-formulated finish (a trade secret), resulting in some glorious toilets you see in the gallery. They last, they are custom and they are really quite something to see.

Rival's specialty? Sports team toilets with rival team logos in a "special" place on the bowl. I'm told the Apple version seen here has a similar "rival" logo in the bottom of the bowl. I'll leave the specifics to the reader's imagination. I don't think it's IBM, however.

Tags: apple toilet, AppleToilet, cult of mac, CultOfMac, custom, fanboy, itoilet, rival, think different, ThinkDifferent

Filed under: Software, AppleScript

Sal Soghoian talks Automator use in education

by Dave Caolo (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

Total Apps has published a nice guest post from Sal Soghoian, Apple's Production Manager for Automator, intended for teachers. He describes how educators have a limited amount of instruction time with the kids, and even less for maintenance tasks like making sure the proper software is installed, that students are on the proper web page, and so on.

Sal wants to help, and points out a number of links useful to anyone (not just teachers) who wants to automate these repetitive and often time-consuming tasks. Best of all, he shares a link to The Teacher's Helpers (scroll down a bit), which is a free collection of Automator actions specifically written to assist teachers with Macs in their classrooms.

If you've been put off by AppleScript, give Automator a try. Its drag-and-drop interface is much easier to use.

Tags: applescript, automator, sal soghoian, SalSoghoian, teachers

Filed under: Audio, Software Update, iPod nano

Apple quietly updates the 5th Generation iPod nano to 1.0.2

by Joachim Bean (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

This week Apple issued an update to the iPod nano, bringing it to version 1.0.2. Fixes and additions include:
  • Fixed audiobook playbook setting so Normal, Slower, Faster, works for audio podcasts
  • Resolved issue where Genius Mixes did not work when using the Nike+ Sport Kit
  • Accessibility setting for Mono Audio in now working
  • Fixed bug so VoiceOver menu items are no longer skipped when using headphone + and - volume buttons to navigate
As always, you can download this update by clicking on the "Check for Update" button in iTunes when you connect your iPod nano to your computer.

Tags: accessibility, iPod nano, IpodNano, podcasts, update

Filed under: Odds and ends, iPhone

Whoa! AT&T has had enough of the Verizon slams

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

AT&T is clearly not going to take it anymore. Today, they blasted back at Verizon for the nasty ads about AT&T coverage.

In a press release today, the communications giant pulled out all the stops:

"AT&T's wireless data coverage reaches 303 million people – or 97% of the U.S. population, where they live and work.

AT&T is the #1 network for smartphones, with twice the number of smartphone customers than Verizon, our closest competitor. Some of the reasons include:

Most popular smartphones. Unlike Verizon, AT&T offers the most popular smartphones in the industry.

More wireless apps. Unlike Verizon, AT&T customers have access to more than 100,000 applications, more than with any other wireless company.

Talk and E-mail at the same time. Unlike Verizon, AT&T's 3G network lets wireless customers simultaneously talk and surf the web or do e-mail.

Fastest 3G in the nation. Unlike Verizon, AT&T has the nation's fastest 3G network."

It's a bold move to respond to someone doing a number on you. Microsoft tried to counter Apple pricing with mixed reviews, and AT&T, unlike Apple, has a lot of unhappy customers. This will be fun to watch, but one wishes AT&T was improving service and features (tethering anyone?) instead of getting into these lawsuits and public mud baths.

Tags: ATT, coverage, ihone, lawsuits, Verizon

Filed under: Software, Internet Tools

Dropbox is taking suggestions on new features, vote for resource fork support!

by Matt Heerema (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009



Dropbox, one of my current top 5 favorite apps, has opened voting for their features roadmap. Some neat suggestions so far, but the most cryptic of the top 5 is among the most useful for Mac users: resource fork support!

For those less technical among us, the resource fork is metadata attached to a file that helps Mac OS better understand a file. Things like custom icons, folder info, spotlight comments, openmeta tags, and even file type are defined here. This is how Mac OS can do extension-less file names. This resource fork information is stripped in many backup applications (including Dropbox).

Go vote this feature request up (sign-in required) so we can all rejoice!

Here's the top 5 requests at time of writing:
  1. Selective sync. Ability to choose which files or folders get sync'd to which computers.
  2. Watch any folder. Sync folders outside the My/Dropbox folder
  3. Share folders without forcing other members to lose space.
  4. Email files to Dropbox.
  5. Mac resource fork support

Tags: DropBox, feature requests, FeatureRequests, resource fork, ResourceFork

Filed under: Hardware, Odds and ends, iPhone

A new accessory for your iPhone: a NASA-developed chemical sensor

by Steven Sande (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

What's better than a handful of sensors for determining if some hostile enemy has set off chemical weapons in a city? How about hundreds of thousands or millions of sensors? If research being done by NASA Ames Research Center under the Cell-All program in the US Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate is taken into production, your next smartphone might contain chemical-sensing circuitry.

A recent article in OnOrbit described a proof of concept that was developed by Jing Li, a scientist at Ames, and a group of other researchers. In order to test out the tiny nanosensor-based chemical sensing circuitry, Li and his team created a device that plugs into the dock port of an iPhone.

To quote the original post,
The new device is able to detect and identify low concentrations of airborne ammonia, chlorine gas and methane. The device senses chemicals in the air using a "sample jet" and a multiple-channel silicon-based sensing chip, which consists of 16 nanosensors, and sends detection data to another phone or a computer via telephone communication network or Wi-Fi.
A newer version of the sensor has 64 nanosensors built-in and is less than 1 cm on a side. Isn't it cool that your iPhone is getting to be more like a Star Trek tricorder every day?

[via Gizmodo]

Tags: chemical warfare, ChemicalWarfare, DHS, iphone, nasa, sensors, toxic chemicals, ToxicChemicals

Filed under: Software, Odds and ends, iPhone

It's about time: TomTom submits updated nav app to Apple

by Mel Martin (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

Very welcome news for owners of the TomTom iPhone nav app [iTunes link for U.S. version]; the company has announced a free update that includes many of the features that people were craving.
  • Advanced lane guidance giving drivers extra clarity when navigating difficult junctions. For the first time this is in both landscape and portrait mode.
  • Text-to-speech helping motorists to keep their eyes on the road by enabling street names and places to be read aloud as part of the spoken instructions.
  • "Help Me" providing direct access to emergency numbers and directions to the nearest emergency providers.
  • Updated map and safety camera database (Europe only)
  • Customizable audio warnings when approaching safety cameras or driving over the speed limit, increasing driver safety and saving money.
  • iPod player control ensuring drivers can conveniently control their music from within the application.
TomTom submitted the new version to Apple yesterday, and as usual, it's anybody's guess when it will emerge. It won't be fast enough for TomTom owners, who have seen their app fall behind the feature rich Navigon app and other GPS offerings.

The joker in this particular deck is still the free Google Navigation app, which is trying to get onto the iPhone and will have a gaggle of features no one else is offering.

[via Engadget]

Tags: GPS, hgg, navigation, Navigon, text to speech, TomTom

Filed under: Apple Corporate, Retail

Apple to open 40 to 50 new Apple Stores next year

by Lauren Hirsch (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

At a media preview event yesterday designed to create buzz for Apple's newest store opening in Manhattan, Ron Johnston, Apple's senior vice president of retail announced that Apple would be opening 40-50 more Apple retail stores in the coming year.

One focus will be on opening larger stores overall. While this is great news for anybody who has been frustrated by the zoo that is any Apple store on any given day recently (careful what you wish for when you wish for your platform of choice to finally get the market share it needs to ensure continued development), the bulk of these stores will be overseas in cities like Paris, London, and Shanghai.

So if you live in Paris, London, or Shanghai, congratulations! You, too, will have a store you can try to shop in when all you want is a new set of earphones for your iPhone and you can't get anywhere near the display.

Tags: apple store, manhattan, retail

Filed under: iTS, Multimedia, iTunes, Apple, Music

Apple launches iTunes Preview for external browser links

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

This is the kind of thing that probably should have been done a long time ago, but Macworld is reporting that Apple has launched iTunes Preview, a page that appears when you click an iTunes link (like this one) and your browser sends you over to iTunes. Previously, you just got that placeholder page that said "One Moment Please" and asked if you wanted to open the link in an external application, but with iTunes Preview, you get a nicely laid out page with information and reviews (and your browser still opens up the iTunes store).

Currently it only seems to work with music -- movies and television only get a small thumbnail, and applications get the same old gray page. But that'll probably change before long -- it's much smoother to see what you're clicking through to, and of course there's the added bonus for people who don't actually have iTunes installed. As MacWorld points out, there are actually no "preview" buttons on the page -- you can't listen to music there, only click through to the iTunes store. But like I said, it's better than a blank window and a browser popup asking for your permission. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see this grow a lot more in the future.

Tags: apple, features, information, itunes, itunes store, itunes-store, ItunesStore, listen, macworld, movies, music, preview, release

Filed under: Gaming, Software, Developer, iPhone, App Store

App Store devs get "edge"-y as a reaction to trademark threats

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Nov 13th, 2009

App Store developers can be a rebellious kind -- we've already covered the story of a company shooting their price up to $40 just to show their customers how much they could be charging, and now, in response to an overly defensive trademark owner, developers on the store are putting the word "Edge" in their titles. Even high profile releases like the sequel to Eliss and the popular Canabalt are becoming Edgeliss and Canabedge. Critter Crunch becomes Critter Edge on their main page, and so on.

The story starts with a guy named Tim Langdell, who started a company a while back named Edge Games. Since he founded that company, he has mercilessly gone after any other game company who dares to use the word "edge" in their title, claiming that he has the trademark to any and all "edge"-related gaming. He's gone after EA's Mirror's Edge and a few other titles, but the App Store has been a prime target, where he simply contacts Apple, claims the app is in violation of his trademarks, and gets apps pulled without a problem. The latest target is a title called Killer Edge Racing by a company named PuzzleKings, and reportedly Langdell has gone so far as to trademark that name, despite the fact that the game using it has been around for years.

Hence the indie game developers' "edge-volution." They aren't actually renaming their games in the store, just showing off solidarity with other developers against what they see as Langdell's wrongdoing, and getting the word out about his actions against "edge" on the App Store.

Tags: app-store, canabalt, canabedge, critter-crunch, edge, edge-games, edge-volution, eliss, iphone, killer-edge-racing, mirrors-edge, tim-langdell

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