August 2011
5 posts
6 tags
HP TouchPad Now The Number 1 Seller On Amazon →
Has any other product ever become the number 1 seller on Amazon after it was discontinued?
2 tags
My Use Cases #1: Reset Launchpad with Keyboard...
Inspired by Philip Baeten’s awesome post on how he uses Keyboard Maestro from last week, I’m planning to start a new series of posts here at huwmart.in, simply, and aptly called: My Use Cases. The plan is to cover use cases for great productivity app’s like Alfred, BetterTouchTool, Keyboard Maestro, Hazel, MercuryMover and hopefully many more, one use case at a time. Because,...
5 tags
HP drops TouchPad price like a stone →
If you thought this webOS fire sale weekend couldn’t get any crazier, think again. Best Buy has made an about-face and is now selling the TouchPad, limited to one per customer. Meanwhile, reports on Twitter and our tipline suggest that some of HP’s servers are starting to buckle under the load of new TouchPad activations.
I’d love to see the sales charts for the TouchPad since HP...
1 tag
Thomas Brand’s Sweet Newton Setup →
My MessagePad keeps me portable and on target the way no modern computer can. I can’t browse the internet with my MessagePad, I can’t use Twitter, IM, or iTunes. There are no preferences to get in the way of my writing. With my MessagePad I don’t need to be sitting at a desk to be productive.
1 tag
UK set to legalize CD and DVD copying for personal... →
I’m going to go wild.
July 2011
20 posts
2 tags
The Pen Type-A →
The popping noise this thing makes is no doubt the most satisfying thing in stationery. Or maybe a close second to lining out a task in a notebook.
3 tags
Hide Apps and Folders in Launchpad with... →
A really nice little tweaklet which allows you to hide certain applications and folders from appearing in Launchpad. I personally won’t be using it, if i’m going to use Launchpad I wan’t to use it as intended, that and i’m running a pretty tight ship in terms of applications so it isn’t much of a problem.
(via MacStories)
“Snow Leopard was the end of an era of OS X and Lion is the beginning of a new...”
– Stephen Hackett
3 tags
Episode 4: Fear
Episode 4: Fear
This week on the Scatterbrain podcast, I talk about fear and doing, talking about productivity, I consider when it’s time to set aside the to-do list and just take the leap.
I also briefly discuss my workflow for writing, and making this podcast, both of which definitely aren’t ideal but work for me.
I also give a mention to my new pet project over at Take An...
iPhone 5 Allegedly Getting Voice Control Powered... →
(via Business Insider)
4 tags
Fujitsu to launch Windows 7 phone →
That title is not garbled. Fujitsu did not announce the release of its Windows Phone 7 handset today, but instead its Windows 7 phone. All of a sudden Microsoft’s naming system is a bit of a mouthful, isn’t it? The phone will be released on July 23rd.
The handset, named the F-07C Mobile Phone, runs a full, complete build of Windows 7, and can be, according to the Fujitsu copy, used “as a...
3 tags
Tweetbot Tips and Tricks →
Who said Tweetbot doesn’t add real value to Twitter?
4 tags
Episode 3: Plus
Episode 3: Plus
This week on the Scatterbrain podcast, I talk about my first impressions of Google+ and how it compares to Facebook and Twitter, I consider what I like about it and where I think they need to make changes discussing the design, privacy and integration with other services. I also talk about how I foresee it fitting into my social graph.
Why Google+ Looks Good: Original Macintosh...
4 tags
Gmail+: Google Already At Work On “Several”... →
Mark Striebeck, Google’s Engineering Manager for Gmail, left a public note in Google+ yesterday letting everyone know that Google is already working on integrating Google+ into Gmail. Specifically, he cites “several Gmail / Google+ integrations” in the works. At the same time, he wants to use Google+’s new Hangouts group chat feature to get ideas and feedback on how the integration should work....
3 tags
nikf.org: Google+ Redirects And Tumblr →
nikf.org:
So Richard pointed out this excellent post about using HTACCESS files on a server to redirect domain.com/+ to your Google+ account. In his post, he lamented the inability to do is with his domain as it’s hosted on Tumblr, just like this blog is.
However, with Tumblr you can actually hook this up so that it works. Give nikf.org/+ a go. Here’s how to set this up with Tumblr:
1....
4 tags
webOS now led by Stephen DeWitt, Jon Rubinstein in... →
It will be interesting to see if this move plays out for better or for worse. I liked Rubinstein as the face of webOS, but obviously the TouchPad reviews have been lackluster.
Maybe things will work out with a better management head at the helm, to really give webOS that “scale” HP promised, whilst Rubinstein pushes ‘product innovation’.
Or maybe not.
5 tags
Google to rebrand Blogger and Picasa →
From Google’s perspective this is obviously a good move, they’re rebranding Blogger and Picasa as Google Blogs and Google Photos respectively, apparently as a big push to “unify its brand” ahead of the launch of Google+. I think it’s terrible though, on the same vein of Google trying to “unify its brand”: people want to be part of a brand.
Maybe not in...
3 tags
Circle and search →
Although I had to laugh watching the demo video which felt comical and completely rehearsed, I do think Microsoft are on to something. The idea of taking advantage of multitouch by circling words to copy them to the clipboard is really straightforward, the implementation though, still looks half baked, you have to tap a button first before dragging a marquee of an oval over the chosen words. If...
4 tags
Transferring GoDaddy mail to Google Apps →
If there’s one thing Google seem to do really well, it’s search, that and user guides. Having got a lovely new email address at me@huwmart.in, I wasn’t loving it, the GoDaddy mail interface is the most distraught interface i’ve ever laid eyes on. To escape UX hell I signed up for a free Google Apps account and then went from there, after following the user guide to the...
2 tags
Helping others through writing →
Iain Broome:
What a lovely idea for a (guest) blog post by Lisa Rivero over at Write It Sideways:
Regardless of how often or even whether we are published or how much (if any) money we make from our writing, all of us have a love for written communication and at least some skill with words, and we can use that love and skill in valuable ways, big and small.
Lisa provides a...
3 tags
Episode 2: Poof
Episode 2: Poof
This week on the Scatterbrain podcast, I talk about my main motive for jailbreaking my iPhone: Poof. I also discuss some of the other great tweaks in Cydia, why I think people develop for Cydia and how it influences Apple and iOS.
What Safari’s Reading List means for Instapaper HomeScreen Settings Jailbreak Tweak Enables Settings Options On The Homescreen Click2Call: Address...
4 tags
Getting Listary →
Listary actually looks to be the closest to what i’ve been looking for for a long while: I really just want to make shopping list’s for books, clothes, software etc. and Listary seems to provide an elegant solution, with most shopping list apps the interfaces are garish, and almost comical - the interface the Listary really look bare-bones and clean. It inspiration obviously comes from...
2 tags
3Fold Bag by Hard Graft →
I can’t help but link to this, Hard Graft just keep churning out classics, I would sell my soul for this bag, seriously. Handmade in Italy, made from “hand-picked hides of premium Florentine vegetable tanned leather”, the 3Fold is a thing of beauty.
3 tags
Gmail To Get A New Look →
I well and truly love the design direction Google are going in, since the launch of Google+, we’ve seen a reboot of the interface for Google search, GCal and now Gmail as well. What Google are producing are elegant web app’s which people will want to use, that people will get pleasure from looking at for the first time, rather than an archaic looking app thats redeemed by its...
4 tags
That $49 Thunderbolt cable might not be overpriced... →
Fascinating teardown of the new Thunderbolt cable from Apple by iFixit revealing that the true value might be closer to the $49 price tag than anyone expected. The cable contains “a total of 12 larger, inscribed chips, and tons of smaller electronic components”. I’m not an engineering type but I still find the teardown’s like this intriguing and I’d love to hear the first estimates of what the...
June 2011
28 posts
5 tags
HP ‘talking to a number of companies’ about... →
I might be the only one who doesn’t think this is good for HP. It’s not that i’m against them licensing the OS, I’m all for that, and I’m a big fan of webOS, but I think they way they want to do it - wanting to have a strong relationship with a single manufacturer, rather than being “one of 5 or 6 OSs” - is short sighted and won’t pay off as they...
1 tag
Episode 1: Beginnings / Scatterbrain →
Episode 1: Beginnings
This week, I talk about my plans for the podcast - its release schedule, its subject, and its aim. I also talk about my beautiful iPhone 4.
Credits to Myke Hurley of Enough, The Bro Show, 11 Minutes and The Hurley Bird - all under the umbrella of 70 Decibels and Ian Broome who does a podcast called Chat Broome for inspiring me to start doing this.
Just want to say hello
I’d like to announce my fun new project, the Scatterbrain podcast - a short form podcast about technology. It’s got a temperary home over at scatterbrainpodcast.tumblr.com.
This is something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time and now, I’ve finally got my hands on a beautiful new iPhone 4 and I thought now would be a good time to just go ahead and do it. I’m...
2 tags
iPhone 4: A Retrospective, One Year Since It... →
shawn blanc:
Weird to think that a year ago today I was standing in line waiting to upgrade from my old, crappy, slow, iPhone 3GS.
Weird to think I only got mine four days ago, I guess i’m behind with the times I am behind with the times.
3 tags
Twitter's big monetization plan →
Twitter is looking to start placing ads into users timelines, reports the Financial Times. The publication cites ‘people with direct knowledge’ of Twitter’s plans that the company will begin placing “promoted tweets” into the main stream of user’s Twitter accounts.
In addition to placing ads right into the stream, other options that are being considered include a local deals option that...
3 tags
Icon Study →
Today, more than 400,000 apps are available fort the iPhone. Yet, only little public research is available on how people use all these apps. I am working on this! Especially, I am interested in how people customize and organize their devices. This study aims on exploring how people arrange icons on their devices. To take part please perform the following steps. Depending on your iPhone skills,...
9 tags
My menu bar
Inspired by the cool stuff going on over at Mac Menu Bars I thought it wouldn’t hurt to share my menu bar setup. Although its relatively short and concise compared to other peoples, it works perfectly for me and it actually helps me to get stuff done.
Sparrow: Super simple email client, the closest (and best) thing you can get to native Gmail on the Mac. Its got a one up on Mail.app as...
3 tags
Internet users now have more and closer friends... →
In a new study done by the Pew Research Center, collections of data from thousands of participants showed that people who use social networking services are now not only likely to have larger networks than those who don’t, but also have more close friends. The authors of the study don’t cite technology as the cause of our newfound friendliness, but those inclined toward social connections are now...
5 tags
Consumers Don’t Want Tablets, They Want iPads →
shawn blanc:
I don’t even think it’s an issue of the average consumer comparing the offerings and then making an educated decision that they want an iPad instead of a Xoom or a PlayBook or a Samsung Galaxy Tab. The average consumer likely doesn’t even know about all the other tablets that are out there. To them there is the iPad and there are some knockoffs they saw zip-tied to a cardboard end...
5 tags
First thoughts on MeeGo and the N9
engadget:
The Clear Black AMOLED display is truly a sight to behold, with stunning viewing angles, a curved Gorilla Glass front, and some pretty excellent (for AMOLED) performance out in the sunlight. We compared it side by side with a Super LCD-equipped Incredible S and the N9 more than held its own. The screen is easily one of this new phone’s great strengths, though we’d argue the...
4 tags
iPhone 4 Becomes The Most Popular Camera On Flickr →
A huge achievement for Apple, and completely deserved.
(via MacStories)
5 tags
Suspected LulzSec “Mastermind” Arrested →
Justice, at last.
(via The Next Web)
(see also The Hacker News)
6 tags
250 isn't just a number →
So Apple showed off OS X Lion again at WWDC, compared to the last time they talked about it, and the previews we’ve seen since then, they didn’t talk about anything much else - sticking to multi-touch, full screen app’s, mission control, launchpad etc. all of which is exciting to see and a nice refresh to OS X but nothing that we didn’t know already. Since then though...
2 tags
Internet braces for '.Vegas' and other not-coms →
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will be meeting on Monday in Singapore to vote on its expansion plan for domain names. I’m not completely sure how I feel about this, there are obvious pro’s and con’s, if the notion is approved we’ll apparently be seeing domain suffixes “in Arabic, Chinese and other scripts” which would cause massive...
1 tag
Apple could buy the mobile phone industry →
(via asymco)
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Yahoo Maps API closing. Devs pointed to Nokia Ovi... →
I don’t know what it says about Yahoo that they have directed developers to use Ovi Maps considering Yahoo use Bing behind the scenes, it’s at least an interesting move. To another point though Yahoo have obviously completely lost their direction, and I respect them for having to make tough choices like this one, but at this point they’re well off course and I don’t think...
4 tags
Inside Search →
Since Google’s Inside Search event i’ve been trying to figure if the new Google search stuff is groundbreaking or just convenient. With five new additions to Google search on the desktop and on mobile it’s obviously a great improvement but it’s still left me feeling a little cold.
Without a doubt, image search seems insane - allowing you to perform a Google search with...
2 tags
Google's Musical Doodle Lives On With Its Own Web... →
Google’s guitar-inspired Doodle has taken its three simple chords and migrated to its very own web page.
Very nice.
(via Digg)
5 tags
Songs, Books and Apps: What do the three media... →
Obviously, apps are going to be more popular than songs since many are free. And obviously songs are going to be more popular than books because many are much cheaper.
But painting this picture with price is only a rough sketch. The ways that these media are consumed (and consumable) fills in the details. The amount of energy needed to enjoy each varies greatly. The “digestibility” of the...
3 tags
iOS 5 To Feature Panoramic Camera Option? →
Now that sounds extraordinary. The big way Apple can really trounce Android and others in the mobile OS space is to figure out the big stuff; notifications, multitasking, but also make it do insanely cool stuff right out of the box that you don’t see on any other platform, and to do it in a seamless way. Stuff like Twitter integration, editing in the Photos app, makes iOS really stand out...
8 tags
What Safari’s Reading List means for Instapaper →
Today, fewer than 1% of iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch owners are Instapaper customers, despite Instapaper spending a lot of time (including today) at the #1-paid-app spot in the App Store’s News category for both iPhone and iPad. The potential market is massive, but most people don’t know that they need it yet.
When iOS 5 and Lion ship, Apple will show a much larger percentage of iOS-device...
5 tags
The grand screw
In my humble opinion, one of the best features announced for iOS 5 was Twitter integration: making it “easier to tweet from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch”. You sign in once in Settings, and can then tweet directly from Safari, Photos etc. as well as Twitter integrating with Contacts allowing for quick @ messaging. It’s also the most worrying feature as well though, I would bet...
4 tags
Brief speculation on Voice Recognition
Although iOS 5 looks to be a truly huge update, the one thing we didnt see in iOS 5 which was rumored was voice recognition. Now either the feature was just complete speculation from people and was never planned for iOS 5, or, as I think, it was true - someone had seen a version of iOS with voice recognition running on a device internally, but the version wasn’t destined to be iOS 5.01. I...
5 tags
The Elusive Five Star Review →
The Elusive Five Star Review is a podcast focused on the successful design and development of iOS and Mac applications, hosted by two developers. In each episode, Cameron and Mike will discuss Apple news and interview successful developers about their development strategies.
In our first episode, Cameron and Mike sit down to interview Neven Mrgan. Neven’s a designer at Panic and also...
3 tags
