Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 22nd Sep 2010 17:58 UTC
As I was casually browsing around today, I came across this blog post. It's about the recently released VLC media player for the iPad, which you can use to play just about any video under the sun on your iPad. The blog post is a complaint about a bit of help text that's not properly rendered inside the application - annoying, but no dealbreaker. Until I actually read the text - this is how you're supposed to get content on your iPad?
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Member since:2005-07-06
I never liked how iTunes and other apple products work with it for media. I am a fan of the drag and drop and your done philosiphy. this is just apples way of ensuring it remains the central hub for your digital and media driven life. once they let go of that control its hard to reestablish that, BUT if they never let it go they reign supreme (steve jobs style thinking).
it allows apple to be at every stage of use in its product line. good for business, bad for consumers...
(hell for people like us!)
it allows apple to be at every stage of use in its product line. good for business, bad for consumers...
(hell for people like us!)
Drag and drop only works well if you have a small library of music and movies but as soon as you get into the gigabytes in size it becomes very cumbersome. For example I had a Cowon D2 player and used the drag and drop methodology - the problem was I had over 20GB of music and it would take ages each time it would reboot as it would re-index all the songs over and over again - same can be said for the Sandisk Sansa which had a similar flaw (made worse that the more music you had the more sluggish the interface was).
I would have preferred Apple to adopt something like MTP but I hardly see it as much of a barrier if one is going to be 'All Apple' which is pretty much where I sit - and there are viable alternatives to the iPod the question is whether you're willing to give up the coolness status associated with Apple.
Member since:2007-09-06
The could easily provide a device that gives you drag and drop with the option to use a media manager application. The current problem is providing devices that only allow a media manager in absence of the drag/drop option.
With Amorak, I can mount the device and have the media manager dump content to the device directly. I can dump to a Portable directory and rsync/ssh it to the device (my current method since it allows update through any network connection). I can simply open the content library and drag or ssh files without touching the media manager. That's world better than being required to connect a wire and run Itunes or outright void the device warranty.
Consumers could have it both ways and choose what works best for there needs if the device manufacturers would stop playing BS walled garden games.
Member since:2007-09-06
From the moment I had my first MP3 player that simply displayed as a flashdrive, required sync software has been a near deal breaker. One can provide a product which presents as a flashdrive and provides a media manager for syncing content. They could provide the device for both basic and advanced users.
This is actually one of my complaints about the Ithingy overall; WTF do I need Itunes to activate my phone for? Devices that are that user limiting can get stuffed. I'll stick with what I got that blows 32 GeeBees out of the water and gives me the easy choice of SSH or plugging it in like a flashdrive.
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:58 UTC
"The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/17/13 17:52 UTC
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 21:03 UTC
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 20:46 UTC
"And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 17:32 UTC
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 11:39 UTC
"The key takeaway we've reached (after two less than 24 hours playing with the iOS 7 Beta release) is this - every App must consider even basic updates to its UI to survive in a post-iOS 6 world." Great. Telling developers to update their entire application - user interface and behaviour alike - to target a look and behaviour that isn't final yet. Seems like potential for a lot of wasted work here.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/14/13 11:32 UTC
"Overall the app is really basic, and designed for on the go editing. Microsoft says it's not planning to create an iPad version, noting that tablet users can utilize the Office Web Apps instead. We'd like to see some additional options for editing, including more clear options for text formatting and the ability to insert and change images, but it's a solid attempt for something you're only really going to use for editing in emergencies." A resounding meh can be heard from all over the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 19:39 UTC
"Today, most people are using modern browsers that support the majority of the latest web technologies. Better yet, the usage of legacy browsers is declining significantly and newer browsers stay up to date automatically, which means the leading edge has become mainstream. Given these factors we've decided to retire Chrome Frame, and will cease support and updates for the product in January 2014." Eh.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 14:45 UTC
The Next Web: "First of all, many of the new icons were primarily designed by members of Apple's marketing and communications department, not the app design teams. From what we've heard, SVP of Design Jony Ive (also now Apple's head of Human Interaction) brought the print and web marketing design team in to set the look and color palette of the stock app icons. They then handed those off to the app design teams who did their own work on the 'interiors', with those palettes as a guide. We've also been hearing that there wasn't a whole lot of communication between the various teams behind say, Mail and Safari. And that there were multiple teams inside each group that were competing with various designs, leading to what some see as inconsistencies in icon design. Those may well be hammered out in days ahead." What. Reminds me of how Microsoft does (used to do?) things.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 06/13/13 11:43 UTC
"The German Parliament, the Bundestag, has introduced a joint motion against software patents. The resolution urges the German government to take steps to limit the granting of patents on computer programs. In the resolution, the Parliament says that patents on software restrict developers from exercising their copyright privileges, including the right to distribute their programs as Free Software. They promote the creation of monopolies in the software market, and hurt innovation and job creation." After New Zealand, we now have one of the most powerful economies in the world moving to ban software patents for all the reasons smart people have been outlining for years. also: "The government should also push to ensure that software is covered by copyright alone, and that patent offices (including the European Patent Office) stop granting patents on software." Germany is not a country the EU can ignore. Very good news, this.More News »
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Member since:
2005-07-13
I never liked how iTunes and other apple products work with it for media. I am a fan of the drag and drop and your done philosiphy. this is just apples way of ensuring it remains the central hub for your digital and media driven life. once they let go of that control its hard to reestablish that, BUT if they never let it go they reign supreme (steve jobs style thinking).
it allows apple to be at every stage of use in its product line. good for business, bad for consumers...
(hell for people like us!)