Abstraction Foundry » Apple

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-03-14

John T Davis — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:30:00 +0000

Danny DeVito brand Italian lemon liquor. Just wanted to let you know this existed in the universe. Also, I want this picture on a shirt. http://yfrog.com/0awl7qj #
Just installed VMWare Fusion 3 and opened my VMWare Fusion 2 Windows XP image. Entire computer has slowed to a crawl. App unusable. #
Bought Star Trek from iTunes; 2+ hours to download on a 10 megabit connection. 4 GB hidef version + 1.83 GB SD version + 1.47 GB “extras.” #
Just to clarify: that’s over 7 GB of information downloaded in less than 3 hours. We live in the future, and it is awesome here. #
Prediction: The Apple/HTC patent spat will never be decided in court. HTC/Apple will work out a cross-licensing deal to avoid trial. #
APPL doesn’t want to go to court over this and give HTC a chance to invalidate their patents. Think of it as aggressive license negotiations #
Time change tonight. Everybody set your clocks an hour ahead before you crash. I hate springing forward, wabbit. #

Technorati Tags: Danny DeVito, HTC, iTunes, VMWare Fusion

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-02-14

John T Davis — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 11:30:00 +0000

The Chocolate Rain Guy and the Numa Numa Guy just showed up in the same Super Bowl Commercial.
… So awesome. #
Interception + Touchdown NO. Shazam! NO is in ur passes, stealing ur footballs.
Also, I love Tim the Crazy Dorito Assassin Guy. #
Really interested in using Mint.com for personal finance management. … How does it get away with being free? #
Twitter, for reference, is free and non-ad supported b/c VCs and other sources infuse it with cash.
I need to find a VC to fund me. #
Breaking on TV: Iraq has ordered 100s of former/current Blackwater employees out of the country. #
RT @BreakingNews: #Iran says it will shut down access to GMail, launch own e-mail service – Wall Street Journal #
RT @jeffjarvis: WABC preempts soaps for snow but not Oprah. Thus Oprah > Snow > sex. #
"Google Buzz: Privacy Nightmare" by Molly Wood. This is terrifying. Worse than Facebook by default. Who wants this? http://is.gd/87UdC #
RT @Ihnatko: I think Apple's going to sue Marvel Comics. "Shake to undo" was an iPhone feature before it was Marvel's policy re: continuity. #
Spam of Day @ my blog: "* * * [t]here is always a person who likes you, hates you, and pretends to know you I will be back."
He'll be back. #
Really interested in the new pistol-grip #bloggie but I've heard the video quality isn't that good in "low light." Thoughts/alternatives? #
Trying my first composition (a blog post) in #Scriviner Loving it. #

Technorati Tags: Blackwater, Bloggie, Chocolate Rain, Doritos, Facebook, Gmail, Google Buzz, Iraq, Marvel, Mint.com, New Orleans Saints, Numa Numa Dance, Oprah, Scrivener, Snow, Super Bowl, youtube

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-02-07

John T Davis — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 11:30:00 +0000

RT @BreakingNews: Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts says he supports abortion rights http://bit.ly/co8PSi | Unexpected. #
Just had great idea for iPad app. But: no developer account, hardly any free time, and don't know Objective C. Best book for iPhone/ObjC? #
My 26th birthday is in exactly 4 weeks. How did *that* happen?! #
In love with new ExpertMouse (trackball). The action is smooth, & it it's much less work to manipulate a ball than sling a mouse around. #
Also, in an emergency, you can throw the trackball … ball component at your enemies. Trebuchet! #
Star Trek Online hits tomorrow. Cool! #
New #iPhone software is live. Bugfixes and security updates; nothing terribly sexy unless one of the bugs was bothering you. #
Simplenote is amazing. Totally changed the way I keep notes on my #iPhone #Mac No excuse not to keep notes, & they're always w/in reach. #
Wal-mart to layoff 300 workers at Bentonville, Ark., headquarters to trim costs – AP /via @BreakingNews | Apocalypse? #
Bankruptcy Court judges write some of the most interesting, well-written, witty opinions I've had the pleasure of reading. #
Toyota to recall Priuses — report http://bit.ly/bONpDf #
Finally had time to work my way through the rest of the Scrivener tutorial. Excellent. #
RT @BreakingNews: January unemployment rate in U.S. drops unexpectedly to 9.7 percent; employers cut 20,000 jobs – AP | Yay. Also, boo. #
45 pages of Patent Litigation reading to go. Roll out. #
Laches sounds like some sort of steamed coffee drink that you can only get at Starbucks for exorbitant fees. #legalwordsarestrange #

Technorati Tags: Abortion, Bankruptcy Court, Birthday, iPhone OS 3, Kensington Expert Mouse, Laches, Patent Litigation, Prius, Scott Brown, Scrivener, Simplenote, Star Trek Online, Toyota, Wal-Mart

The Mouse is Dead. Long Live the Mouse.

John T Davis — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:21:10 +0000

After years of faithful service, my trusty Logitech MX Revolution (no longer made; replaced with the Logitech Performance Mouse MX) is finally going in the Great Peripheral Storage Closet in the Sky. The scroll-wheel has begun its death throes, sometimes scrolling up when I’m trying to scroll down, sometimes not scrolling at all, and so forth. Twice now I’ve inadvertently cranked the volume all the way up when trying to crank it down; I’m very lucky not to have blown my speakers out. The battery has also become anemic and unstable, sometimes outright refusing to charge for extended periods of time. Actually, I’ve decided to avoid wireless desktop input devices from here on. I’m not using my computer from across the room, so I don’t really need wireless, and batteries and charging are entirely too much of a hassle. One less wireless radio transceiver pair pouring radiation into the air won’t be a bad thing, either.

I can’t really complain about the hardware failing, as I’ve had this mouse at least four years now and used it for 8+ hours every day, but I thought this a good opportunity to try something new. I’ve read that trackballs are supposed to be more ergonomic, so I decided to try one. I went looking for four buttons (I’m a geek; two buttons is simply not enough) and a scrolling mechanism of some kind, and settled with the Kensington Expert Mouse, which has the most positive reviews of the models I looked at. One of my uncles actually had one of these when I was much, much younger (like, 12 or something), so there’s the added cachet of knowing I’m getting a very mature product. Another plus: trackballs don’t move. No more need for mousepad that takes up right half of my desk. Space!

Should be here Saturday. I’m excited. (Yes, you’re allowed to call me a dork for being excited about getting a mouse. I should put that on the About page.)

Edit (January 28, 2010, 2126 CDT): Edited some typos and added some clarification (and some missing words … oops).

Technorati Tags: amazon, kensington, Kensington Expert Mouse, Logitech, Logitech MX Revolution, Trackball

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2010-01-11

John T Davis — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 09:30:00 +0000

Just left neurologist. MRI confirms brain has not turned into block of cheese. Surviving law school well so far. 1.5 years to go. #
Hacked my AppleTV to make it behave like an Xbox Media Center — that has also been hacked. It's MC Escher hacking. #
My iPhone is Lal. My Macbook Pro is Artemis. My AppleTV is Luna. My old Powerbook was Galileo. Next device: Diana or Betty or Roger. #
Law school resumes for me in 48 hours. Here we go. #
At a Manly Sports Bar of Manfulness. They're playing Elton John. This pleases me greatly. #
Uncheck a file in an iTunes playlist, and it is automatically removed from your synced AppleTV. THIS IS LAME. #
Off to get textbooks. #
Dallas folk: tomorrow 98.7 FM is doing *every Elvis hit ever* in honor of his 75th birthday. Right now: Whitney Houston. Sigh. Elvis better. #
GET EQUIPPED:
BOX OF TEXTBOOKS.

Get your weapons ready!

… Feeling retro today. [Note: Text is taken from the Mega Man 2 "New Item Acquired" Screen.] #
Oh: that Elvis thing is Friday, not Thursday. Sorry. #
I love Fisher's _Evidence_ 2d Edition. Written with a very dry, sarcastic wit that's easy to miss if you aren't careful. Makes things fun. #
@jeffjarvis Hadn't heard of the bloggie before; looks really cool. What made you decide to get this over a Flip or something else? #

Technorati Tags: AppleTV, Bloggie, Elton John, Elvis, Evidence, MC Escher, mega man, MRI, Neurology

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-12-28

John T Davis — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Is it me, or does being on an EDGE network make #iPhone battery drain really fast? #
Just ordered myself a new #AppleTV. #Apple will now probably refresh the thing in a week. #
#iPhone battery life is abysmal. Can't even survive a 24 road trip. Really hope the next model fixes this. #
Watching Disney Christmas Parade. Most captivating thing is Kelly Ripa's way-buff arms. They're comic book superheroine arms. Wow. #
Feeding cardboard (e.g.: from a shipping box) through a paper shredder really cleans out the treads. Like fiber for office equipment. #
Hooking up new Apple TV. Just saw this electrical fire waiting to happen. I don't even know what that plug is. http://yfrog.com/3nqflhj #
Snag. I have no AV cables, & no Ethernet cable. Found two phone cords, a speaker set, playing cards, & a DSL modem. Also, a surge protector. #

Technorati Tags: AppleTV, Christmas, Disney, EDGE, Kelly Ripa, Paper Shredder, Parade

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-11-29

John T Davis — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Bank of America has a very svelte mobile web #iPhone experience. Definitely better than Chase's native app. @gruber would approve. #
Happy Thanksgiving, all. #
@choochoobear Great comic, as usual. Also, "The Ballad of Barry Allen" is indeed awesome. in reply to choochoobear #
@GMFett Get any ducks? in reply to GMFett #

Technorati Tags: Bank of America, Something*Positive, Thanksgiving, The Ballad of Barry Allen

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-10-25

John T Davis — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 02:30:00 +0000

#iPhone syncing/communication with iTunes has been horrid lately. Can't tell if it's the latest iPhone software update or latest #iTunes. #
#Amazon to release free #Kindle software for PC http://bit.ly/3LGrH0 | mac support? #

Technorati Tags: amazon, iPhone OS 3, kindle

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-10-11

John T Davis — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:30:00 +0000

FTC: Bloggers must disclose paid reviews http://bit.ly/2KxU2 | lends credit to blog journalists, theoretically. Not read the regs yet. #
RT @jeffjarvis: FTC guidelines PDF here (took me awhile to find a working link): http://bit.ly/RbFnW | @jeffjarvis has scathing remarks. #
@ElizabethKnox For Time Machine, you'll want something at least twice the capacity of your HDD. Also, Firewire is preferable. Budget? in reply to ElizabethKnox #
By all that is Awesome: Adam West doing Batmanish Voiceovers for Lending Tree commercials: http://is.gd/43G2d. Great Scott! #
What's the new carrier settings file w/ #iPhone OS 3.1.2 do? I already had the MMS enabling update. #
MRI time. Must make sure brain is where I left it. #
Just left hospital. 3 hours for MRI. Food now, please. #

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Firewire, FTC, iPhone OS 3, MRI, Time Machine

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-10-04

John T Davis — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 02:30:00 +0000

RT @twitter: New mechanism for discovery and curation coming soon! http://bit.ly/JKMbK | Buddy list groups for Twitter! Seriously awesome. #
@samsf2la I'm most excited about "User Groups" becoming a part of the Twitter API. Prolific followees are currently unmanageable. in reply to samsf2la #
@GMFett Joss Whedon? in reply to GMFett #
Oldest human-linked skeleton found http://bit.ly/1jImGu #
@legalgeekery How about something to do with the 9th's Circuit's recent evisceration of the Plain View Doctrine? in reply to legalgeekery #
Overslept severely today. I must conclude I need an alarm clock capable of physical violence when ignored. Screw the first law of robotics. #
Adorable ghost girl sells candy at CVS. Ambiguous: is her name Candy? I demand answers. Also pie. http://yfrog.com/16o73uj #
#Mac Gripe 354: Turn your system volume all the way down. It'll still make (very quiet) sounds. Lowest volume setting should ALWAYS be mute. #
I've been hearing good things about Top Men. If you are a Top Man interested in a position full of excitement & cheeses, send your resume. #

Technorati Tags: Alarm Clock, Fossils, Halloween, Plain View Doctrine

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-09-27

John T Davis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Just got battery replaced for free at Apple Store, under warranty. Would have cost $100 plus labor. Extended warranty for the win. #
Twitter followee overload. If I unfollow you today, it's only until I figure out how to better manage my follow list. #
My day is not complete, nor even truly begun, without a fistfight with Microsoft Word. Eugh. #
RT @rocketmatter: Chuck Norris passed the bar exam in every state. Without studying. (via @maclawstudents) #
RT @amber_benson: This picture was taken in one of my favorite spots in all of the world: http://is.gd/3BlQT | Sydney, AU Dust Storm #
Win a new Canon 7D (or 2500 photo scans) from @ScanCafe & Scott Bourne. Pls RT. Details here: http://bit.ly/dgYgA #

Technorati Tags: AppleCare, Austrailia, Canon, Canon 7D, Chuck Norris, Dust Storm, microsoft word, Scott Borne, Sydney

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-09-20

John T Davis — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

@ElizabethKnox Switching to Squarespace? in reply to ElizabethKnox #
@ElizabethKnox I'm waiting for Twitter integration before I contemplate a switch. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
Someone left this hairclip on the bathroom sink. Thought it was a spider. Too tired to panic. Though. http://yfrog.com/03y7rj #
RT @tabinstyle RIP Mr.Swayze RT @PhoenixArizona: PHX-AZ: Publicist: Actor Patrick Swayze Has Died http://bit.ly/23DhEb (via @mduncanvm) #
#iPhone Help Needed: I don't have any accessibility options under my General Settings on OS 3.1. What am I doing wrong? #
Wait. Is #iPhone OS 3.1' accessability stuff only for the 3GS? I have a 3G and can't see any of the options. #
@danielpunkass And everyone talks about how the web will become the OS. I really don't get why so many people think this is a great idea. in reply to danielpunkass #
My #Macbook Pro no longer puts itself to sleep when the battery gets low. It just shuts off. Is my battery dying? Help? #
@danielpunkass You make an interesting point, even if in jest. The fact that everyone's so eager for the web to be the OS is mind-boggling. in reply to danielpunkass #
Battery died and now claims only sixteen minutes to charge. Yeah. It's definitely busted. #
Is your bank ‘underwater’? Check its debt level here http://bit.ly/1QP3fU #
Saw Facebook singles ad w/ topless woman holding basketball over chest. Facebook ads == wannabe softcore porn. Why do we put up with this? #
That these ads are supposedly targeted is insulting. #Facebook must know business/pro users will never take them seriously w/ ads like this. #
@ElizabethKnox I fear those thumbs-down things. What if it's like trying to opt out of spam? "We've got a live one! Fire the missiles!" in reply to ElizabethKnox #
@ElizabethKnox I'll start doing it, then. Still, I maintain most of these ads aren't very classy at all. I think I'm having nerd rage. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
@Ihnatko How is that different from (at least a substantial percentage) of pro football? in reply to Ihnatko #
Staying up late to do Secured Transactions homework. #
Reading about farmee and farmor, which are just the assignee and assignor in a farmout agreement. Helpful terminology? Confusing? #
Just got done w/ Remicade infusion. Should be able to go another 8 weeks w/o turning into a pumpkin. #
Somewhere on the Internets, a giant mob of escaped Twitter avatars has gathered. There are many copies, and they have a plan. (via @wilw) #
Productivity. Already cleared Secured Transactions and some of Oil and Gas Contracts. Also got Remicade and laid siege to Kinko's. Svelte. #
Missed Kanye West outburst. For days, been seeing "Yo. Imma let you finish…" & wondering if someone dropped a language bomb on the 'nets. #
Everyone who thinks we can categorically say there isn't alien life just b/c we can't find it, see: http://is.gd/3qbeg. We're cosmic ants. #
@danfrakes I have an MX Revolution. Great mouse. I use the Mac's built in mouse controls and can control everything save the thumbwheel. in reply to danfrakes #
In Oil and Gas, "Support Agreements" are sometimes called "Letter Agreements," presumably b/c their function was otherwise too obvious. #
My #MacBook battery holds only 30% charge after 66 cycles. It's warranted to hold ~80% charge after 300 cycles. To the Apple Store. #
@choochoobear Is that a little or a lot for con tables? in reply to choochoobear #
On phone with Apple. Less than 2 minutes to get on the phone with a real live person. AppleCare is awesome. #
iStat Server thinks my iPhone's name is "Buffy's Phone." This is not at all the case. What's going on? #

Technorati Tags: Aliens, Cloud Computing, Facebook, Financial Crisis, Hairclip, iPhone OS 3, iStat Server, Kanye West, Logitech MX Revolution, MacBook Pro, Oil and Gas Contracts, Patrick Swayze, Remicade, Secured Transactions, Squarespace

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-09-13

John T Davis — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Anybody familiar with #GoDaddy's Universal Terms of Service? ¶4 ("Account Security") looks ominous. Standard for domain registrars? #
@dotinvesting Thanks! When I get one before I spend money, I try to read the EULA/TOS, even if it's like eating angry bees. Not fun. in reply to dotinvesting #
Why do casebooks never specify defendant & plaintiff? Case names are inconsistent; reading a few ¶s to figure out who's suing who is ungood. #
Beautiful! RT @jramey A pizza with radius "z" and height "a" has a volume calculated by pi*z*z*a. (via @danfrakes) Math is delicious. #
So Don Cheadle will be playing Jim Rhodes in Iron Man 2. I personally think this is interesting and probably awesome. Thoughts? #
AT&T Announces Rollout for 7.2 Mbps 3G service: http://is.gd/354R2. Service in some cities by year-end. #
@wilw Amazon tries to get me to buy organic oatmeal and ricecakes now. No idea why. All I buy is scifi, fantasy, and computer equipment. in reply to wilw #
Downloading #iPhone OS software update. Incredibly slow. 2+ hours to get it. Is #Apple having load balancing issues? #
@fraserspeirs Could you elaborate on this? I haven't listened to #MBW 156 yet. in reply to fraserspeirs #
iTunes 9's Home Sharing auto-copy feature only supports stuff bought through iTunes. Lame. What about CDs I own & convert to AAC/AL/MP3/WAV? #
RT @daringfireball: More Logical File System Organization With iTunes 9: http://✪df.ws/dqw #
@jsnell How does Sizzling Keys compare to Cover Sultra? in reply to jsnell #
@ElizabethKnox When 9/11 happened, I was sitting on my bed tying my shoes getting ready to go to class (high school). Watched 2d plane hit. #
RT @NASA: Image of the Day: A Day of Remembrance: Visible from space, a smoke plume rises from Manhattan .. http://bit.ly/K60gS #
RT @patricknorton: NYC as seen from space on 9/11 2001 by ISS Expedition 3 … http://bit.ly/3u4Lba (via @NASA) | Better link. #
RT @danfrakes: Confirmed with Apple: iTunes 9 Home Sharing's auto-transfer feature works only with iTunes-purchased media. #
@ElizabethKnox At least you still make them. My blog has devolved into little more than weekly archive posts of my tweets. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
Mac Users: Option+R makes the Registered Trademark symbol: ®. Just … thought I'd throw that out there. #
@ElizabethKnox I think I'd be better about it if anyone besides viagra/cialis and mortgage spam bots commented. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
Ever notice courts interpreting laws never consider that lobbyists might have been hosing money around to get a result? Guess they can't. #
Reading about how to build an "oncomouse." Patent law is awesome. #
@_Rockman_ She wanted self-defense weaponry and you gave her a vacuum? Is it combat capable? Liking the flowers, though. Very Jubilee. in reply to _Rockman_ #
@_Rockman_ That IS impressive. I'm certainly feeling less pleased with my vacuum that struggles to pick up popcorn bits. in reply to _Rockman_ #
Help! What's the easiest way to restore default carrier settings on an #iPhone? After updating to 3.1, I can't get any voicemail. #
Haven't been getting voice mail for two days. Trying to fix now. Not good. #
In search of the Big Fish. #
Using #Apple Numbers.app to put together a very simple spreadsheet. No formulas. Mostly text. Horrible, horrible lag on every operation. #
Ten percent of mammoth spreadsheet thingie done. #
Numbers.app seems to have recovered from the super lag flu it had yesterday. Thank the heavens. #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 20% done. #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 40% done. #
@Ihnatko Is anyone talking about football while decorating an unrelated extravagant cake? That would clearly be the 9th Circle. in reply to Ihnatko #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 80% done. #
Crazy Spreadsheet Happy Time: 100% done. Finally. Eugh. #
Anyone else seeing snail-speed downloads from #iTunes? Or is my connection just borked for the evening? #
Banner weekend for getting stuff done. Reading in 4/5 classes done for week; Trademark assignment very close to finished. Now: exhausted. #

Technorati Tags: 9/11, amazon, at&t, Casebooks, Don Cheadle, GoDaddy, iPhone OS 3, Iron Man, iTunes, MacBreak Weekly, Patents

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-09-06

John T Davis — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 02:30:00 +0000

@choochoobear Why Baloo? Wouldn't Kit be more fitting for that role? Baloo could still be his murdered dad. Where do Rebecca and Molly fit? in reply to choochoobear #
I'd like to auction off a domain name I'm no longer using. Any guides/advice to picking a service to do this? #lazytwitter #
@louarmstrng Thanks, but I'm not looking for hosting (already using Dreamhost). I've got an extra domain I'm not using I'd like to sell. in reply to louarmstrng #
@jsnell are you envisioning Pixar-style Marvel movies, too? in reply to jsnell #
Canadians bristle over U.S. health care rhetoric http://bit.ly/vLSE7 #
For blind Facebook iPhone users: Voiceover support is coming … 3.02 update out soon which supports accessibility. (via @joehewitt) #
@legalgeekery For one, bannings don't account for disabled students (like me) who could not work without one (or less optimal substitute). in reply to legalgeekery #
Got Snow Leopard today. Can't wait to install it once I know my critical apps all work. Nice box art, too. #
Not a fan of the legal doctrine of laches, if only because I've yet to break myself of typing "latches" every time I try to talk about it. #
Am stupid. Just realized the bad but flaccid "Trade Federation" in the Star Wars prequels was likely a dig at flagging Star Trek franchise. #
@choochoobear Well, they've got to repel demonic forces *somehow.* I personally would've also included mystic runes on the doorframe. in reply to choochoobear #
Off to IP Licensing. Excelsior! #
@joehewitt I may have to use Romote Disc for my MBP, as the DVD drive is borked. in reply to joehewitt #
@joehewitt are there instructions somewhere for using a USB image? in reply to joehewitt #
Quick survey, because I'm curious: How common is the word "vacay" to refer to vacation(s)? Just heard it in a commercial. #
Overwrote all my Secured Transactions notes by accident. Autobackup would've sealed my doom, but luckily it failed to run and I got em back. #
To clarify, if my backup system had worked right, I'd have been hosed. Suddenly understand why Time Machine is awesome and I should use it. #
And now my mouse appears to be failing. Oh. It's gonna be one of *those* days. #
Just now got my Secured Transactions notes back to where they were Monday (backup was a bit out of date). So much for starting early. #
Update: Mouse not non-functional as originally thought. Desk surface so dirty mouse can no longer track movement. That's encouraging. #
I can haz brownout? #
§ 547 (Preferences) of the Bankruptcy Code makes the computer scientist in me cry. Overly long statutes are like overly long functions. #
Bankruptcy Code § 548 is little better. Eek. #
It'd be really svelte if #Apple rolled the #iTunes Remote app into #iPhone's iPod app so I could control iTunes w/o changing apps. #
UCC Art. 9 & Bankruptcy Code more like water & oil in a drill rig than peanut butter & chocolate. You need both, but they dirty each other. #
@mduncanvm do you have some articles for this. Sounds awful. I use VMWare. in reply to mduncanvm #
Terrifying moment earlier while typing when my hand completely locked up. Had to flex it to get it moving again. Hope it was a just cramp. #
@legalgeekery What are you replacing your MBP with? in reply to legalgeekery #
@TRexing Did you get a new computer? in reply to TRexing #
RT @TUAW: Cartoon Creator – a great introduction to animation in an app http://bit.ly/KcSYj [post] #
Amazon has started recommending various brands of oatmeal & rice cakes to me in email. Insulted in various ways, even though I like oatmeal. #
SuperDuper! has stopped running automatic nightly backups. Wonder if it has anything to do w/ the exclusion list I set up. Not easy to do. #
Is there a #mac app for wiping the empty space on a harddrive? #lazytwitter #
I'm getting very frequent "secure connection failed" errors in #Tweetie for #iPhone by @atebits. Is anyone else seeing this? #
AppleInsider – AT&T agrees to first constantly connected third-party iPhone app http://bit.ly/1NmLHD (via @AppleMacGeek) #
AMBER ALERT: Jourdan Keel, 4yr old, Trotwood, Ohio. http://bit.ly/v2qSZ #amberalert #ohio #missing PLEASE RT (via @dlayphoto) #
@ElizabethKnox Can't you just shoot in color and give the client the option of which they prefer afterwards? in reply to ElizabethKnox #
@ElizabethKnox I think your best bet is to provide both. People are weird about photos. What you think looks better they might think worse. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
@ElizabethKnox I'm definitely a fan of B & W photography, myself. in reply to ElizabethKnox #
Late Friday night, and I'm elbow-deep in an opinion re: California's … odd … Parole Evidence Rule as applied to license agreements. Oy. #
Oh, that's gotta hurt. The court changes/clarifies the law in your favor, and then dismisses your claim w/ laches and abandonment estoppel. #
Couple Enjoy Fantasy Wedding in Front of Huge Gundam: http://is.gd/2U6Ue. Quote: "I swear my everlasting love to Gundam in front of Gundam." #
South Dakota Supreme Court Limits Interrogation of Travelers: http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/28/2883.asp #
"Plain Talk on the 'Plain View Doctrine" http://is.gd/2U7vW 9th Circuit requires gov't to waive reliance on PVD in digital evidence cases. #
Looks like I'm not the only one having DVD drive problems. Seems endemic to several kinds of Macs. Not svelte. http://is.gd/2Uacn #
About to spend some time playng with LyX. Might be useful for drafting license provisions. Word makes life frustrating. Send pie? #
Gone through the LyX introduction and tutorial. Awesome ready to try whipping up a beautifully typeset document. Great to have a geek day. #
Any legal writers out there using LaTeX to format your docs? What templates/classes/etc. are available? #
Cannot believe I just wasted the last four hours banging my head against a typesetting program before deciding it was overkill for my needs. #
@Fisher12 That's awesome. I'm a huge fan of stylish high-contrast UIs. Reminds me a bit of the Mac OS System 1.0 Control Panel. in reply to Fisher12 #
@fraserspeirs Don't you just have to run the one-click software update thingie from the Dashboard? in reply to fraserspeirs #
#lazytweet What's safe to use to clean an LCD besides water? #
Watching Band of Brothers. Damian Lewis (Lt Dick Winters) should be cast as Captain America. That is all. #
Just discovered that staplers exist that cost over $400. I need to go lie down for a while. #
SpikeTV is running the same five commercials over and over. NOT AWESOME. #
@Pogue If you put them all in one place, don't you risk creating some sort of reality-destroying singularity? in reply to Pogue #
@Pogue For HDTVs & displays generally: can we move beyond the need for color calibration? It's non-trivial & displays ship w/ horrid color. in reply to Pogue #

Technorati Tags: amazon, Band of Brothers, Bankruptcy Code, Captain America, Damian Lewis, Disney, DVD drive, Facebook, Gundam, Healthcare Reform, Laches, LaTeX, LyX, Mac OS, MacBook Pro, Marvel, Pixar, Plain View Doctrine, Secured Transactions, Snow Leopard, Something*Positive, SpikeTV, SuperDuper!, Tale Spin, Tweetie, Visual Impairment, VMWare Fusion

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-08-30

John T Davis — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 02:30:00 +0000

First class of the year. Off to Secured Transactions. #
Just got delivery estimate from #Amazon for #Mac OS X Snow Leopard. September 1! Woo! #
Is #Tweetie on #iPhone broken again? #
@GMFett Ditto. I know I used to know how to do this efficiently and w/o too much stress. That know-how has hidden itself in my brain. Faboo. in reply to GMFett #
@legalgeekery I actually think that's a wonderful idea. Too many people fail to pay child support, apparently with little or no penalty. in reply to legalgeekery #
@eboehnisch am I correct in thinking DevonThink Pro Office is Mac OS 10.6 compatible? #
@legalgeekery task input in Things: cmd-shift-enter. Also, cmd-arrow key to switch virtual desktops, & cmd-space for Spotlight. in reply to legalgeekery #
@eboehnisch Cool. Thanks for the Snow Leopard compatibility info. in reply to eboehnisch #
@mduncanvm Mail Attachments Iconizer not functional in Snow Leopard yet? Boo. in reply to mduncanvm #
Things 1.2 released — Fasten your Keyboards! http://tinyurl.com/ndmu6d (via @culturedcode)| Snow Leopard & quick note autofill are svelte. #
FTC to ban most 'robocalls' Sept. 1 http://bit.ly/c7OdN #
@mashable RT Dual-Screen Laptops?! Yes, They’re Real (and Coming Soon) – http://bit.ly/ioE6E This is phenomenal. (via @mikervosters) #
Great read from @gruber on how to upgrade to a new release of Mac OS X. http://bit.ly/nupJb #
Just realized I need a working DVD drive to upgrade to Snow Leopard. My DVD drive is currently hosed and unusable. Crap. #
Saying something is "highly illegal" makes about as much sense as saying someone's "very pregnant." These are atomic states; all or nothing. #
RT @culturedcode: SyncTip: You can sync Things for Mac and Things for iPhone via USB or Bluetooth using tethering. http://tinyurl.com/ncnq6h #
My copy of Snow Leopard just shipped! Estimated arrival August 31. #
@fraserspeirs I just imagined Tintin's faithful pet attached to wires, as a Matrix-like node in a digital media ctr. Nightmares forever. in reply to fraserspeirs #
@eboehnisch Just to double check, how well is the version of ExactScan bundled with DevonThink Pro Office working w/ Snow Leopard? in reply to eboehnisch #
@maclawstudents I loved #snowcrash, but it seemed to end with a huge sequel hook. I wanted more Hiro and YT, and what happened to Enzo? in reply to maclawstudents #
Astrophysicists Puzzle Over Planet That's Too Close to Its Sun: http://is.gd/2ES9Q. #
Goodnight, Neverland. #
@fraserspeirs Is there a guide for installing from a portable drive? My DVD drive is hosed. in reply to fraserspeirs #
@eboehnisch I figure it's somewhat out of your hands too, since you don't develop ExactScan. It's been working fabulously lately, though. #
@maclawstudents I'd love to see YT and Hiro wreaking havoc together again. They're Crazy Awesome. Kind of like surreal Batman and Robin. in reply to maclawstudents #
@BodyofBreen What do you think of Carbonite? Aside from the fact I can't manage my own private key on a Mac, I like it pretty well. in reply to BodyofBreen #
Others have surely done it better, being that they are geniuses, but someday I'm gonna break down and deliver an epic rant on "the cloud." #
Programmers who are legal people: Do you find your bgnd helps in comprehending law? (e.g.: grantor-grantee index == linked list of trees) #
RT @whitehouse: Full video of the President's eulogy for Senator Kennedy, now up: http://bit.ly/AZ6NV #Kennedy #
Loading up #Things with my assignments for this semester. It's simultaneously reassuring and a bit overwhelming when I do this. #
@TUAW Totally agree. The animated Sun Maid is terrifying. in reply to TUAW #

Technorati Tags: amazon, Astrophysics, Carbonite, Child Support, devonthink pro office, Dual Screen Laptop, DVD drive, ExactScan, FTC, Kennedy, Mac OS, Robocalls, Secured Transactions, Snow Crash, Snow Leopard, Sun Maid, Ted Kennedy, tethering, The Matrix, Things, Tintin, Tweetie

Snow Leopard: Notes on Software Readiness

John T Davis — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:11:09 +0000

Hello, all. Much is going on with law school starting back up, and I hope to talk about it soon, but that will probably take a bit more brainpower than I honestly have at this moment. Suffice it for the moment to say things are going well, but they’re pretty intense.

As I previously mentioned when it became available for pre-order, the Snow Leopard is nearly upon us. Now, it’s been confirmed to be launching this Friday, September 28. Exciting!

… Well, I’m excited, at any rate.

Apple’s Knowledge Base has an article on known incompatible software that should be your first stop. They’ve also got a page on compatibility of printer and scanner software. A huge wealth of anecdotal compatibility information is available at the Snow Leopard Compatibility wiki on WikiDot, but it’s by no means complete. It doesn’t have DevonThink, for instance. Hopefully, if I have time this weekend I can help update it. Also, it looks to rely on user reports, whereas the list I’m compiling is based on official compatibility statements. Given that I need certain applications to work reliably and be supported, I find official statements much more useful than anecdotal reports, which may give a false sense of security. For sake of completeness, doesitworkonsnowleopard.com provides a similar service, with a much nicer UI, IMHO.

That brings me to my current point. Whenever a major new OS gets released from Apple, or Microsoft, or anywhere else, as much fun as it’d be just to go buy the thing and slap it on your PC and get all the newest bling, a certain amount of caution must be taken in making sure the software and hardware you need to actually use your computer to, you know, do things, will still work. To that end, I’m going to use this post as running tally of what I know about my production-critical stuff. Hopefully it’ll be useful to someone else besides me.

I’m certainly not the only one doing this.

These are presented in no particular order. Bold items are fully compatible. If Anyone reading this knows the compatibility status of an item I’m currently listing as “unknown,” please let me know. Thanks!

I’ve placed the table under the following cut. Also, for reasons beyond me, the table wrecks the layout of the blog. I’ll try to fix this this weekend, if I can. The table is still perfectly legible. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Changelog
Edit: Added XSlimmer info.
Edit (27 August 2009 1028 CDT): Added (1) DevonThink Pro Office info, (2) stub for OfficeJet D135 multifunction office bonanza (doesn’t that sound more fun than printer/scanner/fax/copier?).
Edit (27 August 2009 1255 CDT): Added Mail Attachments Iconizer stub.

Edit (27 August 2009 2250 CDT): (1) Added information about the Snow Leopard wiki at Wikidot and Apple’s incompatibility KB articles; (2) added info about Pixma iP5200R; (3) updated info about Epson Perfection 4490 Office; (4) added info for Things.

Edit (28 August 2009 1025 CDT): Added info for HP OfficeJet D135.
Edit (28 August 2009 1031 CDT): (1) Added info for Newsfire; (2) moved Changelog above cut.
Edit (28 August 2009 1734 CDT): (1) Added updated info on Office 2008 compatibility; (2) changed link for VMWare Fusion to Team Fusion blogpost; (3) added info for Mail Attachments Iconizer; (4) info added for SuperDuper!; (5) fixed table width.
Edit (9 September 2009 1034 CDT): Canon Pixma iP5200R information updated (new drivers available!).
Edit (10 September 2009 2222 CDT): (1) On the Job information added; (2) doesitworkonsnowleopard.com link added; (3) HP OfficeJet D135 info updated; (4) Carbonite information updated; (5) updated to account for 10.6.1’s release.

Item	Compatibility Status
DevonThink Pro Office	Partially Compatible: Some known minor glitches in current version, but nothing making the app unusable. New SL-compatible version expected in September. Link goes to a post from Devon Technologies with more details about what does and doesn’t work. As a side-note, a bit of love for Twitter. I couldn’t find this information on their website, I guess because I was failing at Google, but a quick @reply to the President of DT got me a quick response with a link to the information I was looking for. Awesome.
Microsoft Office 2008	Fully Compatible Interestingly, MS is also claiming to have finally fixed “most” of the lingering, maddening bugs some of experience when trying to use Office 2008 with the Spaces virtual desktop feature built into Mac OS. I find it interesting that they say they had/needed Apple’s collaboration to finally fix this. I can’t quite understand what made Office so special that it couldn’t be made to work with a standard system feature that hundreds (thousands?) of other applications work with just fine. Strange.
Epson Perfection 4490 Office (Scanner)	Official Epson Statement: Partially Compatible: Rosetta Required. Click Here to check Epson’s site for 10.6 compatibility for all its products. For the Perfection 4490 Office, they’re not fully compatible yet, but say they’re working on it, and kindly suggest installing Rosetta and their Rosetta driver in the meantime, as detailed here. Personally, I’m gonna try to wait, if I can. I’d rather not have to install Rosetta if I can avoid it. I fear I’m not going to be able to hold out, as I’ve come to rely on it for my (ever more) paperless office. Drat. Apple KB Statement: Drivers included; feature completeness of drivers unknown. So, Epson says it only works under Rosetta emulation (ick) with drivers you need to download from them, but Apple seems to think it’s got working drivers included. That’s … not confusing at all. Either Apple’s KB article assumes you install Rosetta to get the “included drivers” or something else strange is going on here. At any rate, still not feeling very comfortable about my scanner under 10.6.
Canon Pixma IP5200R (Printer)	Driver software included with Snow Leopard. Though this is excellent news and means the printer will at least work (theoretically), I’m waiting to see how feature-complete these drivers are before saying the OS is fully compatible out of the box. Compatible Drivers Available on Canon’s Website HP just posted new drivers on September 7 2009. Looking at the release notes, Bluetooth printing is not supported (I didn’t even know this printer did that), and using ColorSync for color matching doesn’t seem to work yet. Interesting. At least it’ll print. Still not ready to mark this one as fully compatible. Sigh.
MarsEdit	Fully Compatible
VMWare Fusion	Version 2.0.5 (Current): Experimental Support only. For the moment, they provide only experimental support for hosting images off a 10.6 install, or running 10.6 as a guest virtual machine. For those who rely on being able to virtualize another OS, I’d see this as a major showstopper, unless booting into that OS via BootCamp is acceptable.
Samsung MagicTune	Unknown
Carbonite Online Backup	Support scheduled for October.
SuperDuper! Backup	Fully Compatible
Things (Task Manager)	Fully Compatible
NewsFire	Fully Compatible
~~HP OfficeJet D135~~	Gutenprint Drivers Included with 10.6 (Printer Support Only); no official support.
XSlimmer	Fully Compatible
Mail Attachments Iconizer	Compatibility update pending.
On the Job	Fully Compatible. as of version 3.0.2.

So, yeah. My scanner is a problem, but I kinda suspected it might be once I realized how old it was. Bother. And I’ve got enough stuff loaded into DT that no longer exists on paper that having it be not-completely-SL-ready means I would be wise to wait on it as well.

I’m not really surprised that the OfficeJet isn’t supported. It’s tres old at this point, and I lucked out getting it to run under Leopard, as it wasn’t officially supported under that OS, either. At least by the time I can finally update (I don’t expect Epson to have new scanner drivers anytime soon, so it might be a while), ~~10.6.1~~ 10.6.2 might be out, with ~~most~~ even more of the most glaring bugs crushed.

I’ll add new items to this list as they occur to me, and update the compatibility statuses as I have the time/figure out what each product’s compatibility is.

Peace out.

Technorati Tags: Canon Pixma iP5200R, Carbonite Online Backup, Cultured Code, devonthink pro office, Epson, epson perfection 4490, Gutenprint, HP OfficeJet D135, Mac OS, MarsEdit, Microsoft Office, NewsFire, On the Job, Samsung 2243BWT, Samsung MagicTune, SuperDuper!, Things, VMWare Fusion, XSlimmer

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-08-23

John T Davis — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 02:30:00 +0000

President Obama just said we're out of Iraq by 2011. …That's one way to distract the media from the Healthcare debate (such as it is). #
Giving #Carbonite online backup a try… #
RT @AnnCurry: Here's the link to NYT story that DNA evidence can be fabricated. http://tinyurl.com/pc276f #
Really liking #Carbonite online backup so far. Only major negative: encryption doesn't support user-managed private keys on #Mac. #
Swiss Bank UBS to Divulge More than 4000 Account Names: http://bit.ly/6DVr7 #
I'm contemplating learning LaTeX just so I can create templates for legal memos and briefs and have them look awesome. Need a hobby. #
@choochoobear But it's gorgeous, though. The shadows, clean lines, and shading are marvelous. Time well spent. in reply to choochoobear #
@eboehnisch Is it doable to run the DevonThink Pro Office server as a standalone application? #
Win a new Canon 5DMKII (or $2500 Gift Cert) from @OPGear & Scott Bourne. Pls RT. Details here: http://bit.ly/BqU8N #
Confirmed my DVD Drive in my #Macbook is dead. It's still covered by #Apple Care. Do I have to send it off, or will they fix in store? #
@eboehnisch I figured. I use DTOP and love it, but I don't think it'd run well on a PB G4 867MHz/1.12 GB. Thought about using PB as server. in reply to eboehnisch #
@leolaporte Personally, I'm concerned about the remaining 0.3%, though am comforted by the fact it's probably in the margin of error. in reply to leolaporte #
Day two of mortal combat with my Samsung 2243BWT monitor ends in stalemate. I'll get good color out of this thing if I have to bribe an elf. #
@leolaporte Looks delicious, and like you're having a blast. What sort of fish is that? #
It's 2009. We can smash atoms. Why is making a monitor's color/brightness/etc. look right (purple is NOT magenta) still secret voodoo magic? #
Just got someone with trustworthy eyes to run the MagicTune color calibration software on my #Samsung 2243BWT. Looking great now. #
On larger LCD monitor, I notice lower 1/3 is significantly (but slightly) brighter than upper 2/3. Same, lesser effect on my laptop. Why? #
@mduncanvm The brightness difference surprised me. Before I noticed it on MBP, thought I got a bad unit. Guess I can't do anything about it. in reply to mduncanvm #
@mduncanvm I wonder if uneven brightness is a problem on OLEDs. LCDs are like consumer digicams. Even at high/mid range flawed by design. in reply to mduncanvm #
@mduncanvm Something to look forward to. Now, if they could do something about the requisite and maddening process of calibrating displays. in reply to mduncanvm #
First day of class tomorrow. I'm out for the evening. #
Saw this on the App Store: http://is.gd/2vGKE. "Ricky," a Mario Bros. clone. Uses a Mario Mushroom for its logo. Surprised it was approved. #

Technorati Tags: Canon, Canon 5DMKII, Carbonite Online Backup, devonthink pro office, document managment, DVD drive, Healthcare Reform, Iraq, LaTeX, Monitor Calibration, Obama, Ricky, Samsung 2243BWT, Something*Positive, UBS

Twitter Weekly Updates for the Week of 2009-08-09

John T Davis — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 02:30:00 +0000

RT @BreakingNews: CNBC: Google CEO Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple's Board of Directors. (via @TUAW) – Been expecting this. Why now? #
@Ihnatko's tantalizing thoughts on Posterous. http://post.ly/1pzW #
RT @Ihnatko: Tea Egg: First Try http://post.ly/1q3K #
Allergic reaction to lunch. Breathing faintly impacted. Won't be eating that again. (via @jtdavis) – 2d time. Suspect new shrimp allergy. #
@bpot Happy birthday. Hope you have something fun planned. in reply to bpot #
Wading through a truly horrible technical support automated phone system. If I'm not back in two hours, avenge my death. #
Wow. I broke though the automated system wall to speak to a real person. I feel like I've invoked some sort of dark, soul-rending magics. #
It's rapidly devolved into an "I wish I had three monitors because two isn't enough to do all this efficiently" night. #
Cool. Eextra weight of #Mophie Juice Pack Air seems just enough to help those with shaky hands hold #iPhone still-ish while taking pictures. #
New version of DevonThink Pro Office out. #
Eye-Fi 4GB SD memory card, with WiFi connectivity. One of the coolest things I've ever seen. http://www.eye.fi/ #
Check software update, folks. #Mac OS 10.5.8 is out! (via @TUAW) – wonder if this fixes the #Safari dual monitor bug. #
@jsnell what are the earmolds for? in reply to jsnell #
Battery on my #Macbook appears to be failing. It just turned itself off with a full hour of battery left. Refused to power up sans plug. #
Exhausted. Just set SuperDuper! to make initial backup of my #Mac. Going to bed. Much to do tomorrow. #
Realized today how nice voice dialing would be on my #iPhone. Darned 3GS only features. #
RT @legalgeekery: RT @snookerst: Pay cuts coming to the Univ of CA law schools. EVERYONE is getting hit! http://bit.ly/7Dj8m #
My disc burner is making a horrible clicking noise and acting flaky, as I try to burn a hardware check disc. Faboo. #
Trying to run the hardware check disc. It's been loading for almost an hour. Have I mentioned I think the disc drive is dying? #
@Tabenclature "Bowl" is more aesthetically pleasing. And W would get cranky if we changed spelling. It's so underused as it is. in reply to Tabenclature #
I love how when Word guesses what you're doing with inserted graphics and tries to be helpful, it pretty much explodes your entire layout. #

Technorati Tags: Allergies, Eye-Fi, Mac OS, microsoft word, Mophie Juice Pack Air, Posterous, Shrimp, SuperDuper!, Telephones, Voice Dialing, WiFi

Linksys WET610N

John T Davis — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 20:16:07 +0000

I just picked up one of these wireless-to-Ethernet bridges as part of an effort to get my old PowerBook returned to active service. I won’t know how well it works until I figure out where I’m going to plug all this stuff in. There’s already too much stuff in my office. I’m literally out of power sockets, and that’s a bit disturbing.

I’ll talk more about it when I actually get it set up, but for now I’m planning a backup server (for a second backup of my computer, and a primary backup of my room-mate’s), a Growl notification server, and anything else useful I can think of. Maybe a DevonThink database server, if the old laptop (callsign Diana) can handle it. She’s only got an 867 MHz PowerPC G4 with 1.15 GB of RAM, so I’m a not sure how much she’ll do with current software without grinding to a halt.

Should be interesting.

Technorati Tags: amazon, devonthink pro office, Growl, Linksys, Linksys WET610N, Powerbook G4, WiFi

Mophie Juice Pack Air: Useful Heft

John T Davis — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 21:11:41 +0000

I mentioned in my last post on the Juice Pack that the case noticeably adds weight, and that I suspected some, like myself, might even find the added heft helped the iPhone feel more secure in their grip. Another unexpected benefit (at least, I didn’t expect it) for those of us with hands that shake enough so as to make the iPhone 3G’s built-in camera virtually useless, is that the added weight makes it easier to hold the iPhone still when trying to take a picture. I’ve been able to take markedly sharper photos since putting the phone in the Juice Pack.

On the other hand, now that I’m no longer obsessing over the image destroying shake, I’m noticing just what a lousy, noisy sensor the iPhone 3G camera has. I’d never been able to use the thing properly before, so I never really paid any attention when everyone else across the internets slammed the camera, but yikes. It’s bad enough you can see the noise on the iPhone’s relatively tiny screen. No wonder everyone was so thrilled with the camera upgrade in the iPhone 3GS. Now that I’ve mostly solved my shake problem, I find myself increasingly lusting after a 3GS for its enhanced photo quality and video capabilities. But, at least until next July it’ll cost me $700+ dollars to upgrade my phone (!), so for the time being that lust is easily extinguished.

On the plus side, by the time I can afford a new iPhone, the iPhone 3GS II Turbo Extreme will surely be out, and everyone who bought a 3GS will be bemoaning their lack of upgrade eligibility while I will be rolling in the subsidies. And by “rolling in the subsidies,” I mean “forking over an obscene amount of money for a phone, as opposed to an an outrageously obscene amount.”

Technorati Tags: Mophie Juice Pack Air

Mophie Juice Pack Air: Unboxing and First Impressions

John T Davis — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:53:56 +0000

My Mophie Juice Pack Air arrived yesterday, much to my excitement. I was kinda bored, so I thought very briefly about doing a traditional unboxing, but nixed this idea in about a nanosecond. Not only do my hands shake enough that taking a multitude of legible, good pictures with my iPhone camera is a daunting prospect, but also, as excited as I am to get an external battery pack, I’d be snapping pictures of an (admittedly impressively small) shipping box full of bubble wrap with another box in it with some more packing material in it before I even got to the cream filling case. That being said, I did snap some usable pictures, and include the link to the Flickr photoset here. Some brief thoughts…

Size and Weight

It’s certainly heavier than my last no-name case (two transparent pieces of plastic that snapped together), and I would expect it to be, given that there’s a battery hidden inside it that’s supposed to double the capacity of the phone’s internal power supply. My phone went from feeling like it weighed nothing to feeling like it weighed (a very little) something. That doesn’t seem to be too much of a tradeoff. In terms of extra height, width, and depth, the added mass is certainly noticeable, but not in a bad way. The added width does not make the phone awkward to hold, especially as the long sides of the case are curved and tapered, creating a nice grip and presenting a very thin edge around the front of the phone. Similarly, very little thickness is added to the top, no more than the length of the average well-trimmed male finger nail. On the bottom (below the iPhone’s button) there is at most 1/8″ to 1/4″ thick.

Overall, while there’s a noticeable increase in dimensions and weight, it’s so small (and so well done) that I very much doubt you wouldn’t be able to get used to it and forget about fairly quickly. Unless you tend to wear very tight fitting leather pants and need every extra quarter of an inch of pocket-space, it shouldn’t be a problem at all.

Handling

As I previously said, the shape of the case gives it a nice, comfortable fit in the hand, and some people might actually find the extra mass gives them a chance to get a better grip on the phone. Which is, I’m afraid, where one of my minor quibbles with the device comes into play. Whatever material they used to make the case, it feels a bit slick. I haven’t had it slip out of my hand yet, but the texture is smooth enough that I find myself self-consciously making sure it’s not going anywhere when I pick it up. I think this is probably something you get used to.

Appearance, Controls and Indicators

I really like the clean aesthetic. There are no buttons or indicators on the front, and the front facing Mophie logo is unobtrusive. On the back you’ll find four very bright blue power indicator LEDs, and a button next to them to toggle them on and off when the device isn’t charging. The standby switch on the bottom is very easy to flip with a fingernail or the pad of your finger, and tight enough that it can’t be easily accidentally moved. I’m sure, being a mechanical moving part, the switch would eventually wear down and loosen up, but I doubt very much this would happen during the case’s operational lifetime.

My other minor quibble is with the way the power indicator works in standby mode (e.g.: with the battery turned off) when the phone is in the case and the case is plugged into its charging/syncing cable. When I make a phone call, I notice the rightmost blue LED begin to blink, as if charging. From my understanding, in standby mode the battery should be out of the circuit and the case’s charing cable should be charging the iPhone’s internal battery. Perhaps that’s what the blue blinking light is telling me is happening, but since the LED also blinks when the Mophie is charging, this is ambiguous and a bit confusing.

Overall

Barring some unforeseen major flaw, I can’t recommend this enough. I’m very happy with its small footprint and simple operation, and once I get used to the plastic’s texture and figure out exactly how the LEDs in the back work, I won’t have anything to complain about.

Sidenote: Right now, when you register your Mophie product on their website, you get a 20% off coupon for your next purchase of anything from their store. I’m not sure how long this promo lasts.

Edit: My Flickr plugin isn’t working the way I want it to. Until I get it fixed, here’s a link to the photos.

Technorati Tags: Mophie Juice Pack Air

MacOS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Pre-Order at Amazon

John T Davis — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:08:01 +0000

As much as I might gripe at/about them for things like the Mophie fiasco, Amazon is still usually the cheapest/fastest way for me to get new gear/software. This is especially true when buying Apple products, as going through an Apple Store (even the online one) will always be more because they charge sales tax in every state.

Amazon has begun taking orders for the Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard upgrade. Going to pick mine up in a few minutes. For your convenience, some links.

I find Apple’s approach to multiple licenses interesting. Technically (unless they’ve changed something), you can buy the single user version and install it on an unlimited number of computers, as it doesn’t require any sort of activation. The only reason the family pack is available, as far as I can tell, is to service those with the sufficient budget-to-conscience ratio to want to pay extra to have a fully licensed copy of the operating system on each of their computers, even though Apple doesn’t verify your license status in any way, shape, or form.

For the record, I buy the family pack, as much as my wallet screams at me to do otherwise. My love of all things Apple helps compel me, and I just know that somewhere at Apple HQ, someone is cackling at just how insane Apple brand loyalty/fanboyism really is. Join us. We have brownies, and … iThings.

For those who need Snow Leopard Server, I’ve included a link for that as well. Looking at the price, I’m certainly glad I don’t need it. Yikes.

Just another month before 10.6 drops. Fun times. Peace.

Technorati Tags: amazon, mac os x, mac os x server

Twitter Updates for 2009-07-31

John T Davis — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 02:30:00 +0000

Having a package sent w/ cheapest UPS/FedEX? It will sit idle 24 hours or wander around (e.g.: get to dest. state, leave, return). #
iPhone 3.0.1 on the grid. Fixes critical SMS security vulnerability that allowed phones to be hacked with a text message. Get it ASAP! #
RT @cwgabriel: sneak peek at the next Automata. See me at http://bit.ly/ZRIy9 – watching Gabe draw is captivating. Great art. Svelte music. #

Technorati Tags: FedEx, iPhone OS 3, Penny Arcade, UPS

WordPress iPhone App Test

John T Davis — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:54:30 +0000

This is just a quick post to test WordPress’ official iPhone app. Does what it’s supposed to, but I have a couple complaints. Occasionally the whole app locks up as if frozen when asked to do something. Trying to add a photo taken from iPhone’s camera to an existing unsaved draft deletes the draft without warning. Also, it apparently can’t access tags stored on the server.

Probably need to look for a better client.

Technorati Tags: wordpress

My Personal Amazon Fail

John T Davis — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 22:29:52 +0000

My first real post since May, and I must confess I mostly want to kvetch about things. Specifically, Amazon. Upon traveling down to Houston the first time to handle my father’s affairs after his passing (something I don’t really want to talk about here, as I’m at heart a very private person — which has made keeping a blog with any meaningful content difficult), I found myself going hither and thither to take care of things, and handling a lot of calls/emails/web surfing on my iPhone. I’d say I used its communications functions more heavily in that first week than any other time since I bought it in January. And I discovered something I hadn’t realized before.

When you actually use your iPhone, to do, you know, things, the battery life does indeed suck. I was draining it within 8 hours of a full charge. Not great when you don’t have a car charger (more on that later). This was, quite obviously, a total pain, and seeing as I’m really starting to use the phone more and more as I continue to realize it’s potential for awesome, I decided to go ahead and pick up an external battery. As I mentioned previously, I really like the idea of an integrated case/battery pack, and right now the Mophie Juice Pack Air seems to be the best of the bunch.

I’d been holding off, though, because Mophies are expensive little things, and at the moment I’m not just dripping with disposable income. iPhone OS 3’s habit of eating the battery like a glutton at a buffet finally made me decide to drop the hammer on the purchase, though, on so on June 28 I placed an order with Amazon, which estimated a 1-3 week ship time. I wasn’t exactly thrilled having to wait a month, but considering how much money I was saving (no tax, free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime), I went with it. The local Apple Store didn’t have them in stock, either, and no one else seems to carry them that I can find.

About a month goes by, and I hear nothing, and it’s getting suspiciously close to the end of my delivery window. Then, a few days ago, I get an email from Amazon apologizing profusely and informing me there will be a delay, and asking if I would please confirm that I am okay with that. The new delivery window was August 13 2009 – September 02 2009. On their website, they now show a 1-2 month ship time.

I really wasn’t okay with that, and immediately cancelled my order. At this point I’m wondering if anyone can get their hands on one of these. I’ve been reading reviews and listening to podcasts of people who have them, so obviously there must be a way. I hadn’t wanted to do this before, because I knew it would cost me more money, but seeing as I actually want one of these things, I headed over to www.mophie.com and bought one through their online store. No sales tax, but 7+ dollars on shipping. I placed the order on July 27. It shipped July 28. I’m expecting it on Monday.

I’m not sure who to blame here, but there are obviously some supply chain problems with this product over at Amazon. I use Amazon to save money, so it’s rather irksome that I can’t get this product in a timely fashion from them, but can get it somewhere else for more money.

All that being said, if you want to save as much money as you can, there are some options. I’ve included a link to Amazon for the (very) patient, with the disclaimer that I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you’re interested in the Mophie Juice Pack (a different product–bulkier, with slightly more battery and lacking the on-off switch that turns the battery on and off), here’s a list of sellers from MySimon.

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