Tag: iPhone Posts

I’ve said it before, but I’m going to say it again: I think the iPhone would be a lot cooler if it had a temperature sensor on it. In terms of technology, all it is a single temperature controlled resistor (called a thermistor), probably worth about 5 cents. But it would be cool to be on a patio and be able to see how hot it is. I also think that if everyone opted in to given this data to a central repository, that it would be possible to increase the accuracy of our existing weather models a great deal. Currently weather models are primed using sparse initial conditions. For example, in Vancouver, I believe the only data comes from downtown, the north shore, and a weather station out in Richmond. So, three points representing a whole city. Another good idea came from my friend Alex – having a pressure […]

Yes sports fans, it’s almost that time. On Friday the highly anticipated successor to the iPhone 3GS is released. My experience so far with Rogers wireless this last week, as well as on launch days in the past, seems to indicate that Friday is going to be a complete gong show for everyone involved. Unlike the previous launches, we now have an interesting option in Canada: we can purchase an unlocked phone from the Apple store. Unless I’m mistaken, I don’t believe we’ve ever had that luxury in Canada, at least not with Rogers. I remember getting my first Motorola phone back in 2000 – the guy at the counter had to punch in the 6 digit subsidy code simply to activate it. Of course, without that code it is impossible to change carriers, which is one of the ways carriers try to keep you locked to their service. My […]

It’s true. Sure, it might not have flash, and it might not come with 3G by default. But really, do any of those things matter when you’re sitting on the porcelain god? I think not. Obviously a laptop is too big to take into the can. Well, at least I hope nobody is taking the laptop into the can (Dan Lilly, that means you buddy). That leaves the iPhone or the iPad. iPhone works decent, but really, there are usually a variety of pads in the can, so might as well add one more. It’s pretty easy to use the iPhone with one hand while grabbing some TP with the other. I imagine one will have to come up with a new posture such that the iPad is resting on a knee or something, but I’m sure it’ll probably make the whole bathroom experience that much better. I mean, I […]

It seems like I spend a lot of time at the Apple store trying to get things fixed. My current laptop has had the LCD replaced, and the main board twice now. My previous laptop also spent a few visits behind closed doors there as well. Truth be told, in the shower today I was trying to think of any other devices I’ve ever owned that have been in for repair as often, and I can’t think of any. I’ve had each of my cameras in once to the shop, once to repair a cracked LCD (I dropped it), and once for a cleaning. So other than when I drop things or get them dirty, not many of my devices crap out on their own. While in North Carolina, the power button on my iPhone mysteriously went missing. Looking at what’s left, it appears it’s just glued in with a […]

Wow, it’s only Tuesday, and already we’ve had quite the week so far at BraveNewCode. Yesterday we pulled the curtain back on a brand new Vision Critical site. Vision Critical was recently announced as the fastest growing company in British Columbia, and it was a lot of fun working with that team. Today Dale and I woke up and starting seeing some press about the new mobile versions on WordPress.com. WordPress.com is the free, hosted version of the WordPress platform, and currently has around 5 million blogs or so on it I believe. As of today, the iPhone plugin for WordPress that Dale and I created, WPtouch, is now live on WordPress.com, and is the default theme for all users viewing the site on an iPhone. That means roughly 60 million page views a month on WordPress.com will feature WPtouch. That’s obviously super cool, and we’re pretty excited about it. […]

I finished my presentation about an hour ago, and have just been drinking a bit of beer since then. I just wrote a little post over at BraveNewCode about a cool little addition I had for my WordCamp Portland presentation, and wanted to post about it here. Both Andrew Sampson and comedian Stephen Fry contributed some data and a video for my presentation, talking about WPtouch and WordPress. It was very much appreciated, and was extremely well received down here. You can read the whole entry over at BraveNewCode, or check out the video here:

I’m trying to include some stats in my WordCamp Portland presentation. I was hoping everyone who reads this might be able to answer a few questions (please only vote for the topics that are relevant to you): [poll id=”16″] [poll id=”17″] [poll id=”18″] [poll id=”19″] [poll id=”20″] Based on the results from this, I might ask a few more questions. Thanks everyone.

Just for yucks, I integrated Google Latitude into the sidebar in my blog section. Google latitude, for those that don’t know, allows people with GPS-enabled devices to share their locations with their friends (I think it can do it based on geo-IP as well, but that’s not super exciting IMO). I’m not entirely sure showing a map with all my friends on it is particularly useful to be honest, but I thought I’d toss my location up on there for something to do. Far better, in my opinion, would be integration with services such as IM, such that I can see my friend’s list sorted by distance to me. That way if I wanted to go to the bar (and drink water, as per my last post), I could find a list of people close by and blast out a quick group message. Some people are worried about privacy — […]

So my friend Adrian is a really smart guy. I think he’s completed four or more years of post secondary education, and managed the entire IT department singlehandedly at my company. I put him up to a challenge to see how long it would take him to figure out how to get the case off my iPhone 3G. Here’s the end result. Only took him 43 seconds. Not bad. This entry was written for Blogathon 2008, and in support of the Union Gospel Mission charity. If you’d like to donate to the cause, please visit the blogathon donation page and fill out the form near the middle. You can also follow the blogathon RSS feed for this site by clicking here.

Also, if you still want to be eligible to win a Nintendo Wii, head on over and fill out the survey. I haven’t been very quiet about my recent reservations about Google. I really don’t think they really have any amazing products any more, and are heading in a downward spiral. People used to brag about Google’s flat corporate structure as a huge bonus, and at first it seemed really appealing. But after recently visiting the company’s main location in MountainView, and talking to a few people, I’m more of the opinion that it’s hurt them more than it’s helped them. In fact, I think part of the reason most of their products end up being rather “meh” is that there’s just not enough corporate push to make these products any better. You see, Google puts most of their products in a perpetual beta stage. That’s normally the last cycle […]