Based on the game of the same name. It’s in Steam.
You’ve played the game, now… read the book? Wait, what?
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Multiple word dictionary corrections in iOS 4
Increasingly, I’m seeing that the dictionary in iOS is growing more
intelligent – first with replacements, and now with multiple-word
suggestions.
legitimate – I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever typed “VHS fell Erik on”
anywhere before this post. Good to know it’s trying, though 🙂
Business Insider will probably add an inflammatory headline about Joel Spolsky or Jason Calacanis here
But programmers are a special case. Because not only will they tell you how wrong you are, but they’ll also tell you how stupid and idiotic you are, and they’ll mathematically prove it, and you should never program again, and you should be fired, you moron. Their attacks are all-out personal insults on your intelligence, but much better written and argued than most internet commenters.
For the life between buildings – some notes on the iPad
It’s a device for cities.
It’s not that it couldn’t be used in rural environments of course; just that it wouldn’t be. The general lack of third spaces in such places means that a phone and a PC are sufficient. By living in cities, in other peoples’ places, a different kind of device becomes appropriate. Something light and small enough to fit in a handbag or satchel, yet powerful and productive nonetheless. In the old view of city living – say, the classic Parisian apartment – the small size of dwelling meant that the bistro downstairs at the street level of the block becomes the dining room, the bar/coffee shop becomes the living room, the shared courtyard becomes the garden, and so on. While this vision is hopelessly romantic, there are numerous urban variants on this kind of living, and these transient (yet personal) spaces are where the iPad will fit right in. (Again, exurban environments clearly have coffee shops too, but they are not part of a integrated system of living in the same way. And so different tools will suffice.)
As software becomes a service, data resides in the cloud, various forms of wireless connectivity coalesce over the city, and yet face-to-face physical connection becomes more important than ever, a device like the iPad becomes obvious. The cloud is the connective tissue between these spaces, the software provides the platform for interaction with information, the tablet is the tool, and the forum is the city.
via cityofsound: For the life between buildings – some notes on the iPad.
Spies Like Us: Top U.S. Intel Officer Says Spooks Could Learn From Journos
American intelligence in Afghanistan is broken, says the top U.S. intelligence officer there. That’s because it focuses too much on whacking Taliban, and not enough on figuring out Afghanistan’s social and cultural landscapes. But the report from Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn, the top intelligence aide to International Security Assistance Force Commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal, raises lots of other issues, too. Like, what happened to the military’s “human terrain” programs to map those landscapes? Can spies really perform better if they think and work like journalists? And why is this report being publicly distributed through a think tank?
via Spies Like Us: Top U.S. Intel Officer Says Spooks Could Learn From Journos | Danger Room | Wired.com.
On the iPhone 4’s antenna…
“Does it have that antenna issue?”, to which I reply no* – “Is that because of the case you have?”, which elicited another terse no from me.
from Wherefore art thou iPhone, part ii.
Someone pointed out to me that I hadn’t actually gone on to clarify the antenna thing (I’m hesitant to use the word “issue”), so here’s clarification.
Bottom line: antenna issue or not, it doesn’t affect my day-to-day usage of the iPhone 4.
I’m not saying there’s no antenna issue – yes, you can drop bars (and perhaps bras if you’re dyslexic, but that’s a whole other story), and perhaps if you were using the iPhone 4 on a substandard carrier (*cough*Optus*cough*), you’d be able to drop calls. Maybe.
The fact is, all phones can drop bars when you attenuate the signal; the only “issue” here is that because the iPhone 4’s antennas are on the outside, the effect is more readily apparent than it would be on your Nokia, for example.
In my mind, and from what I’ve read on the interwebs, Apple knew about this antenna issue long before the iPhone went into production. Apple knew about it, and did nothing. Why? Because they likely figured the trade-off between vastly improved signal in more areas was worth the moderate signal loss in a very specific use case (i.e. holding the phone in a “death grip” or such a position like you’re going to punch yourself with the phone in the palm of your left hand).
At the end of the day, yes, I can get the phone to drop bars. No, it doesn’t affect my day-to-day usage of the device. Maybe it’s because I don’t actually call anyone, maybe it’s because I don’t hold the phone in such a way as to bridge the gap between the antennae, maybe it’s because I have a case that prevents me from being in contact with the antennae.
The vast majority of people I’ve been in contact with, or read opinions from, that have an iPhone 4 don’t experience these issues either.
Calling someone a “fail” because they bought a device with a very specific issue is just plain ignorance on your part – since when have we ragged on people just because they have to replace the batteries in their wireless mice, for example? To gain freedom from oppressive cables, they’ve had to reach some sort of compromise in other areas – namely, having to replace batteries every now and again.
It’s the same with the iPhone 4; for Apple to provide vastly improved signal in more areas, they had to devise a solution which meant that a small percentage of users had a specific use case in which they would experience call drop-outs and a reduced signal.
Okay, so say Apple knew about the issue and did nothing. Say their engineers haven’t been thinking of a solution. I’ve read that some sort of protective coating could have been applied to the stainless steel antennas to prevent any attenuation, but certain properties of stainless steel prevented that from being a cost-effective solution. Perhaps Apple knew that there was an issue with the antennae and hence came up with the Bumper as a solution to this problem.
Whichever way you cut it – the fact that the antennae are on the outside of the phone doesn’t have any impact in how I use the device. At the end of the day it’s a vast improvement on any previous iPhone model, and yes, I’m including the antenna design in that statement.
Required further reading: Daring Fireball’s Antennagate Bottom Line, and the subsequent Antennagate Addendum.