Alex Eckermann

My life. - The Brad’s: Interface Design

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 15:55:02 +0930

My life. - The Brad’s: Interface Design

oliyoung: (via yimmyayo)

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 14:30:30 +0930

oliyoung:

(via yimmyayo)

Adobe just doesn't get it. The WIRED iPad app, the refund.

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 22:43:02 +0930

Warning: Course language. Rant.

Pure frustration and hate as I write this. I purchased the WIRED iPad application yesterday and I am about to get a refund. Why? Adobe.

Im going to assume you know about the Adobe v. Apple war which flared up when the iPad was released. Flash was absent and Adobe doesn’t like that. So when they promised a cross-compiler Apple decided that, to keep their excellent User Experience and platform stability, cross-compiling is a no go (see 3.3.1 of Apple Dev. Agreement).

Adobe fucked up, promising this cross-compiler that they would be denied using. What did they do with the iPad release looming an publishers that had sided with Adobe looking for other options? They bodged a new solution together. That “solution” is the source of my anger.

The WIRED iPad application, built with Adobe’s bodged solution, is 500MB. Yes that’s right 500MB. They [Adobe] decided that for a magazine lets just pile all the content in the binary. Were they fucking high? Do they not care about users that may not have fast internet or have download restrictions? It failed to download 4 times on my connection. 2 days and still no app.

Thats not the best part. The application just runs on image files, hence the 500MB size. In their news release about the iPad application they boast about it being a rich multimedia experience. ITS JUST FUCKING IMAGES

If Adobe is serious about trying to get onto the iPad they need to get their heads out of their arses and use something other than their own technology. Its not 1998 and no you cant get your way, Adobe. Why didn’t they make a framework for the magazine to distribute issues via HTML5 content? Adobe is really stuck on their own technology but if they, for once, used the TRULY open standards like HTML5 maybe they wont have any issues?

What brain dead moron thought putting all the images in the app binary was a good idea. Im a fairly new iPhone/iPad developer and I know thats the worst idea imaginable. It would be better to load the content remotely via, you know, the Internet.

Now to get my money back…

Macbook Pro 6,2 hardware issues

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:33:00 +0930

Well I am a little saddened to post this. My new laptop is showing some issues.

Some of you may have seen my saga one early morning where my MBP was having some difficulties booting up.

http://twitpic.com/1s5rdz

And now another issue. An interesting and noticeable pattern has shown up on the screen. I had trouble taking a photo of it but i eventually got there with the help of Photoshop for a certain (blue) colour and some post-it’s to get the camera focussed.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/6039877/IMG_6214.jpg

You will notice, probably at 100% zoom, there are some white patches in the middle of the post-it note area. They are quite visible on darker or solid colours. The patch is quite large and noticeable as I type now.

So whats wrong? The nVidia and Intel graphics switching buggy and causing the first issue and now the hi-res display has issues of its own?

Not looking good, my last 2,1 Macbook Pro lasted 3 years only with a slight display issue that was mainly caused by ware and tare.

I call for anyone with the new i7 or i5 Macbook Pro’s to check for these issues and reply back if you have the same. I have a feeling its not just me…

Telstra, credit where credit is due. iPad day 2.

Sat, 29 May 2010 18:25:54 +0930

The iPad. It’s wonderful, magical and sometimes damn useful. It becomes even more useful when you can truly use the device anywhere.

When I decided to get the 3G iPad because after using a WiFi version at WebDu it just didn’t feel magical when you have to hunt down an Internode hotspot.

So I chose Telstra. Now I’m usually the first one to chime up and hate Telstra for one reason or another but I am quite surprised. The iPad plans are quite reasonable across the board and Telstra’s plans were good, an improvement on their past plans.

Now to get to the point. After using the ‘pad for a whole day and traveling to the city I was able to always get a solid dats connection and never once did I see the signal go below 4 (of 5) bars. I had to run a speed test and the results were damn good. I was pulling 3 to just about 4 mbits from the network, which to me is damn amazing. That ‘NextG’ network isn’t a bunch of marketing BS, it actually is fast. The price is reasonable and the speed is great. So if youre undecided about what network to choose for the iPad, check out Telstra. It’s all prepaid, no contracts, so it’s risk free.

So the verdict on the device. It’s good. Now I’m not going to say great just yet. Sure it’s cool and can make me more productive in times when I cant use a laptop, like on the bus. But the applications just aren’t there just yet. Even though it has been out in the US for a while there is not a big selection of apps on the store yet. I hate how developers have chosen to charge more for iPad apps. Seriously, $12 for an app that is $2 on the iPhone, that sucks. I think I have spent just a bit over $50 on apps but I don’t have a whole lot.

As a whole the device is good. The keyboard is great and I have achieved a good speed on it, testing it as I type this post. I suggest a 3G version if you can get one and since all the palms are prepaid and risk free why not try them all! I have a Vodafone SIM I will test out later in the week.

Now, to make an app for it…

(via karawest)

Wed, 12 May 2010 18:54:48 +0930

(via karawest)

oliyoung: The Unofficial Gray Powell iPhone t-shirt from...

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:57:51 +0930

oliyoung:

The Unofficial Gray Powell iPhone t-shirt from Zazzle.com

#Adelaide keep calm and carry on

Sat, 17 Apr 2010 12:20:11 +0930

#Adelaide keep calm and carry on

"Remember Apple are the unethical ones … RT @uncyherb: Adobe Photoshop CS5 - US$699 -..."

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:36:52 +0930

“Remember *Apple* are the unethical ones … RT @uncyherb: Adobe Photoshop CS5 - US$699 - AU$1,168 http://yfrog.com/16kolvp”

- http://yfrog.com/16kolvp (via @oliyoung)

"Don’t get me started on Game Making programs. Thank god these are banned – imagine letting a..."

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 14:10:00 +0930

“Don’t get me started on Game Making programs. Thank god these are banned – imagine letting a non-programmer create an App. What next, Artist creating games? Don’t make me laugh.”

- Bravo Apple by Game Haxe

Solution for Flash Dev's wanting to make iPhone Apps

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 11:03:47 +0930

I think I have come up with a solution for the Flash developers to get around the new changes in Apple’s Developer license agreement.

LEARN OBJECTIVE C AND WRITE APPS WITH XCODE YOU WHINY BITCHES!

God damn it! It’s a simple solution AND you learn a new coding language. Its FREE to make an App (XCode) and only $99 to be apart of the developer program to get it on the store. A lot better than having to shell out to write the damn application before you start.

Flash is going down, dont go down with the captain. Be a fleeing rat and get away now. Learn HTML5, CSS3 and all the new FREE and OPEN tools that are better than Flash.

Want to learn Objective C now? You wouldn’t believe how quickly I learnt it, 2 weeks. Go to iTunes > iTunes Store > iTunes U > Stanford iPhone Development Lectures, download! That is a college course of iPhone development from A to Z that will get you started.

Click a link to go a site? Facebook knows what you did there.

Sat, 03 Apr 2010 23:08:32 +1030

Its public knowledge that Facebook log’s your movement on the site but little known is that when you click on a link to go off of Facebook it logs that too.

Why? To be creepy? Most likely but not entirely.

Lets say I click on a link from a friend to go to a site about F1 motorsport and Mark Webber’s latest crash/accident/breakdown. Facebook log’s that you left the site to go to www.markwebbercrash.com (not sure if that site exists, just an example).

What that has the potential to do - meaning its theoretical and somewhat a conspiracy theory - is sweap the page you went to and find keywords. In the example it would quickly find out that the site was about motorsport and mark webber.

What happens next? Well when your back in Facebook they could directly target ad’s at you for F1 memorabilia. Yup its all about advertising.

The amount of data that they farm and can use to target you is phenomenal.

Eco Coke bottle design

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:59:25 +1030

Eco Coke bottle design

oliyoung: fyeahstarwars: omg-nowai: nickmcglynn: Obama...

Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:20:46 +1030

oliyoung:

fyeahstarwars:

omg-nowai:

nickmcglynn:

Obama buying a Star Wars Pop Up Book!

officially the coolest president. ever.

i hope he actually bought that book.

monnie: ialmostlaugh: refanchan: That’s exactly how I felt...

Thu, 25 Mar 2010 09:56:16 +1030

monnie:

ialmostlaugh:

refanchan:

That’s exactly how I felt for 3 hours today…

What did we do before the internet?

Oh, TV.

Yeah.

monnie: oliyoung: Bob Such gets Trolololol’d #saelection /via...

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:55:02 +1030

monnie:

oliyoung:

Bob Such gets Trolololol’d #saelection /via @EckyPro

RESPECT.

karawest: Irrelephant.

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:11:52 +1030

karawest:

Irrelephant.

2 Cents: "iPhone mania sees app creators miss out" [The Australian]

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:24:44 +1030

Article: The Australian, iPhone mania sees app creators miss out

[…] companies failed to realise that there were barely a million iPhones in Australia compared to more than 20 million handsets from other manufacturers.

That may by true. However, the other mobiles may not have the capability to install App’s or have a marketplace to buy apps from. Sure most phones from 2004 have had WAP browsers but has anyone actually tried them? They are horrible!

I believe that the iPhone is one of the first devices to bring the actual web to the mobile space, by allowing actual HTML and CSS. It is in no comparison to the other 20 million devices that may be phones like the Nokia 3310. I feel its comparing Apples (hehe) with Eggs, not even in the same food group!

“We did identify there was a lack of content in the news category, and the majority of the apps there to date have been people ripping off RSS feeds (a news-sorting system) and packaging them as apps,” Mr Astill said. “To be honest, some of them were quite poor in terms of content and execution.”

Yeah, those ass-hats and their news scrapers. The app approval process is supposed to kick in here. But if the content makers made their own App’s then is there a problem here? It just sounds like the big corporation is having a cry because all its precious content is being made available without advertising involved.

To be honest it might not be the fault of the developer that the app is bad. hey, they might be new or the client was an ass-hat and wanted it that way, again the App store review process should have this covered.

“We tell people 90 per cent of their customers don’t have an iPhone, and that iPhone owners are an older demographic,”

[citation needed]. Were did that “older demographic” statistic come from? Define “older”.

Its probably true but I believe that that 10% is probably the noisiest and would benefit more from an App made for the service they want.

——-

Its not a bad article. Feels more like the Front Foot mob wanted to get their name in the news. Some facts need citations and it generally feels very loose and un-informational, feeling like I just had words thrown at me and nothing stuck.

Could be a stab at getting in on the iPhone news circus but that opinion a little irrational. Just another slow news day probably.

xplanes: incredible photos of the Russian Lun (“Hen Harrier”)...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:48:55 +1030

xplanes:

incredible photos of the Russian Lun (“Hen Harrier”) ekranoplan at its current resting place in Kaspiysk.

photos of the inside here

(via BoingBoing, and submitted by Philip J. Hollenback and “lighthead”, thanks)

These planes-boats are awesome!

Tides turning? Gaming coming to Mac in a big way?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:45:38 +1030

Steam announced it will release a Mac version of its Application soon. Which is very promising.

But this morning I stumbled onto this over at Engadget. Razer makes some specific gaming peripherals and having them make ALL new products work on Mac is big.

They know something we don’t yet? Which makes me think maybe its just more than a Steam Desktop App they are porting.

Is 2010 the year that gaming finally switches to a Mac? I could then blow away my Boot Camp partition :D

Alex Eckermann

My life. - The Brad’s: Interface Design

oliyoung: (via yimmyayo)

Adobe just doesn't get it. The WIRED iPad app, the refund.

Macbook Pro 6,2 hardware issues

Telstra, credit where credit is due. iPad day 2.

(via karawest)

oliyoung: The Unofficial Gray Powell iPhone t-shirt from...

#Adelaide keep calm and carry on

"Remember *Apple* are the unethical ones … RT @uncyherb: Adobe Photoshop CS5 - US$699 -..."

"Don’t get me started on Game Making programs. Thank god these are banned – imagine letting a..."

Solution for Flash Dev's wanting to make iPhone Apps

Click a link to go a site? Facebook knows what you did there.

Eco Coke bottle design

oliyoung: fyeahstarwars: omg-nowai: nickmcglynn: Obama...

monnie: ialmostlaugh: refanchan: That’s exactly how I felt...

monnie: oliyoung: Bob Such gets Trolololol’d #saelection /via...

karawest: Irrelephant.

2 Cents: "iPhone mania sees app creators miss out" [The Australian]

xplanes: incredible photos of the Russian Lun (“Hen Harrier”)...

Tides turning? Gaming coming to Mac in a big way?

"Remember Apple are the unethical ones … RT @uncyherb: Adobe Photoshop CS5 - US$699 -..."