How to submit a bug to Microsoft

An amusing take on how to try and notify a billion dollar corporation that their software is buggy.

Entertainment for rent

This article starts with the dumbest of headlines "milenilas don't buy things" and, as almost every article on Milenials takes a little data and makes some tedious "they're totally different" conclusions.  Thankfully here we get to dig further into maybe the deepest of concepts I've seen in a while: the notion around a death of ownership.

I've struggled with ownership as I try to buy MP3s or movies: I'm constantly frustrated I don't have the room, a way to track it, a way to catalog it, etc.  Worse, my tastes change over time and I have a ton of stuff I no longer care about. For example, neither NIN nor the Deftones resonate with me and my efforts to get and catalog all that (formerly) great material is for naught. I have a TON of digital media and it's getting harder to put ANYWHERE. You of course can't sell it, just delete it if you don't care anymore and then only if you've run out of space on your drive.

Companies and consumers are increasingly renting out access to a catalog (Netflix, Spotify) that's much more intelligent and easier to manage. Plus, everyone gets paid where, with my system, sometimes the content makers don't have an easy way to get money for their work.

[Note: an earlier version of this article was obviously rushed and haphazard.  It has since been cleaned up.]

The new lynch mob

This is a terrific example of how a court of law and lawyers is a imperfect but obviously better way to find justice when -- not surprisingly -- social media just can't.  Something to keep in mind if someone ever goes after you in this format.

Again, not Microsoft

I had recently considered switching my email over to Microsoft's web email service ever since they updated their email client, added new features, and have a better overall privacy reputation than my Google service (including the Blogger service this is getting posted to).  Unfortunately, Microsoft backed off that policy today, to more or less match Google's.  Very unfortunate.

Last Apple product I'll ever buy

Definitely agree with this article by Slate.  Apple owns something that's cool but not exactly complex or revolutionary, and they are going to choke the industry by grabbing up stupid, obvious patents.  As the author points out, Apple just patented the steering wheel and no other car can have one.

Ridiculous.

Stop the Yellow Pages

Two years ago after months next to the mail boxes, I finally took stacks of Yellow Pages from my apartment to the recycling place.  That's why this article was interesting as well as hilarious.

Their business model reminds me a bit of when the RIAA demanded all personal audio players include an FM receiver: another dead industry unable to admit they didn't transition effectively and now wasting time, energy, and trees.

That awesome camera doesn't make you a photographer

So for a few years a professional photographer has been trying to explain to me how photography takes real work and training.  I've long felt that way, but here's some proof.

I hate my iPhone

After the recent frustration with this bewilderingly stupid device, I came up with a list of things I hate about my iPhone:

• Requires entry of a valid credit card before using the phone
• Extension cable is not an acceptable accessory
• When downloading updates, the device cannot go into an off state or it will quit downloading them.  You have to keep messing with the phone.  This would be fine when its not plugged in to save power, but when it is?  Annoying as hell.
• On 2 occasions now has deleted all my settings, folders, and organization
• On 2 occasions, I've used the iTunes program manager to organize things and it just drops my changes and reverts to the original.
• Poor battery life is manageable by turning off Wifi but its 4 button presses before I can get to a wifi management screen.  It doesn't sound like much until you're doing it 3 times a day and wonder "why isn't this on the home screen?"
• Voice memos tool that comes with the device is unresponsive until about 10 seconds after the program actually comes up
• Device usage must be reset every month to keep track of data use.  It doesn't do this automatically.  The AT&T app you can download to handle this in the iPhone's place is not easy to use, probably because they have a financial incentive to let you go over your minutes.
• iTunes is bloated, difficult to use, and doesn't back up my device correctly.
• On a Mac, if you don't have iPhoto installed, it won't copy over your pictures.
• When using the App Store and surf through categories of programs, every time you download a program, you must start over at the beginning of that category and can't keep surfing through that section.
• I "authorized" a second computer to manage my music and now when I connect it to the first computer, it insists on deleting all the present music before I can manage my library.  Ugh!
• Much prefer my Android music player to the iPod program included on my phone.
• Can't connect my iPhone via BlueTooth to my computer and transfer files or sync the devices.
• No system for backing up iPhone programs or settings outside of the iTunes software.  If iTunes doesn't work or messes it up for some reason, you're screwed.
• If an application update causes problems, there's no way to go back to the previous version.  This isn't easy on Android, but can be done.

Anticipating the question: "Why don't you stop complaining and get another phone?" I'm working on it.

Beware iOS 4.3

Deleted:

• More than half my applications, including stuff I paid for, including settings
  
• When I was able to restore some of those apps, it dumped all the categories I'd set up
• Lost a text message I got during the process of updating

After frustrations with accessories, lack of media support, lack of openness by Apple, and continuous problems with iTunes of one kind or another, I won't be buying iAnything.

Loud fans in your computer

Lifehacker finally addresses this consistently annoying problem.  Very happy to see it.

Mac: Download Youtube videos

So with a lot of Youtube videos lately getting dropped or copyright or other reasons, its necessary to download them to your computer to have access to them.  While there are many for Windows, there are none for for Mac that I could find, but there is a very simple workaround in Safari.

I can cure that disease I gave you

I have an AOL email account from a long time ago and just got some spam from them.  Having wrestled with AOL's system-slowing, garbage-dumping software on many occasions, this killed me:

"AOL Can Help Clean Out and Speed Up Your PC"

Yes, you too can give AOL $5 a month to help remove crap like AOL.

High end graphics card for Photoshop?

So a photographer friend of mine was curious if getting a better graphics card would translate into faster Photoshop.  Ordinarily I wouldn't think so, but Apple has been trying to play up the fact that its handing off more and more to the video card and Photoshop has advertised increasing integration with the OS.  This is why I was confused about the issue.  Turns out its all smoke and mirrors.

A brief look into this shows this doesn't mean jack when it comes to Photoshop.  Unless its an Intel graphics card or a no-name company listed as "on board," definitely go with a basic graphics card.  In my case, my friend was only going to buy a Mac and they don't even sell "on board" video cards anymore.  Power on the graphics card doesn't translate into Photoshop power.

Today in your total lack of privacy

More stuff that maybe you thought you owned, but no really you don't...

• Be careful you don't sign something at the doctor's office that says the doctor owns (and can censor) any reviews you write about them online. I'm sure they'll follow up this terrific news by suing you if you just say something negative about them in public. Having given two very angry reviews of terrible health services people, this obviously boiled my blood.
• Any photos you post to TwitPic.
  
• As usual, your iPhone
  

Oh and there's a secret patriot act.  Since you have to be a Senator to read it, try finding a lawyer to represent you if you accidentally violate it.

Recommended iPhone freeware

Based on experiences with an iPhone 3Gs.  Includes some crippleware and trialware, but nothing too annoying.

Strongly recommended:

• Dragon Dictation - a must-have voice-to-text program.  Wish it was a little more integrated into the OS the way Android's voice-to-text is.
• Siri - works really well for quickly finding things around you.  I can see this as critical for very busy people.
• iMailG - a Gmail front-end that works really well.
• Google Phone - text message for free when you have a net connection, get your own forwarding phone line, and other Google services
• Gorillacam - a must-have photo program with all sorts of tweaks and boosts, including taking 3 pictures at a time, camera stabilization
• Wifi photo - get pictures and videos off your phone over a network connection quickly and easily.  Big help if you didn't install iPhoto.
• TuneIn Radio - has the best ratings of anything on the App Store, even above Angry Birds.
• Soundhound - great for finding out what artist is playing on the radio around you
• WavePad - the audio is TERRIBLE on the default speaker unless you turn it way down in options, but very good on headphones.  Has a variety of basic audio-editing capabilities including cut, echo, voice-triggering, and more.  Doesn't save to a compressed format, but great quality and feature-rich.
• Sleep Machine - simple but effective sleep assistance
• Mint - won't sync correctly with some banks, but still great.
• Motionize - just a silly video/photo toy, but I've had a ton of fun playing with it
• Photosynth - creates amazing panoramas, but you've got to sign up for Microsoft's service in order to save them in a panoramic format off the phone.
• PS Express - great little picture toy for tweaking images
• Glympse - tired of trying to tell someone where you are or want to keep track of someone else?  This service transmits your location to a person of your choice or a duration of your choice.
• PDFReaderLite - not oustanding, but the best file viewer program if you want to read your PDFs and other documents on your phone.
• Wuala - great backup service and tool
• Dropbox - similar to Wuala, with less space but more convenience

Also good:

• Alarmed - outstanding, but can't use a regular alarm when the phone is on silent like the default timer.
• TouchMouse (free) and Mobile Mouse (not free) - lets you use your iPhone as a touchpad for a computer or media center.
• TeamViewer - a remote desktop client with a long list of uses.
• Speed Test - check your internet connection speeds.  Very helpful to compare different wifi spots.
• Opera Mini - simple, easy to use, and a little smarter than other browsers.  Sadly it runs a bit slower, too.
• Mercury - lots of tweaks and improvements on Safari, including password protection, privacy mode, tabs, skins, and more.  Some restrictions too for the free version, but not too bad.
• The Weather Channel - their Android program sucked, but the iPhone one is nice.  Wish they wouldn't use national weather service for severe weather.  Barely readable.
• Flight-Light - my flashlight program of choice.  Either on or blinking -- simple.
• AroundMe / Localscope - prefer these to Google Places.  One of them isn't free anymore, not sure which.
• SpyVid - important if you ever end up in a situation where you want to record someone or something unnoticed.
• Gloop Free - kill about 45 minutes with this cool (tiny!) program.  Sort of interactive screensaver.
• Indeed job search - the best job search program I've found so far
• Errands - great todolist program, but doesn't save to any servers or back up to anything
• CraigsPro - surprisingly feature-rich craigslist tool.
• RPG Roller - good for table-top games like D&D
• Stellarium - if you've ever wondered what's above you, this program will tell you in an altered reality format.  Just point it up at the sky and watch.

Games:

• Physics Box - simple and fun
• Overkill - not outstanding (in fact pretty hard), but if really bored, you can kill several hours
• BTD4 Lite - so far the only "tower" game I've found for iPhone, its just as good as the online flash version
• Pictoral - imaginative, interesting, and Challenger.  Save for the fact that its only visual, all the other brain teaser programs suck compared to this.
• Beyond Ynth - a cool puzzle program, but anything past initial levels was genuinely difficult.

Android phone user tracking

An update to the recent iPhone notice -- although not as bad as iPhone, Android has some similar issues with user tracking. (thanks Silver)

Followup: iPhone tracking

That only local cell towers are used to determine location, its still disturbingly clear how one's location can be tracked.

iPhone is watching you

Recent statements by Richard Stallman that he would not carry a cell phone because he was concerned he would be tracked were not as paranoid as they sounded.  And its not just shadowy government controls, the Apple iPhone is actively tracking you.  And here I thought Android was less privacy-respecting than iOS.

Looks like I'll be keeping it in Airplane Mode.

iPhone 4.2.1 vs. Android 2.2

Following up on my "The Future is actually going to be Linux" article, I can safely and easily say that at least in one aspect, yes:

Customization: absolutely outstanding.  Makes the iPhone look like a complete and total joke:

• Tons and tons of great widgets and the terrific Zeam interface.  Awesome.
• Ringtones of whatever you want.  If you already own the MP3, you don't have to buy anything else.
  
• Change the amount of data you want to cache in Google Maps
• Multiple different mapping programs that will cache huge data sets (Mapdroid, Locus)

More software that so far much better with tons more features:

• Multiple broad-format audio players including WinAmp, DoubleTwist, and the awesome network-audio capable 2Player
  
• Calendar: Jorte
• TodoList: Astrid
  
• Browser: Firefox
• eBook, text file reader: CoolReader
• Barcode tool: Barcode Scanner
• Navigation: My Tracks
• Remote Desktop: Remote RDP Lite
• Mail client: K-9 Mail

Other strong points in Android's favor:

• Dramatically better selection of freeware applications, including some great GPL'd software that Apple legally will not allow (Weight Chart, KeePass, AppsOrganizer, and many more)
• A torrent client, file manager, and capability to open many different file types with a variety of available programs
  
• Adobe Flash support and a great game selection via the Kongregate client
  
• Super-simple WiFi, Cell Phone, and GPS on/off switch via Elixer
• Better keyboard and "landscape" interface (that doesn't occasionally work as with the iPhone)
• Multitasking via "Perfect Task Switcher"
• SSH, SFTP, and Samba client (all tested and work great) and an FTP server (SwiFTP)
  
• Open standard encryption tool (APG)
  
• Figure out what the device is doing what with OSMonitor
• Built in voice-to-text is way more accurate on Android than the free Dragon Dictation
• Almost all Google's services seem way better on the Android, although this isn't fair to say since Google could conceivably cripple their iPhone offerings.
• Usually much higher resolution pictures and video, as well as the ability to usually just swap out a tiny SD card to double the amount of space on your device.

So far the only places that iPhone comes out on top is ease of use and generally smoother, easier to use hardware.  Battery life seems to be a bit better, but the yawning difference between these two devices very much shocks me.  Essentially, Android is an actual computer while the iPhone is just a gadget.

The press constantly seems to be talking about issues in Android's future: patent issues and the fragmentation of the Android OS.  For me, Android is so far ahead, it would take a very long time to lose its standing on the points listed above to Apple.

Firefox #1 in Europe

Finally the Internet Explorer dominance is coming to an end.