October 26th, 2008
This semester we’ve been assigned a lot of coursework that needs to be worked on in teams, with each team usually consisting of around 3-6 people. To help us share files, work on document together and generally stay in sync, we’ve started using a few different online services…
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September 2nd, 2008
Well, Chrome is here and so far I’m pretty impressed. Although currently only available for Windows (you can’t actually download the Windows version if your browser identifies you as a Mac user - I had to select a Windows user agent for the download page to let me download it) it’s quite snappy, even running under Parallels.
I had no trouble loading any pages and even complex pages such as my netvibes.com customized homepage (which is slow to load on other browsers) seemed to load very quickly (and this was in a virtual machine!).
Posted in Opinions, The web, UI Design | 1 Comment »
July 22nd, 2008
OpenID seems like a nice idea to simplify logins and profiles on the web. The promise: Create an account with one OpenID-enabled service such as Yahoo, Wordpress or others and then you’ll be able to sign in to other OpenID-enabled services.
The reality? OpenID still has some way to go before really becoming seamless enough for the average user to use it. Most of the issues lie with the sites implementing OpenID, but from what I can see they’re pretty systemic Here’s my OpenID experience:
So I decided to sign up to Skribit. They offer OpenID support, so I decided to try that, rather than create a traditional account. First of all you’re asked for your OpenID url. If you don’t know what that is, tough luck. There’s no link with more information on what your url could look like or how you can get one.
Frustrated, I figure I’ll go to OpenID.org to find out more. OpenID.org looks like a cross between a phishing site and 1996:
Posted in Opinions, The web, UI Design | 2 Comments »
July 16th, 2008
And this is why forcing users to enter credit card details to test a free trial of your somewhat troubled online service is a bad idea - here’s one users experience after signing up for a trial:
“I have just checked my card account online and apple have put a £121 pending transaction on the card! that’s not even 1 years subscription.”
Link to the relevant Apple Support Discussion thread.
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June 16th, 2008
A question that never stop being asked is where new Mac users can find OS X equivalents of their favorite Windows apps. Whilst some people would say to just head over to VersionTracker or MacUpdate, I’ve found they’re usually a bit overwhelming: I don’t want to sift through every update, utility or abandoned freeware if all I want is to find a semi-decent FTP client.
So here are 3 sites I’d recommend anyone new to the Mac should check out if you’re looking for the right app for the job:
Posted in JetLinks, The web | Comments »
April 14th, 2008
I found an interesting post on the German mac news website Macnews:
A company by the name of “Pystar” are offering a $400 x86 configuration they’re calling the “OpenMac“. The draw? The OpenMac can be configured with a better graphics card, processor and larger harddrives than the similarly priced Mac mini: For $550 you can get a machine that’s faster than a Mac mini AND has a graphics card with 512MB of dedicated video RAM. (Of course, it has none of the mini’s good looks - but then again, looks aren’t everything).
Pystar claim the OpenMac is capable of running a stock Leopard installation without any modifications. But once you dig a bit deeper, it turns out that’s not quite the case:
“The OpenMac runs the Vanilla kernel with minimal kext patching “
Their FAQ page also includes this tidbit:
“Can I run updates on my OpenMac?
The answer is yes and no. No because there are some updates that are decidedly non-safe. Yes because most updates are not non-safe. It’s best to check on InsanelyMac for this information but when in doubt don’t update it. You may have to reinstall your OS X if it is a non-safe update.”
So they’re basically selling Hackint0sh’s. I expect Apple’s legal dept. is already looking at ways to take this down.
It’s a shame that Apple doesn’t offer a configuration like this though: A Mac mini with a slightly better graphics card would be a great second mac for notebook owners who already have an external monitor who want to play the occasional game without shelling out for an iMac or Mac Pro.
Posted in Mac, The web | 3 Comments »
March 9th, 2008
Here’s a quote from an email I just received from tribe.net (for those of you that don’t know Tribe, it’s basically your run-of-the-mill social network, except none of your friends are there):
“We hope you excuse this mass mailing. Some of you getting this email specifically have told us that you don’t want email from tribe.net and we generally don’t send out emails to the entire userbase. We wanted to let you know about the big changes that have happened here at tribe.net, and if you haven’t checked in with us in a while we encourage you to do so.”
Bullshit translator:“Hi! We’re sending you spam, despite promising not to any more”.
So what’s this important news they’ve got to tell everyone, even people that have unsubscribed?
“We’ve listened to our users for solutions to our site instability problems. The overwhelming consensus is that our users love tribe.net so much that they are willing to pay for a premium subscription for all the functions that we now give to you.”
Bullshit translator:“We don’t have any money and Google won’t buy us… can we have some of yours?”
So shilling a new subscription model is so important that Tribe needs to tell users who have specifically told them they’re not interested? Bravo guys, now I really feel like giving your my money and more personal information…
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