Information Overload

Three Years Later

I hope having a cold on my blog's anniversary doesn't become tradition. I'm slightly sick this time thanks in part to the coughing guy at GDC. (Unfortunately, I didn't have any Zicam handy.) He showed up during the Nokia luncheon while we were all huddled around one of the only power outlets in the frigid conference room. Ironically, the last time I came down with the sickness was right after Nokia Open Lab, and GDC Austin last year. The former experience has been the ultimate reward from blogging to date. I only wish that I could convince Nokia that they need to show some love to the U.S. market in order to combat the likes of the iPhone plus Megan Fox in a retro Star Wars tee.

Tweetie For iPhone

Tweetie has replaced Twitterrific on the iPhone. The former is faster, and full of features such as the ability to easily follow someone from within the app. Best of all, the "Send" button is positioned away from the keyboard to prevent premature tweeting. The only minor nit so far is that Tweetie doesn't have an option to keep track of read tweets, AFAIK.

P.S. Thanks to @mdowney for the tip on Tweetie. Now we just need a native Twitter desktop client along the lines of TweetDeck sans AIR-induced memory leakage. Having a hard time justifying $1,200 for the 8 GB RAM upgrade kit from Apple...

GDC 2009

Mobile phone game developers were gaga for iPhone, and iPod touch at GDC last week. The GDC Mobile Summit was dominated by discussion about the App Store gold rush. Meanwhile, Nokia and Qualcomm avoided their mutual mindshare loss to Cupertino by focusing on their marketshare dominance in emerging markets. Nokia waxed poetic about N-Gage, and Qualcomm launched a 3G-network-dependent, BREW-friendly game console. At least they showed up. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony mainly focused on promoting their console platforms at GDC. Adobe showed off Shockwave on the desktop instead of Flash Lite. Sun, Google, and Palm were largely MIA.

Palm probably felt that it's premature to promo WebOS for games, or anything else for that matter. Google is flying high in Apple's slipstream with Android positioned as the platform for future non-Apple mobile devices. Encountered several game developers who were working on Android at the expense of Windows Mobile. Microsoft's smartphone business seems to be most vulnerable in the iPhone's wake. Of course, Redmond has the cash to bide their time with WinMo while they enlist Apple, Google, Nokia, and others to takeover RIM's server business by licensing ActiveSync to all of them. Unfortunately for RIM, Ballmer's minions decided that they would sell more Exchange $erver if it featured some of the mobile functionality of BlackBerry Enterprise $erver—but for anyone's hardware. Microsoft can revisit gaming on WinMo later, or release a handheld Xbox after they've finished feasting on the low hanging fruit.

GiverSign

"A GiverSign is the digital equivalent to the standard poster stamp. A sign which you can include in your e-mails to show your commitment towards your concerns and at the same time do something additional for the organizations you support! It is a completely free service for you as a user wherein the organization you support gives you a GiverSign subscription as thanks for your donation."

WTF?

Signed up for the WWF's wacky "Earth Hour" out of curiosity about their GiverSign "Take Action" option. It's listed at the bottom of the page for good reason. GiverSign makes promotional banners (like the one below) for non-profits, which is fine. However, they also encourage supporters to download and install a completely useless GiverSign application. Decided to blog about its uselessness after it complained that it needs UI scripting access on Mac OS X to run. Seriously?

The company behind GiverSign is Swedish, but it's difficult to give GiverSign the benefit of the doubt when their app feels like adware. The CEO looks like he means well so hopefully he takes this post as constructive criticism: Stick to the web banners until your desktop app actually does something worthwhile. For example, checkout the iPhone app President Obama's campaign created when he was running for office. Regarding the web banners, non-profits need help making more than only one to promote their causes.

Thanks!

Earth Hour 2009 - Sign up for Earth Hour!

Stop iPhone Speaker Buzz

The iPhone's GSM radio can cause significant audible RFI near speakers that aren't sufficiently shielded. Example: Apple's original Design Speakers from the early 90's were designed back before such radio interference with cell phones was an annoying issue. Tried adding various ferrite beads to every end of every cable connected to the speakers, but never found an effective attenuator against 1,900 MHz.

Then came across the poorly named QB-EM Shield by Quick Bridge Solutions. It's a business-card sized piece of laminated material that appears to resist GSM 850/1900 well enough to reduce the iPhone speaker buzz to near inaudible levels without totally blocking the signal for incoming calls. Simply place the iPhone on top of the QB-EM Shield, and all is well. The QB-EM Shield looks homemade, but it's hard to complain at only $4 a pop plus $1.35 for shipping. Bought one for the office desk with the Apple Design Speakers, and one for the "ashtray" where the iPhone sits in the car.

Timetrocity For iPhone

Timetrocity (@timetrocity) for iPhone and iPod touch is a simple yet handy timer for hardcore Halo players. Pickup an item, hit the start button, and Timetrocity will countdown until the item re-spawns. It totally explains why players like Mesh (@mesh, who wrote the app) always kick ass in multiplayer matches.

P.S. Thanks to Mav3rick MD (@mdowney) for the tip about this helper for Halo 3 and Halo 2!

I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man is a funny-ish, feel-good comedy that doesn't necessarily need to be seen in a movie theater. Paul Rudd plays a guy getting married who reluctantly realizes that he doesn't have a best friend to be his best man. Fortunately, he lives in Southern California so he embarks on man dates to get groomsmen for his wedding. He hits it off with Jason Segel's character, a thirty-something single dude whose own friends have all settled down. Drama ensues when the duo start spending too much time together at the expense of Rudd's relationships with his fiancé, and Lou Ferrigno (who plays himself.)

Stargate: Continuum

Stargate: Continuum is engaging throughout despite involving time travel. Continuum completes the Ba'al story arc. It's the closest to a second feature Stargate film unlike The Ark of Truth, which comes off like an okay two-hour episode from the television series. It helps that Ba'al is a better bad guy than Adria, albeit the latter is literally a hot babe. It would be awesome if Sony gave SG-1 the lavish Star Trek treatment that's about to hit the big screen this May. Need to travel back in time to exchange SGU for a major motion picture (read: theatrical release) starring SG-1...

World Water Week 2009

Just $1 can supply a child with safe drinking water for 40 days. Get involved with the Tap Project during World Water Week, March 22-28, 2009. Patronize participating restaurants near you this week to help raise money for UNICEF's clean water program by donating a buck or two for the tap water that's usually taken for granted when dining out.

Stargate: The Ark of Truth

Stargate: The Ark of Truth is a predictable, mildly entertaining end to the Ori story—ahem—arc that ended the ten season series about SG-1. It'll be interesting if this Fall's Stargate Universe deals with the fallout from the populations of multiple worlds losing their faith all at once. However, SGU sounds like the Stargate version of Star Trek Voyager. Explorers lost in the far reaches of space? Check. Fending for themselves while traveling on a spaceship back to Earth? Check. Attractive blond female character? Check. The only original aspect of SGU seems to be their novel casting of Lou Diamond Phillips. *groan*