I have said it once, and I’ll say it again; I love my iPad. It’s light-weight, instant-on and, most importantly, for the most part, it just works. However, there are a few frustrations, some of which I’ve mentioned previously, such as what they did to the rotation lock switch.
Now, most of the time I spend on it, is spent browsing the web. However, whenever I go to open a new page, I am presented with this:
Now, I like the fact that I can search from the browser, but why make it a separate box? If it were up to me, Apple’d take an idea from Google Chrome, and make it look like this:
Make one bar, its default function an address bar, unless something that is neither a URL, an IP or a combination is inputed, in which case it performs a search instead.
Category: Operating systems
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Welcome to the party, Microsoft
Like many, many others, I have been urging people to stop using Microsoft Internet Explorer for years. Finally, Microsoft is starting to come around to part of our argument, and has launched a website called IE6 Countdown. Welcome to the party, Microsoft. -
2010 roundup
Almost past us, I think it is time to take a look back and take stock of 2010, and see what the year brought. -
The iPad and videos – an app review
One of the things I immediately thought of when I got my iPad was how it would do when it comes to video playback. Now, according to the technical specifications, Videos, the built-in video player is able to handle both .mov and .avi. On trying to transfer .avi-files, however, I was told that the format was unsupported.
The problem, of course, is the fact that avi is simply a container format, able to contain a myriad of differently encoded movies. However, I was annoyed that I couldn’t even transfeer the files to the device. As a result, I went out and tried to find a good alternative, and found not one, but two, that both have strengths and weaknesses. Here, then, are my thoughts on the three movie playback apps I’ve got on my iPad; Videos, CineXPlayer and VLC:
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Taking screenshots in Mac OS X
My fiancée has been using a Mac for close to a year now, and it’s a pretty nifty machine, I’ve gotta say. However, things are fairly different to what she, and I, are used to. One thing she does fairly often, is take screenshots, which she had a bit of trouble with until we figured out how.
The problem, of course, is that Mac OS, unlike Windows, does not have a dedicated key on the keyboard for taking screenshots. Instead, they use hotkeys. The hotkeys and their effects are as follows:
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BitLocker asks for BitLocker Recovery Key at restart
Having gone from Windows XP to Windows 7, we are seeing a rash of new problems. One of these is that a lot of our users are unable to boot into Windows, as they are prompted for a BitLocker Recovery Key. The temporary fix for this is simple enough; look up and tell the user the BitLocker Recovery Key, and have them enter it. Well, I say simple, but the BitLocker Recovery Key is a string of eight segments of six digits, and having to enter this each and every time you reboot gets … tiresome … very quickly.
So, let’s see if we can’t improve on that. There are two methods, the first usually suffices, but sometimes, I’ve had to go for the second. The first solution is as follows:
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There’s an app for that, or, my must-have apps for the iPad
I simply adore my most recent toy. A slim and slender device the iPad is a perfect example of what product design can be when you put your mind to it. However, the iPad is just the platform, without apps, it has very little value in and of itself.
There is a plethora of apps, but there is a lot of chaff, and not all that much wheat, and finding the good ones can be a real challenge. Still, it all depends on what you want from your iPad, and in the end, you’ll find a lot of good apps.
What apps, then, are my favourites? Here goes:
The iWorks suite with Pages, Keynote and Numbers was the first apps I installed, and they are excellently suited for the device. The apps themselves take up very little screen real estate, allowing you, the use to concentrate on the task at hand. They are simple and intuitive to use, and well worth the money you pay for them.
I’ve been using Dropbox for a while now, and must admit that the Dropbox app is very neat indeed. I’d like to see better integration with the OS, and a sync capability for folders, but what there is is a lot better than nothing.
As a pen and paper role-player, I’ve found a couple of apps that are indispensable for the GM. The first is BattleMap, an app that let’s you design your dungeons and reveal them bit by bit to your players. A bit expensive, it’s a great resource. Another good one is an app called Tabletop Initiative Tracker, which is excellent for combat situations, and free to boot.
For keeping track of my todo-lists and action items, I use Sorted, that has a simple and intuitive layout. I also like to keep tabs on my investments, and since I have a bit of stock in Norwegian conglomerate Orkla, I have installed Bloomberg, Reuters and mTrader, all of which are good apps.
As a news junkie, I also use FlipBoard (which also serves to keep me up to date on Facebook and Twitter) and MobileRSS to keep track of my subscribed RSS feeds. To allow me to watch .avi-movies, I use a lovely little app called CineXPlayer. The last app for this post is the post I use to keep track of my WordPress blogs. The WordPress app is nifty and does the job excellently. -
The iPad reviewed
First off, I know I said I wasn’t going to get an iPad. That decision was based on the hype and buzz about it, after laying hands on one myself, though, I’ve got to say I was simply wrong. Probably not about my concerns, as I still feel they are valid, but about my decision not to get one.
What it all boils down to is this; do I think it is worth paying the cost, and accepting the limitations for what I get?
Quite obviously, my answer to that is yes. If it hadn’t been, you would not have been reading this, now would you? The question to answer, then, is not if, but why it is worth it to do so.
This post will be part rationalisation, part review, and I ask you to bear with me in that respect. Still, though, here goes…
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Resolving “Insufficient System Resources Exist to Complete the API” errors
This error message has had me running around for a while now. Some of my users are part of the salesforce, running SAP Mobile Sales on Windows XP computers with Microsoft SQL Server. It’s a big and complicated setup, but it has been running stably for years now. The problem only occurred with users running recently set up computers, and only on a specific model.
Naturally, this had me thinking the problem was hardware. I even went so far as to upgrade a user from a lower spec model computer to a higher spec model. That actually solved the problem, though it wasn’t the solution. Seeing more users report the same error, I concluded that the problem was unlikely to be a problem with a specific model, as most of them had different model computers.
Using most support tech’s best friend, Google, I browsed for the error message (easier said than done, as the computers are set up with a Norwegian edition of Windows XP), and finally found the solution I was after. It was contained in an official Windows XP knowledgebase article; number 909095.
Like most enigma, once a solution has been found, the story rather fizzles out. So, luckily, too with this one. The knowledge base article referred me to a specific update, and having installed that update, the problem disappeared. -
Resolving “File in use” when moving or deleting a file
A while back, I opened a file to see what it was, then decided to move it, at which point I got a “File in use”-error, preventing me from moving, deleting or renaming the file. Luckily, there is a fairly simple solution to this problem:
I’ve written about Process Explorer before, and I still love it. It does the job, simply and effectively. The solution, then, is as follows:
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