A while back, I wrote a blog post entitled Give me my rotation lock switch back!, where I suggested that, instead of only giving us the option of using the (former) rotation lock switch as a mute button, that they gave us the choice, and so they did.
I did suggest that they include a few other options as well, such as using it as a way to switch networking on and off, though these are not available yet. Who knows, maybe that, too will change in the future.
Anyway, here’s how to make the change:
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Blog
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And so they did…
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Give me one bar, make it do more!
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. -
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. -
BGG apps for Android – a review
Note: I’ve been a BoardGameGeek user for a few years now, but only after I got my first Android phone did I really start using the features the site has to offer, as I got an app that uses its API. These tests have been performed on an HTC Desire, running Android 2.2 (Froyo).
Crossposted to Boardgamegeek.
At the moment, there are two apps for BoardGameGeek available for Android phones. One is called BoardGameGeek, and is developed by Dennis Bond, the other is called BGG Mobile, developed by Skulupus.
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FotoStation Actions: Send to Flickr
Last week, I detailed how I built a custom Metadata editor that shows me only the fields I can use for Flickr. However, that’s not the only thing I’ll be using FotoStation for.
While FotoStation is not able to talk directly to Flickr’s API, it is able to call on other applications, and so, by installing the Flickr Uploadr and creating a simple action that sends the images to Flickr Uploadr, we have a semi-automated upload process.
We could make this a simple Launch application action, which just launches Flickr Uploadr and loads the images there, or we could create one or more checks of fields, such as Keywords (Tags), Object Names (Title) or Caption (Description). We can even allow or bypassing required fields, depending on how rigid we want to be.
The above screen capture shows three actions, two that looks alike (Check required text fields), and a simple Launch Application action. The Check required text fields actions check different fields (the first one just checks Keywords, while the second checks both Object Name and Caption), and only the second one has the option “Allow to bypass when a required text field is missing” enabled.
The order of operations matter here, anything I want FotoStation to do, needs to be listed before the Launch Application action. Likewise, any modifications to the file, such as cropping, resizing, Sharpening and Watermarking should be followed by a File Format or Save File action before the Launch Application action. If not, the changes will not be saved.
The reason why we don’t need to do that for the Check required text fields action, is that, when triggered, it opens the metadata editor, where you can make and save the changes before the image is sent to the Launch Application action.
Caveat lector: I used to work with support at FotoWare. This blog is my own space, I am not paid to write it. I write about FotoWare and FotoWare products because I believe in them. -
FotoStation: Building a custom Metadata editor for Flickr
As I’ve mentioned in several blog posts, I’ve recently started a new job, working for Norwegian software developer FotoWare. Their client-side software is called FotoStation, and is a very powerful tool for processing photos.
Having been an amateur photographer for a while now, I have got a Pro account at Flickr, and upload a number of photos every year. Combining my job and my hobby is great, and I have used FotoStation for a number of tasks involving my own photos already.
The best way to do this, seems to be to create a custom Metadata editor, which shows only the fields relevant to uploading photos to Flickr.
The first part of this, was finding out which fields of the XMP metadata are utilized by Flickr. I used the Flickr Uploadr, and found that the three fields shown there, grabs data as follows:
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My number one wanted feature on the iPad
As should be obvious by now, I love my iPad, and bring it with me most everywhere I go. I use it for work and play, planning and doodling in equal amounts. It has more or less supplanted my netbook as my default unit for web browsing, emailand many other things.
Along with my android phone, I’ve got internet access most anywhere I go, and am very happy about that fact, too. There is one feature from my android phone that I’d like to see however, which is only currently available on iOS devices when they’ve been jailbroken; a unified file management system.
On any and all android devices, you can access the file system, and any files on it, directly from the unit, allowing you to modify them at will, and opening them in other programs.
Sure, there are apps that sort of do what I want, but they don’t do it particularly well, nor particularly elegantly. moreover, i think it’s something that should be handled, not by some app, but natively, in the OS.
Like my wishes for what used to be the rotation lock button, I understand, and to some extent accept that this might not be forthcoming for some time, though I honestly think it would be a mistake on Apple’s part not to implement it soon. -
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. -
Endings and beginnings
An age old adage tells us that when one door closes, another opens. This feels particularly apt to me these days. As we approach christmas and New Year’s eve of 2010, I can’t help but feel nostalgic. It will be my last christmas as an employee at Orkla Shared Services, and come January 3rd, I will take up my new position with FotoWare, a Norwegian software development firm, where I will be supporting their software suite.
While I am sure I will miss my colleagues and customers, I am looking forward to taking up new challenges, and learning new skills. In particular, I am looking forward to learning to work with Mac OS, with which I only have a very bare minimum of experience.
I feel terrified at the thought of leaving the safety of knowing my job ten ways to Sunday, but the challenge is welcome, and frankly a while overdue. You can expect to read about my experiences with Mac OS X, as well as virtualization on Mac and using a totally new software suite.
Don’t worry though, I am not planning on leaving my other topics behind, either, with the exception of Lotus Notes, which I will not miss. I am already working on posts on apps for Android, and my wishes for the iPad and iOS. Yet other posts might very well be reposts of stuff I write for the corporate website.
I will miss seeing my old colleagues, some of which I’ve worked with for over four years now, but I look forward to learning new faces and names, colleagues and customers. -
Resetting HTC phones to factory settings
I recently grabbed my second Android phone, a HTC Desire. While I was very pleased with my HTC Magic, the Desire has a few features the Desire does not, and so I decided to spring for it.
I wanted to be able to hand over my old phone to someone else, but didn’t want them to see what I’d had installed and stored on the phone. Luckily, this is very simple to accomplish, as there is a built-in tool made to reset the phone to factory settings. Here’s how to use it:
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