a) Yes, I have an iPhone 4.
b) Yes, I can recreate the signal drop issue (although I can't get it to drop to zero).
c) No, I don't consider it to be a fatal flaw.
To expand:
a) I bought one on launch day after reserving it back on June 15th. Not much else to say there.
b) By palming the phone in my left hand, I can get the signal bars to drop from five bars to three bars. I've also performed speed tests to compare 3G speeds when held differently. Here are those results (using the Speedtest.net app):
Held in Right Hand: 4.14Mbps down, 1.38Mbps up, 396ms ping
Held in Left Hand: 3.16Mbps down, 0.49Mbps up, 1208ms ping
So yes, palming the phone in the left hand has a measurable impact on signal quality.
c) I didn't bother doing this test until I'd actually heard this was an issue, because I simply didn't notice it. The first thing I did with my iPhone when I had it out of the box and was still in the Apple Store was put it in a bumper case.
When I'd heard there was an issue, I asked my girlfriend if she'd had any issues, but she also didn't notice it. Her phone isn't in a case, but she holds her phone in her right hand.
/*It must also vary from person to person, as she can only get my phone to drop down to four bars instead of three. I think it's because my palms tend to sweat.*/
Once it was isolated to the bottom left corner on the MacRumors forum, I took my phone out of the case, palmed it, thought "huh, interesting", ran speed tests, then put my case back on and went on about my business.
So yeah, the issue is a non-issue if you are right handed, or if you are going to put your iPhone 4 in a case.
Now, I realize that that isn't going to be good enough for most people here on slashdot. Apple is putting form over function, it's unreasonable to expect people to hold their phone differently, etc, etc, etc. Fair points all around.
But I honestly am not bothered by it. I was planning on buying a case anyway, and even if I weren't, the vast majority of calls I make or take are done with the included headset (meaning I'm not touching the phone at all). Plus, the phone is still a noticeable step up in speed, battery life, screen quality, and reception (even despite the "fatally flawed" antenna) over the iPhone 3G it replaced.
YMMV and all, but I think this issue is being blown out of proportion. It's a flaw, but it's not a dealbreaker. It's at worst a minor annoyance on what is, to me, still the best smartphone on the market for what I want/need in a phone (sorry Android, you've come a long way since the G1, and I dig the Evo's giant screen, but iOS4 is still better polished and the App Store still has more quality apps). All of that last paragraph is IMHO, of course, and is worth only the requisite $0.02. Not a cent more or less.
I read for about an hour or two before bed on my iPad nightly, which is about how long I would spend reading dead-tree books before my iPad (if not a bit longer, since I can read in the dark and not disturb my sleeping girlfriend). I'm not the biggest reader, I know, but I think I read enough to be able to comment on the experience.
I have noticed NO headache, eye fatigue, etc. from reading on an electronic screen. Maybe I'm the lucky one, or maybe it's because I already spend many hours a day in front of a screen at work that my eyes are used to it, but I don't find it detrimental to my eyes or health to read on a computer screen instead of some dead-tree or e- paper.
And for what it's worth, you can adjust the font size of the text and change the font itself to suit your eyes. I tend to like it slightly smaller to fit as much text on the screen at once, but a lot of people bump the size for their bad eyes.
ATI's Radeon HD4770 would be this card's analogue (mainstream DX10 hardware around $100) - widely available at around $110 on Newegg, and according to this review:
Handily beats this GT240 across the board. I'd say it's worth more than the extra $10.
Moreover, I think it's a shame this is so far the only review I've found comparing the GT240 to the HD4770. The above review pits it against the HD5750 and HD5770, which are in a completely different league, being DX11 hardware.
I had always imagined Kirk was much more subtle with his "rigging" of the kobayashi maru test and I was really disappointed to see such a blatant and brainless resetting of the entire program as opposed to a small alteration that gave him just enough of an edge to win somehow.
Do you know how Kirk rigged the test in the original universe? He reprogrammed the test so that the Klingons were scared the very name of "The Captain Kirk" and complied out of fear.
I don't know if I consider that subtle or not (though it's surely more egotistical), but it definitely didn't just "give him enough of an edge." After all, if you're cheating, you're doing it to make it easy for yourself.:)
I'm really good at Guitar Hero - not the best, but the best of my circle of friends. Beat every song on expert on Guitar Hero III except "Through the Fire and Flames" and the Devil battle.
I also have eight years of guitar playing (mostly original compositions in a few indie rock and punk bands) and six years of violin/fiddle from when I was younger (classical ensembles and quartets).
Interestingly, I think that I use what I learned from violin playing more when I play GH. That's because you know what I realized GH really is?
Sight reading.
It's vertical sight reading instead of horizontal, but still the same thing (and better in some ways, since you don't have to flip your own pages). Being able to see a line coming and mentally prepare my fingers for the actions they're about to perform is exclusively what I did on violin (not so much on guitar).
You're right about the big difference between guitar and guitar-hero, of course - five buttons does not equate to six strings and 22 frets as far as movements your hands make. However, Guitar Hero is great for teaching two things that definitely come in handy for work - coordination of two hands (one strumming, one making movements on the fretboard), and proper timing (because I'm sure you're annoyed as I am when you're trying to jam with a guitarist that has no rhythm).
For people who are just learning the instrument and may be interested in reading tab or musical score, the sight reading aspect of GH is valuable as well.
The learning curve is definitely steep (as with all instruments), but I have personally witnessed two people pick up real guitar because of how much fun they have with GH. Seems that they're sticking with it, too.
A USB-to-MIDI adapter normally has both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT connectors on it. I have the Midiman USB Uno the parent mentioned, and that's what it has - a USB connector on one end, and two MIDI connectors on the other end
Yes, but Activision's cable has only one MIDI connector, and I'm rather sure it's MIDI OUT. There's no reason for them to make it MIDI-IN, since it's meant only to send MIDI data to the drumset. No reason for data to go the other way.
And the M-Audio iControl GarageBand controller actually does have a MIDI port - it's MIDI in. Not a very heavily advertised feature, but it is there.
For most intents and purposes, there are three kinds of MIDI jacks - MIDI IN, MIDI OUT, and MIDI THROUGH. MIDI IN receives a MIDI signal, MIDI OUT sends a MIDI signal, and MIDI THROUGH just passes MIDI from the MIDI IN straight through and doesn't touch it (for chaining MIDI devices together).
From how I read it, the OP wanted to hook a MIDI device (like a MIDI keyboard) as an input device to his computer - this is what most people want out of a USB-to-MIDI cable. This would require that the cable he/she use be MIDI IN on the computer side and be MIDI OUT on the keyboard side.
The cable Activision is sending out would not be able to be used for this purpose. It is MIDI OUT on the computer side, since the drumkit is MIDI IN.
I haven't gotten my USB-to-MIDI cable from Activision yet (just put my RMA in today), but I was able to tune my drumkit with my USB MIDI keyboard (An EDIROL PCR-80). Here's the thing - I had to hook the drumkit to the MIDI OUT port, not the MIDI IN (I know this for sure, because I originally tried using my M-Audio iControl with only a MIDI IN port, and it didn't work).
What does this mean? That cable Activision is sending out is MIDI OUT, not MIDI IN. So if you were planning on using this free cable to hook a MIDI keyboard to your computer as an input device, it won't work. MIDI signal goes OUT of the cable, not IN.
If you still want mine when I get it though, let me know:)
Also, I cranked the sensitivity on my red pad up as high as it would go, and though it's significantly better (and I can actually play comfortably without smashing the living #@$% out of my plastic kit), it's still not as sensitive as the rest of my kit. Dunno if I want to exchange it or not (Target is perpetually out of stock for the Wii version).
FWIW, I'm pretty sure this is how Guitar Hero: World Tour is treating its DLC. The DLC selection is pretty small at the moment, but you are allowed to pick and choose which songs you want to download. Right now, the only artist with multiple tracks up is Metallica, but soon there will be multiple tracks from REM, Oasis, and (I can't wait for this one) Jimi Hendrix. I'm guessing they'll continue with this fashion
I'd personally like to see a happy medium, a la iTunes - download each individually if you want, or buy an "artist track pack" and save a buck or two.
A bit late, but your comment made me look "Drive" up on the ol' Wikipedia, and lo and behold, Tim Minear gave an interview where he laid out what was going to happen had Fox not cancelled the show.
http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/drive-what-wouldve-happened-on-the-cancelled-series/
Enjoy! I know I did - takes a little sting out of the cancellation knowing at least how it was going to end (sort of).
A real shame - in audiophile circles, this was known as a great value card. Its heart was the Via Envy24 chip, which M-Audio uses (used?) in a number of their audiophile cards. If you spend most of your time listening to music and not necessarily producing it (the AV710 doesn't have any ins), for a mere $30, you got 24-bit/192KHz audio!
AV-710 + M-Audio Studiophile Monitors = awesome sonic accuracy on a relatively tight budget.
(for the uninitiated, Accurate Sound != Good Sound. Flat frequency response makes most overproduced music sound a bit weird:)
When it comes to sound quality, IMHO (not that I've ABX'd, so please take with a grain of salt), the AV-710, like all Envy24 cards, eats Creative cards for breakfast.
Anybody know of a currently available Envy24 card for cheap?
As much of their crew are former competitors in the BattleBots league.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadblowhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blendo
Grant's bot was Deadblow - it ranked #2 in the middleweight division and had quite the badass hammer (I remember it putting holes in a number of competitors).
Jamie and Adam's robot was Blendo, and my favorite quote from the wikipedia page:
"Blades attached to the shell caused grievous damage to its opponents, removing bodywork and in some instances causing them to be thrown over the Lexan safety shields into the audience. After two fights it was deemed too hazardous to compete by the event supervisors and the insurance company. It was given co-champion status in exchange for withdrawing from the competition."
The WGA's membership of approximately 12,000 writers (more than 7,000 in WGAW and more than 4,000 in WGAE) primarily work on live-action, script-driven movies and television programs.[31]
Exactly if and how the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) should apply to other TV and film categories such as reality television and animation has been inconsistent over the years and is an area of much dispute.
The WGA had been pushing for jurisdiction of reality and animation, but have recently dropped these issues as the WGA and AMPTP have entered into informal negotiations."
If your iPhone is jailbroken, there is this Dock application:
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2007/11/iphone-dock.html
It's not perfect (a bit too responsive to scrolling, icons too small, can't change the order of the icons), but it's definitely functional, and I hope Apple implements something similar in the future.
You can also toggle Airplane mode instead of powering down to get your iPhone to reconnect to AT&T. It works for me when I leave an area with no service and my iPhone doesn't realize it.
With regards to proofreading, here are my criticisms of my own post:
1) I should've used e.g. instead of i.e. ("for example" not "that is")
2) Variable names can't start with numbers
3) Emoticons make you look like a jackass
"(2) at least to me as a newbie, it was not always clear exactly which part of the fingertip is touching the screen, and thus how to place the finger."
This isn't really a worry - the iPhone does two things to aid this.
1) It widens the area around certain letters depending on the letter you just typed i.e. if you hit "o" it will make the strike area wider around letters like "r" or "f" (to spell "or" and "of") since it is more likely you'll hit those letters than letters like "t" or "g." 2) It autocorrects your spelling based on letters surrounding the ones you've actually typed i.e. you want to type "hello" but end up typing "hrlko" or something like that. The iPhone corrects it automatically when you hit the space bar.
It is something a newbie wouldn't really be able to pick up on having only played with an iPhone a few times, but after consistently using an iPhone after a few days, it becomes somewhat second nature.
I'd like to know the experience levels of the people mentioned in the article - though it is anecdotal, I can say that I am faster and far more accurate with my iPhone than with the 9numbers == 26lettersAndPunctuation system of my old phone, and am right on par with my speed and accuracy when using my friend's Treo. In their small sample, if they just pulled people off of the street who have never used iPhones, then I'm sure they haven't yet learned to "trust" the iPhone's autocorrect (man, that sounds creepy) and will of course make mistakes.
If their sample did contain longtime iPhone users, then I hope we can all collectively learn a lesson about how important proofreading is:)
By chance are you referring to the University of Arizona? I'm actually taking ECE369 - Computer Architecture, and our semester project is to design and implement a CPU in Verilog and synthesize our code for a Xilinx Spartan 3.
The assignment is to implement single-cycle, but if we implement multi-cycle, we get out of the final:)
I can't tell if you're being serious or not, but I'd wager that the vast majority of people prefer shows without commercials and don't think that the flow of the show is seriously hindered by lack of commercial breaks.
I bought the first three seasons of the Office in their entirety on iTunes (and am pissed about not being able to get season 4!), and where a commercial break would normally be, they have a cut to black/cut from black that lasts a split second. I don't think of myself as particularly smart, but that split second is more than enough time to process whatever funny line was just delivered.
Nay, I think that commercials more often than not are what screw up the flow of the show - a witty comeback will often be forgotten over the two-to-five minute break.
With regards to cliffhangers, consider a show like Heroes - when there is a cliffhanger before a commercial break, when they return, they often switch to a different storyline, making the commercial break inconsequential. As for shows with a single continuous storyline, unless the show really is THAT compelling, a cliffhanger is just as likely to be forgotten as a witty comeback over a two-to-five minute break.
My $0.02.
Oh yeah, and Apple is #3 in laptop sales behind only Dell and HP.
Yes, still more Windows users (ZOMG! I can't believe it!), but c'mon, give OS X credit where credit is due - it is definitely selling, and selling pretty well.
Slashdot Mirror
a) Yes, I have an iPhone 4.
/*It must also vary from person to person, as she can only get my phone to drop down to four bars instead of three. I think it's because my palms tend to sweat.*/
b) Yes, I can recreate the signal drop issue (although I can't get it to drop to zero).
c) No, I don't consider it to be a fatal flaw.
To expand:
a) I bought one on launch day after reserving it back on June 15th. Not much else to say there.
b) By palming the phone in my left hand, I can get the signal bars to drop from five bars to three bars. I've also performed speed tests to compare 3G speeds when held differently. Here are those results (using the Speedtest.net app):
Held in Right Hand: 4.14Mbps down, 1.38Mbps up, 396ms ping
Held in Left Hand: 3.16Mbps down, 0.49Mbps up, 1208ms ping
So yes, palming the phone in the left hand has a measurable impact on signal quality.
c) I didn't bother doing this test until I'd actually heard this was an issue, because I simply didn't notice it. The first thing I did with my iPhone when I had it out of the box and was still in the Apple Store was put it in a bumper case.
When I'd heard there was an issue, I asked my girlfriend if she'd had any issues, but she also didn't notice it. Her phone isn't in a case, but she holds her phone in her right hand.
Once it was isolated to the bottom left corner on the MacRumors forum, I took my phone out of the case, palmed it, thought "huh, interesting", ran speed tests, then put my case back on and went on about my business.
So yeah, the issue is a non-issue if you are right handed, or if you are going to put your iPhone 4 in a case.
Now, I realize that that isn't going to be good enough for most people here on slashdot. Apple is putting form over function, it's unreasonable to expect people to hold their phone differently, etc, etc, etc. Fair points all around.
But I honestly am not bothered by it. I was planning on buying a case anyway, and even if I weren't, the vast majority of calls I make or take are done with the included headset (meaning I'm not touching the phone at all). Plus, the phone is still a noticeable step up in speed, battery life, screen quality, and reception (even despite the "fatally flawed" antenna) over the iPhone 3G it replaced.
YMMV and all, but I think this issue is being blown out of proportion. It's a flaw, but it's not a dealbreaker. It's at worst a minor annoyance on what is, to me, still the best smartphone on the market for what I want/need in a phone (sorry Android, you've come a long way since the G1, and I dig the Evo's giant screen, but iOS4 is still better polished and the App Store still has more quality apps). All of that last paragraph is IMHO, of course, and is worth only the requisite $0.02. Not a cent more or less.
To counter anecdote with anecdote -
I read for about an hour or two before bed on my iPad nightly, which is about how long I would spend reading dead-tree books before my iPad (if not a bit longer, since I can read in the dark and not disturb my sleeping girlfriend). I'm not the biggest reader, I know, but I think I read enough to be able to comment on the experience.
I have noticed NO headache, eye fatigue, etc. from reading on an electronic screen. Maybe I'm the lucky one, or maybe it's because I already spend many hours a day in front of a screen at work that my eyes are used to it, but I don't find it detrimental to my eyes or health to read on a computer screen instead of some dead-tree or e- paper.
And for what it's worth, you can adjust the font size of the text and change the font itself to suit your eyes. I tend to like it slightly smaller to fit as much text on the screen at once, but a lot of people bump the size for their bad eyes.
ATI's Radeon HD4770 would be this card's analogue (mainstream DX10 hardware around $100) - widely available at around $110 on Newegg, and according to this review:
http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,699611/Geforce-GT-240-Nvidias-fastest-DirectX-101-graphics-card-reviewed/Reviews/
Handily beats this GT240 across the board. I'd say it's worth more than the extra $10.
Moreover, I think it's a shame this is so far the only review I've found comparing the GT240 to the HD4770. The above review pits it against the HD5750 and HD5770, which are in a completely different league, being DX11 hardware.
I had always imagined Kirk was much more subtle with his "rigging" of the kobayashi maru test and I was really disappointed to see such a blatant and brainless resetting of the entire program as opposed to a small alteration that gave him just enough of an edge to win somehow.
Do you know how Kirk rigged the test in the original universe? He reprogrammed the test so that the Klingons were scared the very name of "The Captain Kirk" and complied out of fear. I don't know if I consider that subtle or not (though it's surely more egotistical), but it definitely didn't just "give him enough of an edge." After all, if you're cheating, you're doing it to make it easy for yourself. :)
I'm really good at Guitar Hero - not the best, but the best of my circle of friends. Beat every song on expert on Guitar Hero III except "Through the Fire and Flames" and the Devil battle.
I also have eight years of guitar playing (mostly original compositions in a few indie rock and punk bands) and six years of violin/fiddle from when I was younger (classical ensembles and quartets).
Interestingly, I think that I use what I learned from violin playing more when I play GH. That's because you know what I realized GH really is?
Sight reading.
It's vertical sight reading instead of horizontal, but still the same thing (and better in some ways, since you don't have to flip your own pages). Being able to see a line coming and mentally prepare my fingers for the actions they're about to perform is exclusively what I did on violin (not so much on guitar).
You're right about the big difference between guitar and guitar-hero, of course - five buttons does not equate to six strings and 22 frets as far as movements your hands make. However, Guitar Hero is great for teaching two things that definitely come in handy for work - coordination of two hands (one strumming, one making movements on the fretboard), and proper timing (because I'm sure you're annoyed as I am when you're trying to jam with a guitarist that has no rhythm).
For people who are just learning the instrument and may be interested in reading tab or musical score, the sight reading aspect of GH is valuable as well.
The learning curve is definitely steep (as with all instruments), but I have personally witnessed two people pick up real guitar because of how much fun they have with GH. Seems that they're sticking with it, too.
A USB-to-MIDI adapter normally has both MIDI IN and MIDI OUT connectors on it. I have the Midiman USB Uno the parent mentioned, and that's what it has - a USB connector on one end, and two MIDI connectors on the other end
Yes, but Activision's cable has only one MIDI connector, and I'm rather sure it's MIDI OUT. There's no reason for them to make it MIDI-IN, since it's meant only to send MIDI data to the drumset. No reason for data to go the other way.
And the M-Audio iControl GarageBand controller actually does have a MIDI port - it's MIDI in. Not a very heavily advertised feature, but it is there.
How so?
For most intents and purposes, there are three kinds of MIDI jacks - MIDI IN, MIDI OUT, and MIDI THROUGH. MIDI IN receives a MIDI signal, MIDI OUT sends a MIDI signal, and MIDI THROUGH just passes MIDI from the MIDI IN straight through and doesn't touch it (for chaining MIDI devices together).
From how I read it, the OP wanted to hook a MIDI device (like a MIDI keyboard) as an input device to his computer - this is what most people want out of a USB-to-MIDI cable. This would require that the cable he/she use be MIDI IN on the computer side and be MIDI OUT on the keyboard side.
The cable Activision is sending out would not be able to be used for this purpose. It is MIDI OUT on the computer side, since the drumkit is MIDI IN.
Also, yay me! I remembered line breaks this time!
I haven't gotten my USB-to-MIDI cable from Activision yet (just put my RMA in today), but I was able to tune my drumkit with my USB MIDI keyboard (An EDIROL PCR-80). Here's the thing - I had to hook the drumkit to the MIDI OUT port, not the MIDI IN (I know this for sure, because I originally tried using my M-Audio iControl with only a MIDI IN port, and it didn't work). What does this mean? That cable Activision is sending out is MIDI OUT, not MIDI IN. So if you were planning on using this free cable to hook a MIDI keyboard to your computer as an input device, it won't work. MIDI signal goes OUT of the cable, not IN. If you still want mine when I get it though, let me know :)
Also, I cranked the sensitivity on my red pad up as high as it would go, and though it's significantly better (and I can actually play comfortably without smashing the living #@$% out of my plastic kit), it's still not as sensitive as the rest of my kit. Dunno if I want to exchange it or not (Target is perpetually out of stock for the Wii version).
FWIW, I'm pretty sure this is how Guitar Hero: World Tour is treating its DLC. The DLC selection is pretty small at the moment, but you are allowed to pick and choose which songs you want to download. Right now, the only artist with multiple tracks up is Metallica, but soon there will be multiple tracks from REM, Oasis, and (I can't wait for this one) Jimi Hendrix. I'm guessing they'll continue with this fashion
I'd personally like to see a happy medium, a la iTunes - download each individually if you want, or buy an "artist track pack" and save a buck or two.
Wow. Just wow. Eliza was more convincing than that.
It is extremely easy to get them to just parrot responses and then try to change the subject in completely random directions.
I say we make it debate Sarah Palin.
They may have a hand in bringing them back from the dead.
A bit late, but your comment made me look "Drive" up on the ol' Wikipedia, and lo and behold, Tim Minear gave an interview where he laid out what was going to happen had Fox not cancelled the show. http://tvseriesfinale.com/articles/drive-what-wouldve-happened-on-the-cancelled-series/ Enjoy! I know I did - takes a little sting out of the cancellation knowing at least how it was going to end (sort of).
I was going to plug the Chaintech AV-710, but it's apparently been discontinued - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829120103
:)
A real shame - in audiophile circles, this was known as a great value card. Its heart was the Via Envy24 chip, which M-Audio uses (used?) in a number of their audiophile cards. If you spend most of your time listening to music and not necessarily producing it (the AV710 doesn't have any ins), for a mere $30, you got 24-bit/192KHz audio!
AV-710 + M-Audio Studiophile Monitors = awesome sonic accuracy on a relatively tight budget.
(for the uninitiated, Accurate Sound != Good Sound. Flat frequency response makes most overproduced music sound a bit weird
When it comes to sound quality, IMHO (not that I've ABX'd, so please take with a grain of salt), the AV-710, like all Envy24 cards, eats Creative cards for breakfast.
Anybody know of a currently available Envy24 card for cheap?
Some of those are availble DRM-free and CHEAPER from eMusic - http://www.emusic.com/
Side-note - "Challengers" by New Pornographers was one of the most disappointing albums of last year for me.
As much of their crew are former competitors in the BattleBots league. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadblow http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blendo Grant's bot was Deadblow - it ranked #2 in the middleweight division and had quite the badass hammer (I remember it putting holes in a number of competitors). Jamie and Adam's robot was Blendo, and my favorite quote from the wikipedia page: "Blades attached to the shell caused grievous damage to its opponents, removing bodywork and in some instances causing them to be thrown over the Lexan safety shields into the audience. After two fights it was deemed too hazardous to compete by the event supervisors and the insurance company. It was given co-champion status in exchange for withdrawing from the competition."
"Jurisdiction in reality and animation
The WGA's membership of approximately 12,000 writers (more than 7,000 in WGAW and more than 4,000 in WGAE) primarily work on live-action, script-driven movies and television programs.[31]
Exactly if and how the WGA's Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) should apply to other TV and film categories such as reality television and animation has been inconsistent over the years and is an area of much dispute.
The WGA had been pushing for jurisdiction of reality and animation, but have recently dropped these issues as the WGA and AMPTP have entered into informal negotiations."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007%E2%80%932008_Writers_Guild_of_America_strike#Jurisdiction_in_reality_and_animation
If your iPhone is jailbroken, there is this Dock application: http://www.iphonehacks.com/2007/11/iphone-dock.html It's not perfect (a bit too responsive to scrolling, icons too small, can't change the order of the icons), but it's definitely functional, and I hope Apple implements something similar in the future.
"Currently there is no copy and paste for example. How do you do it with just a touch screen ui?"
http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/09/fake-iphone-cut-and-paste-demo-loves-you/
You can also toggle Airplane mode instead of powering down to get your iPhone to reconnect to AT&T. It works for me when I leave an area with no service and my iPhone doesn't realize it.
With regards to proofreading, here are my criticisms of my own post: 1) I should've used e.g. instead of i.e. ("for example" not "that is") 2) Variable names can't start with numbers 3) Emoticons make you look like a jackass
"(2) at least to me as a newbie, it was not always clear exactly which part of the fingertip is touching the screen, and thus how to place the finger."
:)
This isn't really a worry - the iPhone does two things to aid this.
1) It widens the area around certain letters depending on the letter you just typed i.e. if you hit "o" it will make the strike area wider around letters like "r" or "f" (to spell "or" and "of") since it is more likely you'll hit those letters than letters like "t" or "g."
2) It autocorrects your spelling based on letters surrounding the ones you've actually typed i.e. you want to type "hello" but end up typing "hrlko" or something like that. The iPhone corrects it automatically when you hit the space bar.
It is something a newbie wouldn't really be able to pick up on having only played with an iPhone a few times, but after consistently using an iPhone after a few days, it becomes somewhat second nature.
I'd like to know the experience levels of the people mentioned in the article - though it is anecdotal, I can say that I am faster and far more accurate with my iPhone than with the 9numbers == 26lettersAndPunctuation system of my old phone, and am right on par with my speed and accuracy when using my friend's Treo. In their small sample, if they just pulled people off of the street who have never used iPhones, then I'm sure they haven't yet learned to "trust" the iPhone's autocorrect (man, that sounds creepy) and will of course make mistakes.
If their sample did contain longtime iPhone users, then I hope we can all collectively learn a lesson about how important proofreading is
By chance are you referring to the University of Arizona? I'm actually taking ECE369 - Computer Architecture, and our semester project is to design and implement a CPU in Verilog and synthesize our code for a Xilinx Spartan 3.
:)
The assignment is to implement single-cycle, but if we implement multi-cycle, we get out of the final
I can't tell if you're being serious or not, but I'd wager that the vast majority of people prefer shows without commercials and don't think that the flow of the show is seriously hindered by lack of commercial breaks. I bought the first three seasons of the Office in their entirety on iTunes (and am pissed about not being able to get season 4!), and where a commercial break would normally be, they have a cut to black/cut from black that lasts a split second. I don't think of myself as particularly smart, but that split second is more than enough time to process whatever funny line was just delivered. Nay, I think that commercials more often than not are what screw up the flow of the show - a witty comeback will often be forgotten over the two-to-five minute break. With regards to cliffhangers, consider a show like Heroes - when there is a cliffhanger before a commercial break, when they return, they often switch to a different storyline, making the commercial break inconsequential. As for shows with a single continuous storyline, unless the show really is THAT compelling, a cliffhanger is just as likely to be forgotten as a witty comeback over a two-to-five minute break. My $0.02.
That's not factually true -
Apple hit 10 million users sometime in 2004 - http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2004/jan/06macosx.html
As of March 07, there were about 22 million OS X users - http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/03/02/mac_install_base_estimated_at_22_million_pre_leopard.html
And last quarter alone, Apple shipped over 2 million macs - http://www.laptoplogic.com/news/detail.php?id=3502&rfp=dta
Oh yeah, and Apple is #3 in laptop sales behind only Dell and HP.
Yes, still more Windows users (ZOMG! I can't believe it!), but c'mon, give OS X credit where credit is due - it is definitely selling, and selling pretty well.