by Jonathan | Jul 1, 2010 at 11:23 pm |
MF
A lot of things have happen in the tech world since I last posted. Apple has updated their MacBook pro line up with Core i’s, the iPhone 4 was announced and released, Microsoft demoed Kinect and released a new slimmer Xbox, Sony announced their “Plus” online subscription package, Hulu is testing a paid version and is expanding to new devices, I could go on and on ( I guess that means it has been awhile). The problem is I don’t always have time to write about all these special events. I do however sent links and updates on my twitter feed (twitter.com/7ontheline), so if you are in the dark about the previously mentioned events then please follow my twitter feed and stay in touch.
I hope to make more time to write articles. I have several tutorials and informational pieces I want to get on here. I also am not a Palm Pre owner anymore, the Pre started to really feel sluggish and outdated after only six months. I still really love WebOS and think it executes as a mobile operating system very well. I want to see Palm pair it with a phone that has the specs of my new device, the Sprint EVO. I am currently an Evo user with Android. I got it on launch day and am really happy with the performance so far. I may do a write up at some point but there is already a ton of information available online.
That is all and see you back here shortly.
On the heels of releasing the iPad to the United States Apple has announced the new features of there mobile operating systems fourth version. iPhone OS 4 will include a ton of new api’s for developers to take advantage of, including seven different api’s that will give the illusion of multitasking. Other additions include an enhancement to the email application, being able to collect icons in folders on the home screen, making the iBook app available to the regular sized iPhone and several enterprise enhancements.
You can check out Apple’s web site for some more detail or continue past the break for some more discussion.
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The Aperture | The Shutter | The ISO (soon)
Welcome back for the second part of the beginners guide to your camera series. This part will focus on the shutter speed and how it effects photographs and your flash. If you have not read the first part in the series I recommend you do so. I go over some of the basics of selecting modes on your camera. I also explain the aperture mode and how to best use it. Continue Reading…
I have added a few new panoramas to my gallery. Some are from the recent trip to Califonria and some are from older trips.
Google has launched a new public DNS service. It promises to speed up your internets and give you the “results you expect with absolutely no redirection”. In case you don’t know DNS (Domain Name System) is a service which translates all of the domain names into ip addresses. Normally your internet service provider does this for you automatically.
So why would you want to switch. The average internet user probably won’t. Depending on your ISP and your location you could see an improvement in the time it takes for you to reach the DNS servers and for them to respond. We are talking about small amounts of time being saved however you probably make hundreds of DNS calls a day. Also if you are like me and don’t understand why your browser has two text entry bars at the top, you can get the search functionality from the URL bar (although this probably already happens).
All of this is great but what I really want over my ISP DNS is reliability. I want a service that will always be up and I think Google can promise that as well as any other company could.
In the end this is another way for Google to gather information and in reality a pretty good way. Now they can track what straight urls people are going to without going through search. It really fills in a whole data set they have been missing. There are other services that do and promise the same experience. OpenDNS comes to mind. I have used it in the passed without problems.
Check out the service and let me know if you have tried it out.
by Jonathan | Nov 17, 2009 at 10:07 am |
technology
Word on the street is that the Barnes and Noble e-reader will be available in the store on November 30th. That is just three days short of the famous Black Friday shopping extravaganza. If you try and pre-order a Nook online you will be met with a message telling you it will be shipped on Dec 18th. I find it strange that B&N would be selling the Nook three weeks early in their brick and mortar stores. May they are trying to take advantage of the one thing they have over the competition, a physical store. Allowing people to see / play before they buy is going to help the Nooks chances. More on the Nook Here.
by Jonathan | Nov 13, 2009 at 12:19 pm |
technology
Palms new phone, the Pixi, is hitting shelves Nov. 15th (this Sunday). The Pixi will be Palms second device carrying their flagship Web OS. The device is smaller than the Pre and has its keyboard on the front instead of a slide out. The phone looks and feels like a Centro replacement and a welcome one at that. The Pixi is a candy bar phone with a full keyboard and a 2.63″ touch screen. It is priced at $100 but I feel like that price will come down very shortly. It did not take long for the price of the Pre to drop dramatically and I think the same will happen with the Pixi.
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When WordPress changed their administrator layout I was fascinated with the navigation menu. It has a sleek and useful feel to it. Notable features would include the active styling to your current page, the sliding action of each menu section, the hover effect that shows the user which menu can be opened and how it keeps menus open between page views. Someone who designs and codes web sites can not just look at the end user experience but also the code behind the menu. I think WordPress does a very good job of using images and css to style the menu efficiently and cleanly but enough about WordPress let me get to what this article will be about.
I want to show how a vertical sliding menu can take on some of the features WordPress has implemented but also keep it simple to explain. I did not want to use any images to style the menu and keep everything as clean as possible. What I ended up with was 50% css, 25% jquery and 25% html. I used a few advanced CSS selectors and attributes (like border radius) to refine the effect.
Take a look at the final product here and read on for the explanation. Like always I have put the CSS and jquery in the same file to make it easy for you to inspect and download.
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by Jonathan | Nov 10, 2009 at 12:09 am |
music
Sorry I missed the charts last week. This week I have posted both weeks for you. I have been working on a new vertical menu post that will be coming out very shortly. Because I missed last week I should have something good to recommend this week. Well I have not been doing much in the way of musical exploration but I will say that Owl City has some staying power.
There for I am going to set you up with their album this week. It is Owl City, Ocean Eyes. Take a listen on iTunes or however you get your music.
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by Jonathan | Oct 27, 2009 at 9:00 am |
music
Looks like Britney Spears tops the charts again with her song “3″. The only enjoyment I get out of this song is trying to figure out what she is trying to say. The lyrics in my head are probably funnier than the real thing. It is good to see Owl City hit the charts with their song Fireflies. I have heard that song for a while now and really enjoy their album. They have a spacey relaxing sound which really appeals to me.
However that is not what I am listening to this week. That would be The Veronicas specifically the album Hook Me Up. You might know the song “Untouched” which has hit number 17 on some charts.
They have a good beat and dance thing going for them. They and sisters and as such they sing about relationships and girlie topics (some people like that). I don’t necessarily enjoy that sort of thing but the rhythms and beats get me every time. Every song on their album has a different feel and vibe which makes the whole thing easy listening.
Noted tracks – “Untouched”, “Hook Me Up”, “This Love”, “Popular” and “Goodbye to you”
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