Drew Rattray
| News and views on design vs. functionality balance across the communications and technology space.
April 2009
You are browsing the archive for April 2009.
Best Application for the BlackBerry Storm
April 21, 2009
Over the past few weeks I've been browsing through the FREE applications available in BlackBerry App World and I think I may have found the best and most useful App available so far for the BlackBerry Storm.
I introduce to you QuickPull v2 by Steelthorn Software. QuickPull is an app that frees memory quickly by simulating a battery pull soft reset. It even has the ability to schedule to run daily.
Laugh all you want, but I'm still running the latest official OS release (4.7.0.75), which is 4 months old at this point. With all of the new apps I've been downloading, I'm noticing more freezes and little bugs and glitches popping up everywhere. I've become quite good and fast at pulling my battery, but now all I need to do is push a button. To keep the device healthy I can even schedule it to reset once a day.
QuickPull v2 is completely Free, and is available in BlackBerry App World, or as a download directly from Steelthorn Software.
Now hopefully, with the projected release of the new OS (4.7.0.131) within the next few weeks, this app will be obsolete and Storm users won't need to be so well versed at pulling their battery after every download. But, as it stands now, I can say this is the most useful app I've found so far, and I'm apparently not the only one. It's currently sitting at #3 on the top download list on App World.
All you brainiacs at RIM may want to have a think on that. The third most popular download in your beloved App World actually simulates someone taking apart their device and pulling the battery out of it. The simple fact that there is a need for something like this should be setting off some alarms over there.
I introduce to you QuickPull v2 by Steelthorn Software. QuickPull is an app that frees memory quickly by simulating a battery pull soft reset. It even has the ability to schedule to run daily.
Laugh all you want, but I'm still running the latest official OS release (4.7.0.75), which is 4 months old at this point. With all of the new apps I've been downloading, I'm noticing more freezes and little bugs and glitches popping up everywhere. I've become quite good and fast at pulling my battery, but now all I need to do is push a button. To keep the device healthy I can even schedule it to reset once a day.
QuickPull v2 is completely Free, and is available in BlackBerry App World, or as a download directly from Steelthorn Software.
Now hopefully, with the projected release of the new OS (4.7.0.131) within the next few weeks, this app will be obsolete and Storm users won't need to be so well versed at pulling their battery after every download. But, as it stands now, I can say this is the most useful app I've found so far, and I'm apparently not the only one. It's currently sitting at #3 on the top download list on App World.
All you brainiacs at RIM may want to have a think on that. The third most popular download in your beloved App World actually simulates someone taking apart their device and pulling the battery out of it. The simple fact that there is a need for something like this should be setting off some alarms over there.
Pandora for the BlackBerry Storm Finally Released
April 16, 2009
It's here, finally.
After constant badgering from Storm users and months of delay...
Pandora has released the highly anticipated application that will give BlackBerry Storm users a mobile version of their service. Download information for the Storm is located at http://www.pandora.com/blackberry.
It's a shame I switched to Slacker Radio months ago. If Pandora had been on the ball, I may never have even found Slacker in the first place.
After constant badgering from Storm users and months of delay...
Pandora has released the highly anticipated application that will give BlackBerry Storm users a mobile version of their service. Download information for the Storm is located at http://www.pandora.com/blackberry.
It's a shame I switched to Slacker Radio months ago. If Pandora had been on the ball, I may never have even found Slacker in the first place.
An Evening at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
April 8, 2009
I had the privileged and opportunity last night to sit in on the taping of the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the "fake news" program aired on Comedy Central. I had never before been to the taping of a television program and I
jumped at the opportunity when a friend of mine offered me VIP tickets,
especially to one of the few programs I watch on a semi frequent
basis. However, while I'm glad I had this opportunity, I can safely
say I won't be doing it again.
Personally, it was a little bit of a let down. The whole process of getting in wasn't worth the payoff (basically 30 minutes of rushed entertainment), even at "VIP" status. I arrived at the studio located in Manhattan/Hell's Kitchen on 11th ave between 51st and 52nd streets about a half hour prior to the suggested 4:15 pm. I hung around in the smaller of the 3 lines outside while security guards with unzipped flies explained the rules of the studio. No food, no drink, no gum, no bathroom breaks, no standing, no heckling, no talking, no phones, no cameras, no inappropriate questions, etc. Basically, you're a prop, and they make sure they treat you as one.
At about 4:30 they ushered us through security which was as tight, if not tighter than some of the airport security stations I've been through recently. I think I removed everything except my shoes. After waiting in the very dim and dreary waiting area for a good half hour, we were ushered to our seats inside the studio by three of the most unlikely and inept interns I've ever dealt with. This is where I found out that "VIP" status basically means you're the first wave in. That's about it. They don't make sure you get the good seats that aren't obstructed by camera men, you don't get a soda and a bag of pretzels, you don't shake hands with Jon Stewart, you basically just get in the studio ahead of the other people in the waiting area and get ushered to the far end of the studio.
Once inside we waited. And we waited. And we waited. We sat there, staring at those same three interns and the set (which was a lot smaller than I thought it would be) until about 6:20 pm. Between the four of us in my group, we had two iPhones and two BlackBerry Storms powered down in our pockets and we were all going through some serious withdrawal at this point. Meanwhile some unseen sound engineer blared pop/rock music from speakers above. I do mean blared too, it was hard to talk to the person next to you.
Finally the warm-up comic, Paul Mecurio, came out, and he might just have been the most entertaining part of the evening. It might just have been that I was dying for some kind of entertainment or stimulation by that point, but he definately came to the rescue. He picked on the audience a little while and tried to get us involved. Halfway through the routine he had the fortune of finding a mature lesibian couple in the audience who had met in jail and had been together for 28 years. I'm big on not judging lifestyles, but needless to say that's a lot of ammunition for a comic.
Immediately following that, Jon Stewart came out and did a short Q &A with us which was mildly entertaining. I blame the audience for that though. It was clear that some of the questions that were asked were practiced and tested prior to the show by people who really struggle at being entertaining. Jon did the best he could with what he was given. Jon Stewart calls on you for a question and you ask, "Pirates or Ninjas?" First of all, everyone knows the answer to that. Ninjas of course. Secondly... really? You've got nothing better? The guy is a gold mine of satirical political information and views, get something good out of him.
After a few laughs, it was off to the races. The show was a blur of activity and single takes. I was actually extremely surprised that there were no screw ups or second takes. I was sure the taping of a 30 minute program would take and hour or more. The program was good, Jon was excellent, the guest was eh... boring. Don't get me wrong, Jehan Sadat is an important figure over seas, and she has very important views and influence regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, but this was more of plug for her book than anything else.
And... that was it. Goodnight everyone, get out. Like I said, I'm glad I did it, but unless there's a guest I'm dying to see speak for 5 minutes, I'll stick to watching it air on Comedy Central from now on.
Check out the full episode here.
Personally, it was a little bit of a let down. The whole process of getting in wasn't worth the payoff (basically 30 minutes of rushed entertainment), even at "VIP" status. I arrived at the studio located in Manhattan/Hell's Kitchen on 11th ave between 51st and 52nd streets about a half hour prior to the suggested 4:15 pm. I hung around in the smaller of the 3 lines outside while security guards with unzipped flies explained the rules of the studio. No food, no drink, no gum, no bathroom breaks, no standing, no heckling, no talking, no phones, no cameras, no inappropriate questions, etc. Basically, you're a prop, and they make sure they treat you as one.
At about 4:30 they ushered us through security which was as tight, if not tighter than some of the airport security stations I've been through recently. I think I removed everything except my shoes. After waiting in the very dim and dreary waiting area for a good half hour, we were ushered to our seats inside the studio by three of the most unlikely and inept interns I've ever dealt with. This is where I found out that "VIP" status basically means you're the first wave in. That's about it. They don't make sure you get the good seats that aren't obstructed by camera men, you don't get a soda and a bag of pretzels, you don't shake hands with Jon Stewart, you basically just get in the studio ahead of the other people in the waiting area and get ushered to the far end of the studio.
Once inside we waited. And we waited. And we waited. We sat there, staring at those same three interns and the set (which was a lot smaller than I thought it would be) until about 6:20 pm. Between the four of us in my group, we had two iPhones and two BlackBerry Storms powered down in our pockets and we were all going through some serious withdrawal at this point. Meanwhile some unseen sound engineer blared pop/rock music from speakers above. I do mean blared too, it was hard to talk to the person next to you.
Finally the warm-up comic, Paul Mecurio, came out, and he might just have been the most entertaining part of the evening. It might just have been that I was dying for some kind of entertainment or stimulation by that point, but he definately came to the rescue. He picked on the audience a little while and tried to get us involved. Halfway through the routine he had the fortune of finding a mature lesibian couple in the audience who had met in jail and had been together for 28 years. I'm big on not judging lifestyles, but needless to say that's a lot of ammunition for a comic.
Immediately following that, Jon Stewart came out and did a short Q &A with us which was mildly entertaining. I blame the audience for that though. It was clear that some of the questions that were asked were practiced and tested prior to the show by people who really struggle at being entertaining. Jon did the best he could with what he was given. Jon Stewart calls on you for a question and you ask, "Pirates or Ninjas?" First of all, everyone knows the answer to that. Ninjas of course. Secondly... really? You've got nothing better? The guy is a gold mine of satirical political information and views, get something good out of him.
After a few laughs, it was off to the races. The show was a blur of activity and single takes. I was actually extremely surprised that there were no screw ups or second takes. I was sure the taping of a 30 minute program would take and hour or more. The program was good, Jon was excellent, the guest was eh... boring. Don't get me wrong, Jehan Sadat is an important figure over seas, and she has very important views and influence regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict, but this was more of plug for her book than anything else.
And... that was it. Goodnight everyone, get out. Like I said, I'm glad I did it, but unless there's a guest I'm dying to see speak for 5 minutes, I'll stick to watching it air on Comedy Central from now on.
Check out the full episode here.
Study Says I'm Wrong About Social Networking In The Workplace
April 6, 2009
So, today I learned something. Studies from top universities don't apply to the real world.
A recent study from the University of Melbourne has "concluded" that those who surf the Internet for fun during office hours actually increase their productivity. Read more about their ground breaking research here (yes I rolled my eyes when I typed that, but I refuse to use an emoticon). Essentially there is conclusive research now that goes completely against one of my earlier entries titled Facebook is Killing Productivity.
Dr Brent Coker, from the Department of Management and Marketing, says that workers who engage in 'Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing' (WILB) are more productive than those who don't.
That quote alone disqualifies this study for me. WILB? Really? Not only did you spend the time on a research project devoted to creating a defense for lazy people around the world, but during said research project you also found time to create a useless acronym for it.
Example of what will NEVER happen:
Boss - "Scott, what have you been doing? I need that site up and running yesterday!"
Me - "Don't worry boss, I'm WILBing, I'll be 9% more productive later"
Boss - "Oh, my bad, please continue"
You know what WILB is? It's an AM radio station in Canton, Ohio, USA, that offers Catholic programming. It will never be anything else.
Here's another quote from Dr. Coker that proves he doesn't understand the human race, or at the very least Americans, "Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days work, and as a result, increased productivity."
We are a society of people who don't know the definition of MODERATION. If you give people an excuse to slack off, 95% of us will take you up on it. Of that group, I'll bet 80% will abuse it.
Of course, anything in moderation is fine. You could of asked me for that advice instead of funding a research project. But, we are a society based on indulgences, and it's leading to bad habits. A lot of us are incapable of deeming what is and what isn't unobtrusive, and we could use less excuses.
A recent study from the University of Melbourne has "concluded" that those who surf the Internet for fun during office hours actually increase their productivity. Read more about their ground breaking research here (yes I rolled my eyes when I typed that, but I refuse to use an emoticon). Essentially there is conclusive research now that goes completely against one of my earlier entries titled Facebook is Killing Productivity.
Dr Brent Coker, from the Department of Management and Marketing, says that workers who engage in 'Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing' (WILB) are more productive than those who don't.
That quote alone disqualifies this study for me. WILB? Really? Not only did you spend the time on a research project devoted to creating a defense for lazy people around the world, but during said research project you also found time to create a useless acronym for it.
Example of what will NEVER happen:
Boss - "Scott, what have you been doing? I need that site up and running yesterday!"
Me - "Don't worry boss, I'm WILBing, I'll be 9% more productive later"
Boss - "Oh, my bad, please continue"
You know what WILB is? It's an AM radio station in Canton, Ohio, USA, that offers Catholic programming. It will never be anything else.
Here's another quote from Dr. Coker that proves he doesn't understand the human race, or at the very least Americans, "Short and unobtrusive breaks, such as a quick surf of the internet, enables the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a days work, and as a result, increased productivity."
We are a society of people who don't know the definition of MODERATION. If you give people an excuse to slack off, 95% of us will take you up on it. Of that group, I'll bet 80% will abuse it.
Of course, anything in moderation is fine. You could of asked me for that advice instead of funding a research project. But, we are a society based on indulgences, and it's leading to bad habits. A lot of us are incapable of deeming what is and what isn't unobtrusive, and we could use less excuses.
MSN Live Search Submission Change?
April 3, 2009
Once I launch a site or micro site on the web, I usually submit the URL to Google, Yahoo!, and Live Search. There's never a guarantee that any of them will crawl or index you promptly (or that this does anything at all), but in the world of SEO, I try to use whatever the search engines offer that will get my work found. The rest is in the hands of God... I mean Google.
I was doing this routine for a handful of channels launched on TMCnet recently, and noticed a change with the Live Search submission page. The submission page looks the same, but I couldn't get it to accept sub folders in the URL this time around. I thought maybe I was having an off day, so I had a few other designers here test it out. Sure enough, we could only submit the root folder/ home page of the domain now, and no sub folders. I may be late on this discovery, but it seemed worth mentioning.
It looks like Live Search is putting more weight into the link structure of your homepage, and how well it navigates to everything else in your site. Not a big issue really, especially for TMCnet. You can get everywhere from our homepage. We just wont be bothering to submit micro sites to Live Search anymore.
Come to think about it, who uses Live Search anyways?
I was doing this routine for a handful of channels launched on TMCnet recently, and noticed a change with the Live Search submission page. The submission page looks the same, but I couldn't get it to accept sub folders in the URL this time around. I thought maybe I was having an off day, so I had a few other designers here test it out. Sure enough, we could only submit the root folder/ home page of the domain now, and no sub folders. I may be late on this discovery, but it seemed worth mentioning.
It looks like Live Search is putting more weight into the link structure of your homepage, and how well it navigates to everything else in your site. Not a big issue really, especially for TMCnet. You can get everywhere from our homepage. We just wont be bothering to submit micro sites to Live Search anymore.
Come to think about it, who uses Live Search anyways?
BlackBerry App World is Here!
April 1, 2009
They missed their March 2009 launch by a day, but who cares... it's
here. RIM and BlackBerry® take their next step in the ongoing
competition with Apple and the iPhone. Finally an application store
for our BlackBerry's, which is something I've been envious of
that iPhone users have been waggling in front of my face for a
while now.
If you have a PayPal account, and if your BlackBerry smartphone meets the system requirements, then you're ready to start. BlackBerry App World is available for free and can be downloaded simply by visiting www.blackberry.com/appworld/download from your smart phone.
It looks like all purchases from the App World (be careful not to say "Store"...) go through your PayPal account, making payment quick, easy, and secure. If you don't have a PayPal account, visit PayPal now to get started.
Included in the list of their featured apps for the launch of the app world is Bloomberg Mobile, Slacker Radio, ICQ, HRS Hotel Organizer, Livestrong, Brain Challenge 2: Stress Management, Salesforce, and more.
One disclamer however, BlackBerry App World is only available to customers in US, Canada and UK and may not be available on all networks.
My first impression? Convenient but buggy. In order to get it working on my Storm, I of course had to reboot after installing. Also the first app I tried to download, "Level", keeps giving me an error message. However, everything else seems fine so far.
When you first load up the application, it takes you to a Featured Items area that you can scroll across to view the title, a little description, an image of the application button, and a 5 star rating system for each. Currently they are featuring 14 applications in this area and I'm not sure if this number will fluctuate in the future.
At the bottom is a simple menu with a Categories tab, a Top Downloads tab, a Search tab, and a My World tab. Inside the Categories Tab is 13 separate categories with a count of available applications next to it. Here's the current list:
Entertainment (19)Games (119)Maps & navigation (5)Music & Videos (10)News & Weather (16)Personal Finance & Banking (10)Personal health & Wellness (9)Productivity & Utilities (103)Professional & business (12)Reference & eBooks (32)Social Networking &Sharing (18)Sports & Recreation (36)Travel (10)It looks to be a total of 399 apps at launch. Not too bad.
If you have a PayPal account, and if your BlackBerry smartphone meets the system requirements, then you're ready to start. BlackBerry App World is available for free and can be downloaded simply by visiting www.blackberry.com/appworld/download from your smart phone.
It looks like all purchases from the App World (be careful not to say "Store"...) go through your PayPal account, making payment quick, easy, and secure. If you don't have a PayPal account, visit PayPal now to get started.
Included in the list of their featured apps for the launch of the app world is Bloomberg Mobile, Slacker Radio, ICQ, HRS Hotel Organizer, Livestrong, Brain Challenge 2: Stress Management, Salesforce, and more.
One disclamer however, BlackBerry App World is only available to customers in US, Canada and UK and may not be available on all networks.
My first impression? Convenient but buggy. In order to get it working on my Storm, I of course had to reboot after installing. Also the first app I tried to download, "Level", keeps giving me an error message. However, everything else seems fine so far.
When you first load up the application, it takes you to a Featured Items area that you can scroll across to view the title, a little description, an image of the application button, and a 5 star rating system for each. Currently they are featuring 14 applications in this area and I'm not sure if this number will fluctuate in the future.
At the bottom is a simple menu with a Categories tab, a Top Downloads tab, a Search tab, and a My World tab. Inside the Categories Tab is 13 separate categories with a count of available applications next to it. Here's the current list:
Entertainment (19)Games (119)Maps & navigation (5)Music & Videos (10)News & Weather (16)Personal Finance & Banking (10)Personal health & Wellness (9)Productivity & Utilities (103)Professional & business (12)Reference & eBooks (32)Social Networking &Sharing (18)Sports & Recreation (36)Travel (10)It looks to be a total of 399 apps at launch. Not too bad.
