iPhone 4: I’m keeping it!

So, I’ve had the new iPhone for a few weeks now. It replaced my BlackBerry, which I’d grown to both love and hate.

After a thorough trial, and all of the updates Apple made from the original “iPhone OS” (which I didn’t like) and the present “iOS 4.0.1“… I’ve deemed the platform “bearable for those with high technical demands”. For example: the “unified inbox” brings us one step closer to enterprise level email. Also, iPhone OS 3’s introduction of “Microsoft Exchange support” allows instant-push GMail in a native, “MobileMe”-like manner for users… for users without the need for MobileMe.

The biggest thing about the iPhone is that there’s very little to hate about it. It’s so well-designed, beautiful, brilliant, and fashionably advanced that even the smallest things I don’t like about it……. don’t really matter as much. The inferiority of the BlackBerry platform really drove me crazy over the smallest issues. Apple seems to get it right the first time… just while releasing new features more slowly. They listen to their users and focus on perfection. Slowly.

And, let’s not forget that it’s also a fantastic iPod. Hopefully we’ll be able to stream our music from the “iTunes cloud” within the next 12-months.

My one wish: a today screen, or something. I don’t have any reception issues because I have a case, but instead what bugs me is the lack of information displayed while the phone is in its “locked” state. I realize this has its security benefits, but I would like to see calendar items or at least owner information in the event my phone is lost and the discoverer wants to return it.

In the meantime, I’ve designed a custom “wallpaper” for my phone, which is shown above, since iOS 4 allows a separate wallpaper for locked and unlocked states. It has my personal information and an alternate number to call… in case my phone is misplaced. I hope that Apple will eventually come up with a more elegant solution!

Favorite features of iPhone 4:

• Voice commands (“Play album: OK Computer”, “Call [someone’s name]” … no setup required); works great with a headset or earphones that have a mic/button!
• iPod built-in
• Great battery life!
• The form-factor of the phone is fantastic and has a very industrial look/feel
• 720p video-recording + excellent still camera
• FaceTime doesn’t use any cellphone minutes
• Full Safari web-browser!
• Skype is awesome on this phone, especially the new version they launched last night. (Just needs video calling now.)
• The games are fantastic. I have SimCity and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars… whoa!

Overall, great phone. I hope everyone upgrades!

iPhone 4 “bumper” cases suck; buy this instead!

So, as you know, I’m experimenting with an iPhone 4 opposed to my BlackBerry right now. I think I’m going to keep it. One of the things I dreaded was buying one of the overpriced “iPhone cases” that every third-party is making huge money from. Prices average $20-30…. for plastic, perhaps with a bit of “soft-touch coating”.

I purchased a green “bumper” case from the Apple Store (for a whopping $29), and was pretty disappointed. The case was discolored by my jeans within days, and had stretched out to not fit the phone anymore from removing and reinstalling it a few times. See… to plug into my car (or a Zipcar)… the case must be removed. It reintroduces the problem with the original iPhone: recessed headphone jack. That’s right, Apple’s bumper case only supports Apple-sanctioned dock and headphone connectors. Forget most third-parties unless it’s “Made for iPhone” … which my car isn’t.

So, after my “Incipio Feather Case” arrived, I returned the bumper to the Apple Store for a full refund. Nice. The Feather case is beautiful, and fits the phone very well. No bulk, not as much drop protection, but offers great scratch protection. Also, the texture of it is fantastic. Not a huge fan of the Incipio logo, but the case is black and it doesn’t show much. I will say: I’ve heard online that the “lightly” colored cases (pink/baby blue/etc.) will discolor in a way similar to Apple’s bumper case. I recommend purchasing a darker color. Amazon has many colors for sale.

Also recommended: Cheap iPhone car chargers… like $5 on Amazon. BlackBerry stuff is even cheaper… like $4 for an OEM wall charger, vs. $30 at the AT&T Store.

Original iPhone Dock works perfectly with iPhone 4. Save $30!

Following on the heals of the $1 iPhone 4 bumper, I refused to pay $29 for an iPhone 4 dock. However, on a whim, I tried a dock from the original iPhone. Not the 3G or 3GS, the 2G that redefined all mobile-phones.

It works great! And it fits the phone perfectly. And it was free… it came with the original iPhone! Charging works fine as well. What’s not to love?

Update: John Adams dremeled out his 3GS dock without luck (it didn’t work), but this dock works fine. Something about “resistor codes” prevent compatibility? Very sneaky! … But not as sneaky as this. :)

RelayRides: Why they won’t make it.

A few weeks ago I was at a seminar for new web startups, and one in particular caught my eye: RelayRides. It’s a person-to-person car sharing service, much like Zipcar… without big-brother managing the vehicles themselves.

Basically, take Zipcar, and subtract the provided vehicles. You drive your friend’s (or a complete stranger’s) car for an hourly rate.

Much like Zipcar, fuel and insurance are included at no-charge. Also, rates start at just $6/hour. The biggest difference is that if you own a vehicle, you can rent it to others by having a transponder installed in your car. They’ll provide a $1-million insurance policy and up to $4,500-8,000 per-year in your pocket. (apparently)

However… I don’t think this idea is going to go anywhere.

Aside from the fact that if one could afford to buy a car (of any cost), they probably wouldn’t be purchasing a car expensive enough that they would need to recoup some of that cost through a service like RelayRides in order to afford it. And, I don’t know if I would want a complete stranger driving my car (or even some of my friends, for that matter) considering the amount of comprehensive damage that could occur and go unnoticed. Not to mention maintenance requirements.

That aside, the business model is flawed in a number of ways as well:

1. Lack of “initial push” … WHERE are the cars they’re offering right now? Unlike Zipcar, which through investments was able to place cars all over the place and lure in customers who didn’t particularly desire owning their own car or who travelled a lot, RelayRides relies on those same customers to provide reliable vehicles for their other customers. This is fatally flawed and unless the company is planning on growing extremely slowly, they will have to turn a lot of customers away… customers they need.
2. Lack of on-car advertising … One benefit to using someone else’s car through RelayRides is that it’s not blasted with Zipcar stickers everywhere and marketed as a car that can be shared. However, this is also an obvious downfall for the company. The sheer amount of marketing dollars required to reach the same audience that Zipcar has actively reached with a few pennies worth of vinyl-lettering (on each vehicle) is staggering. For one, I will admit that I probably wouldn’t have learned about or considered Zipcar in the first place if I hadn’t seen their distinct vehicles driving around Boston from time to time… and become curious!

So, aside from the number of liabilities for customers (both driving and renting), there are number of serious roadblocks for a company like this to grow to the point at which it’s both interesting and sustainable. I just don’t think it will ever get there.

How to keep “Facebook for BlackBerry” from driving you insane…

Facebook for BlackBerry is a great way to drive yourself insane if you’re constantly receiving “Notifications” of activity from your friends and relatives on Facebook. Since not all of the notifications on the website are supported by email and BlackBerry in the first place, here are the settings I recommend to only alert you of things that might actually affect your life between now and the next time you sit down at your computer.

You can change these settings here: http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?notifications …. Or by going to “Account”, “Account Settings”, then “Notifications”.

Perfect example of why changing these settings is important: Let’s say you’ve commented on someone’s photo that they’ve just posted. This person has a lot of friends, and that particular photo is controversial. You’ll be receiving notifications on your phone EVERY time one of their friends comments on that particular photo, even if you do not know the person commenting. That’s why I’ve unchecked “Comments after me in a photo”, but left “Comments on my photos” and “Comments on a photo of me” checked (see image below)… but feel free to tweak these settings as you so desire. You’ll still receive notifications when someone invites you to an event, cancels or changes an event, sends you a message, or adds you as a friend. But, not the stupid notifications!

Another tip: Go into the Facebook Application’s options (on your BlackBerry) and make sure that “Leave email notification on mail server” is unchecked. That way, your BlackBerry will delete the email after it has notified you… so you won’t have to delete a bunch of Facebook emails later on! (Huge timesaver here.)

joludi:

Cables.

A Mao le encanta comerse mis cables, especialmente cuando están tirados por el suelo. Tiene preferencia por los del Iphone, no se por qué. He tenido que aplicar medidas drásticas para solucionar el problema y no dejar un solo cable por el suelo, tras la mesa. Esta es una solución perfectamente válida. Y barata.

Upgrading a MacBook’s hard-drive!

I have a 2006 MacBook for school and travel … base-model. It came with a 60GB hard-drive (5400RPM), and it’s time for an upgrade. So, I bought a 320GB 7200RPM Seagate drive (for about $60) to replace it before my upcoming trip to Japan! :)

Swapping it was pretty easy. The new drive is shown below in a static-proof bag, which is now in a drawer with my MacBook’s original drive inside it. So be careful opening your bag!

Supplies you may need:

1. A new hard-drive that’s going to fit your MacBook. (2.5 inch)
2. Various small screwdrivers… (a small flathead, a Torx T8)
3. Patience
4. A firewire cable (6-pin to 6-pin), and another Mac with a Firewire port that can hold a single file as large as your current MacBook’s drive. (enough free diskspace)

…

Step 1: Make a disk-image of your current drive’s data.
First of all, let me emphasize that doing ANY of these steps (not just this one) is AT YOUR OWN RISK. I’m a professional. Be careful. I cannot be held responsible for any damage to your data or yours or anyone else’s computer(s).

Unless you plan on reinstalling Mac OS X and recovering your data separately, you should make a backup image of your MacBook’s existing drive. One way of doing this is using an external disk-drive (with enough space, of course) and a program called SuperDuper. However, since I didn’t have an extra drive, and also didn’t feel like using the Mac OS X Install CD to restore my data… I chose a different method.

“Target Disk Mode” allows you to mount one Mac’s hard drive on the desktop of another. So, I attached my two computers together using a Firewire cable and booted my MacBook (it was turned off) while holding the “T” key. The MacBook’s drive appeared on my Mac Pro’s desktop, which has enough available disk space to hold the MacBook’s data, temporarily. Note the funky screensaver on the MacBook while this mode is enabled… don’t forget to plug in your power cord!

I don’t believe you can do this with a USB cable, and some of the new MacBooks do not have Firewire ports. I agree, this sucks. However, mine is old and from 2006… so it still does! :)

So, now that you have access to the data: let’s make a backup. Open the “Disk Utility” application (from the “Utilities” folder, inside “Applications”) and select your MacBook’s drive. MAKE SURE THAT YOU SELECT THE CORRECT DRIVE. Mine is called “smash’s HD” and has an orange/yellow icon because it’s connected via Firewire. Note that I also have a Bootcamp drive “smash’s Windows HD”, but I’m NOT copying that to the new drive because I never use it. I use VMWare Fusion instead of Bootcamp.

With your MacBook’s drive selected on the left-side of the window, then click “New Image”. This will initiate the process of creating a perfect “image” of that drive, as long as its in working order. It should be!

A window will popup asking you to choose a name for the disk-image, and also what type. I chose “read only” because I don’t need to edit any of the data. I would not choose “compressed”… which is the default. This is going to take longer and slow your computer down while the process is running.

Once you’ve done all that and continued, your computer will begin crunching a copy of all of the data on your existing MacBook’s drive into a single file on your desktop (or other computer). Note that this file will be the same size as your hard-drive on the MacBook. I hope you have enough free space!!

Once this process has completed… RUN THE COMMAND SHOWN ABOVE on the image file you’ve created. It takes 20-30 minutes and you will not be able to begin copying data back to your MacBook afterward until you’ve done this. No idea why.

…

Step 2: Upgrading the actual drive.
So this was fun, and surprisingly easy. Again, doing this is AT YOUR OWN RISK. On some of the newer Macs you have to rip apart the entire computer (okay, I make it sound way worse than it is… but it’s not so bad) to get at the hard-drive. On this one, it was removing the battery and three screws.

Remove the battery. Use a coin (or something, a key maybe?) to turn the battery lock and it should pop out.

Then, unscrew the three screws (note: they don’t separate from the aluminum, just unscrew them and don’t worry about it) to unmask the RAM. I found that an eyeglass screwdriver from my swiss-army knife worked best for this. Be careful not to strip them out!

On the left-side, there’s a white plastic tab that’s been tucked-in under the drive. Carefully expose it.

Pull gently, and the drive should slide right out!

Then, separate the drive from its tray … you need a Torx “T8” screwdriver. I have one, but I couldn’t find it. So I just gently used pliers to turn the screws loose. :)

After that, just repeat the steps in reverse order with the new drive, and you’ll be done! Reinstall the battery after everything is safely and properly put back together, and boot the computer once again holding the “T” key to enter “Target Disk Mode”.

…

Step 3: Reconnect the Firewire cable between computers, and restore your data!
So hopefully by now, your main computer has finished “scanning your image for restore.” So, let’s restore it! :)

The drive should be recognized by your computer if the MacBook is in “Target Disk Mode”, but if it’s an empty drive it won’t show up on the desktop. But it will still appear in Disk Utility.

First we need to create a partition on that drive. So highlight it, and visit the “Partition” tab. AGAIN, MAKE SURE THAT YOU SELECT THE CORRECT DRIVE. It’ll be yellow, same as before. If you select the wrong one you could erase the wrong computer! However, I will say that Macs are pretty “self-aware” about not letting you erase themselves and I don’t think that works… but still. Easy mistake to make if you’ve never done this before.

Once you have the new drive selected (and you’re sure it’s the correct drive) … Choose “1 Partition” from the “Volume Scheme” … most users won’t want more than 1. Name it “Macintosh HD”, but I chose “smash’s HD”… haha.

Then click the “Options” button, and make sure that “GUID Partition Table” is selected.

Then, back on the original “Partition” screen… click “Apply”. Disk Utility will setup your drive and make it usable.

Last step: Put your data back on the [now] usable drive! Go to the “Restore” tab  …. for Source, select the disk image you originally created and then scanned for “restorability”. From the left-side, DRAG the drive you just partitioned (Macintosh HD, yellow) into the “Destination” field. — You may uncheck the “Erase destination” box since partitioning already erased the drive.

Once your data restores, you may click the “Eject” button at the top of Disk Utility and unplug your MacBook’s firewire cable. Then turn the MacBook off. Boot it again while holding the Option key (this time) and select your new drive from the boot list! It should work just as before, but with the new drive of course! :)

Yay. If you Mac doesn’t boot the next time… hold Option again. To fix this, visit the System Preferences application once inside Mac OS X and adjust the “Startup Disk” preferences. This problem will not occur again.

Good luck!

23andme genetics analysis kit arrived!

Last week 23andme had a sale in which their $499-kit for DNA/Genetics analysis was just $99 for a day! …Naturally I jumped on this! I’d been considering the analysis for a long time.

I received the package a few days ago:

One thing I was fascinated by is their attention to privacy and detail with this kit. For example, the lab doesn’t receive your name or personal information. The barcode on the sample tube (which you fill with your saliva after not eating or drinking for 30-minutes) is referenced back to you outside of the processing center directly with 23andme’s website. It is impossible for anyone except 23andme themselves to know whose saliva belongs to whom. This is great!

I will say that their Consent Disclosure is a bit eyeopening, as you may learn about disease you’re prone to or conditions such as hairloss in advance of what’s to come. However, I feel pretty healthy and am very health-conscious… and bad news on the test may not remain correct as new gene information is uncovered. So who cares! It’s not “guessing” but new discoveries are made over time and 23andme will always update your profile with new information about yourself when it’s made available.

In addition to all of this, you get to learn about your ancestry. I’ll post as many of my results as I can in the next few weeks! (They said 6-8 weeks for processing.)

Flip UltraHD video camera review

I love making videos. Sometimes.

I’ve had a Sony video camera sitting on my desk ever since my roadtrip from Vancouver to Los Angeles in 2008. I’ve used it on random occasions to film events, and not much thereafter.

Recently, I decided to replace this rig (the Sony HDR-HC9, a AC-VQH10 charger, and four massive NP-FH100 “Actiforce” batteries) with a single handheld camera from Flip Video. This camera, called the “UltraHD” costs just $149.99 and shoots beautiful 1280x720 Progressive (720p) video. Unlike my Sony, this camera is actually innovative.

Still, there are some features missing on the UltraHD:

• An optical zoom. Honestly, I can live without this… but accidently hitting the digital zoom in/out buttons basically ruins your video. Be careful. You can zoom in using video-editing software on the computer for roughly the same effect… maybe even better. An optical zoom would be nice, but it’s not necessary if you’re clever enough.
• An optical image stabilizer. Walking around with the UltraHD produces decent video, but there is considerably more jitter if you’re not using some sort of tripod or camera stabilizing equipment. The “locked” position of the image sensor is great for action video footage where you do not want a “rolling shudder” effect (present in many modern consumer camcorders)… but terrible if you do not have a way to stabilize the video whatsoever. Plan accordingly.
• No expandable storage. Again, no biggie. But if you fill up the UltraHD with no laptop nearby to download everything… be prepared to delete a few clips or continue without recording. Two hours is a lot of recording capacity, but may not be enough in some instances. For everything that this camera does, though… I can’t complain. I rarely require more than “two tapes worth” (120min) of capacity and it’s a lot quicker to transfer files to a laptop than to import via DV if you don’t have any tapes. However… it’s a lot less expensive to carry extra tapes than it is to carry an extra Flip UltraHD.

That said…
The UltraHD does have compelling benefits that outweigh the “cons”:

• No moving parts inside. Less to break, less to maintain, less weight, and less complexity. A tape camcorder or one with a zooming/focusing/adjusting lens is more delicate and intricate.
• Simple and inexpensive, yet professional level. If you can master the lack of an optical image stabilizer, you can shoot extremely clear, professional video with this camera for much less than the cost of a high-level camera. See my demo video below.
• Fits in your pocket. Comes with everything you need, as well… including a nice carrying pouch that can be used to clean the camera’s lens in just seconds.
• Charges from a USB Port, can be powered by two AA batteries in a pinch. Self-explanitory. If you have a computer or even an iPod charger, you can charge your Flip. If you don’t have either of these things, stop anywhere and buy two AA batteries. Done.

One complaint I had about the way the Flip cameras work is that their H.264 file-format (very common) isn’t convenient for use with desktop video-editing software. I generally use Final Cut Pro, and I had to run the files through Compressor for them to import properly. I suggest converting your source files to “Apple ProRes” format (choose ‘Apple ProRes with Alpha’ since it enhances and mimics the settings of the FlipCam’s video and is least likely to reduce quality via a transcode). This is one of the presets in Compressor if you dig deep enough. (I think it’s in “Apple -> Formats -> Quicktime”) Note that this will make a duplicate file of each video and it will be 10x the size of the original! However, these files should then work fine with Final Cut Pro, you just need a lot of free disk-space in the process. Compressor is also great for Gamma Correction, Deinterlacing (not necessary with the Flip cameras, though… they’re Progressive!), and also afterward for exporting your video to a YouTube/Vimeo format without losing much detail.

Here’s a demo video I put together with some of the footage. It’s called “Carwash”. I took my car to the carwash, and also videoed the drive to the place with a suction-cup camera mount attached to the passenger-side door of my Volkswagen. Enjoy! Click here to watch in HD!

Carwash from Ben ‘smash’ Guild on Vimeo.

Why I gave up drinking, and never plan to start again….

Disclaimer: I will occasionally have a glass of red wine with dinner. But only if it’s offered by the host.

While I was never an alcoholic per-say, do still have alcohol around the house, and still often provide it to others… I don’t drink at-all anymore. I realized shortly after quitting about a month ago that alcohol literally never did anything for me except create blurred memories that were more or less worthless, yet still enjoyable. However, the human mind is structured in a way that we habitually focus on remembering “the good times” and not the mediocre or bad…, and to tell you the truth, I don’t think it was worth it!

Many people seriously look back at their college careers (or college-aged careers…) as “learning to drink” or “the biggest party they’d ever been to” (see video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbsdlSpA2GU). I’ve definitely had some nights with too many drinks, some nights that started off badly and were made worse by alcohol, some nights that never should have happened if it weren’t for alcohol (these are generally the worst), but also some nights that never would have happened if it weren’t for alcohol (these are some of the best). You have to pick and choose your battles.

For now, no more drinking. Plus, someone bet me a drink that I wouldn’t go through with it. :)