every word of it. » Apple

why iTunes 10 will be like 1984

raishad — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:55:59 +0000

It’s so drab

Also, I hate the close/minimize/zoom buttons

My Killer App

raishad — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 22:32:05 +0000

Yes, I got an iPad.

I was always planning to get one really. But I didn’t want to seem over eager. I couldn’t reserve one sight unseen. That’s what I told myself.

But then last week – with all the announcements and reviews – I couldn’t say no to the building iPad momentum. So on Saturday morning, I woke up at 7am and by 10:30am I was back home with my iPad.

I love it. Using it is addictive.

My favorite app so far? Tab Toolkit.

Tab Tookit is a really nice viewer/player for Guitar Pro/Power Tab tabs on the iPhone. It’s priced as a premium app for the iPhone at $10, but it is really well done. You can add tabs from the app itself, i.e. you don’t need to go to a computer and send files to it. And it can do the stuff that I care about – playing only selected tracks and adjusting the tempo.

If you’ve ever used the site Songsterr, it’s that in pocket form.

Well for the iPad, instead of releasing a separate app, they upgraded the existing iPhone app and it’s just what I’ve always wanted.

You’re going from this

The extra resolution really makes it compelling to use.

It’s my “killer app”

And not to mention, the iPad works beautifully on a music stand.

Craigslist Fun?

raishad — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 22:09:51 +0000

So in preparation for the iPad and in the spirit of simplifying my life, I’ve decided to get rid of extra computers. I’m in the process of switching from a giant Linux file server to a tiny ReadyNAS NAS. And I’ve decided to get rid of my Dell laptops. I have a Dell Vostro A90 and a Dell Latitude D600. I’ve put the Vostro A90 on Craigslist.

So far I’ve gotten one reply from a David Woodgate, woodgate962@gmail.com It’s so obvious a scam, it’s a cliche.

His first email

Hello, I am very much interested in buying your item which i see on craigslist list.Is the item still up for sale?

What stands out? The terrible English? Maybe this person doesn’t speak English as his first language, so let’s ignore that. How about he doesn’t ask anything about the Dell? He refers to it by “item”.

Anyways, I reply. Maybe this guy is just an idiot.

Hi David, Yes the item is still up for sale.

His reply is even better

Thanks for your mail. i really appreciate your response to my mail. like i said i will like to buy this item from you and i want you withdraw the advert from craigslist. i’m using this opportunity to inform you that i wont be able to come and inspect the item or pay by cash cos i have been advice by craigslist never send payment via bank transfer ,check, money order or sending cash by post,that is why it will be safe and secure for us to complete this transaction through PayPal though i am a us citizen and i am willing to buy this item as a valentine gift for my cousin and i would appreciate it if i can pay through paypal.mean while i’m willing to offer you the sum $150 for the shipping.However if you don’t have paypal account you can just log on to www.paypal.com and set up an account it is easy and secure to pay and receive money through paypal.pls get back to me asap Thanks

My favorite part from that? Playing cautious by following best practices from Craigslist regarding money. Yet, Craigslist recommends dealing locally to avoid scammers. Also, I don’t know about you, but I constantly mention to people I’m a US Citizen. And I love that he’s paying half of my asking price in shipping.

So yea, anyone wants to buy a Vostro A90? It runs Mac OS X and (if you insist) XP.

What I Hate About Sundays

raishad — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:43:43 +0000

I have a 20GB iPod from 4 years ago. It’s one of these

It’s a classic.

I got it free when I bought my Powerbook G4 (the greatest laptop Apple has ever made to date).

I use it in my car. It’s why I don’t listen to the radio and why I love my commute to work.

Well it’s getting old.

See the battery life was never stellar to begin with. But since I only use it on a charger, that never really becomes an issue

Unless it’s a Sunday.

If I don’t drive anywhere over the weekend, the battery dies. And when the battery goes, so goes the play counts. I have to sync it by Sunday, otherwise by Monday morning, the battery will be drained. And since it’s getting colder, the battery life is shortened by the weather, so I have to act faster.

So all the precious play count information – information I need for my playlists get lost*. At least 5 days worth of data – 7 hours spent driving – never happened. And what’s really sad, is that all those tracks that I keep replaying over and over, because my remote control lacks a rating button, I lose. The idea being that eventually when I sync, I can see the exceptionally high play count and rate the track.

The solution to all these disappointing Sundays

Apple make an iPod with wi-fi syncing.

Zune work with iTunes and MacOS

*It’s not really consistent – sometimes I lose the data, sometimes I don’t

Slow Flash Getting You Down?

raishad — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 17:50:05 +0000

Here’s a tip for if you have an old G4 Mac.

As you know, for some reason Flash on MacOS is slower than Flash on anything else. And having a G4 certainly doesn’t help things. I dread going to sites with a heavy Flash interface. Frankly it’s a bit disappointing mixed in with a smidgen of depressing.

But hey, it’s Saturday. Time to get some work done. You set your awesome 12″ Powerbook (perhaps the greatest laptop Apple ever built) besides you and you head over to Hulu to catch up on Friday Night Lights/Chuck/House/Psych/Terminator while you work on work work. But oh no, the video are in Flash. And Flash is a dog.

Here’s my recommendation. Use Camino. Camino for whatever reason, handles Flash better than Safari and Firefox. Not a tiny bit better, but a lot better.

Give it a try, you’ll thank me.

Not Steve Jobs

raishad — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:02:41 +0000

This guy, isn’t Steve Jobs. I’m not Steve Jobs either. Where’s my video introduction to the iPhone? Apple needs to correct this, send me an iPhone and I can record one. I have an iSight and everything.

Oh Steve Jobs

raishad — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 03:13:13 +0000

Why do you mock me?

Lately, I’ve had an inclination/need to play Civilization/Colonization. It’s been a difficult process. I’ve yet to actually play a full game, but I haven’t given up. I’m going to succeed. And when I do, I’ll probably ruin Civilization/Colonization forever. Nothing better than revisiting a childhood memory and realizing it should’ve remained a memory.

re: Fun New Products

raishad — Wed, 01 Mar 2006 08:20:43 +0000

You’re killing me, Smalls

friendship reichstag

raishad — Sat, 25 Feb 2006 03:41:55 +0000

Long lent me his Wacom Graphire tablet and for that kind gesture, he’s off notice.

I have really bad handwriting. Also, it’s really hard to get used to the fact that the tiny 4×5 screen represents my monstrous 2005fpw. I keep on wanting it to behave sort of like a mouse. Where the center of the tablet is where my pointer is, and it tracks my movements away from the center. You know.

I’m making use of Inkwell in that screenshot. It’s MacOS’s built-in tablet utility. It’s very fancy. But the handwriting recognition isn’t that great. And I can’t seem to find a training utility so I can get it to recognize my chicken scratch.

These Pretzels Are Making Me Thirsty

raishad — Sat, 18 Feb 2006 02:43:58 +0000

The iPod, pretty decent machine taking everything into consideration. It’s not perfect, but it gets the job done.

But there’s one thing that just annoys the hell out of me. I just wanna take the iPod and slam it into the ground. Note, I have a 4G iPod, this behavior may have changed. Basically, the iPod is unable to deal with long album names. The iPod just truncates the name on display. But when you have a song title that is too long, the iPod will scroll the title, it won’t with the album name. What it comes down to, I have a lot of Rough Trade Compilations and I don’t know what’s what.