To recap:
Previous versions of Stanza enabled transfer of ePub and eReader books to the iPhone via USB. According to the Techcrunch article linked above, a source at Stanza’s parent company (owned by Amazon) stated that Apple requested a version update with this specific functionality removed. No further details have been disclosed.
With the launch of the iPad and iBook imminent, I anticipate more actions like this, some overt, others more insidious.
Speculation Time!
At worst, since iBook can be considered core functionality on the iPad, they could elect to ban other e-reader apps entirely. Strongarm tactics like that would undoubtedly garner a fierce initial reaction, but that hasn’t stopped them in the past (see: Google Voice.)
A more likely approach would be to subtly devalue the non-native reading apps, perhaps by offering extended multitasking privileges for iBook that are simply unavailable to 3rd-party developers through the SDK. Let’s call that semi-tasking for now
We’ll all have to wait and see. I’ll try to keep this post updated with the latest. As an avid reader, kindle owner and future iPad owner, I’ve a vested interest in the outcome of the impending eBook format wars.
No matter what transpires, I expect it to be difficult to tell if Apple’s interference with 3rd-party developers is caused by new relationships with ever-paranoid publishing companies or based upon their own grand plans to win in the eBook space.
Page Saver is a must-have firefox extension for anyone who does research on the web, including user experience professionals, visual designers & artists, product managers, and anyone else who takes screenshots of webpages for inspiration.
It’s a huge upgrade from Apple’s native Grab application. Rather than simply taking a snapshot of what’s visible on your screen, Page Saver captures the entire contents of the firefox browser tab as a png or jpg with the click of a button. The basic version of the extension provides a ton of custom options for free, and a few more in their Pro version.
For my purposes, the free version works like a charm. Below is a comparison chart to help you determine which version you might need.
One of Google Wave’s many quirks is that it doesn’t currently auto-convert embed codes into YouTube videos, flickr photos, etc as most have grown to expect from modern web applications. I’m sure most of you fellow Wavers have discovered that URLs from some domains (like YouTube) will ask if you’d like to embed instead, but most sites won’t support this behavior for a while.
Thanks to my awesome boyfriend for discovering a way to hack this until the rest of the internet catches up It’s a little inelegant but it gets the job done.
If you follow these steps, you’ll be able to embed ANYTHING, or even throw in html on a whim (supports code view too, for my fellow nerds).
Now that you’ve installed the extension, here’s how you add your embed code or any html to your waves
while editing a wavelet, click the rather ugly button in your editing toolbar labeled .html (for me it’s in the upper right-hand corner, next to the map-pin icon).
Click the edit button in the upper left-hand corner of the grey module that appears
Add your code and click view
You’re done!
As promised, here’s the full step-by-step for manual installation of the extension installer. If you accessed the wave I liked to above, you don’t need to read the rest of this, you’re ready to rock!
It’s been quite some time, but in light of National Blog Posting Month (aka NaBloPoMo), I figure I have a new excuse to recommit to macroblogging (those of you who follow me on twitter know I microblog FAR too much already ). A lot has changed in the past 6 months, but I’ll get into that later For now, something extraordinary and beautiful.
You’ve likely seen the Astronomy Picture of the Day from NASA, I know I’ve linked through to it a few times, but tonight I actually started digging through the archive, and what I found was pretty awe-inspiring. Looking at photographs of galaxies and nebulas and The Grand Canyon of Mars gives me perspective, hope and humility.
Here’s a selection of my favorites so far. I’m not even halfway through 2006 yet, and the entries date back to 1995:
In light of the upcoming iPhone updates, I want to post a quick warning for anyone planning on picking one up. Whatever you do….don’t get a rubberized case for the iPhone if you generally keep your mobile in your pocket. I know 3 people personally, myself included, who torqued the screen and cracked it using a rubber case. Luckily, mine cracked very low and in the corner of the screen so it hasn’t negatively affected the usefulness of the phone…yet, and I’ll undoubtedly get a shiny new on this week (I think I have a compulsion of sorts when it comes to this particular device ). I have a tragic history with iPhones thus far since my first one was stolen, and now this one is cracked. I ended up using my sucker’s voucher (yes I stood in line for one the first day and paid an extra $200 for my trouble…not for very long though, thanks to my non-tech-saavy locale in the middle of the country) on a new one after that happened.
Anyway, back to the point…frankly, I prefer going caseless. None of them have solved the main reason I wanted a case in the first place: the plastic cover built into the iPhone that covers the camera lens almost immediately starts getting dirty and scratched and degrades the picture quality. I wanted a case that protected this part so that I could maintain the integrity of the camera itself over time. The screen is pretty difficult to scratch because it’s glass, but the back of the phone is plastic and it gets pretty scuffed up.
The only case I have liked so far has been the Ivyskin Xylo T2. It’s great that you can touch the screen through a harder plastic, but their industrial designer needs to do a lot of work on the sides of this case. It’s impossible to press any of the buttons or flip to silent mode without a lot of effort, and I have pretty tiny hands, so it’s probably easier for me than most. I also ended up with the reflective one since I purchased it as soon as it was released, and I really don’t like the mirrored action they have going on. It’s distracting, really. Fortunately they’ve since come out with colors.
So, to recap…
Do NOT get one of these, whatever you do (no matter how much you like pink, or brown, or any other zune-inspired colors…hehe):
If you REALLY want a case immediately, this is pretty nice:
but it has some major design issues like deeply recessed button holes and poorly designed latching system:
I’ll preface this by saying I’m fascinated by advertising and I love to analyze the effectiveness of different campaigns. I imagine this will become a regular installment, so I’m optimistically numbering this post and creating a category…hehe.
Dove + Heroin
So I try not to watch too much television as a rule, but there are a few shows that I consider guilty pleasures. While I was watching something a week or two ago, a commercial caught my eye. The ad was for a new body wash that Dove has released, and it is startlingly similar to various sequences from the film Requiem for a Dream in which characters do anything from cocaine to weed to diet pills to heroin.
I’ve done a youTube mashup for your viewing pleasure after recording many nights worth of reality tv (cringe) and watching at 8x the speed…hehe.
I’m assuming that the intent here is to convey the enticing nature of the product in a fresh way, but I don’t imagine that Dove hopes to undermine their brand equity any further by intentionally evoking imagery that relates to addiction. For the record, I think Aronofsky is brilliant, but this was a depressing film to watch and it is anything but fresh and upbeat.
Following SXSWi 2008 (Best. Conference. Ever.) I spent a week overhauling my portfolio for the first time in 2 years. While I haven’t broken free from Flash for this revision due to time constraints, I completely restructured the site from an organizational, experiential and aesthetic perspective, and I’m pretty happy with the result. Let me know if you agree/disagree. Since I’m launching this blog in tandem with the portfolio redesign, I figure it makes sense for my inaugural post (yes…I’m ridiculously late to the blogosphere) to discuss my process. Hopefully the assumption that anyone might care isn’t too narcissistic…hehe.
It’s a little inelegant but it gets the job done.
). A lot has changed in the past 6 months, but I’ll get into that later 
