512 Pixels

While this isn’t surprising given Google’s lack of interest in the product over the last few years, it is frustrating.

My friend and podcast co-host Myke Hurley:

As the network continues to grow, our ambitions grow with it. Our hosts put out shows that deserve a larger audience, and my dream of a career in podcasting is within reach. To get to the next level, we need help. We need a better infrastructure and even more great people to support the network we have created. That’s why I’m thrilled to announce that 70Decibels is going to be moving to the 5by5 Podcasting Network.

I am excited that the 512 Podcast is moving to 5by5 as part of this deal. There will be a few changes coming to the show, and we’ll be sharing those soon.

Myke and I started Ungeniused, our first podcast in October 2011, after I was a guest on the now-defunct Bro Show a couple of times. Myke was very gracious to me as a guest, and is the best co-host I could ask for. I’m thrilled for him today, as it marks a major milestone in his quest to become a full-time podcaster.

A nameless government blogger:

A free iPhone app called TSP Funds is currently being offered through the Apple store. It asks Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) participants for their account log in information.

This is not an official TSP app and the TSP does not recommend using this app to access your TSP account.Providing your information could result in a security risk to your account.

So, what’s crazier: that this app was approved by Apple, or that the government has a Tumblr account?

This week, staggering like zombies away from the flaming wreckage that is Daylight Savings Time, Myke and I discuss Office for iPad, prototype hardware and streaming music services.

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Got a logo you like, but want to make way better? Add some Brushed Metal to it.

Here’s how to do it in Photoshop, courtesy of Brian Ashe:

1. Filter –> Noise –> Add Noise: 100%, uniform, monochromatic
2. Filter –> Blur –> Motion Blur: 30px

And, poof: it’s the early 2000s, all over again:

Alex Wilhelm:

Today Dropbox announced upgrades to its desktop client to allow for quick sharing of files with others, and improved updates that will help users keep up with the service. The most significant update involves an easier way to share files with a link – not a new capability – directly from the Dropbox desktop menu, which cuts down on the steps needed to send content to others.

In keeping with that change, the Dropbox menu has been improved to also accept files more simply, with access to shared files – in the new link form – in the menu itself. The notifications will be sent out in real-time, according to the firm.

Dropbox is the backbone of many of my workflows, and this update looks great.

In this month’s Read and Trust magazine, Matt Alexander, Dave Caolo, David Chartier and Federico Viticci discuss mobile computing devices. It’s a great edition.

Vlad Savov, explaining a feature of the new Sony Xperia Z Android phone:

What Sony does is as simple as it is effective: all background apps and data transfers are disabled when the screen is turned off, thereby eliminating the vampiric power draw of running processes you don’t need while the phone idles. You still receive phone calls and messages as usual, plus you can whitelist apps that you don’t want affected by Stamina mode, meaning that after a bit of tailoring you can run this as your phone’s default setting. Sony claims that enabling Stamina mode can quadruple the Xperia Z’s standby time, and my experience with the phone confirmed this feature is no gimmick. Leaving the phone to mostly idle for one day, I found it barely consumed 15 percent of its charge, and even that power consumption was primarily down to the few occasions when I turned it on and used it. Stamina mode will do little to help power users or avid mobile photographers, but for the vast majority of people — with whom the phone spends most of its time inactive — it can have a definite positive impact.

I really don’t want full-on, anything-goes multitasking to come to the iPhone. Props to Sony for this, but this seems like something the operating system should be able to do.

An “open” system gives users enough rope to hang themselves, I suppose.

This is the best thing I’ve read on interface design in a while.

via the comments on TUAW’s post linking to my post here.

The Good Doctor:

I like Daylight Saving Time, and the advantages it brings more than make up for the slight disruption in my schedule. In fact, the most annoying thing to me about the DST changeovers is hearing people complain about them. The “lost hour of sleep” is especially rich. Who are these hothouse flowers who always get exactly the same amount of sleep except for that terrible day in March? To hear them talk, you’d think they never stay up late watching a movie or reading a book. Only prisoners have such regimented lives.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt:

Two and a half billion dollars.

That’s how much Morgan Stanley’s Adam Holt estimates Microsoft (MSFT) may be leaving on the table by not offering a full version of its Office suite (Word, Excel, etc.) on Apple’s (AAPL) iPads.

But Microsoft hasn’t released Office for iPad. While the usefulness of such a suite of applications is lost on users like me, there’s no doubt the company is leaving (what the kids call) a metric shit ton of money on the table, even with Apple taking 30 percent off the top.

(Elmer-DeWitt notes that Microsoft could make more from selling software on the iPad than on the software bundled on all Windows-based tablets in 2014. That’s crazy.)

Now, let’s turn to Jennifer Van Grove, over at the CBS hostage-held CNET:

Mozilla’s Firefox browser will have no place on Apple devices so long as Apple continues its unfriendly attitude toward third-party browsers, Jay Sullivan, vice president of product at Mozilla, said today.

[…]

The sticking point for Mozilla is not being able to carry over its sophisticated rendering and javascript engines to iOS. Essentially, the organization doesn’t feel like it can build the browser it wants to for Apple’s platform, Sullivan told CNET.

The decision is a risky one. Sure, Mozilla now has Firefox OS and can attack the mobile browser market with low-end smartphones equipped with its browser, but as it stands, Mozilla holds less than 1 percent of the market, according to NetMarketShare. Apple, meanwhile, commands more than 55 percent of the mobile browser market with Safari.

Mozilla’s complaint is mostly a technical one. All third-party and in-app browsers on iOS have to use the Apple-supplied WebKit rendering engine and a slower javascript engine than what Safari enjoys. Sounds crappy, right?

Wrong. Chrome for iOS is still great, despite the fact that it runs on what Mozilla calls a “closed environment.” While it’s not as fast as Safari, as while it can’t be set as the default app, I like the layout of the UI and how it syncs with Chrome on my Mac and PC. Since it’s using Apple’s built-in WebKit tools, pages load quickly and look good.

I think it’s a mistake for Mozilla to whine about not being able to execute its Javascript rendering the way it wants to. In a world where Firefox is increasingly less important, moving to WebKit and building unique and strong features seems like one of Mozilla’s only options.

If Mozilla wants to get in the race, it needs to realize that Apple isn’t going to be changing its rules any time soon and build something worth using. Time’s running out. Complaining about another’s company’s platform rules as your marketshare is shrinking is not a winning strategy.

Let’s take a moment to look at another browser: Opera. For years, the company used a propriety rendering engine, but now Opera is moving to WebKit across the board. While Opera Mini renders things on the company’s servers and pushes weird (albeit tiny) web views to the users, the company’s WebKit-based iOS browser is due any time now.

Microsoft and Mozilla are keeping its products away from iOS because it doesn’t like how Apple does business or runs its platform. In the face of the success that Apple is enjoying with iOS, both of these other companies just look silly at this point.

Pouting children often do.

The Hitchcock one is my favorite.