Blog | mechdrew

Today Apple released version 4.0 of it’s mobile operating system for iPhone and iPod touch. (Sorry iPad users, you have to wait until later this fall.) The OS-formerly-known-as iPhoneOS includes a lot of new features, but of course the most anticipated and hyped feature is multitasking. I’ll admit that I am one of those who wanted this explicitly for Pandora, and I am more pleased than I expected with it.

First of all, the update was free. Formerly Apple has charged iPod touch users for major OS revisions, but I was able to install it at no charge to my 3rd generation iPod touch. Secondly, the features like wallpapers and multitasking are easy to use, as long as you actually knew how to use you iOS device before. Two taps on the home button brings up the app switcher, and a tap-hold on any open app will allow you to completely “close” the app. Wallpapers are customizable for both the home screen and lock screen; when you choose a new wallpaper you can set it to either screen or both, it’s all so easy.

Pandora excites me for more than just the background play. Apple make the audio background service tie into the iPod music software, which means that the iPod controls on the lock screen and home screen work just as fine as if using the Pandora app. But the ultimate tie-in for me? My headphone remote now can pause the music. I know that sounds so minor, but working every day listening to Pandora gets a little irritating when I always have to pull it out of my pocket to pause the music when I need to have a conversation.

There are other enhancements as well, but in the meantime I am just glad that I have multitasking. It really makes a difference in ease of use.

If anything has bugged me more about the iPad announcement than the iPad itself, it would be the constant moaning and groaning from the blogosphere and its commenters (Download Squad article, I’m pointing to the comments section primarily) about the general lack of Adobe’s Flash Player on any iPhone OS device, including the iPhone (duh), iPod touch (I just barely got one of these about a month ago) and the aforementioned iPad. Adobe has been after blood ever since the iPad announcement, and even went so far in their smear campaign to “accidentally” include pornography in one of its screenshots to try to justify the need of Flash on iPhone OS.

Are we being serious, folks? You want Flash, the bane of Internet design and functionality for over a decade, and you want it on your mobile device that badly? Granted, Flash provided features that were not commonly available in most browsers or media players in the beginning, but it has been superseded now by much better browsers and programs (dare I drop the word “apps”?) that perform those functions much faster and much better. And let’s not forget that the primary use for Flash on most websites today are those hideous, annoying advertisements that get in your way, make your page load slower, and require me to use tools like Adblock Plus in both Firefox and Thunderbird (for RSS feeds) just to save my sanity. You’ve got to come up with much better reasons than games and video sites like Hulu to convince me. May I point out a few flaws in this reasoning? Continue reading

I’ve know about Adium for a while. Adium allows you to have an instant message (IM) chat with most major chat clients such as AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Windows Live Messenger (MSN), Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger. If you are familiar with Trillian you have a good idea what Adium is all about. Another cool feature about Adium is it can also connect to Facebook Chat and, in the latest beta releases, can update and track your Twitter account. It’s kind of like a Swiss army knife for instant messaging.

I just barely got back into the craze of online chat. Years ago my family and I used Yahoo! Messenger to keep in touch with my brother while he served in Iraq. We were on dial-up trying to video chat, but it worked okay. Since then I haven’t had much use for instant messaging, but recently I found it useful for collaborating and tech support. Since I started using Twitter yesterday (yes, yesterday) I found the beta helpful for tweeting from the desktop without needing another app or browser window open. The beta is really stable, so if you want to enable Twitter support visit the Adium Beta page to download the latest release. And remember: it’s free!

Hopefully everyone will get lots of gadgets and gizmos, maybe some software too. Well, that’s more like my own wish, but hopefully you all have a wonderful and happy Christmas!

Make posted a tutorial last January for building your own digital TV antnna but somehow I missed it until last week. Tonight I tried it out, and it works! It took about an hour and required a few salvaged parts (an old board, six wire hangers, some screws and washers, and a TV transformer) but I couldn’t pass up free after seeing the performance of the $20 craptactular specials that were available at the store. I decided to omit the base/stand since I was just putting it behind the TV anyway. Compared to the horrible bunny ears we were using before (we have a large antenna in our attic but have never bothered to adjust it) we get perfect reception on all channels. If you have spare time and feel like saving a few bucks, make sure to check it out at the link above, there is a PDF schematic and a video of the process.

First, a confession: I like to shop for “fixable” gadgets on eBay from time to time. My latest obsession has been the iPod touch and out of all the parts/repair gadgets I have ever shopped for, this one can get pretty pricey.

It is exactly this latest search that has brought to my attention a few peculiar auctions. I’m not talking about ancient heirlooms, works of abstract art, or grossly overpriced political souvenirs. No, these auctions are suspect of some kind of shady business tactic, the only problem I have is that I can’t tell whether it is from a company or a few individuals.

Take a look at eBay auction 130352382036, which is for a slightly used 2nd generation iPod touch. It looks like your typical used iPod touch: the headphones and charger (charging cable, actually, it’s just USB) are missing, but there are some silicone cases included, since the seller won’t be needing them anymore. Oh, and free shipping, that’s a nice selling point. Totally worth $1009 at the end of the auction. Continue reading

Have you ever wondered what happens to that broken piece of tech that you send back to the manufacturer for a replacement? What about fully functional, returned units? Certainly they don’t just toss it away in a landfill! No, of course not.

For items that are returned to a manufacturer, those items are inspected, any problems fixed, and put back out on the market. But don’t expect to find these returned units back on store shelves, at least not in the same place and in the same spot. See, it’s against the law for a retailer to sell an item that has been returned as new, since it isn’t, well, new anymore. Continue reading

Back in the good old days of Yahoo! I used to have an e-mail account with the privilege of POP3 access. Instead of needing to login via webmail and keep my browser window open, I could just open a POP3-capable program and let it fetch my mail for me, with the benefit of offline access for when the dial-up was disconnected. When Yahoo! quit their free POP access, I kept the account but looked for a different provider because I was hooked on that POP thing. Out of all the programs I have used for POP mail over the years, ranging from Microsoft’s Outlook to Eudora Lite, none has served me better than Mozilla’s Thunderbird.

Today saw the release of Thunderbird 3.0. It’s been a long wait for a number change, and perhaps there isn’t much to show for it. But it’s still nice to see progress made in the software. I’ve noticed on my end that it does seem faster than before, albeit by not much. The look is really nice, with all of the inboxes for my multiple accounts being combined into one smart folder, and I can always separate them back out with the click of a mouse. And of course, you can’t really beat free, not even with a stick.

The only major flaw I’ve found so far is my upgrade from an old 2.0.x version has somehow messed up my RSS feed settings, but I don’t think too many actually use Thunderbird as an RSS reader; I’m kind of in the minority there. Overall I’m satisfied with the new version, even if there isn’t much to brag about. If you are as into POP mail as I am, it would be worthwhile to check out Thunderbird.

[via Download Squad]

Ah, the personal data (or digital) assistant. They were all the rage back in the 90’s. You were high tech with that 160×160 monochrome screen and 1MB of memory. And at those boring meetings you were always the one who looked busy, when in fact all you were doing was playing solitaire.

Okay, so that was a long time ago, but since then we have seen the evolution through color, connectivity, PDA phones, and now smart phones are the personal data assistants of this age.

Odds are that somewhere along the road you have acquired a few of these devices that fit into this category. But it is also likely that you do not use more than one or two at a time. Here’s a few ideas for that aging PDA that’s just dying to be used again.

1. Alarm Clock
A modern cellphone works great for an alarm clock, but sometimes you want something more reliable. Something… bigger. Most dedicated PDAs had decently large, backlit screens that work great in the dark. It may be a waste of horsepower, but I’ve found old PDAs to be very useful alarm clocks that don’t glow obsessively in the dark. Continue reading

So here goes my attempt at a recurring feature, Tech-on-the-Cheap. Either save money or get more bang for you buck out of today’s (and yesterday’s) technology.

One of my recent passions has been the most low-tech innovation of the past three years: netbooks. In theory, netbooks should never have been successful: paying close to the same price as a normal laptop for inferior hardware? The old me would have said, “No way, Jose,” but after actually owning one for a year and becoming immersed in the the Mac netbook scene I have a whole new understanding and appreciation of function-over-specs.

One huge problem with netbooks is that they really are limited in their modern capabilities. For example: Adobe’s Flash Player software, commonly used on YouTube and online games, is just barely functional on most netbooks. Soon newer models with new processors and video technologies will lure a lot of current netbooks to ditch their old model for an upgrade.

So what’s a person to do with an underused netbook? Here’s a few ideas to keep you netbook in practical use beyond just the normal e-mail and web browsing.

1. Portable Video Player
You know those little portable DVD players that you can buy at most retailers? They are usually junk unless you start getting into the $150+ range. By that point you can almost pay for a decently-discounted netbook! So why not make your netbook a non-DVD video player? Continue reading