A great one from The Oatmeal about dogs. While this is from the perspective of owning a male dog, much of it rings true with our female puppy.
(via: Ross Kimes)
Jared Newman, writing for TechHive, on Apple’s new mapping service in iOS 6:
If you’ve run into any trouble with Maps in iOS 6, you may wonder why Apple wanted to get rid of Google’s mapping data in the first place. Apple’s long-brewing rivalry with Google may be part of the answer, but it’s not the whole story.
Alan Taylor, The Atlantic:
Once again, National Geographic is holding its annual photo contest, with the deadline for submissions coming up on November 30. Beginning on September 1, the society started gathering and presenting galleries of submissions, encouraging readers to vote for them as well. National Geographic was kind enough to let me choose among its entries from 2012 for display here on In Focus. Gathered below are 50 images from the three categories of People, Places, and Nature, with captions written by the individual photographers.
These are amazing photos. Check them out.
Dave Caolo discusses the Guided Access feature in iOS 6:
Apple’s iOS 6 introduces a feature that will benefit teachers and parents alike. Guided Access is a new accessibility function on the iPhone and iPad that lets you disable certain controls within an app and prevents kids from navigating away. When I was a special ed. teacher, I would have loved something like this.
This is a simple but important addition. Caolo also notes other potential use cases, including locking students into an electronic exam or using the iPad as a kiosk.
John Gruber, commenting on this article from Anil Dash regarding iOS 6:
Anil is right about the bottom line though: the maps experience in iOS 6 is a downgrade. Users shouldn’t (and won’t) give a rip about behind the scenes negotiations.
With the iPhone 5 due in a few days, reviews dropped tonight. Here is a collection of those articles.
That has been my takeaway from the design of the iPhone 5 — small design changes that make for big user experience improvements. It’s important to remember that while the changes on the outside may be small to the naked eye, the changes on the inside are huge. Every major component of the iPhone has been changed in one way or another.
The world’s most popular smartphone becomes significantly faster, thinner and lighter this week, while gaining a larger, 4-inch screen—all without giving up battery life, comfort in the hand and high-quality construction.
Those worried about the talk of “disappointment” surrounding the iPhone 5, I suggest you simply go to an Apple Store starting on Friday and try it for yourself. My guess is you’ll immediately recognize just how ridiculous all that bluster actually is. This is the smartphone nearly perfected.
David Pogue, The New York Times:
If you have an iPhone 4S, getting an iPhone 5 would mean breaking your two-year carrier contract and paying a painful penalty; maybe not worth it for the 5’s collection of nips and tucks. But if you’ve had the discipline to sit out a couple of iPhone generations — wow, are you in for a treat.
People have always had lofty expectations for the iPhone 5, especially as the competition stiffens. In delivering a fast, attractive, LTE-capable and larger-screen handset, Apple has met those expectations with a gem.
That has been my takeaway from the design of the iPhone 5 — small design changes that make for big user experience improvements. It’s important to remember that while the changes on the outside may be small to the naked eye, the changes on the inside are huge. Every major component of the iPhone has been changed in one way or another.
Still, the iPhone 5 absolutely shines. Pick your benchmark and you’ll find Apple’s thin new weapon sitting at or near the top. Will it convince you to give up your Android or Windows Phone ways and join the iOS side? Maybe, maybe not. Will it wow you? Hold it in your hand – you might be surprised. For the iOS faithful this is a no-brainer upgrade. This is without a doubt the best iPhone yet. This is a hallmark of design. This is the one you’ve been waiting for.
Living with the iPhone 5 for a week, I forgot about its large screen. I forgot how thin it was. I forgot about the camera improvements. Sometimes, I even forgot about 4G LTE, and got confused whether I was currently surfing on Wi-Fi or not. The iPhone settles in, feels natural, doesn’t impose. Going back to my iPhone 4S, it feels thicker, heavier, small-screened, but no less impressively designed. Somehow, the iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S feel like they can co-exist.
Mine arrives on Friday. I hope to give you a review within a few days thereafter.
Apple Inc. released iPhone 5 pre-order numbers:
Apple today announced pre-orders of its iPhone 5 topped two million in just 24 hours, more than double the previous record of one million held by iPhone 4S. Demand for iPhone 5 exceeds the initial supply
As a comparison, Apple sold 1 million iPhone 4S units and 600,000 iPhone 4 units during each phone’s first 24 hours of pre-order availability.
Meanwhile, AT&T announced the following:
AT&T set a sales record with iPhone 5 over the weekend, making it the fastest-selling iPhone the company has ever offered. Customers ordered more iPhones from AT&T than any previous model both on its first day of preorders and over the weekend.
AT&T doesn’t give any numbers, but it had to be better than the 200,000 they sold in the first 12 hours of iPhone 4S pre-orders.
The iPhone 5 launched on more carriers and in more countries than ever before, so record numbers aren’t necessarily surprising. Still, not bad for a device so disappointing that Steve Jobs is screaming down from heaven.
Abdel Ibrahim, writing for The Tech Block:
The world’s most successful and enduring products aren’t taken back to formula with each new generation. Rather, they’re gradually and deliberately refined. Take Porsche’s 911, for instance, or any Aston Martin or BMW. Or even Rolex’s watches. None has undergone radical changes overnight. Instead, they’ve been improved in subtle but significant ways over time, and they’ve prospered because of it.
Normally, I’d add a quick comment, but Shawn Blanc summed it up best:
Other than a few of the vocal minority, how many people are genuinely bored or feeling let down with the new iPhone?
The technology and whizbangery the average consumer has available to them today is absolutely amazing. If you’re bored by that, it’s not the iPhone 5 that’s boring, it’s you.
Leo Babauta on why people often fail at beginning new habits:
When you look at it this way, the key to forming a habit is not how much you do of the habit each day (exercise for 30 minutes, write 1,000 words, etc.), but whether you do it at all. So the key is just getting started.
Let me emphasize that: the key to forming a habit is starting each day.
While the idea seems obvious, exploring why we fail to start requires a deeper introspection. The specific reasons may vary, but Babauta describes their common origins.
Bob Staake offers a parody of classic children’s books. My favorites: “Zippy Denies The Holocaust”, “Skippy And The Stripper Pole”, and “Cool Shit You Can Make Out Of Felt.”