Douglas Hill’s posts in 2011
1 January 2011
2 January 2011
Most websites with accounts like to tell you about how they’re using a secure connection and everything is fine. Not Facebook.
4 January 2011
I love the new audio player on 5by5. It’s using HTML5 audio. Great for listening from iPhone Safari, which I always do. For example, Build and Analyze #6: Cycles of Motivation - 5by5 »
ReadWriteWeb: Firefox Ousts Internet Explorer as Number 1 Browser in Europe »
5 January 2011
iMovie team is looking out for me
I added a whole long block of video into a project, so iMovie gave me this handy tip. It amused me. Maybe the next version of Pages will give notifications about poor typeface choices. »
6 January 2011
The Dock’s invisible boundary »
Android Isn’t About Building a Mobile Platform
A thought-provoking and illuminating article by Kyle Baxter regarding Google’s position with Android. Essential reading for business and techie folks.
(via Ben Brooks) »
7 January 2011
8 January 2011
Oh my. What an incredible capture. (I can use that noun like that, right?)
(Reblogged from David's Log and Miezekatzen) »
when you think this blog makes you pessimistic about the average taste and intelligence of developers you should see the guy who forgot theres a convetion for a global close control. check out that sweet close control on the wrong side.
Kind of everything is wrong, as far as following conventions go. It looks like a tabbed preferences window, but there’s no indication which tab is selected. And ‘General’ always goes on the far left.
(Reblogged from Read the fucking HIG.) »
Blocking the iPhone from seeing apps »
Is this the new iTunes icon in the credits of Up? »
9 January 2011
Fun with Spotlight
Typing ‘pie’ into Spotlight returns 8.5397342227
(Reblogged from CocoaHeads and weloveapple-blog) »
10 January 2011
Safari can not open the address because Mac OS X can not handle HTTP. That’s a strange response to a different problem. (I think the server doesn't know what type to serve the file as.) »
Key Fob — now with added power of illumination (Taken with instagram) »
12 January 2011
Microsoft says Apple’s “App Store” trademark too generic to exist
The company argues that “app” is a generic term for an application, and “store” a generic term for a retail store.
Sounds reasonable to me. »
13 January 2011
There is no place for just shitting all over other people's work »
14 January 2011
Drive Space
My main storage drive is a 48 GB SSD: a Wintec FileMate ExpressCard. I’m running out of space:
And that’s with all my big files (photos, movies) on the hard disk (the MacBook Pro’s ‘normal’ disk). Storage use visualised by DaisyDisk, an app that does one thing beautifully. »
15 January 2011
Directory?
Caught you out again iMovie developers:
I think it’s called a folder. »
19 January 2011
This Mac tablet mockup from Gizmodo’s comments is precisely why I agree with Adam Schwabe on why the public should have no input on Apple’s product design.
Just look at that damn thing.
Look how thick it is. When dreaming, you’re limited only by your imagination, so why not make it unrealistically thin?
(Reblogged from ParisLemon and Tumblr de Chartier) »
20 January 2011
iPad 2 Display — Daring Fireball »
A nerd needs a project because a nerd builds stuff. All the time. Those lulls in the conversation over dinner? That’s the nerd working on his project in his head.
(via Shawn Blanc’s Blast from the Past Day) »
21 January 2011
22 January 2011
iPhone 5 Prediction
I predict than iPhone 5 will be cheaper to manufacture than iPhone 4.
I had more to say, but the Tumblr iPhone app decided to lose what I'd written. »
24 January 2011
start of term ⇒ fewer updates here
»
25 January 2011
Daring Fireball: Toshiba Tablet »
Immaculate Reception, or, A MobileMe Mystery »
26 January 2011
1984
Is this interesting?
Empty
An experiment:
Ben Brooks on CMDComma.net:
Archive Utility is used by all of us to un-zip files. The one thing I hate about it is that after you un-zip a file you need to delete the zipped file. I set the second option to delete that zipped file — which is awesome.
Excellent tip.
Here’s another for Alfred users: add /System/Library/Core Services to Alfred’s Search Scope. It’s under Alfred Preferences > Features > Default Results. This means you can access Archive Utility and Software Update through Alfred. There might be some other applications in there you find useful. This does add some more junk to the results though, but this shouldn't be too much of a problem to a well trained Alfred.
(Reblogged from Minimal Mac and CMDComma.net) »
Tab Bar in the iPhone Photos App »
29 January 2011
Notational Velocity 2.0β4 - scrodlog
Modestly described as 2.0β4, this could be version 3.
(OK, this is a slight exaggeration, but there’s are really a lot of new features considering the sparseness of Notational Velocity.) »
30 January 2011
A part of Queen’s College (Taken with Instagram at Cambridge)
(Err, this is misleading since the prominent building on the right isn’t part of Queen’s. It’s just a building. Sorry.) »
1 February 2011
In my (first) submission to CMDComma, I discuss how I prefer to have my toolbars:
(Reblogged from CMDComma.net) »
3 February 2011
4 February 2011
Interface for sending iTunes Store terms by email »
DuckDuckGo is going well so far, after I switched from Google earlier this week.
That’s everything I wanted to know, right on the results page. Perfect. »
User Interface Design For Programmers »
5 February 2011
How to Get Up Right Away When Your Alarm Goes Off »
Send your Instapaper reading log to Readability »
6 February 2011
A suggestion from YouTube
Upgrade to Flash Player 10 for improved playback performance.
Yeah, right. Better than Mac OS X’s QuickTime framework, courtesy of YouTube5. »
Over a year ago (in November 2009), we had the task of building robots in teams of six. This is the Engineering Part IB Integrated Design Project (IDP). Everyone who does Engineering at Cambridge should remember it. I did software (surprise!). Henry, our mechanical genius posted this video to YouTube. That’s Henry in the video; it was my camera.
I bring this up now because we recently won the prize for best robot, of those who did the IDP at the same time (about 12 teams).
The engineering department has some (blurry) photos: M2 2009 Robot Images. We were team 8. (Me in red.) »
7 February 2011
9 February 2011
This photo looks so olden. Cambridge could have been like this fifty or a hundred years ago. They probably haven’t changed the questions on examples papers since then.
View: King’s College. Taken from: outside Senate House (Google Maps).
Edited in iPhoto, not with Instagram. »
12 February 2011
A display of much artistry by some of my fellows. This short film looks at the present from a possible future, and tells of a frightful disaster.
Guys, it’s great!
The Churchill Disaster was directed by Rhodri Karim and filmed by Dan Miodrag, with Oisin Kearney.
(Reblogged from The Churchill Disaster) »
13 February 2011
I’ve developed a somewhat unusual process for writing university lab experiment reports. »
15 February 2011
Mac OS X’s Downloads folder — 52 Tiger »
16 February 2011
Apple Launches Subscriptions on the App Store »
You should be starting to get some ideas about how to break the chicken and egg problem: provide a backwards compatibility mode which either delivers a truckload of chickens, or a truckload of eggs, depending on how you look at it, and sit back and rake in the bucks. »
17 February 2011
What to shoot? It’s too cold. Too much snow. Slush everywhere. No animals. (Ok-squirrels and crows) So, time to experiment. I suspended a glass casserole dish over two tall beer glasses. Put some water in it. Dropped in some vegetable oil. Slid a plate under the glass dish with coloured crystals and rocks from Sedona. Attached my 100M macro and shot.
Nancie has a series of oil and water photos, but I think the first — this one — is the best. It’s so perfect. Looks like a sci-fi interpretation of space. Maybe this is physics in visual form.
(Reblogged from NJ Wight's Wild! Life) »
18 February 2011
Just decided to spend 10p to use an em-dash. They make us pay for using proper punctuation in text messages. It’s free here — definitely a good thing. »
22 February 2011
Should I be explaining gin rather than bit error rates? »
23 February 2011
What about all the other steps? (Taken with instagram) »
24 February 2011
I’m shocked the 13-inch MacBook Pro still exists. It’s filling a gap between the 13-inch Air and the 15-inch Pro, but I’m sure it’s too fat for that tiny gap. »
27 February 2011
28 February 2011
Looking back on ‘The Tablet’ »
Done and Done in iBooks
Look at what you get when editing your collections in iBooks:
This is, at least to some extent, confusing. One of those identically labeled buttons should be removed, but I can’t remember which without going to my iPhone and checking what each does. »
1 March 2011
A row of Mandarin oranges, because fruit is cool. These are probably clementines; I can’t remember.
Read more: Mandarin orange — Wikipedia »
2 March 2011
Go to Apple’s events page and watch today’s event without spoilers. Avoid live blogs and see the show first hand. That’s my plan for later on this evening. »
4 March 2011
iPhone 3G not compatible with iOS 4.3 »
5 March 2011
Uh oh, Safari can’t connect to the Extensions Gallery.
I think Safari 5 is a little buggy regarding connecting to servers, particularly if the server does something unusual. See when I was told Mac OS X can not handle HTTP back in January. »
6 March 2011
This is what a laboratory experiment looks like. This one is 3F4 baseband digital transmission. They’re not all this messy.
Taken in the Engineering Department’s Electrical and Information Engineering Teaching Laboratory (the EIETL). »
9 March 2011
25 March 2011 — launch day of both the Nintendo 3DS and the iPad 2 here in the UK. Might be kind of crazy. »
Keyboard suggestions in iOS 4.3 »
12 March 2011
Spotted!
Instapaper Free not in the App Store.
Looks like another sales experiment. I actually wanted to download to see what the free version is like. »
iRosetta
As far as I know, nobody has built a second global positioning system: there’s only one. The update mentioning “GPS receiver” probably solves most problems. »
Today was warm and sunny (until about 2.30 when I took this).
The sunshine brought everybody out, and punting was popular. On the right you see Magdalene College.
By the way, you can see photos from my photo posts full size by going to the post’s page (the infinity link).
13 March 2011
14 March 2011
Bees on blossom:
Taken outside Peterhouse College (Map). »
16 March 2011
17 March 2011
Here’s a basic Mac text editing trick; probably everyone knows it.
If you accidentally press command-up (⌘↑) or command-down. (⌘↓) and are taken to the top or bottom of a long ream of text, undo (⌘Z) and then redo (⇧⌘Z). »
1 April 2011
2 April 2011
5 April 2011
10 April 2011
The higher revenue at the lower price point brought about a realization about “price erosion”. The notion that “App Store price erosion is bad for developers” could be a backwards way of looking at things. What is generally referred to as price erosion occurs because developers are optimizing their revenue. If a game earns 50% more revenue at a lower price point, it’s a pure win situation as the developer makes more money AND more people get to enjoy the game. And if those two things are true, does it really matter what the sale price is? If we all charged double for our games we might all earn more money, but we could also end up earning less money because people would buy much fewer apps. »
11 April 2011
Inside the tulip. »
12 April 2011
21 April 2011
AppSuration and Unique Traits »
22 April 2011
From Google Visual Identity by Kaishin L.Reda at KaishinLab. »
23 April 2011
24 April 2011
SCIgen: An Automatic CS Paper Generator »
25 April 2011
Just wanted to use Instapaper’s new Zoom Image feature while in Mail. »
27 April 2011
Sony takes on Apple in tablet war »
28 April 2011
It’s for real.
Taken at the Apple Store, Cambridge. »
29 April 2011
The added reporting has not yet been rolled out to the public, but it is a great example of something I’ve noticed about Andrew and the Alfred team: they are committed to making the best application launcher available for Mac OS X, and they sweat the details. »
30 April 2011
3 May 2011
Have a play with the new iMac page on your iOS device, or probably in any competent touch screen web browser. Image components animate independently as you swipe left and right. It’s a bit small on my iPhone 4 — looks designed for iPad. »
4 May 2011
I was surprised when I accidentally held command while trying to delete a page in Preview. The document disappeared, and I heard the Trash sound — while I was using it.
Preview, that’s not your role. Leave the Finder alone. »
I’m glad all of my computers are working, because trying to decide what to get right now would drive me crazy.
(You probably need to read the whole piece to find this conclusion as funny as I did.) »
6 May 2011
The Face of Churchill
First, we have the banner for the 50th Anniversary of Churchill College.
Winston Churchill may be in one additional photo.
Good job iPhoto. »
7 May 2011
8 May 2011
Lecture handout doodles
I wrote and drew all over my lecture notes for 3F6 Software Engineering. Some of it was relevant, but some may appear less so. However, I believe that the toll on my attention incurred from doodling was outweighed by my increase in alertness.
12 May 2011
Mario Propaganda by Fro Design Co. My favourite is ‘The Enemy’.
(Reblogged from FRO DESIGN CO) »
13 May 2011
by Neven Mrgan
You should read Neven’s piece. That the business model he discusses works (and works very well) makes me sad about people. Just sad.
(Reblogged from Neven Mrgan's tumbl) »
14 May 2011
I love this photos from the White House’s Flickr account. Click/tap on the photo to see it on Flickr where you can view full size, if you can find the right links.
Did you notice the iPad? »
16 May 2011
17 May 2011
Gentlemon Charms by Pluffers on deviantART. Squirtle is my favourite. »
27 May 2011
30 May 2011
If you press return while the Notational Velocity search field is empty, it creates a new note called ‘Untitled Note’. Doesn’t feel quite right. »
A review of TapTapTap’s Camera Plus app. »
3 June 2011
Time Capsule update could cache software updates, sync with iCloud »
5 June 2011
Apple Keynotes on the iTunes Store »
10 June 2011
How should we hold the camera? »
Getting really annoyed that my Matlab scripts keep opening in Xcode. (It’s so slow to open.) Both Matlab scripts and Objective-C implementation files use the .m extension. File name extensions totally fall down here.
»
Cepstrum - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Operations on cepstra are labelled quefrency alanysis, liftering, or cepstral analysis. »
The Facebook app popped up this earlier:
I think they want me to use their messaging services. However, I don’t really want to. I already have messages and email in one place: I call it ‘iPhone’. »
12 June 2011
13 June 2011
The Reeder for Mac site is wild. Canvas, cutting edge CSS transforms and history.pushState() — whoa!
»
30 June 2011
2 July 2011
Whoops.
I’m trying to spell ‘longitude’, which actually isn’t very difficult to spell. »
20 July 2011
Mac OS X 10.7 Lion: the Ars Technica Review
John Siracusa’s review. I’m renewing my Ars Technica subscription right now to support this work and send the whole thing to Instapaper. »
27 July 2011
14 August 2011
TextEdit is the new Stickies. »
18 August 2011
Moving windows from any edge »
19 August 2011
Dan Has Another Kid, Takes a Vacation »
27 August 2011
Not quite. »
16 September 2011
What happened to the GetFileInfo and SetFile command line tools in Lion?
I used these with Automator to batch fix date created and modified after re-encoding movies from digital cameras. I wish movie file metadata wasn't so lacking… »
18 September 2011
by John Hunt on The Register
I was looking for an explanation of @Override in Java. It's an annotation. This is the clearest explanation of annotations I found.
»
19 September 2011
So I was trying to create a Steam account, but I couldn’t do the captcha thing to ‘verify my humanity’. I tried three times and it said I didn't enter the characters correctly. Madness.
Update: I think it’s just that their servers are having problems. Maybe there are too many people trying to sign up to download Portal for free. »
Speaking of Notational Velocity, did you know… »
20 September 2011
from Cornell University Ergonomics
When choosing a desk, I’d say this: it’s easy to sit at a standing height desk (on a high stool), but bringing a sitting height desk up to standing height is far more difficult. »
21 September 2011
Notational Velocity’s protected editing space »
Save as HTML in Lion TextEdit »
23 September 2011
2 October 2011
I like Marco’s new design, because it scales down for iPhone sized screens. CSS media queries are so much better than alternative URLs for mobile devices. »
I’m sorry I republished the whole contents of Neven Mrgan’s post on labelling back buttons. I was reblogging from the Tumblr iPhone app, and the inclusion of the whole original post was unintentional. I have corrected my post. »
4 October 2011
Looks like iOS; doesn’t act like iOS.
I was using FaceTime for Mac. I tried to scroll the list by clicking and dragging, like I would in the iOS Simulator. It doesn’t work.
Can I be blamed? »
iPhone nano
The recent Apple event invitation makes me think of this. »
5 October 2011
iPhone 3GS
£320 for a 27 month old device. Sounds like a lot. »
12 October 2011
13 October 2011
Capitalising iThingy
This source list section heading in Mail looks bad. It says ‘iCloud’ all in capital letters.
I would say both the use of all caps, and relying on particular (and non-standard) capitalisation for a product name are at fault. »
lookup-api.apple.com
This is new:
With 10.7.2, Lion’s dictionary feature (control-command-D) now connects to lookup-api.apple.com rather than directly to Wikipedia. And it is much faster.
(Screen shot from Little Snitch.) »
16 October 2011
Money Squared
I asked Wolfram Alpha to “convert USD $89.00 to £” and was surprised that it retuned a result of 35.56 £2 (British pounds squared). It’s mathematically sensible given the dollar units were included twice, but money just doesn’t work like that. I submitted feedback. »
19 October 2011
Steve Jobs’ greatest legacy isn’t the success that Apple’s had under his direction, it’s that the entire personal computing industry is aligned with his vision. In a sense, you’re using a Steve Jobs product whether it has an Apple logo or not.
This is from August, when Jobs left as CEO, and I should have included it in my post last week, but I just found it again in my Instapaper Liked list. »
20 October 2011
And here’s something to watch out for: if you’re creating an alarm then leave the iOS Clock app without pressing Cancel or Save, the alarm is created and set. »
22 October 2011
I needed custom pointInside:withEvent: behavior to minimize the scroll bar's interference with the web view's tap zones for a 4.0.1 fix.
Excellent. That’s my second biggest annoyance with Instapaper 4.0. I tap on, or swipe from, the right edge of the screen and the page doesn’t turn. Temporary workaround is to hold iPhone in left hand. »
Changing Address Book ‘me card’ »
26 October 2011
Amazon suggestions
Amazon will give suggestions from departments you’ve never shopped from. I’ve never bought anything close to clothing from Amazon. French style beret: fantastic! »
1 November 2011
For lots of this video, I'm thinking: we have technology pretty much like this. Often, its made by Apple. For example, video chat on a thin, touch screen device. I've seen this before. »
2 November 2011
I love the 5by5 error page:
That Grim Reaper is adorable. »
3 November 2011
4 November 2011
This photo is temporary. »
5 November 2011
Cambridge city fireworks on Midsummer Common.
11 November 2011
(Video missing)
Sandwich Video: Introducing Mixel for iPad.
My new favourite Sandwich Video.
(Reblogged from Sandwich Video) »
13 November 2011
Cocoa Controls: Custom UI Controls for iOS and Mac OS X
A site that collects custom view components for when UIKit or AppKit doesn’t do what you want.
This is interesting to say the least. Worth checking out, but I’m not sure how useful it’ll be. »
Time Capsule Firmware Update 7.6
I gave to go-ahead for this update with AirPort Utility on my iPhone. It makes sense to do things this way. »
14 November 2011
The ‘sweet solution’. It’s amazing this still exists, although the most recent list is from December 2010. »
16 November 2011
If you’re at a Mac (and use Tumblr), try clicking a photo from the Tumblr Dashboard then press command-W. They’re intercepting the key combo and using it to leave the photo view mode. Overall I dislike this: I don’t like websites being able to tinker with things I consider ‘system level’. »
17 November 2011
I’m in the front row for the opening keynote of #svc2uk ‘The Future of Education’. »
18 November 2011
Nintendo World Report Live Podcast Telethon for Child's Play
Charity mega-show. They'll talk about video games, particularly Nintendo. Starts at 5.00 GMT, Saturday 19th (tomorrow). »
20 November 2011
Preview’s Magnifier
Mac OS X’s Preview has a loupe. I don’t know how long it’s been there, but I only just noticed.
Tools > Show Magnifier or tap the back tick key (`) — very convenient for right handed users as you don't need to move your mouse hand. My Dad loves this for reading PDFs. »
23 November 2011
Four Keys To Apple’s Success »
24 November 2011
Targeted Advertising
They know just what I want.
That said, I have no plans to buy an iPhone 4S, while Skyward Sword has been a certain purchase for about a year-and-a-half. This makes both ads somewhat pointless. »
25 November 2011
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Review »
Today's speaker in our 4F12 Computer Vision lecture: Jamie Shotton, from Microsoft Research taking about body part recognition and tracking with the Kinect. »
27 November 2011
JotNot is a fantastic iPhone application. Dr Drang has a great post on it.
The image on the right was formed from the photo on the left on the phone. The composition was created with Acorn.
Somehow I’ve never before noticed the magenta/green colour spot on photos taken with the iPhone 4, but it’s very clear here. Read more about it at AnandTech. »
28 November 2011
I attended Silicon Valley comes to the UK, where Greg Joswiak from Apple gave a talk. »
Instacast HD: A podcast universe in high definition »
29 November 2011
Alfred 1.0 is due out imminently. What a bad time for my Mac to ‘have issues’. »
30 November 2011
2 December 2011
Redirects to HyperCard’s Wikipedia entry. Nice. »
Safari 5.1.2
Address issues that could cause webpages to flash white
Yay!
Allow PDFs to be displayed within web content
Interesting. How does this work? Webkit has allowed the first page of PDFs in img tags for ages.
»
5 December 2011
Why can’t I undo scrolling? »
9 December 2011
23 December 2011
Average web page is now almost 1MB
by Ryan Kim on GigaOm
Roughly equal to the size of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.
(via Brent Simmons) »