Screen DIY Is Coming To Customize Display
Features of iOS iPhone iPod

post from prMac on 16 January 2012 09:36:00 PM. © prMac

Softease is proud to introduce Screen DIY 1.0, for iOS devices. Screen DIY helps iOS users customize display features of iPhone and iPod Touch and highlight special tastes. Screen DIY is a powerful screen wallpaper application with user-friendly interface but sophisticated functions. An update is available each week with the latest attractive wallpapers. With Screen DIY, everyone can beautify his/her iPhone or iPod Touch with an amazing variety of wallpaper collections.

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http://prmac.com/release-id-37046.htm

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The Presidents Challenge

post from Daring Fireball on 16 January 2012 09:03:27 PM. © Daring Fireball

Nat Torkington on President Obama’s request for the tech community to find some other anti-piracy technology as an alternative to SOPA:

Take the truck, the boat, the helicopter, that we’ve sent you.Don’t wait for the time machine, because we’re never going toinvent something that returns you to 1965 when copying was hardand you could treat the customer’s convenience with contempt.

(Via Tim Bray.)

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Read The Full Article:
http://radar.oreilly.com/2012/01/the-presidents-challenge.html

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Samsung to Merge Bada With Intel-Backed Tizen

post from Daring Fireball on 16 January 2012 09:03:27 PM. © Daring Fireball

Reuters:

Samsung Electronics Co. said on Tuesday it planned to merge its‘Bada’ mobile software with a platform backed by chipmakerIntel Corp in its latest push to diversify away from Google’sAndroid. [?]
In September two Linux software groups, one backed by Samsung, andanother by Intel, agreed to jointly develop Tizen, a new operatingsystem for cellphones and other devices, by merging their LiMo andMeego platforms in a bid to gain wider industry and consumersupport. “We have an effort that will merge Bada and Tizen,” aSamsung spokesman confirmed senior vice president Kang Tae-jin astelling Forbes magazine in an interview last week.

Sure, that’ll work. Just take them and smoosh them together. It’s easy to merge operating systems.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Samsung-says-merge-bada-rb-340786176.html?x=0

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Making Love to WebKit

post from Daring Fireball on 16 January 2012 09:03:27 PM. © Daring Fireball

Steven Wittens describes the technology and thinking behind his new site design, which features a 3D header and no images. WebKit only for now, but it works on the iPad, too. Alas, as a consequence of the way he built it, you lose momentum scrolling. Worth trying it out on the iPad just to see how essential momentum scrolling is to the touch experience.

(Via Andy Baio.)

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Read The Full Article:
http://acko.net/blog/making-love-to-webkit/

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Lessons From the Worst Project Matt Haughey Ever
Funded on Kickstarter

post from Daring Fireball on 16 January 2012 09:03:27 PM. © Daring Fireball

Matt Haughey:

Again, I mention this entire project not to single out thecreators as bad people but instead to show any and allpast/current/future Kickstarter backers what not to do. When youare designing a product for Kickstarter and you show prototypes,backers will assume you have worked all the bugs out first. Whenthings start to go wrong, it doesn’t help to discount the commentsor question the motivation of backers giving critical feedback.

As Glenn Fleishman comments, Haughey’s story serves to demonstrate how well Kickstarter usually works.

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Read The Full Article:
http://a.wholelottanothing.org/2012/01/lessons-for-kickstarter-creators-from-the-
worst-project-i-ever-funded-on-kickstarter.html

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The Zoo Edition of the interactive coloring book
WeColor is released

post from prMac on 16 January 2012 07:28:00 PM. © prMac

A new exciting edition for the WeColor interactive coloring book for kids is now available on the iPad. Individual Developer Sami Ghawi has announced that his latest application "WeColor Zoo Edition HD 1.0" is now available in Apple's App store. WeColor Zoo Edition is an exciting educational and entertainment application for kids of all ages. It provides the user with the options to color images, draw new ones or import images to add special effects.

Read The Full Article:
http://prmac.com/release-id-37044.htm

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Mac 101: Tips for getting more out of your Apple
Remote

post from Apple on 16 January 2012 07:02:20 PM. © Apple

It might seem like the small Apple Remote that used to come in the box with new Macs is a one-trick pony for controlling iTunes or DVD playback, but there are actually some hidden ways to use it. Here are a few ways to get more mileage out of this small Apple accessory.

Pair your remote with your Mac

If there are multiple Macs around when you’re using your remote, you’ll find that pressing a button once will perform the same action on every nearby Mac. To solve this problem, you can pair the remote specifically with a single target Mac. Open System Preferences, and then open the Security & Privacy pane.

At the bottom is a button labelled Pair…. Click this button, then follow the instructions that appear by holding the remote near your Mac and holding down the Menu and Next buttons on the remote. (Next is the button on the right-hand side of the ring at the top of the remote.)

Once you’ve done this, your remote and your Mac will be paired, meaning that using that remote will only control that one Mac.

Send your Mac to sleep with the remote

When using your Mac as a media center, you may wish to put the computer to sleep once you’re done. To do this quickly, you can use your remote. All you need to do is hold down the Play/Pause button on the remote. After a few seconds, a graphic will appear on the screen and your Mac will go to sleep.

Set up custom actions for your remote

By downloading the free utility BetterTouchTool, you can set up custom actions, which will be performed when you press specific buttons on your remote. This is great if you don’t use your remote for controlling iTunes or FrontRow, since you can override the default actions (play, next, pause, etc).

Once you’ve downloaded BetterTouchTool, you can add custom actions (called Gestures in BTT) by clicking its icon in the menu bar and choosing Preferences. Click Gestures at the top, then Apple Remote and other.

Next, click Add new gesture at the bottom of the screen. You can then select a ‘gesture’, i.e. a button on the remote, from the drop down in the lower left. After that, choose an action from the other drop down in the bottom right corner, or type a keyboard shortcut in the box.

For instance, you could set up an action which locks your computer when you hold down the Menu button on the remote by setting the gesture to Menu, Holding and the action to Show Loginscreen. (Note that since OS X doesn’t have an explicit ‘lock’ feature, this is the next best thing since it requires you to enter your password to get back into your Mac afterwards.)

Change the startup disk and eject CDs

As your Mac starts up, if you hold the Menu button on the remote, you’ll see the same menu as if you hold the Option key on the keyboard ? a list of available startup disks. You can then use the remote to select a disk, and boot from it using the Play/Pause button.

In the same menu, you can also use the Volume Up button to eject a CD or DVD after selecting it.

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http://gigaom.com/apple/mac-101-tips-for-getting-more-out-of-your-apple-remote/

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Protect IP Act Breaks the Internet

Terrific piece by Kirby Ferguson — explains clearly and succinctly why the proposed PIPA legislation will not only fail to achieve its intended purpose, but will outright harm the entire Internet.

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Read The Full Article:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDX8Lyl16Qs&feature=youtu.be

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Charlie Kindel Reviews the Samsung Galaxy S II

Speaking of Charlie Kindle, I’ve been meaning to link to his review last month of the Samsung Galaxy S II. He’s approaching from the perspective of a Windows Phone user, and it’s interesting — but perhaps not surprising — how many of his severe complaints mirror those of iPhone users trying Android.

You might say it’s unfair to review a phone running Android 2.3, but that’s the version of Android running on the overwhelming majority of Android phones available for sale today. The truth is that Ice Cream Sandwich — which I believe is the first truly significant improvement to Android since it debuted — is effectively a preview of next year’s Android for the mass market.

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Read The Full Article:
http://ceklog.kindel.com/2011/12/09/i-won-a-samsung-galaxy-s-ii-my-review/

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Androids Broken Software Buttons

Speaking of reviews of Android from the perspective of expert users accustomed to other OSes, Alan Zeno has terrifically-detailed scathing critique of Ice Cream Sandwich:

I?ve spent seven days with my Galaxy Nexus and I still find ithard to believe that Google ships a mobile operating system withsuch a broken navigation system, centered around that one backbutton. Let?s begin with the downright obscene. The back buttonnever, ever tells you if you?ve gone ?back? as far as you can go.Tap on that button ad infinitum until every screen/app in thedevice?s history disappears and you?ll find yourself at the homescreen. But the back button will not dim, nor will it disable.You can tap on it to your heart?s content, and you won?t move(though your device will vibrate and chime). The same applies forthe home button, which surprisingly doesn?t dim when you?realready ?home? either.

This to me is the biggest mystery regarding Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus. Why replace the system hardware buttons with touchscreen software buttons but not make the new software buttons contextually aware or contextually indicative in any way? They’ve replaced dumb hardware buttons with equally dumb software buttons. It’s endlessly frustrating for me as an iPhone user accustomed to on-screen back buttons that tell me exactly where I’ll be going back to.

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Read The Full Article:
http://alanzeino.tumblr.com/post/15917457226/androids-broken-software-buttons

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