Archives for: April 2009

Things iPhoto thinks are faces

04/30/09 | by Adam | Categories: Macintosh
I don't have a copy of iPhoto'09 with the feature that tries to automatically recognise people's faces and tag them. I'm looking forward to trying it out eventually. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the Flickr group where people post some of iPhoto's near… more »
 

On contracts and unlocking cellphones

04/29/09 | by Adam | Categories: iPhone
TidBITS, an Apple-centred news/discussion site, had a very brief discussion on unlocking cellphones after the contract is up. I have to say I'm unsure why cellphone companies are not obliged to do this. The rationale -- as I understand it -- is that… more »
 

On "magic"

04/28/09 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
Wired has a nice writeup on magic tricks and the shortcomings of the human perceptual system that allow them to work. more »
 

Hack Attack

04/28/09 | by Nimble | Categories: Internet, Spamming
A hearty thank you to the folks who do my hosting for catching this. A hacker or script kiddie managed to upload a somewhat nasty-looking package into my cgi-bin directory. I haven't thoroughly investigated the code yet, but from the looks of it, the… more »
 

Progress ain't everything

04/26/09 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
When I moved off the Amiga to other platforms, I left behind a number of interesting hardware tricks required for producing the sterling graphics the platform was known for. When trying to use the Amiga file formats on other platforms, the results were… more »
 

Good news for meat-eating hangover sufferers

04/24/09 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
Who knew? A fry up really does help to cure hangovers. According to an article in Britain's Torygraph: Elin Roberts, of Newcastle University's Centre for Life said: "Food doesn't soak up the alcohol but it does increase your metabolism helping you deal… more »
 

Pseudo-random changes to iTunes Store application pricing

04/23/09 | by Adam | Categories: iPhone
I keep tabs on applications in the iTunes Store that drop to free as it's a chance to try out an application that otherwise I wouldn't bother with. Sometimes when looking at the apps, you see some very odd behaviour. At the link is a program called… more »
 

Staples MailMate Compact Shredder

04/22/09 | by Adam | Categories: Technology, Reviews
Pluses: Small, attractive shredder capable of destroying CDs and credit cards. Staples will replace it when it fails within the warranty period. Minuses: Randomly decides that it's going to no longer turn on. Small paper bin means frequent changes;… more »
 

Queen & George Michael's "Killer"/"Papa Was A Rolling Stone" mashup

04/21/09 | by Adam | Categories: Music
While trawling my way through a used CD store down in Tulsa, Oklahoma, I found an EP ("Five Live") credited to George Michael and Queen. The recordings on it were recorded for a concert to benefit charities in Freddy Mercury's name. I'd never heard of… more »
 

Fallout: New Vegas

04/21/09 | by Adam | Categories: Games
Oooh oooh oooh. There is no way that The Pitt is going to tide me over until then though. Hm, I think I may have a copy of WoW:WOTLK lying around which might fit the bill. more »
 

Dreaming of electric sheep

04/20/09 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
This is another Xkcd classic: a simple joke that's incomprehensible without a certain understanding of programming issues and popular convention. more »
 

Slipstreaming OSX install discs

04/18/09 | by Adam | Categories: Macintosh
The short of it is that you can't. Slightly longer explanation: one of the generally unheralded positive things about Microsoft Windows is that you can use various tools -- including one from Microsoft themselves -- that allow you to build custom… more »
 

Airfoil Speakers Touch

04/17/09 | by Adam | Categories: Macintosh, iPhone
I really wanted to like this. I've been waiting for someone to come up with a decent application that I could use to spool audio from my Mac to my iPhone while at home. It would be -- so to speak -- "Radio Adam: The Next Generation". I thought this was… more »
 

On Twitter

04/14/09 | by Adam | Categories: Technology
I'm up in the air over the value of Twitter but I think I figured out some of the attraction today. We had a minor power outage and I wasn't sure if it was my house or more widespread. When I started seeing messages about it in #yyc, that pretty much… more »
 

Best item from April Fools 2009

04/01/09 | by Adam | Categories: Silly
It absolutely definitely has to be ThinkGeek's Tauntaun sleeping bag. more »