iPhone Experience

This is the list of things that I found wrong with the iPhone after a few days of using it. Don't get me wrong, it's an excellent device, with an outstanding user interface, but is missing a few things.

Some of these are just me being picky but others are a real pain and should have been addressed by Apple (like the battery that can't be replaced). Here's the list:

1. No copy/paste
2. Can't use standard headphones without an adapter
3. Every mp3 file cannot be a ringtone (you need to manually convert on iTunes to AAC, rename the file bla bla...)
4. Email doesn't have landscape mode
5. Video files can be added as "TV Shows" in iTunes but only TV shows purchased through iTunes can be viewed on the iPhone
6. No easy way of dragging photos onto the iPhone. You can drag photos off through the "Apple iPhone" in the Windows file explorer but you can't add photos through there. The same interface should be used for copying photos to and from the iPhone
7. No spell check
8. No Gmail app that uses IMAP for always on synchronization plus utilizes unique Gmail features like labels, stars, message threads... You can currently either use the native IMAP feature on the iPhone but then you don't have the unique Gmail features, or use Gmail's iPhone web interface which gives you all the unique features but doesn't automatically check your account (you could leave the browser open but that doesn't really work).
9. iPhone doesn't appear as an additional hard disk on your PC (like the iPod does)
10. No zoom in camera
11. No video in camera
12. No camera flash
13. No voice dialing
14. No speed dialing
15. No 3G
16. No games like the latest iPods have
17. No flash in Safari
18. Can't change the from address when replying to an email
19. Notes aren't synced with Outlook notes
20. No sync via bluetooth
21. Battery can't easily be replaced
22. Can't mark video as "unplayed". Once you play a video for even a second it is marked as played.
23. Ringer isn't loud enough
24. No mode for viewing emails without images (saves bandwidth and for privacy issues)
25. No email templates
26. No built in voice recorder
27. Safari "tabs" don't load in the background, you can only have one tab load at a time (for some reason the tabs also blank out when you leave Safari instead of just showing the last visible screen)
28. No backspace in calculator to erase just the last typed digit
29. No week view in calendar
30. Can't see full name of video file
31. No on screen visual indication of silent mode
32. When alarm is snoozed you can't turn it off
33. No remote for iPod
34. Very hard to pause music when using standard headphones (not original iPhone headphones)
35. Very hard to make a phone call while listening to music
36. No Bcc in email
37. Can't set different checking intervals for different email accounts
38. Battery suddenly dies without any warning
39. Bluetooth drains the battery
40. Setting up iTunes to sync properly to Outlook contacts and calendars is a pain. The different contact folders (groups) and calendars occasionally do not appear in iTunes (I still have no idea how to sync multiple Outlook calendars).
41. Can't sync with multiple Outlook PST files (only works on the default PST file)
42. No way to setup one way sync for calendars (to only have Outlook update the iPhone but not vice-versa)
43. Apostrophes in Outlook calendar events appear as '' in iPhone calendar
44. No native to-do application (that syncs with Outlook)

Ok, so call me picky, but you can't use standard headphones, no flash for camera...? C'mon! Got anything to add to this list? Post it in the comments...

No more Pandora??

I just got this email from Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora (the foundora?):

Dear Pandora listener,

Today we have some extremely disappointing news to share with you. Due to international licensing constraints, we are deeply, deeply sorry to say that we must begin proactively preventing access to Pandora's streaming service for most countries outside of the U.S.

It is difficult to convey just how disappointing this is for us. Our vision remains to eventually make Pandora a truly global service, but for the time being, we can no longer continue as we have been. As a small company, the best chance we have of realizing our dream of Pandora all around the world is to grow as the licensing landscape allows.

We show your IP address is [IP ADDRESS ERASED], which indicates you are listening from Israel. If you believe you are seeing this by mistake, we offer our sincere apologies and ask that you please reply to this email.

Delivery of Pandora is based on proper licensing from the people who created the music - we have always believed in honoring the guidelines as determined by legislators and regulators, artists and songwriters, and the labels and publishers they work with. In the U.S. there is a federal statute that provides this license for all the music streamed on Pandora. Unfortunately, there is no equivalent license outside the U.S. and there is no global licensing organization to enable us to legitimately offer Pandora around the world. Other than in the U.K., we have not yet been able to make significant progress in our efforts to obtain a sufficient number of international licenses at terms that would enable us to run a viable business. The volume of listening on Pandora makes it a very expensive service to run. Streaming costs are very high, and since our inception, we have been making publishing and performance royalty payments for every song we play.

Until now, we have not been able to tell where a listener is based, relying only on zip code information provided upon registration. We are now able to recognize a listener's country of origin based on the IP address from which they are accessing the service. Consequently, on May 3rd, we will begin blocking access to Pandora to listeners from your country. We are very sad to have to do this, but there is no other alternative.

We will be posting updates on our blog regarding our ongoing effort to launch in other countries, so please stay in touch. We will keep a record of your existing stations and bookmarked artists and songs, so that when we are able to launch in your country, they will be waiting for you. We deeply share your sense of disappointment and greatly appreciate your understanding.
-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

This is getting out of hand...

Dust Art

The best "art" I ever created out of dust was probably writing "Clean Me" on a dirty car's windshield.

Take that same concept and add some talent and you get these amazing works of art.

Too bad it only lasts till the next rain.

Strange Statues

Check out these strange statues from different places around the world.

Some of them are really weird.

Super Ads

If you missed them yesterday, here are the best Super Bowl commercials (in my mind at least):
FedEx:


Blockbuster:


GM


Snickers:


Doritos - Live the Flavor:


Rock Paper Scissors:

Tony vs. Paul

This is one awesome video:

Speak & Spell

Speak & Spell and Speak & Math were some of my favorites toys growing up.
I guess the whole idea of a talking computer that you could control was what "spoke" to me ("spoke to me", get it? :)
Somebody (another geek from the 80's?) took the time to create a pretty cool online version of the Speak & Spell.

It seems to work very similar to how I remember the original Speak & Spell used to work.

BTW: I should have my old Speak & Spell and Speak & Math lying around somewhere. I wonder if they still work...

Boston - Hi Rez Style

Check out this insanely high resolution image of Boston.
You can zoom in and in and in and you just get more and more details.

It's a nice! (that was in Borat's accent)

Coke Commercial

This coke commercial uses a cool technique where many actors all play different "frames" of the same character in a scene.
It's kind of like a stop motion video, only live (I hardly understand what I just said :).
Just check it out and you'll understand this cool effect.

Ultimate Carwash

If you want to give your cool Ford Escort a treat then why not have this guy wash it for you? It will cost you a bit (more than $10,000!) but it must be worth it:

The 67 step process is actually quite unbelievable!

Flying Boat

This has got to be one of the coolest toys I've seen in while:

Mario On Guitar

This guy does a pretty good version of the first level of Super Mario, on electric guitar.

The sound effects are the best part:

Play Online Games

Who doesn't like to waste a few minutes (or hours in some cases) playing online games?

By installing the free online games toolbar that I created you can play online games directly from your browser whenever you want.

It lets you play lots of popular games like Tetris, Zuma, Lemmings, Connect 4, Backgammon, Bejeweled 2, Sudoku, Chuzzle, Alchemy, Atomica, Pacman, Mahjong, Beetle Bomp, Battleship, Insaniquarium, Air Hockey, Space Invaders, Mini-golf, Luxor, Cubis and lots of other board games, arcade games, puzzles, card games....

It's free, just takes a few seconds to install, is entirely safe to use, and is totally addicting (trust me, I spent hours "researching" games to include in it ;).

Spread the word guys!

Pole Position Commercial

This is an original commercial for Atari's Pole Position (one of my favorite games back in the day, before they came out with Outrun).

Check out that guy at the beginning of the commercial:
"HEY!"
"Yeah?"
"You look like a real jerk!"
"Well, I *am* a corporate executive."

Pure classic!

Blind Spot

This simple site demonstrates what a big blind spot we all have in our vision.
Turns out that our eyes fill in what's missing so that we normally don't notice our blind spot.
There's a simple exercise on this site that shows you exactly where your blind spot is.

Weird ah?

Petals Around the Rose

The name of the game is Petals Around the Rose and the name is important.
Here are the rules: the computer will roll five dice and ask you to guess the score for the roll. The score will always be zero or an even number. Your mission is to work out how the computer calculates the score and become a Potentate of the Rose.

I can give you one clue: the name of the game is important.

After the page loads click on your browser's stop button to stop that annoying background music.