Posted October 15th, 2011 @ 09:28pm by Erik J. Barzeski
CrushApps has a nice list of dictation commands. I am glad that a few of the smiley faces and things are on there. I wish I knew how to get one more - the 😀 smiley (colon-dash-D). But anyway.
I will point out that I don't think the speech recognition stuff should really be called "Siri." You never hear from "her" and it's just dictation or speech recognition. Siri is an intelligent agent, capable of not only dictation but performing tasks based on the words dictated. Dictation is just dictation.
Posted October 14th, 2011 @ 11:25pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Dave loaned me a Speck case (the Candyshell, I think, in black) to see if I wanted to get that kind. When he bought his iPhone 4, the AT&T guy told him it was the "best" case out there.
He uses it sometimes, but more often than not uses his black Apple Bumper.
Carey, the proud owner of a new White 16 GB iPhone 4S, also needed a case. She'd done some research but hadn't found a case she likes yet.
So we ventured forth to the nearest Apple store - 90+ minutes away in Buffalo, NY at the Walden Galleria. Her parents came along as well, and Nat sat in the back seat filming herself and playing games on her "new" phone-plan-less iPhone 3GS. We'd eat at the Cheesecake Factory later that evening.
That's the plan. The kiddo has already bought her case - an Otterbox one.
But the question remains: how do I "best" do this?
Ideally I'd like to preserve the games that we've already purchased (my wife and I have separate iTunes accounts, of course), but if that can't be done, we'll just have to re-buy a few. No big deal.
My concerns with just removing the SIM and giving the phone to El Kiddo that way are that she'll have my contacts, etc. and could (accidentally but quite seriously) muck some things up.
So really, I should probably set this up as an entirely new device for her. Right? She can get her own Apple ID and we can set up an allowance system for her, right?
Or perhaps we can do all of that but still download the apps we've already purchased before re-setting the iTunes account on the phone to be N's new one?
Posted October 12th, 2011 @ 07:58pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Related to iOS 5 (i.e. iCloud):
It took about 45 minutes for the phone itself to update. The wireless, delta changes will go much more smoothly… one would hope.
iCloud was down for quite awhile. I was told after finally semi-converting to wait a "few" hours, then "about an hour," and then I was able to update.
It's still really impressive of Apple to have done this.
This required me to update Carey's computer despite her having an iPhone 3G until Friday. We're both now on iCloud. I had to update BusyCal as well as that had problems with the switch.
I like WiFi syncing. Even if it does sync mostly when I plug it into my computer or the power cord at night.
PhotoStream sucks. Do you know how many "one-time-use" type photos I take, or "mistake" photos? That I can't delete them from my stream is ridiculous. I've turned it off.
How creepy is it to have MobileMe still hanging around in your System Preferences? The only thing left is iDisk and I just turned off syncing.
A sad tear for the losses of Dock Item syncing, Keychain syncing, Preferences syncing, and whatever Mail stuff synced. The italicized one stinks, particularly keychain syncing.
I am seriously considering getting an AppleTV. I'm just not entirely sure where I'd put it. Would it replace my DVD player? As in… physically replace it?
iOS 5 Itself:
The new notifications system rocks. I specifically like how easy it is to customize how each app behaves.
Double-click for the camera? Volume up to snap a picture? Very nice addition.
Twitter integration is not bad. Haven't used it much.
Find My Friends… Eh. I'll add my wife and maybe a guy I work with. Outside of that… eh? And I thought you had to turn it on all the time, not that it's always on. Oh well. It's only gonna show me in one of about four places.
The new notification center is nice, but I wish I could determine which calendars showed up in the calendar widget.
Reminders doesn't have badges. That's one of the things I like about Simple To Do. I could ditch Simple To Do if I could have a badge.
Speaking of Reminders, mine hasn't offered to set up a geofence. Does that not work on a 3GS???
I like the refined UI touches. Flatter "bubbles" and the new "Snooze" look and so on.
iMessage is sweet.
The keyboard shortcuts (whatever they're called) are pretty sweet.
Newsstand is particularly annoying because it acts like a "folder" on its own and can't be moved off and hidden somewhere. I really wish Apple let you hide some apps you never want to see.
More tk as I think of them.
I'll have a question tomorrow about the kiddo getting to use my old iPhone 3GS as her "iPod Touch." If you've set up a kid's device please come back and share your opinions and advice! 🙂
Posted October 11th, 2011 @ 03:20pm by Erik J. Barzeski
The iPhones have shipped. Carey's getting a 16 GB white iPhone and I have a 64 GB black one on the way.
I still haven't decided on a case, but I note that you can create your own Speck case at zazzle.com. Tempting… that or I'll just get the lime green bumper and be done with it.
And no, "4S" is not "4 Steve." Steve's passing touched me more than it touched most (and far less than many others), but let's not be silly about it. 3G:3GS::4:4S. It's that simple.
Posted October 8th, 2011 @ 03:10pm by Erik J. Barzeski
The word "hero" in terms of a leading graphic or image means a certain thing, but Apple's name for the image of Steve Jobs currently on the website is simply known as "t_hero.png" and one can't help but think that "hero" means something else entirely today.
Posted October 5th, 2011 @ 08:42pm by Erik J. Barzeski
What saddens me most is that we'll never again get to see "one more thing."
Apple will continue to do great things - Steve has instilled his mindset, his will, his whim and fancy throughout the company - but we'll never know what could have been.
Steve Jobs is safely inside the top ten list of people who most affected my life, and he's the only person to have done so without much direct interaction.
Essentially, if you're just an average golfer, Student will fit you 99% of the time. If you're an advanced amateur, a pro, or an instructor, Pro is the way to go.