26 Feb 2009
Technology is finally catching up with the principle of a digital photo
frame and this Sony DPF-D70
is really good example. The screen is fantastic, really clear and bright
which shows off your photos well. Getting your photos on is a snap.
Simply plug in your camera’s card and click “Add to Album”. It features
256MB which can hold a lot photos at the frame’s one megapixel resolution.
The frame comes with a range of options. You can change how long the photos
stay on the screen for, how they appear. You can display single photos, three
photos at a time or clock or calendar view. It also features a handy timer
function so you don’t need to worry about it using power all night.
On the downside the frame must be plugged into the mains as there is no
battery option. Also Sony have skimped on the packing as despite having a
mini USB connector no cable is included in the pack. Come on Sony, can’t
you stretch to a simple cable?
Read More...
19 Feb 2009
Darkslide is an excellent iPhone app which makes it easy to use
Flickr on the move. The iPhone is a perfect partner for Flickr. Constant internet
access, GPS and serviceable camera mean that you can snap away and have your photos on the internet and geotagged
in seconds.
Flickr does have a mobile site and provides it user with an email address where you can
email photos. On an out of the box iPhone it’s possible to get a decent Flickr experience. Emailing your photos has several
disadvantages: the quality is reduced, and the photo is stripped of geotag information.
Darkslide lets you easily take and upload photos at full resolution. You can also tag, comment and browse through both your
photos and others. You can also access the Flickr’s interesting feed if you’re in need of inspiration. It’s available both
with and without ads, but apart from that the two versions are identical.
It’s simple, slick and just works. If you’re a Flickr user with a iPhone then it’s a must have.
Download Darkslide free.
Download Darkslide Premium ($3.99).
Read More...
12 Feb 2009
Google released an excellent new tool for automatically syncing your iPhone’s contacts and calendars and
GMail and Google Calendar.
Although, as is usually the case with Google, the service is marketed as being in Beta it seems to be working
very well. Add or edit a contact either on in GMail or on your iPhone and within seconds it’s been synced across.
Even contact photos are synchronized. The same is true of calendar entries.
Rather than implement a new syncing application for the iPhone Google have just linked your contacts and calendars to a
Microsoft Exchange server. Apple implemented push services from Exchange services in the 2.2 firmware to help market the
phone as business capable. Now though, anyone who uses GMail can benefit from this technology.
Push services are useful because rather than your phone checking at a predetermined interval, probably to find that
there has been no change, changes are ‘pushed’ to you. This means that not only are changes that do happen reflected
much more quickly on your phone, and you don’t waste battery life or network traffic checking unnecessarily. Unfortunately
it doesn’t support email syncing, but surely that’s only a matter of time?
Visit http://m.google.com/sync to get your iPhone set up.
Read More...
11 Feb 2009
Today is Flickr’s fifth birthday.
I’ve had a Flickr account for several years, and I use the site all the time. For sharing photos,
finding photos to use on a website, or just to browse around it’s really unmatched.
Happy Birthday Flickr!
Read More...
05 Feb 2009
In this second part of my “Etiquette of Programming” series I’m going to talk about making sure your code fits in with the style of existing
code, while helping to bring it up to best practice standards.
When you’re working on an existing codebase, either fixing bugs or enhancing features, you’ll be going into the code and adding more code.
When someone has to come back to this section and improve the feature or fix more bugs (not that you would introduce any, would you?) they
need to read both the original code and your code. If your code sticks out, or causes the reader to say “Whoa, what’s going on here?” then
your code is rude, and no-one likes rude people do they?
Just like writing prose, everyone has a different style of writing coding. People prefer different programming paradigms, design patterns,
variable naming schemes and have different aesthetic preferences for spacing their code out with white space. There are more differences,
but these four are the main aspects that make up your style of code. I’m going to talk about all four aspects in turn, from rudest to nicest.
Most people code in an object orientated style, but most languages allow you to pick and choose between procedural and functional
styles as you wish. Each style has its own benefits and drawbacks, and each should be used in the right place. What you should
avoid is switching styles in the same section of code. The mental switch required for someone who is reading code written in multiple
styles is too great for it to be an easy or enjoyable experience.
Read More...
