Posts by Shaun Lott

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  • Hard News: Because it's about time we…,

    In my experience, Starbucks are even mediocre on their home turf, and there re often better places to go in the US. Hence my personal name for them: 'Starsucks'.

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: Where nature may win, in reply to Matthew Poole,

    OK, having read Matthew's post, it would be correct to say that the logistics of this really are very complex indeed. Pike River is at the far end of the world from most available help and resource, the geography is a huge challenge and so on. But I do think that the impression is one of avoidable slowness in some areas. That impression may be incorrect, but then I think we're back to the debate about news media coverage as information vs "entertainment"...

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: Where nature may win, in reply to Kyle Matthews,

    3410, I think there’s valid questions to be asked about the forward planning in terms of sourcing equipment before it’s needed as well. I hope the post-whatever assessment looks at that.

    Much as I think there has been a great deal of professional pragmatism displayed under obviously trying circumstances, I'm getting the increasingly uncomfortable impression that planning for the rescue seems to have been serial rather than parallel: apparently waiting for robot 1 to fail before getting robot 2 in line when it seems that robot 3 is the actual robot for the job. Did it really need to take 5 days to get robot 3 organised? It's very hard to make informed criticism from the armchair, but the impression has been building that not every possible resource has been thrown at this job in a timely manner, whether or not that is the actual case. I have no idea how complex the logistics really are, but progress does seem to have remained at a frustratingly slow place, especially if we are really considering it likely that at least some miners have survived the blast.

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Southern Apps,

    Using PDFs with GoodReader seems like a reasonable alternative.

    Thanks for the tips - I'll try it out. Good Reader claims to render iWork files too, so we'll see how that goes...

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Southern Apps,

    does seem to understate the problem. It is a mysterious and apparently deliberate defect that makes even Apple's own software essentially useless for the task it was designed for: not even Keynote will show the slide on both screen and Pad.

    Actually, that's not correct at all. Any app can support mirroring and plenty do. The browser app I also used yesterday even did the nice trick of not showing the virtual keyboard on the second screen while I was typing URLs into the browser window on the iPad.

    It's just that they decided in Keynote to make the iPad act as the remote control rather than presenter's monitor. I did n't find it that big a deal, really.

    OK, I stand corrected! The Keynote implementation still sucks IMHO. In a big lecture theatre where the screen is above and behind the presenter, you absolutely need to be able to see on screen what is being projected. Isn't this mode of operation implied by providing a 'virtual laser pointer'? So I did find this a big deal for using the Pad as a presentation tool. I was pretty bummed actually, as I'd paid the money for Keynote and $50 for the dock-to-VGA adaptor. Is there a keynote replacement app out there that does support screen mirroring? In other aspects the iPad is a great little machine - excellent for the PDF annotation jobs I had in mind when I bought it: Aji iAnnotate is great for that task.

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: The Southern Apps,

    irritating quirk of the iPad

    does seem to understate the problem. It is a mysterious and apparently deliberate defect that makes even Apple's own software essentially useless for the task it was designed for: not even Keynote will show the slide on both screen and Pad. You get a virtual laser pointer though, so you can point at things you can't see on your lovely screen. Apple seem to have purposely dropped the ball on this one, and I really can't work out why. I really don't see what is being protected or gained by disabling the device like this. Isn't it obvious that we all want to walk around like Steve, Pad in hand, whilst giving our presentations?

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: Do Want?,

    As Danielle says; come back when you've convinced clothing designers that silhouette is not actually more important in jackets/trousers/shorts/ than *being able to carry stuff*.

    (Okay, it's probably more important in an evening jacket or whatever, but for day-to-day? USABLE POCKETS, DAMN YOU.)

    Well, I guess the blueprints are out there already:

    http://images.pcworld.com/news/graphics/187962-ipants_original.jpg

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: Do Want?,

    Can the current iPod Touches multitask?

    Not really, but the music keeps playing if you switch to another app. I think that multitasking and battery life on these devices don't go hand in hand.

    And $10 for each bit of iWork isn't so far from the price of the OSX version... MS's Office bubble is a bit popped already I think...

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: Do Want?,

    There are awesome handbags that I have coveted but not purchased because their cellphone pockets are not big enough to fit my iPhone.

    May I suggest the Pocket? As in trouser Pocket? Or is that just being a Neanderthal male...

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

  • Hard News: Do Want?,

    Jack - Think you are on the money. I have got way more use out of my iPod touch that I imagined I would, and the iPad is just a more usefully sized version. For a phone, I have the cheapest possible Nokia on the cheapest possible 022 arrangement.

    Waitakere • Since Aug 2009 • 113 posts Report

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