I absolutely love my iPhone. I think it’s a great device, and had a lot to offer. Sure, it doesn’t do everything that you’d expect from a phone with a several hundred dollar price tag, and I’ll write more about that later, however for the most part, it is a damn awesome phone. The addition of the App Store further extended the awesomeness of the iPhone. However, thanks to the App Store, I’ve encountered my first major issue with the iPhone. (more…)
Archive for August, 2008
My First Major Problem With The iPhone
Sunday, August 31st, 2008Woopra Wordpress Plugin 1.3
Sunday, August 31st, 2008Woopra recently released an update to their Wordpress plugin. Version 1.3 isn’t available in the Wordpress Plugin Repository yet, so if you want to update it, you’ll need to grab it directly from Woopra.
The new version includes the ability to visitors, see your stats right from the WP dashboard.
They keep trucking along with a very nice service, and in my opinion, Google should be worried. – While I still run both Google Analytics and Woopra, I don’t remember the last time I check stats via Google. Having the desktop application from Woopra is sweet, and being able to see stats from by WP dashboard while not at home will be even nicer.
Jaiku Now On Google Servers
Friday, August 29th, 2008Jaiku, the micro-blogging service similar to Twitter, Plurk, and the many other services out there, was purchased by Google a while back. Just got an email stating that Jaiku has now been moved and is running on the Google servers.
This should give Jaiku a major advantage over Twitter, Plurk, and the others… stability. Will it be enough? We’ll see.
If you are a Jaiku member, feel free to add me. If you aren’t on there and would like an invitation, drop me a line and I’ll throw one to ya when I get home from work this evening.
Apple iPhone Security Flaw
Thursday, August 28th, 2008The iPhone is an amazing device, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have issues. The biggest issue yet (IMO) is a recently discovered flaw that can allow anyone to access pretty much any area of the phone. How you ask?
It’s simple. If the phone is locked, slide to unlock, hit the emergency call button, and then double tap the home button. This will take you to your contacts, from here you could gain access to almost any section of the phone. Have an email address for a contact? That’ll give you access to all of the email. Have any phone number listed for a contact? Of course you do, and that’ll give you access to all of the text messages. Have a person’s blog or company website linked in the contact profile? By now I’m sure you can figure where this is going.
Don’t worry too much. Apple has promised a patch to fix the issue next month. Yes, next month.
IntenseDebate vs DISQUS
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008Over the last few days I’ve played around with commenting services IntenseDebate and DISQUS. I’ve used both services lightly in the past to comment on various blogs. While both services are nice, for me IntenseDebate always felt a little rough around the edges. Perhaps more importantly, DISQUS appears to be more popular, which of course means more people likely to leave comments. And well, that’s what it is really all about. Reach.
One thing that has become obvious to me is that both companies are passionate about their product.
After leaving a comment on another blog that was discussing these two services, I was contacted by Michael Koenig from IntenseDebate. He gave me a heads up on a new IntenseDebate-WordPress plugin that is currently in beta. He’s also taken the time to stop by on here, and post a few comments. From what he said, it sounds like the new ID plugin is going to be pretty sweet and might actually polish off a few of those rough edges I mentioned.
On the flip side, I was contacted by Daniel Ha, CEO of DISQUS, concerning my decision to leave their service. As I’ve already mentioned, my sole reason for leaving DISQUS was the FUBAR import process that decided to take a trip around the world before importing my comments. Daniel sent a nice email, saying sorry to hear about my issue, that others experienced the same thing, and it has since been resolved.
Got to give both companies an A+ for their customer interaction!
So… the reason I left DISQUS is no longer an issue, and the things I disliked about ID may no longer be an issue. So that brings me back to a question I asked a few days ago. DISQUS or IntenseDebate. Which to use? Of course, I cannot exactly make a decision about ID until I see the new plugin.
Which service do you have experience with? Which service do you like better? Why? If you were to go with one for your site, which would you go with?
I’d really like some feedback on this! Thanks!
d3bruts1d.com Comments Now IntenseDebate
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008Ok, you can disregard my previous post about DISCUS. I’ve switched over to IntenseDebate.
I actually like DISQUS better, as it offers a few more customization options. However I wasn’t happy with it not importing my comments in a timely matter. Now, d3bruts1d.com actually has quite a number of posts, but as far as actual comments, I’ve gotten 60-ish the entire time. I don’t see why it would take a long time to import those few comments. However, here it is well over 2 days since I installed DISQUS and it still had not imported all of my comments. It had managed to do a whopping 15.
ID on the other hand, managed to import all 60-something comments in under 5 minutes. That’s more like it.
There are a few features that I’ll miss from DISQUS, but with any luck IntenseDebate will add them in… or DISQUS will improve their import.
Theory Of A Deadman – “Bad Girlfriend”
Sunday, August 24th, 2008d3bruts1d.com Comments Powered by DISQUS
Sunday, August 24th, 2008I have switched my comment system from the default Wordpress system to DISQUS. This new system will allow me easier management of comments, threading of comments, as well as some additional features for users.
Right now the existing comments are in the process of being migrated into the DISQUS system. You will be able to post a comment without being registered with DISQUS, however there will be a moderation queue for such comments. Register for free, and you’re comment will appear automatically.
Additionally, once you register you’ll be able to comment on any other blog that uses this DISQUS system. Nice, eh? And for those of you that use FriendFeed, your comments will be available there as well.
Too Human (Redux)
Sunday, August 24th, 2008The other day I posted some of my thoughts concerning what I considered flaws in Too Human. I wanted to follow up on that now that I’ve played a bit more, and explored some of the other classes.
First off, apparently my first choice for a character, the berserker, wasn’t exactly the most noob friendly. I started another character as a defender and the first level was much different. My berserker died a good two dozen times during the first level, whereas my defender made it through without a single death and earned me the Xbox Live achievement.
Granted, this time through I had a much better understanding of the game. Even my 2nd time through as a berserker (now level 30-something) I only died a couple of times. So maybe not every class needs healing help, but the berserker sure needs some love in that area.
And, I still by my original statement concerning death. While it’s not a bad implementation in this game, sitting around for 25+ seconds watching the entire scene over and over again sucks. Right now my berserker is sitting at over 100 deaths, and I read a post on the Xbox 360 forums where someone else had reached the 200 death mark. That’s insane.
I really do like this game. This is the first game to really make you feel like a bad ass. You’ll be swarmed by 40 creatures at a time, and you’ll obliterate them… unless you end up getting stuck in a “knock back” hell. When that happens, you’ll just have to wait for death’s embrace and start back over.
Another part of my problem the first time around was I really didn’t understand the spider or the sentient weapons, and really didn’t make much use of them. It’s amazing how much easier things get once you use your full arsenal of weapons. 
I’ve played through the game completely once, and have a second character already on “stage” two. Playing it through over and over again is fun, as you’re always getting new and better equipment. Hopefully when Too Human II comes out, you’ll be able to take your characters across directly.
For those of you considering Too Human. It is a game that is very cool, but has some annoying issues right now. There isn’t anything I’ve found yet that cannot be fixed via a patch. Just remember, the game is brand new, and it’ll take some time before a patch can be released.
Apple Rumors
Sunday, August 24th, 2008According to AppleInsider and MacRumors, Kevin Rose claims to have knowledge of some updates that Apple will be sending out over the next month or so. Among the rumors are:
- A revamp of the entire iPod line.
- Small cosmetic changes to the iPod Touch, with the iPod nano getting a significant redesign.
- iPods to get a significant price cut.
- iPhone and iPod Touch 2.1 Software. Touch to get it first.
- iTunes 8.0
Other than the list of rumors there isn’t much to go on. Though there is a picture of the rumored iPod nano redesign. It’s actually a pretty slick design, and I like it much better than the current “fatty” design of the nanos.
Additionally, iTunes 8.0 is supose to be a “significant” redesign. What exactly that means is anyones guess. Hopefully it’ll include some better filtering of the Apple App Store and better control over Audio Book syncing. Just things I’d find nice.
Check out Kevin’s video over on YouTube.