James’s posterous

James’s posterous

James Evans  //  It's just somewhere to post stuff that I find interesting - if you don't like it, feel free not to read it. Hang around here and you may learn the secrets of life, the universe and everything (but I wouldn't bet on it).

Nov 19 / 2:48pm

iPhone Feature Request - Auto-save of Draft Emails

The stability of the iPhone mail client has improved hugely over the last year (v2.0 was truly awful) and crashes are now fairly rare, but they aren't unknown and it would be nice if draft emails were occasionally saved as a precaution against disaster. They aren't, and frustration results.
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Nov 19 / 2:47pm

iPhone Feature Request - Timezone Support

It's just a little thing, but when I change timezones it would be nice if the phone adjusted the times of my appointments so that reminders popped up at the right time instead of an hour early. My appointments sync from Exchange and should be associated with a particular timezone, so the phone ought to be able to cope with timezone changes, shouldn't it?
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Nov 17 / 11:44pm

IPhone Feature Request - Dictionary Editing

There might be an App for this (see previous post to understand why I haven't been able to check for one) but I really want to be able to edit the dictionary in my iPhone, both to add new words and to remove or correct existing entries.

Most of the time the iPhone's text correction features work really well, but sometimes there are problems. Let me give you an example: "Market". My phone capitalises the first letter of this word whenever I use it (which is often) and it's somewhat annoying. I don't know why this is, but I suspect a rogue dictionary entry.

If anyone knows how to fix this, please let me know. Ta.

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Nov 17 / 11:36pm

iPhone App Store Browsing

I can't believe they haven't fixed this yet. If I'm browsing the App Store on the train and I lose data connection (as happens regularly, but that's a different story) I don't want to be shown this screen!

No other applications do this. Imagine trying to write emails or read a cached website, only to have this sort of thing interrupt you every time you pass a large hill or disappear into a railway cutting. Annoying, yes? Well it's a bit bloody annoying when the App Store does it.

Come on Apple, get it sorted!

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Nov 16 / 11:03pm

Cardiff Bay from the St David's Hotel

This is the view from the balcony of our room on the seventh floor, taken during an unusual break in the weather. Mermaid Quay is in the foreground with other stuff behind.

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Nov 13 / 1:20am

Sharks. Big sharks. Stay out of the water, sort of thing

The BBC have a load of video on their website (like this one, for sharks: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/species/Great_white_shark#p0036vd6) from various nature programs. The Crocodiles are worth hunting out as well.

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Nov 10 / 1:12pm

RFID - There's an App for that!

Your iPhone could unlock your car, pick up e-coupons at the local mall, and pay for all your supermarket groceries just by laying it on top of the checkout.
via cultofmac.com

I like my iPhone. And I like gadgets, especially if they make life easier. Getting rid of cash would make my life easier, and if my phone could handle Tube payments, airline tickets and conference calls then I'd probably marry it (figuratively speaking, of course).

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Nov 10 / 1:06pm

Eight displays on a single computer? Yes we can!

via engadget.com

I can't imagine anyone but a web developer wanting eight monitors on their desk, but maybe there are people who have always dreamed of panoramic minesweeper. This graphics card is for them.

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Nov 8 / 6:20am

Fry and Hitchins humiliate the Catholics

They're sitting ducks, really. Stephen Fry and Christopher Hitchins seriously outclass their opponents in this debate on "The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world" (link). The debate has been broadcast on BBC World News but is also available on various video-sharing sites (link - thanks Nick, link). My favourite bit is from Stephen Fry, responding to Ann Widdecombe's frankly pathetic attempts to justify the Church's stance on child-abuse:

And what is the point of the Catholic Church if it says "Oh, well we couldn't know better because nobody else did". Then what are you for?

At the start of the debate, there were 678 For the motion, 1102 Against and 346 Undecided. After the debate the numbers had changed to 268 For, 1876 Against and 34 Undecideds; a rout and a humiliation for the Catholics.  

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Nov 4 / 11:09pm

Ancient knowledge and self-study

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a leaflet advertising courses in self-study of ancient (and presumably rediscovered) knowledge. What an opportunity! Here are the course titles:
1) The Arthurian Cosmic Message; the science of the dragon,
2) The Celtic Mysteries; megalithic monuments, ley lines, and
3) Awakening the Consciousness; self knowledge.

Presented by The Centre for the Study of Self-Knowledge (whatever that means), you can attend these introductory lectured for a mere £3.00 each. Just get yourself down yo Southampton Solent University and join in (except that you can't, because the last lecture was last night - I wouldn't want loyal readers wasting their time on this drive.).

Unfortunately, there's no website listed so opportunities for further mirth and amusement are sadly limited. If you know anyone who attended, please guide them gently toward appropriate professional help.

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