The Danosphere.

OSX Lion is… interesting. On one hand it offers lots of cool new features and gestures and stuff, and on the other hand many of the new features are half baked, or less (aka: LaunchPad). On top of the half-baked problems, there are issues with app compatibility, function and more. For instance- the Digital Color Meter app in Lion no longer provides HEX color values. HEX being the color system used by just about every web designer on the planet. Do a quick google search and you’ll find that this feature of DCM, a critical designer tool, was simply removed without warning by Apple (a design heavy company, whose products are used by many, many designers). It makes no sense.

Another tool commonly used by designers- screen measurement is also hard to come by in Lion. You may find some stuff on the Mac App store, but reviews are mixed, and all that stuff is BUY before you TRY. Never a paradigm I liked. Any many of the apps are not yet Lion compatible.

Luckily I came across a solution for both problems. This tool called “PixelStick” allows you to not only measure screen areas, but it also gives you a quick and easy HEX (yes!!!) color picker, all in one tool, and all for free (so far, I can’t tell if I’m using a trial or something, but its worth buying either way). Checkout their site for more info: PixelStick: Measure Distance, Angle and Color- anytime, anywhere on Mac. Slogan says it all.

Here is a quick screencap of the tool in action, I turned off the circular guides as I did not need them, but this shows how it can quickly measure and pick colors, all from one easy tool, very useful for designers transitioning to Lion.

Hey Readers,

Sorry for being so nonresponsive! I’m still very busy with CollegeBlender but when I get a moment to breathe I will catch up with you all. In the meantime enjoy this little trick I found:

Before I start let me say- I like Apple. I own an iPhone, a Macbook, an iPod, and love them all. So when I decided to drop $100 to join their Developer Program, I thought the experience would be just as enjoyable as all their products have been. I was very wrong.

It started late last night, I joined the program, paid my $100 fee, and downloaded the lastest iPhone 3.0beta firmware. I installed it on my phone and then connected to iTunes to “reactivate” with the new firmware. Instead of activating, I got an error saying I needed to “register my device”. I scoured the Developer Homepage and saw a link to “activate my account”, sounded right, so I completed the activation process and tried again, still no luck.

I decided to sleep on it and call the “Developer Support” line this morning. After waiting on hold for well over 1 and a half hours, I was finally connected with a human on the other side. I explained my situation and asked him to help me activate my now “bricked” phone. He told me he could not answer my question, I would have to refer to the apple Developer Forums. So this guy, who works at the Developer Support Center, is telling me that after I have paid $100 and bricked my phone to join the Developer Program, the best answer he can give me is to check the forums?! Who the hell does Apple have working in their support centers?!

I ask to speak to his manager, he says he cannot do that. I ask him to connect me with a HUMAN who can help me, he says their are none who can help, but I can email dts@apple.com for help. Apprently humans respond to emails at that address, but they cannot be reached via phone… at all (I asked). I ask him if the Apple Store “Geniuses” can help me, he says no they cannot. Frustrated I ask for his name so I can use it to close the loop when emailing this “dts@apple.com” address he has referred me to. He says “Jimmy Ryan”. Sure.

In the end, after multiple requests to speak to his manager, or ANYONE else at the support center, all which were denied, I hung up. I turned to twitter and found help there. So now my iPhone is back up and running, and I have learned a valuable lesson, Apple Developer Support is completely and utterly worthless.

Conclusion: If you are a developer, do not, at all, ever, in any way, rely on Apple’s “Developer Support” to assist you. Save yourself the time and just visit the developer forums, it’s what they will tell you to do anyway after you wait for hours on hold hoping to get a real answer. #FAIL.

iPhone OS 2.2 is on the way! Yay! Well… sorta. The mighty Apple has already released a list of new things we can expect to see in 2.2 but unfortunately, many of the features people are clamoring for are still not there. Here are a few we are all still waiting for…sigh.

1. Copy & Paste Perhaps the most highly anticipated feature. The ability to copy and paste seems like a no brainer for the iPhone, with its multi-touch capable interface it should be as simple as touch and drag to select text, double tap to copy, press and hold to paste. People wanted it in 2.0, they bitched about it not being in 2.1 and yes, we are still bitching about it not being there in 2.2. When will Apple get the message?

2. Landscape SMS and Email Keyboard Some third party apps give users the ability to use landscape keyboard in emails but support for native landscape emails and sms messages is still a pipe dream. Apple already has the landscape keyboard implemented in safari, why not extend that to ALL keyboard-based input screens?

3. Turn by Turn Directions iPhone 2.2 promises Google street view and walking directions. So the phone can tell you where you are and turn by turn directions to get you where you want to be, but it can’t do that for you while your in a moving car?

4. Native Key-Vibe This is just a simple feedback feature, you press a key, you get a little phone-vibration as feedback. Jailbroken phones already sport this ability but it seems like something that should have been a native option from the start.

5. Improved Service Updates The refresh rate on iPhone service is still awful. I can walk out of my building where I have 0 bars into the heart of the city where there is full 3G coverage, and I still see “No Service” for a good 5 minutes?! It’s a sad day when you have to throw the phone in/out of airplane mode just so it detects its own network.

iPhone OS 2.2 will have some cool features and stability upgrades, but it will also be missing alot of things that I was hoping to see in this release. (more…)

This past Sunday the iPhone DevTeam released their jailbreak for iPhone 2.1 firmware to Mac users, who greeted it with open arms and smiling faces. Unfortunately Windows users were left waiting, while WinPwn worked on catching up with the DevTeam’s blazing pace.

WinPwn is still working on getting their jailbreak for Windows out but in the meantime I have good news! I just couldn’t wait to get my phone setup with all the latest fixes and updates that 2.1 brings to the platform. So with a little Googling I found a method that will allow Windows users to jailbreak their iPhones on the new 2.1 firmware!

Windows Iphone 2.1 Firmware Jailbreak [unofficial]

I have a few suggestions that will speed the process up for you though:

1. Ignore steps 1 through 6.

2. Backup your phone.

3. Download and install iTunes 8 [and reboot]

4. Have iTunes download the latest 2.1 firmware and install it on your phone

5. Resume tutorial at Step 7 -> QuickPWN appears to work just fine with iTunes 8…

There are some custom IPSW’s that Mac users have been kind enough to share with the community but after restoring from one I downloaded I lost all ATT service and had to start over- that’s why I recommend this route.

Note: When using TotalCommander to update the MobileInstallation file on your phone, you must drag from the left pane to the right pane or vice versa- if you attempt to drag from an outside window or app it will give you a “write protection error”.

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