Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat

One of the (few) surprises from this month’s MacWorld was that the Google Maps application integrates location data not just from cell tower triangulation (using Google’s “My Location” technology) but also Wi-Fi visibility information, thanks to Skyhook. This combination of technologies piqued my interest, and it turns out that I was in a unique position to see just how these two data sources are integrated into the iPhone’s Google Maps application.

Although Mac Rumors reports that the Skyhook Wi-Fi data trumps the Google cell tower data, the reality is much more complicated, and thankfully more reliable, too! See, I used to live in Massachusetts (where Skyhook has data) and now live in Ohio (where they don’t). So I was able to test the priority of the location data used in the iPhone in a simple way - I compared different good data/bad data scenarios to determine just how Apple is deciding what your location is.

The short answer is, they’ve done a great job programming this and are falling back gracefully when fed bad data. When you tap the location button on an iPhone, you’ll almost always get at least a reasonable location from it, except where Skyhook has bad data and you’ve got no cell service, which is rare enough to be useful.

But if you are using an iPod Touch or iPhone with no cell service, your location data can be woefully incorrect, and even easily spoofed! Although Google Maps location is (probably) not a life and death piece of data, we can be pretty happy with what we’ve been given. But I can think of a whole lotta pranking that could happen once this tech gets more widespread use!

More details after the jump…

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Yesterday evening, I began composing an article comparing my experiences a few years back with my sole computer being an ultra-thin notebook quite like the MacBook Air, but ended up at rather a different place. In compositing an image comparing my old Toshiba Portégé 3010CT with the super-thin Apple, I noticed that Apple’s illustrations of the MacBook Air are simply too thin! What’s going on here? Is Apple using distorted images to emphasize the machine’s thinness? Or is it an honest mistake? Shocking photos below the fold… Continue Reading »

OK, so Steve just announced the new iPhone software, and it certainly fixes a number of my “complaints”. But as much as I love this thing (and I do love it), there are quite a few remaining problems.

What Was Fixed

1. Google maps - This app went a long time without much of an update, but we can now drop pins (like I could do on my BlackBerry last year), see hybrid view (which is admittedly new to the handheld space), and the cool location thingy that thinks I still like in Massachusetts (because that’s where my WAP was when Skyhook drove past).
   
2. Home screen organization - I can now hide useless apps on another page (I’m talking about You, Tube, and your friend Clock, too!) and order them more logically
3. Web clips - So I get this whole web apps thing, but thanks for un-hiding them so I can actually use them on the go!
4. Actual apps - Yeah the web apps are great and all, but we really needed download-and-install apps on this thing!  Could use a few more details, though…

I still don’t care about multiple SMS recipients - yeah this was a really important addition, much more so than MMS or IM!  Ooh, lyrics!  Subtitles!  And at least my iPhone already had chapter support (thanks, Handbrake!)

What’s Still Wrong

1. Copy and paste - Please please please please please!
2. SMS popups - These “show through” every app - even the lock screen!
3. Landscape email - I always want to rotate my mail to read it better.
4. That darn headphone jack - I hate the Belkin adapter! What were they thinking?!? But at least I now have a sweet pair of headphones (Vibe Duo Nero) that work with the iPhone.
5. Notes - I want to use notes. Please! This is getting crazy!
6. Calendar integration - It’s hard to use the iPhone for business when you can’t get meeting invites over the air! They don’t even download so you can read them manually… And how about Google Calendar syncing?
7. Persistent web data - I can’t figure out why Safari loses its data all the time. I’ve got a gig or more of storage space free - Let me at least not lose the web page I was looking at (sometimes) when I exit Safari!
8. Hidden contacts - It’s very un-iPhone like to have the contacts database hidden in the phone and email apps. Sometimes I want to look at a contact without actually contacting them and this just feels weird.
9. Actual IM - Please please please start supporting actual Gtalk, AIM, and Yahoo IM protocols. The web versions of these apps stink.
10. Device compatibility - My Belkin Auto Kit works just fine with the iPhone, yet it still nags me to go into airplane mode every time I plug it in!
11. Bluetooth support - Please let me stream whatever audio I want to my Bluetooth headset. A better Bluetooth stack could blow open the accessory market - GPS, stereo headphones, laptop sync, remote control, etc etc etc…
    
12. Improved iPod controls - The iPhone is the worst iPod ever made when it comes to the controls - they move around inconsistently between portrait and landscape mode, and some are lacking entirely. You can’t scrub forward, set stars, or access podcasts or movies, in cover flow?!? And these are all hidden even in portrait mode!  And how about video zoom - I want to be able to pinch in when I’m watching a letterboxed film.  Is that so wrong?

Don’t get me wrong here - I still think the iPhone is insanely great.  I bought two!  Consider this constructive criticism…

When I reviewed the Drobo SOHO disk array back in November, I noted that it had only to add a few features before I got really interested: NAS, EXT3, and eSATA. I also noted that only the first of these three would interest the majority of users. Well, apparently the company had the same idea, so today they introduced the DroboShare, a NAS gateway for one or two Drobo enclosures. It’s official - Drobo rocks! If you’re building a terabyte home, I suggest you run out and buy one!

What’s so great? Like most Apple products, it doesn’t do everything it could, but it does everything you need. It’s got gigabit Ethernet and (presumably) enough CPU power to use it, putting my NSLU2 (and Linksys’ embarrassing NAS200) to shame. It has two USB ports, supporting tons of storage from a pair of Drobos. It also natively supports all major PC filesystems (NTFS, FAT32, HFS+, and yes EXT3) so you don’t have to reformat to use it.

In fact, this last is a pretty interesting feature. You can just unplug your current Drobo from your PC or Mac and plug it into the DroboShare and all your data is preserved! Talk about easy migration! Not just that, but you can later unplug the Drobo again and plug it back into a PC or Mac if you need to! Very cool, and very much the kind of intuitive plug and play operation most end users will expect.

Interestingly, Drobo decided to introduce the DroboShare at Macworld instead of CES, where it would likely have been overlooked. Good move, I say! Now they just have to get these things into the brick-and-glass Apple Stores! Louis Gray and I were able to evangelize the Palo Alto Apple Store about the merits of Drobo in about five minutes - let’s hope the company can do the same!

Let’s hope Data Robotics repeats its $50 off promo from CES (”CES2008″ at drobostore.com) at Macworld!  Or, better still, how about a DroboShare promo code, too!  Maybe I’ll even buy one sometime…

AOL seems to have invented a whole new way to annoy us all with advertisements: injected AIM buddy bots!  Yes, it’s another way that social networking companies are annoying the very users they (supposedly) covet!

Last month it was McLovin12Four, a buddy bot that apparently had little to say but was a paid advertisement for the December 4th DVD release of Superbad. Get it - 12Four? But only someone who had seen the (pretty funny) movie would catch the McLovin reference…

Well, today my (gtalk) buddy list was invaded by “Liv Greene“, a shill for the web site, Greenopolis. And check out the astroturf-with-a-hammer campaign on AOL’s bot page! Way to get your bot ranked number one!

I’m so sick of this. Note to all social network providers: Never inject a new “friend” into my network without my consent.

Who’d have thought that EMC’s storage teenager, the Symmetrix/DMX, still had the ability to surprise us with something new? Well, as reported just about everywhere, EMC today introduced two major new features in the DMX. But don’t get fooled - this is still traditional high-end EMC stuff, and you had better be sitting down when you see the price!

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People are funny - they tend to stick to old habits even as new realities overtake them. The CD industry may be collapsing (apparently, young folks don’t even want free CDs!) but I keep buying them.

But I realized the other day that I don’t actually listen to CDs anymore! We’ve now digitized our entire 11,000-song CD collection and I’ve unplugged our home CD player. Even in the car, where the convenience and durability of CDs was a serious benefit, we’re listening to more and more iPod music these days. As for me, I’m not even sure if my car CD player even works anymore… What a strange new world music has become…

Over the last year, I’ve bought about two dozen CDs and downloaded just four albums and a half dozen single songs. I’m of the generation (X, that is) that still remembers how beautiful and artistic album art can be, and longs for a tangible copy of my music. While ripping our last CDs last month, I was struck by the packaging of CDs like the Beastie Boys’ To the 5 Boroughs, Pet Shop Boys’ Alternative, and my heavy vinyl copy of Shellac’s The Rude Gesture: A Pictorial History.

Most younger people will never reminisce about album covers, though. Although iTunes albums include “digital booklets”, lots of music is just downloaded on a song-by-song basis. The only artwork they get is a single little square picture for use in iTunes’ Cover Flow.

But I’m not going to lament “these kids these days.”  Instead, I’m wondering why I still buy CDs when I can get them from Apple with one touch on the iPhone, or in glorious non-DRM mp3 form from Amazon if I want to sit at the PC.  The first thing I do when I buy a CD these days is rip a copy of it for use on the iPod anyway!  I’ve got a stack of brand new unplayed CDs on my desk - I’ve listened to my mp3 copy but never the disc itself!

But I keep buying CDs, and bands keep releasing them.  Even Radiohead now sells In Rainbows in Wal-Mart, on Amazon, and even on iTunes, but they’ve closed down their pay-what-you-want download site.  And I can’t quite see myself switching full-time to downloaded music and missing all that artwork!

Give me another few years, though, and I bet I’ll be like most of those kids - exclusively downloading music, even as Newbury Comics joins the big four in bankruptcy court…

As is traditionally the case, there has been some pretty wild speculation about what Apple plans to introduce at this year’s Macworld.  Some insist it’s 3G iPhone time, others look for a tablet/touch computer, and everyone sees Blu-ray everywhere.  But Apple upset the cart a bit this week by introducing new, faster Mac Pros and Xserves during CES, and a number of strong leaks point to iTunes movie rentals, updates for iPhone/iTouch, and the company has all but confirmed the SDK.

Let’s take a look at what we know and what we don’t, starting with the firmest information.  And read to the end to see my own wild speculation…

Very Likely 

• Further Mac Pro and Xserve updates are extremely unlikely.
• iTunes movie rentals are all but confirmed, but will it be version 8 or version 7.6? I bet on the latter.
• An update to the iPhone/iTouch (1.1.3) is in the wild and has received much press, plus it would be required to support those movie rentals, making a Macworld intro very likely.
• Leopard needs a rev, and 10.5.2 has been spotted (if you pardon the pun), so that’s a likely Macworld intro.
• Apple officially announced the iPhone/iTouch SDK back in October, and claimed it would be released in February, so it’s likely they’ll spend some time focusing on what it can and can’t do, and probably will introduce some third party apps, too.  Mac Rumors suggests a Sling Player app, at least, and I’m looking for some games.
• I expect a revved MacBook Pro, with the new Penryn CPUs, thinner and prettier, but nothing really amazing.

Maybe Yes, Maybe No

• I’ll bite on the long-talked-about subnote rumor, but it’s definitely not a sure thing.  I’m expecting a 12″ or 13″ subnote with flash storage (no internal hard disk or optical drive), and a super-thin aluminum and black (iPhone-type) case.  But I do not expect it will have a touch screen or tablet, though the funky touch pad might have some enhanced multi-touch capabilities.
• The early release of the big-box Macs suggests to me that we can expect updates to the portables, but the MacBook was just updated in November, so I expect it’ll be left alone for now.
• The Cinema Displays are getting long in the tooth, so they need a rev, and this would be a good time to do it.  I expect another aluminum and black look (like the newer iMacs), and would be shocked if iSight and an IR receiver wasn’t built in.  I’m also expecting expanded Windows compatibility, more aggressive pricing, and DisplayPort and HDCP, but all this might not be mentioned in the keynote.
• The demise of the Mac Mini has long been rumored, but I hope it isn’t true.  I’m looking instead for a new small desktop Mac with a new industrial design.  How about a PCI-Express slot, too?
• I’m definitely not expecting a 3G iPhone, though a 16 GB model and shuffled-down prices would be a good bet.

Wild Imaginings

• I don’t expect a big Blu-ray splash at this show.  The Warner Brothers announcement was too late to change product plans, and Apple was conspicuously waiting the HD war out on the sidelines.
• Something needs to be done with the Apple TV, and this might just be the big announcement.  I like the idea of this being Apple’s first Blu-ray product, and a Blu-ray Apple TV at a nice price to replace my DVD player might just get me off the couch and into the stores.  But I seriously doubt this Apple TV will have a tuner, let alone DVR capabilities.

The Big One

OK, that’s out of the way, that’s the show.  But wait, there’s one more wild imagining in my head…  As Jeremy Toeman pointed out, an enhanced Cinema Display could make a darn fine TV.  So let’s walk down this path a little…

Lots of folks were disappointed that Blu-ray drives remain unavailable, even on the new Mac Pro, and I just said I didn’t expect one in the revved MacBook Pro, either.  But what if Apple is ahead of us all on this one.  What if the update to the Cinema Display also included a Blu-ray drive?!?

Introduce a new line of displays - call them Home Cinema or something.  Put in an internal iMac-like Blu-ray drive that can both play standalone to the display or be connected to a computer (over FireWire or USB) and used as a computer drive.  Suddenly every Mac has a Blu-ray option, and those Cinema Displays start looking like a much better option than a Dell or ViewSonic at half the price.  Lots of folks would love a more-converged entertainment computer, and some might just buy the big Home Cinema as a standalone entertainment unit.

But let’s follow Jeremy’s suggestion a little further…  Roll the guts of an updated Apple TV (running full OS X) right into that Home Cinema and create a Macintosh Cinema.  It’ll have integrated iTunes movie rentals and Blu-ray, and could be used as a regular computer with the Bluetooth keyboard and mouse.

And roll out the guts of the Macintosh Cinema and you’ve got a worthy replacement for both the Apple TV and the Mac Mini.

And please, Apple, buy TiVo and integrate that, too!

Typically, this year’s CES was big, bland, and (reportedly) bad, but one item that caught my TiVo-loving eye was the introduction of the Seagate PipelineHD hard drive.  It’s a three-platter drive optimized for DVR use, like the earlier DB35 series, with quieter seeks and bearings, and an expanded thermal envelope.

The DB35 has been a huge hit in TiVo circles - it’s the go-to drive for HD expansion.  I expect that the PipelineHD line will be the next must-have.

Techdirt’s I Learned It From Watching YOU, Big Content, pointed me to a Washington Post story, Hey, Isn’t That… about how the big old media companies have been repeatedly caught with their pants down, stealing content from us little guys.  This got me thinking again about my own similar experiences.

See, I’ve had my work ripped off by big content providers repeatedly over the years, but never could put into words why it bothered me so much.  I mean, it’s not like I was profiting from that snapshot or HOWTO document, so why should I care if someone else does?

But once you juxtapose the attitude of those same companies about my fair use rights of legally-purchased content, the grain that’s been chafing me becomes clear.  Media companies seem to think it’s ok for them to steal from the little guys (either by choice or through a lack of rigor, but they’ll come after me if I try to do anything at all with their content.  The article’s anecdote of a stolen dog photo used in a sports broadcast surrounded by ominous copyright warnings really sums up the whole situation!

The first time I experienced this was back in 1997 or so, when I received an email from a fellow Linux hippie alerting me that a recent Linux book contained a number of online texts, mine included.  The book, Linux File Systems, was “written” by Moshe Bar, better known for his work on OpenMosix and Xen, but also known as a writer for a number of other books and a columnist for latter-days Byte.  I confronted him about his wholesale copying of my LVM walkthrough in his book, and he apologized, claimed he’d run out of time (which is easy to believe, looking at the book), and blamed his editor.  The publisher, McGraw Hill, claimed the book wasn’t selling well anyway so they couldn’t offer me any compensation.  Being young(er) and foolish(er) at the time, I let it drop.

Over my later years of writing columns and articles for Storage Magazine, InfoStor, and others, I became aware of wholesale unauthorized translation and reprinting of English magazines in other languages.  A number of my articles were published in Russian magazines, for example.  Again, I did nothing but chuckle about seeing my name in Cyrilic.

So why the picture of the Saab 900 above?  Because just last month, I was notified that that exact photo was used by the German paper, Süddeutsche Zeitung, (Nov 23th 2007, page 11) without permission and in violation of the license.  This has happened to a number of my other Wikimedia Commons photos, with appearances in a number of papers and magazines that I know of, and probably more besides…

What’s to do?  I suppose I should have pushed harder when these uses were brought to my attention.  I suppose I could have banded together with others to protest.  But I did nothing.  What would you do?