Web Trend Map goes dot com
Earlier this year I mentioned that Information Architects Japan (iA) had published their annual Web Trend Map (v4) onto the Tokyo Metro map.
Well, currently iA is building an interactive version of the Web Trend Map under webtrendmap.com which looks cool. A preview is available on YouTube.
This web app is scheduled to launch July 14th. Stay tuned.
Homebound
Waiting in lounge at London City Airport. @media 2009 came to a close yesterday with Patrick announcing he's retiring from web design, development and conference organising.
I'm feeling a little emotional, but I wish to thank Patrick for what he brought to this industry in general and to me in particular. The people I met, the talks I followed, the post conference chatting over the last 5 years have opened my eyes and broadened my horizon, both on a personal and professional level.
It's not the end… Web Directions will be picking up the event from next year, so we'll meet again ;)
Thanks mate for everything and best of luck!
Currently playing in iTunes: Nicest Thing by Kate Nash
Do you wonder?
I love Jessica Hagy's doodles and couldn't resist sharing with you her last one which happens to be very relevant on a personal level.
Enjoy.
Orig. Jessica Hagy's This is indexed dated June 23rd, 2009.
The widest smile
It was last Wednesday, around six thirty in the afternoon. Mathias had left for his camp early Monday morning, and was scheduled to call in early evening.
Emma had been sleeping in his bed and wearing his swimming trunks at the pool erlier in the week. The phone rang. She took the receiver and displayed the widest smile I have ever been given to see.
It was not just her mouth and her lips smiling, but her eyes, her face, her body and her soul. She was glowing with happiness. During that short time, that little girl gave the world a gallon of love.
Time stopped. I closed my eyes, burning this image deep into my memory cells, to feed off it at a later, more lonelier stage.
Beyond the words, the sheer energy that radiated over those few seconds made the world a better place. My world at the least.
The irony was that when I was held the receiver, I only had time to hear Mathias' voice before the dialing tone kicked in. Mathias was calling from a public phone booth, and like most late 20th century children, has little or no experience in using coins to place a call, and hence extend it if required. Unfortunately, I couldn't return the call, as I didn't have access the caller id. The state of my home telecom is currently a mess.
I was dumbstruck with disbelief, but happy nevertheless. What went through between Emma and Mathias made up for all the rest. Sometimes quantity is irrelevant, in the light of the quality of what goes through.
Struck by the widest smile, my emotions travelled at the speed of light.
iPhone v3.0 OS MMS and tethering
A quick post to share with you how I managed to activate tethering (Swisscom) on my iPhone 3G running iPhone OS 3.0 (build 7a341).
The 3.0 update was seemless. I downloaded my developer's copy and updated the iPhone via iTunes by opt-clicking the “Check for Update” button in the iPhone summary pane.
I won't go over all the 3.0 new features as they are extensively covered elsewhere. Nevertheless, the update run smoothly and without incident. All new features were instantly available (incl. MMS), except tethering.
If you read around, you'll notice that MMS and tethering may require changing your operator settings. Prior to iTunes 8.2, you could load new operator settings, called a carrier bundle (e.g. Swisscom_CH.ipcc), that enabled them. The files also allows the carrier to enable and disable features such as MMS, data roaming, and tethering, and set their carrier logo etc. Apple have disabled the adding of non-signed .ipcc files in iTunes 8.2, released alongside iPhone OS 3.0. So it wasn't as simple as loading a new set of settings.
Digging around I discovered on Andrew Harrison's weblog you could enable functions by loding a .mobileconfig file:
The solution: .mobileconfig. These files – which can contain similar information to .ipcc files, but for specific functions – are allowed by Apple, and are executed on the phone, not through iTunes.
The idea is simple: you need to build, or find, the .mobileconfig file for your operator, send it to yourself by email, and open it from the iPhone.
I found a list of .mobileconfig on Benm.AT which amongst others offered the Swisscom settings. Check his site for yours.
- Base Deutschland
- E-Plus Deutschland
- Mobilkom Austria A1
- O2 Deutschland
- Orange Austria
- Orange Austria Tethering
- Orange Schweiz
- Sunrise Schweiz
- Swisscom Schweiz
- T-Mobile Austria
- T-Mobile Austria #2
- T-Mobile DE Complete Tarif
- T-Mobile Deutschland
- Tele.ring Austria
- Vodafone Deutschland
You can connect to your iPhone either by bluetooth or with an USB cable. To connect by bluetooth, turn bluetooth on, pair your iPhone and your Mac, and open the bluetooth menubar icon. You'll find an item with the name of your iPhone with a submenu named “Connect to Network”. Select it and your done.
A new network device named “Bluetooth PAN” appeared in my Network Preference pane.
I quickly ran a speed test and obtained 2.8 Mb/s downstream and 0.34 Mb/s upstream which is acceptable. Heck this is the real world…
Checkout the YouTube video “iPhone Firmware 3.0 Beta - Demo of Tethering and MMS (HD)”
I yet have to evaluate the impact on the iPhone's battery life when you tether by bluetooth. Tethering via the USB cable is probably preferable.
