The iPhone OS completely removes the concept of a “file.” It promotes apps to being the primary level of user interaction, and it stores related things inside databases that are content-specific. When you pick up your iPhone and want to view photos, you open the Photos app, which connects to the photos database and shows you all of your photos. When you want to listen to music, you open the iPod app, which connects to the music database. Everything on the iPhone is task-centric, not file-centric. The “file” part of completing tasks is completely insulated from the user.

Archive for May, 2010
Study: You can feel things that happen in virtual reality
May 20th, 2010, posted in OldiesA new study released this week and detailed in the journal PLoS One suggests humans can take ownership of a virtual body so completely when viewing a virtual world through a first-person perspective that they actually “feel” it when their virtual self gets slapped. Imagine what this could do for games where you get shot.
How Android hit the big time in the smartphone OS market
May 20th, 2010, posted in OldiesAndroid has officially hit the big time now that sales of its devices exceeded the Apple iPhone over the past quarter.
Android’s rise is fairly remarkable for an operating system that only just launched in the fall of 2007. The open-source operating system’s success is even more impressive when you consider that when it debuted it was already facing a crowded field of OS heavyweights such as the iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile and Symbian.
8 Ways a Job Interview Can Take a Turn for the Worse
May 20th, 2010, posted in OldiesSo you arrive at a big job interview confident and prepared. It starts off strong. Conversation flows smoothly. You’re saying all the right things.
Suddenly, the hiring manager asks you a question you didn’t anticipate.
The “deer in the headlights” look washes over your face. You flounder for an answer that fails to impress the hiring manager. Your confidence takes a hit, and the interview, along with any chance of getting the job, quickly head south.
Whether it’s a surprise question, a wardrobe malfunction or the hour-long interview that unexpectedly turns into a day-long affair, job interviews are filled with on-the-spot situations that must be handled deftly by the candidate. If not, these situations will sink even the most prepared professional.
To help you anticipate these unexpected twists and turns, career experts and corporate recruiters shared eight situations that can come up during a job interview. They offer advice on how to navigate them gracefully so that you can get the interview back on track.
Facebook’s privacy controls are seriously broken
May 3rd, 2010, posted in Oldies
I’ve spent a fair amount of time lately messing about with Facebook’s privacy settings, which is almost like having a life, but not quite. Then I discovered something odd and disturbing: I cannot make all of my “likes and interests” private so that only my friends can see them. Even when I tell Facebook to do it, it won’t — they’re still visible to anyone who looks up my Facebook profile.
Hey Sony, Don’t Mess with Linux, Says PS3 Lawsuit
May 1st, 2010, posted in OldiesSan Francisco man files lawsuit seeking class action status against Sony for removing the option to install Linux on the PS3.
When Sony nerfed Linux support for the PS3 in early April, we knew it was only a matter of time before someone pulled a pack of lawyers out of their pocket.
Google Nexus One: A Successful Flop
May 1st, 2010, posted in OldiesThe Nexus One may not be a bestseller, but it is an Android demo unit that shows developers what the platform is capable of.
Has any smartphone had a more unusual marketing campaign than the Nexus One? Google’s touchscreen Android handset debuted in January to mostly favorable reviews–PC World gave it 4.5 out of 5 stars–but sales since then have been less than stellar. In March, mobile research firm Flurry reported that Google had sold only 135,000 Nexus Ones in the first 74 days after the phone’s launch. By comparison, about a million Motorola Droids and Apple iPhones were sold in the same period following their respective rollouts.
Windows 7’s Worst Features
May 1st, 2010, posted in OldiesThere’s a lot to love about the Windows 7 operating system: it’s fast, it looks great, and it has some cool features–like Jump Lists for quickly opening recently used files, Homegroup for sharing files between computers, and Aero Snap to help you quickly organize your open desktop windows.
India has more mobile phones than toilets: UN report
May 1st, 2010, posted in OldiesFar more people in India have access to a mobile phone than to a toilet, according to a UN study on sanitation.
India’s mobile subscribers totalled 563.73 million at the last count, enough to serve nearly half of the country’s 1.2 billion population.
But just 366 million people – around a third of the population – had access to proper sanitation in 2008, said the study published by the United Nations University, a UN think-tank.
A brief history of Palm
May 1st, 2010, posted in OldiesWith iPhones and BlackBerrys everywhere, and Google Android devices on the rise, it’s easy to forget that Palm was the company that made it all happen.