The Goodbye Mailbox » Technology

iPhone 4 Camera Off Axis

Derek — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 22:44:19 +0000

That's just because you're only wearing one shoe

It seems like the hits keep coming for Apple’s latest product. Maybe this is an isolated incident, or maybe it’s been like this for all the previous models, but I’ve never noticed it on my prior iPhones.

My iPhone 4’s camera appears to be off axis by 2.4 degrees. I laid the camera on it’s right side (the side without the volume buttons) on a flat surface and took a picture of the back of my keyboard which was also laying flat on the same surface and there was a noticeable slant to the resulting image.

Is anyone else having this same issue?

iPhone App: Cross Process

Derek — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:14:31 +0000

Cross Process iPhone App Test, originally uploaded by GBMB.

Nick from GreyScaleGorilla released a new iPhone app today called Cross Process. If you were a fan of his other app ShakeItPhoto, you will probably dig this one. It emulates the look of cross processed film and adds a nifty little white border. It has settings to choose which colors to process and also allows you to process new pictures or photos from your photo library, much like his last app.

Here are a few more examples of pictures from the app when used in daylight, night time, and tungsten lights respectively.

Back To My Mac – Practical Use/Joke

Derek — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:55:52 +0000

Smile, You're On Camera

Today at work, I was killing time during a render, when I stumbled across a great use for the Back To My Mac function of MobileMe. Essentially it is a feature that allows you to remotely connect to your Mac over the internet and see your files as if they were attached to your local computer as an external drive, or see your screen and control your computer from within a window. It works great when it works, but there have been several times where it won’t work due to incompatible routers or networks. I’ve actually read a few stories online about how people have recovered stolen MacBooks and MacBook Pros by watching the thief log into various sites and then reporting it to the authority. But that’s all besides the point of this post.

Since I knew that my roommate Jesse was home because I had just spoken to him on IM, I decided to play a little joke. I launched MobileMe’s screen sharing option and opened up iMovie and launched the capture window and set it to record from my built-in iSight camera. Once I had that set, I opened up my iTunes library and picked a song that would be funny when played at a high volume. The theme song to Family Matters seemed like it fit the bill. (Don’t ask why I have that song). Next, I launched Text Edit and typed a quick message to Jesse. I wanted to make sure it was large enough and obvious enough for him to see when he walked in so he knew it was a joke, and not my computer malfunctioning. The final step was turning my volume all the way up on both iTunes and my computer and pressing record on iMovie and play on iTunes.

In hind sight it would have been more funny if I could have figured out a way to hide the capture window and then just kept doing this over and over again until Jesse figured out what was going on.

The image at the top of this post is a screen capture of the whole set up, and if you watch the video, you can actually hear the screen caps firing off. I was quite pleased with the over all performance of Back To My Mac. I am sure I used it for the opposite purpose of what they had intended when adding this feature to MobileMe, but there’s nothing wrong with stumbling onto an accidental feature. They should turn this into a selling point. Anyhow, here is the video. Enjoy.

iPhone Bed Mode

Derek — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:03:40 +0000

Dear Apple,

I love your products. I even worked in one of your retail stores for a year or so. Among my favorite products is your iPhone. I am currently writing these words on an iPhone using the wordpress app. Please, for the love of God, make a software update that has ‘Bed Mode’. I often times view my phone while laying down either on my bed or a sofa and when the phone does it’s automatic rotate feature, I have to readjust my position or phone so that I can continue to read/browse with the text oriented along the same axis as my eyes, not the ground. I know I am not the only person with this grievance as I have discussed this with several other iPhone users and have found a few articles online on the same topic. It’s small things like this that drive customers to jailbreak their phones.

And while we’re on the topic of desired iPhone features, can we please use the volume buttons to take pictures while in camera mode? I know there are other camera apps that make this possible, but I don’t want to clutter my phone with multiple apps if it can be accomplished within one singular app. Here is a nice list of features that iPhone users have been requesting for years.

Sincerly,
Derek

Via Wordpress iPhone app

Derek — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 06:52:24 +0000

Dave Attell @ The Hollywood Improv

Add Me To Your iPhone

Derek — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:56:25 +0000

In just 3 easy steps, you can add The Goodbye Mailbox Weblog to your iPhone’s (or iPod Touch) home screen for quick and easy access to the #1 blog on the internet.

Step 1: Open mobile safari on your iPhone and enter goodbyemailbox.com in the address field.

Step 2: Press the “+” button at the bottom of the page.

Step 3: Press Add to Home Screen

And there you have it. Easy-peasy-one-two-threezy. The next time you want to visit my blog, just click on the icon on your home screen and it’ll automatically launch your browser to my site.

Rain Of Madness on iTunes

Derek — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 06:22:47 +0000

It’s free. Download it now.

Morgan is also in it.

Tags: Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise

Wordpress for iPhone

Derek — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:30:43 +0000

A free app from the iTunes App Store was just released to help mobile blogging for those using wordpress. Just search for wordpress in the app store. My opinion so far? It works and it’s easy. Maybe it will get me to blog more often than I do.

The King Of Kong

Derek — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:47:48 +0000

My work has one of those stand-up arcade cabinets with mulitple games in our front lobby. Recently we have been getting more competitive with the high scores for the games. I’m not sure what started it, but after almost a year of very light activity, it now seems like a day doesn’t go by without one of the high scores being topped by someone else in the office.

In the spirit of friendly competition, I decided to make some sort of trophy or medal to award the person who holds the current high score for the various games we have in the office: Donkey Kong, Frogger, Ms. Pac Man, Galaga, and Full Court Frenzy II (mini basketball game). I ended up making some pixel art medallions out of Perler Beads and lanyard string that was inspired from this.

Today I set the new record for Donkey Kong at 45000, nothing compared to what Billy Mitchell or Steve Wiebe were able to do, but it’s enough to take the top prize at my office. We’ve also decided that if someone overtakes the high score for the game that you currently have the high score for, you have to place the “medal” around the neck of the new champion to add insult to injury.

Post Script: I also hold the basketball record with 132 points. Booyah.

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