Just seen (only a month late) WriteRoom has been updated on iOS and it looks like a good one.
I’m not sure how long there has been an iPad version/iPad version was added but I don’t remember using it before. It looks great and now has Dropbox support. I have been using Elements for my writing needs on iOS for a while, mostly for it’s Dropbox support, but WriteRoom seems to be doing a great job whilst I am writing this.
This version 3.0 of WriteRoom has also added an extra, customisable row of keys to the iPads keyboard. I have just started to use Markdown for my posts and this will help a lot on the iPad; it just makes getting to the square brackets fast, it also adds a tab key. The only thing that’s missing for Markdown is a Markdown preview which Elements does well.
This was an awesome show, go see this one. It’s a great and hilarious World War II story (which is apparently “true(ish)” according to the fringe site).
Hopefully I will get to see a few more shows this year.
So the Google+ iOS app got released, I think it’s pretty nice. They did a good job overall with the mobile site but it’s just not quite as good as a native app.
The main “home” screen has 5 icons at the moment, big enough targets, gets you to the place you want. This is nearly identical to the Facebook app when navigating between functions; I am not a big fan of this; one place where I think a tab controller would be better suited; faster to use too.
The rest of the functions like photos and circles are pretty standard and work well. The Huddle feature is a good idea, data based group messaging, would save sending out lots of SMS messages, but it didn’t work very quickly when I tried it and there seems to be no way to view these on the website. The Stream view has probably the most different from other apps. I will let John Gruber explain better than I would:
this Google+ app uses left-right swiping to change views in your “Stream”. I see three: Incoming, Circles, and Nearby. The idiomatic iOS design for this would be a tab controller at the bottom with three tabs, one for each view.
I do agree that it’s not standard but I don’t think it’s a bad choice, seems quite quick and a good alternative, especially for only 3 separate views; if there were more then I dont think it would be as good. What I don’t like about this setup is you can only swipe, there is no tapping the header of the left/right views; it just tells you to swipe. It’s one of those things that should be perfect alternative that users can find out. I think Loren Brichter actually explained this very well in this interview from 2009 about Tweetie 2:
Now, I think you can split gestures into two categories. One is of the pull-down-to-refresh kind. These are gestures that are discoverable and explanatory. The other kind of gestures are like tapping-the-status-bar-to-scroll-to-the-top, or swipe-to-delete (or swipe-to-reply in Tweetie). These gestures you won’t discover on your own except by accident. These are not discoverable, and they are not explanatory.
This second class of gestures can exist (in my opinion) because they are not the only way to accomplish a goal. In the case of tapping the status bar, users already know how to scroll to the top manually. It’s slower, but it’s possible. In the case of swipe to delete, users already know they can tap on a message and then tap the trash button. So knowing the gesture isn’t necessary.
So when you’re inventing new gestures, it’s important to think about whether the gesture is required to use the app. If it’s the only way to accomplish a goal, you better be sure it’s discoverable and explanatory without needing to read a manual. If it’s the other kind of gesture, go nuts!
I would class tapping the header left/right text as the second type; you would probably only discover it by accident, but it would be a perfectly acceptable way to navigate. What I don’t like at the moment is the big popup that appears telling you to scroll instead; it’s an iOS app, we probably would swipe automatically anyway (plus I have a recollection that it gave you a message at on the first launch that you should swipe anyway).
I can see no reason to use the web app over this native one, it’s a good start.
I did enjoy my trip on Malta’s buses; sure the one I went on didn’t have a door and it was loud, so I can very much understand the need for the upgrade, but it was a good experience. Hopefully they can keep a few running, or at least give the new ones the same colour scheme.
I think that was a great WWDC keynote, content-wise at least, it's hard to tell much else from just text and photos (although the video is now up apparently).
I have just finished Portal 2 so here are some thoughts (possible spoilers ahead, but I will try and minimise them).
I really enjoyed it. If you haven't played the first one for some reason things probably won't make that much sense.
Portal had good writing and this second instalment did not disappoint on that front. The dialog was just great; witty, dark and fun. Having Stephen Merchant voice your robot friend added so much more fun to the humour, some nice classic Merchant phrases.
I was a little worried it was going to end too soon, especially as the first one was pretty short, but just when I thought it was over it took a very nice twist and kept going. This back half of the game really added to the backstory of Aperture Science and some nice easter eggs tied things more into the Half Life universe; which did serve as a good reminder that we really need Half Life 2 Episode 3 or just Half Life 3 to carry on the story.
I was sad to see that upon completion I couldn't go back and attempt to speed run the test chambers or try some of them on hard like in the first game; I do love a good speed run (probably thanks to getting Goldeneye cheats). I can see how this might have been a little more difficult to incorporate this time around though.
I have also done a couple of the co-op courses split screen which were loads of fun, more similar to the originals test chambers. Now if only any of my friends on Xbox Live would get the game so I could continue.
Overall the single player is great, a good improvement on the first game, especially in the story department, but it was possibly less fun due to having more of a story. However I think the co-op test chambers make up for this, but I would like to see some more single player testing happen (which appears to be coming in some free DLC this summer!).
5 days too late to be a joke, very impressive indeed. It does kind of read like the plot to a movie though. Let's try a trailer:
[The camera flys down into the ocean, diving deeper, getting darker.]
Voice Over: "In world, where only 5% of the oceans have been explored, two men will increase that percentage."
[Cut to Richard Branson]
Richard Branson: "We need to see what's down there."
[Cut to Chris Welsh at a dock yard speaking to an old sailor with an pipe and eye patch]
Chris Welsh: "We need a sub to get down to 37,000ft. I hear you're the man to build one."
Graham Hawkes (sub designer): "Aye, that I am, but it will cost you."
Chris Welsh: [Smiles] "Don't worry, that won't be a problem."
[Cut back to the dark ocean]
Voice Over: "Virgin Oceanic"
Now back to reality, by the sounds of it they will only have one of the subs and so no hope of rescue. How about instead of that, Richard Branson uses some of his near infinite money to build maybe a second one, or maybe two.
I have just finished reading ‘The Wise Man’s Fear’ by Patrick Rothfuss. Just like his first book in the series, ‘The Name of the Wind’, it is one of the finest books I have read, if not the best. They are both fantastic, exceptionally well written and very difficult to stop reading.
Thank you Patrick for creating such a good story, I look forward to the next book.
I have no idea how I managed it, something usually goes a bit wrong but this time nothing. It must have been the awesome recipe from smittenkitchen.com.
