Biography
Blog
August 07 2008
Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are commonly believed to make computers accessible by presenting virtual concepts through visual and spacial metaphors. For every action you wish to undertake in such interfaces, there is a corresponding physical object you can interact with: a button, a slider, a window. Our files and folders… read moreAugust 04 2008
The future of Apple TV is the subject of much debate and controversy around the Internet. Yet, it seems to be a relatively simple, straightforward question. While Apple calls Apple TV a “hobby product,” this is clearly not an accurate description. No company in their right mind would ever invest… read moreAugust 01 2008
Of all the technological advances of the past decade, the concept and implementation of DRM is the one that irks me most. As you know, DRM or, to give it its full name, Digital Rights Management, is collectively used to refer to a pot-pourri of technologies whose primary aim is… read moreA tall glass of sparkling updates
July 30 2008
A few months back, my little team and myself were fortunate enough to assist a well-known software company release the latest version of their Mac OS X application. Among the improvements we recommended, and helped implement, was Sparkle-based updating. One of our testing points at the time was to ensure… read moreJuly 24 2008
Now that the iPhone 3G is old news, and that developers are comfortably settling into their new development digs, the time seems ripe to investigate new ways the iPhone and the Mac — or the PC — could interact together. I have previously discussed the disappointing docking system, that seems… read moreJuly 11 2008
Now that the iPhone 2.0 firmware has been released, even if unofficially as I write these lines, iPhone 1.0 users have gained the ability to securely erase their devices, through the enhanced "reset" menu item. Since the iPhone tends to store so much in unencrypted form on its internal memory,… read moreJuly 08 2008
I am no security expert by any means but I like to read the occasional security-related web site. While the intricacies of buffer overflows escape me, they allow me to keep an eye on what it is researchers are focusing on, what flaws are being found in my platform of… read moreJuly 05 2008
After spending an entire day installing Windows updates on a friend's computer, I decided to have a bit of good geeky fun by trying out Avast anti-virus for Mac OS X. Whether Mac OS X users need anti-virus at the moment is still up in the air, but regardless of… read moreJuly 01 2008
As some of you may have deduced from my previous, rather negative entry about Google's SSL practices, I have spent a great deal of time investing their services as of late. Overall, and despite the aforementioned disappointment, I am extremely impressed by the quality of the offering. Most iPhone users… read moreSSL on Google means Semi Secure Links
June 25 2008
After much debating, we decided to enable Google Apps Premier Edition for in-office use. SSL had always been a sticky point for us, and Google Apps are notoriously lacking in this regard, but probing around various newsgroups and sites seemed to show behavior had been improved across the board. Unfortunately,… read moreJune 20 2008
One of our office iPhones recently had to return to Apple for "service" — read replacement. For some reason, the phone started complaining at random intervals that a mysterious phantom accessory was incompatible and kindly suggested we enable airplane mode to avoid any risk of interference. Judging by the sympathetic… read moreJune 11 2008
Apple's latest MobileMe announcement has me elated. In fact, I feel just as I felt when .Mac was first introduced: hopeful, excited and happy at the prospect of being able to rely on Apple for one more thing instead of shopping for vendors all around the Internet. Of course, this… read moreMay 05 2008
A few months ago, I decided to resurrect one of my first Macs ever, the very computer that once held my life, to go. Unfortunately, not being invested with divine powers, I ran into a bit of odd trouble in the process. With the help of a friend, the solution… read moreApril 25 2008
Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I unpacked a Hewlett-Packard accessory: a 24 inch LCD monitor, to hook up to my MacBook Air. I am not one for unboxing porn, especially given how little there would be to wet your appetite, but I felt compelled to share a… read moreApril 04 2008
There are two delivery extremes for software in this world: there is the Panic way and the Adobe way. The first relies on a simple ZIP archive, that, for most users, gets unpacked and moved out of the way automatically. The second on a slew of installers, updaters and package… read more
