iTunes has got the wrong idea

iTunes has got the wrong idea when it comes to syncing photos. You want to "sync" things that are changed frequently, like documents and music (playlists). Syncing photos creates the following problems:

• slow sync time (iPad 2 stuck on "Finishing sync")
• risk of accidents corrupting all copies, which could have been used as backups
• cannot move, rename, resize, archive photos (ok, I want to keep a copy of my holiday photos on my iPad to bore helpless saps, but I don't want to keep a copy in my Pictures folder)

And the additional problems if you don't use iPhoto:

• cannot add/delete individual photos
• cannot use subfolders

To some extent, the same problems apply with pdf files and movies in iTunes. Enter third-party photos apps. These have got it right:

• add and remove photos, not sync. Works like a USB drive. Add once and leave them. Forever.
• add individual photos - have an album of things you want to buy
• delete photos you don't want to show people
• password protect individual folders
• folders and subfolders, independent of those on your computer
• transfer photos by WiFi http server

I tested the app Photo Manager Pro, by Linkus, and am very satisfied with it.

In addition to the features above, it also has:

• search
• universal app!

I first got it to read comics, and found the search is very useful - you can just dump everything into 1 folder, and search for the chapter numbers to find the correct files. You can scroll between files in the search results, you don't have to return to the search page or even worse redo the search after each file.

Belkin 4 port USB hub / more iPhone charging experiences

I wanted something to charge several USB devices at once, and adaptors only go up to 2, so I tried a USB hub instead. I got a Belkin hub, which has 4 ports and is powered (meaning it comes with its own power adaptor).

The good news is, yes, it supplies power if you just plug in the adaptor and don't connect it to a computer. I can charge my Kindle and LED message board.

(Not a picture of the board charging, just to show you what it is) The bad news is, it doesn't charge the iPhone/iPad (without a computer)! This is a summary of the situation:
iPhone: charges only if computer and power adaptor connected
iPad: does not charge at all
The hub doesn't have any indicator lights, which is disappointing for such an expensive hub. The Logitech powered USB hub had individual lights for each port.

After searching online, I found the situation is as I expected: the hub needs some "intelligence" for the iPhone to charge, just like the iPod Touch.
http://nttup.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/usb-device-charging-un-mystified/
In short, the device asks the hub, "hey, can you supply 500mA?", and the hub has to reply for the charging to go. The good thing is, it isn't an Apple thing, they're just following the USB rules here. A solution would be to modify the hub: http://carlhutzler.com/blog/2009/07/28/usb-hub-as-an-ipodiphone-charger/ but this would disable data transfer, and I'm not going to do that to my new hub. Another solution would be to modify the cable, and in fact I saw a charging cable on ThinkGeek that probably does that. It's quite expensive though, and I'd rather buy a wall adaptor.

With so many people wanting to charge their devices, it's odd no company has made and advertised a USB hub that can charge without a computer. I also wonder about the many USB charging devices, like the power sockets with built in USB ports, if they can supply 500mA?

Summary of USB chargers:
Dumb - charges: Kindle. Probably because it only needs 100mA.

• Belkin USB hub (without computer)
• No brand USB adaptor

Intermediate - charges: iPod Touch, iPhone, NOT iPad

• Belkin USB hub, with power and computer
•  Belkin adaptor
• Kensington charging dock with mini battery pack

 (Not sure if the last 2 can charge the iPad, so putting them here)

Ultimate - charges iPad and everything else (so far)

• MacBook Pro USB port
• iPod power adaptor (the one that comes with iPhone and Apple's universal travel kit)
• iPad charger
• Taiyo travel charger

The last one is a curiousity.

The front says "Taiyo TH-252 USB". I bought it because it was a travel adaptor and had 2 USB charging ports, so I only needed to bring this while traveling. It happily charges my iPhone and iPad, which now I know to be no mean feat! At first I thought this was a simple charger, and the devices weren't picky. The main problem with this adaptor is it seems loose in the socket - if you push it in, it springs back a little. The same with plugs in its own socket. However, I think its charging capabilities more than make up for this.

New old iPhone 4

I replaced my iPhone 4. The Home button was spoiling, it would mix up 0, 1 and 2 clicks. The service centre for iPhones in Singapore is this out of the way place. They gave me a refurbished one. I was worried there would be scratches, since I don't expect them to replace the exterior for every iPhone, but somehow it was perfect. It came with protective plastic stickers on the front and back like a new iPhone has. I wonder what they do to the outside? I'm also slightly worried about the battery.

Infinity Blade guide

I wrote this because the other guides online don't answer my questions, which is surprising considering how well written they are. Contains spoilers

How to play for fun and profit
I put this first because it's the most important. This idea is still in testing.

• The idea is to stay in negative bloodlines to gain levels, exiting occasionally to reset your gear
• Whatever stage your game is in now, switch to negative bloodlines
• Play until your gear is mastered (or most of your gear)
• Switch to normal bloodlines
• Get the Infinity Blade and other gear
• Kill the Deathless Kings and enter New Game +
• In bloodline 2^2, enter negative bloodlines again
• Repeat
• The problem with this method I see is that you lose out on stat points from mastering items
  

Bloodline

• Affected by: number of times you die/win at the hands of the boss
• Affects: difficulty of other monsters, amount of gold dropped

Level

• Affected by: XP
• Affects: your stats

Boss level

• Affected by: number of times you've killed him
• Affects: his difficulty

• If you're having difficulty killing the boss, level up first
• If you're having difficulty with the monsters, level up without increasing the bloodline (die and choose restart castle)
• If you want to earn more money, play at the highest bloodline you can manage (get killed by the boss)

Negative bloodlines

• Play negative bloodlines by dying during the tutorial (tap the shield, but don't hold)
• You continue with your gear, gold and level, and get a new set of dark gear
• You cannot change gear, you have to use the dark gear
• Dark gear is powerful and has lots of mastery points
• Don't stab people, it makes them stumble so you only get 1 hit in. Wait, then combo them when they're stunned >:)
• When you advance a bloodline, it decreases by 1 (-1 to -2)
• When you return to the positive bloodlines, you keep your XP, gold and gear, but lose the dark gear
• What this means is you can use this to level up when your gear is mastered / you can't afford new gear. When you return you'll keep your level, but you have to start from bloodline 1 again.
• If you enter, exit and re-enter negative bloodlines, it remembers your dark gear mastery and God King level, but I suspect starting a New Game + resets it
• Not sure if you enter negative bloodlines with the Infinity Blade, whether you can kill the Deathless Kings
• You can enter negative bloodlines from New Game +, same rules apply
• When you return, you're back to bloodline 1 (not 1^2), enemies are from bloodline 1, but your gear mastery is still remembered. God King is back to level 50. The game seems to have been reset, except for your level, stats and previous masteries.
  

New Game +

• Buy the Infinity Blade and use it on the stone in the castle basement
• It opens the doors to 3 bosses, the "Deathless Kings"
• Their levels are 50, 100 and 150
• Defeating all 3 Deathless Kings opens the door to another boss, a level 200 robot (Zero Mech)
• After killing the robot, another character walks out to fight you (very easy compared to the robot)
• After killing that character, you've finally completed the game! You get the achievement "All good things... - Get to the final ending of the game".
• You have an option to start a New Game + or next bloodline
• If you start the next bloodline, you have to kill the robot again to start a New Game +
• In New Game +, you get a superscript number to your bloodline: first + is ^2
• Gear and gold are reset, level and stats are kept
• Purpose is to let you continue leveling up, but negative bloodlines may be better for this

• Save game files are compatible between iPhone and iPad! Use a file explorer, like iPhone Explorer, to copy the save files. It's a good idea to backup the save files as well.

A simple way to take macro pictures

One feature I miss on the iPhone 4 and my SLR is taking macro pictures. To me, macro pictures are more useful than huge amounts of zoom. I found an easy way to take macro pictures.

A long time ago, I bought the "Credit Card Companion" from Tool Logic. It's a multifunction tool, in the shape of a credit card (although much thicker). They still sell the same model today, which shows something about the design. Victorinox, the swiss army knife company, has released their own version called the Swisscard. Among its functions, the CCC has an 8x magnifying lens. This is quite high magnification, but the lens is much smaller than other magnifying glasses. To use it, you're supposed to hold it close to your eye and move the object to focus.

Due to the similar sizes of this lens and the iPhone 4's, I tried holding the CCC in front of the iPhone 4's camera and taking pictures. I found this worked even with the CCC pressed right against the iPhone 4, making it very easy to use, since you don't have to adjust the distance between the 2. The results are very good:

To compare the effect of the lens, I tried taking a picture with and without it, without moving the iPhone:

It only appears to affect focusing, not magnifying the image.

Things I'm wondering:

• will this work with other lenses as well?
• and other cameras?
• how does the magnification of the lens affect things?

I tried it with a 3x magnifying lens, and the camera couldn't focus as close as with the 8x lens. Maybe a higher magnification allows closer focusing, without changing the actual magnification?

Game Dev Story

Previously, I was into "Game Dev Story", by Kairosoft. It's a game development simulation. The gameplay and graphics are a lot like Lemonade Tycoon, pixelated and cartoony. In this game, you hire, train and fire staff, and make games for different consoles. You can decide the genre (action, adventure etc.) and type (motorsport, dating etc.) of games. Games are rated by graphics, sound etc. However, all you see of your game are its stats. You can choose a name for your game, but all games are alike apart from these numbers.

As an app, it's well-written. It was stable, autosaved and resumed without problems. However, these were the things I didn't like about it:

• The main problem is a staff's level doesn't mean much. In games like these, level should be the most important factor, but here some level 1 staff are better than some level 5 staff. Energy and pay are better indicators.
• Likewise, a staff's job isn't a good indicator of what he's good at doing, either.
• Comments on compatibility between game types are often wrong. I keep seeing "nothing" on combos that will level up.
• No warning when staff are trained to the max.

There are some very good tips on how to play at http://www.diygamer.com/2010/10/game-dev-story-guide/. Not sure about what they say about hackers though, I get astonishingly bad performance from designers doing graphics as well.

The guide refuses to list good genres/types though. I wonder if there are several possibilities? Seems like an important thing to leave out. This is what I found worked together. Some of them are not intuitive.

• Online RPG - dungeon
• Trivia - historical
• Puzzle - detective
• Audio novel - horror
• Educational - historical
• Motion - golf
• Sim RPG - game co (haha)
• Music - fitness
• Table - chess
• Sim - romance

Please tell me if you find any other types for these genres, or they don't work for you! Using a matching combo will level both genre and type, and give you 1 more point to allocate to your game development. I recommend you make a game of each genre at the beginning, so you have as many points as possible, although I'm not sure if the points improve your game in any way, or how to distribute the points.

iPhone 4 camera

I'm wondering how to make the camera app start faster. Currently its start up time is its biggest flaw, and I think it's getting slower since I got it. Possible solutions:

• delete photos from Photo Roll
• close background apps
• restart iPhone
• reinstall iPhone

It's so slow now that I think I could retrieve a dedicated camera from a bag and shoot before the app starts.

Correcting the iPhone's camera problem

I noticed that sometimes, the colour in pictures taken by the iPhone 4 camera was funny, but I never thought of it as a problem until I read about it online.

For me, pictures taken under fluorescent light have a green circle in the centre and a pink tint at the edges. Since this colouration is in the same position in all pictures, I immediately thought it would be easy to fix by taking a calibration image, like they do with astronomy pictures. Strangely, I couldn't find any posts on this. Maybe people who use Photoshop don't use the iPhone 4? There's hope for this post to become the top hit in a search then.

I took a simple picture of a white sheet, trying to make lighting as even as possible. It's similar to taking a dust reference image in DSLRs to compensate for dust on the sensor. It's actually best if the picture is out of focus.
Ideally, I would like to divide each pixel value in the target image by the value of the same pixel in the reference image, but I don't know how to do this in Photoshop. I found another method that works in only 3 steps:

Invert the calibration image
Paste it as a new layer over the target

Change the blending mode to "Color Dodge". "Linear Dodge (Add)" also works, I'm not sure what's the difference between the 2. This method isn't dividing the values like we want, so it's not ideal.
The resulting image is a bit too bright, but this is easily fixed by adjusting the levels of the calibration layer. Feel free to try for yourself using my pictures.

Whether the calibration image works depends on the tint, which depends on the phone. Apparently there are different tints, and some phones produce tints in different situations. You'll get the best results by taking your own calibration image. My phone only seems to have 1 type of tint, since this calibration image works for this image I took 6 months ago.

Before

After

In the corrected image, I adjusted the levels of the correction layer to 86 0.73, for the first 2 numbers in the levels dialog box. Here a flaw in the calibration image shows up. The top of the corrected image is uncorrected, while the bottom is overexposed. Although it's not obvious by looking at it, the lighting in the correction image is not even.

iPhone alarm bug

iOS 4.2 had a bug that prevented alarms from going off from 1 Jan 2011. I just tested it, and the alarm is working again. Apparently it resumes working from 3 Jan. Proceed with caution.

iPhone and Android bugs

Let's start the new year with some bug reports, shall we?

Ever since Daylight Savings started, the iPhone's recurring alarms have been plagued with a bug, ringing 1 hour off. With the new year comes a new bug!
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/31/psa-iphone-alarms-not-working-come-new-years-day-2011/
It's a good thing I saw this, since I use my iPhone as my primary alarm. I just tried it and it's true. Sometimes, for important things like alarms, simple, dedicated devices are best, preferably without even automatic DST. How hard is it to make a working alarm?
Apparently a solution is to set a recurring alarm instead - I tried this and it works. How ironic, first the recurring alarms didn't work, now the non-recurring alarms don't work.

Not to be outdone, Android has a bug of its own
http://www.engadget.com/2010/12/31/android-still-has-horrible-text-messaging-bugs-thatll-get-you-f/
This sends text messages to the wrong people, without even telling you! Both bugs are serious.

iOS photography apps

Why do apps that simulate old cameras (read - poor quality) sell so well? Doesn't it make more sense to capture as much information as you can, then remove excess information later? Maybe people are lazy to do post-processing in Photoshop.

iPhone stand from credit card

I've been thinking of making my own iPhone stand from recycled materials. I read about a stand made from a credit card, so I decided to try making my own. This is a very rough design. First, this is an expired membership card I had. It's thinner than a normal credit card, so it's easier to cut, but more flimsy.

I cut it into 2 L-shaped pieces and one rectangular piece. It fits together by notches, not glue or tape (it would be quite easy to make a stand entirely out of glue or tape).

It works fine in landscape mode, but you can't really adjust the angle. It's too soft for portrait mode. I'm not sure if the plastic will scratch the case.

I think the most elegant stand would be one made of only one piece, by cutting and folding. I wonder if it's possible?

Nixie Clock A

While writing the post about clock apps, I thought it would be cool to have a real clock that used vacuum tube displays.

First, some history about vacuum tubes. Computers (and millions of electronic devices) today use Integrated Circuits (ICs). The beauty of these devices is they can cram billions of transistors into impossibly small spaces, saving power and space. The heart of these devices is the transistor, which is an electronic switch. Using the correct arrangement of transistors controlling one another, a system can do calculations, and other things. Transistors themselves use silicon with extraordinarily controlled compositions. Before transistors, there was the vacuum tube. How did people make electronic switches before silicone? The vacuum tube, which is a glass tube with wires but no air inside, was used. These tubes were about the size of lightbulbs and got hot when used, so it's no surprise early computers occupied entire rooms and required air conditioning. Today, you can still find vacuum tubes in high-end audio equipment. Audiophiles prefer the "warm" sound, but I don't see why the effect can't be simulated using software.

In summary, the history of the computer: vacuum tubes > transistors > integrated circuits. Before that came paper punch cards and mechanical calculation devices.

In physics labs, I saw some really old equipment that used what looked like vacuum tubes to display numbers. I found out they're called Nixie tubes:

The numbers seemed to be produced by glowing wires, and you could see different wires in the shape of different numbers. How quaint! Although it may seem this kind of display would take very long to refresh and not be suitable for sub-second timing, the machine I saw it on actually used it to display 1/100 seconds, so their refresh time is actually very fast.

I thought, hmm these would make a very interesting clock, much more unique than flip clocks. I searched for them on eBay, and wow, they're pretty expensive, and I didn't like the designs (I don't like the tubes being exposed). Then I realised, surely there's an app for that?

 

Searching for "nixie tube clock" in the App Store found a few such apps. In the end, I settled on Nixie Clock A:

• Built-in alarms
• User backgrounds
• Disable auto-lock
• Selectable tube colours

It has its own dimming feature, but like Nightstand, it doesn't really dim the display, only reduce the brightness of its images. It can display the date, but only in normal characters.

In landscape mode, it shows the seconds as well. I wish it'd show larger numbers in portrait mode, maybe by using 2 rows. The main problem is the contrast isn't very good, so it can't be seen from very far away.

I'm wondering if using the iPhone as a clock will wear out the screen, either the light source or cause screen burn. I suppose it's not that bad, looking at the iPhones on display at the Apple Store, which are on all the time. Same for their MacBooks.

Another interesting fact about nixie tubes - Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, has a watch that uses them as a display. I'd think they use a lot of power - I wonder where his watch gets power?

Sadly, vacuum tubes and nixie tubes are no longer manufactured today. It bothers me using something which has limited stocks. Maybe if demand is high, they will resume being manufactured in the future?

iOS 4.2 bug

I finally updated my iPhone to 4.2, but I got hit with a problem - the iPod app says there's no music on my iPhone. Settings > General > About still shows the songs though. This might be a fix.

Download YouTube videos on iPhone

I wish there was a way to download YouTube videos on the iPhone itself. It's so troublesome to download, convert and transfer. It's unlikely that an app like that will be made, because it violates YouTube's terms of service. MiTube could do it, but it was quickly removed.

MiTube reminds me of Handy Light, a torch app on the outside that secretly enabled tethering which was also quickly pulled. The fact that this app could be made makes me wonder how much power developers have. It seems that Apple allows them a lot of freedom during developing, only applying restrictions when the app enters the store. There was a camera app that used the volume buttons for shutter buttons that got pulled, but it shows that those buttons can be reassigned by an app. I wonder if the home button can too?

iOS 4.2 released

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/22/ios-4-2-1-now-available-brings-the-ipad-into-the-multitasking-e/
http://www.apple.com/au/pr/library/2010/11/22ios.html
New features are mostly for iPad: multitasking and folders.
New features for iPhone are AirPrint and AirPlay, and Find My iPhone is now free!

http://www.engadget.com/2010/11/22/apples-find-my-iphone-ipad-service-now-free-doesnt-require/
That's wonderful. I almost bought MobileMe for this service.

 Also, Apple is having a special shopping event on 26 November. No idea what they'll be selling.

Recommended iOS apps

Living post

People like to ask for recommended iOS apps, so I'm making a list here. The prices change, so I won't mention them.

Utilities

Calculate postage, check post codes. It relies completely on an Internet connection, though.

WolframAlpha is the same as the website, which can calculate formulae or check statistics. It's been very useful for maths a few times. If you type in a name it states how popular it is, when it was popular and even the current age distribution. Sort of like Wikipedia, but not freely editable.

 

Consume is a utility to check your spending in various accounts e.g. phone or utility bills, even balance left in gift cards or track packages. It seems very useful, but I don't know how secure it is and it needs your passwords, so I haven't used it to track my personal bills.

Decibels is a utility to measure the sound level. Not sure if it's accurate, but it should be able to compare against itself.

Always wondered what those E-numbers in food additives mean? E-Adds is a reference. You can search by number and additive.

Have you seen these icons, maybe in App Store reviews? It turns out, all iOS devices have more than 400 emoticons built-in, but they have to be enabled. Search for emoji in the App Store. There are free apps to do it. Some old phones had icons like these built-in, they would display :) or :smile: as an icon, but they only worked with phones of the same brand/model. Now that the iPhone is so popular, these icons can be seen by more people.

Graphing Calculator plots graphs and functions as a normal calculator. I like it over the built-in calculator because it displays a list of previous calculations and answers that you can refer to.

Instant Heart Rate is an amazing app that measures your heart rate using the built-in camera. It works!

Everyone should have an LED torch app in their iPhone 4.

Metlink is an essential program for all who take public transport in Melbourne. Everything is stored offline. If you have GPS, it makes finding local stops easier, but the stop information isn't very accurate.

Nightstand is free, simple and tells the weather.

Nike+GPS is an app to measure your run. It lacks instructions: the lock icon in the top right locks your phone, making it act like it's really locked. Double tapping the screen when it's locked makes the app say your stats. The thing I like most about this app is it can display your route on a map. You can use it for walking or even cycling too.

Now with video calling!

Sensor Monitor provides output from almost all the readings in your iPhone, including accelerometer, gyroscope, GPS, compass, microphone and even touch (with multitouch).

Everyone should have a QR code reader, even though QR codes are still pretty useless.

Games

Epic Citadel showcases the graphics capabilities of the iPhone/iPod Touch. It doesn't have any "game" yet, it's just an empty world to walk around in.

 

Angry Birds is my favourite iOS game. It has a ton of levels, so it's great value for money. Although you can finish the game by completing all the levels, compared to Fruit Ninja where you can play indefinitely (if you don't get sick of it), I prefer this. Try the free version first.

Cut The Rope is a cute puzzle game

Jet Car Stunts is a lot like Trackmania, which is one of my favourite PC games. They doesn't focus much on realism, but more on stunts like flying, jumps and loops.

NY Zombies has great graphics, music and a story too! You just stand in different locations and turn and shoot at zombies. There are upgradeable weapons. All the weapons I've tried are rechargeable, not single use, so don't worry about buying the grenade.

 Peggle is a bit like a slot machine.