welcome.

2012, etc. Gaaah! How on earth can it be the middle of January already? Whoever's controlling the time machine needs to take their foot off the damn accelerator pedal. Anyway, just a short service announcement from the team at qr.com (which is just me actually, there's not a team, haha, do you have any idea what minions cost these days?) to say all the usual manner of season's greetings to those that celebrate happenings this time of year, and hopefully we'll have a most groovy time in 2012 before the world ends ;-) More tomorrow. -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2012/01/18 10:41
There's An App For That. It sounds like the facetious refrain of a hopeless Apple hipster, but let me tell you, it's true. G and I recently bought an iPad as our joint xmas present to each other. We weren't sure why we wanted one, just that it would be nice to have one. There is joy to be had in simply picking up an iPad, holding it, enjoying the tactile experience of its minimalism. Sorry DroidHeads, but I just don't get that from the (otherwise very capable) Samsung et al tablets, which feel like laptops crammed into a smaller form factor rather than Apple's typical bespoke "this is something different to what you are used to" design. It's a bit like comparing a Leica camera with a Canon or Nikon - yes they both do the same thing in knowledgeable hands, but the precision and care and forethought that go into a Leica make it desirable to people who value aesthetics as well as function. The user experience of owning an iPad so far has been... quite surreal. I don't really have the linguistic tools at my disposal to describe it any other way. Apple iGadgets exist in their own little microcosm (not so micro actually, but we'll get to that in a moment), largely sealed off from the accepted realities of the rest of the gadget world - and the interesting thing is, once you get over your initial bewilderment and culture shock (and yes, anger) at having a device that's so aggressively different, you realise that it does actually work, and work well. For example, much has been made of the iPad's locked-down nature. You can't simply plug it into your computer and browse the files on it (just like iPods there are no files on it, at least in the traditional sense of the word). Content must be administered entirely through iTunes, which has only Windows and Mac support and therefore becomes a schlep if you live (as I do) in a Linux world. This is a bugger at first, but what you come to realise is that it makes you very conscious of what you're putting on the tablet, i.e. "Am I really going to use this, or will it just take up space and cause unnecessary duplication and clutter?". The result is a very clean and simple content structure that you actually invest time in maintaining. I just have to look at all the garbage accumulated on my USB flash disk to see what happens when you don't exercise this sort of control. A side bonus of doing everything through iTunes is that you always have a complete mirror of your tablet sitting on your computer - the apps you've bought, the content on it, the works. Another example irritation: the iPad, being based heavily on the iPhone software-wise, is inherently a single user device. You can only link it to one Apple ID. If you use the default tools for mail, social media, chat, and so on, they ask for account details once up front - and from then on, that account will always be logged in by default, there is no way to log out or switch users. Fortunately, the solution to this sort of thing is quite typical of the way I have become used to interacting with the iPad - there's an app for that ;-). The user and developer communities for iOS are so huge that it's virtually guaranteed that someone else out there has had your problem and fixed it by writing an app. Apps for IM, apps for GMail, apps for Twitter, the list goes on and on. All of them offer tight multi-user access control, and because they're written for the iPad and have been vetted through the iTunes App Store they all work flawlessly. Did I mention they're all free too? Douglas Adams once said "We're stuck with technology when what we really want is stuff that works". You might not be a fan of Apple's philosophy. You might be at odds with the limitations they impose on their devices. I know I am, at times. But I can promise you this - apart from being beautiful, their stuff just works, always, no fuss, and even your Grandma can pick it up and figure out how to use it. And that is why people buy it. More tomorrow. -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/12/15 09:05
Webber Wins In Brasil (or, What On Earth Will I Do On Sunday Afternoons Now?) So, the Formula One 2011 season drew to a rather anticlimactic close at Interlagos yesterday, with a result surprising only in the order that the Red Bull cars finished rather than where they finished. The RB7+Vettel has really been the perfect package (side note to Martin Brundle and David Coulthard - please stop using the term "package" in reference to other sportsmen, it's faintly disturbing) this year, as evidenced by their total obliteration of both constructors' and drivers' world championships. Another crushing victory for a Newey-built car too; I suspect they'll all still be going to him for design tips when he's 97, blind as a bat, and calls everyone Mum. 2012? Well, assuming the Mayans cocked it up and the world doesn't end as scheduled, Red Bull and Schumi Lite have to be the ones to beat; I can't see them going dramatically backwards in four months. McLaren are shaping up to be the best of the rest, though I suspect they'll be relying increasingly on Button as Hamilton grapples with the ongoing meltdown of his rock-star lifestyle. And what of mi amore, Ferrari? As much as I adore those fiery red cars, the fiery red personalities running the team seem to be throwing some classic mediterranean spanners into the works. There's no question Alonso is a fast guy, but the technical and strategic support just wasn't there for him this year... we'll see. I like both Mercedes and Lotus Renault for dark horses next season, Merc because they went on a buying spree and landed some great talent to bolster the team side of things (a typical Ross Brawn and Schumi long-term positioning move), Renault because they've looked like they've been punching below their weight the whole year, and there's still an outside possibility that Robert Kubica could be back for a few races to kick everyone around like red-headed stepchildren. Plenty to look forward to, and in the mean time, I guess I'll have to make do with some cricket and the Dakar rally to tide me over until March :) More tomorrow. -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/11/28 08:03
RIP Marco. Jesus but it feels like I'm writing a lot of these lately :-( Marco Simoncelli, without question one of the more flamboyant and exiting MotoGP riders in recent history, lost his life in a bike wreck at the Malaysian GP this weekend. Riposa in pace, you crazy kid; we'll miss you. -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/10/24 12:08
Sport OD. My eyes are officially square after this weekend. Let's break it down: Two RWC semi-finals: Boo hiss France, Wales deserved to win that game. The only consolation is that they'll be beaten by some ridiculous and embarrassing margin by the All Blacks in the final. T20 cricket: Wooo hooo Parnell and Theron! The looks of mystified bewilderment on the Aussies' faces were utterly priceless as they snatched defeat from the jaws of victory :) F1: Another Red Bull domination in Korea let them wrap up the Constructors' championship to make a nice matching pair with Vettel's driver's championship, yawn. Still, there was some good racing down the field, and nice to see Lewis Hamilton with a ghost of a smile back on his face even if he was being his usual ratty self inside the cockpit. MotoGP: Casey Stoner wins the world championship, in his home town, on his birthday. The gods themselves, or even Bernie Ecclestone, couldn't have scripted it better. Sorry Jorge; hopefully they can frankenstein your finger back together in time for next year. Finally, RIP Dan Wheldon after a horrific crash at the IndyCar Las Vegas event. Anyone who thinks motorsport athletes are overpaid and their job is simple and easy should be reminded that while it sometimes looks that way, even the very best can lose their lives in the blink of an eye. It's not for the faint of heart. More tomorrow. -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/10/17 08:20
RIP Steve Jobs. And already the world seems a little less bright. -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/10/06 07:37
Too Soon? So, three pop tarts walk into a bar... Pink: "Raise your glass!" Rihanna: "Cheers, I'll drink to that" Amy Winehouse: "Pfft, lightweights" -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/09/28 09:15
Fun With Android. So, Gaby got herself a snazzy new Samsung phone which, as is the way of things these days, runs Android (2.2 I think). I promptly geeked out over it; it's really quite nice and easy to use once you get used to how it organises things. I have some questions though (and yes I will Google this too of course, but I'd value input from people I actually know)... 1. We put in Gaby's Google account details, but now the damn thing wants to constantly sync and update everything in the background all the time. At out-of-bundle data prices, such wanton internet use is ill-advised. How in the seven hells do you tell it not to do this? 2. Related to 1, is there a way you can check your bandwidth usage on an Android device? 3. What are some good/interesting/fun apps that we can play with? 4. There was a 4, but I've forgotten what it was. Oh well. More tomorrow. -q comments[4]	Posted by: quinn 2011/09/22 08:46
It's Not Your Camera. Geek nerds like me, and probably quite a few of you that are reading this, are good at technology. We're bad at artistic creativity and aesthetics. This kind of personality is a train wreck in a hobby like photography; we try to control the variables we understand (the equipment) and ignore the ones we don't (everything else that goes into making a good photograph). Every couple of weeks I go back and reread this article, to remind myself of what I'm really trying to do with pictures. It is necessary for me to do this, because if I don't, I always drift back to my geek nerdy ways. By way of example, in a moment of weakness a few months ago I bought a new SLR body. It's a much better camera with a lot more professional features than the one I had before, but... the quality of my pictures went unexpectedly backwards. A lot backwards. The reason was quite simple. Because I had learned every single trick to using my old camera, I could pull it out the bag and set it perfectly for the shot I wanted every time without engaging my brain whatsoever. With the technical gunk out the way all I had to do consciously was faff about with the right-brain arty stuff, which resulted, after five years of owning the camera, in some moderately nice photos. The new camera, a technically complex beastie with lots of new bells and whistles and knobs and dials and settings and buttons, just gets in the way - I have to engage my brain to do first the technical stuff, and then mentally switch to the arty stuff. This seldom works, so it's no wonder my pictures sucked, and I fully expect them to continue to suck until I've gotten to the same level of mindless understanding of the new camera as I had with the old. This is the reason why people who upgrade their gear the most quite often do the least compelling work with it. Your camera doesn't matter. And in case you're still in any doubt, here are some fine examples for you to go and reflect on. More tomorrow. -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/09/12 11:35
Yarr! There Be New Photos In Them Thar Hills! Not sure if I'm channelling Pirate or Grumpy Old Prospector there, but anyway. More pics from our recent trips to Mpila and St Lucia are available for your viewing pleasure over in the albums aisle. Enjoy... -q comments[0]	Posted by: quinn 2011/09/01 15:21

This webspace is maintained by Quinn Reynolds 29th January 2012