Digital UK Design Blog
Opera Mini Web browser for the iPhone, iPod and iPad has only just launched yesterday but has already dominated globally Apple’s App Store in the Top 10 Free apps section. Below is a screen grab of the App Store which shows the free browser at position 1 in every country Apple currently serves.
The embargo is over and I can finally announce that I have not had an iPad to play with or review for the past week (not like that Andy Ihnatko fellow). Yes, I signed an embargo to not say that I didn’t have an iPad before the release. I’m terrible about contracts (I have 8 time shares, 4 adopted children, 2 wives, and an endorsement deal from Rita’s Water Ice). Now that I can finally talk about the fact that I have nothing to talk about, I thought I’d share my (completely made up) review of Apple’s new iPad.
When I talk to people about getting the iPad, it’s pretty common for them to dismiss my enthusiasm for fanboyism (a word that gives me a headache, just trying to spell it “correctly”). I see this little device as the thing that will make certain tasks easier, and maybe even get me into old habits again. So, while I patiently wait, I’d like to share what makes me excited about the iPad:
I had an argument with a coworker the other day about how I just don’t read books. There isn’t a reason. I like books, and I like to read. I do it all the time with blog posts, news articles, and instructional writings. Honestly, the internet is probably the best thing to happen to my reading habits. The problem is that I’ve migrated to the browser, so my reading experience is looked at as browsing the web instead of the traditional kick-back-my-feet book reading. I know that there will be some kind of awesome news aggregator app designed specifically on the strengths of the ipad, and with the ibooks app, I will finally have a traditional ereader (or should it be ireader?). I might actually be able to find some comfortable middle ground between traditional reading and my browsing habits.
Being an Apple fan boy and owning pretty much everything Apple branded, it came as a shock when I read on TechRadar that Apple have released their new range of iMac computers, with the largest being an incredible 27″ beast! I was so excited I bought one within 20 minutes of hearing about it.
“The iMac is widely praised as the best desktop computer in the world and today we are making it even better,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “With brilliant LED displays and the revolutionary Magic Mouse, the new iMac delivers an amazing desktop experience that we think customers will love.”
…what sorry did you say something? Sorry sorry I must of been somewhere else, like in the world of beautiful 27″ iMacs, fluffy clouds and red bank statements. Thanks again Apple for plunging me deep into my overdraft again.
I’ve had my iphone just two months and the left hand side of the iphone has stopped working, and is completely unresponsive to touch. So on the touch screen keyboard letters Q, W, A, numbers 1, 2 and character ‘-’ are unselectable. I have restored to the original setting twice but this hasn’t fixed the issue. The firmware is up to date and the screen has been cleaned to eliminate grease and dirty as being a factor of the malfunction. After a search on Google a few forum threads didn’t give me a clear indication as to the problems origin, whether it could be a hardware or software related.
Do I take my faulty iphone to either an Apple store or my local 02 store? I received a mixed response when asking friends so I decided to see if I could gain any further info from the Apple website. I found this section on the Apple site that proved little help. A few help screens appeared while browsing through the section but no real solution was found. I found their Online Service Assistant help hard to fathom so I logged off and gave up. With experience of resellers I presumed that going to 02 would be a waste of time as I’m sure the words “sorry sir, you need to enquire with Apple as it’s a hardware issue, not a network or sim issue” would be spoken.
Now Apple stores aren’t aplenty in northern England, the closest store to where I live is Sheffield at the MeadowHall shopping centre, some 55 miles away! Not exactly a hop skip and a jump away, but I decided to make the trip under the hope the phone could be fixed there and then, saving me the hassle of being phoneless for a few days.
This is something I didn’t do! I arrived at around 11am and just managed to get a slot for 3pm even though the store was quite. Come 3pm when I returned the some store was heaving! Any later than 11am and I would have had a wasted trip. Booking an appointment online is quick and easy…
Select the store you wish to visit then click ‘Reserve’.
I picked Guest, I’d suggest the same.
A simple process…
First big technical support button
This will save you alot of time…
Once complete, you should get an email notification. Once instore you’ll notice your name will be displayed on screens above the bar around the time of your appointment.
The Apple store is so busy, the Apple Geniuses only have a short amount of time to make a judgement call on the fault. Typically if they suspect it’s a software issue, either iphone related or network/sim related they’ll attempt to resolve the issue. If they suspect it’s a hardware issue, like they did with my iphone then you’re in with a great chance of being given a brand new iphone as long as it’s in warranty. This happened to me, I described the fault, demonstrated the issue and with 5 minutes I had a new iphone. The old iphone was wiped in front of me of all it’s data (they ask me if I’d backed it up first, which I had) and replaced with a new iphone. Viola! Sorted!
If your iphone encounters issues, do the following:
If you’re still encountering issues I would strongly suggest booking in an appointment with an Apple Genius at an Apple store as they could resolve the issue the same day. If you have obvious hardware issues like me you’re in with a chance of getting a new iphone all together.
Remember, look after it, get a protective case and consider an AppleCare extended warranty once the standard 12 month warranty expires.
Some know this technique as a ‘Typographic Terrorists’ piece, but to those that don’t this is an expert example of a piece of art created merely out of typography. We saw this piece shooting around and wanted to showcase it as a piece of excellence, created by the very talented Dylan Roscover.
Click to enlarge
In the early hours of Sunday, 22nd February 2009, a savage virus called ‘CSV’ began to infect millions of websites worldwide.
Originating from an unknown source in the UK at around 2am GMT, The “Comic Sans” Virus ‘CSV’ started corrupting the CSS files of websites through a server loophole, leaving them defaced with the “Comic Sans” typeface.
By 9am GMT, an estimated 10 million websites were infected with ‘CSV’, by which time the suspected ‘loophole’ in the servers configuration, at the originating London Exchange center, was plugged.
By 9:31am GMT, over 5 million websites were returned to their original state, leaving the rest still infected with ‘CSV’.
A patch download has been created to remedy any websites still infected. This patch can be downloaded at the bottom of this article.
Estimated infection time: 3 hours
Estimated infection time: 6 hours
Estimated infection time: 1 hour
Estimated infection time: 2 hours
Estimated infection time: 15 minutes
Estimated infection time: still infected
Estimated infection time: still infected
Dave Naylor from Bronco: “I woke up to the news that the CSV infected our main website. After a few moments of deliberation, we decided to take action, much against the wishes of my wife who actually liked the change.”
Mogens Elsberg from Microsoft: “I see this little f***** has come back to bite us in the a**! Maybe we should have scrapped VINCENT CONNARE’s 1995 font for a less volatile alternate. Thanks for the heads up Frog”
John Smith, Chief Executive of BBC worldwide: “We think the British public will welcome the change, we may revert the fix in the next couple of days.”
If your website seems to have been infected by the CSV you can manually patch your website by downloading the file below:
Hicksdesign is just myself and my wife Leigh, based in Witney, Oxfordshire. Started in 2002, we’ve become most known for the FIREFOX LOGO, but we work on a wide variety of design mediums, from web to print.
http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/branding-firefox ;o)
I’m working on some great projects that will hopefully see the light of day soon. New logo for Mailchimp, a Darwin Centenary project for the University of Reading and a large icon project for the next version of LINOTYPE FONTEXPLORER. I’ve also been working on an updated, detailed version of the Firefox logo, but that won’t be seen any time soon sadly!
A paper round, delivering free papers every Thursday during holidays. I gained enough money to eventually buy my first walkman, and a better understanding of the local area. Can’t remember what the pay was though!
I left school at 16, avoided Sixth Form, and went straight to art college to do a BTEC ND in Technical Illustration for 2 years. That was followed by 3 years studying wildlife illustration at HND level (Flickr link ). I’d planned to spend the rest of my life as a wildlife (and in particular, bird) illustrator, but I found it a hard market to break into.
I worked as a designer for 8 years, with charities and finally an educational publisher, before going freelance in 2002. Hicksdesign then became a partnership in 2007, and finally a Limited Company in 2008.
Instead I got my first job as a junior designer for Coventry City Council, where I learned the ropes of print design. I already had basic design skills, and good experience on Macs, but this was at a time when there was still paste-up artwork. I still miss those days, going home with the smell of spray mount in my nose, and cut up letters on my elbows.
In the 90′s I was first turned on to design by David Carson and Vaughn Oliver, then to web design by Pixelsurgeon. Since then, I’d count David Shigley, Joshua Davis, Brendan Dawes, Genevieve Gauckler and Jason Santa Maria.
That’s between my wife and I! ;o)
Apart from that, Doctor Who and new Apple products. Hoping for a new MacBook Pro soon…
Under it if there is space – not sure why though…
I think I like the feeling of being inside a triangle?
My MacBook Pro, because it’s my work machine, newspaper, entertainment system – everything! It goes more or less everywhere with me. My iPhone would be second.
Children! Granted, I had little to do with the process, but amazing nonetheless!
You can read all about Jon, his work and read his rather excellent blog here.
©2006 - 2009 The Floating Frog
