Official App description

Get a fast, cost-efficient Web browsing experience. Use our powerful servers to compress data by up to 90% before sending it to your iPhone, so page-loads are lightning fast. Opera Mini is a breeze to use, and can synchronize data between your phone and computer.

Final words: Hell yeah!

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The Missing Piece

When Apple first announced the iPad, they promised to fill the lonely, pathetic void that laptops and cellphones leave in your life. Steve was quick to point out how much of an idiot you had to be to own a netbook, and wanted to make you feel better about yourself for making the stupid, moronic mistake of investing in a cheap, underpowered laptop. The solution to your complete incompetence was the iPad.

Now that I’ve had my hands on an iPad, I can confidently say that I live a much more fulfilling life. I read books again. I can grow a fuller mustache. I was able to kick my pesky skittles addiction. All of this, thanks to the iPad.

Apps, Apps, Apps!

While the nay sayers have been saying nay since the iPad was announced, calling it a big iPhone, I have been pretty confident in the potential of a beefed up device with a big screen. My god, was I so totally right! The apps that I previewed are absolutely mind blowing. While I’m still under embargo (and contractual obligation to mention how delicious a Rita’s Misto Shake is when you combine chocolate mint water ice with chocolate custard) from several app developers, I can say one thing: 3D is coming, and it’s going to be huge.

First Impressions

When I first opened the box, I was surprised at how brown it was. In all the pictures and videos you see circulating on the internets, it looks like the iPad’s back is made of aluminum and the bezel is black. It turns out that everything is brown. Very brown. It takes a little while to get used to, but after about 20 minutes, I can confidently say that brown is my new favorite color and Apple made a brilliant design choice.

Once I got comfortable with how brown the iPad was, my attention turned to the weight. The walk-through videos that Apple has posted on their site show people easily lifting the iPad with one hand. I have no idea how they can do this. Before I installed any apps, it easily weighed 30-40 pounds. After I got a few apps installed, it weighed upwards of 90 pounds. If you plan on taking this tablet on the road, you may want to invest in a gait belt or a wheeled suitcase.

After spending 10 minutes trying to find the power button, the iPad turned on almost magically. It turns out the applause from a studio audience on tv was loud enough to activate the Clapper which is embedded in the upper left of bezel, just like the ambient light sensor on the iPhone/iPod Touch. Technology sure has come a long way and I’m glad to be a part of it.

Final Thoughts

We have come to always look forward to the next big thing that will change the way we work, play, dance, and work. I can confidently say after the time that I’ve spent putting the iPad through it’s (again, completely made up) paces, the iPad is that next big thing. That is, of course, until Apple makes the device that fills that void between the iPad and the iPhone, which my sources tell me will be called the iPhad.

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Reading

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.

Games

Something has broken inside me that doesn’t allow me to get into involving video games anymore. It may be work, it may be a change of interests, but I just can’t split up a 30-40 hour game without getting bored and moving to something else. I’ve got a stack of games that remain unplayed because I just can’t find a few hours and the motivation to get into them. Enter casual gaming. I loved some of the games available on the iphone. Peggle was absolutely awesome, Jelly Car made me laugh, and Apple’s Texas Hold’em was a brilliant iteration of a traditional game. I have a Nintedo DS and I’ve had my teeth sunk into Scribblenauts, but since I discovered that a pterodactyl and a grappling hook can solve pretty much any problem, my interest has tapered off. Gaming on the iphone was a lot of fun, and I can only imagine what developers will come up with given all that new screen real estate (*cough* Plants vs. Zombies *cough*).

Design

Sometimes, I just don’t enjoy using photoshop. I keep on revisiting it, telling myself that I just need to learn the conventions and it will work a lot better, but it still often ends in a headache. Apple’s Pages application is what I prefer to use for quick mock-ups because it is much more natural. Text boxes and images snap right where I want them, and nothing gets in the way of my ideas. The idea of having that kind of power on a big screen with multitouch just makes me giddy.

Everything Else

What really gets me excited is the stuff that I can’t think of. The iphone app store is home to some of the most creative apps and talented developers of our time. They see the iphone and ipod touch as so much more than a phone or media device. They look at the multitouch screen, internet connectivity, and a plethora of other hardware assets and see a moldable, plastic device, capable of so much more. I wouldn’t have thought I could use an iphone as a mouse/keyboard, or as place to dump my meaningless thoughts into twitter, or as a friggin’ sonic tape measurer. I’m excited about realizing what else the ipad can do.

This friday, the pre-orders start, and I’m going with the most basic $499 wifi-16GB model because that’s all I will need. All of the things I’m excited about can be done without massive storage or a constant 3G connection. The ship date is April 3rd, and until then, I’m going to keep thinking of situations where the iPad will be a perfect fit. The masses may not see a use for the iPad, but that doesn’t mean it’s useless.

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The New Apple iMac range

Good points at a glance

• It’s Massive! Choose between a 21.5-inch or 27-inch LED-backlit glossy widescreen (16:9)
• Wireless keyboard and mouse as standard
• Faster processors – 3.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor in 21.5-inch models and up to 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processors in 27-inch models
• Environmentally friendly – as much as it can be, making you tree huggers out there a bit happier
• Built-in iSight camera as previous models
• Lots more…

Bad points at a glance

• The price – as usual Apple products aren’t cheap with the base 21.5-inch iMac model starting at £949.00 and the top end 27″ model coming in at £1,599.00. Add on top of this any upgrades like RAM, software and it really starts to add up
• No Blu-ray – Apple dropped ‘bag of hurt‘ Blu-ray unfortunately
• The size – unfortunately the 27″ super brilliant screen ‘may’ cause eye strain, due to it’s super massive size gurthness! You may find yourself shaking your head from side to side like your watching a Wimbledon tennis match – well I had to find atleast three bad points

“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.

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02 or Apple’s problem?

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.

Book an appointment at the Genius Bar before you go!

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…

Visit the Genius Bar Apple page

Select the store you wish to visit then click ‘Reserve’.

Select user type

I picked Guest, I’d suggest the same.

Fill in details

A simple process…

Select Genius Bar

First big technical support button

Select iphone

Choose an available date/time

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.

A quick diagnosis

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!

In summary

If your iphone encounters issues, do the following:

1. Turn it off and on again
2. Let the battery run down below 20% then recharge
3. Backup data immediately by syncing with your Mac itunes
4. Try a full restore through itunes (takes up to 20mins)
5. Remove then insert the sim, cleaning any obvious dirt and dust particles
6. Check battery connection for any dirt or damage
7. Recoil whether it has encountered direct sunlight, extreme temperatures, water contact, impact damage etc etc

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.

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Typographic portrait of Steve Jobs

Click to enlarge

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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.

Evidence of infection

Apple

Estimated infection time: 3 hours

Microsoft

Estimated infection time: 6 hours

UK newspapers

Times Online

Estimated infection time: 1 hour

Telegraph

Estimated infection time: 2 hours

Friends

Chrisg (Chris Garrett)

Estimated infection time: 15 minutes

Bronco (Dave Naylor)

Estimated infection time: still infected

Blog Storm (Patrick Altoft)

Estimated infection time: still infected

Reaction

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.”

The Patch

If your website seems to have been infected by the CSV you can manually patch your website by downloading the file below:

CSV patch 1.21, Multi-OS compatible: CSV patch.jpg

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Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

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1. Jon, thanks for putting some time aside to answer a few questions. I’ve been a big fan of your work and style for years now, but for our readers who have never heard of you could you tell us a little about yourself and your company?

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.

2. You’re best known for the FIREFOX LOGO and branding, can you tell us more about that?

http://www.hicksdesign.co.uk/journal/branding-firefox ;o)

3. What have you been involved with recently that you want to shout about?

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!

4. My first job was a Saturday cleaner at a local Butchers for £2 an hour, what was your first job and what did you gain from it?

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!

5. I never went to university after college, opting to learn the trade hands on. What route did you take before starting out on your successful career.

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.

6. Who would you say are your biggest influences in the industry, past and present.

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.

7. Away from work what gets the blood rushing?

That’s between my wife and I! ;o)

Apart from that, Doctor Who and new Apple products. Hoping for a new MacBook Pro soon…

8. If you approached a step ladder on the street, would you walk around and under it?

Under it if there is space – not sure why though…

I think I like the feeling of being inside a triangle?

9. What gadget could you not live without?

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.

10. And finally, what has been the greatest achievement in your life so far?

Children! Granted, I had little to do with the process, but amazing nonetheless!

Final thoughts

You can read all about Jon, his work and read his rather excellent blog here.

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