Some might argue it’s the most subtle update in the iPhone family thus far, but Apple’s iPhone 3GS still seems to be moving the sales meter, regardless. The latest and greatest iPhone officially hit the market a few weeks back, and even though Apple claims that demand is still far outpacing supply, we’re of the belief that most everyone who wanted one has managed to snag one by now. During our time with the unit, we definitely didn't find too many reasons to upgrade from the already solid iPhone 3G, but given that you probably did anyway, we're eager to hear how things have turned out. Did you upgrade from a prior iPhone to this? Are you joining the iPhone family for the first time? What gripes have you found impossible to ignore? Are you still up in arms about AT&T's inability to provide MMS / tethering service? Are you, like us, completely roiled by the unit’s lack of multitasking abilities? Go ahead and let it rip in comments below — we’re guessing Apple has about 11 months or so to take your opinions to heart.
Filed under: Cellphones
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Apart from more obvious signs, non-verbal gestures and other cues can also help to determine whether someone is telling the truth or not. Forbes outlines 11 ways to potentially sniff out a liar, including several phrases to watch out for.
Photo by cursedthing.
Apart from avoiding eye contact, breaking out in a sweat, and other possible physiological triggers, Forbes says that liars may be more likely to ask you to repeat your questions than those making honest claims. Also, liars may preface their pronouncements with “to tell you the truth” and “to be perfectly honest” more so than their truth-telling counterparts. Finally, liars also tend to use pronouns like “we” and “they” as a way to “psychologically distance themselves from a lie”.
You should also take note of consistently evasive answers to direct questions. According to the article, many liars haven’t thought through their stories and so prefer to keep their answers short (think one-word responses) and non-specific.
Google Voice might have just been unceremoniously thrown out of the iPhone App Store, but that doesn’t mean development isn’t racing forward on other platforms — say hello to dkGoogleVoice, an unofficial client for the Palm Pre. Yeah, it’s buggy and has a bare-bones feature set, but hey — it exists, and it’s only going to get better. Can’t say that about your little phone, can you Steve?
[Via PreCentral] Read the rest of this entry »
Today, Yahoo died as a search engine. If the deal with Microsoft is approved, what will replace it will be Bing, the search engine that Microsoft launched only two months ago. Within a few months time, Microsoft will go from owning 8 percent of the U.S. search market to 28 percent (comScore). That is still less than half of Google’s 65 percent, but it could give Microsoft a fighting chance in the search wars against Google.
While the agreement was a long time coming, Bing was the cherry on top, so to speak. Earlier today, I spoke with the two executives who oversaw the negotiations for both sides, Yahoo EVP Hillary Schneider and Microsoft SVP Yusuf Mehdi. I asked how big an impact Bing’s sudden success had on bringing the deal to a close. “Seeing Bing as a live experience was a nice assurance,” says Schneider, “but did not change our rationale or timing. This was a conversation that went on over several months. Bing was introduced after we had material momentum in how we wanted to approach this partnership.”
You’ve got plans to explore the great outdoors but no insect repellent? No problem. Just use leftovers from last night’s party and this eco-friendly mix that’s as customizable as the cocktails you had.
Photo by Valerie Everett
Tip site Little House in the Suburbs has a recipe for a spray that aims to keep the bugs far, far away without using any harmful or harsh chemicals:
1 cup vodka 2 T. aloe vera juice 2 tsp. favorite conditioning liquid oil (soybean, olive, castor, etc.) 1 1/2 tsp. essential oil blend
In his latest essay, Paul Graham describes the difference between what he calls the maker’s schedule and the manager’s schedule, explaining how the two are often at odds with each other.
Makers—the writers, coders, designers, editors, creative types—need half or whole days to produce anything that solves complicated problems. Managers schedule out their workdays in hour-long blocks. When managers schedule makers into midday meetings, they kill creative productivity in real but not-obvious ways. Graham considers himself a maker, and describes why meetings are the enemy of creativity:
I find one meeting can sometimes affect a whole day. A meeting commonly blows at least half a day, by breaking up a morning or afternoon. But in addition there’s sometimes a cascading effect. If I know the afternoon is going to be broken up, I’m slightly less likely to start something ambitious in the morning. I know this may sound oversensitive, but if you’re a maker, think of your own case. Don’t your spirits rise at the thought of having an entire day free to work, with no appointments at all? Well, that means your spirits are correspondingly depressed when you don’t. And ambitious projects are by definition close to the limits of your capacity. A small decrease in morale is enough to kill them off. Read the rest of this entry »
I find one meeting can sometimes affect a whole day. A meeting commonly blows at least half a day, by breaking up a morning or afternoon. But in addition there’s sometimes a cascading effect. If I know the afternoon is going to be broken up, I’m slightly less likely to start something ambitious in the morning. I know this may sound oversensitive, but if you’re a maker, think of your own case. Don’t your spirits rise at the thought of having an entire day free to work, with no appointments at all? Well, that means your spirits are correspondingly depressed when you don’t. And ambitious projects are by definition close to the limits of your capacity. A small decrease in morale is enough to kill them off.
Intel’s chief sales and marketing officer Sean Maloney wants you to know something you probably already figured out on your own. “Netbooks are predominantly… a second or third purchase from someone who’s already got a notebook,” he suggested today at the company’s Technology Fair event, further extrapolating with an anecdote of him watching people in China retail shops skipping the portables and going straight to more capable notebooks. “The first time you buy something, you want the real deal. It’s a human behavior thing… it’s [the same] all around the world.” It’s an admission of processing power and capability, but of course Intel still wants you interested in ultra-thin computers with more capability — and either way, the chip manufacturer gets a share of the profits, so it’s essentially a win-win.
Filed under: Laptops
The right equipment, training, and running route isn’t always enough to ensure a good run, especially if your breathing is all over the map. To help stabilize yours, try incorporating a set inhale-exhale ratio.
Photo by aarmono.
The aptly named Complete Running Network details how to breathe properly when running. Included in their list of seven tips is the importance of establishing the right inhale/exhale ratio. Specifically, they suggest that runners should take three footsteps for every inhale and two footsteps for every exhale, which puts them at a 3:2 ratio.
The outcry over the Google Voice ban on the App Store is still going strong, with hundreds of news stories, developer posts, and complaints putting the story in and out of Twitter’s top trends for nearly three days running. Much of the blame has been directed at AT&T, over beliefs that the carrier forced Apple’s hand in its decision to ban the applications. Now it looks like AT&T believes it’s been wrongly accused, and it’s beginning to take a stand for itself.
Last time we reached out to AT&T to comment on the story, the company gave TechCrunch writer MG Siegler a very blunt and brief statement:
