chartier's Comments

Technologizer : Saying Apple Will Never Do Something: Always Dangerous

Mon, 18 Apr 2011 17:57:24 +0000

Nice piece Harry. Guess I should've listened to the lesson I learned from "An American Tail" growing up. I think there's some fun personal irony of the claim chowder on me: Macworld Expo '07—where Apple announced the iPhone—was my first ever, and I was our only blogger in the keynote.

Technologizer : Dear Apple: Thanks For Writing, But I'm Still Confused

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 17:40:53 +0000

It's such a messy issue though, since many users, including myself, are experiencing better reception and call quality in most cases. If I really try, I can create the signal attenuation problem, but that's not how I naturally hold my iPhone in my left hand. AnandTech also found that the iPhone 4 does actually experience better reception than previous iPhones, and speed tests show better results too (especially when uploading data). So it's really just about whether owners hold the phone "that way" in this one spot, which has been an reality of many (or most? perhaps *all?*) phones all this time.

Technologizer : Dear Apple: Thanks For Writing, But I'm Still Confused

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 17:11:02 +0000

Steve Jobs has been plainly acknowledging the signal attenuation issue in various email responses which, unlike yesterday's BGR conversation, have not been refuted by Apple. The company reiterated its stance on the topic at the beginning of the second paragraph of today's statement: "...gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4..." Lots of cell phone manuals have variations of "don't hold it that way" instructions, such as the Nokia 6126: http://davebc.com/post/735870112/iphone-4-nokia-d... And you can see the same signal attenuation problem demonstrated the the Nokia E71: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amPG52DVQuk&fe... As well as the iPhone 3GS and 3G: http://youtu.be/AN6265QQwhU http://youtu.be/EMpXTjkFYyU and similar issues have been reported on other phones, including the Nexus One and other Nokias: http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/24/other-mobile-... Unless I'm missing something, it feels like this issue has been passed over by the tech industry for a long time, and is only now being blown way out of proportion because Apple made the mistake of promising "magic" and "revolution."

TechCrunch : Twitter For iPhone Quick To Add Multitasking And Retina Display Support

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 03:45:39 +0000

Three cheers for Twitter, but I find it quite interesting that you keep the App Store in your Dock. MG, do you need an App Store Intervention?

Feld Thoughts : A Month of Mac

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 03:41:09 +0000

Apple maintains a pretty comprehensive list of Mac OS X keyboard shortcuts for doing just about anything: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1343

TechCrunch : An iPhone Lover's Take On The HTC EVO 4G

Sat, 29 May 2010 22:47:34 +0000

Don't data plans for the dedicated hotspot devices cost at least $40-60, on top of the price of hardware which is at least around $150-200? $30 to turn on the personal hotspot feature on a device you already own sounds like a killer deal to me.

The Loop : iPad first thoughts

Mon, 1 Feb 2010 16:55:17 +0000

I have yet to read an iPad hands-on that doesn't mention the speed. That's great news. I've been saving up to build a gaming PC, but now that we have a PS3, I think an iPad might be in my future. I'm not positive yet, as I need to learn a bit more about the OS, its capabilities, and limitations. But I think.

The Loop : Jawbone Icon headset shows battery meter on iPhone

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:29:10 +0000

Already ordered. I had an Apple Bluetooth Headset and loved the battery status feature. Wasn't a great headset though, it had a really short range before getting unusably riddled with static. I'm happy with my Jawbone Prime, so this will be a great replacement. Anyone want a Jawbone Prime? ;)

Finer Things in Mac : Address Book: Automatically find, merge duplicates

Fri, 8 Jan 2010 22:16:11 +0000

Well you can always backup your Address Book contacts and groups with File > Export > Address Book Archive before looking for duplicates. That way it's easy to roll back with File > Import. I backup this way regularly, in addition to using Time Machine on my Time Capsule. In fact, Address Book works very well with Time Machine. You can enter the Time Machine interface viewing Address Book, and roll back through each back and restore to that particular state.

The Loop : Quattro Wireless confirms acquisition by Apple

Wed, 6 Jan 2010 20:09:08 +0000

I'm still baffled as to what Apple wants with a mobile advertiser. I sure as hell hope they aren't going with some kind of ad-supported business model for any of its products, especially MobileMe.

Finer Things in Mac : iTunes warns if volume is turned all the way down

Wed, 6 Jan 2010 13:51:43 +0000

Good to know. Thanks for posting this screenshot. David Chartier Finer Things site owner

Finer Things in Mac : Bodega can find app updates, install some

Sat, 2 Jan 2010 15:59:51 +0000

I really like AppFresh as well. Bodega's nice if you want a one-stop-shop, though, since you can browse new software *and* update your existing software. In some ways it's kind of a free version of MacUpdate's desktop client, cept with more style.

Finer Things in Mac : Snow Leopard: Cleanup in the Utilities aisle

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:19:01 +0000

Touché. But to be fair (or at least to make sure we can get anything done), I think we should simply exclude Adobe from discussions about best practices or digital tidiness.

Finer Things in Mac : iTunes doesn't like wasting music space

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:21:36 +0000

I'd be very interested to hear. Please detail your setup as well—are you on 10.5, 10.6, iTunes 9.0.2, which is the latest version (as of this writing) where I saw the feature? David Chartier Finer Things site owner

Finer Things in Mac : Camino and Safari: Quick keyboard access to the Bookmarks Bar

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:18:43 +0000

Different strokes for different folks, I guess. As a Safari user, I hate how this behavior is reversed in Firefox. :) On a related note: I wonder how this works on Windows 7 now, as Windows key + a number opens the corresponding app in the new Dock-like taskbar.

Finer Things in Mac : Right-click to uninstall third-party System Preferences panes

Sat, 5 Dec 2009 16:10:56 +0000

Are you using an Apple Mouse? If so, it sounds like you need to enable right-click for your Mouse in your System Preferences Mouse pane. Unless you're using a traditional two-button mouse from the likes of Logitech or Microsoft, right-click is not enabled on Macs by default, even in 10.6 Snow Leopard.

Finer Things in Mac : Multiple System Preferences windows appear when changing desktop images for multiple displays

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:23:34 +0000

No, I bought my first Mac about six years ago and never used Mac OS before version 10.1. However, I only started using a second display for the first time about two months ago, and my Desktop & Screen Saver preferences randomizing photos every 30 minutes "just worked," so I've never had reason to open that pane. Plus, I'm not in Windows 7 right now, but from the last time I looked, I believe it handles desktop images for multiple displays very differently. Not everyone is at the same level of experience with a Mac, and I'm trying to cover a broad array of interesting details, unique features, and useful polish with the Finer Things sites. Cheers, and thanks for reading.

Finer Things in Mac : iTunes Home Sharing can automatically transfer purchases

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:58:31 +0000

Agreed, though it's clearly a limitation imposed by studios who still think it's actually doing some "good." At least we can still manually drag over those files with Home Sharing.

Finer Things in Mac : Transmit: Display both drawers simultaneously

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:09:05 +0000

How interesting. I've been using Transmit across at least 10.4, .5, and now .6, possibly even .3 as well, and it's always behaved this exact way. Ghosts in the machine, perhaps?

Finer Things in Mac : Snow Leopard finally obeys English-based spelling preferences

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:17:25 +0000

Perfect. That\\\'s the way it should be. I\\\'m actually pretty surprised it took as long as Snow Leopard to get this right.