An old webcam timelapse video I found amongst the archives. The sun unfortunately wandered into the frame and irreparably damaged the webcam in question. Quite a dramatic effect though!
2009-05-30
Automated Motion Timelapse
And here's the second timelapse shot with the N95. It's actually just a test for an automated turntable hacked out of a timer socket. It was supposed to be longer but the phone crashed about halfway through :)
2009-05-27
iPhone Tip: Enabling Emoji
Emoji are cute little icons you can use to punctuate your communications. It's only useful to enable them if you communicate with people who also have iPhones, because most other devices will only show the dreaded Unicode squares (or similar).
For whatever reason, Apple have locked them down unless you're a subscriber to Japanese network Softbank. If you've got a JB'd iPhone, it's trivial to unlock them with a simple .plist edit, but if not, there's still a workaround.
1. Go to the App Store and download Spell Number (for free!).
2. Sync, and open the app. Type in 91929394.59.
3. Go Settings > General > Keyboard > International Keyboards > Japanese and enable 'Emoji'.
4. You can remove the app now, if you like.
And that's it. Now you can switch to the Emoji keyboard when texting, emailing, twittering, taking notes etc. and drop in as many little emoticons as you like.
There's various reports on the internet that Apple have forced app developers to remove this easter-egg functionality from their software, and that the workaround has been disabled in 2.2.1, but it worked just fine for me. Also, don't pay for any 'Emoji Enabling' app - they do the same thing behind the scenes as Spell Number. Maybe you could buy one of Spell Number's developer Water Lou's other applications to say thanks?
For whatever reason, Apple have locked them down unless you're a subscriber to Japanese network Softbank. If you've got a JB'd iPhone, it's trivial to unlock them with a simple .plist edit, but if not, there's still a workaround.
1. Go to the App Store and download Spell Number (for free!).
2. Sync, and open the app. Type in 91929394.59.
3. Go Settings > General > Keyboard > International Keyboards > Japanese and enable 'Emoji'.
4. You can remove the app now, if you like.
And that's it. Now you can switch to the Emoji keyboard when texting, emailing, twittering, taking notes etc. and drop in as many little emoticons as you like.
There's various reports on the internet that Apple have forced app developers to remove this easter-egg functionality from their software, and that the workaround has been disabled in 2.2.1, but it worked just fine for me. Also, don't pay for any 'Emoji Enabling' app - they do the same thing behind the scenes as Spell Number. Maybe you could buy one of Spell Number's developer Water Lou's other applications to say thanks?
2009-05-25
iPhone Tip: Notes App Typeface
The 'Marker Felt' font used in the iPhone's notes app seems to be almost universally reviled. I don't mind it, but it can be difficult, e.g. trying to read back a long alphanumeric string while typing into a web form or SSH session.
I discovered this by accident while enabling Emoji (post on that coming soon), but you can easily make it display in plain old Helvetica:
1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > International Keyboards > Japanese and switch on 'QWERTY' or 'Kana'.
2. When in the notes app, switch keyboards (use the little globe symbol) to Japanese insert a character (space will do it).
Your note will magically switch to something much more readable, and stay that way.
Obviously, if your iPhone is JB'd you can probably do this via a one time .plist edit.
I discovered this by accident while enabling Emoji (post on that coming soon), but you can easily make it display in plain old Helvetica:
1. Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > International Keyboards > Japanese and switch on 'QWERTY' or 'Kana'.
2. When in the notes app, switch keyboards (use the little globe symbol) to Japanese insert a character (space will do it).
Your note will magically switch to something much more readable, and stay that way.
Obviously, if your iPhone is JB'd you can probably do this via a one time .plist edit.
2009-05-14
iPhone Tip: Push & Battery Life
If you're using Google Sync to push changes to your Calendar and Contacts back and forth from your iPhone to the cloud, you may have noticed your battery life is drastically reduced. I estimate I get about half the usual standby time when I'm roaming around with push switched on. It's not so bad when I'm at home and have a WiFi connection.
This may seem obvious, but if you switch off 'Push' in Settings > Fetch New Data or change Settings > Fetch New Data > Advanced > Your Profile Name to 'Manual', it will still sync, but only when you open Contacts or Calendar.
It's almost like having a fresh new battery!
BONUS: A nice side effect is that GSM buzz is reduced because the phone isn't in constant communication with the big G's servers.
This may seem obvious, but if you switch off 'Push' in Settings > Fetch New Data or change Settings > Fetch New Data > Advanced > Your Profile Name to 'Manual', it will still sync, but only when you open Contacts or Calendar.
It's almost like having a fresh new battery!
BONUS: A nice side effect is that GSM buzz is reduced because the phone isn't in constant communication with the big G's servers.
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