Saturday, September 8, 2007

Let's ignore the iPod for a minute and talk about Google Earth.★

Last night I had a crazy dream, it involved me helping an injured pilot fly his boeing 747. I raced into the cockpit, sat down at the controls, and tapped the plane into a slow turn by pressing the left arrow key and then centering the ailerons with a quick tap of the c key. I then withdrew the landing gear and adjusted the flaps to 0% with the g and shift+f keys respectively. I could see the green fields of Britain below me looking rather picturesque, so I pressed cmd+ctrl+shift+3 and took a screenshot of it.

No really, that was my dream - presumably because I had just discovered the new easter egg flight simulator in the new Google Earth (4.2) the night before.

I read about it in this week's NewScientist, and couldn't resist giving it a shot. You have to press cmd+option+a firmly (and maybe more than once) to get it working, but then you can get started.

Google has listed the flight controls here and I'd recommend reading them before using the simulator.

Unfortunately you can't see your plane in 3rd person perspective and there aren't any of the noises you'd associate with flight or any sound at all actually. But it's fun enough just silently cruising around the world. I'm now following the Nile River on my way to see the Pyramids, so I have to take my leave: I'm losing altitude.

Labels: google earth, news

★ 0 Comments. | By Skippy, Saturday, September 8, 2007 8:43 AM

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

New iPods and iPhone price reduction★

This is just a brief post to mention that we're aware of the redesigned iPod line. These include a new Nano, a Classic version and an iPhone-esque Touch version. Follow the link or browse the newly-updated Apple Store for more details.

There have also been some pricing reshuffles for the iPhone, which obviously only apply to the US.

We'll have more tomorrow after we've more thoroughly read and analysed the news. Just thought I'd let you know that we are keeping track of this sort of thing.

Oh, and a friend of mine has just coined the term "iPhod" for the Touch. Expect to read that a lot around here.

Labels: alasdair, iPhone, ipod, news

★ 0 Comments. | By Alasdair Corbett, Wednesday, September 5, 2007 9:59 PM

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Moi, et ma Pomme.★

Well that is the ~~real~~ simpsonized me anyway, holding an invisible apple. I just got back from Paris this morning, so I'm tired beyond reason. Anyway, since I've visited Paris before and had the luck to see most of the sights around the city, I was able to devote this trip to just wandering around the city and exploring nooks and crannies that I previously was unaware of.

I stopped at that scaffolded mess they call a modern art gallery and was drawn into an excellent performance by a french acrobat and entertainer. A fair crowd gathered round and we were captivated by his ability and litheness, and squeals of laughter escaped the crowd at every opportunity.

At one point he dropped a ball that he was using along with about another 5 in a trick. He was standing on a platform and thus the ball bounced a fair way across the courtyard before shuddering to a stop. The acrobat simply extended his hand in the air and waited for a passer by to pick up the ball, which was then thrown without much success in the awaiting acrobat's direction.

This time it hit the side of his platform and bounced even further across the courtyard, and what followed was an ensemble of pedestrians attempting in vain to collect the ball which had taken on itself a life of its own in tandem with its ally, the cobblestones. The crowd couldn't contain itself and rib-cracking laughter ensued.

All in all it was a great experience but I've suddenly realized that I'm posting on the MacTake, not tWTB and therefore have to tie this somehow into the shiny world of Cupertino.

I visited a few Apple retail outlets in Paris, and what I believed to be an Apple Store. Once again, just like every other Apple Store I've visited the experience was spotless and without fault - if a little French.

I got to try out those new iMac keyboards for the first time but was surprised to note that as I touched-typed in the MacTake's address, it appeared on screen as:

mqtqke.xtreqmk.vim.

Was the keyboard malfunctioning? Or worse: had I lost my touch-typing skillz? I looked down at the keyboard and it glared back up at me with evil AZERTY eyes.

I also noticed that it cost €29 for a new pair of iPod earphones. Now whilst I am extremely glad that Apple have finally begun selling the standard earphones separately as well as including them with the iPod, I don't much like the price. That's £19.60GBP, $39.50USD, and $48.47A. Of course prices will differ dramatically between countries but thats just a straight conversion from the Euro.

It seems iPods are incredibly popular in Paris though, every man and his dog (not really) is sporting white earphones and are in the habit of digging out their iPods from the depths of their jackets or handbags (women, generally) and flicking the backlight on and off to make sure their tunes are lined up properly...

More on all that later, Now for some photos: