Derrick got the heck out of Dodge just before they started to shut down the city. Mike looks to get a nice big ‘ole windstorm. And I’m on an island in the middle of Lake Winnipesaukee, waiting for the storm to announce its arrival around midnight, get serious around noon and peak sometime around 6 PM. I’ll live tweet or live blog as long as I have power & internet… which may not be that long. Any other front-line reports?
Wow. Shocking, but as noted in my tweet, it seems HP effectively adopted Palm’s S.O.P. of overpromising, underdelivering, shipping late, incomplete products then continually breaking promises and hosing loyal customers as they focused on the next late, incomplete product. Not sure what else there is to say, other than I’m pretty psyched to own what will no doubt become the Tucker of this generation… 2 of ’em technically. Hopefully the rest of the crew can pick up a TouchPad in a few months when they crack the $200 barrier.
Dieter has a more thorough breakdown. Sad days, indeed. http://thisismynext.com/2011/08/18/hp-failed-webos-whats-next/
So I’ve been making these mosaics for upwards of 3 years now, and I always knew there had to be a better way to create them. I couldn’t find any good tools, so I created one!
I learned just a teeny bit of the Flickr API & Applescript and OS X’s Automator. Net result? Two little scripts that take less than a minute to set up– all I need to do is specify the set ID, the number of images I want & the aspect ratio.
First, I get the list of photos using an Applescript that accesses Flickr via the API. Then a few nifty scripts quickly download the 240 pixel image of each & rename them.
A separate script creates a new image in GraphicConverter. Each image is opened in succession, copied, window closed and pasted into the proper position in GC. All that done, I just save the image & it’s done!
Still some manual steps– right now I’m manually deleting the images after, manually saving & I have to make sure GC is open when I start. Plus, I’d like to just specify the desktop dimensions in pixels & images then figure out the rest behind the scenes. Long term goal is to create a web front end and apps that will generate new mosaics on the fly.
For now, this is good. The nice side effect is that when I make my 25×25 mosaic I won’t need to use the largely manual process I used in the past.
Fruit Ninja Kinect is an awesome use of technology!
Albert spotted for all of us the drop in the HP TouchPad price, and even better deals are available– $300 from Staples (if your local store carries the 16GB), $344 at HP and a few other deals confirmed at webOS Roundup. Much debate as to whether selling it for $300 cheapens the device, but I think that price is an exception– that’s a snafu on Staples’ end. At $400, it’s pretty compelling. Yesterday, the TouchPad wasn’t among the top 15 sellers at Amazon, and today it’s shot up to #2 & #7, probably set to rise a bit more through Sunday. At $300, I think it’s a no brainer for anyone that wants a tablet– I’d get one to use as a photo frame, but truth is, the one I already have performs that task just fine. What are your thoughts on the price drop? Discuss while I prepare to brick 2 Pre phones.
A bit of background… Palm created a simply fantastic operating system with webOS, and a really well designed phone in the Pre. Sadly, the build quality is crap. Meantime, it’s been 2+ years and there STILL hasn’t been an upgrade for Sprint customers. After it became apparent last month that the Pre 3 is not Sprint bound, I decided the best course of action was to obtain a Pre 2 & create a FrankenPre– that’s taking the “comm board” from the Sprint Pre and transplanting it into a Pre 2. After much delay in getting my developer discount from HP, they came through, in a big way. I was finally approved… and the phone was in the mail! Arrived today. And here, the adventure begins.
Step 1: Find the instructions.
Step 2: Read the instructions on “doctoring” the FrankenPre.
Step 3: Learn how to install the Metadoctor.
Step 4: Sign up as a OS X developer.
Step 5: Download XCode.
Right now on Step 5, downloading the 3GB XCode to the Air. After that, still need to install MacPorts before I’m ready to install Metadoctor. Then it’s pretty much back to steps 1 & 2 except this time following instructions instead of merely reading them. Stay tuned.
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