My Thoughts On: Natural Disasters, Taxes, and a New User Interfaces!

You know, my heart goes out to the victims of the recent natural disaster in Oklahoma, America. It really does. I’ve never been in a disaster myself (and hope not to be), but it must be hard, not only losing part of your lives in material substance, but also losing family members and loved ones in the same circumstance, with nothing and no-one to blame but the weather.

This section of the post, however, is more to do with how we see natural disaster and their effects these days. In my mind, we’ve become ‘desensitized’ by the frequent disasters, natural and man-made, that we’re bombarded with every day. I mean, with all the disasters and death that we see on TV, in Newspapers, and all around us, it’s not hard to see why we are less inclined to feel emotion at the sight of another disaster when we’re constantly surrounded by them all the time. I just hope that we can find it in ourselves to be heartfelt in our condolences and feel genuine sympathy when something goes wrong with someone, as we would like people feel if it was us in that situation.

For the second part of my post, in all seriousness, why can’t these companies be truthful and pay taxes where taxes are due? We complain that the economy is collapsing, and that our countries are in debt, but when you think about it, would all this have happened if these companies had been truthful with their earnings and paid that they owe the state, and stopped avoiding the inevitable? Now, I’m no expert in finance and stock, and I’ll happily admit that. I just think that, even though we may not be totally out of debt if they had have been truthful, perhaps we wouldn’t be in so much. Opinions on this recent Google UK crisis, and the fact that the NHS and all Schools could be funded by what it owes us anyone?

Thirdly, and probably the most insignificant of all three (though I find it exciting nonetheless), has anyone discovered Flickr’s new layout? I personally love it, though it seems that these days the ‘header’ or ‘banner’ that I first saw on Facebook has become all its age as of late. Nearly all social networking sites I use have one now. I know it’s used to ‘express yourself’ and all that, but don’t you think it’s become a bit global? Isn’t there another alternative?

Well, that’s all I can churn out of my head for today.

I have a date with destiny (which, in my speech, is translated as finishing off collecting all the useless and unimportant bits of junk in Tomb Raider)!

Until next time!

iTunes 11 – Hands On

It’s been an exciting week for all the iTunes users out there, with Apple announcing the release ‘in days’ and then the final release yesterday…

But was it really worth all the fuss?

Sure, there’s the new layout, and everyone appreciates a new face every once in a while, but have Apple really managed to pull it off with version 11 of their ‘jukebox’ software?

Well, I decided to do a review on the matter, and here it is:

Setup

The installation files of the new iTunes 11 doesn’t really weigh much. At just under 90mb (upgrade) it downloads in seconds (100mpbs connection), ad the installation itself was surprisingly short that, for a minute, I wondered if it had failed somehow. Alas, my fears were dispelled when I restarted and found a brand-spanking new icon sitting on my start screen!

Problem is…

It wasn’t a modern UI application.

A modern UI app is not with us yet, but I can’t honestly say I expected it…

This didn’t phase the slightest though, as I honestly didn’t expect Apple to be metro-focused, not will I ever expect that from them. Besides, you have to admit, a Modern UI iTunes with it’s right angles, flat colors, and large button wouldn’t have suited it anyway. I probably would’ve still reverted to the desktop application, myself.

But I digress.

The Launch

I quickly launched myself into launched myself into the desktop, started up the new program, and of course accepted the licensing agreement (you honestly think I read?). At once, I was greeted with Apple’s new welcome screen, which I think is a nice addition, helping users who may not be as tech-savvy get around the brand new layout without tearing out any strands of finely combed hair.

The new welcome screen in iTunes 11 provides a helpful insight into the new layout…

Of course, I totally dismissed the idea after it had updated my library, and hit the agree button with a renewed sense of vigor. Let it be noted though, that updating your library may take some time, as it did mine, seeing as I have so many things stashed away in it. The speed of your computer may also factor in on this, though it shouldn’t make too much of a difference.

The first time you start up the new iTunes 11, it may take some time (depending on library size) to create a cache of all the artwork from the files, before it settles down. My hard drive had an abundance of activity for around six minutes before it finally quit stalling on me and I was free to use my newfound power.

Wanting to test start-up time, I quickly closed it, waited thirty seconds, and re-launched the application. I was pleasantly surprised with the 10-second start-up time, and even more impressed with it’s immediate responsiveness!

I found out that iTunes itself is no longer the 150-600mb memory-hogging program it once was, but now runs as smooth as butter on 40-50mb of RAM, which actually knocked me for six, the first time I saw the screen.

iTunes 11 has been slimmed… Weight Watchers style!

No 64-Bit power-boost on Windows!

As you can see though, it lacks the 64-Bit punch on Windows, which isn’t all of a big deal, apart from the knowledge that if it was, it would probably operate twice as fast as it does now. Still, Apple can’t allow us Windows users to have all the fun. They wouldn’t be Apple if they did!

Interface – Re-imagined

Now, we all know iTunes has long been due a good facelift these past…what…three or so years? Yeah, it’s been a while since we’ve had the real joy of celebrating a decent step forward in the graphical user interface of the worlds most loved music organizer.

Until now.

The new iTunes. A refreshing look.

The new iTunes interface was well overdue, but I’m quite happy to say that they’ve got it right this time. I honestly don’t expect another major refresh till version 25, but by then interfaces will have stopped mattering to me, and I’ll probably still be in Windows 8…9 if I’m lucky.

The color-shifting album display really is a gift from the gods.

The new iOS-like interface for albums and items honestly does the trick, and is quick to respond like it’s cousin, the music app. The sidebar-less display may stump some, but click the ‘music’ tab in the top left corner, and all becomes as clear as water. The surprising thing is that when you open albums, the background color actually changes to suit the main colors of the artwork. Yet another stroke of genius from our favorite company. The new iCloud integration works like a charm, too, allowing me to play my TV shows I haven’t downloaded, and pick up my movie right from where I left off on my iPod. I shift from desktop to iPod just for the fun of it, these days. The floating menu design I especially like. Click the arrow next to a song, and you’ll immediately notice the smooth rounded edges on the menu, and iOS-like speech bubble appearance, and the smooth-expanding animation when you go to add said song to a playlist. It’s simple wonderful.

The synchronization tab was also re-designed, but left me a little clueless as to where it was, at first. I did finally find it in the top right corner of the library though, and proceeded to sync my iPod, just to be safe.

Sync your Apple device in style!

As always, though, there is always one annoyance in a new design, and for me, that was the ‘iPod’ button. You see, for me, I like to click the icon to go to the screen, not the name, so when I found out on hovering my mouse over the icon it became an ‘eject’ button, I was surprised. The label ‘iPod’ is far too small to accurately click every time, and to this moment I’ve accidentally ejected my pride and joy at least seven times. I feel like I’ve been abusing it.

But the iTunes GUI wasn’t the only thing that got Apple fans excited this year, oh no…

This did:

Small on size…

Big on control…

Now, even if I was a die-hard Apple fan till death, even I would have to admit that the mini-player had probably been the same since Moses was banging out those beats on the way from Egypt.

It had to go.

The new mini-player actually empowers the user, as you can see.

A search function has been added, the design has been revamped, the airplay button is actually there now…

And most of all…

Up Next has been added to the mix.

Which brings us to our next point.

What’s Up Next, DJ?

Haven’t you ever had those moments when you have a playlist, or you’re listening to a song in an album, and think ‘Man, I wish I could just add insert song name to my list straight after this!’ but realize that your favorite jukebox, with all it’s Genius and smart playlist features, can’t do a thing about it?

Well, obviously someone in Cupertino had this issue, and demanded a private audience with the head of iTunes…

And thus we were blessed with the Up Next feature (which I sincerely hope makes it’s way to iOS. Soon).

What’s up next?

It’s fairly simple to use. Just drag and drop any track onto the top bar, and hey presto, it’s up next! Of course, you can click the little arrow next to a track in an album, and click the ‘add to up next’ button…

But where’s the fun in that?

In addition to adding tracks, you can click the icon, and re-organize what comes up by drag and drop, really adding a mix to a party when you need it.

Now, if we had a blend feature to make songs flow seamlessly, real DJs would be out of business…

Think on that, Apple.

You could revolutionize music mixing, if you so desired…

Store

The store also got a wealth of attention, too, though I won’t go into it too much, as it seems like it’s not fully functional as of yet. It’s fair to say though, that when it’s finished it’ll easily be the most beautiful-looking store I’ll have ever seen by far.

Not finished…but still looking gorgeous!

Remote – TV

In addition to iTunes, I noticed my Apple TV got it’s latest update (6.0.1), which added support for ‘up next’ which I thoroughly enjoyed messing around with for at least 10 minutes mixing songs to get the best flow.

The remote app was also updates for use with ‘up next’ and with a brand new icon to match it’s sleek counterpart.

Remote…with a new icon!

Not much changed on the inside…

Exclusive!

Now, an exclusive shock to those who own a Windows PC, laptop, or tablet…

iCloud 2.1 is out!

Call off the alarm, folks, it’s only a compatibility update.

No changes. At all.

In Other News…

In other newspapers…

In other countries…

In other continents…

In other planets…

I hit 10,000 tweets the other day!

It’s alright, no need to applaud, I’m not finished yet!

In fact, I am, just look at the photos, will you?

I’ve finally reached, Houston!

My 10,000th Tweet. Ingenious.

And that’s a wrap, folks!

My iTunes 11 review…

My Remote 3.0 update…

My iCloud 2.1 letdown…

And my personal Tweet milestone all wrapped up in one!

This is Alex, signing off!

亞歷克斯的！

Bloggers United!

Evening guys, I thought I’d just take the time to acknowledge two of my fellow bloggers that I actually know personally and are quite close with.

The first is, of course, our very own Sadia Deen! She made a rather unexpected comeback on her blog in January, and I hope you’ll check out, like, follow, and do whatever you need to do on her blog at My thoughts… My views…. My life…<3. She’ll also be helping out over here too as an admin, so I won’t be the sole owner of this blog.

If you weren’t surprised enough already, she also has a Flickr account! That’s right, fellow photographers, she is also one of us! Armed with a Nikon Coolpix P500, she takes some mean shots, but would also like some constructive criticism to help her on her way. So, to check out some of those ‘mean’ shots, and maybe post a comment or two, you can go right ahead to her photo stream at Flickr: Sadiaelenaa’s Photostream. I have to say… I’m mighty impressed myself!

Over in the right corner, is my buddy in poetry (though I write none myself), Brynmawr. You may remember me mentioning him a while back in a post that dealt with his ‘Poem Revolution’. Well, he was talking to me on Twitter a while back on how he was going to start up a blog, and keep it updated with his poems and the like. It took him a while to get the whole thing together, but that’s understandable with Uni and all. However, on the 29th February 2012 (that’s right, he can’t have a blog birthday for the next four years), The Real Minipoet was brought onto the WordPress servers of the world. Seeing as he is quite a busy guy though, and sometimes can only post the body of poems, I was made his humble editor shortly after, making sure that what was meant to come out, did come out. In the correct english.

If you want to check that out, then simply head on over to TheRealMinipoet, and look around. Remember to subscribe though, as the poems may not be as consistent as the posts are over here.

So, those are my two pals and their endeavors, but what about over here, eh?

I sadly realize that I haven’t been posting much variety lately, with only the routinely Photo Of The Day, and Newsspot coming through. Now I’m not complaining, and I know you guys enjoy those posts, so I’m not cutting them off or anything. All I’m going to be doing is cutting the Mail, Article, and Post off, and be putting more original titles. Sure, I’ll maybe slip in one or two, but the problem is that the title doesn’t really give anything away, which can have one of two effects on readers who see it. They can either become disinterested, and not look, or they can be intrigued, and see what it’s about. I have a feeling the latter are the minority, so I’ll be changing that up a little bit. Also, I’ll be bringing the Tweets and quotes back, as I’ve really slacked on those two aspects. Now, it’s a little hard to do the Newsspot, Photo Of The Day, Tweet Of The Day, and Quote Of The Day all… in one day. As a compromise, and hopefully as a better system, I won’t be posting all on the same day, but rather two of the four a day. Which two get posted depends on what I find on the web, and what catches my interest. That means that if I find a Tweet I really have to share, and an article, they’ll be what goes up fort that day, and vice versa for the other two. This gives more time for people to like, comment, and view a post before it gets updated or replaced with another in it’s ‘series’ so to speak. In a nutshell, this should give a few more views for me, and more time for you guys to make sense of whatever Klingon I’ve posted.

Anyway, coming to the end of my post, weekends are off. That obviously means no posts on Saturdays or Sundays, as standard. If I do post on a Sunday (Saturdays are 100% off), then it’ll be something good. The rest period gives me a break from typing, and you guys a break from checking your emails or RSS feeds.

On a closing note, I’d ask all you guys to keep spreading the link to this site, and if you’ve got any recommendations, comment below and I’ll do my best to make your requests a reality!

亞歷克斯的！

The Morning Mail – Issue 9

Why hello there readers!

Yeah, the posts the other day just didn’t happen, which is why I made up for it today! Yes, I know full well that I could’ve done some posts yesterday, but sometimes when your alone in the house all day, you just want to make good use of all the times you have. So I did. I managed to get all the cleaning, ironing, tidying, and numerous amounts of things done before my Mum got home. I may have tried too hard though, because when I tried to do some cakes, they didn’t come out like they should’ve with someone who has as much confectionary skills as I do. They were deflated. It turns out following the recipe for the new (to me) type of cake I was doing didn’t quite work out, and the amount of ingredients they said to put in did WAY over the 12 cases they suggested I use, so when I baked them, they didn’t properly cook even 30 minutes later, when they were starting to get a little too golden. Luckily for me, I have spare ingredients! Today I’ll be completing my to-do list (3/5) and doing a new batch of around 24 cupcakes, which is one thing on my to-do list anyway. Hopefully they’ll be done by 1-2, so stay tuned for some mouth-watering goodness with buttercream icing!

亞歷克斯！

Of Minipoets And Blogging Conventions!

Why hello, readers! I’m only doing a small post today (although I’ll be posting the usual news and photo later) so it won’t be much of a burden for you to just read this little snipped that I have to share with you. The title for this post is unique, because I’ll be sharing two things in this post that’ve been started by two unique people.

First up is my good friend Daniel Blyden (@danielyep). He’s doing a blogging event entitled ‘Bloggers Collective 2: How To Write Online‘ in Birmingham. Entry costs £5 and the event page can be found here. I’m hoping to be going myself, and I hope that some other blog enthusiasts will join me. It’ll be a good experience, I think, to connect to other people, and learn about other blogging styles. I may even see some of you readers there!

Second, is another good friend of mine who is into poetry. He calls himself ‘Minipoet’, but those of us close to him will know him as Brynmawr (@therealminipoet). He’s starting a Twitter poem timeline, and hopefully we’ll be seeing his poetic half more often in his tweets. Head over to his Twitter profile to see for yourself!

Well, that’s my post for today. Be sure to follow my people on Twitter, and check out what’s going on!

Alex Out.

再見!