Mobilemind

Here is a new utility web page to easily create javascript: bookmarks (bookmarklets) that paste a custom text string into a web page form in Mobile Safari on iPhone or iPod Touch– http://mobilemind.net/iphone.

On iPhone and Touch, that page will automatically re-direct to http://mobilemind.net/___, which includes all the instructions and code needed to make a bookmarklet that pastes text (an “iPastelet”).

On the iPhone/Touch, Save an iPastelet provides a form to enter your text string and a button to update the page URL. Then you need to save the bookmark, then immediately edit it to remove the http:// prefix and mobilemind URL. The directions on the page explain it all.

On desktop machines, the page does not re-direct, but instead takes you to the “classic” iPastelet Maker that I posted last December. The desktop browser version of iPasteletMaker creates a bookmarklet for you to save in your desktop browser (Mac or Win) and then sync to your device via iTunes.

This approach might be a little more handy if you already sync broswer bookmarks and want to create a bookmark Scrapbook folder with lots of these.

Thanks to Erica Sadun for the original bookmarklet code and inspiration. Special Thanks to Craig Hockenberry (IconFactory / Twitterific, Twitterific for iPhone), Joe Maller (Transmogrify), Joe Hewitt and the iUI team (http://code.google.com/p/iui/), and Ankur Kothari (Make the most of the iPhone SDK) for inspiration and examples.

Labels: Apple, technology, tips

I saw my friend Aaron twitter a question about this topic, so I thought I'd pull together a quick post with some resources for those with a Mac (and 1-2 for Mac or Win Firefox) and general tips. Briefly the tips are:

• Test using Safari with User Agent set to Mobile Safari
• Preview with iPhoney application for more context & rotation testing (add latest agent string)
• Use Firefox extensions User Agent Switcher, Web Developer and Firebug, and Firesizer
• Use iUI code with CSS/HTML/Javascript for iPhone-style interface
• Visit the Apple Web Apps Development Center and Apple iPhone Dev Center
• Check out the Google Groups iPhoneWebDev
• Register for iPhone DevCamp 2

Safari- Go to Preferences and check the box for Show Develop menu in menu bar.

Then you can use the menu Develop > User Agent > Mobile Safari 1.1.3 – iPhone. That will allow Safari to present itself to website (and your code) as the iPhone web browser. Hovering over a menu option will also display the full User Agent string.

iPhoney- iPhoney from MarketCircle is basically a shell around WebKit that acts like the iPhone browser, Mobile Safari. It does support rotation, but isn't exactly like iPhone (address bar can't scroll (but can be hidden), it does add vertical/horizontal scroll bars in some cases were iPhone wouldn't). That said, it is a nice way to get a quick "iPhone Preview" of any site from your laptop or desktop computer.

Tip: I found that I get more "iPhone-like" results with many sites by having iPhoney use a custom user-agent. The User Agent string below matches exactly what a web server sees for my iPhone user agent with the current firmware, whereas the iPhoney returns a slightly different version (Mobile/1A538a). Just use the appropriate menu item to enter the text below as "Custom User Agent".

Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A93 Safari/419.3

Switch User Agent- Firefox users (even those already using Firefox 3.0) can use the User Agent Switcher extension to also mimic the iPhone web browser user agent, with the same User Agent string as above.

Firefox extensions for Javascript development- While you're at it, you may also want to get a couple of other Firefox extension that are generally useful for web development– the Web Developer extension is from the same author as User Agent Switcher, and the latest Firebug extension beta release seems to work well with Firefox 3 (and help a lot with debugging). Firesizer isn't is compatible with Firefox 3 (yet) now, and it allows you to quickly switch Firefox to different screen sizes... helping you preview an iPhone sized window of (or even test other web sites & apps at common sizes like 1024x768).

iUI- iUI is set of CSS, HTML and Javascript that hails from Joe Hewitt of Facebook, who also originated Firebug. iUI is available from the Google code site, and includes code to provide a more iPhone-like look and feel to your web applications while providing the ability to handle page orientation changes (rotation between landscape & portrait views).

Apple Developer pages and Google Groups- There are a bunch of resources on the Apple site and there is an active iPhone Web Development Google Group too. Visit the Apple Web Apps Development Center and Apple iPhone Dev Center. Then check out the Google Groups iPhoneWebDev.

iPhoneDevCamp- Finally, there will be a second iPhoneDevCamp at the Adobe offices in San Francisco. It is scheduled for August 1-3 2008, and you should watch the official iPhoneDevCamp 2 website for more information.

Labels: Apple, Firefox-Thunderbird, technology, tips

The TryPhone site run by MobileComplete is very nice if you want to check out the menu structure and general user interface of most popular cell phones. It breaks down a bit on more complicated user interfaces with gestures, button double-clicks and shortcuts. It gives you the general idea, but the graphics are a little coarse and something is definitely Lost in Translation compared to an actual iPhone.

They do have some Captivate-esque animated demos, but they seem to be driving the TryPhone simulation rather than playing animated captures or video of the phone. Anyway, check out TryPhone if you're looking at a new mobile for a Christmas gift. Just be aware that the iPhone emulation gives a weak impression of the experience.

Mac users- If you're developing pages to be viewed on iPhone, check out iPhoney from MarketCircle. It is basically a shell around WebKit that acts like the iPhone browser, Mobile Safari. It isn't exactly like iPhone (address bar can't scroll, not multi-touch obviously, and adds scroll bars in many cases were iPhone wouldn't). That said, it is a nice way to get a quick "iPhone Preview" of any site from your laptop or desktop computer. You can even rotate the phone to vertical or horizontal/landscape view.

Tip: I found that I get more "iPhone-like" results with iPhoney by using a custom user-agent. The one below matches exactly what a web server sees my iPhone user agent as, whereas the iPhoney returns a slightly different version. Just use the appropriate menu item to enter the text below as "Custom User Agent".

Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/3B48b Safari/419.3

Labels: Apple, simulation, technology

Not sure if I got frustrated, creative, generous, or all of the above. I made a web form called iPastelet Maker that lets you easily create custom bookmarklets that paste text into web forms on the iPhone. Use it to create bookmarklets for common recurring entries, like user ID's, email addresses, IP addresses, host names, etc. You might even create a bookmark folder called 'Scrapbook' and keep a bunch of common text snippets there. If you have a few services/servers you log-on to and use the same email/ID's over & over this can be really convenient.

Since they are bookmarklets, they obviously only work in a browser, and work best in Safari/Mobile Safari. However, it is best to create them with your desktop browser (preferably Safari on Mac and IE on Windows). Then, use iTunes to sync your bookmarks over to the iPhone and voilá.

It's free stuff, so feedback is welcome, but support is nil. Thanks to TUAW and Erica Sadun for awareness, code and inspiration.

Labels: Apple, technology

It seems like just a month ago (ok 2 months ago) that Apple sent me an email with information on the first iPhone Tech Talks. Now more iPhone Tech Talks are scheduled during October and November for Boston, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Seattle, Minneapolis, and Atlanta. As a bonus, despite the proximity to his residence, I can assure you that my friend and anti-fanboy curmudgeon Jeff will not attending the Minneapolis session.

See Apple iPhone Tech Talks for details.

• Boston, MA 10/09
• Philadelphia, PA 10/11
• Washington, DC 10/12
• Seattle, WA 10/22
• Minneapolis, MN 10/25
• Atlanta, GA 11/05

I'm excited to be going to Learning 2007, but sad that the iPhone Tech Talk in Seattle conflicts with it.

PS: Yes Jeff, I do have an iPhone once again, even if I am not sorry that I returned my initial iPhone after 7 days. It did help that it was now $200 less. Note that unlike others, I am NOT whining about price slashing. I love the new price, and I paid activation twice and a re-stocking fee once-- unlike the loudest whiners. Also, unlike them, I'll cheer when the price goes down again. So there. Don't complain about what you paid then or others pay now. The parable of the workers in the field strikes me as somewhat relevant. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius? -- see Mathew 20.

Labels: Apple, events, technology

Apple just sent me an email with information on iPhone Tech Talks that are scheduled for

• Los Angeles, CA 08/02
• San Francisco, CA 08/24
• Chicago, IL 08/28
• New York, NY 08/30
• New York, NY 08/31

It looks like an interesting day,and I will admit to a small amount of "return-ers remorse"

Bring your notebook, your code, and your iPhone After a morning of in-depth presentations and demonstrations, you'll work with the experts to design, code, debug and test your solutions on iPhone. Access to your code is required.

Of course since I no longer have an iPhone and I'm not in L.A., San Francisco, Chicago or NYC, I won't be going. I'm sure Jeff will notice the conspicuous absence of Hudson, WI as a venue-- and feel no disappointment whatsoever.

Labels: Apple, events, technology

A short list of the reasons why my iPhone went back to AT&T on Saturday.

1. Couldn't accept meeting invites on it.
2. No Cut/Copy/Paste.
3. The keyboard.
4. Not enough fine tuning control over email:
• Can't control size of email initially downloaded
• Only checks at pre-defined intervals; 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour...
• Doesn't put things in "Sent items", instead you automatically cc: yourself on everything
5. No indicator lamp or LED- can't tell at a glance if I have voicemail/email/SMS messages-- or even if the thing is powered on.
6. No encrypted password vault or 'eWallet' utility (I depend on this to 'remember' things like seldom-used low-stakes passwords, etc)
7. No video out; can't use it with the cool display glasses I recently bought.
8. No removable memory or 'mountable storage'; can't use it to transport files. The SanDisk folding SD card + USB that I use with the Treo has spoiled me.
9. Lack of 3rd party applications/extensions.
10. No "museum mode" for the iPod features; most of the training things I want to do I can do better on a video iPod or desktop.
11. No Adobe Flash.Yet?
12. It's good, borderline great, but there HAS to be a better one coming 12-18 months from now.

Labels: Apple, technology

Already my close friend and personal curmudgeon has scoffed at my switcharoo (see his comment here). I have little to comment on his comment, other than to share that perhaps Microsoft provides a most excellent operating systems for the type of person who shuns human contact.

But seriously folks, here is a log of computers I've owned since 1985. In most cases one PC or handheld replaced another of the same type, but there were periods of overlap (eg, the PowerBook 180 soldiered on to 1996).

Some personal favorites were the Apple //c (hot rodded with a memory board), the Mac SE that got me through grad school, the PowerBook (my first laptop), the SmartBook (amazing value 'Wintel' machine like a PowerBook, the Palm Vx (still sweet for its role), and all the "serviceable workhorses" called ThinkPads.

Stinkers? There were a few in the "What was I thinking" category- the '93 Gateway that we managed to use grudgingly use until '97, the Newton (did you say 'Newfoundland'?), the HandSpring Visor (translucent blueberry plastic? uggh), the iPAQ h6315 (that they dared to claim was a phone, except it locked-up routinely while a call was ringing in) and the Treo 600 (non-removable battery and volatile storage, but I was desperate after the HP "phone"). The late model PDA iPAQ (h4150) was almost Palm Vx-like, but added WiFi, very cool. The oldest iPAQS were hot stuff at the time, but in hindsight the dual-PC card "sled" was more like a ridiculously sized toboggan. Oh well, here's the list in all its glory (or embarrassment).

1985
1)Apple IIc (256K) 1MHz 65C02

1987
2) Apple Mac SE 2MB/40MB 68020

1993
3) Apple Powerbook 180 8MB/80MB 68020
4) Gateway Intel 486-33 16/285

1994
5) SmartBook II 486-66 32MB/250MB

1995
6) Newton MessagePad 120 StrongARM 110 162MHz (sold after 90 days)
7) SmartBook IV 486-100 64MB/500MB

1996
8) ChemBook Pentium 133 128MHz/1GB
9) ComTrade P-150 128/4

1997
10) HP 320LX Handheld SH-3 12MB/4MB

1998
11) ThinkPad 770 P-II 233 256MB/5GB
12) Palm III 2MB 8MHz DragonBall

1999
13) HandSpring Visor Deluxe 8MB 16MHz
14) Sony VAIO 490 P-III 600 256MB/20GB

2000
15) ThinkPad T-20 P-III 700 256MB/10GB
16) Palm Vx 8MB DragonBall EZ 20MHz

2001
17) Compaq iPAQ 3650 32MB ARM 206MHz
18) Compaq iPAQ 3670 64MB ARM 206MHz

2002
19) Compaq iPAQ 3870 64MB ARM 206MHz
20) ThinkPad T-23 P-III 1GHz 512MB/60GB

2003
21) HP iPAQ h4150 64MB XScale PXA255 400MHz

2004
22) Handspring Treo 600 32MB TI OMAP 310 144MHz (returned after 6 days)
23) HP iPAQ h6315 64MB TI OMAP 1510 166MHz

2005
24) ThinkPad T-42p P-III 1GHz 512MB/60GB
25) Palm Treo 650 24MB XScale PXA270 312 MHz

2007
26) MacBook Pro, Duo Core 2.4GHz 2GB/160GB
UPDATE-
27) Apple iPhone ??MHz Samsung ARM/8GB (returned after 7 days)

Labels: Apple, technology

I love computers. Apple is putting the excitement and fun back in computing for me with the MacBook Pro, iPhone, and iPod. I plan on using all of those devices to create elearning and/or delivery elearning in the next 30 days. My journey is just begining, and it started in Shanghai (or at least that's where my MacBook Pro started with FedEx).
(Visualization of package tracking via http://packagemapping.com/, accessed via the cool Firefox/Thunderbird extension that works with DHL, Fedex, UPS and US Postal Service tracking numbers.)

The next few hours will be some get (re)acquainted time for me and Mac-- it's been 11 years since I stopped daily use of a Mac. I'll post some entries here about my preparations and experiences switching from my ThinkPad T43p with Win XP to MacBook Pro and OS X.

Oh yes, one more thing. I won't be able to install much software tomorrow, I have to be in line somewhere for something-- it might be here or here.

Where are you going to be Friday at 6pm? Maybe these links will help:
Apple retail- iPhone Availability Information
or
AT&T Wireless Find-a-store (hint pick "Apple iPhone" in the list box).

Labels: Apple