I was lucky. My mom and dad had me while they were finishing up their graduate work in the 1970's at North Carolina State University. My dad was, at the time, a bit of a gadget nut. Of course, back then "gadgets" were more commonly found in the kitchen and came from companies like Ronco. My dad was more into the electronics side, and I remember seeing TAB books about building robots around the house. We never built those robots, but my dad did buy two pieces of tech which changed my life forever. One was an HP programmable calculator, the other was an Apple II.For those who don't remember, the... Read similar

AOL reported its first quarter performance this morning. We haven't had a chance to dig into the numbers yet, but analyst Victor Anthony of Topeka has. He's not impressed. For the first time in a while, AOL failed to beat analysts' revenue estimates, mainly because of unexpected weakness at its third-party ad network business, which is AOL's fastest growing division. The good news is that the company's display advertising business has returned to growth, and AOL is making plenty of money. Thus, Wall Street's short-term dreams aside, AOL is continuing its startling turnaround, which recently dr... Read similar

I've run into this issue a number of times while producing comedy shows: I want to play intro music for a comedian, but I don't have a staff available to sit there and punch buttons on my iPad. Enter Tango Remote, a handy tool which allows you to remotely control your playlists from iOS to iOS device.Now I can use my iPhone to not only queue up songs, but change the volume on the fly. It's not only very responsive and robust, it's designed well and easy to use. Tango Remote has saved my bacon a few times, and every time I use it I wonder, "why doesn't Apple build this functionality in?"In this... Read similar

This past weekend in Seattle a small group of tech folks gathered to talk about the work they do while away from the computer. Unlike a lot of tech conferences, there were no discussions of APIs or frameworks, no in-depth analysis of App Store sales figures or phoney-baloney social marketing doublespeak. 360|intersect was about the people, their passions and getting inspired to do great things.I might be a little biased, as I was the first speaker, but my talk on magic and technology had less to do about technology and was more about astonishment -- that fleeting feeling when you see something... Read similar

If you were a kid in the 1980's you may remember the oddball consumer gaming console called the Vectrex. Notable for it's use of vectors instead of bitmapped graphics (like every other console), the Vectrex never quite took hold but before it was discontinued a number of fun retro games were made available. Enter Rantmedia Games, which took the aging catalog and ported it to iOS.In this Origin Stories learn about the nostalgia-driven passion behind the creation of Vectrex Regeneration. In addition to the catalog of old Vectrex games, there are actually new games made for the app, available as ... Read similar

Why create a browser for iOS when Safari ships with every device? Creator Dave Wilson explains the numerous features in Graze, a browser for iOS. It has a very different user interface, and adds gesture controls and additional browsing oomph for iOS that has yet to be seen in Apple's Safari. While there's always the risk Apple will adopt some of the best ideas in Graze, if you want power user features, the app is a good deal (and there's a free version to try out).Origin Stories: Graze is an alternative browser for iPhone originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 03 May... Read similar

If you've ever used index cards to organize lots of notes or ideas, take a look at Index Card by Dennis Vogel. Available for iPad and iPhone, Index Card is ideal for researchers and fiction writers who need to put cards on a wall, but need that wall to go with them. A good example of skeumorphic design, Index Card is pretty much exactly like what you would use in real life, cork board background included.In this episode of Origin Stories Dennis tells us how he came to create Index Card.Origin Stories: Index Card helps organize your notes like its real world namesake originally appeared on TUAW... Read similar

I've always been a sucker for soundscapes -- those looping sound effect CD's that whisk you away to the beach, or a rainforest or whatever. As I have a hard time "shutting down" my brain, these sounds give me something to get lost in and focus on, helping relax me. I think it's the same way for a lot of people, but when I introduce them to Naturespace's audio by way of their app, they are blown away. Naturespace captures incredible 3D audio and puts a vast library of it at your fingertips.If you've never tried the app, I highly recommend you download it. The free samples which come with it are... Read similar

While the Origin Stories series has typically focused on products, in the coming weeks we're going to focus a bit more on the people and personalities behind the products. In this episode I spoke to Saul Mora of Magical Panda during the MacTech Conference in 2012 to learn about how he got started in iOS development.Origin Stories: Saul Mora, developer originally appeared on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Mon, 13 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Source | Permalink | Email this | CommentsRead similar

One of the problems with giving people advice is that certain topics are so... personal. Our previous experiences, current technology and outside pressures inevitably corral us into a particular line of thinking or acting. So it is with the debate over paper vs. software solutions. Personally, I've found a mix of both to be handy. A quick poll of the TUAW crew indicates a similar divide: Some of us use paper almost to the exclusion of software, whereas some of us went digital once we found enough apps to deliver us from dead trees. Most of us use a blend of both, however. In this week's produc... Read similar