lolnic.com

HALP ME INTERNETS

iTunes - worst f**king application ever made.

5 Mar 2009

Don’t get me wrong - I’m not an anti- Apple zealot. I own an iPhone and have general interest in their products. But wow is iTunes shit.

My machine is a bit of a monster if i might toot my own horn haw haw haw - yet iTunes still manages to run slower than steady-eddy on one of his off days.

(3) Comments

Let Me Be Your Armour.

In: General| Music| photo

27 Feb 2009

Hello,

Today like any other I caught Bus: ( it took me to work. Work has been pretty productive - I answered a tonne of calls, replied to many an email ticket, shined my shoes, just normal junk like that:

Shinny.

So yeah as I was saying - productive. I’ve also been looking at updating my wardrobe. I’m tight with money right now so i’ve been researching online sales at the moment. Turns out Asian stores happen to be the cheapest.

check out http://www.yesstyle.com - for the lastest and greatest AzN fashions. They tend to be more stylish in HK than here - so they’re totally cool.

guys make super duper sure you check the sizing though - it’s undoubtedly going to be different to your sizing here - they list measurements for most stuff on the site.

So once again SSH saves the day and provides me with musical goodness. Today my album of choice was Assemblage 23 - Addendum. The album starts with a track called Let Me Be Your Armour, which formed the theme for my blog post today because it’s real swell. Another electronic group whom I understand isn’t a group just a single dude. My co-workers are probably real mad at me since I always play this album like over and over. Here’s the album cover - go get it my fledglings:

Assemblage 23 is has an industrial grungy electronic sound popularized by groups such as VNV Nation (who are also great). Expect something you could probably dance to, but probably rather chill out with it playing on some nice bassy headphones or speakers - it’s not high energy but there are still solid beats and rhythm. Like VNV nation there are lyrics - you’d be hard pressed to say he’s a good singer but it’s definitely adding something to the music in a good way! Go get it.

So like I figured I cant just go on about how great SSH is without telling you a little more about it right?

SSH stands for secure shell and in a nutshell it’s a way of securely connecting to a remote terminal. Sorta like Telnet but encrypted (check the link for the Wikipedia article). But yeah it’s totally cool because you can create internet tunnels which are encrypted so no jerk off losers can steal your information.

Have fun peeps.

(1) Comment

My idea for unified Open-Source.

In: Open Source

26 Feb 2009

So i’ve been thinking for a while now about how Open-Source initiatives are just scattered projects you pretty much find out about by word of mouth. It’s kinda obvious to me why they don’t get the exposure, users and content they deserve - and need to compete with commercial products.

For example Open Street Maps or OSM is something i’ve only recently just discovered. It’s an excellent idea that lends itself to the kinda flexibility commercial maps could only dream of - trouble is it’s not a very exposed project.

So i’ve been thinking - what would give massive amounts of PR, exposure and a solid backbone. A massive community of likewise individuals?

The Mozilla portal would be a good example. While all Mozilla owned products - the general idea is what I’m going at here. Their products Firefox, Thunderbird etc are all grouped nicely by a single source. Wouldn’t it be interesting if there was a single location to find these projects in a similar way. An open source portal that’s supported by the open source community and is actually considered the homepage of the various open source projects.

I’m assuming the usual squabbles will stop this from happening - but wouldn’t it be swell. One login to end all logins would be nice. Who else thinks this is a good idea?

No Comments

Top everyday iPhone apps.

In: Apps - Non-Free| Apps - Opensource| Iphone

25 Feb 2009

Those who own an iPhone know that while the standard suite of apps cover most basic mobile needs - they still leave much to be desired for the mobile warrior type. Unfortunately the app store is full of useless junk with 90% of apps being absolute tripe.

Below is my list of applications I use daily - most are free wherever possible and are actually useful for my day to day activity. I haven’t listed the pricing for the non-free apps since pricing seems to change enough you’re best checking iTunes. Hopefully this list is comprehensive enough to save people some money on crappy applications.

Photography:

Darkroom - Free:

Darkroom is an extension of the existing camera application basically. It uses the accelerometers to detect when the phone is still to prevent blurry photos which results in massively improved photography. I liked it so much I purchased the ‘pro’ version - however it unfortunately does not add much to the application.

Camerabag - Not-free:

Camerabag is a post-processing application for the iPhone. It edits exisiting photos in a number of different filters. It’s useful for bloggers using their mobiles to post blog posts who’re still wanting to upload a stylised image. Arguably not an essential application I still like to run the helga filter over most of the photos I upload to the web.

Time Management:

Remember the Milk - Free for 15 days.

RTM is a time managment app most of you would be familiar with brought to the iPhone in a friendly easy to use application. It’s mostly the same as the web based app - IE a listing of tasks based on the due date and importance. What set’s it apart is that it can be synced to the online version of RTM and you can manage your tasks on a number of devices.

Evernote - Free

Evernote is a very neat application. It’s primarily a note taking application - you can make photo, text and voice notes. The coolest feature i’ve found is that you can take a photo of text and the app can index the text in the photo making it search-able. The indexing seems to work very well. I throughly recommend this app - especially if you’re prone to forgetting things like me.

Web Interfacing Apps:

FlicKit - Free

FlicKit is a app for uploading photos from your phone to Flickr it’s the easiest to setup and works incredibly well. I use this exclusively now. Can batch photos and send them as a group. It’s also able to set photo permissions, geo-tag and set photo names and descriptions.

Nambu - Not-free

Yet another Twitter app in a sea of Twitter apps. This one’s the best i’ve found but it’s not free. Twitterfon is probably just as good and is another honorable mention. Nambu is my favorite by a hair - it has a built in web browser which is great when your wanting to view a link from twitter without it closing and opening safari.

Wordpress - Free

I didn’t write this post using the wordpress app - but I could have. Full featured, simple and easy to use it allows you to create blog posts for your blog from your mobile phone. You can attach photos and upload them via your data plan.

Wikipanion - Free

Wikipanion makes looking through Wikipedia breeze. It’s structures the website in an iPhone friendly way making it easy to read. Great for learning about Sir Humphrey Appleby or what is Britain’s Best Sitcom while going home on the bus.

TouchTerm SSH - Free

A mobile terminal app - you could liken it to PuTTY for the mobile phone. It’s quick and easy to use and best of all it works. It’s far better than any terminal app I’ve used on my Nokia and despite the 3g connection theres seemingly no lag.

MISC

Spend - Not-free

This is yet another simple app, this time for monitoring expenditure. Basically you can create budgets and quickly and easily add money you’ve spent from each budget column. A handy app if you’re tight on cash.

AppSniper - Not-free

This app is great for those on a budget. Basically it tracks apps which have gone down in price. it can sort both apps that have just gone down in price and apps which have become free. It’s also got a useful feature which allows you to snipe apps. You can set it to check an app and let you know once it falls into your price bracket or for the cheap people like me when it becomes free. For example I want the reddit app - but I don’t want to pay 2 dollars for it so I’m in the process of sniping it.

(2) Comments

My Day In Lights

In: Iphone| Music| photo

25 Feb 2009

Hello,

This is the bus I caught to work - it is called bus because it took me to work. I don’t like going to work. I am now at work because of this bus. I am now unhappy.

Bus :(

I purchased a new apple keyboard though. I have two. One at home and one at work now. The one at home my girlfriend stole because she likes it’s a whole lot and now I don’t get to use it. This is sad because it is really good!

Here is a photo of my keyboard on my desk I hope you like it, I think it is very nice. You can also see the drugs I keep on my desk - those aren’t multi-vitamins they’re speed honest.

My new keyboard :).

I am happy now because of my keyboard.

So anyway I started work at 10am today. Which kinda sucks because now I don’t finish till 6pm. So I use SSH to keep me entertained during the long hours. Usually I just tunnel music over the internet - however using a nifty little command line app called Finch I can use MSN and other protocols as well.

SSHLOL

I love SSH - best thing ever.

So like over my sweet SSH tunnel using GNUMP3D I started listening to Apoptygma Berserk probably the coolest band I’ve heard in ages. They’re an electronic group with their more recent stuff sounding very much like Indie-electro. Given I’m a hip alternative kinda guy it’s right up my alley. Do your self a favour and get a copy of:

You and Me Against the World – Apoptygma Berzerk

Expect to have a sexplosion in your ears when you hear songs like Cambodia - which kinda almost made me cry, better still the song Shine-On is probably one of the best songs i’ve ever heard EVER - it would make my all time best song list.

That’s all for today. Let me know how you feel about this formula - I’m digging the day-to-day, tech, music theme of that post and is something I think I’ll continue but I’d like to hear your comments.

(6) Comments

Iphone blogger :)

In: Iphone

24 Feb 2009

So, while I know I keep saying this i’m getting back into blogging with a vengence. Not that I was ever a vengeful blogger.

The iPhone is an excellent social tool. I love it for it’s ability to upload to ficker and update wordpress blogs. This client isn’t pretty but it works suprisingly well.

Expect more ramblings soon.

No Comments

16 Things you may or may not know about me.

In: General

17 Dec 2008

Ashley tagged me and as a result of internet by-law I must participate in this. I don’t mind people knowing stuff about me but I get the feeling not many people really do.

So here goes:

I used to be quite the fatty - over 100 Kg’s. This is the major reason why I’m so self concious and get really concerned about both my weight and the way I look. Going through high school with comments like “You would be hot if you were thinner” asides from the usual LOLfatty’s they really do burn on the inside and leave their scars. Here’s a photo:
I'm the one in the red tie.
I have a love affair with cigarettes. Everyone hates that I smoke but I love them. I don’t currently smoke and haven’t in a long time but if there was nothing holding me back - you betcha I’d smoke. I guess it’s better than being addicted to mind altering substances like booze or drugs but I do admit it’s pretty bad for me.
I hate my neighbours. There the most disgusting, useless examples of human excrement. White trash as it were. They are my age, don’t work and I want to beat the living shit out of them regularly. At least the cops have beaten the loud music out of them sort of. Heres a photo of their backyard:
I hate dogs - unless they’re really obedient, this probably stems from the next unknown to you.
I was attacked by dogs many times when I was younger. Small dogs, big dogs and everything in between. Some would jump fences to get me. I was lucky to never be hurt severely.
I have a dodgy knee. It dislocates fairly regulary. For the last few years it’s been almost once a year on average. Last time I went to Brisbane it happened only days before I went. This time I’m hoping it’ll be avoided.
I’ll be in Brisbane this Friday. w00t. I can’t wait to see my family and friends. I’m sure they want to see me too :).
I am not very social. I fake social ability for the most part. To be honest meeting new people scares the shit out of me and I act tough and uninterested to make people think I’m just a jerk rather than someone unable to socialize. Typically nerd setback I guess.
I like the Mighty Boosh, Black Books, Simpson’s and IT Crowd - but can’t quote a single thing from it for the most part. I feel pretty dumb in social circles where all people do is quote these all day it’s an inadequacy i probably shouldn’t have a problem with but I still beat myself up over it sometimes. How silly is that?
I don’t have a drivers license. I’m 21.
My 21st party was awesome thanks to Louisa. She put a lot of effort into organizing both me and it. While there were set backs she really put in the hard yards for me. Ashley was also amazing for coming and it made me feel great.
I hate current media acts. I call them acts because everything the news reports is a joke. Even serious issues are twisted and distorted into something barely recognizable. I wish modern media would die.
I have some huge scars on my arm and leg. I ran into a barbed wire fence when I was about thirteen. They’re still there and pretty noticeable.
I also have a scar above my right eye. I was about 4 when that happened. I swear I can Kinda feel it at all times - but you can’t really see it anymore. I smashed my face on a concrete table missing the seat somehow. I didn’t even feel it despite the gaping hole in my face.
I want to be more active but I think I’m addicted to computers. I’d rather update and configure a webserver than go to the gym. I Really need to work out again. I’m getting really soft.
I love diet soft drinks. Mainly cola I can barely go a day without drinking at least 600 ml of it. My children and going to be weird sugar intolerant monsters.