Author Archives: Jacken

Retina display on Mac

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iPhone with glib and microphone

Retina display on Mac

After working with the iPad and iPhone and then sitting down at my computer working with InDesign, you quickly realize that the resolution of computer screens need to improve. I have a factory calibrated 1920×1200 pixel 24″ monitor and to see how the fonts are going to look, you need to zoom in. With twice the resolution that would not be a problem. Let’s face it, the iPhone 4/4s have higher resolution than the first couple of generations of laser printers. It’s unfortunate that Apple hasn’t put more effort into making OS X resolution independent. Doubling the resolution is a quick fix, but in the long run they have to step up to the plate and implement resolution independence.

iPad, useless expensive toy?

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After buying my 32G 3G iPad I was a bit worried that it would become yet another victim of my impulsiveness. The first day with it, I was convinced that I’d get bored within the week and having it ending up on my mountain of cool but never used electronics. But during the weeks I’ve used it, it’s becoming indispensable. Checking out Twitter with Twitter for iPad. Reading news on FlipBoard (which has the most beautiful design of all news readers), answering mails, making plans with OmniFocus for iPad, chatting with IM+ and using the calendar (naturally synced to Google Calendar) for booking appointments. It’s now an essential part of my daily life. I’m also starting to hate the noise of my Macbook. With the iPad, it’s really quiet.

Problem with flickering screen on iPad fixed in iOS 4.2 beta 2

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iPadI’ve had problems with my new iPad, where the screen would flicker when the brightness was set to a low setting. Very irritating. My first fear was hardware problems but after upgrading to the latest beta version of iOS, 4.2 beta 2 the problem is fixed! Yay! No need to replace my beloved iPad.

Update A bit too fast, the problem remains.

Western Digital TV Live media stream box

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WD TV Live HD media playerI just bought myself a Western Digital WD TV Live. I’m using it to connect to my Linux Samba SMB server, and it works beautifully. So far I’ve only had problems playing one of the movies on the server, a MKV 1080P video file. The picture shows but no audio. Otherwise everything works perfect. When connecting to the SMB server, the password is saved in the login dialog so you don’t have to enter it every time which is nice, but I would have preferred a way to not having to go through the login dialog every time you connect to the server.

The picture quality is excellent, especially when viewing 1080P material. No lag or stutter (this is on a wired ethernet connection). There’s an optical digital out but no RCA which I would rather have. And the box is small!. The remote is small and responsive.

Would I use this box to listen to music? No, the user interface is too rudimentary, but using it as an easy way of viewing transcoded or downloaded films it’s excellent.

Favorite Canon lenses

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canon EF 70-200mm 4f LUpgrading from the Canon EOS 20D to the full frame camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II has really changed which lenses I like the most. When using the 20D, I used to have the Canon EF 17-40mm f4L lens on as my standard lens. But the full frame really makes it to wide for my taste, and the 17-40mm is a bit too soft at the edges. Now I usually have the Canon EF 50mm f1.4 USM lens as my standard lens and use the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L a lot more than before. The high resolution of the 5D shows every fault with the lens. The 70-200mm shines as the best zoom lens I ever had and is perfect for portrait photography.

My next lens will be a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM lens which I think will be the perfect all-round lens. I just wish there was a way to try out a couple of lenses to find a sharp one, because my experience with Canon lenses is that there can be quality differences between them. With some luck I’ll find a dealer that let me test before buying.