Music

I don’t know about you, but my iPhone doesn’t have enough space to hold my entire music library. In that case lots of people set in iTunes the ‘Manually manage music and videos’ option checked.
I’ve found an easier way:

1. Create a playlist (I named mine ‘iPhone’) and put all the music you wanna have on your iPhone
2. Plug your iPhone and select it
3. Make sure the ‘Manually manage music and videos’ option is not checked
4. Click on the Music tab, and check ‘Sync music’
5. Select ‘Selected playlist’ and check the playlist you just created
6. Synchronize and you’re done!

Calendars

I’ve been using iCal for a long time. I like its simplicity and it works well for me. However, using Gmail for both my personal and professional  emails, I’ve been trying to use Google Calendars, but there was no easy solution to have Google Calendars synchronized on the iPhone until recently.

A month ago, Google added a service called Sync that allows to synchronize your Google Calendars with the iPhone. It’s still in beta and the setup could be a little easier (it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes though), but it works great! Having said that, once set up, it’s not possible to sync iCal with the iPhone anymore. So the trick is to use another Google tool called Calaboration that configures iCal to retrieve and synchronize your Google Calendars as well.

And then you’re all set! Your calendars are hosted on Google Calendars, and synchronized to iCal and your iPhone.

How about MobileMe?

I’ve use MobileMe for the 2 months trial period. MobileMe synchronization is amazing and probably the most convenient for the iPhone. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s worth its price, unless you wanna use a @me.com email address.

How can I assume that?

It’s been long time now that Skype offers a service called SkypeIn. It allows people to have a phone number they can use within Skype. This service is still not available in Canada.

Almost 2 years ago, I asked the CRTC a simple question: How is it that Skype doesn’t offer SkypeIn numbers in Canada?
Here’s the answer (in French):

Bonjour,

Je vous remercie d’avoir contacté le CRTC.

Le fait que Skype offre ou non des numéros de téléphone canadiens est une décision d’affaires de la compangie.

En tant que revendeur, la compagnie aurait à obtenir une entente avec une compagnie de téléphone canadienne; Skype deviendrait alors un revendeur qui utiliserait les numéros de téléphone de cette compagnie de téléphone canadienne, ainsi que tout autre service requis par Skype pour offrir un service RTPC (réseau téléphonique public commuté) interconnecté.

J’espère que ces renseignements vous seront utiles.

Nancy Gauthier
Services à la clientèle

1-877-249-2782 / télécopieur/facsimile (819) 994-0218
Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes / Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission / Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
Gouvernement du Canada / Government of Canada

In short, Skype has to agree with a Canadian operator to offer its SkypeIn service. What do you think the operators might say to the Skype team? I’d bet on a “Go f*ck yourself!”.

New version means new features. They’ve added very cool ones, my favorite being the Top Sites. The Cover Flow bookmarks and history are very convenient too. It’s also faster than the previous one.

It’s a beta version, so it still has some issues: it doesn’t work with Google Gears, and there’s no way to manually refresh the preview of the bookmarks in Cover Flow…

Overall, it looks like Google Chrome, made by Apple, and I love it. It’s available for Windows too, and I recommend you give it a try.

So I’ve been considering the new MacBook since a couple of days. But I recalled this morning an issue I talked about when it was released: it doesn’t have any firewire port!

Why is this important to me? The sound card I use to record my music uses firewire. And I can’t afford a MacBook Pro (it has a firewire port).

So, screw it! I won’t upgrade. Apple lost a sale… for now…

So Apple released a new version of the Mac Mini, and that’s good news. Like many people I was worried that Apple would discontinue their small computer, but I guess they still think it’s a good product.

I’m very happy with mine, even though it’s getting old (might need an upgrade), and this new version is now more powerful than my MacBook!

I change my computer’s wallpaper at least twice a week, and I do it almost daily on my iPhone. I love to have a large choice so I can change it depending on my mood. I don’t like using the ones I have on my computer because they’re not suited to the iPhone’s screen. So I’ve been searching on the web for places where I could get good ones. And I found 2 great resources so far.

Flickr Group - iPhone Wallpapers
This is the first place where I found great iPhone wallpapers. It’s updated daily by active members. The problem is that the images aren’t sorted, so you can’t browse by category. Also, it’s not very convenient to browse the group from the iPhone, you’d rather do it on your computer, download the images in a folder that you synchronize with your iPhone.

The Backgrounds app - App Store
I discovered this application last week. It’s a lot easier to browse and download the images on the phone. They are sorted into categories so you can directly look for hot babes!

So far, I’d say that the Flickr Group has more interesting content, but it’s easier to find images in the Backgrounds app. So if you’re in an emergency to replace that naked girl on your screen by some cute puppies, go for the Backgrounds app, but if you have time to choose the perfect wallpaper, I highly recommend Flickr.

Here’s a goodie:

It’s been announced all over the web since a couple weeks, and Apple just released a new firmware for the iPhone. Here’s what’s new:

• Google Maps: Street View
• Google Maps: Public transit and walking directions
• Google Maps: Share location via email
• Keyboard: Enable / Disable auto-correction
• Over-the-air podcast download
• a couple fixes

I tried all these features above, and it worked great. Street View is really cool, too bad it’s not available in Montreal yet.

I don’t know if there’s some kind of placebo effect, but I feel the interface runs smoother and faster (especially the GPS).

So far, it looks like a nice update.

Google frequently manages to surprise us with new stuff, and they didn’t fail this time again. Gmail has always been criticized for its basic interface. I too thought that it needed some kind of overhaul.

This afternoon, as usual, I had Gmail running in a window in the background. Suddenly it refreshed automatically, displaying a new interface. I couldn’t believe it and thought it was some kind of glitch, so I closed the browser and relaunched it. Same new interface but a message advertised that new ‘Themes’ feature. Joy!

There’s 31 themes, a couple of them need your location so they can evolve depending on the time of the day, like iGoogle. Pretty cool! There’s enough to satisfy everyone, even the ninjas and hard-cores (the last 2 screenshots below).

So if you’re a Gmail user, I’m pretty sure you’ve already found your favorite theme. And if you’ve been reluctant to create a Gmail account, partially because of it’s poor interface, it’s definitely time to sign up!

PS: My favorite one right now is ‘Shiny’.

The main purpose of a FTP client is to transfer files, but it needs more features as our use of online servers is increasing. FTP clients must provide an easy navigation, a quick and easy file preview, and file editing. I’ve tried a lot of FTP clients. They all offer the previously mentionned features, but I’ve never found one that really satisfied me… until Flow.

Transmit is too old-school
Transmit is probably the most liked FTP client by web designers, but I don’t like its old-school interface that shows 2 trees, with local files on one side, and with server files on the other one. So even though it’s packed with lots of features, I’ve never used Transmit because of its interface. I just don’t like it.

Cyberduck’s bookmarks can get messy, and it crashes sometimes…
Being a web designer, I work on a lot of projects. And for each project, there’s a different FTP server, so it doesn’t take long to get a very long list of bookmarks. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to sort bookmarks within folders in Cyberduck. So after a while, finding a bookmark is a pain. Also, it frequently crashes, mainly during file transfer. This just sucks.
But Cyberduck is free, and it works pretty well overall.

How about Flow?
The main thing I like about Flow is its interface. It’s beautiful, simple and very easy to use. You can organize your bookmarks in folders, preview file using QuickLook, and edit them within the included editor or your favorite one.

So what’s that issue that prevented me from using Flow?
Well, it used to crash a lot during file transfer. Much more than Cyberduck, so that I couldn’t rely on it.

What about the new version?
Flow 1.1 includes a lot of new features, like a local file browser. I’ve barely used it so far, so I can’t tell if it crashes as it used. I really hope it won’t.

Final Word
I’m gonna use Flow now, and I’m pretty confident the 1.1 version is THE ONE. The one client that will make my FTP experience the best I’ve ever had.
Flow is really worth its price ($29), and I highly recommend you give it a try.

I know I’m late on this, and here’s why: when it comes to news, I don’t wanna rush and jump on conclusions too fast, so I take time to analyze. I’ve already read a couple reviews here and there, went to the Apple Store to quickly take a look at the notebooks, and I just watched the Keynote video, so now I’m ready to write about it.

The cool

• First, the new cases look great, and I’m really impressed by the way they’re built. My dad’s been working with aluminum almost all his life, I have to show him some pictures of the new MacBook.
• Giving the MacBook a good video card, that can handle video games, was something lots of people were expecting, myself included. I don’t play video games, but I’m frustrated by the poor performances of the old Intel video card.
• Putting 2 graphic chipsets in the MacBook Pro seems kinda weird, but it’s really ingenious. If you don’t need top performances, just use the basic one, you’ll save your battery life. And when you wanna play games or work with 3D software, just switch to the powerful one.
• The Display Port sounds really awesome. I regret that my current MacBook can’t handle 30 inch displays. The new ones can, thanks to the Display Port. I may upgrade my MacBook for that only reason.
• Bringing the multi-touch trackpad and the backlit keyboard to the MacBook is great. It’s nice to see pro features coming to the the consumer market.
• I really love the fact that the 24 inch display has cables (power, monitor and USB) for notebooks, that means a lot less clutter, and I really hate cable clutter (who don’t?).

The not so cool

• I don’t like glossy displays. It makes crazy reflections and it’s really annoying when you have lights around you. And the fact that there’s no way to get even a MacBook Pro with a mate display sucks. Lots of people are already complaining. This applies to the 24 inch display too.
• Talking about the 24 inch display, it’s way too expensive, who’s gonna buy it? You can have a really good one for half the price! And a mate one!
• Removing firewire from the MacBook is annoying. I like the MacBook, and I don’t need a MacBook Pro. Problem is I have a firewire audio card… What am I gonna do? I’ll keep my current MacBook and hope Apple will add a firewire port in a future revision of the new model.
  There’s also a lot of people who have firewire external hard drives, what are they gonna do? Get a MacBook Pro? If they don’t have the budget, they’ll go for a PC.

Final words
Overall I’m pretty excited by the upgrades, but Apple made a couple really bad moves (glossy displays all the way, no firewire on the MacBook) that make me think twice about purchasing any of the MacBooks… The guys at Apple seem to focus on the mass market more than ever, by removing a couple key features that professionals need…

Finally, it’s interesting to notice that the gap between the MacBook and MacBook Pro is getting smaller. The MacBook has become a really nice and powerful notebook.