Archive for the 'iPhone' Category

MobileMe: Excellent, Until You Need It

I did not know just how well Mac had created the new User Interface for MobileMe. (I hate the name, and the new username@me.com addresses, it just seems so “me-generation.”) Anyway, I have been impressed by the instantaneousness of the updates to my iPhone and how well it works. The Ajax controls are very like standard OS-type interface conventions. There are many things you can do, like cmd/ctrl+clicking and using the delete key that users of Outlook Web Access are probably familiar with. I have been using it to keep up with my appointments and time-specific tasks and reminders at work.

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iPhone Camera App Crashing &c.

My iPhone ran out of film!

A friend invited us over recently for a barbecue, some company and a fireworks display. While enjoying it, I snapped photos with my handy-dandy but slightly shabby iPhone camera. (I say shabby, because, while it is very handy, and the resolution is high, the photos it produces tend to be grainy and it lacks a flash. I know, it’s just a camera phone. I am expecting too much. But it is an Apple, and being an admitted “fanboy” I have been trained to expect a lot. If I was doing my fanboy duty, I would make some excuse for the shortcoming and think longingly on its being bettered in the next iteration. Wow! I digress and shamefully!)

I took over 500 shots that night. A couple of days later, I noticed that the shots were all giving my white thumbnails and it was acting flakily. (You get the point.) I looked around and found quite a few “fixes” for it, but they sometimes went too far, were a little laborious (though insightful), sometimes snooty, incorrect or short of an answer (but that last one from Jeffrey Zeldman was particularly funny, and especially true). Apparently, when you get to 1024 images, the camera poops out. The following instructions I hope will help you to reset the phone’s camera.

In most cases, Acham’s Razor says assume it is the simplest thing possible. In line with that, if you have not already done it, restart your phone. If that does not work, power cycle your phone (hold the home button down and while depressing the sleep/wake button, until it reboots itself, after the slider displays). If that doesn’t work, try these steps. (I cannot warrant them, you already have bigger problems if Apple cannot warrant that your digital camera will not run out of film.) :)

I finally found a concise, effective fix on iPhoneGuru.org. The link on the home page returned a 404 error, but the whole story (minus comments) was on the homepage at posting.

(Update: I found that the site may have changed to a different style of permalinks since initially posting the story. You should be able to find the story here.)

I hope those instructions help you like they helped me. Their instructions were simple, straightforward and quite helpful.

Blogging from an iPhone

This is my first blog entry on david.socklint.com using the iPhone. Technology is amazing. Now, really, good night.