Whilst using Safari, I am forced to clean my cookies in order to see an updated “Top 10″ list on Digg.com. As far as I can remember, this only started happening after the recent update.  

Anyone else finding the same problem? 

It’s no doubt that iTunes is one of, if not the, best media stores out there. I love the interface and design but there is one thing that seems to be missing: bookmarking. As a person who rarely buys songs, I like to browse around and buy only if I really like the song. I often find myself writing down names and what not so I can buy it later or get it from another source (I still have a surplus of credits for the soon-to-be-dead Sony Connect Music Store).

I’m sure bookmarking isn’t much to ask for. It’s a simple feature. All I want to do is click a button to add it to a list. This way, I can go back, see what I want to buy according to my funds, and then actually buy it.

It’s that something extremely similar is can be found in iTunes.

If anyone watched the video on the SDK event for the iPhone and iPod, they would notice that Apple spent a lot of time on games. EA was there, the folks who make SuperMonkeyBall were there and there were some others.

EA bought Spore, probably the killer pc game for this year, and demoed it on the iPhone. It looked and ran just like the PC version.

SuperMonkeyBall was demoed by SEGA. It was a real game, not some cheap thing you’d find on a RAZR. It looked just like if not better than a similar game I played a while back on the PSP. It looked way better than anything I’ve seen on the DS. The controls on the iPhone seem to be stellar with the motion controls (think sixaxis).

Apple also showed off a space shooting game they made. The ship was controlled by the motion sensor and you fired by tapping anywhere on the screen. Combined, the game looked really fun. The audio is pretty much surround sound.

In essence, the games on the iPhone seem to be a fusion between the PSP, sixaxis, and the DS. It has PSP like graphics and a large screen with the DS’s touch feature and the sixaxis’s tilting feature. It’s the best of all 3 worlds. Also, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next PSP ends up being something like it.

You can watch the video here.

Also, you can see some pictures of games running here.

1. Helvetica-Neue

Max Miendinger, designer of Helvetica is probably the Steve Jobs of fonts. Helvetica’s so good that there’s even a movie named after it. I use this font as much as I can, especially for miscellaneous english papers. I found that I get best results with Helvetica when using a small font size. If you can, try to keep the size at 10-11. Tips: Use a shade of gray for your name. Bold, and perhaps even capitalize the title. If you want to be extra fancy, make the title a soft color (such as green or light blue). Line spacing should always be around 1.5.2.

2. Garamond

I prefer to use Garamond for papers which deal with emotions or papers which are written in a foreign language (no real specific reason). Tips: Other than your name, use black as the font color. Keep the size at 12-14.3.

3. Myriad Pro

Myriad Pro gives the paper a nice clean look. It’s also the font Apple uses in most of their promotional materials. Tips: As with Helvetica-Neue, using a different color for the title is even better. Keep the size at 11-12. 4. 4. Sanford

Sanford looks great for the essay part of your essay. For the heading, I suggest using Garamond. Tips: See Garamond.

5. Century

Century’s a great alternative to the standard Times New Roman (never use TNR). Treat it just like Times in terms of formatting.

 Full size after the jump. 

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After weeks of thinking and hesitating, I finally broke down and purchased the Apple Bluetooth Aluminum Keyboard.My first impression was “Wow! This thing is tiny.”

I’m not talking about the keyboard, I’m talking about the box the keyboard came in.The five or six inch by fourteen inch box is covered with Apple’s signature simple box art: side profiles on each side and a Apple logo on the smaller sides.Once opened, you are greeted with the keyboard. It’s beautiful, handsome, lovely, charming, delightful, elegant, gorgeo….and so on. At first I felt as the box was the keyboard’s home. It seemed so comfortable in there. But as I lifted it out after some minutes of staring at it, the striking weight of the ‘board came to my attention. It’s super ultra light but also heavy. The good heavy that gives it a sturdy feel. The Apple heft — as some would say.

Thankfully, Apple provided the three AA batteries required for power. I turn it on, a green light shines through the aluminum and it pairs with my Macbook Pro. I’m in business.The setup process was insanely simple and consisted of only four major steps:

1. Open Bluetooth Pref on the Mac and choose setup new device, Keyboard.
2. Power on the keyboard.
3. Type in the number code presented on your Mac.
4. Boom.

Keep in mind that I have yet to actually set the keyboard free from it’s trademark plastic cover supplied by Apple. I could easily (well, maybe not easily but it was good enough) type without worries of making the white keys dirty or possibly getting dust/dirt/etc into the tiny spaces around the keys. I did take it out for a few minutes just to get a feel of the keys. I found that the keys have a subtle texture on them which makes them feel very nice. Also, the power button and the battery door match my power button on my Macbook Pro perfectly. Awesome. Attention to detail. It’s one of the things that keeps me a fan of Apple products.

Speaking of attention to detail, on the underside of the keyboard you’ll find a small diagram of the way the batteries are supposed to be inserted. Somehow, Apple even made that small diagram look good. Again, it’s all about attention to detail!

Some may ask why would anyone spend so much on a keyboard ($79 USD) and to them, I answer with the following list of reasons:

1. Attention to detail. Extremely small things like the texture on the keys makes the keyboard feel like a million bucks.
2. Design. No need to explain, just look at the thing.
3. Size. It’s really small in a good way: the key sizes aren’t comprised.
4. No extra buttons. As I was looking at the other keyboards in the store, I noticed that all of them had around a million keys around the actual keyboard for media functions, photo editing, zooming, and so on. I would have never used those functions (I don’t on my Logitech set which I use for my PC) and they are simply wasting space and adding bulk.
5. Did I mention it’s beautiful?

You can read my short essay on believing in photographs after the jump.

—

I believe in photographs. When I pick up my camera I feel empowered. History is in my hands. Time is in my hands. Memories are in my hands.

As I walked along the boardwalk I feel silence. Meditated. I see the bird, the toddler, and the man and his dog. All unaware and lost in the shuffle. I glance into the viewfinder, set my aperture, and release the shutter. Their lives and emotions are captured and compressed into a five-megabyte file, later to be printed on glossy white paper.

One day, I was flipping through my family albums. My childhood colors escaped from the prints into my mind. The photographs take me back to the second grade, my old image, the trip to Canada, my sixth birthday. The image of my bike brings me back to the days when my friends and I rode down to the school, miles away, to be welcomed by an empty playground. The memory of the empty playground brings me back to the third grade. The memory of the third grade brings me back to my old friends, and of course, kickball. Kickball brings me back to the day my friend and I were yelled at for running in the halls after recess. That day reminds of the fact that my friend and I had the same shoes. All this because of one photograph.

My friend and I continue to talk about the third grade to this day. We will be able to look at the photographs thirty years from now when we are eating at a diner. “Remember those days?” my friend will say.

Today I make it a priority to take at least one picture everyday. I’ll be able to look at these photographs in the future and instantly remember what had happened that day. I’ll be able to see how I changed. I’ll be able to see what is important in life. And as an added bonus, I’ll become a better photographer.

I believe in photographs. I am going to capture everything — breakfast, short trips, work, friends, everything. That way, I lose nothing.