zen bones...

Steve Mathew's Blog

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OK, so why the zen bones thing?

About 20 years ago I stumbled upon a book called "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones". Being vegetarian - the "flesh" bit didn't grab me, but the short pithy Zen stories inside it, did.

Ever since then my web nick has been zenbones, my Hotmail, my Gmail address, you name it. It's kinda stuck.

Is the blog about Zen? Nope.


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February 1
Some say the Apple iPad is super-sized iPhone What’s next? An oversized iMac the size of a surfboard? via thedailywhat:

Some say the Apple iPad is super-sized iPhone

What’s next? An oversized iMac the size of a surfboard?

via thedailywhat:

Tags: fun Steve Jobs Apple iPhone iPad
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January 20
“ There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO.

CEO Forum: Microsoft’s Ballmer having a ‘great time’ - USATODAY.com

(Aug ‘09 market share stats from AdMob: iPhone=40%, Symbian=34%, Android=7%, WinMo=4%)
Tags: tech Apple iPhone Microsoft quotes Windows Mobile Symbian fun
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January 14

My 10 Crazy Apple iSlate Predictions

My 10 Crazy Apple iSlate Predictions

1. It actually exists.

2. It runs both Mac apps and iPhone apps.

3. It’s waterproof. Yep, reading in the bath is a reality.

4. You can download and read any e-zine in full colour, unlike the Kindle, etc. (Think the whole Apple ecosytem strategy here, folks. Remember, iPod plus iTunes, iPhone plus apps. Now it’ll be iSlate plus books, movies, magazines, presentations.)

5. It does voice calls, like a phone.

6. It’s also a TV.

7. It can run with or without a SIM card.

8. You can connect it to an external monitor or data projector.

9. It has awesome sound quality for watching movies.

10. It will be seen as both a business tool and a tool for students (think iTunesU).

11. Bonus point: It’s not actually called the iSlate.

Oh, and off course all the obvious things like wifi, 3G+, multi-touch, OLED screens, etc, etc.

My list of predictions is not based on science, research or even insider knowledge (of which I have none). It’s based on some wild imaginings I have been having about this mystical device.

I wonder what my prediction score will be, out of 11?

Tags: Apple iPhone iPod iSlate iTunes tech articles
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January 7

Facebook’s iPhone app gets a major update

Today Facebook gave its iPhone app a major boost with contact syncing to your phone’s address book. It pulls down the Facebook profile pic and adds it to your contact. So now when your phone rings their mugshot gets displayed. I guess this leaves the (very buggy) FriendSync app with no reason to exist.

The other cool (or maybe irritating) new feature is Push Notifications. So now your phone will display a notification message every time a Facebook friend comments, likes, tags you or any other event. It could be useful for being alerted to those inappropriate comments some friends make, or better still, being alerted to bad photo tag!

Tags: Facebook iPhone apps tech
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+

Oh, the cool things people do on iPhones!

via YouTube Yann Tiersen on 6 iPhones

Tags: iPhone tech YouTube fun
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January 6
3 Billion iPhone App Downloads! The problem with a number like 3 Billion is that it seems incomparable, even small, 3 is a small number. What’s a billion anyway? To put that into context, this amounts to 21,258 apps downloaded per minute! Or nearly 30 million app downloads per day. Unbelievable! Apple - iPhone - Download thousands of iPhone applications.

3 Billion iPhone App Downloads!

The problem with a number like 3 Billion is that it seems incomparable, even small, 3 is a small number. What’s a billion anyway?

To put that into context, this amounts to 21,258 apps downloaded per minute!

Or nearly 30 million app downloads per day. Unbelievable!

Apple - iPhone - Download thousands of iPhone applications.

Tags: iPhone Apple tech
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December 16
Google Contacts - now deals with duplicates As someone who has nearly 2000 contacts - I often get dupes. I manage my contacts on Google apps, syncing with my contacts on my iPhone, Plaxo, Twitter, LinkedIN, Facebook and a few others I can’t even remember! Google is smart enough to add a contact you mail frequently, or keep multiple records of the same email address for the same contact (work, home, or previous work). But this often leads to multiple records for the same person. Scrolling through 2000 names on your phone is tricky! Thanks Google - this is going to help! Official Gmail Blog: One button to merge all duplicate contacts

Google Contacts - now deals with duplicates

As someone who has nearly 2000 contacts - I often get dupes. I manage my contacts on Google apps, syncing with my contacts on my iPhone, Plaxo, Twitter, LinkedIN, Facebook and a few others I can’t even remember!

Google is smart enough to add a contact you mail frequently, or keep multiple records of the same email address for the same contact (work, home, or previous work). But this often leads to multiple records for the same person.

Scrolling through 2000 names on your phone is tricky! Thanks Google - this is going to help!

Official Gmail Blog: One button to merge all duplicate contacts

Tags: Google Google Contacts iPhone Google Apps GMail tech
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November 26
Cool iPhone Accessory Whilst buying a new iPod the other day at an Apple dealership**, I discovered a cool iPhone stand. Griffin’s website describes it as: an “Acoustic Amplifier for iPhone” Actually, I was looking for a dock for easy drop-in-yank-out charging. But the AirCurve won me over - not only is it a beautifully designed stand, it has a surprising function: an acoustic amplifier. It never needs batteries or adapters. It’s got an engineered waveguide ”horn’ that collects the sound from the iPhone’s somewhat tinny speaker, and amplifies it by about 10 decibels and projects it into the room. I wouldn’t call it hi-fi, but it’s pretty acceptable. (And looks stunning) ** Disclosure: one of our clients

Cool iPhone Accessory

Whilst buying a new iPod the other day at an Apple dealership**, I discovered a cool iPhone stand. Griffin’s website describes it as: an “Acoustic Amplifier for iPhone”

Actually, I was looking for a dock for easy drop-in-yank-out charging. But the AirCurve won me over - not only is it a beautifully designed stand, it has a surprising function: an acoustic amplifier. It never needs batteries or adapters.

It’s got an engineered waveguide ”horn’ that collects the sound from the iPhone’s somewhat tinny speaker, and amplifies it by about 10 decibels and projects it into the room. I wouldn’t call it hi-fi, but it’s pretty acceptable. (And looks stunning)

** Disclosure: one of our clients

Tags: Apple design iPhone iPod tech articles
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October 24
Facebook.app updates coming soon. Push Notifications to annoy us all

Facebook.app updates coming soon. Push Notifications to annoy us all

Tags: Facebook iPhone
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October 22
iPhone to Be the Most Successful Gadget Ever

iPhone to Be the Most Successful Gadget Ever

Tags: iphone tech
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October 20
“ Frankly, I think people are still just trying to catch up with the first iPhone 2 years ago.

Apple COO, Tim Cook -

Apple Crushes Recession by Selling More Macs and iPhones Than Ever Before
Tags: Apple iPod iPhone tech quote
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October 7

What does the iPhone, Xbox, PlayStation, the Wii and the Kindle have in common?

Yes, they’re all tech products. They also hugely popular. And they’re the offspring of companies that compete fiercely. But no, that’s not the answer I was looking for.

The answer is that they are all manufactured by the SAME COMPANY. Yes, I couldn’t believe it either. They’re called Foxconn, the largest manufacturer of electronics and computer components worldwide. Based in Taiwan and going since 1974.

They produce the Mac mini, the iPod and the iPhone, the Macbook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air, Intel motherboards, computers for Dell and Hewlett-Packard, the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 for Sony, the Wii for Nintendo, the Xbox 360 for Microsoft, cell phones for Motorola, the Amazon Kindle, and various Cisco products. Oh and they also produce devices for Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Palm.

Man, that’s impressive. One wonders how they manage to keep the trade secrets of the various producers, well er, secret. The mind boggles.

Tags: articles tech sony microsoft apple iphone xbox Sony Amazon Kindle Nokia Wii Nintendo Dell HP
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September 30
Apple Announces Two Billion iPhone Apps Downloaded from the App Store “It took Apple almost 9 months to cross the mark of 1 Billion iPhone apps, which in itself was very impressive and the second billion iPhone apps were downloaded in just 4 months. With the iPhone soon to launch in China, the largest mobile market in the world, it will be interesting to see how quick Apple is able to reach the next billion downloads milestone.” via Apple Announces Two Billion iPhone Apps Downloaded from the App Store - iPhone Hacks

Apple Announces Two Billion iPhone Apps Downloaded from the App Store

“It took Apple almost 9 months to cross the mark of 1 Billion iPhone apps, which in itself was very impressive and the second billion iPhone apps were downloaded in just 4 months. With the iPhone soon to launch in China, the largest mobile market in the world, it will be interesting to see how quick Apple is able to reach the next billion downloads milestone.”

via Apple Announces Two Billion iPhone Apps Downloaded from the App Store - iPhone Hacks

Tags: iphone apple apps tech
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September 9
How Distractable are You? (I found this article via an RSS feed linking to another blog I don’t yet subscribe to mid-way through working on an epic proposal document). Yes, it appears I am distractable. The Hierarchy Of Digital Distractions | Information Is Beautiful

How Distractable are You?

(I found this article via an RSS feed linking to another blog I don’t yet subscribe to mid-way through working on an epic proposal document). Yes, it appears I am distractable.

The Hierarchy Of Digital Distractions | Information Is Beautiful

Tags: iphone twitter flickr skype ebay google facebook linkedin distraction design tech
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