jdoey's Profile

"I'm not a major audio geek, but I'd also rather not convert a lossy format to a lossy format, so iTunes AAC only policy tends to deter me. So I deal with it by keeping a personal wish list, and I check for useful sales every so often. I don't buy a lot of singles."

Why would you want to be converting AAC to anything else? AAC is an audio standard universally supported that has essentially replaced MP3.

"One of my favorite things about the warmer weather in Southern California is being able to enjoy movies outdoors. Fortunately in LA, there are a lot of outdoor screenings in public parks, museums, and unusual settings like Hollywood Forever Cemetery."

The whole country has warm or hot weather throughout much of the year so I'm failing to understand your focus on "Southern California" for being able to "enjoy movies outdoors."

There are just so many things some people need to do in Photoshop, for example, so a particular version may be all they ever need. By no longer being allowed to own the software you will always have to pay to use it, which in the long run will always be more expensive. Hopefully this move, not to mention Adobe's already ridiculous Photoshop price, will motivate competitors to create truly worthy competitors. Apple could do it, and it completely baffles me that they do not.

Don't use microfiber on a plastic screens at all. You should use only 100% cotton. An old t-shirt is ideal.

"Remember those old Braun electronics, like the pocket radio on the left above, designed German designer Dieter Rams? You can clearly see the influence his design language had on iOS devices."

I have to respectfully disagree. That radio simply had a flat rotary knob. Dieter Rams did not invent rotary knobs. Apple's famous click wheel is just another variation of rotary control knobs. If anything, the fact that it does not move at all makes it significantly more unique than all other knobs that came before it.

While Mr. Rams had some nicely designed products I really don't see this constant focus some people and designers have in giving him credit for Apple's designs and design philosophy. His 10 principles of good design, for example, are all common sense (something he would likely say himself) but certainly nothing that he invented and that wasnt done long before him. The one thing he and Apple, and other companies, share are a dedication to those common sense principles.

"Didn't I see somewhere on AT about a router hidden inside a hollowed out book?"

I remember that and that can work as long as you compensate and design for ventilation, otherwise you can cause a fire or drastically shorten the life of your router. Many routers, especially compact ones run pretty hot. For example, Apple's previous generation of the tiny and excellent AirPort Express generates quite a bit of heat. The newer version is dramatically cooler but certainly wouldn't stay that way inside a hollowed out box with no ventilation.

"The best way to determine the optimal location for a WiFi router is to place it on the the same level as the devices connecting to it. A vertically mounted router placed high on a wall is not optimal."

That is not sound advice as often times the "same level" is often blocked by obstructions whereas high on a wall obstructions are much less likely to be an issue. In every case, in my experience, a high mounted router always offered superior transmission and reception.

"Please know that I mean absolutely no judgement here, but when I saw Michael Wolf's photos of Hong Kong high-rises, I panicked..."

Why do you feel such an opening comment is even necessary? You have every right to say that *you* would find living in such a place to be an awful nightmare. People need to stop being so paranoid about offending others. It's getting absolutely ridiculous!

catspyamas510 wrote: "Can you install a flag pole on the exterior of the house, maybe just inside a porch or something? Then its doing what a flag is meant to do."

Is he from Norway? In either case it wouldn't be in good taste or respectable to be flying a foreign flag outside your home. If I moved to Norway I wouldn't even think of flying an American flag outside of the home I was living in, and especially if I became a citizen of that country.

I agree with the framing idea but I would fold it into a smaller frame, kind of like how nice the American flag looks when folded in certain ways and put in a frame. I would also consider the country of origin's views on how their flags should be displayed otherwise you could be unintentionally showing disrespect to that flag and its country.

"In Europe, people don't like to show their groceries."

Not at all. Europe is many different countries with very different cultures.