Tag Archives: ios

How to cartoon and (almost) post from 20,000 feet

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I’m flying back from the Nonprofit Technology Conference (it was a great time – more on that soon) and we leveled off a few minutes ago.

So I thought I’d try something. I usually sketch in those minutes between the flight crew saying “Turn off your mobile devices! They are tools of the devil! Yes, you in 24A, I do mean you!” and that sweet moment when they permit us to go back to our productively wired lives (“Buh-CAAWWWWW!” “Oink, oink, oink.”).

Looking at my sketchbook just now, I wondered: could I post all of those sketches using only my iPhone? Continue reading →

Sometimes rejection is good for sensitive types (yes, I’m talking about drawing on the iPad)

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I’ve been drawing on the iPad for a while now, creating cartoons, drawing graphic notes and generally having a great time.

But you don’t have to draw on it for too long to start cursing the iPad’s limitations, even as you marvel at its abilities. And high on my wishlist for the iPad are two items: 1) pressure-sensitivity and 2) being able to draw while resting my palm on the iPad’s surface.

It turns out those two issues are pretty high priorities over at Ten One Designs, too. They make the Pogo Sketch, the handy little stylus I’ve used on most of my iPad cartoons. But they also develop software, and they now have a demo that shows you can have both pressure sensitivity and what they call “palm rejection” (where the iPad distinguishes between your hand and the stylus when you’re drawing, and ignores your hand).

YouTube Preview Image

They can’t make those features available yet, though:

We plan to release this capability as a free software library so it can be included in any application. However, this may not be possible for a while as the library now uses a private function call to access the required information.

We hope the UIKit framework can be updated to make the required information available, but there are no guarantees this will ever happen. In the meantime, we hope the video provides some insight into what is possible on this amazing piece of hardware.

I have a cramped wrist that’s eagerly awaiting word that Apple’s willing to either accommodate Ten One or release their own solution.

(Thanks to Mike Kelly for pointing me to this!)

Postscript: There’s a darkly funny irony that a new feature of the iPad – the successor to Apple’s failed Newton, the original PDA – might be called “Palm rejection.”

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No data connection after upgrading iPhone to iOS4?

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(In a hurry? Spoiler: I found my solution at AppleToolbox.)

I’m always eager to jump on even the most minor of upgrades, which should probably go in my bring-forward file for my next bout of spiritual introspection. So I was one of those people obsessively checking for the iPhone operating system upgrade this morning – and clicking on the “Sure thing! Squirt that sucker straight into my phone!” button as soon as it appeared.

And all went as smoothly as advertised… until I tried tethering, and couldn’t. And then couldn’t check email. Or surf the web. It took me a while, but I realized I had no data connection.

Two of my Twitter friends, stv and drfyzziks, started me down the right path when they mentioned that Rogers had pushed out an update to their iPhone settings last night. I hadn’t seen it. And sure enough, iTunes kept trying to install that update on my phone – and kept failing.

A call to Rogers customer support revealed that I wasn’t the only one with this problem. But nearly an hour later, with plenty of switch-flipping on Rogers’ end and a few hard-resets and virtual handstands on mine, we were no closer to a data connection.

I soon learned that restoring factory settings would give me a 3G connection, but a blank phone; restoring all of my content from a backup would take the connection away again. Trying to change the Rogers settings was an exercise in frustration and futility.

Then a web search that confirmed this isn’t an isolated issue, and finally led me to AppleToolbox. They had the answer I needed: a site called Unlockit NZ.

This site does something really simple but very, very handy: it creates a new profile on your iPhone with a few custom settings. Most importantly, it tells your phone how to access the Internet using your mobile carrier. You visit the site on your iPhone (which means you need a WiFi connection) and navigate to the “Set custom APN” screen, where you select your carrier. (There are two options for Rogers; I chose the second.)

One confirmation screen later, I was surfing the web on 3G. (And, by the way, Rogers pushed an updated settings file to my phone. Go figure.)

I can’t promise this will work for you, but if not, you can easily remove the profile under iPhone Settings > General > Profile. Good luck!

For more Apple goodness, check out Rob’s Noise to Signal cartoons about life as a Mac user!

(two people looking at an iPad) It's the perfect device for watching Apple product announcements!(Steve Jobs onstage, introducing an amazing device and admitting he can't remember what it does)(man with fishhook in nose) Yes, it's a fishhook lodged in my nose. But it's an Apple fishhook, so the user experience is surprisingly pleasant.