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You’ve been warned. Indie filmmakers Andrew McMurry and Nathan McMurry put together this short clip, “Psycho Siri,” as an example of what could happen if you piss off an iPhone.
Hit play or go to Link [YouTube] – Thanks Tiffany!
Back
in February, President Obama surprised Steve Jobs with a question of what
it would take to make the iPhones in the United States, rather than China.
Jobs replied that the iPhone could never be made in the United States ... and no, it's not because American labor costs (in fact, labor cost is a tiny fraction of the cost of making an iPhone). It's because America simply doesn't have the manufacturing might anymore:
“Apple’s an example of why it’s so hard to create middle-class jobs in the U.S. now,” said Jared Bernstein, who until last year was an economic adviser to the White House.
“If it’s the pinnacle of capitalism, we should be worried.”
Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”
Charles Duhigg and Keith Bradsher wrote this intriguing article over at The New York Times about the death of manufacturing and the disappearing American middle class - if you read only one thing today, make it this one: Link | TLDR? Here it is in video summary
Has a lover of Hello Kitty stolen your heart? Capture your sweethearts attention by giving them something fabulous from the Hello Kitty Love Bandit collection from the NeatoShop. This dangerously cute collection includes something for every budget:
Items sold separately. Shower your valentine with a gift of all 6.
Don’t let Valentine’s Day sneak up on you. Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more purr-fectly adorable Hello Kitty items and fantastic Valentine’s Day gift ideas.
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Etsy seller Daniel McLeod writes “I had an old Atari 2600 that had stopped working and I couldn’t just get rid of it.” Well, of course not! That’d be like getting rid of your own mother because she got old. Classic Ataris should be cherished and repurposed, and that’s what he did. McLeod’s is now an audio dock.
The Soviet architect Vladimir Tatlin wanted to build a massive spiral tower reaching four hundred meters into the sky. Tatlin’s Tower, as the idea was known, was designed to honor the Third International, a communist organization. The tower was never built, but artists Alexei Shulgin and Aristarkh Chernyshev have created this smaller replica that looks like an iPhone. Appropriately, it’s called 3G International:
Tatlin’s work is considered one of the avant-garde icons, whereas iPhone is a bright techno-consumerist icon of today. Back in the 20′s of the last centuries avant-garde artists have invented design as a way to bring art into people’s homes. During the 20′s century designers were gradually taking artistic ideas and implementing them into product design. Today we see companies claiming their products are art objects themselves; art has to re-define its role in the society again. The Monument to 3G links together the beginning and the current state of nearly a century of art-to-design dialogue and follows the strategy of re-claiming the designers’ ideas back into art.
Link -via My Modern Met
Doctor Who iPhone 4 Cases – $35.95 (sold separately)
Attention Doctor Who fans! Are you looking for a unique way to protect your phone and declare your love of everything Doctor Who? You need a Doctor Who iPhone 4 Case from the NeatoShop. These great iPhone 4 snap cases feature your favorite Doctor Who characters. The Doctor Who iPhone 4 case is available in:
Dalek (shown)
and Matt Smith
Be sure to check out the NeatoShop for more amazing Doctor Who items.
Comments Off Siri, the virtual voice assistant from the Iphone 4S, gets to the bottom of what Furby is really saying. Furby laughs in Siri’s faceplate as she tries to solve the furry little creep’s problems. Finally there’s proof that Furby is up to no good.
–via Ology
Words with Friends is a popular game for your smart phone or iPad. I don’t know how well these words would go over in Scrabble (probably not at all), but they will work when you play with your iPhone/Andriod-toting friends!
BRR – The way you tell people that it’s super chilly and the way you tell your WWF opponents that you don’t care what they think of you.
CWM – Oh, boy – pronounced “koom,” it’s another name for a “cirque,” which is a bowl-shaped mountain basin often containing a lake.
HMM – Accepted (in addition to “hm”) as a sound of contemplation. When you’re thinking just a wee bit harder, it’s “hmm” instead of “hm.”
NTH – Having the quality of being the last in a series of infinitely increasing or decreasing values. (As in, “the nth degree.”)
There’s more, with 5, 6, and even 7 letters in this list at mental_floss! Link
Psst, hipsters! Are you tired of the sleek and shiny Apple products mocking your need of ironic gadgetry? Well, fight back with this: iTree by kmkg.
Yes, that's an iPhone and iPod docking station made from a hollowed-out log:
Each iTree is unique – costumers choose the wood, the length and the built-in technology. They can even take a ride through the forest and pick out their own tree. The iTree is then made by hand in the “Steirische Vulkanland” region of southern Austria by carpenters “Tischlerei Lenz”, keeping the iTree local. There are currently three types of iTree – cherry, poplar and spruce – however, almost any kind of wood can be used. The iTree is compatible with any iPhone, iPod docking station, W Lan stream unit or CD player. It can even be fitted out with a turntable.
I saw this selection of iPhone cases that had ears on them, and thought, well, that’s nice, but why? Then I saw this.
The collection is called EARonic from CollabCubed. They were designed by art student Daniela Gilsanz, and will give you a new look -at least on one side of your face! Link -via Laughing Squid
Love your iPhone, but wish it had a homier feel? Never fear – now you can use your best needlework skills to cozy up your case. For just $18, you get an embroidery-friendly case, plus embroidery thread in the appropriate colors to make whichever design you choose. You can also just use their grid paper to make your own design, if you want to take your DIY-ness to the next level. I think the kitties are hilarious, but you could also go more geek-like with Mario or the Apple or Superman logos.
Link via Design.org
What’s the use in taking a cell phone into space? After all, it’s not like there’s a cell tower nearby, and NASA has constant radio contact. But iPhones are going up on the final space shuttle mission in July, because …there’s an app for that.
The app in question is called SpaceLab for iOS (opens iTunes) and might be used in future space missions for some navigation tasks. However, the company notes that on the shuttle mission, the iPhones will not be used for critical navigation. There will be four experiments done with the iPhone and the instructions for the experiments are integrated into the app.
The experiments will include a “limb tracker” that looks at the Earth’s limb (or curved edge) to determine the altitude of the iPhone. A sensor calibration tool will be tested that allows of the calibration of the sensors and gyroscope of the iPhone in space. The app will also be tested to determine latitude and longitude based on photos of the Earth and to test the effects of space radiation on the iPhone RAM.
Used and banged up gadgets are usually considered as ugly by most people, but not to Remy Labesque of design mind’s Object Oriented blog. He considers them "Aged to Perfection" (though that’s not enough to consign the gadgets to the trash heap of obsolescence – or e-waste recycling, after he took the photos):
The truth is that consumer products are ‘new’ for a very brief moment when they are first removed from the packaging, but spend the great majority of their useful lives as ‘used’ products in the process of decay. Many welcome the breaking-in of products like a leather wallet or a pair of jeans as this wear can be aesthetically-pleasing. The Japanese have a term for this, “Wabi-sabi”. Wabi-sabi can be used to describe the aesthetically pleasing wear of an object as it decays over time. It’s a notion that embraces the transience of objects and celebrates the purity of the imperfect. Aging with dignity is a criteria designers should recognize in their efforts. I’m thinking of a future when products are designed not for the brief moment when they are new, but for when they have been aged to perfection.
Cut the Rope is right up there with Angry Birds as far as addicting iPhone games go, don’t you think? If you haven’t been playing it, perhaps this amazing cake from Crazy Beautiful Cakes will inspire you to make a visit to the App Store. There are a bunch of other amazing game-inspired cakes over at Cakewrecks’ Sunday Sweets post today, but this one is by far my favorite.
Link via Cakewrecks
Society6′s Greg Koenig created the Steve Jobs in Carbonite iPhone case, but got a Cease and Desist letter from Apple’s lawyers. So from now on, this piece of awesomeness will live only as images on countless blogs and websites.
Too bad. Via FireWire
Guess who’s silently recording your movements? Charles Arthur of The Guardian broke the story that Apple’s iPhone is keeping track of where you’ve been in a secret file:
"Apple has made it possible for almost anybody – a jealous spouse, a private detective – with access to your phone or computer to get detailed information about where you’ve been," said Pete Warden, one of the researchers.
Only the iPhone records the user’s location in this way, say Warden and Alasdair Allan, the data scientists who discovered the file and are presenting their findings at the Where 2.0 conference in San Francisco on Wednesday. "Alasdair has looked for similar tracking code in [Google's] Android phones and couldn’t find any," said Warden. "We haven’t come across any instances of other phone manufacturers doing this."
Apple as Big Brother? Say it ain’t so, Steve. And while we’re at it, may we remind all you Apple fanboys of the company’s iconic 1984 Apple Macintosh Commercial?
Update 4/22/11: Seems like Android does it too.
Attention, puny humans! Do you need a mobile phone stand that can stand the heat of battle? Qapla’ – look no further than this iPhone stand by David Roy of Voodoo Vintage Fabrication. It looks good sitting next to your chair on the Bird of Prey, and it can probably double as a handy weapon in case you can’t find your Bat’leth: Link – via Make
Tired of having to leave the couch to get beer, Ryan Rusnak came up with a way to have the fridge send it to him with the push of a button.
Working with a pal he turned a fridge in a basic vending machine which dropped chilled beers — and then added a compressed air cannon, web server and iPhone interface.
Now when he wants a beer, he uses his phone to log into the fridge, picks what sort of beer he wants and fires it over to where he is sitting.
How cool is this? We don’t post a lot of iPhone apps, because so many people do not have iPhones (myself for one). However, this is the first app I’ve seen that actually makes me want an iPhone (not that I’m going to buy one). The Word Lens app is a free download, but the dictionaries are $5 each. So far, English to Spanish and Spanish to English are the only dictionaries available. It works with short phrases like signs, not with large blocks of text, like books. Link -via reddit
Many of the iPhone generation used a Speak and Spell toy as their first computer. Now, thanks to Etsy seller blakemedia, you can hark back to those carefree days with a iPhone sticker that looks just like a Speak and Spell! Guaranteed to make all those who see it smile. Link
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Etch A Sketch iPhone 3G/3GS, iPhone 4 ($24.95) and iPad Cases ($39.95)
What do you get when you combine the world’s favorite drawing toy with the world’s hottest gadgets?
The Etch A Sketch iPhone and iPad cases from the NeatoShop will bring new smiles and fond memories to everyone who remembers this favorite childhood toy. But don’t mistake these retro chic cases as being merely stylish – the cases are made from impact resistant ABS plastic, so they provide some serious protection, too.
They make for the perfect Christmas presents for your favorite geek! Link | More Gifts For Geeks (many under $20)
Note: Turns out the creator of these Etch A Sketch cases, Daniel Deutsch, was featured a while ago on Neatorama: he made the drivable Star Wars Landspeeder a couple of years back.
If you send text messages with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod, you may have noticed the annoying autocorrect feature that guesses what word you are trying to say – and is sometimes hilariously wrong. Damn You Autocorrect is a site that collects screencaps of these often incomprehensible assumptions. Some text may be NSFW. Link -via Metafilter
Japanese artist Mio I-zawa, the man responsible for the mechanical tumor computer peripheral, made this umbilical cord for the iPhone. It recharges a phone while quivering ominously.
via Pink Tentacle | Artist’s Website
You’ve got an iPhone, so surely you deserve an iPhone stand that speaks of your high social status. No cheapie stand for you – so, how about one that costs $100?
Enrique Pardo explains how to make your very own origami iPhone stand out of a $100 bill (yes, technically you can also use a George Washington, but where’s the fun in that?)
Hit play or go to Link [embedded YouTube]
Angel Wings Mobile Phone Stand – $9.95
Watching movies on your mobile phone is infinitely better if you’ve got angels helping you. Specifically, this Angel Wings Mobile Phone Stand from the NeatoShop. Simply attach the wings to the back of your mobile phones and you’re ready to go!
Link | More Fun Computer Gadgets
App Magnets – $12.95
You’ve got the best laptop, best smart phone, the best tablet computer … but what about your fridge magnets? Well, don’t be left out of style, hipsters! Check out these App Magnets by Alyssa Zeller over at the NeatoShop. Yes, they’re shaped like your favorite app icons: Link | More Fun Geeky Stuff
Austin Seraphin got an iPhone. Since he is blind, the first thing he did was activate VoiceOver, which reads text out loud. Then later, he tried the Color ID app, which identifies colors picked up by the camera.
I have never experienced this before in my life. I can see some light and color, but just in blurs, and objects don’t really have a color, just light sources. When I first tried it at three o’clock in the morning, I couldn’t figure out why it just reported black. After realizing that the screen curtain also disables the camera, I turned it off, but it still have very dark colors. Then I remembered that you actually need light to see, and it probably couldn’t see much at night. I thought about light sources, and my interview I did for Get Lamp. First, I saw one of my beautiful salt lamps in its various shades of orange, another with its pink and rose colors, and the third kind in glowing pink and red.. I felt stunned.
The next day, I went outside. I looked at the sky. I heard colors such as “Horizon,” “Outer Space,” and many shades of blue and gray. I used color queues to find my pumpkin plants, by looking for the green among the brown and stone. I spent ten minutes looking at my pumpkin plants, with their leaves of green and lemon-ginger. I then roamed my yard, and saw a blue flower. I then found the brown shed, and returned to the gray house. My mind felt blown. I watched the sun set, listening to the colors change as the sky darkened. The next night, I had a conversation with Mom about how the sky looked bluer tonight. Since I can see some light and color, I think hearing the color names can help nudge my perception, and enhance my visual experience. Amazing!
Technology is a wonderful thing. Link -via Metafilter
Etsy seller apjam made this clever albeit unauthorized Homer Simpsons sticker for your Apple iPhone.
The next time your iPhone G4 drops a call, don’t blame Antennagate – it’s probably Homer nom nom nomming the connection.
Nerd Approved has the larger pic: Link or go to apjam’s Etsy shop
This isn’t a typical teardown geekery of popular electronic gadgets: artist Mads Peitersen from Denmark imagined the innards of the iPhone 4 as if it were made from organic matters, not cold-hearted chips and boards.
Walyou has the large pic of Mads’ artwork: iPhone 4 Anatomy and Gaming Controllers and Toaster Anatomy
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The undying devotion of fanboys to Apple is nothing new, but researchers have reframed Apple’s relationship to its consumers/fans into something else: religion.
There are scholars who study Apple’s consumers as religious devotees. Consumer behavior specialists Russell Belk of York University and Gulnur Tumbat of San Francisco State, even put together a framework for assessing Apple’s mystical mythology. The company
was built on four key myths, they argued.Here are the four narratives, as summarized by media scholar Texas A&M’s Heidi Campbell, who distilled their work for her May paper "How the iPhone became divine":
- a creation myth highlighting the counter-cultural origin and emergence of the Apple Mac as a transformative moment;
– a hero myth presenting the Mac and its founder Jobs as saving its users from the corporate domination of the PC world;
– a satanic myth that presents Bill Gates as the enemy of Mac loyalists;
– and, finally, a resurrection myth of Jobs returning to save the failing company…
