We all knew it was coming, but we probably have no idea how little know, and what to expect. I am of course talking about the September 9th Apple Keynote. Every year Apple has held a Keynote around this time in September to introduce their new hardware, more specifically new iPhones. We (by we I mean all the denizens of the internet and beyond) were all guessing that this year won’t be different. Oh boy, were we wrong. Well I can’t say for a fact yet, but come September 10th 2-4am Japan time, and I will be able to say that we were.
Happy birthday Miku!! You have been with us for the past 7 years, singing amazing songs which we will remember forever. And of course good work with the concert yesterday. It was amazing!
This year was the second Magical Mirai, this year held in both Osaka and Tokyo. Together with Tac, Dale, and Mary we went to see Miku preform live on stage. But not only did we get to see an amazing performance, but there was also an exhibition of Vocaloid related art, goods, and other things.
Apple just released a new ad showing their MacBook lineup. But not like other tech companies, they did not focus on the tech specs, or trying to explain how why their computer is superior to the competition, no. They just showed up how people, most likely young people, decorate their laptops with decals (vinyls, stickers). Simple message: our laptop is hip, our laptop is popular with teenagers and students, cause they can be creative.
And thats exactly why I love Apple.
Here is the video: Stickers
The world is innovating, you can see signs of new futuristic technology everywhere. From smartphones and tablets to self driving cars and climate control cities. This thing you see is also a small glimpse of the future, the future of Russian transport, more specifically trams. It is called project АТОМ and this tram is designed to be a new standard for all trams in Russia within the next 3 years. This project caught my eye, when someone on reddit linked to this guys livejornal blog where he explains how this home made (90% of parts made in Russia) is a breakthrough in Russian transport systems and when it gets implemented it will change the way people use trams in big cities not only in Russia, but also all over the world.
The design of the tram both outside and inside is black, with grey and brown seats inside and linoleum flooring. In all honesty I like the design, but not a big fan of the color, I think they should make it a bit brighter as black is rather frightening, especially at night. The tram reminds me of something from Robocop or Judge Dredd.
What do you think, should this sleek, black coated futuristic apparatus be put into mass manufacturing and set on the streets, or should they re-think their design?
There are a lot of instant messaging apps around like: WhatsApp, Line, WeeChat, Viber, Skype, FB Messenger, etc. But this app caught my attention because of the promise they make. The promise of privacy. Telegram promises to provide the user with a encrypted messaging service that helps you protect your private information not only from the american government, but also from your friends. It has an option, similar to what Snapchat offers with its photos, a setting that will self destruct the message after a certain period of time, such as 5 seconds.
My new years resolution was to be more organised and get more control over my money. And the one thing that helped me achieve this goal was the App – Numbers.
Even though I masterly avoided using any Microsoft software throughout university so far, ever since I started working, I was required to use Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Mainly when dealing with numbers and calculations, I was told to use Excel, even though I have never used it in my life (never had the need so to say). Well That help me get an understanding of how spreadsheets work, but to be honest, it wasn’t a very pleasant experience. Of course many people will argue that the functionality of Excel is all that matters, but alas no, if the design is bad, then I don’t feel I want to use the application any more then I have to.
Currently all schools in Latvia are required to use this online grading system called E-klasse.lv which is run by the company DAEC. When I was still in high school (almost 4 years ago), all the teachers had to put the students marks and grades into both a paper journal and into this online system, but as I have heard from my mother, now they are only using this online system. Of course this has its benefits and make it easier to access to both students and their parents, but there are also obvious risks as well. Unlike UTS which uses a very complicated and secure system to store all the university students marks, e-klasse is not as big and I highly doubt it is as secure as what my university has to offer. Anyway, that is beside the point, what I want to tell you about it the absurd story that happened to one of our students (former student of Rigas 10th Secondary School) when he tried to improve the user experience when using this online grading tool.
I have had my blog for a year and a half now, first post being on the 20th of May 2012. In this time I have managed to change web hosts and themes. Now I believe is the perfect time to improve the design I have been using ever since I moved from wordpress.com to private web hosting – Wild Flower. Today, on the 25th of December, I would like to present my new blog theme Ring-O.
In 2012 I wrote a blog post with a video titled “Embrace the Remix” and today I saw iDownloadBlog write about another video made by the same guy covering the iPhone and iOS. It is fascinating to watch these videos and to see how much technology has evolved over the years and how it is continuing to grow even further. I would recommend everyone to watch the whole series which you can find on Kirby Ferguson’s Vimeo
My friend Sebastian mentioned me in a tweet saying that I should also write up a post describing my blog life. After a week or so of contemplating, I decided why the hell not.
When did you first start blogging and why?
My first blog post dates back to May 20th 2012, however I did write up a few anime reviews on my Google+ account, which I later on transferred here so that people can read. Why? …. hmmmm I guess because In the first year of uni I meat Ruben and he showed me his awesome blog. Ruben is my sempai and I respect him a lot, in him I saw someone who I wanted to be when I was his age (IT wise), and so I started little by little – from making a blog to writing small apps as a hobby.