Thank-you DigiDNA

Well I didn’t even last a week before blabbering about something iPhone. Ironically this is a post about an application that helps overcome one of the biggest downfalls of the Jesusphone.

FileAid is an iPhone application built by DigiDNA that allows you to transfer files from your PC to your phone essentially giving you usb memory card like storage, particularly appealing since I splurged and bought the 32 GB model.

This alone doesn’t really position FileAid as anything revolutionary as a number of applications allow you to transfer files from Mac, Linux and Windows via WiFi to the iPhone. The genius behind FileAid’s ying is its yang counterpart DiskAid.

DiskAid is a desktop application with support for Mac and Windows (sorry penguin lovers) that allows you to connect to your iPhone via a usb cable and transfer files on to your iPhone assuming you have FileAid installed. This becomes amazingly powerful if you are transferring GBs of data like I had to recently. As the transfer speed of the usb cable blows any WiFi speed out of the water and you only need consult physics to work that out.

the good

FileAid supports all the basic file formats you’d expect allowing you to view documents and even play iPhone supported media internally within the application. It also has a healthy number of options around security and these are accessible via the actual app and not hidden in the settings pane. During WiFi file transfer the iPhone is essentially an anonymous ftp server which is better for transfer speeds. At the moment FileAid a free download to your iPhone via the app store.

DiskAid has a clean interface both in the Mac and Windows version with clearly labelled buttons to allow you to intuitively perform tasks without seeking any help. It automatically detects when the iPhone is plugged in and makes it clear when you’re good to go and can start transferring files and has its own status bar to track progress. DiskAid is available for a free 14 day trial and can be purchased online from the DigiDNA online store for around $10.00.

the bad

FileAid has a number of views and while I might be using it for a specific task they seem unnecessary and more confusing than worthwhile. While I have no issue with the ‘folder’ view strangely the last option, I don’t see a use in sorting all the files on ‘File Type’, ‘Date’ or ‘Name’ particularly if you have a plethora of files as seeming them outside of their folder structure but in alphabetical order for example is plain confusing. I also found it annoying although I’ve come to accept it now that you needed to be in the ‘sharing help’ screen to connect to the iPhone over WiFi from either Mac or Windows.

DiskAid unfortunately requires iTunes to be installed to allow the USB file transfer and this adds to its overall footprint on the host machine.

and the ugly

For some reason FileAid and DiskAid both have different default paths so unless you see the setting in FileAid to ‘Use DiskAid folder instead of FileAid folder for FTP’ it can be frustrating trying to use usb and WiFi transfers in unison and although I solved it eventually I think it’s an ugly design decision. Another ugly side effect of using an anonymous ftp server for file transfer between the Mac and the iPhone is the Mac doesn’t have any simple out of the box anonymous ftp client so the developers suggest you download CyberDuck which is an annoying step if at a mates and wanting to grab a file quickly. Last but not least and I guess more of a criticism of Apples backup process but if you dump a large number of files on your iPhone and then sync with iTunes you’ll end up transferring all those files into a backup of your iPhone which really isn’t necessary.

At the end of the day besides some major short comings as much Apples fault as DigiDNA the FileAid/DiskAid combination provides the much needed usb file transfer feature, and is particularly powerful for large media files and install iso’s as long as you remember to transfer them to your primary machine before backing up your phone with iTunes.

I give it 7/10 and wonder if it is the best usb file transferring solution I’ll ever see on my non-jail broken iPhone ...

New life for an old beast

Only the very keen observer of my gdgt widget or friends and family would know I have an old HP laptop and the old girl is about to get a new breath of life. It’s noisy and heavy and the track-pad doesn’t work but I maxed out the RAM a while ago and it still has enough grunt to be useful. So I’ve ordered a new battery online and am keenly anticipating delivery in a fortnight or so.

It’ll be lucky if it gives me two hours and that is really laughable compared to the seven hours my wife’s new MacBook Pro can churn out, but it is a damn site cheaper than buying a new rig. Besides it will give me more time to find ways of justifying a new laptop and what is more convincing than using your old one in to the ground ...

ponder this 01

If you hold the half flush button to long should you
have just pressed the full flush?

A gimmick to encourage regulars

Now I won’t claim to have done any real research in the field but I have participated in my fair share of electric communities and I think regular features give the fans something to look forward too. So without further ado it is time to announce my own first half baked idea for a regular feature.

“Ponder this” will hopefully feature each weekend and pose a question that for whatever reason I’ve pondered sometime throughout the week, I won’t answer the question but rather leave it open to my audience to appease us all ...

Not Communal!

Well I’m three days into this new communication forum and it’s time for a good old fashion rant!

To set the scene I started a new job around a month ago as a Software Consultant. As is the norm in the IT services industry you don’t always have billable work for all your staff all the time so the metaphor of a ‘bench’ is used to describe anyone between engagements. Think of a basketball game and the interchange players are on the ‘bench’ or colloquially as he say here in Australia on the ‘Pine’.

The thing is while not billable on a client’s site I’m currently commuting to the head office and working on internal projects where applicable, interweaved with the regular HR and administration staff the company uses to keep the place running. As with all workplaces we have a lunchroom well that’s being a little generous it’s more like a lunch alcove but it does have a fridge, microwave, kettle and sandwich toaster.

Given that it's the middle of July and that means middle of winter for us south of the equator folk I’ve gotten into the habit of bringing in a couple of sandwiches and toasting them up.

Following good toasted sandwich practice I leave the bread unbuttered and come toasting time I butter the outsides of the bread place it in the toaster and bob’s my uncle. That was until today! Today was a dark day for my toasted sandwich routine! After taking my sandwich from the fridge and plugging in the toaster I turned back to the fridge for the margarine that was conveniently in there. Only to find a note attached to the top of the tub ‘Not Communal’

I mean seriously how can margarine not be communal? It's not like a bar fridge should have 18 tubs of margarine in it or anything. I was tempted to secure $5.00 to the top of the freaking tub and use it anyway but I figured why rustle feathers when you're only in that office on the odd occasion. Surely a little give and take would be appropriate here.

It's like a slither of margarine a day for crying out loud ...

So that’s a wrap.

Now I can see how one might fear that after a single post that I’m throwing in the towel. I’m actually referring to the fact that my wife and I watched our last episode of Arrested Development last night, the finale to season 3 and the whole series in general.

It is probably one of the more unique comedies ever produced by American screen writers. I found your usual run of the mill American comedy will have around two maybe three plot lines per episode. The main two characters are followed and auxiliary characters provide support comedy and a change of pace.
This just isn’t the case with Arrested Development sure they lean on ‘series’ wide jokes to add to the laughs they still manage to set up a barrage of events between characters only to have them interweave in unpredictable ways come the end of that episode.

It really is refreshing to see such good consistent writing evident to even a layman such as myself. It seems I'm not the only one the show impressed with it snagging a number of Emmy awards and a Golden Globe.

I'll be keeping an eye out for the creater of the show Mitchell Hurwitz previous and future works. If you’re yet to check it out I highly recommend all three seasons ...

... another blog is born!

There is undoubtedly millions of first blog posts littered throughout the interweb. What makes this post so special you ask? Well friends, family and random browsers of the world wide web the reason this post is so unique is that it is my very first attempt at blog sphere stardom!

I'll be honest with you up front as this is as much an exercise in personal growth as a social experiment in whether I can hold a captivated audience.

It has also been a rocky start not only did I have to overcome the dilemma on what to title my blog and secure a catchy url that even my parents might remember. I then managed not once but twice to lose all that I had typed in to my first post by being lured into the browsers Google search field, particularly embarrassing for a guy who calls himself a software consultant. If you don’t tell anyone I won’t.

I hope to be humorous, honest and even interesting at times as I try to capture my enthusiasm for a range of topics I find enjoyable. I also suspect a collection of rants and raves about a range of topics that boil my blood or simply annoy me at the time.

Let the experiment begin...