For what it’s worth, I thought I’d chime in with some predictions regarding the iPad 3.
The iPad 3 will have a Retina Display. This is a no-brainer. The lack of Retina Display is why I skipped the iPad 2. It’s long overdue.
Based on Apple’s iterative nature, I suspect the iPad 3 will have the A5X (dual-core) processor, and not the quad-core A6 many are speculating it will have. I think the A6 will come with the next iPhone rather than the iPad 3.
I also think the exterior case design will be nearly identical to the iPad 2. There are some rumors indicating that it might be a bit thicker—I think that’s entirely possible, but the overall shape will be the same, and the Smart Cover will still work. The cameras in the iPad 3 will be nearly identical, if not the exact same, cameras as the iPad 2. I do not expect the iPhone 4 camera in there, let alone the 4S camera.
With the same case design, they might get away with calling it the iPad 2S. I’d be okay with that. I don’t really like the name “iPad 3.” I wonder how long it will be before they do away with numbers entirely and just unveil “the new iPad.”
Finally, there is no way they are going to sell a non-Retina version of the iPad 3 alongside the Retina version. What they’ll do is continue to sell the iPad 2. They will sell only the 16 GB Wi-Fi model, and it will probably sell for $399. It’s possible it might go for $349, but I’d be impressed if this were the case.
UPDATE: I neglected to speculate about the inclusion of LTE. This one could go either way, but I’ll take a chance here and say “yes.”
I have some great news to share. It appears that DRWHOremixer has closed his YouTube account down, at least for the time being. All of his videos are inaccessible, and his channel has been closed. I can’t guarantee that he will remain gone, as he used this exact tactic last year to get people off his back, but in any case, this is great news. Thanks to everyone for their assistance with this.
Make no mistake, though—if he returns, we’ll be right there with him.
As some of you may have noticed, the site received a modest refresh today. I streamlined the CSS considerably, removing a couple of unnecessary visual flourishes I had in there that created a bit of overhead (like the fade-to-black gradient over the bottom of the page) and hopefully optimizing it for faster loading.
On top of that, the most noticeable change is probably that I am now supplementing my use of Helvetica on the site with fonts from TypeKit, a really cool service I hadn’t had a chance to try out until now.
It’s a relatively minor update, but it keeps the site looking good and clean, which is always my goal. Feel free to ping me on Twitter if you have any comments.
I was actually worried about this before I started. I’d been having two or more drinks a night most nights for weeks. I was worried I had a problem, and that’s part of the reason I did this in the first place. But, as it turned out, giving it up was a piece of cake. I occasionally missed it when out with family or friends I would normally drink with, but at home I found that I didn’t miss it at all.
What was different without alcohol?
It may or may not come as a surprise that a lot was different without alcohol. It practically eliminated my depression. It boosted my energy levels. I started waking up in the morning with time to myself, to relax and spend how I chose, instead of rolling out of bed and out the door. I got home from work and did stuff, instead of winding down and passing out so fast. I watched movies with friends over the internet. I worked on my website. I rebuilt my computer’s audio setup. I got things done, and I felt better about all of it.
What about now?
I’m back “on” alcohol, if you can call it that, albeit with a much heightened appreciation for not having too many, and not choosing to drink at all. I was in no hurry to pick back up when March 1 rolled around, and in fact, I didn’t really touch anything until last night. Even then, I just had three beers, when I suspect I previously would have hit around five.
Was it worth it?
Hell yes. I had fallen into a cycle, and cycles are usually good things to break. This one certainly was. I have zero desire to start keeping beer at home again, not because it would be a problem, but because there are better ways to spend my time and my money. I’ve learned not to drink alone at home, and I’ve learned to drink less when I’m with the people I care about. And I think that not only makes me better, but more true to myself as well.
I feel more focused, more productive, and more energetic almost all the time these days, and I have the lack of alcohol to thank for that. No other major factors in my life changed over that month, and for the first time, I didn’t angle for an increase in antidepressants.
Alcohol might be fun, but it does damage. The more regularly you drink, the more that damage becomes psychological rather than physical (though not exclusively). And those factors come together to make regular drinking a bad idea.
If you’re thinking about trying the same thing, stop thinking and just do it. You’ll learn a lot about yourself, and you’ll come out the other side stronger and more sure of yourself.
But despite EasyDNS and others’ outrage, the U.S. government says it’s gone that route hundreds of times. Furthermore, it says it has the right to seize any .com, .net and .org domain name because the companies that have the contracts to administer them are based on United States soil, according to Nicole Navas, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman.
Good thing I have dannystewart.me ready to go if they decide to pull some shit.
Last week marked the announcement of the new iPad. I wanted to do a quick writeup to see how well I did with my predictions.
First, I was right about the Retina Display, but I don’t get much credit for that as it was pretty obvious. I was also mostly right about the CPU; it is the A5X and not the A6, though the GPU is labeled “quad-core” (though I have no idea what that means). The case design I got too, and the Smart Cover does still work.
My big misstep was regarding the camera. I thought (and almost hoped) that the cameras wouldn’t be upgraded significantly. Not because I don’t want good cameras, but because anyone who uses their iPad to take serious pictures or videos is a moron. I was kind of hoping Apple would deliberately discourage use of the iPad for anything but FaceTime.
I also would like to sort of take some credit for the name. In my original post I said I wondered how long it would be before they just unveiled “the new iPad,” and that’s exactly what they unveiled last week. So hey, go me.
I also assumed that they would only sell the Wi-Fi iPad 2, but they’re continuing to sell the 3G one as well for $529, which I think is smart of them.
And finally, they did go with LTE, as I guessed. The reason I thought it was a pretty good possibility was because the iPad’s physical size and enormous battery would allow for relatively easy integration of current LTE chipsets, which I hear are large and like gobbling up battery power.
The iPhone was more questionable in terms of including LTE, but I think the iPad has tipped their hand, and I doubt that LTE will skip a generation in the iPhone.
And finally, yes, I did get one. For now, I got the black 16 GB on AT&T. Depending on how quickly I eat up that 16 GB of space (which, based on my current iPad, is going to be pretty quick), I may “encourage” my dad to buy a 32 GB iPad and then trade him. It will be here Friday, and I haven’t been this excited for the arrival of an Apple product since I went out to buy my MacBook Air.
The Google I was passionate about was a technology company that empowered its employees to innovate. The Google I left was an advertising company with a single corporate-mandated focus.
More transparency about Apple’s overseas operations. Corporate philanthropy for the first time in years. A dividend and stock buyback program. Oh, and continuing to roll out amazing products one after the other. Let no one say Tim Cook isn’t putting his own mark on Apple.
It’s official: from March 26 to April 9, I will be in the awesome Brighton, England with the awesome Josef Kenny. If you’d like to set something up with me while I’m there, drop me an email so we can work something out.
Because things like Twitter, iMessage and more tie people together. Spending “actual” time together is just a bonus, really.
Wonderful little article on how the internet brings people together, and how you don’t need to know someone in person to call them your friend. My best friend in the world lives 4000 miles away and we’ll be meeting for the first time this week.
