Things we like

Been a while, work and Cocoa have not really allowed me to do a lot of posting, but I intend to slowly pick it up again as my motto for this year is to share more since so many people provide me with so many useful things. Today I'm sharing my modified IPCC file for the iPhone OS 3.0 (beta, you need to have a developer account with Apple) that allows you to use MMS and tethering if you have a corporate subscription with Vodafone NL and you're using it on your iPhone.

Download it here and remove the .zip extension. In iTunes with the iPhone connected hold the 'alt' key and click on the 'Check for Update' button, select your IPCC file in the dialogue that comes up, hit OK and you're good to go after a 3-4 second upload process :-)

Posted by robert at 12:29 AM | Permalink

We have moved to Porta Genova (yay!) recently and we need the occasional break. While packing I ran into this broken cat robot and on my quest to weight reduction decided that the cat's days were numbered... time to take out the cat's internals to see what sensor goodness it has to offer.

Today's harvest? A touch sensor, a microphone, a mini speaker, 2 LEDs, a DC motor and the logic board with a microcontroller. One day these will come in handy.

Continue reading "Toy Story" »

Posted by robert at 01:33 PM | Permalink

This is the first time we've seen an NFC implementation out in the wild. Unfortunately we did not have an NFC-equipped phone to test it.

We're in Singapore now but tonight we will fly to Trivandrum, India. Woooo!

Posted by Yasmina at 09:37 AM | Permalink

At Milan's Centrale FS on my usual commute to Turin yesterday, I saw an elderly couple on the escalator parallel to mine. The man had on a blue batik shirt that caught my eye, and something about they were dressed and carried themselves gave me the impression that they were seasoned travelers. We chatted on our way to our respective train platforms; their train was next to mine.

The man had bought the shirt in Malaysia, he spoke basic bahasa Indonesia, and I was the second person in Milan that morning that had asked him about his shirt. They are Swiss Germans and were heading back home that day after spending time in Italy.

I love seeing older generations actively traveling; this couple seemed to be in their late 60s-early 70s and although they seemed active and healthy and independent, I wonder if in some ways they had needs still unfulfilled in today's travel context. Interesting subject to explore further. I hope when I'm their age, I'll still be traveling around like them.

In the meantime, I'll be digging up old posts on the elderly on the Putting People First blog.

Posted by Yasmina at 03:52 PM | Permalink

This is one of our favourite products. We bought this classic portable Philips record player on a flee-market in Den-Bosch (in the Netherlands) and it still works beautifully. A battery compartment and a handle allow you take take it to the beach. I've seen it in a Dutch TV show ('Wintertijd') where they used a blue one. It also reminds me of the in-car Philips record player in the brilliant Home Road movie by Robert Bradbrook.

Continue reading "Philips Vinyl Player" »

Posted by robert at 03:24 PM | Permalink

We have not started this project yet, but it's on the To Do list... We intend to convert this classic rotary phone into a mobile phone using this tutorial from Makezine. We bought this great-looking phone from 2 little children during a street-sale here in Italy.

Posted by robert at 03:12 AM | Permalink