___________________ Dave Hamilton: So, you’re with a company called “The Soulmen,” and you’ve been developing … interesting apps. Text editors, a kid’s music player, and that sort of thing. Tell me a little bit about where that started and how it all happened. Max Seelemann: You know, we started ten years ago. Actually I got…
John Martellaro
John Martellaro was born at an early age and began writing about computers soon after that. With degrees in astrophysics (B.S.) and physics (M.S.), he has worked for NASA, White Sands Missile Range, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Apple. At Apple he worked as a Senior Marketing Manager, a Federal Account Executive and a High Performance Computing manager. His interests include chess, science fiction and astronomy. John is the host of the TMO podcast Background Mode.
Articles by John Martellaro
Post WWDC: Flying Supersonic with the Gear Down
If you watch the keynote, you’ll see that the plan, as always, is to show developers how they can delight their customers with Apple products. This is in contrast to the traditional PC industry where cut-throat pricing and a drive to the bottom of the market doesn’t provide the excellence and capability needed for modern…
WWDC: FadingRed Finds Opportunity in Bad Backup Habits
Dave Hamilton: So…I think the best place to start is with what we were chatting about a little while ago, an app called Senuti. Brittany Tarvin: Sure. I met my co-founder, Whitney Young, who’s the original creator of Senuti when we were in college together. So, he was kinda doing that on the side. And…
WWDC: The Evolution & Struggles of a Small Developer: Ecamm Network
______________ Dave Hamilton: I’m here with Glen Aspeslagh from Ecamm Network at WWDC. So, Glen, you’ve been developing apps for a long time for the Mac — and, as history goes, for a long time for iOS now too. And it seems like your niche is doing things that people wouldn’t otherwise think to do…
In Search of New Website Tools to Replace iWeb, Part II
_________ Last year, I launched the initial discussion of this conversion process in “In Search of New Web Site Tools to Replace iWeb, Part I.” In that article, I pointed to Apple’s FAQ that shows which legacy services would migrate to iCloud and which would not. iWeb publishing is not on the migration list. That…
NOAA Radar US App Shows Weather Radar & Warnings
The NOAA Radar US app for iOS shows the local terrain and weather radar images. Colored quadrilaterals outline regions of watches and warnings. The app is a must in stormy weather. Recently, in the Denver region, we’ve had some very bad weather — tornados and hail storms. I found myself wanting more specific information about…
Today, the Internet is a Little Better with IPv6
__________________________________ For various technical reasons and because the Internet is running out of assignable addresses, the Internet community has decided to move from what’s called IPv4 with 4.3 billion addresses to IPv6 which has more than 1038 addresses. To find out more and how this may affect you, refer to “A Layman’s Guide to the…
The Unintended Consequences of a Post-PC Era
_____________________For example, we always knew that it was a fantasy to believe that a notebook computer alone, even with large storage directly attached, is really the right device to store a massive family archive. iCloud is a store and forward, syncing cloud. Apple doesn’t have room for your terabyte collection of videos. Families of the…
F18 Carrier Landing (iOS) is a Boatload of Fun
Landing a jet fighter on an aircraft carrier is one of the hardest things humans do. So it’s a great candidate for a game, both as a challenge and as a sobering introduction to the real thing. This game has great visuals and is easy to fly, but it’s not really a technical flight simulator.…
Casellet: iPhone 4S Case and Wallet Combined
The Casellet is an iPhone case integrated with a wallet that can conceal a small amount of cash or credit cards. It’s perfect for those occasions when you need your iPhone (4 or 4S) but don’t want to carry a wallet or purse. Photo by the authorThe polycarbonate case has two chambers. One side is…
An Inconvenient Truth About E-books
I’ve been thinking about this in bits and pieces, but haven’t put it all together. Here’s my central thesis: Paper books, in some form, have been with us for thousands of years, albeit hand copied. With the advent of the Gutenberg press in the 15th century, we transitioned to type based printing presses. It’s only…
F-Sim Space Shuttle for iOS: A Superb Flight Simulator
Sometimes there are apps that are so amazing, so well done, so technically pleasing, that one is in awe. Such is the case for F-Sim’s Space Shuttle landing simulator. The graphics on a retina display are astounding. The technical depth is amazing. If you’ve ever wanted to experience what it’s like to land the Space…
Products I’m Wishing for These Days
These aren’t pie in the sky ideas. They’re just products that don’t exist yet, and for whatever reason, haven’t arrived. Here’s my wish list in no particular order. 1. New MacPro. I always want to have the fastest Mac because, well, I often feel the need for speed. I’d like to see a new Mac…
Tim Cook’s Style is Working, Bloggers Are Not
Let’s face it, Steve Jobs could often be hard to work with. The facts are that he could be abrasive and arrogant, and that sometimes made it hard for Apple to work with other executives. Mr. Cook’s style is very different, and while he’s demanding and tough, he’s also able to negotiate with other human…
The Mother Eats Her Young: iPad vs. MacBook
Could the iPad really cannibalize the MacBook line into extinction? Could there be a resurgence of the desktops? Let’s see where it all goes. __________________ Good ideas are seldom fully defined in a single article. There’s never enough room (or reader patience) to explore every aspect of an issue. It’s really a collective body of…
Steve Jobs Patent Exhibit to Open at Smithsonian
According to the Smithsonian’s Newsdesk on May 1, “The exhibit, a display of 30 4-by-8-foot panels made to resemble iPhones, showcases more than 300 patents and trademarks granted to Jobs throughout this career. Each panel displays facsimiles of the front pages of 12 patents granted to Jobs, totaling 312 of the 317 he acquired in…
Video Spoofs Tim Cook’s Convergence Putdown: Froaster
During the April 24, 2012 Apple Financial Results Conference Call, Tim Cook responded to an analyst question about a possible Apple hybrid product, one that can be used as both a MacBook and an iPad. He responded: Well, I think anything can be forced to merge. But the problem is that the products are about…
Astronomy Buddy for iOS is Unfriendly
Astronomy Buddy is an iPhone or iPad app that describe itself as “the ultimate tool” for learning about astronomy as well as a helper for teachers. It includes lessons, quizzes, news feeds, astronomy videos and maps to the major observatories. However, the visual presentation and depth of explanatory material are not well matched. The Home…
No FridgeToaster for You: Let the iPad Evolve
All evolution in thought and conduct must at first appear as heresy and misconduct.” — George Bernard Shaw During Apple’s Financial Results Conference Call on Tuesday, Tim Cook dismissed the idea of a hybrid device, the convergence of the MacBook and an iPad. He clearly stated, “We’re not going to that party.” I think the…
Apple Falls Behind in Home Networking
Another issue has been that the industry tends to work together on standards, hash out issues, and obtain a sense of where certain technologies are going. Sometimes, becoming embroiled in issues like that can hold Apple back. Or distract them from a prudent focus. As a result, Apple would be conspicuously absent from many of…
Bluefire E-book Reader for iPad - Revisited
Here are the significant changes in version 1.7. Support for the new iPad Retina display Support for external hyperlinks in ePUB and PDF titles New on-screen swipe (up/down) for brightness control Improved side-loading Improved support for editing metadata Support for multiple Adobe IDs Unlike other e-book readers, Bluefire uses a bitmap for the display. With…
Explore the Sky with the Best: SkySafari for iPad
With spring upon us and the constellation Orion hanging gloriously in the western sky at sunset, it’s a great time to explore the night sky with a telescope or binoculars and a personal guide to the sky on your iPad. SkySafari 3 is a dynamic star chart that will help you identify stars, planets, nebulae…
Tim Cook Challenge: Fix Apple’s Security Mentality
As we know, for a long time Apple touted the superiority of OS X security. Of course, there were some obscure holes that could be exploited by experts like Charlie Miller at the annual DEF CON Conference. By and large, however OS X has been pretty good in the past, compared to Windows XP because…
Google Glass vs. the Vision of Steve Jobs
There’s been a lot of excitement about the Google Glass Project in the past 24 hours. Here are some thoughts._____________ There’s a lot of what I call technology wall sticking going around. Someone gets an idea and, sure enough, the technology to build a prototype (or create a concept with CGI) is available. With YouTube…