iPhone

…if you are a hipster that is

In addition to looking stylish, if you are a hipster, the BookBook for iPhone also acts as a fully functional wallet.

They also have the BookBook for iPads.

I have a new iPhone and I downloaded the Instagram app to have a bit of  a play.

When I went for a walk today out along Bucklands Beach I saw this digger had been driven into the sea, presumably by some louts thinking it would be fun.

That is the original photo (click to enlarge)

Now this is what Instagram did to the photo after a bit of play with some settings.

I think I may just add a regular feature of fun snaps.

I have had heaps of requests for a mobile friendly site. I can now confirm that the new Whalemobile site is live.

You can view your favourite blog and comment from your iPhone, Blackberry, iPad or other smart device at whalemobile.gotcha.co.nz

Let me know how it goes….I’ve been testing it for a couple of weeks , along with a select group of fans.

Still looking for that sponsor for my new Blackberry….anyone?…anyone?

The UAE doesn’t need to ban Blackberry phones, they just need to make users of the phones use them with a Blackberry Burqa.

The Blackberry Burqa

New laws in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will require that every Blackberry user dress their phone a miniature burqa and face veil.

‘The Blackberry burqa means that people can still use their phones,’ said a Saudi government official, ‘but the tiny niqab that covers the screen will stop them from reading emails or accessing the Internet.’

The introduction of the burqa is intended to conceal the Blackberry from unwanted attention. With the veil in place only a tiny slit remains revealing just the time and date, thus preserving its modesty.

‘This is not about censorship or oppression,’ said UAE telecommunications regulator Mohammed al-Ghanem, ‘this is about preserving the essential purity of the Blackberry and protecting it from being corrupted.’

Some businessmen believe that making their phone wear a burqa can be very liberating. ‘It’s great,’ said one, ‘with the veil in place I am free to walk about with my Blackberry in public without the feeling that people are staring lustily at my multi-media application. It also covers my shame for not owning an iPhone.’

Some religious groups have welcomed the policy. ‘If Allah had meant us to freely access the Internet He would have given us web browsers in our heads,’ said a local imam, adding ‘There is absolutely no mention of instant messaging in the Koran and at no point did Muhammad, or any of his eleven wives, ever say LOL, ROFL or PMSL.’

If the Blackberry burqa is successful it may spread to other countries. However, experts say that dressing your phone in a burqa could result in poor reception, especially in France and Belgium.

I don’t want an iPhone. I like my Blackberry just fine, and now I will explain why I don’t want an iPhone, ever.

Major Reason: Security – PIN, encoded messaging and browsing.

UAE to ban Blackberry email, web browsing and messaging.

Citing national security concerns, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced that it will soon ban e-mail, web browsing and messaging for the BlackBerry smartphone.

“In the public interest, we have today informed the providers of telecommunications services in the country of our decision to suspend the Blackberry services of messenger, email and electronic browsing,” stated Mohammed al-Ghanem, the chief of the UAE’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

“Today’s decision is based on the fact that, in their current form, certain BlackBerry services allow users to act without any legal accountability, causing judicial, social and national-security concerns,” continued the government’s statement. According to al-Ghanem, “It’s a final decision,” but they are continuing discussions with Canadian-based Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the BlackBerry device.

That is one major hell yeah reason why I want a Blackberry. Authoritarian, nosy, snoopy governments can’t read my data. The major plus is that Research in Motion has refused to buckle to such big brother bullying. If I am going to rely on something for my communications then i want to know that the provider of the technology won’t sell out on it’s consumers.

At the heart of the ban is the method in which RIM handles BlackBerry data. Unlike most phones, BlackBerry data is encrypted and routed overseas through RIM’s network center in Canada. This has been a major point of contention for several nations, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and India, because it means that these nations cannot monitor the encrypted data being sent. According to The Wall Street Journal, the ban came after RIM rejected the idea of setting up a proxy server within the UAE.

Data security and privacy is important, and it is something Apple and Microsoft suck at. kudos to research in Motion for looking after its consumers.

Ban on BlackBerry data a security badge of honor
By Glenn Chapman (AFP)

SAN FRANCISCO — Security experts have said that banning BlackBerry data service in the United Arab Emirates smacks of political backlash and could be a testament to how hard it is to snoop on that network.

“The BlackBerry security model is very different from other phones,” said Kevin Mahaffey of Lookout mobile security firm.

“It is end-to-end and the encryption is so strong nobody knows how to monitor it.”

Canada-based Research In Motion built its own platform for business customers that encrypts BlackBerry email messages and routes them in a way that keeps the data off limits from even telecom firms that carry the transmissions.

“They have such good security that I think some countries are uncomfortable with the fact that they can’t intercept it,” said Lookout chief executive John Hering.

While iPhones have been all the rage with smartphones users thrilled by games, social networking, video watching and other casual uses, BlackBerry has remained a favorite for business people craving secure wireless communications.

Leave the iPhones to the kids. There is a reason why sensible government ministers use Blackberrys. The media is supporting Blackberry too.

Blackberry pickle: RIM should resist snoops

THE last thing Research in Motion should do is kowtow to authoritarian governments. The smartphone maker on Tuesday tried to create some buzz around the New York launch of its revamped product (the BlackBerry Torch is widely touted as the answer to the Apple iPhone). But the real buzz was over whether the Canadian company was caving in to pressure for it to sacrifice some of its vaunted consumer security to satisfy the demands of state security.

The United Arab Emirates, which boasts 500,000 BlackBerry users — not to mention a fair chunk of the 100,000 visitors a day who pass through the Gulf states — is threatening to suspend vital BlackBerry applications like email and Internet browsing unless the firm makes it easier for the government to monitor encrypted BlackBerry communications.

Kuwait has expressed similar concerns and has given RIM a list of 3,000 so-called porn sites it wants the firm to block from its smartphones in the country. Meanwhile, RIM is reportedly compromising with the government of India by sharing technical codes for corporate email services. (India, at least, is a genuine democracy.)

At issue is RIM’s closed communication network. The firm processes users’ encrypted messages through its own centres in Canada and the U.K. and does not use the open Internet for transmissions, so BlackBerrys are less vulnerable to electronic surveillance.

Governments that like to keep an eye on their citizens are frustrated and claim the BlackBerry can enable criminal behaviour or terrorist plots, although terrorists are far better at carrying out attacks with low-tech means. The real concern is the fact that BlackBerrys can empower citizens to organize opposition to authoritarian governments.

I say to governments, including our own, keep you beady distrustful eyes out of my communications. And on that front, I note that Blackberry has released their new Torch.

A note to loyal fans thinking of buying a present for The Whale…a Blackberry Torch looks like the business for me. Thanks in advance.

Damien Christie is more than a little pissed off with Apple

The Mangrove still has firm roots in Napier, much to the relief of husbands nationwide.

Settled science: Can everyplace really be warming much faster than everyplace else?

Doesn’t look like the Arctic is going to be ice-free this year.

Blair Mulholland should get divorced more often.

The piss fairy has visited Andrew Williams again, why must it always be when he is writing a presser.

Andrew Williams is a bigger trougher than Len Brown, at least we know who he drinks with, Len isn’t so forth-coming with information.

Yet another name for Bradford’s Wall of Shame, Silly First Name Syndrome strikes again, and Maori keep bashing their kids. That anti-smacking law is saving these kids real well.

Child Mullets are child abuse

Apple has budgeted millions for the provision of bumpers for their rooted iPhone 4.0 antenna design. The product is essentially unfit for its intended purpose unless the attenuation is sorted.

Now another company is cashing in on the poor antenna design.

On Friday, Steve Jobs announced that part of Apple’s response to the whole iPhone 4 antenna problem would be to offer free cases for all iPhone 4 owners. However, if you don’t like the idea of having your beautiful phone marred by a bumper or other case, consider this adorable (and inexpensive) option to masking tape or silicon: the Antenn-aid.

Antenn-aids are described by the seller as “custom vinyl sitcker[s] for your iPhone 4.” The Band-Aid for your iDevice is designed to be placed over the lower left corner of the antenna. And while the seller takes great pains to ensure that buyers understand that the Antenna-aid is for entertainment purposes only, chances are, the solution will work at least as well as tape or another type of protective covering.

The bandages are being sold in packs of six for $4.99. Each Antenna-aid is a different color so you can color-coordinate.

How useful (or not) the decals actually are is kind of irrelevant. We’re just really taken by the ingenuity and creativity of such a creation. As much as I love my iPhone 4, I still find the idea of having to have a bandage for the device just to make a phone call (assuming you hold your phone while touching the problem areas) absolutely hysterical.

Smart Thinking

I think it is ridiculous that a brand new device that millions have bought is essentially faulty from the get go. What is more ridiculous is that Apple thinks that they can just shrug their shoulders and get away with it.

Rifle: Barrett M82A1
Round: .50 BMG 647gr M33 ball cartridge

Apparently Apple Care doesn’t cover .50cal bullet-holes.

I see no logical reason why Steve Jobs has decided that iPhone tethering for wireless internet access to an iPad is a no go, but he has.

from Mashable

The succinct answer was communicated by Jobs via email (from his iPhone) to Jezper Söderlund of Sweden who emailed Jobs to ask, “Will the wifi-only version somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?”

9to5Mac has both emails in question, along with email header information, and all indications point to the one word buzz-kill response being legit. You can read the text of the email inquiry and Jobs’ response below:

Söderlund’s email:

I’ll keep it short.

I’m Jezper from Sweden, a long time Apple fan, currently about to replace the very last computer at home with a brand spanking new iMac i7. I’m also awaiting the release of the iPad. However, I have one question:

Will the wifi-only version somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

Two devices, based on the same OS, with already built-in technology to share one data plan suggests a secondary contract could possibly be redundant.

From the look of your keynote, where the iPad sits well between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, I was hoping the three of them could interact as seamless as possible.

All the best,
Jezper Söderlund[a famous DJ in his own right]

Jobs’ response:

No.

Sent from my iPhone

The bottom line is that those of you who were hoping to buy the cheaper WiFi version of the iPad and tether your iPhone for 3G Internet access are out of luck.

I’d say that has pretty much screwed the iPad here in New Zealand where we are ripped off by our two biggest carriers for wireless data. This decision means essentially that the costly iPhone data plan would be applicable to the iPad. The idea of paying a per device monthly wireless Internet fee is suckful in the extreme. I call D.O.A.

Labour selecting candidate today – The Labour Party will this morning be selecting its candidate to fill the Mt Albert seat, vacated by former Prime Minister Helen Clark. The party is facing challenges from National, the Greens, ACT, the Kiwi Party and the Legalise… [NZ Herald Politics]

This is a heads-up, advance warning if you will, about breaking revelations concerning more revealing information about parachute candidate David Shearer.

Watch this space!