Way back in 2008, David Carrington created Dabr - a really simple mobile website for accessing Twitter. Dabr@dabrFact of the month: @dabr is now 5 years old! Born in August 2008 when @davidcarrington was inspired by @Whatleydude.❤️ 7💬 10🔁 013:59 - Mon 16 September 2013 In those days, Twitter had a kick-arse API and were happy for people to build exciting new services on it. I was eager to contr…
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tl;dr - If a mobile web browser recognises an Emoji, it should display it natively. If not, it should fall back to a supplied web font. Is this possible? When Android and iOS find Emoji in text, rather than display them as black-and-white fonts, they show them off in gorgeous colour. For example, the unicode smilie is ☺. Depending on your system, it will look something like this: From Tim W…
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I can only assume that on their first day at Google, new employees are given their Android phone, a ChromeBook, a self-driving car, and complementary Laser Eye Surgery. That's my theory on some of the problems besetting Android's Lollipop release. I've ranted about Lollipop before, and now I'd like to point out two particular problems. All of these tests were performed on a Nexus 4 running…
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I don't get Google. I really don't. Some of my smartest friends work there - and yet, as an organisation, Google continually demonstrates an imbecilic attitude to quality. I've already shared some of my thoughts on Android 5.0 Lollipop - it's slow, buggy, and shows that Google either doesn't bother with testing, or simply doesn't care about quality. Let's take a look at a few examples - all…
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A few months ago, I asked if we could entirely do away with physical ports on phones. We have Bluetooth to replace the headphone port, WiFi can replaced the data transfer properties of the USB port, all that's needed is a way to get power into the damn thing! That's what the "Qi" standard hopes to change. A simple way to get inductive charging working on phones. So, thanks to some Amazon…
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Monument Valley - the hyper-praised indie game from UsTwo - has just hit a bump in the road. It wants to charge users for new levels. This particular review has been doing the rounds on Twitter. Yes, it's hyperbolic and ranty - but it is the absolute truth. Monument Valley is overpriced. Now, don't get me wrong, it is a gorgeous game. Sure, it's a bit derivative of the Xbox hit Fez.…
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I'm not a great fan of tablets. I have a phablet for day-to-day use, a TV for media, and a laptop for work. Tablets just don't fulfil any need I have. Which is why my 2012 Nexus 7 has been sat gathering dust since I bought it. Well, time to resurrect the little blighter and upgrade it to the latest and greatest OS that Google have to offer: Android 5.0 AKA Lollipop. Getting and installing the …
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Last year I complained about a dangerous change to Google's Maps app. When driving, you want to spend the majority of your time concentrating on the road ahead. Flicking one's eyes to the mirrors & speedometer should be enough to quickly assess one's environment. The same applies for SatNav apps - every second that is spend trying to figure out what the graphics means is a second where the…
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The Internet Movie Database is one of the most venerable sites on the Web. It was founded by a British programmer in 1990 as a collection of Usenet posts (kids, ask your parents). By 1993 it was on the nascent World Wide Web - and was hosted out of Cardiff University in Wales. IMDb was one of the earliest success stories for the UK Internet industry when, in 1998, Amazon.com bought them. …
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When I was about seven or eight, I asked Santa to bring me a set of screwdrivers. Our family was about to take its first transatlantic flight, and I wanted to make sure I'd be able to repair the aeroplane if it got into any difficulties. Ever since then, I've loved taking things apart. Putting things back together...? Eh... not so much! Recently I "acquired" the latest Swiss made smartwatch -…
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Did you know that the LEDs on the front of your Internet router fire out WiFi beams? That's why you should never cover their incessant blinking with duct tape. In the 1980s, the Thatcher Government decided that treating mentally ill people in specialised institutions wasn't an effective use of money. Instead, they rationalised, sell off the hospitals and treat people in their own homes. Thus …
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I got a SmartWatch the other day. One of our interns had bored of it, so I swapped my long-disused BlackBerry PlayBook for it. I configured it, paired it with my Android phone, then set about trying to use it. This, very roughly, was my experience with it. Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentMy first full day with a Sony SmartWatch!I forgot to wear it, & it spent all day by my bed.... Other than…
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