An interesting site has already sprung up, called Shit That Siri Says. It’s quite funny, really. Here are a few that I really like.

You can ask for the weather, send text messages, do math calculations, ask for directions (women, you’ll be glad your men now ask!), and a whole lot more. It’s full potential is yet to be known, but some videos have popped up that show you the potential.

Siri even has a sense of humour. If you tell her, “I love you”, you’ll get a reply, “I hope you don’t say that to those other mobile phones”. Oh boy, I can see all the men trying this out with their new iPhone 4s phones. *faint*

I guess we’re entering a new era where speaking to your devices will become the norm. Now all I want is, “Siri, do my dishes and collect my laundry” – will that be in the iPhone 5?

Not every country uses the same voltage as your home country, and while traveling in the Philippines recently, I was even presented with a home that used BOTH 110V and 220V. Now that’s bizarre.

To check the compatible voltage of your devices, either turn the device over and look for the label, or look on the plug itself. The location varies. What you need to know is the input voltage for your device. If you see something showing 100-240V or 100-220V, you have a device that is universal (like my Canon battery charger below). My Braun toothbrush however, will not work if used in a country such as the US, as they use a 110-120V system.

Most devices such as laptops and mobile phones are all universal, so you won’t have to worry. Nonetheless, it’s always good to flip it over for a quick check before jetsetting.

Here’s the link to the app in the App Store.

Despite the negative reviews, I decided to stick with Apple and know they can only improve their products from hereon. I clicked the “BUY” button in the Mac App Store and spent $299.99 on Final Cut Pro X, heralded by Apple as the next generation of video editing.

Within a day, I discovered it’s tough to make the transition if you’re well-versed with the older suites. The timeline is vastly different, and audio+video seem to be linked very tightly. It’ll take me awhile before I get used to delinking audio, etc.

In terms of speed, my 3 year old MacBook Pro is not doing a good job. FCP X needs juice, and lots of it, before you can enjoy its full potential. I can see it attacking the Canon 5D Mk2 files that I threw at it, but the time taken to crunch them would have been days! According to a friend of mine who recently acquired an i7-based MacBook Pro, it works fine. Canon files can be edited natively without having to transcode them.

Audio/Video scrubbing is another area I’m not familiar with. It doesn’t seem to work well for me, perhaps because my machine is a tad laggy.

Oh, to end off… I realise the keystrokes are different for some functions too. In FCP 6/7, I’m used to Ctrl-V to use the blade cut tool on the timeline where the playhead is, but in FCP X, it’s now Cmd-B. Why on earth it has to change, I have yet to uncover, but it sure adds speedbumps to my editing process now.

All in all, FCP X does seem rather raw, but I am certain the next update will address many of the issues video editors face. Don’t let me down, Apple!

The best quote from the video is: “Remember to live life as if every day were your last. One day, you will be right”. It makes me ponder whether or not my life is making a difference to others.

Which are you?

Source: submitinfographics.com

This morning on the 1st of January 2011, my iPhone 3Gs (iOS4.x) alarm didn’t go off as scheduled and I thought it strange. My wife’s iPhone 3G (OS3.x)  alarm rang, though. I didn’t give it much thought, until I read a status message on Facebook from a friend whose alarm also didn’t go off.

My dear Steve Jobs, are you trying to ruin the start of the year for many? It’s a really, really bad bug – I’ve already read on forums some cases where people have missed tour bookings due to their alarms not ringing.

It’s not the first time Apple has had bugs with their alarms either – they’ve had similar problems due to daylight savings too.

Time for me to go traditional, I guess… Especially since I’ve got flights to catch and events to go to in a different time zone over the next few days. Let’s hope this bug only affects the world today, otherwise the iPhone will surely be the disaster for many.

Alex signing out and heading to the airport for a flight to Bangladesh…
01.01.2011

Adultery! Windows Phone+Mac=SIN

Seems like it anyway, but I’m now a Mac convert and have no Windows PCs in my household anymore. As such, I ventured to explore how well the HTC HD7 would perform on a Mac.

I was initially wondering how it would sync, considering it typically syncs with Zune software on a PC. The Microsoft website had no reference to syncing with Macs from the Help and How-to sections. How biased!

After researching a bit more, there is a software called Windows Phone 7 Connector (for Mac) – Beta that will do the job. It’s amazing because it serves as an intermediary between the Windows Phone and tadaaa… your native iTunes! The process becomes slightly more clunky, as you need to manage both your iTunes data and the settings on this connector software.

What Windows Phone 7 Connector can sync

Music, Photos & Videos, Movies & TV Shows, Podcasts

What Windows Phone 7 Connector cannot sync

Contacts, iCal, Notes
* To sync contacts and calendars, you will need to use the cloud. This will be covered in another blog post soon.

The interface for the Windows Phone 7 Connector looks very much like a regular Mac software – almost as if it were made by Apple!

The software allows you to seamlessly sync with your iPhoto library, if you use it. I don’t use iLife, so never shelled out money for it.

All videos in iTunes are automatically displayed, allowing me a choice of which ones I’d like to transfer. Check the videos you want, and you’re done.

I listen to podcasts, and once again, I have the option to either sync all, or select them one by one.

The overall experience was fairly painless, once you know how to manage it and I’m quite impressed, except for the fact syncing contacts and iCal require the usage of the cloud.

WHAT ON EARTH IS THAT, STEVE?

Anyhow, after searching for awhile, it was evident there was some kind of corrupt playlist, specifically for voice memos. If you delete it, you will be able to sync again. Hope this helps someone.

For the uninitiated, here’s some news for you – your existing SIM cards CAN be converted to Micro SIMs easily and without having to pay extra dollars to your local telco. Of course, there are Micro SIM cutters that you can buy, but why bother, if you’re only going to ever cut up one of your SIM cards?

What if I make a mistake? Well, you were going to go to your telco and get a new SIM card anyway, weren’t you? No risk here. Having said that, please don’t lambast me if your DIY skills aren’t up to par.

Here’s what you need before we get started (feels like a college science experiment already).

A SHARP pair of scissors
An ACCURATE ruler – don’t go cutting up your SIM cards while using a free Ikea paper tape
A fine-tip permanent marker pen – I used an OHP marker

This is the job brief – turn a 15x25mm SIM card into a compact 12x15mm Micro SIM.

Dump the “unsmart” Nokia, and move to the “slightly-smarter-iPhone4″.

Here’s the Micro SIM holder for the iPhone4, and the regular sized SIM card that needs to fit into it.

With your fine-tip marker pen, draw out the outlines and centralize the golden chip at all times. I coloured in the area that corresponds with the nicked corner, so that I don’t “forget” which way is up.

Brandishing the SHARP scissors, I began cutting along the lines, exactly as drawn. If in doubt, cut slightly less – you can refine it later. Nick the corner you marked out earlier, with the same angle.

When done, try and insert the new Micro SIM into the holder. If it doesn’t fit, shave off a bit more of the plastic.

Insert it face down. Hopefully it will fit snugly. If not, continue shaving to size.

If it works (which it should), do remember TheBackpackr and send over some love!