Robert Balousek

A Finnish band called The Leningrad Cowboys convinced Russia’s Red Army Choir to join them in singing Sweet Home Alabama in English.

…including me.

Read more at Reuters.

Robert Balousek: Now seeking Software Engineering positions

The readme for the iPhone SDK says it is only compatible with Intel based macs running OS X > 10.5.2. Apparently it is possible to get it to run on PowerPC based Macs:

By default, the iPhone SDK package available free from Apple’s site will run on a PowerPC-based Mac but omit the iPhone SDK-related files, installing only Xcode 3.1 beta and a series of other files. This routine is easily circumvented via the shareware tool Pacifist, which can be used to force an installation of the entire SDK package on PowerPC-based Macs.

Follow these steps:

• Drag the iPhone SDK package onto the Pacifist icon
• Select the top entry, “Contents of iPhone SDK”
• Click the “Install” button in the upper-left corner and enter your administrator credentials

[Via iPhone Atlas]

The iPhone SDK presentation sounded great, but they didn’t answer every question. They also didn’t mention some important details. Most importantly:

Only one iPhone application can run at a time, and third-party applications never run in the background. This means that when users switch to another application, answer the phone, or check their email, the application they were using quits.

This is one of the caveats explained in the 100 page iPhone Human Interface Guidelines PDF on the iPhone SDK website.

So what does this mean to the average non-programmer/layperson? Simply put:

If you are running an application such as AOL Instant Messenger on your iPhone, everytime you receive a call or browse away from the application you would be signed out, you would lose any unread messages, and your conversations would end.

Crayon Physics Deluxe looks terrific.

Some Playstation 3 news on the wire:

To coincide with the much-anticipated North American launch of Metal Gear Solid(R)4: Guns of the Patriots in late Q2 2008, SCEA will introduce a PS3 bundle, which will include an 80GB PS3, the upcoming blockbuster Metal Gear Solid(R)4: Guns of the Patriots and a DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller for $499 (MSRP).

Via PR Newswire

Word from Destination PlayStation, a retailers-only conference for all things PlayStation related, is that Metal Gear Solid 4 is coming to the PlayStation 3 on June 12, 2008. According to sources there now, the release of Kojima Productions action-stealth game will arrive on a Thursday, oddly enough.

Via Kotaku

A group of engineers tear apart a MacBook Air and critique the engineering that went into it:

“Can we say that the MacBook Air has a perfect, sophisticated external appearance, but its insides are full of waste?” asked Mayuko Uno, a squad member, as if speaking for the engineers that had finished the teardown process.

“The total number of screws in the MacBook Air was several times the number used in a PC we make,” one of the engineers said.

Looking at the hinges connecting the upper and bottom units of the PC and at the inside surface of external components, the engineers pointed out the possibility of additional cutting work.

All of the engineers found the structure hard to comprehend. The screws that attached the keyboard might also prevent the keyboard from bending when being pressed, but it seems like there must have been a better solution.

“If I proposed such a design, our company would never approve it,” said one of the engineers. “I can’t find anything that is technically superior. We can make the same computer at a lower cost,” said another. Did the MacBook Air’s internal structure represent the immaturity of Apple’s design skill?

Via Tech-On!

Fark writes a book about “How Mass Media Tries to Pass Off Crap As News”, which is blatantly advertised on their website using Farkitrol®, a fake prescription medicine website claiming to help “Missing White Girl Syndrome”. Today Fark sold entire views of the site’s advertising to ABC for a 20/20 special claiming to show a tape of prime suspect Joran Van der Sloot, as he admits being there when Natalee Holloway was dying.

If you believe stories about missing white girls are crap news, why decide to advertise exactly that to your users?

Here is an average day in my life: