Daniel J. Lewis, Author at Daniel J. Lewis

Daily podcasting photos (upcoming blog series)

April 30, 2012 by Daniel J. Lewis 20 Comments

Launching my own personal blog wasn't enough. Now I'm starting a new project for May, I will post a daily photo related to podcasting for my how-to podcast about podcasting and using Audacity.

These posts will contain tips, tricks, tools, and thoughts about the art, technique, and technology of podcasting.

If podcasting interests you, or you want a creative look at the guts of a podcasting studio, follow The Audacity to Podcast's blog, or subscribe to the mailing list from the website.

This is also an opportunity for you! I anticipate these posts may get popular. Would you like to sponsor a day? Email Daniel@DJosephDesign.com if you'd like to sponsor a day for only $50.

What the iPad needs most from iOS 6—user accounts

April 27, 2012 by Daniel J. Lewis Leave a Comment

I love my iPad; but so does my wife Jenny.

This is usually fine because she knows the iPad is primarily for my work, so she willingly stops playing with it when I need it.

“I didn't draw dat parrot”

Then I discover that I'm a great artist in Draw Something, and it's not me.

Whenever Jenny plays with my iPad, she's playing under my account. Sure, I can log out of my GameCenter or Facebook account and let her login with hers. But this is not only inconvenient, but also a pain on iOS when using secure passwords.

The solutions is simple—user accounts

This has been a long-suspected feature for iOS on the iPad, but I think the need is only growing. Apple could also be trying to get more money by disallowing couples to share and instead get their own iPads. (I think this would be advised against by a licensed marriage counselor.)

How user accounts could work in iOS 6

User accounts in iOS 6 could be really simple. Unlock the iPad and the screen could be split into notifications for each account, or swiping the notification area could switch between each account's notifications.

The default “slide to unlock” could unlock the most-recently used account, while there could be another, just as simple option, for unlocking to one of the other accounts.

This might just save your marriage.

Do you share an iPad in your family? How can you see user accounts being useful to you? Or what are you hoping for most in iOS 6?

By the way, feel free to add me in Game Center: DanielJLewis.

Why do we even play Foursquare?

April 23, 2012 by Daniel J. Lewis 9 Comments

You're in a mall, walking from store to store. You pull our your smartphone and faithfully checkin to each store, even though you're just browsing.

After ten minutes, Foursquare tells you that you have no life and are visiting too many places. What do you do? Awkwardly stick around in a store until you can checkin? Move on but keep trying to checkin so you can still get the points? Checkin the next day?

What if you're now too far away from the place where you forgot to checkin?

But this begs the question, why even checkin on Foursquare? What benefit does it have? (Sidenote: yes, this is a correct usage of the commonly misused phrase, “begs the question.”)

What are the benefits of Foursquare?

Foursquare is a social network that allows people to share their location, leave tips and photos, find interesting places, and occasionally get local deals. Do we really use it for these things?

Yes, some of the tips are cool, like seeing what menu items someone likes at a restaurant. Some tips are pointless, like, “avoid stupid cars parked in the streets” (but I guess the smart cars shouldn't be avoided?).

When was the last time you got a good deal with Foursquare? Most places I visit offer only an American Express deal (I don't have an AmEx credit card). I only remember a single deal in the last year, which was $4 of free bananas with a Foursquare checkin.

Beyond this rare perk, most people use Foursquare to tell us where they are. But do we really care? Some sites like Please Rob Me illustrate a (slightly exaggerated) danger of this oversharing.

Essentially, Foursquare is a game

Why do we play this location-based game? Just for the points and cool badges? It's a game that can't be won.

Social games are fun, yes. But I like a game that actually takes skill to play—or even involves playing! Foursquare involves just checking in and getting points. Whoop-dee-doo.

Leaving Foursquare?

So I don't see much value in Foursquare for myself, but maybe you can convince me otherwise. I won't completely delete my account and leave Foursquare, but I'll probably stop compulsively checking in unless I truly want people to know where I am, which would only be when I think people actually care.

What about you? Do you use Foursquare, Yelp, SCVNGR, Whrrl, or any other location-based apps? If so, do you do anything with them beyond checking in?