I went on vacation this weekend to musical heaven thanks to my new Audioengine A2 speakers. There was a bit of a shipping delay, but let me tell you – the sound is well worth the wait!

First impressions:
On receiving the package I noticed that there was an inspection sticker on the box, stating that they were possibly damaged during shipping, but were fully inspected before making the final delivery to my house.  I noticed on the FedEx tracking page that when the package got damaged they actually sent it back to the East Coast to be inspected.  I opened the package thinking, “Well, as long as they inspected them…”

Upon opening the FedEx box, inside was the actual product box for the speakers, and it was damp! The cardboard was all floppy and everything.  Somebody had probably left it in the rain, which is why it needed to be sent back and inspected for damage.  I continued to unbox the speakers and was happy to find that each speaker was individually packaged inside it’s own suede textured cloth drawstring pouch.  Also included were two other pouches, one of which contained the power supply, and the other which contained audio cables for speaker setup.

I rushed to set them up on my desk and plug them into my MacBook.  The volume knob on the back of the left speaker also functions as the on/off switch, and has a very smooth, solid, heavy feeling to it.  Turning this knob clicked the speakers on and then increased the volume.  I turned on ATB’s Trilogie Part 2 and the sound seemed to come from the whole room, and not from the two little speakers that found their way onto my desk.  This was enhanced of course by the fact that the song has an echoey feel to it.  The sound was superb.

Naturally I proceeded through my collection of music, which contains mostly Hiphop, RnB, Alternative, Piano, and Trance music.  I was in heaven.  The most surprising thing about these speakers is how much depth the sounds seem to have, especially when sitting directly in front of the two speakers.  The depth literally seemed to go out the window, as I kept hearing the sound of a car revving it’s engine (I thought somebody was revving their engine outside).  I kept pausing the music to see if I could hear the sound again, and finally realized that the sound was coming from the speakers.

Of note:
Two things that I feel must be mentioned about these speakers before you rush off to buy them as well:

First, the bass production is obviously not going to be extremely strong, as these are very small drivers.  This is actually one of the things that drew me to these speakers in the first place.  I live in an apartment and can’t really enjoy heavy bass speakers because I don’t want to irritate the crap out of my neighbors, so I find these speakers to be exactly what I was looking for.

Second, I was surprised by the lack of balance there seemed to be between the tweeters and the midrange drivers.  It seemed that the music was all very thick until I opened up the equalizer and in iTunes and changed the settings.  This cleared everything right up, and my worry was quickly subdued.  Of course, if you’re using these as computer speakers, most media players have equalizers that will allow you to fix this issue, but you might want to take this into consideration when buying these speakers.

Toshiba just announced it’s upcoming mobile phone, the TG01.  It looks promising aesthetically, and the hardware sounds pretty good (minus the touchscreen), but the OS on the phone (Windows Mobile 6) sort of ruins the whole experience.  The user interaction is TERRIBLE.  Little quirks about the phone’s interface ultimately gave this phone a bad review.  I noticed that SlashGear started off the introduction with the dreaded “iPhone Killer” question, but then nearly every paragraph in the article starts with a statement about some disappointing feature of the phone.  Reading the technical specs of the phone unveils a myriad of different things that would instantly take it out of any competition with the iPhone:

1. Resistive touch screen – you actually have to push hard on the screen to make it register.  Traditionally, resistive touch screens also make it difficult to do any sort of dragging on the surface without the screen thinking your finger is bouncing along the surface, losing and regaining contact along the way.
2. No 3.5mm headphone jack – SlashGear actually recommends that you buy bluetooth headphones.
3. It’s running Windows Mobile.  Gross.  Because of this the entire interface of the phone is hard to use – buttons haven’t been sized correctly and the layout of the menus hasn’t been changed appropriately for this size of device.
4. The web browsing experience is sub par for a device of that form factor.
5. The keyboard’s spacebar is really… small.
6. The list goes on and on…

My, what a large spacebar you have!

It does have a few things that the iPhone doesn’t have (which usually correlates to things that you don’t need), but some might see these as perks.

Read the whole review over at SlashGear.

Managing Humans: Biting and Humorous Tales of a Software Engineering Manager, by Michael Lopp, is a book that derives from Lopp’s personal experience at Apple, Netscape, Symantec, and Borland.  The book is written from the perspective of a fictional character, Rands, who takes you through multiple semi-fictional stories that complement the lessons in the book. Many of the topics in the book also reside in similar form on his blog, Rands In Repose (which you should subscribe to if you haven’t already).  Previously on my blog I posted a book teaser, as well as my first impression of the book after I started reading it.  Now that I’m finished with the book, here is my final verdict…

Entertainment value: 7/10
If I wasn’t learning anything I still would have picked up this book.  The stories are fun to read, even if they are semi-fictional (or maybe especially because they’re semi-fictional).  Lopp takes you through some interesting business situations that are definitely entertaining.  He also introduces some of his own concepts and psychology on subjects such as “NADD” (Nerd Attention Deficit Disorder) and what it means to “be in the zone.”  Both of these topics (and more) were described perfectly – every point he made had me thinking “that’s exactly what I do!”

Learning value: 5-8/10
I’m giving the learning value an interesting score…  somewhere between 5 and 8.  I guess the learning value depends on how much experience you have in the field that Lopp is discussing (the software engineering field).  I personally found this book to be a 7, but I’m young and inexperienced compared to Lopp – I have a lot to learn so it was more valuable to me.

With all of the entertaining, semi-fictional stories that Lopp creates comes a lesson.  The book is split into 34 chapters, or 34 lessons.  Each lesson contains a story or example (or two) and he paints a picture around the reasons why each lesson matters.  The entertainment value keeps you taking each lesson with a little grain of salt – we know that the stories aren’t completely true from the start and we’re expecting a funny situation, so the lesson is very open t.  In my opinion this is better than taking anybody’s advice as law anyway.  I liked that my mind had the freedom to easily adjust the situations in the book to personal situations at my own company.

One place that I feel this book shines is in the Perspective department.  From social situations around the office to building a company and shipping a v1.0 product, Lopp shows his experience in the industry through the light that he sheds on each situation.  I’m the type of person that enjoys understanding a situation from every angle so this book was right up my alley.

Verdict: 8/10
Managing Humans was a great book.  The author, Michael Lopp, made it a fun learning exercise.  I was able to learn and use my imagination at the same time, which too often isn’t the case. The sum of the whole in this case was greater than the sum of its parts.  Instead of finding the book mediocre because he only did so-so in both areas, I found that the combination of entertainment and learning made the book even better.  I recommend this book as a fun and lighthearted learning exercise for anybody in the software development industry.  It definitely shines some light on the perspectives of the different roles in the industry.

Pick it up at Amazon!

I dropped my iPhone a couple days ago.  I was walking to my car, pulled out my iPhone, and… crap.  It’s got a scratch.  Wait… no… it’s got a crack!  Dang.

Just a few days ago one of my coworkers was admiring how shiny the back of my iPhone was.  Barely any scratches – it has an exclusive suite in my left front pocket.

It was bound to happen.  Things only stay shiny for so long.

I found consolation from the fact that I had just found an iPhone case that I really liked.  Over the past year and a half I’ve seen lots of ugly iPhone cases.  I was never a fan.  I didn’t understand why people would pay 200-400 dollars on a phone, and then cover it up with an ugly case.  Part of the reason the iPhone is so expensive is the external design.  It’s equivalent to putting bumper stickers on a Ferrari or keeping the plastic wrap on your furniture.  Part of the reason you paid so much for the thing is so you could enjoy it.

A case isn’t worthy of covering the iPhone – until the iPhone has been scratched or cracked.

Luckily I had just come across Incase’s hard-case.  And I love it.  It fits the iPhone 3G like a glove, and it isn’t bulky and annoying like so many other cases.  It feels like it offers some study protection from small drops, though now that I’ve got such a nice case, I’m kind of worried about it getting scratched too.  It even looks good and feels soft with its matte black finish.  The only thing that I don’t like about it is the small blemishes from manufacturing that you probably can’t avoid.

I give it a 9/10.

I’m starting to become a big fan of Incase products.  A while back I bought the Incase sleeve for my 13″ Unibody MacBook and I love that as well.  Way to go Incase!

I’ve read almost halfway through the book Managing Humans, by Michael Lopp, and just thought that I would post a quick update.

Verdict: It has a lot of character, especially for a management book, and I really like it.

Let me explain.

The book is told from the point of view of the same fictional character Michael Lopp uses on his website: Rands.  Rands is semi-fictional, just like all the characters and stories in his book – while they derive from real experiences and situations they’re actually fake.  But they do an amazing job conveying the message.

I like that the book doesn’t sound too definitive.  At no point do I get the feeling that this book has the exact answers, but at every point I keep thinking about how the concepts apply to my own job (I’m a software developer by the way…).  Not feeling like I’m reading a text book makes me feel more relaxed and actually helps me process the information better.

Anyway… I like the book.  It’s easy to read, makes me think, and is funny at times.  I’m reading for pleasure yet I’m still learning so much.  Thanks Rands.

You can get the ruby script by downloading it from github: http://is.gd/hmiK.  This script was created by David Clements (thanks!).  He also posted it on his blog.  To run the ruby script you need to make sure you have the google spreadsheet gem and the twitter gem installed.  You’ll also want to make sure your ruby installation is up to date.  If you have a mac you can follow my simple instructions:

1. Open Terminal
2. Update Ruby by typing: gem update --system
3. Install the Twitter gem: sudo gem install Twitter
4. Add the google spreadsheet gem source location: gem sources -a http://gems.github.com
5. Install the google spreadsheet gem: sudo gem install gimite-google-spreadsheet-ruby
6. Open up the .rb file you downloaded from http://is.gd/hmiK in TextEdit
7. Enter your google and twitter usernames and passwords (it’s safe, look at the code!)
8. Save the file!
9. In Terminal, navigate to the .rb file you downloaded from github and type: ruby follow_iphone_devs.rb

In the terminal window you should see all of the users getting added.  The follow_iphone_devs.rb file has comments at the top that you should change the code from 1..1000 to be something like 1..10 and do a few every minutes (1..10, 11..20,21..30).  That way Twitter won’t get mad.  I did 50 at a time and it seemed to be just fine.  (Also note that due to the comments at the top of the spreadsheet, the actual results don’t start until line 6, not 1).

Enjoy!

Chess Lite and Chess Pro are two great ways to play chess for cheap.   Being a $0.99 app, Chess Lite is obviously just a teaser for the Chess Pro version, though there are a couple reasons why you would only want the lite version.  Chess Lite features one difficulty – medium, one theme – 2D, the ability to save your games, and the ability to play against another player.  If you’re only looking for a way to play Chess against another player and you don’t care about the graphics then this is a great choice.

However, 99Games does an excellent job at making the Pro version worth the extra $3.00.

Graphics: 9/10
Starting with the graphics, the Pro version does the iPhone Chess experience so much more justice.  The game is played in a 3D environment with real Chess pieces.  There are 3 themes that you can use in the Pro version (as of this writing – they’re supposed to add more with the next update).  There’s the black and white 2D theme, and then a metallic or wood 3D theme.  I find the metallic to be my favorite.  The only improvement I can see being made here would be the possibility to change the actual design of the pieces.

Difficulty: 8/10
The difficulty settings are set forth as follows: Easy can be beaten by anybody that knows how to move the pieces correctly – and the board helps you out a lot because when you click on a piece it tells you all the possible places that you can move your piece.  Medium difficulty is a large jump from easy and actually takes a little bit of skill.  One of my only gripes with the application is that the jump from easy to medium is so large for beginners.  Hard is very difficult and I haven’t beat it at this difficulty.

Overall Gameplay: 9/10
There are some great aspects of the overall game play that make this Chess application enjoyable.

• Selecting pieces seems fairly easy, even though the squares are so small, and the pieces can be either drug or clicked from one square to the other
• The indication of the spots that your selected piece can move to occupy is appropriately styled so as not to be too obnoxious
• The movement from one square to the next is smoothly animated
• The computer makes its move very quickly, even at the higher difficulty settings
• The game’s save and resume features are great for finishing a game later and making sure your game doesn’t get lost if somebody calls you while you’re playing

move options with the queen selected

Audio:
Chess doesn’t usually have any audio so I’m not going to give it any score at all.  I will say a few words however: Chess with sounds is annoying.  The only exceptions to this rule is if the chess pieces are animated and kill the other chess piece when they take over their place.  The audio in this application is no exception.  The sounds are obnoxious and I would suggest you leave them off.  Note: 99games says that the audio will be customizable in the next update.  Perhaps they’ll come out with a less intrusive sound set that would be more pleasurable to leave on.

Game Modes:
There are multiple game modes in Chess Pro, including Regular, Suicide, and Losers mode.  Suicide and Losers mode are different forms of Antichess.  Suicide chess is a different version of chess where the goal is to lose all your pieces and your king is treated as a normal piece.  Pawns may be promoted to kings, just as pawns can be promoted to queens in regular chess.  If you can capture a piece you must.  In suicide chess castling is not allowed.  The losers version of chess is similar to suicide chess, with the exceptions that pawns are not promoted to kings, your king cannot be lost, and you win if you force yourself into a checkmate.

Extras:

• You can castle – many low quality chess applications forget this basic rule but this application does not.
• You can Save/Load up to 5 games.
• Unlimited undo of your moves
• Hints for your next move.

Verdict: 9/10
I’m a fan.  I like it a lot and this will continue to be my Chess application of choice.  The only reason this application doesn’t get a ten is because it’s missing battle animations when you overtake the enemy pieces and there isn’t anything that pops out as a great way to innovate on a classic.

What’s great:

• Gameplay is enjoyable
• Computer is quick
• Graphics are great

What’s missing:

• More intermediate difficulty levels
• Different piece themes/designs

Pictures: 8/10
The photos the game comes with are pretty good quality and appropriately themed with exotic wildlife in mind.  Each category has about 8 to 20 different images to use.  As would be expected on a photo-centric iPhone application, the iPhone’s photo album is also an option, though you can only use the images that were taken with your iPhone’s camera, so the higher quality images that came from your computer’s photo album are off limits.

Settings: 8/10
There are configurable settings to change the puzzle difficulty and game play. You can play with anywhere from 4 to 24 pieces, and you have the option of making the jigsaw pieces rectangles instead of irregular if you want to make the game little more difficult.  The only gripe that I have with the settings menu is that it’s only accessible once you start the puzzle.  The standard location for settings menus is at the home screen.   While it’s nice to also have access to the settings once you start the puzzle, you should still be able to access the settings from the home screen.

Puzzle Play: 8/10
You start by choosing a picture and adjusting the settings.  Starting the puzzle involves either pressing the play button or shaking the phone to break apart the pieces. If you have the sound on this provokes a glass breaking sound as the puzzle pieces are broken apart.  Putting the puzzle back together is as simple as you would imagine – click and drag the pieces close to one another and if they fit together the pieces now stick to each other as if they were one piece.  Moving an edge piece to the edge of the screen does not stick that piece to the edge (like some other puzzle games do).  A timer keeps track of your time in the lower right hand corner. To pause the game you double tap the top section of the screen where the menu was and you press the pause button. You also have the option to save the game or resume the game in case somebody calls while you’re playing or you press the home button.

Sounds: [score N/A]
The implementation of the sounds is decent, but not amazing. While searching through their photos I find the safari/zoo sounds very appropriate for the “wild” theme, but once I start putting the puzzle together these same sounds play on a continuous loop. The sound file isn’t very long so it quickly becomes annoying. The sound effects that occur while connecting the pieces is also rather boring, but I guess if you want the sound on there aren’t many sounds that would be appropriate for putting together a jigsaw puzzle.  When you break apart the puzzle by shaking the device there is a sound of glass breaking.  I feel this is a little too sharp and noisy for a Jigsaw puzzle, but since the puzzle is being done on a glass screen perhaps the glass breaking sound is appropriate.  Jigsaw puzzles are generally a very quiet activity so I prefer to have the sound off, which is actually what the game defaults to.

Overall experience: Good [7/10]
The implementation of this game is good, but there was nothing that popped out and made me think, “wow, what a great use of technology.”  It was a rather standard implementation of classic Jigsaw puzzling, and if that’s what you’re looking for then go ahead and snatch this app up.

What’s great:

• The ability to use the images that you took with your iPhone
• Good range of configurable puzzle difficulty.

What’s missing:

• Ability to use the rest of the images on your phone
• Settings menu should be accessible before you start a puzzle from main screen
• Could use better integration of the top scores to entice people to play more.

Engadget got their hands on a Palm Pre:

“There’s still a lot we don’t know about the Pre, and with a device this new, you can never truly understand what the experience will be like until you put it through the test of an average day’s work. That said, Palm has made enormous strides with webOS and the Pre, both putting the brand back on the map, and offering a lust-worthy device that delivers on a big stack of promises. If they can keep the quality as high or higher than what we’ve already seen — and keep themselves on track for pricing and release dates — we think the smartphone game just got a whole lot more interesting.”

More interesting indeed…

The game against the computer is great, but not amazing, mostly because the harder levels are more a matter of how fast you can click the screen as compared to how much skill you have.

Net Play
Where this game really shines is on the internet.  You can play this game against other people around the world – over 3G.  I am very impressed.  Suddenly the iPhone becomes the gaming platform of choice instead of the replacement platform when other gaming systems aren’t available.  I couldn’t even take screenshots of this game without playing a few rounds!

Verdict
Amazing, ridiculously addicting, fast-paced strategy fun.  Well worth the money.