GUI.brush Blog

Many people were pissed off about the iPad missing the – so called – multitasking feature.

Well!… First… What kind of multitasking you want? iPhone OS is a multitasking operating system. You realize is capable of doing that, isn’t it?

So, let’s take iPhone. What’s iPhone? A Phone, yes? And well… Don’t forget. An iPod.

What’s the GOD of the multitasking on iPhone? The PHONE CALL.

You play a game, you get a call, you take the call, back to game. Is that simple!

Is there any other multitasking stuff there?!

You are notified by your calendar alarms, SMS, etc.

Now… It’s also an iPod, yes?!

You can play music while browsing the web.

This kind of multitasking is not obtrusive. It is allowed. It is there. I like it!

You would say: “Dude, that’s not enough!”

So, what you want?! Tens of windows collecting in the background, eating your resources as on Windows Mobile? Do you want windows on a mobile device? Do you want annoying popups? You want to get lost in tens of menus? Is this what you really want on a mobile device?

I don’t! So, iPhone was the first phone/pda/reader/music/video/player I liked.

So what you want, then?

You say: “Applications running in background, you say”

I remember reading about the iPhone App Design guidelines a few years ago. I found the same in the iPad UX guidelines.

It says:

Start Instantly

iPad applications should start as quickly as possible so that people can begin using them without delay.

Always Be Prepared to Stop

Like iPhone applications, iPad applications stop when people press the Home button to open another application.

Then there was a guideline for the iPhone app developers. Was like that:

When the user (your master), press the Home button, save the app state!

Why?! Well… When he comes back, he has the meaning that he didn’t even close that application.

How it feels? I’ll tell you…

It feels like that damn windows multitasking everybody wants.

Almost every serious application on iPhone does that. If they don’t do that, is their fault. The fact that there are some pointless iFart applications out there, that don’t keep the UX design guidelines doesn’t make the iPhone or iPad less multitasking.

I’m pretty sure that the iPad will have the perfect amount of multitasking required for such mobile device.

So, let’s take iPad. What’s the fuss with the iPad?

“Apps. Apps and Apps!”

Take the iPhone number of apps and multiply them with 10. You will get a lot of apps.

If they will get multitasking, the badly developed ones, will just mess the entire user experience.

Will be like on XP. Two months later you wait 10 seconds to open the damn email app and another 10 to close it.

You watch a movie, you get that iFart application, that you installed by mistake, asking you if you want to update. You say: “NO!…” It will popup ten minutes later.

You, say: “Silence! I kill you!”

Surprise… You can’t!

Imagine further…

You search for an anti spyware app on AppStore. Can you imagine that?

Well… Let’s say it is there. You got it. It’s only few bucks.

It removes the iFart app.

“Cooooool!” You say.

You start the movie, you watch the movie… and then… a popup:

“The anti spyware application want to update.”

iPad is not the tablet that Microsoft can’t make it.

You will see!

This is my first instrumental album.
You can listen it in the browser or you can DOWNLOAD it for free.

It is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution license.

Have a break!

Sent from my iPhone

My virtual friend bingo_bongo challenged me to measure the performance while playing the Planet_Earth_From Pole_to_Pole_1080p_sample_16ref.mkv on my Acer Aspire Revo Single Core Atom Nettop.

Since my previous test was done on Window Vista, with a not-so-challenging sample like this one I’ve decided to give it a try on Windows 7 (32-bit).

I was using Media Player Classic Cinema with EVR Custom Presenter forced on DirectX 9, with MPC H.264 Decoder DXVA no FGT on NVidia ION driver 4318 (installed from K-Lite codec pack).

The subtitiles were on and working.

The video and audio was running perfectly smooth, on cascade ripples as well during the entire sequence with the birds.

Here is the CPU behavior (Kernel time in Red). I’ve marked with two arrows the start and the stop of the video. The high CPU spikes at beginning and end, were generated by maximizing/minimizing full screen.

My conclusion.
With proper codec configuration the NVidia ION on Single Core Atom is perfect for Full-HD playback.

As the author recommends: play it FULL SCREEN and HD. I would add: silence around.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

the breakdown

Compositing Breakdown (T&S) from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

and the making of

Exeter Shot — Making Of from Alex Roman on Vimeo.

This time a little bit slower

cand am auzit eu prima oara de revolutie eram la video (tineti minte nu? program non-stop de video cu baietii si fetele de cartier).
tin minte ca se dadea “the runner” cu arnold mancatziash si ca a venit unu si ne-a spus ca vorbeste ceashka.
am votat democratic si am hotarat ca arnold mai poate sa astepte in pause (desi exista pericolu’ sa se murdaresca capu’)
asa ca am dat pe tevere si l-am vazut pe ceashka vorbind de agenturi.
spre dimineata, am luat-o spre casa oprindu-ne la coada la lapte. tin minte ca smantana nu am mai prins, ca era numai o naveta si s-a dus repede. am prins numai sana si iaurt.
apoi am dormit toata ziua motiv pentru care nu stiu ce s-a mai intamplat
spre seara am iesit la banca, la un banc cu bula si o samintza si atunci am dezvoltat subiectul. fiecare a venit cu informatiile de pe reteaua lui sociala (in spetza formata din rude, europa libera si precenii lu’ fratii si surorile)
apoi a fost pauza pana pe douajdoi cand la doishpe si ceva m-a trezit dinescu’
dupa ce s-a terminat teatrul de la teve am iesit la banca unde spontan ne-am strans si ne-am indreptat spre shentru’
spre seara am inceput sa strigam huo… terororistilor… ca raspuns la 2-3 rateuri de tab. apoi afland ca a fost de la tab (singurul de altfel) am strigat ca armate e cu noi.
noaptea, dupa ce s-a spart gashka de la consiliu, ne-am intors la banca, unde am tras 3 sticle de vin si ne-am retras in vastele noastre apartamente dormind aburit.
apoi, dupa ce ne-am trezit, ne-am uitat la televizor cateva saptamani la rand pana plictisiti de sedintele CPUN-ului am trecut iarasi pe sarbi si pe bulgari.
si la noi au inceput sa bage unt si oo dupa ce l-au omorat pe cheashka. tin minte ca asa au disparut ca prin farmec teroristii. cu oo si unt in alimentare.