funky
Latest
Oh, Canada: App Store north of the border goes all Skype-y
Over the past day or so we've gotten a smattering of strange reports, starting with Derek on Twitter, of a bizarre 'takeover' on the App Store for users who are browsing for apps from their iPhones and iPod touch handhelds. These poor souls are faced with the scary image seen here: an App Store devoid of categories and filled with repeating copies of the Skype icon. The horror! A bit of detective work by the affected users sharing their stories on the Apple Discussion boards soon revealed what they all had in common: Canadian residency. According to the thread, conversations with Apple support folk have pointed to a database problem in the Canadian app store that should be sorted out in the near future. One workaround suggested by a poster in the thread: try switching the App Store location preference (in Settings -> App Store on the phone) to USA from Canada, then switching back. If this works for you, chime in below or on the Apple support boards. Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Beat-Bike brings "disco-bleeps" to cycling
Just in case you thought getting out from behind that computer screen to hop on your bike was too boring and low-tech for you, then you may want to talk to Michael Una. This Chicagoan has just built what he calls the Beat-Bike v.1, a "bicycle-controlled drum machine." He's loaded up this bike with sensors on the frame, which are activated by turning the front wheel, or, y'know, riding the thing. As Michael writes: "Once activated, they trigger a momentary sounding of a single drum sound- kick drum, snare, tom-tom, and "disco-bleep" from a kids' toy drum machine. As the wheel spins, the sensors are triggered in a sequence which becomes an audible, repeating drum beat." Nope, we can't think of a better way to get our "funky outer-space disco beat" on, either. Now while you're contemplating your weekend plans, go check out the video of the Beat-Bike in action on Michael's site.[Via MAKE: Blog]
