Get Photos Sent Directly From Mars to Your Phone

From Wired Science blogs:

Text messaging and e-mail is so yesterday. Why not use your smartphone to get pictures from the surface of another planet? 

The Mars Images app fetches images from the NASA Opportunity rover’s latest downlink as soon as they’re available. On Mars since 2004, Opportunity has far exceeded its planned mission life and is still making groundbreaking discoveries, such as the recent unambiguous evidence that water once flowed on Mars. 

Developed by computer scientist Mark Powell of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the app also allows you to browse older photos from the rover’s archive. It is free and available for both iPhone/iPad and Android phones. 

NASA will add the image archive from Opportunity’s twin, the now defunct Spirit rover, in later versions of the app. The agency is also planning to release a similar app for the Mars Science Laboratory, once it gets on the ground and starts snapping photos in August.

via @JenLucPiquant

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU

When is it inappropriate to use your iPhone?

From holykaw.alltop.com

Don't let another round of "Ow My Balls" or "Angry Birds" interrupt a perfectly romantic date night with your sweetheart. But what if you need to text your mom? Or catapult a penguin through a ring of fire? Confused? Don't be because Gizmodo, with the help of Shane Snow, created a flowchart to help you determine when it's okay to pull out your iPhone.

 Created by Shane Snow for Gizmodo.

How to Add the Updated Cydia Store to your iOS 4.1 Device

Funkyspacemonkey.com has a pretty easy to follow step by step of how to add the updated Cydia store to your jailbroken iPhone. You will need to know how to SSH into your device, and also use FTP (I use Cyberduck), both of which are a lot easier than you probably think they sound.

The new Cydia store app is way faster. WAY, which is a much needed improvement.

While you are at it, you should definitely change your device's default root password!!
If your iphone's Terminal app crashes, then you need to fix that too. You will need to add xSellize to Cydia's Sources, and then download MobileTerminal for iOS4 from within Cydia to replace Terminal.

See? Easy! ;-)

Darth Vader Calls Applecare Re: iPhone 4 Issues

Thanks to my favorite Mac blog, cultofmac.com, for the original post.

iOS4 Sludge

This post has been percolating for a while, and I finally got motivated to flesh it out after posting a comment over at my favorite mac blog, Cult of Mac.

I am lucky enough to have an iPhone 4, antenna faults and all. The screen beautiful. The processor zippy. The folders much needed. The camera fast and flash a welcome addition. Being an Apple fanboy, before I landed this delightful, if clunky, piece of machinery, I had loaded iOS4 onto my iPhone 3GS. Aside from the folders shrinking my eleven pages of apps down to three, I quickly found out that this was a huge mistake.

Plants Vs. Zombies

Although I originally played this extremely addicting game on an iPad, I was happy to discover it is also available for the iPhone!



If you are looking to pass some valuable time with a game that proves nature can combat death—Plants vs. Zombies is the perfect match for you. Enjoy!

Top 10 of SXSW

After 6 days at SXSW, it took me a couple days to comprehend the madness that encompassed Austin last week. So, now that I'm back to reality, here is my list of top ten moments that made the trip worth while...

10. My signature drink for the week — Shiner Bock — great taste, miserable hang-over.
9. Last minute Spin party that kept us up just long enough to get no sleep before our trip to the airport. Where's the party?
8. Issac trying to convince me that, with Brook's contacts, I could get Dinosaur Jr. to remix an Odawas song.
7. Running into at least 5 people I knew, and meeting at least 5 people I hope to run into again.
6. The TX sunshine, the heat, an escape from the windy city and a desire to return to Austin, preferably when SXSW is not invading.
5. After 4 years of attending panels on the same topics, I finally found some that were interesting, and not a reiteration of everything I have heard before.
4. The Dutch—whether or not everyone considers them the happiest people on Earth, they surely are a joy to be around.
3. Eating everything from migas, to BBQ, to peach cobbler to a chicken fried steak and my favorite — the breakfast taco — another reason why I should have started eating bfast years ago.
2. My iPhone survived being submerged in a stale beer, soggy pizza crust and roach infested puddle. See picture below...

1. I easily attended 20 shows in 4 days, from a vast collection of artists. In a somewhat sequencial order, the ones I remember: Honkey, Anathallo, The Shaky Hands, Justin Townes Earle, Janelle Monae, Ladyhawk, Heartless Bastards, The Avett Brothers, The Decemberists, Cold War Kids, Afterhours, Dinosaur Jr., Guy Sebastian, Aqualung, O+S, Sebastian Grainger, Cursive, Circle Jerk, PJ Harvey, The Handsome Family, Daniel Johnston, And You'll Know Us By The Trail of Dead