(You're reading all posts by John Brownlee)
About John Brownlee
John Brownlee is Cult of Mac's Deputy Editor. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his girlfriend and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.(sorry, you need Javascript to see this e-mail address)
Get Forklift, The Mac’s Best FTP App, Right Now For Just 99 Cents… $29 Off! [Killer Deals]
![Get Forklift, The Mac’s Best FTP App, Right Now For Just 99 Cents… $29 Off! [Killer Deals]](http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Screen-Shot-2012-05-23-at-9.31.11-AM.jpg "Screen Shot 2012-05-23 at 9.31.11 AM")
If you’re the kind of web monkey who finds himself spitting up or slurping down loads of files over good old FTP, this is a fantastic deal: Forklift by Binary Nights — widely hailed as one of the best and most elegant FTP/SFTP clients and file management programs available for the Mac — is usually on sale for $29.99, and depending on how much FTPing you do, a pretty good deal at that. But right now? You can grab it for less than a buck, no strings attached.
This Heartwarming Note From Instapaper’s Marco Arment Is Why Everyone Should Support Their Favorite App Developer [Image]
![This Heartwarming Note From Instapaper’s Marco Arment Is Why Everyone Should Support Their Favorite App Developer [Image]](http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/bXbfq.jpg "bXbfq")
In yesterday’s minor bugfix update, Instapaper developer Marco Arment posted this fantastic personal note, thanking users for allowing him to work from home and spend time with his wife and newborn baby. Could there be a better reason to subscribe to Instapaper, or for that matter, support your favorite app developers?
You Won’t Believe How Much Crazy Science & Microscopic Tech Is Crammed Into Your iPhone’s Accelerometer [Video]
![You Won’t Believe How Much Crazy Science & Microscopic Tech Is Crammed Into Your iPhone’s Accelerometer [Video]](http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/STM_accel_branded.jpg "STM_accel_branded")
Have you ever wondered how your iPhone knows up from down, or when you’re shaking it? It’s all because of the tiny accelerometer chip inside the device, but how does it work? It’s not like the iPhone’s got a metal ball bearing rolling between two points in there, so what gives?
As it turns out, there’s actually a lot of crazy cool tech in there.
Why You Might Be Disappointed By The Resolution Of Those New Retina Display Macs [Feature]
![Why You Might Be Disappointed By The Resolution Of Those New Retina Display Macs [Feature]](http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/MacBook-Pro-with-Retina-Display_1-e1337696759275.jpg "MacBook-Pro-with-Retina-Display_1")
It’s looking increasingly likely that when Tim Cook takes the stage at the annual WWDC keynote on June 11th, Apple will announce new MacBook Pros and possibly iMacs, and if the rumor mill is to be believed, these new machines won’t just be slimmer and ditch their optical drives… they’ll be the first Macs with Retina displays.
What everyone widely expects from Retina display Macs is an iPhone or iPad-style resolution doubling. So if the current 15-inch MacBook Pro has a 1,440 x 900 display, the Retina 15-inch MBP would have a 2,880 x 1800 display.
What the rumor mill is missing is that there’s no benefit to Apple handling a jump to Retina display Macs this way. The reason the iPad and iPhone going Retina was such a big deal was because they had really pixellated displays. Before the iPhone 4, the iPhone had a display that was only 53% close to being Retina. The iPad was slightly better, at 61%. Roughly, both the iPad and iPhone were only about halfway there, which made the easiest fix to just double the amount of pixels per inch.
But Apple doesn’t need to do this with its line of Macs. In fact, it’s likely that most “Retina Quality” Macs will have fewer pixels than your new iPad. Here’s why.
Everything You Need To Know About The iOS 5.1.1 Untethered Jailbreak To Be Released This Week
Anytime a new jailbreak comes out, there’s a degree of confusion about what devices are supported, whether it’s safe to upgrade your firmware, etc. That’s as true now on the eve of pod2g’s upcoming iOS 5.1.1 Absinthe 2.0 jailbreak as it ever was before. Thankfully, pod2g and fellow jailbreak maestro MuscleNerd have put together a quick info sheet about everything you can expect when the untethered jailbreak drops later this week.
The summary? It’s safe to upgrade your devices to iOS 5.1.1 now, and the only iOS device that Absinth 2.0 won’t crack open is the third-gen Apple TV. As for the release date? Plans are this week, if everything goes to the plan.
Waterfield’s Indy Satchel Is The Only iPad Bag Indiana Jones Would Ever Carry [Review]
![Waterfield’s Indy Satchel Is The Only iPad Bag Indiana Jones Would Ever Carry [Review]](http://cultofmac.cultofmaccom.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DSC_0003.jpg "DSC_0003")
“Nice murse,” the supercilious toad said, burrowing his chin into his neck pouch.
Even Stanley Kubrick Would Love This Epic ’2001’ iPhone Dock Made Out Of LEGO
The only thing missing from this iPhone docking recreation of 2001's Dawn of Man segment is some Strauss.
At the beginning of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick’s cosmic exploration on the evolution of mind in the universe, a bunch of man-apes in Africa discover a mysterious, jet black monolith. Upon touching it, almost worshipfully, they make an evolutionary leap in intelligence and begin to use the bones of animals as clubs to wage war upon competing tribes of apes.
2001’s monolith is iconic, and it’s common to joke about the similarity in shape between Kubrick’s big, ominous slab of intelligence-evolving basalt and Steve Jobs’s iPhone, but man, whoever built this 2001 docking station for his iPhone out of LEGO bricks — complete with tiny LEGO bones and monkeys, with the iPhone standing as the monolith above a worshipful tribe of man apes — just ran with it.
Siri Says The iPhone 4S Is The Least Popular Smartphone
Siri won’t just joke and tell you that the best smartphone around is the one you’re using Siri on. She’ll also be ironic and tell you the iPhone 4S is the least popular smartphone on Earth.
This Sweet iPad Stand Will Make You Wish You’d Never Thrown Out That Old G4
Oh man, this is awesome. Check out this killer iPad stand that Reddit user cwtfozzy built for himself out of the base of a lampy old iMac G4. Wish I still had one bunging around so I could get Ive’s Lamp back in my office. That thing just had such panache.
Damn cool work, Foz! How about posting a step-by-step DIY?
- Source Reddit
Why Apple’s iWallet Won’t Have Anything To Do With NFC
Ask what the next revolutionary feature for the iPhone will be, and NFC is a common answer. NFC — or near-field communications — is an ultra low-power chip that allows two devices to communicate small strings of information within a couple feet of each other.
Why’s it so revolutionary? The most commonly cited “magic” that NFC would bring to the iPhone would be the ability to use your device to pay for goods and services, just like a credit card.
In other words, instead of pulling out your wallet to buy groceries, get onto the subway or pick up a MacBook at the local Apple Store, you’d just tap your iPhone against a point-of-sale terminal near the register instead. The NFC chips in both would communicate and you’d be on your way, no signature or PIN code required.
Pretty neat, huh? NFC would theoretically allow Apple to take a cut of real world sales made of even non-Apple products. They’d become a mobile payment company. That seems like such a no-brainer that everyone from Bloomberg to The New York Times.
The only problem? Never going to happen, because Apple has already deployed its mobile payment solution, and it’s hidden inside every iPhone 4S that has already been sold.
