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It really bothers me when I see news outlets post crap about Apple without even thinking. Bloomberg, telegraph, zdnet, businessinsider, engadget, and venturebeat are all claiming that using Siri on your iPhone 4s can double your data usage.

They're all basing this off of this report from Arieso that claims

iPhone 4S users are the “hungriest” data consumers, demanding twice as much data as iPhone 4 users and three times as much as iPhone 3G users

Now, I don't doubt they're right. But the report does not say anything about Siri or even indicate that they know what kind of data is being transmitted. They're just assuming that Siri is the cause of this because it's a feature not offered on any other iOS device.

Personally I blame the data usage on iCloud and iTunes Match. Siri transmits small bits of data for each request. According to Ars Technica, Siri isn't really that bad with data.

If you use Siri 2-3 times per day at an average of 63KB per instance, you might expect to use 126KB to 189KB per day, or 3.7 to 5.5MB per month. For 4-6 times a day, that might come out to 252KB to 378KB per day, or 7.4 to 11MB per month. If you use it 10-15 times per day, you might end up using 630KB to 945KB per day, or 18.5 to 27.7MB per month.

The above stats don't t even factor in if you use Siri while on a WiFi network. 27.7MB a month on an iPhone isn't that much data at all. I can't speak for other iPhone users but my monthly usage is anywhere between 1-2GB a month.

Compare this to the 2-5MB that you can transfer every three minutes when using iTunes Match. And don't forget about the battery life issue most 4S devices had when they were first released. That problem was mainly due to iCloud trying to sync all the time. Who knows how many versions of iOS 5 haven't been upgraded.

This kind of reporting is what really bothers me, especially with all of this TV set crap flying around. Editors will post anything that mentions a new product or potential issue from Apple. Don't be lead on by these news outlets doing whatever they can to gain more eyeballs.

For most people that have used Dropbox it's been a great time saver. Personally when going from machine to machine nothing is easier and "just works" like Dropbox. I want to share a few ways that I use Dropbox to help me out

1. Symlink Folders

The title may put you off but I'll explain what this does and how this works. I have a folder on my work machine called 'Projects.' Now sometimes I remember to move some files that I really need to work on later at home in my Dropbox, edit them, then move them back in to place the next day. If I forget I'm out of luck and I don't want to move that folder just in to Dropbox because I'll end up always looking for it in the old place.

There's an easy fix for this when you're on a Mac or Linux box: Symlinks. A symlink is like an alias that points to a file or folder that's in another location. Open a Terminal on your machine and do this *

It's that simple! Now that Projects folder will always sync with your Dropbox account and it will stay in it's original location. (* Make a backup of that folder first just in case)

2. Shared Folders

I like to keep my work and personal work as separate as I can. While adding your own Dropbox account to your work machine seems like a good idea I just wasn't thrilled with it. If I end up unemployed all of my personal files will be on my work machine with no way to remove them. My solution to this is to have two Dropbox accounts. One is my personal account and the second is only for work. Now on my work account I have a shared folder called Work. I invited my personal account to use it and now what's personal stays personal and what's work can be accessed anywhere. This is great for when I take my personal laptop to work and need to share files between the two machines without switching accounts.

3. The same wallpaper everywhere

For a while now I've had random wallpaper setup on my macs. It's simple, go to System Preferences, Desktop & Screensaver, select a folder with a bunch of images inside, and set it to change the picture every few minutes. This way when I come across an image I like I can just add it to the folder. You get the added bonus of not looking at the same boring image you once liked six months ago. With Dropbox you can keep the same wallpaper rotating on any machine that you own. Just make a Wallpaper folder inside of Dropbox and point your mac to it.

And that's it. If you're not using Dropbox already just use this link http://db.tt/Rvk9DQK and we'll both get some extra storage space.

This should explain some of the commands that you can use with CapsCop. I really feel that this bot is unique that it lets anyone interact and play with the system at any time.

#snitch or #narc
These commands aren't actually a secret. Just mention @CapsCop, either #snitch or #narc, and another username with the @ and we'll do our best to bust them. If that person gets busted you get a snitch point. Snitch points get you listed on the website, iPhone app, and keep you out of "Jail"

#stats
This is a brand new command that launched. Mention @CapsCop and #stats in a tweet to receive details on how often you've been busted, if you're in jail, your snitch points, and how long ago you were caught.

banana
I had this posted in my bio but then I had people leaving voicemails just saying banana. Banana is the safeword. I would choose it's use wisely. When you mention @CapsCop and say banana you will never get caught for using caps by CapsCop ever again. THE HORROR! This can't be undone (because I'm lazy) and you'll get a tweet back confirming this.

"caps cop"
Last, but not least, the "speak of the devil" command. Because of how CapsCop works and a few limitations of the Twitter API, we can't catch everyone. I started to notice that a ton of people would taunt CapsCop and hope for a reply back. Well this is my answer to that. When someone mentions my name (not an @reply) they're basically snitching on themselves. I go through their last 20 tweets and bust them if needed.

For now that concludes what else can be done with the CapsCop system. Enjoy it! (and don't say banana)

I've been using Spotify for around 6-8 hours a day while I'm at work. Some things are great. Some are not. Keep reading:

Pros

1. Lots of music
2. Lets me listen to my iTunes library at home from work (see #5 below though)
3. Helps me find music I might also like

Cons

1. Not meant to "set it and forget it" unless you just like popular music or can search for some terms and hit random.
2. Only one of my Facebook Friends uses it... and we're not at a "music sharing" friendship really.
3. Buggy: I've had Stars go missing. So have a ton of people on Get Satisfaction
4. Forgetful: Why can't it keep a history of what I listened to after I close and reopen the app?
5. iTunes tracks lasted a day. Never to return.
6. Buggy #2: Some ads won't play. You can't skip the dead air and since the commertial never finishes, you either have to wait 5+ minutes for it to time out or reopen the app.
7. Buggy #3: After prolonged usage (and maybe correlating to bug #2) the next track won't play unless you hit play.

That's all I have time for at the moment. I think I'll be switching back to Google Music

Just outlining some of my thoughts about Lion so far:

• The mds process is still a memory hog at times. I caught it using 700Mb+ of virtual memory
• Launchpad - Meh
• Mission Control - Nice concept, well executed but it's going to take people a long time to learn how to use it to their advantage
• Mission Control #2 - It's making me think my machine is faster then it really is. Causing me to open more apps then I normally would. (Note to self, upgrade ram)
• Time Machine - Not sure what's up with it complaining if I don't have my back up disk attached for an hour. It's just an hour!
• Mouse gestures - HUGE learning curve. I'll deal but it's putting a lot of people off
• Everything is grey and dull! Not a fan.
• Full screen apps are nice until you attach a second monitor. There's nothing that can be done with the second screen.
• The remote boot of MacBook Air and Mini sounds awesome. I'm hoping older Macs can get this with a firmware update.
• Pro Tip: Do yourself a favor and get Lion on a USB key before you upgrade. Instructions here http://holgr.com/blog/2011/02/creating-a-bootable-os-x-10-7-lion-disc/

There are many small improvements but the real game changers are the App Store upgrade, Mission Control and Gestures. This release is a prime example of how Apple pushes boundaries and is generally ahead of it's time. This time Apple has the pull to show us what the future is and make it stick. The iPad offered a sneak peak of what would be coming in to OSX. Like it or not this gesture filled multi screen way of computing is the future. Give it time and be willing to retrain yourself on scrolling and gestures. I'm sure we will all love it a few months from now.

It's been 4 months since @twitter told devs to stop making clients so they can provide "A Consistent User Experience"  (seen here http://groups.google.com/group/twitter-development-talk/browse_thread/thread/...

While the main reason for this policy change and warning was because of apps violating user's privacy, it set a bar and goal for Twitter to reach. Mainly to provide a consistent user experience across all of their apps. So far, they've failed that mission.

I use a few Twitter apps. The iPhone, Mac, and iPad versions. The iPhone and Mac Twitter clients were purchased from atebits and as far as I know their iPad version was developed in house. The Mac version of the client was updated to version 2.0 after the purchase and included a range of new features and upgrades to it's inner-workins and display.

Alright, enough history, on with the issue at hand. Feature fragmentation. It's fairly rampant between these three versions.

Adding/Removing users from lists - Only supported on iPhone

Viewing lists on followers/following - Not available on the Mac

Removing a DM - Not available on the iPad

I may be missing a feature or two but these are the ones I've noticed so far. It's frustrating for users of their apps to have to go, "oh, I need to manage a list, better break out my phone and stop using my iPad" But this is a chance for developers to shine as usual. I wouldn't care what Twitter says about making clients for their service. If there's a problem with the current software available that's always a chance for another developer to enter the competition.