Today at 12:01 Central Time iOS 6 went live.
I’ll admit it, I’m an early adopter. I was one of those fools in line when the first iPhone was released. I didn’t camp out all night but I was right there with the campers mid-morning. I got my first iPhone the day before a road trip for work. To the amazement of anyone I could get to pay attention to me, I was able to set up my email on the interstate between Memphis and Birmingham. I checked on the movies playing near our hotel, I was the official weatherman. I had the whole freaking Internet in the palm of my hand. My life would never be the same.
For the next couple of years I was the official information friend. What’s the number of the local restaurant? How late is the library open? What movies are playing this week? What is the Kelley Blue Book value in that used Jeep we saw? I could answer any questions with a few seconds of thumb typing.
Now all my friends have iPhones. We all have access to every bit of info out there instantly. They may all be on board, but I’m convinced I’m still the most excited about updates and new features – a bonifide geek.
So what’s new that I’m already enjoying while you are debating taking the time to download?
Siri is now your bitch – ask her to open apps, find a restaurant, update your Facebook status. Hopefully she has finally figured out the meaning of life.
Speaking of Facebook – it’s everywhere, integrated into lots of apps. Upload from your photo album without opening the FB app. Now you can connect without even bothering to connect.
Turn-by-turn directions with traffic – of course I live in a village of 2200 people, traffic is not much of an issue.
Of course their are lots of cool nuanced changes to Safari, FaceTime, Mail, and every other native app. These are all nice and helpful.
My favorite new feature is in the camera though. Now I am not one to ditch my “real” camera for a smartphone, but the upgrade now features a panorama – now I can take you on a wide-angle, fish-eyed tour of the Stone House and the Bird Feeder Buffet!
This is what I get to see everyday at the end of my driveway…
Note – when taking panorama shots with happy dogs you may find the same dog pictured several times. It took 3 tries to get the center terrier to be in the shot only once. Also, my Jeep is actually facing the house, but in the land of panorama it’s rotated 90 degrees.
This is my hallway. My walls are all inch thick beadboard and the logs in the center are actually slabs I installed like tiles to repair a 4’x8′ opening the previous owner cut in the bedroom wall. All these trees died in my yard. Cutting the slabs and gluing them in place took an entire winter. I can be a bit OCD at times.
This is my wrap-around porch. I’m standing in the corner. This is why I bought this house. I can eat supper out here 6 months of the year. I have ceiling fans and a fire pit so I’m covered no matter the weather. All those trees out there are mine. I can see Missouri from my porch.
This is the Bird Buffet – this is a patio that I had built a few years ago. It’s off an old sleeping porch that I now use as a mudroom and photographer hiding spot.
Sure it’s just a novelty and these are not shots that I would offer as my best stuff, but it is pretty darn cool! iOS 6 has been available for less that 8 hours and I’m already posting about it from my updated iPad using photos taken from my updated iPhone. Technology is amazing. Life is good.
the eff stop 
Hi there. I can match you on the phone, and I am getting there with a download for the iPad but I am a bit slow on learning all the IT stuff for WordPress. For the life of me I have tried but cannot get photos to download in any other manner except squishy little boxed things with borders around them. How do you do it?
Fantastic photography, by the way. Great site.
Hi – Thanks for the kind words. I do almost all of my blog entries from my iPad. I download my photos from my camera and use iPhoto for any simple adjustments and upload using the “original size” option. I upload all my photos first – space them out and start writing. The only ones on my blog that have any frames are the few I have written on my Mac – the online posting adds a frame if you add a caption. Could the frame on yours be a feature of your theme?
Hi, I have checked this out from other blogs and it does appear that the borders come with the theme I have chosen. I think I will try not adding a caption and see if it makes any difference to the size of the order. Thanks for the tips. 🙂
I have tried a theme and stuck with it for a month or two to see how things load and to understand the limitations. The them I use has a white background version too that is better for text. I just started looking at the blogs I follow and seeing what I liked – then I would try the live demo. I love how photos look on this one – the text is tough to read though.
I find that your theme really fits in with the theme ofyour blog. Well chosen!
Thanks – I’m gonna stick with this one for a while:)
Mmmmmmmm. I LOVE that log art feature wall.
If I ever get fit & healthy, I’m coming to visit you & that wonderful stone house.
(bought myself a present today – Canon 50mm f1/4 USM – when my wrist improves, gosh you are in for a long photo series on my blog – gosh this lens is gorgeous – took a couple of photos on the way home).
Ooooh a fast 50! You will love it for street photography. Iove mine. I need to do a post on parades (we have them very frequently in this small burg) the fast portrait lens is the most fun to shoot.
Took some great shots late this afternoon as the light was fading in the city, but generally my other initial shots were lousy today. I had trouble working out where to put the focal point on this new 50mm lens..
I really missed the telephoto lens (which I had left at home) when I saw 10 baby Australian Wood Ducks in the Gardens to the east of the city. I had to gradually creep forward to try & get close to the ducklings.
If I’d had either my Telephoto 18-200mm or even my Macro lens I could have zoomed in close to the ducklings with the lens (instead of trying to walk closer to them)..
I will crop & edit these shots next week and share on my blog so you can see how I went with my first attempts with the 50mm f1/4. So glad I bought this lens. I can see it’s going to be good for street photography in dark city lanes & alleys (as well as photographing fowers in very dark shady spots (when I haven’t got my tripod)..
I think we only hve a couple of parades in Melbourne. the really big one called the Moomba parade and the Chinese dragon parade on Chinese New Year.
I’m going to do a post about Mardi Gras after work today – my portrait lens does a far better job on that than any zoom I have. I see some local photogs prefer their zooms though. I love the crispness and the subject isolation that the fast 50 gives though. I’m no street photographer, but I feel like I got decent results with it. I did shoot a couple of parades last year with a wide angle, that was fun – but the images were not as sharp for sure.
I try to use the right lens for the job when I can. I drive through the woods with my zoom on, I shoot product photography with the macro, I shoot lowlight work events with the fast 50. I can’t imagine trying to shoot ducks with my portrait lens – kudos to you for getting that close:)
My car part post was all shot with the portrait lens. I didn’t even take anything else with me and I know I missed some long shots, but shooting the prime made me focus on composition.
I think you will fall in love with the prime lens. Getting used to it is a lot like getting used to a DSLR after shooting a P&S – you give up zoom for creative control – it’s another adjustment but it lets you get so much more detail in low light – it’s worth it.
All I can say is….I understand “the geek” completely!
Also….LOVE the logs in the wall, all the stone and the wrap around porch!
I have fully embraced my inner geek and my iPhone 5 is on order:) I put the logs in the wall because there was no chance of me matching the 80 year old beadboard. I thought about doing a mural and decided that I needed to make an art piece about the house. I decided I wanted to buy this house before I walked in the door – that porch did it:)
Yea! I just got 6% better too!!😀👏👏👏
Welcome to our super exclusive club!
I LOVE the log feature in your home!! My husband and I love a rustic look….I must show him this 🙂
Thanks – This house was built from the rocks that were on the property and I thought it felt right to use the downed trees from the mountain. I love this spot, I’m really blessed.
gorgeous pictures – I love the panoramic feature!
Thanks – I can see come creative options with it.
6% is good. 🙂 Nice, very nice!!
It’s an upward trend. I’ll take it!