Rob sent me a link to a video recently about a panoramic mount for a GoPro camera made out of an egg timer. I had a bit of free time this past weekend, so I thought I’d give it a try.

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iOS7 is being released sometime later today for iPhones and iPads. In addition to the changes “under the hood”, it also introduces an updated look-and-feel.

“Conspicuous ornamentation has been stripped away. Unnecessary bars and buttons have been removed. And in taking away design elements that don’t add value, suddenly there’s greater focus on what matters most: your content.” — taken from the Apple website

Judging by the screen captures on the iOS website, and things I’ve read elsewhere, this means that the skeumorphs are being eliminated.

Skeumorphs are the little graphical elements that make an app seem like it’s a physical thing as opposed to a collection of pixels. For example, the Find Friends app has a stitched leather motif with a line of stitching at the top of the screen and subtle shading and texture to give the impression of leather. One of the ways you can display your books in iBooks is like in a bookcase. My first generation iPad, which is forever stuck using iOS5, looks like a leather notepad portfolio when you’re using the Notes app.

Functionally, skeumorphs may not add anything to the operation of the apps, but I kind of like them and will probably miss them when they’re gone.

I see that the issue of cyclists riding on sidewalks has been in the news lately. This is something that I have blogged about in the past  and I still encounter on a regular basis on my walk to and from work — my 6-minute walk to and from work. In the span of the couple of hundred metres along Holland Avenue that I walk, I often see cyclists riding on the sidewalks when they could easily be on the road. Holland Avenue was recently repaved so they can’t use the excuse of the curb lane being full of potholes. Personally, if I encounter a cyclist riding their bike on the sidewalk, I feel no obligation to move aside so that they can pass. If that upsets them, then tough.

If you’re a cyclist who is not confident enough to ride on the road where you belong then you need to re-evaluate whether you should be cycling at all. If, upon reflection, you decide that you should be cycling, then you need to either a) find a different route that avoids the streets that scare you, or b) recognize that as a cyclist you have a right to be on the road (following the rules, of course) and that most drivers really aren’t out to get you.

Either way, you need to stop cycling on the sidewalks. Now.

And, for the record, I am a cyclist and I do not ride on sidewalks.