this is fyf

Why doesn't Sprint have the iPhone 4s on its website?

 

After negotiating to get the iPhone, you'd think Sprint would be touting it.  Verizon.com and ATT.com have the new iPhone 4s front and center.  Sprint doesn't even mention it.  Interest is high especially if Sprint keeps its $79.99 monthly unlimited plan, but thus far there is no word.

 

iPhone 4s: Is the "s" for "sad"?

 

While I'm sure the month and day were pulled at random, did they have to pair up May 19th with "dad's birthday"?  My own dad was born May 19, but died several years ago.  Seeing the pairing on the Apple site's iPhone 4s page brought me a quick sad moment, but then again it was nice to think about him.

FYF After Dark: The wave of the future? (NSFW)

Will we shoot porn with our iPhones?

Aren't we already?

TiltShift penetration? ...A wonder.

Imagine what the future holds.

Do you ever suspect that other folks are having more fun than you?  Now there's an app that can prove it.

Shoe tree

Take this as you will: "Husbear" in autocorrect is "gushers".

Ah-ah-AH! Not so fast Verizon iPhone!

I imagine this goes without saying, but...before you jump on that Verizon iPhone bandwagon (Oop! Too late?) know what you're getting into, hear?

As Tai Chi (my sister-in-crime) pointed out, Verizon's iPhones won't be usable in Europe, currently. For the rest, Lifehacker gives you the whole rundown of what you are and aren't getting with Verizon here.

Me? I think I'll wait until next year (so long as my aged 3G holds out!) for the iPhone 5 with its CDMA/GSM/UTMS chipset (I'm spouting words whose meanings I can only guess at! Thanks, NYT & ReadWriteWeb!) and - likely - the lower cost/wider options available data plans resulting from the fallout of the Verizon/AT&T competition between now and then (Right? RIGHT!? That is how this'll all play out - in favor of us consumers, I mean - isn't it??)

Your cheap-ass camera is why you are single.

I love statistics.  And statistics drawn from a dating site are always fascinating.  In their latest aggregation of data comparing camera data with the amount of attention the picture resulting from that camera drew, the folks at dating site OK Cupid found a few things:

• More expensive, complex cameras result in higher-clicked pictures.  Granted, the better camera will also tend to indicate a more skilled photographer as well.
• Even among those using a cell-phone camera, the better lensed iPhone got better results.  Also?  iPhone users have more sex.  Is it all from Grindr?
• Flash makes you look seven years older (which any drag queen or pasty faggot can tell you).
• Pics taken during sunrise or sunset tend to be more attractive (unless you've been up all night).

The full report has more so you can perfectly plan your profile picture so well as to be completely unrecognizable.  (Oh, wait, that could be a problem too.)

MOMA is now an iPhone app

The MOMA iPhone app is pretty user friendly, with calendars, audio tours built in, an index of the collection, basic museum info and other features.  You can even use the index to pick out a new "ironic" Grindr profile pic.

Fabulis releases new iPhone app which is basically Grindr with real names (and parties).

 

The Grindr experience is what it is.  You have a picture; you have a few hundred characters.  Based on those you decide to chat, maybe exchange pictures (possibly of your penis) and then possibly meet up and fuck make rewarding connections.  Fabulis is taking that idea and expanding on it with their new iPhone app.

Instead of just thumbnails and quick descriptions of the members, you get full names and profiles along with general distance.  More interesting is the ability to view events going on near you in that location at that time.  So, imagine you are in a place where you don't really know many folks or what's happening.  (Perhaps "Boston" or "Hell's Kitchen".)  The app could tell you where the party's at and who's attending.  

Fabulis Creative Director (and FYF friend) Bradford Shellhammer replied to an email where I asked for some clarification:

Plans right now can be sorted by date and popularity. Popularity is based on RSVP numbers. ... You can see the people who have said they're going to an event and you can message them in advance.

Soon we're also working on enhancements which will make it easier to know who is actually at an event or a bar or a restaurant RIGHT NOW. So you can see if Amanda Lepore is having a party, who is actually there now and who is planning on attending.

In the converse, you could also see who is attending a party and make the decision not to attend.  Or make decisions about a person regarding the parties they attend.  Useful!

While no fan of the word "fabulous" or any other non-specific adjective, or of misspellings, or of overly-rounded fonts,  I am a fan of utility and efficiency.  In this case, the latter certainly outweighs the latter.

PS - Hi Brian Mills.  We see you, baby, pimping your blog.  (And no, I don't see us doing "fabuliscapes", but you never know.)

FaceTime is sexy time with iPhone 4.0.

 
Remember all the gay chat lines that used to exist?    There was one guy that was almost always on a full page ad for every gay (porn or regular) magazine.  In porn magazines I would eschew the pictorials just to hunt out this one chatline ad.    He was "my type" with dark eyes and hair and a killer smile and a really nice build to him.  I named him "Lucky" and looking at his ad would help me to masturbate very efficiently.

Everything old is new again with iPhone 4.0 FaceTime.  One first thought most have had about FaceTime is how phone sex will now be able to compete with "camming".  The primary concern would be for privacy as you don't want your number out there like that.  So "helper services" will allow you to dial in for a set fee per minute, keeping your private data private.

Once again showing why I'm heavy on ideas and light on cash, someone is already doing this for the straight peoples:

 

There is still a market niche for the gays though.  So gather around me investors, and let's make this happen!  Maybe "Lucky" will be available.  (I google searched for him fruitlessly, but really would want him to usher us into the next wave.)

From Your Flickr - It's time for iPhone 4.0 Facetime.

 

A quick search for "FaceTime" on Flickr this morning returns exactly what is expected, as seen in this picture from thikstache.  Almost every person that was in line yesterday has already taken a snapshot of themselves using the (what is expected to be wildly popular) FaceTime feature.  It's so Jetson, it's Judy.

From Your Flickr - In 95 degree heat, they have gathered together and they endure the wait all in the name of social justice. Wait? What? Oh. All in the name of getting a new iPhone.

You look at the picture and say, "Hey, that line's not so bad."  But it's a picture from 4 p.m. yesterday, outside the Meatpacking District's Apple Store as captured by SuaveMaeve.

UPDATE:   

At 8am (above), the line stretched past La Perla down 14th Street. By 9am, according to Apple employees, the line stretched down to 10th Avenue and up 10th to 18th Street.

Special Note for potential lemmings...I mean, buyers: If you have an outstanding balance on your account that is equal to or greater than the cost of the phone you're trying to buy? You'll need to bring your account current in order to complete the upgrade. 

Someone at Apple left the new prototype iPhone 4.0 in a bar. UPDATED: Or did Gizmodo willingly pay for stolen goods?

 

And someone at Gizmodo found it, dissected it and wrote all about it.  (Is it really that simple?  Someone left it in a bar?  It doesn't seem very Gawker media property to pay someone off for something like this, as the payoff would have to be huge, so I'm tending to believe the bar angle.*)

Highlights of the Gizmodo analysis:

• Front-facing video chat camera and improved regular camera with flash.
• Improved, higher-resolution display.
• Second mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack.
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic and split buttons for volume.
• Flat back
• Aluminum border going completely around the outside.
• Smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution).
• Everything is more squared off.
• 3 grams heavier
• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

Several more pictures and video are at Gizmodo.  And somewhere in Cupertino, someone is crying.
 

* - Updated:  It seems that John Gruber, quoted in the Gizmodo article, plainly calls this "finding in a bar" bit to be malarky:  "It's been an open secrret to those of us in the racket that Gizmodo purchased this unit about a week ago, from those who claimed to find it. ... It is my understanding that Apple considers this unit stolen, not lost."  Is receivership of stolen goods a crime in California?

Grindr is pretty much just for Victorian ladies now.

 

When you logged into Grindr today (don't be coy, I just admitted to it, so you can too), you might have noticed the quick message at the beginning noting changes in the Terms of Service.  Included were changes as to what can and cannot be put in profile pictures and texts.  Essentially, in their goal to create a wholesome, sexless homosexual utopia they have added several items to their "thou shalt not" list.   

Presented with commentary in italics are some highlights of the new and improved Grindr user guidelines: 

 Profile photo:

• No bare skin below the waistline (hip bone area) or above the upper thighs can be shown.  (Also, no ankles may be viewable below ye bloomers.)
• No underwear can be visible. Swimwear must follow the bare skin rule above.  (A quick look this morning saw lots of underwear visible, so many a deletion is coming.)
• Pants and shorts must be worn normally, buttoned, and not pulled or hanging down.
• Hand or fingers cannot be down pants or pulling underwear outward.  (Remember that old Coppertone ad?  Verboten!)
• No photo that is sexually explicit or overly suggestive.  (So my 'come hither' look is forbidden?)
• No nudity (particularly the genitals) covered up by a towel, hat or other means.
• No grabbing/holding or touching genitals or genital area.  (So Gawker is more permissive than Grindr.)
• No pubic hair can be visible.
• No outline of genitals through clothing will be allowed.  (Baggy pants only!)
• No crotch area only, neither back nor front.
• No images that show suggestive or overly sexual poses.
• Photos cannot contain sex props and toys, including the use of fruits/vegetables.
• No images of illegal drug use and paraphernalia.
• No images of firearms or weapons.
• No photos of any obscene gestures and/or lewd behavior.
• No image used to advertising your services, goods, websites, or events.  (Nice of them to put it in writing, but we learned this already.)
• No profanity or curse words.  (Are you fucking kidding me?)

Profile text

• No text referring to genital size or sexual acts.
• No sexually explicit or overly suggestive text.
• No mention of illegal drugs.  (420 friendly?  Guess not.)
• Expressions of a desire to engage in unprotected sex is not allowed.  (Isn't the purpose of forming relationships so that one can engage in bareback sex?)
• No profanity or curse words, including abbreviations and masking (i.e. f**k, a$$, etc.)

Web Link

• A link to your Facebook profile is allowed in the Facebook field. MySpace and Twitter profile links are allowed in the About field; these links must have a user name attached and cannot contain advertising or pornography or they will be removed. No other web link of any kind will be allowed in any of the profile fields.

According to Grindr, the application is to be used by guys to meet guys that live nearby:

Thousands of gay, bi, and curious guys in your area are chilling out on Grindr. It’s easy to find a nearby guy in no time. Whether you’re in the mood to chat, a date, or a buddy to grab a drink with, Grindr makes it happen. Guys into other guys are just a quick download away. And with Grindr they’re also right around the corner—just waiting for you to show up.

Apparently when they show up, you can show them your ankle, and perhaps play cribbage. You would think something named "Grindr" wouldn't be eschewing sexuality so much, right? The desexualization of the gay man continues.

Confession:  I'm a math geek.  No, really.  As in perfect score on the SAT math geek, so when the check comes, I tend to have it all figured out in my head before anyone else, unless there was booze with the meal.  Since there often is booze with the meal, the iPhone is pulled out and the calculator is employed.  For times when a drunken math genius or a calculator aren't handy though, there is a handy new app that not only calculates the tip and amount per person, but takes into account the country in which you are dining.

Your beard is on the phone for you.

Ever wondered if a Fu Manchu was right for you?  Think you could pull off a Chaplin without pulling a Hitler?  Wonder no more.  The BeardMe app is for you, friend.

Check out a demonstration (which puts a beard on the baby), after the jump.

Emoji Art

 

"Color Stories" by Steve Winick.

In a Grindr and GWIP (NSFW) world, you need help taking your portrait with your iPhone. Self Image is there.

You see, Grindr is for social networking, not hookups.  So it survived Apple's culling of sexual applications.