Asteroid 1999 FN53: The Truth

This is a short post just to correct reports coming out of some media outlets.

The 0.9 km wide 1999 FN53 asteroid is not going to hit us on May 14th. There are no instabilities in its orbit that might send it our way. In fact it will not hit us within the next 8000 years. Its going to miss us by about 7 million miles. Panic over.

Check out the link below from NASA JPL for more details:
http://echo.jpl.nasa.gov/asteroids/1999FN53/1999FN53_planning.html

Flickr For iOS: Could Not Communicate With Server Fix

I've seen multiple reports on Google from people trying to login to Flickr through iOS 7 Settings and receiving the 'Could not communicate with server' login failure. I changed phones last week and received the same error message this morning. The fix that worked for me is:

1. Go to Flickr through a desktop browser. 

2. Go to the your profile image in the top right and click Settings.

3. In Your Account select the Sharing & Extending tab.

4. Revoke the iOS related Account Links.

5. Login again on your iPhone through Settings and you should now have access.

I hope this helps. 

Usual disclaimer: please remember that this is offered purely as information about what worked for me. I do not accept any responsibility for issues that may be caused by anyone else following these steps and you do so at your own risk. 

Resolved For iOS! 'OK Google' Works in UK

One of the most useful features in the ever expanding tool set that is Google Now is the 'OK Google' Hotwords. Unfortunately many people are discovering that this handy feature is not active outside of the US. With Google releasing an update to their iOS app over the last couple of days this annoyance has spread to Googles iOS users too. However there does appear to be a handy fix.

When you go into the application settings you'll notice that it's impossible to activate Hotwords. Changing your language in the application won't make a difference. However, go to 

iOS Settings -> General -> International and update your language to plain 'English'. Once the phone has finished applying it head to the Google app and Hotwords should now be on by default.

I haven't found any issues with this so far but please be aware that I accept no responsibility for any damage or other inconvenience caused to your device or yourself through following this tip. I'm offering it simply to let you know how I got this working on my iPhone 5.

Team Former For iOS Available Now

I'm proud to announce that my first iOS app, Team Founder, is now live on the app store!

The app lets you quickly and easily split any group of people into teams for sports, games or even classroom activities. Just enter the names of everyone playing along with the number of people you want in each group and hit Create. The app then creates your teams and lets you share them with friends and followers through email, Messages, Twitter and FaceBook.

The app is free so please go ahead and download it from iTunes and give it a go. I have lots of plans to make this app bigger and even better in version 2.

iTunes Link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/team-former/id689018834?ls=1&mt=8

The app is built for all supported models of iPhone and iPod Touch running iOS 6.1.