Is there such a thing as too many features?

I recently bought a new Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-WX9 and after scouring the manual, I have to ask is there such a thing as too many features? The main feature I was looking for in a new compact digital camera was the ability to record videos in a format that the iPad could directly read.

The Sony has all the buzz words and more; it has image stabilization, 3D shooting, 1080i video recording, motion detection, background defocus, iSweep Panorama, backlight correction HDR, and something called Smile Shutter technology (which is actually quite cool where it takes a picture when it detects the subject smiling). I've figure out how to use a few of the features, but how am I going to remember to turn on a feature when I want to take a picture? I have no idea. Worse, I have to explain to my wife how to use it and use some cool features.

Does the average non-techie person figure out how to use 1/4 of the features of the devices? Should manufacturers reduce the number of features and make them easier to use? I doubt this will happen as features sell devices even if people don't use them.

Broken Xcode 4 project templates

The other day I received a crash report from one of my projects that included a symbolicated crash log. This was very strange as I've never received a symbolicated crash log for an iOS project; I've always had to match it up with the dSYM file that I've stored away. After a little research, I found that some settings in the project didn't strip out the debug symbols. I found an older article on Apple's developer site that seemed to address this. I flipped on the switches and the project size dropped by 500K which would make sense.

The next step was to see how I missed these switches. The default Xcode 4 template for an iOS navigation based app has the following:

STRIP_INSTALLED_PRODUCT = YES

for the release build. However, the article above indicates that the following flag must also be on for the above one to have any effect.

Xcode provides several built-in options for stripping executables of their debugging symbols. One of these is the Strip Linked Product build setting. While typically set, it has no effect unless the Deployment Postprocessing setting is also set. Deployment Postprocessing is a master switch that enables the action of a host of other build settings. It's approximately analogous to running the xcodebuild tool with the install command.

DEPLOYMENT_POSTPROCESSING = YES

Unfortunately it's a bit hard to test with a basic project as the file size is too small. However, I opened the CTPageViewer sample app and tested with DEPLOYMENT_POSTPROCESSING on and off and with it off, the file size was definitely larger indicating that the flag must be set to YES.

So, did Apple mess up the default project? If you have your own template (which I might cover in another most), you can change the settings. If Apple didn't mess up, what am I missing?

The end of a long (banking) relationship

Almost 20 years ago, I opened a bank account with Security Pacific right before I started college. Security Pacific merged with (the now) Bank of America while I was still in college, so I became a Bank of America customer. I continuously had an account with Bank of America since then, but last year I moved all of my accounts as my free account was going away (it was tied to my mortgage that I moved). I hung onto a free account to keep the ability to have a safe deposit box there.

The other day I received a letter from Bank of America saying that my free account would cost $12 per month unless I kept a minimum balance of $1500, something that I have no interest in doing as I already moved my funds somewhere else. My choices of finding a bank with a free account in order to have a safe deposit box are pretty limited, unfortunately. My current bank doesn't offer safe deposit boxes (in fact only has 1 financial center in the county, but will be adding another that will just be a financial center). I've heard ads for San Diego County Credit Union on the radio all the time, so I decided to take a look. All they require is a $50 opening balance for a savings account with no monthly fee. In addition, the safe deposit box prices are lower than Bank of America. The only downside to this switch is the location isn't as convenient as the Bank of America down the street (it now will take me about 10 minutes to drive to my box).

Next week I'll be closing out my Bank of America account and ending almost 20 years dealing with them. Of course, no one cares about it, but it seems to me that companies would make some effort to keep customers instead of driving them away with fee after fee after fee. Our tax dollars helped bail out banks and they repay us customers by charging us more. While I'm just starting with a safe deposit box at the credit union, who knows what the future may bring. Their auto loan rates are pretty good and I'd consider a mortgage with them if the rates are good.

Artistic picture taken by a 4 year old

As I was working today, me Eye-Fi app downloaded some pictures that my son was taking in the other room. I saw one of them and was quite impressed by the composure of the picture. While I'm sure my son had no idea what he was doing, I thought it was cool.