btw, are you using jQuery Mobile

No, because I did not know there was such a thing.

Thanks, gonna check it out....

Yeah, jQM is nice for handling a lot of mobile native interface stuff, and it works cross-platform, too.

I just checked the Chosen site on iPhone, and it looks a hell of a lot better than the native controls. You might just want to show him that and see what he thinks. But the basic problem is that he's trying to force UI elements to do something different than what they should really do -- a textbox is FOR ENTERING TEXT, not selecting from a pre-set list, dangit!!

t /preaching-to-the-choir

Have you seen Chosen?

Nope. Interesting. I tried a different jQ thing for drowdown box autocomplete (the built-in one, not a plugin) but I had problems with it. We also have a home-grown solution for dropdown box autocomplete, but it's customized for a different application. (Years ago, a client wanted a web dowpdown box that worked just like an Access Combobox.)

a textbox is FOR ENTERING TEXT, not selecting from a pre-set list, dangit!!

Yeah. 'Cept we have some dropdown boxes with thousands of items in them, so the scroll wheel on the iPhone doesn't work as well without some sort of type-ahead functionality.

Seriously. This sounds more and more like Chosen, and it's bee-you-tee-ful, and handles multiselects (and deleting some of your multiselects! It's a brave new world!!) much more nicely than any system's native controls.

I just checked the Chosen site on iPhone, and it looks a hell of a lot better than the native controls. You might just want to show him that and see what he thinks.

Yep, my boss was impressed, so I'm going to try some Chosen dropdown boxes.

We're just doing a demo for a client. My boss says this is a learning experience, and it's OK if I want to throw away the last week's work and start over with new tools.

Anyway, I'm having fun learning this stuff.

This is cool.

Samsung Galaxy S III Tracks Your Eyes, Knows When You’re Ready to Call

As Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S III in London Thursday, it focused less on spec details and more on the concept that the phone can actually predict your next move — a talent you won’t find in rival phones like the HTC One X and Apple’s iPhone 4S.

One new feature, Smart Stay, uses eye-tracking technology to put the phone to sleep (and wake it up again) as needed. Specifically, the S III’s front-facing camera registers when you’re looking at the device. If the phone recognizes your mug, its screen will turn on and remain active as long as you’re using it.

The upshot: No more screen dimming in the middle of reading a long email. Just as nifty, when you look away, the phone will go to sleep, Samsung says.

Another feature, Direct Call, automatically places a phone call based on whom you’re text messaging. Specifically, if you’re in the middle of writing a text and lift the phone to your ear, the phone’s proximity and motion sensors will alert the S III to place a call for you.

The S III also features a Siri-like program, S Voice, that uses voice recognition to check the weather, place a phone call, search the web, and add appointments to the phone’s calendar app. S Voice can also launch the camera app, something Siri can’t do on the iPhone.

The Samsung Galaxy S III features an 8MP rear camera.

And there’s more still: Facial recognition technology built into the S III identifies people in photos, and links to your friends’ pages on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, making it easy to email or text a photo to the identified people.

I think we are living in the future.

There is something a bit creepy about that. Should we name it HAL? Think of the paranoia level when you start flipping out because "my phone is watching me!!!". Or, if there is a backdoor hack to monitor that always on camera. Hmm, makes you wonder if your iPhone can be hacked to remotely view the camera without your knowledge?

That sounds like the awesomest thing ever. I HATE it when my phone dims when I'm trying to use it.

I HATE it when my phone dims when I'm trying to use it.

Me too.

As technology improves, our devices get better and better at accommodating to the way we humans work, so we have to do less conforming to the way they work.