the Under5 Show

LOL… Wow. In my opinion, James Cameron soundly beat...

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 04:08:10 -0500

LOL… Wow.

In my opinion, James Cameron soundly beat Katherine Bigelow in making a better movie, and in being a far better director. She won the awards for both, which is really controversial, and in my opinion downright wrong & dishonest. However, this is just hilarious, because she’s his ex-wife.

In this photo James is messing with Katherine after the awards were given. Priceless.

agenerousdesigner:

without comment

Why Apple's Closed App Store is a Bad Idea

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 23:46:47 -0500

Why Apple's Closed App Store is a Bad Idea:

Marco goes into some detail on why Apple’s dictatorial control of the App Store is a bad idea, and how it could hamper and even ruin much of their computing experience in the future, if they allow it to.

This addendum at the end of The iPad is the iPrius got to me:
…
With all of the discussion of the benefits and drawbacks of applying the iPhone OS to more general-purpose computing tasks, this is one aspect that’s easy to overlook at the beginning: software competition evaporates for anything…

Apple’s new iPad ad from the Oscars. I wanted one already.

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:22:12 -0500

Apple’s new iPad ad from the Oscars. I wanted one already.

"If you’ve never owned or used an iPhone, you’ll probably find the Nexus One to be a very adequate..."

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:06:59 -0500

“If you’ve never owned or used an iPhone, you’ll probably find the Nexus One to be a very adequate device and will assume that the minor annoyances are just part of owning a smart phone. If you’ve owned an iPhone for any length of time, you’ll likely feel, as I do, that it’s a rather half-baked device with some good ideas but generally weak execution.”

- This is actually true of Android in general. The Nexus One is actually the best Android phone out there, which is where it gets really, really sad.

Nexus One from an iPhone Developer’s Perspective (via marco)

This is so true, and it’s why I’m a big proponent of...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:03:52 -0500

This is so true, and it’s why I’m a big proponent of getting kids interested in reading when they’re young. It’s so important to read well, in order to write well.

austinkleon:

Indexed by Jessica Hagy
Yep.

An Open Letter to Steve Jobs Concerning the HTC Lawsuits.

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:04:34 -0500

An Open Letter to Steve Jobs Concerning the HTC Lawsuits.

"What developers see is that the App Store is a shaky foundation upon which to build a business. One..."

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:41:54 -0500

“What developers see is that the App Store is a shaky foundation upon which to build a business. One day you’re prospering, the next day your app is gone. There are awesome iPhone OS apps that aren’t being built because developers don’t trust Apple not to yank the carpet out from underneath them.”

- John Gruber (via marco)

So true, and so sad. Apple needs to fix this, and soon. Particularly scary is the idea that this is Apple’s vision of the future of computing, in which not only the software products of Apple, but also those of all third party developers, are controlled by a single dictatorial corporate force who rules the software ecosystem for it’s own private gain & interests.

I love layer tennis. It’s essentially a match between two...

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 21:35:19 -0500

I love layer tennis. It’s essentially a match between two graphic artists in which they toss a file back and forth, each participant being given 15 minutes to rework the file to his heart’s content. Awesome stuff. I just wish there were more of them, and that they were open to the public, or at least had an application process. As it stands now, they’re essentially a way for Adobe to show off selected Photoshop gurus’ abilities.

It would be great to see one or more of them in which Pixelmator, Acorn, or other apps were used instead. A vector version using illustration software would be great to see too.

davidkaneda:

A play-by-play recap of last week’s fantastic Layer Tennis between Khoi Vinh and Nicholas “Feltron” Felton. I asked on Twitter, and the condensed font used throughout the match is Heroic Condensed (thanks @nickheise).

John Gruber at MacWorld 2010 Great watch. He gives very well...

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:35:56 -0500

John Gruber at MacWorld 2010

Great watch. He gives very well spoken, knowledgeable commentary on everything that matters to Apple in 2010. (as usual for John)

In the beginning God created… I find it both sad and hard to...

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:48:30 -0500

In the beginning God created…

I find it both sad and hard to believe that so many people deny the obvious origins of our universe. This little snail, like so many other things in this universe we live in, is an obvious work of art. It’s an intentionally designed creation, requiring an order of magnitude more complexity and ingenuity than any skyscraper, supercomputer, or piece of fine art, yet people throw out their humanity and leave it to accidental chance.

Notice the careful execution of the known design principles of the golden mean, and rule of thirds, of color theory, of the principles of balance and contrast, the textures more beautiful than those of any sculpture… We got these things from the one who designed us all.

Truly a work of art.

i-peach-feng-shui:

(via loveyourchaos)

The fact that this exists is such a miracle. Amazing!

Dear Mr. Jobs,

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:47:24 -0500

I agree. The Mac platform is all about the great apps, and what Apple is doing by forcing developers into a shared-revenue / dictatorial approval process - based store is just not right for anyone.

chrisbowler:

This is just a small taste of what I love about using a Mac.

All the great developers who created these application make your product better. Please do the right thing and treat them like the professionals they are as you move us all down the path to touch computing and your closed marketplace.

Sincerely yours,

Devoted Mac ecosystem consumer.

Looks like Rolling Stone forgot to renew their domain name. LOL!...

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 15:10:13 -0500

Looks like Rolling Stone forgot to renew their domain name. LOL! This is unbelievable, but very real.

newsweek:

(@thedailyswarm via @gillianmae)

Mark Pilgrim on The Setup

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:19:03 -0500

Mark Pilgrim on The Setup:

Two words: MacBook Air. All the benefits of working with just what you need to get the job done, without any of the handicaps of an ancient machine.

As for the 20 year machine idea, I’m not really for it, but it does make sense to get a really nice monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and external set of hard drives and just swap out the actual computer with one that meets your current needs as time passes.

minimalmac:

But hey, you asked for my dream setup. That’s it: one computer for 20 years.

Gosh, I love The Setup. Though, once again, Mark is not a Mac guy, I love the conviction he holds in the things he believes in. I really, really admire it.

20 Years, huh? I don’t think this is an unreasonable expectation. I am currently typing this post using Word 5.1 on a Powerbook 1400c. Though I am not sure when this particular model was made (and yes, I am too lazy to look it up by the serial number) the model line was introduced in 1997. That means it is currently 13 years old. It does not show any signs of stopping either. Here is proof:

I mainly keep it in the basement on a shelf. I pull it out for those rare times someone will come to me with an old floppy disk that contains the sole copy of their college thesis and they wonder if I can rescue it. That said, I still enjoy it a great deal when I do. It has one of my favorite keyboards of all time. It makes a pleasant clickity-clak that reminds a writer of his industry and craft. I still think Word 5.1 was the best word processor ever made and it is these times I prove myself correct. Oh, how I miss using this machine daily. What is there to say I could not?

To be fair, I have given the machine a few upgrades, without which I am not sure I really could use it in my modern world without some deep compromises. For the purposes I use it for, I have installed a NewerTech G3/233 processor as well as maxed out the RAM at 48MB but with RAM Doubler (I am sure I am bringing back some memories for the old timers here) I am pushing it to 96MB. I also have a Lucent WaveLAN Silver WiFi PC card to connect to the wireless. Works like a charm.

That said, I have the machines and the software I use today because I really do need them. I need them for my job to support my clients. That said, if my life were different – if writing were my main gig for instance – I could easily do so with this setup. I mean, seriously, set me up with a Laserwriter 300 to be able to print off a manuscript and I would be in business. Cormack McCarthy uses a typewriter. Neal Stephenson writes 1800 page trilogies in long hand. They are no less industrious or prolific in their craft because of these “outdated” tools. My PB1400 setup is worlds away from (and some may argue ahead of) both.

This is really just a reason to remind myself of the purpose behind this little project I have here. It is to explore the idea of what really is “enough” for me, for you, for most. I am sure that, with proper care and feeding, I will be able to take out my current Mac, an almost 3 year old Macbook, from the basement 10 years from now and reminisce in the same way. I am sure it’s utility may be no less – despite the fact the world may have changed around it. It will likely be enough for me for a long time to come.

Shutup

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:27:02 -0500

This thing is awesome. It erases the entire comments section of most popular tech sites, seamlessly. Lately, (or always?) the commenters on these sites have been posting uninformed, ridiculous, inane, and often downright stupid comments to nearly every article. This is a nice fix that makes them shut up.

mnmal:

stevenf:

shutup.css is a custom user stylesheet you can install in your web browser which will automatically hide the comments section of many popular web sites. My gift of a quieter, saner web to you.

A lovely iconification of nerdery. People want a mouse...

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:00:50 -0500

A lovely iconification of nerdery. People want a mouse that’s beautiful and easy to use. In a mouse, simple is good. Complicated is bad.

mrgan:

This chart shows you just how much the WarMouse Meta (formerly the OpenOffice Mouse) is better than other mice, including Apple’s Magic Mouse (which, to be fair, actually has zero buttons).

Dear entire industry: forget bullet lists and learn storytelling.

furbo.org · iPad liberation

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:09:56 -0500

furbo.org · iPad liberation:

minimalmac:

There’s an inherent benefit to only doing one thing at a time: the load of worrying about other tasks is lifted. Knowing that there isn’t anything else competing for your attention is quite liberating.
Of course, the iPad is an extension of this.

Add Aero Snap to your Mac with Cinch

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 12:42:50 -0500

Add Aero Snap to your Mac with Cinch:

Works perfectly, a bit better than the Windows 7 iteration. $7.

AT&T Customer Service: "New York City Is Not Ready For The iPhone" - The Consumerist

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:07:05 -0500

AT&T Customer Service: "New York City Is Not Ready For The iPhone" - The Consumerist:

Well, that’s one way to tell the world how bad your service is.

"When you’re following your energy and doing what you want all the time, the distinction between work..."

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 02:52:31 -0500

“When you’re following your energy and doing what you want all the time, the distinction between work and play dissolves.”

-
Shakti Gawain (via i-peach-feng-shui)

If you haven’t seen Avatar in 3D (preferably IMAX 3D) yet,...

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:45:10 -0500

If you haven’t seen Avatar in 3D (preferably IMAX 3D) yet, go do so as soon as possible. This film is massively epic! Best film of all time, in my book. They need a new star scale to measure this one! It’s mind-blowingly AWESOME!