January 2011
35 posts
Geek Culture Will Never Die...or Be Popular →
Will Greenwald, PCMag.com:
There is no thin line between geek culture and pop culture. There’s a big, thick wall between the two.
[…]
Geek culture is defined by both depth and obscurity of the subject.
Ditto
I wish I’d thought of this.
/via /.
“Home Minister P. Chidambaram said RIM had already given India access to its...”
– India insists on access to BlackBerry emails - Yahoo! News
So very secure indeed.
In the Year 3030, Everyone Will Still Read →
Brendan I. Koerner, on The Atlantic:
Now I’m starting to realize that while books will certainly survive, they’re going to read a lot differently than in decades past. The reason for my change of heart? Someone shoved an iPad in my hands.
Most of the points have been mentioned before, but it has a concise overview of what writers are up against in the next few years.
/via Give...
1 tag
Egypt Offline: We're So Full of It
And by it, I mean shit.
Egypt’s Government shut-off of the internet has sparked the expected Twitter trending topic, Facebook fan pages with a gazillion ‘Likes’ and spam-levels of emails with a powerpoint presentation of photos you’ve already seen.
Two things:
This is not a knock on social network websites. I do believe that they teach/enable/empower free speech, and...
1 tag
From MessagePad to iPad: A Love Story
You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve been called an Apple fanboy a few times1.
No shit.
In all truth, fanboism implies a fanaticism I don’t think is accurate to peg me in. While I love Apple products, it’s usually because they make really good ones.
I’ll be the first to agree that they aren’t the best choice for everyone. Even today I’ll recommend an Windows 7 device if you’re an Excel...
1 tag
Online Collaboration With Humans (i.e. non-geeks)
Over the past few months I’ve had to work with normal, non-technical people. They have lives in the analog world and say things like: “I didn’t get the email, but don’t worry, that happens sometimes”.
I’d love to share some success stories on how we all arrived at a collaboration panacea, but currently most of my experiments ended in failure. Skip to the end if you just want some...
Kindle Singles: Compelling Ideas Expressed at... →
Amazon Media Room
Typically between 5,000 and 30,000 words, each Kindle Single is intended to allow a single killer idea — well researched, well argued and well illustrated — to be expressed at its natural length.
Love it. There has been lots of books that I’ve could have been a considerably shorter.
Especially those selling a specific concept, you feel how the author...
Facebook Introduces HTTPS Support →
From The Facebook Blog:
Starting today we’ll provide you with the ability to experience Facebook entirely over HTTPS. You should consider enabling this option if you frequently use Facebook from public Internet access points found at coffee shops, airports, libraries or schools.
Or if you’re logging in from an unfriendly government.
Great move by Facebook. The lack of https on...
1 tag
Kill BBM - Part Uno (@Twitter)
Sometimes good things come in horrible packages.
I don’t seem to recall any motivational poster with the statement above, but that doesn’t make it any less true.
Perfect example: Blackberry Messenger.
On its own, a really good messenger app. It could use a some usability love (Do you really need to confirm every time I wish to end a chat?),but the UI is clean, and the push...
Port Your Existing Mobile Number To Google Voice →
Google Voice Blog:
Today, we’re excited to announce that Number Porting is available for all existing Google Voice users. This means you can make the mobile number you’ve always used your Google Voice number, so it can ring any phone you want—or even your computer.
My official US number is already a Google Voice one. But if this had existed three years ago, I would have kept my AT&T...
1 tag
More Relevant Gmail Inbox In 3 Filters
I wake up. Stretch. Pickup my iPhone/iPad/MacBook to check three things:
Twitter
Google Reader
Gmail
Two out of three of these services use a streaming behavior to consume information.
You don’t need to mark all Tweets you’ve seen as read when you go through them. Or, if you subscribe to more than a dozen blogs, you probably skim headlines and read what strikes your fancy.
...
“On Facebook these pages are served via HTTP and so the injection is possible if...”
– John Graham-Cumming , The code injected to steal passwords in Tunisia
The Inside Story of How Facebook Responded to... →
Alexis Madrigal, on The Atlantic:
There has been a lot of debate about whether Twitter helped unleash the massive changes that led Ben Ali to leave office on January 14, but Facebook appears to have played a more important role in spreading dissent.
This rings true. Regardless of what you may think of Malcolm Gladwell’s view of the myth of social media in activisms, the a facebook...
1 tag
International (US) Number with Google Voice and...
I’ve been waiting for some time to have this working. Little by little the pieces of the puzzle came together and yesterday, it happened: I connected my Google Voice account with the Stanacard International Number Forwarding.
So what? I know have an US phone number (for Boston, of course) that rings up my iPhone in Venezuela (or anywhere in the world where you can get a SIM card).
Why?...
Dan Frakes Backup Plan →
Macworld’s senior editor backup plan:
So my backup system may be overkill for some people. But the most important thing in setting up a good backup plan is knowing how to think about your data and backups.
Mine is very similar (although less extreme).
The number #1 thing I remind people who pay attention to my backup pleads is:
A backup drive next to your computer is useless if...
Playboy Magazine coming to iPad in its uncensored... →
.bbpBox{background:url(http://a1.twimg.com/profile_background_images/159447892/HUGH_HEFNER_FINAL.jpg) #131516;padding:20px;}
Big news! Playboy—both old & new—will be available on iPad beginning in March.Wed Jan 19 02:22:00 via TwitterrificHugh Hefner hughhefner
Sign me up! (for the articles of course).
Let’s build cities for people (not cars) →
Richard Register, from McKinsey & Company:
[…] I remain convinced that restaurants, shops, promenades with fantastic views, and rooftop gardens could be connected by bridges between clusters of buildings several floors over the bustling pedestrian streets.
Finally, somebody talking about a city from/for the future. Count me in!
Bottom line: we need a geographically smaller city, but...
RIM: BlackBerry PlayBook Is Great Even Without A... →
Elizabeth Woyke, on Forbes:
In the absence of a BlackBerry, these email accounts must be accessed through a web browser.
Not a big deal some say, now imagine:
In the absence of an iPod, these songs must be accessed through a web browser.
The PlayBook looks like a solid device. But if it’s not the best in class in what RIM is still best in class, what’s the point?
Magazines Pursue Tablets, but iPad Limits... →
Jeremy W. Peters, on the NYTimes:
Many applications cost almost as much as a printed copy of a magazine, a difficult concept for consumers to get their heads around considering that a paper product is more expensive to assemble and distribute than an electronic version of a magazine.
Exactly.
“We feel strongly that it’s too early to pick a winner,” Mr. Sauerberg added. “The iPad is a...
“In 2010, Gmail was available 99.984 percent of the time, for both business and...”
– Wow.
Destination: Dial Tone — Getting Google Apps to 99.99%
Post to Twitter: A Safari 5 Extension for Twitter... →
Post to Twitter is a Safari 5+ extension for Mac users. This extension, with Twitter for Mac, makes your Twitter experience on the Mac, I think, a whole lot better.
I still prefer my tt shortcut on Quix, but if you want the same functionality on a Safari Extension, this is it.
E-Readers 'Too Easy' To Read →
From Nick Collins, on The Telegraph:
Readers using electronic books like the Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader are less likely to remember what they have read because the devices are so easy on the eyes, research suggests.
I could write a long dissertation on the topic to better explain my viewpoint; or simple say bullcrap. Which one will you remember?
Love this comment on Slashdot:
This...
Notational Velocity / nvALT: 10 power user tips &... →
Nice overview of tips for the great Notational Velocity and nvALT version.
RIM Gives India Access to Consumer Messaging →
RIM:
“No changes can be made to the security architecture for BlackBerry Enterprise Server customers since, contrary to any rumors, the security architecture is the same around the world and RIM truly has no ability to provide its customers’ encryption keys,”
Here’s the Communications Security Establishment Canada report on Security of BlackBerry PIN-to-PIN Messaging:
Although...
Twitter for Mac Bookmarklet →
The one thing I was missing with the new Twitter App:
Here is a bookmarklet for your browser that will post to Twitter with the title and link to the current page in the following format:
Document Title: Link.
I am now complete.
1 tag
Zone Mac App: Super Simple Timer →
Zone is an application for Mac, that helps focus on work by doing something we call “zoning in.” It means that you forget about the whole world for a while and just work.
I’ve been using TinyAlarm as my Pomodoro Technique™ timer and was waiting for it to appear in the Mac App Store (it went shareware in the last update), but Zone is so damn simple, that it works.
One design decision...
“Apple’s passion for UI uniformity went away with the six-color logo. Change is...”
– Daring Fireball: Uniformity vs. Individuality in Mac UI Design
Mac App Store Opens for Business →