February 2010
51 posts
Another quick thought on the iPad.
It’s totally possible (probable) that others have mentioned this. This piece, by Simon St. Laurent seems to be the furthest in line with my thoughts about development for the iPad.
At the moment, iPhone apps are either at their regular size, floating in the middle of the iPad, or they’re “uprezzed” so they fill up the tablet. Neither...
January 2010
51 posts
Mark Pilgrim on The Setup →
“Picking the right text editor will not make you a better writer. Writing will make you a better writer.”
“Flash … is in no way part of the true language of the Internet. It’s...”
– Andy Ihnatko - “Hands-on with the Apple iPad – it does make sense”
Just a quick addendum to my earlier post, quoting Al3x.
I think the divide between creation and consumption is part of why I was drawn to Cabel’s idea that the tablet might be called “Canvas.” As Gruber noted, the name “Canvas” conveys “thin, light, clean, crisp, blank, the thing great artwork is made upon.”
The name “iPad” doesn’t...
“The thing that bothers me most about the iPad is this: if I had an iPad rather...”
– Alex Payne — On the iPad
Charlie says: This post by Al3x sums up many of my higher-level thoughts about the iPad. My fear is that Apple is trying to position itself as being “at the intersection of Technology and the Liberal Arts,” but by focusing so heavily on consumption, rather than...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-1-24) →
Passion Pit (122)
The Mountain Goats (35)
The Postal Service (26)
Bon Iver (7)
Medeski, Martin & Wood (5)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
Credit Card Processing Comparison | TransFS →
A really nice apples-to-apples comparison of credit card processors.
Zion Hears the Watchmen Singing
I know...
The MeFi "smell test" →
A rough guide to determining if that link violates the self-link prohibitions.
“The recent news that Conan O’Brien will be replaced by Jay Leno has caused white...”
– #131 Conan O’Brien « Stuff White People Like (via kevintwohy)
Andrew Payne: Startup Equity For Employees →
A solid overview of equity at startups. For future reference.
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-1-17) →
Passion Pit (37)
Animal Collective (21)
Bon Iver (20)
Dirty Projectors (9)
The Postal Service (6)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
De-optimizing
Charlie says: Read this, and think about Monotask. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.
viafrank:
If the 20th century was about optimizing everything, I bet the 21st is about de-optimizing certain things. By de-optimizing, I mean making decisions about what is important, what is useful, and what is a distraction. Then, making the distractions less accessible, harder to get to, and...
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-1-10) →
fun. (24)
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists (14)
ToTom (7)
The Kleptones (6)
Animal Collective (5)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
So PearBudget’s down at the minute. Some issue at Media Temple. I’m on the phone, trying to get through to tech support. Waiting. Waiting. And Cake’s “Never There” comes on as the hold music.
I need your arms around me,
I need to feel your touch.
I need your understanding,
I need your love so much.
You tell me that you love me so,
You tell me that you care,...
“SIR – Having read your article about difficult languages (“Tongue twisters”,...”
– Letters to The Economist (via Erin McKean) (via cdixon)
Lucy: Dad, can we play after I brush my teeth?
Me: That'd be fun, but I have *so many dishes* to do.
Lucy: That's okay. I'll just brush my teeth for a *really really long time*.
Lean Analytics For StartupsView more presentations from Alistair Croll and Sean Power .
Charlie says: I just started going through this, but it looks promising. (Note to Tumblr users: if you can’t see this in your dashboard, it’s a slideshow on lean startups, monitoring data, running analytics, increasing conversions, and so on, from O’Reilly authors Alistair Croll and Sean...
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Where Have All the...
Just putting this out there, as nobody really cares what I think about Apple stuff: I think that on January 27th, Steve Jobs will announce the tablet thingy and … his retirement.
It’s possible that Apple will wait a week or so (or even until their next dividend posting), to see how the markets react to the tablet, and if prices come down much, I think they might delay the...
“I tell people that if it’s in the news, don’t worry about it. The...”
– Bruce Schneier
~ $ whois cool.io
Domain "COOL.IO" - Not available
For more information please go to http://www.nic.io/
I’ve figured out a way to get Notational Velocity notes to be picked up by Spotlight’s search mechanism. Also, a way to get your Notational Velocity notes synced with all of your computers at once. Also, a way to edit Notational Velocity notes in TextMate, when that’s a more natural UI.
I’m open to writing a tutorial / explanation for how to make it all work, but...
Save Your Credit Card Customer Service Numbers to... →
Wallet Garden got Lifehacker’d!
2010 — the year of transparency
I know this is a week late in posting, but I figured it’s still early enough to count.
My theme for the year — both my hope for myself and my thesis about the Web-at-large — is transparency.
You’ll see what I mean.
Sarah: You should have asked me for help.
Me: Do you want to help me?
Sarah: No.
“Modern convenience has dictated that most everything in our lives is...”
– Mena’s beautiful new side project: The Sew Weekly
My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2010-1-3) →
Passion Pit (13)
The Mountain Goats (11)
A Plus D (10)
Miike Snow (9)
MGMT (8)
Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz
A side project of mine (Wallet Garden) is getting some media attention tomorrow. That means I’ve got the opportunity to run some A/B tests on it and get results pretty quickly. If you have any A/B theses (an idea about a way an interface could be improved, a line of copy to use / not use, etc.) that you’d like me to test, let me know.
You can either e-mail me or just answer the...
“My favorite animal at the Zoo is the lesser kudu. You have to admire an animal with a name like that, laboring as he must in the shadow of the greater kudu. It must be like having an older brother who excelled at sports and academics in school, to whom you have always been compared and found lacking. A few months ago, I was visiting the Zoo at lunch with a friend and discovered the area...
When I was younger, I used to get really upset when I discovered that someone was already working on an idea that I had. Over time, I got over this, for a few reasons — I realized that ideas are easy, that I’m not always as uniquely creative as I think I am, and (here’s the main thing I realized) it meant that I was freed up to work on the ideas that only I was having. So, nowadays,...
healthcare
nostrich: i'm kind of shocked that i can still be surprised about how bad healthcare is here
nostrich: if you need glasses in the uk, they just give them to you
beepee: lies
nostrich: you pay a little extra for good ones, but it's pretty cheap
beepee: i know for a fact that england is a wasteland of dead bodies lying in the streets, actively murdered by socialist murderdoctors
nostrich: yes, but if the socialist murderdoctors need glasses, they get them free of charge
Top Ten Digital M&A Deals For 2010 →
dbreunig:
Amazon will probably continue their M&A in 2010. If I were them, I’d overbid for Instapaper just to get Marco Arment out in California with the Kindle team.
Charlie says: Wow. Hmm. I so associate Marco with Tumblr, I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of Instapaper (that is, Marco) getting acquired by Amazon (or anyone else). I guess it’s a possibility, and I...
“But most days, if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose...”
– David Foster Wallace - Commencement Speech at Kenyon University (via kevintwohy)
The Blog Frog does a really good job articulating their product’s benefits to its various constituencies (“For Blog Readers” / “For Blog Authors”). When you have a product that meets different users’ needs in different ways, it can be tough to connect with each user set in a meaningful way, without overwhelming the audience(s). I’ve done it, really...
Things startups do and don't need
Charlie says: I was going to heart this, but I wasn’t sure if it would heart the original (not my intent) or Mike’s critique (my intent). So I’m reblogging it. I can appreciate what Chris was going for in his initial post, but many many many of the “needs” he posts are, obviously, wants. Are “windows that open” that much more critical to the success of a...
