February 2012
8 posts
7 tags
John Wesley on Predestination →
So… I’ve grown up somewhat Calvinist, but according to this article, my view of predestination as a function of God’s foreknowledge more than his will makes me more of a Methodist…
This is like a lifetime Cubs fan being told he’s actually a Red Sox fan. Mind. Blown.
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Seth's Blog: The sad irony of selfishness →
The irony, of course, is that selflessness (not selfishness, its opposite) is precisely the posture that leads to more success.
Link and quote via Shawn Blanc. I will add this from Conan O’Brien, ending his last Tonight Show (emphasis mine):
Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will...
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Hey, Girl.
I love being married to you, especially when you skip over that one line in the Taylor Swift song that you absolutely can’t stand.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Brittany.
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How to avoid sounding dumb when you write about... →
Chris Rawson for TUAW:
I can tell you from personal experience that getting paid to write about Apple, something I would do on my own anyway, is quite rewarding. But first you have to decide what kind of Apple writer you’ll be.
With such tips as predicting Apple’s quarterly earnings and generally not being stupid.
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Greed and Entitlements →
Apps are expensive to make? You don’t say!
No, seriously. If/when I get my app in the store, I plan on finding a fair price and sticking to it. I admire guys like Marco who has never put Instapaper on sale (and removed the free version, in fact) and Loren Bircher who charged for an upgrade to Tweetie. The thing about them, though, is that their apps are well worth the price of admission.
...
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Good Dad, Good Entrepreneur, Good Husband →
Bookmarking for ten years from now. Here’s to not losing sight of what’s important.
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Is It or Isn’t It? →
Shawn Blanc waxes eloquent on whether the iPad is a PC or not. I say it is because I use a computer and it’s my turn to decide what that means.
January 2012
11 posts
4 tags
Having a Profitable Music Career →
House shows, ardent fans, and—take a drink—Kickstarter. Via Wendell Kimbrough, an honest, great guy that makes honest, great music.
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LD: My parents recently looked into buying a new PC. [...] They got an iPad 2 and love it. Though they did have to choose between black or white.
kweazy: Gonna suck if they want to do actual work and not just browse the internet or play angry birds.
mikey_clarke: You do realise that a lot of people do in fact just want to browse the Internet and play Angry Birds, right?
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User experience versus Developer Experience →
A lament on the growing number of “native” iPhone apps that are really just custom web browsers. Facebook is the most notable example, but the tumblr app is guilty of this to a certain extent as well.
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The Life and Death of Camino →
A nice summary of a nice browser. Back on our 10.1-running iMac this was really the best browser to use. Even Firefox felt bloated on that machine, but not Camino.
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“Anything you put in front of a kid, if they have no interest in being there, is...”
– Greg Kumparak on a balanced approach to iPads in classrooms.
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scriptogr.am →
Basically a static site generator like Jeckyl, except it’s hosted and uses files in your Dropbox. I hear of a lot of hackers/geeks doing stuff like this, but it’s never really been an option for me since my primary computer is an iPad and my primary traditional computer isn’t on all the time. Now, however…
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Misconceptions About iOS Multitasking →
tl;dr: it’s not running in the background or killing your battery; don’t worry about it.
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“If you are a creative person, perhaps you suffer from the same thing I do which...”
– Adam Young on creative droughts. He follows this up by saying, “I hate the word ‘bloat.’”
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So long...
There’s about 3 hours left in 2011 here in South Carolina. I’m probably going to do some new years survey thing in the next 24 hours or so. But for right now, I’d like to end this year. And so…
To everyone, my friends, my family, my co-workers, my wife, my God: I have not been all I could have been this year. I have probably let you down at some point this year, and for...
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“Here’s how Apple does marketing in a nutshell: Make a great product, then let...”
– John Gruber on why Apple is succeeding only because of “good marketing”.
December 2011
9 posts
6 tags
Is This #firstWorldProblems or #thatAwkwardMoment?
Either way, it involves twitter being down because of it being new years day in China and that part of the world, but you can’t tweet about it because twitter’s down.
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Toothless Scream Ringtone →
I’m just going to leave this here.
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How to make coffee when your house’s electricity... →
As we don’t have a gas stove, I don’t have a choice.
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Petition President Obama to veto SOPA →
The basic gist is this: I don’t trust my elected representatives to understand why this is so bad. I’ve already informed them that I, a lifelong republican, will vote democrat if they vote for this, but I’m not confident that will be enough. So let’s make sure that President Obama knows how important it is that this does not pass. With ~2000 more signatures this will be...
“The end of the day has a way of convincing you what you’ve done is good. The...”
– 37Signals via Shawn Blanc
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The New Twitter (R.I.P. Tweetie) →
This. Again. It’s not that I think the new app is bad, just that it’s a downgrade from the previous version (i.e. Tweetie). I’ll also add that they removed the swipe-a-tweet gesture, which means instead of a swipe and two taps to send a link to Instapaper, it’s now a tap, another tap, and then another frantic tap to bring up the “Send to Instapaper” button...
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November 2011
10 posts
6 tags
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Pub Rules →
If I ever get that online magazine off the ground, I plan on employing all… this. Yes, I just gestured to all of it.
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Don’t Call Yourself A Programmer, And Other Career... →
A lengthy but informative article on how a programmer—sorry, software engineer should approach his or her career.
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Much Ado About Money
In light of recent jackwagonry put forth by Bank of America (and despite them abandoning said plans), the Hildreths have decided that though there’s pain in our chests we still wish them the best, with a… you know the song. So where do we move our money to?
What follows is by no means a comprehensive analysis. This is a basic comparison based on our financial needs, and it is offered...
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Bailout Recipients →
Bookmarking for later. I’ve been comparing banks in the area, and this will factor into the writeup.
Kevin Smith: Goodbye, Greenville. Hello, San... →
kvnsmth:
For the last eighteen months, I’ve been an independent developer. Today that ends as I come on board full-time with the awesome crew at Synthetic.
Godspeed, Smiths. You will be missed. Now go change the world.
2 tags
“That was anticlimactic.”
– Shawn Blanc on the newly-released-then-unreleased Gmail app.
October 2011
2 posts
2 tags
September 2011
6 posts
What Netflix Could Have Said This Week →
And to complete the Hollywood Rule of Three, here’s Matt Drance’s rewrite of the Netflix apology letter. He actually does change the substance of the letter, to be fair, but it does address the issue of how a letter purporting to address the communication issues made them worse.
Did Netflix screw up? I don’t think so. →
Netflix’s former CEO describes what happened the last time Netflix spun off and shut down a previously integrated business unit. Did you know they used to sell DVDs? Yeah…
Netflix’s Pain Is Blockbuster’s Gain →
Was hoping for some insight into the situation. Instead I got this:
Streaming and DVD-by-mail for $10/month for Dish subscribers? Looks like Blockbuster just taught Netflix the power of packaging and pricing in the Subscription Economy.
I’m sorry, but it doesn’t count as teaching a lesson (or a price cut) if it requires a subscription to the number two satellite TV provider....
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iOS Beta: you're doing it wrong
Chi C: Beta 7 bricked my 3GS. Help.
Aunt TUAW: No, it didn't. Read the release notes.
August 2011
6 posts
What To Do With 245,000 TouchPads →
In honor of HP leaving the smartphone and tablet market, Shawn Blanc lists several ideas for Best Buy’s massive inventory of now-defunct units of It’s-closest-to-an-iPad-without-being-an-iPad. My favorites:
Open up the boxes and sell the USB cables for $25/each.
and
Turn the boxes upside down, move them closer to the Apple section of the store, and hope nobody notices.
...
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Stop Coddling the Super-Rich →
Thank you, Warren Buffet. More of this, please.
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How to Talk to Little Girls →
A brief article by Lisa Bloom on encouraging girls to pursue things besides looking pretty. Give it a read; it’s thought-provoking and well written and not nearly as feminist as I’m making it sound.