Blog

  • Capturing Starman from Earth

    Rogelio Bernal Andreo: Astrophotography can be applied in many different ways. I utilize technology that allows me to capture ancient photons so that I can later process and create my own interpretation of the data captured, effectively blending art and science like not many other disciplines do, but I don’t usually track “small pixels in […]

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  • We’re in phase one of Augmented Reality

    Apple just published a page dedicated to Augmented Reality in the latest versions of iOS. It is a good page overviewing some of the use cases we’re already seeing with AR. This is just the beginning. I’ve written about AR many times, so I won’t reiterate everything today. But look at these use cases and […]

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  • Microsoft for Startups

    Microsoft: We’re excited to announce Microsoft for Startups, a new program that delivers access to technology, go-to-market and community benefits that helps startups grow their customer and revenue base.  We are committing $500 million over the next two years to offer joint sales engagements with startups, along with access to our technology, and new community spaces […]

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  • Technology Dogmatism

    Are you dogmatic about the companies you will buy technology from? Are you an Apple fanboi? Or, perhaps you’ll only run Windows and Apple sucks at everything because reasons. I try not to be that guy. I try to look at the entire field of offerings in every category; hardware, software, cloud services, home entertainment […]

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  • Picked up The Abyss special edition at the local library (the only place I could find it) and re-watched it after having just finished the book. So good. This is the only novel that I can say works as a companion and enhances the experience so much. Thanks library.

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  • Releasing an app on the Google Play Store — 20 clicks Releasing an app on the iOS App Store — Some multiple of the number of clicks you’ve ever clicked in your life.

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  • I can’t confirm that LIGO is down for repairs. But I believe it is. Imagine how many gravitational waves we are missing while it is down.

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  • Wallenpaupack Brewing Company – February 2018

    Wallenpaupack Brewing Company – February 2018 Decent brews, roomy atmosphere, tours and merch.

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  • The Quincy Jones interview

    Quincy Jones: What would account for the songs being less good than they used to be? The mentality of the people making the music. Producers now are ignoring all the musical principles of the previous generations. It’s a joke. That’s not the way it works: You’re supposed to use everything from the past. If you […]

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  • The Siri pause

    John Gruber, under “miscellaneous” in his review of HomePod: People seem to naturally think they need to pause between saying “Hey Siri” and issuing the command or query, but in my experience you don’t need to. In this review, I’ve been punctuating directives with a comma after “Hey Siri”, but verbally you can speak without […]

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  • I remember when being a computer nerd spending countless hours online wasn’t cool. Then it minted millionaires and internet celebrities. Today being a space nerd looking at the stars for countless hours may have made that same jump.

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  • I interviewed New Zealand based artist Rebekah Codlin

    Over on my other site, The Watercolor Gallery, I interviewed Rebekah Codlin about her journey into art. Her realistic portraiture is amazing. If you’re into that sort of thing go ahead and check it out. This is the first interview after a 22-month hiatus from publishing interviews. Far too long. But the process of restoring […]

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  • Shooting a car at Mars

    Space X  (watch this video): The first test flight of Falcon Heavy is targeted for Tuesday, Feb. 6th at 1:30 PM ET from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. When Falcon Heavy lifts off, it will be the most powerful operational rocket in the world by a factor of two. With the […]

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  • Blew my chance at the Micro.blog 30-day pin by forgetting to post yesterday. No longer going to try. Posting to my blog needs to be natural.

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  • After several months with Beats headphones I only have one gripe; battery life. I believe they could be smarter about “sleeping” to reserve power and thus last a lot longer between charges.

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  • One other great thing about Android is that all apps, including Phone and Messages and other pillar apps, are updated in between system updates. I like the small iterations rather than huge updates.

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  • Terry Crews: “There is only now.”

    Terry Crews at around 45-minutes into his interview with Tim Ferriss: In order to do, you have to be. And also: You are what you are now. There is only now. This is all you have. These quotes from Terry Crews have been burned into my brain ever since I listened to the podcast episode […]

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  • A review of the Google Pixel 2 XL and Android 8.1 by a longtime iPhone user

    After 10 years of using iOS as my primary mobile platform I’ve decided to give Android more than just a casual try. This post is my review both of the Google Pixel 2 XL and Android 8.1 as well as a few comparisons I’ve drawn between iOS and Android ecosystems. I’ve been an Apple fan […]

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  • Well done Scott McNulty, again

    Scott McNulty: A year later and I’ve lost 94.5 pounds so far, and the craziest thing is that it wasn’t really that hard. Scott continues to be an inspiration to me. You may remember when I marked his 50lb. milestone. As of January 1 I’m down a little over 11 pounds myself.

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  • A few photos from Berwick, PA – January 2018

    A few photos from Berwick, PA – January 2018 Eliza and I drove to a brewery and a few wineries a few weekends ago. We love to explore new areas and find places that are slightly off the beaten path – especially those somewhat close to home.

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  • Gentle reminder to back up everything as often as you can. And don’t trust automation. Follow-up on it from time-to-time to be sure you have everything. This includes your computer, your mobile devices, music and photo libraries, web sites, uploads to those sites, etc.

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  • I have no desire to own a HomePod. I think Siri would drive me bananas.

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  • Spent much of the day reading. 📚

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  • If you’re on Micro.blog and into art, watercolor, and inspiring interviews and videos, you can follow @h2ocolor on Micro.blog. Also, of course, Twitter and Facebook. Oh, and RSS.

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  • Repost: Becky Hansmeyer on deleting blog posts

    👉 Becky Hansmeyer: Every once in awhile I have to fight off the urge to go through my blog and delete old posts that I consider stupid or poorly written. I have to remind myself that they’re all part of the journey; I’m a better writer now than I was four years ago, and a better […]

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  • Jack Baty on follower counts

    Jack Baty: Years ago on Twitter, I would use follower counts as an indicator of authority or perhaps as a way to gauge someone’s impact on a community or topic. With so many followers, he or she must have useful or interesting things to say, right? That probably wasn’t a great way to think about […]

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  • Paul Stamatiou switches to Windows 10

    Paul Stamatiou, long, long-time online friend, designer at Twitter, and a hobbyist photographer: I decided it was time to upgrade to something a bit more powerful. This time I decided to build a PC and switch to Windows 10 for my heavy computing tasks. Yes, I switched to Windows. The shift of professionals needing to switch to […]

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  • The day I interviewed Manton Reece (audio)

    Recorded January 19, 2018 A very short audio bit I recorded on my way out of work last Thursday, the day I interviewed Manton Reece. I’m publishing this bit for no other reason than I need to publish more of these audio bits! Download audio.

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  • Trey Ratcliff switches to Windows 10

    Trey Ratcliff, professional photographer (via the aforementioned Stammy): I converted to Apple over 5 years ago when it was clear to me Apple made the best products for creative professionals. I loved Apple and became a hardcore fanboy. I was all-in. Now, I’m switching back to PCs. The new line of MacBook Pros are not-that-awesome. […]

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  • I’ve decided to use all of my skills on a single project. This means making the hard decision to cut all other projects I have going currently and mentally put them in the garbage can. It won’t be easy, but I think it will be worth it. Stay tuned.

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  • Very happy for Eliza and all Eagles fans.

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  • Had an incredible day yesterday visiting the Berwick Brewing Company, O’Donnell Winery, and Three Dogs Vino. It was nice to visit some new-for-us places in our area. Worth the drive.

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  • I usually don’t post to my blog on the weekends. But I want that Micro.blog 30-day pin.

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  • Dean Allen

    I did not know Dean Allen. But you couldn’t have been a blogger in the early 2000s without coming across, and admiring and swooning over, Textism – Dean’s blog. I was no exception. In fact, I was still subscribed to Textism’s RSS feed until I heard the news. Likely a 15 or so year old […]

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  • An interview with Manton Reece of Micro.blog

    I have fond memories of the very early days of WordPress (when it had just been forked from b2/cafelog), of Twitter, of Brightkite, of App.net, of Mastodon… just to name a few. The early days of any platform or so important to what they will become. They are the most fun to watch. The early […]

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  • Microsoft Office now shares a common codebase

    Erik Schwiebert: Mac Office 2016 version 16 is now live! For the first time in over 20 years, Office is again built out of one codebase for all platforms (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android)! MSFT is dog fooding big time with this latest release of Mac Office. I’ve been enjoying my work within their frameworks and […]

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  • AV on Penn, Scranton, PA – January 2018

    AV on Penn, Scranton, PA – January 2018 So many great buildings downtown. Like this one that now houses AV on Penn.

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  • Fred Wilson on owning your content

    Fred Wilson: I would never outsource my content to some third party. I blog on my own domain using open source software (WordPress) that I run on a shared server that I can move if I want to. It is a bit of work to set this up but the benefits you get are enormous. […]

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  • Nintendo Labo

    Nintendo: Nintendo Labo combines the magic of Nintendo Switch with the fun of DIY creations. I don’t play any games. I know, I’m boring. But I soaked up countless nights and weekends in my early 20s playing first-person shooters and I can’t get any of that time back. So I choose not to play any […]

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  • Brisk late-afternoon photowalk, Downtown Scranton, January 2018

    Brisk late-afternoon photowalk, Downtown Scranton, January 2018 I saw the sun hitting the tops of the buildings and quickly ran outside for a brisk photowalk.

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  • Summa Scene, Downtown Scranton – January 2018

    Summa Scene, Downtown Scranton – January 2018 Saw this tag walking back in the snow to the office after a client meeting. Thought it ironic.

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  • Wallace.dog

    Local friend Jeremy Brown has a cute animated comic that he publishes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It is called Wallace.dog. If you follow him on Instagram you can see behind-the-scenes how much work it is — often starting long before sunrise. I urge you to check it out.

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  • Seth Godin on Google’s Promotions Inbox

    Seth Godin, in an open letter to Google: Imagine that your mailman takes all the magazines you subscribe to, mixes them in with the junk mail you never asked for, and dumps all of it in a second mailbox, one that you don’t see on your way into the house every day. And when you […]

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  • Micro Monday – January 15, 2018: Scott McNulty

    My Micro Monday recommendation this week is Scott McNulty. He’s blogging more, podcasting, sharing his reading reviews, and sharing his weight loss journey. Great inspiration on many levels.

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  • Richard MacManus’s tech predictions

    Richard MacManus attempts to predict some things for 2018: We’ll finally get a killer app for AR in 2018. Maybe hope springs eternal, but I’d love to see an AR app with real utility – not just a game like Pokemon Go. I suppose it matters how you define "killer app". For me a killer […]

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  • Social media in 2018: Facebook – where we unwittingly share fake articles Snapchat – where we privately video chat w/ squeaky voices Twitter – where we retweet our dislike of "other people" Instagram 🎉 – where we share our best photos, work, motivations, recipes Wonder why IG is winning? 🤔

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  • Android Excellence on Google Play

    Kacey Fahey on the Android Developers Blog just sort of gave out some awards: Every day developers around the world are hard at work creating high quality apps and games on Android. Striving to deliver amazing experiences for an ever growing diverse user base, we’ve seen a significant increase in the level of polish and […]

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  • An update via Android (audio)

    A quick audio bit, recorded while driving through my car’s audio system for part of it (sorry), regarding upcoming blog posts and reviews of Android and the Pixel 2 XL. Download audio

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  • Pathway, Westfield, NJ – January 2018

    Pathway, Westfield, NJ – January 2018 Found this small pathway between buildings in Westfield that led from the storefronts to the housing beyond. On these cold winter days this is likely the quickest way to get to the nearby bakery or Five Guys for a burger.

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  • Scott McNulty on making time to read

    Scott McNulty gets asked about how he reads so many books every year. His answer? You just have to make time for it. You know that time you spend doing something other than reading for pleasure? If you spent that time reading instead, you’d read more. I get asked this same question about building apps, […]

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Writing helps me think more clearly and to form or transform my opinions. I write about what interests me such as blogging, photography, technology, social media, and my personal creative projects.


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