Keystone Observatory from above – September 2017
Keystone Observatory from above – September 2017
Blog
Longer-form posts and essays.
Writing helps me think more clearly. This archive is longer posts; quick updates now live in notes.
Topics: AI, blogging, photography, programming, projects, Signboard
Ryan Lau on iOS 11’s inconsistencies
Ryan Lau: The unfinished feeling in iOS 11 mostly comes from UI and animation. UI elements in iOS are quite inconsistent, mixing a variety of UI elements, which might look quite similar but introduce a disconnected feeling for UX. The inconsistency of those elements majorly stems from those UI element updated in iOS 11, such as Large Title…
Slow down and listen (audio)
Recorded October 1, 2017. Slowing down and listening helps you to really soak in your surroundings. See also. And maybe this too. Download.
Scott McNulty’s 31 TNG posts
Scott McNulty: To celebrate the 30th anniversay of a show that has had a large impact on my life I’m going to write a TNG related blog post every day this month. Why? Why not! TNG being Star Trek: The Next Generation. Let's see if he keeps it up. I'm rooting for him.
Mike Davidson on Newsvine
Mike Davidson: Today, the creation I am most proud to have brought into the world disappeared from the internet. It is easy for people to say "well, this is why you don't sell your company!" but people make the decision they think is best at the time. Some do get rich and yet regret selling. Some sell because…
Benmarl Winery, Marlboro, New York – September 2017
Benmarl Winery, Marlboro, New York – September 2017 It was a gorgeous September day to enjoy a bottle of wine overlooking the Hudson Valley. See also.
Snap Art
Josh Constine for TechCrunch: Snapchat plans to launch a new augmented reality art platform featuring pop artist Jeff Koons and others. It will allow art to be pinned to specific locations in augmented reality so users can see it when they hold up their phones in the right spot. Snapchat will solicit sign-ups from artists who want their…
Kip Thorne wins the Nobel
Nobel Media AB: On 14 September 2015, the universe’s gravitational waves were observed for the very first time. The waves, which were predicted by Albert Einstein a hundred years ago, came from a collision between two black holes. It took 1.3 billion years for the waves to arrive at the LIGO detector in the USA. A prize 1.3…
Dave Mark on Apple Music
Dave Mark, writing for The Loop: To me, the biggest issue with Apple Music is the depth of the user experience. For example, with For You, the on-boarding is primitive, at best. I never felt steered towards my deepest musical tastes. And as I listened to music, even as I diligently favorited my best loved tunes, I never…
Clark Telescope, Keystone Observatory – September 2017
Clark Telescope, Keystone Observatory – September 2017
Browser struggle
In the opening scene of It Might Get Loud, Jack White fashions himself an instrument from a single guitar string, a glass Coke bottle, a piece of wood, and a few nails. He goes on to describe how he appreciates an instrument that he has to physically struggle with in order to force it to perform. He also…
Palm, Bahía de Banderas, Mexico – August 2017
Palm, Bahía de Banderas, Mexico – August 2017
Newburgh Brewing Company, Newburgh New York – September 2017
Newburgh Brewing Company, Newburgh New York – September 2017 Recommended. Great brews, space, branding, view.
What is Blockchain and Bitcoin?
Paul Bouchon at Site Pen: Much like the term “cloud”, the term “blockchain” is heavily overloaded and oftentimes used incorrectly. Without delving into the historical origins behind the confusion around the term itself, let’s understand exactly what a blockchain is. He goes on to clearly explain blockchain and Bitcoin. Be sure to read it if you've been fuzzy…
Twitter is solving the wrong problem, again
Twitter: We want every person around the world to easily express themselves on Twitter, so we're doing something new: we're going to try out a longer limit, 280 characters, in languages impacted by cramming (which is all except Japanese, Chinese, and Korean). Twitter's largest issue* is gaining and retaining active users. The platform hasn't meaningfully grown in many…
First day with Apple Watch Series 3 (audio)
Recorded on September 22, 2017. I've been writing a lot about the Apple Watch Series 3. So, of course, you want to hear me yack about it. Enjoy. Download
An interview with Satya Nadella and Bill Gates
Seth Stevenson, for The Wall Street Journal: In February 2014, Satya Nadella became the third CEO of Microsoft . Nadella, more soft-spoken than his predecessors, Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, assumed the company’s helm amid one of its stormiest chapters. Ballmer, toward the end of his 14-year tenure, had purchased Nokia ’s mobile phone business at great cost…
More on Firefox Quantum Developer Edition
Dan Callahan: Compared to Firefox six months ago, today’s Developer Edition is twice as fast on benchmarks like Speedometer 2.0 that simulate the real-world performance of modern web applications. See, on a tear.
Firefox Quantum Developer Edition
Julian Descottes, for Mozilla Hacks: Firefox 57 Developer Edition was just released! It’s such an advance that we’ve given this browser a new name: Firefox Quantum. I’ve been using Firefox as my default web browser on the Mac, iPad, and iPhone for a little over a week. I’ve also been using Developer Edition for most of my development…
Apple Watch sales so far
Horace Dediu, doing what he does best: Overall, about 33 million Apple Watch units have been sold since launch and they generated about $12 billion in sales. Coupled with a 95% customer satisfaction score, altogether, this has been a great success story. But only 2.5 years in, it’s still act one. An incredible beginning for this product. Side…
Trees, Merli-Sarnoski Park, Carbondale, PA – September 2017
Trees, Merli-Sarnoski Park, Carbondale, PA – September 2017
Marco Arment on needed watchOS updates
Marco Arment: But limitations in watchOS 4 make it impossible to deliver standalone podcast playback with the basic functionality and quality that people expect. His post focused on updates that are needed for podcast apps to make sense on watchOS. After using the Apple Watch Series 3 while traveling for the weekend I expect to see a massive…
FollowFriday, belated
I was away for the weekend, so this is coming on Monday, sorry. Jimmy Baum: Colin Devroe suggested a #FollowFriday movement. I’ll start off with two bloggers I’m enjoying. Thanks to Jimmy for including me! Here are two others I suggest following: Manton Reece – Many discussions begin with Manton's blog as he's the tip of the spear…
Facebook will drop the patent clause for React license
Matt Mullenweg: I am surprised and excited to see the news that Facebook is going to drop the patent clause that I wrote about last week. They’ve announced that with React 16 the license will just be regular MIT with no patent addition. I applaud Facebook for making this move, and I hope that patent clause use is…