Blog
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Suggestions for tech podcasts
Nick Heer has a few thoughts regarding the hoopla around tech podcasts of late. He also has a few suggestions for how a tech podcast, that he’d enjoy, should be structured: By having a structure in place, rambling is reduced. A good editor can remove most off-topic talk and lag time, but having some sort […]
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The Death of the Blog, Again, Again
I love that this topic is being discussed on blogs. John Scalzi wrote a really, really great post in response to Jason Kottke’s "The blog is dead" piece. He makes a particularly great point that one doesn’t only have a blog now but that we all have some combination of other platforms that we meet […]
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The Science of the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
J. Kenji López-Alt exhausted 32 pounds of flour in 100 tests to make 1,536 chocolate chip cookies until he got it just right: For the past few months, I’ve had chocolate chip cookies on the brain. I wake up in the middle of the night with a fresh idea, a new test to run, only […]
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Bitcoin, Magical Thinking, and Political Ideology
A must-read from Alex Payne, Bitcoin, Magical Thinking, and Political Ideology. Here is what he says is the general view of Bitcoin among many (including me): Most charitably, Bitcoin is regarded as a flawed but nonetheless worthwhile experiment, one that has unfortunately attracted outsized attention and investment before correcting any number of glaring security issues. There is […]
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It is time, once again, to shake things up on Twitter
In February of this year I completely cleared out the accounts I follow on Twitter, moved those I wanted to continue following into a bunch of lists, and started over. Why? Because I wanted new perspectives. Today, I’m doing it again. So if you see me follow you or unfollow you it is more than […]
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The blog isn’t dead. It is just sleeping.
Jason Kottke, writing for Nieman Journalism Lab: The design metaphor at the heart of the blog format is on the wane as well. Ina piece at The Atlantic, Alexis Madrigal says that the reverse-chronological stream (a.k.a. The Stream, a.k.a. The River of News) is on its way out. Snapchat, with its ephemeral media, is an obvious […]
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Flowhub
Flowhub is "peer-to-peer full-stack visual programming for your fingers". In other words, you can build applications and services by tapping and dragging and pinching rather than by typing and typing and typing. Pretty cool stuff. The idea of building applications using a workflow-based graph isn’t new. From Bret Victor’s "The Future of Programming" at this […]
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Why it is quiet when it snows
Why is it so quiet when it snows? Duncan Geere writes about exactly that in The silence of snowfall. I recall one of my high school teachers saying "I’ve never heard something so loud as the silence that happens during a snowstorm." Silence can be deafening. When I was younger I’d spend countless hours outdoors, […]
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What do you want?
If you could have anything (whether or not it actually exists does not matter) what would it be? Dustin Curtis wrote up some of the things he’d like and a few of them are great. Such as, a device that would detect cancer, a pill that would limit caloric intake daily, and an always on, […]
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Instagram plays defense and releases Instagram Direct
The war for our attention rages on. Allow me to propose a timeline for how Instagram Direct, a feature inside of Instagram 5.0 that allows users to share photos with one or many people rather than with all of Instagram, more than likely came to be: Snapchat becomes a leading photo-sharing service. Snapchat turns down […]
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The Public Domain Review
The Public Domain Review is "a not-for-profit project dedicated to showcasing the most interesting and unusual out-of-copyright works available online." You’ll have to excuse me while I catch up on the last hundred years or so.
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What Spotify really announced today
There is a bunch of news outlets saying that Spotify has now made streaming music free on mobile devices but that isn’t exactly accurate. Until this most recent announcement non-premium Spotify users could use Spotify Radio for free on their mobile devices. Spotify Radio worked like this; a user chooses a song or artist and then […]
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After iOS 7 icons
This Tumblog is making the rounds; After iOS 7 icons. Essentially it is a gallery of app icons showing what they looked like before and after their iOS 7 updates. I know many have said that the aesthetic of iOS 7 is stripping the personality of apps and they may be right. But I think what […]
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Paprika, recipe manager for iOS and Mac
Shawn Blanc’s The Sweet Setup continues to prove its worth. This time Steven Owens sticks his neck out to say that Paprika is simply the best recipe manager for iPhone, iPad and Mac. To put it simply, Paprika provides all the features you need to be an organized and effective home cook. Paprika also works […]
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UnBRELLA
Just when you thought there wasn’t any room for improvement on the umbrella comes UnBRELLA from designer Hiroshi Kajimoto who spent a decade on the redesign. Spoon & Tamago: Why exactly would you want to invert an umbrella? When you jump on a crowded train after escaping a downpour your dripping wet umbrella usually brushes up […]
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HD 106906 b
So there is a planet that is so far away from its host Star that it has astronomers rethinking the very way that solar systems are formed. It has been dubbed HD 106906 b. Wikipedia: On December 4, 2013, University of Arizona graduate student Vanessa Bailey, leader of an international team of astronomers, detailed the […]
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The Brilliant Hack That Brought Foursquare Back From the Dead
Ryan Tate, for Wired’s piece on Foursquare: Whether the new Foursquare is as useful to the general public as it has been for its initial testers remains to be seen. But in the wake of last week’s launch, Crowley is still aiming for his magic number: 100 million users. Kyle Ruane and I were talking […]
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The Information
Jessica Lessin, ex-WSJ reporter, has launched The Information after collaboratively reporting via her own WordPress-powered personal blog for several months. Why? She writes. Technology news needs a reboot. There are more stories and outlets than ever, but a troubling cycle is playing out: The race for pageviews and ad dollars is causing publications to focus on quantity over […]
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Three weeks with two iPads
Shawn Blanc has had both the iPad Air and iPad Mini for three weeks. He goes through and tries to answer all of the questions anyone could possibly have if they are considering a new iPad and simply can’t choose between the two. One of two things will have to happen before I get a […]
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Replacing waiters with tablets
It seems a few restaurant chains have begun using tablets instead of waiters for ordering your drinks and food and for accepting your payment. Ben Brooks: I am all for this, in fact I would pay more to not have to interact with servers — instead getting a tablet. In our team chat some of […]
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Riposte, an App.net client for iPhone
Madhur Dutta declares Riposte the best App.net client for iPhone on The Sweet Setup: At first glance, both Felix and Riposte pack quite a punch. But after testing both the apps thoroughly, I believe Riposte definitely has more to offer. It is significanly easier to use (the learning curve for Felix is quite high), it […]
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The \”Anyone But Richard M Stallman\” license
Instant classic. If you’ve ever read the Richard Stallman rider then you’ll know that Stallman is a man that may not have much of a sense of humor. I doubt he’ll like this. /via The Loop.
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The \”Anyone But Richard M Stallman\” license
Instant classic. If you’ve ever read the Richard Stallman rider then you’ll know that Stallman is a man that may not have much of a sense of humor. I doubt he’ll like this. /via The Loop.
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The \”Anyone But Richard M Stallman\” license
Instant classic. If you’ve ever read the Richard Stallman rider then you’ll know that Stallman is a man that may not have much of a sense of humor. I doubt he’ll like this. /via The Loop.
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The \”Anyone But Richard M Stallman\” license
Instant classic. If you’ve ever read the Richard Stallman rider then you’ll know that Stallman is a man that may not have much of a sense of humor. I doubt he’ll like this. /via The Loop.
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The \”Anyone But Richard M Stallman\” license
Instant classic. If you’ve ever read the Richard Stallman rider then you’ll know that Stallman is a man that may not have much of a sense of humor. I doubt he’ll like this. /via The Loop.
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The \”Anyone But Richard M Stallman\” license
Instant classic. If you’ve ever read the Richard Stallman rider then you’ll know that Stallman is a man that may not have much of a sense of humor. I doubt he’ll like this. /via The Loop.
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A month of generosity by Chris Lema
Chris Lema is writing about generosity every day on his blog for all of December. He’s half way through the first week. Here is a quick recap of what he’s covered so far. The Opposite of Generosity: We just don’t always feel rich. And I get that. Bills come in. We have to choose which […]
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Advice for new bloggers
Jim Wang, blogger and investor in my company Plain, recently published a great blog post asking 78 bloggers, yes 78 bloggers, what they would tell someone who is just starting out. Before I give my answer (Jim didn’t ask me but I love blogging so I will answer it anyway) I’d like to highlight two […]
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Chris Gonzales, On Working from Home
Chris Gonzales answers Shawn Blanc’s question about working remotely on Twitter in longform on his blog. I’m glad he did. The funny thing I’ve noticed is that it seems like each pro is also its own con. I worked at home, both remotely and for myself, for about 10 years of my career. Gonzales hits […]
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The \”Anyone But Richard M Stallman\” license
Instant classic. If you’ve ever read the Richard Stallman rider then you’ll know that Stallman is a man that may not have much of a sense of humor. I doubt he’ll like this. /via The Loop.
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Creatively, for Creative People
Jason Schuller has started an email newsletter for creative people called Creatively. It is full of great links from inspiring sites, applications, articles, and videos. I was really proud to have my post Why you should applaud when people make things featured in Issue No. 5. Thanks Jason. I suggest subscribing.
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Barley for WordPress was first seen in Sydney, Australia about 36 hours before it came out
The Barley team had the opportunity to sponsor the beer and pizza for a WordPress Meet up in Sydney, Australia earlier in the week. It was about 36 hours before we officially debuted Barley for WordPress to the public. Photo by Will Brown. The above photo is those attending the WordPress Meetup watching a special […]
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Following the Scott Expedition
It has been a pleasure to follow Ben Saunders and Tarka L’Herpiniere as they attempt to complete "the longest unsupported polar journey in history". Here’s Ben, remarking on Day 31 of their journey: I think I’ve said this on a previous expedition, but out here I’m acutely conscious of my own heat, and of having to […]
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App.net announces Broadcast Channels
App.net, the Twitter-clone turned app services turned file sharing turned something only a developer can understand…. now has released something that should be a huge hit. They call it Broadcast. In the announcement post Dalton Caldwell explains what a Broadcast is: A Broadcast is a new type of message that is always received as a push notification. […]
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Why you should applaud when people make things
Have you ever had an idea for a product or service? If you’re like me you’ve probably had a million ideas; thousands were crap, hundreds were so-so, a few were great, but you’ve probably only succeeded at getting a few out into the world over the course of your entire career. Making things is really, […]
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The Sweet Setup
Today Shawn Blanc launched The Sweet Setup, a resource to find the very best applications for your Mac, iPhone, or iPad. There are so many fantastic apps and other tools to help us with all these tasks. And that’s why I built this site. Because I want to use the best tools for whatever the […]
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When will Bitcoin be valueable?
Bitcoin is going a little nuts this week. But the price at which a bitcoin exchanges at isn’t the only factor by which you should value the currency. Far, far from it. As Fred Wilson puts it: Everyone focuses on the price of Bitcoin these days and it is no wonder why. But for Bitcoin […]
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Software update Sunday
Keeping software up-to-date is really important. There are security flaws that get patched, performance and battery improvements that can save both time and energy. Not to mention new features, bug fixes, etc. So why set aside a specific day to get everything up-to-date rather than just doing the updates as they come in? Simple: Software […]
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What I saw this week #12: November 17, 2013
Late again this week. However, I did manage to get this post out the door. Here are some interesting things I saw this week. Noisli – Need some nice background noise while you work? I find myself using this every day now. I love that you can combine more than one sound too. Videos: Roadmap 2013 […]
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What I saw this week #11: November 10, 2013
I’m still amazed at how many great things pass over my desk each week even though we’ve been so busy lately at work. I love how these posts remind me, each week, of how many interesting things there are on this web of ours. Cisco open sources H.264 – This is a geeky link for […]
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A culture of beer and overtime
The experience that Jay Huang had happens far, far too often. It happened to me at two companies. It is absolutely ludicrous. I mean everyone was leaving after 8 hours a day, and sometimes I would work a bit longer than everyone else, but that’s okay, because it’s on my own will and it’s usually […]
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What I saw this week #10: November 1, 2013
It has been a busy few weeks at Plain. But even busy weeks yield interesting things online. Here are a few: Video: Slowmo iPhone 5s video on Instagram – Ryan Pernofski shares some great slow motion videos on Instagram using the new iPhone 5s. Profitless Prosperity – Fred Wilson discusses why Amazon is so valued […]
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Do you need 1Password if you use iCloud Keychain on Mavericks and iOS 7?
Shawn Blanc spends a few minutes chatting about whether or not you still need 1Password after upgrading to iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks? With Mavericks support for storing passwords and credit card info in Safari, combined with the iCloud keychain syncing of that info to our iOS devices, I wanted to share about how […]
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What I saw this week #9: October 25, 2013
This has been an amazing week at work. I’m very much looking forward to sharing what we’re up to in the future but for now, some links. Comet ISON – Did you know there was a comet up there, right now, about to zing passed us and the sun and back out into space? Don’t […]
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Mark Boulton on the case for inline editing
Mark Boulton in the appropriately titled WYSIWTFFTWOMG! One of the other pain points of a complex dynamic website, where ‘pages’ are created with bits of content from all over the place is ‘where the hell do I go to find that bit of content to edit it?’. That is a painful moment in a content […]
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What I saw this week #8: October 18, 2013
I’ve read less on my computer this week than many, many weeks due to travel and busy work getting in the way. So this week might be lighter than others. Our Culture of Exclusion – Ryan Funduk is sick of drink ups. It is nearly impossible to hold a meet up of any kind and […]
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What I saw this week #7: October 11, 2013
Fall is in full swing and the leaves are all but gone. This time of year has been torn between the desire to be outdoors, soaking up what is left of the season, and being indoors around a fireplace in my pub. There is so much awesome happening each week on the web I’m having […]
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.
Series archives: Diversions, WIS, typicalday