Blog
Writing helps me think more clearly. This archive is longer posts; quick updates now live in notes.
Topics: AI, blogging, photography, programming, projects, Signboard
Friend Dan Rubin took the new iPhone 7 Plus out for a test-drive using a ring light. On whether or not the iPhone 7 Plus is the best smartphone to get for jumping into photography: Is it the best place to start if you’re just trading up to a smartphone for photography? I don’t think so: the iPhone…
Yesterday fellow UAV pilot Jonathan Edwards and I hiked to the "top of the world" at the Dunmore Pine Barrens to get some exercise, see the sights, and fly a little. I decided to hike this area because of local hiker, writer and blogger Jeff Mitchell's blog post wherein he details the hike. He provides specific detail for…
Manton Reece: A long-overdue product is difficult to push forward, the weight starting to carry as much burden as potential. And everywhere I look there’s a new excuse to procrastinate. Boy does this resonate.
Alexei Baboulevitch (archagon) in a comment on Hacker News: These indie apps are often marketed as beautiful, wholesome alternatives to grimy corporate or open source software, but how could I possibly rely on these products for essential tasks like note-taking if they're just going to disappear out from under me in a few years? The idea that software…
After a few weeks of trial and error, (lots, and lots of error) video tutorial binging, manual devouring, and literally swimming for and losing my first UAV, I thought it might be good to jot down some tips for new drone owners. So here they are, in no order, but all worth considering: Fly over shallow water -…
I had been thinking and talking about buying a UAV, drone, quadcopter* (whatever you personally call them) for a long time now. Many months. When they first hit the scene they were way out of my price range. These days they are not only affordable but incredibly capable and simple to use. Of course my focus was on…
I've been thinking a lot about a quote Matt Mullenweg wrote about earlier this year. It reads: Find three hobbies you love: one to make you money, one to keep you in shape, and one to be creative. I'm going to drop in my own personal suggestion that we add a hobby that also forces us to explore. I've noticed something in myself, and perhaps this…
I had bookmarked Rocket by Matthew Palmer almost two weeks ago and today I finally took the time to install it. Game changer on the Mac. Recommended. Also, give it an up-vote on Product Hunt if you like it.
Linus Torvalds in 2004 on the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML): To me, the biggest thing with small patches is not necessarily the patch itself. I think that much more important than the patch is the fact that people get used to the notion that they can change the kernel – not just on an intellectual level ("I…
Kevin Montrose of Stack Overflow explaining Documentation: Documentation is community-curated, example-focused developer documentation, based on the principles of Stack Overflow. A natural extension to Stack Overflow and a welcome one. I should likely make this my homepage.
A few months ago I gave Google Photos a trial. I wanted to give the service a real, honest test so I purchased one of Google's larger Drive plans (1 TB) and started uploading. Google Photos is great. In fact, the only reason I didn't stick with it was because — like so many Google things — it had…
Vestal, New York – June 2016.
Yesterday Kyle and I wanted to get out of our home offices and work somewhere new. He suggested Cocoon Coffeehouse next to the Silk Mill in Hawley. A panoselfie of yours truly. It turned out to be a nice little spot to get work done. Comfortable chairs. Easily accessible wifi. Good food (I tried the quiche). And my…
Need something like this? Consider hiring me for your next project. I was recently asked by a client if I could use an existing Excel spreadsheet and create a single-page web site from it. This way, their team would be able to use the work they've already done and the data they've already keyed in and wouldn't need to do double…
Nine years ago today Eliza, John Gruber, Rob Sandie, Matt Regula and I were standing in line for the original iPhone. Here are a few photos: John, before having a computer in his pocket. It was quite a day. Looking back on it now, that day changed everything we do now.
Evernote just announced a price increase. A rare thing to see. Back in November of last year I wrote about Simplenote having a "moment" due to the exodus from Evernote that was seemingly happening. I'd be willing to bet that is about to accelerate. Back then, I wrote: Anecdotal evidence suggests that the people that are leaving Evernote…
K. Q. Dreger interviewed Loren Brichter about his recent sale of Letterpress (my favorite iOS game). The interview is full of little behind-the-scenes tidbits on Letterpress and how it was made and where it is going. However, when Dreger asks Brichter what he's been up to and what he will be doing next, I thought his thoughts on web…
Lavender fields, Hope Hill Lavender Farm, June 2016
Richard Lander on the .NET Blog: We are excited to announce the release of .NET Core 1.0, ASP.NET Core 1.0 and Entity Framework Core 1.0, available on Windows, OS X and Linux! .NET Core is a cross-platform, open source, and modular .NET platform for creating modern web apps, microservices, libraries and console applications. They said they would, and they did. Good…
Maria Langer, on her blog, on owning and operating her own small business: I am the owner of a small business, Flying M Air, LLC. I do just about everything for the company except maintain the aircraft: schedule flights, preflight the aircraft, fly, take payment from passengers, manage the drug testing program, work with the FAA, meet with clients,…
GoPro just updated their iOS app. In the release notes I noticed a link to their developer page wherein they've open sourced their Camera Toolkit for iOS and Android. Let's hope a ton of bug fixes result so I can stop hacking mine.
Over on our company blog we published our recipe for rebranding a company. Here's a snippet on how our outsider view is an advantage: Our suggestions and feedback come with no internal bias, no politics, no fear of losing our jobs, and certainly no fear of sounding stupid. We’re experts at dumb ideas. Out of dumb ideas come…
If you find yourself needing something like this, why not hire me to make it for you? A friend of mine somewhat recently became a licensed realtor. One thing that surprised him was the lack of technology being used in his workplace. Though not a technologist himself, he enjoys an efficient workflow such as using a tablet and managing…
This weekend a few friends, Eliza, and I went to Hope Hill Lavender Farm's Lavender Festival. As one would expect with all lavender events, it was an absolute smashing success with thousands upon thousands of people turned away due to it being overcrowded. Wait, what? Let me back up and explain what happened then I'll give you my…