Blog

  • Good can come from squeezing Adobe.

    What do I think about this recent "movement" to uninstall Flash? Glad you asked. I think it is great. Flash has certainly been a tool to help us get to where we are today and no one could argue with its ubiquity. It is a tool that was good enough to get the job done […]

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  • There’s a new API in town at Viddler

    Or, the video in which my head explodes. For more information, see the Viddler developers page. Note: If you are using Google Reader you may not be able to see this video. The Reader team is dragging their feet on supporting Viddler’s latest embed code. Come on over to my site to see it.

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  • Build your own video store with Viddler Subscriptions

    Last week at Viddler we launched a brand-new tool called Viddler Subscriptions. Using this new tool you can quickly create a "video store" that makes it quick and easy to charge your customers to subscribe to your videos.No more worrying about building a web site, hosting your own videos, collecting and processing credit cards, refunds… […]

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  • Chalk for iPad by 37signals

    I’ve been using Chalk by 37signals on my iPad all day and I love it. Here is the announcement post by Jamie at 37signals.

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  • The Watercolor Gallery finds an audience.

    I was going to wait until The Watercolor Gallery hit 150 or even 200 pieces in its archive before I gave another update but several key things are going on and I want them documented. For context see the announcement post, the 30 pieces update, the tools of The Watercolor Gallery, and the post celebrating […]

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  • Acorn 2.6, now with Tilt-Shift filter

    Acorn, my photo editor and general image-manipulation application of choice for the Mac, has been updated and now includes a Tilt-Shift filter. Above is an image I took with my first-generation iPhone in July 2007 in Philadelphia while attending BlogPhiladelphia. Acorn’s Tilt-Shift filter made an old photo interesting again. Well done Gus.

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  • What ‘Back to the Mac’ really meant

    In a post entitled ‘Back to the PC’ Horace Dediupostulates that the title of the recent Apple media event – ‘Back to the Mac’ – was a fantastic play on words. Where we all assumed it meant that Apple was refocusing everyone’s attention on the Mac from the iPhone/iPod/iPad, Dediu suggests something else. Jobs himself […]

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  • The Thank You Economy, a new book from Gary Vaynerchuk

    My friend Gary Vaynerchuk, whom I’ve mentioned before, has a brand-new book that is now available for pre-order. It is called The Thank You Economy and it is an excellent follow-up to Crush-It! which made both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal Best-Seller lists. Here is the description of the book from […]

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  • A few thoughts on Tumblr, on Tumblr

    I thought I’d take a few moments and jot down a few thoughts on Tumblr. And I’ve done just that, over on Tumblr.

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  • Celebrating 100 pieces of art with an artist interview series on The Watercolor Gallery

    Back in late August I was celebrating over 30 works of art in The Watercolor Gallery’s archive. Today I’m celebrating over 100. It is an amazing milestone for me personally as it hasn’t been easy to try to create a valuable gallery in such a short period of time. To celebrate hitting this milestone I’ve […]

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  • The new Tumblr queue

    The new Tumblr queue just went live and it is fantastic. My being able to curate The Watercolor Gallery is solely based on Tumblr’s queue feature and now it just got even better. To be specific, I really loathed the fact that Tumblr would tell you how many minutes it was until a post would […]

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  • \”I told you so.\”

    Fred Wilson quips about how he doesn’t like to say "I told you so" because he thinks it sounds mean but, deep down, really wants to say it.Fred’s direct involvement in some of the best services on the Web (besides Viddler sadly (hint Fred hint) shows that the guy can see a winner a mile […]

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  • \”I told you so.\”

    Fred Wilson quips about how he doesn’t like to say "I told you so" because he thinks it sounds mean but, deep down, really wants to say it.Fred’s direct involvement in some of the best services on the Web (besides Viddler sadly (hint Fred hint) shows that the guy can see a winner a mile […]

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  • \”I told you so.\”

    Fred Wilson quips about how he doesn’t like to say "I told you so" because he thinks it sounds mean but, deep down, really wants to say it.Fred’s direct involvement in some of the best services on the Web (besides Viddler sadly (hint Fred hint) shows that the guy can see a winner a mile […]

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  • \”I told you so.\”

    Fred Wilson quips about how he doesn’t like to say "I told you so" because he thinks it sounds mean but, deep down, really wants to say it.Fred’s direct involvement in some of the best services on the Web (besides Viddler sadly (hint Fred hint) shows that the guy can see a winner a mile […]

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  • \”I told you so.\”

    Fred Wilson quips about how he doesn’t like to say "I told you so" because he thinks it sounds mean but, deep down, really wants to say it.Fred’s direct involvement in some of the best services on the Web (besides Viddler sadly (hint Fred hint) shows that the guy can see a winner a mile […]

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  • \”I told you so.\”

    Fred Wilson quips about how he doesn’t like to say "I told you so" because he thinks it sounds mean but, deep down, really wants to say it.Fred’s direct involvement in some of the best services on the Web (besides Viddler sadly (hint Fred hint) shows that the guy can see a winner a mile […]

    Continue

  • \”I told you so.\”

    Fred Wilson quips about how he doesn’t like to say "I told you so" because he thinks it sounds mean but, deep down, really wants to say it.Fred’s direct involvement in some of the best services on the Web (besides Viddler sadly (hint Fred hint) shows that the guy can see a winner a mile […]

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  • The new Learn More video from Viddler

    For years Viddler has had a Learn More page that was used to introduce newcomers to what Viddler was capable of. For most of that time it didn’t feature a video explaining what Viddler does but rather was a somewhat interactive page that simply showed you what we did. It didn’t make much sense. Now […]

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  • Random 60: Is it the tools or the artist?

    It has been said that a great photographer doesn’t need the very best tools because it is the artist that makes something great, not the tools. Billy Disney, Viddler‘s own videographer, weighs in on the subject. Watch more Random 60 videos here.

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  • The top 5 things people really do while watching The Biggest Loser

    Professional comedy writers Colin & Eliza Devroe, authors of The Misguided Twitter Guide and The Misguided Facebook Guide, are back to tell you the truth. Many people think that The Biggest Loser, a TV show about people exercising 8 hours a day for 6 days a week, eating healthy and losing incredible amounts of weight […]

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  • Ben Does Life

    [ad#Adsense: Horiz 468] Ben Davis got inspired to lose weight. So he pretty much owned running for a year and dropped 120 pounds. Reminds me of my better days of owning running and dieting. Kudos Ben. I see you’re getting some attention from all of this. And you should. Hard work pays off. Enjoy it.

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  • Making art with shadows

    Kumi Yamashita creates artfrom shadows. She uses just a few blocks or some pieces of paper and a well-placed light source and makes some incredible things. This makes shadow puppets look so stupid. /via Coudal Partners.

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  • The tools of The Watercolor Gallery, so far

    We live in an increasingly interesting world where creating something from nothing is getting easier and easier. Several years ago I would say that it was easier than ever to set up a new website and get going. The same is true today, of course, but I am just as astounded by this fact today […]

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  • Google Instant

    I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Google Instant seeing how I like it so much. I think Google Instant is the best thing to happen to search since "the realtime web" services like Twitter and Facebook added search to their services. These two things are not directly connected – I simply see them both […]

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  • I don’t think Tumblr sucks

    Zach Inglis, a man whose opinion I hold in fairly high regard, simply went off on Tumblr for a variety of reasons on why he thinks Tumblr sucks. He notes technological, design and even personal reasons – most of which I do not agree with. There is something to learn from this I think. How […]

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  • Letters of Note, 1 year old

    Congratulations to Letters of Note for hitting it’s 1 year anniversary. Last year Letters of Note made my The best of 2009 as told by me list winning The Best New Blog Award. What I said then still stands now: "Letters of Note is pretty much the perfect blog. Blogs, unless they are personal journals, […]

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  • The Watercolor Gallery hits 30 works of art

    After a little over a week of posting over on The Watercolor Gallery I thought I’d write down a short and sweet update. You know, for posterity. Lets just say I’m enjoying myself. I’ve wanted to put together a site like this for longer than I can remember. Tumblr has made this incredibly easy. So […]

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  • Worry isn’t work

    This is quite simply a must-read for anyone that works at a desk and is the least bit ambitious. Worry isn’t work, by Dan Pallotta. /via the speechless Justin Blanton.

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  • The Watercolor Gallery

    I’ve decided to start a new site dedicated to inspirational watercolor art. This is from the about page on The Watercolor Gallery. "I love watercolor art. For years I’ve found inspiration by looking at the works of others and trying to determine their techniques, methods and tools – all while enjoying each piece of art […]

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  • North Seneca

    Seneca Lake, Geneva, New York. Circa 2008.

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  • Sorry Kirk, I’m taken

    The How to: Delete photos off an iPhone post is the single most popular post on my blog. After several hundred thousand views and 133 comments so far – it finally happened. Some guy named Kirk proposed to me. Sorry Kirk, I’m taken. But I am glad you found the information useful.

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  • Minas Tirith made from matchsticks finished.

    Taking just shy of three years to complete, this amazing representation of Tolkien’s fictional cityMinas Tirith is made completely out of matchsticks. The Great White City, as it is referred to, is made up of almost a half-million matchsticks. I linked to its progress a little over a year ago and I’m happy that Patrick […]

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  • Abstract Fine Art Photography from Shane Robinson

    My friend Shane Robinson, who hails from the windward side of Oahu, Hawai’i, has a brand-new Etsy shop where he showcases some of his photographic work in abstract fine art. His photos are simply gorgeous and would make excellent decorations for an office (which I’m picking up for Viddler HQ), your home or as gifts […]

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  • Shades of green

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  • Where did the alphabet come from?

    In The origins of abc John Boardley of I Love Typography tells a short, though rather thorough and enjoyable, history of the alphabet as we know it today. Boardley does an excellent job summing up and visually demonstrating what many of us may have learned in High School – though I personally found it much […]

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  • Why I’d like to use a Blackberry

    John Gruber has been referencing polls and articles about why people prefer Blackberrys rather than an iPhone. I love my iPhone but I can think of a few reasons I’d like to use a Blackberry. Here they are. The red light that is referred to in the polls/articles, presumably telling you that you have a […]

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  • Different types of rainbows or *bows

    Liz Danzico has a list of the types of *bows. Fascinating. Especially, Alexander’s dark band. Kickin’ it late-second-century style. No, I will not link to nor mention Double Rainbow simply because it is pertinent. Crap.

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  • The iPhone 4 or DSLR?

    The utility of the iPhone only increased with the iPhone 4. Taking photos on the go was always possible with the iPhone. Remember, I used the first gen iPhone with its 2.1MP digital camera for over 3 years.However, the iPhone 4’s camera quality and speed nearly makes it a digital camera replacement for my use. […]

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  • Divers at Adventure Aquarium

    Eliza and I spent the day yesterday with some family and friends at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, New Jersey. I’ve uploaded a few select shots from the iPhone onto Flickr but Eliza has got the goods.

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  • Everyone is playing Oregon Trail online I guess

    Over 1,000 people found my post on playing Oregon Trail online yesterday. Yes, yesterday alone. Since I linked to it 18 months ago nearly 100,000 people have found that post via Google, Bing and other places and the day-to-day visitors to that post is growing faster than any other page on this site. It seems […]

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  • The better days of blogging

    My friend Andrew’s mother Rita recently broke her ankle while hiking. Andrew wrote about it on his blog. The post is both touching and honest. It reminds me of the better days of blogging when people wrote journal entries rather than gadget reviews. When people wrote about how much their day sucked rather than how […]

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  • Build a small web app and win some dough

    I’ll admit it, when I saw 10K Apart‘s challenge I first thought it meant to build a web app for less than $10K. In reality, the challenge is to build a web app that weighs in at less than 10K – or kilobytes. The challenge is simple. Build something that inspires the Web and keep […]

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  • Alexander Safonov at work

    I’ve been subscribed to the Livejournal of Alexander Safonov, or pats0n, for a long time. This is one of the first shots of him actually at work taking the images from an outsider’s perspective. Fantastic job you have there Alexander. That being said… I do think you’re a little crazy. Nerves of steel.

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  • Our beliefs can dictate the facts we choose to accept

    I saw this quote from Joe Keohane on Matt Mullenweg’s blog. I’m sure Matt had his own reasons for publishing this quote to his blog and I’m fairly certain they are totally different than mine. He kept his to himself and I will too. "In reality, we often base our opinions on our beliefs, which […]

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  • How to distress or antique furniture (with paint)

    Ran across this post via WordPress.com on how to antique (and distress) furniture with paint. I like how simple the steps are and how it doesn’t permanently damage the furniture – as I have seen suggested elsewhere. [ad#Adsense: Horiz 468]

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  • Help! What should my new voicemail greeting say?

    Hello dear readers of my personal Web site (all 3 or 4 of you lovely, lovely people)! I have a problem. My voicemail greeting – you know, the thing you hear when you call my phone and I don’t pick up – needs to be updated. I’ve had the same greeting for over three years. […]

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  • Letterhead for The Official Star Wars/Lucasfilm Fan Club, complete with Bantha, circa 1985

    That does it. I’m creating letterhead for myself and it is going to include a Bantha.

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  • The GPL is a speed limit sign

    For those that haven’t already heard or read the transcript of Chris Pearson’s arguments against using the GPL I’ll sum it up for you. Chris has three main problems with the GPL. He didn’t itemize them very well on the podcast but this is what I was able to extract myself. Chris feels… as though […]

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  • Bourdain on Pekar and Cleveland

    Harvey Pekar, comic book writer and much much more, recently died. Anthony Bourdain has a rather lovely blog post about Pekar and Cleveland. "His continuing compulsion to wonder what’s wrong with everybody else was both source of entertainment and the only position of conscience a man could take." Also be sure to check out Bourdain’s […]

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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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