Category: Links

A clever system.

Brent Simmons on Facebook:

>I wonder sometimes if Facebook is the America Online of today, with roughly the same future where we look back and wonder why we were all on it and we wonder what happened and then remember that it still exists, sort-of.

Not a bad thought.

A nice move by Microsoft, actually a great move. Of course there is still a way around it and I would guess that if your company is still running something less than IE 8 they will use this method to block it, noted by Ryan Gavin:

>The Internet Explorer 8 and Internet Explorer 9 Automatic Update Blocker toolkits prevent automatic upgrades of IE for Windows customers who do not want them. Of course, we firmly believe that IE9 is the most compelling browser for business customers, and we want them to make the decision to upgrade at their convenience.

Khoi Vinh on the Fire:
>Amazon has gotten a lot of praise for not flagrantly emulating the iPad with the Kindle Fire, and I concur with that a little bit. However, it should get no praise for its utter lack of imagination.

Dan Frakes:
>I’ve tested approximately three dozen of the iPad keyboards on the market. Here’s a quick look at the main types available, along with my recommendations for a few of the best in each category.

What a great guide — even makes me consider getting some sort of setup like this.

Comes with handy push notifications and the ability to “follow” certain topics to stay up to date. The best feature though? A quiet time mode where you can set the times you don’t want it to send you a push notification.

Every app that sends push notifications should have this setting — better yet — iOS should allow you to set this globally.

Interesting look at the rebranding of HP. Some of the “futuristic” pictures in this spread crack me up though (e.g. still showing printers and wires).

Jason D. O’Grady reporting an FAA/American Airlines (it’s not clear which) statement:
>On Friday, American Airlines is the first airline in the world to be fully FAA approved to use iPads during all phases of flight.

That’s great, so if I fly AA I never have to shut off *my* iPad, right? RIGHT?

Most of you probably don’t know that for every summer in high school and college I worked for my father’s commercial construction company doing manual labor and carpentry. It was a great job that gave me a great skill set, but more importantly I learned about what tools were crap and what tools were great.

Most tools on a carpenters tool belt start at $20 and when you think about how many they carry it is easy to see how fast that all adds up — so carpenters are prone to buying the best they can afford so that it lasts a really long time.

One of the best tools I was every introduced to was this Klein screwdriver.

Usually I would say run away from these types of multi-bit screwdrivers, but not this time. I own four of them. Yes, four. I bought my first one back in 2003 and I still have it and use it.

I beat things in place with the back of it and have never had an issue. I keep one in my car, one at my desk, one in both of my tool bags. This is something that really everyone should own — it is truly fantastic.

Andrea Chang:
>Verizon Wireless sent an emergency alert via text to wireless customers in Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean counties warning of a "civil emergency" and telling people to "take shelter now," according to the Associated Press. The message was intended to be a test but wasn’t labeled as such, the company later said. The alert reportedly started a chain reaction across a wide swatch of central New Jersey, prompting a high volume of 911 calls.

You gotta love the non-statement Verizon made too. Idiots.

Emily Steel and Jessica E. Vascellaro for the Wall Street Journal reporting on Apple’s iAd program:
>Having originally asked marketers to commit to spend at least $1 million—an amount later dropped to $500,000—Apple is now discussing ad deals with a minimum commitment of just $400,000, according to a person familiar with the matter.

This is the same problem that I see with Twitter’s income model. By saying that you have to cough up $400k you are significantly limiting the pool of potential advertisers.

I am not saying that there should be no minimum commitment, but it seems much to high. My best guess as to why: high quality ads and less clients for Apple to have to interface with.