Justin Blanton on notification badges:
I look at it 1000 times a day to get stuff done and manage my time.
He makes solid points, I’m turning back on some badges.
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Casio Duro MDV-106 Re-ReviewDecember 15, 2022
The Hype: Yoshida & Co’s Porter BagsAugust 26, 2025
Grand Seiko SBGX261February 23, 2023
Recent Articles
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Badge That App
Justin Blanton on notification badges: I look at it 1000 times a day to get stuff done and manage my time. He makes solid points, I’m turning back on some badges.
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Travel Apps & Tools
Some useful things.
I’ve found myself traveling a lot more this year, and as such I’ve been able to test out some things that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to in a true travel environment. In most cases I demand two things when I travel: small and reliable.
With that said, here’s a random list of crap that I’ve really liked when traveling this year.
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Twitterrific 5.12 Adds a Host of New Features & Improvements
Including a bottom navbar which means there is no logical reason for Twitterrific to not be your main Twitter client.
Including a bottom navbar which means there is no logical reason for Twitterrific to not be your main Twitter client.
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It’s a Jungle Out There? Carry a Pocketknife
Some time ago the New York Times reached out to interview me about pocket knives. I had no clue what they were working on, but here it is. Neat.
Some time ago the New York Times reached out to interview me about pocket knives. I had no clue what they were working on, but here it is. Neat.
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Privacy, Security, and User Experience
Could not disagree with you more, sir.
As long as people understand the potential risks, the answer to the second question is almost always, “Yes.” And with the emergence of artificial intelligence, the answer to that question will become increasingly more clear. The vast improvements in user experience far, far outweigh the potential security risks to private information.
I obviously disagree with this notion. But I defer to someone with far better knowledge than I, Edward Snowden:
Technologists have worked tirelessly to re-engineer the security of the devices that surround us, along with the language of the Internet itself. Secret flaws in critical infrastructure that had been exploited by governments to facilitate mass surveillance have been detected and corrected. Basic technical safeguards such as encryption — once considered esoteric and unnecessary — are now enabled by default in the products of pioneering companies like Apple, ensuring that even if your phone is stolen, your private life remains private. Such structural technological changes can ensure access to basic privacies beyond borders, insulating ordinary citizens from the arbitrary passage of anti-privacy laws, such as those now descending upon Russia.
Once the information is out there, it is out there. You can’t reel it back in. Google has it all and knows how to find it all, which means it can be exploited.
If Apple isn’t storing it, and even has a hard time making sure I get all my iMessages across devices ((Which I have never had a problem with, personally.)), then that seems like a small price to pay to protect myself in a small way from the exposure I get with Google.
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Initial Thoughts on iOS 9’s iPad Multitasking
Federico Viticci: The iPad is on the cusp of becoming a completely new computer. This is not an overstatement. Anyone who uses the iPad enough has known for a long time that the device could be capable of a lot more, and iOS 9 is Apple's answer. Very exciting stuff.
Federico Viticci:
The iPad is on the cusp of becoming a completely new computer. This is not an overstatement. Anyone who uses the iPad enough has known for a long time that the device could be capable of a lot more, and iOS 9 is Apple's answer.
Very exciting stuff. -
The Apple Watch
My poor, lonely, iPhone.
I didn’t know what to expect, and in a lot of ways I still don’t know what to expect, from the Apple Watch. I’m a person who wears a watch everyday, so looking at my wrist for the time is habit. And like many others, I wasn’t sure I wanted an Apple Watch, well I wanted one, but wasn’t convinced I needed one.
Still, I got one.
And it is, by far, smaller than I thought it would be. I thought it would be some bulbous G-Shock style gadget, but it’s small and sleek. So sleek that my chronograph automatic sits off my wrist higher.
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The World Says No to Surveillance
Edward Snowden: Yet the balance of power is beginning to shift. We are witnessing the emergence of a post-terror generation, one that rejects a worldview defined by a singular tragedy. For the first time since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we see the outline of a politics that turns away from reaction and fear…
Edward Snowden:
Yet the balance of power is beginning to shift. We are witnessing the emergence of a post-terror generation, one that rejects a worldview defined by a singular tragedy. For the first time since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, we see the outline of a politics that turns away from reaction and fear in favor of resilience and reason.
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Micro Snitch
Speaking of new apps, this is a great new app that I have been testing. It shows you if there is anything using your microphone or webcam. Love it.
Speaking of new apps, this is a great new app that I have been testing. It shows you if there is anything using your microphone or webcam. Love it.
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Re:quest — Get Answers Fast
Today we (at MartianCraft) launched Re:quest, an app I have been working on for the past two and a half months with a very talented team of people. It’s a free app and very useful. Give it a download and see what you think. UPDATE: We wrote about the launch on the MartianCraft blog.
Today we (at MartianCraft) launched Re:quest, an app I have been working on for the past two and a half months with a very talented team of people. It’s a free app and very useful. Give it a download and see what you think.
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Visualize a Photo Before You Snap
I asked my wife to explain how she took this photo, damn if I don’t see things the way she does.
I asked my wife to explain how she took this photo, damn if I don’t see things the way she does.
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Apple’s Tim Cook Delivers Blistering Speech On Encryption, Privacy
Tim Cook, as reported by Matthew Panzarino: “We shouldn’t ask our customers to make a tradeoff between privacy and security. We need to offer them the best of both,” Cook wrapped up. “Ultimately, protecting someone else’s data protects all of us.”
Tim Cook, as reported by Matthew Panzarino:
“We shouldn’t ask our customers to make a tradeoff between privacy and security. We need to offer them the best of both,” Cook wrapped up. “Ultimately, protecting someone else’s data protects all of us.”
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Capturing Light
My wife is going to presenting at the San Francisco Apple Store on June 10th, at 6:00pm. Take a look at the linked page to make a reservation.
My wife is going to presenting at the San Francisco Apple Store on June 10th, at 6:00pm. Take a look at the linked page to make a reservation.
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The Myth of More (Not Just Another Fuji X100T Review)
Randall Armor: All of which, oddly, brings me back to the Fuji X100T. This dinky little camera represents an opportunity to spit in the eye of the Myth of More, even though it means you would have to buy yet another camera in order to hawk up a smug gob of gooey austerity of your…
Randall Armor:
All of which, oddly, brings me back to the Fuji X100T. This dinky little camera represents an opportunity to spit in the eye of the Myth of More, even though it means you would have to buy yet another camera in order to hawk up a smug gob of gooey austerity of your own. Tasteless, I know, and worse yet, hypocritical. Get over it.
Damn good “review”.
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A Shit Storm of Speculation
The game of random as shit c-level titles.
The title of ‘Chief Design Officer’ is, at best, amorphous, but most likely: bullshit. That’s not to say that real people don’t hold these positions, but rather that even Wikipedia struggles to conjure more than a vague description of the relatively new role. In fact, Wikipedia knows of only four companies in the world that has someone occupying this position.
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Apple Watch Sport Band
Mike Bates: Many of the early press reviews of the watch threw in a point or two about the Sport Band, but I'm of the opinion that even the cheapest band in Apple's collection is deserving of it's own review. I love the sport band so far. And for what it's worth I find the…
Mike Bates:
Many of the early press reviews of the watch threw in a point or two about the Sport Band, but I'm of the opinion that even the cheapest band in Apple's collection is deserving of it's own review.
I love the sport band so far. And for what it's worth I find the best way to keep it clean is to shower with the watch on. But then again the watch isn't waterproof so maybe mine is special and that's why I've had no problems showering with mine everyday.
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Quote of the Day: Shawn Blanc
“If you see money as your biggest challenge, perhaps you’re not being honest with yourself.” — Shawn Blanc
“If you see money as your biggest challenge, perhaps you’re not being honest with yourself.” -
Beyond Productivity “LIVE” with Mike Vardy
Looks like a nice workshop from Mike. He might be the most disciplined guy I know.
Looks like a nice workshop from Mike. He might be the most disciplined guy I know.
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The Fujilmfilm X100T
AKA: God’s camera.
When I first entered into photography I was never happy, as I didn’t like the delay between snapping an image and waiting to seeing the image after it was developed. I am far too impatient for that. Then digital came about, and while I was slow on the uptake, once I got a dSLR I acquired gear faster than I acquired money. A common problem for photographers, hobbyist or otherwise.
At the start of 2014, more than a year ago, I had a massive kit of photography gear. I had Canon full-frame gear, micro four-thirds gear, and of course the Fujifilm gear. It was madness. The Canon setup had four lenses, three lenses for micro four-thirds, and just one lens on Fuji.