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Chuck Skoda: >One thing though of which I’m convinced — the child confused that her swipes and pinches leave the magazine unaffected will not find it any less strange to have a laptop screen ignoring her gestures en masse. Personally I don’t see a point in touchscreens on computers, but when you put it the…
Chuck Skoda:
>One thing though of which I’m convinced — the child confused that her swipes and pinches leave the magazine unaffected will not find it any less strange to have a laptop screen ignoring her gestures en masse.
Personally I don’t see a point in touchscreens on computers, but when you put it the way Skoda did, well… yeah that makes sense.
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal commenting on the $75 **trillion** in damages that the RIAA is seeking from LimeWire: >That’s right, the music industry wants LimeWire to pay more money than exists in the entire world. Talk about starting *high* to negotiate down…
Sarah Jacobsson Purewal commenting on the $75 **trillion** in damages that the RIAA is seeking from LimeWire:
>That’s right, the music industry wants LimeWire to pay more money than exists in the entire world.
Talk about starting *high* to negotiate down…
Nick Bilton concluding a great post about privacy and trust differences with Twitter and Facebook: >In the long run, people will trust Twitter more than they do Facebook. And when it comes to building a long-term, trusting relationship with its users, Twitter will take it slowly and steadily, and in doing so, could win the…
Nick Bilton concluding a great post about privacy and trust differences with Twitter and Facebook:
>In the long run, people will trust Twitter more than they do Facebook. And when it comes to building a long-term, trusting relationship with its users, Twitter will take it slowly and steadily, and in doing so, could win the race.
It’s a really interesting point to think about if you ask me. At what point, or what thing, would Facebook have to do to get you to say: “That’s it, I am done.” For me that happened a while ago, for reasons that truly don’t matter to *you*.
To me, Facebook is currently the Microsoft Windows from 1997. Everyone used Windows and *everyone* complained about Windows. Fast forward to today and everyone is on Facebook and (it seems) any user that has been on the site for over a year *is* complaining about Facebook.
That’s not to say Facebook can’t change, but it’s something to think about every time you use a new service that requires personal information, ask yourself:
– Do I trust them?
Do you trust Microsoft more than Facebook? I do. Do you trust Google? Hell no. Should you?
J.D. Tuccille on the TSA: >But necessary evil or not, it’s increasingly apparent that the TSA is spectacularly inefficient and inept at everything it tries to do. Great article rounding up most of what is hilariously wrong with the TSA.
J.D. Tuccille on the TSA:
>But necessary evil or not, it’s increasingly apparent that the TSA is spectacularly inefficient and inept at everything it tries to do.
Great article rounding up most of what is hilariously wrong with the TSA.
“That’s not all these apps do, but it’s one benefit of using them, and it indicates how pathetic much of our web design is when our visitors increasingly turn to third party applications simply to read our sites’ content.” — Jeffrey Zeldman
Dark Sky is a new kind of weather app. It uses state-of-the-art weather forecasting to predict when it will rain or snow — down to the minute — at your exact location, and presents it to you alongside the most beautiful radar visualizations you’ve ever seen. [Now only $3.99 in the App Store](http://darkskyapp.com/?ref=brooksreview#go_to_app_store).
Dark Sky is a new kind of weather app. It uses state-of-the-art
weather forecasting to predict when it will rain or snow — down to the
minute — at your exact location, and presents it to you alongside the
most beautiful radar visualizations you’ve ever seen.
[Now only $3.99 in the App Store](http://darkskyapp.com/?ref=brooksreview#go_to_app_store).
Dan Benjamin shares his thoughts on *The Talk Show* leaving 5by5. Sometimes a scandal, just isn’t the scandal that the Internet [wants it](http://www.candlerblog.com/2012/05/18/where-did-the-talk-show-go/) [to be](http://www.quora.com/The-Talk-Show/Why-did-John-Grubers-The-Talk-Show-switch-podcast-networks). I used to have a 45 minute commute and Dan & John were a large part of keeping me sane during that commute — thanks to both of them for…
Dan Benjamin shares his thoughts on *The Talk Show* leaving 5by5. Sometimes a scandal, just isn’t the scandal that the Internet [wants it](http://www.candlerblog.com/2012/05/18/where-did-the-talk-show-go/) [to be](http://www.quora.com/The-Talk-Show/Why-did-John-Grubers-The-Talk-Show-switch-podcast-networks).
I used to have a 45 minute commute and Dan & John were a large part of keeping me sane during that commute — thanks to both of them for a great run and a great show.
As for the *new* *The Talk Show* — I look forward to [checking it out](http://muleradio.net/thetalkshow/).
**Update:** [Richard Heath says I got it wrong](http://space36.com/a-few-words-about-the-talk-show), not the Internet. John Gruber has commented on the matter twice, basically saying he moved over business disagreements. What I don’t think you can do is to read into Gruber’s comments as much as many people are reading into them. Business agreements can be about more than just money (not often) and by assuming that was the reason — well — you are also making assumptions about a persons character. Maybe I am wrong, maybe not.
What I think still stands: this is not the scandal that the internet was hoping it would be.
I forgot to link to this after last week’s B&B podcast, but this iPhone laser tag gun looks downright awesome.
I forgot to link to this after last week’s B&B podcast, but this iPhone laser tag gun looks downright awesome.
I have been using the `WP to Twitter` plugin for WordPress for a long time now — I much prefer it over Twitter Tools because it works faster and lighter. Not only that, but I can easily customized the tweet and automatically post “updated” tweets when I edit a post. There has been one problem…
I have been using the `WP to Twitter` plugin for WordPress for a long time now — I much prefer it over Twitter Tools because it works faster and lighter. Not only that, but I can easily customized the tweet and automatically post “updated” tweets when I edit a post.
There has been one problem with my site and `WP to Twitter` — it posts the tweet before the database cache is done updating and because of that Twitter users often read the post before the server had a chance to flip around the linked list URL. So essentially Twitter users often think there is no link to the linked list post, instead just an endless loop. Whenever this happens I have to dump the cache, not hard, but annoying.
The biggest feature (for me) that WP Tweets Pro brings: a delay setting for the Tweets. Now all TBR tweets will be delayed by one minute, thus (hopefully) solving all my problems. This plugin also has some other cool features, and for $25 — why not.
Chuck Skoda on the Facebook IPO: >Someone could be building something right now, in secret, that could obsolete Facebook. Software is ‘soft’ for a reason, it can change fast. Some really smart points. Facebook’s massive user base does not mean it can outlast a good competitor,that could be launched tomorrow, by default. It’s going to…
Chuck Skoda on the Facebook IPO:
>Someone could be building something right now, in secret, that could obsolete Facebook. Software is ‘soft’ for a reason, it can change fast.
Some really smart points. Facebook’s massive user base does not mean it can outlast a good competitor,that could be launched tomorrow, by default. It’s going to be interesting to watch them.
Dustin Curtis: >Basically, every time you visit a site that has a follow button, a “tweet this” button, or a hovercard, Twitter is recording your behavior. It is transparently watching your movements and storing them somewhere for later use. Right now, that data will make better suggestions for accounts you might want to follow. But…
Dustin Curtis:
>Basically, every time you visit a site that has a follow button, a “tweet this” button, or a hovercard, Twitter is recording your behavior. It is transparently watching your movements and storing them somewhere for later use. Right now, that data will make better suggestions for accounts you might want to follow. But what other things can it be used for? The privacy implications of such behavior by a company so large are sweeping and absolute.
That’s pretty shitty of Twitter if I am honest. I have been using the embedded Tweets and the follow buttons on this site without knowing that Twitter did this. So I am sorry about that. I took some time this morning and removed those embeds everywhere I could find, if you see one shoot me the URL of the post and I will remove it.
iPhone Laser Tag. Also, due to a screw up on my end, the show didn’t get recorded as normal and so a big thanks are owed to Sean Sperte and Chris Wahlmark because without them we would not have a show to post this week.
iPhone Laser Tag.
Also, due to a screw up on my end, the show didn’t get recorded as normal and so a big thanks are owed to Sean Sperte and Chris Wahlmark because without them we would not have a show to post this week.
Free until May 20th, which means you need to go download it now. >Introducing DropKey. The hassle-free way to encrypt your files. >We all send a lot of files. Whether it’s in Mail, with iChat, or even sharing them in Dropbox, files are still a huge part of our daily lives. Sadly, we haven’t had…
Free until May 20th, which means you need to go download it now.
>Introducing DropKey. The hassle-free way to encrypt your files.
>We all send a lot of files. Whether it’s in Mail, with iChat, or even sharing them in Dropbox, files are still a huge part of our daily lives. Sadly, we haven’t had an easy way to make sure they can only be opened by the people they were intended for.
Now are you convinced?
Lex Friedman listing off some items he would like to see in iOS 6, mentions a great feature that I had never heard of: >Some iPhone competitors offer a clever feature for conserving battery life: They use geolocation to figure out where you are, automatically enabling and disabling the Wi-Fi antenna when you’re away from…
Lex Friedman listing off some items he would like to see in iOS 6, mentions a great feature that I had never heard of:
>Some iPhone competitors offer a clever feature for conserving battery life: They use geolocation to figure out where you are, automatically enabling and disabling the Wi-Fi antenna when you’re away from a known hotspot.
Mark me down as someone who thinks this should be an iOS feature — sounds great.
Nick Bilton reporting on Twitter: >It announced Thursday that it is joining Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox Web browser, and giving its users the ability to opt-out of being tracked in any way through Twitter. Nicely done. Here’s hoping more web browsers and service adopt the ‘Do Not Track’ system.
Nick Bilton reporting on Twitter:
>It announced Thursday that it is joining Mozilla, the maker of the Firefox Web browser, and giving its users the ability to opt-out of being tracked in any way through Twitter.
Nicely done. Here’s hoping more web browsers and service adopt the ‘Do Not Track’ system.
So the data cap is now at 300GB from 250GB. That’s good, but it also sounds like this is not a firm cap and that if you should go over it you pay $10 for every additional 50GBs. Ok, I have no problem with that, but a real question. In the past Comcast banned users…
So the data cap is now at 300GB from 250GB. That’s good, but it also sounds like this is not a firm cap and that if you should go over it you pay $10 for every additional 50GBs.
Ok, I have no problem with that, but a real question. In the past Comcast banned users that consistently went over the 200-250GB cap, so does this mean that you can use as much data as you want — so long as you can pay for it?
If so, I think that is great (or I should say, better).
Tim Bradshaw (whom FT wants you to know is in London, for some reason): >The deal, which includes new funds from existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners and FirstMark Capital, values Pinterest at about $1.5bn, putting the image-led “curation” site among the world’s hottest young internet companies. That seems crazy right? Not when you…
Tim Bradshaw (whom FT wants you to know is in London, for some reason):
>The deal, which includes new funds from existing backers Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners and FirstMark Capital, values Pinterest at about $1.5bn, putting the image-led “curation” site among the world’s hottest young internet companies.
That seems crazy right?
Not when you take a look at [this infographic from Shopify](http://www.shopify.com/infographics/pinterest) (hat tip to [Panzer](https://twitter.com/mpanzarino/status/203156438443507713)).
There are three key things in that infographic:
1. Pinterest already drives the same amount of referral traffic as Twitter.
2. Buyers from Pinterest spend (on average) 10% more than buyers from other social networks.
3. The average Pinterest order is twice that of the average Facebook order.
That means Pinterest has a huge and growing user base that is actually *willing* to spend their money. That is way more valuable, in my mind, than anything Facebook has. If Pinterest keeps this up, they will be the better investment.
Speaking of…, oh wait I don’t have a good segue. I am now directly selling the RSS sponsorship spots once again, so get in touch if you are interested in reaching the most discerning readers on the web.
Speaking of…, oh wait I don’t have a good segue. I am now directly selling the RSS sponsorship spots once again, so get in touch if you are interested in reaching the most discerning readers on the web.
“People scoff at spending 99¢ on an app that took months to make, yet hurl money at Kickstarter projects that, technically, are vaporware.” — David Chartier (@chartier) May 17, 2012
This app might win the award for most clever app name of 2012. [Bang On](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bang-on-a-nice-search-app/id521507324?ls=1&mt=8) is a DuckDuckGo search app for your iPhone that will set you back $1.99. Say what?! Doesn’t DuckDuckGo already have a free search app? Yep, it does — Bang On is better. When the developer of this app contacted me…
This app might win the award for most clever app name of 2012. [Bang On](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bang-on-a-nice-search-app/id521507324?ls=1&mt=8) is a DuckDuckGo search app for your iPhone that will set you back $1.99. Say what?! Doesn’t DuckDuckGo already have a free search app? Yep, it does — Bang On is better.
When the developer of this app contacted me to ask if I would beta test it, he told me something along the lines of what you see in the app description:
>Ever wanted to say “search for Bob Dylan on Pandora” and have it work? Yeah. Bang On does that.
Huh. I don’t use Pandora, but now I am intrigued.
Bang On uses DuckDuckGo’s `!` syntax to search specific sites. Now that can be a pain to type, so Bang On has hot keys that you can tap to add in these syntaxes. This is neat, but not Earth shattering.
Where Bang On shines is in two areas: customization and voice.
### Customization
With Bang On you can setup custom `!` bang searches that are not a ‘normal’ part of the DuckDuckGo search engine. For example this site isn’t a part of the DuckDuckGo bang search syntax, but in Bang On, it is. So you can type: `blue icons !brooksreview` into Bang On and it will result in a Brooks Review specific search for blue icons.
That’s pretty cool, but of course I am not naive enough to assume that you want to search this site all that often. I do however, bet there is more than a few sites that you want to search often though, and with Bang On you can create a custom bang to do just that.
### Voice
The second cool feature is voice support (iPhone 4S only). When you hit the dictation/microphone button on iOS and say: “search for blue icon on Brooks Review” — well it does just that with a site specific search.
Which is what really makes this app killer for me. Say I am holding my daughter and want to search for something that I am thinking about or heard on the TV (‘wasn’t that actor in X’), well I can do it all one handed, and on the site I want to, with Bang On.
### Get It
Bang On is a universal app and is [$1.99 in the App Store](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bang-on-a-nice-search-app/id521507324?ls=1&mt=8) — if you like searching on iOS, then this is almost required.