Very clever looking Alarm and timer program for scheduling some tasks. I think this will fit in my workflow very nicely (for those things that don’t need to be in OmniFocus).
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Alarms
Very clever looking Alarm and timer program for scheduling some tasks. I think this will fit in my workflow very nicely (for those things that don’t need to be in OmniFocus). [via Shawn Blanc who found it via Patrick Rhone]
[via Shawn Blanc who found it via Patrick Rhone] -
MG Siegler on the Verizon App Store
This is incredible interesting, Verizon will be making their own curated app store (much like Apple’s curation process) that will be preinstalled on select Android devices (version 2.2 and up). So they quality should be better and easier to find that the normal Android store, Verizon and the developers get a cut of money, not…
This is incredible interesting, Verizon will be making their own curated app store (much like Apple’s curation process) that will be preinstalled on select Android devices (version 2.2 and up). So they quality should be better and easier to find that the normal Android store, Verizon and the developers get a cut of money, not Google and the consumers get screwed. Well they get screwed in so far as they can’t take their apps out of Verizon.
Sounds swell.
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Giving up on Google
Rob Sheldon lamenting on his experiences with Google: The experience I have with Google every day has convinced me that they’re no longer concentrating on their original mission. Google is now a marketing company, and what was supposed to be their “core competency” has been neglected in favor of rolling out new features and services.…
Rob Sheldon lamenting on his experiences with Google:
The experience I have with Google every day has convinced me that they’re no longer concentrating on their original mission. Google is now a marketing company, and what was supposed to be their “core competency” has been neglected in favor of rolling out new features and services.
and:
Google just isn’t a company that’s concentrating on the problems that I need solved. I didn’t need “instant” search results; I needed effective search results.
Sheldon is right, there are a lot of instances where I can’t find what I need with Google. The search engine he recommends, DuckDuckGo, seems excellent especially if you search for more technical things. I have already added it to my bookmarks to use more often.
[via Hacker News] -
The Commute Map
Very cool Map mashup that shows you where people in your zip code are commuting to and from. [via Flowing Data]
Very cool Map mashup that shows you where people in your zip code are commuting to and from.
[via Flowing Data] -
Security Advisory for Flash Player
Adobe: This vulnerability (CVE-2010-2884) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild against Adobe Flash Player on Windows. Adobe is not aware of any attacks exploiting this vulnerability against Adobe Reader or Acrobat to…
Adobe:
This vulnerability (CVE-2010-2884) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild against Adobe Flash Player on Windows. Adobe is not aware of any attacks exploiting this vulnerability against Adobe Reader or Acrobat to date.
Yeah so this is not good at all, turn it off and have some piece of mind.
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New Kindle Pool Ad
I love the new ad, but I think this tweet from Corey Thomas (@thecore) sums it up best: @gruber By Amazon’s logic, the woman in the Kindle ad should have a woman next to her gloating about a paperback book. [via John Gruber]
I love the new ad, but I think this tweet from Corey Thomas (@thecore) sums it up best:
@gruber By Amazon’s logic, the woman in the Kindle ad should have a woman next to her gloating about a paperback book.
[via John Gruber] -
Google Feels the Need to Justify Itself
I don’t get Google here, why do they feel the need to justify themselves to the ‘media’? This makes no sense, let your product speak for itself, your users know if they are still using your product so what more do you need.
I don’t get Google here, why do they feel the need to justify themselves to the ‘media’? This makes no sense, let your product speak for itself, your users know if they are still using your product so what more do you need.
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I Remember When: Tribute to Mac OS X’s Tenth Birthday
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the release of the Mac OS X beta. It wouldn’t be for another three years that I would get my first taste of OS X on an iBook during a communications course at my University. A year later I would come home to find my laptop stolen and a…
Today marks the tenth anniversary of the release of the Mac OS X beta. It wouldn’t be for another three years that I would get my first taste of OS X on an iBook during a communications course at my University. A year later I would come home to find my laptop stolen and a desperate need for a new computer. It was at this time that I purchased a Powerbook G4 12” – the most fabled and perhaps most loved Mac portable to date.
Since the end of 2004 I have used Mac OS X non-stop, I am an early adopter on all Apple products and a hardcore fanboy. I have been thinking a bit about what Mac’s mean to me, specifically what if anything I should write on this anniversary of the platform.
Piece of Mind
Then it came to me, what I really truly love about OS X (putting aside the beautiful hardware) is the piece of mind that it gives me. Here are a few worries that Mac OS X made moot:
- Anti-Virus Software
- Windows Registry Issues
- DLL files
- Clippy (you know the MS Office paper clip helper guy)
- Viruses
- NetSend (if you don’t know what this is Google it)
- Plastic computers
- ‘Active Desktop’ Errors
- Internet Explorer
- ‘Safe mode’
- ‘Safe mode w/ networking’
- ! Important Install Drivers before plugging this peripheral in!
- WinZip
- PS/2 Ports
- Little yellow bubbles in the corner of my screen
Mac OS X, giving me piece of mind since 12/2004. Thanks Apple.
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Mark Zuckerberg opens up for The New Yorker
Truly fascinating interviews and accounts of Facebook and Zuckerberg.
Truly fascinating interviews and accounts of Facebook and Zuckerberg.
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Exchange “remote wipe” is a terrible, terrible bug
Did you know that when you setup and exchange account on your mobile device the Admin can wipe it – whereby ‘it’ I mean your entire device? Neither did I. [via DF]
Did you know that when you setup and exchange account on your mobile device the Admin can wipe it – whereby ‘it’ I mean your entire device? Neither did I.
[via DF] -
Rui Carmo on the Samsung Tab
Rui Carmo: A Tab is, physically, almost exactly half the size of an iPad, and although we could go on about specs, features, ergonomics and whatnot, the mere fact that the built-in productivity apps are shameless dumbed-down rip-offs of Apple’s (without addressing functionality gaps or providing distinctive features) kind of sets the tone for the…
Rui Carmo:
A Tab is, physically, almost exactly half the size of an iPad, and although we could go on about specs, features, ergonomics and whatnot, the mere fact that the built-in productivity apps are shameless dumbed-down rip-offs of Apple’s (without addressing functionality gaps or providing distinctive features) kind of sets the tone for the first generation of wannabe competitors.
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Fraser Speirs On Battery Life
Fraser Speirs: Simply put: if your device doesn’t last for 10 real-world hours of use, your device is no longer competitive in education. I think we can expand that to more than just education at this point.
Fraser Speirs:
Simply put: if your device doesn’t last for 10 real-world hours of use, your device is no longer competitive in education.
I think we can expand that to more than just education at this point.
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dConstruct 2010 Talks
I just downloaded these over the weekend to listen to on my morning and evening commutes. The first one was great this morning. [via Merlin Mann]
I just downloaded these over the weekend to listen to on my morning and evening commutes. The first one was great this morning.
[via Merlin Mann] -
Need Help? Start Listening.
You may or may not know this, but by day I am a commercial property manager, in a nutshell this means I collect rent, schedule maintenance, and listen to complaints. It is without fail that every working day I get the same type of call, someone has a problem and they need my help. This…
You may or may not know this, but by day I am a commercial property manager, in a nutshell this means I collect rent, schedule maintenance, and listen to complaints. It is without fail that every working day I get the same type of call, someone has a problem and they need my help. This is not problem at all, in fact tjis is what I get paid to do, the problem is when the person calling won’t stop talking.
For example, it was noon one day and I received a call from a tenant (let’s call him Steve) telling me that he never received a copy of his lease, as I promised to send him. I knew I had mailed it out, but patiently waited for Steve to finish the explanation of why I had lied to him. When Steve finished I explained that I had mailed it and it must have been lost. I told Steve I would not be able to send another copy until the next business day, but in the mean time I could just email him a PDF copy so that he could look for what he wanted to.
At some point between when Steve stopped talking and before I started talking, Steve stopped listening. When I was done telling him the above he reiterated that he never got a copy, a copy that he really needed, despite the fact that I told him I would send him a copy. At this point Steve and I are both frustrated. Steve wants his copy 3-months ago and is pissed he doesn’t have it now. I am frustrated that the mail is making me look like a liar and that Steve is not listening to what I am saying. This banter between Steve and I ensues for another 5 minutes.
I finally lose my cool and forcefully tell Steve his options, get an emailed copy now and a hard copy in a couple of days, or wait for the hard copy to come in a couple of days. Simple right? Then Steve tells me that the PDF is 29 pages and will take up way too much file space, not to mention that he does not want to pay to print out 29 pages. I ignore for the moment that he is basically telling me that he is too cheap to print it out and would rather I do so while paying for the postage, and tell him that he can view a PDF on the screen for free. ((Seriously I had to tell him this.))
At the end of the conversation I get Steve’s email address and email him the lease and mail him the hard copy. The kicker: Steve has a Gmail address, meaning he really doesn’t have to worry about file storage.
Time to Listen
This type of conversation happens to me everyday. I listen to peoples problems and they don’t listen to the solutions that I offer. Had Steve listened to what I said the first time around we could have been off the phone with a satisfactory result in less than 5 minutes. Instead Steve took the approach that many before him had, he beat his chest to let me know who was in charge.
The thing that Steve and so many other people don’t realize is if you are asking someone else for help, then it is because you need their help not the other way around. In fact Steve never asked for my help, he demanded it and when I started to help he ignored it.
Take this Advice
No matter your company size, your position, your age, your sex, your race – if you are asking someone for help you better be prepared to listen to them when they offer it. Once you stop listening, people will stop wanting to help you – when that happens you mine as well be beating your chest in the mirror.
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QoTD: The Single, Most Important Secret to Success
Running a small business is like flying an airplane. There’s not a single thing that keeps you in the air. It’s doing a lot of things right. But the truth is that whether it’s landing a plane or running your business, you can screw some things up and still be successful. –Mike Taber
Running a small business is like flying an airplane. There’s not a single thing that keeps you in the air. It’s doing a lot of things right. But the truth is that whether it’s landing a plane or running your business, you can screw some things up and still be successful. –Mike Taber -
The Macalope Weekly: Choices
The Macalope: The horny one is confused, though. What exactly is Google’s path to “victory” if carriers can make phones that exclusively use Bing? I couldn’t agree more. Be sure to read the last bit about Acer, pure gold.
The Macalope:
The horny one is confused, though. What exactly is Google’s path to “victory” if carriers can make phones that exclusively use Bing?
I couldn’t agree more. Be sure to read the last bit about Acer, pure gold.
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The Microsoft Fake Funeral for iPhones and Blackberries
I don’t get it, where was Android they are clearly a bigger threat than RIM. Why are they being so cocky when they have yet to prove anything. This may go down has a huge embarrassment for Microsoft next year, but I tend to think they will be embarrassed by this long before then.
I don’t get it, where was Android they are clearly a bigger threat than RIM. Why are they being so cocky when they have yet to prove anything. This may go down has a huge embarrassment for Microsoft next year, but I tend to think they will be embarrassed by this long before then.
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Here’s a Reason to Switch to a Mac
Stefan Worthmuller talking about DLL hell on Windows: Installers of programs overwrote existing versions of DLLs, leading to the first iteration of DLL-Hell: Installing an application could possibly break other applications (because they were build for a different “version” of the DLL). And even worse, uninstalling an application could remove some DLLs that other applications…
Stefan Worthmuller talking about DLL hell on Windows:
Installers of programs overwrote existing versions of DLLs, leading to the first iteration of DLL-Hell: Installing an application could possibly break other applications (because they were build for a different “version” of the DLL). And even worse, uninstalling an application could remove some DLLs that other applications depended on. Most applications installed their DLLs in the system directory (and many still do) in hope to share them with other programs but there was no way to keep two different versions of a DLL in the system folder as the file name usually remained unchanged.
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Sean Parker
David Kirkpatrick talking about Parker’s youth: The teenager had been sitting in the family den, all night, drilling deeply into the bowels of a Fortune 500 company, which he refuses to name. Back then he had a hobby, he says, of hacking into different sorts of organizations, keeping a file of .com, .edu, .mil, and…
David Kirkpatrick talking about Parker’s youth:
The teenager had been sitting in the family den, all night, drilling deeply into the bowels of a Fortune 500 company, which he refuses to name. Back then he had a hobby, he says, of hacking into different sorts of organizations, keeping a file of .com, .edu, .mil, and .gov Internet domains he had penetrated in various countries around the world. His goal was to break into one of each type in a laundry list of countries. He claims that once inside he usually alerted the system administrator—from his or her own e-mail—to vulnerabilities he had discovered.
A great read.
[via I am pretty sure I saw this in John Gruber’s Starred Instapaper items. Just add him as ‘gruber’ on Instapaper.] -
Twitter for iPad – Extended Look
There has been a lot of mixed feelings about the new Twitter for iPad app, and I have really neglected to write anything because I didn’t really know where I stood until now. Listening to the latest episode of The Talk Show with Dan Benjamin and John Gruber I really started to become annoyed with…
There has been a lot of mixed feelings about the new Twitter for iPad app, and I have really neglected to write anything because I didn’t really know where I stood until now. Listening to the latest episode of The Talk Show with Dan Benjamin and John Gruber I really started to become annoyed with how they were talking about Twitter for the iPad (I completely agree about their thoughts on Tweetie for Mac).
The UI
Yes, the UI is nothing short of different bordering on crazy. When I first started using it (in landscape mode) I was really annoyed that the right 2 inches of the screen is nothingness. Then I clicked on a tweet and it all made sense, a sliding columnar view – OK I get it. Much like Instapaper and Kindle or iBooks, Twitter for iPad really shines in Portrait orientation.
What irks many people is that the sliding interface seems to odd, making the entire app feel wrong. There is also much criticism over the new tweet field, Milind Alvares nails the problem:
My only problem with the compose window UI, is the freakin thing is so narrow, you can hardly type something without it overflowing from the view. Not just that. The actions are floating inside the window, so if you’ve typed something long, you can’t see the character count unless you scroll to the bottom. There’s no reason that compose window needs to be so narrow, let along have the actions floating at the bottom. I hope this is fixed in the next release.
I agree and so do many others, but this is version 1, this is expected to have a few annoyances. Overall I think the UI is far better than every other Twitter app that the iPad has seen to date. If you are a multiple account user you will love it too, you don’t have to back out of the tweet stream to switch accounts, it is always sitting on the left side to flip between everything.
The Best an iPad can get.
Twitter for iPad is without a doubt the best Twitter client available on the iPad ((Yes I have used Twitterrific, and no it is not that great.)) I have several Twitter accounts but only two of which I regularly check (@benjaminbrooks and @brooksreview) with all the others I have tried this was a pain. Twitter for iPad fits perfectly with how I use Twitter and perhaps that is the real crux of the issue. Twitter for iPad is not as universal as the iPhone version is, meaning it is not for everyone.
One Major Annoyance
One thing that I find beyond annoying is the way that Twitter for iPad opens TwitPic (among other photo sharing options) pictures. I don’t need to see the entire damn website, just load the picture like almost all the other Twitter clients do. This is beyond annoying to me.
Version 1
In the end it is pertinent to remember this is the first app that Twitter has released for the iPad – which excites me. If this is how much they can do on their first try, then there is no telling just what they will be able to do with more time and feedback.