Randomly Marinated Content

Music awakens closed minds

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 22:49:03 -0400

Alive Inside is a documentary that follows social worker Dan Cohen as he discovers that music can “awaken” people suffering from degenerative memory loss (Alzheimer’s, etc.). Here’s a clip in which a man goes from a near-coma state to talking about his favorite songs after listening to music for awhile on headphones.

(via ★swissmiss)

Watch a remotely controlled camera in an armored shell be used...

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 23:31:33 -0500

Watch a remotely controlled camera in an armored shell be used to troll a pride of lions. Just fantastic - the cubs at the end are my favorites. Via io9

Mario with a portal gun. You should get this. Via The Verge.

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:24:36 -0500

Mario with a portal gun. You should get this. Via The Verge.

A nice video overview of the story behind the Keep Calm and...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 22:07:20 -0500

A nice video overview of the story behind the Keep Calm and Carry On poster from the bookstore where it was rediscovered.

"I don’t know that it’s truly the web, but to me the web is moving away from the browser for a lot of..."

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:22:26 -0500

“I don’t know that it’s truly the web, but to me the web is moving away from the browser for a lot of people. Apps on devices which make the web accessable to people who are afraid of the internet is probably the thing that I’m most excited about. Before apps people who weren’t geeks in my life didn’t talk about websites at all. Now they talk about apps (frontends to websites or not) in an almost giddy fashion. This is probably the coolest thing that has happened to the web. Web apps do not feel like desktop or iOS apps so to speak, but the lines are blurring for a lot of people.”

- 5 Minutes on The Verge: Growl’s Christopher Forsythe

This is what gets a lot of geeks excited: the things I think are great are being made more accessible to others, so I get to enjoy them with more people. There’s nothing like sharing something awesome with people and watching them either start freaking out over how cool it is or being blown away when they already know and love it and share something cool with you.

“Therefore, I set out on the open sea with but one ship...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:42:10 -0500

“Therefore, I set out on the open sea with but one ship and that small company of men who never had deserted me”

Have you ever heard a butcher reference Ulysses in Dante’s Divine Comedy? This man has a passion, and a tremendous eloquence when he expresses it. May we all be so fortunate and skilled as to find a calling, and understand it so completely that we can clearly convey its joys to others.

mostexerent:

Master Butcher Dario Cecchini | Fine Dining Lovers by S.Pellegrino

Sign of a good butcher? He/She has all her fingers..

During my last trip to Shanghai (goto http://mostexerent.tumblr.com/archive/2011/10) - I photographed some great street life, but could not at street of butchers. I couldn’t as every time I lifted my camera they would stop & smile but all I could see was missing fingers.

Found my dad’s shirt from when his cousin used to kick for...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:03:06 -0500

Found my dad’s shirt from when his cousin used to kick for the Patriots. Guess what I’m wearing today.

Also worth noting it’s held up well in the over 30 years since he got it.

Just a friendly reminder - play Jetpack Joyride if you’re...

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:22:00 -0500

Just a friendly reminder - play Jetpack Joyride if you’re not already doing so. You deserve it.

"Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig..."

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:56:28 -0500

“Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it’s really how it works. The design of the Mac wasn’t what it looked like, although that was part of it. Primarily, it was how it worked. To design something really well, you have to get it. You have to really grok what it’s all about. It takes a passionate commitment to really thoroughly understand something, chew it up, not just quickly swallow it. Most people don’t take the time to do that.”

- Steve Jobs (via justinlowery)

Apple products were never popular until they brought out the iPod, because corporate customers don’t care how things work, just that they do, usually with other outdated or poor systems they’ve made bad purchase decisions about in the past. Now that IT finally is being driven by consumer demand, you see the switch from this type of thinking. If I’m going to buy something with my money, I want it to work for me, which means that I want something intended for a real person to use.

iPhone Alarms

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 12:32:00 -0500

Just a quick thought on iPhone alarms - specifically, the complaint that they aren’t muted by the mute switch. The iPhone has always been well-equipped to deal with this type of situation. The problem stems from people using alarms as reminders, and not as alarms. If you want control over what can be muted, here it is in all its glory: you have always been able to set a reminder (first in the calendar app, now also in the reminders app) that will be muted by the switch. And you have always been able to set an alarm, which, just like any alarm clock you buy, will go off as scheduled, mute switch be damned, unless you turn the alarm off.

“This little sweetie plays as smooth as a baby buffed...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:56:52 -0500

“This little sweetie plays as smooth as a baby buffed in turtle wax.”

A Casual Encounter with Leo Laporte on the new TWiTGameOn. The subject: Infinity Blade 2.

Online Community, Comments, and Curation

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:11:08 -0500

I’ve never really been part of any website’s commenting community. It’s not really part of how I read online. I’ve tried joining in, but in all honesty I mostly don’t have anything to say because I’m reading through a lot of content. I’ve “lurked” on many sites for many years, and I like it this way.

That doesn’t mean I don’t like comments. Comments for me function as a way to learn about related content - whether it’s further details on a story (such as from an original, or more authentic, source), a contrary view, or something awesome that is only tangentially related. It’s purely selfish, but it’s true that a well-run community on a site can add a lot of value. On a site without comments, a reader now relies on the site’s author(s) to provide follow-up information, whether from their own research or feedback they’ve received through another channel. It makes curation of news from other sources even more important, so that information that may be provided by those who have a small voice, or are just beginning to earn their voice¹, still has a chance to make it to the top.

Sites without comment systems work very well for one-person operations. If someone wants to take the time that is necessary to implement a great comment system, that’s fantastic; however, most of the sites at the centre of this conversation are run by someone who has a day job. Frankly, I think it’s crazy to expect someone in that position to support something that requires a significant investment of time, just because it offers other people a place to say something in response. And that’s without getting into the damage trolls or comment spam can do.

The earn your voice reference is from the Comments Still Off post by MG Siegler, who has been very clear where he stands on the whole commenting situation. I really like the idea. It’s true. I have no authority, and why would I deserve anyone’s attention? Once I have a body of work that shows, at the least, that I can think rationally and have something worth saying, maybe people will take notice. Your work and reasoning should show that, whatever your background and wherever you’re coming from on any given topic, facts are facts. If the writing is honest and truthful, you can earn trust - even when you’re hypothesizing, pontificating, or playing pundit. ↩

"It’s easy to forget that Brady is, in his heart, an underdog. While Tebow was a Heisman winner, a..."

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:16:35 -0500

“It’s easy to forget that Brady is, in his heart, an underdog. While Tebow was a Heisman winner, a two-time NCAA champion, a first-rounder sculpted from heaven-sent marble, Brady was buried on the depth chart for his first two years at that noted QB factory, Michigan, and his photo from the 2000 draft combine shows a pale, doughy kid in big sky-blue boxers. When he talked to ESPN earlier this year about being drafted in the sixth round, he cried. He was nobody until fate intervened, and people forget. Here’s betting he doesn’t.”

- NFL Picks: Playing the violin for poor Tom Brady

By Bruce Arthur, National Post December 23, 2011 – 10:31 am ET

This was written after the Patriots played Denver back in December. As someone who doesn’t watch football regularly, it’s interesting how it’s bits like these that don’t make it to the forefront come the playoffs or the Super Bowl. It’s like the cheap shots people take at Tim Tebow too - people seize on something because it’s what they believe to be true. They can’t imagine that what they see on tv - made to be the grand spectacle - isn’t the actual story or person.

Thunderbolt

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:20:18 -0500

I’d used Apple products almost all the way through elementary and secondary school, but the first Apple product I owned was the iPod Photo. My now-wife had bought it for me when I’d been fretting over buying an MP3 player for quite some time. As a broke college student, I was leaning towards buying a cheap, Linux-friendly creature I would’ve had to source from eBay, but kept putting the decision off. My wife, who has never stopped working since she got her first job at Walmart in secondary school, was so excited when she saw the look on my face as I opened my birthday gift (we have since agreed on a significantly lower gift limits). Looking back, I can see now how it was pretty obvious I really wanted the much more expensive iPod, mainly because it was so easy to use - the click-wheel interface and iTunes combination was unparalleled. You have to remember that back then iTunes was so lightweight and easy to use that unless you were a dyed-in-the-wool llama-whipping Winamp user you were using iTunes. That, and I wanted FireWire support.

I really liked the idea of FireWire. USB 2.0’s promise of 480Mbps never really panned out because something else was always sharing the bandwidth, and twitchy device management in Windows made it a pain sometimes (I see you plugged your device in to the USB port beside the one you normally use - sit here while I reinstall everything! And hey, do you happen to have the install disk with you? Because I can’t seem find the driver I’ve used when you plugged it in all those other times! Or, as I’ve had happen even on Windows 7: I see you’re running a backup to your external HDD, but you ejected and unplugged a USB stick from the port beside it so you’re just going to have to start that all over again, m’kay?). My Toshiba laptop had a mini-FireWire 400 port, so I found the right cable, and I was set. It was everything I’d hoped for, fast and reliable in a way that USB never really lived up to. All was good, until my iPod’s HDD died, and Apple dropped FireWire support for iPods, never giving it to subsequent iDevices.

So it’s 2012 now, I own a few more Apple products, and we’re still stuck using USB 2.0. Which is a bit of a choke point when you’re trying to load up an iPad with season one of Game of Thrones shortly before leaving on a trip. But it’s okay, because relief is in sight! Thunderbolt! Making your life better with AC/DC! Or is that just me playing Thunderstruck in my head whenever I read an article about it? I’m not sure. Anyways. It will be interesting to see when Apple makes the jump to Thunderbolt for iDevices. While all new Macs save the Mac Pro have at least one Thunderbolt port, PC support will only show up sometime in 2012, and mainly from Intel. And USB 3.0, which although not as versatile does also offer a vast improvement in transfer speeds, is already available on new PCs or with expansion cards. So will Apple give PC makers a chance to implement Thunderbolt first? If not, will they rely on Intel shipping its chipsets with support, or move like they have historically and just throw it out there way before anyone else is ready to move? Will they throw a bone and provide USB 3.0 support as well? One of these may be significantly less likely to happen then the others, but I would say that all types of users are ready for and would appreciate the dramatic increase in transfer speeds that Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 would offer.

On one hand, if competitors could offer USB 3.0 support in their devices before non-Mac users get Thunderbolt support and Apple implements Thunderbolt support for iDevices, it could be a distinct advantage. On the other hand, I think it’s been pretty clear that Apple’s supply-chain management has provided the company with a much more important advantage, assuming that everyone is going full-bore on this. The chance of competitors being able to shoehorn USB 3.0 support into any top-selling tablets or smartphones, and winning significant mindshare before Apple is set to go with Thunderbolt, is pretty slim.

Because even the King of Beasts needs some grooming. via io9

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:33:31 -0500

Because even the King of Beasts needs some grooming. via io9

"What’s the antithesis of regret? Because that’s what I feel about doing this."

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 21:40:08 -0500

“What’s the antithesis of regret? Because that’s what I feel about doing this.”

- It’s always nice to exceed someone’s expectations. It’s an endorsement of the effort and care you’ve put in - in this case, it was something that meets someone’s needs and works better than they’d hoped for. And so I got this great quote. I don’t really know what the antithesis of regret is though - I suppose rejoicing?

"Tomorrow"

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 15:36:57 -0500

“Tomorrow”

- Tomorrow is very easy to reach. In fact, it comes of it’s own volition, whether or not it is wanted. Despite the combined practices of generations of humanity, procrastination does not hold it off. Nor does fervent wishing. One can only try to be prepared for it, although there is no guarantee of success there. But tomorrow is not doomed to arrive before it is welcome. It’s potential is glorious. The Land of Tomorrow is always a wonder to visit. Tomorrow can bring about the success of a project, the triumph of a combined effort, or the culmination of a lifetime’s work.

But only if the project is realized, effort expended, and work begun. Preferrably the groundwork has been laid and the opportunity is ready and within grasp. But if not, no worries. Now is the time.

After all, tomorrow will arrive when it is supposed to, no earlier or later. But today - well, there is no day like today. And no time like the present.

Happy New Year

I’ve been looking for an iPad writing tool - preferrably...

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:19:00 -0500

I’ve been looking for an iPad writing tool - preferrably something simple and easy to use. Believe it or not, the biggest problem is being spoiled for choice. There are lots of fully-featured word processing apps as well as a generous selection of apps designed to mainly help you focus, offering nothing but a blank screen. Some offer syncing support, usually through Dropbox, but also through Box (formerly Box.net) or other services. Considering we’re still shy of five years since the introduction of the iPhone, and even later for the introduction of the app store, the range of writing apps is a great indication of the amazing development of the mobile app market.

None of these are new, but these are some of apps I’ve found most interesting, based on how they offer something different than what someone new to the iPad might expect. All are great at what they do, starting with a basic text editor, moving to a focused writing app with more formatting features, and finally to a fully-featured word processing app.

PlainText $Free/$1.99 to remove adds (Universal)
Very simple, plain text app that works with Dropbox and has TextExpander support.
http://www.hogbaysoftware.com/products/plaintext

Elements $4.99 (Universal)
Another app that’s designed to be simple, but also supports markdown, which is a great way to add some basic but powerful formatting to your writing. Also syncs with Dropbox.
http://www.secondgearsoftware.com/elements

Pages $9.99 (Universal)
Apple’s Pages is a full-featured word processing app, now with iCloud support.

This is about my father, except for when it's about Steve Jobs

Sat, 08 Oct 2011 00:34:12 -0400

My father required open-heart surgery, with two full blockages and one partial blockage. It’s never easy having a family member go in for major surgery, nor should it be. It makes you think a lot about life, and in all honesty it has been a welcome wake up call. But when I didn’t want to think about it too much, my favorite bit of escapism was thinking about the new iPhone. My then-girlfriend/now-wife bought me an iPod Photo when I didn’t have the cash to buy one, and I came to buy my scrimped-for 1st-generation refurbished MacBook Pro a few of years later because the iPod was such a good introductory hit. I bought the iPhone 3GS when it launched in Canada because no other phone had anything approaching a decent web browser, and I have since added an iPad 2 to our home thanks to credit card reward points swapped for gift cards combined with some birthday cash. My wife and I will likely both be buying the new 4S, which I found out about live on the drive down to our hotel right by Vancouver General Hospital. The launch was a subdued affair, and at dinner last night I was explaining to my family the changeover Steve Jobs had completed due to his illness, and the impact I felt it had had on the presentation.

Today was my father’s surgery, and I spent the majority of the day in an area of the hospital where there cellphones were to be turned off, and so had limited connectivity. In fact, I was pretty much out of the loop until about 8:30 PM, when I was readying myself to go see my dad after his surgery - still unconscious and hooked up to a respirator, and apparently looking far worse than he would even the following day. So it was that as I was in wonderment over how something as fantastical as splitting a man’s breastbone, opening his ribs, repairing his heart with arteries from his chest and arm, and stitching him back to together could all be done within a few hours, I heard that Steve Jobs had passed, his cancer overwhelming. One medical miracle, one medical mystery.

Someone’s father, someone’s son passed away. My father will live and be stronger than before he went in, and I will show him the pictures my mother took of him on her iPod Touch before he went in to surgery. Most of the younger hospital students, residents, and doctors carried iPhones or iPads around the hospital, and today I saw the potential benefits that those devices can provide to health care services. My life, and the lives of so many others, has been over time subtly influenced by someone else’s vision, and will continue to be in ways I can not yet understand, just no one saw the impact a small computer, music player, or phone would have.

I am left with an overwhelming hunger to change the world, to make it a better place after I leave, to make something that is beautiful and earth-shattering - not because of how it looks, but because how it looks and how it works have been designed to make a person’s life better. I want people’s lives to be better, easier, and more fulfilling because something I have worked on moves distractions out of the way and moves what is important into focus. I want to help people’s lives just work, to make them better by subtraction, and to repay the world in whatever way I can for what has been done for me.

The Kindle Fire

Sat, 01 Oct 2011 15:31:57 -0400

If someone can provide you with a low-cost avenue to get what you want, you’re likely to go with them, and once you’ve invested, stay with them. It seems very basic, and it is, but that’s inertia. People have talked a lot about how Apple’s ecosystem has been successful because it allows customers to access to all the content that they want, but this is only part of it. Apple’s customers are invested in what has been the only complete game in town.
Apple’s iTunes ecosystem is far from perfect, and has always had some rough edges, but has made its way by virtue of being pioneering in so many markets and generally being the biggest player in the digital content game (especially outside the U.S.). In other words, if you’ve been purchasing your content through Apple for a while and have a good collection, it’s unlikely you’re going to be first in line to switch and roll over to someone else. But what about those who have never invested? Whether it’s because they don’t like the cost of the content, the cost of iOS devices, DRM (past and present), iTunes itself, or have been in a country not served by Apple (getting their content through old-fashioned CD/DVD ripping or… non-commercial sources)? Then right now Amazon is looking very well positioned. Lower-cost music, larger book title selection, integrated ebook lending with libraries (versus a roundabout Overdrive solution for iOS), and a low-cost but very capable tablet. Heck, even their browser is WebKit-based, so we know it will work well even before thinking about the possible benefits from Amazon’s Silk-iness. It’s true that their digital content offerings are far more limited than Apple’s if you’re not in the U.S., but it’ll be just as easy to get external content onto the Kindle Fire as it is to get it on an iOS device.
The Kindle Fire is capable and low cost, even if it will never compare as a content creation device. It doesn’t have to, it just has to allow people to access what they want easily. And Amazon provides an easy way to get what you want onto the Kindle Fire, whether it’s music, TV, movies, books, or games. All of sudden, that doorstop holding people to iTunes has disappeared, and there’s the potential for a lot of momentum building and heading Amazon’s way.