September 23, 2009
- iPhone Design Template Sketchbook
- For the people who need paper to be creative, I guess this will work. Nice if you’re just brainstorming.
Archive for 2009
- Insert WebKit into Internet Explorer with Google Chrome Frame
- Google trying to find ways to beat the Internet Explorer problem.
- Lots of advice for that new Apple notebook
- Especially for the batteries. I did not realize I needed to do this. Stupid modern technology.
For proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it’s important to keep the electrons in it moving occasionally. Apple does not recommend leaving your portable plugged in all the time.
Apple recommends you discharge the battery once a month. Now you tell me.
September 22, 2009
- Six Degrees of Wikipedia
- Like the Kevin Bacon game. Interesting to see how much of Wikipedia relates with the rest of Wikipedia. Or, in some cases, doesn’t relate.
- Google does not use the keywords meta tag in web ranking
- I’m not sure how this question came up again.
Q: Does this mean that Google will always ignore the keywords meta tag?
A: It’s possible that Google could use this information in the future, but it’s unlikely. Google has ignored the keywords meta tag for years and currently we see no need to change that policy.
- The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity
- The first one sets the tone:
Always and inevitably everyone underestimates the number of stupid individuals in circulation.
While I won’t agree with all that’s written here, it sure sounds like the author got most of this right. Taken in context, it all makes sense.
The Mac OS X Name Game
A while ago I wrote about the problem of naming an operating system after an animal. While it takes the technical jargon off it, and it becomes more manageable from a marketing standpoint, it makes it incredibly difficult to put in context. This is a redux of the same rant I had on a day when I got tired of people calling that operating system ‘Leopard’.
If I hear Mac OS X 10.5 called ‘Leopard’ one more time, I think I’m going to start that killing spree I’m always going on about. Oh, and now it’s even better, with the ‘Snow Leopard’. And just to keep upping my urge to kill, people trying to be cute are calling it Snowy Leopard. Prison is sounding more and more like a workable option.
You see, Apple came up with this nifty convention of code–naming the operating system by some large cat name. With each 10.x iteration, it’s given the next version a new, feline–inspired code–name. While cute and fun in 2004 (and somewhat kitsch), it’s grown beyond its usefulness.
Here’s a fun game: let’s put these in order:
Puma
Leopard
Tiger
Cheetah
Panther
Jaguar
Snow Leopard
Lion
Got it? Here’s the answer:
Cheetah
Puma
Jaguar
Panther
Tiger
Leopard
Snow Leopard
Lion
Simple, really, because, in every bit of writing you ever find, you’ll see something like this: Mac OS X 10.4 Panther
. Honestly, there’s not any need for either the numbers or the name. Pick one, and it makes it easier to define. Cheetah is 10.0, Puma is 10.1, and so on.
The problem with this, however, is that without stating what ‘Cheetah’ is, you’ve no perspective. Even in writing this, I continue to mess up the order. It’s just too confusing going by the accepted convention of animal names. That’s what my next quiz demonstrates.
Put these in order:
10.7
10.4
10.0
10.6
10.3
10.5
10.2
10.1
I’ll guide you to Wikipedia or Google to figure out the answers to this one. The point being, after seven public releases of Mac OS X, it’s time to retire the big cats, and go with the more logical, numbering convention. I don’t even think I’m out of line with Apple’s marketing strategy.
I think. I could be wrong.
Unnecessary additional rant on 10.5’s packaging
For some reason, Apple decided to not even use any actual Leopards when they got their promotional material for 10.5’s launch. It didn’t make sense to me at the time, nor does it now. I think somebody got a clue, because 10.6 is just silly with pictures of snow–covered leopards.
Photoshoped, bloodless snow–covered leopards, but I digress…
Take a look at that box. See any fur? No, you see the spiral of some fictional galaxy, far, far away. It’s the way they’re showcasing Time Machine, the spiffy new backup technology that’s one of the planks in the upgrade campaign. Really, the only place you’ll see any fur is on the disk itself, and not on any of the promotional material, and not on Apple’s website.
No, it’s all about things that are not mammals. Except the name. Stop it, already.
September 21, 2009
- The Data Liberation Front
- Google being serious about being open. I’ve often wondered why they offer so many ways to get your stuff out of Google apps (e.g. like all the data you can pull out of Analytics). Their motto:
Users should be able to control the data they store in any of Google’s products. Our team’s goal is to make it easier for them to move data in and out.
More places should do this (*cough* *cough* Facebook Twitter MySpace etc etc etc *cough* *cough*).
- Georgia and Verdana typefaces become credible
- I consider this a rather stunning announcement, considering the source (Microsoft).
- The HTML5 drag and drop disaster
- A fine rant about something that Microsoft came up with that has somehow survived, and made it into HTML5. It should not have:
Web developers MUST NOT (in the sense of RFC 2119) use HTML5 drag and drop. They should use old-school scripts instead.
….
In fact, it’s so outrageously bad that I’ve gone on strike. I refuse to do any more research on drag and drop. Go do it yourself. Or don’t bother. Whatever. I don’t care.
- Thin Text in Safari
- Mac OS X 10.6 changes the way text is displayed in Safari. This WebKit–specific code fixes the display in Safari 4 and Firefox 3.5 and later. Fixes a problem I didn’t even realize I had. Thanks fellas!
[via]
- Iconic Art
- Felix Jimenez shows his favorite icons from his Mac. The attention to detail on these things is amazing, especially since the upgrade in pixels beginning in Mac OS X 10.5. It also shows widowed text on the Dictionary app. This bugs me because I expect Apple’s icons to be picture (and grammar) perfect.
- Aggressive Graceful Degradation
- Jonathan Christopher on how to properly deal with the problems associated with Internet Explorer 6. He gives his best reason to continue working with the ancient browser in the first paragraph:
No matter how much it may bother us, IE6 is still quite a hot topic around our little community. Two camps have recruited their groups and each seems quite comfortable with the accepted stance on their side of the fence. To one segment, IE6 is literally a bane of existence, and taking active aggressive measures against IE is daily practice. The other side, however, sucks it up and deals.
September 18, 2009
- The Ultimate Productivity Blog
- Doubtless this will make its rounds on all the various productivity and “Getting Things Done” sites, with their patrons endlessly discussing how this will improve their efficiency. Instead of working.
- Picasso, Copying, Stealing, and Woodshedding
- I have to wonder if somebody was reading my mind this morning. I was thinking about how Picasso mastered so many other forms of art than the ones you probably remember. Knowing that, it makes sense that his most famous quote made more sense when you put it in context. Joshua Blankenship does that.
- The State of the Web Design Profession
- Noah Stokes provides us with useful things to consider when you’re working with people on the web. The kind of person he describes as being the ideal web designer would be the opposite of the person I describe as being someone to avoid.
- How many tabs do people use?
- Not as many as I would assume. The part about people who are web–centric makes the most sense.
[via]
September 17, 2009
- Text Ascii Art Generator
- This tremendous waste of time is actually a lot more fun than it sounds. Lets you create things like this:
__ .-----..-----.| |_ | _ || -__|| _| |___ ||_____||____| |_____| __ | |--..--.--..-----..-----. | || | || _ || -__| |__|__||___ || __||_____| |_____||__| __ __ __ .--.--..---.-.| | | | | | || _ | |_| | | |___ ||___._| |__|__| |_____|
- Sony Touts PS3 Pizza Ordering Service
- Like PS3 owners needed more ways to not exert effort. I expect to see more tie–ins like this with console gaming, things like iPhones and Apple TV, and DVRs. Unfortunately.
Oxt Weekend
Not a bad idea, changing what we commonly refer to as the next next weekend to “oxt weekend”.
People often use the phrase “next weekend” to describe the future weekend, but this can lead to confusion. While some interpret “next weekend” to mean this coming weekend, others interpret it as the weekend after, hence the use of the awkward, overly wordy, “not this weekend but the weekend after.” Oxt weekend is a new phrase you can use instead of saying “not this weekend but the weekend after.”
Some examples:
A: You going somewhere this weekend? Or was it oxt weekend?
B: I’m working next weekend. And oxt weekend. I swear, I’m going to burn this whole place down some day.
A: How about oxt weekend? How about oxt weekend? You say that every week! Just admit you’d rather play WoW than go out with me. Admit it. Admit it!
And my social scene takes the examples down with them. Regardless, this is a nifty neologism that I can get behind. Plus, there’s a blog flair image, if you’re so inclined.
Leave Mean People Alone
You have to be careful who you deal with in this life, because not everybody has your best interests at heart. There will always be people who will hurt you, always people who love you, and most people will be completely indifferent to you.
The best advice I could ever lend anyone would be to avoid mean people. Some people are just mean. On the Internet, those bad qualities are only amplified. In real life, people that are hateful drain others of their joy. There’s a compelling argument to just leave mean people alone.
There’s an old adage that says, “if somebody yells at the waitress, they’ll yell at you.” Over the years, I’ve found this to be one of the most useful pieces of advice I’ve ever received.1 What makes this proverb so clear is the first time you meet somebody that regards other people so lowly.
As I’ve been working with other people in a group setting lately (after years at a computer desk), the experience reminds me just how some people are just better to avoid. But there is a flip side to this. Seek, gravitate toward, and follow nice people.
It sounds simple to leave the bad and go to the good — and it is. But people don’t seem to do what’s in their best interests. Part of human psyche is follow our learned behaviors. Sometimes those learned behaviors need tweaking. Sometimes they need more tweaking than others.
Avoid mean people. Don’t be their friend. Tell them you are not their friend because they are mean. But don’t forget that you are a person too, and you have to be nice to other people as well.
If people keep avoiding you, now you may know why.
- Other great pieces of advice include “look out” and “duck”. Presumably these are so commonly known that I didn’t need to mention them. ↩
September 16, 2009
- Fight Adobe Flash with ClickToFlash
- Finally clears up one of the biggest problems with Safari. It’s clear that Adobe Flash crashes browsers. ClickToFlash fixes that.
September 15, 2009
- Make YouTube bearable with quietube
- Make YouTube bearable with quietube Wonderful service removes the extra stuff you don’t need from YouTube and other video sharing sites. I can tell you, this has made me care for YouTube videos for the first time since that Chronicles of Narnia rap from Saturday Night Live in 2006. Comes in a bookmarklet or a Greasemonkey script.
- Helvetimail
- Josef Richter comes up with another brilliant take on the clean version of Google products. Doesn’t yet work right on Safari because of CSS and javascript issues, but what does?
- Book titles, if they were written today
- Taking a sarcastic swipe at how books are titled these days.
Then: The Gospel of Matthew
Jason Kottke has a whole lot more.
Now: 40 Days and a Mule: How One Man Quit His Job and Became the Boss
September 12, 2009
- Really, really more than you want to know.
- What happens when you post something on a social network, and people can read it? And I should add, when that something you post involves much, much more than anybody ever wanted to know? Overshare. This is a site dedicated to people who should have known better.
September 11, 2009
- When a great idea meets terrible execution
- The Best Free Apps is a noble concept, but it looks like it was coded by a high–schooler. Who loves Digg. And pretty much every other social network, link service, or way to spam other sites for cheap links.
Sharing Your Fever
Following the recommendations of practically the entire Internet, I invested in a copy of Shaun Inman’s Fever (and the domain to host the application). Using it for a few days shows that when I finally learn all its secrets, I will have my own internet tracking service.
That’s important because I’m increasingly running out of time. As I grow older, more people demand more of my time. Just consider that my 30–something attitude is taking shape. Anything that can alleviate one time constraint is a bonus for both time and mental health.
I discovered this today in the preferences. As of the 1.09 update (which you can read about on the spartan update log), you can share your favorite blog posts. This is something akin to Google Reader’s ability to share items.
While I don’t think this will catch on like sharing in Google Reader has, it will be interesting to see if people are willing to set up and share their feeds. I don’t save items, so it isn’t a feature for me I would use. But it’s there and gives owners of Fever something else to brag about.
Also of note are the services that you can add or remove. You could use the syntax of any service that allows you to add content through a link, as demonstrated by the default set. Using one of the zillions of URL shorteners with metrics would be an obvious choice (i.e. Bit.ly).
Inman is already internet famous for his Mint website statistics package. Since I see internalized as being a corporate dead end, I chose not to go that direction on this site. But with the popularity of Mint, and how well Fever caters to the class of people who consume lots of RSS, I’m wondering how many sites are going to start using LAMPMF configurations.1
ADDED: I should point out the preference for an RSS feed will share your last 30 saved items using this syntax:
http://example.com/fever/?rss=saved
This is the feed that I think more people will begin sharing. It’s also the thing I think I will find most interesting.
- Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP, Mint, Fever. ↩
September 10, 2009
- xkcd sucks
- As a counterpoint to my last link, every comic (pretty much) is roasted within an inch of its life. Then roasted again. Then burned. All with glorious internet humor. A great read if you think that XKCD isn’t as funny as it used to be.
- Tech Support Cheat Sheet
- Oh, XKCD, proving that every once in a while even a blind squirrel finds a nut. And yes, I want to print this out and give it to my father. Like that would do any good.