January 2010
71 posts
OmniGraffle on iPad →
We started working on iPad adaptations of OmniGraffle and OmniFocus as soon as the SDK was made available Wednesday afternoon, and we’re hoping to get started with OmniGraphSketcher for iPad within the next few weeks.
Squee!
Fraser Speirs on the iPad →
If you only read two blog posts or articles about the iPad, make this the second one.
Stephen Frank on the iPad →
If you read only one blog entry or article about the iPad, make it this one.
Ashley Linnenbank's Take on Milk Packaging →
I wish there was more whimsy like this surrounding me when I walk down the isle of a grocery store.
NASA's Budget →
In a just-completed study, we asked respondents what percentage of the national budget is allocated to NASA and to the Department of Defense, the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Health and Human Services, among other agencies. NASA’s allocation, on average, was estimated [by participants] to be approximately 24% of the national budget (the NASA...
Kiwi! →
Dony Permedi’s Master’s Thesis animation almost made me cry.
Almost.
…
*Wipes a tear away.*
If you want to know more ISFAT interviewed Dony about the piece.
Initial iPad Impressions
In no particular order…
“iPad?” Seriously? Wow. Okay.
The home screen is the very definition of wasted potential. I don’t get it: the home/lock screen on the current devices already leaves a lot to be desired, so on this “magical” new device they simply add more spacing between icons? The fuck? It’s not like there hasn’t been great work...
Pure CSS Coke Can →
Web developer geekery at its finest.
LOST: Flight 815 Crash in Real Time
→
With less than a week to go until the final season this is a good way to get things started.
Via Kottke
Free →
As a bird.
Metagames and Containers →
David Cole integrates the idea of his article into the article itself.
Making use of some thing in it’s entirety has a heartiness to it, and a whole ness — like when you’re wearing clothes that fit perfectly.
And like perfectly fit clothes, that feeling is empowering. A paradox, then: the less you enable people to do, the more they will do.
Brilliant stuff. Go take a look, it’s...
“I tell people that if it’s in the news, don’t worry about it. The very...”
– Bruce Schneier
Via marco
Create the Filter →
The CEO, or the design director, or someone with a huge amount of power […] should personally use every one of its products for some arbitrary amount of time before it is approved to be sold. If it’s crappy, or if it has any deficiency, then don’t fucking sell it. There, easy.
Bingo.
Brain Slug Cupcakes! →
The most awesome cupcakes I’ve ever seen.
Via Neatorama
The Movie Timeline →
A project to chronologically map every event in every movie.
Why The Monkey Dances →
Kevin Cornell muses about blogging vs. compensation:
I myself have been wondering for some time whether continuing to post to Bearskinrug hurts or helps me. On the one hand, it’s an important tool for promotion, and for personal expression. On the other, the time I spend laboring over each article might be better spent on creating products where I can see some sort of financial...
Jacket+Bookmark →
Cleverly designed dust jackets and bookmarks.
Via swissmiss
YouTube Music Discovery Project
→
You can discover new music everywhere these days.
Via Waxy
“My prediction is that in another ten years we will look back on this decade with...”
– So lame I had to blog it.
QDB: Quote #301369
Rapidly Pressing The Button Beneath The Counter →
Yeah, that’s pretty accurate, at least according to my girlfriend.
New Clothes Aren't as Clean as You Might Think →
I always wondered about this while wandering around the clothing section. Icky.
Via Neatorama
Bookbook by Twelve South →
A fancier MacBook case I have never seen.
thesixtyone →
An amazing place to discover and listen to indie music. I have a very unique taste for music, and I think I might have finally found out where people with similar taste hang out.
They recently underwent a major redesign, so you might want to check out the old version of the site if you run into any bugs.
Ironic Sans: Remaindered Ideas Part III →
David Friedman’s Remaindered Ideas are always a fun read. The first one in this installment sounds like it could be a lot better than a lot of the other junk on TV right now:
1) A sitcom about a ghost and a zombie… of the same guy. In the pilot episode, Joe’s roommate Ted has a terrible accident and dies. He’s buried in the old cemetery by the town’s nuclear plant. A few days later...
Microsoft Investigates 17-year-old Windows Flaw →
And a serious flaw at that, allowing anyone to elevate themselves to the highest privilege level.
The current workaround is to disable 16-bit apps using the following setting in Group Policy:
Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Windows Components\Application Compatibility\Prevent access to 16-bit applications
Good Products Are One in a Million →
Short but true little list.
Salt & Fat →
Welcome to Salt & Fat, a blog about food and cooking written by Neven Mrgan and Jim Ray.
Looks interesting.
Indie+Relief →
If you purchase any of this great Mac software tomorrow (Wednesday, January 20th), 100% of the proceeds go towards the relief efforts in Haiti.
Remember, you can also text “Haiti” to 90999 to donate.
2010: Living In the Future →
Another one from Waxy: Daniel Sinker takes us through a children’s book published in 1972 detailing everyday life in the amazing year 2010. I love the commentary:
“In the year 2010 everyone wears a jumpsuit and shoes,” I love that line. I would hope that somewhere in England today, Geoffrey Hoyle is sitting enjoying a sherry in a comfortable chair, wearing a jumpsuit and wondering why...
Mr. Gimmick →
Frank Cifaldi takes us through an annotated longplay of Mr. Gimmick, an NES (or, rather, Famicom) game released only in Japan and Scandinavia. He articulates everything I love about a fantastic platformer in the videos, including masterful interaction with the environment, enemies, and incredible details. The game looks like an absolute masterpiece, it’s a shame it didn’t see a wider...
Mind-Bending Images →
Nifty!
Via NOTCOT
How to Type a Tab in a Textfield in Safari →
I finally decided that I had copy and pasted my last tab into a web page’s text box. Some quick Googling revealed the answer, repeated here as both a reference for my readers and myself:
Control+Option+Tab
Christian Longo →
Eight years ago, Christian Longo murdered his wife and three children. On the lam, he assumed the identity of the author [of the article], a man he’d never met. Now their long, twisted relationship culminates in a final, chilling bargain.
As Kottke says, this is hard to read, but fascinating not only for the glimpse into life on death row, but for the in-depth look at the struggles of...
No, Seriously, a Working Star Trek Phaser With DIY... →
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
Things Older Than IE6 →
Dave Shea made a list of things older than the browser that far too many people still use today.
Caleb Charland →
Some very impressive work.
Unfortunately, the site is implemented entirely in Flash, so I can’t link directly to any particular pieces. My favorite is in position 24 from the left, called Matchstick Helix; don’t miss it.
The Happiest People →
Nicholas Kristof pens an interesting piece about the possible correlation between Costa Rica abolishing it’s armed forces and having the happiest population on the planet (as measured by several different studies).
I found the article via Russell Coker’s links for January. He had this to say:
While there are good arguments for having some sort of military, there are no good...
Because Passwords Are Hard To Remember →
Yeah, they are, aren’t they?
I Hate it When That Happens →
So, I’m wearing a zipper hoodie and a zipper jacket, and I attempt to zip the former while talking to my friend Ian. And then this happened.
Garrett Murray’s Review of the Nexus One →
Best review of Google’s phone I’ve seen yet.
Via Daring Fireball
Hackers Used Rigged PDFs to hit Google and Adobe →
The critical bug I mentioned back in mid-December (the one that Adobe didn’t want to patch until mid-January because it would have disrupted their ridiculous “quarterly security update schedule”) was exploited in the recent attacks from China:
Meanwhile, some researchers have hinted, and others have claimed, that the attacks against both Google and Adobe were based on...
More on Text Input for the Apple Tablet →
FingerWorks founder Wayne Westerman describes a system where the “pen grip detection module” checks to see if the hand imprint on the multi-touch screen matches up with that of holding an imaginary pen. If so, the movements are interpreted as digital ink and can be used for drawing, signatures or even handwriting recognition. This would go along nicely with Steve Jobs’ dislike...
First-Person Tetris →
The timeline of my first round:
1 sec: “Okay, pretty standard controls, and the classic music. Nice.”
3 secs: “Oh, fuck.”
4 secs: “Oh… oh fuck.”
6 secs in and up until the end of my first game: huge grin on my face.
Very nice.
Via A Day Late & Half a Pixel Short
When Gamers Marry →
I wonder if my girlfriend would go for anything like this…
Microsoft warns of IE bug used in Chinese attacks... →
Microsoft has issued Security Advisory (979352) after its own investigations into the highly-organized hacking attack in late December, the one that Google earlier this week attributed to China, led the software giant to conclude that a Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in Internet Explorer was used by the perpetrators.
Surprise, surprise.
deviantFinds →
Finding the great stuff on deviantART so you don’t have to.
Chinese Citizens Hold Memorial For Google As It... →
Some amazing stuff surrounding Google’s reaction to China’s recent actions.
In addition, Gmail is now defaulting to secure, encrypted HTTPS instead of plain old HTTP, which they probably should have done a long time ago.
I wonder what other pro-security measures we’ll see from Google in the coming months?
Dream Ball →
Great idea: package aid material for third-world countries in containers that can be reassembled into balls for the kids (who can’t afford a normal ball) to play with.
Hanger Tea →
There’s so much great creativity surrounding tea. I wish I didn’t hate it so much.
Via swissmiss