May 2011
1 post
December 2010
1 post
Fabulous imitation of Paul Harvey touting a...
September 2010
2 posts
Details
HR Awesomeness!
The company I work for, Black Pixel, has been looking for a few new iOS developers, and the responses I’ve been getting to our ads have pretty much been uniformly subpar.
Finally, after reading yet another resume of someone claiming to have deep iOS development experience, I tweeted the following:
Protip: Comments like
”* Very familiar with X-Code”
in...
Efficient transfer of huge files between machines
I need to transfer 250gb of data between two machines over the lan.
Ladies and gentlemen, the tar trick. I only need this every two to five years, but when I need it, I really need it.
This tars up the contents of a directory and streams it as compressed data to a remote host. This is super efficient as:
1. The data is compressed before it is transferred, so overall throughput is greatly...
August 2010
9 posts
RIM BlackPad: Checkmate II
RIM has announced the BlackPad: their acknowledging nod to the iPad’s success. Welcome to Checkmate 2.0: the only thing I need to do here is replace ‘iPhone’ with ‘iPad.’
End game
Because of that effort, since the iPhone was released, everyone else has been struggling to play catch up, and no one has really come close. Apple raised the bar higher than anyone else...
Dice Made of Bones (LOST)
I decided to re-watch the original pilot of LOST now that the series has finally come to an end.
I love how clearly the entire backstory is covered, in the first episode, while Locke tells Walt about backgammon:
Locke: Backgammon is the oldest game in the world. Archaeologists found sets when they excavated the ruins of ancient Mesopotamia. Five thousand years old. That’s older than...
The Gentleman's Guide To Selecting an Arch-Nemesis...
“WHERE IS HE!? WHERE IS VENTURE!?”
I’ve spent some time thinking about the whole Apple vs Google, Microsoft vs Apple, and Microsoft vs Google thing, and have a few thoughts on the enemies and one’s relationship to them to share.
Enemies
1. You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.
2. In order to have an enemy, one must...
Practice: the short form
Trying a very short (15 to 20 minute) daily practice consisted of the Omei Qi Gong, what I know of the dragon palm, what i know of the 8 directions/7 stars, and the dragon sword, one time each.
Will try to stick to this and save the longer version (12-15 reps each of the dragon palm and 8 directions/7 stars instead of just 1) for days that I get up early enough or can linger over practice...
July 2010
3 posts
From the Shadow of Mordor: iPad vs Slate
In which our hero gives up and embarks on a total rant
2002-2008
Microsoft tries to get traction with the tablet PC, and never really scores a solid hit.
Apple works quietly on a tablet of their own, releasing a spinoff product called ‘iPhone’ in 2007.
2009
Buzz about Apple’s upcoming tablet computer comes to a head. Research targets “iSlate” as a likely product...
Sword
My dancing blade soars with my heart in this green place. Free in this moment
June 2010
3 posts
Dwarves and Hobbits
As an iOS developer living in Seattle, any sort of dealings with the local, heavily Microsoft-biased tech community reminds me jarringly of the “Squabbling Hobbits” scene in Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon:
In the Tolkien, not the endocrinological or Snow White sense, Randy is a Dwarf. Tolkien’s Dwarves were stout, taciturn, vaguely magical creatures who spent a lot of time in the dark hammering...
WWDC 2010
I’m writing this in a cab on the way to SFO, the Saturday after this year’s WWDC.
I am stunned at the energy of this event. Apple has introduced the biggest advance since the original iPhone while gracefully deflating Gizmodo’s “exposé” at the same time, Apple employees have been working their asses off preparing for this event, striving to bring the development...
WWDC Tips
0. Learn from the Masters
Read Brent Simmons’ WWDC Tips Practical WWDC tips
1. Get out of your comfort zone
Paul Goracke said Eat the Lunch, and I agree. Try to strike up a strong balance between hanging out with people that you know and getting out with people that you don’t. This is a once-a-year pilgrimage: don’t spend your time hanging out with the guys you see every...
May 2010
1 post
bijan sabet: A guest post about joining a startup →
I’ve never had a guest post on my blog before. But I’m thrilled to start with this one. It’s a great story about determination & passion and it’s by Nick Crocker who starts at Boxee today.
* * *
In a recent post about how to join a startup Bijan Sabet said:
“There are a number of…
April 2010
4 posts
LIFE. IS. PAIN.
I have been approached by a lot of people that want to know how to get established as an iPhone developer, or how to get good at kung fu. There is only one way that I know of to do it:
You’ve got to do it, on your own time, every day, until you can’t stand it anymore.
Everyone that I know that is good at this kind of thing has spent a *lot* of time investing in themselves to get...
Superposition
When I was 13 years old, at Romig Junior High School, in Anchorage, we had a computer lab with about a dozen or so Apple ][+’s.
I loved these machines. We’d come in and play games on them, write programs on them, and generally burn through most of the time we were allowed to spend on them.
My lust for the Apple ][+ was so great that I flirted outrageously with girls that I knew...
2 tags
iPad: Real Technology Leadership
A lot of people have asked me if I think the iPad is going to be that big of a deal.
In short, my answer has been “No, I don’t think that the iPad is going to be a big deal. I know it’s going to be a big deal.”
Apple has always been the source of innovation in personal computing
Consider: Apple may not have invented the GUI and mouse concept, but they embraced it,...
March 2010
5 posts
1 tag
Fitness goals for the first half of 2010 [...
I have downsized to a smaller belt and am on its tightest notch. Based on belt history I have worked six inches off of my waist in 8 weeks. Despite the fact that, between Macworld and my trip to Manhattan, I spent almost 4 weeks without swimming, I am still on track for my original goal of being able to wear all of my 36” pants by April 1st.
The swimming has clearly had a profound impact...
1 tag
“In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is...”
– Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (via theimpossiblecool)
1 tag
Fitness goals for the first half of 2010 [...
I can now fit into all of my 36” pants, about 25 days before my initial goal of April 1st.
This is what I look like right now:
My primary concern is making sure that I can keep up my momentum: I’m leaving for New York for a week, starting tomorrow. A significant break in my routine can really put me into a tail spin (it took me two weeks to get back on track post-Macworld this...
1 tag
“When I say, “I love you,” it’s not because I want you or because I can’t have...”
– Joss Whedon (via kari-shma • mdfsmash • ranajune) (via lucius)
1 tag
Fitness goals for the first half of 2010
I’ve been swimming for a little over a month, and have gone from being at the first notch on my belt to the fifth and last notch on my belt.
I now have one pair of 36” pants that I can get into, although I still can’t fit into the rest of my 36’s. But I’ve found that watching my general calorie intake and swimming every day has produced some (personally, at least)...
February 2010
2 posts
1 tag
Master Exploder
I DO NOT NEED A MICROPHONE MY VOICE IS FUCKING POWERFULLLLL
I DID NOT MEAN TO BLOW YOUR MIND BUT THAT SHIT HAPPENS TO ME ALL THE TIIIIIIIIIME
She was a friend of mine
Dedicated to the memory of Tracy J Howe Rockom (1968-2010)
She was a friend of mine She was a friend of mine Every time I think about her now Lord I just can’t keep from cryin’ ‘Cause she was a friend of mine
She died in the night She died in the night God dealt her a hand of cards That was so terrible hard And she was a friend of mine
I stole away and cried I stole away and...
January 2010
3 posts
2 tags
All that I'm going to say on the matter
iPad: from the company and the man that brought you:
The Apple ][
Macintosh
iMac
OS X
iPod
iPhone
Quite frankly, if they say this is going to change how I look at computing, I think I’m going to take them seriously. They seem to have a very, very good track record for redefining technology, no matter what the pundits might think.
2 tags
There's never been anything like it before
This quote from Douglas Adams about the Beatles nails that quintessential factor that separates Apple from the rest of the pack:
“…they kept on losing me. They would bring out a new album and for a few listenings it would leave me cold and confused. I would realize that the reason I was confused was that I was listening to Something that was simply unlike anything that anybody had...
December 2009
3 posts
5 tags
Gravity, the Most Implausible Thing in the...
The Motherf*cking Pterodactyl - The Oatmeal →
Obscenely enjoyable.
3 tags
Global Warming, or Global Unthawing?
A few...