“Over 9 million images that are beautiful, affordable and…” filled with fire, destruction and the end of humanity! But…hey they are beautiful! (not to mention they are SAFE to download! What a relief.)

Here is another one I found last year. This still makes me laugh:

Along with the Amber alert for a “baby stolen from a crib” was shown an ad for Cribs. God knows if your baby goes missing the first thing you’re going to do is replace the crib! I mean, hell man that last crib was jinxed!!

But the real payoff for this mismatch is the headline for the Banner Ad: “Sieze Todays’ Top Bargains!” now that’s just funny…or not.

I’ve been a Kindle reader since September 2010. I love it. The point of reading an analog book (paper book) has been completely overshadowed by the utility I’ve found in being able to digitally highlight phrases, sentences, words and quotes on the Kindle–and then search those things later–on my computer.

The fact that I can go back to any book in my digital library and skim through my saved notes and highlights has revolutionized the way I consume and research material.

Of course rifling through your notes and marks in analog books is entirely possible…but difficult…namely for 2 reasons:

1. Post-it notes fall out.
2. Pen highlights aren’t inherently indexible (searchable).

What if there was a way I could search through all of the notes and highlights I’ve created in my entire library all at once?  Would that not bring new usefulness to my entire collection? Yes. Yes it would.

But that’s where the problem arises isn’t it?

How do I collect the aggregate of underlines, highlights and notes from all of my disparate eBooks and place them into one single, searchable repository? That way I have one place to search for the amalgam of my amassed research.

Let’s say, for example, that I want to keep track of every instance that the date September 26th is noted in every book that I’ve read. As it stands now, with things being un-unified as they are, I can underline those instances in each of my Kindle books. But then I would have to go back to each book I read, and pull up either my notes, highlights or do a search and create an index by hand from what I find. What a bummer.

With the new system,  all I have to do is log on to some website, or open up some app, or even tab into a portion of the Kindle app, and there I find every one of my notes and marks faithfully stored in their entirety, regardless of what book or material they were referenced from.

This isn’t making a searchable index of the complete text of every eBook I own. It’s merely making a searchable and unified index of all my notes and underlines I’ve curated along the way in the different books I’ve read.

It’s purely a research tool to remove the silos separating my books from each other.

How about this: How about I log onto a site that’s similar to Pinboard.in or Delicious? This is my very own repository of Kindle bookmarks, notes and highlights. Here I can search all of my bookmarks, regardless of if they were created in The Complete Works of H. P. Lovecraft, Bulfinch’s Mythology or a manual on how to colonize the moon.  From here I can sort notes and highlights by book, date, author, or add a tag…for further sorting later. The point is that there is one place I can go to research all my notes rather than having to dig back through each individual book one at a time.

Perhaps the objection here will be that this will make copying easier. I don’t know how much easier it could possibly be? The Kindle application here on my Mac makes it pretty easy to copy and paste entire sections of my eBooks into documents. So I, on that score, I don’t see where this is a problem.

It’s a simple application. Connects automatically with my Kindle devices/accounts. Unifies all of my notes and highlights across all of my books. Only makes eBooks that much more indispensable.

Our notes and bookmarks are already on the cloud. Isn’t it time they were allowed to visit each other?

For example Nazi Germany with the V2 rocket program and Russia with the Sputniks. Both of which soundly beat the West with massive leaps forward in applied technology.

I only say this in light of North Korea’s rocket tests… Even though their vehicle broke up today…they WILL have a successful launch…The question is…what should the world do about it?  What will their “obstinance” force the West to do? (or even Tokyo for that matter). And who, who really, is in bed with North Korea?

I, on the other hand, collect domains. Here is a tiny look into my trove of URLs.

TROVEOFURLS.COM

BEATUPMYSCRIPT .COM

BIZSIDER.COM

BLACKMYRRH.COM

BLENDEDSEM.COM

BUTZELMANNUSA.COM

CANDIDATEMACHINE.COM

CIRCUSOFLOONIES.COM

COMMERCEBENCH.COM

CORNERCATCH.COM

DEADENERGYDRINK.COM

DEADENERGYDRINKS.COM

DIYCAST.TV

FACEBOOKADSSECRETSAUCE.COM

FACEBOOKSECRETSAUCE.COM

HANDOFTHEEVERYDAYMAN.COM

HOVERMOUSE.COM

JOOMLAPHOENIX.ORG

KIDEXPERTS.TV

MECHKNIFE.COM

MECHTHEKNIFE.COM

NETWORKJITTER.COM

Psycho Cybernetics
by Maxwell Maltz
I love this book! Delve into the power of your subconscious mind to discover your hidden ability to win. Not a bunch of self help nonsesense, this book (this is AN OLD book by the way) will help you trust the hidden parts of your wetware. This book also explains why my best college papers were written the night before they were due. (or was that the morning of?). If you want to get more power from that thing between your ears. Get this book.
Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life

The Ultimate Sales Machine
by Chet Holmes
Having done Corporate America for as long as I have, I found this book to be SPOT ON. I’d threaten to give this to EVERY sales manager in your world. Tie them down. Make them read this. Give it to corporate owners of small to mid-size businesses. I promise, anyone who reads this book will have a better understanding of what makes a sale more complete for both the customer and the company. Get this book and read it. Today.
The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies

Steve Jobs
by Walter Isaacson
This book about Steve Jobs will make you laugh. It will make you cry. It will make you understand why Apple’s products kick ass. I’m still confounded when I see people fighting with their Windows computers. I remember those days. What these people don’t realize is that Apple and Jobs were Innovators. The heart of what we know to be true about Apple products is that they rock…not because they are just pretty. But because Apple’s stuff WORKS BETTER! Everything else is like driving something from the dark ages.
Steve Jobs

Accidental Creative
by Todd Henry
My father turned me onto this book. If a guy that’s 78 years old is still working every day in an engineering capacity for US Aerospace, then by god, I’m going to read what he recommends. This book is a nuts-and-bolts break down that speaks to creatives. I know first hand how it can be intimidating for an organization to house a creative. I also know first hand how easy it can be for a creative to get overwhelmed. This book helps put the whole process into perspective and keeps you off those three martini lunches.
The Accidental Creative: How to Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice

The Tiger
by John Vaillant
The cover of this book says “A true story of vengeance and survival.” And it delivers. The source of this vengeance and survival plays out in northern Russia between man and tiger. Yes. A tiger. Didn’t think they had anything but bears, vodka and bull-sha-viks in Russia? Think again. Here is what I posted to Mr. Vaillant’s Facebook Wall the other day. He was kind enough to respond. Which was very cool of him! “This book is completely absorbing! I’m loving the chance peek into Russia’s hard-scrabble history, the canvas on which this tale of The Tiger unfolds. Thank you Mr. Vaillant for sharing such a treasure with us.”
The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival (Borzoi Books)

Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats
by T.S. Elliot
A friend of mine wrote a fantastic article about the origin or Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. In that article he mentioned some of the most popular books of 1939, the year of the Great Depression. The Book of Practical Cats by TS Elliot was one of them. Now. This is a tiny book of poems that add anthropomorphic qualities to cats. It covers the naming of cats. And then also delves into the lives of a few cats. It’s very funny. Great for reading to young kids. You can practically get through it in one sitting. Or two visits to the bathroom–depending on where you do most of your reading. It’s cute. But it left me thinking that Mr. Elliot was HIGH as a kite when he wrote it. Hey, just saying.
Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats

Ready Player One
by Ernest Cline
Wow my inner GEEK loved this book. Hell. My outer geek loved this book. If you grew up in the 80s, owned an Atari, Commodore 64 or an IBM PC, and played Adventure games like ZORK, dug Monty Python and have a pretty good grasp on 80′s pop culture trivia with a dab of MMORPG, then crank up the Devo and read this book. It will send you back to the future.
Ready Player One

How History’s Greatest Pirates Pillaged, Plundered, and Got Away With It: The Stories, Techniques and tactics of the Most Feared Sea Rovers from 1500–1800
by Benerson Little
Wow, this book came at me from left field. But the screenplay that I just finished in December (the big reason why I haven’t been writing on my blog as much) required that I get some good knowledge of Pirates. Not today’s Somali ass-clowns in their motor boats. I’m talking about real pirates like Black Beard, Barbarossa, and Grace O’Malley (didn’t you know that there were women pirates too?) Terrifying. If you like Pirates and Buccaneers and want to delve into their sinister histories, then read this book.
How History’s Greatest Pirates Pillaged, Plundered, and Got Away With It: The Stories, Techniques, and Tactics of the Most Feared Sea Rovers from 1500-1800

Inbound Marketing
by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah
When I was first turned onto this book, I was like… yea right. Another book about marketing. Oy. I’m sooo tired of books about marketing. It’s all such a bunch of bull shit. Except for this book. If you are running a company, working for a company, working for yourself, or planning on working for yourself or a company, read this book. The information here is exactly what more companies should be doing to get a handle on their marketing expenditures. And for those companies that are stuck doing 1960′s advertising in a 2012 world… you won’t have to worry about it. You won’t be here tomorrow anyway.
Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series)

Content Rules
by Ann Hadley & C.C. Chapman
I really liked this book. But I liked the Kindle book better than the Audible book. Combine this book with Inbound Marketing and you have IMMEDIATE access to a modern marketing plan that will kick ass. I know because we’ve been applying a lot of these techniques for years with our own clients. I keep this as an active book on my Kindle so that I can go back and read through my notes. This book will help you jump start your company marketing on the Internet. Yes…it’s harder than it looks. But are you brave enough?
Content Rules: How to Create Killer Blogs, Podcasts, Videos, Ebooks, Webinars (and More) That Engage Customers and Ignite Your Business (New Rules Social Media Series)

Write Great Fiction–Dialogue
by Gloria Kempton
When you’re writing a novel, a screenplay or a bit show for a lazy Saturday afternoon, and no one knows your name you need ALL the help you can get. I found this book, which is part of the Write Great Fiction series, to be extremely engaging and useful. Some yahoo on Amazon wrote a negative complaint about the book’s selection of certain scenes was inappropriate. That person was clearly some sort of Lord of the Rings/D and D purist who has no real business sharing their myopia with us. This is a good book. If you want to give your characters more depth, read this book.
Write Great Fiction – Dialogue

Rum Diary
by Hunter S. Thompson
By far one of my favorite all time Hunter S. Thompson books. Something about this early work of his that feels sharper, cleaner and slightly tamer than his later works. After Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail of ’72, this is the book to read. Or maybe just read this and the Curse of Lono and then spend the next two days at the bar–thinking that you are Hunter himself. (I went through that phase years ago. Miracle I didn’t get my ass arrested.) Anyway… I love HST. My first X-wife’s brother turned me onto him in college and I’ve never found better. No one can duplicate the great Hunter. And I love what Johnny Depp has done with his memory. This is one of the few books I actually read twice. What about the movie? I haven’t seen it yet. Sue me.
The Rum Diary: A Novel

The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World
by Justin Pollard and Howard Reid
Let your inner egghead out. Delve into the history of the most amazing city of antiquity… a city formed on knowledge. The epicenter of all known knowledge at the time hundreds of years before and after the birth of Christ. Enter Alexandria and walk through her streets. A refreshing historical portrait that’s not tainted by the lens of religious dogma and fear. At least I didn’t feel like I was in Sunday School when I was reading this. Hear her philosophers and inventors and stand by as the library, museum and city are founded and then returned to the sands of time. If you want to sharpen your horns against organized, religion, this is a good book to have in your bag.
The Rise and Fall of Alexandria: Birthplace of the Modern World

The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World
by Alexander Roy
My motorhead-anti-authority nephew (who is building a COBRA in his garage) is the coolest for turning me onto this book. If you’re into things like seeing how fast you can drive from New York to California, and want to see how a group of people actually got behind this lifestyle…the inspiration for the Cannon Ball Run, then read this book. But make some time. You won’t want to put it down. And then take a few deep breaths before you get behind the wheel. If you don’t already have the bug for pissing off cops and blowing through speed traps, this book will give it to you. Remember, it’s only a problem if you get caught.
The Driver: My Dangerous Pursuit of Speed and Truth in the Outlaw Racing World

Moonwalking with Einstein
by Joshua Foer
How could I forget this book?! How could I forget the list of things that they make you remember at the beginning (check me): pickled herring, cottage cheese, smoked salmon, bottles of wine and some socks. Well. That’s not perfect…but pretty good. How do you increase your memory? Well, if you’re trying to remember a name, like say for instance Diogenes Laertius, I think of Lady Di on her knees getting it doggy style. But that’s just me. This book WILL help you with your memory. Even just reading it I have increased my ability to recall people’s names and details of the past sort of automatically. Yes. That means it’s retroactive. And the more sex you apply to your memory hooks, the better your memory hooks will be. Now how can you go wrong with that?
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything

Rework
by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
If you are in the software development business, or in any sort of business to be creative and you have a product you need to deliver, you need to read this book. Written by the guys that created Basecamp, there is lots to learn in here. And if you don’t know what Basecamp is, where the hell have you been? It’s only the best project management software out there today.
Rework

Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
by William L. Shirer
This is a massive book. It’s about 72 hours of audio. I swear if you try to read this all…without some sort of break between chapters or parts, you’ll go insane. If you’re like me, and take on the affectations of those you are reading about, then be careful of this book. This book shows you just HOW vicious people can be to other people. It also shows you how the 3rd Reich grew in power. This book dissects exactly how Hitler-Ass-Clown and his merry gang of fuck faces grew their power base by degrees. Read this book to discover how tyranny can creep into government and eventually own a people and a people’s destruction.  This is a good book that reminds us all that government  isn’t always ON the side of RIGHT.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Cleopatra: A Life
Stacy Schiff
If you are at all interested in discovering more about the amazing Cleopatra, this is the book for you. The splendor of this period of time is something that can only be imagined by modern people. Not an Egyptian but of Greek Macedonian descent Cleopatra does not necessarily beguile her MEN (Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony) because of her beauty…but because she was SMART. This is  an extremely engaging book about a figure whose history is clouded in the misogynistic anti-pagan revisionist collections that we’re so used to having thrown around. Yes. she was married to her 10 year old brother. Whom she had killed. Nutty. But hey, when in Rome…right. Read this with the Rise and Fall of Alexandria to get a full understanding of the times and how the Library of Alexandria was so important in the formation of Cleopatra’s intelligence.
Cleopatra: A Life

If you’re under pressure to sign for that big website that you’ll probably need to hock your first born for… step back from the pen. You have more options than you think…

Enough setup…here is my letter…(the names and prices have been changed to protect the guilty…er..innocent.)

******* Begin Letter *******

Hey,

I just read your letter. On many levels the guy pitching you on that new website is right. And perhaps, at another time in your company’s life cycle, he could do very well for you.

But keep this in mind: There is NO silver bullet.

The game with the Internet is that it’s about SO much more than just a website. Or (as I’ve seen mentioned in a few books) the size of your wallet. The web–and Marketing today–for that matter—is about being AUTHENTIC. How does this website help you be Authentic?

And as heretical as this may sound–your website DOES NOT MATTER.

What matters is your ability to be the top expert in your field. To offer the best service in your field. I mean ACTUALLY offer the best service…not just say “we strive to…. blah blah blah”.

What matters is being able to work with customers in REMARKABLE ways that let your customers know YOU are the MAN.

Before you spend 12k I’d like to see you define HOW you ARE the man for your customers.

Oh…and while I’m at it…about that pitch the guy gave you on his “proprietary CMS”. The notion of “proprietary” is not only terrifying…it’s placing the focus entirely on the wrong end of the bull. For the record, when someone says to me “Proprietary CMS” …I run…for the hills…as fast as I can. Proprietary CMS is another way of telling you that at some point you are going to get fucked. hard. backwards. Twice.

Why not have a CMS that’s FREE and OPEN and ALL OVER THE place…used by millions of people? One that’s not controlled by a single company? One that has people clamoring to work on it…for you…with you…?

CMS’ like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, hell even SquareSpace are better than someone trying slather their crappy PRIVATE CMS all over you…

But…

I’ll say it again. Your website is irrelevant.

You could take your business from where it is today to wherever you want it to be WITHOUT a website. That is NOT to say that you don’t need a web presence. But fancy photos and a bunch of marketing spew that says “we strive harder with better product than anyone” is bull shit that no one cares about. Consumers are too smart for that 1950′s Mad Men impotency…unless they are drunkards.

Lace a 12k website with that phony baloney and you’ll have the equivalent of a 12k paperweight.

Why not get a feel for what people are ACTUALLY going to do with your website? Why not focus on generating kick ass content 2x per week that you post–to just a blog? Or get published on blogs. Or even in magazines?  Why not test some concepts, landing pages, inbound marketing, whisper campaigns, email blasts, Lead Nurturing, Lead Scoring, conversion rates and customer reaction to what matters….your product…your message….you! NOT the size of YOUR WALLET?

You can hide behind a 12k website and expect that it’s going to be a silver bullet. But the minute the wrapping is off that shiny new thing, it’s all plugged in and sitting there…these words are going to come out of your mouth “Ok, where are the customers?”

And that’s when you’ll get hit with This campaign and That campaign. Why isn’t that great website bringing customers to bang down your door?

That’s like the guy that wants to get into mountain biking. And if you’ll forgive the analogy…He goes out and gets all the garb. Sparing no expense. Then goes and gets the best bike on the market. Again, sparing no expense. Then on the big day he suits up in all his expensive shit. Gets to the mountain and away he goes. Only to find out that the bike doesn’t fit right, his back hurts and his balls are on fire because the $300 pants “designed to wick away water and heat… leaving your package cool and comfortable” make him feel like he just caught the clap. Hell if this guy has money to burn, maybe this is the right approach for him. But why not take a more sober approach?

Test some pants. See if you like them. Test a few bikes. Rent one. Beat the snot out of it. Beat the snot out of yourself. But test…inexpensively…a lot. Then refine. Revise. Test again. Repeat. Spend as little as possible for tests…Then go back to the mountain with 1) better equipment 2) improved knowledge of what works and 3) clearer handles on what Success really means….and a gauge for what it will take to achieve success.

A website does not a successful company make.

Customers are what makes a successful company. Customers don’t give a shit about your website. The only thing that they care about is what are you going to do for THEM. What value are YOU going to provide them.

The more layers you place between yourself and your customers…though old-school website/marketing tactics– the easier it will be for your prospects to become someone else’s customers.

I don’t know anything about your finances right now. But I can tell you this for sure. Your placing 12k on a website is like sitting at the craps table and betting everything on Black. You might “win”. But we both know that THOSE odds favor the house. And in this sense…[Your company] is NOT the house… (no matter how big and fiery your balls are)

Great book to read:

The Ultimate Sales Machine: Turbocharge Your Business with Relentless Focus on 12 Key Strategies

Another book that has good ideas:

Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs (New Rules Social Media Series)
(beware…some people might read this book and go completely overboard with what’s recommended. Inbound Marketing isn’t a silver bullet either..but it’s a sold platform on which to build.)

While you’re at it check out www.infusionsoft.com
(just to get an idea of how far 12k can take you…)

Turning the Kindle on and off doesn’t seem to clear the issue.

Turning the WIFI on and off doesn’t fix the issue. Logging onto your Kindle orders on Amazon and clicking “Deliver To My…” under Actions…doesn’t fix the problem. Repurchasing the book also does not solve the problem.

The odd part about this is the book comes down just fine via the Kindle app on other devices such as iPhone, Mac OS and iPad.

I broke down and called Amazon tech support. They were able to fix the issue.

This is for the Kindle w/out a keyboard.

Hold down the power button for 20 seconds… Even when the screen goes black, make sure you keep holding the button for 20 seconds.

When you RELEASE after 20 seconds, wait. The screen should flicker. Then a moment later you’ll see the Kindle splash screen and a fill-up bar. This is basically a hard reboot of your Kindle. The fill-up bar will…fill up and then your Kindle will come back to life. You MUST see this fill-up bar at this stage. If not, you have not rebooted the Kindle, you have only powered it on and off. So, make sure you see the fill-up bar on the Kindle splash screen.

After the Kindle turns back on, go to your Archived items and try to re-download the book in question…you should have a successful download.

Thanks to Kindle tech support for walking me through this.

Here is what I’ve found so far:

Rogue Sky HD:
The objective of this game is to pilot your hot air balloon up through a maze of clouds to achieve your goal. What makes this game really fun is how 3D it looks. I don’t mean 3D in reference to the flyer the TV industry took when they thought that we were going to rush out and buy 3D Tv’s. Seriously. Did anyone really believe that was going to be the next big thing? No. Any whooo… Rogue Sky HD has this animated 3D-ness about it that pulls you into the game. The animation reminds me of Tim Burton. The music reminds me of Danny Elfman. Your balloon, which has a big Jack-O-Lantern face on it, is steered by two big thumb pads that appear on the sides of the screen. Press both thumb pads at the same time and your balloon glows with flame and rises gently into the sky. Press the left thumb pad and you float left. Right, you go right. Tapping, fires your cannons. The flying dynamics of the game remind me of Lunar Lander, Gravitar and in some ways Asteroids. (Yes, just dated myself there. But it’s meant as a compliment to the game developers). Race through the clouds to pick up power. Escort an old balloon to safety. Destroy enemy balloons. Get shot at by distant Zeppelins. But don’t run into the storm clouds or the lightning will send your burning craft back to earth faster than you can say “oh the humanity.”

Cut The Rope:
By now you might have heard about Cut the Rope. iPad today showed it off  LAST October. The objective is to get a piece of candy into the mouth of your little monster. This is achieved by using your finger to slice through ropes suspending the candy in various ways. Basically, this is a big puzzle game that makes you think…well…think outside the box. The question that comes to mind most when playing this is “How in the hell do I do that?” This, by the way, I believe,  is the same side of the brain you use when you’re trying to crush pigs. The animation is extremely well done. It’s cute. The sound effects are great. A game well worth the buck…and totally addicting.

Zombie Gunship:
This game is sick and fun, the perfect balance. Do you recall that night-vision footage we all saw on the news from Iraq or Afghanistan of the guy running across a road, dropping something in a field, and then running back to a truck? Right after that he was blown to smithereens by a UAV. BOOM. Dead. Well. Take that visual and apply it to Zombie Gunship. Your job is to protect the humans so they can make it to a bunker. Who (or what) is chasing them? Not Iraqis. Not insurgents. Not even Al-Qaeda. We’re talking Zombies man…stumbling-through-the-desert-Zombies! And they are after your humans. The whole game is gray because you are using night vision goggles. Use your finger to aim your gun. Strafe the zombies and watch them explode. Winning gives you coins. Coins let you upgrade your weapons. Bigger, Badder, Better. You see and hear the concussions from your 105MM Howitzer. But watch out! You kill 3 civilians, you lose the game. If zombies breach the bunker, you lose the game. A recent update to the game allows you to buy a General Pardon. You use this if you are responsible for too much collateral damage (aka you kill too many good guys). You might consider this a tower defense game, but I really find this to be far more fun than any tower defense I’ve played. Great game.

Contre Jour:
When playing this I’m reminded of the World Of Goo. Contre Jour is another one of those games thats a bit of a puzzler. You move a character through this dark landscape by manipulating the ground, which seems to be made of putty. You also get to fling yourself around on sticky (WackyWalker-like) tentacles. The physics of this game is stunning.  The objective is to collect as many lights as possible before reaching the portal to teleport to the next level. But the illustrations and styling of this game mixed with the music makes this one of the most beautiful games I have ever seen. I have a feeling that females might like this game. It’s cute, it’s not altogether violent and…it’s French.

I Dig It:
Nothing says free market exploitation of natural resources like mining for riches under the surface of the earth. I Dig It doesn’t disappoint. I actually got addicted to this game a few years back when I played it on my iPhone. But when I downloaded it for my iPad a whole new world of mining plunder was opened up. The objective here is to move your little drilling ship around, below ground, to mine for items worth money. As you increase your money you can upgrade your rig with better drills, better coolant, thicker armor, improved radar, and larger cargo space. Drill in the Arctic. Drill under a farm. Drill under water! Drill too far and you might run out of gas…or air. I found the iPad version’s virtual joystick controller to be a little trickier than the iPhone’s. A friend of mine was playing and she got frustrated because of the controls. But barring that, the game is a lot of fun. But be warned, you can get lost in it…and wipe out your battery…or 1/2 a day…whichever comes first.

***

Have you found a game you love? I’d love to hear about it!

Up until a couple of months ago, Omnigraffle flow diagrams were my #1 communication tool for software and website design. That all changed for me when I discovered the web-based prototyping tool called Pidoco.

With Pidoco you don’t have to be a programmer. You don’t have to be a designer. The skills required to fly Pidoco you learned when you were 3. What you get with Pidoco is a robust (Chrome and Firefox)-friendly tool designed to help you rapidly prototype a website’s wireframe. Add links, copy, images, radio buttons, dropdowns,  date pickers, checkboxes and more with the ease of drag and drop. Once you’ve got all your elements on your “canvas”, test out your prototype by previewing it on any web browser. This is simply the fastest way I’ve found to communicate simple and complex user experiences to my clients and production staff.

Whats’ more, because your programmers and designers can see exactly how your site will function, you eliminate  the back and forth confusion that plagues projects.  And for those of you off-shoring some of your web programming and design, Pidoco sidesteps the language barrier by letting those you’re working with LIVE your ideas rather than just READ them.

I know I sound like an unabashed fanboy here. But Pidoco works so well, I can’t imagine building another site without it. My current prototypes range from a website reconstruction project to creating a distance learning platform from scratch. Both projects have been fast tracked because with Pidoco I can share more and speak less… (something my x wife would have appreciated).

Here is a snapshot of what I love about Pidoco:

Display in Sketch View:
When you view your prototype you can tell Pidoco to show it in Sketch mode. This nice touch gives your website the appearance that you sketched it out by hand. This means you can communicate the layout of elements without getting mired in design look and feel. (Nothing can be more frustrating than showing a client the logic of a page and they get hung up on the color of a button.)

Linking Pages:
The heart of Pidoco is a feature called Screenflow. With Screenflow you can visually arrange your pages and then link them by dragging arrows (links) from one page to another. What’s more, you can connect buttons and text links to pages (just like a real website). If you can click, hold and drag a line from one box to another, you can create links. Some time-saving features in Screenflow let you duplicate links from headers and footers as well. Very handy.

Layers: 
Websites are like ogres. They’re made up of layers. And Just like in Photoshop (or Adobe Elements) you can build your Pidoco pages in Layers. Let’s say you want to change the top navigation on your site. If you’re using layers, you only have to do this once and that change will appear on all of your pages. Placing any element in a layer that might be common to more than one page will save your bottom–line. Tech support showed me the other day that you can re-order your layers by dragging them around. This is necessary when one of your objects is being covered up by another.

Clicking, Dragging and Edits:
Whoever coded Pidoco deserves a big wet kiss on the lips. This thing operates through your browser but feels very much like a desktop application. It’s so good it’s actually–dare I say–fun. The process of building a page involves dragging pre-defined elements from your Stencil Palette on the left onto your canvas. When you view your prototype all the little elements come to life. Radio buttons work like radio buttons. Drop downs work like dropdowns. Date pickers work like date pickers. Snozberries taste like Snozberries! (hah. couldn’t resist).

Exporting Your Work:
I have to admit when I was Pidoco-ing my first prototype I was expecting disaster to strike any minute. One wrong move and poof…everything would be overwritten. I’m hyper-paranoid about working web-based. All too often I’ve hit the wrong button and Refreshed my screen..and POOF…work gone. Pidoco seems to have known this about online users. Your work is constantly being saved. There is even an Undo button. If that’s not enough for you, then you can make a copy of your prototype AND export the entire thing as HTML to your local hard drive.

 Sharing Your Work: 
Now what good is a prototype if no one else can take it for a spin? Pidoco gives you the tools to share your work via email. When you share the link Pidoco also lets others comment directly on the pages they are looking at, which is great for collaboration. I have to admit I only have limited experience with the collaboration and usability testing tools so far. But, when you’re able to share your site designs like this, you get  very clear idea of what works and what doesn’t.

For my money Pidoco solves the age old problem of working out the issues of a hypertext world in a way that’s easy to build, easy to share and easy to alter. Pidoco has forever changed the way I approach website and user interface build outs. For more check out their video: https://pidoco.com/en/guided-video-tour-wireframe

This is especially excellent if you travel with a MacBook air.

Now you can connect your ipad to your Mac (wirelessly) and use it as an external monitor. As long as you are within range of a wifi network, you’re in business. And you’ll get nearly exactly the same results as connecting to that flat screen you left back at the house.

This is how it’s done:

First of all you need to download and install the iPad application called Air Display.

The application is $9.99 and can be found here:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/air-display/id368158927?mt=8

Once you’ve done the install, open the application on your iPad. This is where it could get a little confusing, but try not to read too much between the lines. Just be a good doobie and  follow the tabbed instructions that will appear on your iPad.

When you first open the application you will see a screen that looks something like the image to the right:

The first tab tells you to open Safari on your Mac. Do this. You will then go to a URL. When you go there  you will then be prompted to download a tiny bit of code onto your Mac. Do this. Then restart your Mac.

When you restart your Mac you will see a new icon in your Menu bar (at the top of your screen).

With the application running on your iPad click the Air Display Menu bar icon on your Mac. Turn Air Display ON. Select Connect To… You should see the name of your iPad listed. Your machine will blink one or two times. Your ipad will do the same. This is normal.

Once the two devices are communicating you will see your second-monitor desktop wallpaper appear on the iPad. You may also see your dock jump over to the iPad. Now move your mouse over to the iPad. You see it? Open a browser window and drag it over to the iPad. You are actually dragging stuff over to your ipad using the mouse! I know…it made me giggle like a little girl the first time I tried it.

There is a bit of a lag in screen refresh when you drag things fast around the iPad screen. But really, who cares? This is an awesome solution. Should make even the hardest road warrior a little misty.

One problem I did notice. When you switch out of the Air Display app on the iPad windows dragging between the Mac and the iPad seems to stop working. I get around this by turning Air Display off (in the Mac menu bar). Wait a moment for things to reset. Then turn it back on, and select my iPad. This usually clears up the issue.