Smooth Harold, The Blog of Blake Snow

A better way to internet: Use keyword commands for faster searching

Blake Snow — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:44:22 +0000

Wanna search the web faster? Ditch your browser search bar and use URL commands instead. In minutes, you’ll be burning down the information superhighway (aka cyberspace) at neck-breaking speeds. To do this in Firefox, follow these three easy steps: Select the drop-down menu from you browser search bar, and click “manage search engines.” In addition [...]

From the depths of my hard drive: Reason No. 356 my logo is awesome

Blake Snow — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:10:32 +0000

Simple Photoshoping of my company logo turns an otherwise crappy stock photo into digital wonder. Did this years ago but never had any use for it… until now!

Magnets that “crush hands, cause things to go airborne”

Blake Snow — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:50:47 +0000

Magnets are fun. These magnets by United Nuclear, on the other hand, are no laughing matter. Check out this purchase disclaimer: The magnets listed below are very powerful, much more powerful than magnets most people have seen, and need to be handled with proper care. Our larger magnets can easily bruise fingers and even break finger [...]

Published works: October 2009

Blake Snow — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:32:31 +0000

Excluding blog posts and short news stories: Top 5 TurboGrafx games Top 5 most dependable publishers Top 5 best 16-bit games

Don’t run because you half to, run because you love to

Blake Snow — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:00:53 +0000

From Born to Run, p. 92: How do you make anyone actually want to run? How do you flip the switch that changes us all back into the Natural Born Runners we once were? Not just in history, but in our own lifetimes. Remember? Back when you were a kid and you had to be yelled [...]

Top 3 ways to build online communities

Blake Snow — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:00:52 +0000

I couldn’t have said this better myself, so I won’t: Make the user interface simple. Don’t emphasize “community” unless you really know what you’re doing. Most users don’t want to join a community; they want to accomplish a task. Focus on the tasks. Watch your users for inspiration. People won’t use the tools you provide in the way [...]

Actually, defense doesn’t win championships, dummy

Blake Snow — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:35:43 +0000

“Defense wins championships” is the dumbest thing you’ll ever hear in sports. Winning requires scoring and damage control, regardless of the competition. To prioritize the latter over the former is absurd. In fact, offense might be more important—not to mention more exciting to watch. Pelé, the world’s greatest soccer player, also made this point in his [...]

You can’t slow time, but you sure can hide it

Blake Snow — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 13:00:41 +0000

I few years ago, I discovered hand clocks. I had seen them before, but digital clocks far out number them because the latter are easier to read and can do a lot more. In any case, I buy and prefer hand clocks now, because they tell time without making it the focal point [...]

Team player: Reason no. 352 Pelé was better than Maradona

Blake Snow — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:16:33 +0000

While talking in the third-person on page 198 of his biography: “Pelé is a famous name, but Pelé made his goals because another player passed to him at the proper time. And Brazil won games because Pelé didn’t try to make all the goals by himself, but passed the ball to others when it was [...]

If Gentlemen Broncos doesn’t win Oscar for “Best Use of Family Crest,” I’ll be TO’d

Blake Snow — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 13:00:41 +0000

UPDATE: The movie is horrible. Still a funny crest though. ORIGINAL POST: I have no idea if this movie will be any good, but that spotlighted crest is just awesome. Gentlemen Broncos, the spiritual successor to Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, arrives in theaters Oct. 30.