The Tyler Hayes

Why Don't We Remember Anything from When We're Babies?

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 19:36:13 -0800

Why Don't We Remember Anything from When We're Babies?:

Questions and answers like these are why I love Reddit.

Why Not Draft Bills In Public?

Sat, 25 Feb 2012 12:21:08 -0800

Fred Wilson:

When an important piece of legislation is drafted in secrecy, such that Senators and their staff members don’t even know what is going to be in it, and then is put out for voting on a very fast track, people are going to be suspicious. And suspicious citizens don’t make for a healthy democracy.

'But Facts – Like What Time the Sun Rises – Are Not Copyrightable'

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 21:01:30 -0800

'But Facts – Like What Time the Sun Rises – Are Not Copyrightable':

Thank you EFF.

Big Numbers

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:24:36 -0800

Big Numbers:

We are looking to hire for a lot of roles right now. There are three in particular I’d like to call out to this website’s smart, good-looking audience:

Over 1.2 million websites. 70 million users. Disqus is the largest Django application and one of the largest pure Python implementations on the web. If you like big numbers let’s talk.

Ouchier?

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:30:00 -0800

Ouchier?:

Erik Wemple, for the Washington Post:

The ouch gets ouchier as the blog post quotes a blogger John Gruber from Daring Fireball .

How quickly was this article written? (Yes that’s a space before the period.)

Read Gruber’s piece, Mountain Lion, instead. It is worth the read.

10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 14:11:15 -0800

10 Tips on Writing from David Ogilvy:

Read this to write better.

'When You Love Doing Something, Nobody Can Stop You from Doing It'

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:36:03 -0800

'When You Love Doing Something, Nobody Can Stop You from Doing It':

Just discovered this year-old Japan Times interview with Yoshitaka Amano, the man responsible for some of the most unforgettable art in video game history. Exhibit A. Exhibit B.

A History of Backups

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:26:00 -0800

In twenty years I went from not understanding the value of backups to evangelizing backups to never needing to back up my data again.

Let me explain.

Twenty years ago I never backed up my data.

Fifteen years ago I was making weekly backups of my data. I had gotten the hacker bug — I was building computers and enrolling in every technology course available. As with most hackers I desired absolute control over hardware and software. I didn’t backup because it was smart; backing up was fundamental to my cause.

Five years ago I started Tyler the Techie. I often advised my customers and students to, among other things, regularly back up their data. I was a hacker teacher. Mark Hurst sums up the hacker teacher’s thoughts on backing up well in Bit Literacy¹:

There are two kinds of users: those who already back up, and those who will.

In 2010 I began using Dropbox which made backups mostly unnecessary.

In 2011 I began using iCloud which filled the gap for everything Dropbox couldn’t. Number of backups performed in 2011: one, when I migrated from a Macbook Pro to a Macbook Air.

So far in 2012 I have yet to make any backups. Just last week I arrived at the office only to realize I had forgotten my Macbook Air at home. I simply grabbed another available Macbook, linked my Dropbox account, linked my Apple ID, and downloaded a few apps I needed from the Mac App Store. I was up and running, with full access to all my data, within minutes.

In twenty years I went from not understanding the value of backups to evangelizing backups to never needing to back up my data again. No one person or company enabled this; it was many people, over many years, at companies big and small, all passionate about many causes, but all resulting in the same achievement: the ability to worry less and enjoy life more.

How many other things change this much in twenty years? Human beings are amazing.

I used to give out free copies of Bit Literacy to my customers and students and still would today. If you haven’t read it you should. ↩

Not-So-Hidden Costs

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:27:00 -0800

Not-So-Hidden Costs:

Yearly Comcast subscription: $1030.92. Yearly Netflix + Hulu subscriptions: $191.76. Difference: $839.16.

So the question is: how much will you miss that $840?

(Via the Future Journalism Project.)

First Lady Michelle Obama Plays Tug of War with Jimmy Fallon

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:34:26 -0800

First Lady Michelle Obama Plays Tug of War with Jimmy Fallon:

I’m pro-tug of war.

Who Watches the Watchmen?

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 00:25:00 -0800

Who Watches the Watchmen?:

It’s looking more and more like employees from VEVO, the music video website jointly owned by Sony, Universal, and Abu Dhabi Media, pirated an NFL game at their own event at Sundance. Jason Kincaid’s piece is worth reading in its entirety.

Via MG:

Why would VEVO pirate content? Because it was easier than getting it legally. This is the actual root cause of piracy online. It’s not shady, masked individuals at swanky events commandeering computers to pirate for the hell of it. It’s VEVO employees. It’s everyone.

Today in a Nutshell

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:32:00 -0800

Today in a Nutshell:

For me, watching sports — Superbowl or otherwise — is good for usually two things: another excuse to spend time with friends + hot dogs/nachos.

Go Piggers!

BONUS UPDATE: The Simpsons’ classic take on the Superbowl.

'I Haven’t been Drunk in 3 Years… And I’ve Been Partying Way More Than You'

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:33:15 -0800

'I Haven’t been Drunk in 3 Years… And I’ve Been Partying Way More Than You':

Link bait-y title, heart-warming tale.

Cathedral 1, Bricklayers 0

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:58:58 -0800

Cathedral 1, Bricklayers 0:

What’s your favourite parable?

Henry Miller's 11 Commandments

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:00:00 -0800

Henry Miller's 11 Commandments:

Brilliance:

Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.

(Via Amanda Nudelman.)

Yahoo Messed Up Today

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:26:06 -0800

Yahoo Messed Up Today:

Nolan Caudill on Yahoo laying off the highest level of Flickr’s customer support team yesterday:

Flickr-the-site will be fine but Flickr-the-culture took a huge hit today and those suits in Sunnyvale balancing some column or doing their thousandth “re-org” are completely to blame. I bet they don’t even know what they’ve done and that’s probably the worst part of the whole thing.

I’d also like to add that the following is pretty much spot-on. I see the same thing on our team every day and every day I am incredibly thankful for the people with whom I get to work (who keep me sane and level-headed):

To be constantly deluged by the requests and demands from stressed users and keep showing up in high spirits day after day demands a special kind of character. Not only do you have the patience of a saint (imagine getting asked the same 3 questions, 50 times a day, every day) but also the tact to work with developers and product folks whose priorities are different from the users, as those things tend to go.

'We Are Going after All Americans. We Would Like to Be the Store for Everyone.'

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:30:00 -0800

'We Are Going after All Americans. We Would Like to Be the Store for Everyone.':

Ron Johnson, in an interview with the AP:

Q. What ideals have you embraced from Steve Jobs?

A. The importance of doing everything you do to your very best. And that the journey is the reward. If you do things well one at a time, you end up in a really good place. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Control the things you can.

(Via Gruber.)

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:13:00 -0800

A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope:

Keith Martin completely re-evaluates the story and plot of A New Hope in light of the prequels. Meticulous in a good way.

Happiness Takes (A Little) Magic

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:36:00 -0800

Happiness Takes (A Little) Magic:

Brian Lam, on technology (news) addiction:

If you make content that is the intellectual equivalent of gummy bears, your site will appear to grow quickly. Advertisers reward size, and growing fast is expected in most places I’ve seen. Last month I visited Xeni Jardin, my blog-sister from Boing Boing and she said to me, “Only cancer and bullshit websites grow fast.”

And a personal favorite from the piece:

The first thing I did was to take back my time. I quit all the online content that was id-provoking and knee jerk. I stopped reading the stupid hyped up news stories that are press releases or rants about things that will get fixed in a week.

I can’t speak highly enough about this practice of hacking away at the unessential — I’ve spent the last year of my life canceling, deleting, removing, resetting, unsubscribing, and eliminating everything possible. It’s difficult and it’s draining. But it has been, and continues to be, the path to a better life.

(Via MG Siegler.)

The Third & The Seventh

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:32:04 -0800

The Third & The Seventh:

In 2009 I first watched this short film by Alex Roman and nearly cried from its purity and its beauty — I’d never seen anything like it.

Today I’d like to share it with you.