Ben Brophy's Links

Cross-site request forgeries...

Sun, 18 Jan 2009 21:41:32 +0000

Pretty easy to prevent, you should give it a go ;)

'B-Iron 715' Transparent Iron

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:27:10 +0000

Interesting usability enhancement for an everyday object. Seems like it lacks some of the affordances of a traditional iron though (like resting it on it's back when not in use, and steam).

Microsoft Tag. Technology

Mon, 12 Jan 2009 13:58:46 +0000

New idea for barcodes that can easily be recognized by crappy mobile phone cameras. I have recently been convinced of the value of bar codes as a way to bridge the gap between the physical world and the digital world.

Flash Catalyst Demo video

Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:33:01 +0000

This hour long video shows how Adobe Catalyst can be used to create interactive wireframes that can also be opened as applications in Flex Builder. I made it half way through, and now I want to try Catalyst when I get the chance. It workflow matches something we're doing at ATG.

Market looking up yet?

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 13:59:15 +0000

My retirement account is up about 9% since December 1, I hope that continues into 2009. Of course I don't even want to know how much it's down since last December.

Update: I forgot the last trading day hadn't finished. Now we're up over 10%. 3 more months like this and we'll be back where we started ;)

rolando

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 19:36:02 +0000

This is the funnest iPhone game I have played yet. I love the use of the iPhone's tilt sensor and touch screen and the fun graphic design.

DC Web Stencil Kit

Mon, 29 Dec 2008 16:38:14 +0000

Cool idea for paper prototyping. I thing sloppy prototypes made by hand with a sharpie work fine though. The stencil would tempt me to get too precise. If I am going to get precise I may as well do a prototype on the computer.

Man decorates basement with a Sharpie

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:31:23 +0000

Very impressive. I especially enjoy the fireplace and the clock tower. [via decor8]

LEGO Powered Time-Tracking

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 18:05:59 +0000

This could really work for me. Also it would make a good iPhone app if you took a picture of your stack with the iphone camera and it automatically created a report for you. (Thanks, Mark)

100 Press Ups / Push Ups Training Program

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:19:35 +0000

I plan to do 100 pushups in one go before the end of 2008. Right now I can do 12, so it's quite a challenge.

Double Click text secletion on a Mac (and some iPhone stuff)

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 18:10:20 +0000

Forget the iPhone stuff, I just learned from this Daring Fireball post that if i double click then drag on my Mac the cursor selects whole words instead of letters. That's so cool. How did I not know that?

Freedom Chair

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:23:58 +0000

I showed up to work today and we all had new chairs. I really like it. It's funny seeing people show up and say "WTF?!? Where's my old chair?" when they get to their desk, and then sit down and are like "Oh, this really nice, nevermind."

Falling in love with my iPhone

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:22:25 +0000

I had an appointment this morning and while I waited I started really appreciating my iPhone. I used it 8 ways in 2 hours.

My son drew a picture for me on the iPhone this morning and it was there when I turned the phone on. Smile.
While I waited I canceled another appointment (it's been a busy few weeks), how nice the number I needed was on my to-do list from when I'd made the appointment.
Then I sent an email to candidate for a job at my office. Time for the appointment.
As I waited for an x-ray I played Jirbo match (a simple game I bought for Nathan but it turns out I find it kind of fun).
When I was scheduling a follow up appointment I was able to consult my calendar and my family calendar while I talked to the receptionist instead of trying to remember which dates might work.
On my way out I thought of something I had to do at work. I added it to omnifocus on my iPhone and it was on my to do list when i got to the office later.
The appointment in the darkest Somerville and I wasn't sure I knew how to get back to civilization. I opened the 'maps' app and with my iPhone in one hand I drove back, my location moved along the map as I drove helping me understand where I was. They don't bother with street signs in Somerville, so this was invaluable. It was like in Indiana Jones when you see his plane moving across a map.
As I drove I got a voicemail confirming a dinner reservation tonight and was able to rewind the voicemail to hear the call back number again before confirming as I walked to work.

It's not that any of that was revolutionary or ground breaking or can't be done by other devices. But this was just my second day with the iPhone, and it all flowed so smoothly and noticeably made my life a little easier. Even as I type this I'm listening to music from my phone while I type, no big whoop, but again, it just works really well.

Inside my hand...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:46:11 +0000

... is a piece of glass that's been there 20+ years

Rumor Mill: New Macbook Touch Coming Soon?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 13:17:09 +0000

I just got an iPhone yesterday (and having so much fun) but I'm still dreaming about the next hard-to-justify-but-must-have-it Apple product.