Valhalla Island

Compare the gorgeous Netflix logo with its hideous Australian...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:22:19 +1000

Compare the gorgeous Netflix logo with its hideous Australian counterpart’s.

Every month or two I’m reminded about Quickflix, Australia’s answer to Netflix, and I go...

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:14:00 +1000

Every month or two I’m reminded about Quickflix, Australia’s answer to Netflix, and I go through this same process in my head:

It’d be cool to watch more movies, maybe I should get a Quickflix membership.
Do I really need to watch more movies? I’m already so busy and there’s so much other, more productive things I should and want to be doing.
Stop kidding yourself, just relax and watch a fucking movie. Better to relax properly than spend hours getting nothing done in front of the computer. Then when you are on the computer, it’ll be productive time.
You’re right but even though I have a nice big TV, my computer chair is more comfortable than my crappy couch anyway, why not just download movies and watch them on the computer?
Then I forget about Quickflix.

Oh, You Wanted "Awesome" Edition

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:24:00 +1000

Oh, You Wanted "Awesome" Edition:

Jeff Atwood on the frustrating arbitrary limitations of Windows versions that supposedly help them make more money.

Open source software only comes in one edition: awesome.

You know what else comes in only one edition?

19 Presence Management Chores You Could Do Every Day

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:45:00 +1000

19 Presence Management Chores You Could Do Every Day:

Or how to turn potentially useful, interesting and enjoyable web services into quota padding self promotional chores while contributing nothing but unoriginal and vapid noise to the internet.

I don’t understand social media people at all. They suck all the fun and appeal out of everything in the interest of promoting themselves to people who’ve sucked the fun and appeal out of everything in the interest of promoting themselves. It’s a massive circle jerk void of any substance, originality, integrity or expertise.

How to find music you might love but might not know you love

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:43:00 +1000

Create a smart playlist with the rule: Play count → is in the range → 5 → to → 10. Play on shuffle. That’s it. If you’re one to rate your music add the rule: Rating → is → no stars. Finds music you like enough to listen to more than a few times but leaves out the music you obviously love because you’ve listened to it heaps (or rated it highly). As time goes on it’ll curate songs itself.

Instapaper

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:20:23 +1000

Instapaper:

I was very late to the Instapaper scene. I’m notoriously good at ignoring things that don’t immediately please me visually (while taking too much notice of stuff that does) which may have extended the delay, Instapaper is no doubt ugly on the web.

A few weeks ago I stopped ignoring it, installed the bookmarklet and saved a few articles mainly from the fantastic Give Me Something to Read. A week later the iPhone app went on sale for half price. Obviously a sign, I bought the app and have since replaced my current novel with what is the best way to read anything online.

Instapaper strips out advertising, images and other bullshit. You’re left with perfectly legible text formatted how you’d like (17px Georgia on a dark background). Tilt to scroll and turn off rotation to read while lying on your side, an option I wish every rotating app provided.

With the Kindle not available in Australia I’ve wanted to use my iPhone as a reading device but hadn’t found a satisfactory experience. Navigation has been the obstacle, flicking or dragging is too labour-intensive to read anything of substance on a screen that can’t fit all that much text. Instapaper solves the problem with tilt scrolling and the experience is flawless. I’m using my iPhone more, reading more, learning more and enjoying it.

$90 Million

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:16:29 +1000

$90 Million: It’s Australia’s biggest ever lotto jackpot and everyone’s eyes have turned to dollar signs. The greater amount of people buying tickets means that even if by slim chance you do win statistically the chances are higher it’ll be split between multiple people, bringing it inline with every other lottery jackpot most people have the sense to not participate in.

Cellar

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:31:00 +1000

Cellar: As the initial stream of golden ideas for iPhone apps seem to be running dry, a slew of these database-of-things-style apps are entering the store. The iPhone is great for many things — taking photos, sending messages, updating Twitter, checking email, data entry and library management is not one of those things. I can’t think of anything more tedious or useless than maintaining a database of anything stored solely on a single iPhone.

My latest and first properly thought-out setup since moving out...

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 18:04:07 +1000

My latest and first properly thought-out setup since moving out of home.

The Setup: Joe Hewitt

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 12:22:00 +1000

The Setup: Joe Hewitt:

Firefox, Firebug and Facebook developer Joe Hewitt has my dream setup. An extremely powerful desktop running two massive screens in combination with a relatively low spec but small and portable laptop. Power and screen space where portability doesn’t matter and portability where power and screen space doesn’t matter. Perfectly complimentary.

I was running a junior version of this setup while at university. 24” iMac at home and 12” PowerBook out and about. It remains the best computer combination I’ve used. Now I’m in an awkward situation with a not-small laptop that’s more powerful than my desktop, I don’t like it but my requirements are unusual and my options are limited.

2059 has subtly modified Downpour to great effect. This is...

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:24:00 +1000

2059 has subtly modified Downpour to great effect. This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping people would do with Downpour.

Forgetting Apple is supposed to suck, one iPhone at a time

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 19:29:00 +1000

This post about the iPhone from long time Windows developer and lover Jeff Atwood could not be more uncomfortable. Like an 8-year-old boy talking about the girl he has a crush on, he’s falling over himself trying to say good things about the iPhone without looking like he’s totally gay for Apple.

Jeff admits he hasn’t owned an Apple product for 25 years and that lack of experience with Macs is obvious:

There’s always been a weird tension in Apple’s computer designs, because they attempt to control every nuance of the entire experience from end to end. For the best Apple™ experience, you run custom Apple™ applications on artfully designed Apple™ hardware dongles.

Apple’s hardware and software work great together with Apple’s peripherals, as a computer user that reduces the tension for me significantly.

All those things that bugged me about Apple’s computers are utter non-issues in the phone market. Proprietary handset? So is every other handset. Locked in to a single vendor? Everyone signs a multi-year contract. One company controlling your entire experience? That’s how it’s always been done.

Oh, so that weird tension Apple™ creates by only offering the best Apple™ experience with Apple™ hardware, Apple™ software and Apple™ peripherals doesn’t bother you at all in a market where actually being locked in by way of contract is the status quo. The same way I’m cool with treating women like dirt when I’m hanging out with my Saudi Arabian friends.

Apple has never been particularly great at supporting software developers […]

Except when it comes to providing a full suite of developer tools with the operating system and offering developer connection subscriptions both completely free rather than charging the 1000s of dollars Microsoft does, yeah they’re not great at supporting developers.

If this has all come across as too rah-rah, too uncritical a view of the iPhone, I apologize. There are certainly things to be critical about, such as the App Store’s weird enforcement policies, the lack of support for emulators, or Flash, or anything else that might somehow undermine the platform as decided in some paranoid, secretive Apple back room. Not that we’d ever hear about it.

God forbid you give an uncritical review of something you obviously love. Quick, ridicule Apple’s secretiveness, that’ll do. Lack of support for Flash or emulators couldn’t possibly be a trade-off to improve phone experience you’re currently lauding as a whole.

I didn’t write this to kiss Apple’s ass.

You didn’t?! And here I was about to call you an Apple fanboi because there’s no way a phone could actually be that good. Up until now I thought your review must be based on unwavering loyalty to the Apple brand, not the phone’s merits.

This is a long standing dilemma for Mac users and lovers trying to communicate the virtues of the platform with Windows users. We use Macs because it’s a better, friction less experience, not because we’re married to Apple. I can only assume that it’s because they’re so tragically hardened by their long-standing, endless, multiple computer battle trying to force Windows to do what they want that they simply cannot believe or don’t want to believe (they’ve already invested SO. MUCH. TIME. ALREADY) that a computer exists without those problems that’s a joy to use.

On a greater scale than the iPod, the iPhone is going lure in a huge amount of non-Mac users. There’s little barrier to finding out what a joyful, easy experience it can be when a company that cares about user experience and good design creates a product, hardware, software, peripherals and from the ground up to work together. A lot of people, even curmudgeonly old Windows developers, will hang up their hang ups about being “forced” to buy a great computer to run great software and will enjoy the computer again just as they enjoy their new phones.

Nevada City Classic

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 07:26:19 +1000

Nevada City Classic: The full gallery of shots from Velodramatic in one of the best Flash slideshow presentations I’ve seen.

Yojimbo Widescreen View Hack

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:46:05 +1000

Yojimbo Widescreen View Hack: An oldie but essential for every Yojimbo user. It’s one of the first things I do on every OS reinstall or new Mac setup.

Some gorgeous black and white photos over at Velodramatic of...

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:05:57 +1000

Some gorgeous black and white photos over at Velodramatic of Armstrong et al. racing in the Nevada City Classic. Cannot wait for the Tour de France this year.

A Stone by Okkervil River For the entire length of this song...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:06:10 +1000

A Stone by Okkervil River

For the entire length of this song the crowd was silent. Not one person of the 200 strong crowd took advantage of the silence to yell something stupid or anything at all. Every note and every word rang out as if in a vacuum. It was a surreal moment.

In the latest episode of Comedy and Everything Else Patton Oswalt suggests movie theatres install...

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:43:43 +1000

In the latest episode of Comedy and Everything Else Patton Oswalt suggests movie theatres install headphone jacks under each seat so you can bring your own high quality headphones. You’d keep the big screen experience and the audio quality but wouldn’t have to put up with the noise from other moviegoers. Drive-thrus have done it from the beginning. It’s a fantastic idea.

Recordings of The Middle East

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:21:26 +1000

Recordings of The Middle East: iTunes link. The brand new EP from central Queensland band The Middle East. All five songs from the EP are as beautifully intricate as Blood, the song I posted immediately after seeing it performed live.

iPhone 3G S Camera Field Test

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:20:00 +1000

iPhone 3G S Camera Field Test: It’s capable of taking some stunningly good photos. No matter how much better it is I’m under no false illusion that having a better camera will make me take more photos.

This seems to be a prevalent feeling. To most people, the computer is an annoying tool that they...

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:21:10 +1000

This seems to be a prevalent feeling. To most people, the computer is an annoying tool that they reluctantly use because their job requires it, and mobile phones are a way for their boss to reach them wherever they are, creating an expectation of constant availability for “working”.

I’ve never viewed my connected technology this way. Yes, computers and phones are a way for me to be connected to my work. But they’re also my play, my hobby, my leisure, my education, my exposure to society, and my enlightenment. I like this connection.

I feel exactly the same way as Marco. The attitude amongst most people I know is that the computer is an inherently bad thing. Sure it’s convenient to do some things and a requirement for others but at its core the computer is bad and must be excluded or avoided wherever possible. I can’t help but think it has something to do with the pain that is using Windows.