of cats and dags

buzzfeed: Oh Walmart, you never disappoint.

Wed, 17 Jul 2013 23:53:09 -0400

Oh Walmart, you never disappoint.

If you shake the Xbox SmartGlass app for iOS, your avatar falls over

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:51:32 -0400

Finer Things in iOS:

Yeah, I’m writing more at Finer Things in Tech. You should click and like and share and follow and call your friends and write a letter home to tell your parents about it.

The Official White House Tumblr: The White House, Tumbling Things

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:01:05 -0400

The Official White House Tumblr: The White House, Tumbling Things:

whitehouse:

We see some great things here at the White House every day, and sharing that stuff with you is one of the best parts of our jobs. That’s why we’re launching a Tumblr. We’ll post things like the best quotes from President Obama, or video of young scientists visiting the White House for the science…

staff: Tumblr for Windows Phone has arrived! Find and follow...

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:38:26 -0400

staff:

Tumblr for Windows Phone has arrived!

Find and follow the things you love

Share photos, gifs, video, quotes, chats, links, and text

Jump between your dashboard and Explore with just one swipe

Display the latest images from your dashboard on your lock screen and live tile

GIFs play as you scroll

Get the app

I was using Blueprints, an unofficial tumblr client in the past, but this official app is really welcome. It’s also really nicely done. The tumblr design folks could teach twitter a thing or two about building a first-rate client.

theatlanticvideo: This Trippy Video Explains Bitcoin in Under 4...

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 16:58:53 -0400

theatlanticvideo:

This Trippy Video Explains Bitcoin in Under 4 Minutes

The mysterious digital currency has spiked in value — but what is it?

How Will We Know If 'House of Cards' Was a Hit?

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 04:07:14 -0500

How Will We Know If 'House of Cards' Was a Hit?:

All thirteen episodes of House of Cards’ first season debut on Netflix Friday, but the folks who run the video service insist they don’t give a damn if America rushes to watch the David Fincher–Kevin Spacey series this weekend. Or next weekend, or next month, for that matter. Executives have said they may never reveal any information about how many people watch the $3 million-plus-per-episode political thriller — or the number of viewings of any of the other four original series they’ll be unveiling this year, including the highly anticipated return of Arrested Development. This has caused no small amount of head-scratching and even some ire in a TV industry where next-day ratings are a grand tradition: Numbers are how you declare yourself a success or reveal yourself a failure.

I binge-watched this show over the weekend. I am also quite fascinated as to how Netflix plans to make their foray into producing original content pay off. Whether they pull it off, I’m sure this experiment has the keen attention of HBO execs.

Another Ryan Gosling tumblr. I guess it’s safe to say,...

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 04:17:21 -0500

Another Ryan Gosling tumblr. I guess it’s safe to say, YouTube : Hitler : : tumblr : Ryan Gosling.

One

Tue, 08 Jan 2013 22:18:00 -0500

Seems like a cliché to say it, but time has just zipped by, and tomorrow I will complete one year in this company.

It’s the best place I’ve ever worked in even if I say so from a sample size of two. Here’s to many more years.

India to Tech Firms: To Sell It Here, Build It Here

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 20:34:41 -0500

India to Tech Firms: To Sell It Here, Build It Here :

The proposed regulations, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, would create an expansive “Buy India” mandate requiring a large percentage of the high-tech goods sold in the country to be manufactured locally.

This makes a lot of sense… if India were China. Quick, someone, please tell me this is a joke.

Touch

Mon, 07 Jan 2013 06:03:39 -0500

I have been thinking about this quite a bit lately. Windows 8 launched and it’s got its own share of critics and fans. But what’s interested me more was the debate on touch that it has re-ignited, especially on laptops.

I was a skeptic early on. I actually believed that people don’t want to reach out to touch their laptop screens but that it was okay to touch your tablet ¹. Until I actually started playing with a few touch laptops over the past few months. Once you’re used to it, you come to expect it in all laptops.

And this is where I believe the problem is. First of all, the skepticism from most (and, in some cases, ridicule) seems to be from those who haven’t actually tried them out for an extended length of time. Also, touch is not meant to be the sole mode of user interaction. Let us leave aside prejudices on Windows 8 itself, because that is a discussion for a different day.

I think touch is inevitable. And Apple will bring it across its products eventually. Maybe they’ll change OS X (fuse it with iOS in some form) and will bring it across the board.

* * *

Yesterday, Lenovo announced a giant 27” touchscreen desktop/All-in-One in CES. I noticed a lot of sneering. People said it won’t work and that one would have to stretch out their arm to touch the screen or some such. Now, let’s assume Lenovo actually ship this. Actually, scratch that. If we want to be cynical about this, let’s assume it is another instance of CES vaporware and instead consider those already in market. Lenovo already has a touchscreen AIO and so does Dell. The Dell AIO actually reclines to flatten out (parallel to the plane on which it rests). With touch-optimized apps for that real-estate I can imagine a lot of applications for artists, AutoDesk and, yes, gaming. Its viability becomes obvious. A larger screen real estate also means more scope for adding touch-optimized UI controls without much clutter.

* * *

This brings me to Apple. Whether you like them or not, they are dictating a lot of trends today. It’s not enough that other companies have pushed the envelope with innovation, but when Apple brings it to their products with their integrated polish, existing paradigms gain some sort of ‘legitimacy’. This isn’t a knock on users of Apple products, but as the biggest (and fastest-growing) consumer technology company this is only natural. I’ve always been fascinated by how they would go about bringing touch across all their devices.

They have a few ways of doing this.

Going the iOS-on-ARM route. Path of least resistance—blow-up the iPad—use the rapidly growing ecosystem.
Making OS X a touch OS. There is enough history here. But this might require some re-engineering work to make OS X (or OS XI) touch-friendly all-through.

The first option seems the easiest way to go about it. But ARM is still not upto it performance-wise. And I wonder if they can iterate fast enough to the highest-powered Intel chips we have today.

The second option means changing OS X entirely—but that might probably give us some form of iOS, in which case why bother?

I think there is a third way. It is to port iOS to x86 (Intel). There have always been rumours swirling that Apple may have Intel chips on the iPad (as far-fetched as it might seem right now) due to foundry deals it may strike with them. ².

It is quite possible for developers to be provided tooling to target x86 vs ARM platforms like what is happening today on the Windows Store. They would, of course, have a separate app store (or repurpose the Mac App Store) for this newer, bigger-form-factor device. Perhaps they will even have legit keyboard support unlike the current hacky-way people use with their iPads—mainly because this device will have more emphasis on creation than consumption ³.

* * *

But today, touch, in its current form, exists to complement keyboard + mouse. I helps to zoom-in to pictures, interact with apps built for touch, while a keyboard is still handy to hold our hands till something comes along that proves to be better. I hear kids growing up with iPads/tablets have gotten quite adept at typing on touchscreens. But maybe, at the rate at which things are going, we might be dictating to the screen what we want to type. We’re already seeing that to a less-accurate extent. But we will get there. It’s inevitable.

Cue Steve Jobs’ quote during one of his product announcements on how touch laptops are a bad idea. ↩
This was the most recent rumour of an Apple-Intel partnership. Not that crazy considering their strained relationship with Samsung and their constant lookout for foundries capable of meeting their demands. ↩
Oh, yes, I know the iPad in its current form can be used for creation and consumption, but a larger device makes it easier to use it for creation purposes. It really is that simple. ↩

Vince Gilligan on Writing the 'Breaking Bad' Finale

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 22:43:14 -0500

Vince Gilligan on Writing the 'Breaking Bad' Finale:

“We’re not gonna please everyone, we’re not gonna please everyone … This is what I keep telling myself so I can sleep at night,” Vince Gilligan laughed last month, even though he wasn’t exactly joking.

If you aren’t current on this show (why aren’t you, already?) the usual disclaimers on spoiler alerts apply.

Brilliant book cover design for Orwell's 1984

Sun, 06 Jan 2013 05:23:01 -0500

jkottke:

A new series of George Orwell’s books are being published by Penguin and this is the cover for 1984:

Cover design by David Pearson…more covers from the same series here. (via @torrez)

roswitha: pitchinvasion: AC Milan’s players walked off the...

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 04:32:21 -0500

roswitha:

pitchinvasion:

AC Milan’s players walked off the field today during a game against fourth division Pro Patria following racist abuse from a section of the crowd aimed at Kevin-Prince Boateng. Reportedly, most of the rest of the crowd applauded Milan’s actions as the referee stopped the game, while the Pro Patria Chairman said after the game that those “fans” were not known to be ultras or supporters of the team. Well done Milan.

FINALLY.

This is what kids are into these days

Fri, 04 Jan 2013 03:17:53 -0500

This is what kids are into these days:

While much of my childhood was spent instant messaging, on AIM and then Facebook Chat, my sister says her and her friends rarely IM with each other. “When you go on Facebook Chat the people you don’t want to talk to are always the ones who immediately chat with you.”

Most of my sister’s friends’ post-school communication takes place on iOS apps, such as iMessage and Snapchat. Though she did say that they use Facebook Message fairly often, as a way to asynchronously send each other notes (in other words, email for adolescents).

Quite interesting to see that things we considered cool/modern like IM (or even email) are now sort of irrelevant to people about 10-15 years younger that us. There are some disturbing trends like SnapChat — but it goes to show that even companies like Facebook are in shaky ground when it comes to smaller players who are able to latch on to viral (fickle?) services that get you to send scandalous, self-deleting pics of yourself.

100 greatest sports photos

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 23:29:48 -0500

jkottke:

From Sports Illustrated, their picks for the 100 greatest photos of sports.

Welcome to “Learning by Shipping”

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 22:13:00 -0500

Welcome to “Learning by Shipping”:

Steven Sinofsky, former MSFT exec (the man who shipped Windows 7 + Windows 8 and a few iterations of Office), is blogging again. He’s had a reputation of writing epic (in his case, the word “epic” is very appropriate) blog posts internally as well as in the public domain when he was at Microsoft. Really fascinated to see how this goes.

The World is Round: Granddaddy's Hoax

Tue, 01 Jan 2013 18:10:28 -0500

The World is Round: Granddaddy's Hoax:

krtgrphr:

Few college pranks can be said to be more grandly conceived, carefully planned, flawlessly executed, and publicly dramatic.

The 1961 Rose Bowl had gone perfectly for the Washington Huskies. They were chosen as the representative of the West to take on the top-ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers,…

Tom Warren: Predictions for 2013

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 16:56:41 -0500

Tom Warren: Predictions for 2013:

tomwarren:

Microsoft:

A significant new version of Windows will launch that will co-incide with new 7- and 8-inch tablet hardware.

A big push towards additional Xbox hardware.

A next-generation console launch that will be unveiled sooner than expected.

Steady updates to Windows Phone, greater presence…

Interesting predictions… close watchers of these companies won’t find many earth-shattering predictions though.

Comments

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:17:00 -0500

I haven’t decided if I want comments for tumblr posts. For one, they require third-party commenting solutions (like Disqus) which I find clunky in general. Secondly, I don’t expect comments or significant comment threads with heavy discussions anyway.

The alternative, if people want to get in touch, is the “Ask” button – especially for those who can’t get a hold of me elsewhere on the internets.

Sigh

Fri, 28 Dec 2012 20:02:52 -0500

Sigh:

I’m terrible at expressing emotions. Especially the sadder kinds (grief/helplessness/anger at a loss etc). More so online. I tend to shut up, observe others venting, or just block it all off – preferring all that over blurting out stuff that either sounds fake-genuine or just inappropriate.

The incidents on their own didn’t shock me any more than the nausea I generally feel reading the gist of these kinds of crimes (before my brain shuts off). The reaction from people in power, and some sections of the media shocked me even when I ought to have known better.

Oh well. I’m just not the right person to talk about these kind of things so who am I kidding anyway?