November 2008
39 posts
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“My iPhone has become a very important part of my life. It’s not just a phone or...”
– James Duncan Davidson #
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Inconspicuous Consumption →
A team of economist have established a term to describe people who ‘spend lavishly on visible goods to prove that they are prosperous’. The term is Conspicuous Consumption. The team conducting the study hypothesized that visible consumption lets individuals show strangers they aren’t poor and by that nature, the lower the racial group’s income is, the more valuable it is to want to...
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Turning Ideas Into iPhone Applications →
With the surge of more iPhone users and corporate giants trying to get their ideas and products across to a wider audience, this has become the best time to switch to being an iPhone developer:
The demand for iPhone developers exceeds the supply and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. The going rate for iPhone developers, at least the developers I know and trust, is $125/hour and up. I have...
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“A BlackBerry without a keyboard is like an iPod without a scroll wheel. A Prius...”
– David Pogue on BlackBerry Storm review
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The Problem with Video →
Kyle writes up a thought-provoking view in how we treat the consumption of music and video:
So why do we consume video differently than we do music? Unlike music, TV shows and movies are mostly only entertaining to watch once. If you have already seen it, you know the mystery’s answer, you know whether the protagonist succeeds, you know… everything
As much as I enjoy a good movie, I seldom make...
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A Study of iPhone Users →
A survey conducted by Rubicon Consulting Research of 460 iPhone owners in the US entitled “The Apple iPhone: Successes and Challenges for the Mobile Industry” looked at what effect the most publicized new mobile device has had on its customers and on the technology industry. This is what they found:
iPhone users are very satisfied
E-mail is the #1 function
The iPhone increases...
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Redirecting the Blogging Ship
Taking into account Jack’s statement that “talking about your blog is the social equivalent of talking about your dog and that it’s a dull conversation for everyone but you”, I’m compelled to make this reflection regarding my blog, short and sweet.
During my initial stages of blogging, I had no specific direction as to what I wanted this personal space to be, but I...
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360 Cities Panoramas →
With the intent of bringing the world to a wider audience, 360 Cities offers amazing high-res VR panorama photography of places from all over the world with the feeling of actually being there especially with full-screen mode. Ideal for travel research or if you’re simply in the mood for exploring. Having visited Paris last year, I couldn’t resist reminiscing the beautiful scenery once...
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The Game of Luck →
Richard Wiseman’s scientific proof that you make your own breaks when it comes to the game of luck. The difference between lucky and unlucky people:
Unlucky people miss chance opportunities because they’re too busy looking for something else. Lucky people see what is there rather than just what they’re looking for. More importantly, “lucky” people tend to see themselves as lucky, whether...
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Entourage
The show has become one of my favorites recently despite only being mildly intrigued with the first couple of episodes, until I felt obliged to tune in again after hearing much buzz. The plot of the series, who’s based loosely around Mark Wahlberg’s life, tells of a young actor that hits it big in Hollywood, and brings his friends along for the ride. But there’s particular...
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Let Me Google That for You →
There are some people that are not web savvy when it comes to searching for information on the web and when they ask you for advice on it, you conclude your better off doing half the work for them so as to avoid any headache in the explanation process. Next time that happens, just tell them “let me Google that for you”. You simply type what they’re searching for and send them the...
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“A sucessful person isn’t defined by someone with all their tasks complete, but...”
– Michael Mistretta #
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How I Remember Stuff
I have a weird way of remembering things. Some rely heavily on planners to stay abreast upcoming events or simple reminders with the intent to refer to them later but I’ve gone through enough abandoned Moleskines and various other forms of convenient to carry notebooks to inform me that this process is not for me when it comes to getting things done.
I take pleasure in the whole process of...
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Kyle Meyer’s interesting statement in that there’s no trend in design but “merely an illusion of one” because there’s a large group of people who he refers to as “stylists” in the design field.
Stylists are people who are technically proficient with the tools of the trade to create design, but lack knowledge of the design process. Rather than applying the process they...
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Flip Mino HD vs Kodak Zi6 →
Some true side-by-side video quality comparison between Flip Mino HD and the Kodak Zi6. Not the best looking subject to conduct the review but notice the sharpness and contrast that the Kodak pulls over the Mino. The latter barely resembles anything close to true HD quality.
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I’ve own my fair share of Apple notebooks in the past and I’ve always managed to sell each of them successfully so as to upgrade to a new one but there were a couple steps that I wish I had known before shipping them out. Dan Benjamin offers some insightful tips in how to prepare a Mac for sale. (via Kyle Baxter)
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“Blogging is simply too big, too impersonal, and lacks the intimacy that drew me...”
– Jason Calacanis (Weblog Inc) on his retirement from the blogosphere
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Shifd: Mobile Notes to Self →
Mobile application Shifd from the New York Times is designed to let users easily shift notes, links, and addresses between their computers and their mobile phones. Instead of e-mailing yourself notes to remind yourself to do something or links to stories you want to read, you put them into ShifD and create a feed that is automatically available on your mobile phone. It’s a very simple tools...
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China issues first definition of Internet... →
Chinese doctors released the country’s first diagnostic definition of Internet addiction, among efforts to address an increasing number of psychological problems that reportedly result from Internet overuse. Symptoms of addiction included:
yearning to get back online
mental or physical distress
irritation and difficulty concentrating or sleeping
For all things news, 95% of it for me, is...
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Create with Context composed a research recently in how some people utilized the iPhone, with the assessment taking into account both experienced and novice users. Not everyone pinches, swipes or tilts away equally and they’ve released their presentation slides which provide interesting insights that developers can apply in their own interface design. I found these three points mostly...
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The Super-Secret Spy Lens →
Not everyone enjoys being photographed and the sheer awkwardness of knowing that a camera is being pointed at you can irritate anyone but now you can do it furtively to capture those candid shots with the Spy Lens.
Meant to fit the end of your SLR’s zoom lens, this guy has a secret cut-out on the side and a precision mirror assembly inside. In short, you can shoot left, right, up, or down...
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20 possible ways that denote that you may Twitter too much. My personal favorite: “You’ve lost friends because they have chosen not to join Twitter.”
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CoverFlow in Safari for iPhone →
Charles Ying has made use of Apple’s CSS Visual Effects extensions by detailing his CoverFlow (zflow) demo, a part of his new open source endeavor CSS-VFX. If you have an iPhone, try out the CoverFlow (zflow) demo live with a live Flickr feed. The experiment is still a little jumpy but it brings forth the endless potential that the iPhone platform is capable of.
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Check for Signature Please
In my quest to avoid anybody ever using my credit cards to make malicious purchases, I’ve never actually signed my cards. Instead, they have written in the back with a black Sharpie the words “See ID”, with the assumption that whenever I hand over my card to a cashier, they would do their job of asking for identification to verify proper ownership. Unfortunately that’s not...
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Anything is Now Possible
I woke up this morning to find out about Obama’s amazing win not by conventional media but by the addictive and dynamic community of Twitter. Basic instinct took over in me wanting to get the results quick and to the point without all the verbiage from CNN and I was astound as much as any other American seeking for change by the results. Jeff best describes this historic moment in what all...
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Inauguration Travel Tips from Expedia →
With record turnout expected, Expedia announces new web page with travel tips for inauguration-bound travelers. The page will bring together the tools needed to plan a patriotic visit to the nation’s capital during inauguration week by reserving hotels, airline tickets and admission to various activities and tours around the D.C. area. I’m considering it.
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“I just typed “obama” on my iPhone and it knew that it should be...”
– Adam Polselli on Twitter
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Precision Volume on Your Mac
Neat little easter egg uncovered by the crew over at The Apple Blog that enables you to execute more precise volume adjustments on your Mac.
If you need more precise control of your volume, simply hold down Shift+Option and then volume up or down. You will have a total of 64 volume levels (4 levels for each square), giving you the ability to get the volume perfect for your own needs.
Also, if...
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Blue Flavor Introduces Whitespace →
One of the comforts of freelancing is the absolute versatility that you gain in making any comfortable setting your workplace and that can include you being in your robe in the kitchen. However, this versatility can also have its disadvantages; one of them mostly being the decline of social interaction that you may experience.
But now, if you live in Seattle or have plans to be visiting in the...
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Netflix Viewing on the Mac
Over the weekend Netflix made their service of streaming movies on the Web for Intel based Mac users, something that was before just limited to Windows. I tested out the service and here’s some quick notes on my experience.
As Joe mentioned, the quality isn’t as good as a DVD, but the convenience makes up for it.
Microsoft’s Silverlight does an exceptional job in delivering...
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“Pixar is seen for a lot of folks as an overnight success but if you look...”
– Steve Jobs on The Pixar Story documentary
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Credit Scam
While making her usual run of online payments last week, Vanessa noticed an unusual lofty charge of $1,300 on her credit card for airline tickets. We both don’t have any intentions of traveling anymore this year, unless she had some furtive plans to travel alone or leave me but neither of those were the case, so after a 30 minute exhausting phone call with a credit card representative, it...
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Fresh Apps for the iPhone →
Fresh Apps brings the art of sifting through endless Apps on iTunes to the web. It’s all about finding the best App’s for your iPhone. The idea is really simple: If you like the app, if you use the app, if it makes you smile, then + Make it fresh!