Liked this Malcolm Gladwell talk:
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/malcolm_gladwell_on_spaghetti_sauce.html
Like the TED talks–there’s some really interesting stuff on there.
Malcolm Gladwell Talk
August 20th, 2010Google Wave Goodbye
August 5th, 2010I’m sorry to see that Goggle has dropped the Wave product. I played around with the application when it was first available. It took some time to understand the idea and the implementation had its flaws. But the idea was really interesting. I was not able to use Wave because for it to be truly useful I needed my network of coworkers to also adopt the technology. They didn’t and hence the product was of no use to me. Maybe Metcalfe’s Law best describes why the project failed. Too bad. I had hoped that Google Wave would succeed.
Never Read Another Resume
June 28th, 2010Reading on the iPad
June 14th, 2010I have now read one whole book (Malcom Gladwell’s What The Dog Saw) on my iPad. I’ve never liked reading books on the computer and was not sure if I would like reading on any electronic device. But I really enjoyed reading on the iPad.
One thing I like that I don’t recall anyone mentioning about reading on the iPad is that ambient lighting is not an issue. With the beautiful bright screen on the iPad, I don’t have the same issue that I occasionally do reading a paper book. Together with the ability to control font size, it takes away two sources of eye strain (or should it be iStrain) for me.
Writing on the iPad
May 18th, 2010I am writing this blog post on my iPad at a Raleigh Ruby Brigade meeting. The meeting is interesting, but I’m really liking working on the iPad. I’ll keep this short for now because I want to see how it looks on the website.
Learning Ruby
April 13th, 2010I’m working on learning ruby and rails. Here are a couple links to useful resources. This first one is a great primer on Ruby.
http://www.humblelittlerubybook.com/
And the second is site I found most helpful for learning Rails.
First Thoughts About the iPad
April 6th, 2010Yesterday I got to play with a coworker’s iPad. Awesome! Apple has once again created a game changer. The realization hit home this morning while I was at the health club working out. I was reading a technical periodical and saw a picture of another, very different, new tablet computer. This is the kind with the keyboard and the screen that flips around and can be in either laptop mode or in tablet mode. When I saw the picture I had an emotional reaction: old, creaky, inefficient, ugly, etc. ”What?!? It has a keyboard? And look at the ugly hinge where the screen flips around!” Up until I played with the iPad, I would have welcomed the chance to play around with (and own) one of those tablet computers. Now, I just don’t care anymore.
The iPad brings an elegance to the field that will set the standard for all other tablets. Just as the iPod was not the first portable MP3 player, the iPad is not first in the field. But it will redefine the field, just as the iPod did.
CSS for Tables
March 13th, 2010I was looking for some examples of CSS code to use for tables and found this site. There are some good examples.
iPad
January 28th, 2010Yesterday Apple announced the iPad. It looks awesome and I’m sure it will be a great device. But I’m disappointed about a couple things. They should have put a camera on the front. They could have made video chat/video conferencing ubiquitous. It seems like a lost opportunity. And as a developer, I’m disappointed that there is no way to do my work on the device. Wouldn’t geeks everywhere have rushed to buy one if they could build iPhone/iPad apps on an iPad?
But I am pleasantly surprised by the price. With a $500 entry point, they are positioned to sell a bunch.
Dan Brinklin’s Note Taker
December 24th, 2009I love this iPhone app. What a great example of thinking outside the box and coming up with a really functional UI! The video demo is very compelling. But after using the app for a few weeks, I’ve gained an even greater appreciation for the application.
http://danbricklin.com/log/2009_12_05.htm#notetaker
http://www.softwaregarden.com/products/notetaker/
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/innoeco/2009/12/dan_bricklin_from_killer_app_t.html