hmm ...

Apple Adds Inter-App Audio, With Not-Before-Seen Features, to iOS 7

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:39:18 -0400

Apple Adds Inter-App Audio, With Not-Before-Seen Features, to iOS 7:

It’s really happening. Combined with new multitasking and audio support and Audiobus and JACK … iOS is looking hot.

Ooohh - I wonder if we can use that to pass data between apps by encoding the data as a random sound bite (like a modem stream) or hiding the data in a normal sounding sound bite.

tastefullyoffensive: [via] Have you ever looked at the signs...

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 10:48:27 -0400

tastefullyoffensive:

[via]

Have you ever looked at the signs next to those hand gel dispensers ? At the Inova hospitals in Northern VA, the signs say that you can only use the gel 10 times before you are required to use soap and water. So, the gel kinda works, but eventually, you have to *really* wash your hands.

"the trick is not caring what EVERYBODY thinks of you and just caring about what the RIGHT people..."

Fri, 31 May 2013 11:47:12 -0400

“the trick is not caring what EVERYBODY thinks of you and just caring about what the RIGHT people think of you.”

- BENDIS! (via merlin)

Click through and read it in context. It’s short and worth your time.

frickyeah1990s: my apartment could use a floppy disk coffee...

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:02:28 -0400

frickyeah1990s:

my apartment could use a floppy disk coffee table.

"Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a..."

Wed, 22 May 2013 12:14:31 -0400

“Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it’s to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth. You’ll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you’re doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you’ll hear about them.”

- Bill Watterson (via mikekarnell)

minimalmac: To wit, too many of the apps I see these days are...

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:57:52 -0400

minimalmac:

To wit, too many of the apps I see these days are things I have been using plain text files for for years. That is what your app is competing against in my mind. What makes your todo/list/notes/writing/etc. app better then what I can already do using plain text?

challenge accepted

Bloodthirsty 'factual' Discovery, NatGeo, History Channel, Animal Planet TV shows demonise wildlife

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:47:03 -0400

Bloodthirsty 'factual' Discovery, NatGeo, History Channel, Animal Planet TV shows demonise wildlife:

ultrafastx:

climateadaptation:

Journalist Adam Welz blows the lid off of how major US TV networks are depicting killing animals for profit. Wolves, grizzly bears, lynx cats, and other animals are being trapped, shot with AK-47s, and painted as dangerous threats on national networks NatGeo, Discovery, and other “reality TV” shows. Click through for more.

There is a storm brewing.

What the hell is wrong with people?

How the price of paint is set in the hearts of dying stars

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:39:21 -0400

How the price of paint is set in the hearts of dying stars:

science:

Why are barns painted red? Because red paint used to be cheapest. But why is red paint cheaper than other colors? Ultimately, nuclear physics. Yonatan Zunger explains. For more on stellar nucleosynthesis, see: we are all made of star stuff.

How to Convince People WiFi Is Making Them Sick

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:55:17 -0400

How to Convince People WiFi Is Making Them Sick:

streakmachine:

Pretty interesting stuff. Also, I learned the word “nocebo” today.

interesting …

programming is terrible: A lifetime of terrible code

Mon, 13 May 2013 14:55:34 -0400

programming is terrible: A lifetime of terrible code:

programmingisterrible:

Although many entries posted here are far from optimistic, and often glib criticism dressed up in technical jargon, they don’t always come from a position of arrogance. It is not that my code is devoid of mistakes, but understanding the mistakes of others has given me a perspective I wouldn’t be…

A very good read - in fact, the editor window to my left says:

…

/* not the best idea in the world to make these global, but what the hell */
char *t1, *t2, *t3, *t0 = “”;

void fixit() { /* should pass t3 in, but it’s already global - hee hee */
…

The Log: Reading List

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:38:42 -0400

The Log: Reading List:

minimalmac:

chrisbowler:

The more I consider the idea, the more I realize it’s Safari that is a fantastic tool. And unless I feel the need to share my bookmarks and items I’m reading, using Reading List and Safari’s bookmarks is a perfect solution.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the possibility that many of us go running for 3rd party apps because we have never trully taken the time to examine or give the built in ones a fighting chance. Chris does a great job here of explaining why he now uses Safari’s Reading List feature over other “Read It Later” apps.

Free Trials and Tire Kickers

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:30:05 -0400

Free Trials and Tire Kickers:

marco:

Are free trials and higher pricing really what we want, as developers or customers?

I’ve read this several times and still can’t decide what to think about this. Maybe because I’ve started writing an app and was considering pricing it for what (I thought) it was worth and ignoring the tire-kickers. Hmmph.

jonprins: FRESH POTS.

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:41:21 -0400

jonprins:

FRESH POTS.

betonbabe: MANFRED MOHR DIGITAL GRAPHIC PRODUCED WITH A RANDOM...

Mon, 13 May 2013 12:23:15 -0400

betonbabe:

MANFRED MOHR

DIGITAL GRAPHIC PRODUCED WITH A RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR THAT DETERMINES LENGTH, DIRECTION (0°, 45°, 90°), LINE THICKNESS, ETC., ca. 1970

onethingwell: Take your notes like it’s 1985. Classic Notes...

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:48:15 -0400

onethingwell:

Take your notes like it’s 1985. Classic Notes puts the days of one-button mice and 3.5” floppy disks in your pocket, without breaking your back.

App Store

Via @zero.

Bought it as soon as I saw it

jtotheizzoe: How much do you think you know about science...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:39:34 -0400

jtotheizzoe:

How much do you think you know about science compared to the average Earthling? Take Pew Research Center’s 13 question Science and Technology Knowledge Quiz and see where you stack up.

Hopefully reading It’s Okay To Be Smart will help you all get 100%. How’d you do?

Hard to believe that only 7% got all 13 right

Apple invention would allow for peripheral-based authentication, password recovery

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:31:48 -0400

Apple invention would allow for peripheral-based authentication, password recovery:

spytap:

I’ve always wondered why using an encrypted dongle or external device as your password never took off. It would seem to be far a more secure scenario to require A) access to some piece of hardware that B) has a rotating call-and-answer style encryption system (I’m sure there’s a term for it, but as an encryption novice, I don’t know the term) that uses a set of databases or tables on both the dongle and the answering system to verify dynamic passwords (meaning intercepting and decrypting one password mid-stream is useless since it’ll be changed again next time.)

That hardware+software+encryption+rotation would seem to be fairly easily enabled via a cheap, dedicated USB key. Plus it means users never have to remember another password again, and even better - they don’t end up using the same passwords for every site.

If the iWatch uses local hardware access and fingerprint recognition (to verify you’re not just someone with a stolen watch) to act as my two-step password verification, as opposed to just utilizing it for password recovery (slightly patching the existing problem) I’ll be in line the first day to pick one up. Hell, it could still use my iPhone as a backup/recovery if the rumors of fingerprint recognition there are accurate as well.

This would make signing in to services with hardware as easy as signing in with Facebook or Twitter (though each are a single point of failure) but about a thousand times more secure in all respects.

Photo

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 10:16:46 -0400

"Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth, and that is not speaking it."

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:04:47 -0400

“Only one thing is more frightening than speaking your truth, and that is not speaking it.”

- Naomi Wolf (via awakeinthedream)

The market for paid iOS apps isn’t dead

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:58:55 -0400

The market for paid iOS apps isn’t dead:

marco:

I’ve seen lots of discussion about the paid-app market recently, but most of what I’ve read hasn’t sat quite right with me.