January 2011
16 posts
“I stand by my prediction that, by the end of 2015, Apple will not sell any...”
– — A prediction by Mark Pilgrim in this Reddit AMA thread.
If Mark is right (and I think he will be right based on the success of iOS to date), this would be a really big deal, and transform the relationship people have with their computers. Ownership would be redefined. Calling the person...
Mobile Transition
I played around with a new app this morning called Groupie on the iPhone. It’s a very nicely done implementation of message boards on a mobile device.
As mobile apps started emerging over the past decade, I thought that many mobile-native opportunities would emerge: stuff like Foursquare and Groupme.
But, what I didn’t see coming is that stuff which works perfectly well on the web...
iPhone Gaming
My favorite games on the iPhone all have some similarities. My “must-have” list is:
Carcassonne
Drop7
Orbital
Settlers of Catan
Sword and Poker 2
Plants VS Zombies
Civ Revolution
These games have the following similarities, though most of these similarities fail to explain why I love these games:
All these games are turn-based (with the exception of Plants VS Zombies).
They...
“The head of Google’s search spam fighting team, Matt Cutts, is in Washington DC...”
– This quote via Mr. Cutts Goes To Washington, Testifies Google Has Integrity
Wow, I’m dumbfounded that Google would even have to make this argument. For the record, I consider myself a bleeding heart lefty and see good reason for government intervention in many places. Regulating search...
Browsing Files
How come whenever you browse local files via a web browser, the experience feels like a Netscape Navigator throwback? Try navigating to file:///c:/ in your web browser and see what happens. We must be able to design a better experience than this in 2011.
Dropbox is absolutely pioneering what local file navigation should look and feel like this decade. Perhaps more importantly, they’re...
Minecraft
I’ve seen the name Minecraft floating around over the past year on in various feeds, so I took the time to learn more. For some of my audience, Minecraft is old news. For others, this might be the first time you’re hearing about it. This post is targeted at the first timers. It’s an emerging phenomenon and now you can said you heard it hear first before it becomes a question...
Native to the Medium
It’s very easy to tell when a consumer service is made native to the medium through which it’s communicated. For example, Gawker.com would look silly on newsprint, just like newspapers like continue to stumble their way through transferring their content online.
In theory it should be possible to separate content from its distribution channel, and, ideally, distribute the same content...
Google Spam and Machine Learning
Much has been written lately about spam on Google. I’m very late to this criticism party, but I am genuinely baffled by Google’s inability to solve an issue so squarely in their wheelhouse… I can’t help but join in.
In short, spam blogs (splogs) are ripping off successful content from other blogs, Q&A sites, and Wikipedia, and then passing off the result as novel...
Thanks
Spark recently promoted me to Principal. Thanks a bunch to the many people that said really nice things about it. I’m humbled and really appreciate the great support everyone around Spark and the rest of the tech community has given me. Thank you.
Social Security and Identity
Social security numbers are broken.
Why is my underfunded public retirement account number also my badly designed national ID number? The only security protection for SSNs is “keep it a secret,” yet average consumers are expected to disclose SSNs in nearly any transaction larger than the cost of a new TV (for financing purposes). Security by obscurity does not work. Ever. (thank you...
Office Hours
Nate Westheimer is building a web service to host office hours. I think it’s great, and I love to see Nate hacking away at code!
I’m hosting office hours at Spark next week in order to give it a spin. The date and time is Jan 12th at 2pm. Sign up for these office hours here.
One caveat: Just because I’m holding these office hours doesn’t mean you can’t contact me...
“Asked if he had any idea why this version of “True Grit” (it was first filmed in...”
– Joel and Ethan Cohen on True Grit’s success in the NYT.
AnonTumblelogs
While falling down the rabbit hole that is the universe of Tumblr, I’m struck by how frequently two things occur, which work together:
It’s often very difficult to determine the author of a tumblelog. Most people on Tumblr don’t put anything useful or personally identifying in their About section. The names of most tumblelogs don’t aid in identifying the author. And...
OpenDNS and ISPs
I’ve been using OpenDNS for years, by hardcoding my DNS servers in my home router’s configuration. I bought a new router last week (I got a Buffalo Nfiniti powered by DD-WRT at the recommendation of Jeff Atwood). and setup everything in a couple minutes, except I forgot to manually set my DNS servers again to OpenDNS.
I didn’t notice the difference at first, but when I navigated...