Using a Laptop as a Personal Heater
Feeling cold and lazy?
Try firing up a browser tab or two with a heavy Flash application. That will get your laptop good and hot, then just hold it against yourself.* Now you don’t have to stand up to adjust the heat or grab a blanket!
My 2011 MacBook Air runs a little too efficiently for this trick. Kind of makes me miss my first gen Air… That old bastard was a furnace. It didn’t run well, but damn it, it was great on cold Winter nights.
*Don’t scorch yourself. You’ve been warned. I accept no responsibility for the stupidity of other’s.
Support Rock Vibe on Kickstarter!
Rock Vibe is basically Rock Band for the blind. A player attaches peripherals to her/his arms, and the devices vibrate when the player needs to strike a corresponding note. It’s a brilliant way to make a modern video game playable for the visually impaired.
The creators of Rock Vibe need money to get this project off the ground, as building hardware isn’t exactly a cheap endeavor. So far they’ve raised about $15,000 on Kickstarter (an incredibly cool crowd-funding site, if you haven’t seen it). Unfortunately they have not yet reached their goal of $32,000, and they only have three days left.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that one of the creators of Rock Vibe is a woman named Rupinder Dhillon who is the sister of a good friend. That doesn’t take away from how cool her project is. Hardware/ software combinations like Rock Vibe will help blind gamers now, but I have no doubt that their concept has the potential to heighten the gaming experiences of sighted gamers in the future.
The Rules of Mobile App Design (Presentation Slides)
Last week I had the honor of presenting to the NJ Mobile Meetup group. NJ Mobile is a collection of about 300 mobile technology enthusiasts that I co-organize. While I’ve been one of the groups organizers for quite some time, this was the first time that I actually spoke at an event. Much to my delight the presentation, which was partially based on my blog post The Rules of Mobile App Design, was very well-received.
My goal was to record the presentation and slides and post a video, but I’ve been experiences some technical difficulties of the crashing variety whenever I try to record my screen and voice at the same time. So here are the slides, and I hope to add the full video presentation soon:
Rules_of_Mobile_App_Design (PDF)
Thank You & Farewell Mr. Jobs
Every significant job I’ve ever had was needed because of something Steve Jobs created. The guy invented the personal computer as we know it. The same goes for the smart phone. He didn’t do either alone, but he was the man with the vision. He was one of those rare Nikola Tesla-like people who could see the future, and then make it (Unlike Tesla, he was really good at making money while creating amazing things).
I hadn’t thought about the fact that nearly every dollar I’ve earned, and most of my hobbies and interests exist because of Steve Jobs. I also hadn’t expected to be so upset when he died.
Steve was an uncompromising visionary who made amazing things a reality. He was the kind of man I could respect while disagreeing with him. Under his leadership Apple consistently set the bar for quality in technology & design.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how little time we have to make a real impact, and create amazing things. So much of my client work is unfulfilling because I’m doing work for people who don’t understand or care about technology. They have no concept about what is possible, and therefore have no desire to push the boundaries of possibility. They have the budgets, but they have don’t have the will. We live in incredible times, in large part because of the contributions of Steve Jobs. I have realized for a long time that I need to take control of my life’s work, and make great things, but seeing the headlines of Steve’s death have made me realize that tomorrow is not the day to take action. Time is too short.
Thank you for helping create that future Steve. Thank your for all of your ideas, your actions, your gadgets, your software and your uncompromising vision. You are immortalized in the technology that structures our lives, and our future.
(Images via gapingvoid & Oatmeal)
Why You Shouldn’t Trade In Your Mobile Device
Mobile device retailers like Apple, Best Buy, Amazon & Verizon want you to recycle or trade-in your mobile devices. They even offer a good chunk of change to do so.
Bonus: Check out the terrible alien/ Michael Jackson-esque photoshopping of this woman! Good job Verizon.
It’s usually not a terrible deal, but there is one big reason why you should keep your retired mobile device:
Mobile devices break.
They are portable, small, handled often, and as a result are easy to drop.
The screens are prone to glitches and wear-out over the course of a year or two.
Replacement
When they die, you may have a warranty, and your retailer will get you a refurbished one, but it will take a few days to a few weeks.
During that time you will either have to pay for a loaner (which is usually a shitty Droid Eris or something equally crappy), or you can use your own old phone.
You will be much better off with your own phone, but you won’t have your old phone if you don’t keep it.
Thoughts on Arrington vs Huffington
Michael Arrington and Arianna Huffington are stuck in a showdown where both of them will lose. The difference between the two is that Arrington won’t give a shit.
The idea that Arrington, one of the biggest names in tech writing is going to start a venture capital fund to essentially funnel money into companies that he is hyping so he can profit on both fronts is at the very least ethically questionable. The fact that the guy is shocked that the PR backlash has forced Huffington to put the screws to him is insane.
As Dan Primack pointed out, Huffington is in a lose-lose situation. She either wasn’t paying attention to Arrington’s not-so-secret, secret plans, or she knew and didn’t take the time to think about the implications for her organization. Both conclusions make her look foolish.
Arrington has once again confirmed that he’s unethical.; no shock there. However, I never had him pegged for an idiot. The guy sold his website to AOL. Even if this VC debacle never happened, he was inevitably going to lose control of TechCrunch simply because HE SOLD IT TO AOL!!! AOL’s only great strength is compromising things. They wrecked Engadget.
Anyone who followed the TechCrunch sale to AOL knew that it wouldn’t end well. Near as I can tell it means that Arrington either thought he could:
- Cash-in and out-muscle AOL over the long-haul (Delusional)
- Live with AOL (Also delusional)
- Ride out his contract and start something new like Joshua Topolsky (This is way too reasonable and level for Arrington)
- He was planning on leaving in a PR inferno because he’s an attention whore, and this is a good way to draw attention to his next project (Evil mastermind)
- He has no self-control and is throwing a tantrum because he has to live by someone else’s rules (Giant baby)
I don’t know what he was thinking, but I’m tired of him. I look forward to the day when he is merely a footnote in the history of the Internet.
Rebecca MacKinnon: Let’s take back the Internet!
Rebecca MacKinnon explains why and how we collectively need to take back the Internet from those who seek to control it.
