While working in the yard this weekend we noticed a strange looking thing in the Shrubs.
A quick search on the net revealed the creator of this amazing structure. The Potter Wasp. More info on Wikipedia.
A solitary wasp that create little pots for their offspring. Seriously kind of amazing. They fill the pot with paralyzed caterpillars, spiders, and other bugs. Then they lay an egg and cap the pot.
No details here - but in my opinion, one of the worst ways to start development for a new web site:
Stress levels are high. Confidence levels are low. Trying to stay positive. Just keep swimming.
On Tuesday, while we were having a blast in the Magic Kingdom, Apple announced the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Like everyone else that was following along with the rumors and leaks, I knew what to expect with the new phones. They look like great upgrades especially when combined with iOS 8. I watched the keynote sitting in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge and I ordered an iPhone 6 Plus Friday morning as we were leaving Disney World.
Apple also announced the long rumored Apple Watch. For me, the watch is more interesting than the new phones. I like the idea of glancing at my wrist to see if something requires more attention. I'm curious about the health tracking abilities and how they will enhance what I'm already getting from the motion co-processor in the iPhone 5S. I'm even intrigued by the tap based 'intimate' communication interface that was shown. Looking forward to trying the watch out and seeing how it evolves in future iterations.
On a whim, I bought an ASUS Chromebook C300MA-DB01. I wanted to see if it could work as a secondary work computer. I don't have a laptop at work, and I'm not comfortable with leaving my Macbook Air there all the time.
I fully expected to be a little disappointed with the performance and screen quality. I also expected to be annoyed by the simplistic browser based OS. Wow! was I wrong. If you are ok with storing things in the cloud, and using Google services, then this might be a perfect second device. While on my work network, I can ssh into my main computer, I can remotely edit code, and I can test websites with chromes developer tools. All of my Chrome bookmarks and extensions were there the moment I logged in, and there's a good selection of apps on the app store.
The only problem I have had so far, is with getting my work VPN connection setup correct. The Chrome OS needs to provide easier setup for VPN configuration. However, based on information other Chromebook users have compiled, I should be able to get VPN working correctly. It's just not a simple configuration. If I use it mainly at work, I won't really need the VPN to work.
I could easily suggest this as a secondary cheap alternative to a table or laptop for my Developer friends. Some of the newer models even have better screens. But, don't expect something this cheap to blow you away with build quality.
I can easily suggest a Chromebook as a primary device for family members or normal people that do not require special software or graphics heavy games. Most people do not need more than this. And it's more secure and easier to use than Windows or Mac OSX.
This year we decided to become more active. This decision came about mostly because of our upcoming Disney World trip. But, we also wanted to increase our average activity level to lose weight and to improve our health. When we started my average week looked something like this:
I'm using the Pedometer++ app and the iPhone 5S M7 chip to track my walking. Slowly increasing my goal over several months results in a graph that looks more like this:
The change was gradual and for the most part easy. Combining increased activity with fewer snacks is also having the side effect of lowering my weight. Which I really, really, really need to happen. I also feel better and have more energy than I have in years.
Not much else to say about it. Buy good shoes, Read, and give it a try.
When I switched to the Mac several years ago, the only big concern was access to PC games. But, there is dual booting, and there are virtual solutions, so I jumped in and never looked back. These days more and more games are coming out with support for the Mac on day one. But, I still find myself getting excited for a new game, only to be totally disappointed when I see that it is PC only.
Just suck it up and run windows.
My solution used to be exactly that. But, now I'm taking a different approach. I don't buy games that do not support the operating systems I use. I do not support developers that do not provide software for my platform. It is that easy and simple. Sure, I would like to play Space Engineers or Fable Anniversary, but they are not available on OS X. So just get on with your life already. :)
The best way to influence a company's behavior is with money. Don't buy it or do buy it. The choice you make will help them to make decisions going forward. Now I know I'm in a minority on this, and I know that my one purchase won't make a huge difference. But, it's what I can do. Oh, I also do not download the game illegally. Don't be that guy.
I am somewhat of an anomaly among my friends. I do not download music, tv, or movies illegally, and I do not take content from friends. I do not have Cable TV. So I wait till Game of Thrones is out on Blu-ray. I buy season passes on iTunes or Amazon. I watch Netflix and Amazon Prime. I will sometimes go to a Providers web site to watch shows, which means I still see commercials in some cases.
Having said that, I can completely understand why a vast majority of people download content illegally. The industry wants you to spend your money on Cable TV. They want you to pay for 200 channels you don't watch. They want to send you to the Theater to watch a movie. They do not want to provide a-la-cart programming. They want you watching commercials. They will do everything they can to maintain control and lack of choice. Even though most people can easily get the content they want with little hassle.
So whats the net result of this. I'm watching less TV than ever and I don't miss most of it and I spend less on TV and Movies. I am more choosey when determining what I will watch.
The content providers should be afraid of the changing landscape. But, they may want to think less about cord-cutters that pirate media, and more about the people that learn that they don't really need most of what they used to watch.
We use the reminders app on iOS for sharing to-do's at home, along with a small white-board on the fridge. This works great for the kinds of things we do at home, and let's be honest, Lisa keeps things up to date, like a Boss.
But, at work it makes more sense to keep notes and to-do lists in text form. I work on multiple operating systems and I like to enter notes on whatever system is more convenient at that particular time. A while back I switched to Markdown for these documents. It lets me keep the files on Dropbox, and share them between Linux, Mac OS X, and iOS with little hassle. I thought I would share what I'm doing currently on each of these platforms.
I mentioned above that I'm writing some Sublime Text plugins to match what I have on Editorial. I don't always bring my iPad to work.
I hope this helps in some small way. I'm still trying to be more disciplined about updating my notes. I hope to evolve and update the tools I use while keeping it simple.
JavaScript is Dead, Long Live JavaScript.
Over the last couple of months my day job has been undergoing a transition. We decided to change our thinking about Web Applications. We realized just how far behind we were. Web Applications have changed. The wild west is being tamed. the structured MVC world we are used to in the back in, has moved into the browser. Instead of single pages being rendered after each request to the server, we have full featured stateful applications running in the browser. Meanwhile the servers, where much of this logic and state used to exist, have now become reusable restful data providers. The whole stack has shifted.
None of this is new of course. It's been going on for years, but I've only just poked my head out of the trenches and realized. In a broader sense it's the same transition that has been going on for years. So if like me you had not been paying attention Start Here:
Well so much for Angular. I know many people are still using it. I personaly have become very into using React for small reusuable components. But, Angular was not at all popular in my company, very few people liked working with it. It was also very difficult for us to admit that there was any real benefit to using it for the projects that we had at the time.
I have hundreds of 3rd party apps on my phone. I use a few of them all the time.
The Drafts app gives you one place to quickly type or paste text, and then do something with it. You can create custom actions to send that text to almost any service like Twitter or Facebook, or you can do something more complex like append the text with a time and a date to a specific file in your dropbox account.
Many people like to use alternative Twitter clients, but I find the main Twitter app to be more than sufficient for most of my twitter usage.
I don't create many Vine's myself, but I can waste a great deal of time watching other people get really creative with 6 seconds of video.
The Riposte app is a great App.Net client, a twitter like service.
I use the Google+ app to read posts on Google+. Not much else to say here.
Love it or hate it, Facebook is the only way I communicate with some of my friends. The Facebook app gets the job done.
Restaurant reviews and information. The Yelp app gets better with every update. Why don't more people use it?
I watch an amazing amount of content on YouTube. I often use the YouTube app to stream videos to my Apple TV.
Store your passwords securely. Generate new passwords. Keep the data sync'd across your devices and computers.
The M7 chip in the iPhone 5s made has replaced the Fitbit. Argus and the Nike+ Move app can read the data stored in the M7 and show me that I should be exercising way more than I am.
"The measure of a life is a measure of love and respect. So hard to earn, so easily burned" Rush - The Garden
"I turn sideways to the sun
keep my thoughts from everyone
It's a jungle, I'm a freak
Hear me talk, but never speak" New Order - World