Great answer thread on Quora about writer’s block. I very much agree with K.M. Weiland’s suggestions to ask yourself questions to answer and to show up every day are two big ones. Though I think Devin Friedman probably has the best answer of all:
Keep writing even though it sucks. In my experience, the most accute cause of writer’s block is cannibalizing your work. When you think it sucks too badly to keep going. Let it suck and move on, you can always go back and make it better.
I heard about Airfoil via Twitter one day when I was wishing out loud that I could play the music from my Rdio desktop app through my home stereo which is connected to my Apple TV.
By default, I can only play music in my iTunes library through the Apple TV. Therefore, if I am listening to Rdio or Pandora while working in my office, I have to play the music through the laptop speakers. But that is where Airfoil comes in.
Airfoil acts like a middleman for my audio and video by taking the audio from any source and send it to any speaker on your network. It certainly has many more use-case scenarios, but this is what I use it for and I am quite happy with it.
Moreover, Airfoil has its own EQ. This truly seals the deal for making it perfect companion to Rdio because Rdio does not have any way to adjust EQ. Even if you’re only using Airfoil to listen to Rdio on your laptop, it’s practically worth it to get a perfect EQ setting anyway.
I even adjusted my Keyboard Maestro macro for launching Rdio to now launch Airfoil first, wait a couple seconds, and then launch Rdio so that Airfoil can have the slight head start it needs in order to hijack the Rdio audio.
My goodness. This game figured out how to cram the maximum amount of adrenaline into the iPhone that it could handle. And then they went and squeezed in a little bit more.
Here’s a thought: the iPhone and iPad are testing grounds for each other.
Steve Jobs said that Apple began building a touch device by first working on the iPad. But they set it aside to build the iPhone first instead. The iPad was the first idea, the iPhone was the first product shipped. The technology and operating system of the iPhone was then used as the foundation to build and ship the iPad.
The iPad was the first device with the A4 chip. Now the iPhone has it as well. The iPad now has the A5, and that is likely coming to the next iPhone.
The iPhone was the first with a front-facing camera and a Retina Display. The iPad has the former and it will soon have the latter.
The iPad has 3G data connectivity without a carrier contract. The iPhone doesn’t (yet).
The two devices keep leapfrogging each other. They swerve in and out of each other’s development cycles. Each one gets its own and different type of technology and then passes it on to the other. Sometimes the iPhone gets it before the iPad, and sometimes the iPad gets it before the iPhone.
An interesting look by bitly at the lifespan of their links:
The mean half life of a link on twitter is 2.8 hours, on facebook it’s 3.2 hours and via ‘direct’ sources (like email or IM clients) it’s 3.4 hours. So you can expect, on average, an extra 24 minutes of attention if you post on facebook than if you post on twitter.
Great piece by Dan Frommer:
Apple, once a victim of the pricing game, is now able to exploit it, while still recording record profits.
It’s true. For $499 you can’t buy a better tablet than the iPad. For $999 you can’t buy a better laptop than the MacBook Air. For $29 you can’t buy a better operating system than Lion.
Nice scoop by Jim Dalrymple at The Loop.
These map covers are stunning. When was the last time you wanted to frame something your insurance company sent you? (Via Kottke.)
Many thanks to WhereCloud for sponsoring the RSS feed this week.
WhereCloud is an iOS app design and development studio. You can hire them to help you build an app, and they would love to work with you. They “breathe, sleep, eat and drink mobile technology, business strategy, product design and user experience.”
Their portfolio is very impressive and diverse. The apps they have designed and developed are attractive, clever, and usable. These guys are in it for the art and the passion of what they do.
Over the years I have received many questions from friends, co-workers, and readers who have an idea or a need for an iOS app they want to build but don’t know where to get started. For some it’s an app they want to build and sell on the App Store. For others, there’s a custom-app that they would love to put on an iPhone or iPad and implement at their place of work. (Even Apple is doing that now.)
If you’ve got an idea for an app, WhereCloud is a great place to start.
One of WhereCloud’s mottos is that every app starts with a question. And to prove it, their phone lines and email inboxes are open, and you can talk with them at no charge. In confidence you can contact WhereCloud to discuss your goals and ideas, hear their feedback, and then from there it’s your decision if you want to work with them.
On MacSparky:
How many times a day do you use your iPhone?
Whatever the maximum amount is.. I’m +1 on that.
Aren’t we all, Michael? Aren’t we all?
Nice roundup of some notable design sites, articles, and other miscellany from last month. The 7-minute episode on Typography by PBS Arts is definitely worth watching.
A fun show with Ben and I as we unknowingly talked about the Amazon Kindle tablet just a few hours before MG Siegler posted his scoop.
What happens when something goes from scarce to surplus.
Put This On is one of the best things on the Internet. I’m backing season 2 — which promises to be significantly more exciting than season 1 — and you should, too.
