Oh my nerd. (Via Ben Brooks.)
See also Gabe’s trick for appending to a Dropbox note with Drafts.
Year: 2012
Joel’s Review of the Hard Graft Flat Pack →
I sold my original iPad and my iPad 2 to pay for this messenger bag and it was worth it. The bag is, as Joel says, awesome.
“Capturing the Memories” →
This week’s cover of The New Yorker.
Awakenings: An Android Design Process →
Sebastiaan de With on the design of doubleTwist’s Alarm app for Android:
I’d say every designer should design a clock at some point. There’s a lot of ways you can design a clock, and it’s surprisingly difficult to design something so attractive that it is remarkable, yet neutral enough to be liked by a very wide audience. One only has to look at the market for watches to see how intensely personal clock design is. I am still not quite content, and I’ll probably never be: I’ve found designing clocks to be a rather consuming affair.
In my review of the Nexus 7 I concluded by saying: “When I’m using a device like the Nexus 7 I want to know where the details are. Where is the magic? The fun? The incredible 3rd-party apps?”
Well, doubleTwist’s Alarm app is one fine answer. It’s beautiful, thought out, full of detail, fun, and highly functional.
A Familiar Sigh →
Dave Pell has some great coverage of the Colorado theater shooing in today’s edition on The Next Draft. This screenshot of a tradgety unfolding in 3 tweets is especially heartbreaking.
Jessica Ghawi’s Late Night Thoughts on the Eaton Center Shooting →
Jessica Ghawi was shot and killed last night at the theater in Colorado. Just last month she escaped the shooting that took place at the Eaton Center in Toronto thanks to a sick feeling in her gut just 3 minutes before the gunman opened fire in the food court. She wrote a blog post about it:
I was shown how fragile life was on Saturday. I saw the terror on bystanders’ faces. I saw the victims of a senseless crime. I saw lives change. I was reminded that we don’t know when or where our time on Earth will end. When or where we will breathe our last breath. For one man, it was in the middle of a busy food court on a Saturday evening.
58 Shot and 12 Murdered in Colorado Theater Shooting →
Horrible and tragic. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims. I’m reminded of the day I was in class at Douglas County and the announcement came over the school intercom that there had been a shooting at Columbine. I remember it like it was yesterday.
The Importance of Going First →
Seth Godin:
In more and more fields, the originator of the novel idea reaps an outsize share of the benefits. One reason is that it’s easier to gain attention quickly. Another is that once you gain attention and reputation, it’s easier to lock in permission and turn it into a foundation for your next project. And most of all, when attention is precious, earning that attention with innovation is priceless.
I think if you do something and it turns out pretty good, then you should go do something else wonderful, not dwell on it for too long. Just figure out what’s next.
Supporting Your Favorites →
Marco Arment:
If you want to keep the software and services around that you enjoy, do what you can to make their businesses successful enough that it’s more attractive to keep running them than to be hired by a big tech company.
Amen to that.
SeatGeek →
You know how when you’re trying to do something online and you think to yourself, surely this could be easier and better? If you’ve ever thought that about finding and buying sporting event tickets, then SeatGeek is your answer.
It’s a new to me site, and I don’t think I’ll buy game and concert tickets any other way again.
Thoughts and Impressions of the Nexus 7
Over the past few weeks I’ve read a dozen or so of the early reviews of the Nexus 7. They were nearly all positive.
What seems to be the prevailing statement about the Nexus 7 is that it’s the best Android tablet by far, and that it’s the best $200 tablet by far. While that may be true (and I think that it is), I don’t know if it’s saying much.
It’s praised for two primary reasons: (1) the hardware has a surprisingly high-quality build for how inexpensive it is, and (2) Jelly Bean has proven to be a significant update to the Android operating system.
As Jerry Hildenbrand points out in his review of the Nexus 7 on Android Central:
Jelly Bean is like Ice cream sandwich, with all the features we wanted Ice Cream Sandwich to come with. It’s fast and smooth (like buttah), full of the latest and greatest APIs for developers to do all sorts of magic with, and there’s a level of polish we’ve all been waiting for.
* * *
My Nexus 7 arrived on Tuesday. It is the first Android tablet I’ve ever used, the first 7-inch tablet I’ve ever used, and the first $200 tablet I’ve ever used.
The small form-factor of the Nexus 7 is quite nice. My iPad has become my laptop and most of the time when I am out and about the size of the iPad is perfect for me. But when using it around the house for reading or surfing the Web, there are times when the iPad feels a bit too big. My biggest gripe being that the iPad cannot be used with just one hand. Extended reading on the iPad requires that it rest on a couch cushion, your lap, or your chest.
But with the Nexus 7, its size, weight, and rubbery-back make it easy to hold with one hand. It seems silly to buy such a capable tablet for the sole purpose of easier couch surfing and extended reading, but to me that is the Nexus 7’s strongest suit.
But what then? Is the fatigued iPad reader meant to buy another, smaller tablet with the intentions of keeping it on the coffee table or at their bedside? Perhaps. But that seems a bit extreme to me. Surely there are other benefits and advantages to the Nexus 7 beyond its size.
To be true, the Nexus 7 is a fine tablet. Anyone awaiting a quality Android tablet will be pleasantly surprised. And anyone in want of a tablet that costs less than $399 would do fine with the Nexus 7.
As some are wont to say, the iPad is a device meant for consumption only (if you’re reading this site I have no doubt you roll your eyes at that statement too). Well, if the iPad is not meant for content creation, then the Nexus 7 certainly is not. For two main reasons: its screen size (and, thus its keyboard size) and its app store.
Typing on the Nexus 7 in portrait mode is not unlike typing on the Galaxy Nexus in landscape mode. It’s easy and quite doable with two thumbs.
However, typing on the Nexus 7 in landscape mode is pretty much a joke. The keyboard is too big to easily type with your thumbs while holding the device, and yet it is far too small to type home row style. Moreover, with the soft key system buttons resting just below the spacebar it is extremely easy to tap on one of them instead of Space.
If you do expect to type a lot, the Nexus 7 pairs easily with a Bluetooth keyboard. I was able to pair my AmazonBasics keyboard with the Nexus 7, and even the iPad-intended modifier keys worked.
Price and hardware aside, I find that my overall sentiment towards Android remains relatively the same from my week-long excursion with the Galaxy Nexus last Winter. On a technical level, Jelly Bean is noticeable improvement over Ice Cream Sandwich. But I still do not see the appeal of an Android device over an iOS device unless your motives for using one are based solely on price, screen size, or a vendetta against Apple Inc.
For me, when it comes down to it, software will always trump hardware. When I’m using a device like the Nexus 7 I want to know where the details are. Where is the magic? The fun? The incredible 3rd-party apps? It is because of these elements that the iPad is more than the sum of its parts while its competition continues to remains less than.
Really Great Frisbee Thrower →
On this week’s episode of The B&B Podcast, Ben and I talk mostly about the Nexus 7 and the tablet market. And guess what. There’s an After Dark where we talk about BBQ (only because I convinced Ben not to delete the post-show portion of the show).
Terpstra Day →
Today just so happens to be Brett Terpstra’s birthday. A few of us got together and agreed we’d all say Happy Birthday to Brett by posting a little something on our sites. Also, as a way of saying thanks for all the incredible nerdy gifts he gives to the Internet.
Thanks for being so awesome, Brett. Happy Birthday!
Batman Miscellany
For those in the mood to nerd out over some Batman-related stuff.
Videos
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The Dark Knight Rises Featurette: A 13-minute behind-the-scenes look at footage, cast interviews, and clips.
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The Dark Knight Rises Trailer with Pee-wee Herman Voices. Haha.
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“I’m Batman” supercut. The title says it all.
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Trailer for 1966’s Batman The Movie. They sure don’t make trailers like they used to. And, if you want to watch the whole film you can, because it’s also on YouTube.
History
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Trailer for Warner Brother’s upcoming documentary on the Batmobile. Due out at the end of 2012.
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History of the Batmobile. The design from the 1992-era animated series is my personal all-time favorite. A close second is the one designed by Tim Burton and Anton Furst for then 1989-era films Batman and Batman Returns.
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The first appearance of an official Batmobile was in Detective Comics #48 (published in 1941), nearly 4 years after Batman’s debut. It was a bright red convertible.
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Every (Significant) Bat-Suit Ever: Ben Moore chronicles every significant iteration of Batman’s outfit since Detective Comics #27.
Other
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The Dark Knight Manual: A new book that features removable documents, including the design and capability of the famed utility belt, the hi-tech functions of Batman’s cowl, and every detail of his amazing arsenal of weapons and gadgets.
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Polygon Heroes: Batman poster. Awesome.
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Limited edition Mondo Poster for The Dark Knight Rises. Also awesome.
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In 2010, a copy of Detective Comics #27 sold for $1,075,550. At the time that was the most a comic book had ever sold for. Since then 3 other comic books have sold for higher prices.
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“Given our current technology and with the proper training, would it be possible for someone to become Batman?” Mark Hughes gives one of the best answers to be posted to Quora ever. Perhaps more than a few guys will be wondering this themselves over the next few days.