Linked

Link Posts

Method & Craft  →

A brand-new, beautiful, content-rich website for creative professionals. It was an idea hatched by Phil Coffman, and it’s a site that shares some of the very fabric of the DNA here at shawnblanc.net. Meaning, Method & Craft is all about the who, what, and why of the creative process. Needless to say this site is fresh and fantastic and the world is a better place for it.

Method & Craft

NoteTask  →

Many thanks to Coding Robots for again sponsoring the RSS feed this week, this time to promote their iPhone and iPad app, NoteTask.

NoteTask was also the sponsor for the inaugural episode of The B&B Podcast, and Ben and I talked about the app a bit on the show. In short, it’s a simplistic note and to-do app that’s easy to update and use. It comes with various icons you can select if you need to highlight certain notes, it has a very clever “hide” feature to let you keep certain notes hidden from prying eyes (great spot for Christmas gift lists), and it even has OTA sync via Simplenote.

NoteTask is just 3 bucks in the app store..

NoteTask

Hands-On Details about the iPad 2 and iOS 4.3  →

Great overview of the iPad 2 by Jeff Carlson for TidBITS:

For several people I know, the size and weight of the first-generation iPad is a detriment; it’s just heavy enough that holding it for long periods of time — even propped against a leg; I’m not talking about elevating the iPad for hours — is tiresome.

I didn’t get a good sense of how much the weight differed; it’s only 0.2 pounds, after all. But the thinness is wonderful, and if anything contributes to a sense that the iPad 2 is lighter than it really is. Your brain sees a sliver of glass and aluminum. Not a slab. Not a slate.

Hands-On Details about the iPad 2 and iOS 4.3

Kevin Systrom’s 30-Second Rule for App Success  →

Instagram CEO, Kevin Systrom:

In the mobile context, you need to explain what you do in 30 seconds or less because people move on to the next shiny object. There are so many apps and people are vying for your attention on the go. It’s the one context in which you’ve got lots and lots of other stuff going on. You’re not sitting in front of a computer; you’re at a bus stop or in a meeting.

But it’s not just mobile apps — it’s for whatever it is your promoting. You practically need to be able to fit the what, the why, and the how into a Tweet for it to gain any initial traction.

Kevin Systrom’s 30-Second Rule for App Success

A Web Designed for Reading  →

Mandy Brown:

And yet, people do read online. They read more than they ever did. They even read long articles, and straight to the end. They read one article after the other. They crave reading in the quiet moments of the day—waiting in line for coffee, riding the bus, enjoying a glass of wine before their date arrives at the bar. They read while walking down the street; they read at their desk in between tasks; they buy devices that permit them to carry more words than they ever could before—and with those devices in hand they read more and more.

Mandy’s whole article is just fantastic. She really sums up many great points regarding writing, reading, and advertising on the web today.

And, as a writer, you would do well to print out the above paragraph from Mandy and frame it on your wall just above your computer screen and read it every time you publish something to the web. There are people who read every word, and there are people who don’t like articles which were made to skim, and there are people who look for in-depth and genuine thoughts rather than insipid bullet points.

A Web Designed for Reading

“Let Users Thank You by Paying You”  →

An interview with Marco Arment on GigaOM regarding finances and startups. Ryan Kim writes:

[Marco] started a $1 a month subscription plan in October that didn’t actually offer much in the way of extra features. It was more of a way to let users show their support for Instapaper. He said the response was overwhelmingly positive.

“That was a huge surprise to me how well it’s doing given there’s no real incentive to do it besides good will. But it ends up that good will is powerful,” Arment said. “It shows that people will pay for something they like because they want to ensure its future.”

“Let Users Thank You by Paying You”