just an asterisk

I’ve heard a few people say that the iPad is for consumption rather than creation.  Something about this phrase both disgusts and intrigues me. It feels like the cheesy catchphrase of a generation, something that would be used on a VH1 special. When I was younger, I don’t remember us being so focused on hoarding content. There were collectors (comic books, baseball cards, etc) but these people were … well strange.  In the past few years though, products have emerged to satisfy a constantly connected and informed clientele.  We’re so design conscious and hip aren’t we?  We shouldn’t have to select the gems – give us everything…

Anyway, pushing my soapbox back under the bed, I have an iPhone and looking back at my activities for the last few weeks, I am struck by how little I’ve created with my new toy – it’s as if someone crammed every form of media into an all powerful demon in my front right pocket (the left pocket just doesn’t feel right after years of carrying my blackberry in my right).  I figure that, rather than fighting these forces, I should embrace them.  In that vein, here are my favorite apps on the iPhone, purposely split into groups, consumption and creation. Read more »

There is a purity to the idea of music as the primary goal for the iPod (the phrase “it used to be about the music” always reminds me of Almost Famous and this scene above).  I’ve written about the feature craziness of the iPhone (here), but recently got an iPod Touch for Xmas, so I thought I would try an experiment.  You see, the iPod touch really has only two features – it plays music and video, like any iPod these days, AND it has a WiFi connection, a feature that leads to all sorts of mischief.  I wondered what I could get up to with only the WiFi connection.  Would the device still be useful if it were not about the music at all?

The results were entertaining.  I spent my vacation downloading apps and trying to get as much mileage out of the Touch as I could.  In fact, I’ll give you a preview of the ending: it was a lot of fun.  Let the games begin…

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So your colleagues showed up at your desk with a bottle of beer or a Starbucks gift card or a little box with a bow and you’ve managed to suppress the BUT I DIDN’T GET YOU ANYTHING! for about the 10th time in one day.  Sigh… This is the holiday season in an office and although you love that people make the effort, you may feel a little overwhelmed buying even more presents (and for people you barely know outside of work).  The good news is that it’s completely avoidable.  You can arrive ready and not break the bank in the process.  The trick is to give everyone a custom tailored version of… the same thing.  This year, the price of digital media is so low, that I recommend a flash drive with portable apps.

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My dear wife,

You were right.  It took me nearly a year, I swore up and down that my Flickr account was the bees knees, I wrote articles and explanations of how to use Flickr’s advanced tool set, and I ruined perfectly good cocktail party conversations, berating all services that did not stack up to my personal choice.

A year has gone by and now, like a dope, I have to reverse my position.  Why?  Because Picasa just changed the game, and I can no longer ignore the beautiful integration between Picasa and all my other apps.  Before I start into the details, this isn’t to say that Flickr is a bad service – it’s just no longer for me (yes I’m trying to save face – but let’s not write off Flickr entirely… there are too many devotees).

Without any more ado, here are the top 4 reasons I’ve decided to change over.

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I recently converted over from Gmail to Google Apps for my domain and went through the process of transferring my email.  During the process, I moved 13930 emails.  With such a large data size to test with, it got me to thinking – are there any filters that nearly everyone could use?  Emails do not vary as much as you might think.  I took some of my favorite filters and checked to see if they worked only for me or if they could be applied to others as well.  Here is what I came up with:

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Note: my bookmarklets can be downloaded from my geekier sister site – thegeekiness.com.  Check it out if you want more detail.

We are know that web pages can be bookmarked.  The act of saving web pages for future browsing has become second nature.  However, today we’re going to talk about the bookmarklet, which is a bookmark but with magical powers (sometimes).

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I was going to call this post, the anatomy of a domain, after a Kids in the Hall sketch that I had (incorrectly) thought was called the “anatomy of a joke”.  In fact, the sketch is called “Sketch Comedy” and the premise is to describe what goes into a good sketch.  If you’re interested, check the out the video and the transcript…

Despite my mistake, I still want to go into the anatomy of a domain.  I want to try convince you that (no matter who you are) you can have your own web domain.  You can have your emails go to me@bobsagget.me or me@JAAismyfavoriteblog.com.  It’s not hard, nor should it be only done by professionals.  If you want a weekend project, and don’t mind reading a little bit, you too can have your own space on the fantastic interweb…  I should point out that this isn’t entirely free.   However, for less than price of 3 lattes, we can get you up and running. Read more »