Category Archives: Tech

Apps I love – Alfred

Posted by on March 16, 2012 1 comment

Alfred Usage

One of the nice things about the Mac is the nature of the software market around it.  There are a lot of small developers doing some great products.  I know there are lots of small development shops on Windows too, but my experience with small apps on Windows is different.  There are some developers who seem to pride themselves on fit and finish, and Mac users tend to demand fit and finish.  For my part too, I was always reluctant to add lots of little apps to Windows in case it made performance suffer, which I was caught with several times.

Anyway, one of these small developers who have created a really nice app is the team behind Alfred.  Alfred is a simple app launcher which you can ring up with a keyboard command.  What I love about Alfred is it’s ease of use, and the power of it’s extensibility engine.  On average I use Alfred around 32 times daily.

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Create Your own Drag and Drop File Sharing Service

Posted by on February 10, 2012 Comments Off

upload.png

I found this tip from LifeHacker useful.

My web host gives me unlimited storage, and all the other drag and drop file sharing services have some limitations (size of file uploaded, total space available, etc), so this gives me a great way to get value from my hosting provider with very little effort.

But then I figured I’d add my own URL shortener.  To do that, I ended up installing dropzone, then modifying one of their many user contributed extensions to upload and then shorten the url using my own yourls URL shortener.  So, now I can drop a file on it, it will upload it to my server and then copy the short URL into the clipboard so I can paste it into an email or whatever. Fun.

It’s always satisfying to get these sorts of hacks up and running.  Right!, back to writing C. S. Lewis book reviews…

How to Roll Your Own Awesome Drag-and-Drop File Sharing Service

Listen to all your favorite speakers

Posted by on January 20, 2012 Comments Off

Audiobooks

Last week I posted about listening to audiobooks, sermons, lectures and interviews from around the internet.  As I mentioned, there are a heap of resources to consume.  And that is a problem.  How do you whittle down what you do and don’t want to listen to?  How do you keep up the preaching of several preachers and audiobooks and lectures and interviews?

I don’t think you can, but here is how you can create your own podcast with whatever you want in it from around the web.

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Grow on the go

Posted by on January 12, 2012 Comments Off

Audiobooks

I love listening to books, sermons and lectures while I’m on the go.  Whether I’m running or walking or just driving the car somewhere, I can be learning and growing in Christ at the same time.  So here are some resources you can use to grow on the go.

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A sad way to bow out of CES

Posted by on January 10, 2012 Comments Off

I was genuinely sad to read this.  I would love Microsoft to be able to wow consumers again.  But Microsoft is focused on the enterprise more than the consumer now.  I don’t think this is a path to long term success personally.

Consumer Electronics Show: Microsoft CEO’s Keynote… | Stuff.co.nz

Building a cheap Mac

Posted by on December 28, 2011 Comments Off

Lion DesktopYep, apparently it’s possible to build a Mac for nix.  I haven’t done it before, but it looks like fun.

Lifehacker have an “always up to date guide to building a mackintosh” and you can find a list of recommended parts here.  I’d be inclined to get a SSD Drive for the operating system and then a larger spindle based drive for data storage (perhaps map it to your /users folder).

They also have a useful guide to building a bootable USB key with OSX on it from which you can install OSX.

According to lifehacker you should be able to build a hackintosh for around $300.  The actual cost depends on the parts you get and the guide was written before hard drive prices skyrocketed up.  Even so, you can still build a nice OSX machine with a SSD drive for less than US$600 which is several hundred cheaper than buying from Apple.

If only I needed another machine :)

Facebook – the leveler

Posted by on December 24, 2011 Comments Off

ReadWriteWeb on Facebook in Dumbest Moves of the Year in Web Enterprise Services:

On its way to becoming the great equalizer of the profound and the trivial

Quite right and well said.  The problem with social media noise is that it treats all things as equal regardless of it’s inherent value.

(Via ReadWriteWeb)

Path, mobile devices and social networking

Posted by on December 15, 2011 Comments Off

Path ScreenshotVia parislemon • A New Path

“What they’re dubbing the “Smart Journal”, the new Path is an app that allows you to quickly record all kinds of things you’re doing while out and about. You can still share pictures and videos, but you can also share your location, what music you’re listening to, who you’re with, and even if you’re sleeping. ”

There is great merit in having a device on you wherever you go and using that device to record a journal of sorts.  However, Path requires that you use that one app for everything – sending tweets, Facebook updates and connecting to other social media from inside Path.

IMHO, this approach won’t work.  I think if Path were to pull in tweets, Facebook updates and updates from other social networks in addition to posting them, the value proposition would be much higher.  Momento does a good job of this – but it keeps the information private.

If the functionality of these two apps were to meet – then I think it would be more compelling.  Right now, to me, Path looks like something that requires me to be compulsive, pulling out my phone wherever I go.  Just the thing I’m trying to stop doing.

Birthday gift idea…

Posted by on December 9, 2011 Comments Off

Bookbook for iPhone

Sometimes people wonder what to get me for my birthday.  Well, this is just plain cool, and not far from gift idea price… In case anyone wants an idea that is. :)

And it’s available on Amazon…

BookBook for iPhone – BookBook for iPhone – Twelve South

**UPDATE** This birthday gift idea has now been claimed.  Thank you!

Scott Adams on Windows Phone Challenge

Posted by on December 3, 2011 Comments Off

From Scott Adams:

“In a recent post I complained about both my old iPhone 3GS and my new Android phone. Brandon Watson, Senior director of Windows Phone Apps challened me to test a Windows phone. If I didn’t like it better than the iPhone and the Android, he would donate $1000 to the charity of my choice. I agreed. My evaluation follows: Read more »