Technology

300 posts

Fri 13 Jan
2012

Android Doubles Down on Design

2:24 PM
Remarks (7)

Google’s new Android Design portal is an initiative that everyone in design should follow closely.

Tue 10 Jan
2012

The Miracle of WD-40

9:02 AM
Remarks (13)

An analog fix or unresponsive iPhone home buttons.

Fri 26 Aug
2011

The Post-Personal iPad

10:32 AM
Remarks (9)

Some thoughts on the unique shareability of Apple’s post-PC device.

Thu 12 May
2011

Forecast for Music in the Cloud

4:59 PM
Remarks (5)

Getting rid of local music files can lead to more ambitious possibilities.

Thu 17 Mar
2011

Life in a Solid State

4:10 PM
Remarks (41)

Just upgraded a painfully slow MacBook Air to a speedy solid state drive.

Fri 18 Feb
2011

The Interactive TV You Already Use

6:05 PM
Remarks (5)

Why apps don’t work on televisions, and what designers can learn from the reason.

Tue 15 Feb
2011

Confirmed: Blu-Ray Not for Moms

6:21 PM
Remarks (6)

I gave Blu-Ray another chance but it let me down. My mom too.

Tue 25 Jan
2011

This Could Be Google’s Design Moment

7:04 PM
Remarks (14)

Larry Page has an opportunity to do something very different with Google. If he wants.

Wed 12 Jan
2011

Listening to What Movie Lovers Have to Say

4:30 PM
Remarks (12)

More thoughts on Blu-Ray, whether extras matter, and how commentary tracks could save home video (even though they won’t).

Mon 10 Jan
2011

Blu-Ray Blues

11:49 AM
Remarks (38)

There’s little improvement to be found in the improvements that Blu-Ray offers.

Tue 21 Dec
2010

Moving to a New Mac

9:44 PM
Remarks (12)

Deciding whether to manually or automatically move all of my stuff from an old Mac to a new one.

Mon 29 Nov
2010

What Open Can Look Like

1:05 PM
Remarks (19)

When open systems go bad in the living room, everyone loses.

Wed 29 Sep
2010

The Only Thing a Router Is Good For

3:33 PM
Remarks (43)

Router hardware serves almost no other purpose other than to allow it to be powered off and on again. Why don’t the devices themselves understand this?

Wed 01 Sep
2010

Apple Blinks in the Living Room

8:52 PM
Remarks (29)

The new Apple TV is sleeker, more capable, savvier and more affordable — but it also demonstrates a lack of will.

Tue 24 Aug
2010

Contractual Basis

6:03 PM
Remarks (13)

We have the means to close contracts digitally, yet we’re resigned to doing things the old fashioned way.

Fri 11 Jun
2010

I’m Feeling Lucky

10:57 AM
Remarks (16)

I just couldn’t imagine a photograph I’d like to customize Google.com with — until Laura showed me hers.

Tue 08 Jun
2010

Better Screen, Same Typography

1:54 PM
Remarks (87)

iPhone 4’s Retina Screen promises a leap forward, but it does nothing for Apple’s typographic credentials.

Wed 27 Jan
2010

Notes on iPad

10:26 PM
Remarks (20)

Some brief thoughts on the Apple iPad and whether it changes anything for publishers.

Fri 11 Dec
2009

Backing Up Over Broadband

12:01 AM
Remarks (34)

In theory, online backup systems should work. Except for that broadband thing.

Wed 12 Aug
2009

MobileUs

2:39 PM
Remarks (18)

Long-suffering MobileMe users: we owe it to one another to fill in the gaps that Apple leaves.

Fri 10 Apr
2009

Up for Air

8:53 PM
Remarks (8)

Adobe gets clever about insurrection.

Mon 02 Mar
2009

Fed up with Feed Readers

11:56 PM
Remarks (33)

My experience switching to Google Reader and reflecting on the state of RSS aggregators.

Fri 06 Feb
2009

Marketing in a Minute

2:02 PM
Remarks (16)

Encountering a new software product for the first time, blow by blow.

Mon 20 Oct
2008

Whatcha-Mac-allit

10:26 PM
Remarks (12)

Apple has some explaining to do when it comes to the Apple TV. Plus: take my ex-girlfriend. Please!

Wed 15 Oct
2008

A Cloud and a Prayer

8:54 PM
Remarks (31)

What the failure of banks like Washington Mutual can teach us about Web applications.

Thu 14 Aug
2008

Messaging and Location, Location, Location

11:09 AM
Remarks (8)

IMAP for messaging of all kinds. Please?

Fri 01 Aug
2008

Crash Test Dummies

12:58 AM
Remarks (21)

Freezing and crashing on devices ”that need to work.“

Mon 09 Jun
2008

Investing Strategies for iPhone Customers

12:54 PM
Remarks (37)

Spending US$599 on an iPhone a year ago turns out to be not a great way to invest my money.

Wed 14 May
2008

Four for iPhone

11:57 AM
Remarks (36)

Ideas for iPhone applications that I’ll never turn into reality.

Mon 28 Apr
2008

Out of the Box Thinking

10:25 AM
Remarks (13)

Follow-through is everything in consumer-friendly packaging.

Fri 25 Apr
2008

Subscribing to RSS Theory

12:16 PM
Remarks (27)

RSS readers are like junk drawers that won’t listen to you.

Mon 07 Apr
2008

Online Apps Turn Me Offline

6:54 PM
Remarks (25)

Is software better when it lives on the desktop or in the browser?

Tue 05 Feb
2008

Zeroing Out Palm

11:14 PM
Remarks (15)

How many customers does it take to reformat an old Palm device?

Wed 30 Jan
2008

Revving Up ExpressionEngine

11:47 PM
Remarks (38)

First steps to a new publishing platform.

Tue 29 Jan
2008

High-Fidelity Stereoscope

5:37 PM
Remarks (11)

“U2 3D” and the price of innovation.

Sat 26 Jan
2008

The Host with the Most

7:23 PM
Remarks (81)

Looking for a new hosting provider. I think.

Fri 25 Jan
2008

Bought and Paid For

12:42 AM
Remarks (50)

Amazingly, most of the software on my computer is owned by me.

Tue 22 Jan
2008

Conscientiously Objecting to the Living Room War

7:51 PM
Remarks (25)

I’ll never be an Apple TV customer. For now.

Wed 24 Oct
2007

Expanding on Syncing

9:59 PM
Remarks (5)

Text Expander 2.0 is a great use of .Mac, but that doesn’t mean I can’t complain anyway.

Fri 19 Oct
2007

If It Looks Like a Cow, Swims Like a Dolphin and Quacks Like a Duck, It Must Be Enterprise Software

10:55 PM
Remarks (57)

Enterprise software as cross-species aberrations of nature.

Thu 20 Sep
2007

Preserving Preferences

11:44 PM
Remarks (17)

The way you use your software should stick with you.

Fri 10 Aug
2007

Unsung Software

12:36 AM
Remarks (62)

Three examples of unglamorous, indispensible software.

Tue 07 Aug
2007

Old Rumors, New Rumors

12:43 AM
Remarks (18)

Let’s hope .Mac gets better tomorrow. Plus: how to own more than one iPhone.

Mon 02 Jul
2007

My First and Lost Weekend with iPhone

11:17 PM
Remarks (15)

How it all turned out with my new toy, at least for now.

Mon 25 Jun
2007

The Limits of My Stupidity

9:11 PM
Remarks (35)

Ways in which I’m definitely not planning on acquiring my own iPhone.

Tue 15 May
2007

Thinking and Driving

11:12 PM
Remarks (9)

Transportation narcolepsy, continuous partial attention and interface addiction. All in one post!

Thu 26 Apr
2007

The Soft Underbelly of Hardware

12:19 AM
Remarks (29)

The software that ships with most hardware is a missed opportunity.

Thu 05 Apr
2007

The Wii as Salesman

9:13 PM
Remarks (19)

I want the Wii out of my living room, and why Nintendo should help.

Sat 10 Mar
2007

Offending Experts and Pleasing Everybody

12:18 AM
Remarks (14)

Who to favor when designing features.

Wed 07 Feb
2007

Writing and Sizing Twitter

11:09 PM
Remarks (21)

Sovereign and auxiliary postures and language as factors in updating my friends on what I’m doing.

Thu 11 Jan
2007

Biggie Installs

12:52 PM
Remarks (18)

What three installers have to say about the software they deliver.

Wed 10 Jan
2007

Bad for Palm, Good for Typography

10:05 PM
Remarks (36)

The Palm O.S. blew it, and why the new iPhone is a typographic milestone.

Tue 09 Jan
2007

Down with iTunes

12:56 PM
Remarks (18)

Why the Apple Phone and iTunes shouldn’t get too cozy.

Tue 02 Jan
2007

Everything You Ever Wanted in an Apple Phone

11:18 PM
Remarks (20)

My obligatory blog post about Apple’s upcoming mobile phone, focusing on what it probably won’t do.

Tue 19 Dec
2006

Network Once, Socialize Anywhere

12:55 AM
Remarks (15)

Looking ahead at all the social networks I’ll join in 2007.

Fri 08 Dec
2006

Lookin’ for the Next Quicken

12:31 AM
Remarks (40)

Casting about for a replacement personal banking application.

Tue 21 Nov
2006

Pardon Our Appearance

5:42 PM
Remarks (14)

Movable Type maintenance in progress here.

Wed 18 Oct
2006

The War on Error-ism

8:12 PM
Remarks (26)

Problems publishing this blog that shouldn’t require anyone smarter than me to fix.

Mon 16 Oct
2006

A Postal Fix

9:18 PM
Remarks (18)

Switching away from Rosetta apps means ditching Entourage.

Wed 11 Oct
2006

Housebreaking an iMac

11:08 PM
Remarks (32)

Coping with my new Intel-based iMac.

Mon 02 Oct
2006

Listen Up, Adobe

10:36 PM
Remarks (39)

A surefire way for Adobe to hit a home run.

Thu 07 Sep
2006

A Browser Back from the Brink

11:36 PM
Remarks (12)

At long last, OmniWeb 5.5 is out of beta, and it’s just like it was.

Wed 06 Sep
2006

Supersize Me

10:30 PM
Remarks (8)

At long last, it’s time to buy a new Mac.

Challenge to the Death

1:17 AM
Remarks (26)

Looking for help in the world of spam.

Tue 29 Aug
2006

Message to the Messengers

12:29 AM
Remarks (27)

Coming changes and changes that should be coming to instant messaging.

Fri 25 Aug
2006

Please Return Your Battery (If You Can)

9:17 PM
Remarks (23)

I’m trying to send back my potentially explosive PowerBook battery, but Apple won’t let me.

Thu 24 Aug
2006

Announcing Shorty

2:08 AM
Remarks (23)

A free link aliasing utility I built just for you.

Wed 23 Aug
2006

Stick a Database in It, It’s Done

12:11 AM
Remarks (24)

Hoping someone will create a Cocoa version of kGTD with a true database.

Thu 17 Aug
2006

Install Ubuntu Like You Mean It

8:10 PM
Remarks (12)

A novice’s step-by-step for getting this Linux distribution on your Mac.

Tue 15 Aug
2006

Ubuntu for Dummies

11:09 PM
Remarks (16)

I’m switching to Linux… for just a bit.

Wed 09 Aug
2006

What Went Down at WWDC

4:29 PM
Remarks (9)

Disaappointment and signs of synchronicity at Apple’s 2006 World Wide Developers Conference.

Thu 13 Jul
2006

After An Event Apart

12:44 AM
Remarks (9)

Wrapping up my appearance and attendance at An Event Apart New York City.

Mon 19 Jun
2006

Blockwriter Big in Britain

11:51 AM
Remarks (11)

Just published in today’s Guardian: my article on software that works like a typewriter.

Tue 13 Jun
2006

Bug Me Not

12:40 AM
Remarks (26)

Software that helpfully lets you know when it’s time to update is actually not helpful at all.

Thu 01 Jun
2006

Overcoming Roadblocks to Blockwriter

3:24 PM
Remarks (15)

A software brainstorm of mine makes some strides towards reality.

Thu 11 May
2006

How Much Is That Browser in the Windows OS?

6:48 PM
Remarks (46)

Software has a cost, no matter what anyone tells you.

Dear Apple, Please Cell Out

1:55 AM
Remarks (29)

The time for a truly user-friendly mobile phone from Cupertino is now.

Tue 09 May
2006

Blockwriter

10:18 PM
Remarks (38)

How to turn your computer into a manual typewriter.

Tue 25 Apr
2006

The Movable Feast Got Away from Movable Type

11:59 PM
Remarks (30)

Lamenting the state of affairs for Six Apart’s pioneering blog publishing software.

Mon 10 Apr
2006

Wrapper’s Delight

11:34 PM
Remarks (32)

A new links section raises some issues with CSS text control.

Thu 06 Apr
2006

Das Boot Camp

12:14 AM
Remarks (30)

Boot Camp is the most adventurous OS idea Apple has had in twenty-one years, which is too bad.

Wed 22 Mar
2006

Wireless Gone Wacky

10:47 PM
Remarks (16)

Groping with the gobbledygook of home networking.

Tue 14 Feb
2006

Camino Es Real

7:07 PM
Remarks (13)

The intrepid cousin to Firefox makes releases its version 1.0 today.

Thu 02 Feb
2006

Living with Chronic Hard Drive Failure

10:56 AM
Remarks (9)

After a scare a few weeks ago, the internal drive on my PowerBook finally checked out.

Thu 26 Jan
2006

Mail of the Species

6:28 PM
Remarks (18)

Cut off from POP3 access at work, I’m forced to resort to webmail.

Wed 18 Jan
2006

Get Shorty

12:17 AM
Remarks (12)

If you turn a long URL into a short one, shouldn’t it be all yours?

Tue 10 Jan
2006

Out with the Old, Intel with the New

4:41 PM
Remarks (18)

Things are looking up: I didn’t buy a new Mac and my hard drive crashed.

Sat 03 Dec
2005

Surfing in Viet Nam

3:30 AM
Remarks (2)

It’s Microsoft country over here.

Mon 21 Nov
2005

Feature Parity Tricks

3:47 AM
Remarks (3)

Nifty image manipulation in Mac OS X Tiger and the bad old days.

Sun 13 Nov
2005

G5 Numbers

12:03 PM
Remarks (27)

There’s something missing from Apple’s Macintosh hardware offerings.

Wed 12 Oct
2005

Television without the Television

9:25 PM
Remarks (18)

Tantalizingly close but still miles away from the perfect media center.

Mon 03 Oct
2005

Groupthink Made Easy

8:34 PM
Remarks (6)

For me, Writeboard is probably the most useful 37signals application yet.

Tue 27 Sep
2005

What .Mac Lacks

12:19 AM
Remarks (18)

Even recent improvements to Apple’s Web services leave much to be desired.

Thu 25 Aug
2005

Metcalfe in Full Effect

10:52 PM
Remarks (3)

Encountering the spirit of Bob Metcalfe on a train.

Wed 03 Aug
2005

M.I.A.: Bluetooth Trackballs

9:51 PM
Remarks (22)

Looking for a trackball for the 21st Century.

Tue 02 Aug
2005

Freedom for My Wireless Phone Number

7:43 PM
Remarks (19)

The fact that most of us only have one mobile phone handset has always struck me as pretty lame.

Mon 18 Jul
2005

Back to Palm

11:28 AM
Remarks (7)

Despite being publicly dismissive of PDAs and wireless data, I bought a Treo 650.

Fri 08 Jul
2005

Get Yer Invoice On(line)

2:56 PM
Remarks (5)

Billing customers got you down? Try Blinksale.

Wed 06 Jul
2005

The Road Ahead

11:34 PM
Remarks (10)

Camino, king of the uphill battle.

Sun 26 Jun
2005

Is That a PDA in Your Pocket, Or…

4:49 PM
Remarks (14)

The palmOne LifeDrive Mobile Manager is a PDA that almost made me forget I don’t like PDAs. Almost.

Thu 23 Jun
2005

The Problem with Fireworks

12:28 AM
Remarks (23)

Fireworks is better, but the whole damn category of web design software kind of sucks.

Wed 08 Jun
2005

Apple’s Switch Campaign

10:27 PM
Remarks (10)

Some thoughts on Apple’s move from PowerPC to Intel.

Tue 10 May
2005

World Wide Webster

9:36 PM
Remarks (17)

Mac OS X’s unheralded dictionary feature is great.

Out of Sync

12:05 AM
Remarks (25)

Mac OS X’s synchronization technology makes less sense than ever.

Tue 03 May
2005

Throw It in Your Backpack

8:27 PM
Remarks (7)

Some comments on 37signals’ new online application.

Sun 01 May
2005

Back to Square One

11:52 AM
Remarks (5)

Mac OS X Tiger is finally here, but I’ve been taking my own sweet time installing it.

Wed 27 Apr
2005

Ooh, Ooh It’s Magic

10:52 PM
Remarks (8)

Ask for some kind of software that you don’t think exists, and ye shall receive.

Tue 26 Apr
2005

We Need a (Project) Plan

8:59 PM
Remarks (20)

I can’t figure out how people are managing projects on the Macintosh.

Thu 21 Apr
2005

Podcasting Not All Hype After All

9:15 PM
Remarks (11)

Until last week, you could count me among the podcasting skeptics.

Mon 18 Apr
2005

You Got Your Flash in My Acrobat

7:34 PM
Remarks (5)

Thoughts on Adobe’s announced acquisition of Macromedia.

Mon 11 Apr
2005

Programming Skills Wanted

9:17 PM
Remarks (19)

For years, I’ve been nursing a daydream of an extended vacation spent learning to program.

Fri 08 Apr
2005

Timing the Hand that Feeds Me

10:11 AM
Remarks (11)

RSS feeds take a lot of energy, but where do people find the time?

Thu 07 Apr
2005

The Slow Lane

4:45 PM
Remarks (11)

The continuously degrading performance of home broadband.

Wed 06 Apr
2005

The Art of Wiki Design

10:33 PM
Remarks (8)

There’s a great design opportunity in wikis — except it looks like someone else got there first.

Tue 05 Apr
2005

Replacing iPod Earbuds

12:31 PM
Remarks (27)

Subway thefts of iPods are up in New York City, sending me into the market for new earbuds.

Sat 26 Mar
2005

Keeping Secrets

2:18 PM
Remarks (8)

We’re living in a secret agent future, where everything is locked away.

Tue 22 Mar
2005

Enhance Your Performance!

8:20 PM
Remarks (5)

Why it’s not completely crazy to expect the Mac OS to remain stable under duress from third-party system enhancements.

Mon 21 Mar
2005

Just Like Starting Over

10:49 PM
Remarks (15)

Mac OS X and its susceptibility to the effects of accretion.

Mon 14 Mar
2005

Day Three at SXSW

12:54 PM
Remarks (2)

On the third day, the second report from SXSW.

Fri 11 Mar
2005

Fine-Tuning iTunes

12:42 AM
Remarks (14)

Something about music collections makes some people very, very fussy.

Tue 08 Mar
2005

Bad Company

9:11 PM
Remarks (6)

How much I really, really dislike Apple’s recent lawsuits.

Mon 07 Mar
2005

Too Much Is Not Enough

10:30 PM
Remarks (19)

With all of these Macs, what use could I possibly have for another?

Sun 06 Mar
2005

Tape Worm

7:42 PM
Remarks (4)

Putting an end to a decade’s worth of video fun.

Mon 17 Jan
2005

Do the Shuffle

3:37 PM
Remarks (15)

On the cusp of buying myself an iPod shuffle, it occurs to me that I really don’t like to shuffle.

Sun 16 Jan
2005

Feeding the Hand That Aggregates Me

9:08 PM
Remarks (2)

XML feeds for Subtraction.com have been revamped. Go wild!

Tue 11 Jan
2005

Second Helpings at Macworld

10:34 PM
Remarks (19)

I’ll take one of everything announced at Macworld Expo this morning.

Thu 06 Jan
2005

Lose Your Head

8:57 PM
Remarks (13)

Rumors in advance of next week’s Macworld Expo have me a little worked up.

Wed 05 Jan
2005

Voice-over-IP for Dummies

8:46 PM
Remarks (16)

An auspicious beginning for my brand new Vonage account.

Tue 04 Jan
2005

Keys to the Keyboard Kingdom

11:21 PM
Remarks (16)

The Matias Tactile Pro Keyboard inspires more discussion of keyboard technologies than is probably healthy.

Mon 08 Nov
2004

The Hub of the Matter

10:46 PM
Remarks (3)

Looking for a USB hub that works the way USB hubs are supposed to.

Fri 29 Oct
2004

Name That iTune

11:17 PM
Remarks (4)

What’s the name of that song that goes, “Doo de dum de doo… you know the one I’m talkin’ about?

Picture Imperfect

12:16 AM
Remarks (4)

The new iPod Photo is just a big tease.

Mon 27 Sep
2004

The New New NetNewsWire

11:28 PM
Remarks (7)

Report on my trial period with NetNewsWire 2.0 beta.

Thu 16 Sep
2004

Smaller, Lighter, Better

9:58 PM
Remarks (4)

Wouldn’t be great to have a true Apple sub-notebook? Keep dreaming.

Fri 03 Sep
2004

’Bye-Oh to My VAIO

7:08 PM
Remarks (6)

Just a moment to say goodbye to my Sony VAIO PCG-SR7K. Sniff.

Tue 31 Aug
2004

Where’d the Ambition Go?

7:05 PM
Remarks (13)

Apple’s new iMac doesn’t follow through on its tradition of innovation.

Wed 25 Aug
2004

Bluetooth Still Just Over the Verizon

11:15 PM
Remarks (3)

Motorola’s new Bluetooth phone is everything I’ve been waiting for, except it᾿s not.

Thu 12 Aug
2004

Square Dancing

10:27 PM
Remarks (4)

It’s child’s play to draw a square with a computer. Unless you’re using PowerPoint.

Off on the Right Foot

12:27 AM
Remarks (1)

What a wonderful way Toshiba has of greeting its users for the very first time.

Wed 11 Aug
2004

Ecto Plurbius Unum

1:58 AM
Remarks (2)

Though I just started using ecto, I already have a complaint.

Thu 05 Aug
2004

Fighting Spam for Money

12:14 PM
Remarks (3)

How much is spam protection worth, and who benefits from it?

Mon 26 Jul
2004

The Real World

11:44 AM
Remarks (6)

Real plays the barbarian at Apple’s gates, and for once, I’m rooting for Real.

Thu 15 Jul
2004

Long in the ’Tooth

7:05 PM
Remarks (3)

More thoughts on my new Sony Ericsson T608.

Wed 14 Jul
2004

Moving into a New Office

12:43 AM
Remarks (5)

First day with a new version of Microsoft Office for Macintosh.

Mon 12 Jul
2004

Sync Like a Pirate

10:19 PM
Remarks (6)

Is Bluetooth all it’s cracked up to be?

Thu 24 Jun
2004

The High Cost and Short Life of Luxury

12:00 PM

Recommended math for those tempted by Sony.

Mon 07 Jun
2004

Fantastic Voyage (of Sorts)

11:10 PM
Remarks (1)

How I rode a chunk of text from email to Keynote.

Sun 23 May
2004

One Word to Rule Them All

7:09 PM

Mellel is a great word processor, but it almost doesn’t matter.

Plugging Holes

6:30 PM

The reality of security comes to Mac OS X.

Mon 17 May
2004

Facts on ’Fiction

9:02 PM
Remarks (1)

PulpFiction is finally here, and this is what I think of it.

Thu 13 May
2004

Access All Areas

12:29 PM
Remarks (3)

Mac users: don’t throw away your mouse just yet.

Thu 01 Apr
2004

Manual Dexterity

7:17 PM

I found a little bit of old New York when I tried to get a typewriter repaired.

Thu 25 Mar
2004

The Head Case

9:08 PM
Remarks (7)

Don’t underestimate the attachment that one can form to a good pair of headphones.

Wed 17 Mar
2004

All the News That’s Fit to Feed

11:35 PM
Remarks (5)

The search for the perfect XML news reader.

Sun 14 Mar
2004

Board to Death

11:42 PM
Remarks (2)

Community building is messy business with phpBB.

Mon 08 Mar
2004

In Store Service

9:53 PM
Remarks (1)

How the Apple Store solved all of my problems.

Mon 23 Feb
2004

Duplicate and Die

10:50 PM
Remarks (4)

Making a copy of what you own is illegal. Damn activist judges!

Tue 10 Feb
2004

Foxy Bird

7:25 PM
Remarks (6)

Mon 02 Feb
2004

The Safari Ecosystem

10:44 PM

Signs of a healthy software ecosystem.

Thu 15 Jan
2004

The Bitter Suite

10:41 PM
Remarks (2)

Aside from the branding, not enough has changed in the Adobe Creative Suite.

Data in Denial

12:52 AM
Remarks (1)

No one believes that Entourage and the Mac OS X Address Book can be bridged. Except me.

Sat 10 Jan
2004

A Clean Slate

1:52 PM
Remarks (6)

Starting over from scratch is not always easy. Especially with Windows.

Thu 08 Jan
2004

All Play and No Work

12:49 AM
Remarks (2)

Quick thoughts on what was announced at 2004’s Macworld Expo SF and what wasn’t.

Mon 05 Jan
2004

Tap Tap Tap

6:51 PM
Remarks (1)

A way-back machine for writers.

Wed 31 Dec
2003

Big Trade-Offs in a Little Camera

12:50 PM
Remarks (3)

What the Canon PowerShot SD10 lacks in optical zoom, it makes up for in compactness.

Fri 19 Dec
2003

Don’t Spam the Messenger

5:29 PM
Remarks (1)

Instant Messenger spamming’s got me down.

Wed 17 Dec
2003

Tethered to My Wireless Carrier

12:28 PM
Remarks (4)

Now that I can finally leave Sprint PCS, I probably won’t.

Tue 16 Dec
2003

Desktop Clutter

12:11 AM
Remarks (10)

What a brand new, untouched Windows desktop looks like.

Thu 20 Nov
2003

A Year with Windows

11:56 PM
Remarks (2)

A year with five Alienware machines and an HP.

Wed 29 Oct
2003

Retouching iPhoto

1:30 PM
Remarks (13)

Picasa is a rip-off of iPhoto that adds its own innovations.

Mon 27 Oct
2003

Housebreaking Tips for a Panther

11:15 PM
Remarks (3)

How I upgraded to Mac OS X Panther.

Fri 24 Oct
2003

Crouching Panther, Hidden Crashes

7:15 PM

So, so ready to throw caution to the wind and install Panther.

Thu 23 Oct
2003

All Together Now!

11:03 PM

iTunes for Windows brings the whole family together.

Wed 15 Oct
2003

Point Break

12:29 AM
Remarks (7)

When you want to make a point, PowerPoint will help you not make it.

Thu 09 Oct
2003

Share and Share Alike

7:01 PM

Why I could care less if musicians get paid.

Wed 08 Oct
2003

Downloads for Dead Products

11:16 AM
Remarks (2)

All you have to do to get this Cisco wireless PC card working is download the software. I swear.

Fri 03 Oct
2003

Lacking in Confidence

6:58 PM
Remarks (2)

The startling true secrets behind Web Confidential.

Tue 23 Sep
2003

Tickets to Nowhere

10:50 AM
Remarks (3)

Here’s a quick complaint about online ticket purchasing for highly popular events: it has a long way to go.

Mon 22 Sep
2003

The Paperless Home Office

11:29 AM
Remarks (1)

How I threw away all of the manuals for my home electronics.

Mon 08 Sep
2003

A Case for Analog

8:49 PM

There’s a frustrating defect lurking in every digital product you buy.

Wed 03 Sep
2003

Different Thinking

4:29 PM

A round-up of some recent, uncharacteristically high quality articles about the Mac.

Mon 01 Sep
2003

Look Ma, No Wires

11:41 PM
Remarks (11)

Going wireless is hard to do.

Sat 30 Aug
2003

Time Is on My Side

7:13 PM
Remarks (5)

The future of television came to my house today.

Wed 27 Aug
2003

The Hog Ate My Homework

7:26 PM
Remarks (6)

Hog Bay Notebook is a smart and simple ‘snippet keeper.’

Wed 20 Aug
2003

BuyMusic.com’s Tin Ear

9:00 PM

Browsers are to blame for how bad BuyMusic.com is — partly.

Tue 19 Aug
2003

Adding Value by Removing Wires

6:21 PM
Remarks (3)

Is the Apple premium really worth it?

Tue 22 Jul
2003

Remote Control

2:53 PM
Remarks (2)

Sick, laid up in bed, and using remote access software.

Sat 19 Jul
2003

New Speed for an Old Mac

4:42 PM

Upgrading an old Macintosh.yields surprisingly good results.

Thu 17 Jul
2003

Better Browsers and Books While You Wait

12:04 PM

Two reasons why I’m sure there will be another Internet boom.

Tue 15 Jul
2003

EMusic versus iTunes

11:49 PM
Remarks (1)

In the battle for online music content, EMusic beats out the iTunes Music Store.

Thu 10 Jul
2003

The Power of the Press

8:27 PM
Remarks (3)

The pros and cons of ink jet printing.

Wed 09 Jul
2003

Enough Is Not Enough

12:02 AM

My iPod has instilled in me a disturbing insatiability for more music, more often.

Tue 01 Jul
2003

R.I.P. C&G

8:24 PM
Remarks (5)

Longtime, well-liked software publisher Casady & Greene have closed shop.

Tue 24 Jun
2003

A Flock of G5s

12:37 AM

Sun 22 Jun
2003

Rebuild the Desktop

9:04 PM

With a new 80GB hard drive replacement, everything on my PowerBook has to be reinstalled from scratch.

Mon 16 Jun
2003

The Glass Is Half Full

2:08 PM

This preview of “Half-Life 2” is ridiculous.

Fri 13 Jun
2003

The Exploration Is Over

9:21 PM
Remarks (2)

Microsoft confirmed rumors of the cancellation of IE for the Mac today.

Thu 05 Jun
2003

’N’ Sync ’n’ Sync ’n’ Sync

10:50 PM

The latest iSync doesn’t sync enough.

Wed 04 Jun
2003

Missing Blanks

1:15 PM
Remarks (4)

It’s impossible to find blank CD-Rs without branding on the labels.

Sun 01 Jun
2003

Think Outside of the Idiot Box

8:25 PM
Remarks (1)

Two questions: should I buy a TiVo and should I subscribe to digital cable?

Tue 27 May
2003

There Is No Check

10:40 PM
Remarks (1)

Sprint PCS wants everything that can be digital to be digital.

Tue 20 May
2003

Call Me on My Gameboy

11:10 PM

Nokia’s N-Gage could be the first widely succesful hybridization of mobile phone and whatever.

Tue 13 May
2003

New New Media Things

10:39 PM

The annual spring show for NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program begins today.

Old at the Age of Two and a Half

7:12 PM

What to do with an aging PowerBook?

Mon 12 May
2003

Consolidation without Representation

11:46 PM

The FCC is set to vote on significant changes in media ownership rules, virtually without public debate.

Yesterday’s Tomorrow

7:01 PM

This video of a 1968 Douglas Englebart presentation is historically significant and uncommonly beautiful.

Tue 29 Apr
2003

Turn On, iTunes In, Shop Out

12:57 PM

The debut of Apple’s online music service is singularly elegant and overeagerly hyped.

Sat 26 Apr
2003

Sushi Made Simple

8:10 PM

MP3 Sushi is one example of the powerful, exceptionally easy-to-use software being written for Mac OS X.

Wed 23 Apr
2003

Space-Age Webloggers Pad

11:48 PM

SixApart Ltd., makers of Movable Type, are really on the move, and it signals the next phase of Internet innovation.

Wed 09 Apr
2003

About This Macintosh

1:57 PM

Mac OS X has inspired some of the best technical writing the platform has seen in years.

Fri 04 Apr
2003

Activate the Launch Sequence

10:02 PM
Remarks (3)

LaunchBar is a utility so powerful, it’s eerily evocative of the absurd computers we tend to see only in the movies.

Thu 03 Apr
2003

Thirty Years of Walking and Talking

4:09 PM

It was on this day thirty years ago that the very first mobile phone call was made.

Tue 18 Mar
2003

Feeding on RSS

5:18 PM

RSS is fun, and NetNewsWire is a great RSS client.

Sun 16 Mar
2003

History without Wires

6:57 PM

Motorola’s somewhat self-serving “Mobile” exhibit is no big deal.

Mon 17 Feb
2003

Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together

1:32 PM

A marriage made in heaven: Google has bought Pyra.

Fri 14 Feb
2003

The Industry That Cried Wolf

11:01 AM

Business Week calls the music industry’s piracy numbers — and credibility — into question.

Tue 19 Nov
2002

Cross-Platform, Crosstown

7:59 PM

Microsoft’s Remote Desktop Connection client is a great cross-platform product.

Cutey Pie

12:48 AM

This is just about the cutest little laptop ever.

Fri 11 Oct
2002

The Pen Is Mightier Than the Mouse

7:25 PM

To help cure my RSI: a brand new Wacom Intuous 2 digitizing tablet.

Tue 08 Oct
2002

Computing Hazards

10:47 PM

RSI strikes!

Thu 03 Oct
2002

Many Years Later

9:47 PM

The compact disc format turned 30 this week, and NPR’s “Morning Edition’ is running a series on the history of technological innovations in music.

Wed 02 Oct
2002

Talk to Me

10:44 AM

This is the story of a boy and his chat bot.

Fri 27 Sep
2002

Typist

12:22 AM

Just got Movable Type installed. Whee!

Tue 24 Sep
2002

Movable Feast

7:42 PM

I’m seriously considering switching over to Movable Type.

Chill Factor

2:42 PM

The Chill Factor Web site collects frightening samples of the corporate world’s legal bullying.

Tue 03 Sep
2002

Computer Imaging

6:58 PM

I sheepishly admit that “Computers, An Illustrated History” is probably the perfect book for me.

Mon 26 Aug
2002

Spam-Be-Gone

8:50 PM

SpamNet has a plan for getting rid of spam.

Thu 22 Aug
2002

Blogging Heads

6:35 PM

A notable quote from Lawrence Lessig.

Thu 15 Aug
2002

Mo’ Memory

6:37 PM

Just added some more RAM to my PowerBook. Aaaahhh.

Wed 14 Aug
2002

Playing with Fire, and Other Toys

1:07 AM

Jaguar is great, and so is the software that runs on it.

Tue 13 Aug
2002

Free Culture Has a Price

5:44 PM

Lawrence Lessig has a wake-up call for anyone frustrated with the way media companies are trying to dominate copyright controls.

Sat 10 Aug
2002

The Little Bookmarks That Could

8:16 PM

Oh yeah, I remember bookmarklets.

Fri 09 Aug
2002

New Hack Swing

12:23 AM

What good comes of MacHack?

Tue 06 Aug
2002

Notbooks

3:36 PM

We just bought two new Wintel laptops at Behavior.

Road Rage

12:41 AM

A weekend without my cable modem.

Tue 30 Jul
2002

You Very Own Droid

10:51 AM

It’s now possible to have your own little droid.

Wed 26 Jun
2002

Open for Business

4:26 PM

OpenOffice.org aims to kick the shit out of Microsoft Office.

Thu 13 Jun
2002

Fit to Print

8:41 PM

Aren’t you curious about my experiences with the D-Link DP-101P+ Pocket Print Server?

Sat 08 Jun
2002

Fight for Yer Right to Time-Shift

11:14 AM

Replay TV goes on the offensive.

Wed 05 Jun
2002

Numerology

6:23 PM

Citibank has a great product in their Virtual Account Numbers.

Tue 04 Jun
2002

Pocket XP

4:30 PM

OQO is promising a micro-PC that’s too cool to be real.

Mon 03 Jun
2002

Doing Windows

6:01 PM

My new HP Pavilion 701 is working out just fine.

Fri 31 May
2002

Painted from Random Access Memory

6:17 PM

Bert Monroy makes art with computers that doesn’t look like art made with computers.

Thu 30 May
2002

Six Pack

5:58 PM

Aping that System 6 aesthetic.

Tue 28 May
2002

Like Delta Force, Except with Computers

9:30 PM

Training super-hackers for the government.

Fri 17 May
2002

Send in the Clones

4:45 PM

Trying to keep expectations low for “Episode II.”

Fri 10 May
2002

These Bite

10:55 PM

Winners of Apple’s Design Awards.

Thu 02 May
2002

Save It

11:24 PM

Internet radio at risk.

Thu 04 Apr
2002

Odddpost Out

8:31 PM

Oddpost os an enterprising upstart challenge to all those other Web email services that just stink.

Sat 30 Mar
2002

Full Color

7:20 PM

The latest addition to my hardware family is an Epson Stylus C80.

Tue 19 Mar
2002

Vindigone

8:58 PM

Vindigo moves to a paid subscription model.

Mon 18 Mar
2002

Voting Day

10:19 PM

Corporate intrigue over at HP.

Tue 12 Mar
2002

Tricorders in Beta

10:40 PM

Sony Japan has announced some beautiful new Palm OS devices.

Tue 05 Mar
2002

New Flash

12:19 AM

Flash MX is here.

Fri 22 Feb
2002

Scan Lines

8:15 PM

Just purchased a CanoScan N1240U.

Mon 18 Feb
2002

Lens Crafters

6:22 PM

MovieLens recommends movies to you.

Searches, Appliances, Zeitgeist

5:24 PM

Google is doing some interesting stuff.

Sun 10 Feb
2002

Good Concept, or Not

9:39 PM

Deep down, Wintel owners really want their PC’s to look as good as a Mac.

Fri 01 Feb
2002

In the Future

12:45 PM

Cisco has a vision for the future.

Tue 29 Jan
2002

Lego Stripes

1:03 AM

The White Stripes a la Legos.

Fri 25 Jan
2002

Go Pro

8:09 PM

Blogger Pro is here.

Do the Robot

8:03 PM

Honda is working hard to bring you humanoid robots.

Wed 23 Jan
2002

Pre-Blogger Pro

1:12 AM

Notes from the Blogger Pro demonstration.

Tue 22 Jan
2002

Blackout

9:59 PM

Cable modem goes out for an afternoon.

Sun 20 Jan
2002

Radio Is the New Sensation

5:16 PM

Dave Winer is all about blogging.

Thu 17 Jan
2002

Crossing over to X

11:33 AM

Playing around with Mac OS X.

Fri 04 Jan
2002

New for Oh-Two

7:52 PM

Looking forward to 2002 being a heck of a lot better than 2001.

Mon 17 Dec
2001

Radio Radio

1:11 AM

Net radio-enabled stereos are a good idea.

Thu 13 Dec
2001

Lewis’s “Next” and First

11:43 PM

Michael Lewis got “Next.”

Tue 04 Dec
2001

It’s Yer Birthday

12:26 AM

Happy birthday to me and Behavior.

Sat 24 Nov
2001

The Wireless Outdoors

7:58 PM

Community-owned wireless access.

Thu 15 Nov
2001

Nice Little Chat

6:41 PM

Problems with Palm, resolved through chat.

Wed 07 Nov
2001

Harnessing the Power of Atomz

7:54 PM

Subtraction now has search capability.

Mon 17 Sep
2001

Apologies

11:43 AM

Admitting complicity in the dot-com bubble.

Sun 16 Sep
2001

New, Improved

9:42 PM

A promising hybrid of a phone and a Palm device.

Wed 05 Sep
2001

Post-Employment Life Is Groovey

3:02 PM

Using Groove to collaborate after losing my job.

Sun 12 Aug
2001

Eye in the Sky

4:58 PM

NASA’s Landsat program has produced some beautiful images.

Mon 06 Aug
2001

Something that Rhymes with KaZaA

10:26 PM

How I learned to forget Napster and get on with KaZaA.

Fri 03 Aug
2001

Netscape Not All Bad

7:51 PM

I’m pleasantly surprised by the latest version of Netscape.

Thu 12 Jul
2001

Secret Origins

9:54 PM

Photoshop through the ages.

Fri 08 Jun
2001

Palm by Sony, Mark Two

6:20 PM

Sony takes another swing at the Palm game.

Your Current Toaster Is Toast

12:03 AM

How to get the weather from your morning toast.

Fri 11 May
2001

Majestic

12:18 AM

Majestic is a new-breed video game that invades your life.

Fri 20 Apr
2001

Many Mouths

6:52 PM

TheFutureofSoftware.net dabbles in speculation on, er, the future of Software.

Mon 16 Apr
2001

Everything in the Future Has an X in It

11:28 AM

Robert X. Cringley offers a primer on XML in his latest column.

Fri 13 Apr
2001

Who’s Zoomin’ Who

4:33 PM

Cable modem access comes to my apartment.

Wed 11 Apr
2001

Frustrating as Heck

6:47 PM

The Palm OS is testing my patience.

Tue 10 Apr
2001

If You Like This, You Might Like…

12:56 PM

Media Unbound recommends music for you.

Waiting for My (Cable) Man

1:16 AM

Mon 26 Mar
2001

The Mac OS X Wait Is Over

2:47 PM

At long last, Apple’s next generation operating system has arrived.

Thu 15 Mar
2001

How Touching Works

5:13 PM

A beautiful illustration of how touchscreen computing works.

Thu 01 Mar
2001

ActiveBuddy

4:34 PM

ActiveBuddy makes over instant messaging.

Fri 09 Feb
2001

Closing in on Mac OS X

11:32 AM

The long-awaited release of Mac OS X is just two months away.

Sun 04 Feb
2001

That Doggie CPU in the Window

10:17 AM
Remarks (1)

The cutest and funniest computer I’ve ever seen.

Sun 21 Jan
2001

Ars Technica on Apple

5:09 AM

Ars Technica takes an in-depth look at Macworld San Francisco 2001.

Thu 18 Jan
2001

Steven Johnson on Music Interfaces

11:36 PM

Steven Johnson takes a look at the anachronistic UI metaphors in music software.

Sun 14 Jan
2001

William Hewlett, Rest in Peace

9:58 AM

Bill Hewlett, pionering co-founder of HP, passed away a few days ago.

Fri 12 Jan
2001

New Crop

1:27 AM

The new Titanium PowerBook aside, what the heck is Apple’s long-term gameplan?

Mon 08 Jan
2001

When the Left Hand Found out What the Right Hand Was up To

4:20 AM

Sony has introduced MP3-capable CD players, to the dismay of its Sony Music division.

Fri 15 Dec
2000

MacTurncoat

3:42 PM

The Sony PCG-SR7K is the best computer I’ve ever owned.