Casey's Tumblelog

O rly?

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:36:49 -0500

O rly?

"The essence of the new opportunities on iPad is that this class of device is a natural home not just..."

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 14:24:29 -0500

“The essence of the new opportunities on iPad is that this class of device is a natural home not just for the viewers and small utilities we’ve seen on our phones, but also for creators and editors as we see on desktop platforms.”

- Matt Gemmell (via John Gruber)

On the Porsche 911

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 10:13:13 -0500

Me: There is no logical reason, other than tradition, for the engine to ride on or behind the rear axle
Friend: Porsche thinks it's logical
Me: Physics says they're wrong.

Dear Everyone Reporting On The Kids In Flight Control

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:57:49 -0500

toldorknown:

It was incredibly stupid of those involved, they’ve been suspended, and those facts are certainly worth reporting.

You demean yourselves, however, when you report that the children “cleared flights for takeoff”.

You know perfectly well that all they did was say what the person who did clear the flights for takeoff told them to, and while you can argue semantics, you know you phrased it the way you did for shock value.

Shame on you.

Agree 100%. Although it was clear that it was a child making the calls, they were using vocabulary that, in my eyes, clearly indicates they were being spoon-fed the lines. I do not see why this is such a horrible thing, or frankly, why it’s really even worth reporting.

What’s more, the portion that most news outlets omit is the pilots on the other end getting a good chuckle out of the situation, and telling the kid he did a “great job”. While no, this probably wasn’t appropriate, I don’t see it as warranting more than a slap on the wrist, let alone this media firestorm.

"I suspect, in a few years, our wives are not going to let us hang out anymore."

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 10:40:00 -0500

“I suspect, in a few years, our wives are not going to let us hang out anymore.”

- Marco Arment

Blast from the past. I can’t tell you how much I wish...

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:17:10 -0500

Blast from the past. I can’t tell you how much I wish Windows activation was handled by an un-photocopyable red card.

2 1/2 hours of computer use, as tracked by IOGraph (link...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:44:00 -0500

2 1/2 hours of computer use, as tracked by IOGraph (link via Cult of Mac)

My dock is on the left edge of the screen, and the Start button on my Windows VM (used for work) is in the upper-right. The system tray is in the lower-right.

marco: I guess it’s finally time to install this giant pile of...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 10:32:16 -0500

marco:

I guess it’s finally time to install this giant pile of accumulated software updates.

Wuss.

[casey@lapserver ~]$ uptime
0:25:38 up 473 days, 17:01,  2 users,  load average: 4.05, 4.01, 4.00

Also:

Thanks for making me realize mysql was going nuts
Cue Sean gloating about his uptime now.

tiffany: Tilt-Shift Time-Lapse New York, Sam...

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 09:26:30 -0500

tiffany:

Tilt-Shift Time-Lapse New York, Sam O’Hare

(via nevver)

I especially love the moments where there is a quiet still to the city with just a little hint of movement in the frame. Beautiful.

Awesome video. I particularly like the shots of the High Line, which is my new favorite place in NYC. Definitely recommend watching in HD.

FOR SALE One soul, in order to fund the acquisition of the...

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:39:54 -0500

FOR SALE
One soul, in order to fund the acquisition of the above. (via 365photographs)

"And the other thing about interruptions—and calling people’s names and ringing them on..."

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 11:56:15 -0500

“And the other thing about interruptions—and calling people’s names and ringing them on the phone and stuff—it’s actually really an arrogant sort of move. Because you’re saying that whatever I have to ask you is more important than what you were doing. Because I’m going to stop you from doing what you were doing for me to ask you this question that probably doesn’t matter anyway.”

- Jason Fried, via toldorknown

Visible Sonic Boom (watch in HD; skip to 1:50). Very cool. ...

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:05:24 -0500

Visible Sonic Boom (watch in HD; skip to 1:50). Very cool. (via /.)

Reasons today is a good day, third edition: The missus’...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:47:09 -0500

Reasons today is a good day, third edition:

The missus’ car is now paid off, and we just got the title. We did it either one and a half or two and a half years early.
That means the only debt we have, of any kind, is our house.

It’s amazing what living within (or under) your means can allow you to do.

Lego Rubik’s Cube Solver It can solve any cube in 12...

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:59:06 -0500

Lego Rubik’s Cube Solver

It can solve any cube in 12 seconds or less. Often times it will do far better than that. (via /.)

mykol78: samit: Evolution of Cars [via Digg] This...

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 10:15:23 -0500

mykol78:

samit:

Evolution of Cars

[via Digg]

This isn’t entirely fair for the USA, since the ‘stang was intentionally “retro”, but still a funny graphic.

A conversation I have every month or so

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:37:24 -0500

dwineman:

Me: (tries to visit a local restaurant’s website via iPhone)
Restaurant website: I require Flash. Fuck off.
Me: I just want to know how late you’re open.
Website: Nope.
Me: But I’m on my phone. Don’t you have a little “HTML Version” link up in the corner or something?
Website: I’m ignoring you.
Me: What if I’m on my phone because I’m out, looking for a place to eat? Didn’t that ever occur to you?
Website: Fuck entirely off.
Me: (gives up, switches to computer)
Website: Oh! Hi! What can I help you with today?
Me: What are your —
Website: Hang on, I’m loading the music.
Me: Really.
Website: You’ll love it. It’s “Girl from Ipanema” arranged for steel drum and keytar.
Me: No, you don’t have to —
Website: Loading…
Me: All I want is —
Website: I SAID DOT DOT DOT.
Me: (drums fingers on desk)
Website: There we go. Isn’t that nice? It’s… what’s the word. Ethnicky.
Me: What are your hours?
Website: Take a look at our menu! It’s a PDF of a screenshot of a scan of a Word document printed on a dishtowel. With fonts!
Me: I don’t care. What are your hours?
Website: Don’t worry, the menu loads in a new window so the music won’t stop. Can I show you some broken images?
Me: What. Are. Your. Hou. Rs.
Website: I… I don’t know.
Me: (goes to Denny’s)

(via Daring Fireball)

w00t Real Actual Field Tests: Energizer Hardcase...

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 07:35:30 -0500

w00t Real Actual Field Tests: Energizer Hardcase Headlamp

Unbeknownst to me, w00t apparently does video reviews occasionally. Unsurprisingly, however, they’re hysterical.

This one is also cool because it features a cameo from one of my dream cars in it, including a quick burnout. ftw.

elspethjane: OMG! SNOW! SNOOOOWWWW! EVERYWHERE!!! ...

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:02:00 -0500

elspethjane:

OMG! SNOW! SNOOOOWWWW! EVERYWHERE!!! AHHH!

Weather reporter takes his job way too enthusiastically.

(thanks Yatta!)

iPhone Jailbreak Review

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 21:09:00 -0500

This past weekend, I used redsn0w to jailbreak my iPhone.

For those that aren’t privy, jailbreaking allows you to run software that isn’t Apple-approved on the iPhone. It also allows you to mess with some of the lower-level settings, which in turn allows you to do things… you’re not supposed to do.

So, for someone that isn’t looking to run software that hasn’t been paid for, is there really any point?

I think my favorite feature is SBSettings:

This is activated by swiping your finger across the status bar, any time the status bar is visible. You’ll note that, among other things, this allows for super-fast toggling of WiFi. This is much faster than having to tap Settings > Wi-Fi > On/Off. Sounds silly, but it makes a big difference.

You can also disable rotation, which is extremely useful while in bed.

Finally, using SBSettings, you can also hide icons from your home screens. So, don’t use Compass? Hide it—you’ll never have to see it.

My other favorite thing is StatusNotifier, which puts small icons in your status bar indicating if you have e-mails/text messages/etc waiting.

This is really neat because it allows me to tell, on my lock screen, whether or not any of those things are waiting for me.

Another neat trick is WeatherIcon, which shows your actual weather data on the Weather application’s icon.

Finally, this particular jailbreak does allow me to tether my iPhone. On AT&T. I don’t expect to use this feature, well, possibly ever. But it’s nice to know that I can, if need be.

So, is it worth it? Yes.

Could I live without? Yes.

Would I recommended it? Not sure.

I think it’s neat, and I’ll probably stick with the jailbreak until it’s no longer convenient to do so. Perhaps that means when iPhone OS 4.0 comes out. Perhaps that means tomorrow. But for now, I do enjoy the added conveniences.

dstrelau: I went back for a second helping of Avatar this...

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 14:15:52 -0500

dstrelau:

I went back for a second helping of Avatar this Sunday. There’s a scene early on in the movie where one of the scientists walks across the lab carrying the “mobile computer slab of the future.” We’ve seen one of these in almost every sci-fi movie of the last 50 years. It comes free with a jetpack, I suppose. Except this time, one month later, my 12 year old son turns to me and whispers “Look Dad, it’s an iPad.”

The Failure of Empathy