October 2009
The Archives
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10.23.09What I’ve got on my desktopEarlier this week I mentioned I store most of my files and data in the cloud now, and that, when my computer crashed recently, all I had to do was restore my OS and reinstall most of my desktop apps and all was good to go. As I was writing that post it occurred to me it might be somewhat helpful to list what desktop apps those were and why they were worth reinstalling. So here is a list of most of the desktop apps I use and why: Google Chrome (browser) - I started using Chrome while I was still at ...
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10.21.09I live in the cloudA few days ago, while I was writing some simple Python scripts, my computer crashed and my (Win Vista) OS became corrupted to the point where my machine would no longer boot. Not knowing the best way to restore my system--and wanting to avoid reinstalling the OS from scratch, if possible--I took my machine to a few repair shops in town to get estimates. When I got to Best Buy, the friendly Geek Squad representative said, "I hope you are one of the rare and lucky users who regularly backs up your data?" To which I replied, "Nah, actually I am ...
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10.16.095 good things about having double hernia surgeryYesterday's post was a bit esoteric talking about some of the finer points of modern art, so today I thought I would bring things back to earth a bit with a post on my daily life. As most of you know who are in contact with me regularly, last week I had surgery to repair two hernias, one umbilical (in my belly button) and one inguinal. For those you who have not had the pleasure of undergoing hernia surgery, this is an out-patient procedure where they put you under general anaesthetic, make a few incisions, do the repairs, and send you home ...
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10.15.09Why I like “The Woman With A Hat”… and modern art in generalOnce or twice a year when I have a few hours free in San Francisco, I make a pilgrimage to visit SFMOMA. I have always been a fan of modern art and seeing the wide variety of creative expression at the museum never fails to recharge my batteries and get me excited to make new stuff. One work in particular has always been among my favorites: "The Woman With A Hat," by Henri Matisse. This painting, which was first exhibited in 1905, was among the first to use color in a non-representational way--in other words, Matisse chose the colors, such ...
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10.13.09The revolution will not (need to) be televisedAnna Jane Grossman, a colleague of my buddy and uber grassroots PR manager, Jamie Diamond, recently published a book called Obsolete, which is a collection of things we used to view as common that are now in the process of disappearing, such as blind dates, mix tapes, porn magazines, body hair, privacy, cash, and... books. Seeing the book release led me to thinking about other things that are becoming obsolete now due to innovation and new technology. One I thought was worth mentioning is the fear that aggregation by media giants will crush the voice of individual citizens. When I was in college as ...
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10.06.09A great user experience at GoogleAs a product guy slash nerd, I often notice when I encounter a user experience that is particularly good--and also when one is not so good. Today I want to highlight one of the former. The experience in question was great to me because aside from being a good experience, it is an iconic example of great design that can be applied to many other products and services. This particular experience appears at the Google San Francisco office, although not where you might expect. Believe it or not, this one occurs in the men's restroom (insert potty humor here), or more accurately, ...
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