April 2011
55 posts
Radio Silence
Just a programing note that things will get silent around here from now through the weekend as I prepare for an exciting (top secret) announcement early next week.
Stay tuned…
Enough Episode 29 — Shawn Blanc's Minimalism →
In today’s episode of the podcast, we are joined yet again by Shawn Blanc, online writer, internet superstar, and all around super keen guy. This time, we talk about the “Shawn Today” that I received long before he did them daily for the members of his site. The subject was, essentially, how does one gain a minimalist approach to technology when they don’t know the available options....
When Less is More is More Than Less :... →
This is all well and good and I enjoy reading through different ideas and opinions but at what point is enough enough. When does minimalism start to become cluttered and excessive in itself.
You are simply not allowed to read any of the rest of this site until you read the link above. Go. Now. See you back here in a few minutes…
Are you back now? Good. Now, stop dinking around on the...
Answering Reader Questions on My MacBook Air — The... →
Regular readers know that I don’t put praise on things where it is not due — the MacBook Air is due all the praise I can heap onto it. I love this machine.
As I have said before, it’s the best Mac I have ever owned and I’ve owned a lot.
Lifenotes • How to beat Apple and how not to →
To beat Apple you’ll have to play in another league. Marginal improvements (which are what Jason suggests) aren’t the way to beat that company at this point.
Andrés makes a great point here. I started to add something in the vein to my post last night regarding this fact but could not come up with the right flow.
I’m reminded of the scene in The Matrix where the young guru tells Neo...
How to beat Apple →
I love it when Jason writes longer form things. This piece is no exception. Some very smart observations. I’m especially fond of this one:
I can’t remember if this is my own theory or I read about this on Daring Fireball or something, but the Apple products & services that Apple does well are the ones that Steve Jobs uses (or cares about) and the ones he doesn’t use/care...
Enough Episode 28 — Rambling With Shawn →
Today on the Minimal Mac Podcast, we are joined by internet superstar and all around swell guy, Shawn Blanc and we talk about all sorts of random things from the minimalism of a single string guitar to the best travel mug you can buy. We had a lot of fun doing these (Note the plural. Part two comes on Thursday).
Americans Now Spend $1.2 Trillion a Year on Stuff... →
Despite the fact that most Americans are still struggling in the worst economy since the Great Depression, a “non-scientific study” from the Wall Street Journal says that U.S. citizens now spend $1.2 trillion annually on nonessential goods. For context, that’s more than 11 percent of overall consumer spending.
From the Department of No Big Surprise.
Turning Left — The Brooks Review →
I turn left where I would normally turn right. So what if it adds fifteen minutes to my drive, those are going to be fifteen interesting minutes. You are going to pass things you don’t normally see and in turn you are going to excite parts of your mind that we rarely use any more — the parts that help us to navigate.
Here is another tip in the same vein that I do not do often enough but...
There's No Place Like Home Screen: The Philosophy... →
“The tips and tricks can certainly go too far. You can spend all day looking at tips and tricks,” Rhone suggests. “But if you’re not doing the work to figure out what’s right for you and waiting around until someone tells you what’s right for you or you wait until you stumble upon what’s right for you…then you’re doing it wrong.”
Yep. I just quoted myself. Sue me.
That said, there are a lot...
Mac Menu Bars – Patrick Rhone →
Pssst! Hey you. Yeah, you. Wanna see what’s on my menubar? Of course you do. Well, just click on that little link up there. Go ahead. I won’t tell. Your secret is safe with me.
Cranking | 43 Folders →
Read. It.
Quicksilver: Mac OS X at your Fingertips [Sponsor] →
I’d like to thank my new friends at Quicksilver for sponsoring this weeks RSS Feed. It’s now back and being actively maintained by a commit group of great folks that love it as much as I do. In my opinion, you will not find a better application-launcher-file-manipulation-search-thingy at any price. It’s free so download it today.
Also, if you are new to Quicksilver, you would be...
Enough Episode 27 — Tapbot Wars! →
In today’s episode of the podcast, it’s another case of the conversation that happens between the conversations. We talk about Tweetbot, the almost universally lauded new Twitter client from Tapbots. I say “almost” because both my friend Ben Brooks and Marco Arment both publicly sighed a collective “Meh!”. Which seemed to start off a war of positions between they and the Tapbot crew...
Apple Currency Conversion Chart
People who are lucky enough to actually own Apple stock may have paid attention to the fact that Apple released their Second Quarter Results today. In fact, even those not directly benefiting may have gotten word that they now effectively own the US Federal Reserve. You see, the US government no longer had enough currency to print the giant piles of cash-on-hand Apple has at their disposal. So,...
App Emails — Shawn Blanc →
Start with your favorite bloggers and podcasters. Write personal, thoughtful, and specific emails to each of them. Give them a promo code (or two — one for themselves and one for them to give to a friend). Tell them why they might like your app and give a few quick points about why. Don’t give an entire feature list, simply mention some previous articles of theirs and touch on why you think your...
Bullet Point — The Brooks Review →
Battery life is the new benchmark — it’s the first thing that I look at on any new piece of hardware. We can now, finally, make the reasonable assumption that both the hardware and software is fast enough on most devices — so now what matters is portability — with battery life being the bullet point at the top of the list, set in bold.
Ben makes a strong argument for a new standard by which to...
WatchTime Lapse of My New Minimal Set Up (by vincent.pj)
I love the t-shirt. Also, for what it is worth, I think both setups were lovely.
Enough Episode 26 — My Domains Are Sinking! →
The latest episode of Enough – The Minimal Mac Podcast is another “rambling” episode where we record the chatter between shows and see what happens. This time, we talk a lot about my very un-minimal domain name addiction, how various “vanity” domains are being affected by world crisis, a recent post about a reporter who uses an iPhone 4 for his work, and how the evolution...
Time away from email » Blog » Elliot Jay Stocks →
So, as a little test, and because I really need some proper downtime, I’m going to disable Mail on my iPhone on Thursday night and not switch it on again until I’m back on Tuesday morning. Who’s with me?
Those who have emailed me may know that I also only check and respond to emails at specific times. During the weekdays, that is often late in the evening (9PM or so). On weekends, I have been...
The Future is Now! – A Backup Story
So, I was sitting around my local co-working space today, when someone asked me what I thought about offsite backup services and what I would recommend. Without missing a beat, I said, “The one I offer.” I then proceeded to give the elevator pitch and explained the benefits.
“Great!”, the other person exclaimed. Then, a few minutes later he stated his desire to sign up and asked when we could set...
Enough Episode 25 — Julio's New Minimalism →
In today’s episode of Enough – The Minimal Mac Podcast we are once again joined by my friend Julio Ojeda-Zapata, reporter, tech pundit and author of iPad Means Business. Julio talks about his journey from self-confessed slob to a simpler lifestyle. It’s a great discussion and an example of how one can get there by slow iteration and reducing friction wherever possible.
Included, I give away...
The Next Mac « Digital Lite →
In 1984 I stood behind a guy at the local computer shop and watched him work with a program called MacPaint. I got it, both the concept and the computer. It was a zillion dollars and not a great productivity tool. I bought the dream.
I would love to have that last sentence on a t-shirt.
FileShuttle, an easy file sharing app. →
finermac:
This is pretty neat. FileShuttle is one of these ultrasimple file sharing apps like CloudApp, but you host the files yourself.
I gave it a go by creating a directory called “shared” on one of my sites. Files are uploaded via FTP or SFTP when you drag them onto the FileShuttle icon in the Dock. It does a few things that CloudApp doesn’t like zipping up files before uploading them...
Enough Episode 24 — Julio Means Business →
On today’s episode of the Minimal Mac podcast, we invite my friend Julio Ojeda-Zapata, reporter, tech pundit and author of iPad Means Business ( a book to which I wrote one of the Forewords by the way), on the show. Herein we discuss how the iPad is changing not only business but computing for regular folks as well. It’s the first of a two parter with Julio so make sure to subscribe.
“Not enough gets said about the importance of abandoning crap.”
– Ira Glass
(via Dave Caolo)
The New Guy's Computer - (37signals) →
Like most programmers starting a new gig, I spent my first day at 37signals setting up my work environment. I thought it might be interesting to keep track of what I installed along the way.
Love stuff like this.
WatchSparrow – The new mail for Mac
I am very pleased to welcome Sparrow, the new email client for Mac, as this week’s RSS Feed Sponsor.
Sparrow takes a minimal UI approach to email and uses the latest features of the Mac OS to it’s advantage. Quicklook, Multitouch, Threading, the whole shebang. Not only that but there is some great features for the simplicity crowd including Quick Reply...
Principle of Least Software — Jonathan Buys →
Use only the software that you need. No more, no less.
What we believe in.
My main computer, 2004 versus 2011 →
Comparing the PowerBook G3/233 to the iPad 2 feature-for-feature. Amazing how far we have come in so short a time.
Did Steve Jobs Steal The iPad? Genius Inventor... →
The Dynabook is still remembered as a vision of what computers could eventually become. Kay described a plasma screen with a contrast ratio approaching that of a book; a keyboard with no moving parts; a network connection with the ability to purchase, transfer, and download “instantiate” files; global information connectivity, such as libraries; media connectivity; and a target price of $500
...
TipToe - Search, view, share the web [Sponsor] →
I would like to thank TipToe for being this weeks RSS Feed sponsor. TipToe uses Bing, Blekko, and a bit of artificial intelligence to deliver only the search results that matter. It is pretty much the only way I search for things when on the go now. Only $.99 and highly recommended.
Condition ONE App: A New Way to Photograph War? -... →
Condition ONE, under development for the Apple iPad and other tablets, uses a custom camera system developed by Dennis that “fuses the ethics, method and aesthetics of photojournalism with the tradition of cinematic filmmaking with virtual reality,” he says. “The entire human field of view is captured on these camera systems, and the stories are edited specifically for the tablet application to...
Rules From a User to Software Developers — The... →
All of these are great, but this is really just a reason to link to Ben Brooks and point out, once again, that if you are not reading everything he writes, you are missing some of the best Mac review and commentary available today. I proudly stand behind my statement that The Brooks Review is on the same level as Daring Fireball, which is the highest of praise in my book.
Further proof? Read...
A cloud-centric Mac set-up » Blog » Elliot Jay... →
This set-up is great. It means that I have a desktop-like experience when working from home, yet I can carry my ‘office’ with me when working at the studio or on the road. It’s the best of both words.
Part one of two. This is going to be good.
(via Ian Hines)
"Reply All" button in Mail.app
finermac:
Sometimes when you need to fire off a quick e-mail reply to someone you hit the Reply button… quickly. As you compose your brilliant reply you realize that what you really wanted to do was “Reply To All”. Instead of forcing you to close your composition window and start over, Mail.app features a handy “Reply To All” button right in your message composition window toolbar. Simply click...
Enough Episode 23 — Quotebook →
For today’s episode of the podcast, we enjoy a great conversation with Matthew Bischoff, one of the developers behind my new favorite iPhone app, Quotebook. We not only discus the app but also share some of the favorite quotes we have in ours. Also, tune in to find out how we may have singlehandedly caused the Simplenote icon to change. This one was a lot of fun to record.
Landmarks & Lions →
Anyone who knows me knows that one of the things I believe in is supporting local businesses whenever possible. Especially when the quality of the goods warrant it. That certainly looks like the case here. Landmarks & Lions is a new purveyor of affordable handmade leather and felt goods for your iOS device. Crafted by hand, with love, in Minnesota.
How affordable you ask? Well, the case...
Square – Accept credit card payments with your... →
Speaking of the present-future, this sure feels like it. I have been using Square to accept credit cards on the spot for my consulting business for a few weeks now both on my iPhone and my iPad. Though I have known about it for quite some time it was an article about it’s founder, Jack Dorsey (also founder of Twitter), that pushed me over the edge to try it.
Seriously, folks, this has been...
MediaShift . How One Radio Reporter Ditched His... →
Now, with the Apple iPhone 4 and several apps, I can produce intricate audio and video reports, broadcast live, take and edit photos, write web content and distribute it through social media from a single device.
The future is now.
(via TUAW)
Enough Episode 22 — Terry's Minimal Mac →
Hide your wallets, folks. In today’s episode of Enough – The Minimal Mac Podcast, we are joined by Terry Lucy of The Bro Show. Terry is not only a new MacBook Air 13 inch owner, but also new to the Mac itself. We asked Terry on to discuss why and how he is keeping his Mac minimal and his observations from a switcher’s perspective.
Also, a programming note, we have a lot of great and diverse...
Using Wunderlist to Make Decisions | David Seah →
So while I like my paper notebooks, I’m now trying something different: using a cloud-based To Do list application to maintain the “big picture” on ALL of my projects, and then opportunistically assigning time to them as it strikes me. In other words, I’m trying to create a constantly-changing buffet of benefit-producing opportunities.
You all should be aware by now that I love peeking at...
