Categories
Business Cloud Life

The Dark Side of the Cloud

Skull and BonesThomas Monopoly @thomasmonopoly: “On July 15 2011 you turned off my entire Google account. You had absolutely no reason to do this, despite your automated message telling me your system “perceived a violation.” I did not violate any Terms of Service, either Google’s or account specific ToS, and your refusal to provide me with any proof otherwise makes me absolutely certain of this. And I would like to bring to your attention how much damage your carelessness has done.”

Here’s an example of The Mythical Cloud gone wrong.

Categories
Design Development

Lighting & Realism In Interface Design

Design then CodeDesign then Code, by Mike Rundle (@flyosity): “Lighting & Realism In Interface Design is an introduction to designing beautiful, realistic interfaces in Photoshop. It explains the physics of real world lighting, how gradients, shadows and highlights are created, and how to use Layer Styles to design buttons, panels and more. Finally, it steps through how to design interface elements from Twitter for Mac and Calcbot for iPhone.”

Mike continues to kick butt in his Design then Code series. This is a must buy for me.

Categories
Life

Tragedy in Oslo

NorwayNew York Times: “OSLO — Norway suffered a pair of devastating attacks on Friday when powerful explosions shook the government center here, killing seven people, and shortly after a gunman stalked youths at an island summer camp for young members of the governing Labor Party, killing at least 80.”

You don’t have to be an Islamist extremist to kill a bunch of people, this one was, apparently, a Christian extremist. Sickening.

I remember all too well when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. That bombing killed 168 people, including 19 children.

Today’s event in Oslo made me think of Oklahoma City.

Categories
MLOTW

Movie line of the week answer

Alas, no winner this week.

The correct answer was…

Kung Fu Panda

See you next Thursday.

Categories
Apple

Dan Gilmore’s bizarre Lion review

I'm sorry, I'm confused.Dan Gilmore: “This machine is a Macbook Air, a 13-inch model that came out last year. It is a stunningly fine combination of size, style and power. And Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard” is a terrific operating system. I’ve customized it for my needs, and have truly enjoyed using it.

Because so much of my work depends on having a reliable and up-to-date computer, I buy a new one each year, using the older one as a backup in case of trouble with the newer machine. In recent years, that has meant owning two roughly equivalent Macs.

The latest Macbook Air went on sale this week. As is always the case with technology, it’s even more powerful than the one I have. I crave it. I won’t buy it.

He loves his MacBook Air, he loves Snow Leopard, so he’s not going to purchase a new MacBook Air because Snow Leopard won’t run on it? That just seems… odd.

Dan, you could use your current MacBook Air for another five years and have a better experience than you’ll get on modern hardware running Linux because the Linux crowd doesn’t care about UX.

You mention lack of tools you use on Linux.

“…not least of which is my inability to replace several must-have tools, notably sparse disk image bundles and several superb applications I use for my blogging and other media creation.”

There is a bright spot. Linux is open, and free! You can write your own tools to match your current Mac workflow. No problem. Who knows, once you become an emacs, or vi, expert and learn to write Bash scripts like a pro and add in a dash of Perl, Pyhon, and Ruby, you’ll probably come to appreciate the power and freedom of Linux. Just remember to share your work with the Linux ecosystem so everyone can benefit.

Yeah, I’m being serious about that. If you are a complete computing bit head Linux can be a terrific experience. Maybe Dan can find his inner geek?

Is this an experiment?

Here’s another thought, maybe Dan is conducting some sort of experiment? Maybe he’s trying to see how much power he has over his followers? Could it be? Is this an evil plot to destroy Apple?

It could happen.

Yeah, yeah, whatever.

None of this matters in the end. I find it odd, some will agree with his viewpoint, others will hate Apple because they can. Some will even hate Apple because they’re no longer the underdog.

Bottom line, I’m an Apple fanboy.

Categories
Life

Size of our debt, in pictures.

WTFnoway.com: “$114,500,000,000,000. – US unfunded liabilities. To the right you can see the pillar of cold hard $100 bills that dwarfs the WTC & Empire State Building – both at one point world’s tallest buildings. If you look carefully you can see the Statue of Liberty.”

Categories
MLOTW

Movie line of the week

And.... ACTION!Good morning, and good luck!

Skadoosh!

Ok, quick, what movie! Send your guesses here.

Categories
Business

Facebook, It’s not about the money

Fast Company: “Creating a social network is so last week. Today, American Express is unveiling a social media platform called “Link, Like, Love” that gives card members personalized deals on Facebook based on their social graph, while also giving businesses an easy way to set up shop on different social networks. Local and national merchants are already signed on to the program, which dynamically updates new deals in a dashboard tailored to a cardholder’s likes, interests, and friends.”

You can’t call Facebook dumb, that’s for sure. This appears to be at least part, if not all, of their answer to Groupon.

Categories
MLOTW

Movie line of the week answer

Good afternoon, we have a winner!

Mr. Henry “Hank” Hatcher, a co-worker, is our big winner! Congratulations Hank.

The correct answer was…

Kill Bill: Vol. 2

See you next Thursday.

Categories
iOS

ShakyPlanet

Little Ricky Alien DudeHere’s a neat little application introduced to me by a fellow NSSLO‘er, it’s called ShakyPlanet by Little Ricky Software. It’s like a Snow Globe with collectable themes. It’s a fun app.

To commemorate the final Space Shuttle launch they’ve added a free collectable called “End of an Era.” Enjoy.

End of an Era