The White House: “To crack down on this wasteful spending, last week I announced agency plans to close 137 data centers by the end of 2011, of which 39 have already been shut down. For example, HHS is shutting down a data center in Rockville, Maryland that is 14,992 square feet and requires $1.2 million annually for electricity costs alone.”
I wonder if there are systems they could run on Amazon or Rackspace? That could cut costs even more.
Good morning, I missed last week, out sick, darned allergies.
Here’s the line, good luck!
Ok, quick, what movie! Send your guesses here.
Fred Wilson: “I remember walking home one afternoon from the office on the phone with Mark Pincus. He had launched texas hold’em on Facebook operating under the name Presidio Media. We were talking about what he should call the company. He knew it needed to be a consumer brand. He said “Domains are so hard and expensive. I’d like to use a name I already own.” And he preceded to list a bunch of names he owned. He stopped at zynga.com which was his dog’s name. I said “you own the .com of your dog’s name?” He said “of course I do.” I told him I liked the idea of naming the company after his dog and it had the added benefit of being a short and catchy name. He agreed it was a good idea. A few weeks later, after thinking about it some more, running it by a bunch more people, that was the name Mark chose. It is a fantastic name and brand.”
I love stories like this, but I wonder how he came up with that name Zynga for his dog?
“You are named after the dog? HA HA HA…!” – Sallah
Fresno Famous: “It will be open and available 24-hours a day, 365 days a year. It will have strong, reliable internet access, modular desk units — and couches and a bar-sitting area — and plenty of dry-erase boards for anyone looking to collaborate. Plus, it’s sandwiched between a coffee shop and a bakery, across the street from a pizza parlor and on the route of a major bus line.”
I hope, beyond hope, this is extremely successful. It’s nice to have a place to go full of creative people when you’re working alone.
There are 14 Genius Adopter subscriptions left, only $200.00 for one year. Get ’em while they’re hot!
Marco Arment: “I’m asking people who bought a $200-829 device (many of whom also pay monthly for data service) to take a $5 risk. People risk that much for a side-dish of mashed potatoes that might suck at a restaurant, or a tremendous milkshake at Starbucks that they’ll finish in 30 minutes, without much consideration. iPad and iPhone owners often risk $30-70 on a case that they might break, lose, or get bored with after a few months.”
The App Store is such a strange beast. I think it’s a great distribution mechanism and if you’re an Indie Dev trying to keep the costs down it’s a real blessing. No need to worry about collecting money or keeping servers running. I’m more than willing to give 30% to Apple for that service.
The dark side is, as Marco points out, trying to convince people to take a chance on a $5.00 application.
When RxCalc shipped we priced it at $5.99. After a few months we decided to run a special and make it free for a day. After that we decided to keep the price at $0.99 believing it would increase sales. Well, we were wrong, again. It didn’t change sales, at all. We still get a trickle of sales, a few every day, just as we did at $5.99.
We will be making some changes to the price with the next release. When that will be, I have no idea.
Putts & Pints: “1. Firestone Walker Abacus: You want the WOW factor? This beer delivers. A barleywine aged in bourbon barrels (some say for three years). At 13 percent, it packs a wallop, but the taste is startling. And I mean that in a good way. One third of the way through the beer year, I have an early candidate for best beer of 2011.”
I love Firestone Walker, no doubt about it. Abacus is something I’ve been dying to try and haven’t had the opportunity.
If you like, or love, barley wines you owe it to yourself to give Abacus a try.
The Grilled Cheese Invitational: “Over 200 competitors fought side by side in our grilling arena which extended for nearly 300 feet. The competition was fierce and the cheese was mighty.”
Ok, our oldest daughter, Ms. Haileigh, need to enter this contest.
Tested: ” If you want to save a little cash, and maintain your freedom, you can always pick up a used Android phone on eBay or Craigslist. Since you would be getting this phone second hand, warranties are of little use. You need to make sure the handset is as described. That guy on Craigslist probably doesn’t take returns.”
Having a nice GSM based Android phone as a backup isn’t such a bad idea, especially if you’ll be traveling to Europe.
Peter Jackson: “However, we’re going the other way, shooting at 48 fps with a 270 degree shutter angle. This gives the 48 fps a lovely silky look, and creates a very pleasing look at 24 fps as well. In fact, our DP, Andrew Lesnie, and I prefer the look of 24 fps when it comes from a 48 fps master. “
This film will be best viewed at 48 frames per second, in 2D. I hope, beyond hope, he does a “standard” 2D version of the film.
Gus Mueller: “I’ve got 3 JSTalk scripts for Acorn that any iOS developer or designer will find handy. What they will do is take the current Acorn image and save it as an optimized PNG (running it through pngcrush in the background).”
Gus is the Founder and Head Honcho at Flying Meat. He’s also the creator of Acorn and JSTalk so he knows a few things about scripting it.
These scripts will come in handy if you’re all thumbs, like I am, and want to generate .PNG’s for pre-Retina Display iOS devices as well as newer Retina Display devices. Sweet.
Thanks Gus.