POSTED July 20, 2012

early indications: theatre shooting will be "terrorism"⚓

The tragic theatre shooting in Colorado last night that took 14 12 10 lives has early indications it will eventually be tied to some form of “terrorism.”

• Anti-populist themes in The Dark Knight Rises portray the dangers of the 99%
• Representative Gohmert began his comments on the shooting with rhetoric on “anti Christian-Judeo” beliefs
• Today, July 20, 2012, is the first day of Ramadan

It’s terrible that this event happened, and it will be even more terrible that this act of violence will be used to evolve the new world culture of fear.

POSTED July 15, 2012

five apps work isn’t worth doing without ⚓

I find it especially helpful when others share the tools that they find to be exceptional.  And so, here’s my reciprocation with five apps I just can’t work without on Mac OSX.

Jumpcut (Free)

Jumpcut saves your clipboard history allowing you to refer to items later from a simple icon in your menubar. My daily workflow requires more and more aggregation to and from e-mails, Powerpoints, and web browsers. I honestly can’t use a machine today without Jumpcut installed and it has saved me countless hours and unnecessary frustration.

Alfred (Free)

Alfred is akin to the Spotlight feature of OSX, but with a more native feeling interface (yes, ironic). Tapping a key combination alway brings up the Alfred window (which isn’t the case if you’re in a text field and try to summon Spotlight), allowing applications to be launched or long lost files to be located just by typing the first few letters and hitting return.

Caffeine (Free)

I’m a fan of the long battery life in the most Apple notebooks today (yeah, I know, who isn’t) but the power saving preferences can cause apps like iTunes to stop playing when its time for them to kick in.  For bouts of intentional listlessness for your computer, Caffeine overrides power settings for set periods of time saving you from ever having to fiddle with the preference pane.

Cinch (Paid, $6.99)

Windows 7 introduced windows that “snapped” depending on their position on the screen.  Cinch brings this same functionality to OSX.  For studio displays, work just becomes easier when two even-sized windows can be put next to one another instantly.  Equally helpful is being able to make a window full screen, something I wish the green plus sign in each OSX window would do instead of remembering odd sizes I don’t recall setting.

Cloud App (Free, with limits)

The latest hit my daily use list, Cloud App takes any screenshots taken with Apple’s default commands (CMD + Shift + 3 or CMD + Shift + 4) and instantly uploads them to the “cloud.” Then, the link is saved to your clipboard to paste into a Skype to share with a colleague or friend.

Okay, great, now that I’ve shared my top five, what apps do you find that you can’t work without?

POSTED July 07, 2012

thinking aloud ⚓

With unoccupied time becoming less and less of a reality during a typical work week, I’ve been keen on observing how those around me deal with the lack of headspace afforded to them.

According to Strengths Finder 2.0, one of my top five qualities is being Deliberative. 

People strong in the Deliberative theme are best described by the serious care they take in making decisions or choices. They anticipate the obstacles.

For me that means I need and must take time before making a decision or choice, but there isn’t a lot of extra sand to let trickle through the hourglass.  These days, I’ve become comfortable saying I don’t know.  At first, I worried it would be interpreted as being unprepared, but instead it is usually greeted with a request to follow up on the item later.  Being Deliberative, that’s not a problem.

My new boss on the other hand is certainly not Deliberative.  I’ve observed in a number of meetings that he’ll sound extremely confident in the explanation he gives, and then, just minutes later when an obstacle is pointed out or occurs to him, he’ll change tone, reissue his thoughts and settle on a different conclusion with just as much confidence.

While adapting to this I can’t help but wonder if it will rub off, or if it already has and I just haven’t realized it yet.

Time will tell.

POSTED July 05, 2012

the navidson record ⚓

Think about a staircase. By definition it has a bottom and a top, and it links at least two floors to one another. It’s a simple construction, I suppose. I’ve never actually built anything of measure, so I can’t say this with any certainty.

What I can say is that by definition, a staircase is akin to mortality.

Standing at the bottom looking up, the task of climbing seems daunting. Somewhere in the middle it becomes clear your only choice is to continue your climb. Then, just as you reach the top, you have to consider just what it would mean to fall back down to the bottom.

Would you really want to start over again?

I sometimes regret decisions I’ve made for myself, while most other times I revel at the chances I took and how many things just managed to work out. The important thing is not getting consumed by thinking about the stairs in front or behind, but actually climbing them, one step at a time.

POSTED July 03, 2012

Superunknown, Soundgarden ⚓

"If this isn’t making sense, it doesn’t make it lies."

POSTED July 02, 2012

will mobile phones replace cigarettes?⚓

Ian Bogost prognosticates on days where mobile phones will face the same social stigma as cigarettes.  

I still remember when I’d go to dinner with my grandmother at Po’ Folks and the hostess would ask if we wanted smoking or non-smoking.  I learned early on that there was always an open seat in smoking section, but I didn’t understand why.  My mom smoked and my aunt smoked, so it all just seemed normal to me.

Today, I often sit across from people at the dinner table with their heads down.  They are staring into a glowing screen, consuming bytes of information, while I bite away at my meal.  But is this a necessarily a bad thing?

I’m still on the fence, but the only place I can’t reliably find someone on a phone is between 0-10,000 feet, flying the friendly skies — but there are no cigarettes up there either.