A shot of JD

"Roughly 50% of the cost of producing a physical newspaper is in printing and distribution, with only..."

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:34:52 +0000

“Roughly 50% of the cost of producing a physical newspaper is in printing and distribution, with only about 15% of total costs being editorial. Newspapers could save a lot of money if the primary access to news was via the internet.”

- Google Public Policy Blog

"Maybe the whole thing will feel hokey to people who expect their $500 gadget to feel more Minority..."

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:12:29 +0000

“Maybe the whole thing will feel hokey to people who expect their $500 gadget to feel more Minority Report than Gutenberg.”

- Neven Mrgan on the iPad, in particular the page-turn UI metaphors of iBooks.

ten months

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:19:16 +0000

meaghano:

is how long it took me to ask what the difference was between committed and pushed.

Ah, the life of a non-technical person in startup. Git? SVN? Wut?

We should have our own union or something…

Chatroulette Being Used for Marketing? Say It Ain’t...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:46:54 +0000

Chatroulette Being Used for Marketing? Say It Ain’t So!

Market research 101: people sat fiddling on the Internet on a weekday afternoon don’t make a representative sample of the whole population.

(I know it’s tongue in cheek…)

livejamie: When your friend’s texts get to the point where...

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:59:16 +0000

livejamie:

When your friend’s texts get to the point where Google thinks it’s Welsh, it might be time for some English lessons.

Amazing! But I’ve always thought SMS language was more like Klingon…

"[When talking about] eBooks, I’ve settled on using ‘page’ as a reference to the..."

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:50:15 +0000

“[When talking about] eBooks, I’ve settled on using ‘page’ as a reference to the original book only, and ‘leaf’ as the unitary, non-scrolling content in the current viewport.”

- There are no web pages anymore

The peak of the dot-com bubble was ten years ago today.

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:49:39 +0000

The peak of the dot-com bubble was ten years ago today.:

According to Wikipedia’s NASDAQ stats.

iPhone developer? Going to SXSW? Let's meetup!

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 21:25:00 +0000

iPhone developer? Going to SXSW? Let's meetup!:

An informal drink and a chat for anyone who’s ever been up to their elbows in Xcode…or is simply a fan of the device.

"The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:02:24 +0000

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”

- Stephen Covey, author of “7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.

Just read this quote in the e-mail signature of a startup founder, but I think it’s good advice for life in general as much as startups, business and products.

"One day soon, any Mac hardware that has ‘File’ and ‘Edit’ menus at the top..."

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:06:49 +0000

“One day soon, any Mac hardware that has ‘File’ and ‘Edit’ menus at the top will be considered ‘Power Users Only’ territory.”

- Cameron Daigle on the iPad’s Effect

"So many crap products get made because artists don’t drive most companies: MBAs, lawyers, office..."

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:44:38 +0000

“So many crap products get made because artists don’t drive most companies: MBAs, lawyers, office politics, bean counters, and shareholders do.”

- The real meaning of “Real Artists Ship”

But “artist” doesn’t necessarily mean “developer” - just someone with passion and vision for whatever it is you’re doing.

(I know that’s a bit cheesy, but it’s good to be reminded of from time to time…)

iPod, Couch to 5k and the loneliness of the short-distance runner

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:21:46 +0000

Never realised before that LCD Soundsystem’s 45:33 (commissioned by Nike to match the average workout length) is quite an unencouraging piece of music for keep-fit listening, with its repeated lyrical refrain of “shame on you”.

"9 out of 10 of the films nominated in the Academy Awards’ ‘Documentary Feature’..."

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:53:57 +0000

“9 out of 10 of the films nominated in the Academy Awards’ ‘Documentary Feature’ and ‘Documentary Short’ categories were made using Final Cut Studio, Apple’s professional video editing package.”

- TUAW

"The need to diet, which we know so well in relation to food, and which runs so contrary to our..."

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:02:06 +0000

“The need to diet, which we know so well in relation to food, and which runs so contrary to our natural impulse, is something we now have to relearn in relation to knowledge, people and ideas. We require periods of fast in the life of our minds no less than in that of our bodies.”

- Alain de Botton

I think I would find a media fast very difficult, but it’s nonetheless an idea I’ve toyed with…

Web Nostalgia Friday in the office.

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:02:21 +0000

Web Nostalgia Friday in the office.

Liverpool Daily Post: Ignite Liverpool hosts digital entrepreneurs

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:23:00 +0000

Liverpool Daily Post: Ignite Liverpool hosts digital entrepreneurs:

“Merseyside creative and digital entrepreneurs gathered last night to share their passions as part of a ‘geek culture’ event”.

I spoke. It was fun.

Wow, thanks LinkedIn, that’s an incredibly well targeted...

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:21:00 +0000

Wow, thanks LinkedIn, that’s an incredibly well targeted message for someone who went to performing arts school and works in digital media.

From Ignite Liverpool's "Blaggers' Guide to Linux"

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:34:00 +0000

Unix ≠ eunuchs.
Kernel ≠ colonel.

Good to know.

Fun etymologies Thursday

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 15:06:54 +0000

monkeytypist:

Tragedy originally meant “goat-song”.

tristn:

You’ve got to be kidding!

You’d better baa-lieve it.

Turn your iPhone into a TV remote. At first it just seems like I...

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:08:00 +0000

Turn your iPhone into a TV remote.

At first it just seems like I gimmick…but I know some people use an iPhone/iPod Touch as a Boxee remote (I do, but don’t have a dedicated device just for that like Fred Wilson), so I guess this is useful as part of a broader TV-mobile ecosystem.

(I wanted to get the buzzword “satellite devices” in there too, but failed).