Learning to code
Two of my younger extended family members have contacted me recently wondering how to get into app development, which is admittedly kind of a puzzler for me (apparently publishing TapWatch gained me...
View ArticleBuying Adobe Photoshop CS6 (or not)
Evidently a guy named Pat Dryburgh had some trouble buying Photoshop. His trial ran out, and when he purchased their Creative Cloud option to continue working, he discovered that his license number...
View ArticleWhither webOS?
My house is littered with webOS devices I no longer use. My Pre+, the phone that hooked me on webOS as a user and later tempted me into app development, lies facedown on top of a Pre 2 that I received...
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First impressions of Mojang’s Scrolls
When I was but a lad, my aunt introduced me to a little card game called Magic: The Gathering. And down that rabbit hole I went. Magic’s not perfect (and I haven’t purchased a card in years, at this...
View ArticleThe tragic internal consistency of Steins;Gate
The first time I watched the anime Steins;Gate, I was unsure why so many people were raving about it. The first six episodes or so I mostly spent wondering why I should care about these characters,...
View ArticleEspresso 3 beta is out!
Hooray! Espresso 3 is at last available as a public beta! I’ve been one of the few people using this version of the app for a while (yikes, is it years now?), and I think you’re going to love some of...
View ArticleComparing StoryMill and Scrivener
I’m a long-time user of StoryMill (starting when it was originally called Avenir), but I’m also something of a software junkie, so when Scrivener came out I tried using it for a few projects....
View ArticleWhen the formula falters
My girlfriend and I went to see The Princess and the Frog last night, and it was fun. Not great, but fun. Unfortunately Disney has managed to capture the spectacle but little of the soul of past great...
View ArticleData model design in WebOS
When I was first starting to program TapNote I did a lot of reading through Palm’s documentation and other WebOS developer help sites, but I never was able to find any good information on how to set up...
View ArticleLEGO Universe: the good, the bad, the unfulfilling
Hey kids! You’re on the internet now, where LEGO Universe’s restrictive chat filters are not in place. This review uses some words most deem inappropriate for young ears, so if your parents are reading...
View ArticlePersonally applicable
What makes a story something you want to experience over and over, something you think about or re-experience until you’ve internalized it? This is one of the things that I find myself pondering as I...
View ArticleLove letter to WebOS
When I pick up my Palm Pre, flick it on, and consider it I realize that this is the most amazing device I have ever owned. Sure, the hardware has some problems (why the hell won’t the damned “H” key...
View ArticleSpammers want to protect me from spam
I recently told a follower on Twitter to send me an email, and helpfully included the email in the tweet. I thought little of it; this is an email address that is published in plain text online because...
View ArticleFrom iPhone to Palm Pre: a comprehensive review
(Author’s note: I wrote the bulk of this review two months after I picked up a Palm Pre, and then forgot it in my drafts folder. Now, days after Palm’s announcement of the Pre2 on Verizon and the Pre3...
View ArticleWe need Internet Explorer
A friend recently linked to this comparison of IE 9 and Firefox 4, and I find these sorts of comparison interesting. The implied message, of course, is that Firefox is better because it supports...
View ArticleI am done wasting money on Adobe software
I first discovered Photoshop in high school when my friend showed me a doctored photo he had created, and it was a life-changing moment. Photoshop took something supremely boring to me (taking photos)...
View ArticleWhat is blogging
Daniel Jalkut, developer of the excellent MarsEdit blogging software, recently tweeted: I’m thinking of commissioning a dedicated site for teaching the basics of blogging. Unless somebody knows of a...
View ArticleMariner Software, I’m calling you out
Mariner Software is the publisher of some of my favorite Mac applications, including StoryMill. However, they do not actually want anyone to download their software. This is evidenced by the...
View ArticleWhy did two buttons take so long? The backstory behind TapNote 1.2
As anyone who follows me on Twitter or this blog is no doubt sick of hearing, TapNote 1.2 is now available and includes Dropbox sync! And to help my readers maintain their sanity, that’s all I will say...
View ArticleWhy nothing Apple does should surprise me
I do not—and have never—used Final Cut Pro. Or really any version of Final Cut. I remember one day I was sort of bumming around, looking at software, and I wondered briefly if the slimmed-down version...
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