Mar 26
2012

I’m not a minimalist. By no stretch of the imagination is anything about my personality minimal, nor have I lived a life that indicates any of the discipline required to say “enough.” Take my workspace as a micro-example of my entire life.

My desk is a perpetual mess; maybe neater than some, but despite its large size, desktop space here is a luxury. By the end of…

Mar 02
2012

Here’s a quick tip about two apps that I love: nvALT and Magic Launch. I’m not sure about the project status of Magic Launch, or how it will fare with Mountain Lion, but for now it’s one very useful app. This is more of a multi-tip than a review, but take it as you will.

You probably know of nvALT, so I’ll describe Magic Launch. Magic Launch overrides the default file…

Nov 20
2011

I received my Nest (advanced learning thermostat) on Friday. I was on my way out the door to see WITS in St. Paul, Minnesota. I opened the package and read the 8-page setup manual on the way. I got home late, so I tackled the installation the next day.

First, let me say that it’s as beautiful as the website presents it to be. I recently bought my first house and my wife had…

Oct 26
2011

Reading List for iPhone is a polished app that does one thing, and does it well: track your books. It helps keep track of the books you want, the books you have, the books you’re reading and the books you’ve read. If you still enjoy the rustle of paper pages in this era of the E-Reader, this is a handy app to have.

Sep 23
2011

The developers of Listary contacted me about working on some nvALT integration of their Simplenote-compatible iPhone app for creating lists that sync across any device or machine. I found the app cool enough that it’s definitely worth a mention here.

It’s a simple concept: you create lists and sync them as plain text with Simplenote. It works similarly to TaskPaper; there’s…

May 22
2011

Courtesy of Buzan Center Australia.

Most of my projects start out as mind maps (which I may have mentioned before). Whether it’s a packing list, a blog post or a TextMate bundle, I find it easiest to organize my (often scattered) thoughts using what Tony Buzan calls radiant thinking. Lists and outlines are rarely as effective as the non-linear format…

Nov 05
2010

I know some people have been moving away from WordPress and toward blogging solutions like Tumblr. The number one reason I hear for making this move is that WordPress gets to complicated once you start customizing. Distractingly so. I don’t disagree.

I love tweaking WordPress websites, though, and have built quite a few of them. The plugin community is part of what makes it so…