ChristopherDWhite

"If you’re a single male hoping to have some casual sex with a large group of PAX attendees you..."

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:48:15 -0600

“If you’re a single male hoping to have some casual sex with a large group of PAX attendees you have, tragically, waited too long. Couples, on the other hand, are still encouraged to break out the Mana-brand personal lubricant, head over to Craigslist and start the revolution.”

- PAX nerd orgy no longer accepting single male participants | Joystiq

Terrifying.

"If no one releases a popular web browsing platform that lacks Flash support, then web sites that..."

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 17:55:34 -0600

“If no one releases a popular web browsing platform that lacks Flash support, then web sites that already publish Flash content are never going to move away from it. I think the web would be a far better place without Flash, or, at least, with Flash relegated to a position like that of Java applets: there if you want it, but not a major foundation.”

- Daring Fireball: Getting There From Here, Where by ‘There’ I Mean a Web Where Flash Is Not a De Facto Standard Technology

Dead on.

"It’s hard not to see the lawsuit as a patent troll—especially given the fact that Interval..."

Sat, 28 Aug 2010 14:17:25 -0600

“

It’s hard not to see the lawsuit as a patent troll—especially given the fact that Interval doesn’t actually produce any products and the word “licensing” is right in the company’s name. Still, Allen and his spokesperson David Postman clearly believe that they are defending a concept that is not practically universal among search engines and web browsers, but rather something that would not exist at all had Interval not come up with it.

“We are not asserting patents that other companies have filed, nor are we buying patents originally assigned to someone else,” Postman said in a statement. “These are patents developed by and for Interval.”

A Google spokesperson responded to the lawsuit by saying that it uses the patent system to work against innovation, not for it. “This lawsuit against some of America’s most innovative companies reflects an unfortunate trend of people trying to compete in the courtroom instead of the marketplace,” the spokesperson said. “Innovation—not litigation—is the way to bring to market the kinds of products and services that benefit millions of people around the world.”

”

- Microsoft cofounder drops patent bomb on Apple, Google, Facebook

Patent troll? Yes. The patent system really needs to be reworked in light of the direction of technology. Let’s follow Australia’s lead and kill software patents altogether.

Impulse Driven : The Witcher - on sale!

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:26:00 -0600

Impulse Driven : The Witcher - on sale!:

If you are a PC gamer and even have the slightest interest in fantasy or RPGs you need to go pick up The Witcher on sale this weekend for $10.

I’m playing through it now and it’s awesome, I like it better then Dragon Age actually—and I’ve been accused of being a Bioware fanboy.

The Void and several other games are also on sale on Impulse.

"Catalyst for classroom participation At Abilene Christian—where the iPad is being distributed to 100..."

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:08:53 -0600

“

Catalyst for classroom participation At Abilene Christian—where the iPad is being distributed to 100 students in two pilot program classes—Dr. Ian Shepherd has designed his fall Econ 261 class to incorporate a digital textbook from McGraw-Hill, the Blackboard Learning Mobile app, as well as PDFs of supplemental texts. He’s perhaps most excited about the No Advance NOtice (NANO), an ACU-built assessment tool that lets him instantly quiz the entire class using polls, true-false questions and open-ended essay queries. He believes that tool will help him draw reticent students into classroom discussions. He’s taking aim at the “20-80 Rule”—the belief among educators that 20 percent of students dominate classroom time.

“With the device I have available, I can ensure participation from across the board,” Shepherd said. “I know there’s always going to be free riders, there’s always going to be someone there who had a bad night. What I’m hoping to do with the tools is flip that to an 80-20.”

”

- How schools are putting the iPad to work | Business Center | Macworld

America’s education system is broken, embracing modern technology to provide a better learning environment is one of the things schools need to do to fix it.

Doesn’t need to be an iPad, by the way, but it is a compelling device for keeping students focused while also being powerful enough that students will make them part of their daily life outside of school (unlike maybe the Kindle DX).

Super interesting that one of the schools commented on the lack of multi-tasking being a useful feature for them, not that the technical kids aren’t going to get around that one way or another.

A Real Web Design Application | Jason Santa Maria

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:50:16 -0600

A Real Web Design Application | Jason Santa Maria:

Very solid take on the current state of web design applications (and why they all suck right now).

With Flux 3 just released I wonder how well it stacks up to Jason’s wish list. Need to spend some time with it and find out.

"Judge Walker also makes these legal findings: • Same-sex marriage meets the historical requirements..."

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:24:32 -0600

“

Judge Walker also makes these legal findings:

• Same-sex marriage meets the historical requirements to be “marriage” rather than some new thing.
• Domestic partnerships are not close enough to the same thing as marriage.
• Prop. 8 does not serve a legitimate government interest—let alone a compelling government interest.
• Prop. 8 discriminates on both sex and sexual orientation.
• The highest level of scrutiny should be applied.
• Even if we used the lowest level of scrutiny, Prop. 8 would fail because Prop. 8 satisfies no government interest.
• A private moral view that same-sex couples are inferior to opposite-sex couples is not a proper basis for legislation

Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional.

”

- Squashed: The Proposition 8 Ruling (in simple language)

I couldn’t agree more.

"As part of the fallout, this morning the writing team refused to do their work for the month, which..."

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:14:49 -0600

“As part of the fallout, this morning the writing team refused to do their work for the month, which was to write today’s blog post and name some hats. At first we weren’t terribly concerned—partly because most of the team wasn’t even aware the game had writing in it, but mostly because everybody here, unlike the writers, knows how to perform a skill AND write words. (Here’s a pro-tip for you youngsters: Build your career on a skill that isn’t something five-year-olds can do.)”

- Team Fortress 2

<3

"A wise man once told me that sometimes it’s better to seek forgiveness than ask for permission. That..."

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:13:22 -0600

“A wise man once told me that sometimes it’s better to seek forgiveness than ask for permission. That stuck with me and it characterises my approach when speaking with the press or being asked about Introversion. I tend to tell the truth and get shouted out afterwards for putting my foot in it. I’m not going to apologise though, because I believe that honesty is the best way to communicate important lessons about the reality of running a company. I also hate it when the big boys think they can throw their weight around and silence you if your experience is different to the glossy / shiny view they wish to project. So it was unusual when I found myself avoiding conferences and turning down interviews for the first half of 2010.”

- Defcon :: View topic - Coming Clean

I really appreciate these guys candor and honesty, I wish more companies would be willing to be this up front with—not users—fans and friends. It’s about the relationship.

Defcon does some very interesting and gorgeous Tron influenced games that you should check out if you’re at all into strategy. Actually, if you’re not already into strategy some of Defcon’s games aren’t a bad place to start.

"Of course media isn’t the only thing that a new Apple TV might offer. If it is indeed an iOS device,..."

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 15:59:51 -0600

“Of course media isn’t the only thing that a new Apple TV might offer. If it is indeed an iOS device, then you have to look at other kinds of apps as well, and for those plunked in front of a big ol’ TV, that means games. As the Xbox, PS3, and Wii have demonstrated, gaming boxes that also happen to play media are a popular item, particularly around the holidays. Provide an Apple TV that can play high-resolution games—with surround sound, an HDMI connection, and hardware controllers, yet—and you’ve got a fairly formidable hunk of hardware sitting next to your TV—formidable enough, in fact, that many people may forget all about its inability to play Blu-ray discs or record TV broadcasts.”

- Pondering Apple’s September 1 media event | iPod & Entertainment | Playlist | Macworld

This is a nice idea, gaming on an Apple TV, and I’m sure it would have some draw for casual gamers but that’s a hard space to enter with three firmly embedded consoles covering the full spectrum from casual to hard-core. The problem is that Apple doesn’t have any of the big connections with game developers of ‘high-resolution’ games.

Unless they’re working with Valve that is.

If they take an App Store approach and present an iOS API familiar to developers making games on the iOS devices they could do really well. But they need the adoption rate to compel developers of current iOS devices already maintaining three different resolutions & UI conventions for their games to add a fourth to their support list.

I don’t want to say that it will never happen, but it feels like they’ve got the cards stacked against them (not that they haven’t overcome that before) but it’s a direction Apple hasn’t moved on in the past. Does the target audience for an Apple TV want to play games? Is that a bonus or a killer feature for them? Doesn’t seem like it to me, but it will be interesting to see where this could go.

"When we spoke to a cadre of Mac OS X developers earlier this year, they universally agreed that iOS..."

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:20:33 -0600

“When we spoke to a cadre of Mac OS X developers earlier this year, they universally agreed that iOS was having more influence on the direction of Mac OS X than the other way around. Cabel Sasser, co-founder and developer at Panic, especially felt that Mac OS X 10.7 could potentially be a hybrid between the two OSes. “I could see a gradual, slow merger between iOS and Mac OS X styles and approaches,” he told Ars. “It doesn’t make sense for them to be developing two of everything, one good, one not as good—two calendars, two address books—it’s got to merge somehow.””

- Apple looking at dual-mode touchscreen desktops and laptops

Interesting take, I do think we will see more convergence and things like address books can be standardized. I’m not sure I fully buy that the two operating systems will merge in the future, at least anytime soon.

"While the paranoid conspiracy that Apple is out to disable all jailbroken devices is far-fetched,..."

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:16:23 -0600

“While the paranoid conspiracy that Apple is out to disable all jailbroken devices is far-fetched, the ability to remotely detect attempts to hack or jailbreak the iPhone or iPad can be a valuable tool for IT admins who need to monitor and maintain the devices remotely.”

- How Apple’s patent could improve iPhone and iPad security | Phones | iOS Central | Macworld

Exactly.

"With these developments in mind, and considering the massive gains of this graphics performance..."

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:12:00 -0600

“With these developments in mind, and considering the massive gains of this graphics performance update, the Mac’s gaming future looks pretty bright. I don’t think anyone besides the most zealous of your gaming friends could blame you for getting your shades ready.”

- Inside Snow Leopard Graphics Update’s surprising gains | Games | MacUser | Macworld

Like David, I’m optimistic about the future of Mac gaming. However, there are some very big challenges ahead that I believe will slow Mac adoption as a gaming system.

As Dave points out, the largest challenge is hardware; particularly not hardware that can be upgraded without a huge investment in the first place. Apple’s non-upgradeable systems aren’t exactly much better either given the higher price you pay for a decent system. Pricing out a Macbook this last weekend getting even the lowest end Apple laptop cost as much as $400 more then similar PC laptops in terms of CPU, GPU & RAM. Granted, you’re going to get stuck with a crap case/size, keyboard and trackpad, not to mention battery life. High specs aren’t that important to a lot of Mac users, other then organizing large photo libraries or watching Flash videos they’ll rarely see their CPU’s jump (they might run out of RAM though). Gamers are a lot less forgiving, they live by the power of their machines and they will often pay a premium for high performance hardware but typically at heavily budgeted prices by building and upgrading their own systems.

Until Apple addresses this market it’s going to hold the platform back. Existing Apple users will start gaming on their Apple hardware, but gamers won’t go out and buy Apple hardware unless they find other features compelling.

The other issue is that we need to see more game developers join the fray, Valve (and Blizzard) is big, especially for PC gamers but they are hardly the only AAA developer that needs to get on board before the Mac gaming platform is fully legitimized. The rub here is that while PC gaming is experiencing a bit of a resurgence lately it is still shadowed by cheaper and more accessible consoles. If PC is a niche of gaming how much more so is the Mac? A lot rides on the next few years and particularly what and when the next generation of consoles will arrive to catch up with the quality higher performance PC’s can produce. OnLive is another big question mark, if it’s adopted widely and cloud gaming grows that could change the playing field significantly.

chartier: INCEPTION for MAC USERS - Nerdist Clever.

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:43:13 -0600

chartier:

INCEPTION for MAC USERS - Nerdist

Clever.

"Google is talking about fighting piracy, but perhaps the first thing they should focus on is..."

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:53:33 -0600

“

Google is talking about fighting piracy, but perhaps the first thing they should focus on is actually making it possible for users to buy apps. All users. Sounds rather logical, doesn’t it? So what are we talking about? The problem lies with Android Market.

You can only pay for apps in 13 out of the 46 or so countries where Android phones are available. For those of you who like stats, 13 in 46 works out to less than 30%. Contrast this with Apple’s App Store, which supports paid apps in 90 countries. This is a huge advantage iPhone developers currently have over Android developers.

This is, in our opinion, one of the main reasons why piracy is running rampant on the Android platform. If a large portion of the world’s Android users can’t even pay for apps, is it so strange that some of them turn to piracy?

”

- Why Android developers are losing money, and it’s not due to piracy | Royal Pingdom

"Thanks for your feedback and kind words. Whilst we’re always looking at social networks we might..."

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 10:14:10 -0600

“Thanks for your feedback and kind words. Whilst we’re always looking at social networks we might want to add to Socialite, we’re mostly working to ensure that - instead of working to offer every social network out there - we offer the best experience possible for those that we do support. We’re fairly focused on just the services that are available right now [and reworking other areas in the application] but these feature requests are definitely noted!”

- Realmac Software | [Feature Request] Additional Social Network Support (MySpace, kontain, LinkedIn, etc)

Bummer, adding a few key services to Socialite like Reddit, Tumblr, LinkedIn and Ember would go a really long way toward making Socialite the social tool I turn to.

"Quiet contemplation has led to its fair share of important thoughts. But it cannot be denied that..."

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 10:22:44 -0600

“

Quiet contemplation has led to its fair share of important thoughts. But it cannot be denied that good ideas also emerge in networks.

Yes, we are a little less focused, thanks to the electric stimulus of the screen. Yes, we are reading slightly fewer long-form narratives and arguments than we did 50 years ago, though the Kindle and the iPad may well change that. Those are costs, to be sure. But what of the other side of the ledger? We are reading more text, writing far more often, than we were in the heyday of television.

And the speed with which we can follow the trail of an idea, or discover new perspectives on a problem, has increased by several orders of magnitude. We are marginally less focused, and exponentially more connected. That’s a bargain all of us should be happy to make.

”

- Unboxed - Yes, People Still Read, but Now It’s Social - NYTimes.com

(via adamsdayoff) I take five or six screenshots every day on...

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 14:44:31 -0600

(via adamsdayoff)

I take five or six screenshots every day on the iPhone, this would drive me nuts. Perhaps I just need a more ubiquitous workflow for transferring data between applications and my computer; I clearly need to use Pastebot more.

Still, that’s a pain in the ass.

"When it comes to the more complex ideas and experiences unique to games, we as gamers and as an..."

Sat, 29 May 2010 18:01:03 -0600

“When it comes to the more complex ideas and experiences unique to games, we as gamers and as an industry haven’t yet gotten our lexicon to a point where it’s sophisticated enough to convey them. Hey, it’s not like we’ve had any practice; we’ve only in the past talked about what makes games special with each other, with people from “our world.” That we’re starting to notice our vocabulary is failing us is a good sign – it means that “other people” are ready to listen.”

- Video Games, I’ve Let You Down

"Please, put my headcount and that cardkey “invitation” to good use. Find a college student that..."

Tue, 25 May 2010 22:41:02 -0600

“Please, put my headcount and that cardkey “invitation” to good use. Find a college student that claims we don’t get it and blogs tirelessly about our lack of agility. Track down an EE that has been focusing on fuel cells and has radical thoughts about power management. Or a social networking whiz who is tired of building little islands that go hot and cold and can’t break the mainstream. Hire a designer who’s given shape to 2 decades of beautiful automobiles and thinks we can sculpt technology to better connect to users. Infuse them with our purpose. Give them the tools. Give them lots of rope. Learn from them. Support where they take you. Invite them to redefine The Tribe.”

- “If you want to change the world with technology…” - The Official Microsoft Blog – News and Perspectives from Microsoft - Site Home - TechNet Blogs