Blog & Free Advice: Personal Technologist
Computers Driving You Mad?
Even the best of us can be taken by our technology. Enjoy!
Personal Technologist on Lab with Leo
A few months ago I taped a segment with Leo Laporte for his show Lab with Leo. The show airs on various techy TV outlets in Canada, the US and Australia. Because of the delay from taping to airing and then encoding for the web, I hadn’t seen the segment until I found it last night on Google Video. I’ve included it below, if you’re at all interested. The...
My Basecamp feature request: view by person
To manage all the different Work Industries projects I use a web-based project management tool called Basecamp from design firm 37 Signals. 37 Signals are widely known as proponents of simple, clean software. In fact, they say as much on their front page: We believe software is too complex. Too many features, too many buttons, too much to learn. We build web-based products that do less, work smarter, feel better, and are easier to use. We pay...
Could David Pogue use a Personal Technologist?
More from the TED blog, a video of NYTimes tech columnist David Pogue on the inanity of software complexity that does a good job of ridiculing some of the accepted practices of software. Highlights include an impression of Steve Jobs singing ‘Don’t Cry for me Cupertino’ at the 17 minute mark, and a demonstration of voice-recognition software with macros for spoken shortcuts to frequent responses (think about that one for second -...
The Joy of Painting Video Game
Growing up one of the most memorable programs on PBS was Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting. I watched the show between other channels or while bored. It featured a white man with a beard and an afro painting incredible landscapes in half an hour. Sounds dry, but the effect of watching the painting come together is incredibly compelling. Ross’ technique and TV persona was instantly recognizable. Talking to a few friends last...
Nature versus Nurture in Music Recommendations
Steve Krause writes a lengthy review / overview of two different approaches to music recommendations: Pandora and Last.fm. As he sees it, Pandora‘s algorithm-based approach is equal to the nature school of thought while Last.fm‘s behaviour-based approach is equal to the nurture school of thought. Algorithmically, Pandora versus Last.fm is something like the nature versus nurture debate. Taking the nature side, Pandora’s recommendations are based on the...
Oxo Reinvents Kitchen Devices
My tongs, the tongs that I use almost every day, are Oxo tongs. They are wonderful tongs. I use them on the stove, when roasting in the over, on the barbecue grill. I also use them to serve guests. I use them for salad. When cooking and serving, my tongs act as an extension to my hand. I like them so much that when we closed up the Work Industries offices recently for ski days...