I've always been a tremendous fan of automating everyday tasks. I previously discussed an awesome web app, ifttt, and how it allows you to stitch together web apps to make your life easier. For phones, there's a similar app called Tasker, which gives you granular control of your device in order to automate tedious and repetitive events -- and I absolutely love it.
A while back, I wrote about how much I loved using Instapaper, a read-later service that saves practically anything on the web for reading at a later, more convenient time. I've used Instapaper for years, but I've grown less fond of it. During that time, I've also found a vastly superior alternative called Read It Later.
I'm not a fan of advertising and or sly marketing but once in a while, a commercial comes along that's really entertaining to watch. And today isn't even the SuperBowl.
Steve Jobs was no doubt a lifelong contributer to the tech industry and as much as I respect his innovations, someone needs to step up and say this.
America has fallen victim to consumerist culture. And one of the companies predominantly responsible is Apple. In the last decade in particular, Apple has fostered in us the desire to purchase products that we don't need, in greater and greater amounts. There's nothing wrong with selling goods -- we live in a capitalist nation. But when is it too much?
I've used the Cr-48 as my primary computer ever since I got it last year. And as someone who uses web apps for everything, it's perfect for me. But the Cr-48 is a prototype device with the bare minimums in terms of hardware.
I recently got my hands on a Samsung Chromebook, aka the Series 5, one of the two first commercial Chromebooks. It's nearly identical to the Cr-48, except since it's a commercial device, it meets commercial standards. And it's also a fantastic start for Chromebooks.
There's a saying that applies to development, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It might be overused, but it's dreadfully important, especially for technology. It seems like Posterous got overly ambitious and disregarded this piece of wisdom when announcing Posterous Spaces.
One of the most prominent features of the iPhone 4 was the dramatic increase in resolution from 480 x 320 pixels to 960 x 640. This resulted in pixel density increasing from a measly 165 ppi to an astonishing 330 ppi. As a comparison, most other high-end smartphones have had pixel densities around 250-290 ppi. As a marketing ploy, Apple deemed this increase as "Retina Display", because arguably the human eye can't distinguish individual pixels at such a high density.
But Apple screwed itself over by branding this simple increase in resolution. Here's why.
Earlier this year at Google I/O, senior vice-president of Chrome, Sundar Pichai announced that Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Calendar would be available offline this summer. Well it's still summer and he kept his promise!
So Offline Gmail works seamlessly, but the nerd in me wanted to immediately know how much was being synced. Obviously our hard drives aren't infinite. I dug around and found some answers in Gmail's help.
There had long been rumors of Google getting involved in social networking. Well this past Tuesday, Google dove head first into social with Google+. And it's absolutely wonderful.
Many of us are celebrating the summer solstice today by firing up the barbecue. This year, I decided to take it up a notch from burgers and steaks. I grabbed 10 lbs of enormous beef back ribs.
