web

Personal Pronouns

I just don't trust articles that sprinkle "you" throughout the text. "You should", "You will", "You can" all feel like preaching or a lack of conviction. I feel the same about the grotesque use of the pronoun "one". When I'm editing my work1 and stumble across those pronouns, there's a good chance I'm faking something. It almost always means I lack confidence in a statement or I am extrapolating beyond my experience.

Dear Daughter

I like this article on the Murverse. So they hate you. But fuck ‘em. Because you are a force of nature, a powerhouse of emotion and talent and stubbornness and potential. I'm a guy. I'm a father. I'm a dad to a little girl. I am not a superhero. I can't save her from the trappings of a society that still considers equality something reserved for rich white men.

Create a Custom DDG Search Box on a WordPress Site

Inspired by Macstories snazzy new DuckDuckGo search form, I decided to make one for Macdrifter.com. DDG makes it pretty easy using their URL scheme. For my WordPress site, I added a new text widget to my sidebar. The HTML is straightforward. The URL input parameters for DDG can be found here. What I really like is that DDG provides URL parameters to control both the font and highlighting colors of the search results.

TextDrop App

I've mentioned TextDrop in passing but I like it so much that I wanted to write a full review. What it is TextDrop is a webapp for notes. It looks a bit like Simplenote or NVAlt but it works exclusively with Dropbox. There is a list of notes on the left sorted by file name, search bar at the top and text window taking up the right 2/3's of the window.

TechHive

Macworld and PCWorld1 come together to form a new news site, TechHive. I'm not a fan of the name, but then again Yahoo, Google and iPad all sounded silly at first too.2 It's about time. It never made any sense to me that PCWorld and Macworld shared editorial talent but were separate things. Of course I love Macworld for their long time mission as the journal of record for Apple related info.

CarbonFin Web App

I know I've said it before, but the CarbonFin web app is really, really good. It's built on Google's app engine (Appspot) and is a perfect example of a web app that is good enough to be used as a desktop app. It's also free if you own the iOS app. Crazy.

Logical Fallacies Link

A good set of definitions to keep in mind during election season but I also run into these daily.

Making Credibility

I have a strong affinity toward people that make things. I've already said my piece on the subject, but I've struggled with one aspect of my position ever since that post. There are a good number of people I respect that don't make anything. I mean bloggers, writers, and commentators.1 My earlier comments marginalize the entire group. I have long thought that writing is not the same as building. Now I think perhaps it is.