Dan Shipton.

Charlie’s vocabulary now includes Battlestar Galactica.

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:04:53 -0600

Charlie’s vocabulary now includes Battlestar Galactica.

Pixar's Storytelling tips from Andrew Stanton

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:09:41 -0600

Empathize with your main character, even if you don’t like all of his/her motivations or qualities. (For example, Woody in Toy Story initially masked his selfish desires as being selfless.)
Unity of opposites. Each character must have clear goals that oppose each other.
You should have something to say. Not a message, per se, but some perspective, some experiential truth.
Have a key image, almost like a visual logline, to encapsulate the essence of the story; that represents the emotional core on which everything hangs. (For example, Marlin in Finding Nemo, looking over the last remaining fish egg in the nest.)
Cast actors with an appealing voice, and whom the microphone loves. Test their voice performance with animation to see if it fits.
Know your world and the rules of it. (Such as in Monsters, Inc.)
The crux of the story should be on inner, not outer, conflicts.
Developing the story is like an archeological dig. Pick a site where you think the story is buried, and keep digging to find it.
Animation should be interpretive, not realistic.
“Just say no” to flashbacks. Only tell what’s vital, and tell it linearly.
Consider music as a character to anchor the film. Music is a keeper of the emotional truth.

Killing your startup while looking smart: Half Measure Syndrome

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:32:49 -0600

Killing your startup while looking smart: Half Measure Syndrome:

tutorblog:

HMS allows a founder to continually list things that have not been tried in total, to believe in the savior lodged around the corner which they’ll get to before they run out of time. Paradoxically, that faith means that you will likely never uncover that secret - if it does exist (and very rarely is there a single silver bullet for any company). Committing halfway fundamentally means that you will not fully understand any piece of that halfsies strategy. It means that, should the strategy fail, you will not fully understand the reason for it. While, in some instances, that may mean you avoid a number of bad roads, it will also mean that your ability to identify the right road will be materially decreased.

"DO THING YOU LOVE MAKE YOU MORE AWESOME. GIVE THING YOU LOVE TO OTHERS MAKE YOU MORE AWESOME. YOU..."

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 16:59:24 -0600

“

DO THING YOU LOVE MAKE YOU MORE AWESOME. GIVE THING YOU LOVE TO OTHERS MAKE YOU MORE AWESOME. YOU MORE AWESOME MAKE YOU BETTER AT DO EVERYTHING.

THIS YOUR AWESOME ENGINE. WHEN IT TURN, YOU WIN.

”

- FAKEGRIMLOCK via CNN Tech Tumblr

"However, death isn’t an option, it’s an inevitability. And before I die, I want to take as many..."

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 15:56:36 -0600

“However, death isn’t an option, it’s an inevitability. And before I die, I want to take as many swings at the fence as I can.”

- When Death Feels Like A Good Option | benhuh!com

"Google knows it. Viacom knows it. The Chamber of Commerce knows it. Internet democracy groups know..."

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:01:05 -0600

“Google knows it. Viacom knows it. The Chamber of Commerce knows it. Internet democracy groups know it. BoingBoing knows it. But, the Internet hasn’t been told yet — we’re going to get blown away by the end of the year. The worst bill in Internet history is about to become law.”

- STOP SOPA, SAVE THE INTERNET - Boing Boing (via fred-wilson)

How Google+ Business Pages Work

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 15:14:52 -0600

How Google+ Business Pages Work:

To the point write-up on the Change blog of what you need to know to get started with Google+ Business Pages.

"Works Fine"

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 21:11:29 -0500

"Works Fine":

parislemon:

When discussing whether or not there should be apps built specifically for tablets, Android chief Andy Rubin noted that “the Twitter phone app works fine on a tablet.”

In this case, I can’t determine if “works fine” is code for “looks like shit” or “‘meh’ is good enough”. Either is absolutely the wrong attitude and perhaps speaks a bit to why Android is doing so poorly in the tablet space.

iPhone apps running on the iPad also “work fine” but I think everyone will agree that they look like shit. If the iPad only ran iPhone apps scaled-up, there’s no question in my mind that sales would be a fraction of what they are. It’s the apps that are custom tailored for the new form factor that make it magical.

While the ability of a tablet to run any app is a nice fallback, it’s more of a marketing ploy. It was a genius way to get people buying the iPad originally (“look, I have all these apps that already work!”), but Apple was quick to make sure that developers got on board with building custom iPad apps as well.

Again, those are the key. It sure doesn’t seem like Rubin gets that. Of course, he’s in a tough position since there are so many different form factors for Android. Big tablets, small tablets, mini tablets, big phones, small phones, huge ass phones. How does one custom tailor for all those sizes?

They don’t.

But I’m sorry, “meh” isn’t good enough. “Works fine” isn’t good enough.

Stand out, not still.

kirps: My personal hell… Hope to avoid this every single day.

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 08:17:33 -0500

kirps:

My personal hell…

Hope to avoid this every single day.

timemagazine: News is never a 9 to 5 job. Wednesday evening,...

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:40:09 -0500

timemagazine:

News is never a 9 to 5 job.

Wednesday evening, with the news that Apple visionary Steve Jobs had passed away from pancreatic cancer, TIME managing editor Rick Stengel (center) decided to stop the presses on the issue the staff had just finished earlier that afternoon. Staff members poured back into the TIME offices for an emergency edit meeting, which left us just over three hours to produce a new issue, many of us working on the very Apple devices that Jobs created.

Thursday, we’ll announce our latest issue featuring Jobs on the cover for the eighth time.

What we told current Journalism majors about working at startups.

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:47:19 -0500

What we told current Journalism majors about working at startups.:

If you want a cool job working with cool people, you have to make things. You will not network or interview your way into this job. You have to put yourself out there and do cool things. Blog. Make videos. Organize people. Start a business. Ship product.

(Via BitMethod - Blog)

parislemon: adwriter: CoffeeCompany WiFi headlines. Holland’s...

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:28:30 -0500

parislemon:

adwriter:

CoffeeCompany WiFi headlines.

Holland’s largest chain of coffee shops is called CoffeCompany. They wanted to attract more students, so they installed WiFi in some of its stores near universities. The problem is, lots of students just come into the store for the WiFi but hardly look at the menu.

So CoffeeCompany decided to move the store’s menu into the WiFi menu of customers’ laptops. They periodically changed the wireless network name from the normal “CoffeeCompany” to hard-selling headlines. So as students looked for a network, they found menu lines such as “mmm….YummyMuffinsOnly1,99″

This is beyond awesome.

Perfect example of working with tech, not against.

"Entrepreneurs get so used to friends and family congratulating them on their press coverage that..."

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:13:58 -0500

“Entrepreneurs get so used to friends and family congratulating them on their press coverage that they forget sometimes that this isn’t real. A positive news story means NOTHING about the core performance of your business. A good friend of mine was features on the front cover of the LA Times business section with a glowing article. He had 2 weeks’ cash left in the bank and was facing massive layoffs or potentially bankruptcy.”

- Save Your Spin for Someone Who Cares

"Patent trolls are just parasites. A clumsy parasite may occasionally kill the host, but that’s..."

Tue, 06 Sep 2011 11:21:37 -0500

“Patent trolls are just parasites. A clumsy parasite may occasionally kill the host, but that’s not its goal.”

- The Patent Pledge

"While publishers have struggled to create a mechanism that separates consumers from their cash,..."

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:39:23 -0500

“While publishers have struggled to create a mechanism that separates consumers from their cash, Apple has about 200 million credit cards on file and an online environment where people can buy with the push of a button.”

- Steve Jobs Saw What Media Titans Missed - Media Equation - NYTimes.com

An iOS Developer Takes on Android

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 09:05:54 -0500

nfarina:

Recently, we released the Android version of Meridian, our platform for building location-based apps.

We didn’t use one of these “Cross Platform!” tools like Titanium. We wrote it, from scratch, in Java, like you do in Android.

We decided it was important to keep the native stuff native, and to respect each platform’s conventions as much as possible. Some conventions are easy to follow, like putting our tabs on the top. Other conventions go deep into the Android Way, like handling Intents, closing old Activities, implementing Search Providers, and being strict about references to help the garbage collector.

Now, our platform leverages HTML5 (buzzword, sorry) in many places for branding and content display, so we got a fair amount of UI for free. But there was much platform code written in Objective-C that needed translation into Java, such as map navigation, directions, and location switching.

So, we rolled up our sleeves, downloaded the Android SDK, and got to work.

Read More

Very interesting findings for a typeface easier understood by...

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 10:01:21 -0500

Very interesting findings for a typeface easier understood by dyslexics.

(via Dyslexie - ett typsnitt för dyslektiker | Feber / Pryl)

"It sounds obvious, but the best way to avoid getting screwed is to succeed."

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 12:56:10 -0500

“It sounds obvious, but the best way to avoid getting screwed is to succeed.”

- 11 quotes about entrepreneurship from venture capitalist Mark Suster

"The empty can rattles the loudest. This old proverb recently shared to me by a friend and mentor,..."

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 11:41:10 -0500

“

The empty can rattles the loudest.

This old proverb recently shared to me by a friend and mentor, Weblinc co-founder Darren Hill says it best. Most people in Philadelphia don’t know about Weblinc, though it employs over 60 people and delivers a world-class e-commerce product that powers companies around the world. If you are active in the tech community, you probably know about Darren and his siblings’ other very successful business: National Mechanics.

My point is – both of Darren’s businesses are contributing far more to the technology and business ecosystem in Philadelphia than most of the “clanky cans” that we hear about in the news, and yet, very few people who consider themselves industry insiders even know they exist.

”

- Funding in Philadelphia – The Empty Can Rattles the Loudest | dangerouslyawesome

"By submitting your stuff to the Services, you grant us (and those we work with to provide the..."

Sat, 02 Jul 2011 11:48:15 -0500

“By submitting your stuff to the Services, you grant us (and those we work with to provide the Services) worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable rights to use, copy, distribute, prepare derivative works (such as translations or format conversions) of, perform, or publicly display that stuff to the extent we think it necessary for the Service.”

- Dropbox - Terms - Simplify your life

A big FUCK YOU from Dropbox to its loyal customers.