Catching Zebra

Meltdown by Tom Price Tom Price’s Meltdown Series is one...

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:47:12 +1100

Meltdown by Tom Price

Tom Price’s Meltdown Series is one of the most interesting things I’ve seen in a while.

He takes meltable things like nylon rope and zip ties and moulds chairs out of them.

This video shows the process of making the nylon rope chair.

Moustache Man Cushion I bought it. So you can’t.

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:26:16 +1100

The Nebulous Notes Utility Bar and Markdown

Sat, 03 Dec 2011 11:21:00 +1100

I heard Merlin mention Nebulous Notes on Back to Work this week.

I’m a massive Markdown nerd and a reasonably prolific note taker so I’m always looking for the next, great iOS text editor. I’d seen Nebulous in the App Store before, but honestly I’d been a bit put off by the icon and screenshots. It didn’t seem to have the polish of Elements or the simplicity of Simplenote.

I dug a bit deeper and found that this assumption was largely unfounded. Plus it has one absolutely killer feature — the Utility Bar. This is essentially and extra row of keys above the standard keyboard. iA Writer was the first app that I saw implement this. Their version is nice, but it’s limited to the set of keys they decided would be useful. As lovely as Writer is, it forces you into their way of writing. It really is made for writing, not note taking, or outlining, or anything else you might use a text editor for.

What Nebulous Notes lets you do is customise this Utility Bar with your own macros. This is great for Markdown. When I take notes they’re usually bulleted lists with indented bullets for sub points. For example:

* This is my first point
    - This is a sub point
    - This is another sub point
* This is my second point
* This is my third point

Typing this on an iPad or iPhone is a pain in the arse. You need to change the keyboard to get to the hyphen and you need to change it twice to get to the asterisk.

In Nebulous I can setup a macro key that adds an asterisk with a space after it — ready to type a point. I also setup another that adds a tab, then a hyphen, then a space — ready to type an indented bullet.

I did the same for ordered lists. Tap a button and 1. with a space after is inserted. Tap another button and 2. with a tab before and a space after is inserted. As Markdown automatically re-numbers ordered list items. It doesn’t matter if all items in your list start with 1. and all sub items start with 2.

Similarly for heading levels I setup buttons for h2 and h3 that insert two or three hash’s respectively, with a space afterwards.

The macro’s can also reference things. $sel will use the currently selected text and $paste will use the contents of the clipboard. This means selecting a word and hitting the button programmed with *$sel* will wrap it in asterisks (which outputs as emphasis/italics in Markdown). If you tap the button again it simply adds an extra set of asterisks for strong/bold.

This makes Markdown links really interesting. [$sel]($paste) would turn the selected text into an inline link using the URL in the clipboard. [$sel](http://$cursor) would take the selected text but insert http:// with your cursor ready to type.

I prefer reference links so I use [$sel][$cursor] and [$paste]: $cursor. The first of these takes the selected text and wraps it in square brackets with an empty set of square brackets next to it, ready to have a reference name typed into them. I’d then copy the reference name to the clipboard and run the second one at the bottom of the document — so I’d have a list of links I need to find when I’m finished writing.

It’s pretty killer.

Download mine

You can export your custom macro’s as a text file. If you want you can download mine. Just (unzip it then) dump it in the root of your Dropbox folder. At the bottom of the list of Macro’s in the app, theres an import button.

A few notes about the rest of the app

When you’re using a bluetooth keyboard, the Utility Bar stays on screen, even though the software keyboard disappears.
Due to the nerdy nature of this customisation, I also expected support for custom CSS for the Markdown preview. This means Notsey is still hanging around for the one single task of previewing in a nicer, custom style.
You can pinch to zoom to change the font size.
There is a decent selection of built in typefaces, both monospaced and variable width. And you can set the background and text to be any colour you like.
Sync works a bit differently to other apps in this category. I think this is a good thing, but I’m not sure yet.
It’s worth noting that I’ve customised the Utility Bar for Markdown. But you could can customise it however you want. You could any other strings you use regularly like 's or even regularly used single characters that are on the next keyboard like &, : or ?.
It’s universal. So you get iPhone and iPad for the same price.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:18:13 +1100

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson:

I highlighted so many great parts of this biography, that it’s hard to pick just one to share. But this—from the day he resigned as CEO—is quite salient:

When the talk turned to tablet computing, some expressed a sense of triumph that HP had suddenly given up the field, unable to compete with the iPad. But Jobs turned somber and declared that it was actually a sad moment. “Hewlett and Packard built a great company, and they thought that they had left it in good hands,” he said. “But now it’s being dismembered and destroyed. It’s tragic. I hope I’ve left a stronger legacy so that will never happen at Apple.”

Me too.

iPhone 4S / Canon 5d MKII Side by Side Comparison by Robino...

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 14:02:02 +1100

iPhone 4S / Canon 5d MKII Side by Side Comparison by Robino Films

Here’s a “fair” test between the iPhone 4S and the Canon 5D MK II. I made a little rig that allowed me to shoot both cameras at the same time side by side. All scenes are perfectly synced together so you can pause and scrutinize the frames!

Now I really want one.

via Jordan Halvorsen

The Vasco Era — Rock and Roll Is the Only Thing That Makes Me...

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:49:33 +1100

The Vasco Era — Rock and Roll Is the Only Thing That Makes Me Feel Good

It’s not often that I really like a song the first time I hear it. When they played this at the Corner Hotel gig a month or so ago I knew this new album was going to be very good. It is.

First verse:

I tried transcendental meditation.
I tried transatlantic vacation.
I tried driving all night with the windows down where the hiss of the tarmac was the only sound.
I tried psy-trance festivals.
I took as many nangs as I could.
I tried taking some biblical precautions. Always wore my robe and never had an abortion.
Rock and roll is the only thing that makes me feel good.

Killer.

The New Value of Text

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 09:29:00 +1100

The New Value of Text:

James Bridle:

We are witnessing a profound assault on book publishing and literature, on the text itself—not from ebooks, which publishers are slowly, painfully coming around to after a long resistance, or the internet, which is after all entirely made of text—but from applications, “enhanced” books and reductive notions of literary experience. As I’ve written about before, in the context of advertising, publishers’ reactions to new technologies betray a profound lack of confidence in the text itself. We are being distracted by shiny things.

via Craig Mod

"And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned..."

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 14:41:50 +1100

“And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

- Barack Obama

Ghetto coffee roasting

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 07:03:14 +1000

I heard Shawn and Ben talking about roasting coffee in a popcorn popper on the B&B Podcast. So I decided to give it a shot.

I watch the videos they linked to and quickly started searching for where to buy green beans in Melbourne. I found the CoffeeSnobs Starter Pack which seemed good. They send you four random varieties of green beans to get started with. I then told my wife about the plan and she offered to sacrifice her popcorn popper.

Roasting

Supposedly there’s a first and a second crack. The first is supposed to be quite audible, the second not so much.

I did two batches, the first for 8.5min, the second for 11min. The first had a few under-done beans and some that looked perfect—a bit inconsistent. The second looked better—darker, with a more even roast.

I’m not even sure I heard the second crack either time. The first I probably stopped too early, as I didn’t want to over-do it. The second time there was one or two cracks before I took them out, but they didn’t sound any different to the ones from first crack.

Video of the first batch

Result of the second batch

Next time

On the Coffee Snobs Forum there’s a whole lot of people making chimney’s out of tin cans. I think I’ll try that. The beans weren’t exactly flying out of the popper, but I had to keep shaking it to keep a few stray beans in the chamber. A can would definitely keep them in.

Results

Before roasting, the beans smelt alright, but not anything like coffee normally does. Straight after roasting they smelt pretty good—like coffee, but nothing to write home about. I went to have a look an hour later and they’d started to smell really good. In the morning they smelt even better and after I ground some—holy shit.

I made a short black first. I figured pure coffee with no milk or sugar was a good way to test it. Shawn had said his first batch was about as good as any coffee he’d buy (which could only leave room for improvement). I’d say mine is a bit better than coffee I’d normally buy, and I’m convincing myself that it’s even better again.

Very minimal bitterness, but still really strong and full bodied. I’d say batch two was a success. Time for another coffee.

Biggy Smalls VS Thomas the tank engine Posting this purely for...

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:25:04 +1000

Biggy Smalls VS Thomas the tank engine

Posting this purely for the top rated YouTube comment (even if the reference is totally wrong):

smoke coal erry day

SEO for Non-dicks

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 17:10:48 +1000

SEO for Non-dicks:

Matt Legend Gemmell:

I fully acknowledge the value of, and need for, actual SEO; I just think that in many cases, the tactics employed under that title would better be described as Search Engine Manipulation or even Abuse.

I agree with absolutely everything in this article. Make good shit, people will want to look at said good shit. Nuff said.

Do users change their settings?

Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:22:38 +1000

Do users change their settings?:

Jared Spool:

We embarked on a little experiment. We asked a ton of people to send us their settings file for Microsoft Word. At the time, MS Word stored all the settings in a file named something like config.ini, so we asked people to locate that file on their hard disk and email it to us. Several hundred folks did just that.

We then wrote a program to analyze the files, counting up how many people had changed the 150+ settings in the applications and which settings they had changed.

Turns out pretty much only programmers and designers change settings. Granted the study was based on Microsoft Word. But it’s still very interesting and worth keeping in mind.

It also showed that most people trusted Microsoft to choose good default settings — Which they hadn’t.

The takeaway: If you’re going to add settings, don’t add too many. And make the defaults as good as possible.

1000 Degrees: Deyrolle Deyrolle, a taxidermy shop in Paris...

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:01:05 +1000

1000 Degrees: Deyrolle

Deyrolle, a taxidermy shop in Paris caught on fire in 2008. Most of their menagerie was destroyed. Photographer Laurent Bochet shot more than 300 images of the charred collection and put together the book 1000 Degrees: Deyrolle.

via these delights

Thunderball My mate is selling his 1958 Morris Minor 1000 Van,...

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 09:01:06 +1000

Thunderball

My mate is selling his 1958 Morris Minor 1000 Van, Thunderball. Check out the photos

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Straight Up And Down

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:53:32 +1000

The Brian Jonestown Massacre – Straight Up And Down

The Coatwolf Model II & Bellflower Evan Glodell invented a...

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 08:00:04 +1000

The Coatwolf Model II & Bellflower

Evan Glodell invented a camera; the Coatwolf Model II. Then made a film with it.

…Glodell wanted cinematic looks that he didn’t think he could get with standard-issue gear. Glodell knew that Bellflower’s wacko plot — which follows “two friends who spend their time building flamethrowers and other weapons in the hope that a global apocalypse will occur and clear the runway for their imaginary gang,” according to the press kit — would require highly stylized visuals, so he decided to push his camera-tinkering skills to the limit.

The trailer for Bellflower looks brilliant.

Before and After Shots of Joggers Alice Yoo: Last summer,...

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:18:00 +1000

Before and After Shots of Joggers

Alice Yoo:

Last summer, Sacha Goldberger decided he would take on a very interesting project. He assembled a team who helped him create an outdoor studio at Bois de Boulogne, a park located near Paris that’s 2 1/2 times the size of New York’s Central Park. He stopped joggers, asking them for a favor - would they sprint for him and then pose right after for his camera? Many obliged. Out of breath, these joggers showed an overwhelming amount of fatigue on their faces.

Goldberger then asked these same people to come into his professional studio exactly one week later. Using the same light, he asked them to pose the same way they had before.

These are great. Click through and check out the rest.

via John Siracusa

Safari Omnibar

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 23:16:35 +1000

Safari Omnibar:

Safari Omnibar is a Safari SIMBL plugin that mimics Chrome’s combined URL and search bar.

I’ve seen a few average attempts at this before, but this works. It works really well.

I switched from Chrome to Safari when I upgraded to Lion, but I was missing this feature. It just makes sense to have them combined.

There’s an installer package that installs the plugin and SIMBL. So it’s super simple.

Adding to the internet

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 17:37:45 +1000

Adding to the internet:

Justin Kemp makes things that Google can’t find. Like:

“Plastic six pack holder cat necklace”

Apple Stoer in Kunming, China

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 15:45:42 +1000

Apple Stoer in Kunming, China:

They looked like Apple products. It looked like an Apple store. It had the classic Apple store winding staircase and weird upstairs sitting area. The employees were even wearing those blue t-shirts with the chunky Apple name tags around their necks.

You crazy, China.