Little things worth saving.
WordCamp Portland is this Saturday and I’m pretty excited about the schedule we have prepped. It’s going to be a great event and a fun way to showcase Portland’s awesome WordPress community.
There are still a few tickets left for a day of BBQ, WordPress, and fun. Matt’s even coming. 🙂
I’ve been reading more of the writing behind the notion of a singularity since some chats with Daniel a few months back. I forget how I came across it but I got around to reading Vernor Vinge’s original essay on the Singularity. It’s fascinating the read this and know that it was written in 1993. I have Vinge’s “A Fire Upon the Deep” up next on my reading list.
I don’t know why it’s taken me this long to read Two Bits: The Cultural Significance of Free Software. One of the more interesting non-fiction things I’ve read in a while.
I’m really excited to see Reeder 3 go live tonight in the App Store. Shawn Blanc and Ben Brooks wrote great reviews of it. I just set it up on my iPhone to sync with my Fever install. No more Google Reader. Pretty slick update to an already great app.
Tap Left Margin -> Next Page; my favorite feature of the iPad. This means I can comfortably read while drinking tea and not worry about which hand holds my iPad.
The majority of the time I’m reading a book I just want to go forward. It always felt clumsy to swipe with my left thumb. Advancing with just a tap means the device never breaks my flow.
We need to reinvent the article. Sean Blanda illustrates that it’s time to rethink not just the article but how information is published on the web. I agree. My favorite narratives are those that answer long, winding questions by telling a story. They are more akin to a short book than a news story. This recent New Yorker piece is 50 pages and over 20,000 words when I drop it in to Pages.app. I loved that article, but defaulting to the same mental model and design presentation for a few hundred word piece about NFL draft trades is ludicrous.
Confessions of an Ivy League Frat Boy: Inside Dartmouth’s Hazing Abuses. Particularly this quote:
The college has also charged 27 other members of SAE, stemming from events in the 2011 pledge term. While the other students all categorically deny doing anything illegal, the information that Lohse provided to Dartmouth officials may directly implicate him in hazing. As a result, Lohse – the only student to come forward voluntarily – may be the only student who is ultimately punished.
Also, see “Allegations of hazing leveled against TKE initiation practices” and Daniel’s post. I have an idea for an enterprising reporter: take a deep look at fraternity abuse reports like this and answer:
There are more questions that would be interesting but the above would be a start.
WordPress leads pack of Pacemaker finalists picked. 53% of the finalists for this year’s online Pacemaker awards are running WordPress. That’s pretty cool. The numbers are even higher for smaller schools with less than 10,000 student enrollments. It’s great to see my alma mater in the list of finalists, too.
On the Market. This is a really interesting peek inside the world of fine art auctions and trading at Sotheby’s Inc.
It’s no secret that I love Rdio. Today’s update makes it even more fantastic. The updates make it a smoother experience overall. Really looking forward to digging in to the changes more after SXSW.