Jack Shares Things

"While I can imagine either sending or receiving a message so pressing that an action would have to..."

Sun, 29 Aug 2010 21:45:05 -0400

“While I can imagine either sending or receiving a message so pressing that an action would have to be taken at that very moment, I’ve never actually experienced such a scenario. The urgency that drives me to check Twitter or read an email while in the car is entirely a creation of my own mind. All of this data can wait until later – and much of it can wait until never.”

- Tweetage Wasteland : Pull Over Before You Read This

Voigtlander Prominent

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 11:42:00 -0400

I was asked to try and sell this for a friend of mine. Seems only prudent to run a roll or two through it, right?

The camera is a Voigtlander Prominent, produced from 1952 to 1958. It is very well-made and feels terrific in hand. Details are all wonderful, and match any Leica I’ve used. Too bad it’s so terrible to actually use. The rangefinder is pretty awful, and its window is too far left, especially for left-eyed shooters like me. Focusing is done by turning the top knob on the left. How’s that a good idea? It isn’t.

It’s for sale, but was fun to play with for a roll or two.

Here’s a sample shot (Tri-X @1600 in Diafine)…

(via woodlove) I’ve wanted a real bathtub since right...

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:10:13 -0400

(via woodlove)

I’ve wanted a real bathtub since right after seeing this.

"And right now I don’t think it’s helping me to put every single thing I make online the second after..."

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 18:24:00 -0400

“And right now I don’t think it’s helping me to put every single thing I make online the second after I make it.”

- Avery Edison is going analog

My dad is cooler than your dad. He and my mom spent hours...

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:52:32 -0400

My dad is cooler than your dad.

He and my mom spent hours putting together these hula dummies and hooking them up to wood dowels and string. The dance was fabulous. There was a metal bar duct taped to his bare shoulder to keep things in place. Dad is an entertainment badass in a hula skirt and flower bra.

Is there a name for these things? I’d like to know so I...

Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:42:38 -0400

Is there a name for these things? I’d like to know so I can include them on my list of things that suck.

“Number fifty-four The house with the bamboo...

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 21:24:00 -0400

“Number fifty-four
The house with the bamboo door”

Andy williams singing “The House of Bamboo.” I have this on 45. Not sure exactly when I got it, but I was quite young. This may have been my very first favorite song.

You wanna stop in when the cats are hoppin’.
Let your two feet move-a to the big beat;
Pick yourself a kitten and listen to a platter
That rocks the juke-box!

Copying JIRA issues in Fluid - a UserScript by Karl Swedberg

Sat, 14 Aug 2010 10:47:00 -0400

At Fusionary we use Atlassian’s JIRA to manage everything from internal processes to customer support issues. One of the things I do regularly is send lists of JIRA issues via email or to Basecamp. The format I use looks like this…

[JIRA-123] This is an issue summary
[JIRA-234] This is another jira summary
[JIRA-345] You betchya, this is yet another

I do this a number of times every day. Usually it involved selecting the issue key and copying/pasting that into a BBEdit document. Then copying/pasting the issue summary to the document right after the key. Then I use BBEdit’s find and replace (grep) to add the asterisk and square brackets. Finally, I copy and paste the list into basecamp or email or wiki or whatever. Not hard, but still tedious.

There had to be some way to shortcut the process, so I walked over to Karl’s (@kswedberg) desk and asked if he could create some sort of userscript or extension that would help. I wanted to simply click a JIRA issue in the Agile (Greenhopper) view and have my clipboard filled with the issue key and summary formatted as above. Since Javascript doesn’t allow direct access to the clipboard, we tried the next best thing, dynamically adding a small div containing the issue(s), formatted properly.

I run JIRA in a Fluid app, and 30 minutes later Karl sent me a working UserScript. Once installed, I simply double click on a “card” in Greenhopper’s “agile” view and poof! it gets appended to a small area in the lower right of the window. A single copy and paste from there and I’m done. Nice.

With Karl’s permission, I’ve posted the script on Github.

Grab a copy here: dumpbox gist.

Such a small thing, but it makes my life easier. Thanks Karl!

McSweeney picks best eReader - The Newspaper

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:42:00 -0400

McSweeney:

Each device had its strengths. For some it was speed; for others it was capacity. Some were better with shorter articles; others with longer works. And cost, as always, was a factor. But in the end, one e-reader stood out. The Newspaper.

The most obvious advantage of The Newspaper was the size of its display, which outclassed its rivals both in terms of size and elasticity. The Newspaper display could be read at full size or, when flipped open, twice its normal width. We also had no trouble reading copy when the display was flipped to half or even quarter size. One of our engineers even figured out how to make a hat.

This seems like a reasonable way to spend a Sunday evening. I...

Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:02:00 -0400

This seems like a reasonable way to spend a Sunday evening. I should probably turn off the iPad so I can think, but since thinking is only a nice-to-have tonight I’m leaving it on.

Today, I got rid of my second monitor, a nice 24” Cinema...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:34:17 -0400

Today, I got rid of my second monitor, a nice 24” Cinema Display, and replaced it with a cassette deck.

So that I could dub “Don Ho Gold”

Weird.

Kind of an eclectic afternoon so far, I’d say.

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 15:26:47 -0400

Kind of an eclectic afternoon so far, I’d say.

Now Playing: Rick Derringer - All American Boy Rock And Roll,...

Sat, 07 Aug 2010 11:40:56 -0400

Now Playing: Rick Derringer - All American Boy

Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo!

First minute or so of “Three’s a Crowd,” a...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:04:24 -0400

First minute or so of “Three’s a Crowd,” a G.R.A.M.C. film shot on 16mm. I find the opening titles a little creepy.

I was testing the 16mm projector. It won’t hold a film loop for any length of time, so I’ll need to find another.

Fasttimes at Ridgemont High Sean Penn You Dick scene (via...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 19:06:00 -0400

Fasttimes at Ridgemont High Sean Penn You Dick scene (via BrettMeisner)

I just watched this again recently and it still makes me laugh. Seeing the students smell the “ditto” paper at the end of this scene almost caused me to OD on nostalgia.

My own little GTD merry-go-round

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 08:16:13 -0400

My approach to Getting Things Done (GTD) is cyclical, and goes like this…

Phase One - Go all in.

I keep forgetting to do things. Stuff is not getting done. Time for some serious GTD. Time to bring out the big gun, OmniFocus. This is followed by 4 hours of brain dumps, project organization, and inbox cleanup. I create perspectives, set repeating tasks and basically prepare for war. Stuff gets done, dammit! This phase lasts for about two months.

Phase Two - Simplify

After a couple of months of religiously doing project reviews, capture, and inbox processing, I start to get bored with it. “Omnifocus is just too fussy and complicated,” I say. Thinking it’s the tool’s fault, I move everything over to Things. Things is so much cleaner and simpler! No more wasting time with perspectives, nested tasks, folders, contexts and all that nonsense. Spending less time on the “system” has gotta be good, right?

Phase Three - Going retro

Using Things is so simple that I become enamored with the idea of making the system even simpler. So simple in fact, that I don’t need some stinking computer program telling my how to run my life. I then move everything into one of those awesome Moleskine notebooks. Think of it, just a pen and paper! What could be easier? Plus, I probably need a new pen. No more worrying about syncing or futzing around with software. This is definitely all I need. Why I bothered with those silly other systems is a mystery.

Phase Four - Return to Phase One

I love my notebook, but it’s hard to capture everything. Writing by hand is work, so I don’t always bother. I then promptly start forgetting things. Or I accidentally leave the notebook at home. And copying unfinished tasks forward manually is such a pain. That’s what computers are for, right? Time to go all in, and I need something serious, so I install OmniFocus and get to work.

Repeat.

lonelysandwich: Remember when this was being touted as the next...

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 16:52:29 -0400

lonelysandwich:

Remember when this was being touted as the next “Pulp Fiction”?

I do, and I still like it better than Pulp Fiction. Always have.

"I think we might be better off if we occasionally meant what we said. That’s hard work, I know."

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 17:25:00 -0400

““I think we might be better off if we occasionally meant what we said. That’s hard work, I know.””

- Mark Bernstein: The Temperance Pledge

I only discovered Clutch recently. This saddens me, as now I...

Wed, 04 Aug 2010 14:11:00 -0400

I only discovered Clutch recently. This saddens me, as now I want to go back and relive those 10 years of my life with them.

Holy Diver, where you at?
There’s a woman on the hill in a wide brimmed hat
With a shotgun, .44,
And a black plastic bag in the back of a jacked up Ford.

See what I mean?

Not Buying Anything for a Month

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:26:07 -0400

Is it possible to go an entire month without buying anything? For me, I doubt it, but I’m about to find out. I plan to spend the month of August buying exactly nothing. Okay, that’s not entirely true, as I generally like to eat, but anything other than necessities is off the menu.

I spend too much, have to much, and want too much. Cutting back is not something I do well. Cold turkey is more effective.

Stuff I’m not allowed to buy

Books
Movies
Games
Camera stuff
Office supplies
Clothing
Software (non-work related anyway)
Kitchen stuff
Anything I don’t need to function
Anything that might look like it could become a hobby

Stuff I can buy

Food
Gas
Film (if I run out)

I hate it already.