I love MAKE magazine, and lifehacker points to this nifty article on making your bike too ugly to steal. Makes sense to me. Of course, I hardly have to try, my bike is butt-ugly because I purposely bought an old ugly (but quite functional) bike after my shiny bike was stolen years ago at MIT.
Speaking of my bike, I just got a broken wheel fixed up so I’m ready to ride again! I love the bike shop on our corner, Grand Performance. It is a top-notch serious-peddler store, full of racing bikes and tiny-thin tires, but the folks there are not above treating my ugly city bike with loving kindness and they charge less than the bike chains. If you are ever in the neighborhood, check them out.
We just can’t seem to keep the Democratic caucus in Congress from buckling again and again. The one bright spot in their record was their success blocking telcom immunity in a new FISA bill (PDF). Somehow, though, they think a compromise on this issue is necessary and a compromise that would again provide immunity to telecom companies that wiretap Americans for the government without a court order is now to be voted on. Talk about grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory!
Please call Sen. Obama and ask him to provide some leadership in the Senate opposing this new FISA bill: 202-224-2854. Contact your own representatives in Congress and ask them to stop this madness.
Firefox 3 has some nice web typography features. Unfortunately, it seems to get as much wrong as right. Still, a new prominence of type on the web is approaching.
Jonnie Hallman has created a site that is interesting on a number of levels. First, I love the domain name and the reveling in “seize the day”. Second, his lab is full of beautiful work. Third, he’s build a great Adobe AIR app called DestroyFlickr that really makes Flickr sing. Take a look.
Take note, the world of web is shifting. In a fascinating “strategy letter” written last year, Joel Spolsky presented the past and future of programming environments as applied to web applications. He postulated a “NewSDK” would rise that wraps JavaScript into a neat package of standardized UI and interoperable applications.
Now look at MobileMe. Aside from the wretched name and graphical identity (really, Apple did this?), this new version of .Mac has a lot going for it. These apps will be amazing. Just wait, you’ll see. Or don’t wait, go over to the SproutCore page and try their photo manager demo. It is said that Apple built MobileMe on a SproutCore foundation.
SproutCore is just one contender for Joel’s NewSDK. We’ve got a long way to go to get to a full blown SDK (SproutCore development requires quite a bit of command-line tango still), but the advantages start to become clearer. And SproutCore is not the only player. Also keep an eye on Objective-J from 280 North. Their 280 Slides begins to light the way.
Building web applications is about to get a whole lot easier and the apps will become a whole lot more compelling. Can you feel the tension? Which way should we jump? Flash? AJAX? Think fast!
I had a wonderful Fathers’ Day weekend with Alex and Nathaniel. Yesterday we took a great seven mile walk around the neighborhood, reminding me of the afternoon walks we took in Vienna.
Today we started the day with the pancakes my father taught me to make and ended the day with the schnitzel my grandmother taught me to make. Favorite foods. Since Mary is out of town, Nathaniel is sleeping upstairs with me. How nice is that for Father’s Day!
I am ending this Fathers’ Day listening to a wonderful sermon by Barack Obama about the need for fathers in our childrens’ lives.
We are blessed many times over with our gifts. Give thanks, get up, go forth!
