Fighter pilot uses iPad to flight plan, get weather, navigate. Cool. Except that’s still just consuming content, not creating any. Lame. </sarcasm>
Is the joke more effective with an opening <sarcasm> tag? As a minimum it would validate.
How I Use Pinboard
I’ve long been a fan of the web bookmarking service, Pinboard. It has gotten a bit of attention lately (Macdrifter is a fan), so I thought I would quickly document how I use it.
I get links into Pinboard a few different ways. In a browser on my laptop, I use Delibar, a menubar utility that syncs with the service, can be used to search it and sends links with a keyboard shortcut. Sending info to Pinboard is almost a show-stopper for me in other reading apps, but Reeder (Mac and iOS) and Instapaper both make the cut. Tweetbot is an exception, sort of. It can send links to either Instapaper or Pinboard, but you can’t have both configured at the same time. 1 Stuff I find via Twitter then goes to Instapaper first, and possibly filed away to Pinboard later.2
I also use Brett Terpstra’s awesome script to archive local copies of Pinboard links into a Dropbox folder, with the Pinboard tags applied as OpenMeta tags so they are searchable with Spotlight. I also use an app called Leap that is great for managing all the tagged files on my computer, including these archived Pinboard links. So now I can do a local search for a tag such as ruby or python and Leap will find all the files with those tags: pdfs, Pinboard bookmarks, nvALT notes, etc.3 My next project is to write a Ruby script that goes through my local archive of these blog posts (which are just markdown files) and applies the categories of each post to the file as OpenMeta tags. Ok, the project before that is to learn Ruby, but whatever.
Update (30 Jan 13): Script written. Here’s the Gist and here is the writeup on it.
More Pinboard goodness:
- Pinbook is my app of choice for browsing my links on iOS.
- Delish is a new OS X app that syncs with Pinboard. Its money feature is the ability to build smart bundles, which greatly expands on Pinboards native tag bundles.
- Sean Korzdorfer has some good info about using Pinboard.
Bottom Line: Pinboard is my favorite web service, by far. Best $3.92 I ever spent.
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I used to use an IFTTT recipe to send Favorited tweets to Pinboard, but Pinboard (for me) is for links only.↩
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I use the old ReadLater app to manage my Instapaper account on the desktop, and it does Send to Pinboard. However, this app has morphed into Pocket, which I don’t use. I like paying for software. I don’t believe the Pocket app includes native Pinboard export.↩
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Previously, I used the Tags app, per Terpstra’s instructions, as the script tagging engine, as well as tagging local files and to browse all my tags. However, a recent re-install of Tags resulted in the app no longer working with his script, so I used the ‘openmeta’ command line utility instead. I still use Tags app to tag files, but Leap is now my desktop tag browser of choice.↩
MultiMarkdown Composer V2 »
The public beta for version 2 is available for owners of version 1. A great writing app just got much better.
Susy Next »
I have been working on a site redesign that uses the excellent Sass-powered, responsive grid framework, Susy by Eric A. Meyer. Looks like Susy is merging with some other top-notch frameworks in the coming year. I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for this.
The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Fiscal Cliff Deal »
$1 in spending cuts for every $41 in new taxes. Close to $4 trillion in new debt over the next decade. Spending is going to be cut $15 billion over 10 years. The government spends $10.5 billion a day.
Another Year Down
Another Moleskin book for 2013.
Infinite battery. No cloud sync issues, unless I forget to take it with me. You want a future-proof data format? Pen on paper beats plain text any day. I like Fantastical and OmniFocus as much as the next productivity dork, but stuff I need either starts or ends in one of these.
I will admit that the search algorithm can be a bit, shall we say, inefficient.
Your Opinion Is Wrong
Shawn Blanc, expressing an opinion (in agreement with an article by Dana Levine):
As awesome as Retina displays are, they don’t fundamentally change the usability or use-case scenarios of the iPad.
Note: all emphasis in all quotations is mine.
His podcasting pal Ben Brooks then pitches a fit.1
Sorry Shawn, that’s bullshit.
Your personal, subjective opinion is shit, Shawn, and Ben is going to issue you the correct one:
Retina displays, on any device, absolutely change the usability of the device. Retina displays make text sharp, make text readable, reduce eye strain and they absolutely make me want to use these devices more.
Got that? Nice, clear text that Ben wants more of = absolute, fundamental change for all. Put your new opinion in a safe place.
I just cannot rationalize why anyone would think that retina displays are not a big deal. I get that they aren’t a feature that you find revolutionary now, but step back to when you first saw the iPhone 4, iPad 3, or retina MacBook Pro screens and you will quickly realize just how impossible it is to go back to non-retina.
Well rationalize this, Ben: I have a Retina iPhone 5 (and a 4S before it) and a non-Retina iPad 2. I use them both. Equally. Back and forth. Am I somehow defective for not realizing just how impossible that is?
I don’t care what some book in the late 90s said about disruption in technology, I can tell you that retina displays have absolutely disrupted the way I use technology — so too with most people I know that have a retina display.
Ahh…the “way he uses technology” and his friends dig it too. Therefore, if you think otherwise, you must be wrong.
Apple isn’t known as a company that rests on its success. They innovate and then innovate some more. They shit-canned the original iPod mini when it was the most popular model. Riddle me this, Mr. Brooks: why is the non-Retina iPad 2–a device determined by you to be fundamentally useless–still offered for sale on Apple’s website?
Time to switch to decaf, Ben.
The Case of Jeffrey MacDonald »
Truly outstanding article about Jeffrey MacDonald, the Green Beret doctor who killed his family in 1970. Props to the author, Gene Weingarten, for making his stance on the MaDonald’s guilt or innocence very clear. Filmmaker Errol Morris loses points in my book for thinking he is innocent.
I have come to believe that Jeffrey MacDonald murdered his family and injured himself as part of a coverup; I’ve concluded this both because I have researched the case extensively, and because, as a writer, I see exactly how Errol Morris prejudiced his account while shrewdly appearing not to do so. I admire his skill but not his book. I think the media have been careless and gullible in reviewing it, perhaps partially because the story of a grievous, enduring miscarriage of justice presents a more compelling narrative than the alternative.
UC Logo Kerfluffle »
I’m not sure which is more lame, the proposed (and now dropped) University of California logo, or this righteous indignation towards those that don’t like either.
Alfred V2 Sneak Peek »
Pretty impressive forthcoming update to my launcher of choice. The developer should call it the Brett Terpstra Edition.