512 Pixels

I wasn’t aware of the sysdiagnose command before tonight, but it looks very, very helpful.

via @chockenberry

Dear Path and Stamped —

There is no denying that you two are beautiful apps.

Stamped, your gentle color scheme with bold highlights is easy on the eyes, but highlights just the right things. You’ve got just the right feel about you.

Path, you are — without a doubt in my mind — the best-looking, funnest iOS app I’ve ever used. Seriously, every app developer should download you and user your UI and UX conventions in their own apps.

You are both great apps, as well. You’re controls are easy to use, yet playful. The custom parts of your UIs are simply fantastic.

But here’s the thing — I’m booting you from my iPhone.

Now, you two may be thinking, “What about Tweetbot? You spend lots of time with him, and his pretty face is right on your home screen!

The difference is this: Tweetbot is useful to me on a daily basis. You guys don’t fill any need I feel when I consider what I do with my iPhone.

Path, I already have apps to share photos and status updates with online friends. Twitter and Instagram beat you to the punch for how I share things online. I’m not on Facebook; I am not looking for what seems like a more private version of the network.

Stamped, I know most the cool places of Memphis I like to visit. Knowing cool areas in other cities isn’t super useful for me. And while it’s interesting to see what online people are reading or listening to, this information also isn’t super useful — not to mention, it can be acquired via Twitter fairly easily in most cases.

Path and Stamped, it’s been fun, but it’s time to say goodbye.

— Stephen

Many of you know that I do not write 512 Pixels full-time. My day job is managing the IT/Multimedia Department for a $30 million, 100,000 square-foot community center here in Memphis.

I’m constantly keeping way too many things in the air at once, and it is easy for things to fall between the cracks. Thankfully, I have OmniFocus.

OmniFocus is one of those apps that tailors to the user’s needs — it can be as simple or as complex as one needs it to be. With OmniFocus, I can keep my digital workflow closely mirrored to my workload and responsibilities. Thanks to great features like Projects, Folders and Repeating Tasks, I know my tasks are right where I left them. I know that when I put something in OmniFocus, it is safe and sound, and that the app will remind me of the task when the time comes.

With (free!) cloud sync, I can pull out my iPad in a meeting or iPhone on the construction site and know that the information I’m being presented with is up to date and accurate. That’s invaluable.

Currently, the building is under construction, so not only is my department supporting our current staff and programs, but we also dealing with tons of construction-related issues and projects. My tasks can vary from simple help desk support issues to things as complex as re-designing the Audio/Video Studio, which would involve months of planning and research. With OmniFocus, I can attach files and emails easily to tasks, keeping all related information close at hand. Everything is together, making me more efficient.

Even if your day job isn’t as hectic as mine, check out OmniFocus. If you need a trusted system on your Mac and/or iOS device, there’s no reason to look anywhere else, no matter what your workload or process looks like.

This could be the best thing the Internet has produced in some time.

An explanation of my “gojgo” tweets yesterday.

Caryn Talty at healthy-family.org:

Prospective buyers need to know that this very cool, sleek electronic toy has no parental monitoring safeguards installed on the device or available through a software download. I was surprised to find that all merchandise on Amazon’s website is available for purchase on the Kindle unless I choose to lock out my easy one-click buying option. This means anyone handling the device can buy whatever material they wish (electronic downloads and merchandise shipped to your door.) If you have a responsible 10 year old then there’s not much to worry about. But if you are buying for your 5 or 6 year old then you may run into problems when your credit card bill arrives. There is a safeguard in place when a person purchases that asks if it was done by mistake. This can come in handy for innocent accidental purchases.

Apple has taken some flack for being the morality police, but I — like most parents — don’t mind.

via AppleInsider

Federico, we’re all here for you. Thank you for your letter.

Huh.

Major thanks to David for having my home screen as a part of his great series.

If you don’t read MacSparky, shame on you.

Timothy B. Lee for Ars Technica:

An Oregon judge has ruled that a Montana blogger is not eligible for the legal protections afforded to journalists, letting stand a $2.5 million defamation verdict.

This case draws a clear line between people who write for traditional media outlets and for blogs. Judge Marco Hernandez wrote:

Although defendant is a self-proclaimed ‘investigative blogger’ and defines herself as ‘media,’ the record fails to show that she is affiliated with any newspaper, magazine, periodical, book, pamphlet, news service, wire service, news or feature syndicate, broadcast station or network, or cable television system. Thus, she is not entitled to the protections of the [Oregon journalist shield] law.

Shield laws protect journalists who do not wish to testify about their sources of information. By not extending this protection to “bloggers,” this case could potentially cause problems for bloggers all over the county. Judge Hernandez’s ruling ties shield law protection to being employed by a traditional media company. I believe that’s outdated and wrong; just because a newspaper doesn’t own my site doesn’t mean I’m not working as a journalist when I write it.

Again, Timothy Lee:

But Hernandez once again ruled that Cox was not a journalist. He noted the lack of “(1) any education in journalism; (2) any credentials or proof of any affiliation with any recognized news entity; (3) proof of adherence to journalistic standards such as editing, fact-checking, or disclosures of conflicts of interest; (4) keeping notes of conversations and interviews conducted; (5) mutual understanding or agreement of confidentiality between the defendant and his/her sources; (6) creation of an independent product rather than assembling writings and postings of others; or (7) contacting ‘the other side’ to get both sides of a story.”

While the blogger in this case acted without “adherence to journalistic standards,” “real” journalists don’t have to prove that they do to gain protection from shield laws.

Shield laws are handled on the state level, with a total of 40 states having them in place.

A federal shield law failed to pass in the Senate in 2009.

This is a serious issue for those of us who write on the web, working for ourselves. If other states view the Oregon case as a precedent to start following, bloggers will have very little protection against companies and other agencies in court.

Hosain Rahman:

We recognize that this product has not yet lived up to everyone’s expectations – including our own – so we’re taking action:

This means that for whatever reason, or no reason at all, you can receive a full refund for UP. This is true even if you decide to keep your UP band. We are so committed to this product that we’re offering you the option of using it for free.

Good move by Jawbone.

Garrett Murray:

Don’t buy this piece of shit. It doesn’t work, it will fail, and the software is terrible. Jawbone is still selling them even though they know they’re all future bricks. Don’t buy one. Feel free to read on if you’d like the nitty-gritty details.

Ouch.