Passing Gandalf

I had an afternoon as a passenger in a car the other day and spent it playing through this game. I progressed through levels 1-6 in about 20 minutes. I was stuck on level 7 for hours.

Resizing video for Mastodon

A quick and dirty FFmpeg command to convert your video to a toot-friendly format.

Selective sync of Google Calendars in Apple's ecosystem

Despite removing myself from Google’s ecosystem where I can, I’ve found that Google calendars have been hard to ditch. One thing that’ really irks me though about adding Google calendars to my Apple calendar apps is the mess...

Shortcuts for archiving Apple Music playlists

I’m sort of a nut about metadata and archiving my digital stuff. I also like lists and enjoy listening to music. It’s all of those things that led me to my ongoing bi-monthly playlist project, where I collect...

What Would Happen if a Nuclear Bomb Went Off in Your Town?

This simulator [https://outrider.org/nuclear-weapons/interactive/bomb-blast/] from Outrider shows you just how far the disastrous effects of a nuclear explosion would reach if such a bomb was dropped in your zip code. Earlier this month, Vladmir Putin boasted...

It's Time for an RSS Revival

I've been an RSS user for many years now and as my interest in reading and writing waxes and wanes, my reliance on it does also.

Inside Spike Jonze’s Apple Ad

Adweek has a really neat look [http://www.adweek.com/creativity/this-look-inside-spike-jonzes-apple-ad-is-as-fascinating-as-the-film-itself/] behind the scenes of Spike Jonze's ad for the Apple HomePod starring FKA Twigs and new music by Anderson .Paak. Incredibly, all of the wall movements were shot...

Amazon Smile Redirect Extensions

I’ve found browser extensions for each of the three primary browsers that simply redirect any link heading to amazon.com to smile.amazon.com without any further input necessary.

Introducing: Celebrity Friends

This week I'm proud to say that I've made my debut on the iOS App Store through a collaborative effort with my good pal and Punchline bassist/sometimes vocalist Chris Fafalios!

PokémonGo: An Overview of The Phenomenon

As a twenty-something in the year of 2016, I've been catching Pokémon for almost my entire life. Never before has it felt as interactive as it does with Pokémon Go, the augmented reality game by The Pokémon Company and Niantic....

Buying @Haje: How I got my given name as my Twitter handle for $250

For nearly as long as I've fought to regain access [https://jacobtender.net/blog/reclaiming-a-twitter-handle-my-seven-year-wait/] to the handle I am currently using on Twitter, I have been attempting to get @tender—the short and sweet one-word jackpot of a handle...

Reclaiming A Twitter Handle: My Seven Year Wait

“Hi” This was the very first tweet I sent on April 21, 2009 at 9:46 PM from an account I made through SMS on my Nokia 2600c. It was a simple tweet, aimed at nobody in particular. I had...

Goodbye AbsolutePunk, Hello Chorus

Jason Tate has bought back the Absolutepunk [http://absolutepunk.net] name and URL from SPIN Group and launched a new platform [http://forum.chorus.fm] for the community to move to. > I had started my first business, AbsolutePunk, LLC, as...

My Reading Dilemma

In 2016, I’m making a greater effort to get back into reading regularly. There was a time that I was consistently bookmarked somewhere in the pages of an adventure novel, but that time has long since past. With the...

Facebook Hiatus

If you have an account on Facebook, you may have come around to the idea that maybe it’s not as great as you once thought it was. UI changes and algorithms aside, the use of Facebook has diminished greatly...

Rdio files for bankruptcy, Pandora buys pieces.

Rdio has withdrawn [https://curbside.audio/blog/2015/11/rdio-files-for-bankuptcy-pandora-buys-pieces] from the streaming race by filing Ch. 11 and selling its assets to Internet radio giant Pandora. In a blog post [http://blog.rdio.com/us/2015/11/important-news-from-rdio.html]...

Casey Neistat Hits 100

In Casey Neistat’s 100th vlog (congratulations Casey—you’ve inspired me daily for a few months now), the filmmaker talks about his creative hierarchy. That is, actually making something, inspiring someone with that creation, and finally creating a tool...

A Historic Graphic From Apple's Homepage

Kevin Fox [http://kfury.com/the-first-apple-homepage] via parislemon: > I’m a digital pack-rat, and I’ve been on the Internet a long time. I remember a very different, more playful Apple.com homepage. I remembered a page that was more...

Buying the Apple Watch

The time is 2:55AM EST. My Pebble smartwatch buzzes furiously on my wrist to remind me that it’s time to get up and order the Apple Watch, another smartwatch. Here I am, 3:00AM, sitting at the kitchen...

Here's A Boost: A Most Shareable Response To Christopher Murray

Using a Change.org petition last week, Illuminate Me singer Christopher Murray made a dramatic call for social networking justice. Facebook has raised its rates on bands and small business’s promoting themselves through their website several times over the...

25 Years of Adobe Photoshop

Adobe is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Photoshop. To highlight the landmark, they’ve released a fantastic video made with user submitted PSD files. The entire video was created in Photoshop, made by animating each layer. The result is a...

Tweetbot for Mac is getting an upgrade

Tapbots via Twitter [https://twitter.com/tweetbot/status/563070797456367617]: > Tweetbot for Yosemite has been more work than anticipated, but it is coming…and yes, it will be a free update! My most used Mac application is getting a facelift. It...

Blogging app Desk is half off in the Mac App Store

You can get John Saddington’s blogging application Desk for half the price for a limited time. Selected as a part of the Mac App Store’s Get Productive collection, Desk is only 14.99 right now. Desk works with...

AOL is shutting down TUAW and Joystiq

Micah Singleton, The Verge [http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/30/7949485/aol-shutting-down-tuaw-apple]: > There goes another one. AOL is shutting down The Unofficial Apple Weblog, better known as TUAW, sources familiar with the situation tell The Verge. The company — which...

Imgur Adds GIF Making Service

Imgur has added a new service that allows you to quickly make an animated GIF from a video clip online. Just type in the link, select the starting point an duration, and you’ve got yourself ammo for the Twitter...

Slack Acquires Screenhero For Screen Sharing, Voice, Video

Mic Wright, The Next Web [http://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/01/28/slack-acquires-screenhero-integrate-screen-sharing-voice-video/] : > Slack, the increasingly popular communication platform, has made its second acquisition, snapping up collaborative screen sharing service Screenhero for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock...

Does Sponsoring Daring Fireball Actually Work?

John Saddington, Desk.PM: > A lot of people have asked me whether sponsorship and advertising on John Gruber’s Daring Fireball actually works. What they are asking, more specifically, is whether it’s really worth the investment, because advertising is...

Follow The Blog on Audiomack

The issue of streaming copyrighted materials on blogs and webzines has been growing ever wearisome in the past 5 years. What with DMCA notices taking down fan-made YouTube video streams, SoundCloud uploads, and whatnot, limits have been set to stream...

Plex finally launches on PlayStation in the US

Rich McCormick for The Verge: > Plex, the media player that can stream video and music from your personal collection to other devices, is finally available on PlayStation in North America. The software launched in Europe and Asia last month, but...