Veg
I was surprised recently to overhear a co-worker complain that vegetable gardens require a lot of work. Perhaps a large vegetable garden, sure, but they don’t have to be. Vegetables are plants — you put them in good soil and water them frequently, and they grow, all other things being equal. My setup is pretty straightforward: I bought a bunch of 10-foot 2×6 boards, cut them in 6′ and 4′ sections, […]
Why I started using LinkedIn again
In a Fortune article published in March, a representative of management consulting firm Accenture revealed that he expects up to 20,000 of Accenture’s new hires this year to come from social media. 20,000. And knowing the social media landscape, when it comes to professionals using social media, you know that this doesn’t mean hiring through Facebook. The vast majority of those will come through LinkedIn, since that’s by far […]
Artists Wanted
What’s the best way to manage an artist? I have a few top-secret projects going on right now, and they need artists. And by that I mean people who draw people and creatures. Here’s my process for finding and working with an artist: Browse art sites. I use DeviantArt mostly, because it’s so big and includes such a wide array of artists. Send a basic proposal. There’s a delicate balancing act here. I strive to intrigue the artist, while […]
Amish Friendship Bread
Ten days ago, a co-worker was kind enough to drop off a bag of starter for some Amish friendship bread. The starter is a light-beige mush that has to be squeezed every day, and fed with extra ingredients (milk, flour, and sugar), until the tenth day. On the tenth day, one creates four more bags’ worth of starter and bakes two loaves of cinnamon bread with the rest. As I’m sure you’ve figured […]
Astro Boy Made Modern
I want to talk about craziness for a moment. In Japan, there’s a manga creator named Naoki Urasawa. He’s known for his complex, intricate stories that are aimed at adults. His most famous is 20th Century Boys, a modern thriller about a middle-aged man who learns that one of his childhood friends now runs a murderous cult. A few years ago, Naoki Urasawa contacted the son of Osamu Tezuka, Japanese […]
Why Who?
Decided to relax last night and watch a few episodes of classic Doctor Who. (Yes, yes, the new Doctor Who is great. Thank you.) Why should I watch classic Doctor Who? It’s cheesy, over-acted, and low-budget. Watching classic Doctor Who is like reading second-tier science fiction. It may not blow your mind, but it’ll have a few memorable moments, a nice monologue, and an interesting premise […]
Pics and Punchlines
Just stumbled across a stunningly different photo blog — the photographer works in Japan, taking photos of everyday people and situations on the street. The color’s always unexpected, and the subjects atypical. Warning: Some of these photos show naked dolls, so if you don’t want to see doll breasts and butts, don’t click below: Pics and Punchlines A sample:
Well That Was Easy
As mentioned in my previous entry, I downloaded the iPad/iPhone SDK Thursday night, and played around with it. I now have a simple text adventure for the iPad, complete with four rooms and an inventory. In less than 24 hours. I struggled with a few things. One has to go through several steps to wire up a UI element like a button or text view. Each module and model has its own role to play, and their interactions […]
Wet Toes
In a fit of curiosity and a desire to seriously research a new field of programming, tonight I downloaded the iPad SDK and built a trivial iPad app. As expected, Apple made development relatively easy. The free development tools are comprehensive and easy to use. Also as expected, I’m still confused by all the files that go into an app. There are nibs, and Resources, and all sorts of things that simply don’t have obvious functions. I decided to read […]
Meeting the Robinsons
Growing up, I wanted to be an inventor. I think it started with my Mom giving me a copy of Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, saying, “I think you’ll like this.” Did I ever. I devoured Verne and H.G. Wells, then moved on to more modern SF literature. I was attracted to the role of the inventor, always coming up with new inventions. I knew it wouldn’t be as simple as it was in the cartoons I watched […]