http://www.jeffkirvin.net The journey of a reluctant writer Mon, 29 Dec 2008 21:12:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Since getting a Touch Pro a couple weeks ago, I’ve been trying to figure out to best to optimize the TouchFlo interface. HTC has done some nice things with this device (the Touch Pro on Sprint or outside the US, the HTC Fuze on AT&T, as well as all ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/12/remove-redundant-touchflo-start-menu-with-wktask/ A funny thing happened on the way to the blog this morning. I checked my email, caught up my RSS feeds in Google Reader, and scanned last night's Twitter activity in TweetDeck (which is so good it's actually worth installing Adobe Air, thanks Alli). And I realized I didn't have ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/12/when-did-twitter-kill-instant-messaging/ There are shaping up to be four big ecosystems in computing. As all four diversify into the categories below, I'm noticing that a lot of users are standardizing on using everything from a single vendor, a siloing of the market rather than embracing variety. You can do nearly everything you ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/12/pick-your-ecosystem-carefully/ In Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers, he makes an interesting observation. In any relatively complex discipline, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery. This 10,000 hour rule seems to apply equally to music composition, software development, writing, sewing, playing hockey, anything. No matter what you do, you don't ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/12/10000-hours/ Okay, Holiday Crisis Season is over, I can get back to writing. and I've got quite a bit to cover. While you wait, I highly suggest reading Malcolm Gladwell's new book Outliers, available on eReader and Audible. http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/12/we-now-return-you-to-your-regularly-scheduled-programming/ Driving home just now I noticed something. When I’m straightening out of a turn, I’ll loosen my grip on the steering wheel and let the wheel spin freely just enough to bring the tires back to straight, then tighten my grip again. It seems like an obvious and efficient way ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/12/self-learning-skills/ Joost released a new iPhone application that, at first, seems like a pretty cool idea. You can use it to stream any of the videos hosted on Joost to the iPhone and watch them wherever you are. Neat! Movies and TV shows on the go! Premium content, because you ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/12/yet-again-windows-mobile-trumps-the-iphone/ I've been working on a three part article for the last few days called "Pimp my Treo" but now I'm not sure I'll post it. In short, it's how to use Kinoma Play, Skyfire and Winterface to "modernize" a Treo or similar device to look and feel more like the ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/11/simple-easy/ Calm down, liberals. Take a deep breath. I know that trusting your elected officials and being skeptical of the press feels alien and wrong, but times have changed. It's really okay. Ease down. You've blown the transaxle, you're just grinding metal. I woke up this morning to a cacophony of Chicken ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/11/calm-down-chicken-little/ "She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts." -- Han Solo As a Windows Mobile user, I'm consistently amazed that people take the iPhone seriously as a smartphone platform. Yes, my Treo has an old school 2003 interface and isn't as shiny as newer smartphones (including "black ... http://www.jeffkirvin.net/2008/11/it-aint-pretty-but-it-works/