A Visual History of Mac OS

Categories art, tools
Visual History Series Mac OS X Microsoft Windows Ubuntu (coming soon) iPod (coming soon) iPhone (coming soon) Android (coming soon) Netscape/Firefox (coming soon) Safari (coming soon) IE (coming soon) Super Mario (coming soon) Legend Of Zelda (coming soon) Sonic The Hedgehog (coming soon) Bomberman (coming soon) Pac Man (coming soon) Metroid (coming soon) Do Read the article >>

The default state is failure

Categories leadership, startups
After 4 years of building, fixing, and managing software, I've come to realize that the default state of everything is failure. Chances are that your fancy feature doesn't work when you first ship.  That new process probably has plenty of holes in it.   Everything is a work in progress, and your world is in perpetual beta. In startup life, there are TWO worlds you live in.  One that celebrates Read the article >>

Google Glass App Mockups

Categories software
I think the Google Glass project is so exciting.  For the uninitiated, Glass is a wearable computer, a pair of eyeglasses.  Think of it like a smartphone, on your face. How cool would it be to have a 'wearable computer'?  Think of all the things you could do: You could record every moment of your day.  You could be presented contextual information about everyone around you.  You could Read the article >>

Gumption

Categories software, startups
As an aspiring guitarist, I've noticed that music, like other forms of creative art, painting, drawing, or design, require high amounts of passion, enthusiasm, and resolve.   More and more, I've found the same about development -- developers do their best work when they are working on something that they are personally passionate about.  Software engineering is a fundamentally creative practice -- Read the article >>

5 Minutes to a Productive Gmail Inbox

Categories protips, technology
If you're anything like me, you get a knot in your stomach in the morning when you check your inbox. Emails are imposing.  Sometimes, they come with an expectation of response.  Often, there is a task to be completed before I can give that response.  To add insult to injury, my inbox is a bottomless jumbled mess of action items that are different priorities.  It represents a footrace towards Read the article >>

Dialogue

Categories leadership
I'm a classically trained programmer.  That means that in school, they taught me C++, Java, Lisp, and a handful of other techie stuff.  There was a class which included 'the lifecycle of applications', but, beyond that, I've never been really trained in any of the softer skills associated with software engineering. One of the things that I've learned in the past year is the importance of dialogue Read the article >>

Information Addiction

Categories essays, technology
A few days ago, I was taking a break from hacking to get some coffee downstairs.  StepOut's offices are on the 4th floor, so I press the 'down' button, enter the elevator, and take out my iPhone.  One tweet, 25 seconds later, and I'm downstairs.  Cross the street.  Light's red.  Take out phone, scroll more tweets.  There's a line at Starbucks.  Check Email.  Still waiting in line -- Better Read the article >>

Just installed Mountain Lion? Try these 6 OSX Apps

Categories protips, technology
Your machine is a tool. A really powerful tool.  You dropped hundreds, probably thousands of dollars on it.  You spend more than a few hours a week with it, you owe it to yourself to learn to use it right. Try these 6 underrated OSX Apps: Skitch (free) makes it easy to share screenshots. Divvy (free to try, $14 after) makes window management a breeze. Dropbox (free) makes file sync Read the article >>

Dissonance

Categories essays, startups
When we first started StepOut, I used to get really stressed out by the dissonant signals that come from the day-to-day of running a web startup.   There's just so much shit that can go wrong when you're shooting to build a $100mm+ company. Lately, I've come to view dissonance as part of the process.  You can't scale a company without it.  It's kind of like in music when the composer creates Read the article >>

Beginners Mind

Categories essays, mind
This weekend I went through my first zen retreat.   My interest in meditation has ebbed and flowed over the past several years.  The scientific evidence is piling up - Meditation increases mental clarity, healthy sense of self,  critical thinking, decreases depression, and my personal experience seems to comport -- it increases overall mental well-being.  As an engineer, my mind is often spinning Read the article >>