Trying to Find a Reason to use Tumblr

The inconsistencies of shipping is amazing. My iPad 2 left China on March 13 and arrive in Salem, MA...

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:11:57 -0400

The inconsistencies of shipping is amazing. My iPad 2 left China on March 13 and arrive in Salem, MA before noon on March 15. My Smart Cover left PA (only a 6 hour drive away) on March 11 and still hasn’t arrived.

Using iPhone 4 hotspot checking email from my laptop. Skyping on the iPhone at the same time. Wonder...

Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:13:53 -0500

Using iPhone 4 hotspot checking email from my laptop. Skyping on the iPhone at the same time. Wonder if Skype bandwidth counts towards my hotspot plan or 3G data plan.

Pictures from my snowshoe hike near the Salem Woods. I posted...

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:43:11 -0500

Pictures from my snowshoe hike near the Salem Woods. I posted more pictures in my photo gallery.

The Great Escape was Great

Thu, 23 Dec 2010 07:14:58 -0500

Last night my wife and I had dinner at the Great Escape restaurant here in Salem. The food was outstanding. We ordered the appetizer special, which was tomatoes topped with fresh mozzarella cheese and shrimp. The shrimp was freakin’ awesome. So tasty. My wife and I kept asking each other, “How did they make the shrimp taste so good?”

For dinner I had the Calabrese, which is chicken with Italian sausage in a marsala glaze. I love marsala but have always hated mushrooms. Guess what? No mushrooms in this dish. It’s like they read my mind. And oh was it tasty. I licked the plate clean.

My wife had the Genovese, which is fresh scallops in a pesto cream sauce with pappardelle pasta. Her meal was equally as good as mine. In fact, I couldn’t stop sneaking bites from her plate.

When we go out to dinner, I like to figure out who got the best meal. I couldn’t do that last night because both dishes were incredible.

My only complaint about Great Escape is the copy in the menu. Most of the dish descriptions lack commas. For example, the Alcatraz reads “Breaded chicken breast with shrimp asparagus in a creamy Dijon mustard sauce, served with roasted potatoes.” I asked the waitress about the lack of commas. Her reaction led me to believe I wasn’t the first to ask about it. And I wasn’t the first to ask, “What is shrimp asparagus?” I honestly thought it was baby-size, or miniature asparagus.

Overall, we had a great time at Great Escape. The food was delicious, and the staff was super friendly. We’re looking forward to returning soon, and I can’t wait until the outdoor patio area, which I’m told seats 40, opens when the weather warms up in the spring/summer.

Less than an hour to setup multiple blog sites using wordpress 3. Five hours tracking down why...

Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:53:26 -0500

Less than an hour to setup multiple blog sites using wordpress 3. Five hours tracking down why uploaded images would not display. Turned out wp-admin > Network gave me the wrong rewrite rule for the files directory. I posted my solution here.

I need to use my tumblr account more often. Maybe I’ll do that later.

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:41:42 -0500

I need to use my tumblr account more often. Maybe I’ll do that later.

I’m not a fan of Xcode iOS templates. I use Windows-based App for new projects & Obj-C...

Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:04:12 -0400

I’m not a fan of Xcode iOS templates. I use Windows-based App for new projects & Obj-C class derived from NSObject for new classes. Saves me time and I can use my own structure without a lot of deleting and cut pasting.

At CNN.com, Sade in concert is bigger news then SF...

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 04:16:14 -0400

At CNN.com, Sade in concert is bigger news then SF Giants winning the World Series.

Way to go @VMware. After being a loyal customer since 2003, you may have lost me as customer. Your...

Thu, 28 Oct 2010 10:39:37 -0400

Way to go @VMware. After being a loyal customer since 2003, you may have lost me as customer. Your products are great but your customer service sucks. For months you have emailed me telling me to renew my VMware Fusion subscription. After many failed attempt to renew, I finally talked to someone today on the phone who politely told me VMware Fusion subscriptions are not renewable. I feel mislead and ripped off by VMware, and I will unlikely give VMware any more of my money.

I know many computer nerds who have never bought and downloaded software online. The Mac App Store...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 22:50:07 -0400

I know many computer nerds who have never bought and downloaded software online. The Mac App Store could change this, encouraging many more people to buy 3rd desktop software.

My wife couldn’t log into her online account. She didn’t know her password. I helped by...

Wed, 20 Oct 2010 21:06:25 -0400

My wife couldn’t log into her online account. She didn’t know her password. I helped by correctly guessing her password on the first attempt. Not sure what to make of that.

Worst part of speaking early on the 1st day of a conference? Speaking early on the 1st day. Best...

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 01:47:24 -0400

Worst part of speaking early on the 1st day of a conference? Speaking early on the 1st day. Best part of speaking early on the 1st day? Speaking early on the 1st day.

Having a pre-Rowan Sunday, sitting on the couch with the laptop in hand and the SyFy channel on....

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 12:13:31 -0400

Having a pre-Rowan Sunday, sitting on the couch with the laptop in hand and the SyFy channel on. Haven’t watched SyFy since the SciFi days. These days our TV only shows Curious George, Cars, Backyardigans, and Thomas the Tank Engine.

I tweeted earlier that I’ve been forgetful today, which is not typical of me. Sure, I forget...

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 00:18:02 -0400

I tweeted earlier that I’ve been forgetful today, which is not typical of me. Sure, I forget to do things from time to time, but I rarely forget to bring things. Today has made up for years of not forgetting.

It started 45 minutes into my drive when I realized I left my MBP power supply at home. I had to, of course, turn around and return home. An hour and a half of driving wasted. What else did I forget and didn’t pick up when I returned home?

* Gloves, thermal underwear, long sleeve shirt, and other warm clothing needed to camp out on a 30 degree (Fahrenheit) night. The camping portion of this trip is now canceled.

* Matches to light the pack stove.

* Charger for my phone.

* Left my wallet in the car only to discover it missing when I tried buying groceries.

I’m sure I’ll find more things missing by tomorrow morning.

Last night I joked about using HTML, JavaScript and UIWebView for a breadcrumb feature in an iPad...

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 10:23:32 -0400

Last night I joked about using HTML, JavaScript and UIWebView for a breadcrumb feature in an iPad app. It actually turned out nice. Each crumb is a hyperlink that when touched pops view controllers from a navigation controller. I’ll try my best to write up a blog about the approach soon.

I’m becoming disillusioned hosting open source projects. Too many feature requests and edge...

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 09:30:34 -0400

I’m becoming disillusioned hosting open source projects. Too many feature requests and edge case bugs with little to no community contribution. I wish I had all the free time in the world to make everyone happy, adding features and fixing that bug that effect only one person. But I struggle to find enough time to work on my own business much less provide constant support for my free contributions to the community. As @casademora said in a tweet yesterday, “if some open source software doesn’t do exactly what you want, *you* can modify it and contribute back to benefit everyone.”

Yes, I’m feeling very negative today. And it doesn’t help that the Apple made a minor change to the Sales and Trends reporting that broke my daily sales report download script. Hard to stay positive with a flow of emails saying the script is broken and asking for a fix.

I kayaked through some of the largest waves I’ve ever had to paddle though. My spray skit did...

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 18:40:38 -0400

I kayaked through some of the largest waves I’ve ever had to paddle though. My spray skit did an outstanding job of keeping me dry, but it didn’t do the same for my phone. The water proof pocket on my spray skit leaked in water - I’m guessing through the zip - leaving my phone in water for a couple of hours. The phone now turns on but is reporting an error. Luckily it was not my iPhone, just the phone I use every day for phone calls. So if you are trying to reach me by phone, try again later. I’ll likely be without an phone for a few days.

Had a great time at tonight’s CocoaHeads Boston. Got a sneak peek at CloudPull, a backup...

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:13:14 -0400

Had a great time at tonight’s CocoaHeads Boston. Got a sneak peek at CloudPull, a backup service for Google Docs, and learned that the MIT iPhone app is going open source. Plus lots of other conversations including Apple’s announcements today and how alcohol warms your body.

Let me clarify my tweet about the rotation issue in my app that I can recreate using the iPad case....

Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:39:02 -0400

Let me clarify my tweet about the rotation issue in my app that I can recreate using the iPad case. The case isn’t causing the issue. It’s the angle of the device when I fold the case as a stand that allows me to easily recreate the rotation problem. I’m finding some funky ways to screw up rotations in apps, including my own, by doing a combination of rotating the device and laying it flat or almost flat. Fun stuff.

Every time Ira Subaru does something to piss me off, which is rare, they not only fix the problem,...

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:14:01 -0400

Every time Ira Subaru does something to piss me off, which is rare, they not only fix the problem, they go above and beyond. They definitely know how to keep me as a customer.