April 22, 2010

Don't ask why I was checking out the Lane Bryant blog.

Just know that this really does seem like a load of horseshit from ABC and Fox. 

Being an avowed heterosexual, I'm up, er, down for any kind of ad featuring a sexy lady. And the lady in this LB ad is definitely that. However, Fox and ABC declined to show the ad without edits and or time segment constraints. 

Lane Bryant, obviously, is playing the double-standard card. However, aside from the use of the description "groundbreaking Cacique commercial" in their blog post, I'm inclined to agree with them. What do you guys think?  Check it out for yourself.

Posted by Tug McTighe on April 22, 2010 at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising

April 22, 2010

Museum Of Modern Tweets

They take celeb tweets and illustrate them. Odd and oddly fascinating. See 'em all here.

Posted by Tug McTighe on April 22, 2010 at 08:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Entertainment

April 21, 2010

Nailed it!

I would write a big, long, in-depth review of my experience with the iPad after two weeks, but this guy at Tested.com nailed it. Great, great stuff. Definitely worth your time.

Posted by Nick Kinney on April 21, 2010 at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
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April 15, 2010

Phil Gyford has something to say about infographics.

Hilarious take from UK creative thinker Phil Gyford. But, damn it, how else are we supposed to make fluffy figures in Keynote prezo's seem more important than they are?

Posted by John on April 15, 2010 at 11:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Design

April 13, 2010

I love Google's SearchStories Spots.

Almost as much as I like making my own.

Posted by Tug McTighe on April 13, 2010 at 03:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
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April 13, 2010

Get that shiz out of my Face. Book.

 Until today, I hadn't realized this, but the iPad has brought a bit of addition by subtraction to my daily life. You see, there is no free Facebook app for the iPad. And since I'm most certainly not forking over a few dollars for Facebook ULTIMATE (whatever that means), I don't have a way to keep the awful, annoying, incessant blather of the past-it's-prime social networking site one convenient tap away.

So I don't go there. At least I haven't since Saturday. 

And I wondered how I could feel so happy, even when the Royals bullpen is so, so bad...

Posted by Nick Kinney on April 13, 2010 at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Categories:

April 13, 2010

Hope!

This morning, as I sat down to have my morning cup o' joe, I opened this email, which is a response from the development team at Office2. I had emailed them a couple of days ago to ask about the (lack of) printing capabilities on their current app, and their plan to build that functionality in later. The response is all I could have hoped for. At last, a full, file-syncing, printing office suite is coming (hopefully very) soon! I can't wait. OK -- now that we've got that out of the way, I'd like to share my thoughts after a little over a week of trying out the iPad. Well, only one thought, really: 

I'm hooked. 

After only a few days of use, I don't use my laptop for anything other than hardcore word processing. The beautiful OS and the utter simplicity of use have impressed and at times even astounded me. The interface is the most streamlined I've ever experienced. I don't know how to explain the user experience, other than to say it "just feels natural." 

On the occasion that I do open up my MacBook Pro, it now feels to me almost like Windows did when I was using OSX. The keyboard and monitor setup are clunky and complicated and the Folder-based GUI feels harder to navigate. 

Now - none of this is to say that the iPad doesn't have it's limitations. The platform will only go as far as the development community takes it, and that community is rapidly fleeing for the open-source and more robust Android platform. I should probably say here that Google and HTC (the makers of the Nexus One) are rumored to be developing an Android-based Google Slate. I can't wait to see what that looks like. 

That said -- I'm thrilled with the possibilities the iPad presents. It's potential is off-the-charts. I may just be slipping into Jobsie's Reality Distortion Field here, but being a skeptic when this device was first announced, I kinda doubt it. I think the iPad is the real deal.

Posted by Nick Kinney on April 13, 2010 at 08:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Web/Tech

April 12, 2010

Are you ready to Double Down?

 

Posted by Tug McTighe on April 12, 2010 at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Categories: Advertising

April 09, 2010

There's almost an app for that

Well, ol' Stevie didn't come through for me with iPhone 4.0, and I'm still in Limbo when it comes to printing and file syncing for my iPad. Sure, there are some decent printing solutions (PrintCentral, Print n Share, Airsharing), and even an office suite that supports VPN access (as opposed to the severely crippled Apple Pages, which can only access/save files through Mail, iWork.com and USB/iTunes).

But, as of now, there isn't any one app that combines the functionality of both -- which, for efficiency purposes, seems like the only acceptable solution for a heavy user like me. I mean, consider the time lost my doing this:

Open word processor > create document > save document to server > close word processor > open printing app > find file on server > print document

instead of this:

Open word processor > create document > save document to server > print document

I realize that it doesn't seem like much, but wasting 30-60 seconds switching apps and searching for a file every blessed time you want to print could add up pretty quickly. On a busy day, it's not unheard of for me to print 30 docs. That's up to a half an hour wasted -- on a busy day, mind you -- just trying to print. And let's not even talk about the pure, unadulterated rage that would build in my soul as a result of executing this seemingly redundant process over and over and over again.

But while Office2 won't currently qualify an everyday solution, it's certainly a step in the right direction. VPN access means I can edit and save files when I'm working remotely and don't need to print. That's a big step, and allows me to trade a device that's merely nomadic (a traditional laptop) for one that's truly mobile -- and that's great. It really is.

So great, in fact, that it's making me wonder: why, in 2010, do I even need a print-capable office suite? With all the virtual commenting and collaboration tools available, why are we still wasting time and money and trees by printing out every version of every copy doc for every job we work on? In an age where people file taxes and store entire lives' worth of photos online, why can't we do something as simple as route a word document?

Posted by Nick Kinney on April 09, 2010 at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Web/Tech

April 07, 2010

App Search: Postponed (for now)

After spending a good hour yesterday searching for a quality printing/file sharing solution for the iPad - well, let's just say I didn't find much. In fact, let's also say that the dearth of apps left me utterly flabbergasted. I know that a narrow app selection is one of the prices us early adopters must pay for our lack of patience, but I was expecting to find SOMETHING useful. Instead, all I got was the mediocre-at-best PrintCentral (iTunes link) app that frankly just isn't cutting the mustard.

But alas, the good folks at Apple may come to the rescue! I've been informed by one of our office Mac whizzes that the upcoming iPhone OS4 update is rumored to include built-in printing and file sharing capabilities for both the iPhone and iPad. I'm excited to hear this news a) because, as I said, the current solutions are clunky and inefficient and b) because I have trouble believing that any software company could pull this off better than the boys in Cupertino. 

So stay tuned tomorrow at noon (Central Time, of course), folks. Mr. Jobs may be bringing us one step closer to making the iPad as magical and revolutionary as he claims it is.

Posted by Nick Kinney on April 07, 2010 at 03:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Web/Tech