Return of the Blog

After a few months off, the blog is coming back. It’s been a little crazy finishing law school, doing some work at a startup (Stattleship, a social sports game revolving around, well, stats) and once again transitioning from the student world.

I once saw someone remark that when you write a post about not writing on your blog, it probably signals the beginning of the end. I like to think of this as a summer vacation of sorts while making a life transition. I was still writing on other locations, so it wasn't a complete abandonment, from a certain point of view.

The Big Road Race

I posted a quote on Facebook from one of my favorite books as a kid: The Berenstein Bears and the Big Road Race. However, something interesting happened:  no one knew where the quote was from and it did not surface in a Google search.

This is an idea which calls for more thought in another post to come, but in the meantime, I will make this page the only source on the Internet with this knowledge (kind of impressing in 2012):

Up ahead, Dead Bear's Curve. "I won't slow down for Dead Bear's Curve." Orange's driver was all nerve. All nerve, but not much sense, Orange went right through the fence.

Apple TV and Gaming

For a man so prolific, complicated, and of course secretive, it should be no surprise that Steve Jobs left behind one quote in his biography which has intrigued readers like no other: "I've finally cracked it."

In some way, shape or form Steve Jobs had solved television, Apple's role in bringing television and the Internet closer together, or maybe (but not likely) the secret to smellovision.

Many words have already been spilled analyzing this uncharacteristically specific hint, but I had a moment today which made me think.

I have been dabbling with using a standing desk for the past two years. After getting an external monitor to hook up to my laptop and give myself a little more breathing room I converted back to a sitting desk. But today I rearranged my desk again and set the monitor up high once more. And then did something curious: I picked up the Magic Trackpad to resume a video as I was organizing my things.

Standing a few feet away from the desk I held the trackpad in both hand, thumbs on top, like I would an Xbox or PS3 controller. Two thumbs together will scroll, one thumb or the other acting alone will more the cursor, and tapping will select anything selectable.

To paraphrase Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Magic Trackpad is not as clumsy or random as an air mouse (or even a Wii remote at times).

There have been critics of Apple's current remote arguing that it has too few buttons to be useful and is, in fact, too minimalist. Anyone who has had to type more than a few characters on an Apple TV with it will agree. While there is an app available for iOS devices to control the Apple TV, $200 for an iPod Touch is high price point for a remote control with more than barebones functionality.

But what if Apple is working on a Magic Trackpad 2.0? Cheaper than the current $69 version. Maybe closer to the $50 price of a new Xbox controller. If Apple builds a full television set, one of these would come with it. If that TV can play iOS games…multiplayer games…well, others can join in if they have an iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad or their own touchpad-esque, Xbox-like, Apple Controller.

An Elegant Interface, For a More Civilized Age

Every once in a while I still pull out my old iPod. It lives a much easier life than it did a few years ago - usually docked in my alarm clock playing the same couple songs over and over as my backup alarm.

Essentially it houses everything I  listened to in high school and college. I'm always reminded what a great interface the scroll wheel provided - minutes to learn, one thumb operation, sight of screen not needed.

However, today, for a brief moment, I scrolled to the artist, highlighted the song, and then, in a continuation of the gesture, lifted up my thumb and tapped the track name.

Sorry, iPod.

Copy That Right

Over the last two months more people have heard or had discussions about copyright, the Internet, and piracy than ever before.

Former Senator Chris Dodd, who used to be known as the good senator from Connecticut because he was not Joe Liberman, has broken his promise not to become a lobbyist, becoming enemy of the Internet #1 as chairman for the MPAA.

Should the bad guys win, it's possible that the music industry will be able to extend their YouTube takedowns to include gems like this, because, hey, without the Beastie Boys the parody never could have been inspired in the first place.

This is what is at risk: the complete subjugation of the Internet to protect legacy industries which are run by people who are not willing to adapt to the modern world.

People have pointed to the success of Louis C.K. and Paulo Coelho as just the first of many content creators to use the Internet to bypass the traditional distribution models and more are on the way. If we keep up the pressure and don't let Congress turn America into China and the Internet into a shadow of itself.