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Oakland, CA
USA
My main blog is a Squarespace 5 blog located at saysbrad.com — I'm looking at migrating my technology/design site to Squarespace 6 (or perhaps another platform). It's quite a time consuming endeavor to do right and it's given me a lot to think about.
Filtering by Category: Quickies
I'm finally out of California, but I'm still working on getting settled. My new place is pretty nice, especially for the price! No more luxe high rise photos and fireworks shows, however.
But, I am right next to a nice looking river! It's peaceful here.
I will be writing again when my little office is setup. Right now there are still tons of boxes to unpack!
Hope all is well with everyone!
So the creator of the Zen Stylus (3-in-1 capacitive touch stylus and ballpoint pen) contacted me through this site not too long ago about possibly reviewing the stylus here on the site. So far, I haven’t heard back, but the stylus looks pretty cool! Take a look.
And if you’re familiar with David (Thanh) Ly and the ZEN, please let him know that I’ve reached out twice! Looking forward to having the time and energy to really get this site going after moving.
More thoughts at my Ghostify blog, Bradtastica!
I’m really looking forward to the release of version 0.5 — but until then, it’s fun playing around with something simple, clean and brand-new. If you’re a handlebars.js expert, maybe you can point me in the right direction; I’d like to create my own theme someday, but right now I’m just trying to change the way the basic theme, Casper, displays excerpts.
Looking forward to again having the time and energy to create great iOS-related content.
When Apple first announced Dashboard Widgets, it was sort of revolutionary to me; all of these mini-apps, adding functionality and usability to my computer with a tap. However, with the numerous innovations that have come about since multi-touch and iOS, Dashboard seems like a slow, unnecessary relic of OSX’s past.
Don’t want it anymore? I didn’t. Why have something around that I’m not going to use that just slows down my computer and eats up bandwidth? Here’s how to kill it. Note: you need admin privileges.
Add the following line of code:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean true
Add the next line:
killall Dock
Now, Dashboard is finally a thing of the past.
I understand that some people will still benefit from Dashboard, I don’t need a list of reasons why it’s still valid. There are a number of really cool widgets available. Just nothing that I can’t do faster with Safari or more conveniently on my iPad or iPhone, devices that are always right next to me and can function as a second screen, mini-computer. Siri can do just about everything that standard widgets do (I can’t at the moment think of something I’d do with a widget that I can’t just tell my phone to do for me), without changing to a separate space or obscuring my main screen.
* However, sometimes we change our minds about things. If you need to bring Dashboard back, simply change true to false —
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean false
Don’t forget!
killall Dock
Dashboard should now be back.
If you like this sort of post or it helps you out, please let me know!
You modify settings on your system at your own risk. Please don’t blame me if something goes wrong or doesn’t work on your system — I’m not there, I don’t know what happened. I’m basically just passing along information that helped me.
Hey, everyone. Things have been hectic and stressful around here, but I’m hoping to get some writing finished today and tomorrow. I was going to write about markdown and apps straightaway, but I want to address recent revelations about the theft of customer information at Target — the 2013 Black Friday hacks. I don’t like the way Target is handling it, and I’ll explain why in detail. I found out about the severity of the issue because of an email target sent! but almost didn’t trust it because their email is super-sketchy and looks like phishing spam!
I hope that you aren’t affected by Target’s negligence and the data thieves. Everything about identity theft is stressful.
Sort of like my post about removing apps from Launchpad, these are a few things that I wanted, and believe that it may be of interest to other Mac users.
Last, if you like strategic cards games and anime, check out Tanto Cuore.
Superb gameplay that really doesn’t have much to do with anime or maids. I’ve been a bit obsessed with Crunchyroll recently.
I need some way to send you the code :-) I only have a few, and it’s first come, first served!
Well, if you get Tanto Cuore and want to play it with me, you’re at the top of the list. ;-)
For whatever reason, over the past few days, my website has been hit by numerous spam reference links & comments. It's tiresome going through it all, and Squarespace said that there isn't a great automated option to solve the problem. It's time-consuming cleaning out the crap, and it feels like it isn't worth it at times.
I'm already overloaded by emails because I don't have enough time awake to manage all of it, and now there's this to deal with. So I suppose there's another reason to look at either: migrating to WordPress with DISQUS comments, or finding someone to help me manage the site (and add content) — or both.
I don't suppose you're interested? :-)
I wanted to write about iOS 7 today but I feel like I just don't have the energy. I'll likely add a few more photos to my Instagram, however. @bradtastic
Thanks for the continued support!
A brand new Toy Yoda. Too funny.
So I had a few days' rest and was going to write for the blog, but I ended up falling down some stone steps — long story, short: it was hot and sunny, got dizzy — and have been hurting and aching since. 2013 is so not my year. Well. It's almost over.
My birthday is in one week. I feel old already. How did this happen? I hope I'm not sick on my birthday again. Maybe I'll get some stuff from Amazon. That would be nice.
It's been really hot in Oakland these past four days. I want some cold weather and rain! Unable to do much, I've been reading and playing some games. Like Terraria and Dragon's Crown. I like Terraria more than Minecraft, but I'm not a fan of the typography. I wish Skyrim Hearthfire's house-building/customization was more like Animal Crossing. I also got Diablo III (PS3) for free. So if you're on PSN: message me — rainfault. I won't be playing videogames for too long, however, because I'm still in pain and tired from the fall and the infection preceding it. sigh
Made a few changes to saysbrad.com — will continue to update it as I can. Almost as soon as I have an OK day, I get sick again somehow.Sigh. This really has been one harsh year. It has taught me a lot, however, and I have had the opportunity to catch up on a lot of reading. Not so much writing and art, unfortunately.
I received a question about styluses in general and my thoughts on Wacom’s newly announced Wacom Intuos Creative Stylus (releases in October, along with Cintiq Companion drawing tablets); although I answered that specific email, I’ll briefly share my thoughts with everyone here. I’m really excited about the new stylus and I have high hopes for it! I hope I can try the new Wacom Intuos capacitive touch stylus soon! I’m still particularly fond of the oStylus DOT and Wacom Bamboo stylus (standard version) because both are 100% reliable in all practical conditions and work great on the iPad mini; something that many styluses, especially those with small tips, struggle with. Check out my iStuff page for links to these styluses and other incredible products!
I hope all of you are doing well, and thanks for visiting my website; it really does mean a lot to me, and I sincerely appreciate the support that I’ve received, especially this year. I will continue to try to update and create compelling content and worthwhile reviews for you to read and share.
Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm not dead, but I haven't been well. I am trying to catch up on contacting people but it is very difficult and I've been relying on a lot of help from people, for everything — including this update. I am trying to get back into a normal routine as quickly as possible without injuring myself or making things worse. It's still very hard to talk and I've been needing a lot of sleep.
Thanks for the kind words and support. Also, I'm glad that my previous blog entries were helpful for some people.
Well, I guess those Mayan calendar December 21st 12/21/12 people have something in common with those Y2K doomsday preppers. Earth is still here! Assassin's Creed III had me really worried…
If you haven't seen it, I recommend watching the Showtime series Penn & Teller Bullshit. Enlightening and fun! Unless you're easily offended. But if that's the case, why are you reading my site?
Happy new year, friends and family. More real content coming soon. It looks like a few of my scheduled drafts never actually posted, so there'll be those, too, after I edit them a bit to make them more relevant.
And of course, stuff about apps.
It looks like Adobe canned their Touch Apps Collage and Proto, as well as Kuler. Damn. If it means that Photoshop Touch and Ideas are going to be better, however — maybe it's okay.
Hopefully you snagged a few discounted apps and games during the holiday — lots of cheap and free apps!
This page (saysbrad.com/apps/) will contain links to my favorite apps, primarily iPad and iPhone, but who knows, maybe I’ll add other platforms in the future.
If I post an app on that page, I consider it a must-have. These are apps I use frequently and have dedicated numerous hours to.
Currently, my focus is on art, photography and productivity apps, but I’m open to reviewing other things as well. (I love games!) I like bringing extra exposure to small developers and indie apps, so I will promote those obscure, hidden gems before more mainstream apps reviewed by all of the big blogs and magazines.
So I switched my Squarespace hosting to take advantage of the free Squarespace 6 site, and spent some time playing around with the template/site builder. It really isn’t that simple. Maybe I need to read through all of the support materials.
Didn’t really feel like doing that because I spent over an hour trying to remove Microsoft Silverlight from Stephanie’s MacBook. Uninstalling Silverlight on Mac should be easy; delete the silverlight.plugin in the Library > Internet Plugins folder. Except it’s not that simple at all. I had to use Terminal and find all of the hidden files Microsoft sneaks into the computer.
I’m also having problems with my iMac. Time to get a new computer, definitely. This thing is just too old and slow now — it freezes up and hiccups every few minutes. Another reason why I prefer working from my new iPad.
Problem is, I can’t edit the style and theme of this Squarespace site from my iPad. It requires desktop Safari. I hope one day Squarespace will enhance their iOS app to support layout/code editing. So I’ve been sitting here, at my desktop (physically pretty painful!), trying to figure out what overrides what, just trying to get simple things like colors and fonts as I want them. I’ll have to pick this up another day.
Also, I cancelled TypePad Pro (new link) and MediaTemple hosting. Now I’ll have more time and energy to focus on this and my portfolio site, a few designs and graphics, packing up the house to move, and my health — though not necessarily in that order.
I really enjoy reading Newsstand magazines, news, articles and books on the plethora of stellar iPad reading apps. Specifically, I like Pulse, Readability & Longform, Zinio, Newsify and Flipboard. I didn't really care for reading at length on the iPad 2 because of the eye-strain, but the pixel density on the new iPad Retina display is phenomenal.
Also, 1080p video and 720p HD streaming: fantastic. If you're on the fence about a new iPad, get off. Get one. Seriously, it's life altering in the best of ways.
Keeping this short because I still feel sick. But here's a cool resource if you like strategy games: Pocket Tactics. It's all about mobile strategy games — great content, interviews, and app reviews.
ttyl.
Reading on the new iPad is wonderful. The Retina display is simply spectacular. If you do a lot of reading, writing or drawing, the new iPad is a worthwhile upgrade. Digital magazines and websites look better than printed pages, and sketching with Paper or SketchBook Pro feels real.
If you decide to get a new iPad, I suggest getting AppleCare+ for iPad. $99 and it includes two accidental damage replacements for $50 each. Get the AppleCare with the new iPad or before you open the packaging; this makes it easier, because it must be purchased within 15 days and if the iPad is opened, it must be inspected by the Genius Bar at the Apple Store.
I created this graphic using Paper by FiftyThree. I just listed some of my favorite apps; if you use the iPad on a regular basis, you probably have many of them already.
Because the iPad is my main computer, I'm always looking for the best apps and doing whatever I can to improve them. These sketches, designs and doodles are a fun and easy way for me to share stuff about my favorite OS. I'm posting these drawings mainly at bradtastic.tumblr.com and my Facebook, but my favorites will likely end up here, too.
These sketches are quick to produce, and Paper makes them look particularly fancy. I'm more comfortable with the app's strengths and weaknesses now, so I've been drawing in Paper. These sketches inspire my other work; I used to use Brushes, Procreate and SketchBook Pro for preliminary sketch work, but now I like using Paper, Penultimate and Noteshelf for projects.
I've decided to turn my tumblr into a powered by iPad blog, focusing on sharing ideas that I capture with Paper and other sketching and note taking apps. I still haven't settled on a new name. Any suggestions? I've settled on this decision because of Apple's new iPad (or iPad 3, as some call it). It is a major upgrade from the iPad 2. I didn't read much on the iPad before, but with the Retina display, the new iPad is as clear as paper. Drawing and sketching feel just as natural, as images appear as crisp as printed pages.
If you use Facebook, please visit my SaysBrad FB page and say hi! If you make iOS apps or accessories, please let me know about it. I can write a review and send feedback!
Ubisoft just sent me an email that I think is brilliant — it's a notice to "help unlock the world gameplay premiere of Assassin's Creed III."
There's even a progress bar included, ostensibly showing the current status of the effort. Though somewhat transparent, this is still an effective way of getting fans to market for you, to earn** something you would've given away anyway.
What do you think of their marketing campaign for Assassin's Creed 3?
I'm still trying to adjust to life as it is now — I think attempting to find my place in this world, with a disability, sent me off in the wrong directions and on a few false-starts.
Continue reading for information on upcoming posts, changes to my site and my approach to online media, and some basic thoughts on life. If you're interested in electronic cigarettes (vapor/e-juice) or living in the bay area, read the following and contact me!
Yes, I design stuff and write. I've also been taking a lot of photos, iPhonotography or iPhonography, I guess. I've done so housekeeping, literally and figuratively.
With only so many hours awake each day and many of those dedicated to dealing with my disability, I found it necessary to eliminate certain distractions and time sinks. I still actively read and play video games, collect marketing material and good packaging design, but I'm much more selective when it comes to friends, projects, and people in general.
I don't go out as much. I don't like dealing with the drama, the late night phone calls, fair-weather friends and advice-seekers. It's not all bad, and there's value to almost everything, but I can't take chances and dump hours into those pursuits. I'm older now.
Quitting smoking and coming back from southern California clarified things for me. I love that sensation, as you leave LA and drop into the valley, when the smog lifts and your vision becomes razor sharp. Spend enough time down there, you forget what it's like to really see. Spend enough time up here, it's easy to forget that there's more.
I'm going to put together a portfolio I think. A small one, along with a simple site. Maybe even a business card. I'll make it easier for some people to reach me.
Not everyone will appreciate this change, I'm sure. Well, I've had to deal with years of Obama and excruciating physical pain. People think and say: tough.
And that's the way it is.
But I will post pretty pictures and possibly some sketch work — I've been doing more illustrations recently. The iPad 2 is so wonderful.
Soon, I'll be able to share 8MP photos with the iPhone 4S. I'll finally be back to Sprint, where the phone will actually work as a phone. Yes, EVDO is slower than HSDPA, but WiFi is everywhere, and I'll take that trade to eliminate constant dropped calls. AT&T just hasn't been working out.
If you have an interesting project that needs a designer or branding expert, feel free to let me know abou it. If you'd like to hang out, maybe try me again in a few years.
(Get 15% off of a V2Cigs Starter Kit using discount code: 272049 – I get some store credit when you do!)
Writing about e-cigs takes time because there's a lot of ground to cover, a lot of misinformation on the internet, skepticism and criticism. I'm putting together a review of sorts, mixed with the story of how I found electronic cigarettes, and used them to quit smoking. The FDA prohibits e-cigs from being marketed as smoking cessation products, but that's what I used it for.
It's an amazing thing; my car is cleaner along with my lungs, my clothes don't smell like smoke, and I don't have to deal with ash anymore.
If you're ready to make the switch, or if you want to help someone you care about quit smoking, the e-cigarette is a powerful tool. I first saw it as a novelty – no way I'd give up real smoke – but then, it happened... I realized that I preferred the taste and feeling of vapor, i could throw away my Camel Filters!
V2Cigs.com offers a high-quality product and some of the best flavors, including my favorites, v2 Red, Cola, and Sahara. They offer ten high quality flavors with three levels of nicotine (full 18mg, medium 12mg, light 6mg) and nicotine-free cartomizers. V2 uses a superior two-piece design, battery and cartomizer, meaning each atomizer is used only once because it's built into the cartridge. V2Cigs batteries last a long time, and the cartridges produce thick vapor for hundreds of puffs.
For 15% off v2cigs starter kits, use the coupon code: 272049 at checkout. You'll save some money, and I'll get some free cartomizers! Win - win!
If you have questions about v2cigs, ask away! You can also call them or chat with them on their website. They're open long hours, ship quickly, and offer lifetime replacements on their products.
More about e-juice, vapor, ecigs and smoking cessation coming soon!
Tomorrow marks one quarter century of authentic Bradtasticness. It's worth celebrating! It's not too late!
Coming soon: my thoughts on e-cigs (Electronic cigarettes that vaporize propylene glycol and sometimes nicotine instead of burning tobacco; sometimes referred to as "digital" verus "analog" smoking, though it's not really smoke.) technology, science, law, and more practical things, like which is the best and why. I've also thought about the used video game market — why it works so well, and why it's really bad for gamers.
Later!
Bradtastic likes Blogsy!