The Sound Advice Project turns voice recording waveforms into bracelets. Hmm. I bet I could knit a waveform.
Category: Computers
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WeFollow
WeFollow: A User Powered Twitter Directory. I’m currently #2 for knitting, #5 for Sydney, and #12 for running.
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RunningBlog (and RunKeeper!)
Those of you who’ve been watching my Twitter feed or Facebook page over the past month know a secret: I’ve been running again! I finally managed to get going again after taking most of the summer off. (For those that don’t know, I did a lot of running last year.) I’ve been easing back into it gently. My speed’s taken a bit of a hit, but my fitness level is better than I expected. I had a vague idea that I might run the Sydney Half-Marathon again in May, but I scrapped that plan this week. I’d like to do another Half this year, but I don’t think mentally I’m quite prepared to do it again yet. Instead I’ve decided to focus on shorter distances right now. I registered last week for the Mother’s Day Classic, which is an 8K event that I ran last year. My previous time was 55 minutes, but this year I’d like to do it in 48 (which would equate to a 60 minute 10K time). The race is in 9 weeks, so I started my training plan this morning. So far so good!
Also, I’m using some new software to track my runs. I downloaded RunKeeper for my iPhone, which tracks your progress via GPS. It seems to be a lot more accurate than the Nike+. I was using the free ad-supported version before, but yesterday I upgraded to RunKeeper Pro. The Pro version just introduced audio feedback, so you can tap the screen to hear your current distance and pace. It’s not quite up to Nike+ standard yet (you can’t set a workout goal yet or challenge people on the site), but the developer seems to have a lot more planned. RunKeeper has a few distinct advantages too: you can use it while cycling, and you don’t need any special shoes (or a hack to hold an accelerometer). If you’d like to track walking/running/hiking/cycling and you’ve got an iPhone, you should definitely try it out.
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“E-commerce”
I Asked MetaFilter a question about e-commerce websites tonight.
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Weekend Update
(Ha! I just had an email asking if I was all right, seeing as how I hadn’t blogged in two days. At least I know I’ll never go missing with you folks around.) Anyhoo, I spent most of Saturday afternoon working on a new knitting project: Rusted Root. It’s a little cotton T-shirt with a puffy sleeves and a lace panel down the front. It’s knitted from the top down, which is nice because you can try it on for size as you go! I’m probably a third of the way done with it. Saturday night we headed into the city for a friend’s surprise birthday party. Unfortunately it was also Mardi Gras, which meant fighting our way through crowds of slutted-up freshers in sparkly cowboy hats. (Theory: Mardi Gras in Sydney is like Halloween in Sunnydale. Most of the actual gay people stay far, far away, and you’re just left with kids playing in costume.) We had a fantastic meal at Bar Reggio in Darlinghurst. I walk past there every day on my way to work, and it always smells fantastic. The service was execrable, but the food made up for it. (Excitement! The Snook spotted the Critic from The Chopping Block unsuccessfully trying to get a table.) We got home very late, and Sunday we slept in as long as the cats would let us. I spent most of Sunday setting up my new Macbook, which we bought Thursday night. The Snook managed to remove the hard drive from my dead iMac and set it up so I could transfer everything to the new computer. Then we took the iMac back to the Apple Store where they – as expected – quoted me like $1500 to fix it. Eek. I spent hours futzing around with iLife ’09, including the fun “Faces” feature within iPhoto. I also got DeskCam working again, in case you missed it. I had planned to go for a long run this evening, but the skies opened and it poured rain. So it was a quiet night in for me.And did I mention that the Snook has a new job? No? It’s pretty cool. He starts in three weeks. 🙂
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Knitting Apps
Venks just sent me this list of knitting apps for the iPhone. I knew about StitchMinder, but the others were new to me. I did a search on the App Store and there are even more now! I just downloaded Yarn Pirateer, which is a free stash organiser.
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Review: Balsamiq Mockups
Back at my previous job, I was using a piece of software called “Axure” to generate mockups of web applications. When I started at the new job and they asked me what software I needed, I suggested that one. I nearly had a heart attack when I realized it’s $600 for a single user license! That’s nuts. So I started looking around. I toyed with the idea of using Visio (it’s just so clunky!) before somebody recommended Balsamiq Mockups to me. It looked like just the thing I needed, and the license is only $70. I was debating on buying it when I noticed that they offer free licenses to “do-gooders” and bloggers. I sent them an email, and they wrote back with a license the very next day! I was floored by the business and I hadn’t even started using the software yet. Of course, I wasn’t going to give them a glowing review for nothing. I’ve spent the last month or so putting Mockups through its paces.
The software: I was a bit dubious about this whole “Adobe Air” thing, but the installation proved painless. (I tested it on both PC and Mac.) Within 10 minutes of launching it I was generating mockups for both web pages and mobile phone handsets. I wasn’t sure how technical people would react to the deliberately hand-drawn look of the diagrams, so I showed it to a couple developers for their opinion. They all liked it and said it was more fun than getting a PowerPoint or Visio drawing. I’ve been using it extensively for a few weeks now and I’ve got zero complaints. (The only bug I found was fixed a few days later.) It’s so quick to create something from scratch, and changes take hardly any time at all. People have literally stopped by my desk to point at what was on my monitor. This app makes you look like you spent a lot more time/effort than you really did!
The business: Like I said, I was predisposed to like them just because they sent me a free license. Still, I’ve been hugely impressed by how the husband-and-wife team support and promote their software. Releases are free and having been happening every week or two. (The most recent one has custom iPhone interface elements, which will be *very* useful to anybody doing mobile stuff.) They’ve got a blog that gets updated frequently, and the developer is a frequent Twitterer. I really can’t say enough good stuff about them. If you find yourself trying to figure out what a website should look like, you should definitely try this one out. (And I think they’re working on an online version soon…)
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Web Censorship may be defeated after all…
So Senator Xenaphon has effectively killed the web censorship plan? GREAT! I hereby forgive him for nearly scuppering the forthcoming economic stimulus payments.
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Morris and Sons
The Morris and Sons (formerly known as Tapestry Craft!) sale website is up and running. It took me about six hours to get ready last night, but it appears to have been well worth it. They’ve had about 35 orders in the first two hours! I’m pretty proud of that.
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Microsoft and Yahoo
Check out this excellent and easy-to-understand explanation of the whole “Microsoft trying to take over Yahoo” schmozzle. Very interesting. (Link courtesy of Daring Fireball.)